First Edition: May 8, 2024

KFF Health News: They Were Shot At The Super Bowl Parade — And Might Have Bullets In Their Bodies Forever
James Lemons, 39, wants the bullet removed from his thigh so he can go back to work. Sarai Holguin, a 71-year-old woman originally from Mexico, has accepted the bullet lodged near her knee as her “compa” — a close friend. Mireya Nelson, 15, was hit by a bullet that went through her jaw. ... Nearly three months after the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade shooting left at least 24 people injured, recovery from those wounds is intensely personal and includes a surprising gray area in medicine: whether the bullets should be removed. (Sable-Smith and Lowe, 5/8)

KFF Health News: Forget Ringing The Button For The Nurse. Patients Now Stay Connected By Wearing One
Patients admitted to Houston Methodist Hospital get a monitoring device about the size of a half-dollar affixed to their chest — and an unwitting role in the expanding use of artificial intelligence in health care. The slender, battery-powered gadget, called a BioButton, records vital signs including heart and breathing rates, then wirelessly sends the readings to nurses sitting in a 24-hour control room elsewhere in the hospital or in their homes. (Galewitz, 5/8)

USA Today: There's A New COVID-19 Variant Called FLiRT: Here's What You Need To Know About It
A new set of COVID-19 variants, nicknamed FLiRT, has been detected in wastewater surveillance, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. From April 14 through April 27, the variant, labeled KP.2, makes up about 25% of the cases in the United States, according to the CDC. That makes it the new dominant variant in the country, overtaking JN.1. The JN.1 variant, which spread globally over the winter, made up 22% of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. in the same two-week span.KP.1.1, another FLiRT variant that is circulating, made up about 7.5% of COVID-19 cases in that two-week span, according to CDC data. (Hauari, 5/7)

Reuters: AstraZeneca Says It Will Withdraw COVID-19 Vaccine Globally As Demand Dips 
AstraZeneca said on Tuesday it had initiated the worldwide withdrawal of its COVID-19 vaccine due to a "surplus of available updated vaccines" since the pandemic. The company also said it would proceed to withdraw the vaccine Vaxzevria's marketing authorizations within Europe. (5/7)

CIDRAP: USDA Reports More H5N1 Detections In Poultry, Wild Birds 
In its latest updates, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) reported more H5N1 avian flu detections in poultry and wild birds, including several pigeons in Michigan's Ionia County, an area where the virus has been reported in dairy cows. (Schnirring, 5/7)

CIDRAP: With H5N1 Avian Flu Silently Spreading In US Cattle, Wastewater Testing Could Be Key 
Over a year ago, Marc Johnson, PhD, of the University of Missouri, developed a probe to detect H5 avian influenza A virus (IAV) genetic material in city wastewater because he expected it to start popping up in routine surveillance—just not from cattle. "This cattle thing, that snuck up on us," he told CIDRAP News. "If this [probe] had been implemented nationally, we would've known about this in wastewater back in February, and they would have maybe gotten a lid on it sooner. It's really surprising that it became so widespread without anybody knowing." But the probe wasn't operationalized at that time because H5N1 wasn't recognized until some cattle started showing symptoms in late March. (Van Beusekom, 5/7)

Modern Healthcare: Joint Commission Launches Rural Health Clinic Accreditation
The Joint Commission is launching a new accreditation program to standardize patient care practices and staff training at rural health clinics nationwide. The Rural Health Clinic Accreditation Program, which will open to applicants sometime this summer, is intended to help clinics in medically underserved, rural communities improve the safety and quality of primary care and personal health services, The Joint Commission announced Tuesday. (Devereaux, 5/7)

Reuters: Bankrupt Steward Health Puts Its Hospitals Up For Sale, Discloses $9 Bln In Debt 
Bankrupt Steward Health Care has put all of its 31 U.S. hospitals up for sale, hoping to finalize transactions by the end of the summer to address its $9 billion in total liabilities, its attorneys said at a Tuesday court hearing in Houston. Steward, which filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday, hopes to keep all of its hospitals open over the long term, Steward attorney Ray Schrock told U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Chris Lopez, who is overseeing the Chapter 11 proceedings. (Knauth, 5/7)

Modern Healthcare: What Steward Health Care’s Bankruptcy Means For Patient Care
Massachusetts policymakers hope Steward Health Care’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization will expedite its exit from the state. Steward Health Care filed for Chapter 11 Monday, a move some industry observers expected as the for-profit hospital chain’s outstanding rent and vendor payments piled up. State lawmakers in Massachusetts and elsewhere have worked to pass laws aimed at preventing a financial spiral akin to Steward. (Kacik, 5/7)

Los Angeles Times: Supreme Court Poised To Enter Debate Over Transgender Care For Minors
After steering clear of the divisive issue for months, the Supreme Court may be on the verge of deciding whether to jump into the national debate over medical treatment for transgender youths. As soon as Thursday, justices may vote behind closed doors on whether to grant an appeal that seeks to block a new Tennessee law prohibiting medical treatments that enable a “minor to identify with, or live as, a purported identity inconsistent with the minor’s sex.” They have been in no hurry to act, however, and it’s possible they will put off the issue again. (Savage, 5/7)

Reuters: Florida Sues Biden Administration Over New Transgender Healthcare Rule 
Florida's top prosecutor and a Catholic medical group on Tuesday sued the Biden administration in an effort to block a rule that they say will force doctors to provide gender transition care against their judgment or face heavy penalties. The lawsuit by Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody and the Catholic Medical Association (CMA), filed in federal court in Tampa, takes aim at a new rule, opens new tab published by the U.S. Department of Health and Services (HHS) on Monday that would ban discrimination in healthcare on the basis of gender identity. (Pierson, 5/7)

Politico: New York’s Abortion Rights Amendment Thrown Off Ballot, For Now 
A measure that would codify abortion rights in the New York constitution, as well as other equal rights, was tossed off the ballot Tuesday, a blow to Democrats’ efforts to get the question to voters in November. A conservative judge in upstate Livingston County rejected the measure in a court ruling, questioning the legality of the ballot question. Democrats hope the measure will drive out turnout in a critical election year where New York will have a half dozen battleground House seats that could determine control of the chamber next year. (Mahoney, 5/7)

Reuters: Idaho Seeks To Revive 'Abortion Trafficking' Law In US Appeals Court 
A lawyer for the state of Idaho on Tuesday urged a federal appeals court to revive a 2023 state law making it a crime to help a minor cross state lines for an abortion without her parent's consent, which a lower court judge had blocked in November. "The law is narrow, and one would think, unobjectionable," Idaho Deputy Solicitor General Joshua Turner told the three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Seattle. (Pierson, 5/7)

NBC News: Florida’s 6-Week Abortion Ban Could Set Up Clash With Shield Law States
With Florida’s six-week abortion ban now in place, telehealth appointments with out-of-state physicians and mail-order abortion pills could play increasingly important roles in allowing women there to safely end their pregnancies. Advocates on both sides of the abortion debate agree that the practice is likely to be challenged in court, as red states assert their right to curtail abortion and blue states attempt to protect abortion providers. (Szabo, 5/7)

Chicago Tribune: Proposal Aimed At Quieting Anti-Abortion Protests Outside Chicago Clinic Moves Forward
Recurring anti-abortion protests outside a downtown women’s health clinic may soon be dampened by a new ordinance limiting nearby loud sounds. (Sheridan, 5/7)

Iowa Public Radio: Iowa HHS Contracts With 4 Crisis Pregnancy Centers Under MOMS Program 
The Iowa Department of Health and Human Services will distribute more than $680,000 to four crisis pregnancy centers under its More Options for Maternal Support, or MOMS, program in the next two years. (Krebs, 5/7)

St. Louis Public Radio: O'Fallon, Illinois Is Now Home To A New Breast Milk Dispensary
When a baby is born, a mother’s breast milk helps the child grow safe and healthy. But many new moms have trouble breastfeeding their newborns. A newly opened dispensary at HSHS St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in O’Fallon, Illinois, is offering donated milk to families in the Metro East who need breast milk for their babies. (Fentem, 5/8)

Roll Call: Change Healthcare Lacked Safeguards Even As It Gave Security Advice 
In the months surrounding UnitedHealth Group Inc.’s $13 billion purchase of software company Change Healthcare Inc. in 2022, experts at Change published articles and policy papers extolling the need for cybersecurity measures in the health care industry. While it dished out that advice, one of Change’s web portals used to provide remote access was not equipped with one of the most basic cybersecurity features it extolled: multi-factor authentication. (Ratnam, 5/7)

Modern Healthcare: Kaiser Permanente Layoffs Hit 76 IT, Administrative Employees
Kaiser Permanente plans to lay off another 76 employees in late June, bringing the total to about 350 employees laid off since November. The most recent layoffs are effective June 21 and will include IT and marketing employees in California, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification filed April 22. Kaiser, which cited cost-cutting efforts, said in a statement Tuesday it will provide severance and career support for affected employees and help transition some to other roles. (Hudson, 5/7)

Modern Healthcare: Oscar Health Records First-Ever Quarterly Profit
A dozen years after it debuted, promising to transform the health insurance sector, Oscar Health has recorded its first profitable quarter. The health insurance company, which accumulated losses throughout its existence, earned $177.5 million in net income during the first quarter after losing $39.6 million a year before, Oscar Health announced Tuesday. Revenue surged 46% to $2.1 billion, which the company attributed to premium increases, membership growth and lower risk-adjustment payments associated with its exchange business. (Berryman, 5/7)

Modern Healthcare: KKR, Healthcare Realty Trust Form Joint Venture
Healthcare Realty Trust and global investment firm KKR have formed a joint venture to acquire outpatient medical properties. The healthcare real estate investment trust, whose portfolio includes almost 700 properties, said it would contribute 12 of them valued at $382.5 million to the joint venture and more could be added. KKR plans to make an equity contribution valued at 80% of the value of those properties and committed another $600 million for acquisitions or other investments. (DeSilva, 5/7)

Stat: Endo Health Ordered By DOJ To Pay $1.5 Billion In Opioid Criminal Case
In the second-largest fine ever levied on a pharmaceutical company, Endo Health Solutions was ordered to pay nearly $1.1 billion in criminal penalties and another $450 million in criminal forfeiture for illegally marketing its Opana ER prescription opioid. (Silverman, 5/7)

Modern Healthcare: Amazon Clinic’s Nworah Ayogu Leaves To Join Thrive Capital
Dr. Nworah Ayogu has departed Amazon Clinic, the technology giant’s direct-to-consumer telehealth marketplace. Ayogu said in a LinkedIn post on Monday that he has left Amazon Clinic, where he served as general manager and chief medical officer since it launched in November 2022. He is headed to venture capital firm Thrive Capital. (Turner, 5/7)

Modern Healthcare: Predictive AI Could Reduce Violence Against Nurses, Doctors
Artificial intelligence is touted as a way to ease clinicians' workload. A hospital in Dallas is using it to keep them safe. Parkland Memorial Hospital, the city's large safety-net hospital, is using AI to protect its doctors and nurses from violent patients. It joins a growing number of health systems deploying AI to tackle the pressing issue. (Perna, 5/7)

San Francisco Chronicle: Can AI Accurately Triage ER Patients? UCSF Study Suggests Yes
In one of the first studies to test whether artificial intelligence can help triage real-world emergency room patients, new UCSF research suggests AI could one day help doctors make one of the most critical decisions in medicine: who to give urgent medical care to first. The study, published Tuesday in JAMA Network Open, found that an AI model can accurately prioritize the sickest patients 89% of the time. (Ho, 5/7)

Stat: Apple Watch's A-Fib History Cleared By FDA For Use In Clinical Trials
The Apple Watch has secured a new qualification from the Food and Drug Administration that could make the smartwatch an appealing tool for medical device companies hoping to illustrate the benefits of a common heart procedure. (Aguilar and Lawrence, 5/8)

Los Angeles Times: Bill Could End Holdup For Studies On Psychedelics, Addiction Treatment 
California lawmakers could soon clear a governmental logjam that has held up dozens of studies related to addiction treatment, psychedelics or other federally restricted drugs. The holdup revolves around the Research Advisory Panel of California, established decades ago to vet studies involving cannabis, hallucinogens and treatments for “abuse of controlled substances.” It has been a critical hurdle for California researchers exploring possible uses of psychedelics or seeking new ways to combat addiction. (Alpert Reyes, 5/7)

Stateline: Montana Could Be A Model As More GOP States Weigh Medicaid Work Requirements
Two decades ago, Jeff Beisecker and his family returned to Great Falls, Montana, from a religious mission to the Philippines. Beisecker had no health insurance and no steady source of income, and neither did his wife. Fearful of being without coverage, Beisecker enrolled himself, his wife and their four children in Medicaid for nearly a decade while he worked his way to a steady, full-time job. ... An increasing number of Republican-led states want to require Medicaid recipients to work, arguing that doing so will help them rise out of poverty. (Chatlani, 5/7)

NBC News: Panera Says It's Phasing Out Its Controversial Charged Lemonade Nationwide
A Panera Bread spokesperson says the restaurant chain is phasing out its Charged Lemonade, a highly caffeinated beverage that has been blamed for at least two deaths in lawsuits. ... A spokesperson for Panera said Tuesday that the nationwide discontinuation of the Charged Lemonade comes after a “recent menu transformation.” (Chuck, 5/7)

The Washington Post: Olive Oil Use Associated With Lower Risk Of Dying From Dementia 
Is olive oil really a health boon? Or is it just a sign of healthy eating habits? A study published in JAMA Network Open on Monday rekindles that debate. The observational study led by researchers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health examined two groups of U.S. health professionals and found daily olive oil consumption is associated with a lower risk of dying from dementia. (Amenabar, 5/7)

USA Today: Why Is Cancer Deadlier In Black Women? A New Study Seeks To Find Out
A cancer diagnosis is terrifying for anyone, but Black women have an extra reason to be afraid. Although Black women have a slightly lower risk of developing cancer, once they've been diagnosed they are more likely to die and die faster than non-Black women. ... To understand why, the American Cancer Society Tuesday is launching the largest-ever study of cancer risk and outcomes in Black women. (Weintraub, 5/7)