The Washington Post: FDA Authorizes Novavax Coronavirus Vaccine, Adding To Pandemic Arsenal 
U.S. regulators Wednesday authorized the nation’s fourth coronavirus vaccine, a shot developed by Novavax, a Maryland biotechnology company that has been a straggler in the vaccine race. For a relatively small niche of people who want to be vaccinated, but can’t or won’t take existing vaccines, Wednesday’s decision by the Food and Drug Administration has been impatiently awaited. Some people are allergic to an ingredient in messenger RNA vaccines or simply prefer the more traditional technology at the core of Novavax’s shot, which is the United States’ first protein-based vaccine. (Johnson, 7/13)

NBC News: FDA Authorizes Novavax's Covid Vaccine
The FDA’s signoff isn’t the last step: The decision will now to go the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and its advisory committee to issue their own recommendation on how the shots should be used. The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is scheduled to meet on July 19. (Lovelace Jr., 7/13)

Politico: Novavax Covid-19 Vaccine Wins FDA Authorization 
In a trial of more than 26,000 adults in the U.S. and Mexico, two doses of the Novavax Covid vaccine were more than 90 percent effective at preventing symptomatic disease. For adults 65 and older, effectiveness was more than 78 percent. There were no serious side effects or safety concerns, including for the approximately 21,000 adults who were followed for more than two months after their second shot. (Foley and Lim, 7/13)

The New York Times: Novavax’s Latecomer Covid-19 Vaccine Gets U.S. Authorization
Novavax’s vaccine, given in doses spread three weeks apart, works differently from mRNA vaccines. It provokes an immune response with nanoparticles made up of proteins from the surface of the coronavirus that causes Covid-19. Similar protein-based vaccines have been widely used around the world for decades. (Robbins and Zimmer, 7/14)

AP: Experts Rue Simple Steps Not Taken Before Latest COVID Surge 
“It’s well past the time when the warning could have been put out there,” said Dr. Eric Topol, head of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, who has has called BA.5 “the worst variant yet.” ... Ali Mokdad, a professor of health metrics sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle, said federal health officials need to be push harder on masks indoors, early detection and prompt antiviral treatment. “They are not doing all that they can,” Mokdad said. (Johnson, 7/13)

ABC News: Experts Reveal How Likely Reinfection Is From COVID With Spread Of Omicron Subvariant BA.5
Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, the prevailing theory was that if someone was infected with the virus, they were immune -- at least for a while. But a growing number of Americans seem to be contracting the virus more than once. A recent ABC News analysis of state data found that, as of June 8, there have been more than 1.6 million reinfections across 24 states, but experts say the number is likely much higher. (Kekatos, 7/14)

Modern Healthcare: Health Systems Watch For Next COVID Surge Amid Rising Cases
The strains, including BA.4, BA.5 and, most recently, BA.2.75, are highly transmissible, evading vaccines and immune responses. The seven-day moving average for new cases topped 118,000 this week, compared with about 31,000 cases three months ago, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Recent case numbers are largely underreported, however, because of the availability of at-home tests. (Hudson, 7/13)

ABC News: COVID Hospitalizations Forecast To Increase Amid Concerns Over New Omicron Subvariants
For the first time since May, COVID-19-related hospital admissions are forecasted to increase again in the U.S., as highly infectious omicron subvariants continue to spread, according to updated forecasting models used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Mitropoulos, 7/13)

NBC News: BA.5 Symptoms: Is Loss Of Smell More Common?
Doctors note that what they’re seeing during the current rise in cases — fueled by the hyperinfectious BA.5 omicron subvariant — is still based on anecdotal evidence. But health care providers like Valentina Parma, a psychologist at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, who works with Covid patients, are noticing more patients reporting loss of smell. (Sullivan, 7/13)

In covid news from California —

Los Angeles Times: Coronavirus Deaths In L.A. County Rising As Ultra-Contagious Subvariants Spread Infections
The number of weekly COVID-19 deaths reported in Los Angeles County has doubled over the last month — the first significant increase in fatalities since the winter surge. Over the last week, the nation’s most populous county tallied roughly 100 COVID-19 deaths, the highest total in three months. A month ago, the county was reporting about 50 deaths a week. (Money and Lin II, 7/13)

AP: Masks Could Return To Los Angeles As COVID Surges Nationwide
Los Angeles County, home to 10 million residents, is facing a return to a broad indoor mask mandate later this month if current trends in hospital admissions continue, county health Director Barbara Ferrer said this week. (Johnson and Weber, 7/14)

San Francisco Chronicle: COVID In California: Invented ‘Centaurus’ Nickname For New BA.2.75 Subvariant Catches On
... Ed Yong, a writer for The Atlantic, commented, “It is wild to me that some random guy on Twitter decided that the BA.2.75 variant was going to be known as ‘Centaurus’ and it completely worked.” The World Health Organization, which names COVID variants using the Greek alphabet, has not yet given BA.2.75 an official designation. (Vaziri, Buchmann and Allday, 7/13)

Also —

CIDRAP: Co-Infection With Influenza Could Suppress Replication Of SARS-CoV-2
A study yesterday in the Journal of Virology suggests that, while co-infection with influenza A and SARS-CoV-2 does not change the trajectory of influenza A, contracting influenza A first could suppress any COVID-19 infection caused by SARS-CoV-2. (7/13)

Bloomberg: WHO Panel Advises Against Generic Antidepressant To Treat Covid
The drugs, fluvoxamine and colchicine, could potentially cause harm, the group of experts said in the BMJ medical journal Thursday. The panel didn’t give advice for severe illness, saying there was a lack of data. (Fourcade, 7/13)

CIDRAP: Study: Kids Have Stronger COVID-19 Antibody Response Than Adults
A new prospective study of 252 families with members diagnosed as having mild COVID-19 in Italy finds that, while all age-groups had detectable SARS-CoV-2 antibodies up to 1 year after infection, children—especially those younger than 3 years—had higher antibody levels than adults at all intervals tested. (Van Beusekom, 7/13)

Salt Lake Tribune: Utah Doctors Studying Why Kids Are Getting Diabetes After COVID
The first thing Mallory Rogers noticed was that she couldn’t keep a dry diaper on her daughter. She would change Addie and then 10 minutes later, she’d have to do it again. Six diapers for her 2-year-old every hour, which felt like some kind of Guinness World Record for moms. (Tanner, 7/12)

In related news about pediatric vaccines —

Politico: Low Demand For Young Kids’ Covid Vaccines Is Alarming Doctors 
States where parents have hesitated to inoculate their children against Covid-19 are now ordering fewer doses of the vaccines for children under 5 than others, underscoring the challenge facing the Biden administration as a highly transmissible variant sweeps the nation. (Mahr and Gardner, 7/14)

CIDRAP: Routine US Childhood Vaccines Confer Profound Health, Economic Benefits
Two studies today in Pediatrics detail the health and economic benefits of routine childhood immunization in the United States. Both studies were led by scientists from RTI Health Solutions and Merck. One study examined the incidence of 14 vaccine-preventable illnesses with and without universally recommended vaccines for children 10 years and younger over 5 recent years. Routine immunization lowered the incidence of all studied diseases, from 17% for flu to 100% for diphtheria, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), measles, mumps, polio, and rubella. These decreases correspond to more than 24 million averted cases of vaccine-targeted illnesses for the 2019 US population of 328 million people. (7/13)

On parechovirus, birth asphyxia, and heart health in children —

CIDRAP: CDC Urges Clinicians To Be On Alert For Parechovirus In Babies
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) yesterday sent a Health Alert Network (HAN) advisory to health providers warning that parechovirus (PeV), a childhood pathogen with infections ranging from asymptomatic to severe, is circulating in the United States. Since May, multiple states have reported PeV infections in newborns and young infants. (7/13)

Stat: Study: Treatment For Fatal Condition In Newborns Fails To Improve Outcomes
For babies born with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, commonly called birth asphyxia, doctors have limited options. And a treatment that many had hoped would be effective turns out not to be. (Chen, 7/13)

Bay Area News Group: Campbell School District Becomes First In California To Screen All Student Athletes For Heart Conditions
Student athletes in the Campbell Union High School District will now be screened for heart conditions this school year through a partnership with a Los Gatos-based nonprofit. The district’s board of trustees partnered with the Kyle J. Taylor Foundation to screen its student athletes in grades 9 and 11 for heart abnormalities or conditions to prevent sudden cardiac arrest. (Kanik, 7/13)

On teenage mental health —

Stateline: As Sports Betting Grows, States Tackle Teenage Problem Gambling
Although the legal age for gambling ranges from 18 to 21 depending on the state, between 60% and 80% of high school students report having gambled for money in the past year, according to the National Council on Problem Gambling. The group says the pandemic and easy access to online gambling have heightened risks for young adults. And 4% to 6% of high schoolers are considered addicted to gambling, the group says. (Mercer, 7/12)

KHN: Kids Want To Put Montana On Trial For Unhealthy Climate Policies
For her birthday every October, Grace Gibson-Snyder and her family explore the Lamar Valley just inside the northern border of Yellowstone National Park. Carved long ago by meandering glaciers, the valley is home to bison and bald eagles, grizzly bears and gray wolves. Gibson-Snyder has seen them all. She calls it “my favorite place.” “I know how special it is to have this in my life,” said Gibson-Snyder, an 18-year-old from Missoula, Montana, “and I don’t want it to go away.” (Ehli, 7/14)

The New York Times: U.S. Tells Pharmacists Not To Withhold Pills That Can Cause Abortion 
The Biden administration warned the nation’s 60,000 retail pharmacies on Wednesday that they risk violating federal civil rights law if they refuse to fill prescriptions for pills that can induce abortion — the second time this week that it has used its executive authority to set up showdowns with states where abortion is now illegal. In four pages of guidance, the federal Department of Health and Human Services ticked off a series of conditions — including miscarriage, stomach ulcers and ectopic pregnancy — that are commonly treated with drugs that can induce abortion. It warned that failing to dispense such pills “may be discriminating” on the basis of sex or disability. (Stolberg, 7/13)

The Washington Post: Federal Officials Warn Pharmacists About Denying Abortion Medication 
Under the guidance issued Wednesday, officials pointed to federal civil rights laws, including provisions in the Affordable Care Act, that they said prohibit pharmacists from making their own decisions about the suitability of a prescribed medication for patients, as well as other situations that they said would constitute discrimination against patients. For instance, a woman who experiences a miscarriage may be prescribed drugs such as mifepristone and misoprostol, and health officials warned pharmacists against refusing to fill those prescriptions. (Diamond, 7/13)

NPR: Pharmacists Warned They May Break Law If They Deny Drugs Linked To Abortion
The Department aimed its guidance at the roughly 60,000 retail pharmacies in the U.S., reminding them that because they receive federal funding through several programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, they cannot discriminate based on race, color, national origin, sex, age, and disability; further they may not discriminate based on current pregnancy, past pregnancy, potential or intended pregnancy, and medical conditions related to pregnancy or childbirth. (Feibel, 7/13)

Roll Call: Biden Administration Says Pharmacists Cannot Deny Contraceptives 
The agency said it has received complaints from several patients and physicians regarding pharmacists who refused to distribute prescriptions because of their views on abortions. ... Any individual who experiences such discrimination can file a complaint with the agency’s Office for Civil Rights. (Cohen, Raman and Hellmann, 7/13)

NPR: A Rape, An Abortion, And A One-Source Story: A Child's Ordeal Becomes News 
A July 1 news report that a pregnant ten-year-old girl from Ohio sought an abortion in neighboring Indiana has drawn intense national attention in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling last month striking down Roe v. Wade. Abortion rights proponents — including President Biden — pointed to the incident as evidence of the cruel consequences of the Court's decision. But in the initial absence of any public corroborating details beyond an Indianapolis obstetrician's account, opponents of abortion rights repeatedly cast doubt on whether the incident happened at all. ... The episode illustrates the high stakes of both the new legal landscape on abortion and of reporting in an age of deep political polarization and mistrust of major news outlets. (Folkenflik and McCammon, 7/13)

Columbus Dispatch: Arrest Made In Rape Of Ohio Girl That Led To Indiana Abortion Drawing International Attention
A Columbus man has been charged with impregnating a 10-year-old Ohio girl, whose travel to Indiana to seek an abortion led to international attention following the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v Wade and activation of Ohio's abortion law. Gerson Fuentes, 27, whose last known address was an apartment on Columbus' Northwest Side, was arrested Tuesday after police say he confessed to raping the child on at least two occasions. He's since been charged with rape, a felony of the first degree in Ohio. (Bruner, Trombly and Cook, 7/13)

The Washington Post: Man Charged In Rape Of 10-Year-Old Girl Who Had To Travel For Abortion
Columbus Police Detective Jeffrey Huhn testified that the arrest was made after a referral from Franklin County Children Services, which had been in touch with the girl’s mother on June 22, according to video of the arraignment from WXIN — two days before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. The girl had an abortion at an Indianapolis clinic on June 30, Huhn said. The detective added that Fuentes’s DNA is being tested to confirm that he was the father to the aborted fetus, according to video of the hearing. If convicted, Fuentes could face life in prison. (Bella, 7/13)

Columbus Dispatch: Ohio AG Dave Yost 'Rejoices' At Child Rape Arrest After Doubting Case
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost appeared on Fox News this week, casting doubt on the veracity of Dr. Caitlin Bernard's account that a 10-year-old Ohio rape victim needed to travel to Indiana for an abortion. Yost, a Republican, doubled down on that in an interview with the USA TODAY Network Ohio bureau on Tuesday. "Every day that goes by the more likely that this is a fabrication. I know the cops and prosecutors in this state. There's not one of them that wouldn't be turning over every rock, looking for this guy and they would have charged him," he said. "I'm not saying it could not have happened. What I'm saying to you is there is not a damn scintilla of evidence. And shame on the Indianapolis paper that ran this thing on a single source who has an obvious axe to grind."" After news broke Wednesday of an arrest in the case, Yost issued a single sentence statement: "We rejoice anytime a child rapist is taken off the streets." (Bischoff, 7/13)

The Daily Beast: Jim Jordan Quietly Deletes Tweet Calling 10-Year-Old’s Abortion A ‘Lie’
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) quietly scrubbed a tweet he posted Tuesday that branded the story of a 10-year-old rape victim who had to travel out of Ohio for an abortion a “lie.” After the alleged perpetrator was arrested Tuesday and appeared in court Wednesday, Jordan deleted the tweet but offered no apology or acknowledgement. Instead, he tweeted that the alleged rapist should be “prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.” (Halaly, 7/13)

The Daily Beast: Fox News Host Jesse Watters Suggested 10-Year-Old Rape Victim’s Abortion Was A ‘Hoax’ Before Arrest
On Monday evening, Fox News host Jesse Watters spent the opening segment of his primetime show suggesting the case of a 10-year-old Ohio girl who was forced to travel to Indiana to get an abortion after she was raped was fabricated to benefit a left-wing agenda. The following night, Tucker Carlson straight-up called her story “not true.” On Wednesday, that girl’s alleged rapist was arrested. (Wilstein, 7/13)

Also —

Politico: Republican AG Says He'll Investigate Indiana Doctor Who Provided Care To 10-Year-Old Rape Victim 
Indiana’s Republican attorney general said on Wednesday that his office planned to investigate the Indiana doctor who helped a 10-year-old rape victim who crossed state lines to have an abortion. Dr. Caitlin Bernard, an obstetrician-gynecologist in Indianapolis, has told multiple outlets that she provided care to the 10-year-old after a child abuse doctor in Ohio contacted her. The child was six weeks and three days into the pregnancy, Bernard said. After the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last month, a wave of state-level abortion restrictions took effect, including in Ohio, a state that bans abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, with no exceptions for rape or incest. (Ward, 7/13)

Axios: Poll: Abortion Bans Reshape Where Young Americans Choose To Live
More than six in 10 young women — and five in 10 young men — say states' individual abortion laws will influence where they choose to live, according to a new Generation Lab/Axios poll. (Gonzalez, 7/13)

In abortion updates from Arizona, Massachusetts, and Missouri —

AP: Arizona Attorney General Asks Court To Unblock Abortion Ban 
Arizona’s Republican attorney general on Wednesday asked a court to lift an injunction blocking the enforcement of a law that bans all abortions except when the life of the mother is at risk. The filing from Attorney General Mark Brnovich asks a court in Tucson to lift an order in place since shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1973′s Roe v. Wade case that abortions are a constitutional right. (Christie, 7/14)

The Boston Globe: Mass. House, Senate At Odds Over Later-Term Abortion Law
The Massachusetts Senate on Wednesday followed the House in passing a wide-ranging abortion rights bill in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade decision. But Democratic leaders must now wrestle with thorny differences, particularly in what circumstances to allow later-term abortions, a disagreement that could complicate the late-session scramble to expand the state’s already extensive reproductive rights law. (Stout, 7/13)

AP: Missouri's Answer To Abortion Law Questions: Don't Ask Us 
The Parson administration’s response to questions from Missouri hospitals, doctors and others about what’s legal under the state’s new abortion ban is to tell people to read the law and otherwise leave it to prosecutors to interpret. The state health department released a factsheet on the law Wednesday following questions and confusion since the abortion ban kicked in when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last month. (Ballentine, 7/13)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Missouri Teens Face A Significant Hurdle To Getting An Out-Of-State Abortion
Even though Illinois has made it easier for minors to get an abortion, a little-known Missouri law can prevent pregnant teens who seek the procedure from getting help to cross the state line. (Munz, 7/12)

Abortion providers in Minnesota, Texas, and Wisconsin make their next moves —

Minnesota Public Radio: Doctors Press Minnesota Health Systems For More Access To Abortion Medication 
As Minnesota abortion care providers ramp up for an expected influx of patients from across the Midwest following the end of Roe v. Wade, some doctors are pushing the state’s major health care systems to do more now — including improving access to a drug that’s also used for medication abortions. (Wiley, 7/14)

The Washington Post: Texas Abortion Provider Alan Braid Will Reopen Clinics In Ill., N.M.
A high-profile abortion provider is opening new clinics in Illinois and New Mexico and shuttering his two clinics in Oklahoma and Texas, where abortion has been banned in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. Alan Braid, who defied the Texas abortion ban last fall, selected locations most accessible to patients who can no longer access the procedure in their home states. One of his clinics, in Albuquerque will be located near a major airport, while the other, in Carbondale, Ill., will open 24 miles from Illinois’ southern border, within striking distance of the vast abortion deserts spreading throughout the Southeast and Midwest. (Kitchener, 7/13)

AP: Wisconsin Doctor Buys Illinois Buildings To Offer Abortions 
A Wisconsin doctor has purchased two clinical buildings in northern Illinois where he plans to offer abortion pills as early as this week at one location and surgical abortions within six months at the other site. ... Dr. Dennis Christensen says he is part of a group trying to revive abortion services in Rockford, Illinois, in part to accommodate women from Wisconsin. (7/13)

The 19th: Sex Ed Curriculum In Schools Could Be Limited As States Propose Restrictions
What students learn in sex ed has taken on new urgency following the Supreme Court’s decision in June to reverse Roe v. Wade, leaving abortion access up to the states. And as the Texas Republican Party takes aim at what kids learn in school, that dynamic is front and center for many advocates. (Nittle, 7/13)

In news about pregnancy and maternal care —

USA Today: Experts: Pregnant Women Could Face Greater Risk Of Domestic Violence After Abortion Bans
“I can only imagine that this is going to get worse, that we're going to have increasing numbers (of) women who are murdered by partners, either during pregnancy or immediately after pregnancy,” said Jacquelyn Campbell, Johns Hopkins University nursing department chair and professor who created a danger assessment used in clinical settings specifically to determine potential lethality of abuse. (Hassanein, 7/13)

NBC News: Now Hovering In The Background During A Risky Pregnancy: The Doctor's Legal Team
Dr. Mae-Lan Wang Winchester, an OB-GYN in Cleveland, was called in to end the pregnancy. But Ohio has banned abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected unless the mother's life is threatened. "The first person I called is my lawyer to be like ... 'Do I need to do anything different or special? I know what to do medically, but what do I do legally to protect her, protect me?'" Winchester said. (Bendix, 7/13)

Colorado Sun: Rural Coloradans Are Losing Access To Obstetric Care
When Georgina Bishop became pregnant with her third child, things got complicated. Not with the pregnancy itself or even the labor. But she did drive two-and-a-half hours — one way — to reach the hospital so she could give birth. (Singer, 7/13)

The CT Mirror: CT's Johnson Memorial Hospital Seeks To Close Birthing Unit
Johnson Memorial Hospital in Stafford Springs is seeking to permanently close its labor and delivery unit, joining several other Connecticut rural hospitals in cutting back on maternity and other services. (Phillips and Golvala, 7/13)

Also —

CBS News: What It Costs To Have A Baby In The U.S.
The cost of giving birth in the U.S., including pregnancy-related care, the delivery process and post-partum services is, on average, $18,865. Of that total, women enrolled in large employer-sponsored insurance plans are responsible for paying an average of $2,854 out of pocket, according to a new analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation. (Cerullo, 7/13)

CNN: House Passes Amended Burn Pit Legislation 
The House on Wednesday passed long-awaited legislation that would help millions of veterans who were exposed to toxic burn pits during their military service. The bill, which removes the burden on veterans to prove that their toxic exposure resulted in certain harmful conditions, passed the House in a 342-88 vote, correcting a legislative snag that had held up the legislation through the July Fourth recess. (Dean, Foran and Mizelle, 7/13)

The New York Times: House Passes Bill To Expand Health Benefits For Burn Pit Exposure 
It would be one of the largest expansions of veterans benefits in the history of the Department of Veterans Affairs, said Denis McDonough, the agency’s secretary, on par with the Agent Orange Act that broadened access for Vietnam War veterans exposed to the toxic substance that was used as an herbicide and endangered generations of Laotians. (Lai and Ismay, 7/13)

Roll Call: Compromise Veterans Bill Passes House, Heads Back To Senate 
The revised bill drops the Senate-passed tax provision, though House members expressed frustration with the additional time and effort needed to get the bill to President Joe Biden’s desk. “Our veterans do not have the time for technicalities. Their lives are literally on the line," Rep. Raul Ruiz, D-Calif., said during floor debate. (Lerman, 7/13)

In other news from Capitol Hill —

WUSF Public Media: Health Care Advocates Call On Congress To Close Coverage Gap, Say Abortion Ruling Adds Urgency
Congress has been meeting this week for the first time since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, and health care advocates are urging lawmakers to spend the time closing the insurance coverage gap. (Colombini, 7/13)

Axios: Manchin Broaches A Stand-Alone Drug Pricing Bill
Congressional Democrats see government drug price negotiations as a core part of a reconciliation bill – but one key swing lawmaker suggested Wednesday that piece could wind up being an end in itself. (Bettelheim, 7/14)

The Washington Post: Nearly 800,000 Doses Of Monkeypox Vaccine May Be In U.S. By End Of July 
Nearly 800,000 more doses of monkeypox vaccine could be ready for distribution in the United States by the end of July following a Food and Drug Administration inspection of a Danish vaccine plant and the expected authorization of the facility, part of an effort to control a record U.S. outbreak of the disease, according to the federal government. About 780,000 doses are at the supplier in Denmark, according to the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the national stockpile where the vaccines are maintained. The shots have been stored in Denmark awaiting the completion of the FDA on-the-ground inspection and authorization. (Sun and McGinley, 7/13)

Bloomberg: Biden's Monkeypox Response Slammed By Richard Burr
A fierce critic of the US Covid-19 strategy, Republican Senator Richard Burr condemned the Biden administration’s response to the outbreak of monkeypox virus and called again for the creation of a new government office to deal specifically with pandemics. (Muller, 7/13)

More on the spread of monkeypox —

Austin American-Statesman: Monkeybox Reaches Community Spread Level In Austin, Texas
Monkeypox in Travis County has now reached the level of community spread, local public health officials said Wednesday. Austin Public Health has confirmed six monkeypox cases, which means the positive cases also have been confirmed by the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ... Community spread means that people have been infected with the virus without traveling to a high-risk area or being in contact with someone who has traveled to a high-risk area, said Dr. Manish Naik, an internal medicine doctor at Austin Regional Clinic. (Villalpando, 7/13)

SF Gate: San Francisco Is 'Veering Towards A Public Health Mess' On Monkeypox, Lawmaker Says
A Bay Area lawmaker is warning that San Francisco is "veering toward a public health mess" over monkeypox, citing a Wednesday announcement from the San Francisco Department of Public Health that said the agency is running low on monkeypox vaccines and will shutter its clinic at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital until more supply arrives. (Regimbal, 7/13)

AP: Demand For Monkeypox Vaccine Overwhelms NYC System
Soaring demand for the monkeypox vaccine caused the appointment system to crash in New York City, one of many places where supplies have been running out almost as soon as they arrive. City health officials acknowledged the frustration over the limited supply of the vaccine and vowed to build a “stable appointment infrastructure” as the vaccine supply increases. (Calvan, 7/13)

South Florida Sun-Sentinel: The Demand Is High As Monkeypox Vaccines Arrive In Broward County
Monkeypox vaccines finally arrived in Broward County on Tuesday to high demand as residents rushed to receive a dose. (Goodman, 7/13)

Indianapolis Star: Monkeypox Hits 2 In Marion County; State Total Climbs To At Least 12
Two people in Marion County have what are thought to be the first two cases of the rare monkeypox disease in the county, health officials announced Wednesday. Considered "probable" cases for now, the two would bring the total number of cases in the state to at least 12. (Rudavsky, 7/13)

CIDRAP: Global Monkeypox Outbreak Hits 10,000 Cases 
In just over 2 months, a global monkeypox outbreak in non-endemic countries has led to at least 10,857 infections. Spain, the United Kingdom, Germany, and the United States have reported the most cases. The rapid rise in cases comes as the virus is largely being spread during sexual contact, especially among men who have sex with men (MSM). And many MSM in Europe and the United States are demanding access to vaccines that have so far been difficult to acquire. (Soucheray, 7/13)

AP: Bill Gates Gives $20 Billion To Stem 'Significant Suffering'
Bill Gates, concerned about the “significant suffering” caused by global setbacks including the COVID-19 pandemic, announced Wednesday that he will donate $20 billion to his foundation so it can increase its annual spending. The donation, combined with longtime board member Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett’s $3.1 billion gift last month, brings The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s endowment to approximately $70 billion, making it one of the largest, if not the largest in the world, depending on daily stock valuations. (Gamboa, 7/13)

Gates Notes: Editorial: By 2026, The Gates Foundation Aims To Spend $9 Billion A Year
Several huge global setbacks over the past few years have left many people discouraged and wondering whether the world is destined to keep getting worse. The pandemic and the invasion of Ukraine are just two examples. These setbacks are causing significant suffering. But it is important to remember that they are happening in the context of two decades’ worth of historic progress. I believe it is possible to mitigate the damage and get back to the progress the world was making. In this post I will enumerate the progress and the setbacks, explain how the world can respond, and discuss how I and others can do our part. (Bill Gates, 7/13)

And St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is expanding its research —

AP: St. Jude Expanding Investment For Research, Additional Jobs
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is increasing its investment by $1.4 billion for a strategic plan that includes programs advancing the study and treatment of pediatric cancer and other catastrophic diseases, the hospital said Wednesday. The additional funding is part of a six-year expansion plan that launched last year, and it will raise the six-year operating and capital budget to $12.9 billion, the Memphis, Tennessee-based hospital said in a news release. (Sainz, 7/13)

In other health care industry news —

Modern Healthcare: Molina To Buy Insurer My Choice Wisconsin
Molina Healthcare plans to acquire a Medicaid managed care organization in Wisconsin for about $150 million, the insurer said Wednesday. Under terms of the agreement, Long Beach, California-based Molina said it will purchase substantially all the assets of My Choice Wisconsin. (Kim Cohen, 7/13)

Modern Healthcare: NewYork-Presbyterian Invests $15M In AI Partnership
The program will bring together physicians and researchers from NewYork-Presbyterian, Cornell Tech and Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science. NewYork-Presbyterian is providing $15 million in funding for the program over three years. (Kim Cohen, 7/13)

WFSU: HCA And UCF Are Partnering To Provide Psychiatry And Dermatology Residencies In Tallahassee
The need for more mental health professionals, including psychiatrists, is growing. The Tallahassee area is now a final training site for additional psychiatrists thanks to a new hospital residency program. (Flanigan, 7/13)

Axios: Rural Hospitals Face Financial Instability Again
After weathering the pandemic with federal COVID aid, rural hospitals are facing a convergence of challenges that could leave many facilities deep in the red and at risk of closing as soon as the end of this year. (Dreher, 7/14)

KHN: Rural Hospital Rescue Program Is Met With Skepticism From Administrators 
In West Texas, the tiny hospital in Crosbyton has only two beds, and they’re not always occupied. “We rarely admit patients,” said Steve Beck, chief executive of the hospital, which is 40 miles east of Lubbock and serves a town of about 1,500 residents. The hospital has trouble keeping staff, and “we’re lacking in technology and expertise,” he said. And money. (Tribble and Leys, 7/14)

AP: Relaxed Methadone Rules Appear Safe, Researchers Find
As the coronavirus pandemic shut down the nation in March of 2020, the U.S. government told methadone clinics they could allow stable patients with opioid addiction to take their medicine at home unsupervised. Methadone, an opioid itself, can be dangerous in large amounts and most patients are required to take the liquid medicine daily at clinics. It wasn’t clear whether the relaxed take-home policy would cause more harm than good. Now, a new study of fatal overdoses from January 2019 to August 2021 suggests that easing access was safe. It did not lead to more deaths involving the treatment drug. (Johnson, 7/13)

In other health and wellness news —

USA Today: Adding Salt To Food In Excess Could Lead To Early Death: Health Study
Researchers from Tulane University in Louisiana say frequently adding salt to food is associated with premature death from causes such as cardiovascular disease, stroke, coronary heart disease or cancer; they also said adding salt to foods was linked to a reduction in life expectancy and published the findings this month in the peer-reviewed European Heart Journal. (Martin, 7/12)

The New York Times: Exercise Or Diet Alone Isn’t Enough To Prevent Disease, Study Shows 
Health food or exercise alone isn’t enough to prevent chronic disease, new research shows. Contrary to popular belief, you can’t outrun the toll of a poor diet — and healthy eating, on its own, won’t ward off disease. Most people know that working out and eating well are critical components of overall health. But a sweeping study published this week in the British Journal of Sports Medicine suggests that hitting the gym won’t counteract the consequences of consuming fat-laden foods, and mainlining kale can’t cancel out sedentary habits. (Blum, 7/13)

Axios: FDA Sends Over 100 Warning Letters To Firms After New Synthetic Nicotine Law
The FDA said it has issued warnings to two manufacturers for marketing synthetic vaping products without authorization and sent 107 other warning letters to retailers for illegally selling such products to underage buyers in recent days. (Shapero and Falconer, 7/14)

CBS News: Facebook Marketplace Rife With Banned, Recalled Products, Regulator Says
"CPSC staff has found that such consumer products constitute a serious threat to the health and lives of consumers, including infants and toddlers, and are appearing with regular frequency on Facebook Marketplace," CPSC Chair Alex Hoehn-Saric stated in a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. (Gibson, 7/13)

The New York Times: Florida Company Recalls Ice Cream Linked To Listeria Outbreak, F.D.A. Says 
A Florida business is recalling its ice cream amid an investigation into a listeria outbreak that has been blamed for the death of one person and the hospitalization of two dozen, the Food and Drug Administration said on Wednesday. The company, Big Olaf Creamery, a family-owned business in Sarasota, Fla., recalled all flavors of its ice cream with expiration dates through June 30 “because it has the potential to be contaminated” with listeria bacteria, the F.D.A. said. (Medina, 7/13)

NPR: GLAAD Gives Social Media Giants Poor Grades Over Lack Of LGBTQ Protections
In a survey, 84% of LGBTQ adults said not enough protections are on social media to prevent discrimination, harassment or disinformation, according to the report. Additionally, 40% of LGBTQ adults, as well as 49% of transgender and nonbinary people, do not feel welcomed and safe on social media. (Diaz, 7/13)

Houston Chronicle: Houston Health Officials Found Dioxin Near Kashmere Gardens Creosote Treatment Site
The Houston Health Department has discovered dioxin, a powerful toxic chemical, in a soil sample collected in the Kashmere Gardens neighborhood, the city of Houston said on Wednesday. The sample was taken from soil near a former Union Pacific Railroad creosote treatment facility, the city said in a press release. Residents and activists, as well as city and county leaders, have called for more clean-up actions to be taken at the site since a cancer cluster was discovered there in 2019. (Wayne Ferguson, 7/13)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: White House Infrastructure Czar Visits Milwaukee To Talk Lead Pipes
President Joe Biden's infrastructure czar Mitch Landrieu made a stop in Milwaukee to tout the benefits of the $1.2 trillion federal infrastructure plan for the city. Landrieu's visit came as city officials hope to use money from infrastructure plan to significantly speed up lead lateral replacements in an effort to ensure clean drinking water and combat Milwaukee's longstanding problem of lead poisoning among children. (Spicuzza and Dirr, 7/12)

North Carolina Health News: A Durham Resident’s Ongoing Fight Against Lead  
In 2019, the federal government awarded the City of Durham funding to perform lead abatement at high-risk sites throughout town. The funds, totaling more than $3 million dollars, were earmarked for the city’s Lead-Based Paint Reduction Program (LHR) and consisted of federal and city dollars. (Atwater, 7/14)

PBS NewsHour: In Louisiana, Orphan Wells Seen As An ‘Accident Waiting To Happen’
About 10 feet from Rickey Jordan’s home, just steps away from the window where his daughter and two granddaughters sleep, an orphaned well is leaking. The 83-year-old well, which runs a mile deep, has been leaking an unknown gas on and off for years. The latest started in mid-June, state records show. (Chavez, 7/13)

In updates on West Nile Virus —

NBC Boston: West Nile Virus Confirmed In Mass. For First Time This Year 
West Nile virus has been detected in mosquitoes in Massachusetts for the first time this year, state health officials announced Wednesday. The virus was found by the Massachusetts State Public Health Laboratory in a mosquito sample collected on July 11 in the town of Easton. No cases of West Nile or Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) have been found in people or animals yet this year. There is no elevated risk level or risk-level change, health officials said. (7/14)

San Francisco Chronicle: West Nile Virus Detected In This Bay Area County
Solano County health officials said this week that a bird found in Vacaville in late June tested positive for the West Nile virus. To date, there have been no confirmed human cases of the virus, health officials said. (Parker, 7/13)

Health News Florida: Fried Challenges Federal Law She Says Bans Medical Marijuana Users From Owning Guns
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried is relying on a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision to support arguments in a challenge to federal regulations that make it illegal for medical-marijuana patients to buy guns. (Kam, 7/14)

In health insurance updates from Colorado, North Carolina, and Connecticut —

The Colorado Sun: Colorado Health Insurance Prices Set To Jump In 2023
Health insurance prices for many Coloradans could rise by as much as 11% next year, the largest jump in five years. (Ingold, 7/13)

AP: NC Health Plan Resumes Coverage Of Transgender Surgeries
The North Carolina state employee health plan will resume coverage of gender affirming treatments for transgender employees, the state treasurer said Wednesday, complying with a recent federal court ruling that declared the refusal of coverage unconstitutional. (Schoenbaum, 7/13)

AP: Officials Call For Hearings On Proposed Insurance Increases
Democrats and Republicans called Wednesday for special hearings to be held on proposed double-digit rate increases being sought by nine health insurers that offer coverage on and off the state’s Access Health CT exchange. (7/13)

In other health news from across the U.S. —

WMFE: UCF Plans A New Facility To Help Cure The Statewide Nursing Shortage
The University of Central Florida is hoping that a new facility at its Lake Nona campus will help solve a statewide nursing shortage. (Prieur, 7/13)

The Baltimore Sun: Health Center For Older Adults Will Open In Redeveloped Target At Baltimore’s Mondawmin Mall
A health center serving older patients in West Baltimore will open next year at the former Target at Mondawmin Mall, part of a vision to redevelop the shuttered store into a community hub designed to spur neighborhood revitalization. (Mirabella, 7/13)

AP: Oregon Therapeutic Psilocybin Program Sparks Some Confusion
In 2020, Oregon became the first state in the nation to legalize the therapeutic, supervised use of psilocybin after 56% of voters approved Ballot Measure 109. Psilocybin is the active hallucinogenic ingredient in what are commonly referred to as magic mushrooms. But the measure allows counties to opt out of the program if their constituents vote to do so, and several are hoping to do just that, sparking confusion among residents hoping to get involved in the nascent sector. (Rush, 7/14)

Houston Chronicle: Nearly 200K Disabled Texans Are Waiting For Help, Some For A Decade
Texas has multiple waiting lists for different types of care, including six for Medicaid waiver programs — which use state and federal funds to get people care in the community instead of in an institution — and one for safety net services provided locally. As of March, nearly 170,000 people were waiting for care through a Medicaid waiver program — a 115 percent increase since 2010. State data shows that some residents have been waiting for nearly 20 years to receive help. (Stuckey, 7/13)

Los Angeles Times: L.A. Times Launches Year-Long Mental Health Initiative
The Los Angeles Times has launched a comprehensive, year-long mental health initiative to help readers cope with the stress of daily life, anxiety and more. For Your Mind will include guides, enterprise stories, videos and a database of culturally-competent mental healthcare providers to address emotional and psychological well-being and point readers to resources to get help. (7/13)

KHN: ‘American Diagnosis’: A Tribal Court In California Works To Heal Family Separation 
Abby Abinanti is chief judge of the Yurok Tribal Court and a member of the tribe. While previously working in the California court system, she was discouraged and angered by the number of cases in which Indigenous families were separated or tribal members were removed from their communities because of nontribal foster care placements or incarceration. The Prison Policy Initiative, a research and advocacy organization, found that Native people are overrepresented in jails in the United States. (7/14)

Stat: Inaccurate Pulse Oximeter Readings Tied To Less Supplemental Oxygen In ICU
Patients with darker skin who received less accurate readings of their oxygen levels using pulse oximeters — the ubiquitous devices clamped on hospitalized patients’ fingers — also received less supplemental oxygen during ICU stays, according to a study published Monday. (McFarling, 7/11)

CIDRAP: Moderna Begins Clinical Trial Of MRNA Nipah Vaccine
Moderna today announced that first participants have been immunized in a phase 1 clinical trial of its candidate mRNA vaccine against Nipah virus. In a statement, the company said the vaccine was developed with the Vaccine Research Center at the National Institutes of Health. ... Nipah virus can spread from animals through consumption of contaminated food or directly from infected people. Acute respiratory symptoms can occur alongside encephalitis that may produce coma or death. It is considered a pandemic threat with bioterrorism potential. (7/12)

AP: With New Permit, Johns Hopkins Can Keep Up Barn Owl Research 
After securing a new state permit, a Johns Hopkins University researcher will be allowed to continue medical experiments on barn owls that have been criticized by a leading animal rights group. ... The experiments involve the placement of electrodes into the brains of the owls. The electrodes do not hurt or damage the birds, though the owls are ultimately euthanized, Eric Hutchinson, director of the university’s Research Animal Resources, told the newspaper. (7/10)

The Washington Post: Retractions Aren’t A Panacea For Bad Research 
In a paper published in PNAS last month, researchers say most retractions do not happen soon enough to prevent the spread of faulty science. The team studied nearly 3,000 retracted papers from the past decade, looking at their reach in news publications, social media and elsewhere online. When they compared the discredited papers’ reach with that of 13,500 studies that were not retracted, they found the problematic papers received more attention and were mentioned more often on news platforms than their counterparts, probably because of their compelling results. (Blakemore, 7/9)

In covid research —

CIDRAP: Myocarditis, Pericarditis Linked To Both MRNA COVID Vaccines
A Kaiser Permanente–led study reveals that both mRNA COVID vaccines are associated with a slightly increased risk of myocarditis and pericarditis (heart-related inflammation) in 18- to 39-year-olds, with the risk slightly increased in Moderna recipients. (7/12)

CIDRAP: Nitric Oxide Boosts Oxygen In Pregnant Women With COVID-19 Pneumonia 
Inhaled high-dose nitric oxide (INO200) safely shortened time on supplemental oxygen and hospital stays among pregnant women diagnosed as having severe bilateral COVID-19 pneumonia, suggests a new study led by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers. (Van Beusekom, 7/11)

CIDRAP: Better Brain Function, Fewer Long-COVID Symptoms After Hyperbaric Oxygen
Long-COVID patients in Israel who underwent hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) saw improvement in brain function and cognitive, psychiatric, and physical symptoms, according to a report published today in Scientific Reports. (7/12)

CIDRAP: Study: Kids Spent 20% Less Time In Physical Activity Amid COVID-19 
Children worldwide engaged in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity for an estimated 17 minutes (20%) less a day during the COVID-19 pandemic—a rate that grew to 25% when the study period was longer—reveals an international systematic review and meta-analysis published yesterday in JAMA Pediatrics. (Van Beusekom, 7/12)

The Wall Street Journal: Correcting The Record On A Rape Case 
It appears President Biden was accurate when he related a story about a 10-year-old Ohio girl who was raped and traveled to Indiana for an abortion. We wondered Tuesday about the case, after no one had confirmed its accuracy or any public report of the crime, though the story had made the media rounds for nearly two weeks. (7/13)

CNN: Authorities Confirm Story About 10-Year-Old Rape Victim As Abortion Debate Rages 
Two newspapers owned by Gannett, one in Indiana and one in Ohio, have humanized the new American reality about abortion now that Roe v. Wade has been reversed. And in doing so, they have highlighted the inhumanity of some partisan punditry. (Brian Stelter, 7/14)

New York Daily News: The Girl Is Real: President Biden Was Not Fabricating The Heart-Breaking, Infuriating Story Of A 10-Year-Old Rape Victim Forced To Travel For Her Abortion 
On July 8, President Biden described with passion and exasperation the case of an Ohio girl needing an abortion in a nation where states can now radically abridge reproductive rights. ... The right-wing media then reflexively scoffed. Yesterday, a Wall Street Journal editorial, “An Abortion Story Too Good to Confirm,” spoke of “fanciful tales” and an “unlikely story from a biased source.” The same day, a crosstown tabloid owned by the same company ran an op-ed saying the story “leaves a number of glaring questions,” citing an “utter lack of confirmation.” On Fox News, host Jesse Watters lambasted a credulous press that had swallowed a purportedly hysterical left-wing lie. Republican Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, who appeared on the show, proclaimed it “more likely that this was a fabrication.” (7/14)

Ohio Capital Journal: Ohio Republicans' Attempted Erasure Of A 10-Year-Old Rape Victim Is Incredibly Sick And Disturbed
Hamilton County Republican Party Chair Alex Triantafilou on Twitter called the case, “A garbage lie that a simple google search confirms is debunked.” State Rep. Brian Stewart tweeted the Washington Post story saying he “wouldn’t trust an abortionist to tell me whether the sky is blue.” Ohio U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan tweeted, “Another lie. Anyone surprised?” None of them had the patience to verify for themselves with certainty the truth of the matter before going public on a massive, self-serving scale. Jordan deleted his tweet. (David DeWitt, 7/13)

Columbus Dispatch: Attorney General Spread Misinformation About Ohio Girl Who Sought Abortion
There are few things viler and more sensitive than a criminal investigation involving a child rape victim. You don't have to be a prosecutor or detective to know that. (Amelia Robinson, 7/14)

Nieman Journalism Lab: Unimaginable Abortion Stories Will Become More Common. Is American Journalism Ready? 
Countless abortion stories will never be told at all. It won’t be because they’re lies. It will be because telling them is too risky, because patients and doctors and staffers and volunteers will face arrest for coming forward. The facts will live on in the shadows. The women and children’s real lives will continue. Even if their stories seem “too good” to be true. Even if you wish they weren’t. (Laura Hazard Owen, 7/13)

USA Today: Ohio Girl Raped - We Forced Her Out Of State For An Abortion. Why?
When I sat down to write a column about this 10-year-old rape victim having to travel across state lines for an emergency abortion, I had just dropped my 6- and 4-year-old daughters off at summer school. (Carli Pierson, 7/14)

Columbus Dispatch: Should A Pregnant 10-Year-Old Be Allowed To Get An Abortion In Ohio?
Should a pregnant girls, rape survivors be allowed abortions in Ohio? Columbus Conversation: What is the Future of Abortion in Ohio? (Amelia Robinson, 7/13)

The Washington Post: When Should I Get A Covid Shot Booster? The Answer Is Unclear
The issue of booster shots is increasingly cloudy. Waning vaccine effectiveness and rapid evolution of the virus have raised questions about whether it would be wise for those under 50 years old to get a second booster now or wait for a new generation of shots due in a few months. (7/13)

Bloomberg: BA.5 Covid Variant Will Reinfect A Lot Of People Who Got Omicron 
Now that most people have been infected, there’s really no other way a new variant can take over except by breaking through immunity from past infections and vaccinations. That’s one reason the Washington Post called BA.5, the currently circulating sub-variant of the highly transmissible omicron, “the worst variant.” (Faye Flam, 7/13)

Bloomberg: How Bad Is The Omicron BA.5 Variant? Bad Enough 
One silver lining of the interminable Covid pandemic is that it has revealed just how prepared humanity is for a zombie apocalypse. We’ve proven we can ignore any public-health menace provided it sticks around long enough. (Mark Gongloff, 7/13)

The Washington Post: BA.5 Should Not Change How Americans Think About Living With Covid 
A new variant of the coronavirus, even more contagious than previous strains, is now dominant in the United States. But rising cases should not prompt calls for most Americans to hunker down or policymakers to reimpose restrictions. Instead, the rapid spread of the BA.5 omicron subvariant is a window into what the future with this coronavirus looks like. (Leana S. Wen, 7/13)

Sacramento Bee: Why Children Under 5 Should Be Vaccinated Against COVID
In the early days of the COVID pandemic, many of us doctors felt helpless. Hospitals were filled with patients who were sick and dying of a novel, virulent pathogen. Doctors and scientists scrambled to understand how to treat it and prevent its transmission. We also worried about catching it, bringing it home and putting our families and children at risk. As the pandemic unfolded and our knowledge evolved, it became evident that we needed a vaccine. Then the data on COVID vaccines for adults showed significant protection from hospitalization and death. I felt so relieved the day I first got vaccinated alongside my colleagues. Getting myself vaccinated was a no-brainer for me as a pediatrician trained in public health. (Lisa Meneses, 7/13)

San Francisco Chronicle: The Omicron BA.5 Variant Doesn’t Care About Back To Office Plans
The monumental battle over remote work in San Francisco and elsewhere is heating up this summer as more traditionalist business leaders are demanding that employees come to the office much or all of the time. Google Maps workers, asked to come back to the office full-time recently, fought back with a petition and threats of a strike, and won a reprieve of 90 days. Elon Musk demanded that all Tesla staff come to the office full-time, resulting in Tesla workers getting recruited by other companies. And big city mayors like San Francisco’s London Breed and New York’s Eric Adams are pushing their workers to get back to the office, including by writing stern and reprimanding letters. Yet what these traditionalist executives are failing to realize is that the drama, stress and tensions caused by their demands won’t matter. Remote work will win this fall. (Gleb Tsipursky, 7/12)

Sacramento Bee: How Contracting COVID Shook Me Out Of My Pandemic Fatigue
After two years of taking every precaution, including vaxxing and double-boosting, I finally got COVID at the end of a family vacation last month. All four of us in our family had worn masks on multiple airplanes for the long journey from California to Hawaii and back. Still, we noticed that most other passengers eschewed masks on crowded planes and in the long airport lines. (Marcos Bretón, 7/13)

Scientific American: Genomic Sequencing Is Critical To Our Understanding Of COVID 
As we continue to face episodic COVID surges globally, the U.S. government and its Centers for Disease Control need to focus on enhancing our systems for detecting the next highly infectious variant before we are caught unprepared once more. (Abraar Karan, Benjamin Pinsky and Sikhulile Moyo, 7/13)

The Boston Globe: As Monkeypox Cases Rise, US Health Officials Are Failing Again
The United States is making the same mistake in its response to the monkeypox outbreak, led by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as it did with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, by not moving swiftly enough to expand testing and increase awareness. (Shan Soe-Lin and Robert Hecht, 7/14)

The Baltimore Sun: Democracy Anxiety Disorder: A New Diagnosis? 
Over the years of my practice as a psychoanalyst, teens and adults have come to see me for troubled relationships, parenting difficulties, depression, social anxiety and the many other challenges of everyday life. Until just recently, though, no one had ever called with the chief complaint that they were grieving for our country and, so, for their future here. This month, however, a bright graduate student began her session with this memorable phrase: “Well, I figured it out: I have Democracy Anxiety Disorder.” (Kerry Malawista, 7/13)

Los Angeles Times: Without Abortion Access, Mental Health Problems Will Rise
The morning the Supreme Court struck down our federal protection for abortion, I reflected on the ruling at home with my son and his girlfriend. For each of us, this ruling was deeply personal. My son expressed anxiety about what would happen if he experienced a birth control mishap. For his girlfriend, a 19-year-old from Mississippi, the decision left her feeling hopeless, without control of her body and future. She described what she thought would be the devastating effect of denying young people access to abortion in her home state, which mandates abstinence-only sex education and allows pharmacists to refuse requests for emergency contraceptives. Then the last abortion clinic in Mississippi closed on July 6. (M. Antonia Biggs, 7/13)

Los Angeles Times: I Wanted To End My Pregnancy. But Antiabortion Policies Filled Me With Self-Doubt 
A message for abortion rights supporters in blue states: We red-state folks thank you for the offers on social media to open your doors to us post-Roe. You are big-hearted for thinking of us. We, however, probably aren’t coming. How do I know? Because I was once an accidentally pregnant, broke mother of two in the anti-choice state of West Virginia, where I carried and birthed my son against my will. (Christa Parravani, 7/13)

USA Today: Supreme Court, Protect Home Health Care Entrepreneurs From States
Skyrocketing prices and barriers to access continue to plague America's health care system. It is no wonder when you consider that many states continue to allow existing service providers to block new competitors who wish to enter the market. (Andrew Ward and Jaimie Cavanaugh, 7/13)

Stat: Empower Primary Care With Adequate Payments And Technology
Nina, the mother of an autistic teenager, had never experienced a panic attack until Covid-19 closed her son’s school in March 2020. In desperation, Nina (not her real name) called a local clinic, and was lucky to find one with a corps of clinicians, counselors, and social workers using a model of primary care that integrates services to support physical, mental, and social well-being. (Hoangmai Pham and Michael O. Leavitt, 7/14)