First Edition: Nov. 28, 2022

KHN: When Malpractice Occurs At Community Health Centers, Taxpayers Pay 
Silvia Garcia’s 14-year-old son was left permanently disabled and in a wheelchair after a community health center doctor in New Mexico failed to diagnose his appendicitis despite his complaint of severe stomach pain. The teenager’s appendix ruptured before he could get to a hospital, and complications led to septic shock. Akimbee Burns had a Pap smear at a community health center in Georgia that showed abnormal cells. But she was not told of the results. About eight months later, she was diagnosed with cervical cancer that had spread to her lymph nodes. She died within two years, at age 38. (Galewitz and Sable-Smith, 11/28)

KHN: Should Older Seniors Risk Major Surgery? New Research Offers Guidance 
Nearly 1 in 7 older adults die within a year of undergoing major surgery, according to an important new study that sheds much-needed light on the risks seniors face when having invasive procedures. Especially vulnerable are older patients with probable dementia (33% die within a year) and frailty (28%), as well as those having emergency surgeries (22%). Advanced age also amplifies risk: Patients who were 90 or older were six times as likely to die than those ages 65 to 69. (Graham, 11/28)

KHN: Readers And Tweeters Decry Medical Billing Errors, Price-Gouging, And Barriers To Benefits
KHN gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories. (11/28)

CNBC: The U.S. Is 'Certainly' Still In A Covid-19 Pandemic, Dr. Fauci Says
The nation’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said the U.S. is “certainly” still in the middle of a Covid-19 pandemic and he is “very troubled” by the divisive state of American politics. “As a public health official, I don’t want to see anyone suffer and die from Covid,” he told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. (Capoot, 11/27)

Politico: Facing Virus Trifecta, Health Officials Project Cautious Optimism 
Top Biden administration health experts were cautiously optimistic Sunday about their new campaign for Covid-19 boosters, even as they admitted vaccination and booster rates continued to be lower than they should be. “I think we’re going to see a lot more people getting vaccinated in the upcoming weeks. This is why we’re launching the campaign we are right now,” Ashish Jha, coordinator of the White House’s Covid-19 response, said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.” Many people typically get flu shots in November, December and January, Jha said. (Olander, 11/27)

Politico: Fauci On Covid Lab Leak Theory: ‘I Have A Completely Open Mind’ 
Anthony Fauci, the retiring top official in the United States response to the Covid-19 pandemic, said Sunday he has “a completely open mind” about the origins of the respiratory virus. “I have a completely open mind about that, despite people saying that I don’t,” Fauci said, when asked on NBC’s “Meet the Press” about the theory that the virus may have leaked from a lab in China in 2019. (Olander, 11/27)

The New York Times: Happy Birthday, Omicron
On Nov. 26, 2021, the World Health Organization announced that a concerning new variant of the coronavirus, known as Omicron, had been discovered in southern Africa. It soon swept to dominance across the world, causing a record-breaking surge in cases. Now, a year later, Omicron still has biologists scrambling to keep up with its surprising evolutionary turns. The variant is rapidly gaining mutations. But rather than a single lineage, it has exploded into hundreds, each with resistance to our immune defenses and its own alphanumeric name, like XBB, BQ.1.1 and CH.1. (Zimmer, 11/26)

AP: After A Year, Omicron Still Driving COVID Surges And Worries
A year after omicron began its assault on humanity, the ever-morphing coronavirus mutant drove COVID-19 case counts higher in many places just as Americans gathered for Thanksgiving. It was a prelude to a wave that experts expect to soon wash over the U.S. Phoenix-area emergency physician Dr. Nicholas Vasquez said his hospital admitted a growing number of chronically ill people and nursing home residents with severe COVID-19 this month. “It’s been quite a while since we needed to have COVID wards,” he said. “It’s making a clear comeback.” (Ungar, 11/25)

CBS News: XBB Variant's Arrival Won't Cause A New Deadly COVID Surge, Officials Hope
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed Friday it is now tracking a new COVID-19 variant of concern around the U.S. known as XBB, which has grown to make up an estimated 3.1% of new infections nationwide. (Tin, 11/25)

CIDRAP: Updated COVID Boosters Add To Benefit Of Single-Strain Doses
A US study of the vaccine effectiveness (VE) of the new bivalent mRNA COVID-19 boosters estimates that they confer 28% to 56% more protection against symptomatic infections than two to four doses of the original mRNA vaccines. (Van Beusekom, 11/23)

CIDRAP: Study Shows Reinfection Protection For COVID-19 Vaccines 
A new study out of Denmark suggests COVID-19 vaccines offer good protection against reinfection in people who had already acquired the virus, sometimes up to 9 months. The study, which looked at protection offered during the Alpha, Delta, and Omicron waves is published in PLOS Medicine. The study population included more than 700,000 people. (Soucheray, 11/23)

San Francisco Chronicle: These COVID Symptoms Are Now The Most Common As Variants Evolve
A mild runny nose, headache or sore throat could now precede a positive test result with one of the many offshoots of omicron. Other indicators commonly reported during earlier phases of the pandemic, such as loss of taste and smell, have dropped down the list. (Vaziri, 11/26)

The Washington Post: Texas Man Home For The Holidays After 453 Days In Hospital Recovering Covid 
Covid-19 put life on hold for Dub Crochet. The Bellaire, Tex., man had contracted a bad case of the coronavirus in August 2021 before being confined to a hospital for months — keeping him from enjoying milestones and holidays. He missed the birth of his new grandson. He wasn’t home to host Thanksgiving dinner last year. Nor was he out of the hospital in time to celebrate his 70th birthday. (Salcedo, 11/26)

Fox News: Court Rejects San Diego School District's COVID Vaccine Mandate
The California 4th District Court of Appeal ruled against the San Diego Unified School District’s COVID-19 student vaccine requirement this week. On Tuesday, the appellate court agreed with a lower court's ruling from last year that the school district does not have the authority to establish its own mandate. (Musto, 11/25)

The Washington Post: Covid Long-Haulers Turn To Unproven Treatments In Desperation 
For the burgeoning population of covid long-haulers, there is an abundance of new treatment options: Specially formulated nutraceuticals imported from India that promise to “get you life back from covid.” Pure oxygen delivered in a pressurized chamber. And, if time and money are no obstacle, a process known as “blood washing” that’s available in Cyprus, or $25,000 stem cell treatments in the Cayman Islands. (Sellers, 11/25)

Bloomberg: As Covid Evolves In Long-Term Infections It May Become More Harmful, Study Says
A South African laboratory study using Covid-19 samples from an immunosupressed individual over six months showed that the virus evolved to become more pathogenic, indicating that a new variant could cause worse illness than the current predominant omicron strain. (Sguazzin, 11/26)

Detroit Free Press: 2 Michigan Hospitals Appeal For More Beds To Manage RSV Surge
The flood of children sick with respiratory syncytial virus, better known as RSV, along with patients who have influenza and COVID-19 have led two Michigan hospitals to file emergency appeals to state health regulators to expand hospital bed capacity. (Jordan Shamus, 11/23)

Axios: Anthony Fauci: RSV Cases At "Critical" Point, Hopeful Rates Decline Soon
Spiking cases of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) among children are currently at a critical juncture in the U.S. but will hopefully begin declining from their peak soon, outgoing NIAID director Anthony Fauci told CBS' "Face the Nation" Sunday. (Saric, 11/27)

NBC News: Is It Covid, Flu Or RSV? Chart Compares Differences In Symptoms
Around 76% of U.S. hospital inpatient beds are full, according to data from the Department of Health and Human Services. Pediatric beds are at a similar level, though six states have 90% or more of their pediatric beds full, according to an NBC News analysis of HHS data. (Bendix, 11/24)

Los Angeles Times: Flu Shots Encouraged In Communities Of Color
Since October, California has had 17 flu deaths, according to the state Department of Public Health. For weeks, public health officials have been bracing for a sickly winter that includes the alarming early start of flu season, rising COVID-19 cases and a surge of cases of respiratory syncytial virus, known as RSV. (Evans, 11/26)

Reuters: Researchers Test MRNA Technology For Universal Flu Vaccine
An experimental vaccine provided broad protection against all 20 known influenza A and B virus subtypes in initial tests in mice and ferrets, potentially opening a pathway to a universal flu shot that might help prevent future pandemics, according to a U.S. study published on Thursday. The two-dose vaccine employs the same messenger RNA (mRNA) technology used in the COVID-19 shots developed by Pfizer with BioNTech, and by Moderna. It delivers tiny lipid particles containing mRNA instructions for cells to create replicas of so-called hemagglutinin proteins that appear on influenza virus surfaces. (Lapid, 11/25)

The Washington Post: Measles Is ‘Imminent Threat’ Globally, WHO And CDC Warn 
Measles, the preventable but highly infectious disease, could be on the verge of a comeback after a lull in the immediate months following the emergence of the coronavirus, the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday. Calling measles an “imminent threat in every region of the world,” the two public health bodies said in a report that almost 40 million children missed their vaccine doses last year. (Jeong, 11/24)

AP: WHO, CDC: A Record 40 Million Kids Miss Measles Vaccine Dose
The WHO and CDC said continued drops in vaccination, weak disease surveillance and delayed response plans due to COVID-19, in addition to ongoing outbreaks in more than 20 countries, mean that “measles is an imminent threat in every region of the world.” Scientists estimate that at least 95% of a population needs to be immunized to protect against epidemics; the WHO and the CDC reported that only about 81% of children receive their first dose of measles vaccine while 71% get their second dose, marking the lowest global coverage rates of the first measles dose since 2008. (11/23)

AP: Georgia High Court Reinstates Ban On Abortions After 6 Weeks 
The Georgia Supreme Court on Wednesday reinstated the state’s ban on abortions after roughly six weeks of pregnancy, abruptly ending access to later abortions that had resumed days earlier. In a one-page order, the justices put a lower court ruling overturning the ban on hold while they consider an appeal. Doctors who had resumed providing abortions after six weeks had to immediately stop. (Thanawala, 11/23)

Stateline: Abortion Advocates Aim To Outflank Lawmakers Using 2024 Ballot Measures
Encouraged by six victories — and zero defeats — in this month’s midterm elections, abortion rights advocates are considering another round of ballot measures in 2024 that would enshrine reproductive freedom in state constitutions. (Vestal, 11/23)

Becker's Hospital Review: Blood Bag Shortage Complicates Collection Efforts
Blood bag shortages nationwide, particularly for the only universal blood type, O-negative, has been causing organizations to issue an urgent appeal to donors, multiple sources report. The Arkansas Blood Institute reported losing hundreds of units of Type O-negative blood a month because of recent blood bag shortages. (Schoonover, 11/23)

Becker's Hospital Review: Mark Cuban In Talks With Hospitals To Solve Drug Shortages
Mark Cuban is in talks with hospitals to identify generic drugs that often run in short supply, which he aims to make in a robotics-driven manufacturing plant currently in development in Dallas. Mr. Cuban appeared on the Motley Fool podcast Nov. 23 with host Chris Hill to talk about disrupting healthcare, which Cost Plus Drugs has managed to do since its establishment in May 2020. (Gamble, 11/23)

CIDRAP: AAP Issues Guidance On Alternatives To In-Shortage Amoxicillin 
Amid a shortage of the antibiotic amoxicillin, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has issued guidance on alternatives to the oral powder formulation for suspension in its Red Book Online. (11/23)

The Wall Street Journal: World’s Top-Selling Drug Going Off Patent Means Big Bucks For Middlemen
Starting next year the highest-grossing drug of all time, AbbVie‘s Humira, will finally face competition from copycat biologics in the U.S. Yet the makers of the complex generics known as biosimilars won’t necessarily be the biggest winners. The top beneficiaries could instead be the middlemen such as Cigna and CVS Health, which will negotiate and dispense the drugs to patients. (Wainer, 11/27)

Stat: Former Merck CEO: Democracy, The Drug Industry Are In Danger
Ken Frazier, the former chief executive of Merck, has been the preeminent pharmaceutical CEO of his era. He is also likely the most prominent CEO to have spoken out against the former president, Donald Trump. (Herper, 11/28)

Politico: Cannabis Banking Supporters Scramble To Reach Lame-Duck Deal 
Urgency is building in the Senate to get cannabis legislation passed before the year is over. The specter of a Republican-led House has lit a fire under proponents of cannabis banking legislation, according to three House and Senate staffers involved in discussions on both sides of the aisle. (Fertig, 11/23)

The Boston Globe: Medical Marijuana For Kids? These Moms Sought It Out — And Say Any Parent Would Have Done The Same
To most parents, the idea of giving marijuana to their underage children is simply unimaginable. But a few say they had no other choice. (Adams, 11/25)

Becker's Hospital Review: Florida Hospital CEO Resigns In Wake Of Arrest
Kidada Hawkins, who took over as president of Winter Haven (Fla.) Hospital earlier this year, has resigned amid allegations that he solicited for prostitution, The Ledger reported Nov. 23. Clearwater, Fla.-based BayCare Health System named Mr. Hawkins president of its Winter Haven and Winter Haven Women's hospitals in early 2022. (Gooch, 11/23)

AP: South Carolina Hospital Wing Becomes New Inmate Hospital 
A wing of an abandoned rural hospital in South Carolina’s Chester County has been transformed into a health facility for inmates that could start accepting patients before the end of the year. The $3.3 million project by the state’s Department of Corrections over the past few years has fortified the new wing with prison bars, specially secured doors and cameras throughout the building. The move gives the state Department of Corrections a medical resource while at the same time saves a community hospital from disappearing. (11/25)

Los Angeles Times: New Life Planned For Mothballed LA Landmark General Hospital
Unchanged since the last patient left Los Angeles County General Hospital 14 years ago, the operating room encapsulates the rich opportunities and huge challenges for an institution that became too old and decrepit to go on as it was but is too much of a civic treasure to discard. (Smith and Campa, 11/27)

San Francisco Chronicle: State AG Rob Bonta Investigates Hospital Algorithms For Racial Bias
California Attorney General Rob Bonta sailed to victory in the Nov. 8 election, riding his progressive record on reproductive rights, gun control, and social justice reform. As he charts a course for his next four years, the 50-year-old Democrat wants to target racial discrimination in health care, including through an investigation of software programs and decision-making tools used by hospitals to treat patients. (Kreidler, 11/27)

AP: Wisconsin Board: UW Health Not Required To Recognize Union 
A Wisconsin labor relations commission has ruled that the UW Health hospital system will not be required to recognize a nurses union or engage in collective bargaining negotiations. The Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission in its Friday ruling found that UW Health was exempted from collective bargaining laws because the nurses are public employees under Act 10 — a 2011 law passed under former Republican Gov. Scott Walker. (11/26)

USA Today: A Step Toward Figuring Out Migraines? Scans Show How The Condition Affects The Brain
When analyzing the results of the scans, researchers noticed those with chronic or episodic migraines had much enlarged perivascular spaces – the fluid-filled spaces that surround blood vessels in the brain and clear the area of waste – compared to those that don't have migraines. (Mendoza, 11/24)

The Boston Globe: MIT Scientists Invent Technology To Replace Broken Genes Or Upload New Ones
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a new gene editing technology that they say can “drag-and-drop” large sequences of DNA into the human genome. (Cross, 11/24)

NPR: Green Sprouts Sippy Cups Recalled Over Lead Poisoning Risk
The voluntary recall, issued last week, affects about 10,500 units, according to an alert on the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's website. The recall applies to the Green Sprouts 6-ounce Stainless Steel Sippy Cup, Sip & Straw Cup and its 8-ounce Stainless Steel Straw Bottle. (Bowman, 11/28)

NPR: Schools Closed, Boil Water Notice Issued In Houston After Water Plant Lost Power
Houston is under a boil water notice after a power outage caused low water pressure across the city, according to Houston Public Works. Power went out at a water purification plant at about 10:30 a.m Sunday. Power and water pressures have since been restored, but the boil water notice is still in effect. (Archie, 11/28)

USA Today: FDA Warns Against Eating Oysters In 13 States Over Sapovirus Risk
The Food and Drug Administration said this week it is advising consumers not to eat, and restaurants and other retailers not to sell, Dai One Food Co. frozen half shell oysters that have a harvest date of Feb. 6, 2022. The South Korean firm has recalled oyster products from “the same harvest area,” according to the FDA. (Pitofsky, 11/25)

Houston Chronicle: Researchers Investigate Drug Addiction At Houston Brain Bank
Alana Bradley darted around a UTHealth Science Center laboratory on a gloomy November afternoon, gathering supplies — gloves, gown, a pen-sized biopsy tool and a blue icebox — for the morbid task ahead. A text flashes on the 26-year-old research assistant’s cellphone, from a doctor at the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences. (Gill, 11/25)

AP: Pertussis Rates Plummet In Maine Amid Precautions, New Law
The rate of pertussis has fallen sharply in Maine, which not long ago had one of the highest rates of the infectious disease in the country. Pertussis is also called whooping cough and it’s an infection that causes a severe, hacking cough and can be especially dangerous to babies. Maine had the second-highest rate of the disease in the U.S. in 2019 at more than 28 cases per 100,000 residents. (11/26)

AP: Arizona Saw An Increase In Child Deaths During 2021 
Drownings, child neglect and firearms contributed to an increase in child deaths in Arizona during 2021, marking the highest rate of child deaths in the last 10 years, according to an annual report issued by the state. The review released earlier this month by the state Child Fatality Review Program said Arizona’s child mortality rate increased by 4.7% from 51 deaths per 100,000 children in 2020 to 53.4 deaths per 100,000 children in 2021, The Arizona Republic reported. (11/26)

CNN: Improve Memory As You Age By Eating More Flavonols, Study Says
Eating more flavonols, antioxidants found in many vegetables, fruits, tea and wine, may slow your rate of memory loss, a new study finds. The cognitive score of people in the study who ate the most flavonols declined 0.4 units per decade more slowly than those who ate the fewest flavonols. The results held even after adjusting for other factors that can affect memory, such as age, sex and smoking, according to the study recently published in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. (LaMotte, 11/28)

CNN: Secrets Of 'SuperAgers' With Superior Memories Into Their 80s
Despite volunteering and working out at the gym several days each week, socializing frequently with friends and family, reading all manner of books and doing daily crossword puzzles, 85-year-old Carol Siegler is restless. “I’m bored. I feel like a Corvette being used as a grocery cart,” said Siegler, who lives in the Chicago suburb of Palatine. (LaMotte, 11/27)

The Washington Post: Can Exercise Keep Parkinson's Disease At Bay? 
Retired running coach Bob Sevene, 79, struggled after his 2019 Parkinson’s disease diagnosis. The longtime runner suddenly began leaning to the right and was unable to straighten up. He started wearing a back brace and using a walker. A year ago, Sevene began twice-weekly exercise classes designed for Parkinson’s patients that include high-intensity bouts of noncontact boxing. He also started daily 25-minute speed sessions on a stationary bike and running brief sprints in the hallway outside his apartment. (Cimons, 11/26)