Axios: U.S. Health Spending Hit $4.5 Trillion Last Year
Health care spending growth in the United States may be settling back into pre-pandemic patterns, a new federal analysis of 2022 health expenditures suggests. Medicare actuaries said slower spending growth last year stemmed from the end of the federal government's COVID-19 relief payments, which caused health spending to spike in 2020. (Goldman, 12/14)

Reuters: U.S. Healthcare Spending Rises To $4.5 Trillion In 2022
The estimated healthcare spending per person in the United States stood at about $13,493 in 2022. Personal healthcare spending on hospital care, dental, clinical and physician services slowed down in the year, while non-personal expenses accelerated, driven by a turnaround in the net cost of insurance. Medicaid spending surged 9.6%, reaching $805.7 billion, and private health insurance spending grew 5.9%, totaling $1.3 trillion. Medicare spending rose 5.9% to $944.3 billion. (12/13)

Fierce Healthcare: A Closer Look At Healthcare Spending In 2022
Notably, the number of uninsured individuals has declined for three straight years with the insured population rate reaching 92%, or 26.6 million individuals uninsured. (Tong, 12/13)

Read the CMS Report: National Health Expenditures 2022 Highlights

In related news about prescription drug costs —

The Hill: Biden To Tout Efforts To Lower Prescription Drug Costs In NIH Visit
President Biden will travel to the National Institutes of Health in Maryland on Thursday to deliver remarks highlighting how a signature piece of legislation is capping prescription drug costs. Biden will make the short trip to Bethesda to announce that dozens of pharmaceutical companies will be required to pay rebates to Medicare because they raised drug prices faster than the rate of inflation. (Samuels, 12/14)

Modern Healthcare: Lobbying Spending Focused On PBM Reform In 2023
If enough evidence didn't already exist that pharmacy benefit managers are the target of the year on Capitol Hill, taking the old advice to follow the money confirms it: Legislation about the drug supply middlemen has been the most heavily lobbied in 2023. According to federal data compiled by OpenSecrets, seven of the 11 most-lobbied bills during the first three quarters largely focus on curbing PBM business practices and promoting lower prescription drug prices. (McAuliff, 12/13)

The New York Times: Supreme Court Will Hear Challenge To Abortion Pill Access 
The Supreme Court announced on Wednesday that it would decide on the availability of a commonly used abortion pill, the first major case involving abortion on its docket since it overturned the constitutional right to the procedure more than a year ago. The Biden administration had asked the justices to intervene after a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit favored curbing distribution of the drug, mifepristone, appearing skeptical of the Food and Drug Administration’s regulation of the pill in recent years. In its ruling, the panel said that the pill would remain legal, but with significant restrictions on patients’ access, including prohibiting the medication from being sent by mail or prescribed by telemedicine. (VanSickle, 12/13)

AP: A Common Abortion Pill Will Come Before The US Supreme Court. Here’s How Mifepristone Works
Medication abortion is the preferred method of ending pregnancy in the U.S., and one of the two drugs used — mifepristone — will now go in front of the U.S. Supreme Court next year. Demand for the abortion pills mifepristone and misoprostol has grown as states have imposed bans or restrictions or seek to limit abortions after the reversal of Roe v. Wade in June 2022.Conservative groups filed lawsuits targeting mifepristone, which is the only drug approved specifically for abortion, seeking to reverse its approval or rollback policies that have made it easier to obtain. The Supreme Court will hear a case in the spring that could block mail-order access to mifepristone and impose restrictions on its use, even in states where abortion remains legal. (Perrone, 12/13)

Axios: Supreme Court Abortion Pill Case Puts FDA Drug Review Power At Risk
The Supreme Court's decision to review the availability of a commonly used abortion pill doesn't just open another chapter in the nation's abortion wars — it's also a direct challenge to the Food and Drug Administration's power to regulate drugs. (Bettelheim, 12/14)

Related news from the campaign trail —

The Hill: Ramaswamy: Supreme Court Should Rule Against FDA Approval Of Abortion Pill
Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said that he believes the Supreme Court should overturn the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) approval of the abortion pill mifepristone. Ramaswamy said at a CNN town hall in Iowa on Wednesday that the case, which the court agreed earlier on Wednesday to hear, is about the authority that regulatory agencies have without direct authorization from Congress. He argued that the FDA exceeded its authority in approving the pill in 2000. (Gans, 12/13)

AP: Some 2024 GOP Hopefuls Call For 'Compassion' In Texas Abortion Case But Don't Say Law Should Change
Some of the Republicans seeking their party’s 2024 presidential nomination have said the case of a Texas woman whose health deteriorated as she unsuccessfully sought an abortion should be handled with “compassion,” but they did not criticize the state’s law. It’s the latest indication that the candidates see the politics surrounding abortion as a delicate — and fraught — issue for the GOP after the Supreme Court’s reversal of constitutional protections for the procedure helped power Democrats to unexpectedly strong performances in the 2022 midterms. (Kinnard, Fernando and price, 12/13)

The Washington Post: Pregnant Women Take A Leading Role In New Legal Battles Over Abortion
The burst of lawsuits that put pregnant women front and center reflects a shift in approach by the abortion rights movement, which has long brought challenges through claims by clinics and doctors who remain affected by abortion restrictions beyond the narrow window during which patients would be seeking to end their pregnancies. The strategy behind the new, high-profile lawsuits has both legal and political implications for the fate of abortion access in the ever-evolving aftermath of the fall of Roe v. Wade, according to experts tracking the cases. They enable advocacy groups to chip away at the new laws by highlighting particular circumstances that jeopardize the health of the mother — while compelling the courts, as well as the country, to reckon with some of the most harrowing consequences of abortion bans. (Kitchener, 12/13)

Abortion news from New Mexico —

Reuters: New Mexico Top Court Appears Set To Block Local Ordinances That Limit Abortion Pill 
The New Mexico Supreme Court, based on arguments it heard on Wednesday, appeared poised to block several local ordinances in the state that aim to restrict distribution of the abortion pill. However, the high court appeared unlikely to rule that the state's constitution includes a right to abortion, as the state's Attorney General Raul Torrez, a Democrat, had urged, leaning instead toward deciding the case on narrower legal grounds. (Pierson, 12/13)

On contraception —

CBS News: Use Of Plan B "Morning After" Pills Doubles, Teen Sex Rates Decline In CDC Survey
The share of American women who say they have ever used emergency contraception after having sex has more than doubled since the so-called "morning after" or Plan B brand pills were approved to be sold without a prescription, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday. The increase is among dozens of trends tracked in two reports now released from the CDC's National Survey of Family Growth, examining survey results through 2019 on sex and birth control among teens as well as all women ages 15 to 44 years old. (Tin, 12/14)

Stat: Male Birth Control Pill Enters Phase 1 Trial In U.K.
From several types of hormonal pills to implants, IUDs, and vaginal rings, women have a lot of birth control choices that are both non-surgical and reversible. Men have just one: Condoms, which are 87% effective in preventing pregnancy, and thus less reliable than many other methods. Attempts to change the status quo have been scarce and unsuccessful. In 2016, a trial for a hormonal male birth control pill was halted after men reported side effects including acne and mood swings — though such side effects are also experienced by women on various hormonal contraceptives. (Merelli, 12/13)

The Hill: House Passes Bill Allowing Schools To Serve Whole Milk 
The House has passed a bill allowing whole milk to be served in school cafeterias for the first time since 2012. The Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act, which permits the National School Lunch Program to serve whole milk, passed 330-99 in the House on Wednesday afternoon. It now heads to the Senate. Regulations have stipulated which kinds of milk can be offered in school cafeterias since 2012 when then-First Lady Michelle Obama moved to only permit low-fat milk variations. (Polus, 12/13)

The New York Times: Got Time For Milk? An Overwhelmed House, Somehow, Does. 
With one day to go until Congress plans to call it quits for the year and members head home for the holidays, the House got down to pressing business on Wednesday, using its precious remaining time to pass legislation to bring whole milk back to America’s school cafeterias. An emergency aid package to fund the wars in Ukraine and Israel hung in limbo, stymied by a Republican filibuster in the Senate. Bipartisan talks on how to tackle a surge of migration at the U.S. border with Mexico showed no sign of yielding a breakthrough. And lawmakers were facing a daunting time crunch to act on a dozen federal spending measures when they return after New Year’s Day, at which point they will have just eight working days to avoid a partial government shutdown. (12/13)

But a milk carton shortage continues —

WBNG: As Milk Carton Shortage Persists, Dairy Farmers Look To Help Schools Find Alternatives
With a shortage of supplies for milk cartons persisting, U.S. Rep. Marc Molinaro (R-N.Y.) is turning attention to the Food Supply Chain Capacity & Resiliency Act he sponsored earlier this year. He said the bill would potentially allow more manufacturers to enter a space that two companies dominate. ... As the shortage may persist longer and access to cartons may be harder to come by, the American Dairy Association Northeast is focused on providing alternatives that will deliver milk in other forms to schools. “We have pivoted to other ways they can serve the milk, whether it’s in gallons and being poured or it’s in dispensers,” said Donahoe. (Quinn, 12/7)

The New York Times: Milk Carton Shortages Hit Schools In Several States 
School districts in New York, Pennsylvania, California, Washington and other states said they were bracing for the supply shortages, which are expected to last into early 2024. Hospitals, prisons and other settings with cafeterias were likely to be affected as well. (Kwai, 11/2)

Stat: New Federal Rules Demand Transparency Into AI Models Used In Health Decisions
Federal health technology regulators on Wednesday finalized new rules to force software vendors to disclose how artificial intelligence tools are trained, developed, and tested — a move to protect patients against biased and harmful decisions about their care. The rules are aimed at placing guardrails around a new generation of AI models gaining rapid adoption in hospitals and clinics around the country. These tools are meant to help predict health risks and emergent medical problems, but little is publicly known about their effectiveness, reliability, or fairness. (Ross, 12/13)

Modern Healthcare: HHS Rule Sets AI, Predictive Algorithm Transparency Requirements
Developers that want to certify their AI-enabled health IT products through ONC are required to describe how their algorithm was designed, developed and trained. They also must inform ONC whether patient demographic, social determinants of health or other equity-related data was used in training the AI model. Developers must provide information for clinical users about how to assess them for fairness, appropriateness, validity, effectiveness and safety, ONC said in the release. (DeSilva, 12/13)

CNBC: How Doctors Are Using Google's New AI Models For Health Care
Google on Wednesday announced MedLM, a suite of new health-care-specific artificial intelligence models designed to help clinicians and researchers carry out complex studies, summarize doctor-patient interactions and more. The move marks Google’s latest attempt to monetize health-care industry AI tools, as competition for market share remains fierce between competitors like Amazon and Microsoft. (Capoot, 12/13)

In news about health care workers —

Los Angeles Times: Doctors At L.A. County-Run Facilities Set Dec. 27 Strike Date
Physicians and dentists working at Los Angeles County-run hospitals, clinics and other county facilities have made plans to go on strike shortly after Christmas to protest what their union describes as inadequate benefits and dire vacancies. The Union of American Physicians and Dentists said Wednesday that it had set a Dec. 27 date for a walkout after more than two years of negotiations had failed to address concerns among doctors, dentists and other county employees who recently authorized a strike. (Alpert Reyes, 12/13)

Modern Healthcare: What Hospital Recruitment, Retention Looked Like In 2023
Tuition reimbursement is a top program offered this year by health systems seeking to recruit and retain employees, according to a recent survey by Aon, an insurer and consulting firm. The survey of more than 1,400 hospitals and 160 health systems found that an increasing number of employers tailored their pay structures and organizational goals to meet employees’ needs in 2023. (Devereaux, 12/13)

More health care industry news —

CBS News: UChicago Medicine Receives $20 Million Gift For Cancer Research
UChicago Medicine announced Wednesday that it has received a $20 million boost in the fight against cancer. The gift from Susan and Tandean Rustandy will support a seven-story 575,000 square-foot cancer care and research pavilion on 57th Street between Maryland and Drexel avenues on the University of Chicago Medical Center campus. Construction has already begun for the facility. The new center will be Illinois' only freestanding facility dedicated solely to cancer. (Harrington and Kraemer, 12/13)

The Texas Tribune: Most Texas Border Counties Lack Adequate Medical Facilities And Staff
Juvencia Padilla knows the drive to El Paso like the back of her hand. She takes frequent road trips to the West Texas city from her Fort Hancock home, seeing more cotton and alfalfa fields than towns on the way. The trips are a medical necessity for her 29 year-old son Florentino Hernandez Jr. “Sometimes it takes us all day over there,” Padilla said. (Juell, 12/14)

Stat: Why Health Records Don't Always Know When Patients Are Dead
Health professor Neil Wenger was deep into a years-long study on seriously ill primary care patients when he uncovered a different but persistent issue: Many patients who were targeted for follow-up interventions had actually died, and their hospitals did not know about it. (Ravindranath, 12/14)

KFF Health News: An Arm And A Leg: When Hospitals Sue Patients (Part 1)
Some hospitals sue patients over unpaid medical bills in bulk, sometimes by the hundreds of thousands. The defendants are often already facing financial hardship or even bankruptcy .Judgments against patients in these suits can derail someone’s life but, according to experts, they don’t bring hospitals much money. So why do hospitals do it? (12/14)

AP: New York Removes Medical Debt From Credit Reports
Unpaid medical debt will no longer appear in New York residents’ credit reports under a bill signed into law by Gov. Kathy Hochul on Wednesday. The law prohibits credit agencies from collecting information about or reporting medical debt. The law also bans hospitals and health care providers in the state from reporting such debt to the agencies. New York is the second state after Colorado to enact such a law. A similar nationwide measure is being considered by the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. (Khan, 12/13)

On transgender health care —

The Hill: Ohio Senate Approves Restrictions On Gender-Affirming Care, Transgender Athletes
The Ohio Senate passed legislation Wednesday to prevent doctors from administering gender-affirming health care to transgender minors and bar trans student athletes from competing on sports teams consistent with their gender identity. Ohio’s House Bill 68 passed the state’s Republican-controlled Senate in a 24-8 vote largely along party lines. One Republican — state Sen. Nathan Manning — voted with all Democrats against the measure, which will need to clear a final House vote before it is sent to Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, who has so far declined to say whether he will sign it. (Migdon, 12/13)

Kansas City Star: Missouri Lawmakers Pre-File Anti-LGBTQ Bills Ahead Of Session
Missouri Republican lawmakers have pre-filed more than 20 bills aimed at restricting LGBTQ rights ahead of the 2024 legislative session, which begins next month. For Kale Marie Michael, a 22-year-old transgender woman from Kansas City, it feels like her community is always under attack. (Bayless and Shorman, 12/13)

AP: Florida Mother Fears Her Family Will Be Devastated As Trial On Trans Health Care Ban Begins
The mother of a transgender girl sobbed in federal court Wednesday as she contemplated having to move away from her Navy officer husband to get health care for her 12-year-old if Florida’s ban on gender dysphoria treatments for minors is allowed to take affect. The woman, who testified as Jane Doe to protect the identity of her child, said her daughter went from being anxious and upset to a thriving, happy straight-A student after being allowed to live as a girl about eight years ago, a decision she made with her husband after multiple visits to their family’s doctor. (Farrington, 12/13)

More news from Florida —

News Service of Florida: Florida Senate Committee Approves 'Game-Changing' Health Care Plans
A state Senate committee Tuesday unanimously approved two high-profile bills that supporters say would help expand access to health care and spur innovation in Florida. The bills approved by the Health Policy Committee are a top priority of Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, for the 2024 legislative session, which will start Jan. 9. (12/13)

Tampa Bay Times: As Dangerous Kratom Products Go Unregulated, Lobbyists Write The Laws
Upstart companies around the country sell crushed kratom leaf, providing no clear dosing instructions or warnings about potential dangers. They don’t have to. As medical examiners log an increasing number of overdoses involving kratom across Florida and elsewhere, the industry has largely operated without government constraints or safety measures that could help protect consumers. (Wilson and Ogozalek, 12/13)

From Massachusetts, North Carolina, and Michigan —

CNN: Woman Accuses Boston Fertility Doctor Of Secretly Inseminating Her With His Own Sperm In Lawsuit Spurred By DNA Kit Discovery
More than 40 years after a couple sought the help of a Boston, Massachusetts, fertility specialist, their daughter discovered through a purchased DNA kit that the doctor is her biological father, according to a lawsuit filed on Wednesday in the U.S. District Court District of Massachusetts. The suit alleges Dr. Merle Berger secretly used his own sperm to inseminate the mother, Sarah Depoian, in 1980. (Dewberry, 12/14)

North Carolina Health News: NC Medicaid Expansion Could Be Challenging For NC Dentists
When North Carolina expanded Medicaid this month to give more than half a million people access to government-subsidized health care, those new beneficiaries could gain even brighter smiles. The state’s Medicaid program offers comprehensive oral health benefits such as routine cleanings, exams and other preventative services. Care deemed “medically necessary” includes some oral surgeries, periodontal care, tooth restoration, denture fittings and placements — with complete replacements every 10 years and partial replacements every five years. (Blythe, 12/14)

CBS News: Michigan Health Officials Seeking Detroiters To Get Tested For Lead, Mercury, PFAS In Statewide Project 
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services says it is seeking residents in some Detroit neighborhoods to participate in a statewide project investigating certain chemicals in blood and urine. The department says the Michigan Chemical Exposure Monitoring (MiChEM) project team will be in Detroit from Jan. 10-12, 2024 to collect data on lead, mercury, and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). (Booth-Singleton, 12/13)

CNN: Poison Centers See Nearly 1,500% Increase In Calls Related To Injected Weight-Loss Drugs As People Accidentally Overdose
Poison control centers across the US say they are seeing a steep increase in calls related to semaglutide, an injected medication used for diabetes and weight loss, with some people reporting symptoms related to accidental overdoses. Some have even needed to be hospitalized for severe nausea, vomiting and stomach pain, but their cases seem to have resolved after they were given intravenous fluids and medications to control nausea. (Goodman, 12/13)

Reuters: US Employers Hire Virtual Providers As Weight-Loss Drug Gatekeepers 
U.S. employers facing surging costs from paying for Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and similar obesity drugs are hiring virtual healthcare providers like Teladoc to implement weight-loss management programs, a dozen consultants, pharmacy benefit managers, analysts, and providers told Reuters. These programs may require diet and exercise before granting access to the medicines, and in some cases will become employees' sole covered option for medications like Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s rival therapy Zepbound, which have list prices of more than $1,000 a month. (Wingrove, 12/13)

The Wall Street Journal: Diet Company Medifast, Once An Ozempic Skeptic, Embraces Weight Loss Drugs With LifeMD Telehealth Deal
Medifast, the weight-loss company that uses coaches and low-calorie shakes and bars to help customers slim down, is diving into the Ozempic and Wegovy market. The company is investing $20 million in LifeMD, a telehealth company that provides access to doctors and nurse practitioners who can prescribe the drugs.  The move is an about-face for Medifast, a roughly $800 million market-cap company whose chairman and chief executive, Dan Chard, has previously said he was confident in its nondrug approach to weight loss and expressed concerns about the medications. (Petersen, 12/13)

The Wall Street Journal: Oprah Winfrey Says She Uses A Weight Loss Drug 
Oprah Winfrey, the media mogul and world’s most famous dieter, said in an interview published Wednesday that she is taking weight-loss medication as a “maintenance tool.” Winfrey didn’t disclose which drug she is taking, but her acknowledgment introduces star wattage to the debate about weight-loss medications that have rocked the pharmaceutical, food and diet industries since their widespread adoption. (Schwartzel, 12/13)

In other pharmaceutical news —

Fox News: ChatGPT Spreads Inaccuracies To Drug Information Questions, Study Finds
In a study led by Long Island University (LIU) in Brooklyn, New York, nearly 75% of drug-related, pharmacist-reviewed responses from the generative AI chatbot were found to be incomplete or wrong. In some cases, ChatGPT, which was developed by OpenAI in San Francisco and released in late 2022, provided "inaccurate responses that could endanger patients," the American Society of Health System Pharmacists (ASHP), headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, stated in a press release. (Stabile, 12/14)

Stat: Vertex Non-Opioid Drug Reduces Chronic Nerve Pain In Mid-Stage Study
Vertex Pharmaceuticals said Wednesday that an experimental drug reduced pain in people with diabetes who have chronic nerve pain — mid-stage study results that support the biotech company’s efforts to develop an effective painkiller without the addictive potential of opioids. (Feuerstein and Wosen, 12/13)

NBC News: Could A Little-Known Psychedelic Drug Treat Opioid Addiction? Kentucky Wants To Find Out
As the opioid epidemic continues raging, some advocates in Kentucky are pushing the state to explore a little-known psychedelic drug called ibogaine as a possible treatment option for addiction, a move, they say, could save lives. A state committee is considering funding research into the drug, marking the first time a state has looked into such an approach and underscoring the urgent need to expand the playbook to combat a crisis that has devastated the region in the past decade. (Sullivan, Herzberg and Snow, 12/13)

Reuters: Ban Flavoured Vapes, WHO Says, Urging Tobacco-Style Controls
The World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday urged governments to treat e-cigarettes similarly to tobacco and ban all flavours, threatening cigarette companies' bets on smoking alternatives. Some researchers, campaigners and governments see e-cigarettes, or vapes, as a key tool in reducing the death and disease caused by smoking. But the U.N. agency said "urgent measures" were needed to control them. (12/14)

Axios: Americans' Physical Health Has Deteriorated Since The Pandemic: Gallup
Americans' physical and mental health are suffering more than before the pandemic, new data shows. More Americans reported diabetes diagnoses, less regular healthy eating, high cholesterol and lower confidence this year, compared with before the pandemic, according to Gallup survey data released Thursday. (Rubin, 12/14)

NPR: Report: Access To Mental Health Treatment Is Poor In The U.S.
Roughly two-thirds of Americans with a diagnosed mental health condition were unable to access treatment in 2021, though they had health insurance. And only a third of insured people who visited an emergency department or hospital during a mental health crisis, received follow-up care within a month of being discharged. These are among the findings of a new report by the actuary firm Milliman, released Wednesday. The mental health advocacy group, Inseparable, commissioned the report and also released an accompanying brief offering policy solutions to address the gaps in mental health care. (Chatterjee, 12/13)

In other mental health news —

CBS News: Students Say Their New York School's Cellphone Ban Helped Improve Their Mental Health 
At Newburgh Free Academy in New York, cell phones are locked away for the entire school day, including lunch. Students like Tyson Hill and Monique May say it is a relief after constantly being on their phones during the COVID-19 lockdown, when screen time among adolescents more than doubled, according to a study last year in the Journal of the American Medical Association Pediatrics. "I blame my darkest moments because of my phone," Tyson told CBS News. (Oliver, 12/13)

CBS News: Denver Teens Get Free 24/7 Mental Health Support With Text 
"We've seen an increase in youth mental health needs since 2017. We really wanted to create an outlet for young people in a way that works for them. They can address their stress, their feelings of isolation, and really create a sense of belonging," said Lorez Meinhold, executive director of Caring for Denver Foundation. Caring for Denver is partnering with Crisis Text Line to expand free, 24/7 mental health text support for students. (Mason, 12/13)

Missouri Independent: Even More Missourians Are Stuck Waiting In Jails For Court-Ordered Mental Health Treatment
There are 285 people in Missouri jails waiting to be moved to state psychiatric hospitals for treatment, the Department of Mental Health told lawmakers this week. There were 229 people waiting for treatment in March, 253 in September, 260 in October and 272 in November, the department reported Monday. These individuals were arrested, deemed unfit to stand trial and ordered into rehabilitative mental health services that could allow them to stand trial, a process called competency restoration. (Bates, 12/14)

Stat: Virtual Care Provider Acquires Bankrupt Pear's Prescription Apps
Half a year after selling its assets at bankruptcy auction, Pear Therapeutics’ most significant digital treatments will find a new life as part of PursueCare, which provides online addiction care and mental health counseling. (Aguilar, 12/13)

On Alzheimer's disease —

Texas Community Health News: Stigma, Language Complicate Treating Hispanics With Alzheimer’s Disease
Hispanics are almost twice as likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease than white Americans, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. But experts say that cultural factors likely mean that the disease is even more prevalent among Hispanics than these numbers suggest. (Alcorta, 12/14)

CIDRAP: WHO Advisers Recommend Sticking With Monovalent COVID XBB.1.5 Vaccines 
The World Health Organization (WHO) technical advisory group on COVID-19 vaccine composition met last week to review the latest SARS-CoV-2 genetic changes and assess if any vaccine changes are needed, and today the group recommended sticking with the current monovalent XBB.1.5 antigen. (Schnirring, 12/13)

The Wall Street Journal: Pfizer Tumbles After Warning That Next Year Could Be Worse Than This Year
Pfizer shares tumbled to their lowest close in more than nine years, after the giant drugmaker overestimated Covid-19 vaccine use and the company was forced to warn about its prospects. (Hopkins and Feuer, 12/13)

Nature: A Next-Generation Inhalable Dry Powder COVID Vaccine
Current injectable COVID-19 vaccines are unable to induce robust immunity in the mucosal tissues lining the airways. A protein-based vaccine delivered to the lungs in the form of an inhaled dry powder shows promise as a way forward. (Xing and Jeyanathan, 12/13)

On the spread of covid and other respiratory diseases —

CBS News: Corewell Health Limits Number Of Visitors At 3 Metro Detroit Pediatric Units Amid Rise In Respiratory Illnesses
Corewell Health announced they will limit the number of visitors to pediatric units at three hospitals in Metro Detroit due to the rise of pediatric respiratory illnesses. Effective immediately, only two visitors will be allowed at the bedside during the day and one visitor overnight at Corewell Health's Beaumont Hospitals in Dearborn, Royal Oak, and Troy, according to a press release. (Dawson, 12/13)

CNN: As Respiratory Viruses Spread Everywhere, What Should You Do If You Get Sick?
The spread of respiratory illnesses is well underway, as US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Dr. Mandy Cohen told Congress recently. She noted the rise of three particular viruses: flu, the coronavirus and respiratory syncytial virus, better known as RSV. (Hetter, 12/13)

CIDRAP: Pneumococcal Disease In Kids Plunges 72% Over 20 Years After Vaccine Rollout 
The rate of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) in children plummeted 72% from 2002 to 2021 and continued to fall after the 7-valent (7-strain) pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7) was replaced by the 13-valent version (PCV13), a Yale University–led team reports today in Pediatrics. (Van Beusekom, 12/13)

KFF Health News: Rift Over When To Use N95s Puts Health Workers At Risk Again 
Three years after more than 3,600 health workers died of covid-19, occupational safety experts warn that those on the front lines may once again be at risk if the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention takes its committee’s advice on infection control guidelines in health care settings, including hospitals, nursing homes, and jails. In early November, the committee released a controversial set of recommendations the CDC is considering, which would update those established some 16 years ago. (Maxmen, 12/14)

On long covid —

Reuters: Scientists See Risk Of Lost Opportunity For Long COVID Research In China
With more than a full year past since China eased restrictions and let COVID-19 sweep its households, scientists are worried a unique opportunity may be slipping away to study long COVID from possibly hundreds of millions of infections in that country. Global disease experts say little is known about China's experience with long-term COVID effects, which in Britain, Canada, the U.S. and elsewhere are thought to have afflicted millions with debilitating fatigue, brain fog and other symptoms that persist for months or even years. (Silver, 12/13)

CIDRAP: Study: 4% Of US Collegiate Athletes Developed Long COVID
A study across 18 US universities reveals that about 4% of student athletes who tested positive for COVID-19 from spring 2020 to spring 2021 developed long COVID. The study is published in BMC Infectious Diseases. Researchers based their findings on survey results from 6,923 student athletes in spring 2020 and 7,651 in 2020-2021. In spring 2020, 678 (9.8%) of athletes tested positive for COVID-19, as did 1,943 (25.4%) in the 2020-2021 school year. Of the student athletes who tested positive for COVID-19, 171 (25.2%) had symptoms in spring 2020, and 1,082 (55.7%) were symptomatic in 2020-2021. (Soucheray, 12/13)

The 19th: Scientists Find Possible Cause Of Hyperemesis Gravidum 
New research published by the journal Nature points to the discovery that a single hormone causes nausea and vomiting in pregnancy: GDF15. Researchers found that the amount of this hormone in a pregnant person’s bloodstream before and during pregnancy determines the severity of the nausea and vomiting. GDF15 is released by the body in response to stress, with the receptors of this hormone rooted in the part of the brain responsible for triggering vomiting. (Gerson, 12/13)

In other health and wellness news —

San Francisco Chronicle: Lead Poisoning Outbreak In Applesauce Pouches Spreads To 31 States, Including California
A lead poisoning outbreak tied to contaminated cinnamon applesauce pouches has spread to nine additional states, including California, U.S. health officials said on Tuesday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has received reports of at least 128 “adverse events” linked to the recalled products, pulled from shelves in late October and early November, in 31 states. The affected individuals, predominantly children age 6 or younger, exhibit symptoms associated with acute lead poisoning. (Vaziri, 12/13)

Reuters: Farmworkers, Environmentalists Urge EPA To Pull Approval For Glyphosate 
Farmworker and environmental advocacy groups on Wednesday asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to immediately suspend and cancel the federal government's approval for the herbicide glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup weed killer. In a petition filed with the EPA, six groups including the Center for Food Safety and the Farmworker Association of Florida asked for immediate action that would make selling or using the chemical illegal until the EPA thoroughly analyzes glyphosate's health and environmental risks. (Mindock, 12/13)

Military.com: Air Force Issues Smartwatches And Rings To 1,000 First Sergeants To Manage Their Health
The Air Force has distributed wearable smart devices to more than 1,000 first sergeants in an attempt to help some of the most overworked and stressed enlisted members keep track of their health and wellness. Chief Master Sgt. John Alsvig, the Air Force first sergeant special duty manager, told Military.com in an emailed statement that the First Sergeant Academy early this year began passing out both a smartwatch and a smart ring to each graduate in hopes they'd use them to monitor their vital statistics. (Novelly, 12/13)

AP: After Recalls And Infections, Experts Say Safer Eyedrops Will Require New FDA Powers 
— When you buy eyedrops at a U.S. store, you might assume you’re getting a product made in a clean, well-maintained factory that’s passed muster with health regulators. But repeated recalls involving over-the-counter drops are drawing new attention to just how little U.S. officials know about the conditions at some manufacturing plants on the other side of the world — and the limited tools they have to intervene when there’s a problem. (Perrone, 12/13)

AP: More People Are Using CBD Products. There's Still Little Research On The Benefits And Risks 
CBD use increased 50% in the past four years, according to a new survey published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. About 1 in 5 survey respondents said they used CBD in the past year. People who use cannabis are more likely to report using CBD, CBG and other hemp-derived compounds, the survey, done by NORC at the University of Chicago, showed. Also, people who live in a state where marijuana is illegal are more likely to use delta-8 THC, a mildly intoxicating sibling of delta-9 THC, which is the psychoactive compound in marijuana. (Shastri, 12/13)

The Washington Post: The Toys You Should Never Gift To Children, According To ER Doctors 
When shopping for toys, we often want to pick something fun. But can some of them also be dangerous? According to emergency room physicians, they can be. In a video that went viral on TikTok, Meghan Martin, a pediatric emergency medicine physician at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, Fla., said certain gifts can land children in the ER. (Bever and Soong, 12/13)

AP: In Hypochondria Paradox, Swedish Study Finds A Higher Death Rate In Those Who Fear Serious Illness
A large Swedish study has uncovered a paradox about people diagnosed with an excessive fear of serious illness: They tend to die earlier than people who aren’t hypervigilant about health concerns. Hypochondriasis, now called illness anxiety disorder, is a rare condition with symptoms that go beyond average health worries. People with the disorder are unable to shake their fears despite normal physical exams and lab tests. Some may change doctors repeatedly. Others may avoid medical care. (Johnson, 12/13)

CIDRAP: Contaminated Beds Linked To Increased Risk Of Hospital-Onset C Diff Infections
A study of more than 25,000 hospitals encounters found that staying in a hospital bed that previously had a patient with Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) was associated with an increased risk of hospital-onset (HO)-CDI, researchers reported today in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology. (Dall, 12/13)

CIDRAP: Report Underscores Financial Pressure Of Long COVID On Families 
Survey results published today in JAMA Network Open show that US households headed by an adult with long COVID were two to four times more likely to report pandemic-related financial hardships, regardless of prepandemic socioeconomic status. (Van Beusekom, 12/12)

CIDRAP: 5% Of COVID-Infected US Veterans Still Had Symptoms Up To 1 Year Later
A study of 389,000 US veterans published last week in JAMA Network Open finds that 5% reported symptoms up to 1 year after COVID-19 infection during the Omicron variant era and that vaccination was protective. The retrospective study, led by researchers from the Veterans Affairs (VA) Puget Sound Health Care System, involved 388,980 veterans who tested positive for COVID-19 from October 2021 to January 2023 and 350 randomly selected peers who had a long-COVID diagnosis in their medical records. (Van Beusekom, 12/11)

New England Journal of Medicine: Semaglutide And Cardiovascular Outcomes In Obesity Without Diabetes 
In patients with preexisting cardiovascular disease and overweight or obesity but without diabetes, weekly subcutaneous semaglutide at a dose of 2.4 mg was superior to placebo in reducing the incidence of death from cardiovascular causes, nonfatal myocardial infarction, or nonfatal stroke at a mean follow-up of 39.8 months. (Lincoff et al, 12/14)

ScienceDaily: What Happens In The Brain While Daydreaming? 
During quiet waking, brain activity in mice suggests the animals are daydreaming about a recent image. Having daydreams about a recently viewed image predicted how the brain would respond to the image in the future. The findings provide a clue that daydreams may play a role in brain plasticity. (Harvard Medical School, 12/13)

Stat: Supreme Court Mifepristone Case Threatens Medical Innovation 
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court announced it will soon weigh in on a case that challenges how the Food and Drug Administration regulates mifepristone, a drug it approved almost 25 years ago that is used to terminate pregnancy. The case, the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine v. FDA, is disguised as a dispute over safety. In reality, it’s about whether the courts will go along with overturning, for political reasons, the authority of the FDA as the scientific arbiter of approval of new drugs and restrictions on their distribution. (Eva Temkin and Grace Colon, 12/14)

Los Angeles Times: A Texas Case Shows How Cruel And Illusory Abortion-Ban Exceptions Can Be 
A historic drama playing out in Texas ended Tuesday when the Texas Supreme Court held that Kate Cox, a woman 20 weeks pregnant with a fetus with trisomy 18, an almost always fatal abnormality, could not legally end her pregnancy in her home state. (Mary Ziegler, 12/13)

Stat: Medical Exceptions To Anti-Abortion Laws Offer False Hope
Imagine being in the midst of your pregnancy, and you learn that your baby is unlikely to live for more than a few fleeting moments after birth. There is no cure for their condition. Nothing can prevent their death. Most people think they will never be in such a situation. And most people are right. But Kate Cox’s case in Texas this week serves as a stark wake-up call to the nation: This could happen to you or someone you care about, and medical exceptions to anti-abortion laws won’t offer a safe haven. (Abigail Wilpers, 12/13)

USA Today: US Can Fight Type 2 Diabetes, Obesity. Start With Kids
In America today we have a Type 2 diabetes epidemic. In America today we have an obesity epidemic. They are directly related, and both epidemics are getting worse. As chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, I intend to do all that I can to address this crisis. (Senator Bernie Sanders, 12/14)

Stat: Europe Offers A Roadmap For The U.S. On Obesity Coverage 
It’s no secret that the obesity epidemic in the United States has reached alarming levels, with rates surpassing 40% of the population. Despite a robust focus on wellness and exercise in the media, post-pandemic America continues to rank among the global leaders in obesity rates. Estimates indicate that treating obesity will be expensive, but those sums pale in comparison to the estimated direct and indirect costs of $1.7 trillion that obesity places on the U.S. health care system today. In 2018, research found that obesity is the No. 2 cause of preventable death in the United States. (George Hampton, 12/14)

The New York Times: My Life With Long Covid 
Every morning, I wake up in my Brooklyn apartment, and for two seconds, I can remember the old me. The me without pain, the me with energy, the me who could do whatever she wanted. Then I’m shoved back into my new reality. (Giorgia Lupi, 12/14)