First Edition: Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2024

KFF Health News: How Minnesota Figures Into The Presidential Politics Of Insulin Prices
In June 2019, Lija Greenseid handed Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz an empty vial of insulin that her 13-year-old daughter had painted gold. Greenseid’s daughter has Type 1 diabetes, which means she requires daily injections of manufactured insulin to stay alive. The price of a single vial of insulin rose by about 1,200% between 1996 and 2018, and the gold vial was a reminder, Greenseid said, that this lifesaving pharmaceutical shouldn’t be as expensive as precious metal. (Sable-Smith, 10/1)

KFF Health News: Silence In Sikeston: Trauma Lives In The Body
Denzel Taylor, a young Black father, moved from Chicago to Sikeston, Missouri, for a fresh start in life. There, he proposed to his girlfriend, started a family, and then, in April 2020, was fatally shot by police officers. Taylor had two young daughters and another on the way when he was killed. Pediatrician Rhea Boyd talks about how children process such loss. (Anthony, 10/1)

KFF Health News: Get Your BOO On! Submit Your Scariest Halloween Health Care Haikus
Boo! We scared you. Now it’s your turn to give our newsroom a scare. Submissions are now open for KFF Health News’ sixth annual Halloween haiku competition. KFF Health News has been publishing reader-submitted health care haikus for years and is on pins and needles to read how this spooky season inspires you. We want your best scary health care or health policy haiku. We’ll share favorites on our social media channels, and members of our staff will pick the winners, announced on Thursday, Oct. 31. (10/1)

The New York Times: Georgia’s 6-Week Abortion Ban Is Struck Down
A Georgia judge on Monday struck down a state law effectively prohibiting abortions beyond six weeks of pregnancy. The ruling, by Judge Robert C.I. McBurney of Fulton County Superior Court, is unlikely to be the final word because of the expectation that the case will ultimately be decided by the Georgia Supreme Court. Still, the ruling means that women seeking abortions in Georgia will have greater access, at least temporarily, to a procedure that has become mostly inaccessible in the South since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. (Chen, 9/30)

NBC News: Louisiana's New Abortion Pill Law May Delay Lifesaving Care For Women, Doctors Say
Starting Tuesday in Louisiana, the two drugs used in medication abortion — mifepristone and misoprostol — will be reclassified as controlled substances in the state, making it a crime punishable by up to five years in prison to possess the drugs without a prescription. The law, the first of its kind in the nation, will designate the pills as Schedule IV controlled substances, a classification typically given to drugs that carry a potential for dependency or abuse, such as Ambien or Xanax. (Lovelace Jr., 9/30)

Politico: California Sues Catholic Hospital Over Allegedly Refusing To Provide An Abortion
Attorney General Rob Bonta is suing a rural Catholic hospital for allegedly refusing to provide an abortion to a patient even though her pregnancy was not viable and her health was at risk. The lawsuit accuses Providence St. Joseph Hospital in Eureka of violating state laws by not providing abortions for people experiencing miscarriages or “other obstetric emergencies.” It’s the first time post-Roe that a state has gone after a hospital for violations of abortion protections. The federal government has sued hospitals in Texas and Idaho, but no state has tested abortion-rights protections in this way. (Bluth, 9/30)

CBS News: Florida Judge Refuses To Block State's Abortion Information
Saying courts "must trust the people to decide what information is important to them," a Leon County circuit judge Monday refused to issue a temporary injunction to block the state Agency for Health Administration from disseminating what critics call "misinformation" about a proposed constitutional amendment on abortion rights. (9/30)

Bloomberg: Baxter’s North Cove Plant In North Carolina Closed As Helene Damages Inventory
Baxter International Inc. has closed its biggest manufacturing facility after it was damaged when Hurricane Helene ripped through the US Southeast, causing widespread power outages and flooding. Baxter’s North Cove plant, located in Marion, North Carolina, is the largest manufacturer of intravenous and peritoneal dialysis solutions in the country. The disruption is expected to negatively impact the company’s financial results, according to a statement it released Sunday. (Muller, 9/30)

Axios: Hurricane Sends New Shudders Through Health Supply Chain
A Baxter International plant responsible for making IV fluids for most U.S. hospitals is among the major casualties from Hurricane Helene. The closure illustrated yet again how taking a single plant offline can trigger a domino effect felt around the world. "It's a very serious situation," said Allan Coukell, chief government affairs officer for the hospital-owned drugmaker Civica Rx, which is addressing supply chain constraints within its consortium of health system and pharma members. (Reed, 10/1)

North Carolina Health News: ‘It’s Managed Chaos’: Western NC Hospitals Challenged But Operational In Helene’s Wake
All western North Carolina hospitals have remained operational throughout Hurricane Helene and its aftermath. Stephen Lawler, head of the North Carolina Healthcare Association, has stayed in close contact with hospital leaders during the storm and initial days of recovery. He told NC Health News he hasn’t heard of any significant structural damage to the hospitals in the 25 counties and Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians hit hardest by the storm, where a federal major disaster declaration is now in place to facilitate easier aid. (Crumpler, 10/1)

WBTV: Atrium Health Deploying Its Mobile Hospital To Helene-Stricken Western North Carolina
As thousands across western North Carolina continue to deal with power outages, washed out roads and a trail of destruction, first responders from the Charlotte area are heading out to help. On Tuesday, Atrium Health is deploying its MED-1 mobile unit to the Town of Tryon in Polk County. MED-1 is essentially a hospital on wheels, and once in Tryon, it will serve as a facility where patients can be triaged, treated, and either sent home or taken to a brick-and-mortar hospital if critical care is needed. (Calkins, 10/1)

Fox4Now: In Florida, ShorePoint Health Punta Gorda Hospital And ER Closed For Helene Repairs
Hurricane Helene caused damage to the ShorePoint Health Punta Gorda hospital and ER, causing it to remain closed for repairs. Andy Romine, chief executive officer for ShorePoint Health, said, “Our priority is keeping safe, quality healthcare available to the community and we will reopen our Punta Gorda campus as soon as possible." (Knapp, 9/30)

NBC Boston: Volunteers Mobilize To Offer Mental Health Support For Victims Of Helene
The Red Cross’s disaster mental health teams, made up of psychologists and therapists, are on the ground to provide comfort alongside supplies. Enmanuel Villegas, a Salvation Army captain, flew from Boston to Georgia on Monday. He will lead a team focused on emotional care and physical needs. “They’re having conversations, helping people navigate their experiences, and listening to their stories,” Villegas explained. (Hope, 9/30)

ABC News: A Public Health Emergency Was Declared In North Carolina After Hurricane Helene. Here's What That Means 
The PHE declaration gives the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services greater flexibility in meeting the needs of Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries and allows the ASPR to deploy teams to support local health requests, according to the HHS. ASPR has deployed about 200 personnel including Health Care Situational Assessment Teams to evaluate the impact on health care facilities such as hospitals, nursing homes and dialysis centers, and Disaster Medical Assistance Teams to help state and local health workers provide care. While the immediate impacts of natural disasters — such as hurricanes — include injuries and deaths, there are longer-term health issues that PHEs can help address. (Kekatos, 9/30)

CBS News: Hurricane Helene Flooding Poses Multiple Health Risks. Here's What To Know
Hurricane Helene's wake of massive rains and flooding isn't just destructive to property — it is also a major health and safety risk, leaving residents in the storm's path stranded and potentially exposed to waterborne illnesses and other dangers. As authorities rush to airdrop supplies, restore power and clear roads, the number of storm-related deaths climbed past 100 across the Southeast. (Moniuszko, 9/30)

AP: Steward Health Care CEO Files A Lawsuit Against A US Senate Panel Over Contempt Resolution 
Steward Health Care CEO Ralph de la Torre filed a lawsuit Monday against a U.S. Senate committee that pursued contempt charges against him for failing to appear before the panel despite being issued a subpoena. ... The lawsuit claims that the lawmakers are unlawfully violating de la Torre’s constitutional rights. It alleges that the members of the committee, by trying to compel de la Torre to answer questions about Steward’s bankruptcy, are “collectively undertaking a concerted effort to punish Dr. de la Torre for invoking his Fifth Amendment right not to ‘be compelled . . . to be a witness against himself.’ (LeBlanc, 9/30)

The Hill: Republicans Subpoena HHS Secretary For Details On Unaccompanied Minors
House Committee on Homeland Security Chair Mark Green (R-Tenn.) subpoenaed Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra late last week for documents on the whereabouts of thousands of migrant children in the United States.  In a letter informing Becerra of the subpoena, Green wrote he previously requested documents in August on the “vetting, screening and monitoring” of unaccompanied children’s sponsors by the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) within HHS.  (O'Connell-Domenech, 9/30)

Modern Healthcare: Congress Is Out Until After The Election. Here's What's Left Over
Congress left town last week after passing a stopgap funding bill, but it left behind a lot of unfinished business, much of it vital — or threatening — to various segments of the healthcare system. It will all have to wait until after Election Day on Nov. 12, when voters will choose who holds power in the White House, House and Senate next year. Those results are likely to impact exactly what gets passed when lawmakers return and close out the 118th Congress in December. (McAuliff, 9/30)

Reuters: Harris Talks Racial Identity, Marijuana On Basketball Podcast 
Vice President Kamala Harris addressed Donald Trump's comments on her racial identity, the value she places on mental health, and her support for legalizing marijuana with former NBA stars Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes on a podcast that aired on Monday. ... Harris reiterated a view she had expressed before becoming the Democrats' presidential candidate in July that cannabis should be decriminalized, citing the disproportionate impact that marijuana criminalization has had on Black people. "We know historically what that has meant and who has gone to jail." (Borter, 9/30)

The Atlantic: The GOP’s Tipping Point On Weed
If Florida passes the amendment [that would legalize recreational cannabis], the state would become something of an aberration. Although 24 other states already have legal pot on the books, just four of them voted for Donald Trump in 2020: Alaska, Missouri, Ohio, and Montana. Many top Republicans remain vehemently against legal weed, warning that the drug brings disorder and health risks, especially as marijuana has become more potent. (Florko, 9/30)

AP: Measure To Expand Medical Marijuana In Arkansas Won't Qualify For The Ballot 
An effort to expand Arkansas’ medical marijuana program fell short of the required signatures and won’t qualify for the November ballot, Secretary of State John Thurston said Monday. Arkansans for Patient Access, the group behind the measure, said it planned to take legal action to appeal Thurston’s decision. (DeMillo, 9/30)

The Boston Globe: CVS Announces It Will Lay Off 2,900 Workers, Is Reported To Be Considering Breakup
CVS Health said Monday that it will lay off about 2,900 people amid pressure from investors to cut costs and improve its financial performance. And more dramatic changes could be coming soon. A spokesperson for the health care giant, which has long been based in Woonsocket, R.I., and operates health insurer Aetna in Hartford, confirmed the cuts, which will primarily fall on corporate roles. (Logan, 9/30)

Modern Healthcare: Sentara Health Layoffs To Affect 200 Employees
Sentara Health plans to lay off 200 employees, mainly in its insurance division, due to a decline in Medicaid membership. The health system said following Medicaid redeterminations, Sentara Health Plans' Medicaid membership went down by 16%, or more than 115,000 members. (DeSilva, 9/30)

Houston Chronicle: Houston's St. Joseph Medical Center Could Soon Have New Owner
St. Joseph Medical Center could soon have a new owner as the saga involving its current owner, Steward Health Care, continues to play out in bankruptcy court and Congress. Healthcare Systems of America, an affiliate of California-based American Healthcare Systems, took over management of Houston’s only downtown hospital as part of an interim settlement agreement approved earlier this month in U.S. Bankruptcy Court. (MacDonald, 9/30)

Fox News: Surgeons Use PlayStation Controller For Long-Distance Endoscopy
In a groundbreaking experiment, surgeons in Switzerland successfully performed an endoscopic procedure on a pig 5,780 miles away in Hong Kong. This innovative feat was accomplished using a video game controller, paving the way for the future of remote surgeries in humans, particularly in areas lacking local medical expertise. (Knutsson, 10/1)

Modern Healthcare: J&J Drops 340B Rebate Model Following HRSA Pressure
Johnson & Johnson has dropped its controversial plan related to the drug discount program less than a month after the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration sent a letter ordering the drugmaker not to implement it. In the letter, HRSA said the company would face federal sanctions because the program violated 340B drug discount program rules and had not received federal approval. Monday the agency said it received notice from Johnson & Johnson that the company was scrapping the initiative. (DeSilva, 9/30)

AP: Criminals Set Up Fake Online Pharmacies To Sell Deadly Counterfeit Pills, Prosecutors Say 
A network of illegal drug sellers based in the U.S., the Dominican Republic and India packaged potentially deadly synthetic opioids into pills disguised as common prescription drugs and sold millions of them through fake online drugstores, federal prosecutors said Monday. At least nine people died of narcotics poisoning between August 2023 and June 2024 after consuming the counterfeit pills, according to an indictment unsealed in federal court in Manhattan. (Matthews, 9/30)

Los Angeles Times: Newsom Signs Bill To Ban 'Forever Chemicals' In Tampons
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law on Monday that will ban the sale of tampons and other menstrual products in California that contain certain levels of potentially toxic chemicals. The law would prohibit by 2025 the manufacture and sale of menstrual products that contain intentionally added perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS. If such products have PFAS added unintentionally, the law requires that by 2027 manufacturers must keep them below a level to be determined by the Department of Toxic Substances Control. (Fry, 9/30)

The Hill: Dengue Fever Local Spread Rises In California, Possible Link To Climate Change
California last week clocked its fourth case of locally transmitted dengue fever this year — an alarming rise in a sometimes-deadly disease that experts fear could be fueled by climate change. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health confirmed the newest incidence of the mosquito-borne illness in a resident of Panorama City, a neighborhood in Los Angeles’s San Fernando Valley. The department noted that the individual had not traveled to areas where dengue is endemic, and that the case appeared unrelated to three others, also locally acquired, that were reported in the county earlier this month. (Udasin, 9/30)

Arizona Republic: ACLU Says Arizona Inmates’ Medical Records Posted Online
Medical records of some Arizona inmates were posted publicly online by the company that provides medical services in state prisons, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. On Monday, the ACLU notified the Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry and its director that NaphCare had been posting personal medical records that were visible to anyone with an internet browser. (Torres, 9/30)

NPR: Fentanyl's Pipeline Into The U.S. May Be Drying Up
This summer, Dan Ciccarone, a physician and street drug researcher at the University of California, San Francisco, sent a team to gather data on the city's streets in areas where illicit fentanyl has been a killer for years. They found something unexpected. "The fentanyl supply is drying up for some reason," Ciccarone said. "Hang out on the streets, talk to people — the drugs are hard to find and more expensive." (Mann, 10/1)

NPR: Tim Walz’s State Became A ‘Trans Refuge.’ Here’s What That Means
As Gov. Tim Walz prepares to debate Sen. JD Vance Tuesday night, Minnesota’s status as a “trans refuge” state will likely be in the spotlight. “He’s very heavy into transgender, anything transgender he thinks is great,” former President Trump said on Fox the day after Walz was announced as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate. (Trump has pledged, if elected, to end gender-affirming care for youth nationally.) (Simmons-Duffin, 10/1)

NBC News: Study Establishes First Causal Link Between Anti-Trans Laws And Suicide Attempts
State laws targeting transgender people made trans and nonbinary young people more likely to attempt suicide in the past year, according to a first-of-its-kind study. The research, published last week in the journal Nature Human Behavior and conducted by the Trevor Project, an LGBTQ youth suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization, is the first to establish that such laws directly caused an increase in suicide attempts. (Yurcaba, 9/30)

AP: Arkansas Sues YouTube Over Claims That The Site Is Fueling A Mental Health Crisis
Arkansas sued YouTube and parent company Alphabet on Monday, saying the video-sharing platform is made deliberately addictive and fueling a mental health crisis among youth in the state. Attorney General Tim Griffin’s office filed the lawsuit in state court, accusing them of violating the state’s deceptive trade practices and public nuisance laws. The lawsuit claims the site is addictive and has resulted in the state spending millions on expanded mental health and other services for young people. (DeMillo, 9/30)

San Francisco Chronicle: S.F.’s New Mental Health Court Has Helped Few People So Far
Nearly a year since San Francisco’s CARE Court started, only five CARE agreements, or court-ordered treatment plans, have been reached, according to the San Francisco Superior Court. The city has received 42 petitions — a small fraction of the 1,000 to 2,000 people officials estimate could be eligible for the program in the city. About half of San Francisco’s cases have been dismissed. (Angst and Bollag, 9/30)

The Washington Post: Mental Crisis In Custody Spurred ‘Death Sentence,’ Prosecutors Say At Trial
Irvo Otieno stopped breathing last year as multiple law enforcement officers and staff members at Virginia’s Central State Hospital restrained him for 11 minutes, in a case that sparked international headlines and drew widespread comparisons to prominent instances of police brutality against Black people. Now a jury will decide whether Otieno’s death — caught entirely on video — was a crime. (Vozzella and Rizzo, 9/30)

Bloomberg: Whooping Cough Cases Are Spiking, Even Among Vaccinated Kids
When Patricia Teklu’s daughter started coughing uncontrollably, her pediatrician said it was a routine asthma flare up. But that didn’t explain the eight nosebleeds she endured in just one day. “She was coughing so much that she literally could not breathe,” said Teklu, a 36-year-old software sales executive from Boston. The spasms were so severe that the 8-year-old was vomiting mucus and blood, causing a hemorrhage in both eyes that were swollen and black-and-blue. “I had no idea what was going on.” (Suvarna, 9/30)

CIDRAP: Only 56% Of US Infants Protected By RSV Vaccine, Antibody
Last year was the first time the United States had two approved methods for combating respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections in infants, a maternal vaccine administered in the final weeks of pregnancy and the antibody nirsevimab given to infants under the age of 8 months during RSV season. But In Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, authors describe the results of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) survey which shows only 55.8% of infants were protected by maternal RSV vaccine, nirsevimab, or both. (Soucheray, 9/30)