First Edition: Sept. 23, 2022

KHN: Shattered Dreams And Bills In The Millions: Losing A Baby In America
The day after his 8-month-old baby died, Kingsley Raspe opened the mail and found he had been sent to collections for her care. That notice involved a paltry sum, $26.50 — absurd really, given he’d previously been told he owed $2.5 million for treatment of his newborn’s congenital heart defect and other disorders. (Weber, 9/23)

KHN: Hemp-Derived Delta-8 Skirts Marijuana Laws And Raises Health Concerns 
Suzan Kennedy has smoked marijuana, and says her Wisconsin roots mean she can handle booze, so she was not concerned earlier this year when a bartender in St. Paul, Minnesota, described a cocktail with the cannabinoid delta-8 THC as “a little bit potent.” Hours after enjoying the tasty drink and the silliness that reminded Kennedy of a high from weed, she said, she started to feel “really shaky and faint” before collapsing in her friend’s arms. Kennedy regained consciousness and recovered, but her distaste for delta-8 remains, even though the substance is legal at the federal level, unlike marijuana. (Berger, 9/23)

KHN: In Jackson, The Water Is Back, But The Crisis Remains 
In mid-September, Howard Sanders bumped down pothole-ridden streets in a white Cadillac weighed down with water bottles on his way to a home in Ward 3, a neglected neighborhood that he called “a war zone.” Sanders, director of marketing and outreach for Central Mississippi Health Services, was then greeted at the door by Johnnie Jones. Since Jones’ hip surgery about a month ago, the 74-year-old had used a walker to get around and hadn’t been able to get to any of the city’s water distribution sites. (Rayasam, 9/23)

KHN: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Biden Declares The Pandemic ‘Over’ 
President Joe Biden’s declaration in a national interview that the covid-19 pandemic is “over” has complicated his own administration’s efforts to get Congress to provide more funding for treatments and vaccines, and to get the public to go get yet another booster. Meanwhile, concerns about a return of medical inflation for the first time in a decade is helping boost insurance premiums, and private companies are scrambling to claim their piece of the health care spending pie. (9/22)

AP: 4.4M Americans Roll Up Sleeves For Omicron-Targeted Boosters
U.S. health officials say 4.4 million Americans have rolled up their sleeves for the updated COVID-19 booster shot. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention posted the count Thursday as public health experts bemoaned President Joe Biden’s recent remark that “the pandemic is over.” The White House said more than 5 million people received the new boosters by its own estimate that accounts for reporting lags in states. (Johnson, 9/23)

CNBC: WHO Warns Ability To Identify New Covid Variants Is Diminishing
The World Health Organization on Thursday warned that it is struggling to identify and track new Covid variants as governments roll back testing and surveillance, threatening the progress made in the fight against the virus. (Kimball, 9/22)

Reuters: COVID Raises Risk Of Long-Term Brain Injury, Large U.S. Study Finds
People who had COVID-19 are at higher risk for a host of brain injuries a year later compared with people who were never infected by the coronavirus, a finding that could affect millions of Americans, U.S. researchers reported on Thursday. The year-long study, published in Nature Medicine, assessed brain health across 44 different disorders using medical records without patient identifiers from millions of U.S. veterans. (Steenhuysen, 9/22)

Bloomberg: Covid 19 Infection Linked To More Type 1 Diabetes In Kids And Teens
Covid-19 in children and teens appeared to raise the risk of developing diabetes in two studies that didn’t settle the debate about whether the coronavirus can trigger the chronic condition. Scientists from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health used national health registries to examine new diagnoses of type 1 diabetes over two years after the start of the pandemic. They found that youngsters who had tested positive for the coronavirus were about 60% more likely to develop type 1 diabetes. (Lyu, 9/22)

Reuters: Federal Investigators Recommend Changes To FDA's EUA Policy For Tests
Federal investigators on Wednesday recommended that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration revise its emergency use authorization (EUA) policies for tests to ensure better availability and quality during future infectious disease outbreaks. The recommendations were made by the Office of Inspector General at the Department of Health and Human Services after conducting a review of FDA's EUA activities and decision making for COVID-19 tests in the early months of the pandemic. (9/22)

The New York Times: Companies Fined $325,000 For Selling Pesticide To Fight Coronavirus, E.P.A. Says 
Two New Jersey-based companies have agreed to pay a total of $325,000 in fines for selling a pesticide that federal officials say was falsely marketed as a disinfectant spray that could help eliminate the coronavirus, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The product, Zoono Microbe Shield, from Zoono USA and Zoono Holdings, was sold online through Amazon and other websites and to community centers and was even purchased by United Airlines during the height of the pandemic to disinfect cabins, the E.P.A. said Wednesday in a statement announcing the settlement. (Oxenden, 9/22)

AP: Canada To Drop Vaccine Mandate At Border Sept. 30 
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has signed off on Canada dropping the vaccine requirement for people entering the country at the end of September, an official familiar with the matter told The Associated Press on Thursday. Canada, like the United States, requires foreign nationals to be vaccinated when entering the country. No change in the mandate is expected in the U.S. in the near term. (Gillies, 9/22)

The Hill: DOJ: States Can’t Penalize VA Employees For Providing Abortion Services Authorized By Federal Law
A statement by the Justice Department released on Wednesday confirmed that states may not penalize employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for facilitating abortions that are permitted under federal law. The Justice Department release backed up a rule published by the VA last week that would allow its employees access to abortion in cases of rape, incest or danger to the life of the pregnant parent. (Folmar, 9/22)

NBC News: VA Performs Its First Abortion Weeks After Saying It Would In Certain Cases
Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough told senators Wednesday night that the procedure was performed at one of the VA’s medical centers. A spokesperson, citing the client’s privacy, declined to provide the location or give further details. (Kube and Burke, 9/22)

Reuters: Judge Blocks Indiana Abortion Ban During Planned Parenthood Challenge 
An Indiana judge on Thursday blocked the state from enforcing its new law banning most abortions while Planned Parenthood and other healthcare providers challenge it in court. Circuit Court Judge Kelsey Hanlon ruled that Planned Parenthood and the other providers had shown a "reasonable likelihood" that the law's "significant restriction of personal autonomy" violates the Indiana constitution. (Pierson, 9/22)

AP: Idaho Asks Judge To Rethink Temporary Block On Abortion Ban
Attorneys for the state of Idaho say a federal judge misinterpreted the law when he blocked part of a strict new abortion ban, and they say another law blocking all abortions after about six weeks’ gestation should also remain in effect. In court documents filed Wednesday, Deputy Attorney General Brian Church asked U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill to reconsider his decision blocking the state from enforcing a strict abortion ban in medical emergencies, saying the judge misinterpreted both state and federal law and then issued an overly broad ruling. (Boone, 9/22)

AP: Montana Voters To Decide On 'Born Alive' Abortion Bill 
A referendum on the Montana ballot in November raises the prospect of criminal charges for health care providers unless they take “all medically appropriate and reasonable actions to preserve the life” of an infant born alive, including after an attempted abortion. (Hanson, 9/22)

AP: White House: GOP Abortion Ban Would Mean A Nationwide Crisis
The White House and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said Thursday that a Republican-led proposal to ban abortion nationwide after 15 weeks would endanger the health of women and have severe consequences for physicians. “If passed and enacted, this bill would create a nationwide health crisis, imperiling the health and lives of women in all 50 states,” according to a preliminary analysis of the bill by Jennifer Klein, the White House Gender Policy Council chairwoman, that was obtained by The Associated Press. “It would transform the practice of medicine, opening the door to doctors being thrown in jail if they fulfill their duty of care to patients according to their best medical judgment.” (Long, 9/22)

Reuters: Factbox: Five States Have Abortion Initiatives On Their U.S. Midterms Ballot 
Voters in five states will consider abortion-related ballot measures in the Nov. 8 election, initiatives that have taken on new urgency after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide. (Bernstein, 9/22)

Bloomberg: 44% Of Women Say They'd Quit If Employer Doesn't Agree On Abortion
A company’s stance on abortion rights matters when it comes to retaining female talent. In a  new survey from the women’s investment platform Ellevest, 44% of US women said they would leave their current job if their employer’s views on reproductive rights didn’t align with their own. That number jumped to 56% for millennial women, who are the largest generational cohort in the workforce. About one in three, or 35% of workers are millennials. (Ceron, 9/22)

The Washington Post: Biden Wants Blood Tests To Detect Cancer Early, But It’s Not That Easy 
Biotechnology is full of tantalizing promises, but few as appealing as this: a test that can screen for any kind of cancer early, allowing patients to start treatment early and have a better chance at surviving. These tests, often called multi-cancer early-detection tests, search for bits of DNA that are shed by tumor cells into the bloodstream. ... But scientists have faced challenges with the technology. Identifying where a cancer comes from is scientifically complicated, though at least one company is using machine learning to solve that. And although early research shows that some private companies are finding success, many tests still struggle with accuracy. (Verma, 9/22)

Stat: White House Casts Drug Pricing Law As Way To Extend Cancer Patients' Lives
The White House is pitching an added benefit to Democrats’ recent drug pricing reform package: lower cancer death rates. (Cohrs, 9/23)

Stat: Inflation Caused Another Big Drop In Net Drug Prices, Analysis Finds
Amid ongoing debate over the cost of prescription medicines, a new analysis finds that brand-name drugmakers increased their wholesale prices by 4.9% in the second quarter this year, up slightly from 4.4% a year earlier. But when accounting for inflation, wholesale prices fell by 3.7%, and inflationary pressures are likely to push wholesale prices still higher. (Silverman, 9/23)

Axios: Deal Reached To Renew FDA User Fee Programs
Senate and House health committee leaders on Thursday reached an agreement to renew programs that fund key Food and Drug Administration programs for another five years. (Knight and Sullivan, 9/22)

Modern Healthcare: Surprise Billing Lawsuit From Texas Doctors
The Texas Medical Association filed its second lawsuit against the federal government’s surprise billing arbitration process Thursday. An August rule on the independent dispute resolution for surprise medical bills still unlawfully favors insurers over providers, the medical association alleges in its complaint to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. (Goldman, 9/22)

Modern Healthcare: Medicare, Medicaid Split Visit Policy Questioned By Providers
Providers want the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to change a forthcoming policy on reimbursement for hospital visits when both physicians and non-physician providers see patients. CMS’ recent physician fee schedule regulation proposes to delay until 2024 a requirement that time spent with a patient would determine which provider could bill for a visit. CMS originally planned to start the policy next January. (Goldman, 9/22)

The Boston Globe: Mass General Brigham Agrees To Slash Millions Of Dollars In Spending
Mass General Brigham has said it will reduce its total medical spending by $127.8 million annually, nearly doubling its commitment to reduce its spending after months of discussions with a state watchdog agency. The filing is part of the hospital’s “performance improvement plan,” which was required by the state’s Health Policy Commission after what it said were years of spending above acceptable levels. (Bartlett, 9/22)

Crain's New York Business: Northwell Health Fundraising Campaign Has Surpassed $1 Billion Goal
Northwell Health’s systemwide fundraising campaign has surpassed its $1 billion goal, prompting the health system to commit to raising an additional $400 million by the end of 2024, executives plan to announce Thursday. (Kaufman, 9/22)

The Wall Street Journal: Humana, CVS Circle Cano Health As Potential Buyers
Humana Inc. and CVS Health Corp. are circling Cano Health Inc., according to people familiar with the situation, as healthcare heavyweights scramble to snap up primary-care providers. The talks are serious and a deal to purchase Cano could be struck in the next several weeks, assuming the negotiations don’t fall apart, some of the people said. (Cooper and Cimilluca, 9/22)

Stat: Shakeup With Optum's Health Data Licensing Sparks Outcry Among Scientists
A move by Optum to change longstanding practices for licensing data to academic institutions has sparked an outcry among researchers, who argue the move will make accessing data so costly and difficult that universities will scale back their research programs. (Ross, 9/23)

Crain's Detroit Business: University Of Michigan And Nurses Union Reach Tentative Contract Deal
Michigan Medicine and the union representing about 6,200 nurses have reached a tentative agreement, more than two months after their contract expired, according to a news release from the union. The Michigan Nurses Association-University of Michigan Professional Nurse Council had sparred over contract negotiations and what the union called a "refusal to bargain over safe workloads." The parties had been bargaining since March 15, and the contract expired June 30. (9/22)

The Boston Globe: Zuckerberg, Chan Want New Harvard Institute To Answer Questions About The Brain, AI
For the first time since gifting Harvard University $500 million to launch a new research institute, Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan visited the school Thursday to talk about their ambitious goal to study the basis of intelligence. The couple, who originally met at Harvard, were in Boston to celebrate the launch of the Kempner Institute for the Study of Natural and Artificial Intelligence, which will focus on the brain and AI systems — and what scientists don’t know about both. (Gardizy, 9/22)

The Washington Post: Health Apps Share Your Concerns With Advertisers. HIPAA Can’t Stop It
Digital health care has its advantages. Privacy isn’t one of them. In a nation with millions of uninsured families and a shortage of health professionals, many of us turn to health-care apps and websites for accessible information or even potential treatment. But when you fire up a symptom-checker or digital therapy app, you might be unknowingly sharing your concerns with more than just the app maker. (Hunter and Merrill, 9/22)

Stat: New Details On Apple Watch Study Emphasize Medicaid Enrollment
Newly published details about a high-profile Apple Watch study call it “a priority” to recruit Medicaid patients — a population not usually considered the target for Apple’s pricey products. (Aguilar, 9/22)

Stat: NIH Launches Next Stage Of Its ‘Human Genome Project’ For The Brain
The National Institutes of Health on Thursday announced more than $600 million in fresh funding for an expansive and ongoing push to unravel the mysteries of the human brain, bankrolling efforts to create a detailed map of the whole brain, and devise new ways to target therapeutics and other molecules to specific brain cell populations. (Wosen, 9/22)

Bay Area News Group: Stanford Scientist Who Discovered Cause Of Narcolepsy Wins Breakthrough Prize
Dr. Emmanuel Mignot of the Stanford University School of Medicine will share the $3 million prize with Masashi Yanagisawa of Japan’s University of Tsukuba for discovering the cause of a chronic sleep disorder called narcolepsy, paving the way for the development of new treatments for the overwhelming daytime drowsiness and sudden attacks of exhaustion. (Kreiger, 9/22)

AP: Judge Rules Against Oregon County’s Ban On Flavored Tobacco
A judge in Oregon’s Washington County has ruled against the county’s 2021 ban on flavored tobacco products, meaning adults over 21 can still buy them. Circuit Judge Andrew Erwin wrote in his opinion this week that the decision to disallow licensed retail sale of such products must come from the state, not county by county, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported. (9/22)

AP: Louisiana No. 4 In Rate Of Dangerous West Nile Virus Cases 
Preliminary federal data shows Louisiana has the nation’s fourth-highest rate of dangerous West Nile virus infections, so people should protect themselves from mosquitoes, the state Department of Health says. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says only South Dakota, Colorado and North Dakota have higher rates of West Nile virus infections affecting the brain or nervous system. (9/22)

Los Angeles Times: After String Of Teen Overdoses, L.A. Schools Will Get OD Reversal Drug Naloxone
Los Angeles public schools will stock campuses with the overdose reversal drug naloxone in the aftermath of a student’s death at Bernstein High School, putting the nation’s second-largest school system on the leading edge of a strategy increasingly favored by public health experts. (Blume, 9/22)

Press Association: Reusable Contact Lenses 'More Than Triple Risk Of Rare Eye Infection'
Reusable contact lens users are almost four times as likely as those wearing daily disposables to develop a rare sight-threatening eye infection, a study has found. The researchers suggest people should avoid wearing their lenses while swimming, or in the shower, and that packaging should include "no water" stickers. (Massey, 9/23)

Press Association: Icy Swim May Cut 'Bad' Body Fat, Protect Against Obesity, Study Suggests
Taking a dip in icy water may cut bad body fat in men and reduce the risk of disorders such as diabetes, a new study suggests. Researchers looked at 104 studies and found that many reported significant effects from cold water swimming, including also on good fat which helps burn calories. (Massey, 9/23)

USA Today: Black, Hispanic Kids Suffer More From Asthma. High Heat Makes It Worse
Higher temperatures mean higher levels of ozone, a gas that forms from burning fossil fuels. That’s a particular concern for inner-city kids of formerly redlined neighborhoods because of the urban heat island effect, which occurs when certain neighborhoods are exposed to more pollutions. These communities also have less green spaces. All of those factors make these areas hotter than other parts of a city, explained Dr. Bridgette Jones, an allergist and pediatrician at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri. (Hassanein, 9/22)

Stat: Surgeons Can Take A Fifth Of The Lungs To Get A Tumor. Is There A Better Way?
Claudia Donohue was on the operating table first thing in the morning. It wasn’t where she wanted to end up when she first learned she had lung cancer. (Chen, 9/23)