First Edition: Monday, Aug. 12, 2024

KFF Health News: Exercise Is Key For Parkinson’s Relief. But Bias, Underdiagnosis Hold Black Patients Back.
A few years ago, the organizers of one of the largest U.S. exercise programs for people with Parkinson’s disease realized they had a problem: Most of the students were white. “We’re always asking who’s not in the room, and why are they not in the room?” said David Leventhal, program director for Dance for PD with the Mark Morris Dance Group in New York City. (Cohen, 8/12)

KFF Health News: Watch: Where The Presidential And VP Candidates Stand On Health Policy
How do the top-of-the-ticket candidates compare on abortion, medical debt, and more? Here’s what you need to know. (Norman, 8/12)

KFF Health News: Journalists Highlight Maternal Health Challenges In Rural America, From Iowa To Georgia
KFF Health News and California Healthline staff took to the airwaves in the last couple of weeks to discuss maternal health care challenges in rural areas. Here’s a collection of their appearances. (8/10)

USA Today: FDA Rejects Psychedelic Drug MDMA For Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
The Food and Drug Administration on Friday rejected a California drug company's request to market the psychedelic drug MDMA combined with talk therapy as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder. The federal drug regulator told San Jose, California-based Lykos Therapeutics it completed a review of the company's application but would not approve MDMA, also known as ecstasy or molly, as a treatment for PTSD. (Alltucker, 8/9)

Stat: MDMA Papers Retracted Over Data
The journal Psychopharmacology has retracted three papers about MDMA-assisted psychotherapy — right on the heels of the Food and Drug Administration’s rejection of the closely watched treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder. (Keshavan, 8/11)

The Washington Post: FDA Approves First Nasal Spray For Allergic Reactions
The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved a nasal spray for serious allergic reactions to food, medications and insect stings, marking the first needle-free treatment for such conditions. The epinephrine nasal spray is administered as a single dose in one nostril and will serve as a critical alternative to treating emergency allergic reactions without an injection, the agency said. (Roubein and Gilbert, 8/9)

AP: Schumer Says He Will Work To Block Any Effort In The Senate To Significantly Cut The CDC's Budget
The Senate’s top Democrat said Sunday he will work to block a plan that would significantly cut the proposed budget of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, warning that such a spending reduction could endanger the public. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York told The Associated Press he would block legislation from passing the Senate if it were to include the proposed cut. Democrats said the proposal in a House bill includes a reduction of the CDC’s proposed budget by $1.8 billion, or about 22%, that would harm public health. The Republican-led effort also would mean a major cut in programs designed to address firearm injuries and opioid overdose prevention. (8/11)

AP: The US Government Wants To Make It Easier For You To Click The 'Unsubscribe' Button 
Efforts being rolled out Monday include a new Federal Communications Commission inquiry into whether to impose requirements on communications companies that would make it as easy to cancel a subscription or service as it was to sign up for one. ... Also Monday, the heads of the departments of Labor and of Health and Human Services are asking health insurance companies and group health plans to make improvements to customer interactions with their health coverage, and “in the coming months will identify additional opportunities to improve consumers’ interactions with the health care system,” according to a White House summary. (Hussein, 8/12)

Military.com: Housing Agency Scraps Catch-22-Type Rule That Kept Disabled Homeless Vets From Receiving Rent Vouchers 
Homeless veterans who were wounded, injured or became sick during their time in uniform will no longer have their disability benefits counted against them in the struggle to find affordable housing. In the face of an ongoing class-action suit brought by veterans in Los Angeles, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD, announced Thursday that the rule, which counted service-connected disability benefits as income in deciding whether veterans qualified for housing vouchers, is being scrapped. (Sisk, 8/9)

American Homefront Project: Facing A Deadline, More Than 300,000 Claims Are Filed In The Camp Lejeune Case
Facing an Saturday deadline, hundreds of thousands of Marine Corps veterans, family members and others have filed claims in one of the biggest toxic exposure cases in the nation’s history. From 1953 to 1987, tainted water on Camp Lejeune in North Carolina was laced with chemicals that have been linked to a host of illnesses, including several forms of cancer and Parkinson’s disease. (Price, 8/9)

Mlive.Com: Swine Flu Detected In Michigan Resident
An Ingham County resident has been infected with swine flu despite no known exposure to a sick pig or other animal. The infected person tested positive for the influenza A H3N2 variant in late July, state health officials announced Friday afternoon, Aug. 9, after confirmation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The person has since recovered. Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, the state’s chief medical executive, said officials believe this is an isolated case and risk to the general public is low. It’s the first confirmed case in Michigan this year. (Hicks, 8/9)

USA Today: Feds Prep Millions Of Bird Flu Vaccines To Avoid Next Pandemic
Already, 4.8 million doses of a potential vaccine are sitting in an undisclosed Seqirus distribution center, ready for delivery if needed. “An exercise like this gives our partners a chance to exercise that muscle, to make sure that the manufacturing’s there,” Dawn O’Connell, assistant secretary for preparedness and response for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, told USA TODAY during an exclusive tour of the vaccine factory in late July. (Cuevas and Weintraub, 8/12)

The Washington Post: Why A Growing Mpox Outbreak Has The World Worried Again
Global health authorities are sounding an alarm about surging mpox infections in Africa that have left hundreds dead, thousands sick and inflicted suffering in nations previously spared from the viral disease. Cases in Africa have surpassed 15,000 this year, exceeding the toll in all of 2023. Infections are concentrated in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where mpox has been endemic for decades, reaching record highs and infecting and killing mostly children. The virus has spilled into countries that have never recorded outbreaks, including Kenya and the Ivory Coast. (Nirappil, 8/9)

CIDRAP: Poll: Americans' Knowledge, Concern About Mpox Has Dropped 
As a large mpox outbreak in Africa has set off alarm bells in the global health community, Americans' knowledge of the virus and risk factors surrounding transmission has dropped compared to just 2 years ago, according to new survey from researchers at the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. (Soucheray, 8/9)

CIDRAP: US COVID Activity Continues To Pick Up 
US COVID indicators show no sign of slowing down, with most areas of the country seeing consistent rises, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today in its latest data updates. Emergency department encounters for COVID make up 2.3% of all visits, up 4.1% from the previous week. Levels are highest—in the moderate range—across the South and Southeast. (Schnirring, 8/9)

Houston Chronicle: University Of Houston Nasal Vaccine Prevents COVID From Spreading
A team of researchers from the University of Houston have developed a new vaccine to treat and prevent the spread of flu and multiple coronavirus strains. Through two nasal sprays — an immune activating therapeutic treatment and a new vaccine — the team of UH researchers have not only broken ground on vaccinating against SARS-CoV-2 and the flu virus, but also on creating a universal coronavirus vaccine. (Babbar, 8/10)

CNN: Noah Lyles’ Decision To Race With Covid-19 Was A Risky One, Experts Say
US sprinter Noah Lyles’ admission that he raced in the men’s 200 meters at the Paris Olympics on Thursday after testing positive for Covid-19 has reignited a familiar debate: whether it’s OK to treat Covid like any other respiratory infection. (Goodman, 8/9)

Reuters: Meta Beats Censorship Lawsuit By RFK Jr's Anti-Vaccine Group 
Meta Platforms defeated an appeal by Children's Health Defense, an anti-vaccine group founded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., challenging its censorship of Facebook posts that spread misinformation about vaccines' efficacy and safety. In a decision on Friday, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Pasadena, California, said the nonprofit did not show that Meta worked with or was coerced by federal officials to suppress views challenging "government orthodoxy" on vaccines. (Stempel, 8/9)

The Wall Street Journal: Medicare’s Opioid Limits Didn’t Protect This Doctor’s Patients From Deadly Overdoses 
Many who have died of overdoses in this retirement haven in recent years have a common thread. They were Medicare patients of Dr. Ricky Lockett, a local pain specialist. Lockett is one of the nation’s most prolific prescribers of opioid painkillers to elderly or disabled people covered by the federal program, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of Medicare data. At least 21 of his Medicare patients died of drug overdoses between 2017 and 2021, the highest number for any doctor in the U.S., the analysis showed. Scores more survived overdoses. Some of them mixed prescription and street drugs. ... Lockett said he knows he is an unusually heavy opioid prescriber. He attributed that to his population of patients, mostly on Medicare, who often come to him with longstanding pain and disability issues, and to his practice’s focus on medication-based pain management. (Maremont, Weaver, McGinty and Mathews, 8/10)

The Baltimore Sun: Baltimore Reaches $45 Million Settlement With CVS In Opioid Lawsuit
Baltimore has reached a $45 million settlement with CVS, ending another piece of the city’s ongoing lawsuit against major American drug companies and distributors accused of contributing to the opioid crisis. Mayor Brandon M. Scott announced the settlement, which ends the city’s claims against CVS, in a news release late Friday. So far, the city has won $90 million from opioid companies it is suing, including another $45 million Baltimore received from a settlement with the drugmaker Allergan. (O'Neill, 8/9)

AP: Worker's Death At California Federal Prison Investigated For Possible Fentanyl Exposure, AP Learns 
A worker at a federal prison in California has died and investigators are examining whether he was exposed to fentanyl shortly before his death, three people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. Marc Fischer, a mailroom supervisor at the U.S. Penitentiary in Atwater, California, died Friday after he reported feeling ill earlier, the people said. They said he was taken to a local hospital and was pronounced dead later in the evening. Investigators are examining whether he was exposed to a substance authorities believe was fentanyl while he screening mail at the prison, the people said. (Balsamo and Sisak, 8/10)

North Carolina Health News: Rural NC County Pursues Experimental Plan To Revive Shuttered Hospital
It has been little over a year since Martin County, a rural community of 22,000 in eastern North Carolina, lost its hospital. ... Now, Martin County could become the first community in the nation to bring a closed facility back to life using a new federal program. (Baxley, 8/12)

Axios: States Are Writing Their Own Rules For AI In Health Care
In the absence of federal guardrails on artificial intelligence in health care, state governments are figuring out their own rules of the road. Artificial intelligence is health care's biggest wild card. But it's drawing hundreds of millions of dollars in investment, and health providers and drug developers are already using it — essentially without oversight. (Goldman, 8/12)

NPR: Drugs Like Wegovy And Ozempic May Help Prevent Cancer
Drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy and Zepbound have transformed treatment for obesity and diabetes. Now researchers are excited about their potential impact on other conditions, including addiction and sleep apnea — and even cancer. ... In several recent studies, they show early promise in preventing many common cancers — including breast, colon, liver, and ovarian — known to be driven by obesity and excess weight. (Noguchi, 8/12)

The Wall Street Journal: Eli Lilly Is Gaining On Novo Nordisk In The Obesity Race 
Novo Nordisk had a big head start in the race to dominate the weight-loss market. But Eli Lilly is catching up fast. The two companies’ divergent earnings reports this week showed that Indianapolis-based Lilly is moving faster than its Denmark-headquartered counterpart in the race to win the GLP-1 war. (Wainer, 8/9)

CIDRAP: In Older Adults, Common Oral Antibiotics Linked To Higher Risk Of Serious Skin Reactions 
New research shows that commonly prescribed oral antibiotics are tied to increased risk of severe skin reactions in older adults. In a study published yesterday in JAMA, researchers in Toronto looked at two decades worth of data on hospitalizations and emergency department (ED) visits for serious cutaneous adverse drug reactions (cADRs) and found significant associations with the use of sulfonamides, cephalosporins, and other commonly prescribed classes of antibiotics. (Dall, 8/9)

News Service of Florida: Florida House, Pediatrics Group Settle Dispute Over Subpoena Of Trans Care Standards
The state House and Florida Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics have settled a federal lawsuit over subpoenas that sought information about how the medical group developed standards of care for children diagnosed with gender dysphoria. Attorneys for both sides filed a court document Monday dismissing the case, which the pediatricians group filed last year after House Health & Human Services Chair Randy Fine, R-Brevard County, subpoenaed documents. (Saunders, 8/9)

Roll Call: Parental Rights Law Could Thwart Fight Against HIV 
A new Tennessee parental rights law could have unintended consequences in a state that already has seen rising cases of HIV and syphilis, and as the U.S. sees a spike in syphilis cases. Tennessee’s law is part of a growing conservative movement to give parents more control over their children’s education and health care decisions, especially when it comes to gender and sexuality. Republicans in Congress have introduced similar legislation this year. (Raman, 8/12)

Charlotte Ledger: NC Colleges Ramp Up Focus On Nursing Programs
Jessica Nichols emerged from college with a bachelor’s degree in communications with her sights set on a broadcast journalism career. But after spending six years in the U.S. Army and becoming a mom, she felt called to an entirely different work path — nursing. Now, Nichols is one of seven students in Johnson & Wales University’s new nursing program that started in May on the Charlotte campus. If all goes according to plan, she’ll be eligible to sit for her registered nurse licensure exam in August 2025 and get a job in the specialty that most interests her: pediatric psychiatry. (Bolling, 8/10)

USA Today: Black People, Women Generally Less Likely To Survive After CPR
A new study has uncovered dramatic differences in outcomes based on the race and sex of the people who went into cardiac arrest and got CPR. White people were three times more likely than Black people to survive the episode, and men of any background were twice as likely to survive as women, researchers found. ... The findings published this week in the American Heart Association journal “Circulation” confounded researchers examining outcomes for the life-saving technique and opened up a new array of questions they're hoping to explore. (Cuevas, 8/9)

CNN: Why Black Women Are Pushing To Diversify Health Care Industry
When Charmain Jackman and her husband decided to see a couple’s counselor, they had a list of criteria. As a Black psychologist of Barbadian descent, Jackman knew she was looking for a therapist of color who had experience working with couples. The search, however, proved to be more challenging than she expected. “We wanted someone who understood our culture,” Jackman told CNN. “We didn’t want to explain our family or immigrant experience.” Ultimately, Jackman said their therapist ended up being a White, Jewish woman because they struggled to find a therapist of color. (Mclean, 8/9)

The Wall Street Journal: New Uvalde Records Further Reveal Depth Of Police Inaction In Texas School Massacre 
After an 18-year old shooter raced into a Uvalde, Texas, elementary school in 2022, his uncle called the police in a panic, trying to find out if he could help, according to records made public Saturday. “My nephew, ma’am, he’s the shooter,” a distraught Armando Ramos told a 911 dispatcher. “Maybe he could listen to me…Maybe he could stand down or something.” The uncle’s phone call was released as part of a trove of 911 calls, body-camera footage, radio-traffic recordings, text messages and official documents made public Saturday after a lawsuit from a coalition of media organizations including The Wall Street Journal. (Findell and Otis, 8/11)

Reuters: Perrigo Recalls 16,500 Cans Of Its Infant Formula
Perrigo has initiated a voluntary recall of three lots within one batch, or 16,500 cans, of its infant formula sold at H-E-B Grocery Company and CVS a regulatory filing showed on Friday. (8/9)

Axios: Universal School Lunches May Improve Attendance And Reduce Obesity
Universal free school lunches are could lead to fewer cases of obesity, improved attendance and fewer suspensions, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open. School lunches are becoming fodder for partisan politics with the selection of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz — an ardent supporter of free school lunch programs — as Kamala Harris' running mate, Food Fix's Helena Bottemiller Evich pointed out. (Reed, 8/12)