Reuters: WHO 'Strongly Advises Against' Use Of Two COVID Treatments
Two COVID-19 antibody therapies are no longer recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), on the basis that Omicron and the variant's latest offshoots have likely rendered them obsolete. The two therapies - otrovimab as well as casirivimab-imdevimab, which are designed to work by binding to the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 to neutralise the virus' ability to infect cells - were some of the first medicines developed early in the pandemic. (Grover, 9/15)

Bloomberg: GSK, Regeneron Covid Antibody Drugs Unlikely To Work For Omicron, WHO Says
The new guideline is a blow to Regeneron, GSK and its partner Vir Biotechnology, replacing a conditional endorsement of the treatments with a “strong recommendation” against their use. But it’s not entirely surprising: GSK and Vir’s sotrovimab had already lost its US authorization in April because the therapy was unlikely to work against the dominant omicron BA.2 subvariant. (Fourcade, 9/15)

On the covid vaccine rollout —

Salt Lake Tribune: Utah COVID-19 Vaccinations Skyrocketed After New Booster Release, State Reports
Department of Health and Human Services data also shows that tens of thousands more people got vaccinated against the virus in the last seven days. Nearly 29,000 Utahns received some form of COVID-19 vaccine, driven largely by the availability of the new omicron variant-specific vaccines, DHHS said. More than 12,000 people received a second booster. (Harkins, 9/15)

Fox News: Marine Corps Rescinds Penalties For Service Members Seeking COVID Vax Religious Accommodations
The U.S. Marine Corps is rolling back strict punishments for service members seeking religious exemptions to the COVID-19 vaccine, including ending involuntary terminations and delays of promotions for those refusing the shot. According to a new "interim guidance," signed Sept. 14 and posted quietly online, the message "amends actions" directed toward unvaccinated Marines whose religious accommodation requests were denied and who appealed the decision. (Laco, 9/16)

Also —

NPR: Scientists Debate How Lethal COVID Is. Some Say It's Now Less Risky Than Flu
"We have all been questioning, 'When does COVID look like influenza?''' says Dr. Monica Gandhi, an infectious disease specialist at the University of California, San Francisco. "And, I would say, 'Yes, we are there.'" Gandhi and other researchers argue that most people today have enough immunity — gained from vaccination, infection or both — to protect them against getting seriously ill from COVID. And this is especially so since the omicron variant doesn't appear to make people as sick as earlier strains, Gandhi says. (Stein, 9/16)

WISH-TV: New Study Finds Organ Recipients Rejecting Transplant After Receiving COVID Vaccine 
Some transplant recipients are rejecting their new organ and scientists say the coronavirus vaccine may be to blame. According to a new study published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine, acute corneal allografts are being rejected by immunized patients who’ve undergone the procedure. Researchers say the underlying cause could be tied to a systemic inflammatory response elicited by the shot post-jab. The cornea is the outermost layer of a person’s eye. Corneal grafts are used to restore a damaged cornea. The surgery is known to be one of the most successful organ transplant procedures with low rejection rates. (Gillis, 9/13)

The Washington Post: TPoxx Antiviral Should Only Be Given To High-Risk Monkeypox Patients, CDC Says 
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new guidance Thursday recommending that TPoxx, the only drug available to treat monkeypox, be limited to people at high risk for severe disease even as the outbreak that has infected more than 22,000 Americans shows signs of plateauing. ... At a White House monkeypox briefing Thursday, Anthony S. Fauci, medical adviser to President Biden, said resistance is always a risk when using antiviral drugs. He said a recently launched study of TPoxx will track signs of mutation that could lead to resistance. The study is expected to enroll more than 500 patients across 60 U.S. sites. (Sun and Diamond, 9/15)

In other monkeypox news —

Axios: Monkeypox Awareness Surged Over The Summer
The public has quickly become familiar with monkeypox and how it spreads, but more than a quarter of Americans say they’re not likely to get vaccinated if exposed to the virus, according to a new Annenberg Public Policy Center survey. (Bettelheim, 9/15)

Politico: Biden’s Monkeypox Adviser Is Trying Manage A Virus While Dodging Talk Of Satanism 
Demetre Daskalakis has become caricatured as a tattooed oddity among buttoned-up bureaucrats. The truth is far different. “I wish I were that interesting,” he says. (Daniels, 9/15)

Axios: Health Agencies Work To Address Racial Gaps In Monkeypox Vaccine Coverage
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday launched a pilot program to set aside up to 50,000 doses of JYNNEOS monkeypox vaccine for groups disproportionately affected by the outbreak who've faced barriers accessing the shots. (Dreher, 9/16)

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Monkeypox In Southern Nevada Wastewater Is On The Rise
Wastewater surveillance earlier this week detected the monkeypox virus in samples at most of Clark County’s wastewater treatment plants, signaling a potential increase in cases, a researcher said Thursday. The finding is “rather strange” since the virus had not been detected in county wastewater for two to three weeks, said Edwin Oh, a researcher and assistant professor with the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV. (Hynes, 9/15)

The Hill: Nation Warned To Brace For A Difficult Flu Season
Health experts are warning the nation to brace for what could be an exceptionally severe flu season this fall and winter, as more people who have not built up immunity over the last few years mix and mingle. There are two big reasons why more people could be vulnerable to the flu this year.  The first is that with coronavirus restrictions such as the wearing of masks all but forgotten, people are more likely to come into contact with the flu virus this year than over the last two years.  (Choi, 9/15)

Houston Chronicle: Flu Season Could Arrive Early, Be More Severe, Doctors Say
Houston doctors are recommending flu shots earlier this year due to concerns that the upcoming season could begin sooner and hit harder than usual. (MacDonald, 9/15)

Also —

The Atlantic: A Vaccine In Each Arm Could Be A Painful Mistake
At a press briefing earlier this month, Ashish Jha, the White House’s COVID czar, laid out some pretty lofty expectations for America’s immunity this fall. “Millions” of Americans, he said, would be flocking to pharmacies for the newest version of the COVID vaccine in September and October, at the same appointment where they’d get their yearly flu shot. “It’s actually a good idea,” he told the press. “I really believe this is why God gave us two arms.” (Wu, 9/15)

The New York Times: How To Prepare For Flu Season 
It’s too early to tell how effective the flu vaccine will be this year, said Dr. Jeff Kwong, an infectious disease physician with the University of Toronto’s Centre for Vaccine Preventable Diseases. But Dr. Geevarghese pointed out that even when the vaccine does not match well against circulating flu viruses, it still protects people against serious illness and complications. (Moyer, 9/15)

Fierce Biotech: Racing Moderna, Pfizer Starts Phase 3 Trial Of MRNA Flu Vaccine
Pfizer has begun a phase 3 clinical trial of its mRNA-based influenza vaccine, keeping it tucked in behind Moderna in the race to upend the seasonal flu market using the technology that defined the response to COVID-19. (Taylor, 9/14)

AP: Indiana Judge Declines Request To Block State's Abortion Ban
An Indiana judge turned down on Thursday a request to block enforcement of the state’s abortion ban just hours after it took effect. The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by abortion clinic operators who argue that the state constitution protects access to the procedure. Special Judge Kelsey Hanlon didn’t give any explanation for her decision with the order denying a temporary injunction sought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, which is representing the clinics, but cited a court hearing set for Monday on the lawsuit. (Davies, 9/15)

CBS News: Near-Total Abortion Ban Takes Effect In Indiana: "My Patients Are Being Stripped Of Human Rights"
Most of the lights are now off at Women's Med, an Indianapolis abortion provider. The clinic is among two Indiana providers slated to close, while the state's five remaining clinics will offer limited health care. "I am so mad," said Dr. Katie McHugh, who works at the clinic. "As a physician, I get mad because insurance companies deny claims. I'm not normally mad because my patients are being stripped of human rights." (Diaz, 9/15)

In other abortion updates —

Bloomberg: ‘Need An Abortion? California Is Ready To Help:’ Newsom Billboards In GOP States
The signs, which also appear in Indiana, Mississippi, Ohio, South Carolina and South Dakota, point to a website -- abortion.ca.gov -- that informs users how to access an abortion in California, according to a statement Thursday. One image shows a woman in handcuffs next to the phrase “Texas doesn’t own your body. You do.” Another says “Need an abortion? California is ready to help.” (McGregor, 9/15)

AP: Judge Continues To Bar Anti-Abortion Activists From Clinic 
A group of anti-abortion activists will continue to be banned from interfering with patients and providers at a reproductive health clinic outside Nashville, a federal judge has ruled. In July, protesters attempted to enter the clinic operated by the nonprofit carafem organization twice during a national conference of Operation Save America — formerly Operation Rescue, according to court documents. (Kruesi, 9/15)

KHN: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Graham’s Bill Recenters Abortion Debate
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) put abortion back on Republicans’ agenda this week with a legislative proposal calling for a national ban on most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. For many in his party, it was an unwelcome intrusion that could add to public unease with the party’s efforts to limit access to abortion as they look toward the midterm elections. (9/15)

KHN: New Abortion Laws Jeopardize Cancer Treatment For Pregnant Patients
As abortion bans go into effect across a contiguous swath of the South, cancer physicians are wrestling with how new state laws will influence their discussions with pregnant patients about what treatment options they can offer. Cancer coincides with roughly 1 in 1,000 pregnancies, most frequently breast cancer, melanoma, cervical cancer, lymphomas, and leukemias. But medications and other treatments can be toxic to the developing fetus or cause birth defects. In some cases, hormones that are supercharged during pregnancy fuel the cancer’s growth, putting the patient at greater risk. (Huff, 9/16)

Stat: Q&A: A Physician And Ethicist On Difficult Decisions In Abortion Care
As new abortion bans are enacted around the country, physicians working with pregnant patients are facing potential ethical and legal dilemmas. (Gaffney, 9/15)

In other reproductive health news —

Detroit Free Press: Tubes-Tied Procedure In Michigan: Permanent Birth Control Often Denied
Ashley Steffen went under the knife about a month after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, reversing the constitutional right to abortion. Steffen, 37, of Lansing, is among a growing number of women to seek a sterilization procedure known as tubal ligation in the months since the ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization left abortion access up to states to decide. (Jordan-Shamus, 9/15)

PBS NewsHour: Birth Control Options That Target Sperm Have Been In The Works For Decades. Are We Any Closer?
Drug development for new contraceptives is all about restricting a “target,” or function within the body, in order to prevent pregnancy, explained Gunda Georg, regents professor of medicinal chemistry at the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy. That can be a nonhormonal option, like inhibiting a certain protein or disrupting the electrical currents sperm need to be viable, or one that interferes with hormone levels. The goal of most methods is to significantly suppress the development of sperm or interfere with their mobility to ensure they never meet an egg. (Isaacs-Thomas, 9/14)

NBC News: 'Gaming' Of U.S. Patent System Is Keeping Drug Prices Sky High, Report Says 
The excessive use of the patent system — by drugmakers Bristol-Myers Squibb, AbbVie, Regeneron and Bayer — keeps the prices of the medications at exorbitant levels, often at the expense of American consumers, according to the report from the Initiative for Medicines, Access & Knowledge, or I-MAK, a nonprofit organization that advocates drug patent reform. (Lovelace Jr., 9/15)

In other pharmaceutical industry news —

The Wall Street Journal: DEA Investigating ADHD Telehealth Provider Done 
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents have questioned people about telehealth company Done Global Inc.’s practices for prescribing controlled substances, according to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal and people familiar with the inquiries. The inquiries in recent weeks suggest ongoing and potentially widening interest from federal authorities in online mental-health companies such as Done that during the Covid-19 pandemic have been prescribing stimulants like Adderall for treatment of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder—drugs the U.S. government classifies as controlled substances in the same category as OxyContin. (Winkler, 9/15)

The New York Times: FDA’s Drug Industry Fees Fuel Concerns Over Influence 
Every five years, top officials of the Food and Drug Administration go behind closed doors to negotiate the terms of its core budget — about $3 billion this year. But the F.D.A. is not at the table with members of Congress or with White House officials. Instead, it’s in dozens of meetings with representatives of the giant pharmaceutical companies whose products the agency regulates. The negotiations are a piece of the “user fee” program in which drug, device and biotech companies make payments to the agency partly to seek product approvals. The fees have soared since the program’s inception three decades ago and now make up nearly half of the F.D.A.’s budget, financing 6,500 jobs at the agency. (Jewett, 9/15)

Stat: Swiss Authorities Raid Novartis Offices Seeking Info On Patents
The Swiss Competition Commission has begun an investigation into Novartis over the possible unlawful use of a patent to block competitors for some of its medicines, the latest instance in which European authorities have probed drug companies for antitrust infractions. (Silverman, 9/15)

Reuters: Lawsuit Claims Pfizer Fellowship Program Is Biased Against Whites, Asian-Americans
A group of medical professionals that advocates against "radical, divisive, and discriminatory ideology" in healthcare sued Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) on Thursday, saying the drugmaker runs a fellowship that illegally excludes white and Asian-American applicants. In a complaint filed in Manhattan federal court, the plaintiff Do No Harm called Pfizer's Breakthrough Fellowship Program "discriminatory on its face" because only Blacks, Latinos and Native Americans can apply. (Stempel, 9/15)

Also —

Stat: Lupus Patients Go Into Remission Borrowing CAR-T Cancer Therapy
Rheumatology — the study of immune-system-driven diseases of the bones, joints, muscles, and in-betweens — has inherited plenty of hand-me-downs from cancer research. (Cueto, 9/15)

Bloomberg: ADHD Drug Adderall Runs Low At CVS, Walgreens As Demand Soars
Bloomberg spoke to half a dozen patients in states including California, Indiana and Michigan who said that they called or went into CVS Health Corp. or Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. pharmacies in August or September and were told the medicines were out of stock. In some cases, patients were told they might have to wait more than a week to get their medication, which is supposed to be taken every day. (Swetlitz, 9/15)

Modern Healthcare: Healthcare Industry On Defense In Climate Crisis: Report
Greenhouse gases released from the healthcare sector make up 10% of total U.S. emissions, and they continue to grow. According to the report, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorinated gas emissions rose 6% between 2010 and 2018, resulting in the loss of 388,000 disability-adjusted life-years. The House Ways and Means Committee published these findings in conjunction with a hearing on the subject Thursday. (Hartnett, 9/15)

AP: Climate Change Jeopardizes Health Care Services, Report Says 
Dr. Suzy Fitzgerald remembers looking out the windows as wildfire flames surrounded the hospital where she worked. “We had fire in all three directions,” Fitzgerald recalled. “I thought, ‘Oh gosh, this is serious. We need to get these people out.’” Fitzgerald helped with the evacuation of 122 patients from Kaiser Permanente’s Santa Rosa Medical Center on that night nearly five years ago, as the blaze gobbled up homes and buildings across Northern California. The hospital, which had filled with smoke, closed for 17 days. Medical centers around the country say that fires, flooding, heat waves and other extreme weather are jeopardizing medical services, damaging health care facilities and forcing patients to flee their hospital beds, according to a report released Thursday by the House Ways and Means Committee. (Seitz, 9/15)

Read the report from the House Ways and Means Committee —

HEALTH CARE AND THE CLIMATE CRISIS: PREPARING AMERICA'S HEALTH CARE INFRASTRUCTURE

Stat: Lawmaker Requests Investigation Into HCA Over Billing Practices
A Democratic House lawmaker with oversight authority is calling for an investigation into the largest for-profit hospital chain in the country, HCA Healthcare. (Cohrs, 9/15)

Axios: HCA Hospital Chain Under Fire From Congress
A House oversight committee is asking for a federal investigation of the largest U.S. hospital chain and its admissions practices amid allegations of widespread fraud. (Knight, 9/16)

In other health care industry news —

Bloomberg: US Hospital Losses: 53% Expect To Lose Money This Year, AHA Study Finds
An eight-hour emergency room wait. The closing of a local clinic in a high-poverty area of rural Arkansas. Dwindling maternity wards. These are some of the outcomes of the financial pain US hospitals are feeling as spiking costs dictate sometimes-dire decisions. And it’s not getting any better, according to a report Thursday. (Coleman-Lochner, 9/15)

The Boston Globe: Lifespan, R.I.’s Largest Hospital System, Posts $49m Third-Quarter Loss: ‘The Health Care System In Rhode Island Is In Crisis’
Lifespan Corp., Rhode Island’s largest health care system, reported a net loss of $49 million for its third quarter, which closed June 30, forcing the hospital owner to institute a recovery plan to address the ongoing effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Over a nine-month period ending on June 30, Lifespan’s operating loss and net losses mounted to $69.5 million and $142 million, respectively, according to financial documents released to the Globe on Thursday. (Gagosz, 9/15)

Houston Chronicle: Harris Health Says 10,000 Patients Could Lose Services If Proposed Budget Is Not Adopted
Harris Health System, one of the largest indigent health care systems in the country, will be operating at a $45 million deficit if the county cannot pass a property tax rate and proposed budget, potentially endangering services to 10,000 patients, county and health system leaders said Thursday. (Gill, 9/15)

Modern Healthcare: Hospital Readmissions Penalties For 2023 Lower Than Expected
One-fourth of hospitals will not face readmissions penalties, and those that did not meet the Medicare standard in recent years can expect lower reimbursement cuts, according to preliminary data released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (Devereaux, 9/15)

Stat: Savvier Buyers Threaten Mental Health Tech's Momentum
When the pandemic exposed long-festering problems around access to mental health care, many organizations started panic shopping for apps and virtual services to address the needs of workers. Now, there are signs that some of that sales momentum may slow down as companies take a sober look at their budgets in the face of a rocky economy. (Aguilar, 9/16)

Also —

AP: Thousands Of Striking Nurses Return To Work In Minnesota 
Thousands of nurses returned to work Thursday at Minnesota hospitals following a three-day strike over wage increases and staffing and retention made worse by the coronavirus pandemic. Members of the Minnesota Nurses’ Association at 15 hospitals in the Minneapolis and Duluth areas walked off the job Monday. Nurses could soon learn what impact the strike may have had on efforts to reach a new contract. (9/15)

The Hill: Arrest Made In Threats Against Boston Children’s Hospital 
The FBI announced on Thursday that it has made an arrest in connection with a hoax bomb threat against Boston Children’s Hospital. U.S. Attorney Rachael Rollins said Kathleen Levy of Westfield, Mass., is charged with one count of making a false telephonic bomb threat in connection with a threat made to the hospital on Aug. 30, NBC10 Boston reported. (Mastrangelo, 9/15)

NBC News: Two Powerful Drugs Are Making Their Way Into The Illicit Drug Supply
One is a class of synthetic opioids, called nitazenes, that can be up to 10 times stronger than fentanyl, experts say. Fentanyl is already 50 times more powerful than heroin. On Thursday, the Tennessee Department of Health published data showing a four-fold increase in deadly overdoses linked to nitazenes in the last two years. (Edwards, 9/15)

More on the opioid crisis and drug addiction —

Axios: America's Fentanyl Problem A Growing Threat For Teens
Fentanyl is posing a growing health threat for teenagers across the nation, and as kids return to schools and colleges, officials warn there's a higher chance they may encounter the drug disguised in forms they might not expect. (Reed, 9/16)

Kansas City Star: Cooper Davis Act Targets Social Media Role In Fentanyl Crisis
The death last year of a Johnson County teenager poisoned by fentanyl has led to a congressional effort to make social media companies report illegal drug activity on their platforms. (Gutierrez, 9/16)

Stat: The Meth Crisis Is Worse Than Ever, But New Treatments Could Be Near
When it comes to meth addiction, Thomas Robey has long been at a loss. As an emergency room doctor, he treats a steady stream of patients who show up at Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett, Wash., after experiencing a methamphetamine overdose. (Facher, 9/16)

Axios: "Soberversaries" Help Shed The Stigma Of Addiction Recovery
As the pandemic winds down and people try to quit the drinking habits that may have crept up on them, the "soberversary" is emerging as a new holiday-esque milestone — complete with greeting cards, cheekily-worded coffee mugs and a growing social media presence. (Kingson, 9/16)

Also —

The Washington Post: U.S. Limits Export Of Fentanyl To Russia, Calling It A Potential Weapon
The United States on Thursday strictly limited the export of fentanyl and related chemicals to Russia, saying that they “may be useful” as chemical weapons to support Russia’s “military aggression.” The Commerce Department said sales to Russia of the powerful opiate will now require a U.S. government license. The rule also applies to exports to Belarus, whose leadership supports Russian President Vladimir Putin. Fentanyl is widely known in the United States as an illicit street drug that has caused thousands of overdose deaths in recent years. But it also has legal uses as a prescription painkiller. (Whalen, 9/15)

Asbury Park Press: Communicating By Thought: How First-Of-Its-Kind Brain Implant May Help Paralyzed NJ Man
In July, Czech became the first American and first fully paralyzed person in the world to go home with a brain-computer interface (BCI), an implant with electrodes that interprets brain waves. The device, called Stentrode, translates thoughts into commands sent to a computer. (Carino, 9/15)

In other health and wellness news —

CIDRAP: E Coli Outbreak Linked To Ground Beef In Hello Fresh Meal Kits
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) yesterday reported an Escherichia coli O157:H7 outbreak tied to Hello Fresh meal kits that contained contaminated ground beef. So far, health officials have identified seven infections from six states. Six people were hospitalized, and none of them developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a potentially fatal kidney complication of E coli infection. No deaths have been reported. (9/5)

WMFE: OTC Hearing Aids Could Be A First Step Toward Better Hearing For Many Florida Seniors
Frank Jones didn't see the truck that just missed him. Didn't hear it either. Though he has gone to an audiologist, he says cost has held him back from getting hearing aids. A new FDA policy could change that. (Byrnes, 9/15)

The Washington Post: Is It Safe To Take A Baby To A Chiropractor? Here's What Experts Say
On TikTok, chiropractors are stretching chubby legs, massaging infant tailbones and tracing the tiny vertebrae of baby spines, touting a range of unproven treatments for newborns, babies and toddlers. ... The evidence that chiropractic care can soothe babies is scant. But clinicians on TikTok claim chiropractic care can offer relief to fussy babies suffering from a variety of ailments, including colic, constipation, reflux, musculoskeletal problems and even, some say, trauma babies experience in childbirth. (Amenabar, 9/15)

Stat: At A Fashion Show For People With SMA, Models Take Back Their Own Stories
The event, covered in Vogue and Women’s Wear Daily, was part of an initiative to raise awareness about the lives and needs of people with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a condition in which damaged or destroyed motor neurons lead to various levels of disability. (Herper, 9/16)

KHN: A Disability Program Promised To Lift People From Poverty. Instead, It Left Many Homeless
After two months of sleeping in the Salvation Army Center of Hope homeless shelter, Margaret Davis has had no luck finding an apartment she can afford. The 55-year-old grandmother receives about $750 a month from the federal government. She’s trying to live on just $50 cash and $150 in food stamps each month so she can save enough for a place to call home. (Clasen-Kelly, 9/16)

On the spread of polio —

CNN: Polio Is Back -- How Concerned Should Americans Be? 
New York's governor has declared a state of emergency after health officials detected poliovirus in the wastewater of five counties -- evidence the disease is circulating. Understandably, these events have sparked a lot of questions: Why does one case of polio worry officials? What does it mean to find poliovirus in wastewater? Who should be worried about contracting the disease? If someone had the vaccine years ago, are they still protected now? (Chakraborty, 9/15)

KHN: With Polio’s Return, Here’s What Back-To-Schoolers Need To Know
Before polio vaccines became available in the 1950s, people wary of the disabling disease were afraid to allow their children outside, let alone go to school. As polio appears again decades after it was considered eliminated in the U.S., Americans unfamiliar with the dreaded disease need a primer on protecting themselves and their young children — many of whom are emerging from the trauma of the covid-19 pandemic. (Gounder, 9/16)

AP: Montana Defies Order On Transgender Birth Certificates 
Just hours after a Montana judge blocked health officials from enforcing a state rule that would prevent transgender people from changing the gender on their birth certificate, the Republican-run state on Thursday said it would defy the order. District Court Judge Michael Moses chided attorneys for the state during a hearing in Billings for circumventing his April order that temporarily blocked a 2021 Montana law that made it harder to change birth certificates. (Brown and Hanson, 9/15)

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

AP: California 1st With Law Protecting Children's Online Privacy 
California will be the first state to require online companies to put kids’ safety first by barring them from profiling children or using personal information in ways that could harm children physically or mentally, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday. “We’re taking aggressive action in California to protect the health and wellbeing of our kids,” Newsom said in a statement announcing that he had signed the bill. He noted that as a father of four, “I’m familiar with the real issues our children are experiencing online.” (Thompson, 9/15)

Dallas Morning News: Investigation Into Doctor Reveals At Least 10 More ‘Unexpected Cardiac Emergencies’
The investigation into the North Texas doctor accused of compromising IV bags revealed at least 10 more “unexpected cardiac emergencies” between May and August, the U.S. attorney’s office for the Northern District of Texas announced Thursday. (Landers and Ferguson, 9/15)

Bangor Daily News: Maine Set To Expand Medical Examiner’s Office Amid Rise In Homicides
The Augusta Planning Board unanimously voted to approve plans for a new 19,000-square-foot facility on Hospital Street that will allow the medical examiner’s office to meet national standards, the Kennebec Journal reported. The new facility will also provide much-needed space to perform autopsies, as the rate of homicides continues to rise throughout the state. Maine is on track to see a record number of homicides in 2022, with homicide investigations underway in more than half of the state’s counties. (Stockley, 9/15)

Des Moines Register: Four New Des Moines Centers To Cater To Needs Of Children With Autism
Four new pediatric centers aimed at providing therapy for younger children with autism are coming to the Des Moines metro over the next year, with two set to open this month. (Tugade, 9/15)

WUSF Public Media: The 988 Mental Health Line Is Reaching More Floridians In Crisis Two Months Into Launch
More people are calling for help in a mental health emergency since the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline replaced a 10-digit suicide prevention hotline this summer. (Colombini, 9/15)

The New York Times: Marc Lewitinn, Covid Patient, Dies At 76 After 850 Days On A Ventilator 
As the Covid-19 pandemic swept across the country in March 2020, the family of Marc Lewitinn, their 74-year-old patriarch, urged him to stay indoors. He had survived lung cancer and a stroke that left him unable to speak, and doctors were already warning that older people with his sort of medical history were especially vulnerable to the virus. (Risen, 9/9)

ProPublica: How to Avoid Being Overcharged for a Funeral
For the funeral industry, the COVID-19 pandemic has meant flush times. Revenues have surged at Service Corporation International, the largest such chain in the U.S., with more than 1,500 funeral homes and 400 cemeteries. And “COVID impact,” according to a recent investor fact sheet, helped SCI more than double its earnings per share between 2019 and 2021. (Kessler, 9/9)

Bloomberg: Aduhelm Drug Approval Saga Has Alzheimer’s Patients In Limbo
Geri Taylor ran a large long-term care facility into her mid-60s, when she started becoming forgetful. One time, she was in the middle of running a staff meeting and lost her train of thought, couldn’t get it back, and one of her deputies had to take over. Another time, she got off at the wrong Manhattan subway stop and had no idea why she was there or where she was going. Incidents like these led her to retire earlier than she might have, but she put off seeing a neurologist for years, until one day she went into the bathroom and couldn’t recognize her own face in the mirror. Finally, in 2012, came the diagnosis she’d feared: mild cognitive impairment, likely due to Alzheimer’s disease. (Langreth, 9/12)

Politico: What If Doctors Are Better At Treating Domestic Abuse Than Cops? 
Anita Ravi runs an unusual clinic dedicated to treating women who have endured intimate partner violence, sexual assault and human trafficking. At her clinic, PurpLE Family Health, in New York City — the name stands for Purpose: Listen and Engage — Ravi treats these patients’ immediate medical needs, connects them to a network of social and behavioral health services that can help them get out these relationships if they want or need to, or help them reduce the harm if they decide to stay. All the care is free, paid for by the PurpLE Health Foundation, which Ravi also started. (Kenen, 9/14)

The Washington Post: A Congressman Wasn’t Allowed On A Flight — Because Of His Wheelchair
When Rep. Jim Langevin (D-R.I.) made plans to travel to military bases in Italy last month, the Defense Department called ahead to make sure his power wheelchair would be permitted on the flight. But Langevin, who is a quadriplegic, never made it past the check-in counter. When airline staff learned that his wheelchair used lithium-ion batteries — a lighter weight, more durable type of battery — they refused to let him bring it on the flight. (Morris, 9/12)

Fortune: Signs You’re Suffering From Social Exhaustion—And 5 Tips To Beat It, According To Psychologists
There are a few signs that may indicate you’re falling prey to social burnout. “What I would say is, if you are noticing signs of irritability, you’re feeling a little bit more impatient, or if you’re no longer finding joy in those social engagements that you used to find joy in, those are signs that you may be having social exhaustion,” says Camille Tenerife, a Los Angeles–based therapist who works with the BIPOC community. (McPhillips, 9/12)

The New York Times: Extreme Religious Liberty Is Undermining Public Health 
A federal judge ruled last week that requiring employers to cover PrEP, a medication that helps people at high risk for H.I.V. avoid infection, violates religious liberty because these employers perceive the drug to encourage gay and extramarital sex by making it safer. The ruling suggested extreme skepticism ‌toward‌ the benefits of health care regulation. (Lindsay F. Wiley, 9/15)

Bloomberg: A Scary New Link Between Air Pollution And Lung Cancer 
A new study has upended the way researchers think about how air pollution causes lung cancer. The work cracks open a whole new way of thinking about certain cancers and how to treat and even prevent them. It also suggests environmental agencies may have good reason to impose much stricter limits on air quality. (Lisa Jarvis, 9/15)

Newsweek: Rural Americans Don't Have Access To Health Care. So I'm Building A Hospital In Appalachia 
Our zip codes determine a lot about us: the area we grow up in, the school district we attend, those we call our neighbors and friends, and the sports teams we cheer for.One thing our zip code should not determine is the quality of health care we receive. (Sameer Suhail, 9/15)

Columbus Dispatch: Law Would Help Those Fighting Deadly Diseases Tackle Out-Of-Pocket Costs
Sickle cell disease is an inherited, rare, painful, and debilitating condition that affects thousands of Ohioans. In 2018, the Ohio legislature launched a statewide network of sickle cell programs to help Ohioans detect, manage and live better lives with the disease. (Annie J. Ross-Womack, 9/16)

The (Santa Rosa) Press Democrat: A Lifesaving Drug, But It Will Cost $2.8 Million
For the estimated 1,500 Americans suffering from a blood disorder known as beta thalassemia, the Food and Drug Administration’s approval Aug. 17 of the drug Zynteglo was almost unalloyed good news. (Michael Hiltzik, 9/13)

Stat: Federal Nutrition Efforts Are In Desperate Need Of Coordination
At the end of September, the White House will host a Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health, the first such conference in more than 50 years. Its goal is to accelerate progress toward ending hunger, improving nutrition and physical activity, and reducing diet-related disease. (Stephanie Rogus and Peter G. Lurie, 9/16)

New York Times: The New COVID Boosters Are Terrific News, But Few Are Hearing It
For the first time, the United States is rolling out COVID-19 vaccines updated to match variants that are currently dominant, as well as the original strain. This bivalent character will provide a better response not just to the most threatening variants today but probably to future variants too, because when the immune system faces different versions of the same virus it generates broader protections overall. (Zeynep Tufecki, 9/15)

The Baltimore Sun: Are We Back To The Days Of Jane Austen, When Maternal Death Was A Regular Risk? 
Recently my daughter, Lisa, called from Texas where she moved last year when she got married. She and her new husband are hoping to start a family when she finishes grad school. “Mom, I’m worried about what’s happening in Texas. What if something goes wrong when I’m pregnant?” Lisa said. “I won’t be able to get help.” (Pamela Jane, 9/15)

Los Angeles Times: A National 15-Week Abortion Ban Would Be A Nightmare. Voters Can Make Sure It Doesn't Come True 
Sen. Lindsey Graham's 15-week abortion ban bill is an affront to women across the country and not what the majority of Americans want. (9/15)

San Francisco Chronicle: Why I’m Getting A Vasectomy
My partner and I have been together for nearly a decade. We both knew early on, like 1 in 5 American adults, that we wanted to be a child-free couple. For my partner, this decision has meant years of exploring the wide range of birth control methods available to women — including hormonal, barrier and emergency contraception. Each method comes with its own financial and physical costs. Meanwhile, my contribution to keeping us child-free has been much more straightforward: wearing a condom. (Kevin Frazier, 9/15)