AP: Biden Signs Executive Order To Protect Travel For Abortion 
President Joe Biden on Wednesday signed an executive order that lays the groundwork for Medicaid to help women seeking abortions to travel between states to obtain access to the procedure. The details are still being worked out, and the administration faces a challenging legal landscape because it’s illegal to use federal funding to pay for abortions unless the woman’s life is in danger or the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest. (Kim and Megerian, 8/3)

The Hill: Biden Signs Executive Order To Support Patients Traveling For Abortions 
Biden’s executive order also directs HHS to consider actions like providing technical assistance and issuing new guidance to make sure health care providers comply with nondiscrimination laws in the wake of the ruling. And the order instructs HHS to improve federal research and data collection at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in order to evaluate the impact of the Supreme Court’s ruling on maternal health and reproductive healthcare.  (Chalfant, 8/3)

Bloomberg: Democrats Aren’t Forgiving Biden for His Slow Response to the Roe Reversal
“It will take a long time to get a shift in our Constitution,” says Fatima Goss Graves, president and chief executive officer of the National Women’s Law Center. “That does not absolve anyone at any level.” One former administration official puts it more pointedly: “What the hell? They had plenty of time to figure this out.” (Cook, 8/4)

CNN: What The Kansas Abortion Surprise Does (And Does Not) Mean For November
Given the chance to support abortion rights, even in a reliably Republican state in the middle of the country, voters will support abortion rights. That's the unexpected and consequential lesson from the Kansas primary on Tuesday. (Wolf, 8/3)

The New York Times: How Democrats See Abortion Politics After Kansas Vote 
A decisive vote to defend abortion rights in deeply conservative Kansas reverberated across the midterm campaign landscape on Wednesday, galvanizing Democrats and underscoring for Republicans the risks of overreaching on one of the most emotionally charged matters in American politics. (Glueck and Goldmacher, 8/3)

AP: Abortion Vote In Kansas Sparks New Hope For Dems In Midterms
The Kansas vote suggests that threats to abortion rights may energize Democrats in a way few political leaders can. And it comes at a moment when the party is gaining momentum on other fronts, including a legislative package to reduce prescription drug prices, combat climate change and raise taxes on corporations. The challenge for Democrats will be to maintain the energy for several more months and defy trends that typically trip up the party in power. (Peoples, 8/4)

The New York Times: In Kansas, Support For Abortion Rights Didn’t Just Come From The Usual Places 
DeAnn Hupe Seib is a fiscally conservative, churchgoing Republican from rural Kansas. When faced with a ballot question about whether abortion rights ought to be removed from her state’s constitution, she voted no. So did her home, Jefferson County, which favored Donald J. Trump by a 32-point margin in 2020.“I was old enough that I remember stories of women who could not get abortions or had to defy their church in order to get in and get an abortion in order to save their lives,” said Ms. Hupe Seib, 63, a lawyer. “So it’s a very real issue to me, and I know it can be again.” (Smith, Fox and Dias, 8/3)

The Washington Post: How Kansas Organizers Beat The Abortion Referendum 
When abortion rights organizer Jae Gray sent canvassers out into the Kansas City suburbs for the state’s upcoming referendum, they armed them with talking points aimed at all voters — not just liberals. “We definitely used messaging strategies that would work regardless of party affiliation,” said Gray, a field organizer for Kansans for Constitutional Freedom. “We believe every Kansan has a right to make personal health-care decisions without government overreach — that’s obviously a conservative-friendly talking point. We were not just talking to Democrats.” (Gowen, 8/3)

How could Kansas' vote affect Ohio, Missouri, Kentucky, Michigan, or Montana? —

Columbus Dispatch: What Does Kansas' Abortion Vote Mean For A Future Ohio Amendment?
Voters in red-state Kansas easily rejected an effort to strip abortion protections from the state's Constitution in the nation's first test of how Americans would respond to the overturning of Roe v. Wade. That's caught the attention of Ohioans who want to enshrine abortion access in the state Constitution, sidestepping the GOP-controlled Legislature and its restrictions on the procedure. (Balmert, 8/4)

Politico: Kansas Landslide Fuels Abortion Rights Movement’s Next Fights
On Wednesday, while the dust was settling from the Kansas vote, progressives were already urging members of like-minded Facebook groups to help collect signatures to put an abortion rights amendment before Missouri voters in 2023. “Some of these places you may think are so deeply red that no measure to protect abortion could ever succeed,” said Fairness Project Executive Director Kelly Hall. “But don’t write off these states. No matter where you live, there is hope on the horizon.” (Ollstein, 8/3)

The Hill: Why Kansas Is Giving Abortion Rights Advocates A Reason To Be Optimistic In November 
In Kentucky, residents will be asked to weigh in on a state constitutional amendment that says, “Nothing in this Constitution shall be construed to secure or protect a right to abortion or require the funding of abortion.” In Michigan, residents will vote on a ballot measure that would amend the state constitution, protecting the right to make choices on reproductive issues such as contraception and abortion. Over in Montana, there’s also a ballot measure that would require that infants born following an abortion attempt to be provided medical care. (Vakil and Kruzel, 8/3)

AP: Judge Extends Order That Keeps Abortion Legal In Michigan 
A Michigan judge on Wednesday extended an order that bars county prosecutors from enforcing a 1931 ban on abortion. Oakland County Judge Jacob Cunningham agreed after lawyers for Gov. Gretchen Whitmer argued that pulling the plug on his Monday order would cause chaos around the state. “If you need one, you need one today or very, very soon,” Assistant Solicitor General Linus Banghart-Linn said of abortion services. “We don’t want more confusion.” (White, 8/3)

In abortion updates from Texas —

ABC News: Dallas City Council Committee Passes Resolution To Limit Impact Of Texas Abortion Law
A Dallas City Council committee passed a resolution Tuesday looking to limit the impact of Texas' strict abortion law. The council's Quality of Life, Arts, and Culture Committee voted to adopt the ordinance, which directs law enforcement to make investigating or prosecuting any allegation related to abortion outcomes their lowest priority. (Kekatos and DiMartino, 8/3)

Houston Chronicle: Texas Health Programs Report 21% Drop In Longterm Birth Control
The number of low-income people accessing highly effective forms of contraception in Texas health programs dropped for the second straight year, according to new data covering the fiscal period that ended last August, just as the state’s new six-week abortion ban took effect. Use of intrauterine devices and contraceptive implants fell by 21 percent from the previous fiscal year in Healthy Texas Women and Family Planning, the two state-administered programs for reproductive health services. It was down about 30 percent overall from fiscal year 2019. (Blackman, 8/4)

The Texas Tribune: Mexico Volunteer Networks That Aid At-Home Abortions Are Coming To Texas
Hi, I’m four weeks pregnant. Eight weeks. Six weeks. The stream of pings and messages through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and WhatsApp reach Sandra Cardona Alanís at her home in this mountainous region of northern Mexico. She is an acompañante and a founder of Necesito Abortar México, a volunteer network that has helped thousands of people across Mexico access abortion, usually at home, by providing medication and support. (Ura and Díaz González Vázquez, 8/4)

Related news from North Carolina, Iowa, and Indiana —

The Charlotte Observer: NC’s Attorney General Josh Stein Vows To Defend Abortion Access
Amid an ongoing legal battle over a law banning abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, N.C. Attorney General Josh Stein vowed Wednesday to do everything “in my power” to protect reproductive freedom in the state. During a press conference at the N.C. Department of Justice, Stein said he would continue to speak against efforts to restrict abortion access in the state. He urged abortion rights supporters to vote in the legislative election this November for Democratic candidates who would try to block Republican abortion bills from becoming law. (Bajpai, 8/3)

AP: N. Carolina AG Defends Recusal In 20-Week Abortion Ban Case 
North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein repudiated Republican General Assembly leaders’ allegations Wednesday that he neglected his duty to defend state law by refusing to seek enforcement of a blocked 20-week abortion ban after the fall of Roe v. Wade. Attorneys for Senate Leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore filed a brief last week asking U.S. District Judge William Osteen to lift an injunction on a 1973 state law banning nearly all abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. (Schoenbaum, 8/3)

Des Moines Register: Iowa Abortions Dropped For Most Of Decade Before Roe V. Wade Overturn
There were fewer Iowa abortions in 2021 than in 2020, marking the first time in three years that the annual number of abortions has decreased in the state. Iowa Department of Public Health spokesperson Sarah Ekstrand said there were 3,761 abortions in Iowa in 2021, according to preliminary data. That's down about 7% compared to 2020, when 4,058 abortions were performed in the state. (Akin, 8/3)

Indianapolis Star: Indiana Abortion Law: Schools Are Not Required To Teach Sex Ed
For two weeks, Indiana lawmakers have been locked in debate about how to reduce the number of abortions performed in the state. The current proposal would ban all abortions, except in cases of rape, incest, fatal fetal anomalies or when the life of the pregnant person is at risk. So far, though, lawmakers haven’t considered a strategy that research shows can be effective in reducing the number of unintended pregnancies and, thus, the number of abortions – teaching young people how to prevent pregnancy. (Herron, 8/4)

The Wall Street Journal: Eli Lilly’s Covid-19 Antibody Treatment To Be Sold Commercially
Eli Lilly & Co. said it plans to begin commercial sales of its Covid-19 monoclonal antibody treatment to states, hospitals and other healthcare providers this month, as the federal government’s supply of the drug is nearly depleted. The move marks a shift away from the way Lilly’s drug and most other Covid-19 treatments and vaccines have been distributed in the U.S. It will likely be the first test of whether the vaccines and treatments would remain accessible if shifted to a commercial market. (Armour and Loftus, 8/3)

CNN: CDC Expected To Ease Covid-19 Recommendations, Including For Schools, As Soon As This Week
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to update its guidance for Covid-19 control in the community, including in schools, in the coming days, according to sources familiar with the plan. (Goodman and Cohen, 8/3)

AP: COVID Cases Drop 9% Globally Last Week, Deaths Stable
New coronavirus cases fell 9% globally last week while deaths remained stable, according to the latest weekly assessment of the pandemic released Wednesday by the World Health Organization. (8/2)

Stat: Covid Has Settled Into A Persistent Pattern — And Remains Damaging. It May Not Change Anytime Soon
Our tussle with Covid-19 — after a harrowing introduction and then wave upon wave of infections — seems to have settled into a persistent pattern. It may stay that way for a while. (Joseph, 8/4)

In covid vaccine news —

CIDRAP: Studies: 3 Or 4 COVID Vaccine Doses Protective Against Omicron
Three new studies show that recipients of three or four mRNA COVID-19 vaccine doses received substantially better protection against infection with the Omicron variant than those who received only two. ... The rate of breakthrough infection was 7% in workers who received four vaccine doses, compared with 20% in the 4,802 of 24,280 participants who received only three. (Van Beusekom, 8/3)

North Carolina Health News: Trusted Community Messengers, Data Key To Vaccine Equity In N.C. 
On Dec. 14, 2020, Katie Passaretti, medical director of infection prevention at Atrium Health, became the first person in North Carolina to be vaccinated for COVID-19. (Crumpler, 8/4)

Stat: Red Cross Beginning To Screen Blood Donors For Monkeypox
As monkeypox continues its relentless spread around the globe, organizations in the U.S. are taking steps to safeguard the nation’s blood supply. In addition to temperature checks that are part of standard health screens for prospective donors, the American Red Cross is now checking for the distinctive lesions that are a hallmark of the disease as part of routine arm examinations. And beginning in October, the Red Cross will require individuals who have been diagnosed with monkeypox or exposed to someone with a monkeypox infection to wait at least 21 days before giving blood. (Molteni, 8/3)

More on the spread of monkeypox —

Fox News: Fifth Child Tests Positive For Monkeypox In US
At least five children have tested positive for monkeypox in the U.S. since July. Four of the children who have been confirmed to have the disease are U.S. citizens, with two in California and two in Indiana. The final case was an infant who was tested while traveling through Washington, D.C. but is not a U.S. resident, according to ABC 7. (Hagstrom, 8/3)

CIDRAP: WHO: US Has Biggest Jump In Monkeypox Cases
In the last week of July, the United States saw the largest spike in cases, the WHO said. All told, 83 countries have reported 23,351 laboratory-confirmed cases. Together 10 countries account for 89% of the world's cases, including the United States (5,175 cases), Spain (4,298), Germany (2,677), the United Kingdom (2,546), France (1,955), Brazil (1,369), the Netherlands (879), Canada (803), Portugal (633), and Italy (479). (Soucheray, 8/3)

Fox News: Public Health Emergency Declared In San Diego Over Monkeypox
Two days after California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a public health emergency over monkeypox, San Diego County on Tuesday followed suit. The declaration was made, according to San Diego County health officer Dr. Wilma Wooten, due to the limited supply of vaccines, the large population of the city, and the global spread of the viral disease. However, health officials told the public that the outbreak was "fundamentally different" from the COVID-19 pandemic. (Nieto, 8/3)

Politico: DeSantis Claims Concern Over Monkeypox Is Overblown 
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday attempted to downplay anxiety over monkeypox, saying that politicians and the media have overblown the severity of the disease and equated it to fears surrounding Covid-19. Florida had 525 monkeypox infections as of Tuesday, according to a state database, which is an increase from the roughly 350 infections from late last week. Florida had the fifth highest number of cases in the nation as of Monday, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Sarkissian, 8/3)

KHN: A California Man’s ‘Painful And Terrifying’ Road To A Monkeypox Diagnosis
Two days after Kevin Kwong flew home to California from New York, his hands itched so badly, the pain jolted him from sleep. He thought the problem was eczema. “Everything started rapidly getting worse,” the Emeryville, California, resident said. “I started to get more spots, on my face, more redness and they started leaking fluid. The rash expanded to my elbows and my hands and my ankles.” It took Kwong, 33, six virtual appointments with doctors and nurses, one call to a nurse hotline, a trip to an urgent care clinic, two emergency room visits, and two incorrect diagnoses before an infectious disease specialist diagnosed him with monkeypox in early July. (Fortier, 8/4)

On monkeypox vaccines and treatments —

The New York Times: U.S. Could Have Had Many More Doses Of Monkeypox Vaccine This Year 
The shortage of vaccines to combat a fast-growing monkeypox outbreak was caused in part because the Department of Health and Human Services failed early on to ask that bulk stocks of the vaccine it already owned be bottled for distribution, according to multiple administration officials familiar with the matter. By the time the federal government placed its orders, the vaccine’s Denmark-based manufacturer, Bavarian Nordic, had booked other clients and was unable to do the work for months, officials said — even though the federal government had invested well over $1 billion in the vaccine’s development. (LaFraniere, Weiland and Goldstein, 8/3)

ABC News: Moderna Considering Creating An MRNA Monkeypox Vaccine Amid Growing Demand For Shots
Amid growing concerns over the potential threat of monkeypox, executives from Moderna said Wednesday they have initiated a research program to consider whether the company could create a monkeypox vaccine with mRNA technology. "We're obviously very aware of the monkeypox concern and obviously very sensitive to recent announcements," Moderna President Stephen Hoge said during an investor call. (Mitropoulos, 8/3)

Stat: With Monkeypox Vaccine In Demand, NIH To Test Ways To Stretch Supplies
As the monkeypox outbreak continues to grow, one thing seems abundantly clear. The global need for monkeypox vaccine outstrips the supply, and will likely continue to do so for quite some time. Scientists at the National Institutes of Health are getting ready to explore a possible work-around. They are putting the finishing touches on the design of a clinical trial to assess two methods of stretching available doses of Jynneos, the only vaccine in the United States approved for vaccination against monkeypox. (Branswell, 8/4)

Axios: Alternate Monkeypox Treatment Caught In Regulatory Delays
Fears about shortages of monkeypox vaccine are focusing attention on the more than 1 million doses of a smallpox treatment in the Strategic National Stockpile that experts say could be an effective backup but that's hard to access. (Dreher, 8/4)

Modern Healthcare: Hospitals Serving Black Patients Get Less Financial Help, Study Shows
Hospitals serving a higher proportion of Black patients receive less financial support for providing care compared with those serving a lower proportion, according to a recent study from physician-researchers at the University of California Los Angeles and Princeton, Johns Hopkins and Harvard universities. (Hudson, 8/3)

In other news about Medicare costs and coverage —

Modern Healthcare: HCSC Doubles Down On Medicare Advantage As Market Share Declines
Health Care Service Corp. plans to expand its Medicare Advantage business into another 150 counties next year as the insurer seeks to gain a foothold in an increasingly competitive market for private Medicare plans. (Tepper, 8/3)

Axios: How Companies Are Shaking Up How We Pay For Old Drugs
Starting today, prostate cancer patients taking a prescription drug called abiraterone will pay what could be thousands of dollars less a month for a generic version from a company called CivicaScript. (Reed, 8/3)

In Medicaid news —

AP: Judge: West Virginia Medicaid Must Cover Transgender Care 
West Virginia’s Medicaid program must provide coverage for gender-confirming care for transgender residents, a federal judge ruled. U.S. District Judge Chuck Chambers in Huntington made the ruling Tuesday in a lawsuit filed by LGBTQ interest group Lambda Legal over treatments for gender dysphoria. Chambers said the Medicaid exclusion discriminated on the basis of sex and transgender status and violated the Equal Protection clause of the 14th Amendment, the Affordable Care Act and the Medicaid Act. (Raby, 8/3)

Stat: Lilly Ordered To Pay $61M For Shortchanging Medicaid Drug Rebate Program
After nearly a decade of legal squabbling, Eli Lilly was ordered by a federal court jury to pay $61 million for shortchanging the Medicaid drug rebate program, the latest instance in which a drug company was accused of skimping on payments. (Silverman, 8/3)

The Washington Post: Democrats Scramble For Sinema’s Support On Climate, Health And Tax Bill 
Senate Democrats are discussing whether to dial back some of their proposed taxes targeting wealthy investors and billion-dollar corporations, part of a new scramble to win the support of Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and advance their broader economic agenda swiftly. One week after brokering a deal that secured the must-have vote of Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.), top party lawmakers have set their attention on assuaging the other centrist in their ranks. They have actively engaged Sinema in private negotiations in recent days, opening the door for possible revisions to the health-care and climate-focused bill known as the Inflation Reduction Act. (Romm and Stein, 8/3)

The New York Times: Kyrsten Sinema Is The Final Holdout On Democrats’ Climate Deal 
Top Democrats on Wednesday were quietly weighing what potential changes to the bill, particularly to its tax provisions, might be needed to win Ms. Sinema’s support, as the Arizona senator was preparing her own wish list. While she voted for the initial $3.5 trillion budget blueprint that allowed Democrats to begin work on the legislation, Ms. Sinema has not offered explicit support for many pieces of the current package, most notably much of the tax increases included to pay for it. Doubt about Ms. Sinema’s support has centered on her past opposition to a proposal aimed at limiting the carried interest preferential tax treatment for income earned by venture capitalists and private equity firms. (Cochrane, 8/3)

Politico: Electric Cars, Drug Costs And More: 5 Battles Democrats Could Lose On Their Marquee Bill 
Democrats are bracing for potentially huge changes to their party-line climate, tax and health care bill as it’s run through strict Senate rules that will determine which parts they can keep, which need makeovers and which they’ll have to chuck in the garbage. Both Republican and Democratic aides are still consumed by an aggressive slate of meetings with the Senate’s nonpartisan parliamentarian, who will decide whether each piece of the legislation gels with rules that allow Democrats to evade a GOP filibuster of their marquee domestic bill. And so far, the rules referee has been noticeably silent as to what stays and what goes. (Emma and Levine, 8/3)

Stat: In A Bid To Overhaul Pharma Supply Chain, Civica Rx Starts Selling First Generic Drug
In the latest bid to address high prescription drug costs, a nonprofit plans to sell a cheaper generic version of an expensive cancer medicine in the U.S. (Silverman, 8/3)

Stat: Patients Seeking New Weight Loss Drugs Find ‘Wild West’ Of Online Prescribers
Briana Lawson was ready to knock her diabetes into remission. For years, the 47-year-old health care consultant had treated her high blood sugar with metformin. But to avoid a lifetime of medication, she knew she’d need to lose weight. (Palmer, 8/4)

In news about CVS, Walgreens, and US Med-Equip —

The Boston Globe: CVS Earnings Helped By COVID Test Kits, Longer Flu Season
CVS Health thumped second-quarter expectations and hiked its full-year forecast as growing prescription claims and COVID-19 test kits sales countered a drop in vaccinations. A longer cough cold and flu season also brought in more business, as claims in CVS Health’s biggest segment, pharmacy benefits management, rose about 4 percent. ... (8/3)

AP: Tennessee Sues Walgreens Over Opioid Prescription Onslaught 
Tennessee’s attorney general said Wednesday he has sued Walgreens, accusing the drugstore chain of contributing to the state’s opioid crisis by failing to maintain effective controls against the abuse of prescription pain pills. (Raby, 8/3)

Houston Chronicle: Houston-Based US Med-Equip Acquires Medical Equipment Provider
US Med-Equip, a Houston-based medical equipment and services provider, said Tuesday that it acquired Freedom Medical, another medical equipment provider based in Pennsylvania. US Med-Equip declined to disclose the terms of the deal. (Carballo, 8/3)

In pharmaceutical research —

Stat: Monoclonal Antibody Treatment For Malaria Shows Encouraging Results
An experimental antibody treatment prevented malaria in the majority of participants in a small but important new study, providing a measure of hope in the effort to lower the burden of the disease worldwide. (Welle, 8/3)

Stat: Alnylam Therapy For Form Of Heart Disease Succeeds In Closely Watched Trial
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals’ treatment for an increasingly common heart disease succeeded in a closely watched clinical trial, the company said Wednesday, clearing the path to approval and affirming the promise of a drug analysts expect to reap blockbuster sales. (Garde, 8/3)

Bloomberg: CBD Curbed Symptoms Of Chronic Anxiety In Young People In Study
Teens and young adults with treatment-resistant anxiety who were given a single daily CBD pill for 12 weeks reported their symptoms fell by an average of 43%, the Australian youth mental health organization Orygen found in a pilot study. The results among the 31 patients were remarkable, said Paul Amminger, a research fellow at Orygen and professor of youth mental health at the University of Melbourne, who led the study. (Millson, 8/3)

NBC News: Australia’s Bad Flu Season Is A Warning For The U.S. This Year
The U.S. may be in for a severe flu season this year if trends in the Southern Hemisphere — historically a seasonal harbinger for the U.S. — hold true. It isn't the first time since the Covid pandemic began that experts have warned of a bad flu season or even a "twindemic": a bad flu season on top of a winter surge of Covid. But so far, that hasn't materialized. (Edwards, 8/4)

On Legionnaires' disease and swine flu —

Los Angeles Times: Outbreak Of Legionnaires’ Disease In Napa County Sickens 12, Killing 1
Testing found high levels of the bacteria in a sample taken from a cooling tower at the Embassy Suites Napa Valley hotel in the city of Napa, public health officials said Wednesday, though other sources of Legionella in the area are possible. “The cooling tower has since been taken offline, which mitigates any ongoing risk to public health,” officials said. (Yee, 8/3)

AP: Swine Flu Investigated After People Sickened At WVa Fair
Health officials said they are investigating after several people developed a flu-like illness after working closely with pigs that exhibited respiratory symptoms and fever at a county fair. The state Department of Health and Human Resources said the H3N2v strain of influenza A was confirmed on at least one human test Tuesday. The sample has been forwarded to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for Confirmation. (8/4)

The EPA warns of cancer risks near several medical plants —

AP: EPA: Chemical In Medical-Device Cleanser Poses Cancer Risk
The Environmental Protection Agency is warning residents who live near medical sterilizing plants in 13 states and Puerto Rico about potential health risks from emissions of ethylene oxide, a chemical widely used in their operations. Laredo, Texas; Ardmore, Oklahoma; and Lakewood, Colorado, are among the communities facing the highest risk from ethylene oxide emissions, EPA said. (Daly, 8/3)

A heat wave continues to sicken people across the U.S. —

Health News Florida: AdventHealth Centra Care Reports An Uptick In Patients Seeking Treatment For Heat-Related Illness
Feel sick from the heat? You’re not alone. Doctors at AdventHealth in the Orlando region say they’re treating a record number of patients for heat-related illnesses. (Prieur, 8/3)

KHN: ‘Children Are Not Little Adults’ And Need Special Protection During Heat Waves 
After more than a week of record-breaking temperatures across much of the country, public health experts are cautioning that children are more susceptible to heat illness than adults are — even more so when they’re on the athletic field, living without air conditioning, or waiting in a parked car. Cases of heat-related illness are rising with average air temperatures, and experts say almost half of those getting sick are children. The reason is twofold: Children’s bodies have more trouble regulating temperature than those of adults, and they rely on adults to help protect them from overheating. (Huetteman, 8/4)

Stateline: Looser Liquor Laws, A Boon To Bars And Restaurants, May Have Increased Problem Drinking
Most states that allowed curbside pickup or home delivery of alcohol to help restaurants, bars and liquor stores survive pandemic closures have extended the looser liquor laws. But in their desire to boost the hospitality industry, states might be fueling binge drinking and higher overall alcohol consumption, some research shows. (Povich, 8/4)

On drug use —

Side Effects Public Media: Fentanyl Is Devastating Midwest Communities. But Expanding Harm Reduction Can Be Difficult
Karen Warpenburg is fighting an almost invisible enemy that’s claiming the lives of a growing number of people in her southern Indiana community: the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl. Ingesting a tiny amount of the drug can be lethal. (Legan, 8/3)

Anchorage Daily News: Other Alaska Law Enforcement Agencies Carry Narcan. Why Don’t Anchorage Police?
Overdose deaths in the Anchorage area have nearly tripled since 2018. Advocates are pushing for the police department to change its policy, and say doing so could help save lives. (Berman, 8/3)

On mental illness —

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Gov. Tony Evers To Allocate $14 Million Toward Mental Health Services
Gov. Tony Evers announced Wednesday his administration will allocate roughly $14 million in federal funding to mental health services in collaboration with the state Department of Health Services. The funding will include a grant of more than $9 million to the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater intended to expand the mental health care workforce and awarding $5 million to bolster youth psychiatric services. (Baker, 8/3)

Columbus Dispatch: Ryan Day Makes Million Dollar Donation To Mental Health Fund
On Wednesday, Ohio State president Kristina Johnson announced that the Days had created the Nina and Ryan Day Resilience Fund with a donation of $1 million for research and treatment at the OSU Wexner Medical Center and College of Medicine. "The biggest differentiator is that (On Our Sleeves) is really for the children, and this is more for our students — Buckeye Nation — and for adults," Ryan Day said at a press conference at the Richard M. Ross Heart Hospital. (Rabinowitz, 8/3)

KHN: When Mental Illness Leads To Dropped Charges, Patients Often Go Without Stabilizing Care 
For seven years, Timothy Jay Fowler rotated between jail, forced psychiatric hospitalization, and freedom. In 2014, the Great Falls, Montana, man was charged with assaulting two detention officers while he was in jail, accused of theft. A mental health evaluation concluded that Fowler, who has been diagnosed with schizophrenia, was unfit to stand trial, according to court documents. After Fowler received psychiatric treatment for several months, a judge ruled that he was unlikely to become competent anytime soon. His case was dismissed, and after a stay in the state-run psychiatric hospital, he was released. (Houghton, 8/4)

CIDRAP: Survey: A Third Of US Kids Had Excessive Screen Time Amid COVID
More than one third of US children used media addictively in fall 2020, a finding tied to family stressors but not a decrease in the number of screen-time rules implemented, finds a survey of US parents published today in Pediatrics. (Van Beusekom, 8/2)

CIDRAP: Fewer Pregnant Women Had Severe COVID Amid Omicron, After Vaccination
Fewer pregnant women had severe COVID-19 in the Omicron variant-era than during periods dominated by previous strains, and vaccinated patients were better protected than their unvaccinated peers, according to research published yesterday in the American Journal of Infection Control. (Van Beusekom, 8/1)

CIDRAP: Tennessee Clinicians Describe Cluster Of Babies Hospitalized With Parechovirus
Writing in the most recent issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), the authors said the babies, ages 5 days to 3 months, were previously healthy and were admitted to the hospital between Apr 12 and May 24. Symptoms included fever, fussiness, and poor feeding. All got sick in community settings, except one preterm infant who started having symptoms in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Sixteen babies had siblings or were exposed to other kids, and one went to daycare. (8/1)

In other scientific research —

The Wall Street Journal: Scientists Revive Cells In Pigs’ Organs After Death 
Scientists restored function to the organs of dead pigs, raising hopes that a similar approach might one day make more human organs available for transplantation but also sparking ethics concerns. The research, described in a paper published Wednesday in the journal Nature, involved the use of an experimental system that included circulation-monitoring sensors, a filter and a pump that delivered a fluid containing multiple medications to the pigs’ organs. When the bodies of pigs that had been dead for an hour were hooked up to the system, their hearts resumed beating and limited function was restored to the animals’ brains, lungs, livers, kidneys and pancreases. (Marcus, 8/3)

The Washington Post: Scientists Create Synthetic Mouse Embryos, A Potential Key To Healing Humans 
Stem cell researchers in Israel have created synthetic mouse embryos without using a sperm or egg, then grown them in an artificial womb for eight days, a development that opens a window into a fascinating, potentially fraught realm of science that could one day be used to create replacement organs for humans. (Johnson, 8/1)

Fortune: Is Red Meat Really Bad For Your Heart? The Answer May Be In Your Gut
A new study published Monday in the American Heart Association’s peer-reviewed journal, Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, delves into the role of metabolites, or the chemicals in the gut created from digestion of food, and how certain metabolites may increase the risk for cardiovascular disease. It’s the first study to look at the link between animal-based foods, ASCVD, and metabolites. Eating a diet rich in meat, specifically red and processed meat, was associated with a higher risk for ASCVD, and a 22% increased risk for every 1.1 serving of meat a day, the study concluded. The increased risk was attributed to the trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO) metabolite, which is produced by the gut microbiome after eating red meat.  (Mikhail, 8/3)

AP: Even Simple Exercise May Help Aging Brain, Study Hints 
New research hints that even a simple exercise routine just might help older Americans with mild memory problems. Doctors have long advised physical activity to help keep a healthy brain fit. But the government-funded study marks the longest test of whether exercise makes any difference once memory starts to slide — research performed amid a pandemic that added isolation to the list of risks to participants’ brain health. (Neergaard, 8/2)

Also —

Stat: European Research Funders Often Fail To Monitor Clinical Trial Transparency
Nearly two dozen major organizations that fund medical research in Europe often failed to set policies or monitor progress for registering clinical trials and publishing study results, an issue that can lead to shortcomings in medical literature, a new analysis finds. (Silverman, 8/1)

Stat: A Cancer Center Director’s Try-It-All Strategy To Build Trust In Clinical Trials
The residents agreed: Nobody like Robert Winn — director of the Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center — had ever visited the neighborhood before. (Chen, 8/3)

The Washington Post: Whoops, We Forgot Women Could Still Vote
So this is a little embarrassing, but we may have gotten so carried away trying to pass abortion restrictions that we sort of forgot women could still vote! A mind-fart, for sure! When you are sitting there legislating about someone as though they are not there at all — a someone with no rights the state is bound to respect, neither to control what occurs within the bounds of their own body nor, necessarily, to life, even — you can be forgiven for thinking, “Well, this cannot possibly apply to a large swath of the voting population! This isn’t the kind of law you pass about fellow voters! They would say something, probably!” (Alexandra Petri, 8/3)

Los Angeles Times: Kansas Voters Showed How To Protect Abortion Rights 
Many more states need to follow Kansas’ example. In those dominated by politically opportunistic Republicans currying favor with antiabortion groups, it will be up to the voters to show up and protect a woman’s right to choose. There’s no reason why voters in Kentucky — where a constitutional amendment similar to the one in Kansas is on the November ballot — and in Michigan — where a constitutional amendment to protect abortion rights is expected to make the ballot — can’t make their voices heard as loudly and clearly as Kansans just did. And voters in California and Vermont, where abortion rights are secure, can vote in November to enshrine abortion rights into their constitutions. That’s important, too. (8/3)

The New York Times: Why the Defense of Abortion in Kansas Is So Powerful
Too often, election results say more about the conditions of the franchise — who manages to use it, and what information or misinformation they receive along the way — than they do about the character of a place. Not so this time, even as anti-abortion lawmakers and their supporters tried every trick. (Sarah Smarsh, 8/3)

The Hill: Post Roe: Women Still Have The Right To Emergency Medical Treatment 
The recent overturn of Roe v. Wade took away a woman’s constitutional right to abortion. But it didn’t take away her right to life-preserving health care, or my right as a physician to provide that care. Pregnancy is a medical condition. As an emergency room physician, I see medical complications that women endure throughout their pregnancies including serious and life-threatening bleeding and ruptured ectopic pregnancies, as well as complications around childbirth like high blood pressure, seizures, heart problems and infections, all of which can pose serious threats to a woman’s life. Pregnancy can also result in lost work and pay for women when complications force them to remain on bed rest, unable to go to work let alone care for other family members. (Dr. Maria C. Raven, 8/3)

CNN: What To Know About Mail And Health Information Privacy Before Ordering Abortion Pills
At first glance, the US Supreme Court's decision overturning Roe v. Wade could thrust us back into a world of do-it-yourself abortions that calls to mind gruesome images from decades past of women injuring themselves with sharp objects and ingesting chemicals because safe abortions were inaccessible. But this time it doesn't have to be that way. Thanks to medication abortion -- pills that can be taken in one's home within the first 10 weeks of pregnancy -- at-home abortions can be conducted discreetly and safely. In fact, now, most abortions in the United States are done via medication, according to data from the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive health and rights think tank. (Aziza Ahmed and Ji Seon Song, 8/3)