First Edition: June 12, 2023

KFF Health News: Chronic Lifeguard Shortage Serves As Springboard To Address Racial Inequities
Two summers ago, a teenager who had jumped off the diving board started struggling in the deep end, her arms flailing. It took only a few seconds for lifeguard Makenna John to notice the girl’s distress. She grabbed her rescue tube, jumped in, and helped the girl to safety. This summer is Makenna’s third lifeguarding at the public pool in Roxana, Illinois, a village in the St. Louis area. Although dramatic rescues are relatively rare, she estimates that up to a quarter of the roughly 50 people she keeps a watchful eye on during a shift can’t swim. Then there are the daredevils and children whose parents think they’re better swimmers than they are. (Andrews, 6/12)

KFF Health News: What Does A Chatbot Know About Eating Disorders? Users Of A Help Line Are About To Find Out 
For more than 20 years, the National Eating Disorders Association has operated a phone line and online platform for people seeking help for anorexia, bulimia, and other eating disorders. Last year, nearly 70,000 individuals used the help line. NEDA shuttered that service in May, saying that, in its place, a chatbot called Tessa, designed by eating disorder experts with funding from NEDA, would be deployed. (Wells, 6/12)

Reuters: Biden Administration Near Deal To Preserve Preventive Care Coverage, For Now
The agreement between the administration and conservative businesses and individuals that sued to challenge the mandate is not yet final, according to a filing with the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The deal would preserve the mandate nationwide while appeals play out, but allow the employer challenging the mandate, Texas-based Braidwood Management, to stop covering pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) against HIV and other preventive services without co-pays for its employees for now. (Pierson, 6/9)

AP: Compromise May Mean Continued Reprieve For 'Obamacare' Preventive Care Mandates 
Attorneys told a federal appeals court Friday they are close to an agreement that could temporarily maintain government requirements that health insurance plans include coverage of HIV-preventing drugs, cancer screenings and other preventive care while a court battle over the mandates plays out. An agreement could be ready to present to the court by Tuesday, attorneys for opponents of the mandates and the Biden administration, which is defending the mandates, said in a brief report filed with the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans. (McGill, 6/9)

Stat: FDA Panel Unanimously Endorses Eisai’s Alzheimer’s Drug Leqembi
Expert advisers to the Food and Drug Administration on Friday voted unanimously in favor of expanding the approval of Leqembi, an Alzheimer’s disease treatment from Eisai and Biogen, further clearing the way for what could be the first widely available medicine that delays the disease’s progress. (Feuerstein and Garde, 6/9)

Reuters: U.S. Government Sets Penalties On 43 Drugs Over Price Hikes
The Biden administration on Friday announced it would impose inflation penalties on 43 drugs for the third quarter of 2023, having fined 27 earlier this year, in a move it said would lower costs for older Americans by as much as $449 per dose. Drugmakers hiked the price of these 43 drugs by more than the rate of inflation and are required to pay the difference of those medicines to Medicare, the federal health program for Americans over age 65. (Wingrove, 6/9)

Stat: Chamber Sues Over Medicare Drug-Price Negotiation 
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce sued the federal government over its new Medicare drug-price negotiation program on Friday, arguing that Congress tried to take too much power away from the courts. (Cohrs, 6/10)

AP: 'Unabomber' Ted Kaczynski Died By Suicide In Prison Medical Center, AP Sources Say
Ted Kaczynski, known as the “Unabomber,” who carried out a 17-year bombing campaign that killed three people and injured 23 others, died by suicide, four people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. Kaczynski, who was 81 and suffering from late-stage cancer, was found unresponsive in his cell at the Federal Medical Center in Butner, North Carolina, around 12:30 a.m. on Saturday. Emergency responders performed CPR and revived him before he was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead later Saturday morning, the people told the AP. (Sisak, Balsamo and Offenhartz, 6/11)

The Washington Post: Before He Was The Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski Was A Mind-Control Test Subject
Ted Kaczynski entered Harvard University as a 16-year-old on a scholarship, after skipping the sixth and 11th grades. It was there that he was subjected to an experiment run by Harvard psychologist Henry A. Murray that was backed by the Central Intelligence Agency. ... The program sought to understand how to control subjects’ minds, sometimes using substances such as LSD, according to a document the CIA made publicly available in 2018. (There has not been evidence to suggest LSD or similar substances were used at Harvard on Kaczynski.) (Pietsch, 6/11)

San Francisco Chronicle: Long COVID Risk Slashed By Cheap Diabetes Drug, Study Finds
A cheap, widely available drug shows promise in reducing the risk of long COVID, the persistent symptoms of illness that affect some people after infection with the novel coronavirus. In a new study by researchers at the University of Minnesota, metformin, a drug commonly prescribed to control blood sugar levels in individuals with Type 2 diabetes, has emerged as a potential game-changer in the fight against long COVID. (Vaziri, 6/9)

Los Angeles Times: The Coronavirus Has Made Itself At Home In Animals. Why That Ramps Up The Risk For People
At least 32 animal species in 39 countries have had confirmed coronavirus infections. For the most part, the animals do not become very ill. Still, some are capable of transmitting the virus to other members of their species, just like the asymptomatic humans who became “silent spreaders.” The coronavirus’ ability to infect so many different animals, and to spread within some of those populations, is worrying news: It means there’s virtually no chance the world will ever be rid of this particularly destructive coronavirus, scientists said. (Healy, 6/9)

NBC News: What Happened To The Common Cold? Post-Covid, It Feels Like Every Sniffle Needs A Name
“During the pandemic, we generally ran every test available, because we wanted to know if it was Covid or if there was an alternative diagnosis, but this overtesting has carried into this post-Covid era,” said the president of the College of Urgent Care Medicine, Dr. Chris Chao, an urgent care physician at WakeMed Health & Hospitals in Raleigh, North Carolina. “People want to know what’s wrong, with them and saying it’s just a virus is not good enough anymore. Everyone who comes in with a sore throat now wants a strep, flu and Covid test, but in most cases none of that’s really indicated.” (Camero, 6/11)

The New York Times: Allina Health Pauses Policy Of Cutting Off Care For Patients In Debt 
Allina Health, a large nonprofit health system based in Minnesota, announced on Friday that it would stop withholding care from patients with outstanding medical debt as it “re-examines” its policy of cutting off services for those who have accrued at least $4,500 in outstanding bills. The health system will now temporarily halt this practice but will not restore care for indebted patients who have already lost access. (Kliff and Silver-Greenberg, 6/9)

Stat: Employers And Workers Are Suing Health Insurers Over Steep Costs
Companies, unions, and workers are at a breaking point over how much they pay for health coverage. And some are so exasperated that they’re fighting their own health insurance carriers in court. A string of new lawsuits and judge orders highlights employers’ frustration with health insurers, who they believe are allowing hospitals, doctors, and other entities to charge flagrantly high prices with little to no pushback — knowing that employers and workers will ultimately pick up the tab. (Herman, 6/12)

The New York Times: Hospice Is A Profitable Business, But Nonprofits Mostly Do A Better Job 
In the nearly 20 years that Megan Stainer worked in nursing homes in and around Detroit, she could almost always tell which patients near death were receiving care from nonprofit hospice organizations and which from for-profit hospices. “There were really stark differences,” said Ms. Stainer, 45, a licensed practical nurse. Looking at their medical charts, “the nonprofit patients always had the most visits: nurses, chaplains, social workers.” The nonprofit hospices responded quickly when the nursing home staff requested supplies and equipment. By contrast, she said, “if you called and said, ‘I need a specialized bed,’ with for-profits it could take days — days when the patient is in a bed that’s uncomfortable.” (Span, 6/10)

Charlotte Ledger: Few Inspectors Mean Nursing Home Complaints Go Unaddressed
In April 2021, Tom Benoit was so upset about his wife’s care in a New Hanover County nursing home that he called the state to file a formal complaint. His wife, who was unable to walk on her own, often waited more than an hour for someone to respond to her call light when she needed to use the bathroom. She was rarely bathed. Staff members failed to administer her medications on time, Benoit alleged. (Crouch, 6/12)

Modern Healthcare: Sutter Health Plans Big California Expansion
Sutter Health is plotting an aggressive expansion in northern California that would add more than two dozen ambulatory care centers in the next four years, along with dozens of primary and multispecialty care sites. The nonprofit system, based Sacramento, California, is targeting efforts on areas with access challenges and/or with growing demand for Sutter's services, a spokesperson said. Sutter is working to increase access in multiple ways, such as extending hours of operation, adding entry points for care and investing in better technology, the spokesperson said. (Hudson, 6/9)

The Washington Post: Siblings Of Child Abuse Victims Also Should Be Examined, Experts Say
When children are brought to a doctor with suspected injuries related to abuse or neglect, they often undergo MRIs and other screenings designed to find internal injuries. Now, an international group is calling for pediatricians to examine siblings and other children who may have been exposed to abuse. In a consensus statement in JAMA Pediatrics, a group of 26 pediatricians and radiologists with experience working with cases of suspected child abuse calls for the routine examination of “contact children” — siblings, children who live with a suspected victim and those cared for by suspected perpetrators. (Blakemore, 6/10)

Modern Healthcare: A.I. To Be Top Issue At Annual AMA's Meeting In Chicago
Artificial intelligence, and worries that it will lead to patient misinformation, is a key topic at this year's American Medical Association House of Delegates meeting in Chicago. The six-day event starting Friday draws 3,000 physicians, residents and medical students. The group's committees and house of delegates will discuss and potentially vote on a wide range of policy proposals.  Delegates will review three proposals tied to the excitement surrounding A.I.'s use in healthcare, including two focused on the technology's potential misinformation to patients. (Hudson, 6/9)

Reuters: Exclusive: US Seeks New Suppliers Of Highly Used Cancer Drug Methotrexate In Short Supply 
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Friday it is seeking new suppliers to ease shortages of methotrexate, one of the most commonly used cancer drugs, building on its push to shore up two other scarce chemotherapy medicines. An FDA spokesperson told Reuters the agency is looking for temporary importation options for the drug, which has been in shortage since March. (Steenhuysen and Erman, 6/9)

Modern Healthcare: Walgreens Sells Option Care Health Holdings For $330M
Walgreens Boots Alliance sold its remaining shares of Option Care Health Thursday for more than $330 million marking an end to its stake in the company. The drugstore chain will devote the proceeds from selling 10.8 million shares of what used to be known as Walgreens Infusion Services to reducing its debt, the company said in a news release Thursday. Walgreens Boots has been slowly selling off Option Care stock. In March, the company sold 15.5 million shares of Option Care for $30.75 per share. (Berryman, 6/9)

AP: North Carolina Governor Signs Bill Allowing Blue Cross To Restructure 
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper signed into law on Saturday a bill allowing the state’s leading health insurance provider to reorganize despite pleas from other executive officials to block the proposal. The new law, which passed the GOP-controlled General Assembly with overwhelming bipartisan support, permits Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina and a dental insurance provider to transfer assets into a parent holding company that the state insurance commissioner warned would be able to move money with little oversight. The law takes immediate effect. (Schoenbaum, 6/10)

AP: Mental Health Experts Concerned About Impacts Of St. Dominic’s Closing Mental Health Unit 
Now that a hospital in Mississippi’s capital has closed its unit specializing in mental health care, experts fear a domino effect for people seeking such services. “It’s just, to me, a big blow to the entire system,” Sitaniel Wimbley, executive director of NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Mississippi, said of St. Dominic Hospital’s decision to shut down its behavioral health services. (6/9)

AP: Youth Environmentalists Bring Montana Climate Case To Trial After 12 Years, Seeking To Set Precedent
Whether a constitutional right to a healthy, livable climate is protected by state law is at the center of a lawsuit going to trial Monday in Montana, where 16 young plaintiffs and their attorneys hope to set an important legal precedent. It’s the first trial of its kind in the U.S., and legal scholars around the world are following its potential addition to the small number of rulings that have established a government duty to protect citizens from climate change. (Brown and Hanson, 6/11)

NBC News: Florida Man Contracts Flesh-Eating Disease After Bite In Family Brawl
A Florida man almost lost his leg — and could have died — from a rare flesh-eating bacterial infection, which developed after he was bitten in the thigh during a family fight. Donnie Adams, a 53-year-old funeral assistant from the Tampa suburb of Riverview, went to the emergency room in mid-February to treat a bump the size of a dollar coin on his upper left thigh. (Bendix and Li, 6/9)

WMFE: Orange County Issues Mosquito Advisory After Eastern Equine Encephalitis Discovery
The state Department of Health issued an advisory to Orange County residents urging caution as area mosquitoes are testing positive for a deadly disease. Orange County Mosquito Control found 50% of a sentinel chicken coop tested positive for Eastern Equine Encephalitis disease along the perimeter of the county. The disease is rare but is deadly and can cause serious neurological problems, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Pedersen, 6/9)

Stat: Top Health Officials Call For More Research On Fentanyl Test Strips
The government’s top addiction scientists and key public health officials are calling for more research into fentanyl test strips. Amid a devastating overdose epidemic, the U.S. must ensure that test strips are legal and widely available, the officials wrote in a New England Journal of Medicine perspective published Saturday. Additionally, they argued, the U.S. should work to develop new products and technologies that facilitate drug-checking. (Facher, 6/10)

Los Angeles Times: A Metro Worker Revived 21 Riders Overdosing On Opioids
Walking along a rail platform, a veteran transit worker spotted a package of the opioid overdose-reversing drug naloxone, picked it up and slipped it in his vest. He couldn’t imagine that he would use the medicine less than two hours later. But looking back on that evening in February 2022, it shouldn’t have been a surprise. (Uranga, 6/9)

The Wall Street Journal: Recovering From Drug Addiction Was Hard. Tranq Made It Worse
David “Lee” Wells marveled at how it felt to hold an iced coffee in his hand again after losing his fingers to “tranq” wounds that rotted away his flesh. He flashed a cheeky grin and took a selfie with his new titanium fingers wrapped around the cup. “This is the aftermarket me,” he said. This is what recovery looks like for drug users disfigured by xylazine, or “tranq,” an animal tranquilizer mixed into America’s increasingly toxic illicit drug supply. (Wernau, 6/11)

AP: Abstinence Not Required: How A Baltimore Drug Treatment Program Prioritizes Saving Lives 
The so-called harm reduction model, which has received endorsement and funding from the Biden administration, offers potentially life-saving services to opioid users, without requiring abstinence in return. Advocates say it acknowledges the importance of keeping people alive, first and foremost, while they confront the sometimes insurmountable challenges associated with recovery. Critics argue it enables illegal activity. (Skene, 6/11)

The Washington Post: Insurers Clamping Down On Doctors Who Prescribe Ozempic For Weight Loss
The letters from the insurance company arrived in recent weeks, bearing a warning to health care providers who prescribe Ozempic, a diabetes drug that has gained popularity as a weight-loss treatment. “The Special Investigations Unit has completed a comprehensive review of your prescription and professional claims,” said one letter to a Missouri doctor from insurer Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield. Of the patients for whom the doctor prescribed Ozempic, the review found that more than 60 percent lacked “sufficient evidence” of diabetes, its Food and Drug Administration-approved use. (Gilbert, 6/11)

CBS News: Ozempic Side Effects Could Lead To Hospitalization—And Doctors Warn That Long-Term Impacts Remain Unknown
Dr. Meera Shah, an endocrinologist at the Mayo Clinic, said that by far the most common side effect she sees in patients is nausea, followed by abdominal pain, constipation and diarrhea. These side effects can sometimes get better over time but, Shah said, at least 10% of patients who start these drugs have to be taken off of them because the side effects do not improve. Constant nausea and abdominal pain is an unpleasant reality. The stomach and brain are so connected that intestinal issues can lead to stress, anxiety and depression -- it's what's known as the "gut-brain connection." (Korte, 6/10)

The Wall Street Journal: Can Ozempic Treat Binge Eating? For Some, The Answer Is Yes
Kristen Ireland struggled with bulimia nervosa for years, working with a therapist and taking medications for anxiety and depression. It wasn’t until her psychiatrist prescribed Victoza, a diabetes medication that works much like Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro, that her binges and purges faded away. “I feel free now,” said Ireland, 27 years old, who manages sports-merchandise stores in Jackson Hole, Wyo.  (Toy and Abbott, 6/12)

NPR: Biomedical Labs Bleed Horseshoe Crabs For Vaccines With Little Accountability
Horseshoe crabs used to be everywhere. Millions of years before dinosaurs roamed the planet, each spring, the hard-shelled creatures gathered to mate in massive mounds along the beaches of the Atlantic coast. Later, migratory shorebirds like the robin-sized red knot learned to fly up from South America to join them for a feast. The crabs' eggs gave the birds the energy they needed to keep flying north to breed in the Arctic. (Eisner, 6/10)

Axios: Fruit Fly Research Leading To Rare Disease Treatments In Utah
A Utah lab is running sweeping drug experiments to find treatments for rare illnesses, at a low cost — and in months rather than years. The test subjects: millions of fruit flies. (Alberty, 6/9)

The Atlantic: The Growing Battle Over Infant Milk Allergies
Cow’s-milk-protein allergies, or CMPA, might be on the rise—following a similar trend in other children’s food allergies—and they can upend a caregiver’s feeding plans: In many cases, a breastfeeding parent is told to eliminate dairy from their diet, or switch to a specialized hypoallergenic formula, which can be expensive. (Szalinski, 6/11)

NPR: 2022 Was A 'Shockingly Violent Year Against Health Care,' Finds New Report
In conflict zones around the world, violence and threats against hospitals, health care facilities and their personnel reached a grim milestone in 2022, according to a new report from the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition (SHCC). It documented 1,989 such incidents last year — a 45% increase over 2021 and the worst total number since the group began tracking the data a decade ago. (Cole, 9/6)