First Edition: June 30, 2023
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
KFF Health News:
A New Law Is Supposed To Protect Pregnant Workers — But What If We Don’t Know How?
Vanessa Langness had always been a bit worried about the chemicals she worked with as a biomedical researcher, but when she got pregnant in October, her concerns grew. The 34-year-old based in Santa Maria, California, suspected the ethidium bromide she was using in the lab for molecular cloning could put her and her baby at risk. She wasn’t sure what to do; she was only a few weeks into her pregnancy and didn’t know how it would affect her career. (Jimenez, 6/30)
KFF Health News:
As Low-Nicotine Cigarettes Hit The Market, Anti-Smoking Groups Press For Wider Standard
The idea seems simple enough. Preserve all the rituals of smoking: Light up a cigarette, inhale the smoke, including the nasty stuff that can kill you, and exhale. But remove most of the nicotine, the chemical that makes tobacco so darn hard to quit, to help smokers smoke less. The Food and Drug Administration has been contemplating that strategy for at least six years as one way to make it easier for smokers to cut back, if not quit entirely. Less than two years ago, it authorized 22nd Century Group, a publicly traded plant biotech company based in Buffalo, New York, to advertise its proprietary low-nicotine cigarettes as modified-risk tobacco products. (Thompson, 6/30)
KFF Health News:
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': A Year Without Roe
It’s an understatement to say a lot has happened in the year since the Supreme Court overturned the nationwide right to abortion in its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. But while many of the subsequent legislative and court actions to either ban or preserve access to abortion were predicted, the decision has had other, sometimes far-reaching consequences. (6/29)
Stat:
Supreme Court Strikes Down Use Of Affirmative Action, A Blow To Efforts To Diversify Medical Schools
Overturning decades of precedent, the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday struck down the use of affirmative action, ruling that it is unconstitutional for colleges, universities — and professional schools for law, medicine, and nursing — to consider race as one factor in deciding who they will admit. The decision comes as a blow to many in the field of medicine, which has been unable to appreciably increase the numbers of Black, Hispanic, and Indigenous doctors in recent decades. Many medical schools have turned to using race as one factor among many in admissions decisions to try to boost the numbers of students from underrepresented groups and help overcome obstacles to entry like MCAT testing that favor students from wealthier backgrounds. (McFarling, 6/29)
NBC News:
Medical Schools Will Be Even Less Diverse After Affirmative Action Ruling, Experts Say
The Supreme Court’s affirmative action ruling will have far-reaching consequences for Black and Latino students hoping to attend medical school and, in turn, only worsen the health disparities among people of color across the country, experts said. After the high court’s ruling Thursday struck down affirmative action programs at the University of North Carolina and Harvard, many fear that medical and nursing schools and other professional institutions will no longer be able to foster diversity by considering race in their admissions processes. The decision will result in fewer Black physicians and more racial bias in the medical field, said Dr. Uché Blackstock, a physician who is the founder of Advancing Health Equity. (Adams, 6/29)
Stat:
Medical Leaders Decry Supreme Court Decision On Affirmative Action
Medical leaders on Thursday reacted swiftly to the Supreme Court’s decision to severely restrict the use of race in college admissions, saying the ruling could reverse decades of progress toward diversifying the nation’s physician workforce — something seen as key to helping end the country’s widespread and deeply entrenched health disparities. “This ruling will make it even more difficult for the nation’s colleges and universities to help create future health experts and workers that reflect the diversity of our great nation. The health and wellbeing of Americans will suffer as a result,” Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement released almost immediately after the ruling, noting that people of color had been excluded from attending medical school and joining medical organizations for generations. “We need more health workers, especially those who look like and share the experiences of the people they serve,” the statement said. (McFarling, 6/29)
Axios:
Medical Schools Eye Workarounds After SCOTUS Affirmative Action Ruling
Officials from the American Association of Medical Colleges said they "are deeply disappointed" with the 6-3 ruling and concerned it will exacerbate existing health inequities and worsen doctor shortages in underserved communities. Yes, but: "One of the dangers is we see this case as more restrictive than it is," Dayna Matthew, dean of the George Washington University Law School who specializes in health care law, told Axios. (Reed, 6/30)
Modern Healthcare:
Supreme Court Affirmative Action Ruling Sparks Healthcare Concerns
In the aftermath of the historic decision, medical schools and the healthcare sector must reconsider a fundamental aspect of their long-term strategies for diversity, equity and inclusion. Here's what major healthcare institutions had to say about the ruling on Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College and Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. University of North Carolina, et al. (Hartnett, 6/29)
The New York Times:
Heat Wave And Wildfire Smoke Affecting Huge Portions Of North America
For nearly a half of the United States the forecast for the heat index, a measure of what the temperature actually feels like, fell into the “extreme caution” or “danger” categories. Humid air can keep the body from cooling efficiently because the air is so saturated that moisture from a person’s skin has nowhere to evaporate, a necessity for cooling down. Adding to the danger, nighttime temperatures are expected to remain high this week in the South and Midwest, making it harder for the human body to have a chance to cool down. (Sengupta, 6/29)
NBC News:
Extreme Texas Heat Is Not Letting Up At Night — And How This Impacts Health
Just as worrisome — nighttime temperatures have set records and offered no relief. On all but one day, Del Rio’s lowest temperature was at least 80 F, according to National Weather Service data. Heat at night disrupts sleep and prevents the body from recovering and cooling down, making minimum temperatures a critical indicator of a heat wave’s severity, experts said. In many parts of the country, nights are warming faster than days — a sneaky risk to people’s health. (Bush, 6/29)
The Washington Post:
Pressure Builds For FEMA To Declare Deadly Heat Events As Disasters
Extreme heat kills more people than nearly every other weather event combined. But does the government respond to these potentially lethal events as they do with hurricanes and floods? Not yet. A disaster declaration by the president could allow states to be reimbursed for taking action that could save lives — such as opening cooling centers, distributing water and checking in with residents door-to-door. States could also ask the Federal Emergency Management Agency to launch an emergency response, such as supplying medical teams or rounding up generators. (Selig, 6/29)
USA Today:
Are Heat Waves Dangerous? How Humidity, 'Heat Islands' Affect Health
Extreme heat is the deadliest weather-related event in the United States, killing more people than tornadoes or hurricanes – combined. While federal agencies report about 700 Americans die each year from extreme heat, some studies estimate that figure could be closer to 1,300 deaths per year. Another study found up to 20,000 deaths may have been linked to extreme heat between 2008 and 2017. (Rodriguez, 6/30)
AP:
Here's How To Keep Cool And Stay Safe During A Heat Wave
You might be experiencing a heat stroke if your body temperature reaches or surpasses 103 degrees. Other symptoms include nausea, headaches, thirst and a fast and strong heart rate. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says heat stroke is a medical emergency and recommends that people with symptoms call 911.Symptoms of heat exhaustion include heavy sweating, muscle cramps, dizziness, vomiting and cold, pale or clammy skin. The CDC says you should seek treatment if such symptoms worsen or last more an hour. (Yamat, 6/29)
CNN:
CDC Approves RSV Vaccines For Older Adults, Expects Availability This Fall
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday gave the green light to two new RSV vaccines for older adults and expects them to be available in the fall. The endorsement from CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky follows recommendations from the agency’s independent vaccine advisory committee and approvals from the US Food and Drug Administration. (McPhillips, 6/29)
The Washington Post:
States And CDC To Track Cronobacter Cases Like Other Infectious Diseases
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will start collecting data from state and local health departments about infections caused by cronobacter, the pathogen at the center of last year’s infant formula crisis. The Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists, which makes recommendations to the CDC about illnesses it should track, made the recommendation at a conference Thursday. The CDC has said it will adopt the recommendation starting next year. CSTE members worked closely with CDC experts and representatives of the Food and Drug Administration and the Association of Public Health Laboratories to come to this decision. (Reiley, 6/29)
Bloomberg:
Deaths Linked To Fentanyl Laced With Xylazine Soar, CDC Finds
The danger from a little-known sedative that’s frequently combined with opioids exploded from 2018 to 2021 as deaths linked to the drug rose by 34 times. (Griffin, 6/30)
Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
Q&A With CDC Director Rochelle Walensky As She Prepares To Leave
Dr. Rochelle Walensky is preparing for life after the pandemic. She announced her plans to step down as head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on May 5, just six days before the federal government declared the end of the public health emergency. Walenksy’s tenure of just under two and a half years as head of the nation’s lead public health agency was one of the shortest of any CDC director. It was also marked by contentious political fighting over pandemic public health policies. (Thomas, 6/30)
CIDRAP:
Global COVID Markers Show Few Hot Spots As XBB.1.16 Overtakes XBB.1.5
In its update on variant activity, the WHO said the proportion of the Omicron XBB.1.5 subvariant continues to decline steadily, dropping from 32.1% to 19.8% over the past month. In a risk assessment update last week for XBB.1.5, the WHO said the virus doesn't pose an additional public health risk compared to other subvariants. Meanwhile, the XBB.1.16 subvariant for the first time topped the XBB.1.5 proportion, now accounting for 20.5% of sequences globally. The WHO notes that countries that have low prevalence of XBB.1.5 are now seeing significant rises in XBB.1.16 prevalence, while countries that had high XBB.1.5 activity are experiencing low circulation of XBB.1.16.The only other subvariants showing rising prevalence are XBB, XBB.1.9.2, and XBB.2.3. (Schnirring, 6/29)
AP:
North Carolina Governor Signs Law Clearing Up Several Aspects Of Impending Abortion Law
Last-minute revisions to North Carolina’s new abortion restrictions that take effect this weekend were signed into law on Thursday by Gov. Roy Cooper. The Democratic governor’s decision to act quickly on changes from the Republican-controlled legislature should minimize the immediate results from a pending legal challenge. Still, a federal judge might temporarily block parts of the law that before it goes into effect Saturday. (Robertson, 6/29)
North Carolina Health News:
NC's New Abortion Ban Takes Effect Tomorrow
Beverly Gray, an OB-GYN at Duke Health who provides abortion care, expects that turning away people seeking abortions in North Carolina will be a daily occurrence beginning tomorrow, when the state’s new restrictions passed by Republican lawmakers take effect. Overnight, abortion access will significantly diminish as the time frame for seeking most abortions in the state drops from 20 weeks of pregnancy to 12 weeks. (Crumpler, 6/30)
Politico:
New York Dems Put Abortion On The Ballot In Bid To Retake The House
Left-leaning New York groups pledged $20 million Thursday to support a change to the New York State constitution to protect abortion rights that will be on the 2024 ballot — something they believe will boost turnout for Democrats in key swing House districts. A state Equal Rights Amendment will ask voters next November to codify a number of rights, including abortion and LGBTQ rights, in the state constitution. New York Democrats are hoping to replicate a model they found successful last cycle, when a constitutional abortion amendment was on the same ballot as vulnerable Democrats in Michigan. The amendment passed and those members held their seats. (Gibson, 6/29)
The Hill:
Texas Abortion Ban Led To Almost 10,000 Additional Live Births
A research paper published Thursday linked 9,799 additional live births in Texas to an abortion ban that the state passed in 2021, confirming what researchers had expected to happen after the bill was passed. The Texas Legislature passed a bill in September 2021 that effectively banned abortions about 5 to 6 weeks after a woman’s last menstrual cycle. (Choi, 6/29)
The Hill:
Biden’s Promise To Safeguard Gender-Affirming Care Falls Short Amid Red-State Attacks
One year ago this month, President Biden in an executive order promised to safeguard access to gender-affirming health care for transgender Americans, charging the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) with promoting “expanded access” to care in every state. Today, 20 states and counting have passed laws that heavily restrict or ban gender-affirming medical care, including 17 that have done so this year. Most of these laws regulate the administration of puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgeries to transgender minors, but measures adopted in some states, including Florida and Missouri, threaten to limit access to care for adults, too. (Migdon, 6/30)
Oklahoman:
New Department Of Education Video Paints Transgender Students As Threat To School Safety
After sharing an inflammatory video opposing teachers unions last month, the Oklahoma State Department of Education put out a new "public service message" on Thursday describing transgender students as a threat in schools. The message continues state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters' ongoing opposition to the presence of transgender students in school bathrooms and to classroom discussions of gender-nonconforming identities. Members of Oklahoma's LGBTQ+ community have said this rhetoric is harmful to transgender youths who are already vulnerable. (Martinez-Keel, 6/29)
Fox News:
Gender Dysphoria Growing Among Younger Adults Amid ‘Increasing Acceptance,’ Study Finds
Individuals are receiving diagnoses of gender dysphoria (GD) — also known as gender identity disorder — at younger ages, according to a new study published in General Psychiatry, an open access journal that covers mental health issues and more. "Gender dysphoria" is defined as "psychological distress that results from an incongruence between one’s sex assigned at birth and one’s gender identity," per the American Psychiatric Association. (Rudy, 6/29)
AP:
$2.9 Million Gene Therapy For Severe Hemophilia Is Approved By FDA
U.S. officials on Thursday approved drugmaker BioMarin’s gene therapy for the most common form of hemophilia, a $2.9 million infused treatment that can significantly reduce dangerous bleeding problems. The Food and Drug Administration approved Roctavian for adult patients with severe cases of hemophilia A, the inherited blood-clotting disorder that can lead to bleeding after minor injuries or scrapes. It’s the first gene therapy for those patients. (Perrone, 6/29)
AP:
Cheaper Competition For Humira Is Hitting The Market, But Savings Will Depend On Your Insurance
Patients who take the autoimmune disease treatment Humira may see some price relief when several lower-cost, biosimilar versions of the AbbVie drug reach the U.S. market in July. But lower pharmacy bills may not happen right away — or at all — for some patients. That’ll depend largely on your insurance coverage. Here’s a closer look. (Murphy, 6/29)
Modern Healthcare:
Healthcare Costs To Rise In 7% In 2024: PwC
Healthcare costs are expected to rise 7% next year as providers deal with higher expenses and seek rate increases during contract negotiations with insurers. The projection by PricewaterhouseCoopers' Health Research Institute tops the consultancy's estimates in 2022 and 2023, which were 5.5% and 6%, respectively. (Kacik, 6/29)
Modern Healthcare:
HFMA 2023: Anxiety Over Claims Denials, Looming Recession
Executives at the Healthcare Financial Management Association conference expressed serious concern that worsening economic conditions, an uptick in health insurance claim denials and the complexity of managing multiple vendors are impeding the hospital sector's prospects. (Hartnett, 6/29)
AP:
Georgia Launches Medicaid Expansion In Closely Watched Test Of Work Requirements
Georgia is offering a new bargain to some adults without health insurance beginning Saturday: Go to work or school and the state will cover you. But advocates decry the plan, which will insure far fewer people than a full expansion of the state-federal Medicaid program, as needlessly restrictive and expensive. The program is likely to be closely watched as Republicans in Congress push to let states require work from some current Medicaid enrollees. (Amy, 6/30)
Politico:
California Slavery Reparations Task Force Sends Final Report To Uncertain Fate In Legislature
A California task force Thursday presented its first-in-the-nation attempt to address the legacy of slavery to lawmakers who must decide whether to pursue a wide range of proposed remedies, including payments to descendants of enslaved people. The recommendations of the reparations task force, the product of months of research and public hearings, face an uncertain fate even in a Legislature with a Democratic supermajority and a governor supportive of the commission’s work. (White and Govindarao, 6/29)
The Washington Post:
Legal Weed Sales Expand Maryland's Cannabis Industry, Beginning Saturday
At the back of an industrial park shared with a spice company, the thick summer air outside Verano’s humming two-story production warehouse in Jessup, Md., smells faintly like cinnamon, cumin and cannabis. Inside, cannabis production has tripled.
The plant’s sticky flowers are pressed into joints rolled by machinery, distilled into tinctures, pressurized into vapor cartridges, and cooked into gummies, caramels and a line of edibles — all labeled, as required, with a little red marijuana leaf sticker and the words “THC MARYLAND.” The massive expansion aims to help meet the surge in demand expected when recreational marijuana use becomes legal in Maryland for people 21 and older on Saturday. (Shepherd and Cox, 6/29)
The Hill:
DeSantis Signs Bill Allowing New Roads To Be Built With Mining Waste Linked To Cancer
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed a bill on Thursday that will allow new roads in the state to be built with “radioactive” mining waste that has been linked to cancer. HB 1191 adds phosphogypsum to a list of “recyclable materials” that can be used for the construction of roads. The list also includes ground rubber from car tires, ash residue from coal combustion byproducts, recycled mixed-plastic, glass and construction steel. (Oshin, 6/29)
AP:
Louisiana Governor Vetoes Portion Of State Budget, Restores Health Department Increase
Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards vetoed parts of Louisiana’s budget on Thursday after lawmakers called on him to clean up the state’s hastily-passed plan. The Republican-dominated Legislature had allocated a chunk of money to pay down state retirement debt, but Edwards redirected a portion of it to increase funding for early childhood education and restore a proposed $100 million increase to the Louisiana Department of Health. In his veto message, Edwards said restoring the health department increase was necessary to “protect against devastating programmatic cuts” and avoid losing up to $700 million in federal funding. (Cline, 6/29)
The Washington Post:
Fungal Meningitis Outbreak Kills 7 People; CDC Urges Testing
A total of seven people have died after a fungal meningitis outbreak linked to two clinics in Matamoros, Mexico, according to an updated advisory from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released Thursday. The patients were exposed to the fungus after receiving epidural anesthesia at one of two clinics, River Side Surgical Center and Clinica K-3. (Malhi, 6/29)
CIDRAP:
Some US Foodborne Illnesses Met Or Topped Prepandemic Levels In 2022
In 2022, US rates of some foodborne illnesses surpassed or returned to prepandemic levels, finds a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-led study published today in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. (Van Beusekom, 6/29)
AP:
Drone Deployed To Fight Mosquitoes In Southern California
A drone flies over a peaceful Southern California marsh and unleashes a rain of larvae-killing bacterial spore pellets. Its target: a surging population of mosquitoes that can spread diseases to humans. The drone is the latest technology deployed by the Orange County Mosquito and Vector Control District to attack mosquito development in marshes, large ponds and parks. (Garcia, 6/29)
The Washington Post:
Australia Offers MDMA Drug Therapy For PTSD, A World First
Australia’s drug regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration, surprised just about everybody — including the country’s health institutions — when it ruled that from July, MDMA would be rescheduled from a prohibited to a controlled substance. It will also allow psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, to be used in therapy for treatment-resistant depression. In doing so, the regulator has turned Australia into a countrywide experiment for other jurisdictions, including the United States, to observe. (Vinall, 6/29)