First Edition: March 8, 2023

KHN: Girls In Texas Could Get Birth Control At Federal Clinics, Until A Christian Father Objected
On the vast Texas Panhandle, raked by wind and relentless sun, women might drive for hours to reach Haven Health, a clinic in Amarillo. One of more than 3,200 federal family-planning clinics nationwide, Haven serves both English and Spanish speakers, providing contraception, testing for pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, and cervical cancer screening, all at low cost or without charge to patients who are anxious, impoverished, or both. Those patients include teenage girls — under 18 — seeking birth control pills or long-acting contraception. (Varney, 3/8)

KHN: Reentry Programs To Help Former Prisoners Obtain Health Care Are Often Underused
When Matthew Boyd was released from a Georgia state prison in December 2020, officials sent him home without medicines he uses to manage chronic heart and lung conditions and high blood pressure, he said. Less than a month later, he spent eight days in an intensive care unit, the first of more than 40 hospital stays since. These days, he can barely get out of bed in his home south of Atlanta. (Rayasam, 3/8)

KHN: California Offers Bipartisan Road Map For Protecting Kids Online Even As Big Tech Fights Back 
In California, a Democrat and a Republican figured out how to pass the country’s toughest online privacy law protecting kids. If their experience is any indication, though, federal legislators can expect fierce pushback from Big Tech if they heed President Joe Biden’s call for similar action on a national scale. The law, modeled after legislation in the United Kingdom, will ban websites from profiling users in California under age 18, tracking their locations, or nudging them to provide personal information. It will also require online services to automatically put privacy settings at their highest levels on sites that kids access when the law goes into effect next year. (Kreidler, 3/8)

KHN: Watch: Emergency Room Turns Simple Injury Into A Big Bill
Leigh Fava wound up in the emergency room after injuring her thumb at her New Orleans home. She said she received a tetanus shot and a badly wrapped bandage — and an unexpectedly high bill. Her experiences trying to dispute the hospital’s charges left her feeling ignored, she said. In this installment of InvestigateTV and KHN’s “Costly Care” series, Caresse Jackman, InvestigateTV’s national consumer investigative reporter, illuminates the practice of up-charging for common medications and supplies in the emergency room. (3/7)

KHN: Listen To The Latest ‘KHN Health Minute’ 
The KHN Health Minute this week looks at how profit-driven policies influence emergency room staffing and why Mark Cuban’s new discount drug company may not always be the cheapest option. (3/7)

The Wall Street Journal: U.S. To Ease Covid Testing Requirements For Travelers From China 
The U.S. government is planning to lift Covid-19 testing requirements on travelers from China on Friday, amid a decline in cases there following a winter surge, according to people familiar with the matter. Those traveling to the U.S. from mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau were previously required to submit a negative Covid test before departure following a Biden administration order that went into effect on Jan. 5. At the time, U.S. officials said the restrictions were necessary because of a deadly wave of infections across China and cited a lack of transparency from Beijing about the scale of the surge or specific variants. (Siddiqui, 3/7)

ABC News: House Panel Investigating COVID-19's Origins Will Hold First Hearing
On the heels of a federal agency's new assessment that COVID-19 "mostly likely" emerged from a lab leak rather than natural human exposure, a special panel formed by House Republicans to investigate the origins of the virus will hold its first hearing on Wednesday. (Hutzler, 3/8)

The New York Times: Hearing On Covid’s Origins Promises Politics Mixed With Substance
House Republicans on Wednesday will dig into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic in a hearing that promises to be filled with political theater alongside substantive questions about laboratory safety and what, if anything, could have been done to prevent the worst public health crisis in a century. The hearing of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic is expected to focus largely on the intensifying debate over whether Covid-19 was the result of a laboratory leak. In advance of the session, Republicans issued a memorandum critical of Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a leader in the federal response to the pandemic. (Stolberg and Mueller, 3/7)

NPR: COVID Vaccine Prices Could Quadruple
The U.S. government paid around $10 billion in the early years of the pandemic to develop and purchase Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine as part of Operation Warp Speed. So far, any American who wants the shot has paid nothing out-of-pocket for it — the federal government has footed the bill. (Lupkin, 3/8)

The Wall Street Journal: Two Of Four Americans Kidnapped In Matamoros, Mexico, Found Dead
Two Americans were found dead and two were rescued Tuesday in the Mexican city of Matamoros after their planned trip across the border for cosmetic surgery turned deadly following an ambush and kidnapping by armed gunmen. The van in which they were traveling was fired on shortly after crossing the border Friday from Brownsville, Texas. After a four-day search, Latavia “Tay” McGee and Eric James Williams were found alive, said Irving Barrios, Tamaulipas state attorney general. Mr. Williams had a major wound to his left leg, the official said. The two others, Zindell Brown and Shaeed Woodard, were found dead, officials said. (Montes and de Cordoba, 3/7)

The Hill: Deaths Of US Citizens Puts Pressure On Biden Over Handling Of Mexican Cartels 
“Attacks on U.S. citizens are unacceptable no matter where or under what circumstances they occur,” John Kirby, a national security spokesperson for the White House, told reporters Tuesday. “And we’re going to work closely with the Mexican government to make sure justice is done in this case.” (Samuels, 3/7)

CNN: Medical Tourism To Mexico Is On The Rise, But It Can Come With Risks
A growing number of US residents are traveling internationally to seek more affordable medical care, more timely care or access to certain treatments or procedures that are unapproved or unavailable in the United States. (Howard and Chavez, 3/7)

AP: Cosmetic Surgery Prices In US Vs. Mexico 
Many Americans travel to Mexico because medical care can be cheaper than in the U.S. Here are some examples. (3/7)

Politico: Florida Republicans Seek Ban On Abortions After 6 Weeks Of Pregnancy
Florida’s Republican-led legislature on Tuesday filed bills that would ban abortions after six weeks of pregnancy but offer exemptions for victims of rape and incest if they can provide official proof of the crime. Lawmakers in the House and Senate filed similar legislation to make abortions illegal two weeks after a pregnant person’s first missed period, tightening the 15-week ban they approved last year. The measure also seeks to prevent government entities and educational institutions from using public money to financially help people to travel outside the state for an abortion. (Sarkissian, 3/7)

Houston Chronicle: Biden’s White House Slams Gov. Abbott Over Abortion Ban Impacts
The White House on Tuesday said a lawsuit by five women who were denied abortions despite having dangerous or unviable pregnancies shows "the reality of Governor Abbott’s abortion ban." (Wermund, 3/7)

Axios: Texas Abortion Lawsuit Puts Medical Exceptions Under Spotlight
A lawsuit brought by abortion patients in Texas is focusing attention on how some strict state abortion bans could imperil lives by leaving it to providers to prove if a person qualifies for an emergency exception. (Gonzalez, 3/7)

Stat: Becerra: Judge Set To Rule On Abortion Pill Is 'Beginning To Read The Law'
Health secretary Xavier Becerra on Tuesday warned of dramatic consequences if a federal judge revokes the federal approval of mifepristone, a form of medication abortion. The judge, Matthew Kacsmaryk, is set to rule on a case brought in Texas by anti-abortion advocates seeking to overturn the drug’s initial approval more than two decades ago. Mifepristone, taken in combination with misoprostol, accounts for over half of U.S. abortions. It is also used to treat miscarriage. “Everyone thought by now we would have a ruling from that judge,” Becerra said, speaking at a STAT event. “My suspicion is he’s beginning to read the law.” (Facher, 3/7)

The New York Times: Walgreens Faces Blowback For Not Offering Abortion Pill In 21 States 
In an emailed statement, Rite Aid said it was continuing to monitor and evaluate the situation. CVS, Walmart, Costco, Kroger and Albertsons did not respond to emails seeking comment. “All of the pharmacies are facing the same problem,” said Andrew Gilman, the chief executive of CommCore Consulting Group, a crisis communications firm. “But Walgreens, as the first one to be publicly identified with going along with the state attorneys general request, will face the biggest hit to its reputation.” (Belluck and Creswell, 3/7)

The Washington Post: Walgreens' History Of Refusing Abortion Pills, Birth Control To Customers 
Walgreens spokesman Jim Cohn told The Washington Post in a statement Tuesday that the policy of allowing pharmacists and other employees “to step away from completing a transaction to which they have a moral objection” is still in place. Walgreens’s policy is similar to that of other drugstore chains and pharmacies in the U.S. Among them is CVS, which also allows employees to deny prescriptions for birth control or purchases of condoms based on their religious or moral beliefs, according to USA Today. (Bella, 3/7)

The Wall Street Journal: Drug To Prevent Preterm Births To Be Pulled From Market 
Covis Pharma Group said it would stop selling its drug to prevent preterm births, after a study couldn’t confirm the medicine worked and U.S. health regulators were taking steps that could have it pulled. Makena was the only drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration to reduce the risk of preterm birth in women with a history of early deliveries. Covis said Tuesday it wants to work with the FDA to set a wind-down period for the drug so that patients aren’t abruptly taken off it. (Whyte, 3/7)

Fierce Healthcare: Physicians Are Twice As Likely As The General Population To Attempt Suicide, Medscape Survey Finds
Nearly a quarter of physicians reported clinical depression in a new Medscape survey, while 9% admitted to suicidal thoughts, and 1% shared that they attempted to end their lives. Medscape surveyed 9,100 physicians across 29 specialties last year. While physicians often address the suicide crisis throughout the U.S., many are struggling with their own mental health. Two-thirds of doctors reported colloquial depression, according to the survey. (Burky, 3/3)

Medscape: Specialty, Age May Contribute To Doctors' Suicidal Thoughts
A physician's specialty can make a difference when it comes to having suicidal thoughts. Doctors who specialize in family medicine, obstetrics-gynecology, and psychiatry reported double the rates of suicidal thoughts than doctors in oncology, rheumatology, and pulmonary medicine, according to Doctors' Burden: Medscape Physician Suicide Report 2023."The specialties with the highest reporting of physician suicidal thoughts are also those with the greatest physician shortages, based on the number of job openings posted by recruiting sites," said Peter Yellowlees, MD, professor of psychiatry and chief wellness officer at UC Davis Health. (Lehmann, 3/7)

Stat: Why Doctors Leave Clinical Medicine To Work For Insurers
Gastroenterologist Alin Botoman had been on hold for almost an hour. The drone of muzak taunted him on speaker phone. It was the second day in a row he’d spent trying to get insurance to cover a dual CT/PET scan he’d already performed for his patient with esophageal cancer. The day before, after the insurance company unexpectedly denied the request, he’d called to contest the decision and spent an hour on hold. (Pasricha, 3/8)

Axios: Immigration Seen As A Solution To Nursing Home Labor Woes
Increased immigration could help solve nursing homes' persistent workforce shortages and improve the quality of care in communal health settings, a new National Bureau of Economic Research paper found. (Dreher, 3/7)

AP: Mississippi Backs 1 Year Of Postpartum Medicaid For New Moms
Low-income new mothers in Mississippi will be eligible for a full year of Medicaid health coverage under a bill passed Tuesday by the state Legislature. The bipartisan move is the culmination of a two-year effort to convince a majority of the Republican-controlled House to provide longer postpartum coverage in one of the poorest states in the U.S. Republican proponents said change was a necessary after the U.S. Supreme Court upended abortion rights nationwide by overturning Roe v. Wade last year using the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which arose from Mississippi. (Goldberg, 3/7)

AP: North Carolina Medicaid Expansion Consensus Moves Forward
The details of a consensus North Carolina Medicaid expansion deal reached last week by top Republican lawmakers cleared a Senate committee Tuesday. The released legislation explains how the state would cover potentially 600,000 low-income adults who otherwise earn too much to qualify for conventional Medicaid. It directs the state to enter a federal program by which hospitals would receive additional Medicaid reimbursement funds. This money will help hospitals cover the state’s share of expansion health expenses, or 10% of costs. (Robertson, 3/7)

The New York Times: With a Marijuana Shop on ‘Every Corner,’ Oklahoma Rejects Full Legalization
In the past few years, Oklahoma, long a solid bastion of conservatism, has quietly undergone a street-level transformation when it comes to marijuana. Dispensaries dot the landscape, with more than 400 in Oklahoma City alone. And that’s just for medical marijuana. On Tuesday, voters across Oklahoma opted against going further, according to The Associated Press, rejecting a ballot initiative that would have legalized recreational marijuana use by adults 21 and over. With the vote, Oklahoma joined a number of conservative states whose voters have recently decided against recreational marijuana legalization. (Goodman, 3/7)

AP: NC Senate Considers Stiffer Penalties For Drug Distribution 
As fentanyl overdoses continue to plague communities across North Carolina, the state Senate is considering legislation to increase punishments for drug dealers whose distribution of the synthetic opioid results in an overdose death. A bill that advanced Tuesday in the Senate Judiciary Committee would revise state laws to create high-grade felony offenses for deaths caused by distributing certain controlled substances and doing so with malice. It would also increase fine amounts for trafficking heroin, fentanyl and carfentanil, setting a sliding scaled based on drug quantity. (Schoenbaum, 3/7)

The Hill: EPA Watchdog Knocks Trump Officials Over Weakened Assessment For Toxic Chemical 
The Environmental Protection Agency’s internal watchdog on Tuesday knocked a Trump-era move in which political officials weakened an assessment on the dangers of a toxic chemical. The Office of the EPA’s Inspector General issued a new report that stated political appointees used a last-minute disagreement to take the “unprecedented” step of listing a range of values for the toxicity of a chemical known as PFBS instead of a definitive toxicity level. (Frazin, 3/7)

Houston Chronicle: Princess Cruises Passengers On Galveston-Based Ship Fell Ill, CDC Says
More than 300 people on board a Galveston-based cruise ship became ill with vomiting and diarrhea during their eight-day voyage from Texas to Mexico and back, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. During the Feb. 26 voyage of Princess Cruises' Ruby Princess, 284 passengers and 34 crew members reported becoming ill from the the yet-to-be identified illness. The ship returned to Galveston on Sunday. (Wayne Ferguson, 3/7)

ABC News: Allergy Season Is Getting Longer In Over 170 Cities 
Temperatures have been on the rise in 203 U.S. cities since 1970, leading to longer allergy seasons in over 170 cities across the U.S., a new report by Climate Central finds. Climate change is bringing an earlier spring and later fall, the report found. This means a longer growing season for plants, allowing more than two weeks longer on average to grow, flower and release pollen. (Loo, 3/8)

Bloomberg: Child Respiratory Infections Raise Risk Of Fatal Lung Disease, Study Finds 
People were twice as likely to die prematurely from a respiratory disease if they had contracted one as a young child in a decades-long study looking at how childhood lung infections impact adult health. (Ring, 3/7)

Axios: Eye Drops Recalls 2023: Products Recalled Because They May Not Be Sterile
Select eye drops have been recalled over concerns the products may not be sterile, notices posted on the Food & Drug Administration website show. The recall notices for select lots of Purely Soothing 15% MSM Drops and Brimonidine Tartrate Ophthalmic Solution did not list any illnesses or injuries from the products but "using contaminated artificial tears increases risk of eye infections that could result in blindness or death," the FDA said. (Tyko, 3/7)

The Washington Post: Nearly Half Of U.S. Children Ages 1 To 5 Don’t Eat A Vegetable Daily 
Nearly half of American children ages 1 to 5 — 49 percent — do not eat a vegetable daily, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In addition, not quite 1 in 3 young children (32 percent) eat fruit daily, and more than half (57 percent) drink a sugar-sweetened beverage at least once a week. (Searing, 3/7)

The Washington Post: How Sugar Substitutes Sneak Into Foods And Affect Your Health 
Many people are cutting back on their sugar intake for health reasons. But the food industry has found another way to give consumers their sweet fix. It is quietly replacing the sugar in many packaged foods with sucralose, stevia, allulose, erythritol and a wide variety of other artificial sweeteners and sugar substitutes. ... These include bread, yogurt, oatmeal, muffins, canned soups, salad dressings, condiments and snack bars. (O'Connor, Steckelberg and Reiley, 3/7)

USA Today: How Many People Are Born A Day? What About In The U.S.?
According to the United Nations, the Earth reached a population of 8 billion people in November 2022. The UN predicts it will take until 2037 to reach 9 billion. But this prediction is not based on a linear birth rate. In fact, the UN expects the global fertility rate to gradually decrease between now and 2037. (Livesay, 3/7)

The Washington Post: It's International Women's Day. How Did Women's Rights Fare This Year? 
As the world marks International Women’s Day on Wednesday, the United Nations has warned that the world is 300 years away from gender equality, with hard-won progress toward the goal “vanishing before our eyes.” Speaking Monday, U.N. Secretary General António Guterres warned that “women’s rights are being abused, threatened and violated around the world.” (Bisset and Schanen, 3/8)