The New York Times: Police Say Suspect’s Notebook Described Rationale for C.E.O. Killing
Luigi Mangione, who has been charged with killing the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare outside a company investors’ day in Manhattan, was arrested with a notebook that detailed plans for the shooting, according to two law enforcement officials. The notebook described going to a conference and killing an executive, the officials said. (Southall and Cramer, 12/11)

Stat: UnitedHealthcare Shooting Suspect's Manifesto Cites Health Care Critics
The suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO appears to cite two prominent critics of the U.S. health care system in his handwritten manifesto — journalist Elisabeth Rosenthal and filmmaker Michael Moore — although neither of their works focused on the insurance company. (Herman and Bannow, 12/11)

AP: Suspect In UnitedHealthcare CEO Killing Could Return To New York On A Governor's Warrant
The suspect in the killing of the UnitedHealthcare CEO plans to fight extradition to New York to face murder charges, but officials hope to get him back with what’s called a governor’s warrant. The process could happen quickly or take more than a month. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office on Wednesday had not yet asked Pennsylvania for the warrant after murder charges were filed against Luigi Mangione late Monday in New York. (Dale, 12/11)

The Hill: NYPD Investigating Possible Mangione Back Injury And Insurance Claims
New York Police Department Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, may have filed an insurance claim for back pain last year. “So we’re looking into whether or not the insurance industry either denied a claim from him or didn’t help him out to the fullest extent.” He added that investigators believe Mangione’s injury may have been sustained on July 4, 2023. (Fields, 12/11)

Los Angeles Times: What Is Spondylolisthesis, The Condition That Plagued Luigi Mangione?
What a difference a fraction of an inch can make. Having one of the 33 bones in his spine out of alignment by less than half an inch apparently diminished Luigi Mangione’s quality of life to the point that his lower legs felt like they were on fire. At other times, the 26-year-old charged with murdering the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare seesawed between pain and numbness in his lower back and genital area. (Kaplan, 12/11)

More reaction from the health industry —

The New York Times: Health Insurance Workers Fearful Amid Public Anger After Slaying of C.E.O.
The fatal shooting last week of an executive on the streets of New York City plunged his family members and colleagues into grief. For rank-and-file employees across the health insurance industry, the killing has left them with an additional emotion: fear, with many frightened for their own safety and feeling under attack for their work. One UnitedHealthcare worker who processes claims described being cleareyed about the American health care system’s shortcomings, but also believes that she and her colleagues did their best to help patients within the limits of that system. Like most workers interviewed, she did not want to be named because, given the reaction after Mr. Thompson’s killing, she feared for her own safety. (Abelson, Smith, Benner and Harris, 12/11)

The Boston Globe: Senator Elizabeth Warren Says CEO’s Killing Should Be 'Warning'
Senator Elizabeth Warren said Tuesday that while “violence is never the answer,” the outrage directed at health insurers after the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson should be “a warning” to the health care industry that “people can be pushed only so far.” “The visceral response from people across this country who feel cheated, ripped off, and threatened by the vile practices of their insurance companies should be a warning to everyone in the health care system,” Warren, a longtime critic of the US health care system, said in an interview with HuffPost. (Vega and Puzzanghera, 12/11)

Bloomberg: UnitedHealthcare CEO Was ‘One Of The Good Guys,’ UnitedHealth CEO Witty Says
UnitedHealth Group Inc. Chief Executive Officer Andrew Witty called slain colleague Brian Thompson “one of the good guys” in a note to employees Wednesday, as he sought to reassure them amid a torrent of online hate. “We owe it to Brian to make good on our promise to make health care work better for everybody, in every way,” Witty said in the note, which was viewed by Bloomberg. The letter acknowledges the company is in a “state of mourning” a week after Thompson, 50, was killed in New York on his way to an investor conference. Thompson was chief executive of UnitedHealthcare Inc. (Tozzi and Muller, 12/12)

CBS News: After Killing Of UnitedHealthcare CEO, 2 Pittsburgh Companies Remove Leadership Pages From Websites
Allegheny Health Network and Highmark Health removed leadership pages from their websites a week after the deadly shooting of the UnitedHealthcare CEO. A spokesperson confirmed to KDKA-TV on Wednesday that they took the pages down out of an abundance of caution. UPMC's CEO still has a bio on its website but no photo. (Borrasso, 12/11)

Also —

Stat: How AI Is Supercharging The Fight Over Health Insurance Denials
Like many Americans, Holden Karau said she was fed up with health insurance. The software engineer’s disillusionment began in 2019, when her insurer, UnitedHealthcare, balked at covering physical therapy after she was hit by a car and could not walk. She said the hassles piled on stress, forced her to pay more out of pocket, and delayed access to care she needed to recover from multiple broken bones. (Ross, 12/12)

Axios: "Delay, Deny, Defend" Book Climbs Bestseller List After CEO Killing
A week after the shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, a book criticizing the U.S. health care industry skyrocketed to the top of an Amazon bestseller list. Author Jay Feinman's "Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don't Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It" is second on the site's nonfiction bestseller list Wednesday. The words "delay," "deny" and "depose" were found etched on bullet casings at the site of the CEO's killing. (Habeshian, 12/11)

CNN: In Biden Administration’s Final Days, FDA Advances Proposal To Set A Nicotine Limit On Tobacco Products
As the Biden administration winds down, the US Food and Drug Administration has submitted a proposed rule that could significantly lower the amount of nicotine in tobacco products and potentially prompt more people to quit smoking. (Christensen, 12/11)

CBS News: Bidens Host Women's Health Conference To Focus On Health Care Gender Gap
President Biden and first lady Jill Biden hosted the first-ever White House Conference on Women's Health Research on Wednesday, showcasing progress in women's health initiatives to close the gender gap in health care. Last year, the president and first lady introduced a White House initiative to undertake what they said would be the "most comprehensive" effort any administration has taken to support women's health research. (Pound, 12/11)

Stat: White House Takes Credit For 'Largest Drop' In Overdose Deaths 
Drug deaths are falling for the first time in recent memory, representing a rare glimmer of hope after years of record overdose mortality. On Wednesday, to the surprise of some experts, Biden administration officials sought to take credit for the decrease. (Facher, 12/11)

Politico: Biden Threatens To Veto Bill That Would Have Given Trump New Judicial Appointments 
Donald Trump is eager to appoint dozens of new judges once he becomes president. Joe Biden has other plans. The president threatened to veto a bill to expand the number of federal judges because he doesn’t want to give the president-elect new appointment opportunities, one of the outgoing president’s closest allies said in an interview. The move dooms legislation spearheaded by Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), who had spent months pushing for the creation of 63 new judgeships. (Cancryn, 12/11)

In related news about the Affordable Care Act —

Stateline: Millions Will See Rise In Health Insurance Premiums If Federal Subsidies Expire
Andrea Deutsch, the mayor of Narberth, Pennsylvania, and the owner of a pet store in town, doesn’t get health care coverage through either of her jobs. Instead, she is enrolled in a plan she purchased on Pennie, Pennsylvania’s health insurance exchange. ... The 57-year-old, who is diabetic, pays $638.38 per month for health care coverage — about half of the $1,272.38 she’d owe without the enhanced federal subsidies Congress and the Biden administration put in place in 2021. (Chatlani, 12/11)

NBC News: Biden Administration Has No Current Plans To Authorize A Bird Flu Vaccine For Humans
Biden administration officials said Wednesday they have no current plans to authorize a stockpiled bird flu vaccine, despite an escalating outbreak among livestock in the U.S. and at least 58 human infections across seven states. The move means any decisions about a bird flu vaccine will likely be left to health officials in the incoming Trump administration, who may be led by anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whom Trump has picked to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. (Lovelace Jr., 12/11)

ABC News: California Child Tests Negative For Bird Flu, But Health Officials Continue To Warn Against Raw Milk
Health officials in Marin County, California are warning against raw milk consumption after a child there was suspected to have contracted bird flu after consuming raw milk. However, in an update Wednesday, the child appears to have tested negative for bird flu, a source close to the investigation told ABC News. "The child has recovered, and no other family members became sick, indicating no person-to person transmission," Marin County Public Health officials said in their initial statement. (Salzman and Benadjaoud, 12/11)

The New York Times: Could Cats Become a Carrier of Bird Flu?
Domestic cats could provide an unexpected new route for the bird flu virus H5N1 to evolve into a more dangerous form, according to a new study published on Monday. In the year since the virus began circulating in dairy cattle, it has killed many cats, primarily on farms with affected herds. It has also sickened at least 60 people, most of whom had close contact with infected dairy cows or poultry. (Anthes and Mandavilli, 12/11)

In covid news —

AP: Biden Commutes Roughly 1,500 Sentences In Biggest Single-Day Act Of Clemency 
President Joe Biden is commuting the sentences of roughly 1,500 people who were released from prison and placed on home confinement during the coronavirus pandemic and is pardoning 39 Americans convicted of nonviolent crimes. It’s the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history. The commutations announced Thursday are for people who have served out home confinement sentences for at least one year after they were released. Prisons were uniquely bad for spreading the virus and some inmates were released in part to stop the spread. At one point, 1 in 5 prisoners had COVID-19, according to a tally kept by The Associated Press. (Long, 12/12)

CIDRAP: HHS Secretary Extends Duration For COVID PREP Act Declaration
US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra today signed the 12th amendment to the declaration under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act (PREP) Act for COVID-19 countermeasures, a step that provides liability immunity through December 31, 2029. The declaration provides immunity, except for willful misconduct, for certain claims, including loss caused by or related to administration or use of countermeasures to diseases, threats, or conditions, according to information from the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), which is part of HHS. (Schnirring, 12/11)

Modern Healthcare: Telehealth Extension Must Pass, ATA, CHIME Say
Telehealth industry groups are urging Congress to extend COVID-19 pandemic-era reimbursement flexibilities before the clock strikes midnight on Dec. 31. Multiple COVID-19-era temporary policies and regulations are set to expire at the end of the year unless Congress acts. These provisions include removing geographic site restrictions for telehealth, permitting audio-only telehealth services and delaying the in-person requirement for mental health patients seeking treatment through telehealth. (Turner, 12/11)

AP: Fewer U.S. Grandparents Are Taking Care Of Grandchildren, According To New Data 
Fewer grandparents were living with and taking care of grandchildren, there was a decline in young children going to preschool and more people stayed put in their homes in the first part of the 2020s compared to the last part of the 2010s, according to U.S. Census Bureau data released Thursday, reflecting some of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The latest figures from the most comprehensive survey of American life compares the years of 2014-2018 and 2019-2023, timeframes before the COVID-19 pandemic and during the virus’ spread. The American Community Survey data show how lives were changed and family relationships altered by the pandemic and other occurrences like the opioid crisis. (Schneider, 12/12)

The New York Times: House Passes Defense Bill Denying Transgender Health Coverage For Minors 
A divided House on Wednesday passed a defense policy bill that would direct $895 billion to the Pentagon and other military operations, moving over the opposition of Democrats who objected to a provision denying coverage for transgender health care for the children of service members. ... The provision in question would bar TRICARE, the military’s health care plan, from covering “medical interventions for the treatment of gender dysphoria that could result in sterilization” for children under 18. (Demirjian, 12/11)

AP: Montana Supreme Court Upholds Ruling Allowing Gender-Affirming Care For Minors 
A Montana law banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors will remain temporarily blocked, the state Supreme Court ruled Wednesday, after justices unanimously agreed with a lower court judge who found the law likely violates the state’s constitutional right to privacy. The case against the Montana law now goes to trial before District Court Judge Jason Marks in Missoula. (Hanson, 12/11)

The Marshall Project: New Florida Prison Policy On Trans Health Care Is 'Like Conversion Therapy' 
Earlier this fall, Florida officials ordered transgender women in the state’s prisons to submit to breast exams. As part of a new policy for people with gender dysphoria, prison medical staff ranked the women’s breast size using a scale designed for adolescents. Those whose breasts were deemed big enough were allowed to keep their bras. Everyone else had to surrender theirs, along with anything else considered “female,” such as women’s underwear and toiletry items. (Schwartzapfel, 12/11)

Also —

NBC News: Britain Bans Puberty Blockers For Transgender Minors
The United Kingdom on Wednesday indefinitely banned new prescriptions of puberty blockers to treat minors for gender dysphoria. The announcement comes a week after the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case involving state bans on puberty-suppressing medication and other forms of transition-related care for minors. Puberty blockers are commonly prescribed to transgender children in countries throughout the Western world to delay the onset of puberty or pause it as it is transpiring. (Lavietes, 12/11)

Bloomberg: Lawmakers Plan Bill Forcing CVS, Cigna, UnitedHealth To Sell Pharmacies
A bipartisan coalition of US lawmakers has drafted legislation that would force prescription drug middlemen to divest pharmacies they own. Some of the largest US health-care companies own pharmacy benefit management units that negotiate drug prices for employers and other customers. If enacted, the policy would compel CVS Health Corp., Cigna Group and UnitedHealth Group Inc. to shed drug-dispensing operations that have become profit centers for the vertically integrated conglomerates. (Tozzi, 12/11)

In other pharma and tech news —

Stat: Gilead To Test Once-A-Year HIV Prevention Shot 
Gilead said Tuesday that it will soon begin Phase 3 testing for a drug it believes could prevent HIV infection with just a single shot every year. Such a medicine, if proven effective, would be the closest thing to a vaccine the HIV field has produced in four decades of research. The company plans to begin the trial next year, with an eye toward regulatory filings in late 2027. (Mast, 12/11)

Modern Healthcare: Labcorp Completes Acquisition Of Ballad Health Lab Assets
Labcorp has completed its acquisition of select non-hospital lab assets from Ballad Health, the independent laboratory company said Wednesday. A purchase price was not immediately available. Johnson City, Tennessee-based Ballad Health will retain operations of its inpatient and emergency department laboratory services, as well as lab services for hospital-based practices, according to a news release. (DeSilva, 12/11)

ProPublica: FDA Hasn’t Inspected This Drug Factory After 7 Recalls, 1 Potentially Deadly 
The drug potassium chloride has been on the market for decades, widely prescribed to help the nerves and muscles — including the heart — function properly in patients with low potassium. Too much of it, however, can kill you. At high doses, it is so effective at stopping the heart that some states have used injections of it for executions. So the danger was obvious in May, when Indian drugmaker Glenmark Pharmaceuticals recalled nearly 47 million capsules for a dire flaw: The extended-release medication wasn’t dissolving properly, a defect that could lead to a perilous spike in potassium. (Callahan, Cenziper and Rose, 12/12)

Fox News: Gene Therapy Reverses Heart Failure In Large Animal Model
Heart failure has historically been irreversible, but the outcome of a new study suggests that could someday change. At the University of Utah, scientists used a new gene therapy that was shown to reverse the effects of heart failure in a large animal study. In the study, pigs with heart failure were found to have low levels of cardiac bridging integrator 1 (cBIN1), a critical heart protein. (Rudy, 12/11)

The New York Times: ADHD Diagnosis In Older People Has Increased 
An analysis by Truveta, a health care data and analytics company, shows that the rate of first-time A.D.H.D. diagnoses has been on the rise since 2021, but the increase has occurred only among people 30 and older. From January 2021 to October 2024, the rate of first-time diagnoses rose about 61 percent among those ages 30 to 44 and 64 percent among those ages 45 to 64. As a result, about 31 percent of first-time diagnoses are now among people ages 30 to 44, the largest proportion of any age group. (In 2018, younger adults took the top spot.) (Caron, 12/11)

In other health and wellness news —

The Guardian: Americans Spend More Time Living With Diseases Than Rest Of World, Study Shows 
Americans spend more time living with diseases than people from other countries, according to a new study. On Wednesday, the American Medical Association published its latest findings, revealing that Americans live with diseases for an average of 12.4 years. Mental and substance-use disorders, as well as musculoskeletal diseases, are main contributors to the years lived with disability in the US, per the study. (Yang, 12/11)

CNN: Certain Foods May Disrupt Your Body’s Fight Against Cancer Cells, Study Says 
The food you eat may be affecting your body’s ability to fight cancer cells in the colon, according to a new study. The potential culprit: an overabundance of certain omega-6 fatty acids — perhaps from ultraprocessed foods in your diet — that may hinder the anti-inflammatory and tumor-fighting properties of another essential fatty acid, omega-3. (LaMotte, 12/11)

CBS News: Stanford Researchers Look Into AI Tool To Help Fight Cancer And Other Diseases
Researchers at Stanford University believe a newly developed AI tool could help in the fight against cancer and other diseases. Olivier Gevaert, a biomedical data scientist at Stanford Medicine, showed CBS News Bay Area an example of a breast cancer tissue. Identifying and understanding the prevalence of specific genes within that tissue is just one hurdle in the fight against certain cancers. (Choi, 12/11)

BBC: Canada Euthanasia Now Accounts For Nearly One In 20 Deaths
The rate of medical assistance in dying - also known as euthanasia - has grown in Canada for the fifth straight year, albeit at a slower pace. The country released its fifth annual report since legalising assisted dying in 2016, which for the first time included data on the ethnicity of those seeking euthanasia. Around 15,300 people underwent assisted dying last year, accounting for 4.7% of deaths in the country. Canada lawmakers are currently seeking to expand access to euthanasia to cover people with mental illnesses by 2027. (Yousif, 12/11)

Modern Healthcare: 'Ghost Networks' Lawsuit May Signal Trouble For Insurers
Health insurers have long faced criticism over inaccurate provider directories, and a recent lawsuit suggests more scrutiny could be on the horizon. Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield of New York, an Elevance Health subsidiary, is battling a trio of policyholders seeking class action status who allege the insurer deliberately includes out-of-network providers in its lists. These alleged "ghost networks" can deter patients from seeking care or increase their costs and can cause headaches for providers. (Berryman and Early, 12/11)

More health industry updates —

Modern Healthcare: Community Health Systems To Sell NC Hospital To Duke Health
Community Health Systems signed a definitive agreement to sell a North Carolina hospital to Duke Health for about $280 million. The deal involves the 123-bed Lake Norman Regional Medical Center in Mooresville, North Carolina, and related businesses. It is expected to close in the first quarter of 2025, subject to regulatory approval, according to a Wednesday news release. (Hudson, 12/11)

Modern Healthcare: Longitude Health To Launch Population Health Company
Longitude Health will launch an initiative next year to help providers improve care for Medicare Advantage beneficiaries and other patients covered by outcome-based reimbursement models. The health system-backed company on Tuesday appointed Dr. Craig Samitt to lead Longitude PHM, which aims to help health systems tackle population health and accelerate what has been a slow shift from fee-for-service to value-based payment models. (Kacik, 12/11)

Minnesota Public Radio: University Of Minnesota Announces Plans To Restructure M Health System Under New Leadership 
The University of Minnesota is taking steps to restructure the M Health system by integrating its physicians within the university under a new leader. The announcement came in a Wednesday memo to medical faculty and staff from the university’s president and the medical school’s dean. (Zurek, 12/11)

KFF Health News: Patients Couldn’t Pay Their Utility Bills. One Hospital Turned To Solar Power For Help
Anna Goldman, a primary care physician at Boston Medical Center, got tired of hearing that her patients couldn’t afford the electricity needed to run breathing assistance machines, recharge wheelchairs, turn on air conditioning, or keep their refrigerators plugged in. So she worked with her hospital on a solution. The result is a pilot effort called the Clean Power Prescription program. The initiative aims to help keep the lights on for roughly 80 patients with complex, chronic medical needs. (Bebinger, 12/12)

Also —

ProPublica: How Wall Street Billionaires Avoid Paying Medicare Taxes 
For most working Americans, paying their share of the taxes that fund Medicare is an unavoidable fact of life. It’s so automatic for many workers that they may not even realize it takes a bite out of every paycheck. In theory, everyone is required to contribute to the country’s health insurance program for seniors, no matter how poor or rich, from cashiers to CEOs. Not on Wall Street. There, some of the most powerful people in finance found a way to opt out. (Kiel, 12/11)

CBS News: A Citywide Vaping Ban Is Coming To Dallas. Here's When It'll Take Effect
The Dallas City Council on Wednesday approved a new ordinance banning vaping in all locations where smoking is already prohibited, effective Dec. 11, 2025. City officials said the measure is part of an effort to enhance air quality and safeguard public health. (Myers, 12/11)

The Texas Tribune: Texas Attorney General Sues Companies Over Forever Chemicals 
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit Wednesday against chemical giants 3M and DuPont, accusing them of decades-long misrepresentations and omissions regarding the safety of PFAS, or “forever chemicals,” sold for use in countless consumer products. These products, sold under brand names such as Teflon, Stainmaster, and Scotchgard, have been staples in households across the nation despite mounting evidence that they contain chemicals that are harmful to human health. (Martinez, 12/11)

The Texas Tribune: Texas Agency To Ask For $300M For Medicaid Enrollment Fix 
In Texas, health advocates often find themselves playing defense to encourage leaders to preserve the state’s relatively frugal public service offerings while also pushing for more. That’s why a $300 million ask to lawmakers next year from the state’s social services agency — the Texas Health and Human Services Commission — to improve the agency’s complicated Medicaid application process has thrilled the state’s nonprofit policy groups. (Langford, 12/11)

Reveal and The Marshall Project: Hospitals Gave Women Medications During Childbirth — Then Reported Them For Using Illicit Drugs
Across the country, hospitals are dispensing medications to patients in labor, only to report them to child welfare authorities when they or their newborns test positive for those same substances on subsequent drug tests, an investigation by The Marshall Project and Reveal has found. The positive tests are triggered by medications routinely prescribed to millions of birthing patients in the United States every year. The drugs include morphine or fentanyl for epidurals or other pain relief; anxiety medications; and two different blood pressure meds prescribed for C-sections. (Walter, 12/11)

The CT Mirror: CT Medicaid Costs Not Likely To Lower Under Managed Care: Report
Connecticut’s Medicaid program boasts lower costs and similar levels of access when compared to peer states, according to a report by independent consultants, leading to the conclusion that employing a model known as managed care would not likely save the state money. The findings were part of a report, commissioned by Gov. Ned Lamont, to explore the possibility of returning the state’s Medicaid program to a managed care model — a proposal that was met with fierce opposition from many advocates and legislators who said the move would increase costs and reduce access. (Golvala, 12/11)

Carolina Public Press: NC Hospitals Dispute Advocates' Report On Price Transparency 
When was the last time you knew the full cost of a medical procedure before going under? Hospital price transparency has been enforced by the federal Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services since 2021, but whether the law is functioning as intended is a topic of heated debate. (Sartwell, 12/12)

ProPublica: Maine’s Eviction Prevention Program Excludes Public Housing Tenants
Public housing helped bring an end to Linda Gallagher-Garcia’s three years of intermittent homelessness in her hometown of Presque Isle, Maine, in 2020. With $200 in secondhand furniture, she made the apartment feel like home for her and her dog, Tex. But when she fell behind on her rent and was evicted two years later, the fact that she was in public housing made her future more dire: Maine public housing authorities’ rules bar evicted tenants from returning to government-subsidized units and from receiving other benefits that could help them relocate. (Loftus, 12/12)

CIDRAP: Pediatric RSV Vaccine Trials On Hold, FDA Says 
A briefing document from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says that enrollment for all clinical studies of vaccines for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in infants is on hold over concerns about potential safety findings from a clinical trial involving two vaccine candidates. (Dall, 12/11)

CIDRAP: Trial Stops Enrollment After Tpoxx Fails To Speed Clade 2 Mpox Healing Or Pain Relief 
Patients are no longer being enrolled in the Study of Tecovirimat for Mpox (STOMP) randomized clinical trial (RCT) after an interim analysis showed that the antiviral drug (brand name, Tpoxx) didn't speed lesion healing or pain relief in adults with mild to moderate clade 2 mpox at low risk for severe illness, report the study sponsor, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), and Tpoxx developer Siga Technologies, Inc. (Van Beusekom, 12/11)

ScienceDaily: Personalized Blood Count Could Lead To Early Intervention For Common Diseases
Currently, the results of CBC tests are analyzed using a one-size-fits-all reference interval, but a new study suggests that this approach can lead to overlooked deviations in health. In a retrospective analysis, researchers show that these reference intervals, or setpoints, are unique to each patient. The study revealed that one healthy patient's CBC setpoints can be distinguishable from 98 percent of other healthy adults. (Mass General Brigham, 12/11)

CIDRAP: Review Reveals 22 Viruses, Some With Pandemic Potential, In Semen
A new systematic review of 373 studies reveals the detection of 22 viruses in human semen following acute infection, including pathogens with pandemic potential. The study was published yesterday in The Lancet Microbe, and shows that only 9 of the 22 viruses had evidence of sexual transmission. The persistence of viruses in semen has far-reaching implications for ongoing disease transmission, embryonic development and fertility, and the development of drugs and vaccines, the authors said. Infectious semen has also contributed to recent outbreaks of Zika virus disease, Ebola virus disease, and mpox. (Soucheray, 12/11)

MedPage Today: Could Psoriasis Treatment Be This Simple? 
A derivative of the diuretic drug amiloride (Midamor) blocked key inflammatory pathways in mouse models of psoriasis, including xenografts of psoriatic human skin, as well as in cultured patient skin samples, researchers said. Skin cells taken from human psoriasis patients, reconstructed into tissue and grafted onto immunodeficient mice, "showed pronounced psoriasiform hyperplasia" when treated with a placebo solution, but when benzyl amiloride was applied, no such abnormal growth was seen, according to M. Peter Marinkovich, MD, of Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, and colleagues. (Gever, 12/11)

CIDRAP: Recombinant Pertussis Vaccine May Protect Teens For At Least 5 Years 
Researchers report that immunity against pertussis (whooping cough) was sustained 5 years after receipt of a recombinant vaccine in adolescents and young adults, a finding that they said supports its use as a booster in adolescents. (Van Beusekom, 12/5)

Los Angeles Times: The UnitedHealthcare Killing Won't Improve Insurance. This Would 
Last week’s shocking killing of UnitedHealthcare’s chief executive, Brian Thompson, reopened a national wound inflicted by the delay and denial of health coverage to countless Americans. This was a violent crime that won’t solve anything. But the ensuing organic and spontaneous outpouring of populist anger underscored how many Americans have been cruelly and unjustly denied medical treatment. (Jamie Court, 12/12)

Sacramento Bee: Supreme Court Appears Ready To Discriminate Against Trans Youth By Denying Them Care
Sadly, it appears that the Supreme Court is poised to uphold a Tennessee law that prohibits transgender youth from obtaining gender-affirming care. In a case heard last week, the six conservative justices expressed deference to the Tennessee legislature’s choice, indicating that the court is likely to reject the constitutional challenges to the law. (Erwin Chemerinsky, 12/11)

Chicago Tribune: Donald Trump Must Embrace Expanded Access To Obesity Fighting Drugs
President Joe Biden proposed a policy last week that would allow Americans on Medicare and Medicaid to access obesity-fighting drugs like Wegovy and Ozempic. The White House is pitching the regulation as these new drugs are exploding in the health care arena, and which, so far, have been effective and in high demand. (Laura Washington, 12/11)

The New York Times: Men In Caring Jobs Will Make Society More Equal 
According to Harriet Torry in The Wall Street Journal, “The number of male registered nurses in the U.S. has nearly tripled since the early 2000s,” going “from about 140,000 in 2000 to about 400,000 in 2023.” In health care, wage and market growth exceed the national average, and people still need emergency surgeries, even in recessions, CNN’s Bryan Mena notes. Health care jobs are particularly vital in rural parts of the country, where hospitals may be among the largest employers in their areas. (Jessica Grose, 12/11)

Stat: How Texas Is Undermining Its Own Medical System 
As a first-generation immigrant, much of my childhood was spent in a state of perpetual uncertainty. My family and I fixated on an ever-refreshing screen, patiently watching our status shift from “H-1B visa” to “green card” holder to “citizen” over 14 long years. Yet amid this endless cycle of anxiety, one place surprisingly gave me solace: the hospital. As a long-time patient of Texas Children’s Hospital, I saw early on how health care stood apart — a field untouched by the grasp of immigration status, a space where humanity held precedence over nationality. (Akshara Ramasamy, 12/12)