Stat: Biden Abandons His Push To Lower Drug Prices 
The White House is abandoning every single policy idea aimed at lowering prescription drug prices in President Biden’s domestic spending package, it announced Thursday morning. Biden is effectively admitting he can’t overcome deeply entrenched pharmaceutical industry opposition to any change to the status quo, even with broad political support for the effort, and both chambers of Congress in Democratic control. The announcement came as part of an effort from Biden to put together a framework for a major domestic spending package that the entire Democratic caucus in Congress could support. (Cohrs, 10/28)

Politico: Dems’ Drug Pricing Dreams Crash Into Reality In Social Spending Tumult 
Democrats control Washington and their proposal to let the government negotiate drug prices is backed by more than 80 percent of the public. But, like many before them, they have so far failed to prevail over the pharmaceutical industry and pass a plan that directly addresses the price of drugs for most Americans. The sweeping social spending package before Congress remains a work in progress and four industry lobbyists told POLITICO they aren‘t celebrating just yet. But President Joe Biden’s Thursday pitch to Capitol Hill eliminates any effort to crack down on drug prices, a coup for the industry that has spent months pouring millions into lobbying and advertising campaigns. (Ollstein, Wilson and Fuchs, 10/28)

Roll Call: Democrats Vow To Continue Fight On Drug Pricing In Budget Bill
Democrats on Capitol Hill say they are continuing to work toward allowing Medicare to negotiate prices for some prescription drugs in their social spending package, although the provision was left out of a $1.75 trillion framework agreement the White House released Thursday. For weeks, Democrats have been at odds over how to address drug pricing, a longtime party priority, in a budget reconciliation package. While it’s been clear that any effort to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices would likely be more narrow than the policy advanced by House committees last month, the framework only calls for repealing a Trump-era rule requiring pharmacy benefit managers and insurance companies to share drug manufacturer rebates with patients at the pharmacy counter. (McIntire and Clason, 10/28)

Stat: Pelosi Working To Gather Support For Last-Ditch Drug Pricing Policy
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office is working to gather support for a last-ditch proposal to lower prescription drug costs after the White House shunned the issue Thursday morning, according to four sources briefed on the policy. The new policy, which Pelosi’s office is pitching as a collaboration between House Energy & Commerce Chair Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) and Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.), would allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices for medications administered by doctors and at the pharmacy counter, after their so-called exclusivity period, granted by the Food and Drug Administration, expires, four sources said. (Cohrs, 10/28)

Stat: Here's How Biden Can Address Drug Prices Without Congress
If President Biden wants major pharmaceutical industry reforms, he may have to achieve them on his own. That’s looking increasingly likely after the White House’s concession on Thursday that it is abandoning its push for Congress to include major drug pricing provisions in its long-debated social spending bill. (Facher, 10/29)

Also —

AP: Medicaid Issues, Not Medicare's, Get Fixes In Biden Budget
Medicaid issues are turning up as winners in President Joe Biden’s social agenda framework even as divisions force Democrats to hit pause on far-reaching improvements to Medicare. The budget blueprint Biden released Thursday would fulfill a campaign promise to help poor people locked out of Medicaid expansion across the South due to partisan battles, and it would provide low-income seniors and disabled people with more options to stay out of nursing homes by getting support in their own homes. It also calls for 12 months of Medicaid coverage after childbirth for low-income mothers, seen as a major step to address national shortcomings in maternal health that fall disproportionately on Black women. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 10/29)

Politico: Your Guide To The Huge Dem Deal: 14 New Policies And What Could Stop Them 
The White House debuted a framework Thursday for the grand social spending deal that has eluded Democrats for months, answering major questions about what survived the carving knife of the party’s centrists. The outline pegs the final price tag at $1.75 trillion and divulges key details on the majority party’s bid to turn many of President Joe Biden’s campaign-trail promises into law. But the sketch is no substitute for real text of the bill, which is still being finalized. Without that, crucial specifics remain untold and political landmines linger as Democratic leaders pursue the support of every member under the dome. (Emma and Scholtes, 10/28)

CNBC: Paid Leave Advocates Slam Policy Exclusion In Social Spending Bill
President Joe Biden has unveiled the framework for a proposed $1.75 trillion social spending and climate plan. But one key component — paid family and medical leave — has been nixed from the proposal. Biden had called for 12 weeks of paid leave as part of his American Families Plan. In recent days, that was whittled down to four weeks as Democrats tried to reduce the costs of the bill. Talks had also turned to the possibility of just providing paid leave to new parents. (Konish, 10/28)

Politico: Liberals Weigh Their Options: Settle For Half A Loaf, Or Fight 
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand fought to see paid leave included in President Joe Biden’s social spending framework until the ink dried. When her goal fell short, the New York Democrat decided to get pragmatic and back the deal anyway. As a tumultuous 48 hours test the mettle of a Democratic Party that’s yet to fully face the reality of what’s achievable with Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) as its deciding votes, Gillibrand thinks the rest of her caucus — from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on down — will join her in the acceptance phase. (Everett and Levine, 10/28)

The Washington Post: Biden Raises The Stakes With The Biggest Gamble Of His Presidency 
President Biden entered a caucus meeting of Democrats on Thursday morning, told them he wanted to speak from the heart, and then made one of the biggest gambles of a career that spans nearly a half century. He put the future of his presidency, and the state of his party, on the line with a major bet that he could persuade a fractious group of Democrats to rally behind him and support a compromise $1.75 trillion social spending plan at the heart of his agenda. (Viser and Sullivan, 10/28)

Politico: How Biden And Bernie Switched Roles On Health Care
One surprising development in the seemingly endless negotiations over President Biden’s Build Back Better Act is that Biden and Sanders have sort of swapped goals, at least for this particular debate over health policy. They are each still on the side of Medicare and Obamacare, respectively. But Biden now is trying harder to expand the number of people who get health care. And Sanders is trying harder to improve coverage for people who already have it. (Kenen, 10/28)

KHN: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Biden Social-Spending ‘Framework’ Pulls Back On Key Health Pledges 
President Joe Biden unveiled a purported compromise on his social-spending plan shortly before taking off for a series of meetings in Europe. But it remains unclear whether the proposal — which jettisons some of the president’s health priorities — will win the support of enough Democrats to push it over the finish line. (10/28)

Roll Call: Pentagon May Not Immediately Fire Vaccine Resisters
Facing criticism that mandates for coronavirus vaccinations could force the Defense Department to fire thousands of civilians, contractors and troops, the Biden administration is signaling that vaccine resisters may get more time to comply. President Joe Biden and administration officials have previously said Pentagon employees and contractors have to be vaccinated or face termination on a series of upcoming deadlines.  ...  Three administration officials in the last couple of days have described the deadlines not as the dates when an axe will fall but rather as the start of an education process designed to convince those who are resisting vaccination to reverse course. (Donnelly, 10/29)

The Washington Post: Air Force Is First To Face Troops’ Rejection Of Vaccine Mandate As Thousands Avoid Shots 
Up to 12,000 Air Force personnel have rejected orders to get fully vaccinated against the coronavirus despite a Pentagon mandate, and officials say it is too late for them to do so by the Tuesday deadline, posing the first major test for military leaders whose August directive has been met with defiance among a segment of the force. The vast majority of active-duty airmen, more than 96 percent, are at least partially vaccinated, according to data from the Air Force. (Horton, 10/28)

Fox News: Biden Admin Barred From Firing Unvaccinated Employees After DC Judge Issues Injunction
A Washington, D.C., district court judge issued a temporary restraining order Thursday that prevents both civilian and active-duty military plaintiffs from being terminated after they sued the Biden administration over religious exemptions to COVID-19 vaccines. "None of the civilian employee plaintiffs will be subject to discipline while his or her request for a religious exception is pending," District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ordered, according to a Minute Order obtained by Fox News. The judge also ruled that "active duty military plaintiffs, whose religious exception requests have been denied, will not be disciplined or separated during the pendency of their appeals." (Brown, 10/28)

And from the private sector —

Bloomberg: Biden Vaccine Mandate Will Let Employers Make Workers Pay For Covid Tests
The Biden administration’s highly anticipated vaccine mandate rule for private-sector employers will allow businesses to force workers who refuse to get the Covid-19 shot to pay for required weekly tests and masks, two sources familiar with the matter said. The emergency rule, which will apply to companies with at least 100 employees and is expected to be released next week, will give employers the option of paying for testing and masks for unvaccinated workers or compelling those employees to foot the bill themselves, according to the sources, who requested anonymity because they didn’t have approval to discuss the rulemaking. (Penn, 10/28)

USA Today: As Biden Vaccine Mandates Loom, Protests For Personal Freedoms Swell
Across the nation, employers, government officials, health care workers and other Americans are continuing to push back against COVID-19 vaccine mandates, even as the death toll has climbed to more than 740,000 people. With the Biden administration preparing to enforce nationwide vaccine mandates, they are marching in the street in protest, resigning in mass and demonstrating outside government buildings. (Hughes, 10/29)

CBS News: Citigroup To Require U.S. Employees Be Vaccinated Against COVID-19 
Citigroup will require all of its U.S. workers to be vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment, the nation's third-biggest bank said Thursday. Given the U.S. government is a large client, Citi has an "obligation" to comply with an executive order from the White House requiring that employees supporting government contracts be vaccinated, Sara Wechter, head of human resources at the financial giant, wrote on LinkedIn on Thursday. (Gibson, 10/28)

The Wall Street Journal: Florida Sues Biden Administration Over Covid-19 Vaccine Mandate For Federal Contractors 
Florida is suing the Biden administration over vaccine mandates for federal contractors, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court in the middle district of Florida’s Tampa division, alleges that the requirement for employees at federal contractors be vaccinated by Dec. 8 interferes with Florida’s employment policies and threatens economic harm and the loss of federal contracts. (Ansari, 10/28)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Missouri Gov. Mike Parson Issues Executive Order Against Biden Vaccine Mandates 
Gov. Mike Parson on Thursday issued an executive order targeting federal COVID-19 vaccine mandates, but some observers were quick to assert that the order would have little effect in Missouri. The executive order directs state offices within the executive branch to “cooperate fully and timely” with any legal actions Attorney General Eric Schmitt takes against such mandates coming from President Joe Biden’s administration. (Suntrup, 10/28)

AP: Iowa Lawmakers Pass Vaccine Mandate Exemption Bill
Iowa employees could seek medical and religious exemptions from COVID-19 vaccine mandates and those who are fired for refusing a vaccine would be guaranteed unemployment benefits under a bill approved Thursday by the Iowa Legislature. The bill was released just minutes before lawmakers met for a special session convened to address redistricting. (Pitt, 10/28)

AP: Tennessee GOP Lawmakers Sprint In Bid To Curb COVID Rules
Republican lawmakers in Tennessee could be voting within days on whether to ban most businesses from solely requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination for their customers and workers and severely limit when companies and government entities — including schools — can require masks. Lawmakers on Thursday quickly advanced the measure carrying the prohibitions, despite growing opposition from the business community, and could vote by week’s end. Prominent groups asked lawmakers not to put them in “an impossible position between federal and state mandates,” including the upcoming employer vaccination mandate announced by President Joe Biden. They said conflicting mandates could “subject employers to potentially crippling litigation costs.” (Mattise and Kruesi, 10/28)

In related news about covid mandates —

NBC News: Trash Piles Up As Vaccination Deadline Looms For NYC Workers
Trash piled up in parts of New York City on Thursday as garbage collection slowed ahead of the deadline for city workers to get vaccinated. Missed collections were reported in Staten Island and Brooklyn. And residents have taken to social media in outrage over the accumulating garbage and to raise concern that the slowdown is intentional in protest of the vaccine mandate. (Lee, 10/28)

Oklahoman: OKC Firefighter Fired After Refusing COVID-19 Test
An Oklahoma City Firefighter was fired this week after refusing to submit to COVID-19 testing protocols, according to a release from the department. Cpl. Jerimiah Hoffstatter, a nine-year veteran of the department, was terminated Wednesday following an administrative investigation. The department cited the reason for the termination as gross insubordination. (Williams, 10/28)

The CT Mirror: State Fines Long-Term Care Facilities For Not Reporting Vaccination Rates
A month after Connecticut’s vaccine mandate for workers in long-term care facilities went into effect, the state notified 26 providers that they have been fined a combined $221,000 for not reporting their vaccination rates by the deadline. The state Department of Public Health reported Thursday night that, as of last week, there were 59 facilities that submitted late reports but that officials decided to give them a week’s “grace period” to comply. Thirty-three facilities did comply within the grace period, and the state forgave more than $1.5 million in potential fines for those facilities. (Altimari, 10/28)

CNN: 72% Of Unvaccinated Workers Vow To Quit If Ordered To Get Vaccinated 
A large number of unvaccinated workers say they'll quit their jobs if their employers follow upcoming federal rules to battle the Covid-19 pandemic. A survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a think tank concentrating on health issues, found 37% of unvaccinated workers say they will quit their jobs if forced to either get vaccinated or take weekly Covid tests. And if their employer mandates vaccines and doesn't offer the testing option, 72% of the unvaccinated workers say they will quit. (Isidore and Langmaid, 10/28)

But vaccine compliance is high in some regions —

AP: Inslee: 94% Of State Employees Comply With Vaccine Mandate
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee on Thursday applauded numbers showing that some 94% of state employees are vaccinated against COVID-19 or have received exemptions from his mandate, and 3.1% are waiting to get a vaccine or exemption. Inslee said another 2.9% of state employees have left their jobs, either by quitting or retiring. (Geranios, 10/28)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Employee Vaccine Compliance High, St. Louis-Area Hospitals Say, But They Won’t Disclose Number Of Exemptions
Time is up for Mercy employees who did not comply with the health system’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate or qualify for a religious or medical exemption. The Chesterfield-based health care system on Thursday disclosed the percentage of staff who were terminated for refusing the vaccine. But Mercy, like other St. Louis-area hospital operators, declined to say how many employees received exemptions and are continuing to work unvaccinated. (Munz, 10/28)

The Hill: Unvaccinated Students In Oakland To Transfer Or Be Dropped From Enrollment In January
Children in Oakland, Calif., who are over the age of 12 and remain unvaccinated against the coronavirus by next year will be transferred to independent study schools or dropped from public school enrollment. The Board of Education for the district approved the plan on Wednesday. (Beals, 10/28)

In other news about vaccines for children —

NPR: Here's The Timeline For The Kids COVID Vaccine Authorization
Children as young as 5 may be able to get vaccinated against COVID-19 in the U.S. as soon as next week. While some parents aren't sure how they feel about this, others are waiting eagerly for a chance to protect their children from COVID-19. But federal agencies can't be rushed. Here's what still needs to happen before the Pfizer-BioNTech shots can start going into kids' arms. (Simmons-Duffin and Hurt, 10/28)

NBC News: Why Do Kids Need The Covid Vaccine?
A Food and Drug Administration advisory committee’s vote Tuesday to recommend a lower-dose Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use authorization for children ages 5 to 11 means the shot could be available as soon as next week, yet only a minority of parents say they plan  to get their children vaccinated. A Kaiser Family Foundation poll published Thursday found that less than 30 percent of parents of 5- to 11-year-olds plan to get their children vaccinated. Another third of parents reported they plan to wait to see how the vaccine performs outside of clinical trials, and roughly another third do not plan to get their kids vaccinated against Covid at all.  (Sullivan, 10/29)

NBC News: Is Your Child Afraid Of Needles? How You Can Help Them Before Their Covid Shots
The Covid-19 vaccine is likely to be authorized for children 5 to 11 years old within days, which means parents who have been eagerly awaiting the chance to vaccinate their kids will soon get the opportunity. But those kids may not be as excited about the shots as their parents. A fear of needles, or trypanophobia, is common in children — a majority have it, one statistical analysis found. (Chuck, 10/28)

Also —

Bay Area News Group: COVID Outbreak Among Cheerleaders At California High School
The cheerleading team at a Los Angeles County high school has been put on hiatus because it is the apparent center of a COVID-19 outbreak. An email sent to Valencia High School families on Tuesday by principal Pete Getz said 33 cases have been confirmed among students and staff. Most of the infected students are cheerleaders. Valencia High, in Santa Clarita, has an enrollment of about 2,600 students. The positive tests “started to pop up last week and … increased through the weekend,” school district spokesman Dave Caldwell told TV station KABC. (10/28)

The New York Times: Has The Virus Infected Huge Numbers Of Younger Children? 
A startling statistic emerged as advisers to the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday debated use of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine in children ages 5 to 11. According to one federal scientist, by June an estimated 42 percent of these children had already been infected with the coronavirus. That figure was much higher than anyone expected. But the estimate, which was from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, might have overstated the percentage of children who were infected, several experts said in interviews. Among other flaws, the percentage was based on tests known to have a high rate of “false positives” — signaling the presence of antibodies where there are none. (Mandavilli, 10/28)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Georgia Medical Board Silent As Doctors Spread COVID-19 Misinformation
Scott Barbour wears doctor’s scrubs when he records his podcasts, an American flag tacked to the wall behind him. Leaning into the microphone, he gives health advice that experts say could land a person in intensive care. The COVID-19 vaccines haven’t been studied enough and aren’t worth the risks, the Georgia orthopedic surgeon tells listeners. Getting vaccinated might cause a person to end up getting infected even worse, he says. The drugs hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin are effective for preventing the disease, though. Disease-carrying aerosols can get through the pores of a face mask, so don’t bother wearing them. (Edwards, 10/28)

In other news about the spread of the coronavirus —

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsinites Not Yet Fully Vaccinated Are 18 Times More Likely To Die
During the month of September, Wisconsinites who were not yet fully vaccinated died from COVID-19 at a rate 18 times higher than fully vaccinated Wisconsinites, according to numbers reported by the Department of Health Services. The state reported 1.3 deaths per 100,000 fully vaccinated people compared to 24.5 deaths per 100,000 people who are not fully vaccinated. People who are not yet fully vaccinated are also more than eight times more likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19 compared to fully vaccinated people, according to DHS data. (Bentley, 10/28)

Anchorage Daily News: Alaska Reports 5 COVID-19 Deaths, 833 Cases And Continued High Hospitalizations Thursday
Alaska’s hospitals remain stretched thin as daily COVID-19 case counts and hospitalizations continue to hover at persistently high levels, state health officials said Thursday. Alaska reported five more COVID-19 deaths, 833 new cases and 221 people hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Thursday. Since the start of the pandemic, 695 Alaska residents and 26 nonresidents have died with the virus. Thursday’s numbers continued a trend of high cases, hospitalizations and deaths since the delta variant’s sharp rise over the summer in Alaska. Hospitalizations of COVID-positive patients have reached new heights in recent weeks. (Krakow, 10/28)

AP: 16 Inmates Have Tested Positive For COVID-19 In Kingman Jail
Mohave County Sheriff’s officials are continuing to deal with COVID-19 issues in the Kingman jail. They said the Adult Detention facility identified 16 inmates who tested positive for the virus this week out of 34 inmates. (10/29)

The New York Times: Who Had Covid-19 Vaccine Breakthrough Cases?
After a summer of reports of breakthrough coronavirus infections, when it seemed that everyone knew someone who tested positive after vaccination, recently released federal data sheds light on how common these cases really were, how severe they became and who was most at risk. Compared with the unvaccinated, fully vaccinated people overall had a much lower chance of testing positive for the virus or dying from it, even through the summer’s Delta surge and the relaxation of pandemic restrictions in many parts of the country. But the data indicates that immunity against infection may be slowly waning for vaccinated people, even as the vaccines continue to be strongly protective against severe illness and death. (Aufrichtig and Walker, 10/28)

Bloomberg: Delta Variant Is Spread By Vaccinated And Unvaccinated People Alike, Study Shows
People inoculated against Covid-19 are just as likely to spread the delta variant of the virus to contacts in their household as those who haven’t had shots, according to new research. In a yearlong study of 621 people in the U.K. with mild Covid-19, scientists found that their peak viral load was similar regardless of vaccination status, according to a paper published Thursday in The Lancet Infectious Diseases medical journal. The analysis also found that 25% of vaccinated household contacts still contracted the disease from an index case, while 38% of those who hadn’t had shots became infected. (Ring, 10/28)

CNBC: Covid: Delta Mutation Is No Reason To Panic, Scientists Say
A recently discovered subvariant of Covid-19′s delta strain now makes up 10% of new U.K. cases — but scientists have said there’s no reason to panic. Known as AY.4.2, there are some concerns that it could be around 10% more transmissible than the original delta strain, but there is so far insufficient evidence to prove that this is the case. (Taylor, 10/29)

KHN: ERs Are Swamped With Seriously Ill Patients, Although Many Don’t Have Covid 
Inside the emergency department at Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, Michigan, staff members are struggling to care for patients showing up much sicker than they’ve ever seen. Tiffani Dusang, the ER’s nursing director, practically vibrates with pent-up anxiety, looking at patients lying on a long line of stretchers pushed up against the beige walls of the hospital hallways. “It’s hard to watch,” she said in a warm Texas twang. But there’s nothing she can do. The ER’s 72 rooms are already filled. (Wells, 10/29)

Fierce Healthcare: UnitedHealthcare To Expand ACA Exchange Footprint Into 7 New States For 2022
UnitedHealthcare will expand its footprint on the Affordable Care Act's exchanges to seven more states for 2022, bring its total footprint to 18 states. UHC plans will now be available on the marketplace in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan and Texas. Open enrollment for the ACA's exchanges begins Nov. 1 and is set to close Jan. 15, 2022. (Minemyer, 10/28)

AP: Maryland Officials Highlight New Health Insurance Subsidy
A new Maryland subsidy will make health insurance more affordable for young adults ages 18 to 34.Local officials and state lawmakers gathered on Thursday to highlight the new subsidy as Maryland’s open enrollment period begins Monday for the state’s health exchange. Legislation enacted by the Maryland General Assembly allocates $20 million a year for two years to bring down the cost of health insurance for people ages 18-34 with low and moderate incomes. (10/28)

In other health insurance news —

Crain's New York Business: UnitedHealthcare, Montefiore Reach Agreement To Restore Access
Insurer UnitedHealthcare and Montefiore Health System have reached an agreement after a contract dispute, restoring access to health plan members, they announced Thursday morning. Some 60,000 people with UnitedHealthcare and Oxford employer-sponsored health plans, as well as those on the Minnesota-based insurer’s Medicare dual special-needs plan, had lost access to the Bronx health provider's facilities in December. UnitedHealthcare and Montefiore had failed to agree over proposed increased rates. Plan members will have access restored effective Dec. 1. (Sim, 10/28)

Dallas Morning News: The COVID-19 Impact On Insurance: Globe Life Saw Payouts Soar As The Delta Variant Swept The South
The virus has left a trail of destruction in its wake. Many were felt on a personal level. But industries were thrown upside down without warning as well, including life insurance. The morbid reality is that a lot of life insurance policies suddenly had to be paid out in the past year due to the more-than-expected number of deaths in the U.S. Death benefits paid in 2020 jumped to $87.5 billion, up 15% from 2019, the largest increase in at least 24 years, according to data from the Insurance Information Institute. Estimates for 2021 aren’t out yet. But the total will rise since this year has been deadlier for COVID-19 than last year. On Oct. 6, the U.S. hit 353,000 COVID deaths for 2021, topping the 2020 total of 352,000 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. (Walters, 10/28)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: Louisiana Law Allows Pregnant Minors To Get An Abortion Without Parental Consent. A Mom Is Suing
A Lafayette woman is suing the state to prevent her teenage daughter from having an abortion, in an unusual case that takes new aim at the state’s “judicial bypass” law, which allows judges to grant the procedure for pregnant minors who lack a parent’s consent. While Attorney General Jeff Landry is defending the state in the case, his solicitor general, Liz Murrill, largely supported the mother’s cause in a legal brief this week. Landry’s office also submitted disciplinary records on abortion providers, orders by the state Board of Medical Examiners, health inspection reports and other records to the court, aimed at painting a grim picture of Louisiana abortion providers. (Simerman, 10/28)

AP: Bill: Doctors Must Care For Babies Born Alive After Abortion
Doctors would be required to report cases of babies born alive after abortions or attempted abortions, under legislation approved Thursday by the GOP-controlled Ohio Senate. The bill would also ban abortion clinics from working with doctors who teach at state-funded hospitals and medical schools. (10/28)

In other abortion news —

ABC News: What Would Happen To Abortion Access If Roe V. Wade Is Overturned Or Weakened: Report 
The Supreme Court has a real opportunity this year to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark case that made abortion a federally protected right, or otherwise lessen the right to abortion. The court will be hearing a case out of Mississippi, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, that asks the justices to directly reconsider the landmark precedent in Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which many court watchers believe is closer to a possibility than ever with the current makeup of the court. (Svokos, 10/28)

The Washington Post: If Roe V. Wade Is Overturned, The Closest Abortion Clinic For Those In The South And Midwest Could Be Hundreds Of Miles Away, Report Says 
If the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, people seeking abortions in the South and Midwest would have to travel hundreds of miles to get an abortion, according to a new report released Thursday. The Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit research center based in New York and Washington that supports abortion rights, examined the impact of so-called trigger laws that would ban or severely restrict the procedure in multiple states if the high court issued such a ruling. It measured how far clients in those states would have to travel to get to the closest abortion clinic. It also looked at how states where the procedure would remain legal would be affected by the influx of patients. (Asbury, 10/28)

The Wall Street Journal: Biden, Pope Francis Meet Amid Controversy Over Abortion
President Biden, the second Catholic president in American history, traveled to the Vatican on Friday for a meeting with Pope Francis that is expected to focus on climate change but has been overshadowed by controversy among church leaders over the president’s support for abortion rights. Some U.S. bishops say that Catholic politicians who support legal access to abortion should be barred from Communion. In a little more than two weeks, at their annual fall meeting in Baltimore, U.S. bishops are expected to debate whether to make a collective statement to that effect. But the pope has taken a more conciliatory approach toward the president and the Vatican has said that linking the politics of abortion to the reception of Communion would be divisive. (Rocca and Lucey, 10/29)

NPR: NAACP Calls On Professional Athletes To Not Sign With Texas Sports Teams
The NAACP is urging athletes in major sports to consider not signing with professional teams in Texas in response to the state's voting and abortion laws and its ban on mask requirements. Leaders of the NAACP issued an open letter Thursday to players associations for the NBA, NFL, WNBA, MLB and NHL. The NAACP leaders called Texas' laws "a blueprint by legislators to violate constitutional rights for all," and asked free agents to reconsider moving their families to a state that is "not safe for anyone." The civil rights organization reminded the free agents to also consider the influence their platforms hold. (Franklin, 10/28)

The Texas Tribune: Texas' Abortion Law Makes The Journey Harder For Those With Complications
Under Senate Bill 8, Texas’ new abortion law, even if the medical and developmental condition were still grim, if they could hear cardiac activity, she would have to wait out the pregnancy or leave the state to end it. For nearly three years, [Kendra] Joseph and her husband, Eric, had been trying to have a second child, and laws intended to limit abortion access had, ironically, already made the process more difficult. With SB 8 in effect, given the risks her pregnancies entail, Joseph is hesitant to keep trying at all — one of the many unforeseen consequences of the new law. (McNeel, 10/29)

KHN: Texas Abortion Law Gets Speedy High-Court Hearing Monday
The Supreme Court on Nov. 1 will hear oral arguments challenging the constitutionality of a new Texas abortion law — just days after agreeing to hear the case. That’s just one of many unusual things about the Texas law, which halted almost all abortions in the nation’s second-most populous state. The court plans to hear another major abortion case this fall: Justices previously set Dec. 1 as the day for arguments in a case from Mississippi that directly challenges Roe v. Wade and other decisions that guaranteed a constitutional right to an abortion before a fetus is viable. (Rovner, 10/29)

The Wall Street Journal: U.S. In Talks To Pay Hundreds Of Millions To Families Separated At Border
The Biden administration is in talks to offer immigrant families that were separated during the Trump administration around $450,000 a person in compensation, according to people familiar with the matter, as several agencies work to resolve lawsuits filed on behalf of parents and children who say the government subjected them to lasting psychological trauma. The U.S. Departments of Justice, Homeland Security, and Health and Human Services are considering payments that could amount to close to $1 million a family, though the final numbers could shift, the people familiar with the matter said. Most of the families that crossed the border illegally from Mexico to seek asylum in the U.S. included one parent and one child, the people said. Many families would likely get smaller payouts, depending on their circumstances, the people said. (Hackman, Viswanatha and Gurman, 10/28)

In more news from the Biden administration —

Modern Healthcare: Biden To Nix HHS Regulation 'Sunset' Rule
The Health and Human Services Department plans to repeal a regulation that would eliminate department rules after 10 years, according to a Federal Register notice published Thursday. The department finalized that regulation in the waning days of President Donald Trump's term. The policy, which never fully took effect, would have sunset HHS regulations after 10 years unless the department reviewed them and justified leaving them in place. President Joe Biden's administration delayed enforcement of the rule in March; the new HHS notice spells its imminent demise. (Hellmann, 10/28)

Modern Healthcare: Biden's DOJ Will Prioritize Fighting White-Collar Crime, Top Official Says
Healthcare is likely to be more impacted by the department's new stance than other industries because it's much more heavily regulated. The stakes are also higher in healthcare because companies often depend on revenue from government-sponsored programs like Medicare more so than in other sectors. Thursday's speech should push healthcare companies to perform a "self-examination" of their compliance and auditing protocols, said John Carney, co-leader of BakerHostetler's White Collar Enforcement team and DOJ's former securities fraud chief. "It's time for your annual physical," he said. "It's time for a checkup for these companies." (Bannow, 10/28)

The Hill: Biden Appoints Sara Minkara As US Special Adviser On International Disability Rights 
President Biden announced on Thursday that he has appointed Sara Minkara to serve as U.S. special adviser on international disability rights. The senior-level position, which is housed within the State Department, is meant to lead the U.S.’s strategy when it comes to promoting and protecting the rights of individuals with disabilities throughout the world and in the department, according to a statement from the White House. (Schnell, 10/28)

The Baltimore Sun: Federal Officials And Baltimore Leaders Tout Broader Approach To Reducing Opioid Overdose Deaths
Federal officials announced in Baltimore Wednesday they will invest more in nationwide harm-reduction strategies to reduce drug-related deaths after Maryland and the United States saw record-breaking numbers of fatal overdoses last year. It’s part of a national effort to tackle the growing problem, and brought senior Biden administration officials and Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott to the Healthcare for the Homeless building in Penns-Fallsway. (Davis, 10/28)

Modern Healthcare: Another Kaiser Permanente Union Authorizes Strike
Nearly 2,000 Kaiser Permanente workers in California voted to allow a strike, their union announced Thursday. The not-for-profit integrated health system's labor woes continue to mount. This vote by members of the National Union of Healthcare Workers follows a series of strike authorizations backed by members of labor groups belonging to the Alliance of Health Care Union. So far this month, unions representing more than 25,000 Kaiser Permanente employees in California and Oregon have given their bargaining teams permission to initiate strikes if negotiations don't progress. (Christ, 10/28)

In other health industry news —

AP: Massachusetts Health Network Hacked; Patient Info Exposed
A Worcester, Mass. health care network says someone hacked into its employee email system, potentially exposing the personal information of thousands of patients. UMass Memorial Health notified patients earlier this month if their information was involved in the breach, which occurred between June 2020 and January. The personal data included Social Security numbers, insurance information and medical information, The Telegram & Gazette reported Thursday. (10/29)

San Francisco Chronicle: UCSF Announces Opening Of $535 Million Brain Research Facility
UCSF on Thursday marks the opening of the Weill Neurosciences Building, a groundbreaking facility that — once all the crates are unboxed — will bring patients, physicians, medical scientists and researchers together under one roof in the hopes of treating brain diseases that have until now proved largely intractable. The 282,500-square-foot building at UCSF’s Mission Bay campus is unlike any other in America for its multi-disciplinary approach, said Dr. Stephen Hauser, director of the Weill Institute for Neurosciences, which was founded in 2016 and will be housed in the new complex. It will be the largest integrated neurology and neuroscience center in the U.S. (Vaziri, 10/28)

Modern Healthcare: Physical Therapy Telehealth Startup Hinge Health Raises $600 Million
Hinge Health, a telehealth startup focused on providing care for back and joint pain, raised $600 million in new financing, the company announced Thursday. The latest haul boosts its valuation to $6.2 billion, making it one of the most valuable digital health businesses. Tiger Global and Coatue Management led the Series E funding round, while Alkeon Capital Management and Whale Rock Capital Management bought $200 million in existing equity. The company will use the new money to expand its operations. “In 2021, Hinge Health more than doubled its customer base year over year,” the company said in a news release. (Brady, 10/28)

Stat: Alnylam’s Longtime CEO To Depart, New Leader Named 
John Maraganore, who has been the chief executive of Alnylam for nearly 19 years, is stepping down on Dec. 31, Alnylam announced Thursday. Yvonne Greenstreet has been named as the next CEO. This is the second top executive to leave Alnylam and the third significant change in the company’s leadership in the last 13 months. (Sheridan, 10/28)

AP: US Lowers Cutoff For Lead Poisoning In Young Kids
U.S. health officials have changed their definition of lead poisoning in young children — a move expected to more than double the number of kids with worrisome levels of the toxic metal in their blood. The more stringent standard announced Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention means the number of children ages 1 to 5 considered to have high blood lead levels will grow from about 200,000 to about 500,000. (Stobbe, 10/28)

And in pharmaceutical industry news —

Stat: Rafael Pharma Drug Fails To Prolong Pancreatic Cancer Survival In Study
Rafael Pharmaceuticals said Thursday that its experimental treatment for pancreatic cancer failed to prolong the lives of patients in a large clinical trial. A separate study of the same Rafael drug, called devimistat, involving patients with a type of leukemia, was also stopped early after an interim analysis concluded the drug was not working, the company said. (Feuerstein, 10/28)

Axios: Merck's Cancer Drug Keytruda On Pace For $17 Billion Of Sales 
Cancer drug Keytruda is on pace to generate more than $17 billion of revenue this year after reaching a record $4.5 billion of sales in the third quarter. Keytruda is close to becoming the highest-selling drug in the world and would be a Fortune 200 company on its own. Keytruda continues to be the core of Merck, even though executives told Wall Street yesterday the company expects to collect between $5 billion and $7 billion, now through 2022, from its coronavirus pill molnupiravir. (Herman, 10/29)

Axios: U.S. Traffic Fatalities Rise 18% In First Half Of 2021 
The number of fatal traffic accidents in the first half of 2021 rose 18.4% compared to 2020, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced Thursday. An estimated 20,160 people died in motor vehicle crashes from January to June 2021 — the largest number of projected fatalities in that time period since 2006. It's also the largest six-month increase ever recorded in the Fatality Analysis Reporting System's history, which has been in use since 1975. (Frazier, 10/28)

In other public health news —

AP: Decorating A Cake With Glitter? Check That It's Edible
They make cakes and cupcakes sparkle and shine, but popular decorative glitters can contain toxic metals and aren’t always safe to eat. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a report Thursday that the products known as “luster dust” aren’t all meant to be eaten even if they’re labeled “nontoxic.” Some should be used for display only, like on a cake topper that’s removed. The report cites investigations by health officials in two states that traced illnesses to baked goods using such dusts. (Choi, 10/28)

Los Angeles Times: Poor Neighborhoods Bear The Brunt Of Extreme Heat
It was a typical summer day in Los Angeles, but a satellite orbiting hundreds of miles above the Earth could detect that it was getting much hotter in some neighborhoods than others. In a majority-white area of Silver Lake — where median household income is more than $98,000 a year and mature trees dapple the hilly streets with shade — the surface temperature was 96.4 degrees. Less than a mile away, in a corner of East Hollywood, it was 102.7 degrees. The predominantly Latino and Asian area, where median household income is less than $27,000 a year, is packed with older, 2- and 3-story apartment buildings. It has few trees big enough to provide shade, and less than one-third the canopy of Silver Lake, ranking it among the lowest coverage areas in the city. (Barbosa and Vives, 10/28)

And a few things to know ahead of Halloween —

USA Today: Halloween Candy: Doctors Give Advice On How Much Kids Should Eat
Many health experts say there is no right or wrong amount of candy one should consume during or after Halloween, but one thing to definitely check for: make sure the candy is safe to eat."Anything with holes in the packaging, those should all be thrown out and not consumed," Dr. Ben Levinson, primary care pediatrician at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, told USA TODAY. Levinson added parents should be cautious of anything homemade as well, as it may contain allergens. But for the candy that is safe? Levinson said children can go all-in. (Mendoza, 10/28)

Fox News: Halloween Costume Contact Lenses May Be Scarier Than You Think
Americans might be haunted with scary eye infections long after Halloween if they wear costume contact lenses without a prescription, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The agency notes out of the 45 million Americans who wear contact lenses, it’s difficult to estimate approximately how many actually wear decorative contact lenses, but the number always increases around Halloween, with highest demand often in the demographic at most risk for infectious complications, according to a recent report. (Sudhakar, 10/28)

KHN: What’s Scarier Than Covid? Halloween Health Haikus
Boo that we couldn’t treat all the readers participating in our third annual KHN Halloween Haiku Contest to their moment of gory glory. Your entries — like our health care system — ranged from frighteningly complex to haunting. And, based on a review by our panel of never-say-die judges, here’s the winner and a sampling of finalists. Also, keep an eye on KHN’s social media accounts for more of our favorites. Enjoy! (10/29)

The Advocate: Nearly 1,000 Employees Laid Off From Bob Dean Nursing Homes As He Fights To Get License Back
Louisiana nursing home magnate Bob Dean has laid off nearly 1,000 employees as he awaits hearings that will determine whether he can reclaim the nursing home licenses that the state Department of Health revoked after finding widespread problems with how he evacuated residents to a warehouse for Hurricane Ida. In notices of mass layoffs filed with the Louisiana Workforce Commission, administrators for Dean’s seven nursing homes wrote that LDH’s decision to take away their licenses meant that “the nursing homes are unable to operate for the foreseeable future and the decision had been made to lay off all, or substantially all, hourly employees effectively immediately.” (Gallo and Mosbrucker, 10/28)

In updates from Texas, Oklahoma and Montana —

The New York Times: Texas Nurse Sentenced To Death For Fatally Injecting 4 Heart Patients With Air 
A former Texas nurse was sentenced to death this week for injecting air into the arteries of four patients recovering from heart surgery, causing fatal brain damage, a court official said. A jury in Tyler, Texas, handed up the sentence on Wednesday in the capital murder case of the former nurse, William Davis, eight days after convicting him. (Vigdor, 10/28)

AP: Oklahoma Executes Inmate Who Dies Vomiting And Convulsing
Oklahoma administered the death penalty Thursday on a man who convulsed and vomited as he was executed for the 1998 slaying of a prison cafeteria worker, ending a six-year execution moratorium brought on by concerns over its execution methods. John Marion Grant, 60, who was strapped to a gurney inside the execution chamber, began convulsing and vomiting after the first drug, the sedative midazolam, was administered. Several minutes later, two members of the execution team wiped the vomit from his face and neck. (Murphy, 10/28)

Oklahoman: Ex-Oklahoma Resident Talks About Getting Nonbinary Birth Certificate
An Oregon resident who was born and raised in Oklahoma made history this month when they successfully petitioned the state to amend their birth certificate to include a gender-neutral birth marker. As part of a legal settlement stemming from a lawsuit filed last year, Kit Lorelied, 46, is the recipient of the state's first gender-neutral birth certificate, where an "X" denotes their sex designation instead of a male or female gender marker. Lorelied, who is nonbinary, uses the pronouns they and them. Nonbinary people do not identify as strictly male or female. (Forman, 10/27)

Billings Gazette: Montana Marks 1st Flu Case In 18 Months; State Urges Flu Shots
A child in Flathead County has the first confirmed case of influenza in Montana in more than a year and a half, according to the state health department. The case was confirmed by the Flathead City-County Health Department, along with the state Department of Public Health and Human Services. There hasn't been a confirmed flu case in Montana since April 2020, according to the state health department. Doctors in Montana have said the use of measures meant to slow the spread COVID-19, such as face coverings and distancing, also staved off the transmission of the flu over the last year and a half. (Michels, 10/28)

In news from Georgia, Mississippi and Kentucky —

Macon Telegraph: Health Officials Are Investigating GA Fair E. Coli Cases 
The state health department is investigating four cases of E. coli connected with the Georgia National Fair, the DPH announced Thursday. The DPH and the North Central Health District (NCHD) are working with fair staff to determine how four Middle Georgians who attended the annual event earlier this month became infected with the bacteria. “We are hoping we don’t see anymore cases, but we encourage anyone that feels like they may have been infected to contact their primary care physician,“ said NCHD spokesperson Michael Hokanson. (Perrineau, 10/28)

AP: Mississippi: 14K Pandemic Food Cards Mistakenly Deactivated
More than 14,000 low-income children in Mississippi had their pandemic food cards mistakenly deactivated, prompting an apology from state officials and a promise that new cards would be mailed to their families within days. Children with an apostrophe in their first or last names all had their cards deactivated Monday by a processing partner, the Mississippi Department of Human Services said in a news release. It said that department and the Mississippi Department of Education were notified of the error on Tuesday. (10/28)

Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville Council Dropped 2nd Review Of Sexual Assault Nurse Exams
The University of Louisville nurses who perform exams for sexual assault and domestic violence victims will not have their work go through an additional review by a physician, Louisville Metro Council decided Thursday. Each of the exams is already peer-reviewed by a nurse in the program before being given to police if the victim wishes to file a report. But a Metro Council committee had been considering a requirement that a randomly selected 3% go through an additional review. During a meeting last week, the committee dropped the physician review in favor of an annual report to Metro Council on that will include a complete review of the program's processes, peer review and exam outcomes. (Mencarini, 10/28)

Bloomberg: England May Become First Country To Prescribe E-Cigarettes
England could become the first country in the world to prescribe e-cigarettes to people who want to quit smoking, which would be a boon for an industry that is facing regulatory pressure in the U.S. Makers of e-cigarettes can submit their products to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and undergo the same approval process as other medicines available on the NHS, the government said Friday. (Gretler, 10/29)

In other global news —

Modern Healthcare: FDA Releases Joint AI Medical Device Guidance With Canada, U.K.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and its counterparts in Canada and the United Kingdom issued joint guidelines for companies creating medical devices that use artificial intelligence on Wednesday. The 10 "guiding principles" from the FDA, Health Canada and the U.K. Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency applying expertise from multiple disciplines throughout product development and testing AI devices on data that's representative of the intended patient population. The trilateral regulatory framework seeks to establish a foundation for safe and effective use of AI and machine learning in medical devices that organizations such as the International Medical Device Regulators Forum can build upon. (Kim Cohen, 10/28)

Bloomberg: WHO Says $23 Billion Needed To Expand Access, Fight Covid-19
The World Health Organization said $23.4 billion is needed to help provide access to Covid-19 vaccines, treatments and tests in low- and middle-income countries. The organization gave the estimate for the needs of its ACT-Accelerator plan through September 2022. The WHO has set a target to vaccinate at least 40% of people in every country by the end of the year with the help of Covax, the facility aimed at making inoculations available worldwide, after falling short of previous goals. Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has called on rich countries to step up their support of poorer ones in order to accelerate the end of the pandemic. (Mulier, 10/28)

CBS News: Inside The Life Of A COVID Long-Hauler Who "Fought Like An Animal" To Make It Out Of The Hospital After 299 Days 
The past year has seen some dramatic swings in America's fight against COVID-19. But while the number of COVID cases are trending downward, some long-haulers are having a hard time recovering from the disease. Alex Castro of Sandy, Oregon, used to be able to swim, cook and hike, but now it takes every breath he has and baby steps, to just walk across his living room. At 44 years old, Castro is just a shell of the man he used to be. COVID caused him heart failure and ravaged his kidneys and lungs. (10/27)

The Wall Street Journal: A 12-Year-Old Girl Sparks Debate On Covid-19 Vaccines For Kids In Mexico 
In early September, 12-year-old Zulma Gonzalez grew exasperated. Zulma, who suffers from Type 1 diabetes and is at risk of having a serious illness with Covid-19, had been trying to get vaccinated for months to feel safe enough to return to school and have a normal life again. But government policy didn’t allow minors like Zulma to get vaccinated because officials said that anyone under 18 was unlikely to get gravely ill with Covid-19. The policy has been criticized by some epidemiologists, who cite the arrival in recent months of the Delta variant and another big wave of deaths in Mexico, the world’s fourth hardest hit country in pandemic deaths. So Zulma, with help from her lawyer mother, filed a lawsuit, and won a court order to get vaccinated. (Luhnow, 10/23)

The New York Times: Do I Have Plans This Saturday? I’ve, Uh, Been Exposed To Covid
Last winter Trysta Barwig was burned out. She was overwhelmed by her job as a program manager and she was traveling too often for work from her home in Atlanta. She needed a break. So when Ms. Barwig’s boss asked her to pack her bags again, she used what had become her go-to excuse: a Covid exposure. “I figured this would be easier to tell my boss than having to answer a million follow-up questions of why I couldn’t go,” said Ms. Barwig, 31, who is also the founder of a travel blog, This Travel Dream. “He was very supportive and excused me from traveling for work.” Problem solved. (Braff, 10/28)

Bloomberg: Covid Vaccination Rates: How Black Doctors Increased Shots In Philadelphia 
Earlier this year, Philadelphia’s partnership with the student-led group Philly Fighting Covid Inc. abandoned testing sites in Black neighborhoods. It seemed like the latest affront in a long legacy of racism that has fueled distrust in the medical system, dating back to the infamous Tuskegee experiments in the 1930s. But Philadelphia, after a slow start, is closing out the year with one of the highest Black vaccination rates in a major U.S. city. In Philadelphia, 54% of Black citizens are now vaccinated. That puts it at the top of a group of the country’s 10 most Black cities, with populations of 500,000 or more and with Black people making up anywhere from 77% to 28% of the population. (The country’s second-largest city, Los Angeles, has vaccinated 55% of its Black residents, but they’re just 8% of the population.) (Poon and Green, 10/28)

The Atlantic: Is Moderna Really Better Than Pfizer—Or Is It Just a Higher Dose?
“More vaccine” is not a simple proposition. For one thing, doses of Pfizer and Moderna are measured in mass of mRNA lipid nanoparticles; J&J doses are measured by counting the number of harmless adenovirus particles that each one contains (about 50 billion). You can’t really compare lipid nanoparticles with viral particles, several experts told me. According to Michael Arand of the University of Zurich’s Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, you shouldn’t even assume that each 50-billion-particle dose of J&J will be equivalent in size to the next one, since, depending on the details of production, some particles can be more infectious than others. A better dosage measure for adenovirus-based vaccines, he argued in a recent opinion paper, would be “infectious units.” When I asked him via email whether developing a standard measure that works across different vaccine platforms might be possible, he said, “I do not think so.” (Gutman, 10/28)

Also —

The New York Times: Why Does Medical Advice Often Change? Doctors Explain 
When it comes to preventive health, few tenets are as entrenched as daily aspirin. For more than 30 years, many people have relied on the pain reliever for added protection against a first heart attack or stroke. So it came as a shock to many this month when an influential expert panel, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, seemed to reverse decades of medical practice, announcing that daily low-dose aspirin should no longer be automatically recommended in middle age to prevent heart attack. (Parker-Pope, 10/22)

The Atlantic: How Public Health Took Part In Its Own Downfall
By one telling, public health was a victim of its own success, its value shrouded by the complacency of good health. By a different account, the competing field of medicine actively suppressed public health, which threatened the financial model of treating illness in (insured) individuals. But these underdog narratives don’t capture the full story of how public health’s strength faded. In fact, “public health has actively participated in its own marginalization,” Daniel Goldberg, a historian of medicine at the University of Colorado, told me. As the 20th century progressed, the field moved away from the idea that social reforms were a necessary part of preventing disease and willingly silenced its own political voice. By swimming along with the changing currents of American ideology, it drowned many of the qualities that made it most effective. (Yong, 10/23)

Modern Healthcare: Healthcare's Supply Chain Poses The Next Big Environmental Challenge
Healthcare companies in recent years have largely focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions as they strive to become more environmentally sustainable. While that focus has produced several innovations in conservation and alternative energy use, critics argue those actions have only scratched the surface of reducing healthcare's climate footprint. Hospitals have remained one of the world's largest polluters despite increased calls to address climate change. Healthcare greenhouse emissions rose 6% from 2012 to 2018, according to a December 2020 Health Affairs study. As a whole, the industry now makes up more than 8% of all U.S. emissions. (Ross Johnson, 10/22)

The Wall Street Journal: Hospital Prices Are Arbitrary. Just Look At The Kingsburys’ $100,000 Bill. 
Barbara Kingsbury was diagnosed with cervical cancer two years ago and embarked on an aggressive course of treatment. The bills piled up on the kitchen counter of her home in Volin, S.D., at one point hitting $94,000 in unpaid fees and interest. With debt collectors threatening a lawsuit, her husband, Dennis Kingsbury, emptied her retirement savings in early May to pay most of the amount due. Bill collectors continued calling Ms. Kingsbury when she entered hospice care in early June, her husband said. She died on June 10, at age 62. In July, Mr. Kinsgbury received another hospital bill for $10,000. (Evans and McGinty, 10/28)

Philadelphia Inquirer: Home DNA Tests Can Lead To Shock And Trauma, But Mental Health Resources Are Scarce
Advances in genomic technology have allowed DNA testing to break free of academic and forensic labs and enter the home. As costs have dropped from triple-digits to $99 over the past five years, direct-to-consumer DNA tests have risen in popularity, becoming common holiday gifts and impulse purchases. One in five Americans has spit in a tube and learned that their ancestors hailed from Greece, they have a second cousin in Texas, or that they have high risk for breast cancer. But DNA tests can also dig up closely guarded family secrets, such as an affair or an artificial insemination. And sudden discovery of a health condition can require new medical care -- or the realization that there may not be a cure. Receiving unexpected DNA test results can lead to a mental health crisis for many people, yet resources to help process these unique changes are scarce. (Nathan, 10/28)

Gizmodo: 5-Day Brain Stimulation Treatment Highly Effective Against Depression, Stanford Researchers Find
Stanford researchers think they’ve devised an effective and quick-acting way to treat difficult cases of depression, by improving on an already approved form of brain stimulation. In a new trial published this week, the researchers found that almost 80% of patients improved after going through treatment—a far higher rate than those who were given a sham placebo. Brain stimulation has emerged as a promising avenue for depression, particularly depression that hasn’t responded to other treatments. The basic concept behind it is to use electrical impulses to balance out the erratic brain activity associated with neurological or psychiatric disorders. There are different forms of stimulation, which vary in intensity and how they interact with the body. Some require permanent implants in the brain, while others can be used noninvasively, like repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS). As the name suggests, rTMS relies on magnetic fields that are temporarily applied to the head. (Cara, 10/29)

The New York Times: Japan Stays Tough On Marijuana As Other Nations Loosen Up 
From an early age, Japanese society had conditioned Takayuki Miyabe to fear marijuana. But that was before his infant daughter was diagnosed with a rare form of epilepsy. Desperately scouring the internet for a cure, he came upon an unexpected savior: a derivative of cannabis called CBD. During a business trip to California, he bought a tiny amber bottle of the elixir, hoping for a miracle. (Dooley and Hida, 10/27)

CNN: Why I'm Going To Vaccinate My Kids Against Covid-19
I'm an infectious disease epidemiologist and mom of three, ages 1, 5 and 8. These past 19 months have been challenging on all fronts for me and my family. The pandemic has robbed us in more ways than one -- from the 10 loved ones we lost to Covid-19 to the social impact on our lives. Coupled with my ongoing work in pandemic response at the local, state, national and international levels, the emotional toll has been immense. All the adults in my family are fully vaccinated against Covid-19, but my children, who are not yet eligible for a shot, are fully vulnerable to the disease. (Syra Madad, 10/28)

The New York Times: What Living ‘At The Edge Of Medical Knowledge’ Reveals About American Healthcare 
One of the most frightening, least understood aspects of the coronavirus pandemic is what’s come to be known as “long Covid.” Stories abound of young, healthy adults who experienced mild or asymptomatic coronavirus infections and recovered fairly quickly, only to experience an onset of debilitating symptoms weeks or even months later. One major study of almost two million Covid patients in the United States found that nearly a quarter sought medical treatment for new conditions one month or more after their initial infection. (Ezra Klein, 10/26)

Newsweek: The CDC Must Explain The Endgame For School Masking Mandates 
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is sticking to guidance on masking in schools that is increasingly proving absolutist, tone deaf and counterproductive. Last Wednesday, as COVID case rates declined to half of what they were five weeks earlier, CDC head Rochelle Walensky recommitted to universal masking in all schools for the foreseeable future. "As we head into these winter months, we know we cannot be complacent," Walensky said at a White House briefing. "So, right now, we are going to continue to recommend masks in all schools for all people in those schools." (Nat Malkus, 10/29)

The Baltimore Sun: Seeing A Bad Trend, A Rural Maryland Health Officer Urges The Stubborn To Get Vaccinated 
The top health officer in a rural Maryland county had the audacity to say in public that it’s “foolish to not receive the vaccine” for the virus that has now killed more than 740,000 people in the United States. Imagine that. Imagine a county official saying such a thing while a vocal (or quietly stubborn) minority of anti-vaxxers continues to resist public health advisories that most of us followed months ago. (Dan Rodricks, 10/28)

Chicago Tribune: The Vaccine Showdown No One Is Talking About: An Illinois Mandate Vs. The State’s Prison Staffs 
The standoff between Chicago police and Mayor Lori Lightfoot over the city’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate once again hoisted Chicago onto the national stage, seemingly pitting the individual rights of law enforcement officers against the health of communities they’re charged with protecting. A parallel fight has been quietly festering just outside public view — equally pressing and just as consequential — between Gov. J.B. Pritzker and the staff at Illinois’ prisons. (Jennifer Soble and Alan Mills, 10/28)

Stat: The Antibiotics Are Not All Right. We Need New Ones Now
I biked to work in a rainstorm one day in October 2019. As a longtime bike commuter, I was unfazed by the torrents of water as I skidded through puddles in a rush. After facing down the weather, I was surprised to find a far more violent storm brewing in my own body. Within 24 hours I felt feverish, it hurt to pee, and I experienced the characteristic cloudy urine that signals a urinary tract infection (UTI). These infections are incredibly common: there are more than 150 million cases a year globally and most women will experience a UTI at least once in their lives. While antibiotics are routinely used to treat them, the existing ones are becoming less and less effective as the pathogens that cause UTIs — and every other bacterial infection — are becoming more and more resistant to them. (Natalie Ma, 10/29)

Los Angeles Times: The Texas Abortion Ban Is Already Harming Reproductive Rights Beyond Texas 
On Monday, the Supreme Court will hear arguments on the Texas abortion ban that it has so far declined to block. In the two months since SB 8 was passed, access to abortion in Texas has been severely restricted, and its effects have gone well beyond Texas. My organization, the Women’s Reproductive Rights Assistance Project, based in Los Angeles, has heard from a surge of patients traveling out of Texas for care. We work with a network of more than 700 clinics and doctors to help pay for abortions and emergency contraception in all 50 states. (Sylvia Ghazarian, 10/29)

Kansas City Star: Missouri Senate Candidate McCloskey Says No Abortions For Teen Rape Victims 
Republican Missouri Senate candidate Mark McCloskey told an audience last week he believes 13-year-old rape and incest victims should not be allowed to have abortions, stating he had a client who was raped at 13 but who gave birth to a child who now has a master’s degree. (Jeanne Kuang and Jonathan Shorman, 10/27)

Stat: For People With Sickle Cell Disease, Add Check-Ins To Checkups 
Among the many lessons the Covid-19 pandemic has taught society are that individual behaviors matter; leadership counts; and the burden of Covid-19 is not equally distributed. I’ve learned something more as a health care provider taking care of patients with sickle cell disease: Successfully caring for a vulnerable population with a chronic illness requires more than high-quality medical care. As a community health worker connected with the sickle cell population once told me, people need more than a checkup; they need a check-in. (Kim Smith-Whitley, 10/29)

The Star Tribune: Credit St. Paul For Focus On Smoking 
St. Paul is on the verge of adopting a tobacco ordinance that would put it at the forefront of efforts to reduce smoking, a well-known health hazard that is among the leading causes of preventable death and disease in the U.S. The ordinance would set a minimum price of $10 per pack of cigarettes. But more importantly, it would prohibit the use of coupons or other discounts that often lower prices and entice purchases. The ban also would apply to e-cigarettes, which often are heavily discounted by an industry attempting to lure younger buyers with an alternative to tobacco. In some stores, a single e-cigarette containing an entire cigarette pack's worth of nicotine can be had for 99 cents. (10/28)