NBC News: ER Doctors Weigh In On What Extreme Heat Does To The Body
The human body isn’t built to function at 118 degrees Fahrenheit. Yet, that’s the life-threatening temperature expected in Arizona this weekend, coming on top of weeks of brutal heat. Patients have already been coming in to Phoenix emergency rooms with sunburn, organ failure or in a coma from the extreme heat, doctors in the area told NBC News. Some people are arriving with dangerously high body temperatures. (Syal, 7/14)

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Las Vegas Heat Ties ‘98 Record For July 16 At 116
Sweltering high summer temperatures in the Las Vegas Valley could tie or exceed records on Sunday, and an excessive heat warning for the area will remain in effect until Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service. Harry Reid International Airport reached 100 degrees by 8:40 a.m. Sunday, the weather service tweeted. After twitching between 113 and 115 for several hours, it briefly reached 116 to tie the record for July 16 set in 1998, said weather service meteorologist Trevor Boucher. (Burbank and Romo, 7/14)

AP: California's Death Valley Sizzles As Brutal Heat Wave Continues
Long the hottest place on Earth, Death Valley put a sizzling exclamation point Sunday on a record warm summer that is baking nearly the entire globe by flirting with some of the hottest temperatures ever recorded, meteorologists said. Temperatures in Death Valley, which runs along part of central California’s border with Nevada, reached 128 degrees Fahrenheit (53.33 degrees Celsius) on Sunday at the aptly named Furnace Creek, the National Weather Service said. (Borenstein, Locher and Beam, 7/16)

WJCT News: Florida Heat Is Deadly For Children Left In Cars. Incredibly, Reminders Are Still Needed
Recent arrests of Florida parents are reminders of how quickly the temperature can rise inside a car. More than 1,050 children have died in hot vehicles nationwide since 1990. (Scanlan, 7/16)

Newsweek: Man's Brain Gets 'Fried' After Suffering Massive Burns In Phoenix Heat Wave
A Phoenix man was near death when authorities found him in the scorching Phoenix, Arizona, sun on Wednesday, with one firefighter referring to the individual's brain as "fried." Escalating heat waves nationwide are a cause for concern as people should follow the basics to prevent serious harm or injuries, multiple health experts told Newsweek. Heat waves are characterized as periods of abnormally hot weather usually affecting a high number of people for longer than two days, with or without high humidity. (Mordowanec, 7/14)

Houston Chronicle: Houston Closes Downtown's Only Cooling Center Amid Heat Emergency
Usually, when Houston’s weather approaches an extreme — with temperatures dipping so low or soaring so high they could put people’s health at risk — the city opens its libraries as havens. But when the city sent out its list of cooling centers on Wednesday, there was a notable omission: the Central Library. (Schuetz, 7/14)

And if you're vacationing in Europe, beware of dangerous heat —

Bloomberg: A Baking Europe Is Set To Get Even Hotter As Charon Approaches
The heat wave baking Europe and threatening to make this the hottest summer ever will be dialing up temperatures even more in coming days, thanks to another system from the Sahara. Countries in the southern parts of the continent, already enduring forest fires and heavy thunderstorms, are expected to see their thermometers soar past 40C (104F). Italy’s health ministry issued emergency alerts for 16 cities — including Rome, Florence and Palermo — on Sunday, recommending that people avoid direct sunlight in the hottest hours. (Spence and Casiraghi, 7/16)

Meanwhile, wildfire smoke is a health hazard —

AP: Smoke From Canadian Wildfires Creates Unhealthy Conditions From Montana To Ohio 
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency posted air quality alerts for several states stretching from Montana to Ohio on Sunday because of smoke blowing in from Canadian wildfires. “Air Quality alerts are in place for much of the Great Lakes, Midwest, and northern High Plains,” the National Weather Service said. “This is due to the lingering thick concentration of Canadian wildfire smoke over these regions. While the concentration of smoke in the atmosphere should begin to wain by Monday, there is still enough smoke to support unhealthy air quality that is unhealthy for sensitive groups in parts of these regions into the start of the upcoming week.” (7/16)

San Francisco Chronicle: Pika Fire In Yosemite Causes ‘Hazardous’ Air Quality With 0% Containment
Smoke from the Pika Fire settled on Yosemite Valley early Sunday, causing air quality at “hazardous” levels in parts of the national park, where the wildfire remained uncontained at 650 acres, officials said. Air quality improved Sunday afternoon as the smoke lifted, but the fire – ignited by lightning June 29 – continued to pose a health threat to visitors at Yosemite Village and Turtleback Dome, according to National Park Service air quality trackers. Dozens of firefighters continued battling to get some containment of the blaze Sunday evening. (Mishanec, 7/16)

PBS NewsHour: As Wildfire Smoke Spreads, Millions Of Americans Lack Access To Respiratory Care
Smoke from the record-setting Canadian wildfires is again making the air hazardous to breathe this weekend across the Northern Plains and upper Midwest. As the smoke triggers breathing problems for many, it also highlights the fact that more than 5 million Americans don't have easy access to a respiratory specialist. (Yang, Baldwin and Corkery, 7/16)

The Hill: Iowa 6-Week Abortion Ban Signed Into Law
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) on Friday signed Iowa’s new abortion ban into law, effectively outlawing most abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy. The ban will take effect immediately, further eroding abortion access across the Midwest, where it is already extremely limited. (Weixel, 7/14)

The 19th: Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds Signs Abortion Ban At Conservative Conference
When Kim Reynolds stepped on a stage Friday at a downtown events center in Iowa’s capital city, hundreds in the crowd delivered a standing ovation for their governor. The rock star welcome came from some of Reynolds’ most ardent supporters, evangelical Christians, who had gathered here for an annual summit billed as the largest in the Midwest. Minutes later on stage, the Republican governor signed into law a ban on most abortions in the state after six weeks of pregnancy. (Rodriguez, 7/14)

Also —

The Hill: Democrats Ask DOJ To Protect Ability Of Patients To Travel Out Of State For Abortion
A group of Senate Democrats urged the Department of Justice (DOJ) Wednesday to protect the ability of Americans to travel outside their home states to obtain abortions, as some Republican-led states look to crack down on out-of-state abortion access. (Shapero, 7/13)

WFSU: Women Are Fighting To Change Florida's Constitution To Protect Abortion
It’s been a little longer than a year since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade— turning decisions about abortion access over to individual states. In that time, Florida has enacted a law that bans most abortions after 15 weeks, passed a six-week ban that remains pending and prepared to challenge a privacy clause in the state constitution that has, in the past, been found to protect abortion rights. Now, abortion advocates are working to put language in the state constitution that explicitly protects abortion access. (McCarthy, 7/13)

News Service of Florida: State Reaches Settlements With Miami-Dade Clinics Over 24-Hour Abortion Waiting Period
In one of a series of similar cases, a Miami-Dade abortion clinic will pay $20,000 to the state to settle allegations that the clinic did not properly comply with a law that requires providing information to women at least 24 hours before abortions. The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration filed an order Wednesday at the state Division of Administrative Hearings ending the case against A Woman’s Choice LLC, a clinic in Hialeah. (7/14)

From the 2024 campaign trail —

The Hill: Pence Says Abortion Should Be Banned For Nonviable Pregnancies 
Former Vice President Mike Pence said abortions in the case of nonviable pregnancies should be banned, taking a hard stance on abortion policy, which has served as an emphasis of his campaign. "I'm pro-life. I don't apologize for it," Pence said in a recent interview. "I just have heard so many stories over the years of courageous women and families who were told that their unborn child would not go to term or would not survive. And then they had a healthy pregnancy and a healthy delivery." (Robertson, 7/15)

The Hill: DeSantis On 6-Week Abortion Ban: ‘I Had A Lot Of Supporters Who Were Averse To Me On This’
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) acknowledged on Friday that he “had a lot of supporters who were averse to me” on the six-week abortion ban he signed into law earlier this year. “As President, I will be somebody who will use the bully pulpit to support governors like [Iowa Gov.] Kim Reynolds when she’s got a bill, other states as they advance the cause of life. It is a critical issue, and it’s one I’m happy to have done,” DeSantis told former Fox New host Tucker Carlson during the Family Leadership Summit event in Iowa, referring to Reynolds’ recently signing a six-week abortion ban. (Vakil, 7/14)

Meanwhile, in other reproductive health news —

Charlotte Ledger: Are NC's New Abortion Restrictions Leading To More Sterilizations?
For years, Katie and her husband have used traditional forms of birth control to prevent pregnancy. The 28-year-old knew that if it failed, she could always get an abortion. The Concord woman explained that she has never wanted children. She also takes medication that could cause complications if she were to get pregnant. When the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last summer, Katie –who declined to share her last name to protect her privacy – began to think she needed more protection. Then, this spring, North Carolina lawmakers approved a 12-week restriction on abortions, and that confirmed Katie’s decision. She had her fallopian tubes removed last week by a Charlotte doctor. (Crouch, 7/17)

The New York Times: How Women Feel About Opill, An Over-The-Counter Birth Control Pill
On Thursday, the Food and Drug Administration approved a hormonal birth control pill, called Opill, to be sold over the counter — a landmark decision that was largely received with excitement by many women and teenage girls in New York. The pill will be sold in stores and online, without age restrictions, beginning early next year. If Shandra Rogers, 21, had had over-the-counter access to Opill as a teenager, she might have avoided an unwanted pregnancy, she said. (Haridasani Gupta, 7/14)

The Atlantic: Birth Control Isn’t The Only Thing That Just Went Over-The-Counter
The FDA announced yesterday that it had for the first time approved a daily birth-control pill for over-the-counter sales. ... That’s historic news, but hidden underneath it is another set of firsts: In the coming months, Americans will also be able to grab an over-the-counter treatment for their heavy periods, cramps, headaches, and even migraines; they’ll have prescription-free access to a drug for endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome; and they’ll be able to buy a medication that can mitigate the symptoms of menopause. It’s all in the same, progestin-based pill. (Gutman-Wei, 7/14)

USA Today: Defense Bill Won't Get To Biden's Desk, National Security Adviser Says
National security adviser Jake Sullivan said the Republican-controlled House’s version of the annual defense policy bill has zero chance of making it to President Joe Biden’s desk after Republicans added a litany of culture war amendments to the bill that “mix domestic social debates with the security needs of our nation.” (Tran, 7/16)

Politico: GOP-Backed Defense Bill Won't Pass, National Security Adviser Says
National security adviser Jake Sullivan was emphatic that the version of the National Defense Authorization Act that passed the House last week will never make it to President Joe Biden. “This legislation is never getting to the president’s desk,“ Sullivan said on CNN’s “State of the Union.“ “Because what you have seen from an extreme group of Republicans is to put forward a set of amendments that try to mix domestic social debates with the needs, the security needs of our nation.“ (Cohen, 7/16)

In other developments —

The Hill: House Panel Advances Funding Bill With Deep Cuts To Health Agencies
Legislation to fund the departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Education, and Labor cleared a House Appropriations subcommittee by voice vote Friday, despite objections from Democrats over sharp cuts to health agency funding and anti-abortion provisions. (Weixel, 7/14)

CNN: CDC Facing Major Funding Cuts, With Direct Impact On State And Local Health Departments
But the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is poised to lose about $1.3 billion in funds as a result of last month’s federal debt ceiling negotiation that were initially allocated through Covid-19 supplemental funding, the agency shared with CNN. An earlier estimate from the Congressional Budget Office estimated the impact on CDC to be closer to $1.5 billion, but there is ongoing analysis about exactly which dollars could be rescinded. The grant that funded those disease intervention specialists across the country was one of the first things to be rescinded. The last two years of the five-year grant were slashed across the board, a more than $400 million blow. (McPhillips and Goodman, 7/14)

Reuters: Court Blocks Curbs On US Government Contact With Social Media Companies For Now
A U.S. appeals court on Friday temporarily blocked a lower court order that had sharply limited certain Biden administration officials' and agencies' contacts with social media companies. The ruling from the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals means that the administration is not bound, for now, by a July 6 order by U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty in Monroe, Louisiana. Doughty had found that officials' efforts to limit the spread of posts they considered to be misinformation on social media violated the right to free speech under the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment. (Pierson, 7/14)

In news relating to covid —

CIDRAP: Report: Hospitals May Have Received Too Much COVID Relief
A cohort study today shows that 75% of US hospitals had a positive net operating income in 2020 and 2021, with many seeing operating margins reach all-time highs, suggesting COVID-19 relief funds may have been larger than what was necessary during the first years of the pandemic. The study is published in JAMA Health Forum. (Soucheray, 7/14)

Politico: RFK Jr. Denies Comments On ‘Ethnically Targeted’ Covid-19 Were Anti-Semitic 
Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. denied allegations of racism and anti-Semitism Saturday after he reportedly suggested Covid-19 could have been genetically engineered to reduce risks to Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people. (Hodgman, 7/15)

The Boston Globe: Alnylam’s Experimental Alzheimer’s Drug Shows Promising Benefits In Patients For Six Months 
Alzheimer’s patients who received a single dose of an experimental gene-silencing treatment from Alnylam Pharmaceuticals showed benefits for six months in a small study, the Cambridge biotech said Monday. Alnylam reported in April that recipients of the medicine experienced reductions as high as 84 and 90 percent in two protein biomarkers that researchers say foreshadow the formation of amyloid, a sticky protein that builds up in plaques in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s. Some scientists contend that build-up leads to cognitive impairment and memory loss. (Saltzman, 7/17)

Reuters: Acumen's Alzheimer's Drug Passes Initial Safety Test
An experimental Alzheimer's disease drug developed by Acumen Pharmaceuticals (ABOS.O) targeting a novel form of the toxic protein beta amyloid in the brain passed an early safety test and will advance to a larger trial, the company said on Sunday. The drug, ACI193, was well tolerated in the first trial testing it in people, the company said. Results of the randomized, placebo-controlled study of 62 patients with early Alzheimer's disease were presented at the Alzheimer's Association's International Conference in Amsterdam. (Steenhuysen, 7/16)

Also —

Reuters: Alzheimer's Diagnosis Revamp Embraces Rating Scale Similar To Cancer
Alzheimer's disease experts are revamping the way doctors diagnose patients with the progressive brain disorder - the most common type of dementia - by devising a seven-point rating scale based on cognitive and biological changes in the patient. The proposed guidelines, unveiled by experts on Sunday in a report issued at an Alzheimer's Association conference in Amsterdam, embrace a numerical staging system assessing disease progression similar to the one used in cancer diagnoses. They also eliminate the use of terms like mild, moderate and severe. (Steenhuysen, 7/16)

Worries in Europe about roll-outs of Alzheimer's drugs —

Stat: Europe Sees Delivery Challenges Ahead On Alzheimer's Therapies
Starting Sunday, Alzheimer’s specialists will gather for a major conference in Amsterdam, convening at a time when the field, depending on which expert you ask, has some rare momentum behind it, with new therapies starting to show benefits for patients. But despite the hard-won victories, the arrival of the new therapies presents a new set of challenges in Europe as countries plan for their possible rollouts, scientists and doctors told STAT. (Joseph, 7/14)

CIDRAP: Early Indicators Hint At US COVID-19 Uptick
Though COVID has held at very low levels late spring and into summer, some early indicators show signs of rising activity, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In other developments, the CDC and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) fleshed out more details about when the updated COVID-19 vaccine will roll out and how federal health officials will ensure that uninsured and underinsured people can receive their doses. (Schnirring, 7/14)

Meanwhile, in California —

Los Angeles Times: California's COVID-19 Hospitalizations Are Near Historic Lows. Will The Lull Last? 
COVID-19 hospitalizations are close to record lows in California, an optimistic sign as the state attempts to navigate its first surge-free summer of the coronavirus era. It’s difficult to say what the rest of the season will bring, however. The coming weeks will help determine whether some kind of uptick in coronavirus transmission is on tap, or if conditions will remain relatively calm until the autumn and winter. (Lin II, 7/15)

Bay Area News Group: COVID: UCSF Medical Chief Wachter Laid Low By Virus He Helped People Avoid
Through the miserable years of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Bob Wachter, the University of California-San Francisco medical department chair, became a beacon of guidance to hundreds of thousands who followed his social media tips on avoiding the virus that killed more than 1.1 million Americans. (Woolfolk, 7/13)

Also —

CIDRAP: Zoo Outbreak Highlights Human-To-Animal COVID-19 Risk
In a new report published in Eurosurveillance, Dutch investigators describe an outbreak of COVID-19 in gorillas and lions at the Rotterdam Zoo in late 2021, despite the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) by their zookeepers. (Soucheray, 7/14)

AP: Kentucky's Ban On Gender-Affirming Care Takes Effect As Federal Judge Lifts Injunction
Kentucky’s ban on gender-affirming care for young transgender people was restored Friday when a federal judge lifted an injunction he issued last month that had temporarily blocked the restrictions. The latest ruling by U.S. District Judge David Hale means the Kentucky prohibition goes into effect, preventing transgender minors from accessing puberty blockers and hormone therapy. (Schreiner and Lovan, 7/14)

Reuters: US Judge Lets Kentucky Enforce Ban On Transgender Youth Care For Now 
The law is being challenged by families of transgender children who say they will be irreparably harmed by losing access to medical treatments. Hale's decision "is not the final word, and we remain optimistic that with a full briefing we will achieve a positive result," American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky legal director Corey Shapiro, one of the lawyers representing the families, said in a statement. (Pierson, 7/14)

Also —

The Texas Tribune: Texans Raising Trans Kids Say New Laws Strip Them Of Health Care Options
Gov. Greg Abbott and state lawmakers have used variations of the phrase “parental rights” this year to push a litany of legislation, with varying degrees of success. They’ve vowed to empower Texas parents in their fights for everything from sweeping changes to the state’s foster care system and what can be taught in schools to using tax dollars to subsidize kids’ private school tuition. But Kari, a Georgetown mother of a transgender 17-year-old, says she feels like she has “no choices at all” as she and her family stare down a ban on puberty blockers and hormone treatments for trans minors that goes into effect Sept. 1. (Schneid, 7/17)

The Texas Tribune: Texas Ban On Trans Care For Kids Spurs Doctors’ Fears For Patients
At least once a day Dr. Ximena Lopez sees a parent crying in her clinic. They’re crying because Lopez just told them they need to find a new way to get transition-related care for their children — by leaving Texas or sourcing treatments outside the state — because the state outlawed these treatments for trans youth. (Melhado, 7/17)

Axios: Fight Over Gender-Affirming Care Moves To HHS Spending Bill
The congressional appropriations process is shaping up to be the next battleground over gender-affirming care. Taxpayer funding of hormone therapies and gender-affirming surgeries would be barred under House Republicans' fiscal 2024 spending bill covering the federal health department, which is moving through Congress. (Goldman, 7/17)

The Wall Street Journal: More Americans Seek Mental-Health Care, UnitedHealth Says
Americans of all ages are seeking far more mental-health care for conditions including anxiety, depression and substance-use problems. (Wilde Mathews and Seal, 7/14)

Axios: America’s Therapy Boom
More Americans across age, gender and race are seeking mental health treatment than they were just two decades ago. The boom in demand reflects a growing mental health crisis and a national uptick in anxiety and depression — but also reflects healthier attitudes about therapy and more honest conversations about mental health. (Pandey, 7/15)

On other public health developments —

CIDRAP: CDC Ends Probe Of Salmonella Cases Tied To Papa Murphy's Cookie Dough
After 26 cases and 4 hospitalizations in six states, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) yesterday declared its investigation over into a Salmonella outbreak tied to raw cookie dough sold at Papa Murphy's pizza outlets. The CDC noted an increase of 8 cases and 2 hospitalizations since it first reported the outbreak in May. (Wappes, 7/14)

The Hill: Aspirin Under Increased Scrutiny After Medical Study: Is It Safe For Everyone?
A study of 19,000 people has doctors taking a closer look at aspirin. The study, published last month in Annals of Internal Medicine, looked at a huge group of people 65 and older. Half were given 100 mg of aspirin daily, while the other half were given a placebo. (Boyd and Martichoux, 7/14)

NBC News: Colorism Is Driving Women Of Color To Use Harmful Skin Lightening Products, Says New Study
A lot of Americans want to lighten their skin. Skin lightening, also called whitening or bleaching, is a multibillion-dollar industry with products that can damage the skin and that, researchers say, promote a dangerous message about beauty and social value. But people who use these products — primarily marketed to women — seldom understand the health risks of using the over-the-counter chemicals, Northwestern University researchers found in a study recently published in the International Journal of Women’s Dermatology. (Adams, 7/14)

KFF Health News: In Older Adults, A Little Excess Weight Isn’t Such A Bad Thing
Millions of people enter later life carrying an extra 10 to 15 pounds, weight they’ve gained after having children, developing joint problems, becoming less active, or making meals the center of their social lives. Should they lose this modest extra weight to optimize their health? This question has come to the fore with a new category of diabetes and weight loss drugs giving people hope they can shed excess pounds. (Graham, 7/17)

The Washington Post: Tuberculosis In Prisons Goes Undetected Nearly Half The Time, Data Show 
In the first global assessment of tuberculosis rates in prisons, researchers estimate that nearly half of the infections go unnoticed, making prisoners nearly 10 times more likely to develop the potentially fatal disease than the overall global population. “I think being in prison is a double punishment,” said Alberto García-Basteiro, an associate research professor at Barcelona Institute for Global Health who was not involved in the study. “One, being deprived of liberty, and second, being exposed to several diseases.” (Yarber, 7/14)

In developments relating to aspartame and energy drinks —

The New York Times: Despite Aspartame Warning, Beverage Companies Likely To Stick With It 
About eight years ago, in response to customer concerns about possible health risks associated with the artificial sweetener aspartame, PepsiCo decided to remove the ingredient from its popular diet soda. Sales flopped. A year later, aspartame was back in Diet Pepsi. Today, the top three ingredients listed in the tiny print on the backs of cans and bottles of Diet Pepsi — and on its competitor Diet Coke — are water, caramel color and aspartame. (Creswell, 7/14)

Fox News: Aspartame Defended By Industry Experts After Cancer Risk Warning: 'Limited Evidence'
"Our results do not indicate that occasional consumption should pose a risk to most consumers," Dr. Francesco Branca, director of the Department of Nutrition and Food Safety at the WHO, stated during a press conference in Geneva. Dr. Mona S. Jhaveri, a biotech scientist and cancer researcher in Ridgefield, Connecticut, told Fox News Digital that the likelihood of getting cancer depends on the types and the number of carcinogens that one is exposed to, as well as genetic factors. (Rudy, 7/14)

CNN: Canada Recalls Six Energy Drinks, Including Prime Energy, For Caffeine And Labeling Violations, But Some Companies Say There’s A Catch
The government of Canada is recalling six brands of energy drinks, including Prime, over their caffeine content and labeling violations. Canada sets a legal limit on caffeine in energy drinks of 180 milligrams in a single-serving can. Prime Energy, the trendy energy drink made by YouTube stars Logan Paul and KSI, contains 200 milligrams per 12-ounce can – nearly six times as much as in a regular Coca-Cola – and thus violates that country’s limits for supplemented foods. (Goodman, 7/14)

Obituaries —

The Washington Post: Evelyn Witkin, Who Studied How Cells Repair DNA, Dies At 102
Evelyn Witkin, who paved the way for advances in cancer treatment and genetics by conducting groundbreaking studies on the DNA-damage response, the mechanism by which cells detect and respond to damage from chemicals, radiation and other threats, died July 8 at a rehabilitation center in Plainsboro Township, N.J. She was 102. The cause was complications from a fall, said her son, Joseph. (Smith, 7/14)

Axios: Harvard Medical Faces Another Lawsuit Over Stolen Human Remains
Another family has filed a lawsuit asking for class-action status against Harvard Medical School over the university's role in a ring that allegedly sold human remains on the black market for years. It's the latest in a string of similar class-action suits against the prestigious school since federal authorities charged its morgue manager with conspiracy and trafficking of stolen goods. (Deehan, 7/14)

AP: Arrests Have Been Made In A Human Remains Trade Tied To Harvard Medical School. Here's What To Know
The indictment charges Lodge; his wife, Denise; Maclean; Joshua Taylor, of West Lawn, Pennsylvania; and Mathew Lampi, of East Bethel, Minnesota, with conspiracy and interstate transport of stolen goods. Authorities were first clued in to the nationwide network after the arrest of Jeremy Lee Pauley, who was charged with abuse of a corpse, receiving stolen property and other state charges in Pennsylvania in July 2022. Police say Pauley allegedly tried to buy stolen human remains from an Arkansas woman for possible resale on Facebook. An FBI affidavit in a Kentucky case last week said Pauley bought hearts, brains, lungs and two fetal specimens from the Arkansas woman, who had allegedly taken them from a mortuary. (Lovan, 7/16)

Also —

The Washington Post: Dispute That Threatened Flow Of Transplant Organs Moves To Arbitration
A dispute that threatened the flow of organs to a quarter of the nation’s transplant hospitals is heading to arbitration instead of a courtroom, according to the organizations involved. The United Network for Organ Sharing, a nonprofit that operates the U.S. transplant system, and Buckeye Transplant Services, a private company that screens organs for surgeons and hospitals, agreed to try to resolve their differences with an arbitrator, according to a statement posted on Buckeye’s website Thursday. UNOS spokeswoman Anne Paschke confirmed the development in an email. (Bernstein, 7/14)

Stat: J&J Expands Global Access To TB Drug Amid Advocacy Campaign
Advocates have been fighting Johnson & Johnson for years over a patent on a lifesaving tuberculosis pill. On Thursday, they won a partial victory as the United Nations-affiliated group STOP TB announced an agreement to make cheaper generics available across dozens of low- and middle-income countries with high rates of disease. (Tsanni, Mast and Silverman, 7/14)

Stat: Argenx Drug Significantly Slows Progression Of Nerve Disorder
Belgian drugmaker Argenx said Monday that its antibody treatment called Vyvgart significantly delayed the progression of an autoimmune nerve disorder that causes people to lose feeling and muscle strength in the arms and legs. The positive outcome — a 61% reduction in the risk of relapse compared to a placebo — achieved the main goal of a Phase 3 clinical trial designed to demonstrate Vyvgart’s benefit for patients with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, or CIDP. (Feuerstein, 7/17)

Stat: In Early Work, Researchers Turn To CRISPR To Treat Alzheimer's
When the genome-editing tool CRISPR is thought of as a potential medicine, the targets that first come to mind are diseases like sickle cell or other conditions caused by particular mutations. Use CRISPR to fix that mutation, the idea goes, and you can treat the disease. (Joseph, 7/16)

Reuters: Exclusive: Delays Getting Higher Dose Wegovy To Patients Reported By US Doctors
Some U.S. patients taking the two highest doses of Novo Nordisk's (NOVOb.CO) Wegovy weight-loss drug are facing difficulty filling their prescriptions, eight doctors around the country told Reuters this week, suggesting a new supply challenge for the popular medicine. (Fick, Wingrove and Welle, 7/14)

The Wall Street Journal: Drugs Like Ozempic Created A Gold Rush. These Drugmakers Want In
The sudden popularity of drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy for weight loss created a multibillion-dollar market overnight. (7/16)

Axios: Seniors' Health Care Use Is Up, UnitedHealth Says
Rising demand for behavioral care and Medicare outpatient procedures are squeezing some of UnitedHealth Group's business segments but didn't stop the industry giant from beating Wall Street's expectations and posting earnings of $5.47 billion in Q2. The parent of the biggest U.S. health insurer is a bellwether for broad industry trends. Despite higher-than-expected utilization and concern about how that could drive up health costs, the increases were less than some feared, Reuters reported. (Reed, 7/17)

NBC News: How U.S. Drugmaker Akorn’s Closure Contributed To The Escalating Drug Shortage Crisis
When Akorn Pharmaceuticals shut its doors in February, hospitals across the country felt it. The Lake Forest, Illinois-based drugmaker was responsible for producing 75 generic drugs, all of which were pulled from the market when the company closed down. In some cases, the company was the sole supplier of particular products. (Lovelace Jr., 7/16)

On financial developments in the industry —

Reuters: Eli Lilly To Buy Versanis For Up To $1.93 Billion In Obesity Drugs Push
Eli Lilly and Co (LLY.N) said on Friday it will buy privately held Versanis for potentially up to $1.93 billion to strengthen its position in the fast-growing market for weight-loss treatments. Shares of Eli Lilly rose 3% after the deal that gives it access to an experimental obesity drug being tested along with rival Novo Nordisk's (NOVOb.CO) weight-loss treatment in a mid-stage study. (Roy, 7/14)

Reuters: UnitedHealth's Lower-Than-Feared Costs Lift Profit, Shares
UnitedHealth Group's (UNH.N) quarterly profit beat Wall Street estimates on Friday as a smaller-than-expected jump in medical costs allayed fears that a resumption in long-delayed surgical procedures would hit profit growth. The company's results allowed investors to breathe a sigh of relief following a $60-billion wipeout in industry market value last month, after UnitedHealth raised alarms about rising costs. (Satija and Mahobe, 7/14)

Stat: Care Demand Spikes Challenge UnitedHealth’s Provider Arm
UnitedHealth Group’s Optum subsidiary saw a lower operating margin in the second quarter due to more seniors getting care, a spike in demand for behavioral health services, and an influx of members with higher health needs. “Those three elements, the senior trend piece, the behavioral piece, and then the effects of the strong growth is really what explains what’s going on,” UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty said on the company’s earnings call on Friday. “We’ll continue to lean into that growth very assertively.” (Bannow, 7/14)

Reuters: US FTC Seeks Additional Info On Pfizer's Proposed Takeover Of Seagen
The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has sought additional information and documentary material related to Pfizer's (PFE.N) proposed acquisition of Seagen Inc (SGEN.O), Seagen said on Friday. The antitrust agency sent the requests separately to both the companies, a regulatory filing said. (7/15)

San Francisco Chronicle: Why UCSF Health Wants To Gobble Up 2 San Francisco Hospitals
Even as some San Francisco businesses lay off workers or leave town altogether, one mammoth local enterprise is looking to expand its presence in the city. UCSF Health, San Francisco’s largest medical center and second-largest employer after the city itself, hopes to get even bigger by buying a pair of money-losing hospitals — St. Mary’s Medical Center and Saint Francis Memorial — as well as a 35-bed psychiatric hospital, four medical clinics and a parking lot. (Asimov, 7/15)

The New York Times: Profiting From Risky Atherectomies That Can Lead To Amputations
Kelly Hanna’s leg was amputated on a summer day in 2020, after a Michigan doctor who called himself the “leg saver” had damaged her arteries by snaking metal wires through them to clear away plaque. It started with a festering wound on her left foot. Her podiatrist referred Ms. Hanna to Dr. Jihad Mustapha. Over 18 months, he performed at least that many artery-opening procedures on Ms. Hanna’s legs, telling her they would improve blood flow and prevent amputations. (Thomas, Silver-Greenberg and Gebeloff, 7/15)

The Wall Street Journal: The Pickleball Craze Won’t Decimate Big Insurers
UnitedHealth signals insurers can weather increase in procedures for more-active seniors. (Wainer, 7/15)

Newsweek: 'Medical History': Disabled Doctor Uses Exoskeleton To Perform Surgery
A disabled doctor in Spain has performed surgery standing up for the first time ever thanks to innovative exoskeleton technology. Faustino Afonso—a doctor, paralympic athlete and founder of Athletes Without Borders Association—was able to remain on his feet throughout the entire operation. (Dewan, 7/14)

In other research news —

NPR: Startup Aims To Make Lab-Grown Human Eggs From Anyone's Cells Using IVG 
On a cloudy day on a gritty side street near the shore of San Francisco Bay, a young man answers the door at a low concrete building. "I'm Matt Krisiloff. Nice to meet you," says one of the founders of Conception, a biotech startup that is trying to do something audacious: revolutionize the way humans reproduce. "So let me find them real quick," says Krisiloff as he turns to look for his co-founders, Pablo Hurtado and Bianka Seres, so they can explain Conception's mission. (Stein, 7/15)

Fox News: 'Dentist's Dream' Of Regrowing Teeth Advances To Clinical Trials In Japan, Says Report
A shark’s menacing teeth can scare anyone out of the water — but one aspect of some sharks' existence may be worth emulating: their ability to regrow teeth. An experimental medicine in Japan that could revolutionize the field of dentistry is now moving to clinical trials to create, potentially, the world’s first medicine to regrow teeth, according to a recent report in the country’s national news site, the Mainichi. (Sudhakar, 7/15)

Fox News: Vision Problems Could Mean Higher Dementia Risk, Study Finds: 'Eye Health And Brain Health Are Closely Linked'
Older adults with vision problems may be more likely to develop dementia, a new study published in JAMA Ophthalmology has found. Researchers at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor analyzed data from the 2021 National Health and Aging Trends Study, which showed a link between all types of vision problems — distance acuity, near acuity and contrast sensitivity — and a higher prevalence of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease. (Rudy, 7/16)

CIDRAP: Flu Vaccine Linked To Reduced Antibiotic Use
A systematic review and meta-analysis shows that influenza vaccination is associated with significantly reduced antibiotic use, while the effect of pneumococcal vaccination is less pronounced, Dutch researchers reported today in Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Control. (Dall, 7/14)

Stat: Celiac Disease Study Examines Precisely How Gluten Triggers Injury
For a person with celiac disease, eating a bagel goes something like this: chewing and savoring, the flavor of the high-gluten bread made ever more delicious by its forbidden nature, by knowing there will be hell to pay. Then, the bagel is broken down, separated into the digestible and the not: Parts of gliadin, a protein found in gluten, stay in the gut. And that’s where things start to go awry. Immune cells detect the presence of gliadin and freak out, activating a full-blown inflammatory response that leads to pain and intestinal damage. (Cueto, 7/14)

CIDRAP: A Fourth Of Kansas City School Nasal Swabs Test Positive For Respiratory Viruses, Study Finds
Surveillance at a large school district in Kansas City, Missouri, found that 25% of nasal swabs from students and staff tested positive for common non-COVID respiratory viruses, according to a study today in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. To determine the prevalence of respiratory viruses in school students and staff members, researchers tested samples from a large school district in Kansas City that includes 33 pre-kindergarten (pre-K) through grade 12 schools during the 2022-23 school year. (Wappes, 7/14)

AP: Mississippi, Under Judge's Order, Starts Allowing Religious Exemptions For Childhood Vaccinations
Mississippi is starting the court-ordered process of letting people cite religious beliefs to seek exemptions from state-mandated vaccinations that children must receive before attending day care or school. Mississippi is one of the poorest states and has high rates of health problems such as obesity and heart disease. But it has received praise from public health officials for years because it has some of the highest rates of childhood vaccination against diseases such as polio, measles and mumps. (Wagster Pettus, 7/14)

In other news from across the country —

Houston Chronicle: Texas The Worst State To Live In, CNBC Ranking Says
If your ZIP code falls in between 73301 to 88595, congratulations: you live in the worst state in the country, according to a new ranking from CNBC. Texas has spent the last decade at the top of the list for business but the bottom half for quality of life. This year brought two firsts: Texas dropped out of the top five states for business, placing 6th, and ranked dead last as a place to live. The state's newest laws prohibiting the use of diversity equity and inclusion in state-funded higher education, banning transgender healthcare for minors and severely restricting access to abortions were all labeled as reasons for the state's decline. (Fan Munce, 7/16)

Stat: Whistleblower: Blue Cross Blue Shield Evaded $170 Million In Taxes
Two dominant Blue Cross Blue Shield companies in California intentionally underreported premiums of certain health plans so they could avoid paying Affordable Care Act taxes, according to new federal whistleblower complaints. These claims renew concerns about whether health insurance companies have skirted the tax code and to what extent tax fraud could exist in the industry. (Herman, 7/17)

Oklahoman: Oklahoma Suit Integris Health, Claims Meta, Google Had Access To Health Info
A Bethany man is suing Integris Health, alleging that the largest Oklahoma-owned health system violated privacy laws by allowing third parties to harvest personal health care information for advertising purposes. Filed this week under John Doe, the class-action lawsuit in Oklahoma County District Court claims companies including Meta, Google, Microsoft and Reddit gained personal information from patients who used Integris Health’s website to learn about physicians, health conditions and treatment options, among other services. (Dulaney, 7/14)

Oklahoman: Oklahoma Ranks 4th In Teen Pregnancy. Here's A Look At The Numbers
In a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers found that maternal deaths across the U.S. more than doubled in the last two decades, with the highest rates among Black patients and the largest increases among Native American and Native Alaskan women. Here's a look at how Oklahoma compares to the U.S. when it comes to pregnant mothers and birth health. (Pendleton, 7/15)

Columbus Dispatch: $30 Million In Ohio's Budget Will Go To New Hospital In Southeast Ohio
At a time when many Ohio maternity wards are closing, one southeast Ohio health system has been making strides to open a new one, thanks in part to $30 million in state funding. Memorial Health System, headquartered in Marietta, Ohio, will soon build southeast Ohio’s only women and children’s hospital, thanks to $30 million allocated to the project in the state budget, signed by Gov. Mike DeWine on July 5. (King, 7/14)

WUSF Public Media: A Look Inside One County's Mosquito Management Efforts To Control Malaria Spread
Hillsborough County has seen four travel-related malaria cases this year, but none acquired locally. Still, things are busy for employees working to prevent mosquito-borne diseases this rainy season. (Colombini, 7/14)

AP: Washington Legal Pot Farms Get Back To Work After Pesticide Concerns Halted Operations
A big mound of fresh dirt sits at Terry Taylor’s marijuana farm in the high desert of north-central Washington state. Each hole for a new plant gets filled with the clean soil. Large swaths of recently installed landscape fabric cover the ground, and soon the dirt roads on his property will be covered in crushed rock to keep contaminated dust from covering the crops. (Johnson, 7/16)

The Washington Post: Car Crashes Into Hospital, Disrupts ICU
A car crashed into a hospital in Prince George’s County on Sunday, disrupting its intensive care unit and forcing some ICU patients to be transferred elsewhere, according to authorities. No injuries were reported in the crash at the Adventist HealthCare Fort Washington Medical Center, police and a hospital spokeswoman said. (Weil, 7/17)

AP: Residents Of PFAS-Polluted Island File $42.4 Million In Claims Against Wisconsin City
Residents of an island polluted with PFAS chemicals have filed claims demanding more than $40 million from a western Wisconsin city they say is responsible for the contamination. (7/14)

AP: Indiana Police Ask State To Revoke License Of Treatment Center Where 3 Patients Died Within A Week 
Northern Indiana police have asked state officials to revoke the license of an addiction treatment center where three patients recently died within a week, saying that the less than year-old center is endangering its residents and placing a strain on law enforcement. (7/14)

Also —

KFF Health News: Readers And Tweeters See Ways To Shore Up Primary Care
KFF Health News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories. (7/17)

The Star Tribune: Needed Attention On Energy Drinks
The compound's chemical name is 1, 3, 7-Trimethylpurine-2,6-dione. It's a stimulant that occurs naturally in many foods and drinks, but it's also added to a variety of products, making it difficult for even savvy consumers to avoid. (7/14)

The Boston Globe: Anatomical Donor Programs Are Crucial To Training The Next Generation Of Physicians 
Those who have chosen to donate their bodies after death for medical research are necessary to teaching anatomy to future physicians. Yet that practice may be affected by the recent indictment of Harvard Medical School’s morgue manager for allegedly selling organs and cadaver parts for profit. (Paulette Bernd, 7/15)

The New York Times: We Can Stop The Rise In Maternal Mortality 
The maternal mortality rate for Black women in America is, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2.6 times that for white women. (Veronica Gillispie-Bell, 7/16)

Modern Healthcare: Health Executives On Challenges Emergency Departments Are Facing
The healthcare industry is facing a wide variety of challenges—and solutions aren’t always straightforward. Each month, Modern Healthcare asks leaders in the field to weigh in on their approaches to the sector’s thorny issues. (Dr. Christopher Kang and Dr. James McCarthy, 7/14)

Stat: Who Gets To Use The Title 'Doctor'? 
Florida legislators recently passed legislation to prevent advanced practice nurses in Florida with doctorates from using the honorific “doctor.” The state House and Senate bills proposed that nurses with doctorates who introduce themselves to patients as “Dr. Smith, nurse practitioner,” could face disciplinary action. Lobbyists who supported this measure referred to it as a “patient empowerment bill that allows them to understand who is treating them.” Thankfully, Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed the bill. (Stephanie W. Edmonds, Alden A. Bush and Ginny L. Ryan, 7/17)