Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
OpenAI Foundation Gives $100M To Advance Hep C Cure Rates
Fierce Healthcare: OpenAI Foundation Commits $100M To Public Health Initiative
The OpenAI Foundation invested $100 million towards a new public health initiative with the Common Health Coalition aimed at helping states and local jurisdictions close discovery-to-delivery gaps, beginning with hepatitis C. The program—dubbed the Breakthroughs to Follow-Through (B2F) Initiative—will initially focus on helping state-based partners to “at least double” hepatitis C cure rates over the next two years across eight initial states and localities, according to a press release. (Gleeson, 8/13)
Notes about the healthcare sector —
CIDRAP: Invasive Mold Disease Linked To High Rates Of ICU Care, Death
New surveillance data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) highlight the severity of invasive mold disease (IMD), finding that, during five years, 45% of patients with IMD at four hospitals died within 90 days, and half required mechanical ventilation. (Bergeson, 8/12)
CIDRAP: Study: 10% Of Hospitalized Pneumonia Patients Tested For Coccidioides Were Infected
Of 1,141 adult patients in Arizona hospitalized for community-acquired pneumonia, 76% were tested for Coccidioides infection, and 10% had positive results, Mayo Clinic Phoenix researchers report in Open Forum Infectious Diseases. The researchers reviewed the medical records of CAP patients admitted to Mayo Clinic Hospital from November 2024 through October 2025 to determine the rate and patterns of coccidioidomycosis testing and positivity over time. (Van Beusekom, 8/12)
MedPage Today: Wait Times For Cancer Surgery Are Increasing, Study Finds
Cancer patients are facing longer wait times between diagnosis and the start of first-course therapy, a retrospective cohort study suggested. (Bassett, 8/12)
On silicosis, cancer, arthritis, and the latest statin study —
CIDRAP: Public Health Alerts: Silicosis Among Workers Fabricating Engineered Stone (‘Quartz’) Countertops In California, 2019-2026
A Public Health Alerts report today highlights almost 600 cases of silicosis—an incurable lung disease caused by inhaling silica particles—in workers making stone countertops in California over a span of more than seven years. In the report, researchers from the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and their partners note that 65 of the 592 patients needed a lung transplant, and 31 of them died. (Wappes, 8/12)
Fox News: Blood Cancer Progression May Be Detectable Years Before Diagnosis
DNA patterns could reveal whether certain blood cancers are progressing years before routine tests detect those changes, new research suggests. A study, published in the journal Cancer Discovery by the American Association for Cancer Research, followed 30 people with myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs), a group of blood cancers in which the bone marrow produces too many blood cells. (Stabile, 8/12)
MedPage Today: Arthritis Pain Management Falls Short In U.S., CDC Study Suggests
Federal survey data for 2023 showed an estimated prevalence of moderate to severe joint pain among U.S. adults of 58.5%, suggesting that pain management in arthritis has a long way to go. (Gever, 8/12)
MedPage Today: Stopping Statins In Trial Didn't Raise Mortality Risk, But ...
Experts were still unsure whether stopping primary prevention statins in the elderly was a good idea following the report of a modestly sized randomized trial. In Statins in the Elderly (SITE, also known as SAGA), statin discontinuation was noninferior to continuation in regard to all-cause mortality over 3 years among people ages 75 and older who were longtime users of the therapy and had no history of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). (Lou, 8/12)
Women's health updates —
MedPage Today: Alzheimer's Risk Lower For Women On Estrogen-Only Menopausal Hormone Therapy
Women who used estrogen-only menopausal hormone therapy (MHT) had a reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease, according to a retrospective longitudinal study. (George, 8/12)
MedPage Today: Debate On Use Of SSRIs In Pregnancy Shifting, Experts Say
For pregnant women with major depressive disorder (MDD), serious adverse outcomes are unlikely with the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), researchers said. (Firth, 8/12)
Also —
Bloomberg: Google To Track Insulin Trends With New Wearables Feature On Watch 5, Fitbit Air
Alphabet Inc.’s Google is bringing a new set of health features to its wearables, including one that tracks insulin resistance over time, marking a first for consumer tech companies that are working to eventually crack comprehensive blood-sugar monitoring. The new tool, announced Wednesday, does not continuously monitor or show glucose levels, which would mark a major breakthrough. Instead, Google is tracking physiological factors that it considers indicators of how hard the human body is working to produce energy from food. (Kelly, 8/12)
MedPage Today: BMI Aside, Waist Size Matters For Cardiovascular Risks
There were plenty of people whose normal weight belied the higher cardiovascular risk evident in their waist size, according to a pooled analysis of over a dozen cohort studies. (Lou, 8/11)
