Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
First Edition: Nov. 30, 2022
KHN: A New Use For Dating Apps: Chasing STIs
Heather Meador and Anna Herber-Downey use dating apps on the job — and their boss knows it. Both are public health nurses employed by Linn County Public Health in eastern Iowa. They’ve learned that dating apps are the most efficient way to inform users that people they previously met on the sites may have exposed them to sexually transmitted infections. (Tahir, 11/30)
KHN: Racial Disparities In Lung Cancer Start With Research
During a routine visit to the Good Samaritan Clinic in Morganton, North Carolina, in 2018, Herbert Buff casually mentioned that he sometimes had trouble breathing. He was 55 years old and a decades-long smoker. So the doctor recommended that Buff schedule time on a 35-foot-long bus operated by the Levine Cancer Institute that would roll through town later that week offering free lung-cancer screenings. Buff found the “lung bus” concept odd, but he’s glad he hopped on. (Newsome, 11/30)
Politico: Twitter Stops Enforcing Covid-19 Misinformation Policy
Twitter will no longer stop users from spreading false information about the Covid-19 virus or vaccines, according to an update on its content moderation policies. It’s another major shift under new owner Elon Musk, who has pressed for “free speech” above all else on the platform. Twitter’s Covid-19 misinformation page was updated with a note saying that as of Nov. 23, the platform would no longer enforce its policies against spreading misleading information on the virus and vaccines — which had led to more than 11,000 account suspensions since 2020. (Kern, 11/29)
The Washington Post: Musk's Twitter No Longer Bans Covid Misinformation
However, Twitter has also struggled to police misinformation accurately and recently began labeling some factual information about covid as misinformation and banning scientists and researchers who attempted to warn the public of the long-term harm of covid on the body. As of last weekend, many tweets promoting anti-vaccine content and covid misinformation remained on the platform. (Lorenz, 11/29)
AP: Twitter Ends Enforcement Of COVID Misinformation Policy
By Tuesday, some Twitter accounts were testing the new boundaries and celebrating the platform’s hands-off approach, which comes after Twitter was purchased by Elon Musk. “This policy was used to silence people across the world who questioned the media narrative surrounding the virus and treatment options,” tweeted Dr. Simone Gold, a physician and leading purveyor of COVID-19 misinformation. (Klepper, 11/29)
San Francisco Chronicle: Twitter Stops COVID Info Moderation, Health Experts Are Concerned
“I am absolutely terrified and despondent,” said Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease expert with UCSF. “Permitting misinformation is not just about freedom of speech. There is a direct pathway between misinformation and death if science-based interventions like vaccines are not embraced.” (Vaziri and Hwang, 11/29)
Reuters: CDC Awards Over $3 Bln To Strengthen U.S. Public Health Infrastructure
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Tuesday it is awarding more than $3 billion to help strengthen public health workforce and infrastructure across the United States after the COVID-19 pandemic put severe stress on them. The public health agency's funding includes $3 billion from the American Rescue Plan announced by President Joe Biden's administration last year, and would cover all state, local and territorial health departments across the country. (11/29)
CNN: Alzheimer's Disease: Experimental Drug Lecanemab Appears To Slow Progression In Clinical Trial But Raises Safety Concerns
The experimental drug lecanemab shows “potential” as an Alzheimer’s disease treatment, according to new Phase 3 trial results, but the findings raise some safety concerns because of its association with certain serious adverse events. Lecanemab has become one of the first experimental dementia drugs to appear to slow the progression of cognitive decline. (Howard, 11/30)
NPR: Study: Alzheimer's Drug Shows Modest Success Slowing Declines In Memory, Thinking
People who got infusions of lecanemab scored about half a point better on a zero-to-18-point scale of mental functioning, a slight but statistically significant difference. The results are "real and robust," says Dr. Christopher van Dyck, who directs the Yale Alzheimer's Disease Research Center and presented an overview of the study at the meeting. (Hamilton, 11/30)
Reuters: Rare Success For Alzheimer's Research Unlocks Hope For Future Therapies
If approved on an accelerated basis, the companies said they would immediately apply for full U.S. regulatory approval which could help secure Medicare coverage. To date, two deaths have been reported among patients who received lecanemab in conjunction with medicine to prevent or clear blood clots, though industry analysts do not expect those developments alone to prevent approval. (Steenhuysen, 11/29)
CNBC: Drug Overdose Deaths Among Seniors Have More Than Tripled In 2 Decades
Deaths from drug and alcohol use are rising among America’s seniors. Drug overdose deaths more than tripled among people age 65 and older during the past two decades while deaths from alcohol abuse increased more than 18% from 2019 to 2020, according to data published Wednesday by the National Center for Health Statistics. (Kimball, 11/30)
AP: Study: U.S. Gun Death Rates Hit Highest Levels In Decades
The U.S. gun death rate last year hit its highest mark in nearly three decades, and the rate among women has been growing faster than that of men, according to study published Tuesday. The increase among women — most dramatically, in Black women — is playing a tragic and under-recognized role in a tally that skews overwhelmingly male, the researchers said. (Stobbe, 11/29)
The Washington Post: Walmart Gunman Exhibited Threatening Behavior For Months, Lawsuit Says
The employee who fatally shot six people at a Virginia Walmart last week exhibited threatening behavior for months and store managers knew — or should have known — he could harm others, a survivor of the attack alleged in a lawsuit filed Tuesday. (Jouvenal, 11/29)
The Washington Post: Senate Passes Bill To Protect Same-Sex, Interracial Marriages
The Senate on Tuesday passed the Respect for Marriage Act, which would enshrine marriage equality in federal law, granting protections to same-sex and interracial couples. The bill passed in a 61-36 vote, with 12 Republicans joining Democrats to vote for it. Three senators did not vote. The bill includes a bipartisan amendment that clarifies protections for religious liberties, and it will now return to the House for another vote before it can go to President Biden to sign into law. (Wang and Alfaro, 11/29)
Reuters: Appeals Court Revives Indiana Law Requiring Burial Or Cremation Of Fetal Remains
A federal appeals court has revived a 2016 Indiana law requiring health providers to bury or cremate fetal remains, including from abortions, rather than incinerate them with medical waste. A unanimous panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday that the law did not run afoul of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution by requiring anyone to violate their religious beliefs, reversing a September ruling by a lower court judge. (Pierson, 11/29)
AP: ND High Court Asked To Lift Injunction Against Abortion Ban
An attorney for North Dakota asked the state Supreme Court on Tuesday to strike down an injunction blocking the state’s abortion ban, saying a lower court judge was wrong to grant it. Matthew Sagsveen, an attorney for the state, told justices that Burleigh County District Judge Bruce Romanick “misconstrued the law” by granting the injunction. (MacPherson, 11/29)
Politico: Suspended Florida Prosecutor Takes Fight To DeSantis In Opening Day Of Federal Trial
Suspended prosecutor Andrew Warren took his battle against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to a federal court on Tuesday in the first day of a trial that’s exposing the machinations in how the governor’s office operates. DeSantis suspended the Hillsborough County state attorney in August over a handful of moves the Democratic elected official made, including signing a pledge in June that he would not enforce the state’s abortion laws. Florida recently enacted a ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy without exceptions for rape or incest. (Fineout, 11/29)
Politico: New York Will Involuntarily Hospitalize More Mentally Ill People
More seriously mentally ill New Yorkers will be transported to area hospitals for psychiatric evaluations without their consent under a directive Mayor Eric Adams issued Tuesday. Emergency workers are already empowered to hold dangerously violent individuals. But the directive expands the interpretation of that policy to include more people whose inability to care for themselves places them in more subtle forms of danger. (Goldenberg, 11/29)
AP: Mayor Says NYC Will Treat Mentally Ill, Even If They Refuse
“These New Yorkers and hundreds of others like them are in urgent need of treatment, yet often refuse it when offered,” Mayor Eric Adams said at a news conference, noting the pervasive problem of mental illness has long been out in the open. “No more walking by or looking away,” the mayor said, calling it “a moral obligation to act.” (Calvan, 11/29)
CIDRAP: COVID-19 Death Rates In Young People Rose In 2021
Today in Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers show that, compared to 2020, mortality rates due to COVID-19 infections among young adults increased significantly in 2021, suggesting younger people had lower vaccine uptake and adhered to fewer COVID precautions than older adults in the United States. (11/29)
CIDRAP: New Data: Screening For COVID At Hospital Entry Of Limited Benefit
Screening nearly 1 million patients, visitors, and healthcare workers at the entrance of a large hospital for COVID-19 symptoms, exposures, or travel was of limited benefit at considerable cost, finds a Yale study published yesterday in JAMA Internal Medicine. Of 951,033 screenings performed, 0.07% were failures. (Van Beusekom, 11/29)
CIDRAP: Study On Masks Vs N95 Respirators For Health Workers Spurs Concerns
A study today in the Annals of Internal Medicine suggests that medical masks may offer similar effectiveness as N95 respirators in protecting healthcare workers (HCWs) exposed to COVID-19 patients in certain settings, but experts caution against that interpretation of the results. (Van Beusekom, 11/29)
The Boston Globe: More Than 250 COVID-19 Vaccination Clinics Set Up Across Mass.; $75 Gift Cards Being Offered
More than 250 clinics across Massachusetts are offering $75 gift cards to people who get COVID-19 vaccines or boosters, officials said. (Andersen, 11/29)
AP: Naturopath Who Sold Fake Vaccine Cards Gets Nearly 3 Years
A naturopathic doctor who sold fake COVID-19 immunization treatments and fraudulent vaccination cards during the height of the coronavirus pandemic was sentenced in California on Tuesday to nearly three years in prison, federal prosecutors said. Juli A. Mazi pleaded guilty last April in federal court in San Francisco to one count of wire fraud and one count of false statements related to health care matters. (11/30)
Modern Healthcare: Humana Shuttering Most SeniorBridge Home Care Locations
SeniorBridge offers services at 23 centers in nine states. The facilities in Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio, Texas and Virginia will close, while seven sites in New York will remain in operation "until further notice," the Humana spokesperson wrote in an email. (Berryman, 11/29)
USA Today: Pass The Broccoli, Please: Plant-Based Diet Can Cut Bowel Cancer Risk In Men By 22%, Study Shows
The study, published in the journal BMC Medicine, involved 79,952 U.S. men and found those eating the highest level of healthy plant-based foods could cut their risk by up to 22% compared with those who ate the least. But researchers found no such link among 93,475 U.S. women in the study. (Neysa Alund, 11/29)
Reuters: Japanese Biotech Firm Uses Tiny Worms In Test For Pancreatic Cancer
A Japanese biotech firm says it has developed the world's first early screening test for pancreatic cancer, using the powerful noses of tiny worms. Hirotsu Bio Science this month launched its N-NOSE plus Pancreas test, marketing directly to consumers in Japan and with aims to bring the test to the United States by 2023. (Swift, 11/30)
Bloomberg: Sanofi Drug Raises Hopes Of Wiping Out Sleeping Sickness
A drug co-developed by Sanofi is highly effective at treating the sometimes lethal disease called sleeping sickness and could help eradicate the ailment by the end of the decade. A single oral dose of acoziborole was 95% effective at curing patients with a late-stage form of the parasitic disease, according to a study published in The Lancet. (Loh, 11/29)
Los Angeles Times: Fentanyl Deaths In L.A. County Soar 1,280% From 2016 To 2021
In L.A. County, the number of deaths linked to fentanyl rose from 109 in 2016 to 1,504 in 2021, amounting to a 1,280% increase, the Public Health Department found. Last year, fentanyl was involved in 55% of overdose deaths across the county, and among 12- to 17-year-olds who died of an overdose, the vast majority — 92% — tested positive for the drug. (Alpert Reyes and Ellis, 11/29)
AP: Big Tobacco Tries To Stop California Flavored Tobacco Ban
R.J. Reynolds and other tobacco companies filed a request Tuesday asking the U.S. Supreme Court to impose an emergency order to stop California from enforcing a ban on flavored tobacco products that was overwhelmingly approved by voters earlier this month. The ban was first passed by the state legislature two years ago but it never took effect after tobacco companies gathered enough signatures to put it on the ballot. But after nearly two-thirds of voters approved of banning the sale of everything from cotton-candy vaping juice to methanol cigarettes, it is set to go into effect by Dec. 21. (Watson, 11/30)
San Francisco Chronicle: Stanford President’s Neuroscience Research Scrutinized Following Allegations Of Altered Data
The European Microbiology Organization Journal, a prominent science research publisher, said in a public post last week that it was “looking into” discrepancies in a 2008 brain research paper by Tessier-Lavigne and 10 others that were highlighted on PubPeer, a website where scientists can identify suspected violations in published research. (Pascua and Mishanec, 11/29)
Houston Chronicle: Greg Abbott Fires Head Of Texas’ Child Welfare Agency
Abbott appointed Stephanie Muth, a health care consultant and former Medicaid director at the Health and Human Services Commission, to oversee the Department of Family and Protective Services starting in January. Kezeli “Kez” Wold, the DFPS associate commissioner for Adult Protective Services, will lead the agency in the meantime. (Harris, 11/29)
AP: MyPlate? Few Americans Know Or Heed US Nutrition Guide
Here’s a quick quiz: What replaced the food pyramid, the government guide to healthy eating that stood for nearly 20 years? If you’re stumped, you’re not alone. More than a decade after Agriculture Department officials ditched the pyramid, few Americans have heard of MyPlate, a dinner plate-shaped logo that emphasizes fruits and vegetables. (11/29)
Bloomberg: TikTok’s Viral Challenges Keep Luring Young Kids To Their Deaths
“Sissy’s tangled!” The 5-year-old boy’s panicked cries echoed down the hallway of the Arroyos’ three-bedroom clapboard house in Milwaukee. It was February 2021, and he’d been playing with his 9-year-old sister, Arriani, before bedtime. Their mother was at a Bible study class, and their father was in his basement workshop, out of earshot. The boy had watched Arriani climb atop a toy chest, wrap a metal dog leash around her neck and hook the buckle to the wardrobe door hinge. Now she was hanging 2 feet from the ground, kicking and desperately scratching at her neck. (Carville, 11/30)
