Stat: CDC Recommends RSV Monoclonal Antibody For Infants
A panel of advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention unanimously voted Thursday to recommend wide use among infants and some high-risk children of an antibody designed to protect against RSV, the country’s leading cause of infant hospitalization. The 10-0 recommendation from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices was adopted hours later by CDC Director Mandy Cohen. (Mast, 8/3)

Axios: New RSV Shots Could Give Parents Peace Of Mind Or Sow More Vaccine Confusion
The arrival of two shots that protect infants against respiratory syncytial virus could give parents some peace of mind from the leading cause of hospitalization of U.S. children under the age of 1. But that's only if the new treatments don't get caught up in broader vaccine skepticism — or just cause confusion by expanding childhood immunization options. (Reed and Moreno, 8/4)

In news about mpox —

CIDRAP: BARDA Orders More Jynneos Mpox Vaccine 
Bavarian Nordic has received a US government contract for $120 million to manufacture more of its Jynneos smallpox/mpox vaccine, the company said in a news release today. The order comes from the US Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response at the Department of Health and Human Services. It primarily covers the manufacturing of new vaccine. (Wappes, 8/3)

ABC News: First Was COVID. Now China Is Facing An Mpox Crisis As Cases Spike 
While cases of mpox continue to decline across the United States and Europe, infections are steadily rising in China. For the week ending July 21, 117 cases were confirmed in China, according to data from the World Health Organization. Between the week ending May 5 and the week ending July 21, 315 cases were reported. This comes after just six cases were confirmed throughout all of 2022, WHO data shows. (Kekatos, 8/2)

Stat: ProMED, An Early Warning System On Disease Outbreaks, Appears Near Collapse
The early warning disease network that alerted the world to the original SARS outbreak and the start of the Covid-19 pandemic appears to be in peril. A number of the senior moderators of ProMED-mail, a program operated by the International Society for Infectious Diseases, posted a letter of protest early Thursday, challenging a recently revealed plan to charge for subscriptions to the service. The group of 21 moderators, who announced they were suspending work for ProMED, expressed a lack of confidence in the ISID’s administrative operations, suggesting ProMED needs to find a new home. (Branswell, 8/3)

The Boston Globe: Dr. Ashish Jha: Public Health 'Cannot Become Partisan' Issue
Five years ago, the majority of America could not properly define public health, said Dr. Ashish Jha, who recently left the Biden administration as the nation’s last White House COVID-19 czar. After a global pandemic, he said the science-based field that is designed to protect people’s health has, in some circles, “become a dirty word.” On the latest episode of the Rhode Island Report podcast, Jha reflected on his time working in the White House, the persisting challenges in America’s public health system, what’s next for COVID-19, and the dangers he saw firsthand when misinformation spreads. (Gagosz, 8/3)

More on covid —

The Washington Post: Loss Of Smell And Taste Is No Longer A Common Covid Symptom
When the pandemic began, losing your sense of smell was considered a key indicator of covid-19, and the condition affected about half of those who tested positive for the coronavirus. However, a new study reveals that the chance of smell loss from the latest omicron variants has dropped dramatically since the early days of the pandemic. “So now, three people out of 100 getting covid presumably may lose their sense of smell, which is far, far less than it was before,” said study leader Evan Reiter, the medical director of Virginia Commonwealth University Health’s Smell and Taste Disorders Center. (Yarber, 8/3)

CIDRAP: Bivalent COVID Booster Protects Against Poor Outcomes Better Than 1-Strain 4th Dose
A fourth dose of the bivalent (two-strain) COVID-19 vaccine is substantially more effective against medical treatment and hospitalization than a fourth monovalent (single-strain) dose among both previously infected and never-infected people who had received three monovalent doses, concludes an observational study published yesterday in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. (Van Beusekom, 8/3)

WUSF 89.7: Here Are Some Reasons Why COVID Cases Are On The Rise In Florida
Infectious disease expert Dr. Miguel Reina Ortiz has a collaborative appointment with the University of South Florida College of Public Health. He is also an associate professor with the Boise State University School of Public and Population Health. He said the uptick in COVID-19 cases could be attributed to the increase of social and family gatherings during the summer, particularly for the July Fourth holiday. He added the intense heat outside sending people indoors is also helping to circulate the virus quicker. Another reason, he says, is waning immunity. (Bowman, 8/3)

Axios: COVID Uptick Hints At Our Future With The Virus
A recent uptick in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations is hinting at how the virus will keep raising a predictable seasonal threat. But experts warn the U.S. is lacking critical tools to help manage future waves. Infection levels are still relatively low, and immunity from prior infections and vaccinations means the virus is unlikely to reach the same high levels seen during past fall and winter waves. (Moreno, 8/4)

The New York Times: Outdoor Dining In NYC Will Be Made Permanent, With Caveats 
Some restaurant owners have expressed outrage about having to remove and store outdoor dining structures from Nov. 30 until March 31, which will take away a dining option for patrons, especially those who are immunocompromised or otherwise Covid-conscious. Smaller restaurants in particular could find it too expensive or cumbersome to participate. (Fitzsimmons, 8/3)

Stat: Medicare Slashes Safety Net Hospital Payments By Nearly $1 Billion
The federal government will pay hospitals that treat poor and uninsured patients almost $1 billion less next year, a cut that’s more than eight times larger than the one proposed in April. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services originally said it would cut payments meant to help safety net hospitals by $115 million in 2024. In the final rule released this week, however, that cut grew to $957 million. The pool of money is known as Medicare’s disproportionate share hospital (DSH) payments and uncompensated care payments. (Bannow and Herman, 8/4)

From the insurance industry —

Modern Healthcare: Cigna 2Q Earnings Report Shows Net Income Decline
Cigna intends to raise premiums to compensate for greater-than-expected, $160 million in risk-adjustment charges for its health insurance exchange business this year, the insurer disclosed Thursday. (Tepper, 8/3)

Bloomberg: Weight-Loss, Diabetes Drugs Like Ozempic, Wegovy Raise Cigna (CI) Profits
Cigna Group sees rising demand for new obesity and diabetes drugs known as GLP-1s that will boost earnings, according to a company executive. “GLP-1 utilization does continue to build,” Cigna Chief Financial Officer Brian Evanko said during a call with analysts on Thursday. (Tozzi, 8/3)

KFF Health News: Survey: Americans Want Weight Loss Drugs Despite High Cost 
Many Americans really want to lose weight — and a new poll shows nearly half of adults would be interested in taking a prescription drug to help them do so. At the same time, enthusiasm dims sharply if the treatment comes as an injection, if it is not covered by insurance, or if the weight is likely to return after discontinuing treatment, a new nationwide KFF poll found. (Appleby, 8/4)

Several health facilities are hit by cyberattacks —

Becker's Hospital Review: Ransomware Shuts Down Facilities At Connecticut Health System
A cyberattack at Manchester-based Eastern Connecticut Health Network is causing closures and emergency room diversions, NBC Connecticut reported Aug. 3. According to the health system's website, the attack prompted the closure of all primary care locations and specialty care locations. The disruption was also felt at all Prospect Medical Facilities, ECHN's parent company, according to its website. (Schwartz, 8/3)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Ransomware Hits Crozer Health And Its Owner Prospect Medical Holdings
Computer systems at Delaware County’s Crozer Health were offline Thursday after a ransomware attack on the health system’s owner, Prospect Medical Holdings Inc., the company said. (Brubaker, 8/3)

More health industry developments —

CIDRAP: Report Highlights Hospital Sinks As Source Of Highly Resistant Pathogen
A case report published today in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report highlights the role of the hospital water environment in the transmission of highly resistant, difficult-to-treat pathogens. The report by researchers with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Idaho Division of Public Health (IDPH), and Utah Public Health Laboratory (UPHL) describes the identification and investigation of carbapenemase-producing, carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (CP-CRPA) in two patients who stayed in the same room in an intensive care unit (ICU) in Idaho 4 months apart. (Dall, 8/3)

The Boston Globe: State To Give Hospitals $180 Million In Latest COVID Relief
The state’s most vulnerable hospitals are about to get an infusion of cash, thanks to a supplemental budget bill that Gov. Maura Healey signed this week. Legislators said the hospital funding, a total of $180 million, will be essential to institutions grappling with deep financial losses lingering from the pandemic, but specific rules will mean the money is targeted to hospitals that serve high portions of low-income patients and those with proven financial difficulty. (Bartlett, 8/3)

Bangor Daily News: Former Maine Doctor Sued Over Hundreds Of Illegal Prescription Allegations
A civil lawsuit against a former Maine doctor claims he allowed another person to electronically prescribe drugs in his name while he was out of the country. The complaint, filed Aug. 1, claims Douglas Jorgensen caused electronic prescriptions for Schedule II drugs to be dispensed by another person using his U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration registration from Sept. 25, 2018, through April 26, 2019. The allegations are a violation of the Controlled Substances Act, which ensures that such drugs are accounted for when dispensed and distributed. (O'Brien, 8/3)

KFF Health News: KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': Congress Is Out. The Presidential Campaign Is In
Congress has left for its annual August recess, but lawmakers have a long to-do list waiting when they return — and only a handful of legislative days to fund the government before the Oct. 1 start of the new fiscal year. Meanwhile, Republican presidential candidates who are not named Donald J. Trump are preparing for their first televised debate and making interesting promises about health care. (8/3)

Stat: White House Drug Shortage Group Privately Met With Industry
A new White House task force on drug shortages held a rare in-person meeting last Friday with representatives from hospitals, drugmakers, pharmacies, and others in the drug supply chain to brainstorm policies for stemming shortages of cancer drugs. (Wilkerson, 8/3)

More pharmaceutical updates —

Stat: Biotech Startup Celsius Cuts 75% Of Staff Ahead Of First Trial Start
Launching your first clinical trial is the type of announcement most biotech executives eagerly anticipate, hoping to celebrate with employees. But for Celsius Therapeutics CEO Tariq Kassum, it’s proving to be more difficult than he anticipated. That’s because in recent days, Celsius, based in Cambridge, Mass., has been forced to conduct a round of layoffs, sources told STAT. Kassum confirmed around 75% of Celsius’ 40-person team had been laid off, and disclosed that the biotech has also been quietly paring back its pipeline this year. It shut down almost all early-stage research projects, including pausing all of its cancer drug work, in order to conserve enough cash for the Phase 1 trial it announced this week. (DeAngelis, 8/3)

Stat: Micronoma's Microbiome Cancer Diagnostic Approach Under Fire
Micronoma, a San Diego-based biotech startup, was founded on the idea that signatures from microbes that colonize tumors could lead to a blood test to detect cancer. The hypothesis was based on a high-profile Nature paper, published in 2020, that suggested these microbes are consistently found in tumors, and that they create such specific signatures they could be used to identify cancer types with nearly 100% accuracy. But late Monday night, a team of researchers published a manuscript on the preprint site bioRxiv.com showing what they believe to be two “fatal errors” in the Nature paper’s analyses, invalidating not only the paper’s findings but possibly the scientific foundation for Micronoma, which has raised an estimated $17.5 million in funding from investors including SymBiosis Capital Management and the Seerave Foundation. (Chen and Herper, 8/3)

Stat: Alnylam Reports Growth In Sales Of Rare Disease Treatments
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals said Thursday that sales of its treatments for rare diseases grew 43% in the second quarter compared to the year-ago period, as the biotech prepares for a key meeting with the Food and Drug Administration in September. (Trang and Feuerstein, 8/3)

Stat: Vertex Faces Renewed Calls To Widen Access To Its Cystic Fibrosis Medicines In Poor Countries
Several Latino advocacy groups and more than 100 clinicians from dozens of countries are lending their voices to an expanding campaign to pressure Vertex Pharmaceuticals to widen access to its cystic fibrosis medications. (Silverman, 8/3)

Axios: Silicon Valley's Biotech Sector Still Growing Amid Economy Concerns 
Silicon Valley's tech companies have struggled with mass layoffs in the past year, but the biotech industry hasn't suffered quite the same fate. The Bay Area's biotech hub has been in the national spotlight in recent years amid pandemic-era breakthroughs and cautionary tales like Theranos' fall from grace. (Chen, 8/3)

The New York Times: Medical Group Backs Youth Gender Treatments, But Calls For Research Review 
The American Academy of Pediatrics backed gender-related treatments for children on Thursday, reaffirming its position from 2018 on a medical approach that has since been banned in 19 states. But the influential group of doctors also took an extra step of commissioning a systematic review of medical research on the treatments, following similar efforts in Europe that found uncertain evidence for their effectiveness in adolescents. (Ghorayshi, 8/3)

In news from Florida about gender and health —

Tampa Bay Times: Florida Veered From Norms To Strip Transgender Care From Medicaid, Records Show
Days before a state agency began researching whether transgender medical care for Floridians should be covered by Medicaid, officials started lining up experts known for going against the scientific mainstream. (Mahoney and Ellenbogen, 8/2)

Florida Today: Permanent Rules On Transgender Health To Be Made By End Of Year, Board Of Medicine Says
Doctors from the state Board of Medicine and the Board of Osteopathic Medicine voted Thursday to wait until later this year to create permanent rules for transgender health care in Florida. During an hour-long joint meeting of the boards, held in Orlando Thursday afternoon, doctors voted unanimously on the delay and discussed how to move forward with establishing rules governing gender-affirming care for both transgender adults and minors in the state. (Walker, 8/3)

USA Today: Florida Effectively Bans AP Psychology Over Gender, Sexuality Unit
Florida superintendents were advised Thursday by the state to nix their Advanced Placement Psychology classes unless they exclude any topics related to gender or sexuality, according to The College Board, which oversees the AP program. ... "We are sad to have learned that today the Florida Department of Education has effectively banned AP Psychology in the state by instructing Florida superintendents that teaching foundational content on sexual orientation and gender identity is illegal under state law," the College Board said. "The state has said districts are free to teach AP Psychology only if it excludes any mention of these essential topics." (Goñi-Lessan, 8/3)

From Indiana, Oklahoma, and Missouri —

The Hill: Appeals Court Upholds Ruling Granting Indiana Transgender Students Access To Restrooms
A federal appeals court this week upheld a lower court ruling that transgender students in Indiana must have access to school restrooms and locker rooms consistent with their gender identity. (Migdon, 8/3)

The Hill: Oklahoma Governor Signs Order Targeting Transgender Rights
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) signed an executive order Tuesday directing state agencies to adopt narrow definitions of “male” and “female” in a move that will roll back legal protections for transgender people in the state. (Migdon, 8/2)

NPR: A Family Caught Up In Missouri's Fight Over Transgender Issues Moves Out Of State
One Missouri family talks about their decision to move to Colorado, before laws restricting transgender health care and youth sports go into effect at the end of the month. (Arena, 8/3)

Politico: Henry Cuellar, Democrats' Last Anti-Abortion Lawmaker, Gets Leadership Endorsements 
Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) announced endorsements on Thursday for his 2024 reelection from the entire House Democratic leadership team, a sharp reversal from last year’s midterms, when he was all but abandoned by his party’s top brass. (Ferris, 8/3)

Abortion news from Missouri, Wyoming, Guam, and Texas —

Missouri Independent: Trial Set On Missouri Abortion Rights Amendment Ballot Title
A Cole County judge promised Thursday he would rule quickly after a Sept. 11 trial over the language voters will see when they consider an initiative petition to reinstate the right to an abortion. At a hearing on challenges to the ballot titles written for six proposed petitions, Circuit Judge Jon Beetem told attorneys that he knows whatever he decides will be appealed. And after a recently resolved dispute between State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick and Attorney General Andrew Bailey delayed other action on the petitions for more than 100 days, time is short for the collection of roughly 170,000 signatures needed to make the 2024 ballot. (Keller, 8/3)

Billings Gazette: Suspended Bans And Expanding Access Are Helping Wyoming Women Get Abortions
The Wyoming Department of Health’s 2022 report didn’t capture all abortions in the state. The number of women who received abortions in Wyoming doubled last year to 200, according to the Department of Health’s official 2022 Induced Termination of Pregnancy Report — but even that total appears to fall well short of the actual count. (Hannon Casper, 8/3)

AP: A Federal Appeals Court Just Made Medication Abortions Harder To Get In Guam
People seeking medication abortions on the U.S. Territory of Guam must first have an in-person consultation with a doctor, a federal appeals court says, even though the nearest physician willing to prescribe the medication is 3,800 miles (6,100 kilometers) — an 8-hour flight — away. The ruling handed down Tuesday by a unanimous three-judge panel on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals could make it even more difficult for pregnant people to access abortions on the remote island where 85% of residents are Catholic and about 1 in 5 live below the poverty line. The last doctor to provide abortions in Guam retired in 2018, leaving people seeking the procedure without local options. (Boone and Komenda, 8/3)

The Washington Post: An Abortion Ban Made Them Teen Parents. This Is Life Two Years Later. 
Two years after the Texas abortion law banned a teen from getting an abortion, she has twin toddlers. A follow on the Pulitzer Prize winning story of Brooke Alexander's journey after she wasn't able to get an abortion. (Kitchener, 8/1)

In other news about pregnancy and childbirth —

Axios: Many Policies Targeting Alcohol Use During Pregnancy Don't Work: Study
Policies intended to discourage or criminalize drinking while pregnant have no effect on infant health, or in some cases can actually be harmful, a new JAMA Network Open study finds. The study is the latest research supporting evidence that criminalizing alcohol and drug use during pregnancy is leading to worse outcomes among newborns, experts say. (Dreher, 8/3)

The New York Times: An Evolutionary Debate On The Risks Of Childbirth 
Scientists are revisiting an influential theory that the evolution of big brains made human childbirth risky. (Zimmer, 7/30)

San Francisco Chronicle: Nearly 90% Of Teens And Young Adults Have Mental Health Challenges
Nearly 9 out of 10 U.S. teens and young adults say they experience mental health challenges regularly, according to a national survey released Thursday by the Harris Poll and health insurer Blue Shield of California. Eighty-seven percent of people ages 14 to 25 say they have mental health challenges on a regular basis, the survey found. It was conducted May 31 to June 13 and included responses from 1,368 people, including 318 in California. (Ho, 8/3)

Stat: Study Links Childhood Stress With Decline In Older Age
Stressful experiences during childhood could have more far-reaching effects than previously thought, contributing to issues with daily tasks like getting dressed or preparing meals in older age, according to a new national analysis. (Castillo, 8/3)

USA Today: Moms For Liberty, Bucking DeSantis, Says No School Mental Health Care
In a social media post last week, Moms for Liberty wrote, “Health care has no place in public schools,” as a response to President Joe Biden announcing his new strategy to improve mental health care by adding more providers and expanding access. “Mental health care is health care Mr. President. That’s why it has NO place in public schools. #ParentalRights,” Moms for Liberty also posted. In Florida, mental health care has been a top bipartisan priority since 2018, when a shooter killed 17 children at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. (Goñi-Lessan, 8/3)

NPR: Petting Other People's (Friendly) Dogs Can Boost Your Health
"Absolutely. I think it is safe to say that animals are beneficial to our mental and physical health," says Nancy Gee, a professor of psychiatry and director of the Center for Human-Animal Interaction at Virginia Commonwealth University. Gee says evidence is accumulating that levels of the stress hormone cortisol drop in people after just 5 to 20 minutes spent interacting with dogs — even if it's not their pet. "Also, we see increases in oxytocin, that feel-good kind of bonding hormone," she says. (Godoy, 8/3)

If you are in need of help —

Dial 9-8-8 for 24/7 support from the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. It's free and confidential.

In other health and wellness news —

CBS News: 20-Year-Long U Study Shows Link Between Artificial Sweeteners, Increased Body Fat
A decades-long research study from the University of Minnesota has linked the long-term consumption of artificial sweeteners to increased body fat. The study, from the U's Medical School and School of Public Health, set out to study the relationship between the intake of sweeteners, like aspartame and saccharin, and the risk of cardiovascular disease. (8/3)

WLRN: Are Phones Causing More Kids To Be Nearsighted? Here's What A Miami Optometrist Sees
Increased exposure to screens, like smartphones and tablets, is causing myopia, or nearsightedness, to become more common among children at younger ages. "Myopia occurs when your eye actually grows too long," said Vicky Fischer, a pediatric optometrist in Miami. "Children are supposed to be born with a very short eye, because children are short, their eyes should be short, and then they should grow to a normal size when they're adults." Fischer sees patients as young as 6 months old with vision issues. (Zaragovia, 8/3)

KFF Health News: Teens With Addiction Are Often Left To Detox Without Medication 
When Denver Health wanted to open an inpatient opioid detox unit specifically for teens, doctors there searched high and low for a model to copy. They didn’t find one. Teens who land in emergency rooms with an opioid overdose generally receive naloxone to reverse the effects of dangerous drugs in their system and are sent home with a list of places they can go for follow-up care. But too often, those teens never seek additional help. They are left to suffer through the agony of withdrawal with no medications to ease their cravings. As a result, many, seeking relief, go back to opioids, often with tragic consequences. (Hawryluk, 8/4)

Stat: With Heat Waves Through August, Officials Warn Of Health Risks
An already record-setting summer heat wave will continue through August and will put more than 51 million Americans at risk of health impacts, according to new data from federal health officials. Most of those vulnerable people live in 26 states and are expected to have at least five extreme heat days this month. Among the highest-risk counties, roughly 45% have high levels of uninsured adults and children and 18% have high senior populations, according to a relatively new monthly report drafted by the Health and Human Services Department’s two-year-old climate change office. (Owermohle, 8/3)

Los Angeles Times: 'Heat Dome' To Return To Broil Southern California This Weekend
After a brief reprieve, a persistent “heat dome” that has broiled the Southwest since early July will return to Southern California this weekend, bringing another round of sweltering temperatures. Highs are expected to peak Sunday in most of Los Angeles County, reaching triple digits in the valleys and deserts, and into the 90s downtown and the upper 80s along the coast. (Toohey, 8/3)

The Washington Post: Your Body Can Build Up Tolerance To Heat. Here’s How.
The best way to build up your body’s tolerance is by exposing yourself safely to short bouts of heat and humidity and gradually increasing the length of exposure, a process known as heat acclimatization, said W. Larry Kenney, a professor of physiology and kinesiology at Penn State. Allowing your body to experience heat through these repeated and controlled exposures, especially if you’re doing physical activity, can trigger physiological adaptations that improve your ability to withstand hotter temperatures and can help lower the risk of heat-related illness and death, he said. (Chiu, 7/29)

Los Angeles Times: Flea-Borne Typhus Led To L.A. County Deaths Amid Rise In Cases
Flea-borne typhus was tied to three deaths in Los Angeles County last year amid a rise in reported cases of the illness, according to a report released Thursday. The deaths marked the first time in almost three decades that anyone was reported to have died of illness associated with flea-borne typhus in L.A. County, public health researchers found. The report tallied 171 cases of flea-borne typhus reported in L.A. County in 2022 — a significant increase from the 31 cases reported in 2010. (Alpert Reyes, 8/3)

CBS News: Case Of West Nile Virus Confirmed In Another County On Colorado's Rain Soaked Front Range As Culex Mosquito Populations Surge
Another human case of the West Nile virus has shown up as Colorado's rain soaked Front Range plays host to a banner year for mosquitoes. This time the West Nile case is in Boulder County. "The resident, in their 40s, was believed to be infected while in Lafayette and has not been hospitalized," said Boulder County Health in a statement. (Gionet, 8/3)

The Mercury News: Person Tests Positive For West Nile Virus In Santa Clara County
Santa Clara County public health officials announced on Thursday the county’s first human case of West Nile virus for the season, confirmed in a person who was reported to be resting at home after a hospitalization. (Turner, 8/3)

Also —

CBS News: UCSF Doctors Leading Way On Eliminating Climate-Harmful General Anesthesia Gas Use
Doctors in San Francisco are at the forefront of a movement to replace the drugs used for general anesthesia, which have been determined to be contributing to our climate change crisis. From hip replacements to C-sections and brain surgeries, modern medicine is simply not possible without anesthesia. More than 300 million major surgeries are performed every year around the world, with about 50 million in the U.S. alone. (Donchey and McCrea, 8/3)

Becker's Hospital Review: Medicaid Extends Telehealth Coverage In New York
The New York State Department of Health has extended telehealth coverage under Medicaid through Dec. 31, 2024. The increased demand for telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in expanded coverage of these services. Prior to the COVID-19 public health emergency, only 25 types of Medicaid providers were eligible for telehealth services reimbursements. The expansion enabled all Medicaid providers within Medicaid facilities to be authorized for reimbursements. (Talaga, 8/3)

In other health news from across the U.S. —

The CT Mirror: State Asks Judge To Close Waterbury Gardens Nursing Home
The state of Connecticut has asked a Superior Court judge to close a Waterbury nursing home that is costing the state nearly $1 million a month to operate. The state took receivership of Waterbury Gardens in 2019 and has operated it since then. But in her most recent report, New Haven attorney Katharine Sacks, the appointed receiver who is overseeing the operation of the home, cited severe staff shortages, continued cash flow issues and problems with the building that make it infeasible to keep the facility open. (Altimari and Carlesso, 8/3)

AP: Former First-Round NBA Draft Pick Is Sentenced To 10 Years In Prison In $4M Health Care Fraud 
A federal judge sentenced a former first-round NBA draft pick to 10 years in prison Thursday, saying he used his people skills to entice others to aid his $5 million health care fraud after he “frittered away” substantial earnings from his professional career. Terrence Williams, 36, of Seattle, was also ordered to forfeit more than $650,000 and to pay $2.5 million in restitution for ripping off the NBA’s Health and Welfare Benefit Plan between 2017 and 2021 with the help of a dentist in California and doctors in California and Washington state. Profits were generated by claims for fictitious medical and dental expenses. (Neumeister, 8/3)

NBC News: Multipronged $50 Million Campaign Backed By Labor Aims To Prioritize Child And Senior Care
A new labor-backed campaign plans to spend at least $50 million ahead of the 2024 election to put child and senior care legislation back on the priority list, after it fell out of President Joe Biden’s legislative agenda during his administration. The "Care Can’t Wait" campaign is focused on resurrecting parts of Biden's "Build Back Better" program, including universal child care and guaranteed paid family and medical leave that Democrats were forced to abandon due to opposition from Republicans and moderate Democrats. It will also push for billions in new spending for child and senior care. (Seitz-Wald, 8/4)

Detroit Free Press: Wayne County Launches Air-Quality Monitoring System
Wayne County plans to launch a three-year, $2.7 million initiative to install 100 air-quality monitors on streetlights and other posts across its 43 communities to track levels of air pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide, ozone, and black carbon and other particulate matter. The aim is to provide real-time data to the county's 1.8 million residents about the quality of the air they're breathing and alert them when conditions are poor and could make it difficult to breathe or could exacerbate chronic health problems, county leaders announced Wednesday. (Jordan Shamus, 8/3)

KFF Health News: As Water Reuse Expands, Proponents Battle The ‘Yuck’ Factor
When Janet Cruz lost an April election for a Tampa City Council seat, she became a political casualty of an increasingly high-stakes debate over recycled water. During her time in the Florida Legislature, Cruz had supported a new law allowing the use of treated wastewater in local water systems. But many Tampa residents were staunchly opposed to a plan by their water utility to do just that, and Cruz was forced to backtrack, with her spokesperson asserting she had never favored the type of complete water reuse known as “toilet to tap.” She lost anyway, and the water plan has been canceled. (Robbins, 8/4)

The Washington Post: 'Oppenheimer' Fanfare Ignores N.M. ‘Downwinders’ Caught In Bomb Fallout
What happened here in the aftermath, surviving “downwinders” and their relatives say, is a legacy of serious health consequences that have gone unacknowledged for 78 years. Their struggles continue to be pushed aside; the new blockbuster film “Oppenheimer,” which spotlights the scientist most credited for the bomb, ignores completely the people who lived in the shadow of his test site. (Brulliard and Gilbert, 7/29)

The Washington Post: Controversy At Philadelphia's Mütter Museum Over Human Remains
What happens when 21st-century ethics collide with a 19th-century collection? (Judkis, 7/27)

The Boston Globe: Space Medicine: Doctors Prepare For Future In Earth's Remote Places
he patient arrived at the makeshift clinic near a Mount Everest base camp strapped to the back of a fellow porter. He was unconscious, on the verge of death. The clinic, a plywood hut powered by solar panels and car batteries, was miles from help. It had no imaging equipment to check for head injuries, no lab to help find clues of what might be going wrong. The doctor evaluating him, Luke Apisa, a physician from Massachusetts General Hospital, instead had to rely on a handheld device that showed fluid in his lungs and what he could observe. (Lazar, 7/29)

AP: Blue Blood From Horseshoe Crabs Is Valuable For Medicine, But A Declining Bird Needs Them For Food 
A primordial sea animal that lives on the tidal mudflats of the East Coast and serves as a linchpin for the production of vital medicines stands to benefit from new protective standards. But conservationists who have been trying for years to save a declining bird species — the red knot — that depends on horseshoe crabs fear the protections still don’t go far enough. (Whittle, 7/30)

Stat: MIT Professor Designs An Ultrasound Bra To Detect Breast Cancer
Canan Dagdeviren has dedicated her career to creating tools that can capture data from every nook and cranny of the human body. An electrode that reads brain signals in Parkinson’s patients. A tattoo-like patch to detect skin cancer. And now, a bra containing a flexible ultrasound that could one day be used to more comfortably screen for breast cancer. (Lawrence, 7/28)

Scientific American: Your Genes May Influence What You Like To Eat 
You are what you eat—and what you eat may be encoded in your DNA. Studies have indicated that your genetics play a role in determining the foods you find delicious or disgusting. But exactly how big a role they play has been difficult to pin down. “Everything has a genetic component, even if it’s small,” says Joanne Cole, a geneticist and an assistant professor at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. “We know that there is some genetic contribution to why we eat the foods we eat. Can we take the next step and actually pinpoint the regions in the genome?” (Young, 8/1)

The Washington Post: It’s A Busy, Noisy, Bright World. For Some, Going Out Is Hard
The unrelenting hum of harsh, fluorescent lights. Aisles crowded with people jostling your cart. Startling announcements blaring over loudspeakers. For some, these common shopping experiences are extremely stressful, debilitating or even painful. They have what is known as sensory processing disorder, a neurological condition that can cause people to be either over- or under-responsive to different internal and external sensory stimuli, as well as experience other sensory processing differences that can lead to challenges with language, coordination, movement or intellectual milestones. (Morris, 8/3)

The Wall Street Journal: In Ukraine, Amputations Already Evoke Scale Of World War I
In February, Ruslana Danilkina, a 19-year-old Ukrainian soldier, came under fire near the front line around Zaporizhzhia in southeastern Ukraine. Shrapnel tore her left leg off above the knee. She clutched her severed thigh bone and watched medics place her severed leg into the vehicle that took her to a hospital. “I was holding the bone in my hands… there and then I realized that this was the end, that my life would never be the same again,” Danilkina said. Danilkina is one of between 20,000 and 50,000 Ukrainians who have lost one or more limbs since the start of the war, according to previously undisclosed estimates by prosthetics firms, doctors and charities. (Pancevski, 8/1)

The Washington Post: Paxlovid Is Still Underutilized. That Must Change
Just 1 in 4 nursing home residents who were diagnosed with covid-19 between May 2021 and December 2022 were prescribed an antiviral medication such as Paxlovid to treat the disease. In fact, an astounding 40 percent of nursing home facilities said they had no residents who received antiviral treatments. (Leana S. Wen, 8/3)

CNN: Why Some Salads May Be Unsafe
Listeria is just one of a host of pathogens that, from time to time, contaminate foods and infect the consumers who eat them. Salmonella, hepatitis, E. coli and Cyclospora, too, have been the cause of major outbreaks. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 48 million people contract foodborne illnesses each year in the US, 128,000 are hospitalized and 3,000 die. This leaves consumers in a quandary: how to feed ourselves and our loved ones without risking illness. Even harder to contend with is the fact that the food products most susceptible to contamination are often those we eat for their health benefits – produce items. (Kirsi Goldynia, 8/3)

Houston Chronicle: A Terminally Ill Man Wants To Die. Is Physician-Assisted Suicide 'Compassionate Care'? 
I had never met a dying man before. Or, at least, a man an inch away from death and so eager for eternal rest. Michael Swearingen had been told he had six months to live back in September but his body keeps hanging on until the bitter end. And boy, has it been bitter. (Regina Lankenau, 8/4)

USA Today: What 'Oppenheimer' Left Out: I'm One Of America's Nuclear Test Victims
Driven in part by Nolan’s "Oppenheimer" and the cries of affected communities nationwide, the Senate recently passed an amendment to expand compensation for victims of radiation exposure from the production and testing of nuclear weapons. It’s well past time that we are recognized as the true legacy of Oppenheimer’s bomb. (Mary Dickson, 8/4)

Dallas Morning News: Gender Expectations Made Me Think I Was Trans
I thought I was a trans kid. From as early as age 11, I played with the idea of living as the opposite sex. Chronic social media usage, early exposure to pornography, insistent bullying, rapid-onset puberty and a history of abuse and neglect (among other things) made girlhood painful and traumatic. (Soren Aldaco, 8/3)

Stat: It Costs An Awful Lot Of Money To Give Away A Kidney
“All of your medical and surgical expenses will be paid by your recipient’s insurance,” the nurse coordinator at the Mayo Clinic told me. Naïve, I nodded into the phone at this reassurance. I had already worked with her to have several vials of my blood shipped from my home in Kansas City to Mayo in Rochester, Minnesota, all at no cost to me. Now she was calling to tell me the astounding news: Tests on that blood had revealed I was a perfect match for Deb Porter Gill, a kidney patient I had read about in the newspaper two months before. “But insurance will not pay for your travel or other non-medical expenses,” the nurse coordinator continued. “There are some sources of assistance we can discuss, but if you don’t qualify, you will have to pay for those yourself.” (Martha Gershun, 8/4)

Also —

CNN: American Women Have An Alcohol Problem. It’s Critical To Understand Why 
American women have a problem with booze. A new study from The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) shows that alcohol-related deaths are rising generally, but are rising more quickly among women than among men. (Jill Filipovic, 8/1)

The Tennessean: Addiction Must Stay On The Agenda. It's Time To Focus On The Demand
A few years ago one could hardly escape talking about the epidemic of opioid addiction. Get together a group of community leaders and politicians, ask what problem to discuss, and the best bet was opioids. (William Lyons, 8/3)