NPR: Senators Ask CEOs Why Their Drugs Cost So Much More In The U.S.
Sparks flew on Capitol Hill Thursday as the CEOs of three drug companies faced questions from the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions about why drug prices are so much higher in the United States than they are in the rest of the world. The executives from Bristol Myers Squibb, Johnson & Johnson and Merck spent almost three hours in front of the committee going back and forth about pricing practices and how the companies spend their money. (Lupkin, 2/8)

Stat: Bernie Sanders Gets Little From Pharma CEOs On Drug Prices
Call it Sen. Bernie Sanders’ prescription drug pricing theater. The hearing, featuring Merck CEO Robert Davis, Johnson & Johnson CEO Joaquin Duato, and Bristol Myers Squibb CEO Chris Boerner, was designed to draw public interest, and in that respect, it worked. The wood-paneled hearing room in a Senate office building was standing room only, with an overflow room prepared. Photographers flocked for photos as Sanders shook hands with each executive, standard practice before such hearings begin. (Cohrs, 2/8)

More on the high cost of prescriptions —

Bloomberg Law: Johnson & Johnson Case Signals Employee Drug Price Suits To Come
A novel lawsuit from an employee suing Johnson & Johnson Inc. for allegedly mismanaging drug benefits appears a harbinger of litigation to come against companies, especially those that rely on pharmaceutical industry middlemen to negotiate pricing and rebates. Ann Lewandowski, a health-care policy and advocacy director for Johnson & Johnson, filed the proposed class action Feb. 5 in US District Court for the District of New Jersey. The suit said the New Jersey-based company mismanages its employee health plan by paying its pharmacy benefit manager, Express Scripts Inc., inflated prices for generic specialty drugs that are widely available at much lower cost. (Hansard, 2/9)

Other news from Capitol Hill —

Stat: For Medicare Advantage, Democrats Want Stronger Protections Around AI
Senate Democrats on Thursday said Medicare should take more urgent and aggressive action to prevent health insurance companies from using artificial intelligence to unlawfully deny medical services. The Biden administration’s latest efforts to increase transparency into AI tools don’t go far enough to protect patients, the lawmakers said at a Senate Finance Committee hearing. (Herman and Ross, 2/8)

The Hill: Biden Angrily Defends Memory, Age In Contentious Press Conference 
President Biden on Thursday fiercely defended his cognitive abilities and memory in the wake of a special counsel report that offered a scathing assessment of the president’s recollection of key elements of his life and political career. “I’m well-meaning and I’m an elderly man and I know what the hell I’m doing. I’ve been president, I put this country back on its feet. I don’t need his recommendation,” Biden told reporters in last minute remarks at the White House. “My memory’s fine. My memory’s– take a look at what I’ve done since I became president… how did that happen? I guess I just forgot what was going on,” he said, striking a sarcastic tone. (Gangitano and Samuels, 2/8)

The Washington Post: Special Counsel Report Paints Scathing Picture Of Biden’s Memory 
President Biden, during interviews with the special counsel investigating his handling of classified documents, had trouble recalling the years he served as vice president. He could not pinpoint, even within several years, when his son Beau had died. His memory about a crucial debate on troop levels in Afghanistan was hazy. The first day of questioning, at the White House in early October, Biden could not recall when his vice-presidential term had ended. “If it was 2013 — when did I stop being vice president?” he asked, apparently not recalling that he left office in January 2017. The next day, as the interviews continued, he could not remember when his term began, saying, “In 2009, am I still vice president?” (Viser and Pager, 2/8)

The Hill: GOP Lawmaker Calls On Cabinet To ‘Explore’ Removing Biden Under 25th Amendment 
Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-N.Y.) called on members of the Biden administration to “explore” removing President Biden under the 25th Amendment after a special counsel cleared him of any wrongdoing but painted him as an elderly man with a failing memory. ... She argued that Biden, who is 81, is lacking the ability to execute his responsibilities as president. “So it is incumbent upon you to explore proceedings to remove the President pursuant to the 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution,” she wrote. “President Biden needs to be charged, or he needs to be removed.” (Irwin, 2/8)

In case you missed it —

BU Today: Are Verbal Flubs By Trump Or Biden Signs Of Cognitive Decline Or Innocent Mistakes? 
Neurologist Andrew Budson says voters should adjust expectations and accept campaign-trail confusions from tired older candidates. (1/25)

Also —

KFF Health News: Do We Simply Not Care About Old People? 
The covid-19 pandemic would be a wake-up call for America, advocates for the elderly predicted: incontrovertible proof that the nation wasn’t doing enough to care for vulnerable older adults. The death toll was shocking, as were reports of chaos in nursing homes and seniors suffering from isolation, depression, untreated illness, and neglect. Around 900,000 older adults have died of covid-19 to date, accounting for 3 of every 4 Americans who have perished in the pandemic. (Graham, 2/9)

The Washington Post: Gun-Control Bills Sailing Through Virginia General Assembly 
Democrats who control the General Assembly are passing a cascade of gun-control bills unlike anything Virginia has seen since three years ago, when the party was last in charge. This time, though, the measures face an uncertain future at the desk of Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R), who has said that he thinks Virginia gun laws are tough enough without specifying whether he will sign or veto the legislation. (Schneider and Vozzella, 2/8)

Reuters: Biden Administration Asks US Supreme Court To Hear 'Ghost Gun' Appeal
The Biden administration on Wednesday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a lower-court ruling that would prevent it from regulating privately made firearms called "ghost guns" that are difficult for law enforcement to trace. The U.S. Department of Justice in its petition argued the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in November wrongly declared that a rule adopted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in 2022 to combat the rapid proliferation of ghost guns was "unlawful." (Raymond, 2/7)

Fox 2 Detroit: Michigan's Safe Storage Gun Law Begins Feb. 13: What To Know
Michigan's new safe storage gun law, signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in April 2023, will go into effect on Feb. 13. According to the safe storage bill, all Michigan gun owners with children in the home must securely lock away their firearms – with a cable lock or in a gun safe. Under the new legislation, gun owners must also safely store their guns in instances where children are visiting their home. (Golston and Rahal, 2/7)

Los Angeles Times: Racism In Old Gun Laws Poses Problem For Modern Gun Control
As attorneys for the state of California prepared recently to defend in federal court a state law requiring background checks for ammunition purchases, they found themselves in an awkward position. Under a U.S. Supreme Court ruling from 2022, gun control measures are legitimate only if they are deeply rooted in American “history and tradition” or are sufficiently similar to some other centuries-old law. The state lawyers had conducted a deep dive through hundreds of years of American jurisprudence and identified dozens of historical laws that they felt bolstered the modern law’s legitimacy by showing that the government has long limited access to firearms and ammunition. But there was a problem: Many of the historical laws they found were virulently racist, restricting access to weaponry for enslaved people, Indigenous Americans and other racial minorities. (Rector, 2/7)

The Washington Post: A School Shooter’s Mom Is Found Guilty. Will It Prevent Other Tragedies?
Nick Suplina, the senior vice president for law and policy at Everytown for Gun Safety, an anti-gun-violence nonprofit, said the Crumbley verdict will “absolutely” help to prevent future shootings by sending a clear message to gun owners that the decisions they make in their homes could have profound effects across their communities. “The implications are bigger than the context of just this case, but the takeaway is streamlined: Lock up your guns, and you can avoid a whole host of issues that lead guns to being the leading killer of kids and teens in the country,” Suplina said. (Bellware, 2/8)

KFF Health News: To End School Shootings, Activists Consider A New Culprit: Parents
For the first time, a jury has convicted a parent on charges related to their child’s mass-shooting crime: A Michigan mother of a school shooter was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. What remains unclear is whether this case succeeded because of compelling evidence of negligence by the shooter’s mother or if this could become a new avenue for gun control advocates to pursue. (2/8)

Also —

Axios: Black Women Six Times More Likely To Be Slain Than White Women: Study
Black women in the U.S. are, on average, six times more likely to be murdered than white women, researchers wrote Thursday in The Lancet. The study — which covered more than two decades — is the first to break out homicide trends among women between ages 25 and 44, when they are statistically more likely to be murdered. It's further evidence of how the lives of Black women are disproportionately threatened by systemic public health threats, including gun violence. (Reed, 2/8)

AP: Republican Effort To Restore Abortion Rights In Missouri Folds 
A Republican-led campaign to restore abortion rights in Missouri ended Thursday, clearing the path for a competing, more sweeping constitutional amendment to get on the state’s November ballot. “Having two initiatives on the ballot would create confusion and potentially split the vote,” Missouri Women and Family Research Fund Executive Director Jamie Corley said in a statement. “No one wants that, so we have decided to suspend our campaign to amend Missouri’s abortion law.” (Ballentine, 2/8)

USA Today: Cities Targeted With Local Abortion Bans In Post-Roe Movement
Across the country, 67 cities and seven counties have passed so-called "sanctuary cities for the unborn" ordinances — local laws that seek to ban abortions in the area. The means vary by community, with some blocking the shipment of drugs used to perform an abortion and others making it punishable to perform or aid in an abortion on their residents. ... The Lone Star State has been the testing ground for conservative efforts to scale back abortion access nationwide. (Kuchar, 2/9)

The Texas Tribune: Texas Conservatives Test Limits Of Their Power Beyond State Lines
In the months since Texas outlawed abortion and prohibited adolescents from receiving gender-transition care, women have flooded abortion clinics in nearby states and parents with transgender children have moved to places where puberty blockers and hormone therapy remain legal. So now, Texas conservatives are testing the limits of their power beyond state lines. (Klibanoff and Melhado, 2/9)

The New York Times: Man Who Drugged Wife’s Drinks To Cause Abortion Gets 180 Days In Jail 
A Texas man who drugged his wife’s drinks in an unsuccessful attempt to induce an abortion was sentenced on Wednesday to 180 days in jail and 10 years of probation, the Harris County district clerk’s office said. The man, Mason Herring, 39, of Houston, pleaded guilty to injury of a child and assault of a pregnant person as part of a plea agreement, according to the clerk’s office. Mr. Herring had initially faced the more serious charge of assault to induce abortion. (Jimenez, 2/8)

WFSU: A Bill Guaranteeing The Right To Contraception Is A Long Shot In Florida
Two Florida Democrats are launching a long-shot effort to convince the Republican-led Legislature to put into state law a guaranteed right to access contraception. The move comes amid increasing restrictions on abortions in Republican-led states. (Brown, 2/8)

The Washington Post: A Death Sentence: Native Americans Have Least Access To Liver Transplant System
Native Americans are far less likely than other racial groups to gain a spot on the national liver transplant list, despite having the highest rate of death from liver disease, according to an analysis of four years of transplant data by the Markup and The Washington Post. Compared to their total number of deaths from liver disease, White people gain a spot on the transplant list almost three times more often than Native Americans, the data shows. Had transplant rates been equal, nearly 1,000 additional Native people would have received liver transplants between 2018 and 2021. (Gilbertson and Tanen, 2/8)

In other health industry news —

Stateline.org: Private Equity’s Growing Footprint In Home Health Care Draws Scrutiny 
Help at Home employed nearly 800 caregivers scattered across every county in Alabama, helping 1,100 older and disabled clients with activities such as bathing, housework and meal preparation. And then suddenly, it was gone. (Vollers, 2/8)

Crain's Chicago Business: Lurie Children's Hospital Cyberattack Done By 'Criminal Threat' 
Officials at Lurie Children's Hospital on Feb. 8 confirmed the cybersecurity issue that has taken its network down since Jan. 31 is the work of a "known criminal threat actor." The Streeterville children's hospital is going into its second week without phone, internet services or access to many electronic health records. Dr. Marcelo Malakooti, chief medical officer at Lurie's, said in a statement that the hospital took its network offline "in an effort to protect the information of our patients, workforce and organization at large." (Asplund, 2/8)

Modern Healthcare: Molina Healthcare Reports Higher Medicare Advantage Costs
Molina Healthcare missed its profitability target for Medicare Advantage last year because medical costs spiked, executives said during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call Thursday. This makes Molina Healthcare the latest insurance carrier to report ballooning Medicare Advantage expenses during the closing months of 2023, following sector leaders UnitedHealth Group and Humana and others such as Aetna parent company CVS Health and Centene. Molina priced for higher spending and expects to achieve “mid-single digit profitability” in its Medicare business this year, CEO Joseph Zubretsky said. (Tepper, 2/8)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Children's, Froedtert & MCW Launch Neuroscience Institute In Milwaukee
A new neuroscience institute has launched in Milwaukee, with a focus on caring for people of all ages with neurological issues and advancing neurosciences through clinical trials and research. ... “WINS combines the strengths of all our partners to deliver complete, life span care for disorders of the brain, spine, spinal cord and peripheral nervous system,” said Dr. Shekar Kurpad, founding director of WINS and professor and chair of the Department of Neurological Surgery at the Medical College of Wisconsin, in a press release issued Wednesday. (Volpenhein, 2/8)

Modern Healthcare: Yale Medicine Standardizes 'Care Paths' To Improve Health Equity
Yale Medicine is undertaking a comprehensive effort to standardize healthcare practices and aims to close disparity gaps across its patient population. Through its "care path" initiative, the New Haven, Connecticut-based academic health system tracks each step of the treatment continuum to eliminate disparities, present providers with the latest clinical guidelines within minutes and ensure compliance, said Dr. Deborah Rhodes, enterprise chief quality officer for Yale Medicine, Northeast Medical Group and the Yale New Haven Health System. Hartnett, 2/8)

Modern Healthcare: Amedisys To Offer In-Home Testing To Reduce Hospitalizations
Home health provider Amedisys said Thursday it will begin offering in-home molecular testing to patients that will help quickly identify urine, respiratory and wound infection pathogens. The Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based company is providing advanced molecular testing through a partnership with Patients Choice Laboratories.The process delivers rapid and precise results that can result in quicker treatment interventions and prevent hospitalizations, Barbara Andazola, Amedisys vice president of Clinical Practice, Strategy and Programs, said in a press release. (Eastabrook, 2/8)

NBC News: Robotic Device Burned A Woman’s Small Intestine During Surgery, Lawsuit Alleges
A robotic device burned and tore a woman’s small intestine while she was undergoing surgery for colon cancer, according to a wrongful death lawsuit filed this week in Florida. ... The suit alleges that Intuitive Surgical knew the robot had insulation problems that might cause electricity to leak out and burn internal organs but didn’t disclose that risk to the Sultzers or the public. (Bendix, 2/9)

On health workers —

San Francisco Chronicle: S.F. Nurses Demand Meal And Rest Breaks In New Lawsuit Against City
San Francisco fails to provide nurses at city hospitals with meal and rest breaks or the compensation required by law for missed breaks, three nurses say in a proposed class-action suit seeking damages for their 2,200 colleagues. State law entitles workers to 30-minute meal breaks after every five hours of work and 10-minute rest breaks after four hours, and to an hour of additional pay for each day that a break is not provided. A law that took effect in January 2023 extended the requirement to government health care agencies, which had previously been exempted. (Egelko, 2/8)

AP: Anthony Fauci Will Reflect On His Long Government Career In 'On Call,' To Be Published In June
Dr. Anthony Fauci has a memoir coming out in June, a look back at his long career as an infectious disease expert and the many outbreaks he contended with, from HIV/AIDS to the COVID-19 pandemic that made him famous. Viking announced Thursday that Fauci’s “On Call: A Doctor’s Journey in Public Service” will be published in June 18. (Italie, 2/8)

Stat: Padmanee Sharma Of MD Anderson At Center Of Lawsuit Over Credit
Three years ago, Jamie Lin, an early-career nephrologist at MD Anderson Cancer Center, made findings that could potentially help both save the kidneys of cancer patients and propel her career as a physician-scientist hoping to one day run her own lab. It was a promising start, but that’s when Lin says one of the Texas institute’s most powerful researchers interfered. (Chen and Wosen, 2/8)

CIDRAP: FDA Removal Of Decongestants Made With Ineffective Drug Would Disrupt Drug Supply Chain, Experts Say
If the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) pulls cough and cold medications containing the active ingredient phenylephrine from shelves, it will set off a wave of drug supply chain problems, researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Toronto assert today in JAMA. In September 2023, the FDA's Non-prescription Drug Advisory Committee reviewed new data on phenylephrine, concluding that it is ineffective. The committee recommended that the drug, used in many over-the-counter nasal decongestants as a single ingredient or in combination with other ingredients, be removed from the market. (Van Beusekom, 2/8)

CIDRAP: CARB-X Funds Development Of Rapid Test For Gonorrhea
he Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Biopharmaceutical Accelerator (CARB-X) announced today that it will award biotechnology company Visby Medical of San Jose, California, up to $1.8 million to develop a portable polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test that can detect gonorrhea and assess its susceptibility to ciprofloxacin. Although ciprofloxacin is no longer a recommended first-line antibiotic for infections caused by Neisseria gonorrhoeae because of resistance, some strains of the bacterium remain susceptible to the oral antibiotic. Knowing which infections are susceptible to ciprofloxacin at the point of care could enable clinicians to reserve ceftriaxone, which is the last remaining antibiotic that remains widely effective against N gonorrhoeae. (Dall, 2/8)

The New York Times: The Race To Stop Ozempic Muscle Loss 
As drugs like Ozempic become increasingly popular for weight loss, more doctors and patients are looking for ways to counteract the muscle loss that can happen on these medications — and companies are racing to meet that demand. Luxury gyms are offering strength-training programs specifically marketed toward people taking these medications, promising to help clients “optimize their outcomes.” Nutritionists and meal-delivery services are creating plans to help patients pack in enough protein. And drug companies including Eli Lilly, which makes Mounjaro and Zepbound, are looking to develop combination treatments that prevent muscle loss. (Blum, 2/8)

In corporate news —

Modern Healthcare: What Amazon’s Layoffs Mean For One Medical, Pharmacy Division
Amazon's decision to lay off employees in its One Medical and pharmacy divisions raises eyebrows about the future of the tech giant's healthcare strategy. Amazon said Tuesday it is cutting a few hundred healthcare-related jobs but declined to share what types of positions are affected. The move follows more than a year of extensive layoffs at the company as Amazon, like other tech players, seeks to make adjustments after hiring too many people during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Hudson, 2/8)

Modern Healthcare: Walgreens Replaces John Driscoll With Mary Langowski 
John Driscoll is out as president of Walgreens' U.S. healthcare business and will be replaced by a health tech executive. Mary Langowski, who has served as CEO of Solera Health since 2020, will take over the role in March. Driscoll, who joined Walgreens in 2022 under former CEO Rosalind Brewer, will move into an advisory role, the company said Thursday. (Hudson, 2/8)

AP: Higher-Dose Naloxone Spray Didn't Save More Lives, Researchers Find
A new, higher-dose nasal spray for reversing opioid overdoses did not save more lives than the previous standard dose, but it did cause more vomiting and other side effects, researchers wrote in a study published Thursday. The 8-milligram naloxone spray — twice as potent as the highest dose previously available — was approved two years ago after pressure from experts and patient advocates who noted lower-dose antidotes often were being given multiple times to people suffering overdoses. (Stobbe, 2/8)

USA Today: Opioid Overdoses Rising Among Teens. Why Is Inpatient Care So Rare?
As overdose deaths continue to increase among American teens, treatment for opioid use disorder remains limited. A new study shows that one intervention – inpatient treatment – is inaccessible to many. Few facilities exist nationwide and they are often unaffordable for families whose children are struggling with opioid addiction. Families must navigate a complex web of addiction treatment services as they try to avoid another overdose for their children, the study found. (Cuevas, 2/9)

NBC News: CDC Report Finds Teens Use Drugs To Ease Stress And Anxiety, Often While Alone
Teenagers with suspected substance use problems say they turn to drugs because of a crushing need to relax and escape worries, according to research published Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The new findings follow reports of rising anxiety and depression among the nation's youth, including unprecedented levels of hopelessness. (Edwards, 2/8)

San Francisco Chronicle: Critics Bash Breed’s Measure To Mandate Welfare Drug Screening
A group of San Francisco addiction treatment providers and medical professionals are fighting Mayor London Breed’s ballot measure to mandate drug screenings for welfare recipients, calling it a “cynical ploy to shift blame onto the poorest San Franciscans.” The group launched an opposition campaign Thursday. “Prop F’s potential for harm is undeniable,” said Gary McCoy, a spokesperson for HealthRight 360, the city’s largest addiction treatment provider. (Angst, 2/8)

On marijuana use —

Military.Com: Navy Now Forgiving Recruits' Prior Marijuana Use As It Looks To Cut More Losses At Boot Camp 
The Navy is no longer immediately kicking out recruits who arrive at boot camp at Recruit Training Command in Great Lakes, Illinois, with detectable amounts of marijuana in their system. The service has expanded the authority to grant waivers for any recruits who initially test positive for THC, the main psychoactive compound in marijuana, Rear Adm. James Waters, the director of the Navy's military personnel plans and policy division, told a group of reporters Thursday. (Toropin, 2/8)

Capital & Main: More Than Half Of Californians Skip Or Delay Medical Care Due To Cost
For most California residents, and the vast majority of the state’s lower income workers, the cost of health insurance has been running away from them for years. That’s hardly news to anyone who has actually used their health policy in the recent past. But the health care squeeze is largely incremental — an increase in the cost of a doctor visit here, a hike in an X-ray price there. Though those costs almost never go down, they rise in such a gradual, consistent way that many people aren’t aware of just how dramatically they’ve escalated. A new report from the UC Berkeley Labor Center puts those costs in context, and the result is breathtaking. In short, Californians have been absolutely hammered by insurers and providers over the past 20 years. As a result, many of the state’s residents either don’t use their health coverage even though they need it, or they go into debt trying to pay for the insurance and the medical costs their plans don’t cover. (Kreidler, 2/8)

Los Angeles Times: Covered California Extended Deadline Is Friday At Midnight
The window to sign up for health insurance through California’s state marketplace, Covered California, ends Friday at midnight. The window for new customers was originally slated to close on Jan. 31, but the state exchange said that it decided to extend the deadline to Feb. 9 given the large volume of demand and a cybersecurity incident earlier in the month that affected customer service call centers. (Dean, 2/8)

Other health news from across the U.S. —

Fox News: Virginia Dems Push To Expand State-Funded Health Insurance To Illegal Immigrant Children
Virginia Democrats are pushing to expand state-funded health insurance to illegal immigrant children with a critical committee vote scheduled for Thursday. The Senate bill, named the "Cover All Kids" Act by proponents, seeks to provide illegal immigrant children access to a "state-funded comprehensive health care coverage" program with eligibility requirements similar to the state's Medicaid program. (Schoffstall, 2/8)

Health News Florida: Bill Would Allow Conversion Of Florida Hospital Districts To Nonprofit Status
A House panel approved a bill that would create a process for public hospital districts to convert to nonprofit organizations and require districts to study the financial feasibility of converting to nonprofits or selling to for-profit companies. The House Select Committee on Health Innovation on Monday voted 7-3 to approve the proposal (HB 1421), sponsored by Rep. Randy Fine, R-Brevard County. (2/8)

Axios: More States Are Considering Bills Allowing Medically Assisted Death This Year
A push to let physicians prescribe life-ending drugs to terminally ill patients is getting major attention in statehouses this year, with lawmakers in 19 states considering bills to allow the practice. Despite continuing skepticism from the medical establishment, the controversial policy is gaining new momentum because of personal anecdotes, experience from states that were among the first to allow it, and changing attitudes partly driven by the pandemic's devastation. (Goldman, 2/9)

The 19th: More Than A Dozen States Are Failing To Meet Child Care Safety Standards
Doubts swirled from the start. After Cynthia King’s baby Wiley Muir died suddenly at a home-based day care in Honolulu, she fixated on the things that seemed off. The medical examiner said he died of pneumonia, but Wiley hadn’t been sick that morning. King wondered how sickness could take him so suddenly — how they could have missed that. But most of all, there was the notebook, which King began keeping just four days earlier, when Wiley started at the day care. (Carrazana, 2/8)

Wyoming Public Radio: Albany County Launches New Partnership To Address Mental Health Crisis Calls
Albany County has recently launched a partnership between Volunteers of America and local law enforcement. It's meant to connect people calling during a mental health crisis with the right resources in the community. The idea is if someone continually calls law enforcement while experiencing a mental health crisis - officials will pass those calls to the community crisis manager, Heather Wiseman, who was recently hired by the partnership. (Kudelska, 2/8)

NBC News: Fungus That Sparked Deadly Meningitis Outbreak Aggressively Attacked The Brainstem
The fungus behind a spate of deadly meningitis cases last year linked to medical clinics in Mexico was found to have aggressively attacked the base of patients’ brains, researchers said Wednesday in a report published in The New England Journal of Medicine. Fungal meningitis was reported in as many as 24 patients from the United States who visited two medical clinics in Matamoros, Mexico. Many came from Texas. Twelve died. All of the patients had undergone cosmetic procedures that required epidural anesthesia. It was later discovered that the epidural was contaminated with a fungus called Fusarium solani. (Mantel, 2/8)

More health and wellness news —

CIDRAP: Elderly With Omicron Pneumonia And Bacterial Infection Often Have Functional Decline A Year Later
Japanese researchers studying functional decline among patients aged 80 years and older hospitalized for SARS-CoV-2 Omicron pneumonia find significantly higher rates of decline in those also infected with bacteria than in those with primary viral pneumonia 1 year later, though both groups had substantial levels of impairment. The study, published yesterday in Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses, was conducted at five Japanese hospitals and clinics from December 2021 to August 2022. Attending physicians calculated the difference in activities-of-daily-living (ADL) scores from hospital admission to release. (Van Beusekom, 2/8)

San Francisco Chronicle: Costco, Trader Joe’s Pull Products Due To Deadly Listeria Outbreak
Several major nationwide retailers, including Costco and Trader Joe’s, have issued recalls for a variety of dairy and other products due to potential contamination with the dangerous bacteria listeria. (Vaziri, 2/8)

Vacaville Reporter: Feds Issue Public Health Alert For A Trader Joe’s Frozen Chicken Meal Product
A federal inspection service on Wednesday issued a public health alert about a frozen ready-to-eat chicken pilaf product that may be contaminated with “foreign material,” namedly rocks. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service issued the alert to ensure that consumers are aware that this product should not be eaten. A recall was not requested because the product is no longer available for purchase, a spokesman for the FSIS confirmed in a press statement. (Bammer, 2/8)

Fox News: ‘Gender-Affirming’ Treatments Don’t Benefit Youth, Says Pediatricians Group: ‘Irreversible Consequences’
The American College of Pediatricians (ACPeds), based in Florida, released a position statement on Feb. 7 stating that "social transition, puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones have no demonstrable, long-term benefit on the psychosocial well-being of adolescents with gender dysphoria." "A review of at least 60 research papers demonstrates no benefit to social affirmation, puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones or surgical interventions for these youth," lead author and vice president of ACPeds, Dr. Jane Anderson, wrote in an email to Fox News Digital. (Rudy, 2/8)

The New York Times: More Adolescent Boys Have Eating Disorders. Two Experts Discuss Why
For decades, eating disorders were thought to afflict mostly, if not exclusively, women and girls. In fact, until 2013, the loss of menstruation had long been considered an official symptom of anorexia nervosa. Over the last decade, however, health experts have increasingly recognized that boys and men also suffer from eating disorders, and they have gained a better understanding of how differently the illness presents in that group. A small but growing body of scientists and physicians have dedicated themselves to identifying the problem, assessing its scope and developing treatments. (Richtel, 2/8)

CNN: Married People Tend To Be Far Happier Than Those Who Are Not, According To New Data
A happier life after getting married may not just be in fairy tales. It’s in the data, too. Adults who are married report being far happier than those in any other relationship status, according to a Gallup Poll published Friday. “Any way you analyze those data, we see a fairly large and notable advantage to being married in terms of how people evaluate their life,” said poll author Jonathan Rothwell, principal economist at Gallup. (Holcombe, 2/9)

The Washington Post: These Are The Parents Who Stared Down Mark Zuckerberg
Todd Minor understood why the ropes were necessary when the titans of social media strode in and took their seats — within striking distance of him and all the other grieving parents holding portraits of their dead kids — in a walnut-paneled Senate hearing room. “The moment I saw them,” Minor said, “it took all my energy to keep, you know, to stay civilized.” Minor’s dimple-cheeked boy was 12 when he died trying to replicate the TikTok “blackout challenge.” (Dvorak, 2/1)

The New York Times: When The Biggest Student Mental Health Advocates Are The Students
Last October, to commemorate Mental Health Awareness Week, a group of students at Sacopee Valley High School in Hiram, Maine, created the annual Hope Board. Shaped like an enormous tulip and displayed in the lobby, the board was covered with anonymous teenage aspirations. Some students hoped to pass driver’s education or have a successful playoff season. Others expressed more complicated desires. “To be more happy than angry,” wrote one student. Another wrote, “I hope people are kinder and more mature.” (Miller, 2/6)

The Wall Street Journal: The Working Woman’s Newest Life Hack: Magic Mushrooms 
For a select group of moms in high-powered jobs, psilocybin has become the answer to a packed social and professional calendar with no time for hangovers. (Lieber, 2/6)

The New Yorker: A Safe Haven For Late Abortions: Photos From A Late-Stage Abortion Clinic 
Partners in Abortion Care, which opened in College Park, Maryland, after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, helps women terminate pregnancies even if they come from states where abortion is illegal. (Talbot and Shannon, 2/5)

The New York Times: When A Spouse Goes To The Nursing Home 
Even as the signals of approaching dementia became impossible to ignore, Joseph Drolet dreaded the prospect of moving his partner into a long-term care facility. Mr. Drolet, 79, and his beloved Rebecca, 71, both retired lawyers and prosecutors in Atlanta, had been a couple for 33 years, though they retained separate homes. ... But serving as her round-the-clock caregiver, as she needed help with every daily task, became exhausting and untenable. (Span, 2/3)

Modern Healthcare: How AI-Enabled Speech Analysis Could Diagnose, Treat Diseases 
Combining artificial intelligence with the sound of someone’s voice may eventually help diagnose patients with potential heart failure or Parkinson's disease. As AI fever grips healthcare, some providers and digital health companies are using the technology to analyze people's speech patterns so they can detect future heart attacks or better understand a patient's social needs. The concept is promising enough that the National Institutes of Health has budgeted $14 million to create a database of 30,000 voices by 2026 that could be used to train AI for the diagnosis of diseases. (Perna, 2/2)

CIDRAP: Vaccine-Makers Seek A Role In The Fight Against Antibiotic Resistance 
In the offices of a biotech incubator hub just off University Avenue in St. Paul, Minnesota, the seeds of a vaccine that could prevent a common bacterial infection that affects millions of women and reduce infant deaths in low-resource countries are being carefully tended. That's where Syntiron Managing Director Lisa Herron-Olson, PhD, and her colleagues are working on developing a vaccine that targets the iron receptor proteins of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae, two bacterial pathogens that cause most urinary tract infections (UTIs). (Dall, 2/7)

The Wall Street Journal: Are Ultra-Processed Foods Fattening? They Are For Company Profits 
There is polyglycerol polyricinoleate in Hershey bars and tripotassium phosphate in Cheerios breakfast cereal. Growing scrutiny of the peculiar ingredients in popular snack foods might be bad news for their makers. “Ultra-processed foods” are informally considered those that contain ingredients that aren’t normally found in a domestic kitchen—protein isolates or emulsifiers, for example. The term comes from a way of classifying foods, called Nova, that emerged in Brazil over a decade ago. (Ryan, 2/3)

The Washington Post: Your Plant-Based Meat Could Soon Have Animal Fat 
Plant-based meats — think the Impossible Burger or Quorn “chicken” nuggets — are generally filled with a long list of strange-sounding ingredients: pea protein, potato starch, coconut oil, mycoproteins and more. Those ingredients have turned off some consumers and sparked concerns about the highly processed nature of the average veggie burger or faux slice of bacon. But now, a few start-ups are planning on adding one more component to the mix: animal fat. (Osaka and Lytton, 2/5)

The Wall Street Journal: Women In Gaza Give Birth In Tents And Public Bathrooms 
Expectant mothers who make it to hospitals in Gaza rarely get the level of care they need, according to the U.N. and healthcare workers. With only 13 of the enclave’s 36 hospitals functioning, and those only partially, the facilities are short-staffed and overwhelmed by the number of war-wounded. Maternity services are low on the list of priorities for hospitals, and women in labor are often turned away, the workers and the U.N. say. (Stancati and Ayyoub, 2/6)

The Washington Post: Two Men Wanted To Start A Family. Soon, They Could Be Outlaws
The Italian government is trying to criminalize having children using surrogates abroad, a move that critics say targets same-sex couples. (Faiola and Pitrelli, 2/5)

Dallas Morning News: A Breakthrough In Concussion Testing Is Here. More Patients Should Know About It
Last year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first core laboratory test that can screen for two biomarkers associated with brain injury, known as GFAP and UCH-L1. The new test, developed by Abbott and used for mild traumatic brain injury patients in people 18 and older within 12 hours of injury, can deliver results in 18 minutes. (Beth McQuiston, 2/9)

Stat: Why CTE Doesn’t Keep Americans From Enjoying The Super Bowl 
In January 2023, minutes after Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field following a tackle, my cellphone was humming with a steady stream of messages from friends, family, and acquaintances who had been watching the game. How could this happen, they wanted to know. Could a single, seemingly routine collision between two very-large men really cause one of their hearts to abruptly stop beating? It could, and it had, I found myself explaining to the non-physicians in my social orbit over the next few days as Hamlin remained on ventilator support in the ICU. (Adina Wise, 2/9)

Los Angeles Times: Age Matters. Which Is Why Biden's Age Is His Superpower 
Joe Biden is old. Like each of us, he comes from a particular place in history, in his case the LBJ years. And that’s one big reason why his first term has been so full of accomplishment: His age, often cited as the greatest obstacle to his reelection, is actually his superpower. There was never much question that Third Act, the progressive organizing group for people over 60 that I helped found, would end up endorsing President Biden for reelection. We campaign to protect our climate and our democracy, and so the chances we would back Donald Trump — who pulled us out of the Paris climate accords and helped mount the Jan. 6 insurrection — were nil. (Nikki Haley, another no-go, strenuously backed Trump’s Paris pullout.) (McKibben, 2/9)

USA Today: Toby Keith's Death From Cancer Exposes Need To Better Fund Research
Country music legend Toby Keith battled stomach cancer, a rare and often-fatal form of the disease, for two years before losing his fight this week. Keith was, of course, a 62-year-old white male, but his death from a form of cancer that disproportionately affects people of color highlights the need to funnel more charitable dollars toward this underfunded area of oncological research. (Carolyn Bolton, 2/9)

Stat: How To Address Police Violence And Mental Health At Once 
Despite widespread promises of reform after the murder of George Floyd in 2020, in 2023, police killed at least 1,246 people — the most in more than a decade. This police violence is intertwined with a parallel public policy disaster: America’s abysmal mental health systems that force police officers to function as de facto mental health workers. People with unmet mental health needs are 16 times more likely to be killed by police, and a quarter of all those killed by police since 2015 were perceived to be suffering from a mental health crisis. (Eric Reinhart, 2/8)

Stat: A Long-Overdue Ban On Menthol Cigarettes Would Save Black Lives 
As former U.S. surgeons general, we call on the Biden administration to immediately finalize Food and Drug Administration rules that will prohibit the sale of menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars. (Regina Benjamin and Jerome Adams, 2/9)