First Edition: June 21, 2022

KHN: Sobering Lessons In Untying The Knot Of A Homeless Crisis 
Michelle Farris never expected to become homeless, but here she was, sifting through garbage and towering piles of debris accumulated along a roadway on the outskirts of Northeast Portland. Farris, 51, has spent much of her adult life in Oregon, and has vivid memories of this area alongside the lumbering Columbia River when it was pristine, a place for quiet walks. Now for miles in both directions, the roadside was lined with worn RVs and rusted boats doubling as shelter. And spilling out from those RVs, the trash and castoffs from this makeshift neighborhood also stretched for miles, making for a chaos that unnerved her. (Hart, 6/21)

KHN: Medical Bills Can Shatter Lives. North Carolina May Act To ‘De-Weaponize’ That Debt
When Erin Williams-Reavis faced a $3,500 surgery bill, the hospital offered to let her pay in $300 monthly installments. It was too much, said Williams-Reavis, 44, who lives in Greensboro, about an hour west of the state capital. Her hours as a personal assistant had been cut, and she and her husband were behind on bills, even requesting a forbearance on their mortgage. In Charlotte, Patrick Oliver was stunned to receive a nearly $30,000 bill after a trip to the emergency room for numbness and burning in his hands and feet. When Oliver, 66, and his wife, Mary, couldn’t pay, the hospital sued them. The couple feared they’d lose their home. (Pattani, 6/21)

KHN: Medi-Cal Will Cover Doulas At More Than Twice California’s Initial Proposed Rate 
California will cover doula services for low-income residents at more than twice the state’s initial proposed rate under a spending plan lawmakers passed last week. Some advocates welcomed the new benefit in Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid health insurance program, as a step toward professionalizing this group of nonmedical birth workers. They say better pay may encourage more people to become doulas. Other advocates, however, called it a partial victory, saying that the rate is still too low for the amount of time and work it takes to ensure healthy deliveries. (Bluth, 6/21)

KHN: Journalists Dig Deep On Medical Debt And The Boundaries Of AI In Health Care 
KHN senior correspondent Noam N. Levey discussed America’s medical debt crisis on NPR’s “Morning Edition” on June 16. ... KHN Editor-in-Chief Elisabeth Rosenthal discussed whether the government is equipped to regulate the use of artificial intelligence in health care on WBUR’s “On Point” on June 10. (6/18)

KHN: Watch: Still Paying Off Bills From Twins’ Birth. The Kids Are 10 Now
Marcus and Allyson Ward carefully planned their finances before having children — but they owed $80,000 after their twins were born prematurely. Years later, after exhausting savings and retirement accounts, they are still paying off that debt. The family is among 100 million people in America systematically pushed into medical debt, according to an investigation by KHN and NPR. CBS consumer investigative correspondent Anna Werner interviewed the Wards for “CBS Mornings.” (6/17)

Stat: CDC Endorses Pfizer, Moderna Covid Vaccines For Children Under 5
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended Saturday that children as young as 6 months old receive Covid-19 vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. The move follows an unanimous vote earlier in the day by an advisory panel of outside experts known as Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP. “Together, with science leading the charge, we have taken another important step forward in our nation’s fight against COVID-19. We know millions of parents and caregivers are eager to get their young children vaccinated, and with today’s decision, they can,” said CDC Director Rochelle Walensky in a statement. (Mast, 6/18)

USA Today: Youngest Americans Can Start Getting COVID-19 Vaccines Tuesday. Here's What Every Parent Should Know
COVID-19 vaccines for the youngest Americans will be available starting Tuesday. Though some parents can't wait to vaccinate their young children, others remain hesitant or adamantly opposed. In polling data from April, 18% of parents said they would vaccinate their young child right away, and 27% said they definitely wouldn't and 38% said they'd wait and see. The coronavirus has been less dangerous for children, especially small ones, than for older adults. That doesn't mean it's harmless. More than 200 children ages 1-4 have died from COVID-19, and 20,000 have been hospitalized with the disease. (Weintraub, 6/20)

AP: White House: Florida Doctors Can Order Under-5 COVID Shots
Florida doctors will be able to order COVID-19 vaccines for children under 5 from the federal government, the White House said Friday, after Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis said the state would not order and distribute the shots in the state. The state was the only jurisdiction in the nation to decline to place advance orders for the pediatric shots, which received authorization from the Food and Drug Administration on Friday. Final authorization from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected in the coming days, clearing the way for the last remaining unvaccinated age group to obtain shots. The vaccines will be available to children as young as six months. (Miller, 6/17)

Dallas Morning News: Dallas County Could Begin Vaccinating Kids Under 5 Tuesday Against COVID-19
Children under 5 could get their first COVID-19 vaccination as soon as Tuesday afternoon at county immunization clinics now that they have federal approval, said Dallas County Health and Human Services Director Dr. Philip Huang. “This is great news. Parents and kids have been waiting for this,” he told The Dallas Morning News. The federal Food and Drug Administration panel endorsed the safety of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines Wednesday for children as young as six months old. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention echoed the recommendation on Saturday, allowing providers to begin the immunizations. (Peterson, 6/20)

The Boston Globe: Starting Tuesday, Mass. Parents Can Book COVID-19 Vaccine Appointments For Their Children Under 5
Starting Tuesday, Massachusetts parents and guardians of children under 5 years old will be able to book appointments to get the youngsters COVID-19 vaccinations, after the CDC recommended the jab for kids as young as 6 months. The Massachusetts Executive Office of Health and Human Services said parents will have the ability to view available appointment locations on the vaxfinder.mass.gov website. The children are eligible to receive either the Moderna or Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, the agency said in a statement. The Pfizer shot for the youngest children is one-tenth of the adult dose, and three shots are needed. The first two are given three weeks apart, and the last at least two months later. (Andersen, 6/20)

The Boston Globe: Local Parents Of Small Children Are Divided Over Whether To Get Them Vaccinated Against COVID
Katherine Haenschen told her 2-year-old son they will both be crying at the next visit to the pediatrician — the boy, because he’ll get stuck with a needle, and the mom because she’ll be overjoyed to finally protect him from COVID-19. “We put our children in car seats. We put safety covers over electrical outlets,” she said. “This is another piece of doing the best we can to protect our children.” But in her eagerness to vaccinate her child, Haenschen, a Northeastern University professor who lives in Brookline, may be in the minority among parents. (Freyer and Damiano, 6/20)

The Washington Post: FAQ: How To Get The Pediatric Coronavirus Vaccine In The D.C. Area
How will the pediatric vaccines be distributed in D.C., Maryland and Virginia? The Washington Post asked state and local health officials. (Chu and Cox, 6/20)

The Washington Post: Should My Child Get A Coronavirus Vaccine? Is It Safe? Here’s What You Should Know
The coronavirus does not typically cause serious illness in children, but they are still at risk. Data shows that of the more than 13.5 million children in the United States who have tested positive for the coronavirus, more than 40,000 have been hospitalized and more than 1,000 have died. To put that into better perspective: 188 children died of influenza during the 2019-2020 season — mostly before the pandemic, which brought about protective measures such as masking and social distancing. (Bever and Chiu, 6/18)

Stat: Medicare Could Have Saved Billions On Drugs If It Paid What Mark Cuban Charges At His New Pharmacy
Amid growing anger over the cost of medicines, a new analysis finds that Medicare could have saved billions of dollars if the federal agency had purchased generic drugs directly from the online pharmacy recently launched by billionaire investor Mark Cuban. Specifically, Medicare could have saved up to $3.6 billion in 2020 — or 37% of the $9.6 billion spent on 77 of 89 different prescription medicines. This assumed the health care program had purchased the maximum quantity for each prescription, or a 90-day supply. The Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company did not offer any savings on the other 12 generic medicines. (Silverman, 6/20)

The Wall Street Journal: Buying From Mark Cuban’s Pharmacy Could Save Medicare Billions, Study Says 
Mr. Cuban, the billionaire internet entrepreneur and owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, launched his pharmacy in January with an eye toward disrupting the $365 billion U.S. prescription-drug market by sidestepping health-insurers and selling commonly used generic medicines directly to consumers with a transparent, fixed-rate markup pricing model. A group of Harvard Medical School researchers say that Mr. Cuban’s “cost plus” business model could also benefit health insurers, including Medicare, which spent an estimated $115.6 billion on prescription drugs last year, or nearly a third of total U.S. drug spending. (Walker, 6/20)

NBC News: Medicare Could Save Billions On Generic Drugs Buying At Mark Cuban's Prices
Cost Plus Drug offers certain generic drugs, such as the depression drug fluoxetine or blood pressure medication lisinopril, at discounted prices, by selling medications at a fixed markup of 15% plus a $3 flat fee, according to the company’s website. Cost Plus doesn't offer brand-name drugs or accept insurance, so patients pay for medications out of pocket. The study "does show that Medicare is overpaying for some of the generic drugs," said Dr. Hussain Saleem Lalani, a researcher at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and the study’s lead author. "And this is a conservative estimate, so the actual savings are likely higher.” (Lovelace Jr., 6/20)

Modern Healthcare: Hospitals Call Medicare Pay Proposal 'Woefully Inadequate'
The' proposed Medicare payment update for inpatient services is nowhere close to covering hospitals' rising costs, industry groups warn the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in comment letters. Hospitals are calling on CMS to make further upward adjustments to the fiscal 2023 inpatient prospective payment system rule to compensate for underpredictions from this fiscal year's rule and to eliminate a separate negative adjustment for the coming year. (Goldman, 6/20)

Los Angeles Times: Californians Brace For Increased Healthcare Premiums If Federal Subsidies Expire
For the last two years, Syd Winlock has had a major burden lifted from his surgically repaired shoulder. Federal subsidies passed as part of a temporary pandemic relief package have drastically cut how much he pays in healthcare premiums, allowing the Sacramento-area small-business owner to purchase an insurance plan during the last two years that provided better coverage for his shoulder and knee replacements. Those federal subsidies, however, will expire at the end of this year if Congress does not extend the program. His “very manageable” price — about $700 a month for him and his wife — will increase to $2,300, Winlock said. (Gutierrez and Sosa, 6/20)

AP: New Jersey Reports First Probable Case Of Monkeypox
New Jersey has its first probable case of the monkeypox virus, according to the state Department of Health. The department announced Monday that a test confirmed the presence of orthopoxvirus in a person in northern New Jersey on Saturday. A further test to confirm the virus will be performed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (6/20)

Indianapolis Star: State Health Officials Identify First Probable Indiana Monkeypox Case
The first probable case of monkeypox in Indiana has been identified, the state's department of health said in a news release Saturday evening. The test conducted by the Indiana Department of Health was positive, the release stated. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will perform a second set of tests to check the initial positive result. The patient, who was not identified because of privacy concerns, is isolated and health officials are working to check on close contacts. The patient's location also was not disclosed. (Smalstig, 6/18)

Houston Chronicle: First Monkeypox Cases Reported In Houston Area
Two people in the region have tested positive for monkeypox, a viral disease with typically mild symptoms, public health officials with the City of Houston and Harris County announced Saturday. The Houston Health Department said a Houston resident who had recently traveled internationally had a confirmed case of monkeypox.Hours later, Harris County Public Health said an out-of-state resident who had visited Harris County recently also had a confirmed case. The out-of-state resident is already out of the region and back in their home state. (Webb, 6/18)

CIDRAP: WHO Focuses Less On Endemicity As Global Monkeypox Cases Top 2,500
As global monkeypox cases top 2,500, the World Health Organization (WHO) posted a monkeypox update and removed the distinction between endemic and non-endemic nations to reflect a "unified response." (Wappes, 6/20)

The Boston Globe: Shipments Of Baby Formula Arrive At Logan Airport From London
Delta Airlines on Monday flew a large shipment of baby formula from London to Logan International Airport as the US continues to grapple with a formula shortage, according to the airline. “The first flight was today, June 20,” said Delta spokesperson Catherine Morrow via email Monday. A spokesperson for Massport, which runs Logan, referred questions to Delta. In a statement released June 10, the White House said the Biden administration had arranged the sixth Operation Fly Formula flight to US, with Delta transporting Kendamil formula free of charge from London to Logan in Boston and Detroit Metro Airport between June 20 and June 24. (Andersen, 6/20)

Stateline: Iowa Supreme Court Topples State's Constitutional Abortion Protections
The Iowa Supreme Court has ruled that the state’s constitution does not guarantee the right to abortion, giving state lawmakers broad leeway to ban the procedure. The ruling came in a case that challenged an Iowa law requiring a 24-hour waiting period before a person could receive an abortion. That law now will be allowed to take effect. "All we hold today is that the Iowa Constitution is not the source of a fundamental right to an abortion necessitating a strict scrutiny standard of review for regulations affecting that right," the court ruled. (Vestal, 6/17)

Politico: What A Roberts Compromise On Abortion Could Look Like 
When the two sides in the abortion debate squared off at the Supreme Court last fall, they agreed on one thing: There was no middle ground. Now, any hope abortion rights supporters have of avoiding a historic loss before the court lies with Chief Justice John Roberts crafting an unlikely compromise. In the wake of POLITICO’s report last month on a draft majority opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade, Roberts would have to convince at least one of his five Republican-appointed colleagues to sign on to a compromise ruling that would preserve a federal constitutional right to abortion in some form while giving states even more power to restrict that right. (Gerstein, 6/19)

The Boston Globe: Could An Abortion Ban Mean More Maternal Deaths?
In a post-Roe world, reproductive health specialists warn, more mothers are likely to die — not only from a return of unsafe illegal abortions but also from pregnancy itself, which leads to a surprising number of deaths in the United States. In 2020, 861 people died in childbirth or within 42 days of the end of their pregnancy, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported last January. Women in the United States are more likely to die from childbirth or pregnancy-related causes than those in other developed countries. In 2020, the United States had the highest maternal mortality rate of 10 high-income countries, including Canada, France, and the United Kingdom. (Ebbert, 6/17)

Houston Chronicle: Overturning Roe V. Wade Poses Risk To Women With Complicated Pregnancies, Houston OB-GYN Warns
As the country waits for the Supreme Court to decide whether to overturn Roe v. Wade, many Texas health care workers are bracing for the toll that stricter abortion laws will take on women who face life-threatening complications in a wanted pregnancy. Already, the state’s restrictions extend beyond abortion clinics and into large medical institutions, where doctors face considerable legal hurdles when recommending termination to preserve the health of an expectant mother. “I feel like I’m practicing medicine with my hands tied behind my back,” said Dr. Judy Levison, a longtime Houston obstetrician-gynecologist. (Gill, 6/20)

The Washington Post: Dobbs Case Spurs Race To Teach Abortion Procedures In Medical Schools 
As he aborted 11 pregnancies at a clinic here one busy Friday this month, Aaron Campbell also was training a medical student in a procedure that soon could be outlawed in this state and many others. Case by case, he narrated the nuances of pelvic examination, pain-blocking injection, cervical dilation and, ultimately, the removal of embryonic or fetal tissue. (Anderson, 6/20)

Stat: Researchers Who Study Abortion Access Brace For Challenges To Their Work
Last September, Texas lawmakers passed the most restrictive abortion policy in the country. The state’s leading researchers on reproductive health care weren’t consulted when it was being crafted. But they started studying it the moment it passed. “We are getting a glimpse in Texas of folks who, because of the way that the laws are written, are not able to get evidence-based care and their health and well-being is being put at risk,” said Kari White, the director of the Texas Policy Evaluation Project at the University of Texas Austin, which published two studies on the consequences of the law just six months after it passed. (Gaffney, 6/21)

San Francisco Chronicle: This Is California’s Abortion ‘Desert.’ Here, Calls To Subvert State Law Are Growing Loud
Michelle Rivera didn’t think it would be easy to open a new Planned Parenthood clinic in one of the roughly 40% of California counties without an abortion provider. But the 31-year-old Central Valley sex-ed instructor didn’t expect quite so many kids holding “Little lives matter” posters at the Visalia City Council meeting. Or the antiabortion demonstrator sporting an entire sweatsuit scrawled in scripture. At least there’s security, Rivera thought, when clergy from nearby towns urged the council to “reject the arbitrary dictates of the state” and ban abortion in the city of 143,000 people. (Hepler, 6/19)

The Washington Post: Texas Teen Who Wanted An Abortion Now Has Twins 
Brooke Alexander found out she was pregnant late on the night of Aug. 29, two days before the Texas Heartbeat Act banned abortions once an ultrasound can detect cardiac activity, around six weeks of pregnancy. ... For many Texans who have needed abortions since September, the law has been a major inconvenience, forcing them to drive hundreds of miles, and pay hundreds of dollars, for a legal procedure they once could have had at home. But not everyone has been able to leave the state. Some people couldn’t take time away from work or afford gas, while others, faced with a long journey, decided to stay pregnant. Nearly 10 months into the Texas law, they have started having the babies they never planned to carry to term. (Kitchener, 6/20)

The New York Times: Despite Another Covid Surge, Deaths Stay Near Lows 
For two years, the coronavirus killed Americans on a brutal, predictable schedule: A few weeks after infections climbed so did deaths, cutting an unforgiving path across the country. But that pattern appears to have changed. Nearly three months since an ultra-contagious set of new Omicron variants launched a springtime resurgence of cases, people are dying from Covid at a rate close to the lowest of the pandemic. (Mueller, 6/20)

Stat: On Covid Messaging, Biden Is Caught Between Politics And Public Health
When it comes to Covid-19, President Biden is walking a tightrope. The midterm elections are approaching, the economy is floundering, and the president’s approval rate is tanking. Looking for positives, the White House is taking pains to highlight its progress beating back the pandemic. But as Covid continues to spread at high rates, the administration is also working to remind Americans that the crisis isn’t over — and that things might get worse before they get better. The two messages may not mix well in terms of politics or public health. But the White House, experts say, is backed into a corner. (Facher, 6/21)

AP: Survey Looks At How COVID-19 Affected Hawaii Residents
A new report from the University of Hawaii provides a comprehensive look at how the COVID-19 pandemic affected Hawaii residents with their jobs, ability to buy food, their mental well-being and how vaccination status played a factor.“ Health Effects and Views of COVID-19 in Hawaii,” the first quarterly report from the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization, looks at impacts that the pandemic had on people beyond the direct effects, the Honolulu Star-Advertiser reported. (6/20)

AP: Louisiana Gov. Edwards Vetoes 17 Recently Passed Bills 
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards on Monday vetoed 17 recently passed bills, including legislation that would toughen criminal sentences and ban government entities from denying building entry based on a person’s COVID-19 vaccine status. (Cline, 6/20)

AP: NYC Making Push To Get Fired Workers Vaccinated, Rehired
New York City is making a push to give city workers fired earlier this year for not getting the COVID-19 vaccine a chance to get their old jobs back — if they get fully vaccinated. ... Just short of 600 unvaccinated non-Department of Education workers are receiving a letter with details, and DOE employees are expected to receive a letter later in the summer, a city spokesperson said, adding that 97% of workers are vaccinated and that the goal has always been “vaccination rather than termination.” (6/19)

AP: Biden Adviser Jake Sullivan Tests Positive For COVID-19 
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan tested positive on Saturday for COVID-19, according to the White House. Sullivan typically has frequent contact with President Joe Biden but last was in contact with the president early in the week, according to a senior administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity. Sullivan had been keeping his distance from Biden after “a couple” of people he had been in close contact with had tested positive for the virus, the official said. (6/18)

AP: North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper Tests Positive For COVID-19 
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said Monday that he has tested positive for COVID-19 but is continuing to work from home while experiencing mild symptoms. Cooper’s office released a statement saying that he has begun taking the antiviral pill Paxlovid to treat the virus. The statement said that he has been vaccinated and has had two booster shots. The governor said that he believes the shots helped ensure he’s only having mild symptoms. (6/20)

The Boston Globe: Does COVID-19 Infection During Pregnancy Affect The Fetus? Early Research Offers No Clear Answers
Researchers around the country are investigating, and so far have found hints of possible trouble but no firm answers. “The jury is still totally out in terms of whether this virus affects the fetus,” said Dr. Dani Dumitriu, a pediatrician and neuroscientist at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York City. “And the jury is going to be out for the next several decades.” Developmental problems triggered in the womb typically don’t show up for years. Autism is usually diagnosed around age 2, attention deficit disorder at school age or later, and schizophrenia in adolescence or young adulthood. With COVID-19 so new, the research so far has brought only tentative findings about children age 1 or younger. (Freyer, 6/19)

Stat: Smartphone Apps Promised To Help Combat Covid. How Well Did They Work?
When the pandemic hit, tech giants like Apple and Google as well as upstart technology companies marched out new tools aimed at curbing the crisis. Now, more than two years into the pandemic, we are getting a clearer answer to a crucial question: Did they work? A new review paper, published Monday in Nature Biotechnology, explores the wide range of apps rolled out to combat the pandemic by monitoring cases, tracking the virus’ spread, keeping tabs on symptoms, and more. Some of those apps brought clear benefits, while others fell short. They also sparked a bevy of questions about the role of technology in health care, including how best to preserve patient privacy. (Chen, 6/20)

Crain's Detroit Business: With Worker Shortages Remaining, Hospitals Turn To Technology To Fill The Gaps
The great resignation in healthcare has been years in the making — COVID-19 just sped up the problem. Many healthcare workers left the industry during the pandemic to escape harsh conditions and growing responsibilities. Each worker that left meant another worker that had to pick up the slack. Burnout became synonymous with the job title "hospital worker," whether that worker was a nurse, paramedic or custodian. A job vacancy rate of roughly 17 percent persists at Michigan hospitals, leading to about 1,300 fewer patient beds available for the sick across the state compared to last year. "The reality is we knew even before the pandemic that we would have many people leaving the field," said Brian Peters, CEO of the Michigan Health & Hospital Association. "Demographics aren't on our side, and we're simply not training enough nurses, doctors, pharmacists, whatever to replace all those retiring in the coming years." (Walsh, 6/20)

Southern California News Group: Walmart Hikes Pay For More Than 1,600 California Pharmacy Techs
Walmart has boosted hourly wages for its more than 36,000 Walmart and Sam’s Club pharmacy technicians, including more than 1,600 in California. The mega-retailer said it also plans to hire 5,000 additional pharmacy technicians this year. The pay hike took effect this week, raising their average wage to more than $20 an hour. The company has also committed to more frequent pay raises that will increase wages by up to $4 an hour for new hires over the next four years. Pharmacy techs will get raises every six months in their first two years with the company. (Smith, 6/20)

Stat: Black Residents Are Forced Out At Far Higher Rates Than White Doctors 
Rosandra Daywalker had always excelled. The daughter of Haitian and Jamaican parents in Miami — one an auto parts clerk, the other a nurse — she’d received a nearly perfect score on the SAT, earned a full academic scholarship to the University of Miami, graduated summa cum laude from Morehouse Medical School, and was inducted into the prestigious Alpha Omega Alpha medical honor society. Then came the icing on the cake: She matched into the elite and highly competitive specialty of otolaryngology, a field she’d fallen for after watching an elegant head-and-neck cadaver dissection in medical school. Standing on the stage during Morehouse’s Match Day festivities in 2015, Daywalker beamed. Her family could not have been more proud. The fact that fewer than 1% of otolaryngologists are Black seemed a distant concern. (McFarling, 6/20)

Stat: What Will It Take To Level The Playing Field For Black Residents? 
Black doctors are terminated from or leave their training programs in far higher numbers than white physicians, a problem that STAT reported this week has long been hidden and ignored by the medical establishment and contributes to the chronic lack of Black physicians, especially in the most elite fields of medicine. While the causes are complex and sometimes hard to nail down — and structural racism is embedded in medicine as in the rest of U.S. society — scholars and physicians working to address the issue say there are straightforward steps that residency programs and oversight bodies can take to make a difference. (McFarling, 6/21)

The New York Times: Dr. Paul M. Ellwood Jr., Architect Of The H.M.O., Is Dead At 95 
Dr. Paul M. Ellwood Jr., who changed the way millions of Americans receive private medical services by developing — and naming — the model for managed care known as the health maintenance organization, died on Monday in Bellingham, Wash. He was 95. His wife, Barbara Ellwood, said his death, at a care center, was caused by organ failure. Dr. Ellwood, who gave up practicing pediatric neurology in the late 1960s to devote himself to national health reform, was often called the father of the H.M.O., although many others made important contributions to the concept and some localized prepaid health plans had existed for decades. (McFadden, 6/20)

North Carolina Health News: When A Loved One Dies At A Nursing Home, Families Face Mazes And Mirages In Search For Answers
After a staff member at an Arden nursing home registered positive for COVID on Sept. 16, 2020, the Oaks at Sweeten Creek waited for eight days to test its 84 residents for COVID as required according to state records. During the next four weeks, 53 residents of Oaks at Sweeten Creek and 18 staff tested positive for COVID-19. By the week of Oct. 18, federal records say, five residents had died from the disease caused by the SARS CoV2 virus that was sweeping the world. (Goldsmith, 6/21)

Bloomberg: Meta Sued Over Claims Patient Data Secretly Sent to Facebook
Meta Platforms Inc. was sued over claims that private medical data is being shared secretly with Facebook when patients access web portals for some health-care providers. Facebook’s Pixel tracking tool redirects patient communications and other supposedly “secure” information without authorization and in violation of federal and state laws, according to the lawsuit filed Friday in San Francisco federal court as a proposed class action on behalf of millions of patients. (Peng, 6/17)

Modern Healthcare: Digital Health Companies Hit With Securities Fraud Suits
Shareholders have hit digital health companies with a spate of securities fraud lawsuits this year as once high-flying companies see share prices drop, and more could be on the horizon. It's common to see a rise in such complaints, across industries, when the stock market is down. But healthcare and life sciences companies may be more susceptible to litigation. "In the life sciences and healthcare areas, you have a lot of companies whose stock prices are volatile," said Jason Vigna, a litigator at law firm Mintz, who's defended companies in shareholder disputes. "Because of that, unfortunately, they get hit by these cases a little bit more." (Kim Cohen, 6/20)

The Washington Post: Relentless Heat Wave To Intensify In South This Week
A stubborn and unrelenting dome of excessive heat and humidity is languishing over the Lower 48 for the third calendar week in a row, bringing record temperatures and heat index values pushing 110 degrees in spots. Heat advisories and excessive-heat warnings blanket the northern Plains, a prelude to even more intense heat pushing into the South and Southeast. (Cappucci, 6/20)

Axios: The Health Impacts Of Rising Temperatures
Extreme heat is increasingly taking a toll on children, pregnant people and other vulnerable populations, forcing authorities to roll out new strategies against an environmental threat that dwarfs floods, earthquakes and other natural disasters. Summers are becoming deadlier as climate change blankets millions in heat waves whose public health consequences were until recently not fully understood. “The problem with heat and drought is that until they get extreme, we don't really see the impact on the landscape that would typically trigger our risk response,” said Ashley Ward, senior policy associate at Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions at Duke University. (Dreher, 6/21)

AP: Sweltering Streets: Hundreds Of Homeless Die In Extreme Heat
Hundreds of blue, green and grey tents are pitched under the sun’s searing rays in downtown Phoenix, a jumble of flimsy canvas and plastic along dusty sidewalks. Here, in the hottest big city in America, thousands of homeless people swelter as the summer’s triple digit temperatures arrive. The stifling tent city has ballooned amid pandemic-era evictions and surging rents that have dumped hundreds more people onto the sizzling streets that grow eerily quiet when temperatures peak in the midafternoon. A heat wave earlier this month brought temperatures of up to 114 degrees (45.5 Celsius) - and it’s only June. Highs reached 118 degrees (47.7 Celsius) last year. (6/20)

The Tennessean: Officials Warn Certain Populations Not To Eat Fish From Three Middle Tennessee Reservoirs
The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation announced several precautionary fish consumption advisories Monday because of various health concerns, including elevated mercury levels. After conducting several tests in local reservoirs, officials issued advisories for three different lakes across the state, including in Davidson County. The advisories warn of elevated levels of mercury and/or polychlorinated biphenyls in fish tissues. (Mangrum, 6/20)

AP: California Trout To Be Euthanized After Bacteria Outbreak 
Nearly 350,000 rainbow trout must be euthanized as California wildlife officials battle bacteria outbreaks at two fish hatcheries in the eastern Sierra. The naturally occurring bacteria, Lactococcus petuari, was first detected in April at Black Rock and Fish Springs hatcheries in Inyo County, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife said in a statement Monday. (6/21)

Billings Gazette: Riverstone Health Offering Vaccinations To Carbon County Cleanup Workers
RiverStone Health will be offering tetanus and hepatitis A vaccines to people affected by recent floods in Carbon County this Thursday. In Fromberg, vaccines will be available from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the City Park. In Red Lodge, vaccines will be available from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Carbon County Fairgrounds. RiverStone Health will bill insurance providers for the vaccines. Those without health insurance will receive the vaccines at no charge. Hepatitis A vaccines are recommended for everyone working on flood cleanup, debris removal or handling flood waters. People doing flood cleanup who haven’t had a tetanus vaccine within the past 10 years are advised to get a booster shot. (6/20)

Colorado Sun: Colorado Spreads Biosolids Tainted With Forever Chemicals On Farms
Metro Denver’s wastewater treatment system is spreading sewage biosolids laced with toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” at its farm in eastern Arapahoe County and on private farms that buy the material as fertilizer, according to test records obtained by the Colorado Sun. The likely presence of the ubiquitous and dangerous chemicals on Colorado farmland, placed there through biosolids spread by Metro Water Recovery and more than 100 other municipal waste agencies, adds to a growing list of potential health threats and underscores the need for widespread testing, researchers and watchdog groups said. (Booth, 6/20)

AP: Court Rejects Trump-Era EPA Finding That Weed Killer Safe 
A federal appeals court on Friday rejected a Trump administration finding that the active ingredient in the weed killer Roundup does not pose a serious health risk and is “not likely” to cause cancer in humans. The California-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to reexamine its 2020 finding that glyphosate did not pose a health risk for people exposed to it by any means — on farms, yards or roadsides or as residue left on food crops. (Daly, 6/17)

The Wall Street Journal: International Swimming Bars Transgender Women From Competing In Women’s Events 
Swimming’s global governing body, FINA, barred almost all transgender women from competing in the women’s category in international events, departing from an approach that had previously allowed their participation if they could meet certain testosterone levels. FINA won’t allow swimmers who have gone through male puberty to participate in women’s events, regardless of their later actions to suppress testosterone. Some swimmers who have not undergone male puberty may also be required to manage testosterone levels under the policy, which takes effect Monday.  (Higgins and Radnofsky, 6/20)

Reuters: Explainer: How Will Swimming's New Transgender Rules Work? 
The new eligibility policy for FINA competitions states that male-to-female transgender swimmers (transgender women) are eligible to compete in women's competitions only if "they can establish to FINA's comfortable satisfaction that they have not experienced any part of male puberty beyond Tanner Stage 2 (of puberty) or before age 12, whichever is later". Typically boys will begin puberty at ages 11-12 and complete the process by 16-17. Tanner Stage Two is the second of five stages of puberty. While puberty timetables vary according to a number of factors, boys can have completed stage 2 and entered stage 3 by the age of 12 or 13. In some cases it may be earlier or later. (6/20)

AP: House Approves Bill To Decriminalize Fentanyl Test Strips 
Test strips to help drug users identify fentanyl and other potentially deadly chemicals would no longer be classified as illegal paraphernalia under a bill passed unanimously by the Pennsylvania House on Monday. The legislation to amend the state’s Controlled Substance, Drug, Device and Cosmetic Act can help reduct overdoses, said the sponsor, Rep. Jim Struzzi, R-Indiana. (6/20)

Louisville Courier Journal: Medical Marijuana In Kentucky: Your Guide To Andy Beshear's Committee
Gov. Andy Beshear has committed efforts to bring Kentuckians with chronic illnesses relief via medical cannabis, and he's seeking feedback from a new board to help guide his next steps. As proposed legislation in recent years has stalled in the General Assembly, Beshear established the Team Kentucky Medical Cannabis Advisory Committee earlier this month to gather feedback from Kentuckians and report back to the governor. Beshear in April noted he's considering an executive order to make medical marijuana available in the Bluegrass State. (Johnson, 6/21)