Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
First Edition: June 3, 2024
KFF Health News: ‘So Much Death’: Lawmakers Weigh Stricter Speed Limits, Safer Roads For Pedestrians
The party was winding down. Its young hosts, María Rivas Cruz and her fiancé, Raymond Olivares, had accompanied friends to their car to bid them farewell. As the couple crossed a four-lane main road back to the home they had just bought, Rivas Cruz and Olivares were struck by a car fleeing an illegal street race. The driver was going 70 in a 40-mph zone. Despite years of pleading, ... residents say the county had done little to address speeding in this unincorporated pocket of southeastern Los Angeles. (Sánchez, 6/3)
KFF Health News: Readers Issue Rx For Clogged ERs And Outrageous Out-Of-Pocket Costs
KFF Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories. (6/3)
KFF Health News: Journalists Talk Cost Of Weight Loss Drugs And Lack Of Obesity Doctors To Manage Their Use
KFF Health News and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances. (6/1)
The Washington Post: Fauci’s Legacy Divides Two Doctors Leading Covid Investigation
As chairman of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic — the only panel in Congress solely devoted to probing a health crisis that left more than 1 million Americans dead — Ohio congressman Brad Wenstrup, a former combat surgeon, has led investigations into the origins of the virus as well as hearings on school shutdowns, vaccine mandates and possible side effects from coronavirus vaccines. He recruited another doctor — California congressman Raul Ruiz, an emergency medicine specialist — to serve as the panel’s top Democrat last year, promising they would be two physicians working together to get answers and accountability. (Diamond, 6/2)
The Washington Post: In The Pandemic, We Were Told To Keep 6 Feet Apart. There’s No Science To Support That.
“It sort of just appeared, that six feet is going to be the distance,” Fauci testified to Congress in a January closed-door hearing, according to a transcribed interview released Friday. Dr. Anthony Fauci characterized the recommendation as “an empiric decision that wasn’t based on data.” Francis S. Collins, former director of the National Institutes of Health, also privately testified to Congress in January that he was not aware of evidence behind the social distancing recommendation, according to a transcript released in May. (Diamond, 6/2)
CIDRAP: Study: Truthful Yet Misleading Facebook Posts Drove COVID Vaccine Reluctance Much More Than Outright Lies Did
Today in Science, a study shows that unflagged, factual but misleading Facebook posts reduced the intent to receive the COVID-19 vaccine 46 times more than did false posts flagged by fact-checkers as misinformation, which the authors say points to the need to consider the reach and impact of content rather than just its veracity. (Van Beusekom, 5/31)
CIDRAP: US COVID Markers Show Small Rise In Activity
Most of the rise in wastewater detections was due to a steady rise in the western region, with a very slight increase in the southern region. Test positivity is currently highest in Arizona, California, Hawaii, and Nevada. (Schnirring, 5/31)
Reuters: Global Pandemic Treaty To Be Concluded By 2025, WHO Says
Talks aimed at reaching a global agreement on how to better fight pandemics will be concluded by 2025 or earlier if possible, the World Health Organization said on Saturday. The WHO's 194 member states have been negotiating for two years on an agreement that could increase collaboration before and during pandemics after the acknowledged failures during COVID-19. (6/1)
ABC News: Whooping Cough Cases On The Rise, Nearly 3 Times As High As Last Year: CDC
Cases of whooping cough are on the rise across the United States, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows. There have been at least 4,864 whooping cough cases reported this year. This is nearly three times higher than the 1,746 cases reported at the same time last year. (Kekatos and March, 5/31)
CIDRAP: FDA Green-Lights Moderna MRNA RSV Vaccine For Older Adults
Moderna today announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved its mRNA vaccine against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) for people ages 60 and older, bringing the number of approved RSV vaccines to three. The vaccine, called mRESVIA, was granted approval under an FDA breakthrough therapy designation. The vaccine is the second Moderna mRNA vaccine to be cleared by the FDA. In a press release, the company said the vaccine is the only RSV vaccine available in single-dose prefilled syringes, making it easier to administer. (Schnirring, 5/31)
The New York Times: FDA Reviews MDMA Therapy For PTSD, Citing Health Risks And Study Flaws
The Food and Drug Administration on Friday raised concerns about the health effects of MDMA as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, citing flaws in a company’s studies that could pose major obstacles to approval of a treatment anticipated to help people struggling with the condition. The agency said that bias had seeped into the studies because participants and therapists were readily able to figure out who got MDMA versus a placebo. It also flagged “significant increases” in blood pressure and pulse rates that could “trigger cardiovascular events.” (Jacobs and Jewett, 5/31)
NBC News: Some Drugmakers To Cap Cost Of Asthma Inhalers At $35 A Month
Starting Saturday, the cost of inhalers will fall for many Americans, as new out-of-pocket price caps go into effect for the asthma medications from AstraZeneca and Boehringer Ingelheim. Following years of public outcry about the high cost of inhalers, the two drugmakers — along with a third, GlaxoSmithKline — have committed to capping the out-of-pocket cost at $35 a month. GSK’s cap is expected to take effect by Jan. 1. (Lovelace Jr., Kane and Thompson, 5/31)
Reuters: Delaware Judge Lets More Than 70,000 Zantac Lawsuits Go Forward
A Delaware judge has allowed more than 70,000 lawsuits over discontinued heartburn drug Zantac to go forward, ruling that expert witnesses can testify in court that the drug may cause cancer. The ruling on Friday by Judge Vivian Medinilla of the Delaware Superior Court in Wilmington is a setback for former Zantac makers GSK, Pfizer, Sanofi and Boehringer Ingelheim, which had argued that the expert witnesses' opinions lacked scientific support. (Pierson, 6/3)
NBC News: Cancer-Fighting Antibodies Inject Chemo Directly Into Tumor Cells, Upping Effectiveness
By attaching a chemotherapy drug to an antibody, doctors are able to deliver more potent cancer-fighting medicines directly into tumor cells, all while causing fewer side effects. The chemotherapy-antibody combinations, known as antibody drug conjugates, have been described as both heat-seeking missiles and Trojan horses for cancer cells, designed to specifically home in on a patient’s tumor cells and trick them into engulfing the antibodies, along with their deadly payload. (Lovelace Jr., 6/2)
NBC News: Lung Cancer Treatment: Pfizer's Lorbrena Extends Life In Some Non-Small Cell Lung Cancers
Pfizer’s lung cancer drug Lorbrena can extend life for patients with a rare form of the disease for years longer than other drugs, according to new research published Friday. The drug treats a type of non-small cell lung cancer with a genetic mutation called ALK. Non-small cell lung cancers account for about 85% of lung cancer diagnoses, and ALK-positive cancers account for about 4% of those diagnoses — more than 70,000 people every year. (Sullivan and Lovelace Jr., 5/31)
Reuters: Pre-Surgery Treatment With Bristol Myers Combination Therapy Leads To Better Skin Cancer Outcomes
Treatment with Bristol Myers Squibb's immunotherapies Opdivo and Yervoy prior to surgery for patients whose skin cancer had spread to lymph nodes had better outcomes than those who did not get the drugs before node removal procedures, according to data from a late-stage trial released on Sunday. The study of 423 patients with stage 3 melanoma found that 83.7% of patients who received the immunotherapies before their surgery were alive without the disease worsening after 12-months. (6/2)
Stat: Palliative Care For Cancer Patients Is Found To Be As Effective Given Virtually As In Person
Comfort can be delivered to patients with advanced cancer virtually just as well as in person, according to a new study presented on Sunday at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting in Chicago. That’s welcome news to palliative care experts who have, in many cases, preferred the convenience and efficacy of telehealth sessions for both themselves and their patients since the Covid-19 pandemic forced virtual visits. (Chen, 6/2)
The Washington Post: Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee Of Texas Diagnosed With Pancreatic Cancer
Longtime Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Tex.) has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, she announced on social media Sunday, adding that she expects to be “occasionally absent from Congress” as she undergoes treatment. “My doctors confirmed my diagnosis of pancreatic cancer,” Jackson Lee wrote in a letter shared on X. “I am currently undergoing treatment to battle this disease that impacts tens of thousands of Americans every year.” (Cho, 6/3)
Reuters: Texas Top Court Won't Guarantee Right To Abortion In Complicated Pregnancies
Texas' highest court on Friday refused to ensure that doctors in the U.S. state are not prosecuted for abortions they believe are necessary in medically complicated pregnancies, rejecting a lawsuit by 22 patients and physicians. The Texas Supreme Court's decision follows an earlier ruling from the court denying a woman's request for an emergency abortion of a non-viable pregnancy. In both cases, plaintiffs said the medical exception to the state's near-total abortion ban was unclear, and left doctors unwilling to perform medically necessary abortions in the face of severe penalties including potentially life in prison. (Pierson, 6/1)
USA Today: Senate To Vote On Bill That Would Protect Access To Contraception
The Senate will vote on Wednesday on legislation that would protect access to contraception at the national level, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced in a letter to colleagues Sunday. A vote on the bill, which is led by Sens. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, is an effort to force Republicans to stake out a position on a hot-button issue during an election year. (Beggin, 6/2)
The Atlantic: A Breakthrough In Preventing Stillbirths
When Mana Parast was a medical resident in 2003, she had an experience that would change the course of her entire career: her first fetal autopsy. The autopsy, which pushed Parast to pursue perinatal and placental pathology, was on a third-trimester stillbirth. “There was nothing wrong with the baby; it was a beautiful baby,” she recalls. We’re not done, she remembers her teacher telling her. Go find the placenta. (Marie Porter, 6/1)
NBC News: Male Birth Control Gel Is Safe And Effective, New Trial Findings Show
Every morning for a year and a half, Logan Whitehead, 24, rubbed a clear gel on his shoulders, waited for it to dry, then went about his day as usual. “It was basically like a hand sanitizer solution,” said Whitehead, who lives in Torrance, California. “Smelled like hand sanitizer, looked like hand sanitizer.” The gel wasn’t hand sanitizer, though. It was a hormonal solution meant to block Whitehead’s sperm production. The gel was male birth control. (Hopkins, 6/2)
Modern Healthcare: Medicare Pay Bundling Program May Overwhelm Providers: AHA, FAH
Hospital groups say a proposed mandatory Medicare payment bundling program may prove overly burdensome to an industry already working to implement other Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services reimbursement experiments. Last month, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation requested comments on its Transforming Episode Accountability Model, or TEAM, which would employ episode-based reimbursement for ... procedures at select hospitals for five years starting in 2026. (Early, 5/31)
Stat: Medicare Advantage's Lean Provider Networks Lead CMS Complaints
In the rural California town where physician Atashi Mandal sees patients, Medicare Advantage is popular among the older residents, many of whom have multiple chronic health conditions. Problem is, there aren’t any in-network providers for several hundred miles. (Bannow, 6/3)
Reuters: Centene CEO Says Its Membership Shifted To Sicker Patients Due To Medicaid Turnover
Health insurer Centene's chief executive said on Friday that turnover in people enrolled in Medicaid plans had led to a shift to sicker patients in its membership, but stood by its 2024 earnings and cost forecasts. Centene CEO Sarah London said that around 30% of Medicaid recipients who lost their membership when re-enrollment started last year had been taken off the list inappropriately. (Niasse, 5/31)
Modern Healthcare: Change Healthcare Hack Notification Requirements Set By HHS
UnitedHealth Group must take responsibility for informing people about privacy breaches resulting from the Change Healthcare cyberattack, the Health and Human Services Department announced Friday. Providers, health insurance companies and other affected entities may direct UnitedHealth Group, which operates Change Healthcare through its Optum subsidiary, to notify their patients, customers and business partners under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. (Berryman, 5/31)
Modern Healthcare: Steward Health Sales Plan Will Be Reviewed: Massachusetts AG
Massachusetts supports Steward Health Care's plans to quickly sell its hospitals in the state, but reserves the right to review those sales, Attorney General Andrea Campbell said in a Thursday response to Steward's bankruptcy financing plan. Thursday's court filing asserts Massachusetts' right to ensure a proposed sale meets the state's criteria for operating healthcare facilities, as well as determine how the sale could impact market competition and costs of care. (Hudson, 5/31)
The Boston Globe: Steward Bankruptcy In Court Amid Questions About Who Will Run It
As a bankruptcy court reconvenes Monday to address Steward Health Care’s financing, when its hospitals get sold and who gets the money, three US senators want to bring a new issue into the mix: Who should run the embattled hospital system while it unwinds its operations? The Democratic senators, Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey of Massachusetts and Sherrod Brown of Ohio, are calling on the US Trustee Program, an arm of the Justice Department, to appoint a special trustee to replace Steward’s management and “claw back” payments they say the company’s top executives “looted” from the hospitals. (Weisman, 6/3)
The Boston Globe: St. Mary’s Home For Children Closing Its Psychiatric Residential Facility By June 7
St. Mary’s Home for Children is temporarily closing its psychiatric residential treatment facility by June 7 and “redeploying qualified staff” six months after the state child advocate reported finding rampant chaos, abuse, and neglect of the children living there. Donna Goulet-Truppi, whose grandchild Trevor endured neglect, had access to sharp objects, and ran away twice over the last year while a resident at St. Mary’s, told the Globe she was “blindsided” by the sudden news Friday. (Milkovits, 5/31)
Colorado Sun: Major Psychiatric Hospital In Grand Junction Will Stay Open — For Now
Just over a month after a western Colorado psychiatric hospital warned it might have to close its doors, its leaders say the facility will remain open, at least for now. Mind Springs Inc., which owns West Springs Hospital, said it signed a new contract with Rocky Mountain Health Plans to help it resolve its financial problems over the next year. (Flowers, 6/3)
Modern Healthcare: Uber Health’s Caitlin Donovan Departs For General Catalyst
Caitlin Donovan, the global head of Uber Health, is leaving the ride-sharing company for venture capital firm General Catalyst, she said Friday on LinkedIn. Donovan has been the global head of Uber Health since April 2021 after arriving from MyOrthos, an orthodontist tech platform company. Uber Health on Friday said the company's head of growth Zachary Clark will be taking over her role. (Perna, 5/31)
AP: Being A Patient Is Getting Harder In A Strained And Complex US Health Care System
Tamika Davis couldn’t nap on her couch during cancer treatment. She kept worrying one of her toddlers would wander over and pull out the needle delivering chemotherapy. Friends and family watched her kids when they could during her treatment last year for colon cancer. But Davis had gaps with no help because she couldn’t afford child care and didn’t know where to look for assistance. “I did not have the strength nor the energy to try to navigate these things myself,” the San Antonio, Texas, resident said. Patients are not getting enough help dealing with a healthcare system that is growing increasingly complex, according to researchers and other experts in care delivery. (Murphy, 6/2)
Los Angeles Times: Mosquitoes Carrying West Nile Virus Found In L.A. County
Los Angeles County has detected mosquitoes carrying the West Nile virus for the first time this year. ... “While the presence of West Nile Virus in our community is not unusual, this early detection serves as a critical reminder for all residents to take preventative actions,” said Steve Vetrone, the director of scientific and technical services at the vector control district, in a prepared statement. (Nelson, 6/1)
San Francisco Chronicle: Berkeley, Albany To Test Parks For Evidence Of Radioactive Waste
Officials in Berkeley and Albany are moving forward with plans to test two popular bayside parks — César Chávez and the Albany Bulb — for evidence of radioactive material possibly dumped decades ago by the former Stauffer Chemical Co. plant in Richmond. ... The planned testing in both cities will include uranium, thorium and the banned pesticide dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), on the advice of the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board, according to reports from both cities. (Johnson, 6/1)
NBC News: Scientists Identify A Genetic Disorder That May Cause Intellectual Disability
A newly identified neurodevelopmental disorder may explain tens of thousands of cases of intellectual disability whose cause was previously unknown, according to a new study. The research, published Friday in the journal Nature Medicine, investigates the effects of mutations in the gene RNU4-2, which is found in all animals, plants and fungi. The gene plays an important role in gene splicing — the process of cutting out portions of genetic material and stitching others together. (Bendix, 5/31)
The Atlantic: Why Extreme Syphilis Symptoms Are Showing Up Now
For some, the world suddenly goes blurry. Others describe it as having a dust storm in your eyes, or being shaken up in a snow globe. People might see flashing lights or black spots drifting through their field of vision, or acquire a sudden sensitivity to light, worse than walking into the sunlight after having your eyes dilated. If patients aren’t treated, some will inevitably go blind. Many medical providers never suspect the culprit: syphilis. (Gross, 6/2)
NPR: Forget BMI. Body Composition Scans Are A Better Measure Of Your Health
The scale has never been a friend to Mana Mostatabi. Even back in high school, when she ran a quick 100m on the varsity track team, her BMI – a ratio of weight to height – put her in the overweight category. “My dad always joked that I should be a wrestler,” Mostatabi says due to her build. Many professional athletes flunk BMI tests. Some are considered obese despite their fitness, and many doctors say it isn’t a helpful metric to focus on. (Aubrey, 6/3)
Stat: BMI, Flaws Aside, Is Found To Be Useful Estimate Of Body Fat In Youth
The body mass index has long been slammed as a blunt instrument for evaluating health, even more so with new obesity drugs changing the conversation about weight and well-being. Now a study reasserts BMI’s value as a screening tool in children to detect high levels of body fat, a measure tied to greater risk of cardiovascular disease, early atherosclerosis, and a high BMI in adulthood. BMI is an equation that divides a person’s weight in kilograms by their height in meters squared. (Cooney, 6/3)
CBS News: Mediterranean Diet Associated With 23% Reduction In Mortality, Study Finds
The Mediterranean diet has long been regarded as a heart-healthy option, but a new study has found the diet may help lower the risk of death. For the study, published in JAMA Network Open Friday, researchers examined 25,315 women over 25 years, finding a higher adherence to the diet was associated with a 23% reduced risk of all-cause mortality. Decreased risks of cardiovascular disease and cancer mortality were also noted. (Moniuszko, 5/31)
USA Today: People Face Higher Risk Of Kidney Stones During Summer Months
Warm weather brings days at the beach, sunscreen and ... kidney stones? Researchers say people who don't stay properly hydrated face a higher risk of these painful mineral deposits as temperatures and humidity rise in the summer. On top of that, they noted that in general people whose diet is packed with too much sodium, fat and sugar, could find themselves among the 1 in 10 Americans who will get a kidney stone in their lifetimes. (Alltucker, 6/3)
The Washington Post: 1.5 Million Medline Adult Bed Rails Recalled After Two Senior Deaths
About 1.5 million adult bed rails have been recalled in the United States and Canada after being linked to the suffocation deaths of two elderly people. The bed rails, made by the Illinois-based company Medline Industries, pose a risk of entrapment and asphyxia, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said Thursday. (McDaniel, 5/31)
USA Today: Cucumbers Recalled In 14 States Over Salmonella Concerns
The Food and Drug Administration on Saturday announced a recall of cucumbers potentially contaminated with Salmonella. Fresh Start Produce Sales Inc. of Delray, Florida is recalling cucumbers that were shipped to wholesalers and distributors in 14 states from May 17th through May 21st, 2024. (Powel and Hauari, 6/2)
