Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
From KFF Health News - Latest Stories:
KFF Health News Original Stories
How America Lost Control of the Bird Flu, Setting the Stage for Another Pandemic
Exclusive reporting reveals how the United States lost track of a virus that could cause the next pandemic. Problems like the sluggish pace of federal action, deference to industry, and neglect for the safety of low-wage workers put the country at risk of another health emergency.
Employers Press Congress To Cement Health Price Transparency Before Trump’s Return
Donald Trump’s first administration advanced rules forcing hospitals and insurers to reveal prices for medical services. Employers don’t want to risk backtracking during Trump’s second administration.
‘Bill of the Month’: The Series That Dissects and Slashes Medical Bills
Since 2018, readers and listeners sent KFF Health News-NPR’s “Bill of the Month” thousands of questionable bills. Our crowdsourced investigation paved the way for landmark legislation and highlighted cost-saving strategies for all patients.
End-of-Year Chaos on Capitol Hill
Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate successfully negotiated an enormous end-of-Congress health package, including bipartisan efforts to address prescription drug prices — only to see it blown up at the last minute after Elon Musk and President-elect Donald Trump applied pressure. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court accepted its first abortion-related case of the term, and the attorney general of Texas sued a doctor in New York for prescribing abortion pills to a Texas patient. Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, Jessie Hellmann of CQ Roll Call, and Victoria Knight of Axios join KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. Also this week, Rovner interviews KFF President and CEO Drew Altman about what happened in health policy in 2024 and what to expect in 2025.
Readers Offer 'Solo Agers' Support and Reflect on Ancestors
KFF Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories.
Here's today's health policy haiku:
NOTICE THE CONTRAST
One health exec dies.
— Catherine DeLorey
Many more die from poor care.
Where are their headlines?
If you have a health policy haiku to share, please Contact Us and let us know if we can include your name. Haikus follow the format of 5-7-5 syllables. We give extra brownie points if you link back to an original story.
Opinions expressed in haikus and cartoons are solely the author's and do not reflect the opinions of KFF Health News or KFF.
Note To Readers
Morning Briefing will not be published Dec. 23 through Jan. 1. Look for it again in your inbox on Jan. 2. Happy holidays from all of us at KFF Health News!
Summaries Of The News:
Capitol Watch
House Rejects Trump-Favored Spending Deal That Stripped Out Health Measures
Modern Healthcare: Trump-Backed Funding Bill Fails With Health Measures In Limbo
Congressional Republican leaders failed to advance a slimmed down year-end funding bill endorsed by President-elect Donald Trump after they scrapped a larger package he opposed that included major bipartisan healthcare legislation. The Trump-favored bill dropped major provisions imposing new restrictions on pharmacy benefit managers, partially reversing Medicare reimbursement cuts for doctors, and extending Medicare telehealth authorities. It failed in a hastily called in the GOP-led House Thursday night. (McAuliff, 12/19)
Fierce Healthcare: Trump And Vance Stall Congressional Spending Deal
House Speaker Mike Johnson has devised a new end-of-year government funding deal that rips apart a healthcare package that would have extended Medicare telehealth provisions for two years and mandated reforms for pharmacy benefit managers. That deal is dead, a lobbyist told Fierce Healthcare. In its place is a package that cuts out PBM reform and only extends Medicare telehealth flexibilities and hospital at home waivers until March 31, 2025. The government will only be funded through Mar. 14. (Tong and Beavins, 12/19)
Politico: A Health Care Earthquake In Congress
After Congress spent years crafting new significant pharmacy benefit manager regulations and had agreed to a substantial health care package, posts on X from Elon Musk, who’s co-leading the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, helped upend the legislation just days before it was poised to become law. ... The impasse has left a multitude of health care provisions up in the air and the broader package’s fate in question. Eased access to telehealth and hospital-at-home care, funding for community health centers, doctor pay in Medicare, measures intended to incentivize drug development for rare pediatric diseases and more hang in the balance. (Cirruzzo and Leonard, 12/19)
KFF Health News' 'What the Health?' Podcast: End-Of-Year Chaos On Capitol Hill
Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate successfully negotiated an enormous end-of-Congress health package, including bipartisan efforts to address prescription drug prices — only to see it blown up at the last minute after Elon Musk and President-elect Donald Trump applied pressure. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court accepted its first abortion-related case of the term, and the attorney general of Texas sued a doctor in New York for prescribing abortion pills to a Texas patient. (Rovner, 12/19)
Government shutdown looms —
CBS News: A Government Shutdown Could Occur On Dec. 21. Here's What Services And Payments Could Be Impacted
The nation's 67 million Social Security recipients would continue to receive their checks even if the government closes for business. Medicare will also continue to operate, which means seniors covered by the health care plan won't have their medications or treatments impacted. That's because both Social Security and Medicare benefits are authorized by laws that don't require annual approval. (Picchi, 12/19)
Bloomberg: What Actually Happens When The US Government Shuts Down?
Federal government shutdowns can be disruptive, with thousands of workers furloughed and most of them not getting paid on time. Taxpayers won’t get calls returned, there may be longer lines at airports during one of the busiest travel weeks of the year and many national parks will close. And yet many of the routine functions of government — things like national defense, benefit checks and mail delivery — continue as usual. (Korte, 12/19)
Also —
KFF Health News: Employers Press Congress To Cement Health Price Transparency Before Trump’s Return
It seems simple: Require hospitals and insurers to post their negotiated prices for most health care services and — bingo — competition follows, yielding lower costs for consumers. But nearly four years after the first Trump administration’s regulations forced hospitals to post massive amounts of pricing information online, the effect on patients’ costs is unclear. (Appleby, 12/20)
Becker's Hospital Review: Why Supply Chain Resilience Remains Elusive — And What Leaders Can Do About It
In the healthcare supply chain, "resilience" has become a ubiquitous term. It emerged as a critical focus during the COVID-19 pandemic, when hospitals and health systems struggled to procure personal protective equipment, ventilators and medications. The disruptions brought renewed attention to deep-rooted vulnerabilities in the healthcare supply chain, sparking industrywide calls for greater transparency and supplier diversification for essential products. (Murphy, 12/19)
Reproductive Health
How Many Women Are Dying Under Abortion Bans? States Aren't Tracking, CDC Isn't Pushing
ProPublica: The CDC Isn’t Asking States To Track Deaths Linked To Abortion Bans
After the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion in 2022, President Joe Biden issued an executive order tasking the federal government with assessing the “devastating implications for women’s health“ of new state abortion bans. Experts were warning that these bans would interfere with critical medical care and lead to preventable deaths. And the states that passed the laws had little incentive to track their consequences. (Surana, Fields, Branstetter, 12/20)
The Texas Tribune: U.S. House Members Want Answers On Texas’ Decision To Not Review Maternal Deaths After Near-Total Abortion Ban
Members of the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Accountability are asking Texas’ maternal mortality committee to brief them on the controversial decision to not review pregnancy and childbirth related deaths from the first two years after the state banned nearly all abortions. The maternal mortality committee announced in September that it would not review deaths from 2022 and 2023, instead jumping ahead to 2024. At a recent meeting, committee chair and Houston OB/GYN Dr. Carla Ortique defended the decision as necessary to offer more contemporary recommendations on reducing maternal deaths. (Klibanoff, 12/19)
ProPublica: Hospitals Give Doctors Minimal Guidance Under Abortion Bans, Report Finds
As doctors navigate risks of criminal prosecution in states with abortion bans, hospital leaders and lawyers have left them to fend for themselves with minimal guidance and, at times, have remained “conspicuously and deliberately silent,” according to a 29-page report released Thursday by Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden. The poor direction is leading to delays in emergency care for patients facing pregnancy complications, the report concluded. The Oregon Democrat launched a probe in September in response to ProPublica’s reporting on preventable maternal deaths in states with abortion bans. Wyden requested documentation from eight hospitals to see whether they were complying with a federal law that requires them to stabilize or transfer emergency patients; his committee has authority over the regulatory agency that enforces the law. The report also draws on roundtable discussions with doctors from states with abortion restrictions. (Surana, 12/19)
Stat: Maternal Mortality Data Is Murky — But The Crisis Faced By New Moms Is Clear
Too many new moms are dying in the U.S. Exactly how many, however, is harder to establish. After years of neglect, the issue of maternal mortality is finally getting attention in policy and politics, as well as in the media, with headlines drawing attention to figures that show the maternal mortality rate has, at least according to some measurements, doubled in the past two decades. (Merelli, 12/20)
The Hill: Reproductive Health Advocates Brace For Return Of Title X Challenges Under Trump
Reproductive health advocates expect President-elect Trump to reinstate a rule that weakened the country’s sole federally funded family planning program during his first term once he returns to office next year. The Title X Family Planning Program, which makes it easier for millions of low-income Americans to access reproductive services like birth control, emergency contraception and abortion referrals, is still grappling with the impact of restrictions imposed by the first Trump administration five years ago. (O’Connell-Domenech, 12/19)
AP: Kentucky Attorney General Finds No Requirement To Use Tax Dollars To Pay For Inmate Gender Surgeries
Kentucky is under no legal requirement to use taxpayer money to cover the costs of gender-affirming surgeries for people incarcerated in state prisons, Attorney General Russell Coleman said Thursday. The Kentucky Department of Corrections requested the opinion from the state’s Republican attorney general as the agency amends its administrative regulations regarding medical care for people in prison. ... “Common sense dictates that it is not ‘cruel and unusual’ for the department to decline to spend taxpayer dollars on such controversial medical procedures,” Coleman’s opinion said. (Schreiner, 12/19)
Health Care Costs
During Covid, Vaccine Injury Claims Rose, But Reimbursements Were Low
CIDRAP: Review Of US Vaccine Injury Reimbursement Program Shows Less Than 3% Of Claims Eligible For Compensation
A report yesterday from the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) on federal response to medical countermeasure injury compensation claims—primarily about COVID and flu vaccines—reveals that, during the first few years of the COVID-19 pandemic, claims spiked to 27 times the typical number received, and less than 3% of the claims were eligible for compensation. About half of the claims were related to COVID vaccination. The vast majority of money paid for claims, however—more than $6 million—was for harms tied to the H1N1 flu vaccine. (Wappes, 12/19)
KFF Health News: ‘Bill Of The Month’: The Series That Dissects And Slashes Medical Bills
Over 6½ years ago, KFF Health News and NPR kicked off “Bill of the Month,” a crowdsourced investigation highlighting the impact of medical bills on patients. The goal was to understand how the U.S. health care system generates outsize bills and to empower patients with strategies to avoid them. We asked readers and listeners to submit their bills — and they kept coming. “Bill of the Month” has received nearly 10,000 submissions, each a picture of a health system’s dysfunction and the financial burden it places on the patients. (Rosenthal, 12/20)
Also —
NPR: Is Anyone Actually Happy With The Business Of Health?
Health care companies are ending 2024 in the hot seat. Yet some of the pressures they're facing have been mounting all year — or longer. This month's killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson thrust his company, and his industry, into the spotlight. It also sparked widespread consumer reckoning over denied claims and the high costs of care in the United States, where health care is the most expensive in the world. Now lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle are stepping up their scrutiny of the industry. (Aspan, 12/20)
The New York Times: U.S. Files Murder Charge Against Mangione That Could Bring Death Penalty
Federal prosecutors on Thursday unsealed a murder case against the suspect in the shooting of UnitedHealthcare’s chief executive, holding out the possibility of the death penalty even after a trial on separate state charges. The federal criminal complaint against the suspect, Luigi Mangione, 26, includes one count of using a firearm to commit murder, which carries a maximum potential sentence of death, along with two stalking counts and a firearms offense. (Weiser, 12/19)
Administration News
FDA Confirms Shortage Over For Lilly's Weight Loss Drugs; Copies Must Come Off Market
NBC News: FDA Says Lilly Weight Loss Drug Shortage Is Over After Taking A Second Look
The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday it’s standing by its earlier decision that the shortage of tirzepatide — the active ingredient in Eli Lilly’s diabetes and weight loss drugs Mounjaro and Zepbound — is over. The decision means most compounding pharmacies will need to stop making compounded versions of the drug within 90 days. (Lovelace Jr., 12/19)
AP: FDA Says Knockoff Versions Of Lilly Obesity Drug Must Come Off The Market
Specialty pharmacies and online companies that have been selling off-brand copies of two blockbuster drugs for obesity and diabetes will need to phase out their versions next year under a federal decision issued Thursday. The Food and Drug Administration said that a nationwide shortage of Eli Lilly’s Zepbound and Mounjaro has been resolved, eliminating the need for copycat versions of the drugs that have become wildly popular with Americans trying to lose weight. (Perrone, 12/19)
The Hill: FDA Revises 'Healthy' Food Labels To Match New Nutrition Science
A new rule from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will update what it means for food to be labeled “healthy” for the first time in 30 years, a move that aligns with current nutrition science and is meant to help consumers better navigate food labels. The “healthy” claim “can empower consumers” and help them identify a nutritious diet that is consistent with dietary recommendations, the agency said. (Weixel, 12/19)
Regarding the incoming Trump administration —
The New York Times: Trump’s Return May Worsen Financial Woes For Global Health Institutions
The election of Donald J. Trump, with his mistrust of international institutions and his history of proposing deep cuts to foreign aid, has complicated a perilous landscape for global health organizations that were already in a frantic competition for sharply reduced funds. Organizations that support the cornerstone health programs to vaccinate children, treat people with H.I.V. and stop the next pandemic through disease surveillance, among other goals, are seeking billions of dollars from high-income countries. (Nolen, 12/19)
The New York Times: Wedding Vendors Help L.G.B.T.Q. Couples Speed Up Wedding Plans Before Trump’s Next Term
Ashley Adams and Madeline Shelton didn’t have much time to pick out their wedding outfits, but they were both happy with what they wore to their Dec. 17 “microwedding,” as they called it, in Beaverton, Ore. “We didn’t get to do the whole bridal-shop experience,” said Ms. Adams, 25, a respiratory therapist in Portland, Ore. “I found my dream dress online instead.” The white gown she chose in November, after Donald J. Trump was elected president for a second term, was not the only important discovery she made online last month. (LaGorce, 12/19)
Bloomberg: Sandoz CEO Richard Saynor On Ozempic, Big Pharma And Trump's Administration
Richard Saynor wants to transform Sandoz Group AG into a world champion in copying leading-edge drugs, including anti-obesity and biological treatments, with the goal of bringing them to the masses. After leading Europe’s largest generics company through a spinoff from Novartis AG last year, the chief executive officer has nearly doubled Sandoz’s share price. The 57-year-old Brit rejoined Basel-based Sandoz in 2019 after leaving for GSK nearly a decade earlier. (Doenecke and Edwards, 12/19)
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, 12/20)
Outbreaks and Health Threats
Fast-Growing Outbreak Of Bird Flu Hits Nation's Largest Milk Producer
The New York Times: Bird Flu Has Hit California Dairies So Hard That They’re Calling It ‘Covid For Cows’
A fast-growing outbreak of avian flu has upended California’s dairy industry, the nation’s largest producer of milk, infecting most of the state’s herds and putting thousands of farmworkers at risk for contracting the virus. In just about four months, cows in 645 dairies in California have tested positive for H5N1, even as many ranchers have taken strict precautions to stop the virus from spreading. ... The virus is spreading so quickly that dairy farmers are calling it “Covid for cows,” and scientists are racing to figure out how to stop the contagion. (Karlamangla, Mayorquín and Jiménez, 12/19)
CNN: More Raw Milk Recalled In California After Discovery Of Bird Flu Virus In Farm Tank
The California Department of Food and Agriculture has issued a statewide recall of raw milk produced and packaged by Valley Milk Simply Bottled after H5N1 bird flu virus was found in samples from a bulk tank at the company’s dairy farm. The recall applies to all Valley Milk and Desi Milk raw cow milk in quarter, half-gallon or gallon jugs marked with dates between December 23 and December 30, the agency said in a statement. (Dillinger, 12/19)
Stat: California Bird Flu Emergency Declaration Highlights A Larger Issue
In the ongoing outbreak of H5N1 bird flu among the nation’s dairy cattle, federal officials have consistently expressed confidence that they know enough about how the virus is spreading to put a stop to it. But among epidemiologists and other infectious disease experts, there has been skepticism that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s theory of viral transmission is telling the whole story. And perhaps there is no greater cause for scrutiny than what’s currently happening in California. (Molteni, 12/20)
CBS News: Minnesota Officials Monitoring Human Case Of Bird Flu In Wisconsin Closely
Wisconsin has identified its first human case of the bird flu. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services announced Wednesday that it had detected a presumptive positive human case of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A, or H5N1, in Barron County. The Wisconsin DHS said the human case followed an infected flock of commercial poultry in the same county. (Mitchell, 12/19)
The Washington Post: What To Know About Bird Flu Outbreak And What Are Its Symptoms
As the Trump administration prepares to take office, the H5N1 strain of avian influenza is one of the top emerging infectious-disease threats. The virus has started to spread among dairy cows for the first time and has infected dozens of Americans, mostly farmworkers. While public health experts still consider bird flu a low risk for the general public, they warn it could spark the next pandemic if it is left unchecked and transforms to transmit easily between humans. Here’s what to know about the virus, how it spreads and the toll it is inflicting. (Nirappil, 12/19)
CNN: How Do People Catch Bird Flu?
As bird flu infections rise in dairy cattle and chickens, human cases are ticking up too, leaving many people to wonder whether they might be at risk from this recently arrived virus. Bird flu infections are rare in people. Sixty-one human cases have been confirmed in the US this year, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and all but three have been in people who work on poultry or dairy farms. (Goodman, 12/19)
KFF Health News: How America Lost Control Of The Bird Flu, Setting The Stage For Another Pandemic
Keith Poulsen’s jaw dropped when farmers showed him images on their cellphones at the World Dairy Expo in Wisconsin in October. A livestock veterinarian at the University of Wisconsin, Poulsen had seen sick cows before, with their noses dripping and udders slack. But the scale of the farmers’ efforts to treat the sick cows stunned him. They showed videos of systems they built to hydrate hundreds of cattle at once. In 14-hour shifts, dairy workers pumped gallons of electrolyte-rich fluids into ailing cows through metal tubes inserted into the esophagus. (Maxmen, 12/20)
On covid, norovirus —
MedPage Today: Long COVID Symptoms Improve With Outpatient Intervention
Self-reported physical function was better for long COVID patients after a brief outpatient program based on cognitive and behavioral therapy, a pragmatic trial in Norway showed. The between-group difference was nearly identical at long-term follow-up (12 months after enrollment), indicating a sustained effect, Nerli and colleagues wrote in JAMA Network Open. Most other measures of functional capability and symptom scores showed more improvement in the intervention group. Adverse events in the intervention group were fewer compared with usual care. (George, 12/19)
NPR: Louisiana Forbids Public Health Workers From Promoting COVID, Flu And Mpox Shots
A group of high-level managers at the Louisiana Department of Health walked into a Nov. 14 meeting in Baton Rouge expecting to talk about outreach and community events. Instead, they were told by an assistant secretary in the department and another official that department leadership had a new policy: Advertising or otherwise promoting the COVID, influenza or mpox vaccines, an established practice there — and at most other public health entities in the U.S. — must stop. (Westwood, 12/20)
CBS News: Norovirus Outbreaks Reported On 3 Cruise Ships This Month, Sickening Hundreds
Hundreds of cruise passengers and workers fell ill with norovirus on three different ships this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. The CDC has logged outbreaks in 2024 on 14 cruise voyages, but three ships were hit in December. This is the only month this year when the CDC has reported three confirmed norovirus outbreaks on cruise ships and there's still more than a week to go before the month ends. (Chasan, 12/19)
Also —
AP: Congo Man Dies With Hemorrhagic Fever, Indicating Mystery Outbreak Could Be More Than Just Malaria
A man in western Congo died Thursday with hemorrhagic fever symptoms, leading officials to suspect that a still-unidentified virus may be involved alongside malaria in a mysterious outbreak that has killed dozens of people, health authorities said. ... But the death of the man with hemorrhagic fever — not normally associated with parasite-caused malaria — could indicate a virus at work as well. (Pronczuk, 12/19)
Health Industry
Ascension Alerting 5.6M Patients, Staff Of Data Breach
Modern Healthcare: Ascension Cyberattack Hit 5.6M Patients
About 5.6 million patients and employees at Ascension were affected by a cyberattack earlier this year, according to a report filed with the federal government. Ascension will notify affected individuals over the next two to three weeks, in addition to providing credit monitoring and identity protection services, the health system said in a Thursday statement. (Hudson, 12/19)
Stat: Gilead Plans To Halt Free Access To An HIV Drug, Worrying Patient Advocates
Gilead Sciences will no longer provide four HIV medicines for free as part of a patient assistance program starting at the end of January, alarming community activists who worry the move will limit access and, consequently, impede nationwide efforts to combat the infectious disease. (Silverman, 12/19)
Stat: Ionis Pharmaceuticals Rare Disease Drug Wins FDA Approval
Ionis Pharmaceuticals on Thursday won Food and Drug Administration approval for a therapy that treats patients with a rare and deadly genetic disease that impedes the body’s ability to break down fats, setting the stage for the company to kick off the first solo drug launch in its 35-year history. (Wosen, 12/19)
CBS News: New Health Clinic For Children May Reduce Barriers To Services For Some Denver Metro Area Residents
One Colorado community is working to address a health care desert- defined as an area where people have little to no access to health care services. A new clinic is being built in Westminster. It's in what has become a growing community where Ana Martinez and her family have chosen to settle down for the last six years. "That's what motivated us to be closer to here," said Martinez. "My husband, my daughter, my son and me." (Vidal, 12/19)
KFF Health News: Readers Offer Solo Agers Support And Reflect On Ancestors
KFF Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories. (12/20)
In legal news —
The Boston Globe: ‘Skeleton Crews.’ ‘Endless Tasks.’ What Employees Said About Working Conditions At CVS, According To A Federal Lawsuit.
Pharmacies operating on “skeleton crews.” A barrage of “endless tasks,” while failing to provide employees with “basic human rights, such as going to the bathroom.” Those are just some of the hundreds of complaints from pharmacists and employees that CVS executives repeatedly ignored, according to federal prosecutors, who in a lawsuit unsealed Wednesday alleged the Woonsocket, R.I.-based chain unlawfully dispensed opioids and other controlled substances for more than a decade. (Gavin, 12/19)
Bloomberg: What Snapchat Owes Families For The Teen Fentanyl Crisis
“I’m a survivor, and that’s bad for you, CEO of Snapchat, because, uh, uh, uh …” Michael Brewer can’t finish his sentence. The teenager’s speech is slow and slurred, interrupted by an involuntary gag reflex as his tongue slides down his throat—a symptom of a brain injury caused by fentanyl poisoning. ... Rain pelts the windows, but Michael can’t see it, because the fentanyl also left him blind. He swallows, breathes and tries again: “I survived, and that’s bad for you, Snapchat, because I’m talking on the record.” (Carville, 12/19)
Bloomberg: Amazon To Pay $145,000 Penalty To Settle Worker Safety Citations
Amazon.com Inc. will pay $145,000 in penalties as part of a settlement with federal workplace regulators regarding allegedly unsafe conditions at several of its US warehouse and logistics facilities. The settlement requires Amazon to assess ergonomic risk at all of its facilities and conduct annual updates to improve safety, according to terms announced by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. (Soper, 12/19)
Public Health
What Are 'Healthy' Foods? New Rules Say What Items Can Carry That Claim
NPR: The FDA Has Redefined What Counts As 'healthy' On Food Labels
At a time when more than half of the American diet comes from processed, packaged foods, the Food and Drug Administration has new rules aimed at helping people make healthy choices in the grocery store. The agency has updated the definition of what counts as healthy. Food companies can voluntarily use a "healthy" claim on their packages if their products meet the new definition. (Aubrey, 12/19)
The Wall Street Journal: Avocados And Salmon Eligible For FDA’s New ‘Healthy’ Claim, Fortified White Bread Isn’t
Avocado, salmon and water are among the foods that will qualify for a “healthy” claim on food packaging, the Food and Drug Administration said Thursday. The agency announced a final rule intended to revamp outdated guidelines amid stubbornly high incidences of diet-related chronic diseases. (Beckerman, 12/19)
Bloomberg: Autism Affects One In 127 People, Up From One In 271 In 2019, Study Finds
An estimated 61.8 million people worldwide were on the autism spectrum in 2021, according to a study that highlighted the need for early detection and support of the developmental condition. Autism affects about 1 in 127 people, researchers from the 2021 Global Burden of Disease Study found. That’s a jump from the 1-in-271 reported in 2019, which may have underestimated the condition — characterized by ongoing challenges in social communication, interaction, sensory processing, and repetitive behaviors or interests, and, in some cases, intellectual disability, with varying levels of severity. (Gale, 12/19)
Military.Com: Veteran Suicides Are Down Since 2018 But Remain Persistently Steady, New VA Report Finds
The number of veterans who died by suicide in 2022 -- nearly 18 per day -- remained steady from the previous year but was down from a peak in 2018, with "encouraging" signs of progress among women and younger veterans, Veterans Affairs officials said Thursday. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs' two-part 2024 annual suicide prevention report released Thursday, 6,407 veterans died by suicide in 2022, compared with 6,404 in 2021, a rate of roughly 34.7 per 100,000. (Kime, 12/19)
Newsweek: Common Painkiller Might Not Be As Safe As We Think
Acetaminophen, also known as paracetamol or the brand name Tylenol, may come with added health risks, according to a new study. The drug, which is commonly used as a painkiller or an ingredient in other medications, was associated with an increased risk of ulcers, heart failure, high blood pressure and chronic kidney disease. (Willmoth, 12/19)
North Carolina Health News: Taking Fewer Medications May Improve Some Older Adults’ Health
Rachel Baxter moved her mother from Connecticut to Baxter’s home in Fuquay-Varina a little over a year ago. Her mother, 89, has Alzheimer’s disease and needed extra help, but Baxter eventually realized that some of her mother’s issues were because of the prescription drugs she took. (Vitaglione, 12/20)
Product recalls —
Newsweek: Baby Car Seats: More Than 600,000 Recalled Over Debris Dangers
A brand of child's car seat has been recalled after potentially dangerous issues were identified with the harness that could injure kids. 608,786 of the "Rava" child seats have been voluntarily recalled by the brand Nuna Baby Essentials, due to issues with the plastic harness adjuster buttons. (Thomson, 12/20)
The Hill: Frito-Lay Recalls Select Potato Chips
Frito-Lay said in a Monday announcement it is recalling potato chips over an undeclared allergen. In the announcement on the Food and Drug Administration’s website, Frito-Lay said its recall centers on “undeclared milk” in Lay’s Classic Potato Chips bags that are labeled 13 ounces. “Those with an allergy or severe sensitivity to milk run the risk of a serious or life-threatening allergic reaction if they consume the recalled product,” the announcement reads. (Suter, 12/19)
Science And Innovations
FDA Approves ARC-EX Device For Non-Invasive Spinal Cord Stimulation
Stat: Onward Medical Spinal Cord Stimulator Gets FDA Nod
Spinal cord injuries dramatically reduce a person’s mobility and independence, but a new device could aid rehabilitation efforts. Onward Medical received Food and Drug Administration clearance on Thursday for its non-invasive spinal cord stimulator, the ARC-EX. In a recent trial, the stimulator boosted hand sensation and strength in 72% of participants. While the treatment cannot replace rehabilitative therapy, device users rave about its effects. (Broderick, 12/19)
WUFT: A Slimy Surgical Method Could Someday Spell Relief For Spine Patients
For those recovering from spinal surgery, the process can be lengthy and precarious, as patients try to circumvent infection and regain mobility. A key hiccup? The ever-present risk of a herniated disc. Now, Swedish researchers may have identified an unlikely solution in the form of a slime, inspired by the slick coating that covers parasites in the stomach of cows. This slimy coating helps the parasites duck the immune system and prevents immune cells from recognizing them. (Hagmajer, 12/19)
CBS News: Pitt Researchers Advancing Robot For People Living With ALS
A University of Pittsburgh research group is reaching new limits and perfecting a robot to help people with ALS live better lives. Stretch, a robot by the company Hello Robot, looks like a Roomba from the future. Researchers in Pitt's Accessible Smart-Tech Research Group teamed up with Hello Robot and the ALS Association to work on advancing Stretch. (Guay, 12/19)
CNN: Vagus Nerve Stimulation May Relieve Treatment-Resistant Depression, Study Finds
Nick Fournie was 24 years old when severe depression upended his life. Fournie had been married to his longtime sweetheart for two years, and had no reason to suspect he had any mental health issues. “I just thought to myself, ‘If this is it, if this is all there is to life — if it ended now, I’d be OK with it,’” Nick, now 62 and based in Illinois, said of that fateful day outdoors nearly 40 years ago. (Rogers, 12/19)
Also —
MedPage Today: FDA Approves Mesenchymal Stromal Cell Therapy For Refractory Acute GVHD In Kids
Reaching the end of a long road to approval, the first mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC) therapy for steroid-refractory acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) finally reached the FDA green light. The approval of remestemcel-L (Ryoncil) specifies use in pediatric patients 2 months or older with steroid-refractory acute GVHD. The cellular therapy received a vote of confidence from the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee in 2020, despite questions regarding the product's consistency and the approval request's reliance on data from a single-arm clinical trial. (Bankhead, 12/19)
MedPage Today: For IBD, No Cardiovascular Risk Difference Between JAK, TNF Inhibitors
Major cardiovascular event risk in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) was no greater with Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors than with tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors, according to a retrospective single-center study. ... Despite the effectiveness of JAK inhibitors for IBD, the authors noted that concerns about cardiovascular safety have circulated since the 2022 ORAL Surveillance study found a higher risk of major adverse cardiovascular events in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients who took tofacitinib compared with those on TNF inhibitors. (Haelle, 12/19)
CIDRAP: Preventive Levofloxacin Found To Reduce Drug-Resistant TB In Household Contacts
Two studies published yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine show that 6 months of preventive treatment with levofloxacin in children and adults with household exposure to multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) resulted in statistically non-significant reductions in TB incidence compared with placebo. But an additional analysis of individual data from the two trials, which were conducted in Vietnam and South Africa, found that preventive levofloxacin led to a much larger relative reduction in cumulative incidence of TB than was initially observed. (Dall, 12/19)
Weekend Reading
Longer Looks: Interesting Reads You Might Have Missed
The Washington Post: Ancient DNA Sheds Light On Syphilis Origins
In 1495, a devastating infection began to sweep across Europe, causing pustules and sores to erupt on people’s bodies and faces. Accusatory finger-pointing about the scourge, syphilis, began almost immediately. The Italians called it “the French disease”; the French called it “the Neapolitan disease”; the Russians called it “the Polish disease.” (Johnson, 12/18)
Harvard Public Health: How Sexism In Medical Science Harms Women’s Health
Medical science has a problem with sexism. Excluding female biology creates public health risks from incomplete data and biased methods. (Wheeler, 12/18)
NPR: ‘Cancer Ghosting’ Is A Painful Reality For Many During And After Cancer Treatment
Nothing prepared Chelsey Gomez to lose relationships with her best friend at work, and even the younger brother she'd doted on, after getting cancer at age 28. She shared her diagnosis with them, and —poof! — they disappeared. They stopped calling, stopped texting. They didn't check in. More than the excruciating bone marrow transplant to treat Hodgkin Lymphoma, or the chemotherapy that nearly killed her, Gomez says what hurt most was confronting the idea that – to these people she loved – she did not matter. (Noguchi, 12/18)
The Guardian: How A Young Dutch Woman’s Life Began When She Was Allowed To Die
At the last minute, Zoë decided to call off her euthanasia. But how do you start over after you’ve said all of your goodbyes? (Bakker, 12/17)
The New York Times: Tackling The Difficult Subject At The Heart Of ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’
It comes down to this: “It’s a Wonderful Life” is achingly, yet redemptively, a movie in which a man almost dies by suicide. (Piepenburg, 12/17)
Stat: One Woman's Story Of Sickle Cell, Pregnancy, Sterilization, And Regret
As a small child, Pat Wells just thought she had a bad back. That was what the doctor said when her mother took her to the hospital. A bad back. Her mother would rub it with alcohol to help her go to sleep. They didn’t know that she carried a genetic blueprint for a misshapen molecule; that her hemoglobin proteins, which carried oxygen through her body, were catching on each other, forming unwieldy chains, warping the red blood cells they rode in, blocking her circulation. (Boodman, 12/19)
Forbes: Anti-Predictions For Healthcare In 2025: What Won’t Change, And A Case For Optimism
While they may give us a broad and varied view into expectations (or hopes and dreams), the vast majority of predictions about how healthcare will change in 2025 are likely to be wrong. Here are six things that experts view as unlikely to change in healthcare in 2025, followed by a dash of optimism. (Joseph, 12/17)
Harvard Public Health: The Best Public Health Books Of 2024
From mental health to social connections, the best public health books of 2024 tackle some of the field's most pressing challenges. (12/13)
Editorials And Opinions
Viewpoints: If Congress Doesn't Act, ACA Will Soon Become Unaffordable
Bloomberg: Obamacare Is More Popular And Less Affordable Than Ever
A rude surprise could be in store for the millions of Americans who get health coverage through the Affordable Care Act. If Congress doesn’t act next year, enhanced premium subsidies will expire by December, causing enrollees’ payments to increase by more than 75% on average. (12/20)
The Washington Post: RFK Jr. Says He Supports Polio Vaccine. His Record Suggests Otherwise.
I suppose it is good news that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says he supports polio vaccination. But only in comparison to the alternative, like finding out that your cancer is “only” Stage 3. (Megan McArdle, 12/19)
The Atlantic: A Mysterious Health Wave Is Breaking Out Across The U.S.
This fall, the National Health and Nutrition Examination reported that the prevalence of obesity among U.S. adults declined from 41.9 percent to 40.3 percent in its latest sample of several thousand individuals. “Obesity prevalence is potentially plateauing in the United States,” one CDC official told The Washington Post. “We may have passed peak obesity,” the Financial Times’ John Burn-Murdoch wrote of the news. (Derek Thompson, 12/19)
Stat: Gene Therapy Trials’ Secrecy Puts Participants’ Lives At Risk
On Nov. 18, a female pediatric patient participating in a clinical trial suffered a systemic hyperinflammatory syndrome and died about two weeks after receiving a gene therapy. Her death comes as both a setback for GT and a warning about managing future research. It is time to put the sharing of information among research teams ahead of the current prioritization of secrecy for commercial purposes. (Rafael Escandon and Arthur L. Caplan, 12/20)
The Boston Globe: My Father, David Gergen, Has Dementia. Here’s His Path Forward For The Country.
The dragonflies swarmed in pairs above our heads, a hawk dropped in the distance, and the glass-like water sliced open with each slow stroke of our arms. Swimming beside me was my father. Once a powerfully large and imposing figure, his arms and legs had become shriveled and his body gaunt. My attention to the slow unfolding of a late summers’ day continued to swing back to him. Was the water shallow enough for him to stand if needed? Was his increased weakness causing him to pause or was it a new gauze of confusion? (Katherine Gergen Barnett, 12/19)