The New York Times: Covid Remained A Leading Cause Of Death Among Americans In 2022
Covid was the fourth leading cause of death in the United States last year, dropping from its place as the third leading cause in 2020 and 2021, when virus fatalities were superseded only by heart disease and cancer, the National Center for Health Statistics reported on Thursday. Unintentional injuries — a category that includes drug overdoses and car accidents — were responsible for more deaths than Covid last year and were the nation’s third leading cause of death. Deaths from heart disease and cancer both rose in 2022, compared with 2021. (Caryn Rabin, 5/4)

AP: COVID Dropped To 4th Leading Cause Of Death In US Last Year
The death rates for heart disease and cancer increased during the pandemic, the CDC said. The cancer death rate had been falling for 20 years before COVID-19 hit. The CDC report indicated a slight decline in the number of injury deaths last year, falling to about 218,000 from about 219,500 the year before. That would be a surprise, given recent trends in rising drug overdose and gun deaths.(Stobbe, 5/4)

Los Angeles Times: Deaths From COVID Plunged In 2022, But It's Still A Top Killer
The COVID-19 death toll — now 1.13 million in the U.S. and 6.9 million worldwide — is staggering, with a national death toll that exceeds the last global pandemic of this scale, although the global tally is far lower. The flu pandemic that began in 1918 resulted in an estimated 675,000 deaths in the U.S. and at least 50 million worldwide. (Lin II and Money, 5/4)

Also —

The New York Times: 900,000 New Yorkers Lost At Least 3 Loved Ones To Covid 
An estimated two million New Yorkers — nearly one in four — lost at least one person close to them to Covid within the first 16 months of the virus’s arrival, according to the data, which was collected in mid-2021 by federal census workers on behalf of the city. Nearly 900,000 New Yorkers lost at least three people they said they were close to, an open-ended category that included relatives and friends, the survey found. (Otterman, 5/5)

The Boston Globe: Most Major Health Care And Hospital Systems In Mass. Will Lift Mask Requirements Next Week
Most major health care and hospital systems across Massachusetts will end or substantially modify their policies on wearing masks next week, on May 12, after the federal public health emergency for COVID-19 officially comes to a close. (Lazar and Bartlett, 5/4)

On the cost of future covid shots —

Politico: Moderna Expects Updated Covid-19 Vaccine To Cost $110-$130
Moderna anticipates its updated Covid-19 vaccine to have a list price in a range of $110 to $130 per shot, the company said Thursday. The price update comes more than a month after lawmakers on the Senate HELP Committee pressed Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel to justify a $130 price point given the $12 billion the government spent to speed the company’s clinical trials and purchase its vaccine. (Lim, 5/4)

Politico: U.S. Must Do More To Prepare For Future Pandemic Threats, Health Officials Say
The United States must do more to prepare for future pandemics and biological threats, top federal health officials told the Senate HELP Committee on Thursday. “The increased frequency of outbreaks mean that we should not be asking if we will face another serious public health threat, but when,” CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said. (Lim, 5/4)

Bloomberg Law: FDA Seeks Extended Pandemic Powers To Track Device Shortages
The FDA has prevented about 350 device shortages thanks to authorities granted under Covid response laws that will expire next week, the agency’s head told a Senate panel. Robert M. Califf, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, indicated he’d like to see the agency’s powers to manage drug and device shortages extended beyond the Covid-19 public health emergency that’s set to end May 11.“ (Baumann, 5/4)

Politico: Biden Administration Faces Hurdles Finding Someone To Run Its New Pandemic Command Center
President Joe Biden has a vision for the next stage of his administration’s pandemic response — if only he can find someone to lead it. A week before Biden is set to declare an end to the nation’s public health emergency and dissolve his current Covid team, the White House still hasn't found a director to run the new office charged with keeping up the fight, four people with knowledge of the matter told POLITICO. (Cancryn, 5/4)

On the potential public safety risks of AI —

The Wall Street Journal: Biden Administration Warns Of AI’s Dangers. There’s A Limit To What White House Can Do
The Biden administration is confronting the rapidly expanding use of artificial intelligence, warning of the dangers the technology poses to public safety, privacy and democracy while having limited authority to regulate it. (Siddiqui and McKinnon, 5/4)

Bloomberg: White House Says It Backs New Rules For AI After Kamala Harris Meeting 
Vice President Kamala Harris said the White House would support new regulations or legislation to mitigate the potential harms from artificial intelligence technology after a meeting Thursday with the chief executive officers of Alphabet Inc., Microsoft Corp., OpenAI Inc., and Anthropic. (Sink, 5/4)

In more news from the Biden administration —

The Washington Post: FDA Considers Whether To Allow Over-The-Counter Sales Of Birth Control Pills
The FDA could decide on the application by the end of the summer. If it approves the OTC switch, it would mark the latest milestone in a reproductive health landscape shaken by seismic legal and political upheavals during the past year. This month marks the 63rd anniversary of the FDA’s approval of the first birth control pill — a move that transformed American society. Many consider the arrival of the pill, promoted for decades by activists determined to give women greater sexual and economic freedom, to be a landmark moment in the 20th century. (McGinley, Roubein and Johnson, 5/4)

Politico: Watchdog Says Therapists Improperly Billed Medicare $580 Million
More than half of the psychotherapy provided to Medicare patients, at a cost of $580 million during the pandemic’s first year, did not meet government billing standards, HHS’ inspector general said Thursday. The IG reached that conclusion after extrapolating from a review of 216 psychotherapy claims out of a total of 13.5 million, a "statistically valid random sample," according to spokesperson Morsal Mohamad. (Leonard, 5/4)

Stat: NIH Grant Recipients Often Fail To Disclose Agency Support
The National Institutes of Health may be the largest public funder of biomedical research in the U.S., but its contributions to drug development are not well understood or recognized by most Americans. And a new analysis finds a key reason may be most institutions and researchers that receive NIH support fail to fully or correctly disclose this information when applying for patents. (Silverman, 5/4)

The Hill: Becerra On Atlanta Shooting That Killed CDC Employee: Gun Violence Is ‘A Public Health Crisis’
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra confirmed in a statement Thursday that an employee at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was one of the victims of a shooting in Atlanta on Wednesday. “Last night, we learned the tragic news that Amy St. Pierre, an HHS colleague at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was the victim of a senseless shooting in Atlanta, Georgia,” Becerra said in a statement. “Our hearts go out to her husband Julian St. Pierre, her children, and all her loved ones at this difficult time.” (5/4)

Axios: The Health Care Dangers Of A Debt Default
If the federal government breaches the debt ceiling, Medicare wouldn't be able to pay providers — and states wouldn't get their federal Medicaid funding, experts tell Axios. Losing out on those payments, even for a short time, could be disastrous for providers’ bottom lines — and the effects could trickle down to patients. (Goldman and Knight, 5/5)

KFF Health News: 'What The Health?' Podcast: Health Programs Are At Risk As Debt Ceiling Cave-In Looms
The partisan fight in Congress over how to raise the nation’s debt ceiling to prevent a default has accelerated, as the U.S. Treasury predicted the borrowing limit could be reached as soon as June 1. On the table, potentially, are large cuts to federal spending programs, including major health programs. (Rovner, 5/4)

Also —

Politico: Lawmakers To Scrutinize Pharma ‘Tax Avoidance Schemes’
The Senate Finance Committee will hold a hearing next week on the impact U.S. international tax policy has on the pharmaceutical industry, Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said Thursday. Wyden said the hearing will focus on the effects of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, which Democrats widely criticize, and what he characterizes as the drug industry’s “tax avoidance schemes.” (Lim, 5/4)

The Hill: Congress Urged To Tackle ‘Ghost Networks’ Amid Mental Health Crisis
Medical experts urged Congress to hold insurance companies accountable for inaccurate medical directories that can hamper access for patients seeking mental health treatments. The problem, referred to as a “ghost network,” occurs when health insurance providers ostensibly provide coverage, but direct customers to nonexistent or unavailable doctors and providers. (Yarrow, 5/4)

Los Angeles Times: Despite Renewed Focus, Scarce Details On Sen. Feinstein's Health
A handful of activists from the progressive group Indivisible hopped on Zoom this week to directly pose questions to Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s staff that are swirling in the U.S. Capitol and California political circles. Will the Democratic senator, who was diagnosed with shingles in late February and has not been back to Washington since, return to the Senate, they asked, according to a participant on the call. If so, when? Is there a process to determine her timetable, or a plan if she cannot return? (Mason, Oreskes and Joseph, 5/4)

San Francisco Chronicle: Court Sides With Elizabeth Warren In Dispute Over Anti-Vax Book
The 2021 book, “The Truth About COVID-19: Exposing the Great Reset, Lockdowns, Vaccine Passports, and the New Normal,” denounces government-approved vaccines as unsafe and ineffective and urges readers to take vitamins and medications rejected by U.S. health officials. The lead author, Dr. Joseph Mercola, a Florida osteopath, sells some of the products he recommends and was issued a warning letter in 2021 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration saying he was advertising “unapproved and misbranded products” as established COVID-19 treatments on his website. (Egelko, 5/4)

The Wall Street Journal: North Carolina Passes 12-Week Abortion Ban
North Carolina’s Republican-led legislature passed a ban on most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy, setting the state on a path to restricting access that could ultimately reverberate across the region. North Carolina has become a crucial access point for patients in the Southeast seeking abortions after the Supreme Court last year overturned Roe v. Wade and many states in the region enacted near-total bans on the procedure. (Calfas and Kusisto, 5/4)

WUNC: Abortion Bill Headed To Governor After Party-Line Senate Vote
While abortions before 12 weeks would remain legal, patients would face additional hurdles. It requires in-person doctor visits for patients seeking medication abortions and mandates that a doctor must be present when abortion medication is administered. It adds new informed consent requirements, and it increases licensing requirements and regulatory fees for abortion providers. (Campbell, 5/4)

North Carolina Health News: Questions Raised About Legislation That Restricts Abortion Care
The bill flew through legislative votes, passing along party lines this week by the Republican-led state House of Representatives and Senate. Along the way, the bill has drawn many questions from physicians on the front lines who will have to follow new rules for how they provide medical care. “There’s so many things that are unclear in this legislation as it’s written. It will make it very challenging for health care providers to interpret it, to understand who will merit care after 12 weeks, who won’t,” said Beverly Gray, an OB-GYN and an associate professor in the Duke Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. (Blythe, 5/5)

In other abortion-related news from across the country —

The New York Times: Husband Sued Over His Ex-Wife’s Abortion; Now Her Friends Are Suing Him
In March, a Texas man, Marcus Silva, sued three women for $1 million each after they helped his ex-wife obtain an abortion last summer using pills. The suit alleged that the termination of the pregnancy qualified as wrongful death under state law, and he presented text messages between his ex-wife and the women as evidence. In the post-Roe era, the suit horrified abortion-rights advocates and galvanized opponents. Both sides view it as a test case aimed at discouraging anyone from helping women access abortion in states where the procedure is now banned or severely restricted. (Bazelon, 5/4)

AP: GOP Prosecutor Urges Judge To Toss Wisconsin Abortion Suit
Attorneys for a Republican prosecutor urged a judge Thursday to toss out a lawsuit seeking to repeal Wisconsin’s 174-year-old abortion ban, arguing that a newer state law permitting pre-viability abortions complements the ban rather than supersedes it, as Democrats maintain. (Richmond, 5/4)

AP: ACLU Sues Amid Missouri GOP Spat Over Abortion Measure Cost
The Missouri ACLU on Thursday sued statewide officials for stonewalling a constitutional amendment to restore abortion rights as the attorney general pushes for a price tag on the proposal that is 1 million times higher than what the state auditor has estimated. At issue is a power struggle between two Republican statewide officials — Attorney General Andrew Bailey and Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick — that has delayed supporters from collecting required voter signatures on the ballot measure. (Ballentine, 5/4)

AP: GOP Boycott In Oregon Halts Bills On Guns, Abortion And More 
Most Republican members of the Oregon Senate failed to show up for the second straight day Thursday, delaying action by the majority Democrats on bills on gun safety, abortion rights and gender-affirming health care. The stayaway prevented a quorum, with Senate President Rob Wagner calling for another try on Friday. (Rush and Selsky, 5/5)

The Boston Globe: These South Carolina GOP Women Are Warning Their Party About Abortion Politics, But Will They Listen?
South Carolina state Senator Sandy Senn considers herself a “pro-life” Republican. But now she’s become one of the lead voices in the state opposing abortion restrictions that she has deemed go too far. (Villa de Petrzelka, 5/4)

On news about abortion pills —

Politico: Persichilli: ‘Some Restrictions’ On Mifepristone Would Not Be ‘Significant’ In New Jersey
Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli said Thursday that “some restrictions” on mifepristone — the drug commonly used for abortions — would not have a “significant” impact in New Jersey. Persichilli made the comments when asked during a Senate budget hearing what kind of impact a possible federal court ruling restricting mifepristone could have in New Jersey. (Han, 5/4)

Also —

KFF Health News: Can A Fetus Be An Employee? States Are Testing The Boundaries Of Personhood After ‘Dobbs’
Kaitlyn Anderson was six months pregnant when a driver killed her and a Missouri Department of Transportation colleague in 2021 while they were doing roadwork near St. Louis. Her fetus also died. Although Anderson’s family tried to sue the department on her behalf, workers’ compensation laws in Missouri and elsewhere shield employers from wrongful death lawsuits when an employee dies on the job. So the case was also filed on behalf of the 25-year-old woman’s unborn child, a son named Jaxx. This was possible because Missouri law defines life — and legal rights — as beginning at conception. (Sable-Smith, 5/5)

The Wall Street Journal: The U.S. Is Running Out Of Research Monkeys
America’s monkey shortage is getting worse. The pandemic has exacerbated a continuing supply crunch, throttling research and threatening the country’s ability to respond to public health disasters, including the next pandemic. That is according to a new report published Thursday by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine that noted that new ways of studying biology, using artificial-intelligence models or cells in culture, aren’t ready to replace testing in monkeys. (Subbaraman, 5/4)

AP: Research Monkey Shortage Undermines US Readiness, Panel Says
There’s a shortage of monkeys available for medical research and the U.S. should expand its breeding programs rather than rely on international suppliers to solve it, an influential scientific advisory panel said Thursday. (Neergaard, 5/4)

Stat: Report: NIH Must Overhaul Systems For Tracking Non-Human Primates
A worsening shortage of non-human primates and an inadequate government response threatens to undermine biomedical research in the U.S. and hamper the ability to respond to public health emergencies, a sweeping new report warns. (Silverman, 5/4)

In other developments concerning animal research —

Reuters: At Musk’s Brain-Chip Startup, Animal-Testing Panel Is Rife With Potential Conflicts 
Elon Musk’s brain-implant venture has filled an animal-research oversight board with company insiders who may stand to benefit financially as the firm reaches development goals, according to company documents and interviews with six current and former employees. (Levy and Taylor, 5/4)

Houston Chronicle: Texas Named Worst State For Mental Health Care, Forbes Finds
More than one in five adults with mental illness are uninsured in Texas, making it the worst state in the nation for mental health care, according to a new Forbes Advisor study. Researchers also found Texas is home to the highest percentage of adults with a cognitive disability who could not see a doctor due to cost, and the highest percentage of youth who had a major depressive episode in the past year and did not receive treatment. (Rice, 5/4)

On young people's mental health —

Axios: Study: Mental Health-Related ER Visits Among Young People Nearly Doubled In A Decade
Emergency room visits for young people in mental distress rose sharply over the last decade, per a report published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Between 2011 to 2020, emergency department visits among children, adolescents and young adults for mental health reasons approximately doubled, a group of researchers and physicians found. (Habeshian, 5/4)

Georgia Public Broadcasting: Mental Health Screenings Show Young People Are Struggling More Now Than During The Pandemic
Nationwide, young people are screening themselves for mental health issues, according to recently reported data from Mental Health America. Especially concerning is that half of the people who screened for depression said they frequently think about suicide. (Eldridge, 5/4)

Fox News: Teens Are Turning To 'My AI' For Mental Health Support — Which Doctors Warn Against 
Anyone who uses Snapchat now has free access to My AI, the app’s built-in artificial intelligence chatbot, first released as a paid feature in February. In addition to serving as a chat companion, the bot can also have some practical purposes, such as offering gift-buying advice, planning trips, suggesting recipes and answering trivia questions, according to Snap. (Rudy, 5/5)

Also —

Axios: Mental Health Crisis In Latino Communities Needs More Resources
The mental health crisis among Latinos is not letting up, and experts tell Axios it's time for political leaders and others to step up and promote seeking help in a more culturally relevant way. The pandemic exacerbated mental health needs in the U.S., especially among Latinos, whose rates of depression, anxiety and suicide grew. (Galvan, 5/4)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Midtown Shooting Suspect Has Apparent Mental Health Issues, Attorney Says
The attorney representing a 24-year-old Coast Guard veteran accused of opening fire inside a Midtown Atlanta doctor’s office said his client suffers from apparent mental health issues. (Abusaid, 5/4)

USA Today: Jordan Neely NYC Subway Chokehold Death Sparks Outcry, Investigation
Jordan Neely's death on Monday, which has been ruled a homicide, renewed conflicts about access to mental health and what some experts warn is an alarming increase in vigilante justice nationally. (Hughes, 5/4)

The Hill: Employees Love Remote Work, But Is It Good For Our Mental Health?
The mental health implications of telework is a relatively new field of study. And that makes sense, given that only 5 percent of American work took place remotely before the pandemic. “There aren’t really experts in it. This is all new,” said Eric Elbogen, a professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Duke University. “There are just so many questions we still don’t know the answers to.” (De Visé, 5/4)

Minnesota Public Radio: State Alleges HealthPartners Illegally Denied Mental Health Coverage, Says The Company Is Cooperating
Minnesota officials hit Bloomington-based insurance and health care company HealthPartners with a consent order for allegedly violating laws related to mental health parity. State and federal laws prohibit health insurance companies from evaluating mental health diagnoses or treatments more stringently than they do for other forms of care. (Wiley, 5/4)

Side Effects Public Media: Most States Ensure Women Don’t Lose Medicaid Shortly After Pregnancy. Missouri May Join Them
Nkenge Miller was in her early twenties when she had her first child. At the time, she was one of the only women among her circle of friends with a new baby. "Feeling alone and having baby blues and things of that matter, was different for me, because that's not something that any of my peers went through,” Miller said. (Spidel, 5/4)

New Hampshire Public Radio: NH AG Joins Coalition Pushing To Expand Medicare Coverage For Alzheimer's Treatment
New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella is part of a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general across the country asking for Medicare to cover the costs of treatments for Alzheimer's disease, including newer options. In their letter to the Biden administration, the attorneys general note that federal rules changed in April 2022, limiting Medicare coverage for certain FDA-approved treatments except for clinical trials or other studies. (Richardson, 5/4)

The Boston Globe: ‘We Still Can’t Breathe’: Advocates Call For Relief From Air Pollution
For decades, Roxbury native Mela Bush-Miles has advocated for clean air and adequate public transportation in a city where the two are inextricably linked. Her campaign is a personal one, she said, as she fights to protect the now fifth-generation of her family affected by air pollution. (Mohammed, 5/4)

Minnesota Public Radio: Anti-Overdose Drug Naloxone Could Soon Be Standard In Minnesota Schools
Colleen Ronnei didn’t know what naloxone was when her 20-year-old son fatally overdosed on opioids in 2016. Since then she’s formed a nonprofit called Change the Outcome. And one of its major missions is to make the overdose antidote nasal spray readily available in as many places as possible, especially schools. (Bakst, 5/4)

Also —

NBC News: Is Kratom Safe? FDA Continues To Warn Of Dangers Of The Supplement
Last week, U.S. marshals seized an estimated $3 million worth of kratom that was being sold as a supplement by an Oklahoma-based company. It’s not the first time that authorities have seized kratom, which is considered a “drug of concern” by the Food and Drug Administration. The incident, however, highlights the ongoing demand for the drug, even as the FDA continues to warn about its potential dangers. (Sullivan, 5/4)

Stat: 12,000 Diseases Lack Treatments. Could Generics Be Hiding Cures?
About a decade ago, David Fajgenbaum thought his life was over. He was a young, bright physician hoping to work in oncology in remembrance of his mother, who died of brain cancer a few years earlier. Fajgenbaum was having his last rites read to him, and his family braced for his death from Castleman disease, a rare inflammatory illness that impacts the lymph nodes and can severely damage other organs. But, in a rare stroke of skill and luck, Fajgenbaum was able to repurpose a generic drug, sirolimus, and go into remission. (Cueto, 5/4)

Stat: ‘Patients Are Not Hot Potatoes’: How The Fight Over Dialysis Coverage Is Putting Kidney Failure Patients At Risk
As soon as she heard the Supreme Court decision, LaVarne Burton began to worry. As CEO of the nonprofit American Kidney Fund, she knew that the court’s ruling on Marietta v. DaVita last June — which allows employer-sponsored health insurance plans to limit outpatient dialysis coverage — was going to put the health of kidney failure patients at risk. (Arnold, 5/5)

Stat: Experts Spar Over The Benefits Of Liquid Biopsy To Catch Cancer
New technologies are making it possible to detect cancer earlier than ever — but the field is still fiercely divided on whether these liquid biopsy tests are yet ready for prime time. Those tensions are tangible among experts who continue to spar over the question of whether the cancer screening technology is actually beneficial. Among the most contentious points of debate: Do studies of liquid biopsies need to prove they can reduce mortality rates? (Trang, 5/4)

Modern Healthcare: Nursing School Enrollment Dipped In 2022—AACN
Enrollment in college nursing programs experienced its first year-over-year decline in two decades in 2022, a potentially worrisome sign amid industry struggles to recruit and retain staff, declines in residency applications and an aging healthcare workforce. (Devereaux, 5/4)

Also —

Modern Healthcare: What Insurance Executive Compensation Looked Like In 2022
Compensation for the CEOs of large health insurance companies rose modestly and less than overall inflation last year, according to a Modern Healthcare analysis of data the companies submitted to regulators. (Tepper, 5/4)

Stat: A New List Ranks Large Pharmaceutical Companies By R&D
If you want a large pharmaceutical company to invent a new drug, your best bet is probably AstraZeneca. But if you have a medicine you’d like to get to market — and you want to see it generate revenue — you might be better off with Pfizer. (Herper, 5/4)

Modern Healthcare: 7 Digital Health ‘Unicorns’ That Have Struggled
The digital health landscape has taken a dramatic roller coaster ride over the past three years. In 2021, funding broke records amid $30 billion in deals. Digital health companies were enjoying $100 million-plus funding rounds and getting “unicorn” ($1 billion-plus) valuations almost every week. Last year began nearly as hot but sputtered out: In the fourth quarter, only $2.5 billion in deals took place. (Perna, 5/4)

In company news —

Reuters: Novo Nordisk Rivals See Room To Compete In $100 Billion Weight-Loss Drug Market
The enormous demand for weight-loss treatments like Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy could support as many as 10 competing products with annual sales reaching up to $100 billion within a decade, mostly in the United States, industry executives and analysts said. (Erman, 5/4)

CIDRAP: Prostate Cancer Drug Shortage Should Ease Soon, Novartis Says
Supplies of Pluvicto, a radioactive drug used to treat metastatic prostate cancer, should rise "meaningfully" in the second half of this year, according to its lone manufacturer. In April, Novartis AG announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had approved manufacture of the drug (generic name, lutetium Lu 177 vipivotide tetraxetan injection) at a new facility in Millburn, New Jersey, in addition to its Ivrea, Italy, plant. (Van Beusekom, 5/4)

Reuters: Moderna Reports Surprise Profit As It Books Deferred COVID Vaccine Sales
Moderna Inc (MRNA.O) on Thursday reported a small profit of 19 cents per share instead of an expected loss as it booked more revenue in the first quarter from last year's deferred orders for its COVID-19 vaccine than had been anticipated. Analysts expected a loss of $1.77 per share, according to Refinitiv data, and Moderna shares had jumped more than 5% to $136.71 by midday. They had fallen nearly 28% this year. (Wingrove and Leo, 5/4)

Stat: Gilead Foresees More Growth In Its HIV Drugs
Gilead Sciences is famous — or perhaps, notorious — for its cure for hepatitis C. But the pharma giant believes the foundation of its company will continue to be its HIV franchise, particularly the pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) drugs that help prevent the infection. (Herman, 5/4)

Stat: Option Care Buys Amedisys In $3.6 Billion Home Care Deal
Option Care Health is buying Amedisys in an all-stock merger valued at $3.6 billion, creating a national company that specializes in almost all types of home care that can be provided from cradle to grave. (Herman, 5/4)

Bloomberg: Heavy Marijuana Use Increases Schizophrenia In Men, Study Finds
As many as 30% of cases of schizophrenia among men aged 21-to-30 could have been prevented had they avoided cannabis use disorder, according to the study published Thursday in Psychological Medicine. The condition, loosely defined as frequent use of the drug despite negative consequences, has been found to develop in around three in 10 who use marijuana, according to past research. (Kary, 5/4)

The New York Times: Link Between Long Telomeres And Long Life Is A Tall Tale, Study Finds
“Short telomeres were thought to be bad — people with premature aging syndromes had short telomeres — so, by analogy, long telomeres were thought to be good,” said Dr. Mary Armanios, professor of oncology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and director of the Telomere Center at the medical school’s Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center. “And the longer the better.” (Kolata, 5/4)

CIDRAP: Study Explores Role Of The Gut Microbiome, Antibiotics In Preemie Infections
A new metagenomic study of babies born prematurely indicate the bacterial strains that can cause dangerous bloodstream infections in those infants may originate in the gut, and antibiotic use may promote the growth of those pathogens. The authors of the study, published yesterday in Science Translational Medicine, say the findings are another indication of the need for more careful use of antibiotics in preterm infants. (Dall, 5/4)

CIDRAP: 57% Of Raw Stuffed Chicken Products From Homes, Stores Yielded Salmonella
From 1998 to 2022, 11 US Salmonella outbreaks were tied to raw stuffed, breaded chicken products, and a median of 57% of samples collected from homes and stores yielded the bacteria, finds a study today in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). (Van Beusekom, 5/4)

In research relating to covid —

CIDRAP: Large Study Shows No Changes To Menstrual Cycles After COVID Vaccination
Since the first COVID-19 vaccines were made widely available in early 2021, some women have anecdotally noted changes to their menstrual cycle following vaccination, reporting shorter intervals between menses and heavier bleeding. Some studies that relied on menstrual tracking apps and self-reports have also noted a relationship between vaccination and menstrual disturbances. (Soucheray, 5/4)

ABC News: COVID Vaccine Protection Against Infection Drops After 6 Months, Protection Against Severe Disease Strong: Study
COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness against omicron infection fell dramatically after six months for people who only got their primary series, according to a new analysis published Wednesday. The study may not accurately reflect vaccine effectiveness in the United States because researchers included many of the most common vaccines used around the world, including Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Sinovac. (Kekatos, 5/4)

AP: West Virginia Settles With Kroger, Opioid Money Now Tops $1B
West Virginia has settled with Kroger for $68 million over its role in distributing highly addictive prescription painkillers into the U.S. state that has lost more lives to opioid overdoses per capita than any other. That brings West Virginia’s total opioid litigation dollars up to more than $1 billion, more than any other state per capita, Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said at a press conference at the state Capitol in Charleston. (Willingham, 5/4)

Reuters: Kroger To Pay $68 Million To Settle West Virginia Opioid Claims
The deal, announced Thursday by West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, comes a month before the grocery store had been set to go to trial against the state. All other companies sued by the state over opioids had already settled. "This is an important day for West Virginia," Morrisey said. "This is a day of healing." (Pierson, 5/4)

In other health care news from across the country —

The Texas Tribune: Texas House Advances Bill Requiring HIV Tests During STI Screenings
A bill requiring health care providers to offer HIV tests as part of routine sexually transmitted infection screenings has been preliminarily approved by the Texas House on Thursday. House Bill 3377 is authored by freshman state Rep. Venton Jones, a Dallas Democrat who is the first Black, gay and openly HIV-positive lawmaker to serve at the Capitol. The House voted 104-39 to swiftly pass the bill, which had garnered widespread bipartisan support long before it came to the chamber floor. (Nguyen, 5/4)

The Texas Tribune and The New York Times: Trans Texans Criticize Capitol Arrests After Protest Over Gender Care Bill
Adri Pérez joined hundreds of people at the Texas Capitol on Tuesday to protest Senate Bill 14, which would ban transgender kids from receiving puberty blockers and hormone treatment, only to leave in handcuffs. In the days since state police arrested two people and banned another from the Capitol, trans Texans and their allies have lambasted House Speaker Dade Phelan’s order to clear the public from the chamber gallery and state police’s use of force. (Tompkins and Nguyen, 5/4)

CNN: Ron DeSantis: Bills That Will Alter The Lives Of Transgender People In Florida Await Governor's Signature
Florida lawmakers have sent to the desk of GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis a slate of bills that will alter the lives of transgender people in Florida – including their access to health care and everyday amenities. DeSantis, who is nearing a likely campaign for president in the coming weeks, is expected to sign them. (Contorno, 5/4)

Axios: Florida Lawmakers Send Gender-Affirming Care Ban Bill To DeSantis
The Florida legislature on Thursday passed a bill that bans gender-affirming care for transgender youth and adds restrictions for adults seeking care, sending it to the desk of Gov. Ron DeSantis (R). The Florida Board of Medicine already barred health providers from offering this type of care to trans minors. If enacted, this bill would codify those restrictions into state law, and would also add criminal penalties for physicians who provide gender-affirming treatments. (Habeshian and Gonzalez, 5/4)

AP: California Lawmakers OK Emergency Loans To Failing Hospitals
Alarmed by the closure of a rural hospital earlier this year, California lawmakers on Thursday voted to loan $150 million to struggling medical centers in the hope of preventing a cascade of similar failures across the state. The only hospital in Madera County closed in December, leaving the community of nearly 160,000 people with no medical center within a 30-minute drive. The closure was a startling reminder of the plight of many community hospitals in mostly rural areas of the country that have struggled to stay open during the coronavirus pandemic. (Beam, 5/4)

Politico: Health Care Measures In New York Budget: What To Know
The newly approved state budget commits over $22 billion to shore up New York’s pandemic-battered health care system, offset long-stagnant Medicaid reimbursement rates and bolster funding for mental health services. The $229 billion budget for the fiscal year that started April 1 included a smorgasbord of new health policies that expand what insurance is required to cover, improve privacy protection for people seeking abortions and add oversight of temporary health staffing agencies operating within New York. (Kaufman, 5/4)

AP: Judge Extends Suspension Of Missouri AG's Transgender Rule
A judge has extended her order barring the enforcement of a unique rule pushed by Missouri’s Republican attorney general that would require adults and children to undergo more than a year of therapy and fulfill other requirements before they could receive gender-affirming treatments such as puberty blockers, hormones and surgery. (Salter, 5/4)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Mid-America Transplant Deploys A Fleet Of SUVs To Transport Lifesaving Organs In The St. Louis Area
Drivers will see a new type of emergency vehicle on the area streets: a fleet of six SUVs transporting lifesaving organs to and from local hospitals. The Mid-America Transplant vehicles, which are equipped with lights and sirens, will carry specially trained staff and equipment needed to transport organ recovery teams, organs and tissues, officials said. The hope is to increase the safety and efficiency of transferring organs from donors to awaiting recipients. (Munz, 5/4)

Reuters: Camp Lejeune Lawsuits Slam North Carolina Federal Court 
More than 900 lawsuits against the U.S. government have flowed into a federal court in North Carolina since a law enacted in August enabled veterans and their families to bring claims for exposure to contaminated water at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune. (Novak Jones, 5/4)

NBC News: Biden Admin Says Alabama Heath Officials Didn’t Address Sewage System Failures Disproportionately Affecting Black Residents
After an investigation into failing sewage systems in Lowndes County, Alabama, the U.S. departments of Justice and Health and Human Services have concluded that the Alabama Department of Public Health and the county Health Department engaged in a “consistent pattern of inaction and/or neglect” and despite their awareness of problems “failed to take meaningful actions to remedy” the conditions, which disproportionately affected Black residents of the rural community, according to the administration's findings, which were obtained by NBC News. (Alcindor, 5/4)

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KFF Health News: Montana Passes Significant Health Policy Changes In Controversial Session
Republican leaders’ banishment of a transgender lawmaker from floor debates in the recently ended Montana legislative session seized the nation’s attention. It also overshadowed significant health policy changes and historic levels of health care spending. (Larson, 5/5)

KFF Health News: Lead Contamination Surfaces In Affluent Atlanta Neighborhood
Elizabeth Burns had just come inside from gardening in 2021 when she caught a TV news report about a rocklike material contaminating a nearby community’s soil with lead. She was stunned. Her own backyard had many such chunks. (Miller, 5/5)

Time: Why It Took So Long To Get An RSV Vaccine
Getting to this point has been a long journey, but one that has benefited from game-changing discoveries. Here’s how we got here. (Park, 5/3)

Reveal: The COVID Tracking Project Part 3
The final episode of our three-part series takes listeners inside the failed federal response to COVID-19 and explores the massive volunteer effort to collect data about the disease. (4/29)

The Washington Post: Hospital Mask Mandates Are Ending. Not Everyone's Happy About It
With the era of government-mandated masking at restaurants, grocery stores and schools long gone, hospitals and doctors’ offices were the last to carry the most visible reminders of the three-year-old pandemic. But regulators and some infectious-disease specialists have concluded that universal masking is no longer essential in medical settings, prompting one of the starkest returns to pre-covid life. (Nirappil, 5/1)

Stat: Hospital Focuses On Wealth Gap To Close Chicago 'Death Gap'
People living in East Garfield Park near Rush lived 66 years, on average — 14 years less than residents of the Loop a few miles away. (McFarling, 5/2)

The Atlantic: The Two Ways To Take Pills
There are two ways of taking pills—two and only two. You pinch the pill between your thumb and index finger, pick it up, and place it on your tongue. You take a drink of water. This method is the tweezers. Or else: You place the pill in your palm and launch it toward your mouth, as if your teeth were battlements and your arm a siege machine. Don’t bother with the water. This method is the catapult. (Engber, 5/1)

Bloomberg: Bird Flu Surge Has Scientists Seeking Clues To Prevent The Next Pandemic 
If you want to know how the world is preparing for the next global pandemic look at Rolaing, a Cambodian village located on a tributary of the Mekong River. For a few days in February this isolated spot became a hive of public health activity after an 11-year-old girl died of H5N1, the most virulent strain of bird flu — the country’s first fatality from the disease since 2014. (Fay Cortez and Ring, 5/2)

Time: How Gen Z Changed Its Views On Gender
Those beliefs, it turns out, were so mid-2010s. In a 2019 poll, two-thirds of U.S. young adults said they had become increasingly supportive of transgender rights over the last five years. Today’s teens not only support transgender rights, but arrive home from school excited when one of their friends comes out as trans. But how much have things really changed? When I started writing a new book about generational differences (Generations), I knew it would be important to revisit Gen Z’s views around gender, including nonbinary and transgender identities. (Twenge, 5/1)

Stat: Can PFAS In Food Packaging Migrate Into Food?
A compostable salad bowl seems like an Earth-friendly way to enjoy a healthy lunch. But the toxic chemicals used in containers like molded-fiber salad bowls, sandwich wrappers, and French fry pouches may be leaching into food despite efforts to make those materials safer, according to the results of a study published in March in the journal Environmental Science and Technology. (Trang, 5/2)

The Washington Post: Are Your Toenails Causing Problems? Here Are Some Solutions
Taking care of toenails becomes more important as we age. If you cannot care for your toenails properly, “it can lead to problems down the line,” says Michael Coyer, a foot and ankle surgeon in Orange County, Calif. Neglect, for instance, can lead to painful ingrown toenails and damage to too-long toenails that have been bumping up against the front of your shoes. There are solutions. These expert strategies can help keep problems at bay. (Wadyka, 5/1)

Bloomberg: On Abortion, Ignore The Extremists. Compromise Is Possible
When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, Justice Brett Kavanaugh argued that abortion policy was best left to elected leaders. In the 11 months since, numerous legal challenges have kept the question of abortion care firmly within the judicial branch. (5/4)

The New York Times: The Role Of Misery In Mental Health Crises 
Psychiatry’s guiding paradigm is that some extremes of mood are sufficiently severe that they constitute illness. But a longstanding criticism of psychiatry claims that the issues it professes to treat are just ordinary aspects of the human condition (or “problems in living” as the psychiatrist Thomas Szasz, a staunch critic of his own profession, would have it) that are being unnecessarily pathologized. (Huw Green, 5/5)

Stat: People With Down Syndrome Should Be Part Of Alzheimer's Trials
People with Down syndrome have an extra copy of the 21st chromosome — the chromosome on which the gene that codes for amyloid precursor protein is located. The accumulation of amyloid plaque in the brain is associated with the development of Alzheimer’s. Though the amyloid theory of Alzheimer’s is controversial, one thing is clear: Around 70% of people with Down syndrome will be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in their 40s and 50s. (Michelle Sie Whitten, 5/5)

New York Daily News: Congress Must Fully Fund The Health Care For 9/11 Heroes 
Right now, a vote to fund the bipartisan 9/11 Responder and Survivor Health Funding and Correction Act is still pending, and some lawmakers from around the country have not yet said they will support it. The CDC-run health program is facing massive cuts in just a few years. This program is a lifeline to our sickened members, and those working in rescue and recovery on 9/11 and the days and months after, more than 11,000 of whom are under medical monitoring. It is unconscionable to have to continually seek support from lawmakers outside New York, and beg for funding for this essential, life-saving program, even while the numbers are clear. (Laura Kavanagh, 5/5)