Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Supreme Court Unanimously Dismisses Case That Threatened Key ADA Tool
The 19th: Advocates Relieved After Supreme Court Dismisses Acheson Case As Moot
Disability advocates are breathing a sigh of relief after the Supreme Court ruled unanimously Tuesday to dismiss as moot Acheson Hotels LLC. v. Laufer, a case that could have gutted a key enforcement tool of the Americans with Disabilities Act nationwide. At issue was whether civil rights testers have standing to sue hotels they have no intention of staying at, a practice that disability and civil rights advocates argue is necessary to force businesses to comply with accessibility standards set by the ADA. Standing is the right to sue by dint of being an impacted party, (Luterman, 12/6)
KFF Health News and Cox Media Group: Social Security Clawbacks Hit A Million More People Than Agency Chief Told Congress
The Social Security Administration has demanded money back from more than 2 million people a year — more than twice as many people as the head of the agency disclosed at an October congressional hearing. That’s according to a document KFF Health News and Cox Media Group obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. (Hilzenrath and Fleischer, 12/6)
In updates on HIV/AIDS —
Stat: Study Billed As The Last Chance To Soon Develop An HIV Vaccine Fails
A study billed as the last chance to develop an HIV vaccine this decade has been shut down, investigators announced Wednesday at a conference in Harare, Zimbabwe. The trial, known as PrEPVacc, was testing two different vaccine regimens on about 1,500 volunteers in East and Southern Africa. After multiple other high-profile trials failed, a PrEPVacc investigator described the study this summer as “the last roll of the dice” for an HIV vaccine until the 2030s. (Mast, 12/6)
Politico: ‘Stalemate’ On AIDS Relief To Drag Into 2024
The top Republican working to extend the United States’ global HIV/AIDS relief work admitted negotiations are deadlocked, jeopardizing one of the most successful U.S. foreign interventions of this century. “I’m disappointed,” Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) told POLITICO. “Honestly, I was looking forward to marking up a five-year reauthorization, and now I’m in this abortion debate.” (Ollstein and Paun, 12/7)
In other health and wellness news —
Stat: Using AI, Scientists Create Blood Test That Measures Organ Aging And Predicts Disease Risk
In today’s mostly plague- and famine-free world, if you can avoid more modern scourges like gun and car violence, you can expect your death to arrive not with a bang but a whimper; when one of your organs sput-sput-sputters out. And it is usually just one organ or organ system. For some, it’s a calcium-clogged heart. For others, kidneys that no longer filter. They might all work a little less well as we get older, but they don’t tend to fail all at once. (Molteni, 12/6)
Fox News: Fasting Could Reduce Signs Of Alzheimer’s Disease, Studies Suggest: ‘Profound Effects’
Participating in intermittent (time-restricted) fasting could lead to a reduced risk of cognitive deterioration, a recent study published in the journal Cell Metabolism suggests. Researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine adjusted the feeding schedule of certain groups of mice so that they only ate within six-hour windows each day. Compared to a control group of mice that ate on demand, the fasting mice showed improvements in memory, were less hyperactive in the evenings and had fewer sleep disruptions. (Rudy, 12/6)
CNN: Pediatric Eating Disorder Hospitalizations Are Rising. Who Is Affected May Surprise You
Clinicians, researchers and activists have stressed the need for better treatment and services of people with eating disorders who don’t fit the stereotypical patient profile — and recent data suggests a growing need. Researchers analyzed data of more than 11,000 pediatric eating disorder hospitalizations in Ontario between April 2002 and March 2020, according to a new study. (Holcombe, 12/6)
KFF Health News: Food Sovereignty Movement Sprouts As Bison Return To Indigenous Communities
Behind American Indian Hall on the Montana State University campus, ancient life is growing. Six-foot-tall corn plants tower over large green squash and black-and-yellow sunflowers. Around the perimeter, stalks of sweetgrass grow. The seeds for some of these plants grew for millennia in Native Americans’ gardens along the upper Missouri River. It’s one of several Native American ancestral gardens growing in the Bozeman area, totaling about an acre. Though small, the garden is part of a larger, multifaceted effort around the country to promote “food sovereignty” for reservations and tribal members off reservation, and to reclaim aspects of Native American food and culture that flourished in North America for thousands of years before the arrival of European settlers. (Robbins, 12/7)
