First Edition: May 23, 2023

KFF Health News: He Returned To The US For His Daughter’s Wedding. He Left With A $42,000 Hospital Bill. 
Last June, Jay Comfort flew to the United States from his home in Switzerland to attend his only daughter’s wedding. But the week before the ceremony — on a Friday evening — Comfort said he found himself in “excruciating pain.” “I tried to gut it out for three hours because of the insurance situation,” said Comfort, a retired teacher and American citizen who has Swiss insurance. (Tribble, 5/23)

KFF Health News: California’s Fentanyl Problem Is Getting Worse
California has allocated more than $1 billion in recent years to combat its opioid crisis. Much of the money has been used to distribute fentanyl test strips and the overdose reversal drug naloxone, as well as deliver medical care to people who are homeless. The state has an opioid awareness campaign tailored to youths and recently called on the National Guard to help detect drug traffickers. Yet the problem keeps getting worse. (Thompson, 5/23)

KFF Health News: Small, Rural Communities Have Become Abortion Access Battlegrounds 
In April, Mark Lee Dickson arrived in this 4,500-person city that hugs the Utah-Nevada border to pitch an ordinance banning abortion. Dickson is the director of the anti-abortion group Right to Life of East Texas and founder of another organization that has spent the past few years traveling the United States trying to persuade local governments to pass abortion bans. (Rodriguez, 5/23)

AP: Nebraska Governor Signs 12-Week Abortion Ban, Limits On Gender-Affirming Care For Minors 
Republican Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen signed a bill Monday that bans abortion at 12 weeks of pregnancy and restricts gender-affirming medical care for people younger than 19. The abortion ban takes effect immediately, while the ban on gender-affirming care takes effect on Oct. 1. The hybrid measure ties together restrictions that Republicans have pursued across the U.S. (Beck and Funk, 5/22)

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Abortion Protections Bill Heads To Nevada Governor
A bill codifying protections for out of state abortion patients is headed to Gov. Joe Lombardo’s desk after the Assembly voted along party lines to pass the legislation Monday. Lawmakers voted 27-14 to approve Senate Bill 131, a bill sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro, D-Las Vegas, that would bar any Nevada agency from cooperating with authorities from anti-abortion states who are seeking to prosecute women for traveling to Nevada to get an abortion. (Avery, 5/22)

Bloomberg: Illinois Aims To Protect Abortion Travelers From Out-Of-State Police
Lawmakers are advancing pioneering legislation that would protect people traveling to Illinois seeking abortions from being tracked by out-of-state police. The bill, approved by the Illinois Senate Friday night, would prohibit local police from sharing data collected by license plate readers with out-of-state law enforcement departments that seek to use it in abortion-related investigations. (Holder, 5/22)

NPR: More Texas Women Sue The State Over Its Anti-Abortion Laws 
Eight more women are joining a lawsuit against the state of Texas, saying the state's abortion bans put their health or lives at risk while facing pregnancy-related medical emergencies. The new plaintiffs have added their names to a lawsuit originally filed in March by five women and two doctors who say that pregnant patients are being denied abortions under Texas law despite facing serious medical complications. The Center for Reproductive Rights, which is representing the women, is now asking for a temporary injunction to block Texas abortion bans in the event of pregnancy complications. (McCammon, 5/22)

Politico: How Tuberville's Blockade Of Pentagon Nominees Could End 
Washington’s second-tightest knot — after the debt ceiling — is Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s hold on roughly 200 senior civilian and uniformed Pentagon leaders. Tuberville, who is blocking the nominees in protest over the Pentagon’s abortion travel policy, has gotten so much attention that if he caves he risks losing face. ... Senate Armed Services Chair Jack Reed (D-R.I.) has said Tuberville should take the more straightforward path of seeking an amendment vote on the Pentagon travel policy via the National Defense Authorization Act, the Pentagon’s annual policy bill. It’s not a great deal for either side, but it’s probably the most likely one. (Gould and O'Brien, 5/22)

The New York Times: Biden And McCarthy Describe ‘Productive’ Debt Limit Talks, But No Deal Is Reached
President Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy expressed optimism on Monday that they could break the partisan stalemate that has prevented action to avert a default on the nation’s debt, but remained far apart on a deal to raise the debt limit as Democrats resisted Republicans’ demands for spending cuts in exchange. The two met face to face at the White House for the second time in two weeks in a show of good will after a weekend of behind-the-scenes clashes among negotiators, punctuated by a move by Republicans on Friday to halt the talks and accusations by both sides that the other was being unreasonable. (Edmondson and Rogers, 5/22)

The Hill: These Are The Biggest Sticking Points In The Debt Ceiling Fight
Congress and the White House have just 10 days to reach a deal to raise the debt ceiling before the Treasury Department estimates the nation risks default. But major sticking points have emerged in the past week. (Folley, 5/22)

Axios: Dems Think Twice About Clawing Back COVID-19 Funds For Debt Limit
Congressional Democrats are having second thoughts about taking back unspent coronavirus funds as part of a debt limit deal, concerned that doing so could have serious consequences for myriad public health initiatives. The COVID-19 relief funds were supposed to be the low-hanging fruit in any debt ceiling compromise and have been overshadowed by more contentious issues like spending caps and Medicaid work requirements. (Knight and Goldman, 5/23)

Axios: Biden: Congress Must Pass GOP-Led Fentanyl Bill
The Biden administration called on Congress Monday to pass a bill aimed at tackling fentanyl trafficking in the U.S., which would see the synthetic opioid raised to the highest classification of illegal drugs. The administration's public support for the Republican-led Halt All Lethal Trafficking of (HALT) Fentanyl Act comes amid a growing synthetic opioid crisis in the U.S. (Habeshian, 5/23)

AP: New Nasal Spray To Reverse Fentanyl And Other Opioid Overdoses Gets FDA Approval
The Food and Drug Administration endorsed Opvee, a nasal spray update of the drug nalmefene, which was first approved as an injection in the mid-1990s but later removed from the market due to low sales. Naloxone comes as both a nasal spray and injection. It’s not immediately clear how the new drug will be used differently compared to naloxone, and some experts see potential downsides to its longer-acting effect. (Perrone, 5/22)

Stat: US Surgeon General Warns Of Dangers Of Social Media For Youth
Amid what he called the worst youth mental health crisis in recent memory, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued an advisory Tuesday warning about social media’s impact on developing young brains. “Through the last two and a half years I’ve been in office, I’ve been hearing concerns from kids and parents,” Murthy told STAT. “Parents are asking ‘Is social media safe for my kids?’ Based on our review of the data, there isn’t enough evidence that it is safe for our kids.” (Fitzgerald, 5/23)

AP: The U.S. Surgeon General Has Some Tips For Parents And Teens On Social Media Use 
So what can parents and young people do now? The surgeon general has some tips. (Ortutay, 5/23)

Reuters: WHO 'Overstretched' In Response To Increasing Health Emergencies
A growing number of health emergencies around the world, from COVID-19 to cholera, have left the World Health Organization's response "overstretched", a senior advisor said on Tuesday. Speaking at the U.N. agency's annual meeting, Professor Walid Ammar, chair of a committee reviewing the WHO's emergency response, said funding and staffing gaps were widening in the face of ever-increasing demands. (Rigby, 5/23)

The Washington Post: An Exercise Trial For Long Covid Is Being Criticized By Some Patients
The exercise study protocol has not been finalized, but it will test physical therapy at different intensity levels, tailored to the patient’s capabilities, and aim to improve endurance, said Adrian Hernandez, executive director of Duke Clinical Research Institute. ... Some long-covid advocates, however, say that any exercise trial could be potentially dangerous for long-covid patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME/CFS), also known as chronic fatigue syndrome. (Morris, 5/22)

CIDRAP: Patients With COVID-19 At Time Of Heart Attack Have More Clotting 
An international COVID-19 registry shows an increased rate of clotting in heart attack patients with COVID-19, according to data recently presented at the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography & Interventions (SCAI) 2023 Scientific Sessions. Clots were seen in multiple arteries in close to 30% of patients with COVID-19 at the time of an ST-elevated myocardial infarction, or STEMI, but in less than 5% of patients with STEMI who did not have COVID-19 at the time their heart attack. (Soucheray, 5/22)

CIDRAP: COVID-19 Boosters Not Linked To Miscarriages
In JAMA Network Open, HealthPartners Institute researchers looking at a database of more than 100,000 US pregnancies found no link between administration of monovalent COVID-19 booster vaccine shots and miscarriage before 20 weeks of pregnancy. The study predates the availability of bivalent boosters. (Soucheray, 5/22)

Stat: New Data Reveals Deeper Problems With Prisons’ Covid Response
The incarcerated people at Federal Medical Center Devens should have been some of the first to receive the Covid vaccines, back when they first came out in December 2020. At the time, the country was prioritizing high-risk people in high-risk settings, like older Americans in nursing homes. So Devens seemed a better candidate than most prisons for an early vaccine rollout: It’s one of just seven facilities in the country equipped to handle federal prisoners with complex medical conditions like end-stage renal disease — people who were also especially vulnerable to dying from the coronavirus. (Florko, Parker and Sheridan, 5/23)

Modern Healthcare: Medicaid Redeterminations Drive Insurance Broker Marketing
Health insurance brokers and independent agents are ramping up marketing as states pare the Medicaid rolls for the first time in two-and-a-half years. These salespeople will play a critical role helping former Medicaid beneficiaries enroll in alternate coverage, such as subsidized plans from the health insurance exchanges. About 3 million of the 15 million people projected to lose Medicaid benefits because they no longer qualify are expected to be eligible for subsidized exchange coverage, according to the Health and Human Services Department. (Tepper, 5/22)

Reuters: Judge Tosses Out Some Claims In Abbott Baby Formula Litigation 
Abbott Laboratories (ABT.N) persuaded a federal judge to dismiss some claims in nationwide litigation over recalled baby formula. In a decision on Monday, U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly in Chicago dismissed claims by parents pursuing only "economic loss" claims related to Similac and other formula that they said had a "substantial risk" of bacteria contamination. (Stempel, 5/22)

Modern Healthcare: Bright Health Finalizes Reverse Stock Split
Bright Health Group completed a reverse stock split Monday, raising its share price above the minimum required to remain on the New York Stock Exchange. The insurtech, which is on the brink of bankruptcy, consolidated its shares by one-to-80, raising the price to $13.57 at the market open. The board of directors intends to reevaluate executive compensation following the reverse stock split. Shares were trading at 21 cents prior to consolidation. (Tepper, 5/22)

Crain's Chicago Business: Walgreens Wants Humana's Arbitration Award Vacated
In a filing to the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia, Walgreens Boots Alliance is seeking to vacate an arbitration award that would have Walgreens pay $642 million to Louisville-based Humana in a case over pharmacy billings. At the same time, Humana is petitioning that the award be confirmed by the courts. Deerfield-based Walgreens' May 19  filing begins: "This arbitration began in betrayal and ended in a miscarriage of justice." (Asplund, 5/22)

Axios: End Of The Line For FemTec Health
The women's health startup FemTec Health is out of money and winding down operations, according to public legal documents and social media posts seen by Axios. It's a culmination of troubles plaguing FemTec, once envisioned as the launchpad for a one-stop women's health shop. (Brodwin, 5/23)

Fierce Healthcare: Cyberattack Of Amazon's PillPack Compromised User Health Info
Amazon-owned PillPack reported a cybersecurity attack affecting the accounts of nearly 20,000 customers. An unauthorized person used customer emails and passwords to log into PillPack customer accounts, over 3,000 of which contained prescription information. Social Security numbers and payment information were not involved in the attack, according to the online pharmacy. (Burky, 5/19)

Bloomberg: New Weight-Loss Drug Found To Be Effective In Pill Form, Wegovy Maker Says
Novo Nordisk A/S’s weight-loss drug semaglutide, sold as the once-weekly Wegovy shot, was effective as a daily pill in a study. People with obesity or who were overweight and had another health problem lost an average of 15.1% of their body weight when assigned to take the pill, compared with a 2.4% loss in a group given a placebo, the Danish drugmaker said. Both groups also made lifestyle changes. (Kresge, 5/22)

AP: Over 150 Doctors On Strike At NYC Hospital That Was Once Called Pandemic Epicenter 
About 160 resident physicians went on strike Monday over what they called low pay at New York City’s Elmhurst Hospital Center, a public hospital once known as the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.The doctors-in-training at the Queens hospital, who are employed by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan, are the first doctors to go on strike in the city since 1990, according to their labor union, the Committee of Interns and Residents local of the Service Employees International Union. (5/23)

AP: Lawsuit: New York City Hospital Covered Up Abuse By Star Doctor Convicted Of Rape 
A major New York City hospital ignored a star physician’s rampant sexual abuse of patients, turning a blind eye to what he was doing to them behind closed exam-doom doors because his thriving pain practice was generating so much money, according to a lawsuit filed Monday. Officials at Mount Sinai Beth Israel in Manhattan knew Dr. Ricardo Cruciani was a serial abuser but failed to report him to law enforcement or licensing authorities for more than a decade, nor did they warn future employers about the threat he posed, 19 former patients allege in court documents. (Rubinkam, 5/22)

Detroit Free Press: Whitmer Signs Michigan's Red Flag Legislation Into Law
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed into law a series of bills Monday that will allow law enforcement, family, health care providers and others to petition courts to temporarily remove guns from those a judge determines pose an imminent threat to themselves or others. (Hendrickson, 5/22)

AP: DeSantis Signs Bills Targeting Drag Shows, Transgender Kids And The Use Of Bathrooms And Pronouns 
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed bills Wednesday that ban gender-affirming care for minors, target drag shows, restrict discussion of personal pronouns in schools and force people to use certain bathrooms. (5/22)

KTLA: Bill Banning Additives In Skittles, Other Foods Passes In The California State Assembly
California is one step closer to enacting a law that would ban Skittles, Hot Tamales, and a host of other food items that contain chemicals linked to health issues. Assembly Bill 418, proposed by Jesse Gabriel (D-Woodland Hills), passed overwhelmingly in the California State Assembly last week and now heads to the State Senate. (Sternfield, 5/22)

The Washington Post: Seniors Are Flooding Homeless Shelters That Can’t Care For Them
Nearly a quarter of a million people 55 or older are estimated by the government to have been homeless in the United States during at least part of 2019, the most recent reliable federal count available. They represent a particularly vulnerable segment of the 70 million Americans born after World War II known as the baby boom generation, the youngest of whom turn 59 this year. (Rowland, 5/22)

The Washington Post: Over 36,000 Older People In The U.S. Died In Falls In 2020
In 2020, the deaths of 36,508 U.S. residents 65 and older were related to falls, representing 86 percent of all fatal falls that year, according to research published in the journal JAMA. Based on death certificate data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the research found that fatal falls in this age group had increased from 10,097 in 1999, and at a rate that more than doubled in about two decades — from 29 deaths per 100,000 people to 69 deaths per 100,000 people. (Searing, 5/22)

AP: From Birth To Death, Legacy Of Racism Lays Foundation For Black Americans' Health Disparities
The AP spent the past year exploring how the legacy of racism in America has laid the foundation for the health inequities that Black people face. (Stafford, 5/23)

CIDRAP: Ticks May Be Able To Indirectly Spread Chronic Wasting Disease
A study that involved feeding ticks blood spiked with chronic wasting disease (CWD) prions and testing ticks and ear samples taken from infected wild white-tailed deer suggests that the parasites can indirectly transmit the disease. (Van Beusekom, 5/22)

The Wall Street Journal: In The Brain, Scientists Find New Clues To Treating Chronic Pain 
Electrodes embedded in the brains of four people have captured a detailed and precise portrait of chronic pain. The new work, published Monday in the journal Nature Neuroscience, points to brain regions that could be targets for future treatments, neuroscientists say, while adding to our understanding of why some people develop persistent, unyielding chronic pain. (Subbaraman, 5/22)