First Edition: June 18, 2021

KHN: Supreme Court Declines To Overturn ACA — Again 
The Supreme Court on Thursday turned back its third chance to upend the Affordable Care Act, rejecting a lawsuit filed by a group of Republican state attorneys general claiming that a change made by Congress in 2017 had rendered the entire law unconstitutional. By a vote of 7-2, however, the justices did not even reach the merits of the case, ruling instead that the suing states and the individual plaintiffs, two self-employed Texans, lacked “standing” to bring the case to court. (Rovner, 6/17)

KHN: The Hard Realities Of A ‘No Jab, No Job’ Mandate For Health Care Workers
Christopher Richmond keeps a running tab on how many workers at the ManorCare skilled nursing facility he manages in western Pennsylvania have rolled up their sleeves for a covid-19 vaccine. Although residents were eager for the shots this year, he’s counted only about 3 in 4 workers vaccinated at any one time. The excuses, among its staff of roughly 100, had a familiar ring: Because covid vaccines were authorized only for emergency use, some staffers worried about safety. Convenience mattered. In winter, shots were administered at work through a federal rollout. By spring, though, workers had to sign up online through a state program — a time-sucking task. (Spolar, 6/18)

KHN: More Than 100 Missouri Schools Have Bought ‘Often Unproven’ Air-Cleaning Technology 
When the coronavirus pandemic hit, Scott Dulle scoured the internet for ways to safely get kids back into St. Thomas More School, a private pre-K-8 school in Kansas City, Missouri, where he works as the director of building and grounds. When Dulle found air-purifying ionization technology that marketing materials said would inactivate over 99% of the virus that causes covid-19 in minutes, he had to have it. Parishioners who support the parochial school, some of whom were out of work, raised roughly $22,000 to buy the devices.  (Weber and Fentem, 6/18)

KHN: Pandemic Swells Medicaid Enrollment To 80 Million People, A ‘High-Water Mark’ 
The pandemic-caused recession and a federal requirement that states keep Medicaid beneficiaries enrolled until the national emergency ends swelled the pool of people in the program by more than 9 million over the past year, according to a report released Thursday. The latest figures show Medicaid enrollment grew from 71.3 million in February 2020, when the pandemic was beginning in the U.S., to 80.5 million in January, according to a KFF analysis of federal data. (KHN is an editorially independent program of KFF.) (Galewitz, 6/17)

Roll Call: Supreme Court Tosses Out Major Obamacare Challenge 
The 7-2 decision, written by Justice Stephen G. Breyer, means the court did not address legal questions about whether the law, known as the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, is invalid because it no longer has a penalty for most Americans who don’t get health coverage. “We proceed no further than standing,” Breyer wrote, because the challengers did not demonstrate that additional costs they would incur are “fairly traceable” to the “allegedly unlawful conduct” of which they complain. “They have failed to show that they have standing to attack as unconstitutional the Act’s minimum essential coverage provision,” Breyer wrote. (Ruger, 6/17)

The New York Times: Obamacare Survives Latest Supreme Court Challenge 
The margin of victory was wider than in the earlier cases, with six members of the court joining Justice Stephen G. Breyer’s modest and technical majority opinion, one that said only that the 18 Republican-led states and two individuals who brought the case had not suffered the sort of direct injury that gave them standing to sue. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., who had cast the decisive vote to save the law in 2012, was in the majority. So was Justice Clarence Thomas, who had dissented in the earlier decisions. ... Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Brett M. Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett also joined Justice Breyer’s majority opinion. At Justice Barrett’s confirmation hearings last year, Democrats portrayed her as a grave threat to the health care law. (Liptak, 6/17)

Politico: ‘Alito Was Just Pissed’: Trump’s Supreme Court Breaks Down Along Surprising Lines
The key fault line in the Supreme Court that Donald Trump built is not the ideological clash between right and left — it’s the increasingly acrimonious conflict within the court’s now-dominant conservative wing. Those rifts burst wide open on Thursday with two of the highest-profile decisions of the court’s current term. In both the big cases — involving Obamacare and a Catholic group refusing to vet same-sex couples as foster parents in Philadelphia — conservative justices unleashed sharp attacks that seemed aimed at their fellow GOP appointees for failing to grapple with the core issues the cases presented. (Gerstein, 6/17)

The Hill: 'It's Still A BFD': Democrats Applaud Ruling Upholding ObamaCare
Members of the Biden administration and Democratic lawmakers took to social media Thursday to praise the Supreme Court’s decision upholding ObamaCare against the latest Republican challenge. White House chief of staff Ron Klain tweeted, “It's still a BFD,” apparently referring to the abbreviation for “big f---ing deal,” a remark that then-Vice President Biden was recorded uttering to then-President Obama at the 2010 signing ceremony for the Affordable Care Act (ACA). (Castronuovo, 6/17)

AP: GOP Needs New Health Care Target; 'Obamacare' Survives Again
Along with the public’s gradual but decisive acceptance of the statute, the court rulings and legislative defeats underscore that the law, passed in 2010 despite overwhelming GOP opposition, is probably safe. And it spotlights a remarkable progression of the measure from a political liability that cost Democrats House control just months after enactment to a widely accepted bedrock of the medical system, delivering care to what the government says is more than 30 million people. “The Affordable Care Act remains the law of the land,” President Joe Biden said, using the statute’s more formal name, after the court ruled that Texas and other GOP-led states had no right to bring their lawsuit to federal court. (Fram, 6/18)

The New York Times: Obamacare Is Here To Stay. Brace For New Health Care Battles
The waning repeal effort has given Democrats their first chance in a decade to press forward on a new campaign: moving the country toward a system of universal health coverage. It seems the end of a period when Democrats played constant defense, fighting back against legislative and legal challenges. Their recent expansion of health insurance subsidies had widespread support in the party. The stimulus package that Democrats passed in January spent $34 billion to make coverage more affordable for nearly all Americans who purchase their own health plans. That change, however, was temporary and is currently set to expire at the end of 2022. (Sanger-Katz and Kliff, 6/17)

Politico: Obamacare Now Appears Safe. The Battle Over Its Future Continues. 
For once, Democrats and Republicans are offering the same message on Obamacare: The landmark health care law is here to stay. But so are the partisan battles over the law’s future, even after the final shreds of the GOP’s decade-long effort to repeal the Affordable Care Act appeared to be demolished by the Supreme Court’s 7-2 decision Thursday affirming the law for the third time. (Luthi, 6/17)

NBC News: What Now? Congress Eyes New Era Of Health Policy After Obamacare Survives
Lawmakers in Congress wrestled with what the new era of federal health care policy would look like after the Supreme Court on Thursday rejected the latest existential challenge to Obamacare. Democrats said the next step was to build on the sprawling 2010 law, which touched on nearly all aspects of the health care system, by pushing policies to lower costs. (Kapur, 6/17)

The Wall Street Journal: Why Is ACA Still Controversial 11 Years After Healthcare Law Known As Obamacare Was Passed? 
Republicans have argued that the law’s government-backed coverage expansion is too costly. Indeed, some Republican-led states, including Texas and Florida, have declined to expand their Medicaid programs under the ACA. They have also opposed some of the ACA’s prescriptive rules, saying that consumers should have more freedom to choose the types of plans they want, even if those are limited or don’t cover certain things. Some also objected to provisions of the law that deal with reproductive issues, including a mandate that employer plans generally cover contraception. (Mathews, 6/17)

The Hill: Five Takeaways On The Supreme Court's Obamacare Decision 
In what has become something of a Washington tradition, the Supreme Court again upheld the Affordable Care Act on Thursday, in the third major case from Republican challengers to reach the high court. The margin this time was larger, 7-2, as the High Court appears less and less interested in revisiting the health care law through the judiciary. Democrats hailed the ruling as a boost to their signature law, and Republicans were left to figure out a path forward on health care amid another defeat. (Sullivan, 6/17)

The Wall Street Journal: The Affordable Care Act: A Brief History 
Since its passage in 2010, the Affordable Care Act has grown to provide health coverage to more than 31 million people when its Medicaid expansion is included, and survived three challenges before the Supreme Court. Here’s a look at notable changes the law has seen over the years. (Armour, 6/17)

Modern Healthcare: Supreme Court ACA Ruling Could Hasten Biosimilar Development
The Supreme Court voting to uphold the Affordable Care Act on Thursday was greeted with applause from payers and providers—and the biosimilar drug development industry. While opponents of the ACA large criticized the law's expansion of insurance and mandates around coverage, undoing the law would have unraveled the federal framework for reviewing and approving biosimilars, and litigation guidelines that backbone the industry, said Meghan Rose Smith, executive director of the Biosimilars Forum, a trade group that applauded the Supreme Court's decision. In the U.S., biosimilars offer a lower-cost alternative to some 30 name-brand biologics on the market today. (Tepper, 6/17)

The Washington Post: Supreme Court Unanimously Rules For Catholic Group In Philadelphia Foster-Care Dispute
The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Thursday that Philadelphia was wrong to end a Catholic group’s contract to provide foster-care services because the organization refused to work with same-sex couples. It was the latest victory for religious organizations at the increasingly conservative court, and the second time it has ruled against governments trying to enforce an anti-discrimination law protecting LGBTQ rights against those claiming religious liberty. (Barnes, 6/17)

NBC News: Supreme Court Rules In Favor Of Catholic Charity That Wouldn't Allow Same-Sex Foster Parents
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the city of Philadelphia went too far in imposing its anti-discrimination law on a Roman Catholic charity, Catholic Social Services, that refused to consider same-sex parents eligible to adopt foster children. The case required the justices to decide whether the Constitution allows a religious freedom exception to anti-discrimination laws. It was the first of this term's major legal disputes to be heard with Justice Amy Coney Barrett, an appointee of President Donald Trump, on the court. The court's ruling was unanimous, but it was narrowly confined to the facts of this case and is therefore unlikely to have a nationwide impact. (Williams, 6/17)

The Wall Street Journal: U.S. To Invest More Than $3 Billion In Covid-19 Antiviral Development
The Biden administration will invest more than $3 billion on developing and manufacturing antiviral pills to treat coronavirus, the Department of Health and Human Services said Thursday. “New antivirals that prevent serious Covid-19 illness and death, especially oral drugs that could be taken at home early in the course of disease, would be powerful tools for battling the pandemic and saving lives,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to President Biden and the nation’s top infectious-disease expert. (Siddiqui, 6/17)

The New York Times: A Pill To Treat Covid-19? The U.S. Is Betting On It. 
The U.S. government spent more than $18 billion last year funding drugmakers to make a Covid vaccine, an effort that led to at least five highly effective shots in record time. Now it’s pouring more than $3 billion on a neglected area of research: developing pills to fight the virus early in the course of infection, potentially saving many lives in the years to come. The new program, announced on Thursday by the Department of Health and Human Services, will speed up the clinical trials of a few promising drug candidates. If all goes well, some of those first pills could be ready by the end of the year. The Antiviral Program for Pandemics will also support research on entirely new drugs — not just for the coronavirus, but for viruses that could cause future pandemics. (Zimmer, 6/17)

Bloomberg: CureVac’s Flop Shows Pfizer, Moderna Made MRNA Look Too Easy
The rapid development and remarkable efficacy of Covid-19 shots from Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc. created sky-high expectations for the novel technology they employ. CureVac NV’s vaccine disappointment shows that not every messenger-RNA project will live up to hopes. The German biotech firm made some crucial choices that set its candidate apart. Although the trial results it published earlier this week aren’t directly comparable, and the proliferation of viral variants has complicated studies since the other shots were tested last year, experts say key differences between the vaccines probably played a major role in CureVac’s weak results. (Loh and Kresge, 6/18)

CNBC: Covid: Pfizer CEO Sees A Return To 'Normal' Globally By The End Of 2022
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla told CNBC on Wednesday he expects life could return to normal for developed countries by the end of this year and the rest of the world by the end of 2022. By the end of next year, there should be enough Covid-19 vaccine doses for most world leaders to successfully inoculate their populations against the virus, Bourla said during an interview with Andrew Ross Sorkin at the CNBC Evolve Global Summit. (Lovelace Jr., 6/16)

NBC News: Over 300 Cases Of Heart Issue After Covid Vaccination Reported In Young People, CDC Says
More than 300 cases of heart inflammation after Covid-19 vaccinations have been reported in young people, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said Thursday. "The case are rare," she said. "Over 20 million adolescents and young adults [have been] vaccinated in the United States." (Edwards, 6/17)

CNN: Myocarditis: Heart Inflammation Condition Looked Like Heart Attack In Kids, Pediatrician Says 
The teenaged boys all looked like they were having heart attacks. They complained of chest pain and general discomfort, and tests looked at first as if they were suffering an acute myocardial infarction, or heart attack. But they weren't. Instead, the seven youths ages 14 to 19 were suffering from a very rare type of heart inflammation. It's one that public health officials are beginning to link to Covid-19 vaccines. (Fox, 6/17)

The Washington Post: CDC Lowers Warning For Cruises, Recommends Only Fully Vaccinated Travel 
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has relaxed its warning for cruise travel for the first time since several outbreaks on ships brought the industry to a halt last year. But it also recommended that only fully vaccinated people embark when cruises resume from U.S. ports this summer. “Since the virus spreads more easily between people in close quarters aboard ships, the chance of getting covid-19 on cruise ships is high,” the agency said. It recommended that all passengers get tested a few days before and after their trip, while urging unvaccinated travelers to self-isolate for seven days after disembarkation. (Miller and Hassan, 6/18)

AP: As COVID-19 Crisis Ebbs, Some Seeking 9/11-Style Commission
With more than 600,000 Americans dead of COVID-19 and questions still raging about the origin of the virus and the government’s response, a push is underway on Capitol Hill and beyond for a full-blown investigation of the crisis by a national commission like the one that looked into 9/11. It is unclear whether such a probe will ever happen, though a privately sponsored team of public health experts is already laying the groundwork for one. (Reeves and Kunzelman, 6/17)

Politico: Child Tax Credit Checks Could Come As A Surprise To Some 
The Biden administration is preparing to send money to millions of Americans — including to some who may not want it. Its plan to have people claim a portion of their child tax credit each month, starting in July, is primarily designed to provide a steady stream of cash to low-income Americans. But the administration intends to automatically enroll everyone who takes the credit — some 50 million families, earning up to $400,000 — in the monthly payment program unless they opt out. (Faler, 6/17)

The Hill: White House Officials Won't Say If US Will Meet July Vaccine Goal 
White House officials won't say whether they believe the U.S. will meet President Biden's goal of getting 70 percent of adults partially vaccinated against COVID-19 by July 4. But even if that goal is not met, administration officials insist it won't negatively impact the country's overall recovery. (Weixel, 6/17)

CNN: The US Must Vaccinate Most Of The Country Against Covid-19 By Winter To Avoid More Variants, Expert Says 
With the odds stacked against the US reaching the target of 70% of adults at least partially vaccinated by July 4 -- a goal set by President Joe Biden -- a vaccine expert said time is running out to get ahead of the potential spread of Covid-19 variants. "Vaccines are our only way out of this," Dr. Paul Offit told CNN's Wolf Blitzer. "Unless we vaccinate a significant percentage of the population before winter hits, you're going to see more spread and the creation of more variants, which will only make this task more difficult." (Holcombe, 6/18)

Roll Call: Immigrants Crucial To Vaccinating US, But Gaps Remain 
When Cynthia Garcia took her father to get his COVID-19 vaccination, he was turned away. A 59-year-old diabetic, Cynthia’s dad qualified for a vaccine early in the rollout. But because he is an undocumented immigrant and couldn’t show identification when the pharmacy asked, he didn’t get his shot. (Simon, 6/17)

Los Angeles Times: California Administers 40 Millionth Dose Of COVID-19 Vaccine
In a week of milestones, California has hit another major turning point in the fight against the pandemic: More than 40 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have now been administered across the state. State officials announced the latest total, 40,098,803 doses, Thursday afternoon, two days after the economy was fully reopened. Officials and health experts have said California’s high vaccination rates have reduced the risk of outbreaks with the wide reopening, noting that new cases and deaths continue to plummet. (Smith, 6/17)

AP: Nevada To Offer $5M In Cash Prizes To Boost Vaccine Effort
A new kind of jackpot is coming to Nevada, the governor said Thursday, but only for state residents who have gotten at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine. Gov. Steve Sisolak on Thursday announced a broad effort to encourage reluctant or forgetful residents to get shots, adding his state to a growing list offering unconventional incentives to revive flatlining vaccination programs amid waning demand. (Ritter and Metz, 6/17)

The Advocate: $1M Jackpot, Scholarships: COVID Vaccine Lottery Announced In Louisiana. Here's How To Qualify
Louisiana residents who get a COVID-19 vaccine by the end of July will be eligible to enter to win a $1 million jackpot, Gov. John Bel Edwards said Thursday. It's one of 14 cash prizes and scholarship awards totaling $2.3 million that Louisiana will dole out in weekly drawings beginning next month as part of a campaign to juice the state's dismal vaccination rate. But any Louisiana resident who has received at least one dose of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines or the single-dose Johnson & Johnson shot is eligible for the lottery. (Paterson, 6/17)

The Washington Post: Starting Saturday, D.C. Residents Can Get Gift Cards When They Get Vaccinated
In her latest push to get D.C. residents vaccinated against the coronavirus, Mayor Muriel E. Bowser has announced a new incentive: $51 Visa gift cards. Starting Saturday, District residents 12 and older who receive their first vaccine dose at the R.I.S.E Demonstration Center, Anacostia High School or Ron Brown College Preparatory High School will receive a $51 gift card after getting their shot, Bowser (D) said in a statement. The promotion — a nod to the District’s quest to become the 51st state — will last through July 17. (Brice-Saddler, 6/17)

AP: Sign-Ups Growing For Kentucky Prizes Tied To COVID Shots
The number of Kentuckians vying for lucrative prizes tied to getting the COVID-19 vaccine continues to grow, Gov. Andy Beshear said. More than 414,000 Kentucky adults have entered drawings for $1 million prizes, the governor said Thursday. Another 23,000 youngsters are entered for college scholarships, he said. (6/18)

USA Today: Michigan To Lift Restrictions Next Week
Michigan will lift all indoor capacity restrictions and mask requirements next week, 10 days sooner than planned amid vaccinations and plummeting COVID-19 infections, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced Thursday. “Today is a day that we have all been looking forward to, as we can safely get back to normal day-to-day activities and put this pandemic behind us,” Whitmer said in a news release. Just months ago, the state was considered the worst COVID-19 hot spot in the nation. At mid-April, it was at a record-high for childhood hospitalizations — an alarming virus situation that researchers blamed on the U.K. variant when it first turned up in the state. (Aspegren, 6/18)

Bloomberg: Double-Lung Transplants Rise After Covid ‘Honeycombs’ Organs
John Micklus’s battle with Covid-19 began last Christmas and ended five weeks later with lungs so damaged that doctors said there was nothing they could do to save him. “The doctor’s recommendation was to get my affairs in order,” Micklus said. The 62-year-old called his wife from his hospital bed in southern Maryland. She, in turn, desperately called several physicians, and eventually learned of one last option: A double-lung transplant. (Gale, 6/17)

CNBC: New Covid Study Hints At Long-Term Loss Of Brain Tissue, Dr. Scott Gottlieb Warns
Dr. Scott Gottlieb warned Thursday about the potential for long-term brain loss associated with Covid, citing a new study from the United Kingdom. “In short, the study suggests that there could be some long-term loss of brain tissue from Covid, and that would have some long-term consequences,” the former FDA chief and CNBC contributor said.  “You could compensate for that over time, so the symptoms of that may go away, but you’re never going to regain the tissue if, in fact, it’s being destroyed as a result of the virus,” said Gottlieb, who serves on the board of Covid vaccine-maker Pfizer. (DeCiccio, 6/17)

CNN: Sperm Count Not Harmed By Covid-19 Vaccine, Study Says 
If you are a man who has hesitated to get the Covid-19 vaccine due to concerns spread on social media that the vaccine may harm fertility, take heart. Sperm count and quality did not drop in healthy young men after receiving a first or second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, according to a new study published Thursday in JAMA. (LaMotte, 6/17)

The Washington Post: He Promised 6 Million N95 Masks And Couldn’t Deliver. Now He’s Going To Prison 
Last April, as veterans hospitals struggled to find masks to protect their workers and patients from the coronavirus, a veteran reached out with promises to help. “Unlike most vendors we are commitment [sic] to providing support during this time and are offering a COVID-19 discount to agencies who need large quantities of these items shipped,” Robert Stewart Jr. wrote to a contracting officer at the Department of Veterans Affairs. “I am glad I can help . . . support our men/women in uniform and vets.” In fact, Stewart, 35, had no masks and no ability to get them. On Wednesday, he was sentenced in federal court in Virginia to 21 months in prison for using fraudulently obtained covid-19 relief loans in part on fruitless efforts to deliver. (Weiner, 6/17)

Fox News: Novartis Experimental Prostate Cancer Drug Gets FDA Breakthrough Designation
Novartis announced on Wednesday that the FDA granted Breakthrough Therapy designation to an experimental therapy that targets advanced castration-resistant prostate cancer. The agency said the decision was based on positive data from a Phase 3 clinical trial evaluating LuPSMA-617. Breakthrough Therapy designation is granted to medicines being evaluated for serious conditions where early clinical evidence indicates the potential for substantial improvement over available therapy. (Hein, 6/17)

The Wall Street Journal: Costly Brain-Cancer Drug No Longer Covered By Medicare 
The seller of the brain-cancer drug Gleostine has pulled out of a federal discount program for Medicare patients, leaving some struggling to pay for a therapy that can cost as much as $1,000 per capsule. NextSource Biotechnology LLC’s decision to leave the program, rendering its drug ineligible for the Medicare Part D drug benefit, comes after the Miami company raised the drug’s price exponentially since acquiring rights in 2013. Gleostine, which treats a tumor known as glioblastoma and other brain cancers, is off-patent but has no generic alternative. (Loftus, 6/17)

Stat: Prescription Drug Ads May Have Increased Medicare Spending
The large sums of money spent on advertising prescription drugs directly to consumers may have contributed to increased use by Medicare beneficiaries and driven up spending by the federal health care program, according to a new report by the Government Accountability Office. The analysis found Medicare Parts B and D, as well as beneficiaries, spent $560 billion on medicines from 2016 through 2018. More than half of that spending — $324 billion — went to purchasing drugs that were advertised directly to consumers. Of the 553 advertised drugs, the GAO found that Medicare Parts B and D purchased 104 and 463 drugs, respectively. (Silverman, 6/17)

The Washington Post: Furor Rages Over FDA Approval Of Controversial Alzheimer’s Drug
Marc Archambault smiled broadly Wednesday as he walked to the microphones at Butler Hospital in Providence, R.I. The silver-haired real estate agent was about to become the first person outside of a clinical trial to be treated with a new Alzheimer’s drug in almost two decades. “Obviously, I am very happy to have this,” said Archambault, 70, who is in an early stage of the disease. “It’s amazing.” The celebratory air at the news conference masked a growing furor over the Food and Drug Administration’s highly contentious approval of the drug, called Aduhelm, last week. (McGinley, 6/17)

Stat: Poll: Many Americans Concerned About FDA Process For Alzheimer's Drug
Two-thirds of Americans who are familiar with the details of the newly approved Alzheimer’s treatment believe the medication will be effective, but have concerns about the regulatory process used to endorse the drug and are divided over whether the drug, which will cost $56,000, is fairly priced, according to a new survey from STAT and The Harris Poll. The responses underscore that the Food and Drug Administration approval this month of the drug, called Aduhelm, has proven divisive among a wide array of experts and the poll shows the same is true for the U.S. public. Among those who had only heard about the approval, slightly more than half agree the drug will be effective, but were concerned about the FDA process. (Silverman, 6/18)

Stat: Athira Pharma CEO Placed On Leave Amid Claims Of Altered Images 
The chief executive of Athira Pharma, a biotech developing treatments for Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases, has been placed on temporary leave as her former university investigates claims she published several papers containing altered images while she was a graduate student. The Seattle-based company did not disclose the reasons for the investigation of Leen Kawas, but STAT has learned that it involves allegations of altered images in four separate papers on which Kawas is the lead author. (Goldhill, 6/17)

Stat: Clinicians Open Their Notes To Patients In Grand Experiment In Medical Care
When Glenda Thomas of Framingham, Mass., checked her doctors’ notes online after a recent infusion, she saw something that stuck in her mind. A nurse had written, “She denies recent illness.” To Thomas, it was disconcerting. The notes seemed to imply that she didn’t recognize her own condition, a rare neuromuscular disorder. On the contrary, she understands it well. (Preston, 6/18)

Modern Healthcare: Ochsner Health Plans To Merge With Rush Health Systems
Fresh off a merger that grew it to a system of 35 acute-care hospitals, Ochsner Health announced Thursday it plans to get even bigger by combining with a seven-hospital system in Mississippi. Rush Health Systems, based in Meridian, Miss., plans to become part of Ochsner, headquarted in New Orleans, La. The two not-for-profit systems described the deal—which they underscored is a merger and not an acquisition—as an expansion of a partnership that's been in place since 2019. They expect the deal to close in mid-2022, at which point Rush will be known as Ochsner Rush Health. (Bannow, 6/17)

San Francisco Chronicle: 400 Sutter Health Jobs Cut In Northern California Amid 'Growing Fiscal Gap,' Sutter Says
Sutter Health, which serves millions of people at 23 Northern California hospitals, cut about 400 positions throughout its network earlier this month, officials confirmed Thursday. The news comes two months after Kaiser Permanente eliminated about 200 jobs across its Northern California region. The job cuts affect non-clinical positions and are not focused on any specific facility, said Emma Dugas, a Sutter spokeswoman. (Mishanec, 6/17)

The Boston Globe: ‘Unprecedented’ Blood Shortage Forces Hospitals To Delay Or Reschedule Surgeries
Hospitals in Massachusetts and around the country are confronting a severe shortage of the donated blood needed for transfusions, prompting some to delay or reschedule surgeries. A surge in demand has collided with a slowdown in blood collection — both trends exacerbated by the pandemic and expected to last for weeks or months. “We haven’t seen anything like this in about 30 or 40 years at least,” said Dr. Vishesh Chhibber, director of transfusion medicine at UMass Memorial Health, where several surgeries scheduled for June 7 had to be postponed for lack of blood. (Freyer and Caldera, 6/17)

Stat: Scientists Unshelve A Decades-Old Antibiotic To Fight Ovarian Cancer 
Ovarian cancer, which kills about 15,000 Americans every year, has historically been one of the thornier cancers to treat. Only in the last few years has a new class of potent drugs, called PARP inhibitors, started to change that. But even with these promising new treatments, too often, tenacious tumors come roaring back. So there’s a need for yet newer drugs that can overcome any resistance the cancer evolves. (Molteni, 6/17)

Stat: Gender Bias In Patents May Mean Less Biomedical Innovation For Women
Research has long shown that fewer patents are awarded to women than to men. Now a new study suggests that bias is fueling disparities in biomedical innovation as well. The study, published Thursday in Science, found that female inventors are more likely to come up with biomedical ideas and products that focus on the needs of women whereas male inventors are more inclined to focus on products for men. That, the authors concluded, suggests society may be missing out on medications, devices, and technology that could benefit women’s health. (Lloreda, 6/17)

Stat: ‘A Lego Kit For Health Care’: Jonathan Bush Launches New Startup Zus
Jonathan Bush is back for another act. On Thursday, the founder and former chief executive officer of medical IT giant athenahealth launched a new startup called Zus. The company, which debuted with $34 million in a funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz with participation from Rock Health and other venture firms, wants to become the common layer digital health companies use to build their tools, view health records, and ultimately treat patients. Zus launches at a pivotal moment for digital health after the recent passage of the federal information blocking rule, which gives patients unprecedented access to health data via apps. (Brodwin, 6/17)

The Washington Post: Record-Setting Heat Blasts The West: ‘Your Skin Is Almost Sizzling’ 
Millions of blasting air conditioners strained electric grids, prompting Texas and California utilities to threaten shut-offs. The National Weather Service in Las Vegas tweeted all-caps appeals for residents to stay hydrated and stay inside: “Long duration heat waves are DEADLY.” Doctors from Palm Springs to Phoenix warned about pavement so scorching it can give people third-degree burns. Fueled by climate change, the first major heat wave of the summer has seized the western United States, toppling records and threatening lives. The event is unprecedented in its timing, intensity and scope, said Washington State University climate scientist Deepti Singh; never have such severe conditions been recorded over such a large area so early in the summer. (Kaplan, 6/17)

NBC News: A Hacker Tried To Poison A Calif. Water Supply. It Was As Easy As Entering A Password.
On Jan. 15, a hacker tried to poison a water treatment plant that served parts of the San Francisco Bay Area. It didn't seem hard. The hacker had the username and password for a former employee's TeamViewer account, a popular program that lets users remotely control their computers, according to a private report compiled by the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center in February and seen by NBC News. (Collier, 6/17)

NBC News: 'All The Water's Bad': In McDowell County, You Have To Get Creative To Find Safe Drinking Water
Every week, Burlyn Cooper parks on the edge of a winding two-lane road, unloads a dozen plastic jugs from the trunk of his car, and uses a hose to fill them with the spring water that drips from a mountain's exposed rock face. For Cooper and many of his neighbors, the mountain's runoff is their most reliable, and trusted, source of drinking water. "I've got so used to it, I wouldn't know how to act, to turn the faucet on and have good water," he said. "I can't imagine it." (Rappleye and Kaplan, 6/17)

AP: Foam Containing 'Forever Chemicals' Used Against Plant Fire
A company hired to help extinguish a fire that gutted a northern Illinois chemical plant this week used foam containing toxic compounds that have tainted surface waters and groundwater across the U.S., officials said Thursday. The private contractor sprayed the foam for about three hours Tuesday at the Chemtool Inc. factory near Rockton, despite concerns raised by government regulators the previous day, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency told The Associated Press. (Flesher, 6/18)

Houston Chronicle: New Law Requires Wellness Checks During Crises For The Medically Fragile Who Depend On Power
Caroline Cheevers still recalls the panic. With Winter Storm Uri killing power across Houston, there seemed no help for her daughter, Hailey, a medically fragile 10-year-old who requires electricity to power the ventilator that keeps her alive. Hotels were full or had no power. First responders were overwhelmed. And even though she’d signed up for a state registry meant to help first responders plan for how to care for medically fragile Texans during disasters, she and her husband were on their own, scrambling to take care of Hailey and their three other disabled children. (Barned-Smith, 6/17)

inewsource: San Diego Doctor Faces Negligence Charge Over Diabetes Treatment
A San Diego doctor who was a key figure in a 2018 inewsource investigation into a diabetes treatment some called a scam is facing charges before the state medical board that could result in probation or the loss of his license and ability to practice medicine. The accusation was filed in May against Dr. James Novak and involves two diabetes patients treated at his medical office with the controversial four-hour IV insulin procedure. The treatment was being offered through a Trina Health clinic Novak previously told inewsource he established in August 2016 as part of his Pacific Beach family practice. (Plummer, 6/17)

AP: UK Records Over 10,000 Virus Cases For First Time Since Feb
The U.K.’s latest surge in coronavirus infections gathered pace Thursday with new confirmed cases rising above 10,000 for the first time in nearly four months as a result of the spread of the more contagious delta variant. Government figures showed another 11,007 cases were reported. That’s the highest daily number since Feb. 19, when 12,027 cases were recorded, and cements talk that the country with Europe’s highest virus-related death toll is in the midst of a third wave of the pandemic. (Pylas, 6/17)