First Edition: March 27, 2023

KHN: When College Athletes Kill Themselves, Healing The Team Becomes The Next Goal
In the weeks after Stanford University soccer goalie Katie Meyer, 22, died by suicide last March, her grieving teammates were inseparable even when not training. Coaches adjusted practices to give the athletes time and space to make sense of losing their friend and team captain. They offered to cancel the spring season, but the players declined, said Melissa Charloe, who started as a Stanford assistant women’s soccer coach the day Meyer died. “It’s hard because there’s no playbook on how to do this,” Charloe said. (Waldman, 3/27)

KHN: Journalists Delve Into Insulin Costs And Prior Authorization Policy 
KHN senior correspondent Angela Hart discussed California’s contract with Civica to make lower-cost insulin on KQED’s “Forum” on March 23. She also discussed California’s potential plan to use Medicaid funding to cover up to six months of rent for low-income enrollees on KCBS’ “State of California” on March 22. (3/25)

KHN: Obamacare At 13: Biden And A KHN Reporter Remember 
I was back in the crowded East Room of the White House on Thursday, as I was 13 years ago, this time standing under a portrait of first first lady Martha Washington, when President Joe Biden entered for a lunchtime event focused on the Affordable Care Act. The room looked much the same as it did on March 23, 2010, when I had rushed over to the White House to witness President Barack Obama signing his historic health bill into law. I knew from that moment — standing under a portrait of President Teddy Roosevelt, who was the first chief executive to espouse a need for national health insurance — that my life as a health journalist would never be the same. (Galewitz, 3/24)

Reuters: US FDA Seeks To Allow Salt Substitutes In Everyday Foods
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday said it was proposing a rule to allow the use of salt substitutes in everyday foods including cheese, frozen peas and canned tuna, in a bid to cut Americans' salt consumption. The FDA had in 2021 set a new voluntary goal for manufacturers and chain restaurants to cut salt levels by an average of 12% in packaged foods, because excessive salt consumption has been linked to high blood pressure, a leading cause of heart attack and stroke. (3/24)

The Hill: Teen Overdose Deaths Have Doubled In Three Years. Blame Fentanyl
Teen overdose deaths have doubled in three years, an alarming trend amid a historic decline in drug and alcohol use among high school students.  The main reason is fentanyl. Teens consume the powerful opioid unwittingly, packaged in counterfeit pills tailored to resemble less potent prescription medications. Drug traffickers lace pills with fentanyl to boost the black-market high. Dangerously addictive, fentanyl can be lethal, especially to children experimenting with drugs. (Vise, 3/26)

Stat: New Test Strips Can Detect Lethal Xylazine In Drug Supply
Public health workers will soon have a new tool at their disposal to thwart a spreading danger to users of illicit drugs: xylazine test strips. The new testing kits will allow health departments, grassroots harm-reduction groups, and individual drug users to test substances for the presence of xylazine, a sedative often referred to as “tranq.” (Facher, 3/27)

North Carolina Health News: Harsher Penalties For Drug Dealing Will Increase Overdoses, Advocates Say
As drug overdoses and deaths increase in North Carolina, as they are in many parts of the country, a bill to strengthen penalties for illegal drug distribution is quickly moving through the state legislature. Senate Republicans introduced Senate Bill 189 in early March during a news conference where lawmakers were surrounded by law enforcement and families who have lost loved ones to drug overdose. North Carolina sheriffs and district attorneys say they need this bill to impose higher penalties and lengthier prison sentences on people who distribute fentanyl — the potent synthetic opioid that’s been added to many street drugs in recent years. (Knopf, 3/27)

NBC News: Senate Democrats Ask Military To Protect Abortion Access For Service Members
Three-quarters of the Senate’s Democrats sent a letter Monday urging Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to continue to protect access to abortion care for service members and their families and warning that restricting reproductive care harms national security. (Kube, 3/27)

Politico: How Florida Uses A Little-Known Law To Punish Abortion Clinics 
Florida regulators over the last year punished more than a dozen abortion providers for violating a nearly decade-old law that requires pregnant patients wait 24 hours before getting the procedure. Florida legislators approved the law in 2015, but it remained in limbo after the American Civil Liberties Union challenged it. After a judge upheld the law in April, Florida’s abortion regulator, the Agency for Health Care Administration, almost immediately began issuing fines. (Sarkissian, 3/26)

AP: As South Bans Abortion, Thousands Turn To Illinois Clinics 
Dr. Colleen McNicholas is fresh off performing two abortions when a ringing phone quickly stops her. “Oh, ugh,” she said, eyes widened, before she darted off to another room. Just the day before, 58 women had abortions at the Fairview Heights’ Planned Parenthood clinic, 15 miles east of St. Louis. But the new day is still stacked with appointments; as many as 100 abortion and family planning patients might walk through the doors. Every day is busy now. (Seitz, 3/25)

AP: Kentucky Governor Vetoes Sweeping GOP Transgender Measure 
Kentucky’s Democratic governor issued an election-year veto Friday of a sweeping Republican bill aimed at regulating the lives of transgender youths that includes banning access to gender-affirming health care and restricting the bathrooms they can use. ... Gov. Andy Beshear said in a written veto message that the bill allows “too much government interference in personal healthcare issues and rips away the freedom of parents to make medical decisions for their children.” In his one-page message, he warned that the bill’s repercussions would include an increase in youth suicides. The governor said, “My faith teaches me that all children are children of God and Senate Bill 150 will endanger the children of Kentucky.” (Schreiner, 3/24)

AP: U.S. Bishops' New Guidelines Aim To Limit Trans Health Care
United States Catholic bishops have issued guidelines that seek to stop Catholic hospitals from providing gender transition care, a move LGBTQ advocates say could harm the physical and emotional health of transgender people within the church. The 14-page doctrinal note, titled “Moral Limits to the Technological Manipulation of the Human Body,” sets forth guidelines for changing a person’s sex, specifically with youth. The document, issued Monday, says Catholic hospitals “must not perform interventions, whether surgical or chemical, that aim to transform the sexual characteristics of a human body into those of the opposite sex, or take part in the development of such procedures.” (Bharath, 3/24)

Modern Healthcare: Tennessee Trans Bill Puts Medicaid Contracts At Risk
A novel bill making its way through the Tennessee General Assembly could have reverberating effects on Medicaid managed care procurement throughout the U.S. Tennessee Speaker of the House of Representatives Cameron Sexton (R) and Speaker of the Senate Randy McNally (R), who also is lieutenant governor, sponsored the Tennessee MCO Reform Act, which would prohibit the state Medicaid agency from contracting with insurers that cover gender-affirming treatment for anyone, anywhere in the country. (Hartnett, 3/27)

The Texas Tribune: Texas Lawmakers, Medical Groups Clash On Transition-Related Health Care
Several Republican Texas lawmakers are clashing with medical groups over whether puberty blockers and hormone therapies help or hurt transgender kids. Those conflicting positions come as some legislators push bills that would limit — or completely block — queer youth from accessing transition-related treatments that many medical associations support. Sen. Donna Campbell, R-New Braunfels, is championing a bill that would bar doctors from providing such treatments — but only if they’re used to help a child gender transition. During a debate last week on her Senate Bill 14, Campbell and opponents of transition-related care portrayed doctors who provide such care as opportunists capitalizing on a “social contagion” with treatments that lack sufficient scientific data that could determine whether the care is safe and effective. (Melhado, 3/24)

The Mercury News: Wealthy? Educated? You’re Primed To Live Through COVID-19
Data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the California Department of Public Health reveal a disturbing, if predictable, pattern: Vaccination status goes hand-in-hand with education and income, in near lock-step. (Sforza, 3/27)

The New York Times: Should You Get Another Covid Booster? 
Roughly 300 people in the United States are still dying from Covid-related causes each day, a vast majority of them adults over 70 and people who are medically frail or have impaired immune systems. So should they get another booster shot now? That’s the thorny question facing federal health officials. About 53 million adults 65 and older live in the United States, accounting for about 16 percent of the population, according to the Census Bureau. And seven million Americans have weak immune systems because of an illness or a medication. (Mandavilli, 3/24)

CIDRAP: Nirmatrelvir Tied To 26% Lower Risk Of Long COVID, 47% Lower Risk Of Death
The antiviral drug nirmatrelvir (one of the components of Paxlovid) lowered the risk of long COVID in patients who had at least one risk factor for severe illness, finds a study published today in JAMA Internal Medicine. (Van Beusekom, 3/23)

San Francisco Chronicle: California’s COVID Battle Hits Another Promising Milestone
California has hit another major milestone in its fight against COVID-19, with all of the state’s residents now living in areas with a “low” community transmission level for the first time since last fall. This puts California’s 58 counties in line with approximately 93% of others across the U.S. that meet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s metrics for the same category, as the country continues to make progress against the virus. (Vaziri, 3/24)

Reuters: California Supreme Court To Offer Guidance For COVID-19 Coverage Cases 
Courts at the state and federal levels continue grappling with the application of California insurance law to COVID-19 business interruption claims. Much uncertainty remains as to how California law applies in a number of scenarios presented by the pandemic. After three years of insurance claims and litigation, the California Supreme Court has agreed to provide guidance on one of the main arguments that insurers make when rejecting COVID-19 business interruption claims. In Another Planet Entertainment, LLC v. Vigilant Insurance Co., the state's highest court will address the question of whether under California law the actual or potential presence of SARS-CoV-2 on insured property can qualify as physical loss of or damage to property. (Jordan and Bowman, 3/24)

CIDRAP: COVID Exploited US Political Divisions Along With Racial And Health Disparities
Researchers who examined what drove variations in state response to the pandemic published their findings yesterday in The Lancet. ... For deaths, they found a fourfold difference in rates across states, with fatalities lowest in Hawaii and New Hampshire and highest in Arizona and Washington, DC. Overall, they found that states with higher poverty, lower levels of education, less access to quality healthcare, and less trust in others had disproportionately higher rates of COVID infections and deaths. These factors were common denominators in states with the highest Black populations and those that voted for the Republican candidate in the 2020 election. (Schnirring, 3/24)

The Courier-Journal: Lawsuit Says UofL Health Shares Patient Data With Facebook Parent Meta
In a lawsuit that could become a class action, the mother of a pediatric psychiatric patient alleges U of L Health shares personal health information of patients with Meta ― Facebook’s parent company ― in violation of federal privacy laws. The suit claims the data includes prescription drug histories and diagnoses, and that the information is automatically sent to Meta through computer code known as the Meta Pixel, embedded into U of L Health’s website. (Wolfson, 3/24)

Los Angeles Times: Hospitals Say Problems Persist After L.A. Care Hit With Fines
A health insurance plan that serves poor and vulnerable patients in Los Angeles County was slapped with record fines — $55 million in total — last March for what a California state agency described as “widespread, systemic, and unrelenting” failures, including sluggish authorizations for medical care that left patients suffering. (Alpert Reyes, 3/26)

Bangor Daily News: Northern Light Ends Some Eye Surgeries At Bangor Hospital
Northern Light Health has eliminated cataract, glaucoma and oculoplastic surgeries at a Bangor hospital, leaving patients hanging after their procedures were suddenly canceled. The decision, made earlier this month at Eastern Maine Medical Center — one of the system’s 10 hospitals around the state — does not affect pediatric eye care or retina medical care and surgeries, spokesperson Amy Kenney said. (Royzman, 3/26)

Anchorage Daily News: State Proposes Repealing A Longstanding Law Meant To Hold Down Alaska Health Care Costs. What Happens If It Disappears?
State officials want to repeal a policy established nearly 20 years ago to protect Alaskans from surprise medical bills that’s now being blamed for soaring health care costs in the state. Some, like the Alaska State Medical Association and numerous physicians, say repealing the rule would remove an important consumer protection and could lead to higher health care costs for patients and fewer specialists, particularly in rural Alaska. (Berman, 3/26)

Reuters: US FDA Proposes Higher Bar For Accelerated Approvals For Cancer Drugs
The U.S. health regulator on Friday proposed cancer drug developers in most cases conduct more rigorous trials to seek accelerated approval for their candidates. The Food and Drug Administration's proposed recommendation follows criticism for the accelerated approval pathway, as well as an independent federal review into it after the controversial nod for Biogen Inc's Alzheimer's treatment Aduhelm. (3/24)

Reuters: US FDA Approves Pharming's Immune Disorder Drug
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday approved Pharming Group's drug to treat a rare genetic disorder that leads to a weakened immune system, the Dutch company said. Leniolisib, to be sold under the brand name Joenja, becomes the first approved drug in the United States to treat activated phosphoinositide 3-kinase delta syndrome (APDS), a primary immunodeficiency that affects about 1 to 2 people in a million. (Esunny and Mandowara, 3/24)

Reuters: Bayer Says Drug Research Focus No Longer On Women's Health 
Bayer said the focus of its drug research would shift away from women's health, a traditional pillar of Germany's largest drugmaker, to hone in on neurology, rare diseases and immunology. "When it comes to research and the subsequent clinical phases, we will no longer have an explicit focus on women's health," the head of Bayer's pharmaceuticals unit, Stefan Oelrich, told Reuters on Friday. Bayer, the maker of the Yasmin brand of birth-control pills and the Mirena intrauterine device, added it would nevertheless continue to pursue the development of non-hormonal menopausal symptoms relief elinzanetant as one of its four most promising pharma products. (Burger and Weiss, 3/24)

San Francisco Chronicle: Genentech Closing South San Francisco Production Facility
Biotech giant Genentech said it plans to close its South San Francisco production facility and lay off 265 workers there, the company confirmed. The drugmaker said the move is part of a long-term plan and is unrelated to the current economic downturn. (DiFeliciantonio, 3/25)

AP: Idaho Governor Signs Firing Squad Execution Bill Into Law
Republican Gov. Brad Little signed a bill allowing execution by firing squad, making Idaho the latest state to turn to older methods of capital punishment amid a nationwide shortage of lethal-injection drugs. The Legislature passed the measure March 20 with a veto-proof majority. Under it, firing squads will be used only if the state cannot obtain the drugs needed for lethal injections. (3/25)

The Baltimore Sun: Johns Hopkins Study Highlights Promise Of IV Mistletoe Extract For Cancer Therapy
Ivelisse Page already had 15 inches of her colon and 28 lymph nodes removed to treat her colon cancer, but in the winter of 2008 she received more devastating news. The cancer had spread to her liver. Page’s doctor, Dr. Luis Diaz – an oncologist at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York and professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine — gave her an 8% chance of living for more than two years. (Roberts, 3/24)

The Washington Post: Their Child’s Obesity Drug Was Working. Then Their Plan Refused To Pay
Debra Tyler’s younger daughter was always on the larger side. She was only 5 when doctors noticed her lipids were elevated, 8 when they put her on cholesterol-busting drugs, and 11 when she faced the danger of liver failure — a condition typically seen in those decades older. “We tried everything. Nothing helped her,” said Tyler, who lives in Killingworth, Conn. Not a diet and exercise program. Not countless hours of counseling. It was then that doctors turned to Ozempic, a Novo Nordisk medication that is part of a new generation of diabetes and weight-loss drugs, and it worked almost overnight. (Cha, 3/26)

Fox News: Early Alzheimer’s Disease Could Be Diagnosed Through Eye Exams, New Study Suggests
Alzheimer’s is a disease of the brain, usually diagnosed through MRI scans and a battery of other tests. Researchers, however, have found that the human eye can show early signals of this common form of dementia long before symptoms become apparent. Researchers at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, led the study, which was published in the journal Acta Neuropathologica last month. (Rudy, 3/24)

San Francisco Chronicle: Lack Of Cantonese Services Creates Health Care Obstacles In S.F.
Mei-wa Yeung trudged up Pacific Avenue, complaining about the steep incline as she carried grocery bags filled with celery and onions. Despite being frequently dissatisfied with conditions within San Francisco’s Chinatown, the sight of the Chinese Hospital one block away reminded the 71-year-old why she does not think she will ever move. (Li, 3/24)

The New York Times: You May Need That Procedure. But Do You Really Need An Escort? 
Robert Lewinger is tired of being berated by his gastroenterologist because he’s overdue for a colonoscopy. He’s perfectly willing to have one. And he’s more than ready for cataract surgery on his second eye. The problem: Mr. Lewinger, 72, a retired lawyer who lives in Manhattan, can’t schedule either of these procedures, which involve anesthesia or sedation, unless he supplies the name and phone number of the person taking him home afterward. Otherwise, clinics and outpatient surgical centers refuse to make appointments. (Span, 3/25)

Houston Chronicle: Bill Would Allow Texas Physicians To Prescribe Medicinal Cannabis
Texas lawmakers drafted a bill that would allow physicians to prescribe medicinal cannabis for patients battling chronic pain instead of opioid prescriptions. HB 1805 authored by Rep. Stephanie Klick, R-Tarrant County, was approved by the House Public Health Committee with a 10-0 vote Monday, March 20. (Holmes-Brown, 3/25)

The Wall Street Journal: Marijuana Has Special Risks For Older People
Cannabis use can create particular risks for older people. It can interfere with other medications, which is tricky for seniors because they are often on multiple prescription drugs. Marijuana can also raise the risks of injuries, falls, anxiety and confusion. The situation is further complicated because many seniors may be wary of telling their doctors they use it. (Reddy, 3/26)

USA Today: Alcohol Cost: More Expensive Booze Could Save Lives, Study Suggests
In 2018, the Scottish government made drinks more expensive if it contained more alcohol. It was an effort to reduce drinking in Scotland, which has the highest rate of death due to alcohol consumption in the United Kingdom. Now in a study published this week, Scottish public health officials reported its minimum unit pricing policy was associated with a 13% reduction in deaths from alcohol consumption since it was implemented. (Rodriguez, 3/25)

NBC News: What Causes Eczema Could Be In The Air We Breathe, New Science Suggests
Chemicals that spew from vehicle exhaust and are used to make a variety of common products — from spandex to memory foam mattresses — could cause eczema in infancy, according to research from the National Institutes of Health. (Edwards, 3/26)

CBS News: Printed Receipts At Most Major Store Chains Contain "Toxic" Chemicals Like BPA, Report Says
About 80% of receipts from 144 major chain stores in 22 U.S. states and Washington, D.C., contained bisphenols, the analysis from the Ecology Center, a nonprofit environmental health organization. BPA, a chemical used in the production of polycarbonate plastics, as well as bisphenol S, or BPS, were detected on receipts from retailers such as Walmart and restaurants including McDonald's, the study found. (Pichhi, 3/24)

CBS News: Philadelphia Tap Water Safe To Drink Through Monday After Chemical Spill, Officials Say
Philadelphians are cleared to drink tap water through Monday night after a chemical spill on Friday prompted warnings from city officials, the Philadelphia Water Department announced. Officials had earlier said residents who receive drinking water from the Baxter Drinking Water Treatment Plant to may want to use bottled water "to further minimize risk." (Martinez, 3/26)

Fox News: California Sea Otters Killed By Rare Parasite That Could Also Threaten Humans
Four sea otters in California died from toxoplasmosis through a rare strain of the Toxoplasma gondii parasite, and researchers warn that the strain could pose a threat to humans. The unusual strain of Toxoplasma gondii that was studied had not been detected in California before. The findings of a study, which was conducted by scientists at California Department of Fish and Wildlife and University of California, Davis, was published in the Frontiers in Marine Science journal this week. (Vacchiano, 3/25)

NPR: Scientists Warned A Decade Ago American Lives Were Shortening. Then It Got Worse
Just before Christmas, federal health officials confirmed life expectancy in America had dropped for a nearly unprecedented second year in a row – down to 76 years. While countries all over the world saw life expectancy rebound during the second year of the pandemic after the arrival of vaccines, the U.S. did not. Then, last week, more bad news: Maternal mortality in the U.S. reached a high in 2021. Also, a paper in the Journal of the American Medical Association found rising mortality rates among U.S. children and adolescents. (Simmons-Duffin, 3/25)

The Washington Post: Watching Live Sports In Person May Be Good For You, Researchers Say
Feeling dissatisfied and lonely? You might want to snag tickets to a few of your favorite team’s games. New research connects viewing live sporting events with higher levels of life satisfaction and lower levels of loneliness — and researchers say live sporting events could be used to improve public health. (Blakemore, 3/26)

NPR: Some Colleges Are Eliminating Freshman Grades By 'Ungrading'
Some of the momentum behind un-grading is in response to growing concerns about student mental health. The number of college students with one or more mental health problems has doubled since 2013, according to a study by researchers at Boston University and elsewhere. Teenagers said that the pressure to get good grades was their biggest cause of stress, a 2019 survey by the Pew Research Center found. (Marcus, 3/26)