Reuters: US To Provide Nearly $200 Million To Contain Bird Flu Spread On Dairy Farms
The Biden administration said on Friday it will provide nearly $200 million to fight the spread of avian flu among dairy cows, in the government's latest bid to contain outbreaks that have fueled concerns about human infections with the H5N1 virus. The virus has been detected among dairy cattle in nine states since late March. Scientists have said they believe the outbreak is more widespread based on U.S. Food and Drug Administration findings of H5N1 particles in about 20% of retail milk samples. (Douglas, 5/10)

AP: US Pledges Money And Other Aid To Help Track And Contain Bird Flu On Dairy Farms
The new funds include $101 million to continue work to prevent, test, track and treat animals and humans potentially affected by the virus known as Type A H5N1, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said. ... In addition, dairy farmers will be compensated for the loss of milk production from infected cattle, whose supply drops dramatically when they become sick, officials said. (Aleccia and Stobbe, 5/10)

CNN: US Government Announces New Financial Incentives For Farms To Stem The Spread Of Bird Flu In Dairy Cattle 
Newly announced financial incentives to farms to help stem the spread of bird flu in dairy cattle drew mixed reviews Friday, as some farmers said they were grateful for money to help buffer the economic impact but advocates for farm workers questioned whether the money paid to workers would be enough to encourage more testing for the H5N1 virus. (Goodman, 5/10)

Also —

Reuters: Final Tests Of US Dairy Samples Are Negative For Bird Flu Virus, US FDA Says
Final testing of U.S. retail dairy samples came back negative for viable H5N1 bird flu virus, the Food and Drug Administration said on Friday. The FDA said it finished its laboratory research into 297 retail dairy samples tested for bird flu, after previously reporting that preliminary results showed the commercial milk supply was safe. (5/10)

Stat: CDC Wastewater Surveillance Dashboard To Track Bird Flu Hotspots 
Reluctance among dairy farmers to report H5N1 bird flu outbreaks within their herds or allow testing of their workers has made it difficult to keep up with the virus’s rapid spread, prompting federal public health officials to look to wastewater to help fill in the gaps. (Molteni and Branswell, 5/13)

The Boston Globe: First Recipient Of Genetically Engineered Pig Kidney Has Died 
Rick Slayman, the first man to receive a kidney transplant from a genetically engineered pig, has died, according to a statement from his family and Massachusetts General Hospital, where he underwent the historic operation in March. (Stoico, 5/12)

The New York Times: Patient Dies Weeks After Kidney Transplant From Genetically Modified Pig
Massachusetts General Hospital, where Mr. Slayman had the operation, said in a statement on Saturday that its transplant team was “deeply saddened” at his death. The hospital said it had “no indication that it was the result of his recent transplant.” Mr. Slayman, who was Black, had end-stage kidney disease, a condition that affects more than 800,000 people in the United States, according to the federal government, with disproportionately higher rates among Black people. (Hughes, 5/12)

The Washington Post: Pig Kidney Transplant Patient Richard Slayman Dies, Mass. General Hospital Says
Slayman’s family said in a statement to media outlets that they were “deeply saddened about the sudden passing of our beloved Rick but take great comfort knowing he inspired so many” and thanked his doctors, saying medical staff “truly did everything they could to help give Rick a second chance.” “Their enormous efforts leading the xenotransplant gave our family seven more weeks with Rick, and our memories made during that time will remain in our minds and hearts,” the statement said. (Hassan, 5/12)

AP: Recipient Of First-Ever Pig Kidney Transplant Dies
Xenotransplantation refers to healing human patients with cells, tissues or organs from animals. Such efforts long failed because the human immune system immediately destroyed foreign animal tissue. Recent attempts have involved pigs that have been modified so their organs are more humanlike. More than 100,000 people are on the national waiting list for a transplant, most of them kidney patients, and thousands die every year before their turn comes.. (5/12)

USA Today: AI, ChatGPT Show Promise In Making Medical Visits More Effective
Dr. Rebecca Mishuris remembers her mother, also a doctor, bringing home her patients' medical charts every night and working on them long after she'd gone to bed. ... But no more. Since last summer, she's been piloting two competing software applications that use large-language models and generative artificial intelligence to listen in on, transcribe and summarize her conversations with patients. At the end of a patient visit it takes her just two to three minutes to review the summary for accuracy, cut and paste a few things into the patient's health record and hit save. (Weintraub, 5/11)

Modern Healthcare: AI Uses In Nursing, Patient Care Concern Unions At HCA, Kaiser
Union leaders and technology experts say health systems should be open with nurses about how they plan to use artificial intelligence and educate them on such tools in light of staffing and other concerns. Hundreds of nurses at Kaiser Permanente and HCA Healthcare protested last month, worried about the systems’ use of AI to measure the severity of patients' illnesses and perform other clinical tasks. The nurses cited concerns about the technology’s potential to put patient safety at risk and cause job losses. (Devereaux, 5/10)

Stat: Study: AI Not Yet Building 'N-Of-1' Drugs Faster
Two years ago, Yiwei Shi was searching desperately for someone to build a drug for her newborn son, Leo. Leo was born with a very small head, a symptom of many severe diseases. After a seizure at two months, doctors sequenced his genome and found a single misspelling in a gene called TNPO2. (Mast, 5/13)

The Boston Globe: Harvard Scientists, With Google, Unveil The Most Detailed Brain Map Ever 
About 10 years ago, a small piece of human brain arrived in the lab of Dr. Jeffrey Lichtman at Harvard. It came directly from an operating room of a nearby hospital, where it was excised from an epilepsy patient undergoing a procedure to reduce her seizures. In the years that followed, Lichtman’s team methodically reconstructed the byzantine wiring patterns of the brain by feeding the 1-cubic-millimeter sample into a $6 million device that sliced it into impossibly-thin slivers. Then, using images of those slivers taken by electron microscopy, they painstakingly recreated the intricate latticework connecting individual cells to one another. (Piore, 5/10)

Questions about the technology —

The Wall Street Journal: How Helpful Are Mental-Health Chatbots?
Interest in mental-health chatbots is rising, fueled by advances in AI’s ability to conduct sophisticated conversations. But how much therapy can they really provide? Chatbots are still no substitute for a human therapist, researchers say. Not only do some of these tools have trouble helping patients in crisis, they don’t always offer a sufficient level of personalization or provide advice that is guaranteed to be accurate. (Wang, 5/12)

Modern Healthcare: CMS Extends Medicaid, CHIP Unwinding Waivers To 2025
States have more time to make accurate and timely redeterminations of Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program eligibility as they continue unwinding the continuous coverage provisions derived from expired COVID-19 relief programs. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued a memo to state officials Thursday that extends federal regulatory waivers and flexibilities to June 2025, one year after they were slated to be discontinued. (Tepper, 5/10)

Modern Healthcare: Medicaid 80/20 Rule Spurs Potential Consolidation In Home Care
Private equity firms and large home care companies could soon be going head to head to buy smaller personal care operators expected to exit the industry because of a new regulation. The potential for industry consolidation stems from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Ensuring Access to Medicaid Services rule that will require home care companies to spend 80% of Medicaid reimbursements on caregiver wages. (Eastabrook, 5/10)

Also —

Stat: FDA Criticized For Failing To Provide Clarity On Drug-And-Device Patents
When it comes to a crucial controversy over pharmaceutical patents, the FDA has been MIA. For nearly 20 years, drug companies have asked the Food and Drug Administration for guidance on listing patents for drug-and-device combination products, such as asthma inhalers and auto-injectors for diabetes treatments, in an obscure, but highly important agency registry. Known as the Orange Book, it holds a key, behind-the-scenes role in shaping the competitive landscape of the pharmaceutical industry. (Silverman, 5/13)

Reuters: US Bill To Restrict WuXi AppTec, Chinese Biotechs Revised To Give More Time To Cut Ties
A new version of a congressional bill that would restrict U.S. business with certain Chinese biotechnology companies including WuXi AppTec and BGI would give U.S. companies until 2032 to end work with the firms, extending the amount of time to find new partners. The latest Biosecure Act also adds WuXi Biologics (2269.HK) to a list of biotech companies of concern, according to a copy seen by Reuters. (Freifeld, 5/10)

Axios: Legal Battle Over Health Costs Could Change Workplace Benefits
An emerging legal battle over workplace health insurance could empower employees to fight back against high costs and put new pressure on their employers. (Reed, 5/13)

Stat: Cliff Douglas Leads Anti-Smoking Group Funded By Big Tobacco 
“Does it trouble you to answer that question?” one of New York’s highest paid attorneys asked Cliff Douglas, then a 36-year-old activist who had found himself at the center of a $10 billion libel lawsuit brought by the cigarette giant Philip Morris. Philip Morris’ lawyer Herbert Wachtell demanded to know: Were cigarette companies intentionally killing people? (Florko, 5/13)

In other news —

Reuters: Pandemic Treaty Talks Will Go On After Missed Deadline, Some Progress, WHO Says
Talks to draw up a global pact to help fight future pandemics have ended without a draft agreement by the expected deadline, but progress has been made, the World Health Organization said on Friday. Negotiators from the World Health Organization's (WHO) 194 member states were hoping to have a final draft agreement by the end of Friday, with a view toward adopting the legally-binding text at the World Health Assembly later this month. (Rigby, 5/10)

Axios: Hospital Prices Paid By Private Insurers Vary Widely, Report Finds
Private health insurance on average pays hospitals 2.5 times what Medicare does for the same services, with some states seeing relative prices of more than 3 times greater, according to a new RAND report. (Reed, 5/13)

Modern Healthcare: Hospitals Charged Private Insurers 254% Of Medicare In 2022: Rand
Hospital-negotiated prices rose from 2020 to 2022, especially among dominant facilities in their respective markets, a new report shows. Commercial insurers' payments to hospitals amounted to, on average, 254% of Medicare rates in 2022, up from 243% in 2021 and 241% in 2020, according to data from Rand, a nonprofit research firm. Rand researchers used claims data from more than 4,000 hospitals in 49 states and Washington, D.C. (Kacik, 5/12)

More from hospital and health systems —

AP: A Cyberattack Forces A Big US Health System To Divert Ambulances And Take Records Offline
A cyberattack on the Ascension health system operating in 19 states across the U.S. forced some of its 140 hospitals to divert ambulances, caused patients to postpone medical tests and blocked online access to patient records. ... The attack had the hallmarks of a ransomware, and Ascension said it had called in Mandiant, the Google cybersecurity unit that is a leading responder to such attacks. (Hanna, Murphy and Foody, 5/11)

Politico: Hospitals’ New Message For Patients: Stay Home
Hospitals want you to visit them less often. ... Hospital executives think they can more than make up the revenue by shifting their exam and recovery rooms to patients’ homes. And Congress is urging them on, with legislation in the works to help hospitals expand their at-home offerings and to allow Medicare to continue paying for telehealth after lawmakers first granted temporary permission after Covid struck. (Payne, 5/11)

Axios: U.S. Health Care Is Increasingly Like A Casino
For the decade-ish that I've been reporting on health care, insurance coverage has dominated conversations about who has access to care. But in the post-pandemic era, it's become clear that having insurance is only the first step toward receiving quality care. (Owens, 5/12)

Charlotte Ledger: New Freestanding ERs: Faster Care, But It Can Cost You 
From SouthPark to Steele Creek, Mountain Island Lake to Waxhaw, sleek and efficient freestanding emergency rooms are springing up across the Charlotte region to serve patients, no hospital required. Since 2010, Atrium Health has opened eight standalone emergency rooms in the Charlotte metro area, part of a nationwide building boom. (Crouch, 5/13)

In other industry news —

The Mercury News: Medicine: Cell, Gene Therapies Save Lives, But Can We Afford Them?
Harnessing the body’s own cells to fight disease, long a medical dream, is finally a reality. Now comes the bill. Last month, Stanford became the first hospital in the nation to use a new $515,000 cell therapy to treat a patient with advanced melanoma. A related approach, costing $420,000 to $475,000, is offering hope to patients with lethal blood cancers. (Krieger, 5/12)

Philadelphia Inquirer: Update On The Sale Of Crozer Health In Delaware County
The future of two operating and two shuttered hospitals in the Philadelphia region owned by Prospect Medical Holdings has been uncertain for months. Here’s an update on where things stand: More than three months after Prospect Medical Holdings started trying to sell Crozer Health under a timeline set by the Pennsylvania Attorney General, neither Crozer nor state officials will say whether any prospective buyers have emerged. (Brubaker, 5/13)

Obituaries —

The New York Times: Nancy Neveloff Dubler, Mediator For Life’s Final Moments, Dies At 82
Nancy Neveloff Dubler, a medical ethicist who pioneered using mediation at hospital bedsides to navigate the complex dynamics among headstrong doctors, anguished family members and patients in their last days, died on April 14 at her home on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. She was 82. The cause was heart and lung disease, her family said. (Rosenwald, 5/10)

USA Today: FDA Issues Recall: Insulin Pump-Related IOS App Crash Led To Injuries
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a recall correction for an app that connects with an insulin pump due to a software issue that causes the app to crash, which can drain the battery of the insulin pump and has led to over 200 injuries. This is a Class 1 recall, which the FDA says is the most serious type of recall, and use of the device can lead to serious injury or death. (DeLetter, 5/10)

Newsweek: Baby Milk Recalled As Health Warning Issued
A Washington-based company is recalling a goat milk product and urging consumers to immediately stop using the product as baby formula. Healthwest Minerals Inc, doing business as Mt. Capra Products, of Chehalis, announced on Friday that it is recalling 1,506 boxes of Goat Milk Formula Recipe Kit on the advice of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) because the product does not provide sufficient nutrition when used as infant formula. (Rahman, 5/12)

Also —

Fortune: Colon Cancer Rates Have Tripled In Teens
First came public pleas for millennials and Gen Zers to be aware of the signs  of colon cancer, which has seen such a rise in young adults that it’s now the No. 1 cause of cancer deaths in men under 50 and No. 2 in women under 50. This week, that plea expanded to adolescents, with news that colorectal cancer rates among kids between 10 and 14 and teens from 15 to 19 have risen by 500% and 333% percent, respectively, over two decades. (Greenfield, 5/10)

Minnesota Public Radio: Psychosis Care Model Gives New Hope To Young Patients 
At 16, before his first psychotic episode, Charles Osugo was driven to become a nurse. He sped through high school, graduating a year early. He took enough college-credit classes to leave with an associate’s degree, in addition to his diploma. Right away, he enrolled in nursing school. Then, all of a sudden, things started slipping. (Timar-Wilcox, 5/13)

NPR: Want To Protect Your Kids' Eyesight? Get Them To Play Outside
Spending at least two hours outside each day is one of the most important things your kids can do to protect their eyesight. "We think that outdoor time is the best form of prevention for nearsightedness," says Dr. Noha Ekdawi, a pediatric ophthalmologist in Wheaton, Ill. And that's important, because the number of kids with nearsightedness – or myopia – has been growing rapidly in the U.S., and in many other parts of the world. (Godoy, 5/13)

Fortune: Parents Are Drugging Their Kids To Get Them To Sleep
New survey results from Sleep Doctor reveal that 79% of parents have given their child a substance to get them to sleep—with 66% using melatonin, 35% using Benadryl, and 20% turning to prescription sleep aids. Others reported using everything from herbal and over-the-counter aids to CBD, THC, and even alcohol. Millennial and Gen Z parents were most likely to have drugged kids for slumber, with 84% and 83%, respectively, saying they had done so. (Greenfield, 5/12)

Newsweek: Boys' IQs May Be Impacted By Moms' Pregnancy Stress Levels
High levels of stress during the late stages of pregnancy may impair IQ scores in young boys, a new study suggests. Researchers at Odense University Hospital in Denmark found that increased cortisol, a stress hormone, in the third trimester may have a lasting impact on boys aged seven, but not girls. The findings highlight the important role cortisol plays in the in utero development of boys and girls independently. (Smith, 5/10)

NPR: As Schools Reconsider Cursive, Research Homes In On Handwriting's Brain Benefits
In kids, studies show that tracing out ABCs, as opposed to typing them, leads to better and longer-lasting recognition and understanding of letters. Writing by hand also improves memory and recall of words, laying down the foundations of literacy and learning. In adults, taking notes by hand during a lecture, instead of typing, can lead to better conceptual understanding of material. (Lambert, 5/11)

Newsweek: Scientists Reveal How Autism Develops In Kids
Scientists have made a breakthrough in our understanding of the development of childhood autism. The discovery, which sheds light on a small number of biochemical pathways involved in autism development, may help inform early detection and prevention strategies in the future, researchers say. (Dewan, 5/10)

The Washington Post: A Strange Regression Was Linked To Down Syndrome. These Moms Found Answers
Before Sara Smythe began to disappear, she was thriving. The youngest of four sisters, Sara was born with Down syndrome and lived the life of an active teen. ... But in 2011, everything changed in a matter of weeks. Sara morphed from a sociable teen to a person who stopped talking and engaging with other people, and, at her worst, had full-blown catatonia. Sara’s doctors were at a loss, but her mother, Eileen Quinn, wasn’t giving up. (Sima, 5/12)

In other research news —

Newsweek: Early Menopause Linked To Premature Death
People who stop menstruating earlier in life may have a higher risk of dying young, new research has found. Specifically, those who hit menopause before the age of 40—known as premature menopause or premature ovarian insufficiency (POI)—are twice as likely to die of any cause. People with POI are also more than four times more likely to die from cancer, according to the study, which is due to be presented by the researchers ... in Stockholm, Sweden from May 11 to 14. (Thomson, 5/11)

Newsweek: Just A Few Days On Night Shift Has 'Long-Term' Consequences
Working night shifts for just a couple of days is enough to have serious impacts on our health, a new study has warned. Numerous studies have highlighted the impact of shift work on human health, with effects on our heart, fertility and certain types of cancer. Now, research from Washington State University and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has found that night shifts may also throw off the natural rhythms that regulate our blood sugar, metabolism and inflammation, increasing our risk of various metabolic disorders. (Dewan, 5/10)

The Hill: 1 In 8 Adults Has Taken Ozempic Or Other GLP-1 Drug: Survey
A poll from the health policy nonprofit KFF found that 1 in 8 adults say they’ve taken a GLP-1 agonist, the obesity and diabetes medications that include Ozempic, Mounjaro and Zepbound. Among those surveyed, 12 percent said they had used a GLP-1 agonist, with 6 percent saying they’re currently using one. The majority — 62 percent — of them said they were using the drugs to treat a chronic condition such as diabetes or heart disease, while the remaining 38 percent they took the medications just to lose weight. (Choi, 5/10)

CIDRAP: Study: Functionally Dependent Patients Have Higher Risk Of Hand Contamination With Resistant Bacteria
A study of newly admitted patients at two hospitals in Michigan found that patients with severe functional dependence were more likely to harbor multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) on their hands and less likely to be able to clean them independently, researchers reported today in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology. (Dall, 5/10)

The Washington Post: Hip Breaks More Deadly Than Some Cancers In Elderly, Study Finds
A recent analysis found poor survival rates after bone fractures in older adults, with fewer than a third of men and half of women surviving five years after a fracture. Published in JBMR Plus, the study looked at a cohort of 98,474 Ontario residents age 66 and older who suffered fractures to parts of the body associated with osteoporosis between January 2011 and March 2015. The patients were grouped into sets based on the fracture site and matched to patients with a similar demographic profile but no bone breaks during the study period. (Blakemore, 5/12)

On pharma research news —

The Wall Street Journal: Bristol Myers Squibb Cancer-Treatment Trial Misses Endpoint
Bristol Myers Squibb said on Friday that its trial evaluating a combination of cancer treatments failed to meet its primary endpoint. The company’s trial was evaluating the cancer-drug Opdivo and concurrent chemoradiotherapy, followed by Opdivo plus Yervoy, the brand name for a monoclonal antibody, in treating unresectable, locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer. The trial’s primary endpoint was progression-free survival. (Glickman, 5/10)

Reuters: Japan's Shionogi Says COVID Treatment Did Not Meet Endpoint In Late-Stage Trial
Japan's Shionogi & Co (4507.T) said on Monday its pill-based treatment for COVID-19 did not meet the primary endpoint of showing a statistically significant reduction of 15 common symptoms of the illness in a global, late-stage trial. The company's pivotal Phase 3 study (SCORPIO-HR) of ensitrelvir did however demonstrate a potent antiviral effect compared to placebo, the company said. Shionogi said previously it expected the pill, known commercially as Xocova, to deliver $2 billion in annual sales if it secured U.S. approval. (5/13)

CIDRAP: Data Suggest SARS-CoV-2 Could Jump From Raccoon Dogs To People, But Species Barrier May Interfere
Raccoon dogs may carry and transmit COVID-19–causing SARS-CoV-2 to humans, although critical differences in the enzyme that facilitates viral entry into the cell may make the jump unlikely, a study in PLOS Pathogens finds. "The key to a coronavirus moving from one species to another is its spike protein's ability to bind to receptors on the cells of the new host," the authors noted. (Van Beusekom, 5/10)

Politico: Newsom Walks Back On Plan To Use MCO Tax For Additional Health Care Raises
Gov. Gavin Newsom is walking back promised pay raises for some health care workers and other health care investments generated from a tax agreed last year, instead using those funds to help balance the state budget amid a major deficit. In his new budget blueprint unveiled Friday, Newsom proposed using nearly $7 billion from the managed care organization tax — aka MCO — to balance the budget instead of using it to help hospitals. (Bluth, 5/10)

Politico: State Report: New Jersey Too Reliant On Nursing Homes, Should Overhaul Long-Term Care 
A highly anticipated state report said Friday that New Jersey is overly reliant on nursing homes and should change its policies to incentivize home- and community-based care. The report released by the New Jersey Task Force on Long-Term Care Quality and Safety recommends policies that would drastically reshape long-term care as well as reimbursement models. (Han, 5/10)

In other news from around the country —

CNBC: Paid Time Off For Pregnant Women Could Go National As Work Movement
Paid leave for prenatal care is poised to become a national women’s health initiative. That’s now that New York has become the first state to mandate a standalone entitlement to paid prenatal leave. (Munk, 5/12)

The Colorado Sun: Colorado Abortion Providers Receiving Influx Of Florida Calls After Ban Took Effect
Requests for help to a Colorado fund that pays for abortions and associated travel expenses have climbed to an estimated $2.5 million this year, up from $212,000 before the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the constitutional right to abortion. (Brown and Ingold, 5/10)

Fox News: Experimental Cancer Treatment Gives New Jersey Mom A Chance For A Second Baby: ‘I Decided To Go For It’
A New Jersey mom had just given birth when she received a life-changing cancer diagnosis — and her biggest fear was she wouldn’t be able to have more children. When Kelly Spill first started experiencing bleeding, her doctors chalked it up to pregnancy and childbirth, especially given her young age of 28. But then came the weight loss, fatigue and loss of appetite. "I knew deep down that it was cancer," she told Fox News Digital. (Rudy, 5/12)

Reuters: Texas Top Court Rules Mother Can't Collect Damages Over Unwanted Pregnancy
Texas' highest court on Friday limited women's ability to obtain monetary damages from medical providers whose alleged negligence led them to have unwanted pregnancies, ruling that state law does not treat the birth of a healthy child as an injury for which a parent must be compensated. The Texas Supreme Court ruled, opens new tab that a mother in El Paso who alleged her doctor negligently failed to perform a sterilization procedure known as a tubal ligation was not entitled to recover any damages from him. (Raymond, 5/10)

The Texas Tribune: Panhandle City Leaders Reject Abortion Travel Ban 
The City Council of Clarendon, a rural Panhandle town, rejected a proposed ordinance seeking to prohibit traveling through city limits to get an abortion in another state. Their 3-0 decision on Thursday makes Clarendon one of the first cities in Texas to reject an abortion travel ban as more conservative cities are approving similar measures. (Carver, 5/10)

The CT Mirror: CT Bills To Expand Insurance Coverage For Fertility Care Unsuccessful
Two bills aimed at expanding fertility access for those on Medicaid, LGBTQ+ families and would-be single parents stalled during a legislative session with little room in its budget for new expenses. (LeMaster, 5/10)

Also —

Reuters: Pharmacy Exec Sentenced In Michigan Over Deadly 2012 Meningitis Outbreak
A former owner of a Massachusetts compounding pharmacy whose mold-tainted drugs sparked a deadly U.S. fungal meningitis outbreak in 2012 was sentenced on Friday to at least 10 years in prison for his role in the deaths of 11 Michigan residents. (Raymond, 5/10)

CIDRAP: 2023 E Coli Outbreak In Kids In Utah Traced To Untreated Irrigation Water
A 2023 outbreak of Shiga toxin–producing Escherichia coli O157:H7 in Utah that sickened at least 13 children was traced to contaminated irrigation water the children used for drinking and playing, according to a report from scientists from Utah and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The account, published yesterday in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, points to the need to educate residents of communities that have untreated, pressurized municipal irrigation water (UPMIW) about the risks. (Van Beusekom, 5/10)

Philadelphia Inquirer: Paramedics In The Philadelphia Area Begin To Carry Blood In Their Ambulances
Paramedic Leonard Brown knew the patient ― a pale, Berks County man who could barely speak after days of internal bleeding ― needed a blood transfusion fast. But Brown did not have blood on his ambulance. On that day in April, the TowerDIRECT paramedic had to wait for dispatchers to send to the scene a critical care transport, a specialty truck staffed with a nurse and equipped with blood units. (Gutman, 5/13)

Anchorage Daily News: Alaska House Approves Marijuana Tax Reform, Advancing Bill To Senate
A decade after Alaska voters legalized recreational marijuana, the Alaska Legislature is advancing the first major change to the law that opened commercial sales here. On Friday, the Alaska House of Representatives voted to change the state’s $50 per ounce marijuana tax to a 7% sales tax. (Brooks and Beacon, 5/12)

KFF Health News: San Francisco Tries Tough Love By Tying Welfare To Drug Rehab
Raymond Llano carries a plastic bag with everything he owns in one hand, a cup of coffee in the other, and the flattened cardboard box he uses as a bed under his arm as he waits in line for lunch at Glide Memorial Church in San Francisco. At 55, he hasn’t had a home for 15 years, since he lost a job at Target. Llano once tried to get on public assistance but couldn’t — something, he said, looking perplexed, about owing the state money — and he’d like to apply again. (Cohen, 5/13)

KFF Health News: First Responders, Veterans Hail Benefits Of Psychedelic Drugs As California Debates Legalization
Wade Trammell recalls the time he and his fellow firefighters responded to a highway crash in which a beer truck rammed into a pole, propelling the truck’s engine through the cab and into the driver’s abdomen. “The guy was up there screaming and squirming. Then the cab caught on fire,” Trammell says. “I couldn’t move him. He burned to death right there in my arms.” (Wolfson, 5/13)

The New York Times: Climate Change Is Making Allergies Worse
Seasonal allergies are nothing new, but they’ve been worsening as the climate grows warmer. The growing season starts earlier now — in North America an average of 20 days earlier — and lasts longer, too, extending the length of time when plants are pumping pollen into the air. And the resulting misery arises not just because there’s more pollen to breathe in or because it’s around for increasingly longer seasons. At least one study has indicated that the more carbon there is in the air, the more potent the pollen itself is. (Margaret Renkl, 5/13)

The New York Times: Doctors, Not Judges, Should Decide When To Treat Patients Without Their Consent
Doctors don’t always have to resort to the courts to treat patients without their consent. There are some notable exceptions, such as during a life-threatening emergency (if a competent patient has not previously refused such treatment) or when there is a pressing societal interest (such as requiring patients with communicable tuberculosis to take antibiotics). (Sandeep Jauhar, 5/13)

Miami Herald: Many Floridians Struggle To Access The Mental Healthcare They Need. Who's To Blame?
Many Floridians struggle to access the care they need due to a lack of resources and support. That’s why policymakers, healthcare professionals, and the broader community must keep their foot on the gas pedal when addressing mental health in the Sunshine State. (Constance Garner, 5/10)

Stat: Study: Adult Vaccinations Pay For Themselves In Societal Benefits
The number of children who received their routine vaccinations declined during the pandemic, so public health officials have been focusing on getting kids back up to date. They should also be paying attention to adults as a new, first-of-its-kind report quantifying the economic impact of adult immunizations makes clear. (Phyllis Arthur, 5/13)

Stat: Close Medicare's Dangerous Gaps In Addiction Treatment Coverage 
While many people immediately picture young adults when thinking about the current addiction and overdose epidemic, this crisis is affecting all generations. In fact, more than 7 million older Americans struggle with substance use disorders. Opioid use disorder, in particular, has skyrocketed among Medicare beneficiaries, with opioid overdose death rates rising higher among people 65 and older than in any other age group. (Brian Hurley and Paul N. Samuels, 5/13)