First Edition: Oct. 25, 2022

KHN: Hospitals Said They Lost Money On Medicare Patients. Some Made Millions, A State Report Finds. 
Atrium Health, the largest hospital system in North Carolina, has declared publicly that in 2019 it provided $640 million in services to Medicare patients that were never paid for, by far the largest “community benefit” it provided that year. Like other nonprofit hospitals around the nation, Atrium logs losses on the federal health insurance program for seniors and people with disabilities as a community benefit to satisfy legal requirements for federal, state, and local tax breaks. (Clasen-Kelly, 10/25)

KHN: A Billing Expert Saved Big After Finding An Incorrect Charge In Her Husband’s ER Bill 
If Dr. Bhavin Shah was on his own, he said, he probably would have paid the bill for his broken arm. The 47-year-old physician from suburban Chicago incurred surprisingly steep charges after landing in an emergency room on New Year’s Day 2021. He’d hit an icy patch while skiing with his kids in Wisconsin. The $10,563.49 in initial ER charges from a Froedtert South hospital in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, seemed high considering he basically got only an exam, X-rays, pain relief, and an arm splint. His insurer negotiated the cost down to $7,922.62 — but, with Shah owing $250 for his deductible and 40% of the remaining charges, his bill of $3,319.05 still felt like too much. However, he thought, who was he to question the hospital’s billing department? (Sable-Smith, 10/25)

KHN: An Abortion Rights Question On The California Ballot Revives The Debate Over ‘Viability’ 
As California voters decide whether to amend their state constitution to explicitly protect abortion rights, lawmakers still do not agree on whether the amendment would enshrine those rights, which by state law allow abortion up to 24 weeks, or expand them, permitting abortions at any point in pregnancy, for any reason. During the legislative debate over the amendment, dubbed Proposition 1 on the November ballot, there were several awkward moments after a question from Republicans stumped Democrats — most notably when Assembly member Kevin Kiley (R-Rocklin) posed it point-blank before the final vote in June. “California law generally bars the performance of an abortion past the point of fetal viability,” he said. “Would this constitutional amendment change that?” (Dembosky, 10/25)

Dallas Morning News: Gunman Reloaded Weapon, Was Leaving Room After Killing Medical Workers, Dallas Chief Says
A gunman who killed two medical workers this weekend at Methodist Dallas Medical Center reloaded his weapon and was leaving a room in the building’s labor and delivery wing when a hospital police officer shot him in the leg, forcing him to retreat, Dallas police Chief Eddie García said Monday during a news conference. (Smith, 10/24)

ABC News: Parolee Charged In Fatal Shooting Of 2 Dallas Hospital Workers: Officials 
A man who was recently paroled after serving a sentence for robbery is now facing capital murder charges stemming from Saturday's shooting at a Dallas hospital that left two employees dead, including a nurse, officials said. ... Dr. Serena Bumpus, CEO of the Texas Nurses Association, called the shooting "unacceptable." "No person should fear for their life for merely going to work, especially a nurse or healthcare worker whose passion is to help others heal," Bumpus said in a statement. "We hope our legislators understand that we need to protect our healthcare workers." (Deliso and Hutchinson, 10/24)

Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Employees Killed In Dallas TX Hospital Shooting Identified 
Patient case manager Jacqueline Pokuaa walked late on Saturday morning into a room at Methodist Dallas Medical Center on a routine matter. Nestor Hernandez, the father of a newborn in the room, stood and shot the 45-year-old woman dead, police said. Nurse Katie Flowers, 63, heard the shot and looked into the room. From the door, Hernandez fired into the hall, killing her, too, police said. (Clarridge and Ramirez Jr., 10/24)

Fox 4 News: Dallas Hospital Shooting Suspect Accused Girlfriend Of Cheating Before Killing 2 Workers, Affidavit Says
Methodist Hospital Chief Glen Fowler says if the state gave permission for Hernandez to come to the hospital, no one notified the hospital. "The police department had no forewarning that this person was being monitored by ankle monitor or anything about his criminal history," he said. (10/24)

The Hill: The Main COVID Symptoms Have Changed, Research Shows 
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, patients have reported dozens of different symptoms, ranging from cold and flu-like symptoms to more unique ones, including “COVID tongue.” But like all viruses, the primary symptoms associated with COVID have changed and can vary based on your vaccination status, according to a new list released last week. (Bink and Nexstar, 10/23)

The Wall Street Journal: Men Died From Covid-19 At Much Higher Rate Than Women During The First Year Of Pandemic
Men died of complications from Covid-19 at a higher rate than women in both rural and urban parts of the U.S. during the first year of the pandemic, according to a new federal report. The report, published Tuesday by the National Center for Health Statistics, examined Covid-19 deaths by sex and age group for 2020, when the virus became the third-leading cause of death in the U.S. and before vaccines against it became widely available. (Ansari and Calfas, 10/25)

CIDRAP: Statins May Reduce Risk Of Death And COVID-19 Severity
Commonly used cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins may reduce the risk of death and the severity of COVID-19 disease, according to a new study of more than 38,000 patients presented at the Anesthesiology annual meeting. (10/24)

CNN: Covid-19 Vaccine Study Links Side Effects With Greater Antibody Response 
People who reported experiencing side effects to the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines such as fever, chills or muscle pain tended to have a greater antibody response following vaccination, according to new research. (Howard, 10/24)

San Francisco Chronicle: Bivalent Booster No Better Against BA.5 Than Original Vaccine, Study Finds
When given as a fourth dose, the updated bivalent mRNA vaccine targeting the omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants does not induce superior neutralizing antibody responses in humans compared to the original monovalent vaccine formulation, according to a preprint study published Monday that has not yet been peer-reviewed. (Vaziri and Buchmann, 10/24)

ABC News: After Getting COVID-19 Booster, Biden To Announce New Initiatives Alongside Pharmacy Execs
President Joe Biden will get his updated COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday while calling on more Americans to do so ahead of the winter and holiday season, according to the White House. (Gittleson and Winsor, 10/25)

CIDRAP: New Vaccine Roadmap Eyes Future Threats Of Coronaviruses 
Today the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) published a draft version of a Coronavirus Vaccines Research & Development (R&D) Roadmap (CVR), highlighting strategies to develop vaccines that are effective against new COVID-19 variants, as well as coronaviruses that have not yet emerged in people. The roadmap draft is available for public review and comment. (Soucheray, 10/24)

NPR: Here's Why One SARS-CoV-2 Variant Still Reigns Supreme
"SARS-CoV-2 is continuing to evolve extremely rapidly," says Trevor Bedford, a computational biologist who studies the evolution of viruses at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle. "There's no evidence that the evolution is slowing down." Instead, the most consequential evolutionary changes have stayed confined to the omicron family, rather than appearing in entirely new variants. (Stein, 10/25)

Bloomberg: Covid’s Heart Effects: Infections Raise Clotting, Death Risks In Large Study
Covid-19 at any level of severity is linked to an increased risk of dangerous blood clots that start in patients’ veins and travel to the heart, lungs and other parts of the body, according to a UK study that highlights the pandemic’s role in driving up rates of cardiovascular disease. (Gale, 10/24)

The Mercury News: Patients Died From COVID-19 Drug Treatment At Two California Hospitals, Suits Allege
Two women have filed lawsuits alleging their husbands died from negligence at Inland Empire hospitals after doctors prescribed remdesivir to treat COVID-19 and then failed to tell them about dangerous side effects of the anti-viral drug. (Schwebke, 10/24)

Stat: Here's What Experts Say About Timing Of Flu And Covid Shots
Over the past few weeks, cases of flu have begun to creep up across the U.S., with spikes in the southeast and south central part of the country. Flu hospitalizations are also on the rise. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s influenza tracking team, all signs point to an earlier than usual flu season. (Molteni, 10/25)

The Atlantic: Is Hand-Washing Still Important In The COVID-19 Pandemic?
Way back in the early, whirlwind days of the pandemic, surfaces were the thing to worry about. The prevailing scientific wisdom was that the coronavirus spread mainly via large droplets, which fell onto surfaces, which we then touched with our hands, with which we then touched our faces. (Stern, 10/24)

AP: Judge Hears Testimony In Bid To Strike Georgia Abortion Law 
Georgia’s ban on abortion as early as six weeks into pregnancy is causing distress among women denied the procedure and confusion among doctors, an abortion provider testified Monday on the first day of a trial to determine whether the state can continue enforcing the restriction. (Thanawala, 10/24)

The Hill: Elections For Top Office Could Impact Abortion Access In These States 
In a handful of races, the outcome in November could decide whether abortion remains legal in the state by shifting the balance of power in state governments. (Bruce, 10/24)

North Carolina Health News: Some With Disabilities Fear Risky Pregnancies 
In her regular life, Asheville resident Tiffany Grzankowski lives with a lot of pain. She has Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, a cluster of genetic disorders that impacts connective tissue. For Grzankowski, in addition to chronic pain, EDS means her blood pressure and heart rate rise and fall without much warning, she breaks bones easily, and she feels nauseated often due to a paralyzed stomach. All those symptoms worsened when she became pregnant. (Donnelly-DeRoven, 10/25)

AP: Abortion Ruling Means More And Riskier Births In Mississippi 
In Mississippi, where health officials expect 5,000 more births each year as a result of the Supreme Court ruling upending abortion rights, children are more likely to die before their first birthday than in any other state. Mississippi has the nation’s highest fetal mortality rate, highest infant mortality rate, highest pre-term birth rate and is among the worst states for maternal mortality. Black women are nearly three times more likely to die due to childbirth than white women in Mississippi. (Goldberg, 10/24)

Axios: The Road To Making Birth Control Pills Over-The-Counter In The U.S.
Reproductive health advocates and Democratic lawmakers are intensifying calls for the Food and Drug Administration to make contraceptives available without a prescription ahead of a closely watched advisory panel meeting next month. (Gonzalez, 10/25)

CBS News: FDA Plans New Regulations On Mammograms In Effort To Help Women With Dense Breasts
Mammograms can sometimes fail to detect tumors in women who have a higher breast density. As a result, the FDA said it's planning new regulations for informing women about their tissue type and screening options. (Saberi, 10/24)

The Washington Post: Group Shaping Nutrition Policy Earned Millions From Junk Food Makers
Few institutions have as much influence on the public’s eating habits as the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, which helps shape national food policy and trains thousands of dietitians who help people decide what to eat. But newly released documents show that the academy has a long history of financial ties to big food companies, including many that sell and market ultra-processed foods that have been linked to obesity, Type 2 diabetes and other chronic diseases. (O'Connor, 10/24)

The Washington Post: Here’s Exactly How Your Diet Affects The Planet, A New Study Finds 
Eco-friendly eaters may know that almonds are a water-intensive crop, that fish farms pollute the water or that beef consumption drives deforestation. But a study released Monday goes far broader and deeper, offering a new guide to weighing total ecological consequences of crops, livestock and seafood. Researchers amassed data on food production and its impacts on the Earth including disturbances to wild-animal habitats, water use and pollution, and contribution to planetary warming. Their findings reveal what types of food production have the greatest consequences, and where. (Dance, 10/24)

Modern Healthcare: Nonprofit Hospitals Turning To Donors As Recession Looms
The Presbyterian Healthcare Foundation plans to double its annual fundraising target from $8 million to $16 million in the next five years. Gift officers at the foundation, which is part of the nine-hospital integrated system based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, will look to large donors to help boost the organization’s staffing pipeline, said Rick Scott, president of the foundation. Expanding Presbyterian’s recruitment and retention efforts is critically important given recent staffing upheaval, he said. (Kacik, 10/24)

Modern Healthcare: JPMorgan Chase Partners With Primary Care Practices For Employee Clinics
JPMorgan Chase has ventured into the primary care space by partnering with two medical practices to create office-based clinics for its employees in what could be a pilot for a broader effort. (Hudson, 10/24)

The Wall Street Journal: Juul Discusses A Possible Bailout With Two Of Its Biggest Investors 
Juul Labs Inc. is in talks with two of its biggest investors on a bailout that could help the e-cigarette maker stave off a bankruptcy filing, according to people familiar with the matter. Hyatt Hotels heir Nick Pritzker and California investor Riaz Valani are considering putting up money to cover the vaping company’s operations and near-term legal liabilities, the people said. Messrs. Pritzker and Valani were early investors in Juul, have been longtime directors and are among the company’s largest shareholders. (Maloney, 10/24)

Bloomberg: What The Alzheimer’s Drug Breakthrough Means For Other Diseases
It’s been three decades since scientists hypothesized that Alzheimer’s is caused by a buildup of amyloid beta protein in the brain. But it wasn’t until last month that drugmakers achieved a major breakthrough, with Japan’s Eisai Co. and its US partner Biogen Inc. releasing results from a large-scale trial showing they were able to blunt the disease’s progression. (Matsuyama, 10/24)

Fox News: New Study Finds Dyslexia Is Linked To 42 Genetic Variants
Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Australia, the U.S. company 23andMe Inc, and the University of Edinburgh conducted what is considered the largest genetic study of dyslexia to date and published their findings recently in the journal Nature Genetics. (Nieto, 10/24)

The Boston Globe: Little Kids Give Up Naps At Different Ages. A New Theory Links That Transition To Brain Development
Parents watch for certain milestones as their young children grow: their first words, their first steps, and when they stop napping. But while walking and talking start at predictable ages, when a child stops taking a nap varies widely, anywhere from age 2 to age 7, said Rebecca M.C. Spencer, professor of psychological and brain sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. (Freyer, 10/24)

The Wall Street Journal: Deadly Fungi Are Infecting More Americans 
It wasn’t the cancer or rounds of chemotherapy and radiation that almost killed David Erwin. It was a fungus most people inhale every day. Fungal infections kill more than 1.6 million people yearly, according to Global Action for Fungal Infections, a research and fundraising organization. The toll is climbing. Fungi are adapting to rising temperatures in ways that may make them better suited to thrive in the human body, researchers said. And more people undergoing treatments that weaken their immune systems means a larger population vulnerable to severe fungal infections. (Mosbergen, 10/24)

The Washington Post: How To Tell Whether Your Chest Pain Is — Or Isn’t — An Emergency 
Chest pain can signal something serious, and it’s often an emergency. But discomfort in your chest area can also be a sign of a minor annoyance. That means that when you notice it, you may be uncertain about whom to call or what to do. Experts agree that in the moment, it’s key to take the right action without hesitation, erring on the side of caution. Here are the most common causes of chest pain and guidance on when to seek help as soon as possible and when you can wait. (Abramson, 10/24)