First Edition: June 15, 2023

KFF Health News: Montana Clinics Chip Away At Refugees’ Obstacles To Dental Care
Yu Yu Htwe had never had dental problems, so she was surprised when a dentist told her she had three cavities at her first appointment in this small city in western Montana. Htwe, 38, is from Myanmar and worked as an OB-GYN there until a military coup overthrew the government in February 2021. Alongside other medical workers, she participated in a civil disobedience movement against the military, and, fearing reprisal, fled the country with her husband and young daughter. (Zurek, 6/15)

KFF Health News: International Rights Group Calls Out US For Allowing Hospitals To Push Millions Into Debt 
Human Rights Watch, the nonprofit that for decades has called attention to the victims of war, famine, and political repression around the world, is taking aim at U.S. hospitals for pushing millions of American patients into debt. In a new report, published June 15, the group calls for stronger government action to protect Americans from aggressive billing and debt collection by nonprofit hospitals, which Human Rights Watch said are systematically undermining patients’ human rights. (Levey, 6/15)

The Hill: Oncologists Urge Congress To Act On Cancer Drug Shortages 
The House Energy & Commerce subcommittee on health held a hearing on Tuesday to examine avenues for improving preparedness against public health security risks. The hearing occurred amid an ongoing shortage of chemotherapy drugs in the U.S. ... “Frustration and outright anger do not begin to describe how I feel in reading heartbreak stories of patients with cancer not being able to receive treatment due to shortages of decades-old, low-cost generic drugs,” Ted Okon, executive director of the Community Oncology Alliance, told the House panel on Tuesday. (Weixel and Choi, 6/14)

Ohio Capital Journal: Cancer Drug Shortages Decried In Congressional Hearing
There’s an acute shortage of injectable cancer drugs because manufacturers can’t make money off of them, two experts told a U.S. House subcommittee Tuesday. But it’s unclear whether chaos in the GOP Caucus that’s supposed to be running the chamber will allow for action. The testimony came before the Health Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. A subject of the hearing was to consider reauthorization of the Pandemic and All Hazards Preparedness Act, or PAHPA. It was passed in 2006 amid a threat of an Avian Influenza pandemic that didn’t materialize, but was used heavily during the coronavirus pandemic 14 years later. (Schladen, 6/15)

CIDRAP: Life-Threatening Cancer Drug Shortages Are Result Of A Cascade Of Troubles
The current shortage of widely used cancer drugs—the result of a convergence of ongoing problems—is putting adults' and children's lives at risk in the United States and globally, experts say. ... Supplies of at least 20 chemotherapy drugs and adjuvants (drugs given to augment primary treatment or prevent adverse effects) are limited, including amifostine, capecitabine, carboplatin, cisplatin, dacarbazine, dexamethasone, docetaxel, fludarabine, fluorouracil, hydrocortisone injection, leucovorin, methotrexate, octreotide, ondansetron, paclitaxel, palifermin, and streptozocin, according to the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP), and azacytidine, cytarabine, lutetium lu 177 vipivotide tetraxetan, per the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). (Van Beusekom, 6/14)

Miami Herald: Recall: Cancer, AIDS Drugs In Bipolar Disorder Drugs’ Boxes
Boxes labeled for a drug used for mental health patients actually had blister packets of a drug used to help patients dealing with AIDS or cancer treatments. The Harvard Group aka Major Pharmaceutical and Rugby Labatories recalled one lot each of Ziprasidone Hydrochloride, 20 mg strength, and Dronabinol capsules, 2.5 mg strength. The blister packs of Dronabinol were inside the boxes labeled for Ziprasidone, although the blister packs were labeled as containing Dronabinol. (Neal, 6/14)

Reuters: US Drug Overdose Deaths Top 109,000 In The Past Year 
More than 109,000 Americans died from drug overdoses in the 12-month period ending January 2023, a slight increase from the previous year, according to provisional data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released on Wednesday. The figure is up 0.7% from 108,825 overdoses recorded in the 12-month period ending January 2022, according to U.S. data. (Srinivasan and Mandowara, 6/14)

AP: Suicides And Homicides Among Young Americans Jumped Early In Pandemic, Study Says 
The homicide rate for older U.S. teenagers rose to its highest point in nearly 25 years during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the suicide rate for adults in their early 20s was the worst in more than 50 years, government researchers said Thursday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report examined the homicide and suicide rates among 10- to 24-year-olds from 2001 to 2021. (Stobbe, 6/15)

The New York Times: In Minnesota, Canada Wildfire Smoke Descends In An Unhealthy Haze
The state pollution control agency said that the air quality should improve for northern Minnesota on Thursday, but that smoke would continue to linger across much of the southern part of the state. And this might not be the last of the smoky skies this year. The possibility of poor air quality in Minnesota and other parts of the United States will continue, said Nick Carletta, one of the lead meteorologists at the Twin Cities office of the National Weather Service, “as long as these fires keep on going in Canada.” (Betts and Londono, 6/14)

The Boston Globe: Harvard Morgue Manager Accused Of Stealing, Selling Body Parts
According to Harvard Medical School, Lodge’s responsibilities included “preparing for and intaking anatomical donors’ bodies, coordinating embalming, overseeing the storage and movement of cadavers to and from teaching labs, and, when studies were complete, preparing remains to be transported to and from the external crematorium and, when appropriate, for burial.” He did not manage other employees, according to the school’s media relations team. (Porter, 6/14)

Modern Healthcare: Senate PBM Bill Would Unlink Fees, Rebates From Drug Prices
Pharmacy benefit managers would not be allowed to incorporate fees, pharmaceutical company rebates and other costs into prescription drug prices for Medicare Part D plans under bipartisan Senate legislation introduced Wednesday. (Nzanga, 6/14)

Roll Call: CDC Alerts States Of Cuts To STI Workforce, Blames Debt Deal
The CDC told states on Tuesday that it was reducing funding for workers who fight sexually transmitted infections by $400 million, according to an email obtained by CQ Roll Call. The spending cuts are caused by the recently passed debt ceiling deal. (Cohen, 6/14)

Modern Healthcare: CMS: National Health Expenditures To Surpass $7T A Year 
National health expenditures will surpass $7 trillion and consume nearly one-fifth of the U.S. economy in 2031, according to projections the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' Office of the Actuary published Wednesday. Healthcare spending will rise by an average of 5.4% a year from 2022 through 2031, when it will reach $7.17 trillion, or 19.6% of gross domestic product. "Health spending over the course of the next 10 years is expected to grow more rapidly, on average, than the overall economy," CMS actuaries wrote in the journal Health Affairs. (Turner, 6/14)

CIDRAP: Monoclonal Antibody Injection Shown To Prevent COVID-19 During Delta, Omicron
A single injection of the monoclonal antibody adintrevimab prevented COVID-19 in the phase 2/3 EVADE trial, finds a study yesterday in Open Forum Infectious Diseases. The randomized controlled trial measured outcomes among 2,582 vaccine-naive participants ages 12 years and older who received either a single 300-milligram intramuscular injection of adintrevimab or placebo. ... There were no serious side effects reported during the study. (Soucheray, 6/14)

Bloomberg: Covid Test Maker Ellume Set To Liquidate After Failed Sale To Hough Consolidated
An Australian company that clinched the first US clearance for its at-home Covid-19 test kit has collapsed into liquidation after a sale to a competitor fell through. Covid-19 test maker Ellume Ltd.’s sale to Hough Consolidated Pty Ltd. unraveled this week, and the company is now winding down operations, according to a statement. Hough had agreed to buy the company in December for $38 million (A$56 million), but the deal fell apart after Hough made repeated requests to extend deadlines tied to the agreement. (Griffin and Pollard, 6/14)

Fox News: Early Surge Of Flu Activity In Australia Has Doctors On Alert For What May Happen In US This Fall And Winter
Epidemiologists this summer are closely watching the sharp rise in flu activity in the Southern Hemisphere, where it is currently winter, to see if it’s a sign of what’s to come in the U.S. The Australian Department of Health and Aged Care reported an increase in influenza-like illness activity in almost all jurisdictions in the final two weeks of May. The illness activity was highest in young children ages 5 to 9, followed by children 4 years and younger, and then those ages 10 to 14. (Sudhakar, 6/14)

The Hill: Google Hosts, Profits From Fake Abortion Clinic Ads: Report
Google is profiting from ads placed by anti-abortion groups for so-called crisis pregnancy centers that pose as reproductive healthcare clinics but aim to dissuade pregnant people from accessing abortion care, according to a report released Thursday. The report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate’s (CCDH), a non-profit that aims to counter online misinformation, found that Google earned an estimated $10.2 million from ads for the fake abortion clinics in the last two years. (Klar, 6/15)

Axios: Ban On Selling Cellphone Location-Based Data Pushed In Massachusetts By Pro-Abortion Rights Advocates
There's a new effort afoot to restrict cellphone data-sharing, in order to protect the privacy of patients seeking abortions and gender-affirming care in the state. A coalition of advocacy groups, led by the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, launched a campaign today to push for a state law banning the sale and trade of cellphone-based location data. (Solis, 6/14)

NPR: Nearly A Year Later, Most Americans Oppose Supreme Court's Decision Overturning Roe
The data, released days before the one-year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision that overturned decades of precedent, suggests continued growth in public support for abortion rights. It comes at a time when many states are implementing new restrictions, which often include only limited exceptions for medical emergencies. A year after Dobbs, 61% of respondents said overturning Roe was a "bad thing," while 38% said it was a "good thing." (McCammon, 6/14)

CNN: Scientists Report Creation Of First Human Synthetic Model Embryos
A team of researchers in the United States and United Kingdom say they have created the world’s first synthetic human embryo-like structures from stem cells, bypassing the need for eggs and sperm. These embryo-like structures are at the very earliest stages of human development: They don’t have a beating heart or a brain, for example. But scientists say they could one day help advance the understanding of genetic diseases or the causes of miscarriages. (Goodman, 6/14)

The Washington Post: Endometriosis May Be Caused By Bacteria Commonly Found In The Gut, Mouth 
Emerging research points to a possible link between endometriosis, a chronic disease that causes debilitating pain, and bacteria commonly found in the mouth and gastrointestinal tract. Endometriosis has baffled physicians for years. The condition affects roughly 10 percent of women worldwide and more than 11 percent in the United States. Scientists have theorized about possible triggers, but for now the root cause is largely unknown, which means treatment options are limited. (Malhi, 6/14)

The Washington Post: LGBTQ Americans Have Stronger Support Than Ever Amid Legislative Attacks 
Across the country, LGBTQ activists say they have told themselves one thing over and over this year: We’ve been here before. Though some might think social progress is a straight line up, historian Hugh Ryan said policymakers have often moved to curtail rights after periods of social liberation. Ryan, the author of LGBTQ history books including “When Brooklyn Was Queer,” noted that New York passed its first specifically anti-gay law, a cruising ban, 100 years ago, “immediately after [a] moment that is so progressive, it is still referred to as the Progressive Era.” (Parks, 6/14)

The 19th: Health Care For Trans Youth Is Becoming A Core Issue For Republican Candidates
Trans girls playing in girls sports, Nikki Haley has said for months on the campaign trail, is “the women’s issue of our time.” In Iowa, on the first day of his presidential campaign last week, Mike Pence said he would support a national ban on “radical gender ideology” and gender-affirming health care for transgender kids. (Barclay, 6/14)

AP: Federal Judge Hears Bid To Block Indiana's Ban On Gender-Affirming Care For Minors
Indiana’s Legislature trampled upon the rights of young transgender patients and their parents with a new law aiming to ban them from accessing puberty blockers, hormones and gender-affirming surgeries, an attorney told a federal judge Wednesday. A federal judge in Indianapolis made no immediate ruling after hearing about 90 minutes of arguments from the Indiana attorney general’s office and the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, which is seeking a preliminary injunction that would stop the law from taking effect July 1. The group filed its lawsuit, on behalf of four transgender patients and an Indiana doctor who provides transgender medical treatment, within hours after Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb signed the bill April 5. (Davies, 6/14)

Politico: Thousands Lose Medicaid In Arkansas: Is This America’s Future? 
Twaniesha Boose was surprised to get a call from her doctor recently canceling her appointment because her Medicaid was terminated. The reason surprised her even more. Boose lost her health insurance because she failed to submit paperwork to help the state collect the child support she is owed. “What’s that got to do with me, the kids’ dad?” she said on a 90-degree June day inside a stuffy, unairconditioned community center in Marvell, where Legal Aid attorneys tried to help people who had recently lost their Medicaid. “If you don’t cooperate, they turn off everything.” (Messerly, 6/14)

The 19th: Loss Of Medicaid Dental Coverage Greatly Impacts Pregnant People, Researcher Says
Over a million Americans have begun losing Medicaid coverage, among them postpartum parents who relied on it for dental care that helped protect their health during pregnancy and beyond. (Barber, 6/14)

The Baltimore Sun: Johns Hopkins University And Health System Hit By MOVEit Data Breach; Students And Patients Asked To Be Vigilant
Students, staff and faculty at the Johns Hopkins University as well as patients at the related medical system may have had sensitive information exposed following a recent cybersecurity attack on widely used software, according to the institution. A data breach May 31 involving MOVEit, a file transfer software, impacted both the private research university as well as Johns Hopkins Medicine, the university and medical system said in a letter. (Belson, 6/14)

Stat: Advisory Group Rejects Bid To Make Medical Device Tracking Easier
Every medical device has its own unique code, allowing manufacturers to keep track of their products once they enter the market. But while these codes are critical for recalling faulty devices or issuing updates, they rarely make their way into health records. (Lawrence, 6/14)

Stat: Beware Reading Your Test Results Before Your Doctor Does 
Not so long ago, a father broke down in tears with me over Zoom — tears of relief. When this father had received test results for his child, some of the values in the report appeared in red. That font color made him terrified for his child’s health. It was only when we hopped on Zoom to go over the results that I was able to reassure him: They were in red because the system was comparing them with adult range values. (Christopher Medrano, 6/15)

The New York Times: New Obesity Drugs Come With A Side Effect Of Shaming
The belief persists — fed by diet gurus, influencers and an industry selling supplements and diet plans — that if people really really tried, they could shed pounds. So those who take a drug like Wegovy often end up in uncomfortable situations that are influenced by the common view that obesity is a lifestyle choice. (Kolata, 6/14)

ABC News: California Authorities Seize Enough Fentanyl In San Francisco To Kill City's Entire Population Nearly 3 Times Over
California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced late Wednesday that the state's highway patrol has seized enough fentanyl in San Francisco in the past six weeks to kill the city's entire population nearly three times over. (Winsor, 6/15)

San Francisco Chronicle: Fecal Bacteria Is Polluting Some Of California’s Beaches. Five Of The Dirtiest Are In The Bay Area
Five of the 10 dirtiest beaches in California are in San Mateo County, with Linda Mar Beach in Pacifica ranking third worst, according to an annual report from an environmental group. While Linda Mar faces the Pacific Ocean, the other San Mateo County beaches that scored poorly were all located in enclosed areas or along the bay with poor water circulation, according to the 2022-23 report by the nonprofit organization Heal the Bay. The report looks at water quality at beaches from the Tijuana, Mexico, area to Washington state. (Duggan, 6/14)

Axios: Strawberry Recall: Frozen Strawberries Sold At Walmart, Costco Recalled
Multiple brands of frozen strawberries and fruit products sold at Walmart, Costco and HEB stores are being recalled after being linked to a Hepatitis A outbreak that has sickened nine people. (Tyko, 6/14)

Scientific American: How To Protect Yourself From Ticks And The Dangerous Diseases They Spread 
Roughly the size of a sesame seed, these semimobile sacks of blood trail closely behind mosquitoes for the top transmitters of disease. Ticks are responsible for about 75 percent of the 650,000 vector-borne disease cases that occur annually in the U.S. New England and the Upper Midwest have seen the lion’s share of increase in tick-borne illnesses, such as Lyme disease, anaplasmosis and babesiosis. Last month Maine recorded its first-ever death from the rare, tick-associated Powassan virus. But over the past few decades, various species of ticks have been migrating to new regions, leading to an increase in Rocky Mountain spotted fever cases throughout the South and mid-Atlantic. (Broderick, 6/14)