First Edition: July 27, 2022

KHN: Bill Of The Month: The Ambulance Chased One Patient Into Collections
In retrospect, Peggy Dula said, she shouldn’t have taken the ambulance. She was the least injured of the three siblings who were in a car when it was struck by a pickup truck last September. Her daughter had even offered to come to the crash site and pick her up. Jim Martens, 62, and Cynthia Martens, 63, Peggy’s brother and sister, were more seriously hurt and on their way to the hospital in separate ambulances. Peggy, 55, was told it would be a good idea for her to get checked out, too. So she accepted a ride with a third ambulance crew. (Sable-Smith, 7/27)

KHN: Health Insurance Price Data: It’s Out There, But It’s Not For The Faint Of Heart
Data wonks with mighty computers are overjoyed. Ordinary consumers, not so much. That’s the reaction about three weeks into a data dump of enormous proportions. Health insurers are posting their negotiated rates for just about every type of medical service they cover across all providers. (Appleby, 7/27)

KHN: To Stem The Spread Of Monkeypox, Health Departments Tap Into Networks Of Those Most At Risk
On July 23, the World Health Organization declared monkeypox a public health emergency of international concern. It was a contentious decision, with the WHO’s director-general, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, making the final call and overruling the WHO’s emergency committee. The advisory committee’s disagreements mirrored debates that have been unfolding among public officials, on social media, and in opinion pages over the past several weeks. Is monkeypox a public health emergency when it’s spreading “just” among gay and bisexual men and trans women? To what degree do other populations need to worry? (Dr. Céline Gounder, 7/27)

KHN: Listen: Can California Lower The Price Of Insulin?
California Healthline senior correspondent Angela Hart describes California’s ambitious plan to manufacture generic insulin under the state’s new “CalRx” drug label. (7/27)

Politico: White House Hosts Summit On The Future Of Covid-19 Vaccines
The White House held an all-day summit on Tuesday to discuss the future of Covid-19 vaccines. Presentations focused on how the government could foster innovation while eliminating barriers to immunizations nationally and across the globe. Yet officials from key agencies were notably absent. (Ellen Foley, 7/26)

Stat: White House Summit Sets Lofty Goals For New Covid Vaccines — But Largely Sidesteps Questions Of Funding
“Obviously, everyone has mentioned that investment is needed here,” Francis Collins, the former National Institutes of Health director and Biden’s acting science adviser, said, smiling, while moderating a panel about new methods of vaccine delivery. “It’s all going to come down to money.” The cheery admission provided a brief reality check at the White House’s daylong “Summit on the Future of Covid-19 Vaccines.” (Facher, 7/26)

ABC News: The Future Of COVID Vaccines Could Be Sprays, Not Shots
The future of COVID-19 vaccines might not be shots in the arm or leg. Instead, picture a nasal spray or a patch stuck onto the skin for a few minutes. A group of scientists, doctors and administration health officials gathered at the White House on Tuesday to discuss the next generation of inoculation against COVID and its viral cousins; they were in agreement that there is room for improvement. (Haslett, 7/27)

CIDRAP: Experts Air Vision For Better Vaccines As BA.5 Expands Dominance
At a White House COVID-19 vaccine summit, experts today discussed what better vaccines would look like, such as one that would block transmission, as the Omicron BA.5 subvariant gained an ever bigger foothold in the United States. (Schnirring, 7/26)

NPR: Boosters Targeting Omicron May Be Available Earlier Than Expected
The Biden administration may scrap plans to let more younger adults get second COVID-19 boosters this summer. Instead, officials are trying to speed up availability of the next generation of boosters in the fall, NPR has learned. The new strategy is aimed at trying to balance protecting people this summer with keeping people safe next winter, when the country will probably get hit by yet another surge. (Stein, 7/26)

Reuters: Omicron BA.5 Makes Up 82% Of COVID Variants In U.S., CDC Says
The BA.5 subvariant of Omicron was estimated to make up 81.9% of the circulating coronavirus variants in the United States for the week ended July 23, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Tuesday. This was higher than the 75.9% prevalence estimated in the preceding week. (7/26)

Los Angeles Times: New Studies Say Wuhan Market Is The Only 'Plausible' Source Of COVID-19 Pandemic
“In a city covering more than 3,000 square miles, the area with the highest probability of containing the home of someone who had one of the earliest COVID-19 cases in the world was an area of a few city blocks, with the Huanan market smack dab inside it,” Michael Worobey, a University of Arizona virologist who co-authored one of the new studies, said in a statement. (Purtill, 7/26)

Bloomberg: Meta Asks Oversight Board To Review Covid Rules After Millions Of Posts Removed
Facebook parent company Meta Platforms Inc. has asked its Oversight Board to review the company’s Covid-19 misinformation policies to see if they should remain in place. Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of global affairs, wrote Tuesday that Meta’s policies were created during “extraordinary circumstances” and that the rules meant Meta removed Covid-related misinformation “on an unprecedented scale.” (Wagner, 7/26)

Los Angeles Times: L.A. County Could Avoid Mask Mandate This Week As Coronavirus Cases Decline
Recent declines in cases and coronavirus-positive hospitalizations could pull Los Angeles County back from the brink of a new universal public indoor mask mandate. Although a decision on whether to impose the long-looming order won’t come until later this week, health officials noted Tuesday that improvements in some COVID-19 metrics might merit a delay. (Money and Lin II, 7/26)

Dallas Morning News: 30-Day Countdown To Texas Abortion Trigger Law Begins As Supreme Court Makes Ruling Final
The 30-day countdown for Texas’ trigger ban on abortion officially began Tuesday after the U.S. Supreme Court issued the official judgment reversing Roe vs. Wade. The law will further restrict and complicate a crowded legal landscape. (Alvey, 7/26)

The Texas Tribune: Texas Abortion Clinics Weigh Whether To Relocate Or Refocus
Some clinics have already announced that they are shutting down operations and moving to New Mexico and other states that are expected to protect abortion access. Others, including Planned Parenthood, say they will stay and continue to provide other sexual and reproductive health services. But keeping the doors open will likely come at a high cost for these clinics — financially, politically and psychologically — as they absorb more patients with fewer options. (Klibanoff, 7/26)

Houston Chronicle: Risk Of Serious Pregnancy Complications Has Doubled Since Texas Abortion Bans, Study Finds
Researchers at Parkland Health and UT Southwestern Medical Center found that the Texas laws, which create criminal and civil liability for doctors who perform abortions beyond about six weeks gestation, led to uncertainty about when doctors are legally able to end a pregnancy and profoundly affected their patients. (Goldenstein, 7/26)

CBS News: Vice President Harris Called Dr. Caitlin Bernard: "She Thanked Me For Speaking Out" On Abortion
Vice President Kamala Harris called Dr. Caitlin Bernard, who was pushed into the spotlight after a 10-year-old rape victim from Ohio received a medicinal-induced abortion in Indiana earlier this month. Bernard is the doctor who provided the abortion to the 10-year-old on June 30, according to Indiana records, though she cannot confirm that due to privacy laws. Bernard said she was at work when Harris called. (Yilek and Huey-Burns, 7/26)

CBS News: Dr. Caitlin Bernard Speaks Out On "Real-Life Implications" Of Abortion Bans: "Come Spend A Day In My Clinic"
"I think we're at a time in our country where people are starting to realize the impact of these anti-abortion laws," Bernard told "CBS Evening News" anchor and managing editor Norah O'Donnell in an exclusive television interview on Tuesday. (Yilek, 7/26)

CNN: Dr. Caitlin Bernard: Indiana AG Rokita Is Investigating Doctor Who Provided Abortion Services For A 10-Year-Old Ohio Rape Victim
The Indiana doctor who provided abortion services for a 10-year-old girl who was raped is now being investigated by the state's attorney general, according to a lawyer for the doctor. A notice from Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita of his inquiry into Dr. Caitlin Bernard arrived Tuesday, attorney Kathleen DeLaney said. (Boxer, Babineau and Frehse, 7/27)

Bloomberg: Texas Lawyer Behind Abortion Ban Takes Aim At HIV Prevention
Groundbreaking drugs that prevent HIV infection may be harder to get in the US if a prominent Texas lawyer wins a lawsuit that pits his clients’ religious beliefs against free nationwide access to the medicines. At issue are Gilead Sciences Inc.’s Truvada and Descovy, forms of pre-exposure prophylaxis commonly known as PrEP that are taken daily by hundreds of thousands of Americans, particularly men who have sex with men. The drugs were added last year to a list of preventive services like cancer screenings and polio vaccinations that most health insurance plans are required to cover at no cost under a provision of the federal Affordable Care Act. (Larson and Miranda, 7/26)

AP: Massachusetts Lawmakers OK Sweeping Abortion Access Bill
Massachusetts lawmakers approved a sweeping abortion bill Tuesday aimed in part at building a firewall to protect access to the procedure after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last month. The bill would protect abortion providers and people seeking abortions from actions taken by other states, including blocking the governor from extraditing anyone charged in another state unless the acts for which extradition was sought would be punishable by Massachusetts law. (LeBlanc, 7/26)

AP: Seattle To Be Sanctuary For Abortion Providers, Patients
The Seattle City Council voted Tuesday to make the city a sanctuary for abortion providers and patients, meaning Seattle police will not cooperate in arrests or investigations related to abortion bans in other states. The bill, which Councilmember Kshama Sawant introduced at a news conference the day the U.S. Supreme Court repealed decades-old constitutional protections over abortion, deems Seattle a “sanctuary city” for those who seek or provide abortion, The Seattle Times reported. (7/27)

Stateline: North Carolina And Florida Become Southern Abortion Havens
Southerners are flocking to both Florida and North Carolina for clinical and medication abortions — in North Carolina as late as viability, typically between 24 and 28 weeks of pregnancy, and in Florida, until 15 weeks of pregnancy. Neither state set out to become an abortion oasis, and neither state will necessarily remain one after the midterm elections. But abortion providers and their patients are evolving with quickly changing circumstances. (Vestal, 7/26)

AP: Louisiana Judge Denies Request That Would Allow Abortion Ban
Five days after a state judge blocked enforcement of Louisiana’s abortion ban, the same judge on Tuesday denied a motion by state officials to suspend the ruling while they pursue an appeal. (7/26)

AP: North Dakota Abortion Clinic Prepares For Likely Final Day
North Dakota’s only abortion clinic is preparing for what could be its final day of performing procedures, with a trigger ban due to take effect Thursday that will likely force patients to travel hundreds of miles to receive care pending the clinic’s relocation across the border to Minnesota. (Kolpack, 7/27)

AP: South Carolina's 6-Week Abortion Ban Can Continue For Now
South Carolina can continue enforcing its six-week abortion ban after a judge on Tuesday denied a request to temporarily block it amid a legal battle that is now headed to the state Supreme Court. (Pollard, 7/26)

CIDRAP: US Now Has More Monkeypox Cases Than Any Other Non-Endemic Country
Passing Spain and the United Kingdom, the United States now has the highest case count for monkeypox cases in non-endemic countries, with the nation's total standing at 3,487 cases after more than 500 new cases were confirmed yesterday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (Soucheray, 7/26)

CBS News: U.S. Spots First Monkeypox Case In A Pregnant Woman As Cases Climb
The U.S. has spotted its first case of monkeypox this year in a pregnant woman, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials said over the weekend. The baby was delivered safely and both are "doing well." Pregnant women are among those the agency warns may be "at especially increased risk for severe outcomes" from monkeypox. (Tin, 7/26)

The Washington Post: Biden Administration Estimates U.S. May Need Nearly $7 Billion For Monkeypox
The funding estimate, the details of which were contained in a memo addressed to President Biden and obtained by The Washington Post, reflected early talks among congressional Democrats and White House officials in pursuit of a spending package that could boost the availability of monkeypox tests, vaccine doses and treatments. (Diamond and Romm, 7/26)

The Hill: Fauci: Monkeypox Emergency Declaration Under ‘Active Consideration’
White House chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci told CNN “New Day” on Tuesday that making an emergency declaration around monkeypox is under “active consideration.” “That’s something that’s obviously under active consideration,” Fauci, also the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said when “New Day” anchor John Berman asked him about an emergency declaration for the virus. (Folmar, 7/26)

NPR: Government Must Fight Homophobic Stigmas Surrounding Monkeypox, Fauci Says
Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to President Biden, told NPR's All Things Considered Tuesday that, amid early transmission of monkeypox, it's important to understand "the extent of the spread, how it's spread, what population." He said it is a virus that medical professionals understand and one that they have available tools to use, unlike in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Archie and Lim, 7/27)

NPR: As Monkeypox Spreads, So Do Concerns About Stigma
"Stigma and discrimination can be as dangerous as any virus," said WHO Director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. In fact, the WHO emergency committee that had previously considered whether to issue such a declaration was unable to reach a consensus in part because of concerns about the risk of stigma, marginalization and discrimination against the communities hit hardest by the virus. (Treisman, 7/26)

The Boston Globe: Sexually Transmitted Diseases Rise Rapidly As Precautions Wane
In the shadow of the monkeypox crisis, a related threat has been quietly working its way through the US population. Sexually transmitted diseases, which declined in the early months of the pandemic, have resurged, surpassing levels that were already climbing before 2019. The two outbreaks have distinct yet overlapping causes, including people engaging in more risky behavior after being cooped up for so long in the pandemic, as well as a decline in condom use as more people take medications that can reduce their risk of contracting HIV. (Lazar, 7/26)

Politico: White House Doctor Says Biden Well Enough To Resume Exercise
White House physician Kevin O’ Connor said Tuesday that President Joe Biden has completed his five-day course of the Covid antiviral Paxlovid and “now feels well enough to resume his physical exercise regimen.” Reiterating his Monday update, O’Connor said that the president’s symptoms had “almost completely resolved” with his pulse, blood pressure, respiratory rate and temperature remaining “absolutely normal.” (Chatterjee, 7/26)

The New York Times: Biden Administration Unveils Website About Heat
The website, heat.gov, includes interactive maps, forecasts, tips on keeping cool and other data designed to help federal, state and local officials prepare for and cope with heat waves. “Extreme heat is a silent killer, yet it affects more Americans than any other weather emergency — particularly our nation’s most vulnerable,” Gina McCarthy, President Biden’s national climate adviser, said in a statement. (Friedman, 7/26)

Politico: Biden Administration Approves Extended Postpartum Care In Three More States
The Biden administration has approved three more states’ plans to extend postpartum Medicaid coverage to women up to one year after pregnancy in a bid to improve maternal and infant mortality rates in the country. Kansas, Connecticut and Massachusetts join 15 other states and the District of Columbia in extending coverage for people enrolled in Medicaid from 60 days to one year after a pregnancy. Health officials project that the expanded programs will offer improved postpartum coverage to roughly 19,000 people. (Owermohle, 7/26)

The Washington Post: Republicans Stay Mum As Senate Pushes Toward Same-Sex Marriage Vote
The Respect for Marriage Act, a bill that would enshrine the right to same-sex and interracial marriage in federal law, is only four short pages long. Yet in the week since the House passed the measure on a bipartisan vote and Democratic leaders indicated they planned to put it on the Senate floor, few Republican senators have found the time to read it — or so they said Tuesday. “Haven’t read it,” said Sen. John Neely Kennedy (R-La.). “We’re still looking at it,” said Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.). (DeBonis, 7/26)

The Texas Tribune: Texas Sues USDA After It Requires LGBTQ Nondiscrimination Protections
Attorney General Ken Paxton and more than 20 other attorneys general are challenging the federal Food and Nutrition Service’s new policy that recipients of food assistance funds update their nondiscrimination policies to protect LGBTQ people. (Perez-Castells, 7/26)

The Hill: Health Care — Wyden Floats Longer Extension Of Health Subsidies
A key Democratic senator is floating a way to get more into Democrats’ big health care bill. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) on Tuesday said he is calling for a longer extension of enhanced ObamaCare financial assistance, and floated increased IRS tax enforcement as a potential way to pay for it. (Sullivan, Weixel and Choi, 7/26)

The Center For Popular Democracy: More Medicaid, Better Medicaid: Dismantling Barriers to Healthcare in the United States
The following brief describes the experiences of 132 Medicaid recipients from 16 states and territories, who responded to the survey, and identifies the primary barriers they are facing alongside policy solutions to eliminate them. Their stories reveal two significant patterns: the critical need for expanded healthcare access and for vastly improved service delivery and quality of care across the US. (7/26)

Politico: FDA’s Chief Tobacco Scientist To Leave For Major Tobacco Company
Less than a month after the start of a new director for the Food and Drug Administration's tobacco regulatory division, its chief scientific officer has resigned to accept a position at Philip Morris International, the agency announced to staff Tuesday. (7/26)

The Hill: House Passes Bill For Research On Cognitive Effects Of Coronavirus, 69 Republicans Vote ‘No’
The House passed a bill on Tuesday to allow a government agency to award grants into the cognitive effects of COVID-19. The legislation, titled the Brycen Gray and Ben Price COVID-19 Cognitive Research Act, passed in a 350-69 vote, with all opposition coming from Republicans. Eight Republicans and four Democrats did not vote. (Schnell, 7/26)

The Hill: Sanders Says Democrats’ Prescription Drug Reform Bill Is ‘Weak’
Senate Budget Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Tuesday that the prescription drug reform proposal that Democrats plan to move under special budget reconciliation rules is “weak,” noting it covers a limited number of drugs and doesn’t substantially take effect until 2026. (Bolton, 7/26)

NBC News: San Francisco's Latinos Disproportionately Affected By Monkeypox
Latinos account for almost 30% of all cases in the city even though they make up 15% of the population, according to the San Francisco Public Health Department. “We know that there are more cases that are underreported,” said Noel Sanchez, a spokesperson for the Public Health Department. (Flores, 7/26)

Health News Florida: Taking Prescription Medicines Can Have Effects Similar To Drunk Driving, Study Shows
A new national survey from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found many Americans take their prescription or over-the-counter medicines and get behind the wheel. But that may not be a safe decision. The study identifies antihistamines, cough medicines, antidepressants, prescription pain medicines, muscle relaxants, sleep aids and amphetamines as “potentially driver impairing” (PDI) medicines. (Giles Wantuck, 7/26)

CNN: Exercise More Than Recommended Amounts For Longest Life, Study Says
A longer life may mean scheduling in even more than the recommended amount of weekly exercise, according to a new study. Adults should get 150 to 300 minutes of moderate physical activity or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous physical activity a week, according to the World Health Organization. But people who surpass those levels live longer than those who don't. (Holcombe, 7/26)

Press Association: Air Pollution Likely To Contribute To Diseases Including Dementia - Committee
Air pollution is "likely" to increase the risk of developing dementia, a Government research group has said. The Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants has published its findings after reviewing almost 70 studies which analysed how exposure to emissions affect the brain over time. (Parnaby, 7/27)

The Hill: Most Child-Free Americans Decide In Their Teens And 20s Not To Have Kids: Study
Most American adults who do not want children made the decision to be childfree early in life, according to a new study.  Michigan State University researchers, for a study published in Scientific Reports, identified childfree adults by using data from a representative sample of 1,500 adults who completed MSU’s State of the State Survey. (Barnes, 7/26)

The Washington Post: The U.S. Rate Of C-Section Births Continues To Climb
Births by Caesarean section increased to about 32 percent of all U.S. births last year, continuing what has been a small but steady increase for much of the past 25 years, according to a new report from the National Center for Health Statistics, which is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Searing, 7/26)

CIDRAP: Study: COVID Vaccine Doesn't Raise Risk Of Myopericarditis In Kids Aged 5 To 11
The risk of myocarditis and/or pericarditis was not significantly different among children ages 5 to 11 years after COVID-19 vaccination from that of unvaccinated children and much lower than that among children aged 12 to 17, finds a prospective study in Denmark published today in Pediatrics. (7/26)

Reuters: Faster PCR Equipment Being Designed For Local Settings
New technology for performing the gold-standard test for SARS-CoV-2 infection weighs just 2 pounds (0.9 kg) and gives results in 23 minutes rather than the usual 24 hours, according to researchers. (Lapid, 7/26)

Reuters: Experimental Chewing Gum Reduces Omicron In Saliva
An experimental chewing gum that "traps" SARS-CoV-2 particles in saliva holds promise for curbing transmission of new variants of the virus, according to new data, as researchers prepare to launch the first human trial. (Lapid, 7/26)

The Wall Street Journal: Drugmakers Hope New Heart Drugs Boost Sales, Revive Market
The once lucrative heart-drug market is now poised to make a comeback, but at the cost of heavy investments in research and deal making. After watching lower-priced generics seize sales of once-highflying blood-pressure, cholesterol and other heart drugs, companies struggled to discover replacements and then win reimbursement for five-figure prices. Drugmakers are now rolling out new medicines, though their commercial prospects are uncertain. (Hopkins, 7/26)

Reuters: U.S. FDA Accepts Biogen's ALS Therapy For Review
Biogen Inc's (BIIB.O) treatment for a rare type of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) was accepted for review by the U.S. health regulator, weeks after follow-up analyses of data from a failed late-stage study suggested the drug was likely to work. (7/26)

Reuters: BioNTech, Pfizer Sue CureVac In U.S. Over COVID-19 Vaccine Patent Claims
July 26 (Reuters) - COVID-19 vaccine maker BioNTech (22UAy.DE) said on Tuesday that it and partner Pfizer (PFE.N) have filed a complaint with the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, seeking a judgment that they did not infringe U.S. patents held by rival CureVac (5CV.DE). The lawsuit, filed Monday, said CureVac is trying to profit from the success of BioNTech and Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccines after CureVac's efforts to create its own vaccine failed. (Burger, 7/26)

Stat: Health Care's High Rollers: As The Pandemic Raged, CEOs' Earnings Surged
The CEOs of approximately 300 health care companies collectively took home more than $4.5 billion in 2021, according to a STAT analysis of hundreds of financial filings. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals CEO Leonard Schleifer represented 10% of that total on his own, pulling in an astounding $453 million. (Herman, Sheridan, Parker, Feuerstein and Ravindranath, 7/18)

Stat: American Cancer Society’s VC Arm Partners With Third Rock
Cancer startups aren’t exactly underfunded — as a disease area, oncology has commanded investors’ attention for the last decade. But the American Cancer Society sees gaps. “Oncology actually is very well-resourced and invested in. The challenge is, is the money going to the areas where there’s the greatest impact?” said Alice Pomponio, the managing director of the society’s venture capital arm, BrightEdge. (DeAngelis, 7/26)

Stat: Cue Health Rode Covid To A $3 Billion Valuation. Now It Faces A Rocky Future
It didn’t have the brand recognition of Abbott, or the billions of the medical technology multinational Becton Dickinson. Before the pandemic hit, Cue Health didn’t even have a product on the market. What the fledgling company did have in July 2020 was a deal to provide its newly authorized Covid-19 test for the National Basketball Association’s highly publicized bubble. (Palmer, 7/27)

NBC News: 3M Is Creating A $1 Billion Trust For Service Members Who Say Its Earplugs Didn’t Protect Them From Hearing Loss
Facing thousands of lawsuits from U.S. service members who said 3M earplugs failed to protect their hearing, the manufacturing giant announced it is committing $1 billion to a trust to resolve the suits — and that Aearo Technologies, the 3M unit that made the plugs, is filing for voluntary bankruptcy as part of the plan. (Morgenson, 7/26)

The Washington Post: Pacific Northwest Heat Wave: Temperatures To 110 In Oregon, Washington
Throughout the Pacific Northwest, temperatures are forecast to be the highest of the summer and aren’t predicted to drop until the weekend. In Seattle and Portland, this heat wave could approach records for longevity. Both cities are under excessive heat warnings until Thursday evening. Seattle may see the mercury hit 90 on four consecutive days through Friday, while Portland may get afternoon temperatures hovering near 100. (Cappucci, 7/26)