NPR: The Omicron Subvariant Dominating U.S. COVID-19 Cases Is More Vaccine-Resistant
The BA.5 omicron subvariant, which is now the most prevalent coronavirus strain in the United States, is four times more resistant to COVID-19 vaccines, according to a new study. The strain, which is considered "hypercontagious," according to the Mayo Clinic, is more defiant against messenger RNA vaccines, which include Pfizer and Moderna. (Archie, 7/15)

On masking and ventilation —

CBS News: More Than 1 In 2 Americans Now Live In An Area Where CDC Urges Indoor Masking To Curb COVID-19 Surges
Fifty-five percent of the country's population now live in areas of "high" COVID-19 Community Levels, up from 32% last week, according to the CDC's weekly update. Another 30% are living in counties deemed to be "medium" risk. (Tin, 7/14)

Los Angeles Times: L.A. County On Verge Of New Indoor COVID Mask Mandate
Sustained jumps in cases and hospitalizations fueled by the hyper-infectious BA.5 subvariant pushed Los Angeles County into the high COVID-19 community level Thursday, a shift that could trigger a new public indoor mask mandate by the end of this month unless conditions improve. (Money and Lin II, 7/14)

San Francisco Chronicle: COVID Variants Mean Ventilation Is More Important Than Ever. So What Does ‘Good’ Air Flow Look Like?
As coronavirus variants like BA.5 and BA.2.75 become more prevalent and more transmissible, experts are repeatedly pointing to a transmission reduction strategy that’s worked since the beginning of the pandemic — air ventilation, especially indoors. “We don’t know what variants we’re dealing with in the future,” said Stanford University infectious disease specialist Dr. Abraar Karan, “but transmission is always the same.” (Echeverria, 7/14)

More on the spread of covid —

Axios: U.S. COVID Hospitalizations Have Begun To Rise Again
New hospital admissions of patients with COVID-19 are on the rise in the U.S., topping 31,000 over a seven-day average ending July 11, CDC data shows. (Reed, 7/14)

San Francisco Chronicle: Bay Area Wastewater Surveys Suggest COVID Surge Could Be Biggest Yet
Surveys of coronavirus levels in Bay Area wastewater suggest that the region’s relentless spring COVID surge probably rivals the winter omicron wave in terms of the number of people currently infected — in fact, this surge may be the largest yet in some places. But capturing the scale of disease, and conveying to the public the relative risk of getting sick, is becoming increasingly tricky, health experts say. (Allday, 7/14)

The Atlantic: The BA.5 Wave Is What COVID Normal Looks Like
Coronavirus test-positivity trends, for instance, look quite bad. A rate below 5 percent might have once indicated a not-too-bad level of infection, but “I wake up every morning and look … and it’s 20 percent again,” says Pavitra Roychoudhury, a viral genomicist at the University of Washington who’s tracking SARS-CoV-2 cases in her community. “The last time we were below 10 percent was the first week of April.” It’s not clear, Roychoudhury told me, when the next downturn might be. (Wu, 7/14)

Bangor Daily News: COVID Is Now The 3rd Leading Cause Of Death In Maine
Cancer and heart disease continue to be the leading causes of death in Maine, according to a new state report on community health. But COVID-19 is now the third leading cause, edging above unintentional injuries and chronic lower respiratory disease. (Wight, 7/13)

CIDRAP: Monkeypox Viral DNA Detected In Saliva, Semen 
A study published today in Eurosurveillance used 140 samples taken from 12 infected monkeypox patients in Barcelona, Spain, and found DNA of the poxvirus in semen, saliva, urine, and feces. Though the primary mode of transmission for the smallpox-related virus is through skin-to-skin contact with infected lesions, this study suggests a possibility of transmission through sexual fluids or saliva. The authors emphasize, however, that viral DNA does not necessarily mean infectious virus. (Soucheray, 7/14)

More on the spread of monkeypox —

Fox News: US Monkeypox Cases Top 1K
According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are now 1,053 cases in 41 states and Puerto Rico. Three states have more than 150 confirmed monkeypox cases including California, New York and Illinois. (Musto, 7/14)

Dakota News Now: First Case Of Monkeypox Identified In South Dakota
The South Dakota Department of Health reported the first case of monkeypox has been identified in the state. The male in his 30s from eastern South Dakota tested positive for orthopoxvirus which was confirmed by state officials at the State Public Health Laboratory. Confirmation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is pending. (Cameron, 7/14)

Gothamist: Monkeypox: Mass Vaccination Coming This Weekend, As NYC Councilmembers Seek Emergency Session 
This weekend, New York City is hoping to turn a new leaf in its fight against monkeypox by offering vaccination in all five boroughs. Three mass vaccination sites will open on Sunday at Aviation High School in Queens, the Bushwick Education campus in North Brooklyn and the Bronx High School of Science, the city health department said. (Gonella, 7/14)

Health experts criticize slow response to monkeypox —

Roll Call: Doctors Warn US Monkeypox Response Is Lagging 
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified more than 1,000 cases of monkeypox in the United States, but even though the federal government has ample treatments and vaccinations on hand, physicians say bureaucratic red tape is hindering their ability to respond to and contain the outbreak. (Cohen, 7/14)

Bay Area News Group: Experts Lament 'Race Against Time' As Monkeypox Vaccine Supplies Dwindle
Tyler Bowman opened his phone on Monday and called San Francisco’s public health department over and over — five times in all — while desperate for a vaccine that could help him avoid becoming the latest patient in a burgeoning monkeypox outbreak. And for days, he confronted a widespread problem: There just weren’t enough shots to go around. (Rodgers and Greschler, 7/14)

Axios: "Unprecedented" Spread Of Monkeypox Spurs Call For Faster Response
The federal and state response to the escalating monkeypox outbreak is lacking access to enough vaccines, testing and treatments to keep up with the virus' spread, infectious disease experts are warning. (O'Reilly and Davis, 7/14)

And monkeypox has spread to the world's second-most-populous nation —

Bloomberg: India Monkeypox First Case Confirmed In Kerala
India confirmed Thursday that a case of Monkeypox has been found in the country. A high-level, multi-disciplinary team has been rushed to Kerala to work with state health authorities to institute public health measures after the case was found in Kollam district, India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said in a statement. (Sanjai, 7/14)

The Texas Tribune: Texas Sues Biden Administration Over Emergency Abortion Guidance
Texas is suing the Biden administration over guidance released Monday telling the nation’s doctors they’re protected by federal law to terminate a pregnancy as part of emergency treatment — and threatening to defund hospitals that don’t perform these procedures. (Oxner, 7/14)

Modern Healthcare: Texas Sues Feds Over Emergency Abortions Guidance
The White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre slammed the lawsuit. "This is yet another example of an extreme and radical Republican elected official. It is unthinkable that this public official would sue to block women from receiving life-saving care in emergency rooms, a right protected under U.S. law," Jean-Pierre said in a news release. (Goldman, 7/14)

In other abortion news from the Biden administration —

The Washington Post: White House Debates Declaring Abortion Access A 'Health Emergency' 
White House officials are actively debating whether to formally declare abortion access a public health emergency, pitting the belief of many Biden advisers that such a move would be counterproductive against the overwhelming political pressure to show they are fighting hard for abortion rights. Several top Biden aides have expressed internal reservations about declaring an emergency, saying it would give the administration little money and few new powers, according to a White House official and two people familiar with the conversations. (Abutaleb and Parker, 7/14)

AP: House Making 1st Attempt To Protect Abortion In Post-Roe Era
The House on Friday is expected to vote on two bills that would restore and guarantee abortion access nationwide as Democrats make their first attempt at responding legislatively to the Supreme Court’s landmark decision overturning Roe v. Wade.The legislation stands almost no chance of becoming law, with the necessary support lacking in the 50-50 Senate. (Amiri, 7/15)

The Hill: GOP Senator Blocks Bill To Protect Interstate Travel For Abortion 
GOP Sen. James Lankford (Okla.) on Thursday blocked a Democratic request to unanimously pass a bill seeking to protect interstate travel for abortion. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), joined by a string of Democratic senators, had sought consent to pass a bill that would prevent states from punishing women who travel to other states where abortion is legal to get the procedure. (Sullivan, 7/14)

In other news from Capitol Hill —

Axios: Manchin Won't Raise Taxes But Wants Prescription Drug Reform
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) has closed the door on a climate, energy and tax package, but remains open to a much smaller bill that focuses on deficit reduction, prescription drug reform, and funding for health care subsidies, according to people familiar with the matter. (Nichols, 7/14)

The Washington Post: Manchin Says He Won’t Support New Climate Spending Or Tax Hikes On Wealthy
Manchin’s new opposition leaves Democrats in a difficult political bind: They must decide between pressing him after months of false starts or accepting what would still be significant changes to the law lowering health care costs. A package addressing health care, for example, could spare roughly 13 million people from higher insurance costs in January if lawmakers act swiftly. Manchin has endorsed a two-year extension. (Romm and Stein, 7/14)

The Washington Post: Democrats Keep Testing Positive For Covid, Imperiling Their Agenda 
In recent months, the members of Congress who have publicly reported coronavirus cases overwhelmingly have been Democrats — including the party’s two top leaders on Capitol Hill — posing a big and ironic problem for the majority party. By testing more frequently than their Republican colleagues, Democrats are facing the possibility that their strict adherence to public health protocols could backfire as they pursue the passage of major domestic policy legislation through the 50-50 Senate in the coming weeks. (DeBonis, 7/14)

The Hill: Senate Democrats To Roll Out Weed Decriminalization Bill Next Week 
Senate Democrats are planning to roll out long-awaited legislation to decriminalize marijuana next week, despite expected resistance from Republicans. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), who has been leading the legislative push along with Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), confirmed reports that senators are set to unveil the Cannabis Administration and Opportunity Act in the coming week. (Folley, 7/14)

Bloomberg: Congress Should Make Privacy Measures A Top Priority, Poll Shows
In a survey of 992 respondents with at least one child under the age of 17, about 63% said that if they could choose one priority for Congress, it would be to increase privacy protections. (Diaz, 7/15)

Politico: Indiana AG Eyes Criminal Prosecution Of 10-Year-Old Rape Victim's Abortion Doc 
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita is threatening criminal charges against the doctor who performed an abortion on a 10-year-old rape survivor from Ohio — a major escalation in the ongoing saga that has put the midwestern state on the frontlines of the post-Roe war. A new letter from Rokita to Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb dated Wednesday but released on Thursday asks for records from the Indiana Department of Health and the Department of Child Services to determine whether the physician — Caitlin Bernard with Indiana University — filed the legally required reports within the three-day window of performing the abortion. (Ollstein, 7/14)

NPR: Doctor Told State She Performed Abortion On 10-Year-Old Girl
A new document obtained by NPR confirms that an Indiana doctor reported to state officials that she had performed an abortion last month on a 10-year-old rape victim. The release of the document comes after Indiana's attorney general said he would investigate the physician, claiming without evidence that she has a history of failing to report abortions as required under Indiana law. (McCammon, 7/15)

AP: Doctor's Lawyer Defends Steps In 10-Year-Old Girl's Abortion
The lawyer for an Indiana doctor at the center of a political firestorm after speaking out about a 10-year-old child abuse victim who traveled from Ohio for an abortion said Thursday that her client provided proper treatment and did not violate any patient privacy laws in discussing the unidentified girl’s case. (Davies and Smyth, 7/15)

Girl's case troubles some conservatives —

NBC News: Republicans Shocked A 10-Year-Old Can Get Pregnant After Ohio Rape Victim Abortion Story Proves True
Confronted with the reality of the case, GOP lawmakers interviewed Thursday appeared to be grappling with how to respond — from confusion to blaming the media. Many expressed shock that it was even biologically possible for the 10-year-old child to become pregnant. Some said they were torn “morally” about whether abortions should be allowed in cases of incest or rape, as in the Ohio case. And others tried to turn the conversation to the undocumented immigrant who prosecutors allege raped the girl. (Wong, 7/14)

Politico: National Right To Life Official: 10-Year-Old Should Have Had Baby 
The 10-year-old Ohio girl who crossed state lines to receive an abortion in Indiana should have carried her pregnancy to term and would be required to do so under a model law written for state legislatures considering more restrictive abortion measures, according to the general counsel for the National Right to Life. (Messerly and Wren, 7/14)

USA Today: How Many Young Girls Get Pregnant By Rape Isn't Known, Experts Say. But The Health Risks Are Clear
“Until the Roe ruling, I had never had a colleague tell me about a pregnancy that was being forced to continue because of rape,” said Dr. Erika Werner, chair of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Tufts Medical Center. “In last three weeks, I’ve heard of three.” (Rodriguez, 7/14)

Could the girl have received an abortion in Ohio? —

News 5 Cleveland: Did 10-Year-Old Rape Victim Have To Leave Ohio For Abortion?
[Attorney General Dave] Yost said he wanted to correct something that the national media outlets were getting wrong in their coverage of this story. “Ohio’s heartbeat law has a medical emergency exception, broader than just the life of the mother,” he said. “She did not have to leave Ohio for treatment.” ... Since much of the medical emergency exception is left up to a doctor’s discretion, there’s a gray area. Doctors could face a fifth-degree felony charge if someone questions their decision down the line, putting them in a tough spot. (Merrell, 7/14)

The Washington Post: What Ohio Abortion Law Says About A Pregnant 10-Year-Old Rape Victim 
[Yost] appeared to be arguing that Ohio’s law — which bans almost all abortions after a heartbeat can be detected, usually around six weeks — isn’t actually so stringent that it would actually force a 10-year-old rape victim to carry a child to term. ... Yost’s meaning wasn’t entirely clear. Some took his comment as claiming Ohio has a rape exception in its abortion ban; it clearly and unambiguously does not. ... Yost didn’t say there was a rape exception. He was apparently arguing that a 10-year old would qualify under one of the actual exceptions — probably the latter, given that it’s the one that’s “broader than just the life of the mother.” (Blake, 7/14)

Axios: Latest Proposed Bill Would Ban Abortions In Ohio From Conception 
A Christian pastor serving in the Ohio House of Representatives is proposing to ban abortion from the moment of conception. ... Opponents fear the vaguely-worded, 70-word bill would have broader consequences if enacted — potentially limiting access to in-vitro fertilization and medications used to treat autoimmune diseases. (Buchanan and Neese, 7/14)

In related news from Indiana —

The Hill: Indiana Asks Supreme Court To Let It Enforce Parental-Notice Abortion Law 
Indiana asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to let it enforce a law that would stiffen parental notice requirements in cases where a minor seeks an abortion. The law at issue has been blocked since 2017 by lower courts that relied on Roe v. Wade and related precedents. With Roe’s overruling last month, however, Indiana is now asking the justices to fast-track an order to lower courts to clear the way for the law to become effective immediately. (Kruzel, 7/14)

Detroit Free Press: Whitmer Vetoes Budget Items Restricting Abortion Access, Stem Research
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer vetoed sections of the $22.2 billion education budget, which she signed Thursday, related to restricting abortion access for college students and restricting research on embryonic stem cells, a spokesman said. (Egan, 7/14)

In abortion updates from Missouri and California —

St. Louis Public Radio: Parson Won't Call Special Session On Ectopic Pregnancies 
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson said Thursday that he will not call a special session to pass legislation to protect access to contraceptives and the ability of doctors to treat ectopic pregnancies. (Davis, 7/14)

CalMatters: Abortion Pills Will Be Offered On California Campuses
As California’s efforts to enshrine abortion access continue, the University of California and California State University are working to provide medication abortions on all campuses by Jan. 1. So far, none of the Cal State campuses offer medication abortions, and access within the UC system varies from campus to campus. Both university systems, however, say they are on track to implement a law passed in 2019 requiring their student health centers to provide access to the pills. (Seshadri, 7/13)

On abortion providers in Illinois, Wisconsin, and New Mexico —

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Planned Parenthood Of Illinois Seeing 10 Times More Wisconsin Patients
Planned Parenthood of Illinois officials announced Thursday their clinics have seen roughly a tenfold increase in the number of Wisconsin patients seeking abortion services since the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. (Shastri, 7/14)

Chicago Tribune: In Wake Of Roe's Fall, Wisconsin Doctors Providing Services In Illinois
Wisconsin medical providers are traveling across state lines to provide abortions in Illinois, expanding access to the procedure after the recent fall of Roe v. Wade. (Lourgos, 7/14)

AP: Southern New Mexico County Says Abortion Clinics Not Welcome 
A local government board in southern New Mexico approved a message Thursday saying that abortion clinics are not welcome in politically conservative Otero County — even though state law allows most abortion procedures. The nonbinding anti-abortion resolution, approved in a 3-0 vote, said the commission “stands firmly against the presence in the county of Planned Parenthood clinics or any other clinics where abortion is practiced at will and on demand.” (Lee, 7/15)

In related news about reproductive rights —

The 19th: IVF Patients Hurry To Move Embryos Out Of States With Abortion Bans
In the hours after Roe v. Wade was overturned, frantic emails began spilling into Dr. Robert Hunter’s inbox. But his patients weren’t asking about abortion, the procedure Roe had protected since 1973. They were asking about their embryos — specifically, whether they should move them. (Carrazana and Gerson, 7/14)

Reuters: State Abortion Bans Prevent Women From Getting Essential Medication 
Annie England Noblin, a 40-year-old resident of rural Missouri, had never had a problem filling her monthly prescription for methotrexate until this week. ... The pharmacy ultimately filled the prescription, but Noblin said she will likely switch to a different, more expensive medication in case they refuse to fill her prescription in the future. "It's infuriating," Noblin said. "It made me feel I couldn't be trusted with the medication prescribed to me simply because I have a uterus." (Horowitch, 7/14)

AP: EXPLAINER: How Gestational Age Plays A Role In Abortion Laws 
The abortion bans taking effect after the nation’s highest court overturned Roe v. Wade vary greatly in how they define when a pregnancy can be ended. Some laws prohibit abortion at the point of the “first detectable heartbeat” while others restrict abortion at 15, 22 or 24 weeks of pregnancy. This means determining how far along someone is in pregnancy — gestational age — has become more important, because there is a smaller window of time to secure the procedure in about half of the states in the U.S. Here’s a look at how gestational age is determined and how states use that metric to restrict abortion. (Kruesi, 7/14)

KHN: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Life After ‘Roe’ Is … Confusing 
The Supreme Court’s decision overturning the federal constitutional right to abortion has left confusion in its wake. State abortion laws are in constant flux, patients and providers are unsure what services are legal where, and employers struggling to accommodate workers face privacy and, potentially, legal obstacles. (7/14)

The Washington Post: The National Suicide Hotline Is Changing To 988 Starting Saturday 
The nationwide hotline for mental health emergencies switches to a simple 988 number on Saturday, a transition that is expected to bring millions more calls, chats and texts into a system where readiness to handle the surge varies from place to place. At the same time, advocates hope the renewed focus on emergency assistance, and the spending that has accompanied it, will prompt expansion of other mental health services that are in desperately short supply in many communities. (Bernstein, 7/14)

Roll Call: National 988 Crisis Hotline Readied For Rollout 
The long-awaited three-digit crisis hotline known as 988 rolls out nationally Saturday, a win for mental health advocates who see the simplified number as the first step on a path toward building out crisis care. (Raman, 7/14)

Modern Healthcare: States Prep For 988 Mental Health Hotline's National Debut
"What's different and ambitious about the 988 project is that over time there are goals to have every call to the lifeline answered within local communities as opposed to as part of a national network, and also to couple the availability of call response in communities with a continuum of care to respond to and provide follow up for individuals who contact the lifeline," said Dr. Rebecca Brendel, president of the American Psychiatric Association. (Devereaux, 7/14)

Side Effects Public Media: Hope And Questions Abound As A New Mental Health Crisis Line Is Set To Launch
There’s also apprehension over whether the other parts of the so-called crisis care continuum — such as mobile crisis teams staffed with mental health professionals and community-based treatment options — will be ready to meet the expected increase in demand. Federal officials expect up to 12 million calls, chats, and texts could come into 988 in its first year, and research suggests around 20 percent of those contacts will need some sort of in-person response. (Levi, Krebs, Herman and Barrett, 7/14)

KQED: A New Mental Health Crisis Line Launches On Saturday. Is California Ready To Operate It?
911 intervention will be still be rare, says Michelle Doty Cabrera, executive director of the County Behavioral Health Directors Association of California. “When a person calls 911, they are expecting help to come to them,” she says. “If a person's calling a national suicide prevention hotline for emotional support, they may not want anyone to know who they are, let alone where they're at in that moment.” (Dembosky, 7/14)

In other mental health news —

The Colorado Sun: Colorado Mental Health Providers Say They Were “Blindsided” Again
Colorado mental health counselors in private practice say they’ve been surprised once again with new rules that will make it harder to treat the state’s most vulnerable patients: those with Medicaid insurance. (Brown, 7/14)

Healio: Biden Names Three Cancer Panel Members, Cancer Cabinet Outlines Priorities
President Joe Biden has appointed Elizabeth M. Jaffee, MD; Mitchel Berger, MD; and Carol L. Brown, MD, FACOG, FACS, to the President’s Cancer Panel, the White House announced in a press release. The three physicians, chosen for their contributions to oncology research and public health, will advise the president on challenges and opportunities in reducing the burden of cancer. (Byrne, 7/14)

More on cancer research —

Newsweek: Cancer Cells Thrive In Body's Sweet Spots: Study
Cancer researchers have discovered how mutated cells can sense the Goldilocks sweet spots in a human body. Led by the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, an international group of researchers has shed new light on how cancer thrives. Previous studies have shown how cancer cells can sense the stiffness of the environment they are in, from hard bone and tough muscle to soft, fatty tissue. They found that cancer cells have a "sweet spot" of stiffness, neither too hard nor too soft, where they can move faster. (Bullen, 7/14)

The Guardian: Charcuterie’s Link To Colon Cancer Confirmed By French Authorities
French health authorities say they have confirmed a link between nitrates added to processed meat and colon cancer, dealing a blow to the country’s prized ham and cured sausage industry. ... France is one of the world’s biggest producers of cold cuts, known as charcuterie, which are often consumed as snacks or with early evening drinks. The government immediately announced it would launch an action plan to reduce the use of the additives later this year. (7/12)

ScienceDaily: C. Difficile Drives Some Colorectal Cancers, Study Suggests
Data collected by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and the Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy suggest that Clostridioides difficile, or C. diff, a bacterial species well known for causing serious diarrheal infections, may also drive colorectal cancer. (Johns Hopkins, 7/14)

Also —

KXII: New Blood Test Can Screen For 50 Types Of Cancer
After several years of clinical trials - researchers are launching a new way to screen for more than 50 types of cancer with a simple blood test. And since Mercy hospitals were involved in the clinical trials, the test is already available at Mercy Ardmore and Mercy Ada. “It’s a good test,” Mohart said. “It’s not a replacement for current screening, but its a supplement for screening for so many cancers that we don’t screen for today. so as you know we only screen about 4-5 cancers in the US. but this blood test, a simple blood test screens for fifty cancers all at once. It’s called the Multi-Cancer early Detection test, and it looks for signs of fifty types of cancer. (Cluiss, 7/14)

CBS News: High Gas Prices Push Family To Take Out Loans For Gas To Drive Daughter To Cancer Treatments
The health of 15-year-old Jinger Vincent depends on whether her family has enough money to buy gas in order to get her to her medical appointments. Vincent, a life-long athlete, was diagnosed with bone cancer more than a year ago. ... She has been through chemotherapy and multiple surgeries, including replacing part of her femur bone, and recent lung surgery. She now has medical and physical therapy appointments nearly every other day, often traveling up to an hour away from her home in rural Indiana. With gas prices more than doubling in the past year, parents Keith and Analiza Vincent now spend more than $200 a week on gas, money they don't always have. (Diaz, 7/14)

The Economist: Why Elephants So Rarely Get Cancer 
Elephants have always presented a paradox to biologists. They are much larger than humans and live for a similar length of time, yet they only rarely develop cancer. That is odd. Cancer, after all, is something of a numbers game: the more cells, the more replications. The more replications, the greater the likelihood of random dna damage and a cell going rogue, failing to be detected and ultimately starting the runaway process towards a tumour. (7/13)

Stat: Supreme Court To Decide Whether To Review Contentious Pharma Patent Case
In the coming weeks, the Supreme Court is expected to decide whether to review a wonky, but exceedingly important, debate over patents that has the pharmaceutical industry on edge. (Silverman, 7/14)

In other pharmaceutical industry developments —

KHN: As Big Pharma Loses Interest In New Antibiotics, Infections Are Only Growing Stronger 
Forget covid-19, monkeypox, and other viruses for the moment and consider another threat troubling infectious disease specialists: common urinary tract infections, or UTIs, that lead to emergency room visits and even hospitalizations because of the failure of oral antibiotics. There’s no Operation Warp Speed charging to rescue us from the germs that cause these infections, which expanded their range during the first year of the pandemic, according to a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report. In the past year, the FDA declined to approve two promising oral drugs — sulopenem and tebipenem — to treat drug-resistant UTIs, saying it needed more evidence they work as well as current drugs. (Allen, 7/15)

In health care industry news —

Crain's Cleveland Business: UH Discontinues Inpatient, Surgical And Emergency Services At UH Bedford, UH Richmond
University Hospitals is discontinuing inpatient, surgical and emergency department services at its Bedford and Richmond medical centers to optimize limited resources amid a local and national healthcare staffing shortage. (Coutré, 7/14)

St. Louis Public Radio: SSM Health Nurses Push For Change At SLU Hospital
Rita Reed said she was due to retire after 46 years working for SSM Health. Her decision to leave last month was in part based on issues she and her fellow nurses had with hospital management. (Woodbury, 7/14)

The Boston Globe: In Acquisition, Atrius Rejected The Biggest Names In Massachusetts Health Care. Here’s What It All Means
Experts say that the behind-the-scenes details, spelled out in court documents, are a microcosm of the jockeying for power and market share happening on the local and national scale. The result, signed off on by Attorney General Maura Healey and the state’s Supreme Judicial Court in April, will significantly expand the presence of a national insurer in Massachusetts and, experts warn, could raise health care spending for the state without improving quality. (Bartlett, 7/14)

Stat: Insurers, Courts Grapple With How And When To Pay For Wilderness Therapy
The problems started early on. The young girl from a Denver suburb — identified in a recent lawsuit only as “I.” — had problems interacting with the kids at school. She got bullied. (Bannow, 7/15)

KHN: Nurse Midwives Step Up To Provide Prenatal Care After Two Rural Hospitals Shutter Birthing Centers 
Bailee Tordai, who was 33 weeks into her pregnancy, barely made it to the prenatal checkup. Her clunky old Jeep couldn’t complete the 2-mile trip from her house to the University of Iowa’s outreach clinic in her southeastern Iowa hometown. It was a hot June day, and a wiring problem made the Jeep conk out in the street. A passerby helped Tordai, 22, push her stricken vehicle off the road and into a parking lot. Then she called her stepdad for a ride to the clinic. (Leys, 7/15)

KHN: Listen: Why Medical Debt Touches Every Corner Of America 
KHN’s Noam N. Levey talks with Sasha-Ann Simons of WBEZ about America’s sprawling medical debt crisis. Levey explains that the problem is only partially addressed with recent moves by the three major credit reporting bureaus to remove some medical debt from consumer records. A lot of this debt never reaches the credit bureaus, he says, because it is tucked away on credit cards or paid with personal loans from friends or family. (7/15)

CIDRAP: Adenovirus Common In Kids With Unexplained Acute Hepatitis, Studies Show 
In two new studies, researchers isolated human adenovirus from the vast majority of children diagnosed as having acute hepatitis but couldn't determine whether the ubiquitous virus typically associated with transient respiratory, gastrointestinal, and conjunctival illnesses was the cause. The studies, one from Alabama and one from the United Kingdom, were published yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), the latest efforts to pinpoint the cause of pediatric acute hepatitis outbreaks that began on multiple continents in late 2021 and 2022. (Van Beusekom, 7/14)

In environmental health news —

CIDRAP: Salmonella Tied To Backyard Poultry Climbs Now At 572 Cases In 48 States
In an update on multistate Salmonella outbreaks tied to backyard poultry, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) yesterday reported 353 more cases, including 1 more death, and 10 more affected states. The developments push the overall total to 572 cases, 2 of them fatal, from 48 states. The latest illness onset is Jun 22, and of cases with known information, 92 were hospitalized. The two deaths were reported from Tennessee and Wyoming. (7/14)

Bloomberg: Seafood Study Shows Contaminated Clams Are A Health Risk
Health agencies are now trying to locate the highest exposure risks because the chemicals, also known as PFAS, have been linked to health risks, among them cancer and high cholesterol. The US Food and Drug Administration recently tested seafood sold in stores, and concluded that seafood may be at increased risk for high chemical concentrations. The agency warned consumers to avoid one item in particular: canned clams from China. (Kary, 7/14)

Coastal Review Online: Chemours Challenges EPA Health Advisory For GenX
The Chemours Company is suing the Environmental Protection Agency for its recent health advisory for GenX, one of the contaminants discharged for years into the Cape Fear River from the company’s plant in Fayetteville. (Talton, 7/15)

The Texas Tribune: Texas Heat Leads To Worst Summer Smog Pollution In A Decade
Texas has seen more days with unhealthy levels of smog pollution this year than it has in a decade, state data shows, as vehicle and industrial emissions react with record-high temperatures, spiking ozone concentrations. (Douglas, 7/14)

In other health and wellness news —

The Washington Post: Woman Says Walmart Fired Her For ‘Problematic’ Breast Milk Pumping
A Florida mother is accusing Walmart of discrimination after she said her managers harassed her and then fired her because her need to pump breast milk was “problematic,” according to a lawsuit filed in federal court. (Bever, 7/14)

Press Association: Young People 'Should Not Drink But Older People May Benefit From Small Amounts'
Drinking more than a small shot glass of beer a day could pose risks to health for men under the age of 40, a study suggests as researchers urged younger adults to steer clear of alcohol. And a safe daily limit for women aged 39 and under is the equivalent of two tablespoons' worth of wine, or 100ml of beer, the research suggests. (Pickover, 7/14)

The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer: UH Researchers Find Near Century-Old Redlining Discriminatory Housing Policies Leave Lasting Legacy On Modern Day Heart Health
The idea that people of low-income experience shorter life spans and higher rates of chronic disease does not necessarily come as much of a surprise. So it’s not shocking that living in a low-income neighborhood would also increase your chances of illness and premature death. However, researchers from University Hospitals in Cleveland recently took it a step further, demonstrating that, among the many predictors of cardiovascular disease -- one of them is whether your address falls in one of the neighborhoods that long ago was affected by discriminatory lending practices known as redlining. (Kroen and Smith, 7/14)

The New York Times: As Y Chromosomes Vanish With Age, Heart Risks May Grow
It’s been known for more than half a century that many men lose their Y chromosomes as they age. But no one knew if it really mattered. The loss of Y could just be a sign of aging, like gray hair, with no clinical relevance. Now, though, researchers report that it can matter. Very much. A new study using male mice genetically engineered to lose their Y chromosomes provides insight. The paper, published on Thursday in the journal Science, found that when the Y chromosome was gone from blood cells in those mice, scar tissue built up in the heart, leading to heart failure and a shortened life span. (Kolata, 7/14)

AP: Long Lines Are Back At US Food Banks As Inflation Hits High
Long lines are back at food banks around the U.S. as working Americans overwhelmed by inflation turn to handouts to help feed their families. With gas prices soaring along with grocery costs, many people are seeking charitable food for the first time, and more are arriving on foot. (Snow and Garcia, 7/14)

KHN: A Free-For-All From Readers And Tweeters, From Medical Debt To Homelessness
KHN gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories. (7/15)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Missouri Sees Steep Rise In Syphilis Cases, Especially Among Women And Babies
Missouri has seen a steep increase in syphilis cases, including a form that is passed to newborns, which can have devastating consequences. (Munz, 7/15)

The Boston Globe: Mass. House Approves Wide-Ranging Economic Development Bill That Offers Tax Relief, Health Care Investments, Earmarks
The bill included $100 million for the Affordable Housing Trust Fund and $25 million to address food insecurity. It sets $350 million aside for “financially strained” hospitals, $165 million for nursing facilities, $15 million for reproductive health care providers, and $175 million for state parks and public recreation. An additional $300 million goes toward the state’s unemployment fund. (Gross, 7/14)

KHN: California’s Public Health Tax Is Dead For The Year 
A ballot initiative that would have raised taxes on California millionaires and billionaires to fund public health programs and pandemic prevention is dead — at least for this year. The Silicon Valley tech executives who bankrolled the measure, which had been targeted for the November ballot, said they aren’t giving up on their goal of creating the strongest state public health system in the country. But they acknowledge covid-19 is no longer top of mind for most Americans. (Hart, 7/15)

AP: Kentucky Woman Sues Fertility Doctor Under New State Law 
A woman is accusing a Kentucky doctor in a lawsuit of using his own sperm during her fertility treatment decades ago without her knowledge. The woman, Susan Crowder, is filing the suit under a new Kentucky law that sets criminal and civil penalties for fertility fraud. Crowder’s attorney, Amy Wheatley, said this is the first such suit under the law, which Crowder lobbied for. (7/14)

CBS News: Approximately 1 Million Fentanyl-Laced Pills Seized In Drug Bust Near Los Angeles
The Drug Enforcement Administration reported Thursday that the raid occurred on July 5 at a home in Inglewood, a city just south of Los Angeles. The pills have an estimated street value of between $15 and $20 million, officials said. The pills were "intended for retail distribution," the DEA said. (7/14)

ABC News: US Men Sicker Than Those Abroad, Study Says
American men are sicker and die earlier than men living in other developed nations, according to a new report from The Commonwealth Fund, a non-profit organization focusing on public health issues. (Grant, 7/15)

In other global developments —

AP: 25 Million Kids Missed Routine Vaccinations Because Of COVID 
About 25 million children worldwide have missed out on routine immunizations against common diseases like diptheria, largely because the coronavirus pandemic disrupted regular health services or triggered misinformation about vaccines, according to the U.N. In a new report published Friday, the World Health Organization and UNICEF said their figures show 25 million children last year failed to get vaccinated against diptheria, tetanus and pertussis, a marker for childhood immunization coverage, continuing a downward trend that began in 2019. (7/15)

Reuters: Griner's Lawyers Tell Russian Court She Was Prescribed Medical Cannabis
Lawyers defending U.S. basketball player Brittney Griner told a Russian court on Friday she was prescribed medical cannabis in the United States for a chronic injury, a Reuters journalist at the courtroom reported. (7/15)

Bloomberg: Cholera Found In Turtles At Wet Market In Covid Epicenter Wuhan
Wuhan detected cholera-causing bacteria in samples taken from softshell turtles at a food market, sparking comparisons among some Chinese social media users to the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic. (7/15)

NPR: How 2 Brazilian Besties Are Inventing A New MRNA COVID Vaccine
For the last two years, Brazilian scientists Patricia Neves and Ana Paula Ano Bom have been working out of an office that's just big enough for their two desks pushed together. At first, they worried they wouldn't get much done ... because they'd have too much fun! "She's my best friend!" says Ano Bom, starting to laugh. (Aizenman, 7/13)

St. Louis Public Radio: The Space Force Will Track Troops' Fitness With Wearable Devices. Will It Keep Them Healthier?
Annual physical fitness tests have become a cornerstone of military life. Each service has its own take on the once-a-year assessment required by the Department of Defense. But the country’s newest military branch is ditching that model. (Schmid, 7/11)

Stat: In The Label 'Adult Failure To Thrive,' Medicine Reveals Its Own Failures
The term is official enough to have a code in the American version of the International Classification of Diseases — R62.7 — and common enough for medical coders to know that code by heart. Some physicians say they haven’t heard the phrase in years. But in a dataset from health-records giant Epic, among 65 million U.S. patients seen in 2021, some 126,000 of them had “adult failure to thrive.” Look only at hospitalizations, and the fraction gets larger: 1.5% had been assigned this code. It tends to be written into the medical charts of older adults, sometimes without the patient or family being told. (Boodman, 7/12)

Bloomberg: Podcast: Everything You Know About Calories Just Might Be Wrong
Calorie counts on foods aren’t always accurate, or even a fixed value, no matter what a nutrition label says. But calories are just the start of everything that’s wrong with how we think about food and weight. People have turned to diets for weight loss for centuries, but usually it’s been a waste of time, money and effort. Invariably, the weight just comes back. (Court, 7/12)

The New York Times: The Power Of A Casual Check-In Text 
Calling, texting or emailing a friend just to say “hello” might seem like an insignificant gesture — a chore, even, that isn’t worth the effort. Or maybe you worry an unexpected check-in wouldn’t be welcome, as busy as we all tend to be. But new research suggests that casually reaching out to people in our social circles means more than we realize. (Pearson, 7/11)

The Washington Post: TikTok Doc Makes Physicians Laugh At Themselves
Emergency room doctors savor adrenaline and bike helmets. Orthopedic doctors are bros who love the gym. Neurosurgeons are just a tad confident. And medical students are living in a special kind of hell, from match day to rotations. They have one thing in common — being mocked by Will Flanary, an ophthalmologist known to millions in the medical world as “Dr. Glaucomflecken,” a term for a sign of glaucoma. (Fallik, 7/11)

KVPR: A Father's Grief Inspires A Touching Headstone For His Disabled Son
Matthew Robison, who had cerebral palsy, spent his entire life in a wheelchair. So when he died at age 10 1/2, his parents thought they'd commemorate his life with a unique grave monument showing that he'd been liberated from the device. "I got the idea that he would just be able to rise physically from his wheelchair and go up to heaven," his father, Ernest Robison, told NPR. "And he'd be free from all of the disabilities and limitations that he had here on the Earth," Matthew's mother, Anneke Robison, added in the same phone interview. (Romo, 7/7)

On abortion and reproductive rights —

San Francisco Chronicle: It Was A Secret Roadmap For Breaking The Law To Get An Abortion. Now, ‘The List’ And Its Tactics Are Resurfacing
She flew to San Francisco in June 1968 to meet a friend who knew someone who knew someone. Karen L. was 24 and eight weeks pregnant, arriving from Los Angeles. The woman picked her up at San Francisco International and carefully explained what to do next. There was a phone number; there was a code phrase. From the friend’s apartment, Karen dialed the number and spoke the phrase:“Patricia Maginnis sent me.”A female voice greeted her. (Fagonne and Bordas, 7/10)

The Texas Tribune: Linda Coffee Argued Roe V. Wade. Now, She’s Watching It Unravel. 
Linda Coffee was driving to her office in downtown Dallas when she heard on the radio that she’d just won a U.S. Supreme Court case. Coffee was just 30 years old in January 1973 when seven justices agreed with her argument that the U.S. Constitution protected the right to abortion early in pregnancy. (Klibanoff, 7/12)

Politico: How Abortion Is Sundering Amy Coney Barrett’s Hometown
Like in many American towns, protestors and celebrants poured into the streets and city plazas of this northern Indiana city in the hours and days after the Supreme Court reversed abortion rights. On Friday evening after the Dobbs decision came down, in the John Hunt Plaza in front of the Morris Civic Auditorium, the protesters began hoisting the now-familiar signs: HANDS OFF MY UTERUS. ABORTION IS HEALTHCARE. OUR BODIES OUR CHOICE. KEEP IT LEGAL. KEEP IT SAFE. Unlike in a lot of towns, though, the jeerers and the cheerers happened to have a onetime neighbor and fellow South Bender as a justice on the court: Amy Coney Barrett, who still keeps a presence in the town, having only relatively recently sold her 3,800-square-foot brick home in the leafy and pristine Harter Heights neighborhood near her former employer, the University of Notre Dame Law School. (Wren, 7/10)

Stat: Monkeypox Patients Should Have Access To FDA-Approved Drug 
Andy couldn’t sleep more than a couple fitful hours a night because it felt like a hot fork was stabbing him in the butt. He had excruciating internal and external lesions around his anus. (Jay K. Varma and Joseph Osmundson, 7/15)

The Star Tribune: Monkeypox Is Rare, But Knowledge Is Key 
With cases of monkeypox now topping 10,000 globally, the World Health Organization will meet next week and reconsider whether this viral disease's latest outbreak is a "global health emergency." (7/14)

The New York Times: It’s Terrifying To Be A Doctor In Post-Roe America 
Earlier this week I was preparing to write a guest essay with my colleague, Dr. Caitlin Bernard, an ob-gyn here in Indiana. We wanted to write about the chilling effect that the overturning of Roe v. Wade has had on medicine in our state and around the country in just a few short weeks. (Tracey A. Wilkinson, 7/15)

Los Angeles Times: It's Time To Declare A Public Health Emergency For Abortion 
The Biden administration should declare a public health emergency to ensure everyone in the U.S. has access to abortion medication. (7/13)

Bloomberg: More Covid Boosters Are Coming, But Who Will Take Them?
Once a week, typically on the day that the Centers for Disease Control updates its Covid data tracker, I send my dad a text: “Did you make an appointment to get your booster?” (Lisa Jarvis, 7/14)

The Boston Globe: We’re All Tired Of COVID. But It’s Not Done With Us. 
Is this pandemic over or what? From what I’ve seen in Boston, New York, and Washington, most seem to think the answer is yes. Stores, restaurants, subway trains, and airplanes have been filled to capacity with those eager to return to normal life, many of whom are opting to go unmasked. (Kimberly Atkins Stohr, 7/14)

Newsweek: Mr Biden, Are We In A Public Health Emergency Or Not?
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) continue to contradict themselves regarding COVID-19. (Gortler, 7/15)

Miami Herald: We Can’t Quarantine Ourselves, But We Can Take Precautions 
A new variant of the coronavirus, even more contagious than previous strains, is now dominant in the United States. But rising cases should not prompt calls for most Americans to hunker down or policymakers to reimpose restrictions. Instead, the rapid spread of the BA.5 omicron subvariant is a window into what the future with this coronavirus looks like. (Leana S. Wen, 7/14)

The CT Mirror: Accelerating Support For All Healthcare Professions Should Be A Top Priority
Dire warnings concerning health-care worker shortages across the nation should be taken seriously. (Maura Daly Iversen, 7/15)

Kansas City Star: Missouri, Kansas Must Fund New 988 Suicide Crisis Phone Line
Missouri and Kansas, along with the rest of the United States, are set to launch the new 988 national mental health emergency hotline this weekend to make it easier for people in crisis to get help. But it’s going to take a lot more state funding to keep this lifesaving operation sustained long term, and lawmakers must make sure that happens. (7/15)

Columbus Dispatch: Pediatric Research: Social Needs Assessments Key To Help Kids Thrive
Health-related social needs, often referred to as social determinants of health, include poverty, food insecurity, lack of stable housing and racism. The consequences for children who do not have these needs met can follow them for a lifetime.  (Abbie Roth, 7/14)

Stat: New Competencies On Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion For Med Ed - STAT
Turning students into competent physicians in just four years is a tall order. It’s made even harder by the fact that medical knowledge continues to evolve at an accelerating pace, necessitating ongoing learning throughout a physician’s career. (David J. Skorton and Henri R. Ford, 7/14)

Stat: Don't Let Hospital Care At Home Shrivel When The Pandemic Ends
During surges of Covid-19, providing hospital-level care in the home was a good alternative to receiving care in hospitals strained by historic staffing shortages and populated by people infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the disease. Rather than fading away with the pandemic, this form of care needs to be seen as an integral part of health care in the United States. (Stephen Parodi and Ceci Connolly, 7/15)