First Edition: March 13, 2024
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
KFF Health News:
West Virginia City Once Battered By Opioid Overdoses Confronts ‘Fourth Wave’
From 2006 through 2014, more than 81 million painkiller pills were shipped to this city and surrounding rural Cabell County. The arrival of prescription opioids onto seemingly every block of Huntington, a city of about 46,000 people, augured the first wave of an overdose crisis. Heroin followed, then fentanyl. Residents remember Aug. 15, 2016, as the darkest day because on that afternoon and evening, 28 people overdosed in the city. But Huntington had shouldered collective trauma before. (Sisk, 3/13)
KFF Health News:
Concerns Grow Over Quality Of Care As Investor Groups Buy Not-For-Profit Nursing Homes
Shelly Olson’s mother, who has dementia, has lived at the Scandia Village nursing home in rural Sister Bay, Wisconsin, for almost five years. At first, Olson said, her mother received great care at the facility, then owned by a not-for-profit organization, the Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society. Then in 2019, Sanford Health — a not-for-profit, tax-exempt hospital system — acquired the nursing home. The covid-19 pandemic struck soon after. From then on, the facility was regularly short of staff, and residents endured long wait times and other care problems, said Olson, a registered nurse who formerly worked at the facility. (Meyer, 3/13)
KFF Health News:
Secret Contract Aims To Upend Landmark California Prison Litigation
California commissioned an exhaustive study of whether its prisons are providing sufficient mental health care, an effort officials said they could use to try to end a 34-year-old federal lawsuit over how the state treats inmates with mental illness. But corrections officials won’t disclose basic details of the now-stalled study — even the cost to taxpayers for two consulting firms and more than two dozen national experts retained to examine the issue in 2023. State lawyers cited attorney-client privilege and ongoing litigation in denying KFF Health News’ public records requests for the information. Independent legal experts questioned the blanket denials. (Thompson, 3/13)
KFF Health News:
Listen To The Latest 'KFF Health News Minute'
This week on the KFF Health News Minute: Some providers are saving penicillin for pregnant patients amid a shortage of the drug, which is used to treat syphilis, and why bigger hearing aids might be better. (3/12)
Modern Healthcare:
White House Presses UnitedHealth On Change Outage At Meeting
Senior federal officials met with a wide array of healthcare company and trade group executives Tuesday as they urged UnitedHealth Group and other insurance companies to do more to aid providers harmed by the ongoing Change Healthcare outage. UnitedHealth Group — which operates Change Healthcare through its Optum subsidiary and sells insurance through its UnitedHealthcare subsidiary — and the rest of the industry can do more to mitigate cash flow problems arising from a cyberattack that has disrupted healthcare operations for weeks, the White House, the Health and Human Services Department and other authorities said during the meeting, according to an HHS news release. (Berryman, 3/12)
Axios:
UnitedHealth Faces Growing Calls For Accountability Over Cyberattack
A central question that has emerged since a cyberattack on a UnitedHealth Group subsidiary is how the strike against a single company has wrought such chaos across an entire industry. (Reed, 3/13)
CNN:
Biden Administration Announces Focus On ‘Flooding The Zone’ With Life-Saving Overdose Reversal Medicine
The Biden administration launched an initiative Wednesday that it describes as a nationwide call to increase training on and access to life-saving opioid overdose reversal medications, dubbed the Challenge to Save Lives from Overdose. (Christensen, 3/13)
The New Republic:
Trump Is Threatening To Gut Social Security. Take His Word For It.
Donald Trump has offered a new way to win over older voters: suggesting that the government gut Medicare and Social Security spending. While calling in to CNBC’s Squawk Box on Monday, the former president brought up the idea of cutting “entitlements” such as Social Security and Medicaid. (Oamek, 3/11)
NBC News:
Abortion Is A Top Concern For Trump As He Considers His VP Pick
Former President Donald Trump has been laser-focused on the abortion views of his potential VP picks, viewing the issue as a potential vulnerability for Republicans. In particular, he asked campaign aides and club members what they thought of the vocal anti-abortion-rights views of Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina. (Burns, 3/13)
The Hill:
McConnell: Battle To Repeal Affordable Care Act ‘Largely Over’
Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) poured some cold water on former President Trump’s recent comments about launching another effort to repeal and replace the 2010 Affordable Care Act, telling reporters Tuesday the fight over the law seems “largely over.” McConnell said he would not weigh in directly on the “development” of Trump’s policy agenda and acknowledged the possibility that Republicans would tackle health care reform if Trump can come up with a viable policy alternative. (Bolton, 3/12)
Axios:
Pharma Dealt A Loss Over Drug Discount Program
Pharmaceutical interests lost a closely watched battle over the federal drug discount program on Tuesday when a federal appeals court ruled that Arkansas can block manufacturers from limiting the availability of discounted drugs at certain pharmacies. (Bettelheim, 3/13)
Modern Healthcare:
Healthcare Provider Anti-Burnout Bill Advances In Congress
A bill to support healthcare workers struggling with burnout, stress and other work-related mental health problems advanced in Congress on a unanimous subcommittee vote Tuesday. The Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Reauthorization Act of 2024, named after a New York physician who died by suicide in 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, authorizes five years of grant programs, building on the previous, shorter-term legislation, which expires at the end of the year. (McAuliff, 3/12)
Politico:
Taxes, Cannabis Banking, Drug Prices: What Senate Dem Incumbents Hope To Tackle Next
In interviews this week, Democrats sketched out their top priorities: The House-passed tax deal; a rail safety bill responding to the disaster in East Palestine, Ohio; cannabis banking legislation, a new farm bill, a package of community health center funding and action to lower drug prices; and a new FAA bill. (Everett, 3/12)
CIDRAP:
Senator Questions CDC's Proposed Post-Exposure Doxycycline Recommendation
US Senator Marc Rubio (R-FL) yesterday sent a letter to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Mandy Cohen, MD, MPH, expressing his concerns about the CDC's proposed guidelines recommending the use of doxycycline post-exposure prophylaxis (doxy-PEP) to reduce sexually transmitted infections (STIs). (Dall, 3/12)
Reuters:
Global Child Mortality Rates Dropped In 2022 But Progress Slow, UN Says
The number of children globally who died before their fifth birthday dropped to a record low of 4.9 million in 2022, but that still represents one death every six seconds, according to new United Nations estimates. While the mortality rate for under-5s has roughly halved since 2000, the world is still behind in the goal of reducing preventable deaths in that age group by 2030, and progress has slowed since 2015, the report, released on Wednesday, found. (3/12)
AP:
Mississippi Will Allow Quicker Medicaid Coverage During Pregnancy To Try To Help Women And Babies
A new Mississippi law will allow earlier Medicaid coverage for pregnant women in an effort to improve health outcomes for mothers and babies in a poor state with the nation’s worst rate of infant mortality. The “presumptive eligility” legislation signed Tuesday by Republican Gov. Tate Reeves will become law July 1. It says Medicaid will pay for a pregnant woman’s outpatient medical care for up to 60 days while her application for the government-funded insurance program is being considered. (Pettus, 3/13)
CNN:
New Study Challenges Scale Of Maternal Health Crisis In The US
Hundreds of women in the United States die from complications related to pregnancy, childbirth and the time after giving birth each year, and the country’s high maternal death rate makes it an outlier among developed nations. But a new study suggests that maternal mortality rates in the US may be lower and more stable than federal data suggests – though still very high. (McPhillips and Howard, 3/13)
The 19th:
Texas Teens Now Need Parental Consent For Birth Control From Federally Funded Clinics
Federally funded family planning centers in Texas must receive parental consent before prescribing birth control to teenagers, an appeals court ruled Tuesday, partially upholding a decision from a lower court. (Luthra, 3/12)
CIDRAP:
By 2022, COVID Pandemic Had Shaved 1.6 Years From Global Life Expectancy, Research Reveals
In a stunning reversal of decades of progress, global life expectancy at birth fell 1.6 years from 2019 to 2021, with 16 million of 131 million total deaths in 2020 and 2021 directly or indirectly attributable to COVID-19, reveals one of the most comprehensive studies of its kind published yesterday in The Lancet. (Van Beusekom, 3/12)
The New York Times:
Marking The 4-Year Anniversary Of The Covid Pandemic
Covid was declared a national emergency on March 13, 2020. Even as the threat of severe illness and death has faded, the pandemic’s effects linger. (Bosman, 3/13)
Bay Area News Group:
Hidden COVID Virus Found Nearly Two Years After Infection
Pieces of the COVID virus can lurk in our blood and tissue for almost two years after the initial illness has vanished, a discovery that might offer clues to the mystery of lingering post-infection disability, according to new research from UC San Francisco. (Krieger, 3/12)
AP:
U.S. Airport Nasal Swabbing Expanding To Chicago And Miami
The nation’s top public health agency is expanding a program that tests international travelers for COVID-19 and other infectious diseases. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention program asks arriving international passengers to volunteer to have their noses swabbed and answer questions about their travel. The program operates at six airports and on Tuesday, the CDC said it was adding two more — Chicago’s O’Hare and Miami. (Stobbe, 3/12)
CIDRAP:
Pneumococcal Vaccines May Protect Against Viral Respiratory Infections, Study Finds
In addition to preventing pneumococcal disease, pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs) are associated with some protection against viral respiratory tract infections (RTIs), according to a systematic literature review published yesterday in the Journal of Infectious Diseases. (Dall, 3/12)
WLRN:
Broward's School District Says Its Measles Outbreak Is Officially Over
The Broward County School District said the outbreak of measles at one of its elementary schools is officially over. In an email to the Miami Herald last Friday, the district's communications officer wrote that the 21-day infectious period at Manatee Bay Elementary in Weston ended last week. (DiMattei, 3/12)
Modern Healthcare:
Inexperienced New Clinicians A Top 2024 Patient Safety Concern
Medical and nursing school graduates' training issues during the COVID-19 pandemic could lead to major safety challenges in 2024, according to nonprofit patient safety organization ECRI. About 400,000 new nurses passed their licensing examination over the course of the pandemic as the industry grappled with a lack of mentors and training programs, according to the National Council of State Boards of Nursing. ECRI worries inexperienced, ill-prepared clinicians could contribute to cases of preventable patient harm. (Devereaux, 3/12)
Modern Healthcare:
State Nursing Home Staffing Mandates Signal Trouble For CMS
Nursing home staffing mandates in three states could be a harbinger of the difficulties ahead for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services when it implements a federal staffing mandate. Illinois, Rhode Island and New York paused penalties for nursing homes that violate state staffing mandates as the governors feared the cost of compliance could force nursing homes to limit patient access or close their doors. Their experiences point to problems CMS could encounter carrying out a federal staffing mandate, but the agency is adamant its final rule will be workable for nursing homes. (Eastabrook, 3/12)
Boston Globe:
Steward Health Care Massachusetts Hospitals Face Fiscal Disaster
Steward Health Care’s Massachusetts hospitals are on the brink of financial disaster. But in many important ways, Steward’s troubles are just a symptom of a larger crisis engulfing the entire industry. (Chesto, 3/12)
Stat:
Hospitals Struggle To Validate AI-Generated Clinical Summaries
Rob Bart remembers what it felt like, the moment of discovery. As an intern at Duke University Medical Center in the ’90s, he’d sometimes be tasked with poring through a patient’s medical history to uncover the cause of their latest hospitalization. Back then, the stacks of paper records could tower 18 inches tall. (Palmer and Ross, 3/13)
AP:
New AI Tools Can Record Your Medical Appointment Or Draft A Message From Your Doctor
Don’t be surprised if your doctors start writing you overly friendly messages. They could be getting some help from artificial intelligence. New AI tools are helping doctors communicate with their patients, some by answering messages and others by taking notes during exams. It’s been 15 months since OpenAI released ChatGPT. Already thousands of doctors are using similar products based on large language models. One company says its tool works in 14 languages. (Johnson, 3/13)
The Washington Post:
Uvalde Police Chief To Resign After Report Defended Officers’ Shooting Response
The Uvalde, Tex., police chief, who was not present the day a gunman killed 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School, announced his resignation Tuesday morning, five days after an investigator hired by the city defended police officers’ response to the shooting in a report that drew fury from many of the victims’ families. Police Chief Daniel Rodriguez, who was away on vacation during the 2022 shooting, said he will step down April 6, after 26 years on the force. (Kaur, 3/12)
Florida Trident:
‘Torture': State Of Health Care In U.S. Prisons Leads To Brutal Inmate Deaths
On Sept. 8, 2017, Craig Ridley, an inmate at Florida Department of Corrections’ Reception and Medical Center in Lake Butler for nine years, called his sister, Diane Ridley-Gatewood, for one of their regular talks. This time, he told her he was afraid for his life after filing a complaint against a prison guard who threatened him, she recalled. “Craig, if they start beating you,” she advised him, “you need to get into a fetal position so they won’t hit your internal organs.” Hours later, around 3:20 a.m., two corrections officers hurt 62-year-old Ridley so badly he was paralyzed from the neck down. (Neary, 3/11)
NBC News:
Over 1 In 10 High School Seniors Report Using Delta-8 THC
More than 11% of high school seniors report using delta-8 THC — a compound closely related to the psychoactive chemical in marijuana that’s legal in many states thanks to a loophole in the 2018 farm bill — according to a study published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The study, led by researchers at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California, is one of the first to offer a nationwide snapshot of teenage use of delta-8, a little-researched cannabis product with psychoactive effects that has grown in popularity in recent years. (Syal, 3/12)
NBC News:
Nearly 30% Of Gen Z Women Identify As LGBTQ, Gallup Survey Finds
The percentage of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer adults in the U.S. continues to increase, reaching an all-time high of 7.6% in 2023, according to a new Gallup report. Broken down by gender, the survey of 12,000 people 18 and older across the country found that women were nearly twice as likely as men to identify as LGBTQ. “Almost 30% of Gen Z women identify as LGBTQ+, most as bisexual,” Jeffrey Jones, a senior editor at Gallup, told NBC News. “That’s where a lot of the growth seems to be happening.” (Sopelsa, 3/13)
The Hill:
Arkansas Rolls Back Gender-Neutral Driver’s License Policy
Arkansas will no longer allow drivers to use an “X” for their gender on driver’s licenses, state regulators said Tuesday, rolling back a policy that was inclusive to nonbinary people. The Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration said the changes are being made to “safeguard” state IDs. The agency also announced it will make it more difficult for transgender people to change the gender listed on their ID. (Robertson, 3/12)
Stat:
UCLA Team Creates Talking Throat Patch For Voice Disorders
Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, have built a soft, adhesive patch capable of turning throat movements into speech. The patch, written about in a paper published in Nature Communications on Tuesday, is made out of a material that converts motion into electricity. This material, developed by the UCLA team in 2021, could be a game-changer for sensors and wearables limited by their power sources. (Lawrence, 3/12)
NBC News:
Man Finds Out Migraines Caused By Brain Tapeworms; Undercooked Bacon May Be Culprit
A man was hospitalized with worsening migraines only to find out they were caused by parasitic tapeworm larvae in his brain — and researchers believe he was infected by eating undercooked bacon. The unidentified 52-year-old American man consulted doctors about changes in his usual migraines over four months, according to a study in the American Journal of Case Reports published Thursday. The migraines became more frequent, severe and unresponsive to medication. (Itoh, 3/12)
ABC News:
New Mexico Man Dies Of Plague: Health Officials
A New Mexico man has died from plague in the state's first human fatality since 2020, according to health officials. The man lived in Lincoln County -- located in the southeastern part of the state -- and was hospitalized from the disease before dying, the New Mexico Department of Health said in a press release last week. Plague is treatable with commonly available antibiotics and the odds of full recovery are higher if a patient seeks medical care early, according to the CDC. (Kekatos, 3/12)