Stat: Supreme Court Strikes Down Use Of Affirmative Action, A Blow To Efforts To Diversify Medical Schools
Overturning decades of precedent, the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday struck down the use of affirmative action, ruling that it is unconstitutional for colleges, universities — and professional schools for law, medicine, and nursing — to consider race as one factor in deciding who they will admit. The decision comes as a blow to many in the field of medicine, which has been unable to appreciably increase the numbers of Black, Hispanic, and Indigenous doctors in recent decades. Many medical schools have turned to using race as one factor among many in admissions decisions to try to boost the numbers of students from underrepresented groups and help overcome obstacles to entry like MCAT testing that favor students from wealthier backgrounds. (McFarling, 6/29)

NBC News: Medical Schools Will Be Even Less Diverse After Affirmative Action Ruling, Experts Say
The Supreme Court’s affirmative action ruling will have far-reaching consequences for Black and Latino students hoping to attend medical school and, in turn, only worsen the health disparities among people of color across the country, experts said. After the high court’s ruling Thursday struck down affirmative action programs at the University of North Carolina and Harvard, many fear that medical and nursing schools and other professional institutions will no longer be able to foster diversity by considering race in their admissions processes. The decision will result in fewer Black physicians and more racial bias in the medical field, said Dr. Uché Blackstock, a physician who is the founder of Advancing Health Equity. (Adams, 6/29)

Axios: Medical Schools Eye Workarounds After SCOTUS Affirmative Action Ruling
While the Supreme Court's ruling to block the use of affirmative action in college admissions is being criticized for the way it could stymie efforts to diversify the medical workforce, experts tell Axios there are still a number of options medical schools can pursue. Why it matters: A body of research has shown outcomes for patients of color improve when they are seen by doctors of the same race. (Reed, 6/30)

Stat: Medical Leaders Decry Supreme Court Decision On Affirmative Action
Medical leaders on Thursday reacted swiftly to the Supreme Court’s decision to severely restrict the use of race in college admissions, saying the ruling could reverse decades of progress toward diversifying the nation’s physician workforce — something seen as key to helping end the country’s widespread and deeply entrenched health disparities. “This ruling will make it even more difficult for the nation’s colleges and universities to help create future health experts and workers that reflect the diversity of our great nation. The health and wellbeing of Americans will suffer as a result,” Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement released almost immediately after the ruling, noting that people of color had been excluded from attending medical school and joining medical organizations for generations. “We need more health workers, especially those who look like and share the experiences of the people they serve,” the statement said. (McFarling, 6/29)

Modern Healthcare: Supreme Court Affirmative Action Ruling Sparks Healthcare Concerns
In the aftermath of the historic decision, medical schools and the healthcare sector must reconsider a fundamental aspect of their long-term strategies for diversity, equity and inclusion. Here's what major healthcare institutions had to say about the ruling on Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College and Students for Fair Admissions, Inc. v. University of North Carolina, et al. (Hartnett, 6/29)

The New York Times: Heat Wave And Wildfire Smoke Affecting Huge Portions Of North America 
For nearly a half of the United States the forecast for the heat index, a measure of what the temperature actually feels like, fell into the “extreme caution” or “danger” categories. Humid air can keep the body from cooling efficiently because the air is so saturated that moisture from a person’s skin has nowhere to evaporate, a necessity for cooling down. Adding to the danger, nighttime temperatures are expected to remain high this week in the South and Midwest, making it harder for the human body to have a chance to cool down. (Sengupta, 6/29)

The Washington Post: Millions Face A Summer Of Canadian Wildfire Smoke Unlikely To End Soon 
The latest disruptions made it all the more clear: Record-setting, out-of-control Canadian wildfires will not be put out any time soon, meaning more Americans than ever face continuing threats of dangerously poor air quality this summer. Put differently: The United States could be in for a summer of smoke. “The number of people that are exposed is unprecedented in the modern era,” said Michael Wara, an energy and climate policy expert at Stanford University. (Dance, Selig, Livingston and Cappucci, 6/29)

The New York Times: How Safe Is Your Office Air? There’s One Way to Find Out
In the United States, there is little regulation of indoor air quality, and once a building is up and running, occupants typically have little insight into whether the air they are breathing is safe. (Anthes, 6/29)

More on the deadly heat wave —

NBC News: Extreme Texas Heat Is Not Letting Up At Night — And How This Impacts Health
Just as worrisome — nighttime temperatures have set records and offered no relief. On all but one day, Del Rio’s lowest temperature was at least 80 F, according to National Weather Service data. Heat at night disrupts sleep and prevents the body from recovering and cooling down, making minimum temperatures a critical indicator of a heat wave’s severity, experts said. In many parts of the country, nights are warming faster than days — a sneaky risk to people’s health. (Bush, 6/29)

AP: Heat Waves Like The One That's Killed 14 In The Southern US Are Becoming More Frequent And Enduring 
Scientists and medical experts say such deaths caused by extreme heat will only increase in the U.S. each summer without more action to combat climate change that has pushed up temperatures, making people especially vulnerable in areas unaccustomed to warm weather. “Here in Boston we prepare for snowstorms. Now we need to learn how to prepare for heat,” said Dr. Gaurab Basu, a primary care physician and the director of education and policy at the Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. (Snow, 6/30)

The Washington Post: Pressure Builds For FEMA To Declare Deadly Heat Events As Disasters 
Extreme heat kills more people than nearly every other weather event combined. But does the government respond to these potentially lethal events as they do with hurricanes and floods? Not yet. A disaster declaration by the president could allow states to be reimbursed for taking action that could save lives — such as opening cooling centers, distributing water and checking in with residents door-to-door. States could also ask the Federal Emergency Management Agency to launch an emergency response, such as supplying medical teams or rounding up generators. (Selig, 6/29)

USA Today: Are Heat Waves Dangerous? How Humidity, 'Heat Islands' Affect Health
Extreme heat is the deadliest weather-related event in the United States, killing more people than tornadoes or hurricanes – combined. While federal agencies report about 700 Americans die each year from extreme heat, some studies estimate that figure could be closer to 1,300 deaths per year. Another study found up to 20,000 deaths may have been linked to extreme heat between 2008 and 2017. (Rodriguez, 6/30)

AP: Here's How To Keep Cool And Stay Safe During A Heat Wave 
You might be experiencing a heat stroke if your body temperature reaches or surpasses 103 degrees. Other symptoms include nausea, headaches, thirst and a fast and strong heart rate. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says heat stroke is a medical emergency and recommends that people with symptoms call 911.Symptoms of heat exhaustion include heavy sweating, muscle cramps, dizziness, vomiting and cold, pale or clammy skin. The CDC says you should seek treatment if such symptoms worsen or last more an hour. (Yamat, 6/29)

Be sure to watch your step —

Bay Area News Group: Bay Area Temperatures Will Go Up, And Snakes Likely Will Be Coming Out
“As it gets warm, the snakes will come out,” Darren Johnson, an assistant fire chief for the Rodeo-Hercules Fire Department in Contra Costa County, said. “They’re gonna want to get to where it’s warm. Sometimes, that’s cement, sometimes that’s a driveway. Sometimes, it’s where mud has been by a side of a road. But it happens when it gets warm.” And some of those snakes carry a rattle, he said. Johnson is considered a bit of snake expert among Contra Costa County firefighters, but he’s hardly the only official who has signaled a warning to hikers to be aware of poisonous rattlesnakes. (Hurd, 6/29)

CNN: CDC Approves RSV Vaccines For Older Adults, Expects Availability This Fall
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday gave the green light to two new RSV vaccines for older adults and expects them to be available in the fall. The endorsement from CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky follows recommendations from the agency’s independent vaccine advisory committee and approvals from the US Food and Drug Administration. (McPhillips, 6/29)

AP: Older Americans Can Get RSV Vaccine This Fall After Consulting Their Doctor, CDC Says 
Americans 60 and older can get a new RSV vaccine but should discuss it with their doctor first, U.S. health officials recommended Thursday. The newly approved vaccines are expected to be ready in the fall, a time when flu shots and updated COVID-19 shots also will be available. Those eligible for the RSV vaccine should talk with their doctor to see if it is right for them, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a statement. (Stobbe and Johnson, 6/29)

In updates about covid-19 —

CIDRAP: Global COVID Markers Show Few Hot Spots As XBB.1.16 Overtakes XBB.1.5 
In its update on variant activity, the WHO said the proportion of the Omicron XBB.1.5 subvariant continues to decline steadily, dropping from 32.1% to 19.8% over the past month. In a risk assessment update last week for XBB.1.5, the WHO said the virus doesn't pose an additional public health risk compared to other subvariants. Meanwhile, the XBB.1.16 subvariant for the first time topped the XBB.1.5 proportion, now accounting for 20.5% of sequences globally. The WHO notes that countries that have low prevalence of XBB.1.5 are now seeing significant rises in XBB.1.16 prevalence, while countries that had high XBB.1.5 activity are experiencing low circulation of XBB.1.16.The only other subvariants showing rising prevalence are XBB, XBB.1.9.2, and XBB.2.3. (Schnirring, 6/29)

Nature: New COVID Jabs Are Coming — Who Should Get Them?
Confronted once again with waning immunity against SARS-CoV-2, health officials around the world are planning to roll out booster jabs in the next few months. But these booster campaigns might not have the same come-one, come-all approach of previous years. Now that the COVID-19 global emergency is over and infections have dwindled, officials have been rethinking who should receive the jab and when. Some countries have already restricted access to current boosters so they are available only to people at high risk of severe disease or death, and several nations have hinted that updated boosters rolled out in the coming months will be reserved for vulnerable individuals. (Kozlov, 6/29)

The Washington Post: Ex-Pfizer Worker Charged With Insider Trading On Covid Pill Info 
A former Pfizer employee and his close friend were arrested Thursday morning on charges they illegally used insider information about breakthrough results from the trial of the pharmaceutical giant’s anti-covid medicine Paxlovid to profit off its stock. Amit Dagar, who worked on the Paxlovid trial, bought options betting Pfizer’s stock would rise hours after learning from his supervisor in November 2021 that the company was planning to announce the medicine would be a “game changer” in combating the pandemic, the government alleges. Dagar also allegedly tipped off Atul Bhiwapurkar, a friend and business partner, who followed suit. (Newmyer, 6/29)

The Washington Post: States And CDC To Track Cronobacter Cases Like Other Infectious Diseases
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will start collecting data from state and local health departments about infections caused by cronobacter, the pathogen at the center of last year’s infant formula crisis. The Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists, which makes recommendations to the CDC about illnesses it should track, made the recommendation at a conference Thursday. The CDC has said it will adopt the recommendation starting next year. CSTE members worked closely with CDC experts and representatives of the Food and Drug Administration and the Association of Public Health Laboratories to come to this decision. (Reiley, 6/29)

Also —

Medical Xpress: Researchers Find Unsafe Feeding Methods Spiked During Infant Formula Shortage
Nearly half of parents who relied on formula to feed their babies during the infant formula shortage last year resorted to potentially harmful feeding methods, according to a survey from researchers at the University of California, Davis. The study was published in the journal BMC Pediatrics. In an online anonymous survey of U.S. parents, the number of individuals that used at least one unsafe feeding practice increased from 8% before the formula shortage to nearly 50% during the shortage. Unsafe practices included watering down formula, using expired or homemade formula, or using human milk from informal sharing. (Quinton, 6/27)

In news about pregnancy —

KFF Health News: A New Law Is Supposed To Protect Pregnant Workers — But What If We Don’t Know How? 
Vanessa Langness had always been a bit worried about the chemicals she worked with as a biomedical researcher, but when she got pregnant in October, her concerns grew. The 34-year-old based in Santa Maria, California, suspected the ethidium bromide she was using in the lab for molecular cloning could put her and her baby at risk. She wasn’t sure what to do; she was only a few weeks into her pregnancy and didn’t know how it would affect her career. (Jimenez, 6/30)

Military.com: An Army Couple Had Their Daughter At A Military Hospital. Then The Collections Calls Started For $600,000
Army Spc. Daysha Cartagena and her husband, Staff Sgt. Isaiah Cortez, were looking forward to the birth of their daughter in October 2021. The pregnancy hadn't been easy; Cartagena's legs and ankles were swollen, and her blood pressure had been erratic. When she began feeling contractions, Cartagena went to Womack Army Medical Center at Fort Liberty, North Carolina, where she was examined and sent home, told she wasn't ready yet to have her baby. She repeated the process two more times before finally returning to Womack, her contractions coming in painful waves seconds apart, the baby's heartbeat plummeting with each squeeze. Again, she was told she wasn't dilated enough to give birth, but by then, she was leaking brown, bloody fluid, and she was allowed to stay at the hospital. (Kime, 6/29)

Stat: Walensky Prepares To Leave CDC — And Congress — After A Bruising 29 Months
Rochelle Walensky, the outgoing director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will miss aspects of leading the nation’s top public health agency when her term ends Friday. But testifying before Congress is not likely to be among them. Walensky squared off against congressional committees 17 times during her 2½ years as head of the CDC, most recently in mid-June, when she faced a grilling from Republicans on the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability. (Branswell, 6/29)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Q&A With CDC Director Rochelle Walensky As She Prepares To Leave
Dr. Rochelle Walensky is preparing for life after the pandemic. She announced her plans to step down as head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on May 5, just six days before the federal government declared the end of the public health emergency. Walenksy’s tenure of just under two and a half years as head of the nation’s lead public health agency was one of the shortest of any CDC director. It was also marked by contentious political fighting over pandemic public health policies. (Thomas, 6/30)

Bloomberg: Deaths Linked To Fentanyl Laced With Xylazine Soar, CDC Finds 
The danger from a little-known sedative that’s frequently combined with opioids exploded from 2018 to 2021 as deaths linked to the drug rose by 34 times. (Griffin, 6/30)

CNN: Xylazine, Or Tranq, Present In More Than 1 In 10 Fentanyl Overdose Deaths In The US
The Biden administration recently declared fentanyl laced with xylazine – an animal sedative commonly known as “tranq” – to be an emerging threat facing the United States, and a new analysis of toxicology reports illustrates its sharp rise. In June 2022, xylazine was present in nearly 11% of fentanyl overdose deaths, almost a four-fold increase from January 2019, when the combination was present in about 3% of cases, according to the report. (McPhillips and Kounang, 6/29)

Also —

The New York Times: Pregnant Women On Anti-Addiction Medication Had Their Babies Taken Away
To help with her recovery, Jade Dass had been taking Suboxone, a medication that binds to the receptors in the brain that crave opioids, preventing withdrawal without creating a high. She was concerned that it might affect the developing fetus, but a health care provider, she says, assured her that she should continue taking it. The advice seemed counterintuitive; pregnant women are routinely urged to abstain from alcohol, tobacco, even ibuprofen. So Dass did her own research. Everyone from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the same thing. Pregnant women with opioid addiction should be encouraged to take doctor-prescribed synthetic opioids such as buprenorphine, the main component of Suboxone, or methadone, which has been used to treat heroin and other addictions for almost six decades. Weaning off these medications could trigger withdrawal and contractions that could result in a miscarriage, premature birth or cause a person to relapse. (Walter, 6/29)

Alaska Public Media: Opioid Reversal Drugs Save Lives In Alaska. But People Are Often Skipping A Crucial Step 
According to the state health department, organizations gave out about 30,000 kits in Alaska last year. Anyone who gets a kit takes a short training. They learn how to use the nasal spray and that they must call 9-1-1 afterwards for medical attention. But harm reduction specialist Venus Woods said, in practice, people aren’t calling 9-1-1. “I think the majority of our syringe access clients do not utilize emergency rooms,” said Woods.  (Cassandra, 6/29)

In news about MDMA —

The Washington Post: Australia Offers MDMA Drug Therapy For PTSD, A World First
Australia’s drug regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration, surprised just about everybody — including the country’s health institutions — when it ruled that from July, MDMA would be rescheduled from a prohibited to a controlled substance. It will also allow psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, to be used in therapy for treatment-resistant depression. In doing so, the regulator has turned Australia into a countrywide experiment for other jurisdictions, including the United States, to observe. (Vinall, 6/29)

Houston Chronicle: Nearly 10,000 More Babies Born In Texas After Abortion Ban: Study
Nearly 10,000 more babies were born in Texas in the months after the state enacted a first-of-its-kind abortion ban in September 2021, according to new research from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The research, which evaluated births between April and December 2022, found that Texas’ Senate Bill 8 was associated with 9,799 additional live births. The legislation outlawed abortions after fetal cardiac activity was detected — usually around six weeks of pregnancy, when many people do not yet know they are pregnant. (Harris, 6/29)

In abortion updates from North Carolina —

North Carolina Health News: NC's New Abortion Ban Takes Effect Tomorrow
Beverly Gray, an OB-GYN at Duke Health who provides abortion care, expects that turning away people seeking abortions in North Carolina will be a daily occurrence beginning tomorrow, when the state’s new restrictions passed by Republican lawmakers take effect. Overnight, abortion access will significantly diminish as the time frame for seeking most abortions in the state drops from 20 weeks of pregnancy to 12 weeks. (Crumpler, 6/30)

AP: North Carolina Governor Signs Law Clearing Up Several Aspects Of Impending Abortion Law
Last-minute revisions to North Carolina’s new abortion restrictions that take effect this weekend were signed into law on Thursday by Gov. Roy Cooper. The Democratic governor’s decision to act quickly on changes from the Republican-controlled legislature should minimize the immediate results from a pending legal challenge. Still, a federal judge might temporarily block parts of the law that before it goes into effect Saturday. (Robertson, 6/29)

From New York and Iowa —

Politico: New York Dems Put Abortion On The Ballot In Bid To Retake The House
Left-leaning New York groups pledged $20 million Thursday to support a change to the New York State constitution to protect abortion rights that will be on the 2024 ballot — something they believe will boost turnout for Democrats in key swing House districts. A state Equal Rights Amendment will ask voters next November to codify a number of rights, including abortion and LGBTQ rights, in the state constitution. New York Democrats are hoping to replicate a model they found successful last cycle, when a constitutional abortion amendment was on the same ballot as vulnerable Democrats in Michigan. The amendment passed and those members held their seats. (Gibson, 6/29)

Axios: Abortions Drop In Iowa Post-Dobbs Decision
Abortions have decreased in Iowa following the U.S. Supreme Court's Dobbs decision, which ended constitutional rights to an abortion. Driving the news: A new Society of Family Planning report estimating Iowa's abortion rates from April 2022 to December 2022 shows they decreased by 48 abortions a month on average. (Ta, 6/29)

Also —

Fox News: US Catholic Bishops Issue Sharp Rebuke To Pro-Abortion Catholic Members Of Congress
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) issued a sharp rebuke to 31 Catholic Democratic members of Congress who have used their faith as a defense for their pro-abortion views. "Members of Congress who recently invoked teachings of the Catholic faith itself as justifying abortion or supporting a supposed right to abortion grievously distort the faith," said the June 28th statement, which was entitled, "U.S. Bishops' President and Chairmen Rebuke Distortion of Church Teaching in Abortion Statement by Members of Congress." (Rousselle, 6/29)

KFF Health News: KFF Health News' 'What the Health?': A Year Without Roe
It’s an understatement to say a lot has happened in the year since the Supreme Court overturned the nationwide right to abortion in its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. But while many of the subsequent legislative and court actions to either ban or preserve access to abortion were predicted, the decision has had other, sometimes far-reaching consequences. (6/29)

Modern Healthcare: Healthcare Costs To Rise In 7% In 2024: PwC
Healthcare costs are expected to rise 7% next year as providers deal with higher expenses and seek rate increases during contract negotiations with insurers. The projection by PricewaterhouseCoopers' Health Research Institute tops the consultancy's estimates in 2022 and 2023, which were 5.5% and 6%, respectively. (Kacik, 6/29)

In other health care industry news —

Modern Healthcare: HFMA 2023: Anxiety Over Claims Denials, Looming Recession
Executives at the Healthcare Financial Management Association conference expressed serious concern that worsening economic conditions, an uptick in health insurance claim denials and the complexity of managing multiple vendors are impeding the hospital sector's prospects. (Hartnett, 6/29)

Fox News: Talk Therapy? AI May Detect 'Earliest Symptoms' Of Dementia By Analyzing Speech Patterns
A new artificial intelligence-powered tool aims to detect signs of dementia, Alzheimer’s and other memory disorders by analyzing a person’s speech and language patterns. The system is called CognoSpeak. Researchers at the University of Sheffield in the U.K. developed it. In early trials that included both Alzheimer’s patients and cognitively heathy people, the tool showed 90% accuracy in identifying those with dementia — which is just as accurate as "pen-and-paper tests," according to a press release announcing the new tool. (Rudy, 6/30)

Stat: Medicare Proposal To Cover Medical Devices Draws A Mixed Reaction
The medical device industry is split on whether a proposed new Medicare reimbursement pathway will do anything to soothe their insurance coverage woes. Device makers have long complained that the unclear, rocky road to payment kills innovative companies. So they were thrilled when the Trump administration proposed a rule that would have guaranteed four years of Medicare coverage of approved devices deemed “breakthroughs” by the Food and Drug Administration. (Lawrence, 6/30)

Los Angeles Times: Headspace Meditation App Company Lays Off 15% Of Employees
Mental health and meditation app company Headspace Health laid off 15% of its workers in its second round of job cuts since December amid a wave of layoffs that continues to sweep the tech industry and beyond. (Ding, 6/29)

The Washington Post: Private Equity Bought Up Colorado Anesthesiology Practices, Then Raised Prices 
The multibillion-dollar private equity firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe took less than a year to create, from scratch, Colorado’s biggest and most prominent anesthesiology practice. The financiers created a company, U.S. Anesthesia Partners, which in 2015 bought the largest anesthesiology group in the Denver region. Then it bought the next largest. Then it bought a few more. The company employed 330 anesthesiologists in Colorado at one point, according to its website, making it the state’s largest practice by far. It obtained contracts at 10 of the region’s 15 largest hospitals, according to the hospitals. (Whoriskey, 6/29)

The Wall Street Journal: New $2.9 Million Gene Therapy Promises To Remake Hemophilia Treatment 
The FDA approved the new gene therapy, called Roctavian and made by BioMarin Pharmaceutical, for adults with a severe form of the disease. Roctavian is infused just once.  Priced at $2.9 million, the drug now ranks among the most expensive in the world. But the price is in line with the cost of other new gene therapies, a groundbreaking type of treatment that replaces a missing or faulty gene. (Hopkins, 6/29)

In other pharmaceutical news —

AP: Cheaper Competition For Humira Is Hitting The Market, But Savings Will Depend On Your Insurance
Patients who take the autoimmune disease treatment Humira may see some price relief when several lower-cost, biosimilar versions of the AbbVie drug reach the U.S. market in July. But lower pharmacy bills may not happen right away — or at all — for some patients. That’ll depend largely on your insurance coverage. Here’s a closer look. (Murphy, 6/29)

NPR: Hepatitis C Treatment Underused Because Of High Cost And Insurance Restrictions
Ten years ago, safe and effective treatments for hepatitis C became available. These pills are easy-to-take oral antivirals with few side effects. They cure 95% of patients who take them. The treatments are also expensive, coming in at $20 to 25,000 dollars a course. (Huang, 6/29)

Axios: Pharma Stares Down Another Term Without A Friend In The White House
Regardless of how the next year and a half shakes out, it seems increasingly likely that the pharmaceutical industry is going to have an adversary in the White House come 2025. Why it matters: Drugmakers are still reeling from Democrats' new law allowing Medicare to negotiate the price of drugs, but both President Biden and former President Trump are vowing even harsher crackdowns if either wins another term. (Owens and Goldman, 6/30)

Stat: Duchenne Breakthrough Therapy Leaves Behind Pioneering Families
Pat Furlong was sitting in her home office in Middletown, Ohio, last Thursday, refreshing a Food and Drug Administration web page ad nauseam, when the phone rang. She answered and burst into tears. The FDA had just approved the first gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, her friend and the therapy’s architect, Jerry Mendell, told her. It was a culmination of advocacy work Furlong began 39 years prior, after her own sons were diagnosed with the fatal muscle-wasting disease. (Mast, 6/30)

Also —

Stat: Anesthesiologist Group: Stop Taking Ozempic Before Surgery
Patients fast before surgery to prevent food from getting into their lungs while they’re under — a serious concern that can lead to lung infection. But for those taking a class of treatments that include the widely popular Ozempic and Wegovy, fasting may not be enough to ensure an empty stomach. The American Society of Anesthesiologists issued guidance Thursday recommending that patients stop taking this class of treatments, called GLP-1 drugs, before undergoing surgery. (Chen, 6/29)

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Man Sues CSL Plasma After Falsely Testing Positive For HIV
Jose Rivera is banned from donating plasma in the U.S. and Canada because of his HIV-positive status on the National Donor Deferral Registry. If he had a medical emergency, it would be difficult to receive a blood transfusion or organ transplant; he in turn cannot donate to a family member in need. The only problem: Jose Rivera does not have HIV. (Casale, 6/29)

KFF Health News and The Markup: Need To Get Plan B Or An HIV Test Online? Facebook May Know About It
Looking for an at-home HIV test on CVS’ website is not as private an experience as one might think. An investigation by The Markup and KFF Health News found trackers on CVS.com telling some of the biggest social media and advertising platforms the products customers viewed. And CVS is not the only pharmacy sharing this kind of sensitive data. We found trackers collecting browsing- and purchase-related data on websites of 12 of the U.S.’ biggest drugstores, including grocery store chains with pharmacies, and sharing the sensitive information with companies like Meta (formerly Facebook); Google, through its advertising and analytics products; and Microsoft, through its search engine, Bing. (Tahir and Fondrie-Teitler, 6/30)

Fox News: Gender Dysphoria Growing Among Younger Adults Amid ‘Increasing Acceptance,’ Study Finds 
Individuals are receiving diagnoses of gender dysphoria (GD) — also known as gender identity disorder — at younger ages, according to a new study published in General Psychiatry, an open access journal that covers mental health issues and more. "Gender dysphoria" is defined as "psychological distress that results from an incongruence between one’s sex assigned at birth and one’s gender identity," per the American Psychiatric Association. (Rudy, 6/29)

Pink News: Average Age Of Gender Dysphoria Diagnosis Falls From 31 To 26
Findings of the study included the average age of gender dysphoria diagnosis dropping from 31 in 2017 to 26 in 2021. The researchers also discovered that the average age for gender dysphoria diagnosis was 27 for people whose biological sex at birth was female, and 30 for those born male. For those assigned female at birth, the highest prevalence of gender dysphoria diagnosis was at the age of 19, compared with 23 for people assigned male at birth. (Perry, 6/29)

Also —

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Families Sue Georgia Challenging Law Banning Treatment For Trans Minors
Two days before a law banning certain treatments for transgender minors is set to take effect, several Georgia families filed federal a lawsuit against the state late Thursday asking the courts to stop the measure from taking effect, saying it takes away the rights of parents to make health care decisions about their children. The law is scheduled to take effect Saturday. The families asked the judge to immediately block the law from taking effect while the challenge makes its way through the court process. (Prabhu, 6/29)

The Hill: Biden’s Promise To Safeguard Gender-Affirming Care Falls Short Amid Red-State Attacks 
One year ago this month, President Biden in an executive order promised to safeguard access to gender-affirming health care for transgender Americans, charging the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) with promoting “expanded access” to care in every state. Today, 20 states and counting have passed laws that heavily restrict or ban gender-affirming medical care, including 17 that have done so this year. Most of these laws regulate the administration of puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgeries to transgender minors, but measures adopted in some states, including Florida and Missouri, threaten to limit access to care for adults, too. (Migdon, 6/30)

Oklahoman: New Department Of Education Video Paints Transgender Students As Threat To School Safety
After sharing an inflammatory video opposing teachers unions last month, the Oklahoma State Department of Education put out a new "public service message" on Thursday describing transgender students as a threat in schools. The message continues state schools Superintendent Ryan Walters' ongoing opposition to the presence of transgender students in school bathrooms and to classroom discussions of gender-nonconforming identities. Members of Oklahoma's LGBTQ+ community have said this rhetoric is harmful to transgender youths who are already vulnerable. (Martinez-Keel, 6/29)

The Washington Post: Fungal Meningitis Outbreak Kills 7 People; CDC Urges Testing
A total of seven people have died after a fungal meningitis outbreak linked to two clinics in Matamoros, Mexico, according to an updated advisory from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released Thursday. The patients were exposed to the fungus after receiving epidural anesthesia at one of two clinics, River Side Surgical Center and Clinica K-3. (Malhi, 6/29)

ABC News: Mom Battles Fungal Meningitis After Cosmetic Surgery At Mexico Clinic Linked To Deadly Outbreak
An Arizona woman is fighting for her life after contracting fungal meningitis following a plastic surgery procedure at a private clinic in Matamoros, Mexico. Alondra Lomas is one of nine confirmed cases of the life-threatening infection in an outbreak the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says is tied to cosmetic surgery clinics in the Mexican city that borders Brownsville, Texas. So far, at least seven women have died – one in Mexico and six Americans, according to the CDC. (Weintraub, 6/29)

On malaria and mosquitoes —

CBS News: Malaria Confirmed In Florida Mosquitoes After Several Human Cases 
Multiple mosquitoes gathered by authorities in Florida's Sarasota County have tested positive for malaria at a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lab, as the response has ramped up to stamp out further spread of the illness. Four locally-acquired cases of malaria were recently reported in Florida, along with one in Texas — the first known instances of the mosquito-borne illness being transmitted within the U.S. since 2003. (Tin, 6/29)

Houston Chronicle: Expert: Malaria Spread In U.S. Rare Due To Public Health Measures
While local spread in the U.S. is extremely uncommon, there’s always been some level of risk that it could happen, said Dr. Jill Weatherhead, an assistant professor of tropical medicine and infectious diseases at Baylor College of Medicine. The disease was eradicated from the U.S. in 1951, but it was common into the 20th century. The hot and humid temperatures in Florida and Texas are similar to those seen in areas where malaria thrives. The U.S. also has Anopheles mosquitos, which can spread malaria. (MacDonald, 6/29)

AP: Drone Deployed To Fight Mosquitoes In Southern California
A drone flies over a peaceful Southern California marsh and unleashes a rain of larvae-killing bacterial spore pellets. Its target: a surging population of mosquitoes that can spread diseases to humans. The drone is the latest technology deployed by the Orange County Mosquito and Vector Control District to attack mosquito development in marshes, large ponds and parks. (Garcia, 6/29)

In other health and wellness news —

CIDRAP: Some US Foodborne Illnesses Met Or Topped Prepandemic Levels In 2022
In 2022, US rates of some foodborne illnesses surpassed or returned to prepandemic levels, finds a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-led study published today in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. (Van Beusekom, 6/29)

CIDRAP: Cryptosporidiosis Outbreak Linked To College Swimming Pool 
A collegiate swim meet was the setting for an outbreak of cryptosporidiosis after infected swimmers shared a pool while experiencing symptoms such as diarrhea, according to a study today in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Details from the outbreak highlight the transmissibility of Cryptosporidium parasites even in chlorinated pools. The investigation started when a Massachusetts college notified the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) that 19 of 50 members (38%) of the men's and women's swim teams had experienced diarrhea beginning 3 days after their return from a training trip to Puerto Rico earlier this year. (Soucheray, 6/29)

Press Association: Being Lonely 'May Increase Risk Of Heart Disease In Diabetes Patients' 
Being lonely may the increase risk of heart disease in diabetes patients, research suggests. Scientists have found loneliness to be a bigger risk factor for coronary heart disease - a condition where the blood vessels supplying the heart are narrowed or blocked - than diet, exercise, smoking and depression. (Marshall, 6/29)

The Washington Post: A Year After Congress Passed A Landmark Gun Bill, Is It Working? 
The 80-page bill known as the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act was signed into law on June 25, 2022. ... At the one-year mark of its passage, we ask lawmakers what impact the bill has had so far and what could be next on the issue of guns. (Colvin, 6/29)

KFF Health News: As Low-Nicotine Cigarettes Hit The Market, Anti-Smoking Groups Press For Wider Standard 
The idea seems simple enough. Preserve all the rituals of smoking: Light up a cigarette, inhale the smoke, including the nasty stuff that can kill you, and exhale. But remove most of the nicotine, the chemical that makes tobacco so darn hard to quit, to help smokers smoke less. The Food and Drug Administration has been contemplating that strategy for at least six years as one way to make it easier for smokers to cut back, if not quit entirely. Less than two years ago, it authorized 22nd Century Group, a publicly traded plant biotech company based in Buffalo, New York, to advertise its proprietary low-nicotine cigarettes as modified-risk tobacco products. (Thompson, 6/30)

AP: Georgia Launches Medicaid Expansion In Closely Watched Test Of Work Requirements
Georgia is offering a new bargain to some adults without health insurance beginning Saturday: Go to work or school and the state will cover you. But advocates decry the plan, which will insure far fewer people than a full expansion of the state-federal Medicaid program, as needlessly restrictive and expensive. The program is likely to be closely watched as Republicans in Congress push to let states require work from some current Medicaid enrollees. (Amy, 6/30)

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

Los Angeles Times: Homelessness Grows 10% In The City Of Los Angeles 
Homelessness continues to rise dramatically, increasing by 9% in Los Angeles County and 10% in the city of Los Angeles last year, a stark illustration of the challenges faced by officials trying to reduce the number of people living on the streets. (Smith and Vives, 6/29)

The Washington Post: Legal Weed Sales Expand Maryland's Cannabis Industry, Beginning Saturday 
At the back of an industrial park shared with a spice company, the thick summer air outside Verano’s humming two-story production warehouse in Jessup, Md., smells faintly like cinnamon, cumin and cannabis. Inside, cannabis production has tripled. The plant’s sticky flowers are pressed into joints rolled by machinery, distilled into tinctures, pressurized into vapor cartridges, and cooked into gummies, caramels and a line of edibles — all labeled, as required, with a little red marijuana leaf sticker and the words “THC MARYLAND.” The massive expansion aims to help meet the surge in demand expected when recreational marijuana use becomes legal in Maryland for people 21 and older on Saturday. (Shepherd and Cox, 6/29)

The Hill: DeSantis Signs Bill Allowing New Roads To Be Built With Mining Waste Linked To Cancer 
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) signed a bill on Thursday that will allow new roads in the state to be built with “radioactive” mining waste that has been linked to cancer. HB 1191 adds phosphogypsum to a list of “recyclable materials” that can be used for the construction of roads. The list also includes ground rubber from car tires, ash residue from coal combustion byproducts, recycled mixed-plastic, glass and construction steel. (Oshin, 6/29)

AP: Louisiana Governor Vetoes Portion Of State Budget, Restores Health Department Increase
Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards vetoed parts of Louisiana’s budget on Thursday after lawmakers called on him to clean up the state’s hastily-passed plan. The Republican-dominated Legislature had allocated a chunk of money to pay down state retirement debt, but Edwards redirected a portion of it to increase funding for early childhood education and restore a proposed $100 million increase to the Louisiana Department of Health. In his veto message, Edwards said restoring the health department increase was necessary to “protect against devastating programmatic cuts” and avoid losing up to $700 million in federal funding. (Cline, 6/29)

AP: Health Clinic In Montana Superfund Town Faces Penalties For False Asbestos Claims 
A health clinic in a Montana town plagued by deadly asbestos contamination faces millions of dollars in penalties — and potential bankruptcy — after a jury found it submitted more than 300 false asbestos claims to the U.S. government, making patients eligible for Medicare and other benefits they shouldn’t have received. (6/29)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: St. Louis Medical Examiner Retires After Decades Unraveling Mysteries In The Morgue
Dr. Michael Graham has worked for decades to unravel mysteries in the autopsy room and under a microscope. He has seen gun crimes evolve as firearms have become more lethal. He has examined the Waco siege. Witnessed the horrors of 9/11 up close. And he is still haunted by the unsolved death of a headless girl. Through it all, Graham has held onto his cool, collected persona. Graham, the chief medical examiner of St. Louis, retires Friday after 34 years in the top job. (Bell, 6/29)

The New York Times: In Isolated Guam, Abortion Is Legal. And Nearly Impossible to Get
For decades, the Pregnancy Control Clinic, tucked inside a squat, beige building around the corner from a bowling alley, handled most of the abortions on Guam, a tiny U.S. territory 1,600 miles south of Japan. But the doctor who ran it retired seven years ago, and the clinic now appears abandoned. An old medical exam table stands near a vanity with a dislodged faucet, and a letter from Dr. Edmund A. Griley is taped to the front door: “My last day of seeing patients is November 18, 2016,” he wrote. “I recommend that you begin looking for a new physician as soon as possible.”Dr. Griley has since died, and his deserted clinic is a dusty snapshot of Guam’s past — and some say, its future. (Chen, 6/26)

Politico: Alito Said Dobbs Would Lower The Temperature. Instead, It Fanned The Flames Of Abortion Extremism
When the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion a year ago, Justice Samuel Alito suggested that returning the issue to lawmakers might alleviate extremism on both sides of the issue. Roe v. Wade and other rulings protecting abortion, Alito wrote, had “enflamed debate,” “deepened division,” and prevented a “national settlement of the abortion issue.” But one year later, abortion-related crime seems to be on the rise. The Justice Department is prosecuting a record number of abortion opponents with abortion-related crimes, including arson and clinic blockades, according to data from the Prosecution Project, a nonpartisan organization that tracks and analyzes federal criminal cases related to political violence. (Swan, 6/24)

The New York Times: The Reality Of Postpartum Depression 
If you give birth to a baby in the United States in 2023, odds are you will learn something about postpartum depression along the way — maybe from your doctor or midwife, maybe from a celebrity or on social media. But for many women, postpartum depression is shockingly isolating — a mix of sadness, hopelessness and overwhelm that stems not just from the hormonal tumult of pregnancy and the postpartum period, but from many other stressors, like a lack of paid leave, insufficient child care, and the staggering responsibility of caring for a new and helpless human. (Pearson, 6/27)

The Atlantic: The Cancer-Drug Shortage Is Different
Last November, FDA inspectors found almost farcical conditions when they inspected an Indian manufacturing plant that supplies medical drugs to the United States. The plant, owned by Intas Pharmaceuticals, had hardly any working systems for ensuring the purity or sterility of its products. And its employees were trying to conceal evidence of these problems by shredding and hiding documents or, as one quality-control officer admitted, dousing them in acid. (Yong, 6/26)

The New York Times: How The Shortage Of A $15 Cancer Drug Is Upending Treatment 
Tony Shepard learned he had vocal cord cancer this spring, but he was encouraged when his doctor said he had an 88 percent chance at a cure with chemotherapy and radiation. That outlook began to dim in recent weeks, though, after the oncology practice he goes to in Central California began to sporadically run out of the critical medication he needs. Since Mr. Shepard’s doctor informed him of the shortage, each treatment session has felt like a game of “Russian roulette,” he said, knowing that failure would mean the removal of his vocal cords and the disappearing of his voice. (Jewett, 6/26)

The Wall Street Journal: Magic Mushrooms. LSD. Ketamine. The Drugs That Power Silicon Valley
Elon Musk takes ketamine. Sergey Brin sometimes enjoys magic mushrooms. Executives at venture-capital firm Founders Fund, known for its investments in SpaceX and Facebook, have thrown parties that include psychedelics. Routine drug use has moved from an after-hours activity squarely into corporate culture, leaving boards and business leaders to wrestle with their responsibilities for a workforce that frequently uses. At the vanguard are tech executives and employees who see psychedelics and similar substances, among them psilocybin, ketamine and LSD, as gateways to business breakthroughs. (Grind and Bindley, 6/27)

NPR: Why Do Astronauts Get Sick? Blood Samples Show Space Travel Affects Immunity
Astronauts are supposed to be in excellent health. It's part of the job description. They quarantine before blasting off to avoid getting sick and derailing a mission. Once aloft, they live and work in a sterile environment. And yet, when they get to outer space, some have viral flareups or break out in rashes. It's a puzzle that got Odette Laneuville, a molecular biologist at the University of Ottawa, asking herself, "Why is it that they get infections up there?" (Daniel, 6/26)

The Washington Post: Melted, Pounded, Extruded: Why Many Ultra-Processed Foods Are Unhealthy
Would you eat food that’s been predigested? Experts say that’s what we’re doing when we consume many popular packaged foods — those breads, cereals, snack chips and frozen meals that have been refined, pounded, heated, melted, shaped, extruded and packed with additives. (O'Connor and Steckelberg, 6/27)

The New York Times: New Tours Mean No More FOMO for Plus-Size Travelers
A small but growing market catering to size-inclusive travel (often aimed exclusively at women) is seeking to bring joy, community and reassurance to people in bigger bodies at price points on par with standard group trips. (Sosenko, 6/27)

The Hill: Striking Down Affirmative Action Amplifies Injustice
A storm has descended on millions of minority Americans. The Supreme Court’s affirmative action ban has ripped away their hard-won shelter of accessible care, dealing immense harm far beyond college campuses. Small hometowns like mine in rural Arkansas will absorb this blow along with Black and Hispanic communities in the poorest city blocks and parts of town tourists avoid. Many aspiring doctors who understand the pain in these communities and who are called to return home and tend to their own will be denied the opportunity to pursue a medical degree and serve their communities. (Dr. James E.K. Hildreth, 6/29)

The Washington Post: What’s The Best Timing For The Next Covid Booster? 
Now that federal health officials have laid out a plan to switch out the bivalent vaccine for a new booster this fall, readers have many questions about timing. (Leana S. Wen, 6/29)

USA Today: As US Doctor Shortage Rises, Congress Must Make Physicians Priority
Patients and family members, communities throughout the country, doctors, nurses and providers are all grappling with the reality of the depletion of the physician workforce in our nation’s health care system. The workforce shortage has been increasing since before the COVID-19 pandemic – accelerating at an even more alarming rate thereafter. (Sens. Bob Menendez, John Boozman, Chuck Schumer and Susan Collins, 6/29)

The New York Times: A Photographer’s Self-Portraits Of Multiple Sclerosis And Medical Care 
Before I had a name for what ailed my body, I thought of myself as dehydrated and out of shape. I believed that the physical discomfort I’d experienced for years — numbness, pain, tingling and pins-and-needles sensations throughout my body — must be traceable to a cause of my own making. (Sara J. Winston, 6/29)

The Tennessean: Abortion Rights, Gun Safety Linked In Struggle For Justice
It's been a year since the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade and stripped away the right to an abortion from millions of people across the country. (Kristal Knight, 6/29)

Stat: DIEP, The 'Gold Standard' Of Breast Reconstruction, Is Under Threat
In 1983, I flew home from college to be with my mother as she woke up from a mastectomy. She opted out of breast reconstruction, choosing to “go flat” instead. When I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2017 and had bilateral mastectomies, I had more reconstruction options than my mother did. (Lisa D. T. Rice, 6/30)

The Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee's Transgender Care Ban Rightly Gets Rejected By A Trump-Appointed Judge
The systematic effort to use the power of government to marginalize transgender people and deny young people health care services based on ideology and against scientific consensus in states such as Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky, Indiana and Florida has been rebuffed by jurists in the last several weeks. (David Plazas, 6/29)