First Edition: July 21, 2023

KFF Health News: Doctors Created A Primary Care Clinic As Their Former Hospital Struggled
About a year ago, Valory Wangler, a family medicine doctor, invited a handful of former co-workers to her backyard. During the early months of the covid-19 outbreak, Wangler and her colleagues had worked at a hospital in this former railroad hub of about 21,000 residents just a few miles from the Navajo Nation. The pandemic had been hard on Rehoboth McKinley Christian Hospital. Emergency federal funding was drying up and nearly a third of the staff — including Wangler, the chief medical officer — left after its board of trustees hired an out-of-state, for-profit management services firm to take over operations in August 2020. (Nowell, 7/21)

KFF Health News: Industry Groups In California Vie For New Medicaid Money
California’s powerful health care industry just notched a historic win: The state is going to give it an $11.1 billion infusion to improve care for millions of low-income Medicaid patients. But the intense jockeying over the money is only beginning. (Hart and Young, 7/21)

KFF Health News: Medical Debt Is Making Americans Angry. Doctors And Hospitals Ignore This At Their Peril
For Emily Boller, it was a $5,000 hospital bill for a simple case of pink eye that took four years to pay off. For Mary Curley, it was the threatening collection letters from a lab that arrived more than 2½ years later, just as her husband lost his job and the family was fighting to save their home. For Cory Day, it was a $1,000 fee he was charged at an emergency room outside Los Angeles, even though he only checked in and then left before being seen. “I feel like the hospital is a predator,” Day said. “This is a place that’s supposed to be looking after you.” (Noam Levey, 7/21)

KFF Health News: KFF Health News' 'What The Health?' Podcast: Let’s Talk About The Weather
2023 will likely be remembered as the summer Arizona sizzled, Vermont got swamped, and nearly the entire Eastern Seaboard, along with huge swaths of the Midwest, choked on wildfire smoke from Canada. Still, none of that has been enough to prompt policymakers in Washington to act on climate issues. (Rovner, 7/20)

NBC News: Record-Breaking Heat Wave Is Causing Second-Degree Burns And Heat Exhaustion
Emergency workers in Arizona and Nevada reported an uptick in cases of contact burns as temperatures spiked into the triple digits, and have remained high for weeks on end. The burns typically occur when people fall or pass out on sun-scorched pavement and other hot surfaces. During intense heat waves, as has been unfolding across the Southwest, even being in contact with these surfaces for short periods of time can do serious damage, said Dr. Kara Geren, an emergency medicine physician at Valleywise Health in Phoenix. (Chow, McLaughlin and Parra, 7/20)

NPR: El Niño Will Likely Last Into 2024, And More Heat Is Coming
More hot weather is expected for much of the United States in the coming months, federal forecasters warn, driven by a combination of human-caused climate change and the El Niño climate pattern. El Niño is a cyclic climate phenomenon that brings warm water to the equatorial Pacific Ocean, and leads to higher average global temperatures. El Niño started in June. Today, officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced that El Niño will continue through March 2024. (Hersher, 7/20)

San Francisco Chronicle: Bay Area Weather: Wildfire Smoke From Flat Fire To Impact Air Quality
Smoke from a wildfire in Oregon is rushing toward Northern California, and hot weather could chuck some of the particles toward the Bay Area. The Flat Fire exploded in size and intensity between Tuesday and Wednesday, covering 12,000 acres large with 0% containment by Wednesday morning according to the U.S. Forest Service. Its smoke, visible on satellite imagery, is likely to stir up air quality concerns over the next couple of days. (Díaz, 7/20)

Houston Chronicle: 65 Houston Deaths Due To Wildfire Smoke Occur Every Year, Per Study
University of Houston researchers and scholars from other institutions estimated that emissions from wildfires lead to 4,000 early deaths each year in the contiguous United States, including about 65 deaths in the Houston area. The study also pointed to economic losses, suggesting these premature mortality rates could cost $36 billion annually across the country, and an estimated $580 million in Houston-Galveston-Brazoria alone. (Ward, 7/20)

AP: Tornado Damage To Pfizer Plant Will Probably Create Long-Term Shortages Of Some Drugs Hospitals Need 
The fallout from a Pfizer factory being damaged by a tornado could put even more pressure on already-strained drug supplies at U.S. hospitals, experts say. Wednesday’s tornado touched down near Rocky Mount, North Carolina, and ripped up the roof of a Pfizer factory that makes nearly 25% of Pfizer’s sterile injectable medicines used in U.S. hospitals, according to the drugmaker. (Murphy, 7/20)

The New York Times: Tornado Tears Through Pfizer’s N.C. Site, Threatening Crucial Drug Supplies
The company estimated that one-fourth of the injectable medications it supplies to U.S. hospitals were made at the Rocky Mount property, including drugs used during surgeries and other procedures to help block pain, keep patients sedated and fight infections. Though the company has yet to disclose the extent of the storm’s impact, video footage of the site and interviews with the Nash County sheriff and with people briefed on the damage indicated that the tornado caused the worst damage at the company’s warehouse. (Jewett, 7/20)

Dallas Morning News: Texas Abortion Law Trial Swings To Duty Of Doctors, Hospitals And What Is Life-Threatening
The tone in an Austin courtroom Thursday transitioned from personal to academic Thursday as doctors took the stand to discuss the language and scope of Texas’ abortion ban. Testimonies from expert medical witnesses called by both sides in the hearing hinged on the definition and timing of “life-threatening” conditions that would qualify pregnant Texans for abortions. (Wolf and Kelly, 7/20)

USA Today: Iowa Abortion Ban Legislation Caused Rush In Clinics
As the implementation of Iowa's new "fetal heartbeat" bill loomed, staff at abortion clinics across the state scrambled to get as many patients seen as possible. Earlier in the week, Paige Bergholtz, a patient services navigator for Planned Parenthood North Central States, called patients to get as many appointments as possible scheduled before Friday, when Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed the six-week abortion ban into law. (Ramm, 7/20)

AP: Missouri Supreme Court Orders The GOP Attorney General To Stand Down In Fight Over Abortion Costs
The Missouri Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the Republican attorney general to stand down and allow an initiative petition to legalize abortion in the state to move forward. Supreme Court judges unanimously affirmed a lower court’s decision that Attorney General Andrew Bailey must approve the cost estimate provided by the auditor, despite Bailey’s insistence that the cost to taxpayers of restoring abortion rights could be as much as a million times higher than what the auditor found. (Ballentine, 7/20)

AP: 18-Year-Old Nebraska Woman Sentenced To 90 Days In Jail For Burning Fetus After Abortion
Celeste Burgess, of Norfolk, was sentenced in Madison County after pleading guilty earlier this year to concealing or abandoning a dead body. Two other misdemeanor charges of false reporting and concealing the death of another person were dropped, in an agreement with prosecutors. “The Court specifically finds that while probation is appropriate, confinement is necessary because without this confinement, it would depreciate the seriousness of the crime or promote disrespect for the law,” the judge’s order read. (Beck, 7/20)

NBC News: No Plans To Change Abortion Policy Despite GOP Demand, Army Secretary Says
The Defense Department has no plans to stop covering the travel costs of female troops who seek abortions across state lines, despite protests from a Republican senator who has blocked hundreds of military promotions over the issue, Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said on Thursday. “I see this, and I think the (defense secretary) does as well, as taking care of our soldiers, and it’s the right thing to do, and I don’t think we’re going to change it,” Wormuth told NBC News’ Courtney Kube at an event at the Aspen Security Forum. (De Luce, 7/20)

Modern Healthcare: HIPAA Violations A Risk With Tracking Pixels, FTC, HHS Warn
FTC and HHS’ Office for Civil Rights flagged providers’ possible usage of Meta/Facebook and Google Analytics tracking technologies in the letter. The agencies said using such technologies could be a violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 or the FTC Health Breach Notification Rule. They warned organizations to exercise extreme caution in using these technologies and ensure the tools are not disclosing personal health information in an unauthorized fashion. (Perna, 7/20)

The Hill: Sanders’s ‘Game Of Chicken’ Over NIH Nominee Alarms Health Advocates
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is in a standoff with the White House over drug pricing, frustrating and confusing public health experts who worry his demands will stymie the Biden administration’s nominee to lead the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Monica Bertagnolli is a renowned cancer surgeon who currently leads the National Cancer Institute. She has the support of a broad cross section of the medical research community, which has been lobbying for her confirmation. (Weixel, 7/20)

The Hill: Just More Than A Third Of Hospitals Are Complying With Price Transparency Rules: Report
More than two years after federal hospital price transparency rules went into effect, only about a third of hospitals are currently in compliance, according to a report released this week. The nonprofit Patient Rights Advocate (PRA) released its fifth semi-annual report, which found that only 36 percent of 2,000 surveyed hospitals were in complete compliance with the rule. (Choi, 7/20)

Roll Call: Biden Urged To Tackle Medical Debt Beyond Credit Cards
The Biden administration’s investigation into medical credit cards has drawn praise from consumer groups, but they want it to move quickly — and more broadly — to address the issue of medical debt. (Hellmann, 7/20)

Politico: FTC Further Scrutinizes Drug Industry Middlemen
The Federal Trade Commission voted Thursday to disavow its previous guidance opposing transparency requirements for pharmacy benefit managers. The 3-0 vote comes after the FTC said last year it would study PBMs, companies that run drug benefit programs for health insurers, and order the six largest firms to turn over records. The agency expanded its inquiry in May to include two group purchasing organizations, which negotiate the rebates drug manufacturers pay to the PBMs when health insurance plan members are prescribed medicines. (Leonard and Wilson, 7/20)

The Hill: Carper, Grassley Introduce Bipartisan Bill To Strengthen PBM Oversight
Sens. Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) introduced legislation Thursday aimed at providing the federal government with more power to oversee pharmacy benefit managers (PBM) amid continued bipartisan scrutiny over the companies’ role in drug pricing. The two lawmakers introduced the PBM Oversight Act of 2023, which would give the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) the authority to oversee PBM decision-making. (Choi, 7/20)

Politico: Senate Health Panel Advances Pandemic, Emergency Preparedness Bill
The Senate HELP Committee voted 17-3 on Thursday to advance a bipartisan pandemic preparedness bill. The approval marks the next step to reauthorize the Pandemic and All Hazards Preparedness Act, which has many programs that expire on Sept. 30 unless Congress acts. (Wilson, 7/20)

Politico: Democrats Revive Bill Targeting Plastic Pellet Pollution
House and Senate Democrats are trying again to put a stop to contamination from plastic pellets, small bits of plastic commonly found polluting waterways. The "Plastic Pellet Free Waters Act" would require EPA to ban facilities and other sources from dumping the pellets into waterways or down the drain — an often relied-upon tactic to get rid of the cheap materials if they become contaminated or unusable. (Borst, 7/20)

Politico: Watchdog Urges EPA To Boost Lead Contamination Response
EPA is facing pressure to beef up its response plan around lead contamination in drinking water. Through an audit released Thursday, the agency's Office of Inspector General asserted that regulators need a stronger system in place so that the public can be made aware of lead risks in their water. Without public notices, the watchdog warned, people may be exposed to the neurotoxic heavy metal, with serious health implications. (Crunden, 7/20)

USA Today: What In Your Sports Supplement? Not What's On The Label, Study Finds
Sports supplements may not contain what their bottle says they do ‒ and they might include unapproved drugs instead, according to a new study. The study, published this week, examined 57 products claiming to include botanicals that improve sports performance. Only six of the supplements ‒ just 11% ‒ included roughly what the label promised they would. Meanwhile, seven included drugs expressly prohibited by the Food and Drug Administration. (Weintraub, 7/20)

ABC News: Headers Linked To Memory Issues, Raising Questions About Soccer Safety As The World Cup Kicks Off
With the Women's World Cup kicking off this week, the focus of the sports world turns to soccer -- the most popular sport in the world and one continuing to grow in the United States. However, new research is calling attention to one of the risks of the game, heading the ball, which studies find may be linked to brain problems later in life. The newly released study, published in the journal JAMA Network Open, found that professional male soccer players who headed the ball more frequently during their career were more likely to develop memory issues. The study builds on prior studies from Scotland and France that also showed a link between playing soccer and the development of dementia. (Garcia, 7/20)

USA Today: Poop Frequency May Impact Brain Function, Researchers Say
Researchers say they have linked chronic constipation with cognitive decline, suggesting that people who defecate less may have poorer cognitive function. Chaoran Ma, an associate professor in the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s School of Public Health and Health Sciences, worked on the study as a research fellow at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. (Martin, 7/20)

NBC News: Stop Biting Your Nails: New Research Suggests That Gentle Touch Could Help
For people who can’t stop biting their nails or picking at their skin, a new study suggests that a simple technique could help. Body-focused repetitive behaviors — compulsively pulling or picking at your hair or skin, unable to stop yourself even if the behavior leads to scabs, scars and bald spots — affects about 5% of people worldwide, according to the TLC Foundation for Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors, an advocacy group for people with the conditions. (One common repetitive behavior is nail-biting.) (Tamkins, 7/20)

Bloomberg: Black, Hispanic Liver Disease Patients Less Likely To Get Transplants, Per Study
Black and Hispanic patients with a serious liver-scarring condition are less likely to receive transplants than their White peers in the US, according to researchers arguing for greater equity in providing the life-saving procedure. (Griffin, 7/20)

CIDRAP: Healthcare Disruptions Led To Preventable Hospital Admissions During Pandemic
Pandemic-related healthcare disruptions, including missed or delayed appointments and procedures, led to an increase in potentially preventable hospitalizations for patients, according to a study yesterday in the British Medical Journal. This is the first study to assess COVID-related health disruptions on a patient level, the authors said. (Soucheray, 7/20)

CIDRAP: Study Indicates Recombinant Flu Vaccine Provides Better Protection 
University of Pittsburgh scientists report in Vaccine that, in adults, both recombinant influenza vaccine (RIV4) and standard-dose influenza vaccine (SD-IIV4) are effective against influenza hospitalization, with RIV4 providing better protection compared with SD-IIV4 overall, with notable added protection in women, working-age adults, and those with no high-risk conditions. (Soucheray, 7/20)

CIDRAP: Maternal Strep B Vaccine Slashes Risk Of Infection Among Infants
Results of an ongoing phase 2 clinical trial show that an experimental vaccine given to pregnant women substantially reduced the risk of group B streptococcus infection in their infants. (Van Beusekom, 7/20)

CIDRAP: Study Finds Prevention Bundle May Reduce Some Surgical-Site Infections
A quality improvement study conducted at Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals found implementation of a surgical-site infection (SSI) prevention bundle with facility-level discretion on its components may be associated with reduction of certain SSIs, VA researchers reported today in JAMA Network Open. (Dall, 7/20)

Fortune: Elon Musk Wants Tesla And Neuralink To Build A Cyborg Body For Amputees 
In the 1970s, when Elon Musk was just a child, actor Lee Majors portrayed The Six Million Dollar Man, an injured test pilot born again with enhanced abilities thanks to the help of bionic implants. The tech messiah now wants to create the “sixty-thousand-dollar man” in real life by having engineers at his Tesla and Neuralink companies work together to design prosthetic limbs for amputees. (Hetzner, 7/20)

Reuters: US FDA Approves Emergent BioSolutions' Anthrax Vaccine
Emergent BioSolutions said on Thursday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved its anthrax vaccine for use in adults aged 18 through 65. The vaccine, Cyfendus, has been approved for use following suspected or confirmed exposure to a type of bacteria and has to be administered together with antibacterial drugs. (7/20)

Reuters: Japan's Daiichi Sankyo Gets US FDA Nod For Blood Cancer Treatment 
Daiichi Sankyo said the U.S. health regulator has approved its drug for treating newly diagnosed patients suffering from an aggressive type of blood cancer, pitting the treatment against those from rivals Novartis and Astellas. (Roy, 7/20)

Bloomberg: Philip Morris Abandons $1 Billion Target For Healthcare Business
Philip Morris International Inc. abandoned a goal to get at least $1 billion of revenue from healthcare and wellness products next year following setbacks at companies it has acquired in the sector. (Mulier and Hoffman, 7/20)

Reuters: J&J Spinoff Kenvue Forecasts Upbeat Annual Profit On Self-Care Boost 
Kenvue, the former consumer health unit of Johnson & Johnson, forecast full-year profit above Wall Street estimates on Thursday, betting on resilient demand for its skincare and self-care products such as Neutrogena and Tylenol. (Mahobe and Mariam Rajesh, 7/20)

Reuters: Intuitive Surgical Beats Profit, Revenue Estimates
Intuitive Surgical Inc (ISRG.O) beat Wall Street estimates for quarterly sales and profit on Thursday, boosted by a rise in total procedures volume of its surgical robot da Vinci. (7/20)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: 1 In 3 Wisconsinites Due For Renewal Kept Coverage, State Data Shows
About 30% of Wisconsin Medicaid members who were in the first group to be due for renewal since the end of pandemic-era policies kept their coverage, according to newly released data from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services. (Shastri, 7/20)