Military.com: Veterans Hit With Error Messages While Filing To Make PACT Act Deadline 
What was described as an "extremely high volume" of PACT Act claims overwhelmed the Department of Veterans Affairs website Tuesday, causing veterans and survivors to be shut out as a deadline looms for backdated payments. The online system sent error messages to about 18% of veterans and survivors who were submitting claims as well as notices of intention to file claims, which were due Wednesday to receive retroactive disability payments dated to Aug. 10, 2022. (Kime, 8/9)

Military Times: Officials Urge Vets To Apply For PACT Act Benefits Despite Tech Issues
Despite some technical issues with online submissions, officials are encouraging applications for payouts connected to historic legislation aimed at helping veterans exposed to toxic substances during their military service before an important deadline passes. President Joe Biden signed the Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act — better known as the PACT Act — a year ago on Aug 10, 2022, expanding Department of Veterans Affairs health care benefits to veterans exposed to burn pits and other toxic substances. (Lehrfeld, 8/9)

In other government and military news —

AP: Biden Wants To Compensate New Mexico Residents Sickened By Radiation During 1945 Nuclear Testing 
President Joe Biden said Wednesday that he’s open to granting assistance for people sickened by exposure to radiation during nuclear weapons testing, including in New Mexico, where the world’s first atomic bomb was tested in 1945. Biden brought up the issue while speaking Wednesday in Belen at a factory that produces wind towers. “I’m prepared to help in terms of making sure that those folks are taken care of,” he said. (8/9)

DVIDS: Defense Health Agency Kicks Off Health IT Symposium
Leaders in government, military, and industry health information technology convened at the 2023 Defense Health Information Technology Symposium on Aug. 8, 2023 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Defense Health Agency sponsored the IT symposium, which focuses on the latest health IT information, research, and studies focused on the symposiums theme, “Pursuing Enterprise Standardization—Joint, Resilient, Excellent.” (Hammer, 8/9)

The Hill: White House Unveils New Tracking Tool For Heat-Related Illnesses 
The Biden administration on Wednesday launched a new information system to map emergency medical services (EMS) responses to heat-related illness across the country. The online dashboard is run by the Department of Health and Human Services in partnership with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The agencies said the system is meant to help public health officials ensure that outreach and medical aid reach the people who need it most during heat emergencies. (Weixel, 8/9)

NBC News: Brutally Hot Summer Becomes Proving Ground For New Heat Alert System
A heat alert system is being tested in health clinics across the U.S. this summer in an effort to deliver timely and locally relevant data to health professionals, who can use this information to cut down on heat-related illnesses and save lives in vulnerable communities when heat and humidity soar. The system, developed by researchers at Harvard University and the nonprofit research group Climate Central, is designed to go beyond existing weather forecasts and text-based alerts to provide more detailed warnings, as well as customizable tools and resources for health providers and their patients. (Chow and Beltran, 8/8)

More on the heat wave —

Becker's Hospital Review: Hawaii Wildfires Burn Clinic And Dialysis Center
Wildfires on the Hawaiian island of Maui have killed [at least 36] people, consumed homes and destroyed multiple commercial buildings — including one hospital-run clinic and one dialysis center, Hilton Raethel, president and CEO of the Healthcare Association of Hawaii told Becker's. Mr. Raethel did not confirm the names of the two burned healthcare facilities on Aug. 9 to allow those facilities to respond to the situation, but did confirm they are both hospital-operated, not independently run. (Hollowell, 8/9)

Health News Florida: ER, Urgent Care Visits For Heat Illnesses Surge In Central Florida, AdventHealth Says
AdventHealth Central Florida is reporting a surge in patients seeking care for health-related illnesses as heat advisories continue across the state. AdventHealth emergency departments have seen a 20% increase in patients seeking care for heat-related illnesses this summer, and urgent care locations in the network have seen an increase of 115%. (Prieur, 8/9)

The 19th: Extreme Heat Could Impact Birth Control, Pregnancy Test Effectiveness
Extreme heat has already made pregnancy more dangerous. Now, it is also complicating efforts to control when and how someone becomes pregnant: Record heat waves across the country could threaten access to effective pregnancy tests, condoms and emergency contraception pills. (Luthra, 8/9)

The New York Times: Extreme Heat And Your Body: What Happens When It Gets Too Hot? 
High temperatures can put the body under immense stress. Here’s what that looks like. (Smith and Isac, 8/9)

The New York Times: Heat Singes The Mind, Not Just The Body
If you find that the blistering, unrelenting heat is making you anxious and irritable, even depressed, it’s not all in your head. Soaring temperatures can damage not just the body but also the mind. As heat waves become more intense, more frequent and longer, it has become increasingly important to address the impact on mental health, scientists say. (Mandavilli, 8/10)

NPR: Heat Makes Health Inequity Worse. People With Health Risks Are Hit Harder 
Heat is dangerous for the many people with common conditions like diabetes or heart disease. And vulnerable communities face greater exposure to heat and fewer resources to escape it. (Noguchi, 8/10)

Axios: Hospitals And Clinics Are Now Among America's Most Dangerous Workplaces
Health care workers are increasingly being assaulted or shot on the job, making hospitals and clinics among the most dangerous workplaces in America. Violence was a serious problem before COVID-19 — the field suffered more nonfatal injuries from workplace assaults than any other profession, even law enforcement, per the Associated Press — and pandemic stressors like backlash against public health measures have made matters worse. (Reed and Millman, 8/10)

More health industry updates —

ABC News: Amazon-Owned One Medical Begins Opening New Locations Across US
Amazon is beginning to open new locations of the primary care provider One Medical -- a potential game-changer for medical care -- which it acquired earlier this year, as the tech giant moves into the health care space. One Medical told ABC News it has just opened two locations in Connecticut, is planning to open a third office in the Castro neighborhood in San Francisco, and will open its first office in Milwaukee this fall. (Kekatos, 8/9)

Axios: New Orleans To Provide Free Nurse Visits And Newborn Supply Kits For New Moms 
Leaders are taking action to help pregnant women and new moms in New Orleans, who are dying at greater rates than most other places in the country. Officials are launching two new programs in hopes of improving outcomes for moms and infants in a state plagued by poverty. (Wells, 8/9)

St. Louis Public Radio: South City Hospital Closure Leaves Economic Void In Dutchtown
Community leaders in south St. Louis say the closing of a troubled hospital leaves an economic and social hole in the Dutchtown neighborhood. Owners of South City Hospital, previously known as St. Alexius, announced last week they were closing the 178-bed location, according to the hospital’s receiver, Daniel Wiggins. The hospital moved patients and laid off most employees, with a few security workers staying to guard the property, he said. (Fentem, 8/10)

Fox News: AI Stepping In To Assist 911 Operators Battered By Tragic Calls, Understaffing
Answering frantic calls of suicide, car accidents or a child choking are daily realities for 911 operators, who often never get closure on the tragedies they experience on the other end of a phone line. With the help of artificial intelligence, operators’ mental health could be bolstered at a time when the majority of call centers are understaffed and as operators still reel from the chaos caused by the pandemic and its lockdowns. (Colton, 8/10)

In legal news —

Health News Florida: Class-Action Lawsuit Filed Against Tampa General Hospital Over Recent Data Breach 
A proposed class-action lawsuit has been filed against Tampa General Hospital claiming negligence led to a May cyberattack that resulted in data theft affecting about 1.2 million patients. The lawsuit, filed last week in Hillsborough County, alleges the breach was preventable and that the hospital “exacerbated the harm” by failing to notify those affected until “months” after the attack. (Mayer, 8/9)

AP: A Lawsuit Accuses A Georgia Doctor Of Decapitating A Baby During Delivery 
A doctor used too much force and decapitated a Georgia woman’s baby during delivery, according to a lawsuit attorneys said was filed Wednesday. The baby’s mother and father, Jessica Ross and Treveon Isaiah Taylor Sr., attended a news conference in Atlanta where their attorneys announced the lawsuit against Dr. Tracey St. Julian and Southern Regional Medical Center, a hospital in Riverdale, Georgia, where Ross went on July 9 to have her son. ... According to the suit, the baby got stuck during delivery, but St. Julian delayed a surgical procedure and failed to seek help quickly. Instead, she applied “ridiculously excessive force” on the baby’s head and neck to try to deliver it, attorney Roderick Edmond, who is also a physician, said. (Thanawala, 8/9)

ProPublica: This PA Doctor Has Been Investigated At Every Level. How Is He Still Practicing? 
Medical boards, a health department and even federal investigators have scrutinized Dr. James McGuckin’s vascular clinics. Today he still practices, despite a decadelong string of sanctions, fines and lawsuits. (Waldman, 8/9)

Fierce Healthcare: Hospitals Often Charge Commercial Plans Double Or More Than MA For Same Services, Study Finds
Hospitals nationwide charge payers more than double for healthcare services covered under commercial plans than they do for the same insurer’s Medicare Advantage (MA) plans, according to a recent Johns Hopkins analysis of hospitals’ published pricing data. (Muoio, 8/9)

Fierce Healthcare: Most MA Enrollees Don't Fully Understand Their Plan
Most Medicare Advantage (MA) beneficiaries are satisfied with their health plan, but many enrollees feel they are overbilled, have struggled navigating the prior authorization process or are confused by the features of their plan, a new survey from Retirement Living recently revealed. (Tong, 8/9)

Modern Healthcare: CMS’ Updated HCAHPS Survey For Patients Explained
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is revising its patient experience survey to address low response rates and expand data on care quality. Announced Aug.1 as part of the agency's inpatient prospective payment system final rule, the modifications to the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey have been years in the making. (Devereaux, 8/9)

On Medicaid —

Politico: Biden's Medicaid Wins Are Being Undone At The Worst Possible Time 
The U.S. is dismantling one of the last major pillars of its Covid-era safety net. For President Joe Biden, the timing couldn’t be worse. States across the country, both blue and red, are purging their Medicaid programs of millions of low-income enrollees for the first time in three years, after a pandemic policy meant to prevent vulnerable people from suddenly losing health coverage expired earlier this spring. (Cancryn and Messerly, 8/9)

Minneapolis Public Radio: Medicaid Coverage Ends For 32,600 Minnesotans, Thousands Renew 
In the first look at Medicaid renewals following the end of a pause to eligibility determinations, the Minnesota Department of Human Services said Wednesday nearly 50,000 people renewed their public insurance eligibility. But coverage stopped for about 32,600 people whose status is unknown. (Thamer, 8/9)

KFF Health News: Medi-Cal Covers Gender-Transition Treatment, But Getting It Isn’t Easy 
From an early age, Pasha Wrangell felt different. Societal expectations of boys, and many characteristics of masculinity, did not match how Wrangell felt inside. Bullied and ostracized, Wrangell started repressing those feelings in middle school and kept them bottled up for a long time. That led to decades of sadness, isolation, and even a couple of suicide attempts. What gnawed at Wrangell was gender dysphoria, a condition widely acknowledged in the medical community, which causes severe distress to people whose sexual identity does not match their sex assigned at birth. (Wolfson, 8/10)

KFF Health News: Lost Medicaid Health Coverage? Here’s What You Need To Know 
The nation’s health insurance system is undergoing tremendous upheaval as an estimated 8.2 million people will need to find new coverage since pandemic protections for Medicaid enrollees came to an end this spring. That’s leaving many patients confused about how to get new medical insurance. “It’s an overwhelming task,” said Taffy Morrison, who is working to connect Louisiana residents to new coverage through the nonprofit Southwest Louisiana Area Health Education Center. But Morrison reminds people: “Don’t panic. There is help.” (Liss, 8/10)

Politico: Anti-Abortion Movement Clashes Over Crushing Defeat In Ohio 
With no consensus on the real reason for the loss in a state dominated by Republicans, some are pleading with the GOP to move away from backing near-total bans with no exemptions to stave off further electoral disaster. (Ollstein, 8/10)

The Washington Post: Democrats Embrace Abortion Rights Even More Tightly After Ohio Result 
After Ohio voters turned out in unexpectedly high numbers Tuesday to reject a Republican-backed referendum that would have made it harder to enshrine abortion rights in the state’s constitution, Democrats are eyeing new opportunities to highlight abortion rights in the 2024 election. They are pushing new ballot initiatives on abortion access in places like Arizona and Florida, calling out Republicans in states where bans are taking effect, and encouraging President Biden to speak out more forcefully on the issue as he pursues a campaign that so far has focused more on the economy. (Olorunnipa, Roubein and Marley, 8/9)

Abortion news from Maine, Utah, Minnesota, and Montana —

AP: Opponents Of Maine's New Abortion Law Won't Seek To Nullify It Through A Referendum
Groups opposed to Maine’s new law expanding abortion access won’t attempt to nullify the statute through a so-called People’s Veto referendum. Republican Rep. Laurel Libby, leader of the Speak Up for LIFE group, said Wednesday that allies have decided to focus their resources on electing candidates who are opposed to abortions instead of collecting signatures and running a referendum campaign. (Sharp, 8/9)

Axios: Utah Supreme Court Weighs Abortion Ban, Exclusion Of Women In Lawmaking 
As the Utah Supreme Court reviewed the pending abortion ban Tuesday, attorneys defending the ban asked the five justices to focus on the intentions of the delegates who drafted the state constitution more than a century ago. It could be days or weeks before the Utah Supreme Court rules on whether to lift the injunction and allow the ban to take effect, the AP reported Tuesday. (Alberty, 8/9)

KFF Health News: Voters Rejected An Anti-Abortion Measure. State GOP Lawmakers Passed A Similar Bill Anyway. 
In the months following the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision that gave states the power to ban abortion, voters in a half-dozen states spoke on the issue — and, in every case, chose to uphold abortion rights or reject an attempt to restrict them. Most recently, Ohio voters on Aug. 8 rejected a Republican-led effort to make it more difficult to change that state’s constitution, which would have set a higher bar for an abortion rights ballot initiative this fall. But the will of the electorate didn’t stop Republican lawmakers in one state, Montana, from passing a version of the anti-abortion proposal that voters rejected only months earlier. (Dennison, 8/10)

Minneapolis Public Radio: 'The Last Safe Abortion' – A Photo Exhibition At The Minneapolis Institute Of Art
At the Minneapolis Institute of Art, there is a series of archival photographs on display that document a patient in the before-and-after process of a surgical abortion circa the 1980s. The series is part of the new Mia exhibition “The Last Safe Abortion” by Ohio-based artist Carmen Winant. The exhibition includes hundreds of historic, archival and contemporary photographs taken across the Midwest, defined by Winant as Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, North Dakota and Ohio. (Cipolle, 8/9)

In other reproductive health news —

The Boston Globe: Leominster Hospital Maternity Ward Essential, State Finds
The state is requiring UMass Memorial Health to submit detailed explanations and workarounds for its planned closure of a Leominster hospital’s maternity unit after finding that the services are critical to maintaining health in the region. The determination, outlined in a letter addressed to the hospital, won’t stop the closure from happening but aims to protect some of the community’s most vulnerable residents. However, advocates are pointing to the Department of Public Health letter as justification for their position that the hospital should reverse its decision. They have called on the Healey administration to get involved to preserve the service. (Bartlett, 8/9)

CIDRAP: SARS-CoV-2 Can Damage Mitochondrion In Heart, Other Organs, Study Finds
The COVID-19 International Research Team (COV-IRT) and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) report that they have identified abnormal mitochondrial function in the heart, kidneys, and liver after SARS-CoV-2 infection, which leads to long-term damage and may help explain long COVID. Mitochondria are the so-called "powerhouses" of cells, and the researchers noted that previous studies have shown that SARS-CoV-2 proteins can bind to mitochondrial proteins in host cells, possibly leading to dysregulation. (Van Beusekom, 8/9)

AP: COVID-19 Took A Toll On Heart Health And Doctors Are Still Grappling With How To Help
Firefighter and paramedic Mike Camilleri once had no trouble hauling heavy gear up ladders. Now battling long COVID, he gingerly steps onto a treadmill to learn how his heart handles a simple walk. “This is, like, not a tough-guy test so don’t fake it,” warned Beth Hughes, a physical therapist at Washington University in St. Louis. Somehow, a mild case of COVID-19 set off a chain reaction that eventually left Camilleri with dangerous blood pressure spikes, a heartbeat that raced with slight exertion, and episodes of intense chest pain. Doctors were stumped until Camilleri found a Washington University cardiologist who’d treated patients with similar post-COVID heart trouble. (Neergaard, 8/10)

On the covid surge —

Bloomberg: Covid-19 Hospitalizations Rose 43% From Late June, First Time This Year
Covid-19 hospitalizations are creeping up in the US for the first time this year as extreme heat keeps people indoors and protection against infection fades. Covid hospital admissions rose 43% in the last week in July from a low in the week ending June 24, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. While they’re still lower than at any other point over thee past three years, public health officials across the country are urging caution about increases. (Griffin, 8/9)

San Francisco Chronicle: California COVID Surge Confirmed By 48% Walgreens Positivity Rate
The recent resurgence of COVID-19 in California is confirmed by a significant upswing in positive test results at Walgreens locations across the state. Data from the pharmacy chain reveal that the positivity rate of coronavirus tests conducted at its stores around California has reached 48.3% — the highest figure since January and nearly double the 27% figure recorded in June. (Vaziri, 8/9)

Reuters: With Eris On The Rise, US CDC Sees No Major Shift In COVID Variants
Currently spreading COVID-19 variants such as EG.5, or Eris, do not represent a major shift and updated vaccines in September will offer protection, the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Wednesday. "Right now, what we're seeing with the changes in the viruses, they're still susceptible to our vaccine, they're still susceptible to our medicines, they're still picked up by the tests," Director Dr. Mandy Cohen said in an interview on former Biden administration adviser Andy Slavitt's "In the Bubble" podcast. "We're seeing small changes that are what I would call subtypes of what we've seen before." (8/9)

NBC News: Covid, Flu, RSV Vaccines Urged As Officials Brace For Respiratory Season
For the first time this fall, there will be three different vaccines against the biggest respiratory virus threats: a new Covid booster, the yearly flu shot and two RSV vaccines for older adults. On Tuesday, state health officials urged eligible Americans to get the vaccines ahead of what many believe could be an intense winter respiratory season, especially after several years of unpredictable viral activity. (Edwards, 8/9)

In other pandemic news —

Stat: CDC Overhauls Leadership Of Center That Led Response To Covid-19
The new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Mandy Cohen, is overhauling the leadership of the CDC center that led the agency’s Covid-19 response. In an announcement to staff issued Tuesday, Cohen said José Romero, who headed the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases for the past 14 months, would be leaving the CDC at the end of August. (Branswell, 8/9)

Stat: Scientists Look To Stop Next Global Pandemic From Starting In Africa
Lassa fever has been simmering in West Africa for at least half a millennium, killing roughly 5,000 people each year, according to the most recent estimates. But it was only 15 years ago when patients first started being diagnosed and treated in Nigeria, the result of two geneticists’ collaboration — Christian Happi at Redeemer’s University and Pardis Sabeti halfway across the world at the Broad Institute. (Bajaj and Tsanni, 8/9)

AP: An Illicit, Chinese-Owned Lab Fueled Conspiracy Theories. But Officials Say It Posed No Danger
Jesalyn Harper, the only full-time code enforcement officer for the small, agricultural city of Reedley in California’s Central Valley, was responding to a complaint about vehicles parked in the loading dock of a cold-storage warehouse when she noticed a foul smell and saw a garden hose snaking into the old building. A woman in a lab coat answered her knock, and behind her were two others in plastic gloves and blue surgical masks, packing pregnancy tests for shipping. Harper said they spoke broken English and told her they were from China. Walking through the lab, she found dozens of refrigerators and ultralow-temperature freezers hooked to illegal wiring; vials of blood and jars of urine in shelves and plastic containers; and about 1,000 white lab mice being kept in crowded, soiled containers. (Rodriguez, 8/9)

FiercePharma: BioNTech And Twitter Warned By PR Body For Trying To Duck COVID-19 Vaccine Debate 
The self-regulatory body of the German communications industry has accused BioNTech of trying to pull out of a public debate about vaccine patents. BioNTech received the warning after it asked Twitter to “hide” its account ahead of an online campaign that targeted developers of COVID-19 vaccines in 2020. (Taylor, 8/10)

The Washington Post: Why Moving Fast 3 Minutes A Day Can Lower Cancer Risk 
Run to catch the bus and you might also help to lower your risk of developing at least 13 types of cancer, according to a surprising new study in JAMA Oncology. The study used activity-tracker data for more than 22,000 men and women to show that those people who moved fast for at least 3 minutes a day, rushing up the stairs or hurrying to the subway, were about 30 percent less likely to die of many types of cancer than people who almost always strolled gently from place to place, even if none of them otherwise exercised. (Reynolds, 8/9)

CBS News: Daily Sugary Drinks Can Increase Liver Cancer Risk In Women, Study Suggests
A team of researchers, including from Harvard, studied dietary data on nearly 100,000 postmenopausal women over two decades. They found that those who consumed one or more servings a day of sugar-sweetened beverages, such as soda, had significantly higher rates of liver cancer and chronic liver disease compared to women who drank these beverages no more than three times a month. (Marshall, 8/9)

USA Today: Anxiety, Depression Not Linked To Common Cancer Types, Study Finds
In a study published this week in the journal "Cancer," they found no link between depression or anxiety and breast, prostate, colon or alcohol-related cancers over 26 years. Anxiety or depression did lead to a 6% increased risk for developing lung cancer and other smoking-related cancers, but most of that link disappeared when researches accounted for how much someone smoked. "We hope our findings provde some relief and people don't get stuck in the thought process, 'maybe if I had had therapy sooner for my depression' or 'maybe if I had worked harder in my therapy,' or 'maybe just got myself out of bed or left the house' this might not have happened to me," said Lonneke van Tuijl, who helped lead the research and is now at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. "We don't find evidence for that." (Weintraub, 8/10)

Axios: Patients May Miss Out On Free Coverage Of Cancer Screenings And Vaccinations
Health insurers are failing to adequately inform consumers about preventive services they are entitled to receive at no additional cost, according to a new report from consumer representatives to the national trade group for state insurance regulators. (Goldman, 8/10)

Cancer drugs and treatments —

Reuters: US FDA Approves J&J's Blood Cancer Therapy
Johnson & Johnson said on Thursday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had approved its antibody-based therapy for patients with a difficult-to-treat type of blood cancer. The therapy, talquetamab-tgvs branded as Talvey, belongs to a class called bispecific antibodies designed to bring a cancer cell and an immune cell together so the body's immune system can kill the cancer. (8/10)

Stat: Genentech Weighs Delaying Cancer Therapy After Drug Pricing Law
Plenty of pharmaceutical executives have decried Democrats’ new drug pricing law as detrimental to the industry. But few are willing to say they may be willing to delay treatments for cancer patients if it means making more money. (Cohrs, 8/10)

Fox News: Novel Cancer Treatment Offers New Hope When Chemo And Radiation Fail: ‘Big Change In People's Lives'
When it comes to cancer treatments, most people are familiar with chemotherapy, radiation and surgery. Yet there is another emerging, lesser-known therapy that is showing promising results in treating blood cancers. With CAR T-cell therapy, the patient’s T-cells are taken from the blood, engineered to attack cancer cells and then infused back into the patient’s body through an IV, Dr. Noopur Raje told Fox News Digital. (Rudy, 8/10)

Nature: How A Controversial US Drug Policy Could Be Harming Cancer Patients Worldwide
The FDA’s accelerated-approval process was designed to help people access life-saving drugs. But gaps in communication could mean that people are undergoing treatments known to be ineffective. (8/9)

In news about asbestos —

The Boston Globe: Paul Brodeur, Environmental Writer Who Exposed Dangers Of Asbestos, Dies At 92
A few years before Paul Brodeur began publishing groundbreaking New Yorker magazine articles about environmental hazards and the dangers of asbestos, he was already writing powerful fiction, including a short story drawn from his own heartbreaking experience. (Marquard, 8/9)

AP: Montana Clinic Files For Bankruptcy Following $6 Million Judgment Over False Asbestos Claims 
A health clinic in a Montana town plagued by deadly asbestos contamination has filed for bankruptcy protection after a judge ordered it to pay the government almost $6 million in penalties and damages for submitting hundreds of false claims for benefits. The federal bankruptcy filing, submitted Tuesday, will allow the Center for Asbestos Related Disease clinic in the small town of Libby to continue operating while it appeals last month’s judgment, said clinic director Tracy McNew. (Brown, 8/9)

KPAX: Wildfire At Libby Asbestos Superfund Site Contained
A wildfire that was burning in the Libby Asbestos Superfund Site has been contained at two acres. Because the Tub Gulch Fire was burning in the former mine site, the Lincoln County Asbestos Resource Program was collecting air samples to check for asbestos levels. (8/7)

USA Today: Heartburn Relief Medicine For Acid Reflux Raises Dementia Risk: Study
People who use a common type of acid reflux drug for more than four years face a higher risk of dementia later in life, a new study found. The research examined people prescribed proton pump inhibitors for frequent acid reflux, stomach ulcers or other digestive tract issues. Those who took the drugs more than 4.4 years had a 33% greater likelihood of developing dementia compared to those who did not take the medication, according to a study published Wednesday in the medical journal "Neurology." (Alltucker, 8/9)

Fox News: Loss Of Smell Could Be Warning Sign For Future Alzheimer’s Disease, Researchers Say 
Loss of the sense of smell could be a warning sign of future Alzheimer’s disease, as a recent study published in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, noted. Those who carry the APOE4 gene have a higher risk of both developing Alzheimer’s and of losing the ability to detect odors, the findings stated. (Rudy, 8/9)

Wired: A New Blood Test May Predict Your Alzheimer’s Risk. Should You Take It? 
Some experts question the usefulness of the test, especially for those who are cognitively healthy. “It can be very empowering to check yourself, but what does an individual do with that information?” says James Leverenz, a neurologist at the Cleveland Clinic who heads the Cleveland Alzheimer's Disease Research Center. “Most of us would love to have a treatment that we can take before we develop symptoms.” But such a drug doesn’t exist. (Mullin, 8/8)

In other mental health news —

Stat: People With Autism Are More Likely To Engage In Self-Harm: Study
Autistic people are at a much higher risk of self-harm leading to emergency care or suicide, according to a recent study published in JAMA Network Open. In particular, the study found, autistic females had an 83% increased risk of self-harm compared to non-autistic females, while for males, the increased risk compared to non-autistic individuals was 47%. (Merelli, 8/9)

CNN: What We Can Learn From Simone Biles’ Mental Health Break
A mental health break seems to have done the trick for champion gymnast Simone Biles. The four-time Olympic gold medal winner returned to competition after a two-year hiatus to claim first place at the Core Hydration Classic on August 5. “I worked on myself a lot, I still do therapy weekly, and it’s just been so exciting to come out here and have the confidence I had before,” Biles said in an interview with CNBC after the event in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. (Holcombe, 8/9)

If you are in need of help —

Dial 9-8-8 for 24/7 support from the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. It's free and confidential.

Reuters: Novo Nordisk Extends U.S. Supply Curbs On Weight-Loss Drug Wegovy
Novo Nordisk will continue to restrict U.S. supplies of starter doses of its hugely popular Wegovy weight-loss drug in the coming quarters, it said on Thursday, as the company struggles to keep up with soaring U.S. demand. (Skydsgaard, 8/10)

Stat: Telehealth Drives Many Weight Loss Drug Prescriptions, Claims Suggest
As a new class of obesity medications has soared in popularity, so have the online outlets built to get them in the hands of patients. A new analysis of claims data from Trilliant Health suggests that collectively, telehealth companies — in particular, cash-pay options that market directly to consumers — could account for nearly half of the patients with insurance claims for GLP-1 prescriptions in 2022. (Palmer, 8/10)

On psychedelic-assisted therapy —

Axios: Psychedelic Therapy Group Outlines First-Ever Professional Guidelines
The accrediting association for psychedelic practitioners has outlined what it says are the first set of professional guidelines for psychedelic-assisted therapy. The principles outlined by the American Psychedelic Practitioners Association aim to bring structure to the field amid rapidly growing interest in incorporating psychedelics like psilocybin and MDMA into mental health treatment. (Goldman, 8/10)

In other pharmaceutical industry news —

WUSF Public Media: Pharmacists At The Tampa VA Hospital Say They're Struggling With Staff Shortages And Burnout
Pharmacists at the James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital in Tampa have passed a vote of no confidence in leadership with the health system, citing poor working conditions and a lack of support from management. The pharmacists are members of the American Federation of Government Employees. Union representatives say pharmacists have experienced significant changes in workload in recent years as several full-time staff members have left. (Colombini, 8/9)

Columbus Dispatch: OhioHealth Says Drone Program Will Speed Deliveries, Improve Outcomes
Your prescription from OhioHealth may arrive by drone one day. The operator of hospitals including Grant Medical Center and Riverside Methodist Hospital has struck a partnership with drone company Zipline that will allow OhioHealth to deliver prescriptions directly to patients' homes and move lab samples and supplies between OhioHealth facilities. (Williams, 8/9)

Stat: Illumina Slashes 2023 Revenue Projections Yet Again 
After starting off the year with lower revenue projections than market analysts had hoped for, San Diego-based genomics giant Illumina lowered expectations again on Wednesday, forecasting annual growth of 1% compared to the previous year. (Wosen, 8/9)

The Boston Globe: With The Buyout Of Decibel, A Once Promising Local Biotech Cluster Has Faded From The Scene
Biotech giant Regeneron agreed Wednesday to pay $109 million for Boston-based Decibel Therapeutics, the third buyout in the past year of Massachusetts companies developing treatments for hearing loss. At the start of 2020, a trio of local biotechs — Decibel, Akouos, and Frequency Therapeutics — jockeyed for position in the vanguard of hearing restoration, drawing on expertise from Harvard, MIT, and Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. With the acquisition of Decibel, which has a gene therapy in clinical trials, all three have now been acquired, though their research will continue under new owners. (Weisman, 8/9)

San Francisco Chronicle: Fentanyl Crisis: California Teen Overdose Deaths Plunged In 2022
Newly released state data showed 151 teens ages 15 to 19 died from a fentanyl overdose in 2022, down from 230 the year before and 250 in 2020 — a 40% decline in two years, according to preliminary state data updated late last week. (Tucker, 8/9)

New Hampshire Public Radio: In Northern NH, The Opioid Crisis Is Getting Worse. Communities Are Searching For Answers — And More Attention
On a weekday evening in July, four dozen people sat on folding chairs in a college cafeteria in Berlin. The group included city leaders, local residents, public health workers and others — all touched in some way by the drug epidemic and looking for a way forward. The police chief, Dan Buteau, walked up to a mic. He’s been on the force for two decades, as the opioid crisis has swelled. But last year was the worst he’s ever seen. In this city of 9,000 people, 11 died of overdoses. (Cuno-Booth, 8/9)

Stat: Naloxone Nonprofit Donates 200,000 Doses After FDA Approval
A nonprofit naloxone manufacturer is celebrating its recent market approval by giving away 200,000 doses of its over-the-counter nasal spray. Harm Reduction Therapeutics said in a statement that it will donate nearly a quarter-million doses of its new product to the Remedy Alliance, an organization devoted to affordable naloxone access. (Facher, 8/9)

Los Angeles Times: Los Angeles Crime Lab Finds 4% Of Seized Fentanyl Samples Contain Flesh-Eating Sedative
Five months after public health officials warned Angelenos that a dangerous, flesh-eating sedative may have infiltrated the illicit drug supply, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department confirmed that it has arrived on the city’s streets. Results from a three-month pilot program showed that just over 4% of seized fentanyl samples tested by the department’s crime lab came back positive for xylazine, an animal tranquilizer that experts say is frequently mixed with illicit opioids to prolong the high. (Blakinger, 8/9)

Reuters: Defunct Ohio Drug Distributor To Settle Opioid Cases With Remaining Insurance Funds 
A now-defunct Ohio drug distributor has agreed to pay no more than about $4 million to settle lawsuits by cities and counties that it contributed to the U.S. opioid epidemic, after the state's top court ruled that one of its insurers did not have to cover costs stemming from the cases. The settlement is limited by the funds available from Masters Pharmaceutical Inc's only available insurance policy, through Chubb, according to a Wednesday order by U.S. District Judge Dan Polster in Cleveland halting litigation against the company. (Pierson, 8/9)

Nj.Com: N.J. Investigating Another Legionnaires’ Outbreak In North Jersey 
The state Health Department is investigating the spread of Legionnaires’ disease among nine residents in Passaic and Bergen counties, where a cluster of cases was detected last winter, acting state Health Commissioner Kaitlan Baston announced. ... In last year’s outbreak and in the current cluster of cases, the state declined to say where in Bergen and Passaic counties the affected people live. In March, the health department reported seven Legionnaire’s cases in Trenton, Ewing, and parts of Lawrence and Hopewell Township in Mercer County. All the homes were served by Trenton Water Works. Two people died. (Livio, 8/9)

Axios: Washington State Reports Second Case Of Tick-Borne Anaplasmosis
While Washington state is still far from being the tick haven found in other parts of the country, climate change and warmer temperatures are expected to bring the blood-sucking parasites closer to home. Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department reported the state's second case of anaplasmosis, a tick-borne disease, last month. It was diagnosed in a woman who had spent time in wooded areas of Puyallup and Eatonville. (Clarridge, 8/9)

CBS News: Dallas County Officials Concerned After Irving Woman Dies From West Nile Virus
Dallas County officials are concerned after an Irving woman died from West Nile virus. It was the first death from the mosquito-borne virus in North Texas this year. The woman had been diagnosed with neuroinvasive disease, which, according to the CDC, occurs in less than 1% of those with West Nile. (Leach, 8/9)

Axios: Colorado's Childhood Immunization Rates Decline As Exemptions Rise 
Immunizations among school-age children continue to decline in Colorado, falling below 90% for the second year in a row. Colorado's vaccination rates remain among the nation's lowest, and public health officials are warning parents about the possibility of outbreaks in the upcoming school year. (Frank, 8/9)

Axios: Noise Pollution Puts Chicago Residents' Health At Risk 
Chicago has had some of the worst air quality, severe heat islands and leftover lead pipes in the country. Add noise pollution to the mix. Noise pollution is proven to take years off your life. A recent New York Times investigation shows chronic noise — as suffered by residents near flight paths — can shorten life spans. (Kaufmann, 8/9)

AP: Sen. Dianne Feinstein, 90, Falls At Home And Goes To Hospital, But Scans Are Clear, Her Office Says
U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the oldest member of Congress, fell in her home and went to a hospital for a short time, her office said on Wednesday. The 90-year-old California Democrat, who has faced mounting concerns about her health and her ability to perform the duties of a senator, “briefly went to the hospital yesterday afternoon as a precaution after a minor fall in her home,” her office said in a statement. All of her scans were clear, and she returned home later Tuesday, said her spokesman Adam Russell, who provided no further details. (8/9)

On the fight surrounding transgender health care —

The Washington Post: Florida Says AP Psychology Doesn’t Violate The Law, After All
After days of confusion, the Florida education commissioner said in a letter sent late Wednesday that high schools may teach Advanced Placement Psychology without running afoul of Florida law — including material on sexual orientation and gender identity. Last week, Commissioner Manny Díaz Jr. told districts that the class could be offered, but only if material on those topics was excluded, according to district officials on a call with him. Large school districts across Florida responded by dropping the course and began a stressful process of quickly preparing instructors to teach new curriculum. (Meckler, 8/9)

CNN: Transgender And Nonbinary Patients Have No Regrets About Top Surgery, Small Study Finds
Some arguments in favor of laws that restrict gender-affirming care claim that patients may some day regret any irreversible or semi-irreversible part of their transition, but a small new study found that satisfaction with one such surgery is significant, even over the long term. The study, published Wednesday in the journal JAMA Surgery, shows that people who had a gender-affirming mastectomy, sometimes called top surgery, had extremely low rates of decisional regret and extremely high levels of satisfaction with their decision to have the procedure. (Christensen, 8/9)

CIDRAP: Delirium Incidence Rose Among Geriatric Patients During Pandemic 
A 5-year cross-sectional study published yesterday in JAMA Network Open shows the absolute rates of delirium among hospitalized older adults increased from 35.9 per 1,000 admitted population during the years immediately preceding the pandemic, to 41.5 per 1,000 admitted population throughout the first 2 years of the pandemic. (Soucheray, 8/8)

ScienceDaily: Sugars In Breastmilk Could Help Treat Infections, Prevent Preterm Births 
Breastfeeding has long been used as a method to help keep newborns healthy and protected against a variety of diseases. But certain sugars naturally found in breastmilk could also help prevent infections before a baby arrives. Researchers have found that these sugars can stop a common prenatal infection in human tissues and pregnant mice. (American Chemical Society, 8/9)

CIDRAP: Prior Infections Influence Opinions Of COVID-19 Vaccines 
A survey given to Americans in December of 2021 shows whether or not recipients had been infected with COVID-19 before or after vaccination against the virus greatly influenced their opinion of the vaccines. The study is published in The American Journal of Infection Control. (Soucheray, 8/7)

Bloomberg: Covid EG.5 Subvariant Surge: Is Heat To Blame? 
Is the current rise in Covid hospitalizations really the result of people moving indoors to enjoy air conditioning? Experts and journalists often make this assumption when they’re quoted in the media about the virus’s small summer “waves” or “surges” (which, this year, is really more like a small uptick). (F.D. Flam, 8/9)

Stat: Mark Cuban Is Blaming The Wrong People For High Drug Costs
Mark Cuban, the Dallas Mavericks owner and “Shark Tank” star, has been making headlines recently with his direct-to-consumer venture, Cost Plus Drugs. The company sells generic prescription drugs and boasts more than 2 million members. As a family medicine specialist who has firsthand experience with American households’ dissatisfaction with the state of the nation’s prescription drug marketplace, I believe the enthusiasm for Cost Plus Drugs reveals an appetite for alternatives to the status quo in the pharmaceutical industry. (Josh Wenzell, 8/10)

Los Angeles Times: I Treat Schizophrenia. It's Getting Hard To Distinguish Its Delusions From Our Current Digital Reality 
I have been running a day treatment program for individuals with schizophrenia for nearly seven years. Schizophrenia is an often life-altering psychiatric condition that is characterized by profound changes in cognition, perception and emotional expression. Among the core symptoms are delusional thoughts, currently defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM-5, as “fixed beliefs that are not amenable to change in light of conflicting evidence.” (Alaina Burns, 8/10)

The Star Tribune: Medicaid 'Unwinding' Creates Challenges
The plight of a Florida family illustrates the high stakes involved in "Medicaid unwinding" — the massive effort underway nationwide to redetermine medical assistance eligibility in the COVID pandemic's aftermath. (8/9)

Modern Healthcare: Working To Elevate The Patient Experience
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. (Camille Haycock and Patrick Ryan, 8/9)