First Edition: Sept. 13, 2023

KFF Health News: Despite Successes, Addiction Treatment Programs For Families Struggle To Stay Open 
Two playgrounds border the Recovering Hope Treatment Center for addiction that sits at the end of a gravel road in eastern Minnesota’s rural Kanabec County. A meeting room inside is furnished with rocking chairs and baby walkers. And there are strollers in the halls. Recovering Hope is one of only five providers in the state that offer family-based residential treatment, allowing women to enter the program while pregnant or to bring one of their children younger than 5 with them for the duration of their stay. Men can receive outpatient treatment but aren’t permitted in the residential program. (Saint Louis, 9/13)

KFF Health News and InvestigateTV: Watch: In Emergencies, First Comes The Ambulance. Then Comes The Bill
When her 9-year-old daughter was having trouble breathing, Yvette Hammonds took her to a local emergency room. It quickly became clear that girl needed to be transferred to the children’s hospital about 40 minutes away in Atlanta, so her daughter was loaded into an ambulance. Months later, Hammonds received a bill for nearly $1,000: the cost of the ground ambulance ride from one in-network hospital to another. (Jackman, 9/13)

KFF Health News: Listen To The Latest 'KFF Health News Minute' 
This week on the KFF Health News Minute: Doctors and patients turn to social media to shame insurers into paying for care, and artificial intelligence designed to prevent opioid misuse may be denying pain medication for patients who need it. (9/12)

The Washington Post: CDC Recommends Updated Covid Shots, Paving The Way For Vaccine This Week
Mandy Cohen, director of the CDC, advised that anyone 6 months and older should get at least one dose of an updated shot. Her broad recommendation came after the agency’s expert advisers voted for a universal approach to seasonal coronavirus vaccination. The shots are intended to bolster defenses as the nation heads into the fall and winter virus season, when influenza and RSV are also primed to be on the rise. Cohen said the reformulated vaccines can restore protection and provide “enhanced protection” against variants currently responsible for most infections and hospitalizations in the United States. Cohen followed the lead of the agency’s vaccine experts who earlier in the day voted for the universal vaccination policy. (Sun and Nirappil, 9/12)

The New York Times: Can You Get The New Covid Booster And Flu Shot At The Same Time? 
The downsides are pretty small: Research shows that people are only slightly more likely to experience side effects like pain at the injection site, headaches, fatigue or fever if they opt for both shots at once. In one study published last week, researchers in Israel found that the incidence of side effects in people who just got the flu shot was 12.7 percent. Among those who only received the Covid bivalent booster last year, 27.4 percent experienced side effects, and of the people who received both vaccines, 27.6 percent experienced side effects. In other words, you shouldn't worry too much about feeling extra sore or sick if you get both vaccines together. (Sheikh and Blum, 9/12)

AP: Popular Nasal Decongestant Doesn't Actually Relieve Congestion, FDA Advisers Say 
The leading decongestant used by millions of Americans looking for relief from a stuffy nose is no better than a dummy pill, according to government experts who reviewed the latest research on the long-questioned drug ingredient. Advisers to the Food and Drug Administration voted unanimously on Tuesday against the effectiveness of the key drug found in popular versions of Sudafed, Dayquil and other medications stocked on store shelves. (Perrone, 9/12)

The New York Times: Decongestant In Cold Medicines Doesn’t Work, Panel Says 
In the meantime, experts advised consumers not to panic or toss out all the drugs in their medicine cabinet. Even though the agency’s advisers have decided the ingredient, phenylephrine, doesn’t work to relieve nasal congestion when taken orally, it is not dangerous, and the products do contain other ingredients that will work to ease cold symptoms. ... “If you have a stuffy nose and you take this medicine, you will still have a stuffy nose,” said Dr. Leslie Hendeles, a pharmacist from the University of Florida in Gainesville who, along with colleagues, first petitioned the F.D.A. in 2007 to remove the drug from the market. (Jewett and Rabin, 9/12)

CBS News: FDA Determination That Phenylephrine Doesn't Work Could See Dayquil, Sudafed And Other Common Drugs Disappear From Store Shelves
The Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CPHA) maintains that phenylephrine is effective and that the FDA's guidance could have significant "negative unintended consequences." Pulling drugs like Sudafed from store shelves would make it harder for consumers to treat mild illnesses, according to the industry trade group. Removing popular over-the-counter medications from the market would force some people "to find time to seek help from a pharmacist, doctor or clinic for an oral decongestant for a minor ailment they could otherwise self-treat," the group said in a statement before the determination was made. (Cerullo, 9/12)

The Washington Post: Overdoses Soared Even As Prescription Pain Pills Plunged
The number of prescription opioid pain pills shipped in the United States plummeted nearly 45 percent between 2011 and 2019, new federal data shows, even as fatal overdoses rose to record levels as users increasingly used heroin, and then illegal fentanyl. The data confirms what’s long been known about the arc of the nation’s addiction crisis: Users first got hooked by pain pills saturating the nation, then turned to cheaper and more readily available street drugs after law-enforcement crackdowns, public outcry and changes in how the medical community views prescribing opioids to treat pain. (Rich and Ovalle, 9/12)

Reuters: Pharmacies' Appeal Of $650 Mln Opioid Judgment Heads To Ohio Top Court 
A federal appeals court weighing whether to uphold a $650 million judgment against pharmacy operators CVS, Walmart and Walgreens for fueling the opioid epidemic in parts of Ohio has asked the state's highest court to weigh in first. The Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday said that the pharmacies' appeal of the judgment won by two Ohio counties raised "novel and unresolved questions" of whether state law permits the public-nuisance claim the case was centered on. (Raymond, 9/12)

AP: Child Poverty In The US Jumped And Income Declined In 2022 As Coronavirus Pandemic Benefits Ended
Child poverty in the United States more than doubled and median household income declined last year when coronavirus pandemic-era government benefits expired and inflation kept rising, according to figures released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau. At the same time, the official poverty rate for Black Americans dropped to its lowest level on record, and income inequality declined for the first time since 2007, when looking at pre-tax income, due to income declines in the middle and top income brackets. (Schneider, 9/12)

Politico: Unemployment Fraud Hit $100-135B During Covid, Watchdog Says 
As much as $135 billion in unemployment insurance benefits may have been lost to fraud during Covid-19, according to a Government Accountability Office report released Tuesday, more than double an earlier estimate. The federal watchdog estimated that fraudulent payments may have amounted to between 10 and 15 percent of the $900 billion spent on UI between April 2020 and May 2023, when the federal public health emergency ended. (Niedzwiadek, 9/12)

The New York Times: Pandemic Fraud May Have Robbed Unemployment Insurance Of $135 Billion 
The Labor Department, which oversees federal unemployment insurance programs, expressed concerns about the report’s methodology in a letter to G.A.O. officials and argued that the level of fraud was likely overstated. Officials pointed to efforts that have since been taken to deter fraud, and said the “enormous task” of doling out the funds was made “only more daunting by the decades-long chronic underfunding” of the unemployment benefits system. “As a result, state agencies were unprepared for the extraordinary spike in the number of claims to be processed each week,” Brent Parton, a principal deputy assistant secretary at the department, wrote in the letter. (Ngo, 9/12)

The Wall Street Journal: Why More Baby Boomers Are Sliding Into Homelessness 
Baby boomers, who transformed society in so many ways, are now having a dramatic effect on homelessness. Higher numbers of elderly living on the street or in shelters add complications and expenses for hospitals and other crisis services. The humanitarian problem is becoming a public-policy crisis, paid for by taxpayers. (Najmabadi, 9/12)

Politico: ‘Life And Death Situations’: Lawmakers Battle Wall Street Over Health Care
A wall of debt is coming due for private equity-owned hospitals and nursing homes that threatens to undermine care for some of the most vulnerable Americans. That’s triggering alarms in Washington. Cheap and flexible financing that helped big Wall Street buyout firms snap up health centers, long-term care facilities and provider networks in recent years has evaporated. Higher borrowing costs are chipping away at margins. And bankruptcies at private equity-owned businesses are on track to reach decade highs, which could result in job cutbacks. (Sutton, 9/11)

AP: Women In Idaho, Tennessee And Oklahoma Sue Over Abortion Bans After Being Denied Care 
Eight women in Idaho and Tennessee are asking state courts to place holds on their states’ abortion laws after being denied access to the procedure while facing harrowing pregnancy complications that they say endangered their lives. Four physicians have also joined the lawsuits, saying the state laws have wrongly forced medical experts to weigh the health of a patient against the threat of legal liability. A woman in Oklahoma who said she had a dangerous and nonviable pregnancy filed a federal lawsuit on Tuesday asserting that she was denied an abortion despite a U.S. law that requires doctors to perform the procedure when it’s medically necessary. (Kruesi, 9/12)

Axios Raleigh: North Carolina Remained A Southern Abortion Destination In Early 2023
North Carolina remained the South's destination for abortions in the first six months of this year, as state lawmakers debated how far to go in restricting the procedure. Patients are proving highly motivated to travel to get the care in the face of state bans, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that supports abortion rights. (Sherman, 9/12)

AP: Helping Mothers And Babies Survive Childbirth Is A Personal Goal, Says Melinda French Gates
Melinda French Gates says she takes personally the deaths of hundreds of thousands of women and babies during child birth each year and believes more people should get involved in the fight for improving maternal health care. French Gates, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation co-founder and co-chair told The Associated Press that when her daughter, Jennifer, gave birth to Leila — Jennifer’s first child and the Gateses’ first grandchild — earlier this year, she couldn’t help but think of her own experience giving birth. (Beaty, 9/12)

Stat: Postpartum Depression Takes Toll On Immigrant Farmworkers
Over more than a decade working with immigrant farmworkers in the public clinics of the Santa Clara River Valley, Rosemary Hernandez has seen many new moms struggle during the postpartum period. Some were separated from their families in Mexico. Others’ husbands or boyfriends had to head straight back to work picking fruit after the baby arrived. Some mothers had to return to work themselves while they were still recovering from childbirth, or else risk losing their jobs in the fields and fruit-packing houses. Their isolation and vulnerability compounded the challenges of caring for a newborn, and drove many of these mothers into anxiety and depression. (Rubenstein, 9/13)

AP: Florida Law Restricting Transgender Adult Care Can Be Enforced While Challenged In Court
A new Florida law restricting health care for transgender people can still be applied to adults while it is being challenged in court, a federal judge ruled Monday. Judge Robert Hinkle, who previously blocked the law’s enforcement on behalf of minors, ruled that adults seeking to expand his injunction haven’t proven they would be irreparably harmed until the case is resolved. (9/12)

AP: Families Ask Full Appellate Court To Reconsider Alabama Transgender Care Ban
Alabama families with transgender children asked a full appellate court Monday to review a decision that will let the state enforce a ban on treating minors with gender-affirming hormones and puberty blockers. The families asked all of the judges of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to review a three-judge panel decision issued last month. The panel lifted a judge’s temporary injunction that had blocked Alabama from enforcing the law while a lawsuit over the ban goes forward. (Chandler, 9/12)

Fox News: Second University In Missouri To Stop Prescribing Transgender Medication To Minors
After Missouri’s state law restricting transgender care, Washington University in St. Louis joined University of Missouri Health in ceasing to prescribe puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones to minors for purposes of gender transition. ... "This legal claim creates unsustainable liability for health-care professionals and makes it untenable for us to continue to provide comprehensive transgender care for minor patients without subjecting the university and our providers to an unacceptable level of liability," the statement continued. (Nelson, (9/12)

The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer: Cleveland Diocese’s Policy Raises Concern About Harm Risk For LGBTQ Community, Some Residents Fear
Some Northeast Ohio residents fear that a formal policy from the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland will increase the risk of suicide and self-harm among young people who identify as LGBTQ. The policy, which went into effect earlier this month, bars students and staff from undergoing gender-affirming care and using pronouns different than those affiliated with a person’s biological sex. It also requires church or school staff members to tell the parents of a child who might be transgender. (Walsh, 9/12)

The Baltimore Sun: Facing Staffing Shortages, Baltimore Kaiser Workers Begin Strike Authorization Vote This Week
About 1,000 Kaiser Permanente employees in the Baltimore area will vote this week on whether to strike, as contract negotiations crawl forward between the California-based health care organization and the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, which represents more than 85,000 health care workers nationwide. (Roberts, 9/12)

Modern Healthcare: Walgreens, Pearl Health Launch Partnership
Walgreens has inked a deal with primary care enablement technology company Pearl Health to expand the retailer's push into value-based care. Deerfield, Illinois-based Walgreens, the retail and pharmacy division of the Walgreens Boots Alliance, will provide value-based care services to provider partners through the agreement with Pearl. The companies will help clinicians transition to value-based reimbursement, starting with Accountable Care Organization Realizing Equity, Accountability and Community Health members. (Turner, 9/12)

Stat: White House Touts Steps To Stem Shortages Of Cancer Treatments
The White House says it’s working to end shortages of three key generic chemotherapies. But experts said the administration would have to provide more details to fully mitigate the health care system’s concerns. (Wilkerson, 9/12)

NBC News: Laxative Shortage: Amid High Demand, Doctors Warn Not To Misuse Them
Amid high demand for laxatives, doctors are cautioning people not to overuse the products or take them for purposes other than constipation relief, such as weight loss. Pharma giant Sanofi said its over-the-counter laxative, Dulcolax, is facing supply constraints. “Over the past few months, we have seen unprecedented demand for Dulcolax products," a Sanofi spokesperson said. "As a result, some retailers temporarily may not have certain Dulcolax products on their shelves.” (Bendix, 9/12)

AP: California's Assembly Votes For Ballot Measure That Would Change How Mental Health Care Is Funded 
California lawmakers voted Tuesday to put a proposal before voters next March that would overhaul how counties pay for mental and behavioral health programs in an effort to address the state’s worsening homelessness crisis. The bill authored by Democratic state Sen. Susan Eggman was passed by the state Assembly and will need one more vote in the Senate if it is to make the ballot. (Nguyen, 9/12)

NBC News: California Legislature Passes First Bill In U.S. To Ban Food Additives, Including Red Dye No. 3
The California Legislature has passed a first-of-its-kind bill to ban four food additives linked to potential health issues. If Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, signs it, Assembly Bill 418 would prohibit the sale of foods and drinks in California that contain red dye No. 3, potassium bromate, brominated vegetable oil and propylparaben starting in 2027. If it is enacted, it would mark the first time that a state has banned food additives that are permitted by the Food and Drug Administration. (Chuck, 9/12)

The Hill: New Mexico Governor Temporarily Bans Guns: What You Need To Know 
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) used a public health order Friday to ban firearms in Albuquerque, a move that has garnered widespread criticism from Democrats and Republicans amid concerns that it could violate the Second Amendment. Grisham’s declaration bans the carrying of firearms — both open and concealed carry — in parts of the state that meet a specific threshold of violent crime. Only the city of Albuquerque meets that threshold. (Robertson, 9/12)

The Texas Tribune: Syphilis Rages Through Texas As Treatment Grows Scarce 
About twice a week, a pregnant patient turns up in Dr. Irene Stafford’s obstetrics office in Houston with syphilis, a sexually transmittable disease that affects more newborns in Texas than anywhere else in the country. For a seasoned professional like Stafford, the sheer numbers are startling. She’s been treating congenital syphilis with increasing frequency in recent years in a city that has the state’s highest newborn infection rates. (Harper and Carver, 9/13)

USA Today: Man Dies After Eating Oysters Infected By Vibrio Vulnificus Bacteria
The consumption of raw oysters at a Texas restaurant led to the untimely death of a relatively healthy man in his 30s.  The man, contracted a bacterial infection known as Vibrio vulnificus that thrives in warm coastal waters. Bacterial infections like this one are on the rise as water temperature continues to increase in response to climate change. Vibrio vulnificus bacteria can be found in raw or undercooked seafood, but also naturally occurs in saltwater and brackish water. (Encinas, 9/12)

Stat: Food Makers To Regulators: Ultra-Processed Foods Aren't A Problem
The food industry is anxious that regulators are focusing too much on the health impacts of so-called ultra-processed foods, the popular, ill-defined food group that includes everything from hot dogs and chicken nuggets to cookies and potato chips. Frozen food makers and the meat industry on Tuesday, speaking to a panel of nutrition experts tasked by the federal government with advising on the next round of the national dietary guidelines, raised concerns with its focus on that fare. So too did a coalition that includes the bakery, candy, corn syrup, and sugar lobbies, and the Consumer Brands Association, which includes General Mills, Kellogg’s, and Hostess. (Florko, 9/12)

CNN: Bad Habits Of Night Owls May Lead To Type 2 Diabetes, Study Says
If you’re groggy in the morning but perky in the evening, you may be a night owl — a sleep pattern or chronotype that makes you more inclined to want to stay up late and sleep in. If so, you could be at higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes as well as a number of unhealthy lifestyle habits, a new study found. (LaMotte, 9/11)

AP: A French Agency Says The IPhone 12 Phone Emits Too Much Radiation And Tells Apple To Withdraw It 
French government watchdog agency ordered Apple to withdraw the iPhone 12 from the market, saying it emits levels of electromagnetic radiation that are too high. The National Frequency Agency, which oversees radio-electric frequencies as well as public exposure electromagnetic radiation, called on Apple in a statement Tuesday to “implement all available means to rapidly fix this malfunction.” (9/12)