First Edition: March 13, 2023

KHN: Feds Move To Rein In Prior Authorization, A System That Harms And Frustrates Patients
When Paula Chestnut needed hip replacement surgery last year, a pre-operative X-ray found irregularities in her chest. As a smoker for 40 years, Chestnut was at high risk for lung cancer. A specialist in Los Angeles recommended the 67-year-old undergo an MRI, a high-resolution image that could help spot the disease. But her MRI appointment kept getting canceled, Chestnut’s son, Jaron Roux, told KHN. (Sausser, 3/13)

KHN: Colorado Bill Would Encourage, But Not Require, CPR Training In High Schools
A bill advancing in the Colorado legislature would encourage schools to begin teaching students lifesaving skills before graduation, but critics contend it’s little more than a “feel-good” measure devoid of vital requirements and funding. Colorado is one of 10 states where laws don’t mandate CPR training for high school students, according to the American Heart Association. In February, the Colorado House passed a bipartisan bill to add training for CPR and how to use an automated external defibrillator, or AED, to the Colorado Department of Education’s comprehensive health education high school curriculum. (Santoro, 3/13)

KHN: 'An Arm and a Leg': Wrestling With A Giant: How To Dispute A Hospital Bill 
When Sandeep Swami received a $1,339 bill for a quick and uneventful emergency room visit for his 11-year-old daughter, he pushed back. The charge was a “facility fee” for the hospital, though the treatment entailed only a six- to seven-minute consultation with a doctor. Because Swami had a high-deductible health plan and had not yet met his deductible for the year, he was on the hook for the entire amount. (3/13)

KHN: Biden Budget Touches All The Bases
President Joe Biden’s fiscal 2024 budget proposal includes new policies and funding boosts for many of the Democratic Party’s important constituencies, including advocates for people with disabilities and reproductive rights. It also proposes ways to shore up Medicare’s dwindling Hospital Insurance Trust Fund without cutting benefits, basically daring Republicans to match him on the politically potent issue. (3/10)

NBC News: SIDS Rose For Black Infants During Early Pandemic And The Cause Is Unknown, CDC Finds
Despite a record low infant mortality rate in 2020, a new study finds an unexpected jump in unexplained deaths in Black infants during the first year of the coronavirus pandemic. The rate of SIDS, or sudden infant death syndrome, increased by 15% in a single year, from 33.3 deaths per 100,000 babies born in 2019 to 38.2 such deaths in 2020, according to the research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published Monday in the medical journal Pediatrics. (Edwards, 3/13)

The Washington Post: Rise In Infant Deaths Hit Black Families Hardest, Study Finds 
The study found that rising SIDS rates in 2020 was likely attributable to diagnostic shifting — or reclassifying the cause of death. The causes of the rise in sleep-related deaths of Black infants remain unclear but it coincided with the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic, which disproportionately affected the health and wealth of Black communities. ... The study’s authors, who call for further research into their findings, point out that the pandemic exacerbated overcrowded housing, food insecurity and other stressors, particularly among Black families — potentially leading to less safe sleeping practices, such as bed sharing. (Sellers, 3/13)

AP: Prostate Cancer Treatment Can Wait For Most Men, Study Finds
Researchers have found long-term evidence that actively monitoring localized prostate cancer is a safe alternative to immediate surgery or radiation. The results, released Saturday, are encouraging for men who want to avoid treatment-related sexual and incontinence problems, said Dr. Stacy Loeb, a prostate cancer specialist at NYU Langone Health who was not involved in the research. The study directly compared the three approaches — surgery to remove tumors, radiation treatment and monitoring. Most prostate cancer grows slowly, so it takes many years to look at the disease’s outcomes. (Johnson, 3/11)

The Washington Post: Prostate Cancer Study Shows Some Men Can Avoid, Delay Aggressive Treatments
More aggressive treatment helped slow progression of the disease, but did not lower the men’s overall risk of dying of the disease. The authors say this finding suggests that “more aggressive therapy can result in more harm than good” — because the side effects of those treatments can be debilitating to patients, and may not pay off in the end. (Timsit, 3/12)

Reuters: U.S. House Unanimously Backs COVID Origins Information Declassification 
The U.S. House of Representatives voted unanimously on Friday to require Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines to declassify information on the origins of COVID-19, increasing pressure on President Joe Biden's administration to allow its release. The vote was 419 to 0 in favor. Since the Senate on March 1 passed the bill - by unanimous consent - it now goes to the White House for Biden to sign into law or veto. (Zengerle, 3/10)

AP: House Votes To Declassify Info About Origins Of COVID-19 
“I haven’t made that decision yet,” Biden said late Friday when asked whether he would sign the bill. ... If signed into law, the measure would require within 90 days the declassification of “any and all information relating to potential links between the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the origin of the Coronavirus Disease.” That includes information about research and other activities at the lab and whether any researchers grew ill. (Mascaro, 3/10)

Reuters: Finding COVID-19's Origins Is A Moral Imperative - WHO's Tedros 
Discovering the origins of COVID-19 is a moral imperative and all hypotheses must be explored, the head of the World Health Organization said, in the clearest indication yet that the U.N. body remains committed to finding how the virus arose. (3/12)

AP: Pandemic 3 Years Later: Has The COVID-19 Virus Won? 
Saturday marked three years since the World Health Organization first called the outbreak a pandemic on March 11, 2020, and the United Nation’s health organization says it’s not yet ready to say the emergency has ended. ... With information sources drying up, it has become harder to keep tabs on the pandemic. Johns Hopkins University on Friday shut down its trusted tracker, which it started soon after the virus emerged in China and spread worldwide. (Johnson, 3/10)

ABC News: The Winter COVID Wave That Wasn't: Why The US Didn't See A Surge
During the first winter wave, weekly cases peaked at 1,714,256 the week of Jan. 13, 2021, as did weekly deaths at 23,378, according to CDC data. Subsequently, during the second winter wave -- due to the omicron variant -- weekly infections reached their high point of 5,630,736 the week of Jan. 19, 2022, and weekly deaths saw a high of 17,373 the week of Feb. 2, 2022, the data shows. By comparison, according to the CDC, the highest number of weekly cases seen during the most recent winter wave was 472,601 the week of Dec. 7, 2023 -- the first time the peak has not surpassed 1 million. (Kekatos, 3/13)

The Washington Post: Covid Experts Today: Eating Out, Masking Less, Even Booking Cruises
Just like us, they disinfected groceries, left their mail outside for 24 hours, canceled family gatherings, stopped eating out. But today, for the medical experts at the forefront of dealing with the coronavirus that causes covid-19, everyday life has become more normal. All have been vaccinated and boosted, and many have had covid too, a combination that seems to provide more durable protection. While the pandemic isn’t gone, their risk calculations these days look different. ... The Washington Post has interviewed a group of medical experts several times over the past three years to see how the pandemic was affecting their personal lives. Here’s what they have to say today. (Cimons, 3/12)

NBC News: What People With ‘Super Immunity’ Can Teach Us About Covid And Other Viruses
Three years into the pandemic, a select group of people have achieved something some once thought impossible: They have never tested positive for Covid. Scientists around the world are searching for the genetic reasons these people have dodged Covid — despite repeated exposure to the virus. ere they born with a form of super immunity? What's behind their Houdini-like success at escaping infection? (Edwards, 3/11)

NBC News: What's Your Current Risk Of Getting Long Covid? Estimates Hover Around 5%-10%
It's a question few people know how to answer, even after three pandemic years and more than 100 million Covid cases in the U.S.: When someone gets infected today, what is their risk of developing long Covid? "Even the medical community is unclear on all of this. The data is just emerging so rapidly and the estimates are varied," said Dr. Rainu Kaushal, chair of the department of population health sciences at Weill Cornell Medicine. (Bendix, 3/10)

NBC News: For Some Long Covid Patients, Acupuncture And Other Eastern Remedies Bring Relief That Western Medicines Have Not
Frustrated by a lack of results from Western medicine, some long Covid patients have turned to Eastern alternatives. Many say acupuncture, in particular, has provided relief. Lauren Nichols, a Massachusetts resident who got Covid in March 2020, estimated that over two years she had tried around 30 different pharmaceuticals to ease her migraines, brain fog, fatigue, seizures, diarrhea and other lasting symptoms. Eventually her physical limitations — and a lack of answers — became so overwhelming that she developed suicidal thoughts. (Bendix, 3/11)

AP: US Agencies Debunk Florida Surgeon General's Vaccine Claims
U.S. health agencies have sent a letter to Florida’s surgeon general, warning him that his claims about COVID-19 vaccine risks are harmful to the public. The letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was sent Friday to Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo. It was a response to a letter Ladapo had written the agencies last month, expressing concerns about what he described as adverse effects from mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. (3/11)

AP: Mississippi Man Gets 2 Years For Threats To CDC Officials 
A Mississippi man allegedly upset about the COVID-19 vaccination program has been sentenced to two years in prison for threatening federal health officials, federal prosecutors said. Robert Wiser Bates, 39, of Ridgeland, placed phone calls to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta in July 2021 and left threatening voicemails for the agency’s director, Rochelle Walensky, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney Darren J. LaMarca. (3/10)

Reuters: Moderna Loses Bid To Shift Liability In COVID-19 Vaccine Patent Case
Despite the backing of the U.S. government, Moderna Inc on Friday failed to persuade a federal judge it should not have to face a patent lawsuit over its COVID-19 vaccine and that the United States should have been sued instead. U.S. District Judge Mitchell Goldberg ruled for the second time that Moderna had not yet shown that the government was the proper target of a lawsuit by Arbutus Biopharma Corp (ABUS.O) and Genevant Sciences GmbH. (Brittain, 3/10)

The New York Times: Judge In Abortion Pill Case Set Hearing But Sought To Delay Telling The Public 
Judge Kacsmaryk, a Trump appointee who has written critically about Roe v. Wade and previously worked for a Christian conservative legal organization, told lawyers in a conference call Friday that he did not want the March 15 hearing to be “disrupted,” and that he wanted all parties involved to share their points in an orderly fashion, according to people familiar with the discussion. The judge also said that court staff had faced security issues, including death threats, and that the measure was intended to keep the court proceedings safe. (Benner and Belluck, 3/12)

AP: Maryland House OKs Abortion Rights Constitutional Amendment 
The Maryland House voted Friday to enshrine the right to abortion in the state Constitution, one of several steps lawmakers are taking this legislative session to protect abortion rights after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year. The House voted 99-37 for the constitutional amendment, which also is advancing in the state Senate. If the measure passes the General Assembly, voters would have a chance to approve it in November 2024. (White, 3/10)

Politico: Republicans Look To End Florida’s Abortion-Haven Legacy 
Thousands of people have traveled to Florida from as far away as Texas to end their pregnancies since the Supreme Court dismantled Roe v. Wade in June — and Republicans want to put a stop to it. Florida Republicans, who hold supermajorities in the Legislature, proposed a ban last week on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy — or two weeks after someone misses their period — and with Gov. Ron DeSantis’ support, passage is almost guaranteed. (Sarkissian, 3/12)

CNBC: Abortion Pill: North Carolina Lawmakers Intervene To Defend Restrictions
A federal judge on Friday allowed North Carolina lawmakers to defend restrictions on the abortion pill mifepristone, after the state attorney general declined to do so. (Kimball, 3/10)

Modern Healthcare: Silicon Valley Bank Failure Could Impact Digital Health Investments 
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's decision to take over Silicon Valley Bank on Friday is likely to leave many digital health companies scrambling to pay employees and suppliers. SVB, the nation's 16th largest bank and headquartered in Santa Clara, California, was a big bank for tech companies, startups and venture capital firms. The bank said on its website that it had $78.8 billion in healthcare deposits and investments as of December. (Turner, 3/10)

Stat: SVB, Biotech’s Bank Of Choice, Just Failed. It May Have Ripple Effects
Silicon Valley Bank, which does business with roughly half of the nation’s tech and biotech companies, failed on Friday. Now, as federal regulators step in to clean up SVB’s mess, biotech startups are left wondering: What happens to their money, and who’s going to finance the industry? (Feuerstein, Garde and DeAngelis, 3/10)

CBS News: Pfizer Migraine Nasal Spray Zavzpret Wins FDA Approval 
Pfizer said Friday that the Food and Drug Administration has approved a new nasal spray to treat migraines. Zavzpret, a branded formulation of the generic drug zavegepant, is the "first and only" calcitonin gene-related peptide receptor antagonist nasal spray for treating migraines with or without an aura, or sensory disturbances such as flashes of light that can accompany a migraine, the drugmaker said. Zavzpret began working to treat migraine symptoms in as little as 30 minutes and provided some relief for up to 48 hours after the last administered dose, Pfizer said, citing a March study published in The Lancet. (Napolitano, 3/11)

Stat: FDA Approves First Treatment For Rett Syndrome
The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved the first treatment for Rett syndrome, a genetic disease mostly affecting girls that causes severe neurologic impairments, robbing them of the ability to communicate or control muscle movement. (Feuerstein, 3/11)

NPR: Statin Alternative Lowers Cholesterol And Heart Attack Risk Without Muscle Pain 
When the FDA approved bempedoic acid, marketed under the brand name Nexletol, back in 2020, it was clear that the drug helped lower LDL — "bad" cholesterol. The drug was intended for people who can't tolerate statin medications due to muscle pain, which is a side effect reported by up to 29% of people who take statins. What was unknown until now, is whether bempedoic acid also reduced the risk of cardiovascular events. Now, the results of a randomized, controlled trial published in The New England Journal of Medicine point to significant benefit. The study included about 14,000 people, all of whom were statin intolerant. (Aubrey, 3/13)

Stat: New Weight Loss Drugs Could Strain Medicare, Policy Experts Warn
Even a small amount of uptake would create significant costs for Medicare, likely leading the federal insurer to raise premiums in the long run, the researchers said in a perspective piece Saturday in the New England Journal of Medicine. The chronic medications may also have fewer benefits and more risks for older people — the population that Medicare serves, they wrote. (Chen, 3/11)

Reuters: Economists Warn Of Costs If Medicare Covers New Obesity Drugs 
The cost of expanding U.S. Medicare prescription drug coverage to pay for expensive, new obesity medications could be catastrophic, health economists warned in a report published on Saturday. (Lapid, 3/11)

Stat: A Medicare Advantage Business Is Strangling One Of Its First Funders
When NaviHealth began building a business around using algorithms to scrutinize the care of older patients a decade ago, one of the country’s largest chains of inpatient rehab and long-term care hospitals was among the first to invest. Select Medical cut a check of about $5 million — a rounding error for a conglomerate that generates more than $6 billion of revenue every year. Now, years after exiting its investment, Select Medical is publicly bashing the company it once backed. (Herman and Ross, 3/13)

Modern Healthcare: Health Industry Groups To Assist Medicaid Enrollees Losing Coverage
A coalition of healthcare organizations, led by the health insurance group AHIP, has come together to create a "one-stop shop" to assist millions of Americans facing disenrollment from Medicaid when states review their benefit rolls in the coming months. The Connecting to Coverage Coalition consists of 16 associations representing health insurance companies, providers and patients, including the Federation of American Hospitals, the American Health Care Association, the Catholic Health Association of the United States, and the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, AHIP announced Thursday. (Turner, 3/10)

Reuters: UnitedHealth Beneficiaries Seek To Revive Case Over Mental Health Coverage 
UnitedHealth Group Inc beneficiaries are asking a federal appeals court to reconsider a ruling limiting the insurer's obligation to cover mental health treatment, which they said had "disastrous consequences" for mental health and addiction patients. ... A three-judge panel last year overturned the beneficiaries' trial victory. (Pierson, 3/10)

CIDRAP: When Medical Visits Are Shorter, Patients More Likely To Get Unneeded Antibiotics
A study of US medical record data found that shorter primary care visits were linked to a higher likelihood of inappropriate antibiotic prescribing for respiratory infections. The findings, published today in JAMA Health Forum, are part of a larger study investigating whether clinicians make less-appropriate prescribing decisions in shorter visits. In addition to a higher likelihood of inappropriate antibiotics, the researchers also found that shorter visits were associated with a higher likelihood of inappropriate co-prescribing of opioids and benzodiazepines for pain, which can increase the risk of overdose. (Dall, 3/10)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: On Match Day, Medical Students Learn Where They’ll Start Work As Doctors. Four At Jefferson Offer An Inside Look At The Process.
A champagne toast is in store Friday for 275 aspiring physicians at Thomas Jefferson University’s medical school. A few miles north, their counterparts at Temple University will join in a boisterous 10-second countdown before ripping open their envelopes. At the University of Pennsylvania, rituals include pinning tiny flags on a giant U.S. map. March 17 is Match Day, when thousands of medical students nationwide learn where they will work as residents after graduation, and in what specialty, completing their training as physicians. (Avril, 3/12)

AP: West Virginia GOP Legislature Passes Transgender Care Ban
A bill that would ban evidence-based health care for transgender minors in West Virginia, the state estimated to have more transgender youth per capita than any other in the nation, is headed to the desk of Gov. Jim Justice. The Republican governor has not taken a public stance on the measure and it’s unclear whether he will sign it into law. A spokesperson said he was unavailable for comment Saturday. (Willingham, 3/12)

AP: Medical Helicopter Service Suspended After N. Carolina Crash 
An emergency helicopter transport service announced Friday that it suspended operations, a day after one of its helicopters crashed in western North Carolina, leaving three of the four people aboard hospitalized. “Safety is of the upmost concern to our program, and as such we have suspended all LIFE FORCE operations until our crews feel ready to return to service,” LIFE FORCE Air Medical, which is operated by Erlanger Health System, said in a statement posted on Facebook. (3/10)

AP: Maryland House OKs Recreational Marijuana Framework Bill 
The Maryland House voted Friday for a measure that would create a legal framework and tax structure to enable recreational marijuana to be sold in stores as soon as July 1. ... Although Maryland voters approved a constitutional amendment in November to legalize recreational marijuana, lawmakers left details about implementation to be decided this session. (White, 3/10)

WFSU: Florida Lawmakers Want To Set The Age Limit For Kratom Use At 21
Florida lawmakers are moving forward with a bipartisan plan to regulate the use of kratom, an herbal supplement that causes opioid- and stimulant-like effects. “We don’t want anybody to spike it or to cut it," said state Sen. Joe Gruters (R-Sarasota). "We want an unadulterated, pure form going to the consumer at the end of the day.” (Crowder, 3/12)

AP: Oregon Closer To Magic Mushroom Therapy, But Has Setback
Oregon was taking a major step Friday in its pioneering of legalized psilocybin therapy with the graduation of the first students trained in accompanying patients tripping on psychedelic mushrooms, although a company’s bankruptcy has left another group on the same path adrift. The graduation ceremony for 35 students was being held Friday evening by InnerTrek, a Portland firm, at a woodsy retreat center. About 70 more will graduate on Saturday and Sunday in ceremonies in which they will pledge to do no harm. (Selsky and Corder, 3/10)

The Boston Globe: A Deadly Cancer You Probably Haven’t Heard Of Is Becoming More Common. But A Pioneering HIV Activist Is Hoping To Change That. 
Even before he was infected with HIV in 1985, Stewart Landers had become a warrior for AIDS patients at a time when the medical establishment was confounded by the mysterious disease. ... Now, 38 years after his HIV diagnosis, Landers has again been stricken with a disease that is little known, even in the medical establishment. But this time, he is taking his plight public. The 66-year-old health consultant has Merkel cell carcinoma, a rare skin cancer that is becoming more common in the US and is about five times more lethal than the better-known skin cancer, melanoma. (Lazar, 3/11)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Clinical Depression Is Common And Treatment Can Help. It Helped These Four People From Philadelphia.
When U.S. Sen. John Fetterman checked into a hospital for clinical depression last month, critics questioned whether he would be able to serve his six-year term. Mental illness is often portrayed as an inescapable condition. But for most people, depression and other mental health disorders don’t last forever, said David Mandell, the director of the Penn Center for Mental Health. ... The Inquirer spoke to four Philadelphians about their experience with depression, what treatments worked for them, and how they continue to take care of their mental health. (Gutman and Ruderman, 3/13)