First Edition: Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024

KFF Health News: How A Duty To Spend Wisely On Worker Benefits Could Loosen PBMs’ Grip On Drug Prices
Ann Lewandowski knows all about pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, the companies that shape the U.S. drug market. Her job, as a policy advocate at drugmaker Johnson & Johnson, was to tell patient and physician groups about the PBMs’ role in high drug prices. Armed with that knowledge, Lewandowski filed a potentially groundbreaking lawsuit in February. Rather than targeting the PBMs, however, she went after a big company that uses one — her own employer, Johnson & Johnson. (Allen, 12/18)

KFF Health News: New Colorado Gun Law Aims To Shore Up Victim Services
Colorado’s new voter-approved gun initiative has a target unlike those of previous measures meant to reduce gun violence. The tax on guns and ammunition is meant to generate revenue to support cash-strapped victim services, and it’s an open question whether it will affect firearms sales. The 6.5% tax on manufacturers and sellers — including pawnbrokers — of guns, gun parts, and ammunition will generate an estimated $39 million a year. (Bichell, 12/18)

KFF Health News: Rage Has Long Shadowed American Health Care. It’s Rarely Produced Big Change
Among the biggest-grossing films in America in February 2002 were a war drama about American troops in Somalia (“Black Hawk Down”), ... and a future Oscar winner about a brilliant mathematician struggling with schizophrenia (“A Beautiful Mind”). But none of these films topped the box office that month. That title went to “John Q.,” a movie about health insurance. Or, more precisely, a story about a desperate father — played by Denzel Washington — who takes a hospital emergency room hostage at gunpoint when his HMO refuses to cover a heart transplant for his young son. (Levey, 12/18)

KFF Health News: Listen To The Latest 'KFF Health News Minute'
This week on the KFF Health News Minute: Community groups are working to restore the cemeteries of closed psychiatric hospitals, and some hospitals are looking for new ways to help patients keep up with the utility bills. (12/17)

USA Today: Hydroxychloroquine Study Retracted; Drug Isn't Treatment For COVID
A discredited study that set off a flurry of interest in using an antimalarial drug to treat COVID-19 has now been formally withdrawn. A scientific journal on Tuesday retracted the March 2020 study that introduced the world to hydroxychloroquine early in the COVID-19 pandemic – and confirmed that the attention was undeserved from the start. The antimalarial drug was briefly touted as a possible treatment for the novel coronavirus at a time when little else was available. (Cuevas, 12/17)

Stat: FDA Deputy Commissioner Namandjé Bumpus To Leave Agency 
Namandjé Bumpus, principal deputy commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, is leaving the agency. Commissioner Robert Califf shared the news with staff Tuesday morning, according to an email reviewed by STAT. ... The deputy commissioner is often primed for the commissioner role; if Kamala Harris had won the election, Bumpus likely would have been a key contender to lead the agency. Califf said Bumpus told him she was leaving earlier this month. She will depart the agency at the end of the year. (Lawrence, 12/17)

Politico: Trump Taps Brooks To Lead HHS Landing Team
President-elect Donald Trump has tapped John Brooks to lead his HHS landing team, three people familiar with the selection granted anonymity to discuss government transition efforts told POLITICO. The elevation of Brooks, a former senior Medicare official during Trump’s first term who went on to advise former HHS Secretary Alex Azar on drug pricing policy, lends policy heft to a Trump health team that has faced scrutiny over its top nominees' lack of government experience. (Lim and Cancryn, 12/17)

Roll Call: Kennedy Faces Questions About Food, Vaccines In GOP Meetings 
President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to lead the Department of Health and Human Services met with at least 10 Republican senators Monday and Tuesday, defending his views on vaccine safety and abortion to a largely friendly list of GOP lawmakers. Many senators remain mum about whether they would support Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and say they are waiting for the Senate confirmation hearing, which is likely to take place in the new year. But Kennedy told CQ Roll Call he feels “hopeful” about his confirmation process. (Cohen, DeGroot, Hellmann and Raman, 12/17)

Stat: RFK Jr. Addressing Abortion, Vaccines To Build Support In Senate
If Republican senators are concerned about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s previous criticism of vaccines or support for abortion access, many who’ve had early meetings with him are not showing it. (Owermohle, Wilkerson and Zhang, 12/17)

The Washington Post: Will RFK Jr. Be Confirmed As Health Secretary?
If no Democrats cross the aisle to vote for Kennedy, he can afford to lose only three Republican votes in the closely divided Senate. Some Republicans have embraced Kennedy’s selection to oversee the nation’s public health infrastructure, saying he will bring overdue changes as Americans struggle with a rise in chronic disease, premature deaths and other problems. Others have called on the former Democrat to explain his positions on vaccines, abortion and agriculture policy, warning they have serious questions about his planned agenda. (Diamond and Roubein, 12/17)

The Wall Street Journal: What Trump’s Cabinet Picks Tell Us About His Agenda 
The cabinet that President-elect Donald Trump has assembled is a jumble of seemingly conflicting ideologies—populists and plutocrats, traditional conservatives and hard right disrupters, even a couple of former Democrats. As Washington braces for the incoming administration, the unconventional slate of nominees offers clues to how he plans to govern in an emboldened second term. (Ball, 12/17)

CBS News: Trump Could Target Affordable Care Act And Medicaid To Help Pay For Lower Taxes, Experts Say
The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, remains popular with the public, garnering the approval of 54% of U.S. adults, according to a recently released Gallup poll. But experts say that may not insulate the federal health insurance program from change as President-elect Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans look to renew $4 trillion in expiring tax cuts. (Gibson, 12/17)

Modern Healthcare: Mass Deportations, Visa Restrictions Threaten Post-Acute Staffing
Anxiety over President-elect Donald Trump's potential immigration policies is rippling through the nursing home and home health industries, where more than one-third of workers are foreign-born. Providers and trade groups fear the possibility of mass deportations and tougher visa requirements could make it harder for nursing homes and home care companies to recruit and retain nurses and nurse aides from outside the U.S. (Eastabrook, 12/17)

Modern Healthcare: Telehealth, Doctor Pay Win, PBMs Lose In Government Spending Bill
Congress reached a government funding deal Tuesday, with a significant healthcare package that includes an extension of Medicare telehealth policies, boosts for doctors' pay, and a raft of new restrictions on drug market middlemen. Lawmakers rushed to finalize text of what's known as a continuing resolution so they could pass government funding before it runs out on Friday night. The bill would last until March 14 for general funding, though the healthcare provisions last longer. (McAuliff, 12/17)

Military Times: Plan Would Cover All Health Care Costs For Thousands Of Vets Overseas
More than 17,000 disabled veterans living outside the United States could get all of their medical costs covered under a proposal unveiled in Congress this week. The plan has little chance of being passed into law this year, but could be the basis for major reforms in overseas veterans health care next session. It would mean hundreds to thousands of dollars in financial relief to struggling veterans, all of whom have received a 100% disability rating from the Department of Veterans Affairs. (Shane III, 12/17)

Stat: Congressional Task Force Recommends Health AI Regulation Priorities
Artificial intelligence can reduce the health care sector’s administrative burden while improving clinical diagnostics and speeding up drug discovery, according to a congressional task force that offered recommendations for lawmakers to consider in the next session. (Trang, 12/17)

The Hill: Tuberville: Kennedy And Trump Agree On States Deciding On Abortion
Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) said on Tuesday that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told him he has come to an agreement with President-elect Trump on the issue of abortion, concluding the matter will be left to the states to decide. Speaking to reporters after his meeting with Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Tuberville recounted their discussion on abortion and recalled asking Kennedy about his past positions in support of abortion rights. (Fortinsky, 12/17)

ProPublica: Are Abortion Bans Causing Deaths? States That Passed Them Are Doing Little To Find Out 
The same political leaders who enacted abortion bans oversee the state committees that review maternal deaths. These committees haven’t tracked the laws’ impacts, and most haven’t finished examining cases from the year the bans went into effect. (Surana, Elba, Jaramillo, Fields and Branstetter, 12/18)

NBC News: Medication Abortions May Be More Painful Than Women Expect, Study Finds
Many women are surprised by how much pain they experience during a medication abortion, a study published Tuesday in the journal BMJ Sexual & Reproductive Health found. More than 60% of abortions in the U.S. are medication abortions, meaning a person takes two drugs, often at home, to end a pregnancy. The study, which surveyed women in the U.K., found that many don’t feel prepared for the amount of pain they may feel during the procedure. (Sullivan, 12/17)

The 19th: Air Pollution May Impact Success Of IVF, Study Finds
More people are turning to IVF to have children than ever before. But new research, out last month, finds that the success of in vitro fertilization — a delicate process that works less than half the time — could be affected by air pollution. (Kutz, 12/17)

CNN: FDA Places Its Most Serious Warning On Menopause Drug Due To Risk Of Liver Injury
The US Food and Drug Administration has placed its most serious warning – a so-called black-box warning – on a drug used to relieve menopausal hot flashes. The FDA says women who are taking Veozah may need more frequent blood testing to check for markers of liver problems. (Goodman, 12/17)

AP: Prosecutors Charge Luigi Mangione With Killing UnitedHealthcare CEO As An Act Of Terrorism
The man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare’s CEO has been charged with murder as an act of terrorism, prosecutors said Tuesday as they worked to bring him to a New York court from a Pennsylvania jail. Luigi Mangione already was charged with murder in the Dec. 4 killing of Brian Thompson, but the terror allegation is new. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said Thompson’s death on a midtown Manhattan street “was a killing that was intended to evoke terror. And we’ve seen that reaction.” (Offenhartz and Peltz, 12/17)

Politico: Trump’s Former Surgeon General On UnitedHealthcare Killing: ‘Insurers Absolutely Cannot Ignore This Moment’ 
Jerome Adams, who was Surgeon General during the first Trump administration — a position he did not seek to reprise in the second — does not condone the killing. But he says “it signals a profound loss of confidence in structures that are meant to support and protect the public.” Adams, an anesthesiologist who now leads Purdue University’s health equity initiatives, spoke to POLITICO Magazine about what Thompson’s murder means for a health care system already mired in politicization and distrust. (Kenen, 12/17)

The Washington Post: Court Records Point To Troubled Home Life For Wisconsin School Shooter
The 15-year-old girl who killed two people and wounded six others at her small Christian school here Monday had a turbulent home life, according to court records, which show that her parents divorced and remarried multiple times and that she had been enrolled in therapy. With much still unknown, a Washington Post review of court records points to an unsettled childhood for Rupnow, whose parents’ custody agreements sometimes forced her to move between their homes every two or three days. (12/17)

The New York Times: Gun Violence Around Schools Has Risen Since The Pandemic
Gun violence on school grounds has seen a notable uptick in the last four years, according to a review of data collected by the K-12 School Shooting Database. More than 50 shootings with at least one victim have occurred during school time each year since 2021, according to the database, a research project that tracks all instances in which a gun was fired or brandished on school property. The victims and suspects were not all minors. (Closson, 12/17)

CBS News: Maryland Attorney General Joins Coalition To Hold Firearm Industry Accountable For Impact On Gun Violence
Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown joined a coalition of 16 attorneys general to hold the firearms industry accountable for its impact on gun violence. The first-of-its-kind, multi-state coalition aims to reduce gun violence by enforcing each state's civil liability and consumer protection laws to promote public safety, the AG said. (Lockman, 12/17)

Crain's Chicago Business: Ascension, Prime Hospital Deal Receives Illinois State Approval
Illinois state health officials approved Prime Healthcare’s deal to buy 11 hospitals and care sites from Catholic health system Ascension Illinois, marking one of the largest local hospital deals of the year. The $375 million deal, first announced in July, got the unanimous approval of the Illinois Health Facilities & Services Review Board at a meeting in Bolingbrook today. Board members probed about Prime’s relationship with its nurses, its decision to retain the facilities’ Catholic values, investment initiatives and litigation scandals, but ultimately signed off on the transaction. (Davis, 12/17)

CBS News: Advocate Health Care Announces Plans For $300 Million Hospital On Chicago's South Side
A $1 billion investment was announced Tuesday to improve health and wellness on Chicago's South Side—with a new lakefront hospital and 10 care locations. Mayor Brandon Johnson was present for the announcement by Advocate Health Care on Tuesday. (Tye, 12/17)

The Mercury News: Healthcare Titan Plans Big South Bay Medical Hubs In $800 Million Plan
Sutter Health has unveiled plans to transform several empty office buildings in Santa Clara into two huge medical campuses that would create a healthcare destination in Silicon Valley. ... “This is going to improve access, it’s a lower cost of care and it provides better access points” for Sutter Health members, said Sutter Health president and chief executive officer Warner Thomas, in an interview with this news organization. (Avalos, 12/17)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: McKee's St Louis Hospital Closes, Citing Lack Of Cash, Blood
A small hospital built by one of the city’s most controversial developers is suspending operations and furloughing employees until further notice, saying it will use the time to seek new sources of money — and blood — according to a memo sent to hospital employees Tuesday. The memo, signed by the board of directors at Homer G. Phillips Memorial Hospital, said the institution had notified the state of plans to halt operations until “a reliable and continuous source of blood can be secured.” It said the majority of hospital staff would be furloughed until further notice. (Huguelet, 12/17)

Modern Healthcare: Health Advocates Network Acquires Staff America Medical Staffing
Health Advocates Network continues to expand with the acquisition of Staff America Medical Staffing, its fourth in the fourth quarter. The deal was announced and closed today. Staff America is based in Ocala, Florida, and specializes in placing registered nurses, licenses practical nurses/licensed vocational nurses and therapists on both local and travel assignments in Florida and the Midwest. It was founded in 2001. (Johnson, 12/17)

The Boston Globe: Nursing Shortage Has Educators Turning To VR For Training
The man in the hospital bed is named Morgan Therin. He’s obese, sixtyish, and Black, with symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. The student assigned to care for him has hardly any real-world experience. Yet the student expected to record the man’s vital signs, give him an injection, and explain what’s happening to a patient who can barely understand him. It’s the kind of challenge faced by countless nursing students. But it’s a little easier when the patient doesn’t exist. (Bray, 12/17)

Axios: A Third Of Psychologists Won't Take Insurance: Survey
Just over a third of U.S. psychologists say they don't accept any type of health insurance, according to the American Psychological Association's latest annual provider survey. The lack of mental health professionals in insurer networks can make it difficult for Americans to access counseling or other behavioral care. (Goldman, 12/18)

MedPage Today: U.S. Has Made Little Progress With Health Equity, Expert Says 
Health equity has improved little in the U.S. despite many efforts, according to a panel discussion on Monday. "Are we doing better? Are we doing worse? If we look at the numbers, most of it is that we're the same. On ending unequal treatment, we found that the progress is minimal. We're really not there," said Margarita Alegria, PhD, chief of the Disparities Research Unit at Mass General Hospital in Boston, at an event on health disparities sponsored by Health Affairs and the consulting firm Deloitte. (Frieden, 12/17)

Bloomberg: Medicare Advantage Whistleblower Lawsuit Settled In New York
US authorities have reached a settlement to resolve a whistleblower case alleging that a New York state health insurer systematically defrauded the federal Medicare program by exaggerating how sick members were in order to boost profits. The settlement was disclosed in a court filing Monday that didn’t detail the settlement amount. The lawsuit in federal court in the Western District of New York concerns a type of health-care fraud claim that has drawn increasing attention from the Department of Justice. (Tozzi, 12/17)

The Boston Globe: Governor Healey Defends Handling Of MA Steward Health Care Crisis
Governor Maura Healey defended her record Tuesday on Steward Health Care, saying she “did all that I could do” to address the now-bankrupt hospital chain’s collapse, which a recent Globe Spotlight Team investigation found was enabled by years of lax state scrutiny. Healey placed the blame for the hospital chain’s subpar care and massive financial losses on former Steward chief executive Ralph de la Torre, who resigned in October and is now a focus of a federal corruption investigation. (Serres, Koh and Kowalczyk, 12/17)

NBC News: Tennessee Woman Accused Of Selling Fake Weight Loss Drugs As Counterfeit Concerns Grow
The first tip came into West Tennessee law enforcement about two months ago: A resident in the area was selling cheap versions of Ozempic and other weight loss drugs. According to officials with the West Tennessee Drug Task Force, the tipster believed the products couldn’t be legitimate due to their unusually low prices: A 10-milligram vial of semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy, sold for about $100, for example, and a 15 mg vial costs $140. The brand-name versions, from drugmaker Novo Nordisk, sell for around $1,000 for a month’s supply.  (Lovelace Jr., McLaughlin and Heikkila, 12/17)

The Boston Globe: Homelessness Surged 52 Percent In N.H. In One Year, Report Found
Homelessness in New Hampshire increased at an “alarming” rate in 2023, according to a 2024 report from the New Hampshire Coalition to End Homelessness. The new report found that homelessness in New Hampshire grew by 52 percent from 2022 to 2023, the most recent data that’s fully available, based on an annual count of people who are homeless on a single day in January. (Gokee, 12/17)

CIDRAP: Flu Surveillance Flags Probable H5 Avian Flu Case In Delaware
An H5 avian flu case that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently added to its probable list was initially flagged by routine flu surveillance. In other developments, federal officials confirmed more H5N1 detections in diary cows, poultry flocks, and a few non-farm mammals, and Labcorp announced the launch of its molecular test for the virus in people. (Schnirring, 12/17)

AP: An Alabama Woman Is Doing Well After The Latest Experimental Pig Kidney Transplant
An Alabama woman is recovering well after a pig kidney transplant last month that freed her from eight years of dialysis, the latest effort to save human lives with animal organs. Towana Looney is the fifth American given a gene-edited pig organ — and notably, she isn’t as sick as prior recipients who died within two months of receiving a pig kidney or heart. (Neergaard, 12/17)

The Boston Globe: Mass. Lawmakers Say They Have Late-Session Deal On Opioid Bill
Massachusetts legislative leaders said Tuesday evening they’ve reached a deal on a long-gestating bill targeting the state’s opioid epidemic, teeing up a late-session vote on a proposal that would mandate insurance coverage for overdose-reversal drugs but dropping a controversial proposal to allow for so-called safe injection sites in cities and towns. (Stout, 12/17)

The Mercury News: Addicts Trafficked Cross Country To California By ‘Army Of Fraudsters,’ New Lawsuit Alleges
California and Oklahoma are separated by more than 1,000 miles. Within that span there are hundreds — if not thousands — of addiction treatment programs. “And yet, in the last few years alone, thousands of alleged Oklahoma residents have been trafficked across the country to California under the guise of obtaining (substance use disorder) treatment,” claims a lawsuit filed in federal court Dec. 11 against two Orange County rehabs, South Coast Behavioral Health and Rad Life Recovery of Costa Mesa, as well as others. (Sforza, 12/17)

North Carolina Health News: N.C. Child Advocacy Group Calls For Regulation Of Cannabis Product Shops 
Child advocates want the North Carolina General Assembly to regulate the sale of intoxicating cannabis products, many of which are packaged to look like popular candy and snacks. (Fernandez, 12/18)

CBS News: "The Tea On THC" Campaign Aims To Educate About Dangers Of High THC Cannabis In Colorado
The cannabis available in Colorado dispensaries today has high concentrations of THC, much higher than ever available before. Researchers at the Colorado School of Public Health want consumers to be aware of the risks associated with its use. (Alejo, 12/17)

AP: Most US Teens Are Abstaining From Drinking, Smoking And Marijuana, Survey Says 
Teen drug use hasn’t rebounded from its drop during the early years of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the results from a large annual national survey released Tuesday.About two-thirds of 12th graders this year said they hadn’t used alcohol, marijuana, cigarettes or e-cigarettes in the previous 30 days. That’s the largest proportion abstaining since the annual survey started measuring abstinence in 2017. ... The only significant increase occurred in nicotine pouches. About 6% of 12th graders said they’d used them in the previous year, up from about 3% in 2023. (Stobbe, 12/17)

Bloomberg: Philip Morris Boss Sees No Easy Way To Keep Minors From Nicotine
Just a year after he became chief executive officer of Philip Morris International Inc., Jacek Olczak swooped on rival nicotine pouch maker Swedish Match in a $16 billion deal. Olczak wanted the company’s vast US distribution network and popular Zyn nicotine pouches, which are about the size of a chiclet and meant to be placed between a user’s gum and upper lip. Hailed by some as a product that can give users “unstoppable force,” Zyn now is in such high demand that the company is on track to sell 580 million tins in the US this year, up from 385 million a year earlier. (Meddings, 12/17)

The Washington Post: Health Panel Warns Against Vitamin D, Calcium For Falls In Older Adults 
A panel of independent health experts recommended Tuesday against older adults using vitamin D and calcium supplements to prevent falls and fractures, citing inadequate evidence to support their effectiveness. The guidance from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force underscores the risks of supplementation without prior testing and diagnosis for a vitamin D deficiency or for osteoporosis. (Malhi, 12/17)

Stat: Major Report Finds Moderate Drinkers Had Lower Mortality 
A major report on alcohol’s health effects — which will inform the 2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans — found moderate drinkers had lower all-cause mortality, and a lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease, than those who never drank. The findings are sure to cause a stir, especially once a separate panel of experts releases its own alcohol report in coming weeks. (Cueto, 12/17)

San Francisco Chronicle: Viral Black Plastic Utensils Study Had A Big Math Problem
Last month, people across the country tossed their spatulas into the trash after a widely-reported study found that some black plastics in kitchen utensils and other household items had dangerously high levels of flame retardants, which are associated with a host of health problems, including cancer. The problem? A simple math error overstated the risk by a factor of 10, a researcher not involved in the original study found. (Echeverria, 12/17)