First Edition: Monday, Aug. 19, 2024

KFF Health News: Bipartisan Effort Paves Way For Reviving Shuttered Hospitals In Georgia
At the shuttered Atlanta Medical Center, a “Stronger Together” mural sends a hopeful message near a summer spray of hydrangeas. The campus was mostly quiet on a recent weekend, since AMC closed almost two years ago. A lone security vehicle sat behind a chain-link fence, and pedestrians passed by without even a glance. In the town of Cuthbert, some 160 miles away, the Southwest Georgia Regional Medical Center also remains shut after closing four years ago, another Southern hospital casualty in a region dotted with them. (Miller and Whitehead, 8/19)

KFF Health News: Inside The Political Fight To Build A Rural Georgia Hospital
Ed Whitehouse stood alongside a state highway in rural Butts County, Georgia, and surveyed acres of rolling fields and forests near Interstate 75. Instead of farmland and trees, he envisioned a hospital. Whitehouse, a consultant for a local health care company that wants to build a hospital there with at least 150 beds, said the group could break ground within a year. The idea, he said, is to provide medical services beyond those currently provided by Wellstar Sylvan Grove Medical Center, an aging, nonprofit “critical access” hospital that offers limited services, including emergency care, rehabilitation, wound care, and imaging. (Miller and Whitehead, 8/19)

KFF Health News: Harris-Walz Ticket Sharpens Contrast With Trump-Vance On Health Care 
Vice President Kamala Harris’ selection of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate is making health care a front-burner issue in the final sprint to the November presidential election. Walz, a 60-year-old former high school teacher and football coach, has a record of supporting left-leaning health care initiatives during his two terms as governor and while serving in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2007 to 2019. (Armour, 8/19)

KFF Health News: Journalists Discuss African Mpox Upsurge, EpiPen Alternative, And Medicaid Unwinding
KFF Health News and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and state media this week to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances. (8/17)

Stat: 5 Health Issues To Watch For At The Democratic National Convention
Democrats have set the stage for a convention this week packed with boasts about some of their most popular health care policy wins and future moonshot goals. The four-day event in Chicago will kick off as former President Trump increases attacks on rising inflation, economic hardship, and border control policies under the Biden administration. The Republican candidate has not dwelled much on health care in his campaign rhetoric. But Democrats see topics from reproductive rights to lower drug prices as winning issues with voters. (Owermohle, 8/18)

The New York Times: 3 Women With Harrowing Pregnancy Stories Will Speak At Convention 
Democrats on Monday evening will spotlight the stories of women placed in medical peril because of state abortion bans, part of an effort by the party to capitalize on the lasting anger over the Supreme Court’s decision in 2022 to overturn Roe v. Wade. All three women who are scheduled to speak on the first night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago have become prominent surrogates for the party’s ticket on the campaign trail, offering their deeply personal testimonials in campaign ads, White House meetings and political events. (Lerer, 8/19)

Chicago Tribune: Pro-Abortion Rights And LGBTQ+ Protesters Rally Ahead Of The Start Of The DNC
A crowd of hundreds called for abortion and LGBTQ+ rights Sunday evening in downtown Chicago, getting a head start on a week of protests before the Democratic National Convention kickoff Monday. ... The rally and march took place a week after the coalition Bodies Outside of Unjust Laws — endorsed by more than 30 local and national organizations — won a permit for a route on Michigan Avenue following a long legal battle with the city. (Perez, 8/18)

NPR: As Democrats Meet In Chicago, Illinois' Role In Abortion Access Is In The Spotlight
Democrats are holding their nominating convention this week in Illinois, a state that’s become a critical access point for patients seeking abortion since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade just over two years ago. Hope Clinic is in western Illinois — near the border with Missouri, where most or all abortions are now illegal. The situation is similar for most of Illinois’ neighboring states. In recent years, Hope and other clinics across Illinois have increased hours and staffing to accommodate an influx of patients from outside the state. (McCammon, 8/19)

Fox News: Planned Parenthood Offering Free Abortions, Vasectomies At DNC 
Planned Parenthood is offering more than a free T-shirt or sticker at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) this coming week — the organization will offer free vasectomies, medication abortion, and emergency contraception. Planned Parenthood Great Rivers of St. Louis announced in a X post that a bus is headed to the DNC in Chicago on Aug. 19-20 to offer free services. (Rumpf-Whitten, 8/17)

ABC News: FDA Authorizes 1st Over-The-Counter, At-Home Test For Syphilis
The first at-home, over-the-counter antibody test for syphilis received marketing authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday. This means biotechnology company NOWDiagnostics, Inc., which manufactures the test, now has a license to sell it. ... The new test, called First To Know, uses a drop of blood to offer an early indication that a person may have syphilis, with results available in about 15 minutes. The results must be confirmed by a doctor.(Salzman and Kekatos, 8/16)

CBS News: Alternatives To The Traditional Pap Smear Are On The Way. Here's What To Know
For some, pap smears are an uncomfortable but necessary evil when it comes to health screenings. For others, it's an experience bad enough to avoid a doctor's visit, risking not detecting cancer cells early. But this year, some health care companies are preparing to introduce self-collection options, allowing patients to skip awkward interfaces with healthcare professionals. (Moniuszko, 8/16)

The Washington Post: Removing Fallopian Tubes During Sterilization Is Safe, Study Suggests
Removing fallopian tubes during sterilization is about as safe as sterilization procedures that damage the tubes but leave them intact, a new study suggests — a finding that could help reduce some women’s risk of ovarian cancer. Swedish researchers found little difference in the risk for surgical complications between the two methods, they write in the journal Lancet Regional Health – Europe. (Blakemore, 8/18)

Axios: More Than 70 Births Came After Uterus Transplants
Women who received uterus transplants have delivered more than 70 infants worldwide since the first successful transplant in 2011, with 20 cases at a Texas medical center showing about the same success rate as with natural wombs, per new research in JAMA. (Goldman, 8/19)

Reuters: US Supreme Court Won't Allow LGBT Student Protection In Certain States 
The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Friday to let President Joe Biden's administration enforce a key part of a new rule protecting LGBT students from discrimination in schools and colleges based on gender identity in 10 Republican-led states that had challenged it. The justices denied the administration's request to partially lift lower court injunctions that had blocked the entirety of the rule expanding protections under Title IX, a law that bars sex discrimination in federally funded education programs, while litigation continues. The lower court decisions had prevented the U.S. Education Department from enforcing the new rule, announced in April and set to take effect on Aug. 1, in Tennessee, Louisiana and eight other states. (Chung, 8/16)

Reuters: Humana To Pay $90 Mln To Settle Claim That It Overcharged Medicare For Drugs 
Humana has agreed to pay $90 million to settle a whistleblower lawsuit by one of its former actuaries accusing the health insurer of overcharging the U.S. government for prescription drugs, the whistleblower's lawyers announced on Friday. The whistleblower, Steven Scott, said that Humana, which contracts with the federal Medicare program to administer prescription drug benefits, misrepresented its true costs in order to get a more lucrative contract. It is the first settlement with any insurer over allegations of fraud tied to Medicare's prescription drug contracting process, according to the law firm Phillips & Cohen, which represents Scott. (Pierson, 8/16)

The Wall Street Journal: The Feds Are ‘Playing Nice’ With Pharma, At Least For Now
The government’s announcement confirmed what companies had been telegraphing in second-quarter results calls: The initial hit to earnings from the Inflation Reduction Act, which allows Medicare to directly negotiate the prices of some drugs, is going to be mild. There are a few reasons for that. For one, many drugs were already going off patent soon and therefore were set to face price erosion anyway. Secondly, the drugs are already discounted in order to be placed on pharmacy-benefit managers’ formularies. (Wainer, 8/16)

CNN: FDA May Greenlight Updated Covid-19 Vaccines As Soon As This Week, Sources Say 
The US Food and Drug Administration is poised to sign off as soon as this week on updated Covid-19 vaccines targeting more recently circulating strains of the virus, according to two sources familiar with the matter, as the country experiences its largest summer wave in two years. (Tirrell, 8/18)

USA Today: KP.3.1.1 COVID-19 Variant: See Symptoms, Cases, Latest CDC Data
The KP.3.1.1 COVID-19 variant is the dominant strain of the virus, the latest projections from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show. The agency's Nowcast data tracker, which displays COVID-19 estimates and projections for two-week periods, projects the KP.3.1.1 variant is accounting for 36.8% of positive infections, followed by KP.3 at 16.8% in the two-week stretch starting Aug. 4. (Forbes, 8/16)

CIDRAP: COVID Activity Shows Signs Of Slowing In Parts Of US 
COVID-19 activity remains elevated across most of the United States, but some regions of the country are seeing some declines, as the proportion of KP.3.1.1 variant continues to rise, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today in its latest updates. Nationally, wastewater detections of SARS-CoV-2 are at the very high level for the second straight week. The highest levels are still in the West and South, followed by the Midwest and the Northeast. The CDC's latest update, however, shows downward trends from high levels in the South and Midwest. (Schnirring, 8/16)

KCUR: ‘Very High’ Levels Of COVID-19 Are In Missouri Right Now 
Missouri is one of 27 states where levels of COVID-19 are currently “very high” in wastewater, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Wastewater testing is used as a tool to track potential outbreaks and trends. While watershed data can’t tell researchers how many people are infected with COVID-19, the virus can be detected in a person’s waste even before they are symptomatic. (Shackelford-Nwanganga, 8/16)

Reuters: Bavarian Nordic To Ramp Up Production Of Mpox Vaccine
Danish biotech firm Bavarian Nordic said on Saturday it plans to ramp up production of its mpox vaccine and work with international health organizations to ensure fair access as the disease has been declared a global public health emergency. The company, one of the few drug firms that have an mpox vaccine, said it has informed the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that it can manufacture 10 million doses of the vaccine by the end of 2025, and could already supply up to 2 million doses this year. (8/17)

Bloomberg: Mpox: Denmark-Produced Vaccine Highlights Strength Of Country’s Pharma Industry
After the World Health Organization this week warned that a fast-spreading strain of mpox poses a global threat, Denmark again has a potential solution and underscored its capacity to outshine traditional powerhouses in the US and the UK. From treatments for diabetes to depression, the Nordic nation of 6 million people has punched above its weight with its prowess in pharmaceuticals, and Bavarian Nordic A/S’s mpox vaccine — the only regulator-approved inoculation for the deadly virus — serves as the latest milestone. (Sjolin, 8/16)

The Washington Post: CDC Issues Advisory On Oropouche Virus Disease That Has Turned Deadly 
The CDC advisory issued Friday recommends that pregnant people reconsider nonessential travel to Cuba, which reported its first confirmed case in June. (Sun, 8/17)

The Boston Globe: First Human Case Of EEE Since 2020 Confirmed In Massachusetts
A man in his 80s who was exposed in Worcester County is the state’s first human case of Eastern equine encephalitis since 2020, and risk levels for the mosquito-borne illness have been elevated in that region, Massachusetts health officials announced Friday. Generally spread to humans through the bite of an infected mosquito, the disease is rare, yet serious and potentially fatal to people of all ages, officials said. (Alanez, 8/16)

Los Angeles Times: Human Case Of Flea-Borne Typhus In Fountain Valley Is O.C.'s Fifth
Orange County vector control officials are urging residents to keep their pets, bodies and homes flea free after a human case of flea-borne typhus was detected in the city of Fountain Valley this month. The infection of an unidentified individual in the vicinity of Slater Avenue and Magnolia Street marks the fifth human case of the bacterial disease — carried by fleas and spread to other species through fecal matter — in Orange County this year. (Cardine, 8/16)

Bloomberg: Deadly Bacteria Is A Growing Threat To Beach Vacations Across The US
Beating the heat in the US is a little harder this summer than it used to be: E. coli and cyanobacteria are causing widespread beach closures at lakes and rivers. It’s a problem exacerbated by climate change-fueled warmer waters and more prolific downpours, which are creating perfect conditions for bacteria to flourish. (Battle Abdelal, 8/17)

The New York Times: As Bird Flu Spreads, Disease Trackers Set Their Sights On Pets
Trupanion, a Seattle-based pet insurance company, is partnering with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to create a disease tracking system for pets, the company announced this week. The system will draw on insurance claims submitted to Trupanion in real time when sick dogs and cats visit the veterinarian. “The concept is to proactively detect potential threats to pets and public health,” said Dr. Steve Weinrauch, the chief veterinary and product officer at Trupanion. (Anthes, 8/16)

Asheville Watchdog: HCA Chased Mission Doctors Away And Made A ‘Debacle’ Of Emergency Department, Draft Academic Report Says
A new working draft study out of Wake Forest University is the most comprehensive analysis of the personnel crisis at Mission Hospital to date, using hundreds of interviews, documents and media reports to tell the story of a mass exodus of doctors, a poor working environment for nurses and a dangerous situation for patients, all brought on by profit-centered management. (Jones, 8/17)

Modern Healthcare: 6 Steward Health Care Hospitals Find New Owners In Massachusetts
Lifespan, Boston Medical Center and Lawrence General Hospital tentatively agreed to take over six Steward Health Care hospitals in Massachusetts, state officials announced Friday. If the proposals are finalized, Providence, Rhode Island-based Lifespan would acquire and operate Morton Hospital in Taunton and St. Anne’s Hospital in Fall River, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey (D) said in a news release. (Kacik, 8/16)

CNN: Georgia Man Sues Emory Hospital For Allegedly Losing Portion Of Removed Skull
A Georgia couple is suing a health care system after they say staff at one of its Atlanta hospitals misplaced a portion of the husband’s skull, which had been temporarily removed and later scheduled to be reimplanted, according to a complaint. (Williams, 8/17)

The Baltimore Sun: Black-Owned Radiology Practice Sues UM Medical System
A small, Black-owned radiology practice in Laurel is suing the University of Maryland Medical System for engaging in unfair and discriminatory bidding practices. The suit alleges UMMS inked a no-bid agreement with a Los Angeles-based radiology company to provide outpatient radiology services on its Laurel campus. (Roberts, 8/19)

New Hampshire Public Radio: The Need For Nursing Assistants Is High. But A Key Recruitment Program Has Been Halted. 
Long-term care providers in New Hampshire say they’re in dire need of more licensed nursing assistants, as staff shortages limit the number of available beds. But a key recruitment and training program has been on hold since May, after its funding dried up. (Cuno-Booth, 8/16)

Stat: Novo Holdings Deal To Boost Wegovy Supply May Face FTC Review
As the Federal Trade Commission scrutinizes the pharmaceutical industry, there is growing debate about whether the regulator may next target a deal that some experts say could make it easier for Novo Nordisk to boost production of a key drug — at the expense of competitors. (Silverman, 8/19)

The New York Times: The Painkiller Used For Just About Anything
In huge numbers, older people are taking gabapentin for a variety of conditions, including itching, alcohol dependence and sciatica. “It’s crazy,” one expert said. (Span, 8/17)

The Washington Post: Antibiotics May Help People Avoid Surgery For Appendicitis
Though appendectomies have been the gold standard of care since before the turn of the 20th century, doctors have been treating appendicitis with antibiotics since the 1950s, as soon as they became available — a “dark secret” in the surgery world, says David R. Flum, professor of surgery and director of the Surgical Outcomes Research Center at the University of Washington. (Dattaro, 8/17)

CBS News: Recalled Cucumbers In Salmonella Outbreak Behind 449 Illnesses, CDC Says
An outbreak of salmonella linked to recalled cucumbers has sickened 449 people in 31 states and the District of Columbia, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in an update. The CDC is among the federal and state agencies investigating the outbreak, determining that cucumbers contaminated with salmonella made people sick. (Gibson, 8/16)

AP: Perdue Recalls 167,000 Pounds Of Chicken Nuggets After Consumers Find Metal Wire In Some Packages
Check your freezer. Perdue Foods is recalling more than 167,000 pounds of frozen chicken nuggets and tenders after some customers reported finding metal wire embedded in the products. According to Perdue and the U.S. Agriculture Department’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, the recall covers select lots of three products: Perdue Breaded Chicken Tenders, Butcher Box Organic Chicken Breast Nuggets and Perdue Simply Smart Organics Breaded Chicken Breast Nuggets. (8/18)