First Edition: Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024

KFF Health News: More Mobile Clinics Are Bringing Long-Acting Birth Control To Rural Areas
Twice a month, a 40-foot-long truck transformed into a mobile clinic travels the Rio Grande Valley to provide rural Texans with women’s health care, including birth control. The clinic, called the UniMóvil, is part of the Healthy Mujeres program at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine. The U.S. has about 3,000 mobile health programs. But Saul Rivas, an OB-GYN, said he wasn’t aware of any that shared the specific mission of Healthy Mujeres when he helped launch the initiative in 2017. “Mujeres” means “women” in Spanish. (Zionts, 10/16)

KFF Health News: Harris Backs Slashing Medical Debt. Trump’s ‘Concepts’ Worry Advocates
Patient and consumer advocates are looking to Kamala Harris to accelerate federal efforts to help people struggling with medical debt if she prevails in next month’s presidential election. And they see the vice president and Democratic nominee as the best hope for preserving Americans’ access to health insurance. Comprehensive coverage that limits patients’ out-of-pocket costs offers the best defense against going into debt, experts say. (Levey, 10/16)

KFF Health News: Listen To The Latest 'KFF Health News Minute'
“Health Minute” brings original health care and health policy reporting from the KFF Health News newsroom to the airwaves each week. (10/15)

The New York Times: Supreme Court Leans Toward Truck Driver Fired Over Drug Test 
The Supreme Court heard arguments on Tuesday over whether a truck driver fired for failing a drug test after using a “wellness product” which was falsely advertised to be free of THC may sue the manufacturer under a federal racketeering law. A majority of the justices seemed ready to side with the driver, Douglas Horn, on the narrow question before them: whether he could satisfy the law’s requirement that he had been injured in his “business or property.” But that is not the only hurdle Mr. Horn must clear to win under the law, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO. (Liptak, 10/15)

Military.com: Two Veterans Will Argue To Supreme Court That VA Disability Claims Aren't Getting 'Benefit Of Doubt'
The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Wednesday in a case that challenges the Department of Veterans Affairs' handling of benefits applications and appeals, a question that could affect thousands of previously decided or current claims. In the case Bufkin v. McDonough, the plaintiffs challenged decisions by the VA and the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims denying benefits for health conditions. They argue that the Veterans Board of Appeals, and later, the appeals court, failed to apply a "benefit-of-the-doubt" rule that should have resulted in disability compensation awards. (Kime, 10/15)

CBS News: As IV Shortage Continues After Hurricane, U.S. Invokes Wartime Power To Speed Recovery
The Biden administration says it has invoked the wartime powers of the Defense Production Act to speed rebuilding of a major American factory of intravenous fluids that was wrecked by Hurricane Helene last month. Damage to the plant in North Carolina has worsened a nationwide shortage of IV fluids, and hospitals say they are still postponing some surgeries and other procedures as a result. (Tin, 10/15)

Military Times: Pentagon Changes Discharges For 800-Plus Vets Kicked Out For Being Gay
About 820 veterans previously kicked out of the military for their sexual orientation will have their dismissals upgraded to honorable discharges following a year-long review of their service records. The upgrades were announced Tuesday morning by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who said the effort was undertaken “to redress the harms done by ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ and other policies on these former service members.” ... The changes mean that those veterans for the first time will be able to access certain VA education, health and financial benefits, a potential windfall for them and their families. (Shane III, 10/15)

The Hill: Lawmakers Calls For Extending Telemedicine Flexibilities, Object To Proposed DEA Rule
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle in the House and Senate are calling for COVID-era flexibilities on telemedicine services to be extended to ensure access to “necessary and life-saving treatments,” and are speaking out against a proposed rule reportedly being advanced by the DEA that would limit telemedicine prescribing. Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) led a group of 11 senators in a letter addressed to President Biden, objecting to a reported draft proposed rule from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to limit telemedicine prescribing. (Choi, 10/15)

Politico: Cruz Pressed On Abortion, IVF In Texas Senate Debate
Sen. Ted Cruz repeatedly would not say whether he supports allowing abortion in the cases of incest or rape during what is likely to be the only debate between the Texas Republican and his Democratic opponent, Rep. Colin Allred. “Why do you keep asking me that?” Cruz asked the moderators after the third time they asked the question. “Hold on a second. I've asked Congressman Allred twice about his voting record, and the fact that he voted to strike down Texas's parental notification law and parental consent law.” (Diaz, 10/15)

Politico: Casey, McCormick Tussle Over Abortion In Pennsylvania Senate Debate 
Fights over abortion are popping up in virtually every competitive race in the nation. And it was one of the more contentious moments on Tuesday at the mostly tame Pennsylvania Senate debate between Sen. Bob Casey (D) and businessman Dave McCormick (R). Republicans have been on defense since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, and McCormick, who has praised the Supreme Court decision, worked to toggle both sides of the sensitive issue. (Perano, 10/15)

AP: Missouri Abortion-Rights Campaign Fundraising Total At $22M One Month Before Election
A campaign to restore abortion access in Missouri so far has raised close to $22 million, finance reports filed Tuesday show. The campaign reported bringing in more than $14 million between July and the end of September alone. Missourians for Constitutional Freedom seeks to undo the state’s near-total abortion ban and is one of nine statewide campaigns to enshrine abortion rights into state constitutions. (Ballentine, 10/15)

The Baltimore Sun: Abortion Rights Group Outraises Opponents, Spends Big On Ad Campaign Supporting Maryland Ballot Question
Abortion rights advocates trying to drum up support for Maryland’s reproductive freedom ballot question have vastly outraised and outspent their opponents — pulling in more than five times the funds and unleashing a new $500,000 ad campaign three weeks before Election Day. (Janesch, 10/15)

Stat: UnitedHealth Gave Doctors Bonuses, Praise For Medicare Advantage Visits
The emails from UnitedHealth Group managers were filled with exclamation marks and pleasantries about the weather. But the underlying message to doctors in late 2020 was persistent and urgent: Hit your targets to see more patients. We need to bring in more money. (Bannow, Herman, Ross and Lawrence, 10/16)

Modern Healthcare: UnitedHealth Group's Andrew Witty Bullish On Medicare Advantage
UnitedHealth Group remains optimistic about its Medicare Advantage business after a challenging year and a half for the program at large, CEO Andrew Witty said Tuesday. The healthcare conglomerate that owns UnitedHealthcare, the leading Medicare Advantage carrier by market share, responded to financial and regulatory setbacks for the sector by emphasizing stability in its offerings, and will continue efforts to improve its star ratings quality scores, Witty told investor analysts when announcing the company's third-quarter results. (Berryman, 10/15)

Modern Healthcare: CMS' 2030 Value-Based Care Goal At 'Inflection Point'
The Biden administration's goal to move all Medicare beneficiaries into accountable care arrangements by 2030 may be just within reach, but is at a turning point. The most immediate question that could determine the initiative's future is whether Congress extends a bonus program meant to help providers transition away from fee-for-service reimbursement and toward value-based payment before it expires this winter. (McAuliff, 10/15)

CBS News: Health Care Workers Union Reaches Tentative Agreement With University Of Michigan Health
The Service Employees International Union Health Care Michigan (SEIU) Healthcare Michigan announced on Monday it had reached a tentative agreement with the University of Michigan Health, avoiding a work stoppage on Tuesday. The union did not provide details on the three-year agreement but said it allows "workers to move forward and keep their focus on taking care of Michiganders," according to a news release. (Booth-Singleton, 10/15)

Modern Healthcare: Walgreens' VillageMD, Other Care Delivery Ventures Lose $14B
Walgreens is still waiting for its healthcare services bet to pay off as the overall business loses billions of dollars. Walgreens nearly doubled its U.S. healthcare services operating losses to $526 million in the fourth quarter of its fiscal 2024 ended Aug. 31, according to financial results released Tuesday. That brings full-year losses in the segment to $14.2 billion, compared with a loss of $1.7 billion in 2023. (Hudson, 10/15)

The Boston Globe: Broad Institute Of MIT And Harvard Announces 87 Layoffs
The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, one of the most prominent biotech research centers in the world, has laid off 87 employees, a spokesperson confirmed Sunday. The layoffs came as a lucrative partnership with Microsoft was expected to conclude at the end of the year. In an email to staff Thursday, Dr. Todd Golub, the Broad’s director, attributed the cuts to the “rapid pace of technological and scientific change [which] requires us to retool to stay ahead” in the institute’s field. (Hilliard, 10/15)

CNN: Why Your Drug Store Is Closing
CVS is closing 900 stores. Rite-Aid is closing 500. Walgreens announced Tuesday it plans to close 1,200 stores, meaning 1 in 7 will disappear. What is going on with America’s drug stores? (Nathaniel Meyersohn, 10/16)

Axios: How Walgreens Plans To Retool The Future Of Its Pharmacies
Walgreens is dramatically shrinking its retail footprint and revamping its front-of-store product mix in a bid to fend off competition from online and other rivals who've upended the pharmacy business. The moves announced on Tuesday reflect big chain pharmacies' challenge to revive their core businesses amid sluggish demand, workforce crunches and shrinking prescription payments. (Reed, 10/16)

Axios: Independent Pharmacies May Skip Low-Cost Medicare Drugs
More than half of independent pharmacies are considering not stocking the first 10 drugs that were subject to Medicare price negotiations over concerns they'll have to absorb upfront costs. If the drug stores decide it's not worth it to carry these drugs, seniors could have a harder time benefiting from the first round of reduced drug prices that take effect in 2026 — especially as more chain pharmacies close. (Goldman, 10/16)

Reuters: J&J Must Pay $15 Million To Man Who Says Its Talc Caused His Cancer, Jury Finds 
Johnson & Johnson must pay $15 million to a Connecticut man who alleges that he developed mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer, as a result of using the company's talc powder for decades, a jury found on Tuesday. Plaintiff Evan Plotkin sued the company in 2021 soon after his diagnosis, saying he was sickened by inhaling J&J's baby powder. (Pierson, 10/15)

Reuters: US FDA Clears CMR Surgical's Robotic Device To Assist Gall Bladder Removal 
UK-based medical device maker CMR Surgical said on Tuesday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has cleared the upgraded version of its surgical robot to be used in gall bladder removal procedures. The portable device, called Versius Surgical System, was cleared for use in patients aged 22 years and older who are eligible for minimally invasive surgery, the company said. (10/15)

The Washington Post: Surgeons Can Create Virtual Twin Organs To Plan For Complex Surgeries
A global consortium of doctors and researchers have created a way to map a virtual organ ahead of complicated surgeries that enables surgeons to test their actions in real time. (Bernstein and McGinley, 10/15)

AP: California Health Care Workers Get A Pay Bump Under A New Minimum Wage Law
Some of the lowest-paid health care workers in California will get a pay bump Wednesday under a state law gradually increasing their wages to at least $25 an hour. Workers at rural, independent health care facilities will start making a minimum of $18 an hour, while others at hospitals with at least 10,000 full-time employees will begin getting paid at least $23 an hour this week. The law will increase workers’ pay over the next decade, with the $25 hourly rate kicking in sooner for some than others. (Austin, 10/16)

USA Today: California Students Will Learn About Periods, Menopause
California Gov. Gavin Newsom approved the Know Your Period Act in late September, making the Golden State among the first places to require menstrual health education. The new law, which goes into effect in January, is modeled after the first menstrual health education requirement in schools in Washington, D.C., last year, said Edgar Guerra, a spokesperson for Democrat California Assemblymember Lori Wilson, who authored the bill. (Jimenez, 10/16)

Reuters: Meta Must Face US State Lawsuits Over Teen Social Media Addiction 
Facebook parent company Meta must face lawsuits by U.S. states accusing it of fueling mental health problems among teens by making its Facebook and Instagram platforms addictive, a federal judge in California ruled on Tuesday. Oakland-based U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers rejected Meta's bid to toss the claims made by the states in two separate lawsuits filed last year, one involving more than 30 states including California and New York and the other brought by Florida. (Pierson, 10/15)

AP: Idaho Will Begin Using Deep Veins As Backup For Lethal Injection Executions, Officials Say
Idaho will begin using central veins deep in the groin, neck, chest or arm for executions by lethal injection if attempts to insert standard IV lines fail, the Idaho Department of Correction announced Tuesday. Using a central venous line — which involves threading a catheter through deep veins until it reaches a location near the heart — has long been a backup plan under the state’s official execution policy, but it has never been used because prison officials said the execution chamber was not designed in a way to protect the subject’s dignity during the process of inserting the line. The execution chamber has now been remodeled. (Boone, 10/15)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Long Wait Times For Aid Could Be Addressed By Missouri’s Next Governor
Missouri’s next governor will face a $14 million decision in January aimed at addressing the state’s long-standing issues with granting welfare benefits to the state’s poorest residents. Less than a year after Missouri was among 16 states flagged by the federal government for long waiting times for applications for Medicaid and food stamps, the state Department of Social Services is asking for funding to hire 220 additional employees. (Erickson, 10/15)

CBS News: Experimental SF Program Uses Meals To Help Dementia Patients Unlock Memories
The idea for this new experimental program is simple: use food to bring forgotten stories back to life. ... Studies have already shown that music can unlock memories from the past. Dr. Adrienne Green, the CEO of the San Francisco Campus for Jewish Living is betting the same thing can happen with food. "They're just coming back to life in ways that we don't see every day," she said. During a dinner party, residents got to share their dishes with the group and read a story they wrote with the help from specialists. (Hod, 10/15)

USA Today: Latest On COVID-19: XEC And KP.3.1.1 Variants, Symptoms, Cases, Data
KP.3.1.1 is still the dominant COVID-19 variant in the United States as it accounts for nearly 60% of positive cases, but the XEC variant is not far behind, recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data shows. "CDC is monitoring the XEC variant," Rosa Norman, a CDC spokesperson told USA TODAY. "XEC is the proposed name of a recombinant, or hybrid, of the closely related Omicron lineages KS.1.1 and KP.3.3." (Forbes, 10/15)

Reuters: GSK Sues Moderna For US Patent Infringement Over COVID, RSV Vaccines 
British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline sued Moderna in U.S. federal court in Delaware on Tuesday, accusing it of violating GSK patent rights in messenger RNA technology with its blockbuster COVID-19 vaccine Spikevax and RSV shot mResvia. According to the two lawsuits, Moderna's lipid nanoparticles for transporting fragile mRNA into the human body infringe several GSK patents covering similar innovations. (Brittain, 10/15)

The Boston Globe: What Causes Long COVID? For Nearly Half Of Cases, New Research Suggests An Answer.
Scientists and doctors have suspected for years that one cause of the mysterious condition known as long COVID may be reservoirs of the virus that remain hidden in the bodies of its victims long after their acute infections have passed. Earlier this month, a research team led by Boston-area scientists unveiled a study suggesting that this is true for almost half of those suffering from the condition. (Piore, 10/15)

CBS News: Two More Locally Acquired Cases Of Dengue Reported In Baldwin Park
Los Angeles County Department of Public Health officials have reported two additional cases of locally acquired dengue, a mosquito-borne illness that has been located in several other nearby cities in recent weeks. The two cases reported Tuesday, both in Baldwin Park, now make the total five for that area after a cluster was discovered in September. Since then, cases have been reported in Panorama City and El Monte. (Fioresi, 10/15)

NBC News: Parasitic Outbreak In North Carolina Traced To Undercooked Bear Meat, CDC Says
A gathering in North Carolina last year resulted in 10 probable cases of a parasitic infection from undercooked bear meat, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The outing in the western region of the state in November culminated in a presumed outbreak of trichinellosis, a rare parasitic disease linked to wild game meat, the CDC said in the report published last week. Trichinellosis occurs when people eat undercooked or raw meat harboring dormant roundworm larvae, the report said. (Planas, 10/15)

Stat: Bird Flu Pandemic Risk Divides Experts. Is It Time To Panic Yet?
If you’re aware of the H5N1 bird flu outbreak in U.S. dairy cattle — you may have seen some headlines or read something on social media — perhaps you are wondering what the fuss is about. Yes, there have been nearly a couple dozen human cases, but all have had mild symptoms. The virus does not decimate herds in the way it does poultry flocks; most — though not all — of the infected cows come through the illness OK. If, however, you are more familiar with the history of this form of bird flu, you might be getting anxious. (Branswell, 10/16)

Reuters: New Mystery Death Of Hong Kong Monkey Takes Zoo Toll To Nine 
Zoo authorities in Hong Kong are keeping close watch on a monkey that is behaving unusually a day after the ninth death this week of one of the animals, while hastening tests to find out what killed them. ... The ninth monkey, belonging to the white-faced saki species, died a day after Sunday's deaths of a De Brazza’s monkey, a common squirrel monkey, three cotton-top tamarins and three white-faced sakis. (10/15)

The Hill: Coca-Cola Recalls 'Zero Sugar' Lemonade After It's Found To Contain Full Sugar
Coca-Cola has recalled thousands of cans of Minute Maid Zero Sugar Lemonade that were improperly labeled and actually contained the regular formula of lemonade with 40 grams of sugar, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The recall, which Coca-Cola issued in September but didn’t announce publicly, applied to 13,152 cases, each with 12 cartons of 12 cans of 12 ounces of lemonade. (Fortinsky, 10/15)

AP: Protesters Demand Kellogg Remove Artificial Colors From Cereals
Dozens of people rallied outside the Michigan headquarters of WK Kellogg Co. Tuesday, demanding that the company remove artificial dyes from its breakfast cereals in the U.S. Kellogg, the maker of Froot Loops and Apple Jacks, announced nearly a decade ago that it would remove artificial colors and ingredients from its products by 2018. ... On Tuesday, activists said they were delivering petitions with more than 400,000 signatures asking WK Kellogg to remove artificial dyes and BHT from their cereals. Protesters said there was evidence that artificial dyes can contribute to behavioral issues in children. (Durbin, 10/15)

Axios: Firstborn And Only Children Likelier To Have Anxiety
Firstborn and only children are likelier to develop anxiety and depression by the time they reach age 8 than children who are born second or later, according to a new review of almost 182,500 cases. (Bettelheim, 10/16)

The Washington Post: Brazil Transplant Patients Received Organs Infected With HIV 
Brazilian health officials are scrambling to explain how six transplant patients in the country’s well-regarded public health system received organs infected with HIV — and investigating whether there are more cases to come. The revelation has shocked this South American nation and plunged its health network, a source of national pride, into crisis. (McCoy and Dias, 10/15)

The New York Times: Therapeutic Food Shortage Puts African Children At Risk Of Starvation, U.N. Agency Says 
Nearly two million children may die of malnutrition because a product used to treat the condition is in short supply, the United Nations Children’s Fund said on Monday. Four countries — Mali, Nigeria, Niger and Chad — have exhausted their supplies of the peanut-based, high-nutrient product, called ready-to-use therapeutic food, or are on the brink of doing so. Another eight nations, including South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, could run out by mid-2025. (Mandavilli, 10/14)