Stat: Average Age Of First Period Drops To 11.9 Years, Study Shows 
Menstruation is a critical indicator of health. Whether and when someone with a uterus gets their period — for the first time, and throughout their life — can reflect not only their reproductive health, but their risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, miscarriage, and premature death. That also makes menstruation a useful measure of population health. And digital tools for clinical research are beginning to shed light on just how significantly periods are changing over time. (Merelli, 5/29)

NBC News: Black Children Are Getting Their Period Earlier Than Ever
Black children of low socioeconomic status are starting their periods earlier than the average age, and it takes more time for their menstrual cycles to become regular, according to a new report. In a study published Wednesday, researchers with the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health’s Apple Women’s Health Study found that the United States’ younger generations are experiencing their first menstrual period — called “menarche” — before the average age of 12. This is especially the case for racial minorities and children living in a lower socioeconomic status, the researchers found. (Adams, 5/29)

In abortion news —

Reuters: Indiana Needs Clearer Medical Exception To Abortion Ban, Doctor Tells Judge 
An Indiana doctor who is suing the state over its abortion ban on Wednesday told a state judge that the exception for medical emergencies was unclear, and could prevent medically necessary abortions. The testimony from Dr. Amy Caldwell kicked off a nonjury trial, which is expected to last through Friday. Caldwell brought case along with Planned Parenthood. (Pierson, 5/29)

The 19th: For Arizona Organizers, Using ‘Abortion’ In Their Ballot Measure Campaign Is Key
When Emma Burns, then a 19-year-old college student in Flagstaff, Arizona, found out she was pregnant with twins, she felt scared and alone. Abortion wasn’t openly discussed in the rural community where she grew up, where the sole clinic provided abortions just one day a week. Arizona’s mandatory 24-hour waiting period required two separate visits. Still, Burns was ultimately able to obtain a medication abortion, a decision she said saved her life. (Panetta, 5/29)

Reuters: Exclusive: Nicotine-Like Chemicals In U.S. Vapes May Be More Potent Than Nicotine, FDA Says 
Nicotine alternatives used in vapes being launched in the U.S. and abroad, such as 6-methyl nicotine, may be more potent and addictive than nicotine itself, though the scientific data remains incomplete, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and independent researchers. The synthetic substances - which have a chemical structure similar to that of nicotine - are not subject to U.S. tobacco and vaping regulations that are designed to control traditional nicotine, a highly addictive drug. (Rumney, 5/29)

FiercePharma: With Ruling, Pfizer Can Escape Some Claims In Legal Battle Over Chantix Carcinogen Allegations
Pfizer chalked up a key win in its legal battle surrounding the now-recalled smoking cessation drug Chantix after a New York judge narrowed the scope of the arguments in play. The consolidated class action lawsuit was brought by Chantix users and payers and levies a number of accusations at Pfizer, including arguments of negligence and unjust enrichment tied to the company's representation of the drug as being free of nitrosamines. (Becker, 5/29)

CNBC: DOJ Charges Chinese National With Operating ‘World’s Largest Botnet’ That Stole $5.9 Billion In Covid Relief Funds
A global malware network responsible for the theft of $5.9 billion in Covid relief funds and tied to other crimes like child exploitation and bomb threats has been shut down, Department of Justice officials announced Wednesday. The DOJ arrested 35-year-old YunHe Wang, a Chinese national who was charged with creating the “botnet,” a kind of malware that connects a network of hacked devices, which criminals can then use remotely to launch cyberattacks. Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray said it is “likely the world’s largest botnet ever.” (Picciotto, 5/29)

In other pandemic news —

Reuters: U.S. Health Secretary Sees Pandemic Treaty Deal As Close 
The top U.S. health official said on Wednesday it would be "tragic" for the world to miss out on key reforms to the global pandemic response and that a treaty deal was within reach, with no major differences between negotiators. Health officials are meeting in Geneva this week to try to wrap up more than two years of negotiations on a pandemic treaty and a series of updates to existing International Health Rules (IHR). However, countries have failed to finalize the treaty at this assembly and countries are considering an extension. (5/29)

NPR: How The COVID Pandemic Gave Power To Superbugs
Antibiotics cannot cure COVID. They don’t help a bit. And yet, new data shows that, during the pandemic, COVID patients were given antibiotics – a lot of antibiotics. That’s bad because the overuse of antibiotics can breed superbugs that are resistant to medications. The impact of this pandemic overuse has lingered even as the pandemic has faded. (Emanuel, 5/29)

CIDRAP: Having 2 Or More Underlying Conditions Increase The Risk Of Severe COVID-19 Almost 10-Fold In Kids, Data Show
Though severe COVID-19 infections in children are uncommon, children and young adults with comorbidities are at  increased risk for critical illness during COVID-19 infections, according to a new study in Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society. (Soucheray, 5/29)

In bird flu updates —

CIDRAP: USDA Reports More Mammal Detections 
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) reported 15 more H5N1 detections in mammals, which span six states. Eight of the detections in four states—New Mexico, Michigan, Montana, and South Dakota—involve domestic cats. Other animals include red fox and a raccoon. A reassortant between the Eurasian and North American wild bird lineage was found in all of the cat samples and in one of the red fox samples. (Schnirring, 5/29)

Reuters: US Nears Deal To Fund Moderna's Bird Flu Vaccine Trial, FT Reports 
The U.S. government is nearing an agreement to fund a late-stage trial of Moderna's mRNA pandemic bird flu vaccine, the Financial Times reported on Thursday, as an H5N1 outbreak spreads through egg farms and among cattle herds. The federal funding from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) could come as soon as next month, and would also include a promise to procure doses if the phase-three trials turn out to be successful, the report said. (5/30)

The Wall Street Journal: Moderna Makes Big Play For Big Tech Talent 
CIO Brad Miller has been replacing IT outsourced during the pandemic with a full-time in-house staff as the biotech looks to roll out 15 new products over the next five years. (Bousquette, 5/28)

Becker's Hospital Review: Ascension Restores EHR In 1st Market After Cyberattack
St. Louis-based Ascension has restored access to its EHR in its first market following a May 8 ransomware attack. The 140-hospital system is largely still relying on paper records and manual procedures but is making progress on reinstating its IT systems, an Ascension spokesperson told Becker's. (Bruce, 5/29)

Modern Healthcare: Dollar General Ends Mobile Health Clinic Program With DocGo
Dollar General said Wednesday it ended a pilot program with DocGo on mobile health clinics. Stopping the mobile clinics program was a mutual decision between Dollar General and DocGo made after "careful evaluation," a Dollar General spokesperson said in an emailed statement. The spokesperson did not provide additional details on why the companies ended the program. (Hudson, 5/29)

CNN: New US Liver Transplant Policy Raises Cost And Equity Concerns, According To New Study 
Changes to the policy that governs how liver transplants are allocated in the United States were meant to increase the number of transplants and make the process more equitable, but a new study raises concerns that it’s putting certain underserved communities at a greater disadvantage. (McPhillips, 5/29)

Stat: Report: NIH-Funded Clinical Trials Often Miss Diversity Enrollment Goals
Clinical trials that the National Institutes of Health funds often enroll fewer Black patients and other underrepresented racial groups than they plan to, according to a study of 30 NIH-funded trials sampled by the HHS Office of Inspector General. (Wilkerson, 5/29)

Axios: Health Care Groups Prep For Possible Trump Cuts To Programs
Health care lobbyists and conservative groups are stepping up preparations for what a second Trump presidency could mean for drug prices, health insurance subsidies and changes to health care entitlements. (Knight and Sullivan, 5/30)

Stat: Value-Based Payment Gets New Attention. But What Does It Mean?
Nearly 20 years ago, policymakers had an epiphany: The health care system should pay for value instead of volume. Unfortunately, it’s now less clear than ever what value-based payment means, and whatever it is, it hasn’t lived up to the hype. (Wilkerson, 5/30)

KFF Health News: Presidential Election Could Decide Fate Of Extra Obamacare Subsidies 
When Cassie Cox ended up in the emergency room in January, the Bainbridge, Georgia, resident was grateful for the Obamacare insurance policy she had recently selected for coverage in 2024. Cox, 40, qualified for an Affordable Care Act marketplace plan with no monthly premium due to her relatively low income. And after she cut her hand severely, the 35 stitches she received in the ER led to an out-of-pocket expense of about $300, she said. “I can’t imagine what the ER visit would have cost if I was uninsured,” she said. (Miller, 5/30)

Axios: New Tracker Aims To Help Patients Find Weight-Loss Drugs Amid Shortages
Patients struggling to find doses of blockbuster anti-obesity and diabetes drugs will have new help from a drug supply tracker built by telehealth company Ro. Explosive demand for drugs from Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly have led to shortages, making it difficult for patients with prescriptions to find the treatments when they need them. (Reed, 5/29)

Los Angeles Times: Will Ozempic Bankrupt The U.S. Healthcare System?
An April 24 letter from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders to the CEO of Novo Nordisk began with heartfelt thanks to the Danish drugmaker for inventing Ozempic and Wegovy, two medications poised to improve the health of tens of millions of Americans with obesity and related diseases. But the senator’s grateful tone faded rapidly. (Kaplan, 5/29)

The Wall Street Journal: Our Readers Tried Weight-Loss Drugs Like Mounjaro. Here’s What They Told Us. 
Hundreds of readers responded in the comments space and by email to Bradley Olson’s essay about his experience using a GLP-1 drug for weight loss. Readers shared stories about their own attempts to lose weight, journeys that often took place over the course of decades and included nonmedicinal strategies before the advent of GLP-1 drugs. Our readers made overwhelmingly positive comments about the medications, and in general found that the transformational impact of the GLP-1 drugs made such difficulties as getting prescriptions filled and side effects bearable. Some readers who have struggled to lose weight wrote that they found inspiration in Olson’s essay to consider trying a medical solution. (Reynolds, 5/29)

In other pharmaceutical news —

Stat: Lab Trade Group Sues FDA To Halt Regulation Of Lab-Developed Tests
A group representing clinical labs across the country sued the Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday over the agency’s plan to actively regulate lab-developed tests. (Lawrence, 5/29)

The New York Times: Stanley Goldstein, Who Helped Make CVS A Pharmacy Giant, Dies At 89 
Stanley P. Goldstein, who in the early 1960s helped start a retail chain named Consumer Value Stores, which, after shortening its name to CVS — because, he said, fewer letters meant cheaper signs — grew into the largest drugstore chain in the United States, died on Tuesday at his home in Providence, R.I. He was 89.The company, which is headquartered in Rhode Island, announced his death. Family members told The Providence Journal that the cause was cancer, diagnosed about a month ago. (Gabriel, 5/27)

In science and tech news —

Stat: Akili, Maker Of Video Game For ADHD, To Be Acquired For 34 Million
A month after announcing it was seeking strategic alternatives, Akili Interactive, maker of a video game designed to treat ADHD, said it will go private in a merger with Virtual Therapeutics. The deal is expected to net Akili’s shareholders $34 million. (Aguilar, 5/29)

Stat: Scientists Successfully Use Ultrasound Imaging To Map Brain Activity
Researchers may have a new way to watch the brain pulse, thanks to an ultrasound probe and a tiny window in the skull. (Broderick, 5/29)

The New York Times: The Textbooks Were Wrong About How Your Tongue Works 
Think for a minute about the little bumps on your tongue. You probably saw a diagram of those taste bud arrangements once in a biology textbook — sweet sensors at the tip, salty on either side, sour behind them, bitter in the back. But the idea that specific tastes are confined to certain areas of the tongue is a myth that “persists in the collective consciousness despite decades of research debunking it,” according to a review published this month in The New England Journal of Medicine. Also wrong: the notion that taste is limited to the mouth. (Silberner, 5/29)

San Francisco Chronicle: Late Bedtimes Associated With Worse Mental Health: Stanford Study
Going to bed late, regardless of whether you’re a night owl or an early bird by nature, is linked to worse mental health, according to a new study by Stanford researchers. Scientists had believed that aligning your sleep behavior to your sleep time preference — “evening people” going to sleep later, and “morning people” going to sleep earlier — was beneficial for mental health. This is known as aligning to your chronotype. (Ho, 5/29)

CNN: Placebos Can Improve Mental Health Symptoms, Study Finds 
When you’re trying to address mental health symptoms, simply the belief that you can be helped may be an important factor. Symptoms of nine mental health disorders substantially improved under placebo treatment, according to a new review of 90 randomized controlled trials — known as a meta-analysis — totaling 9,985 adult participants largely in their 30s and 40s.The disorders in the review, published Wednesday in the journal JAMA Psychiatry, included major depressive disorder, mania, schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder or OCD, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and social phobia. (Rogers, 5/29)

Reuters: J&J's Drug Eases Depression And Insomnia Symptoms In Late-Stage Study 
Johnson & Johnson's experimental drug helped reduce symptoms of depression as well as insomnia in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) in a late-stage trial, the company said in a statement on Wednesday. The trial was testing the drug, called seltorexant, in patients with both depression and insomnia. Sleep disturbances often accompany depression, despite treatment with commonly-used antidepressant drugs. (Jain, 5/29)

In other mental health news —

Military.com: Veterans Get 3 Mental Health Visits A Year For Free With VA's New Copay Exemption 
Department of Veterans Affairs beneficiaries won't have to pay copays for their first three mental health appointments of each year thanks to a new exemption. Meanwhile, patients who paid copays starting in the latter half of 2023 will receive automatic refunds. The VA announced the exemption Wednesday. Backdated to June 27, 2023 -- when the first refunds will kick in -- the benefit also comes with an end date of Dec. 29, 2027. (Miller, 5/29)

North Carolina Health News: N.C. Specialty Probation Program Works To Help People With Serious Mental Illness
Jason Szybka became a probation/parole officer in Duplin County in October 2020. In the role, he crossed paths frequently with people with serious mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. He saw how their mental health affected their lives in the community and their ability to meet supervision requirements. (Crumpler, 5/30)

WPR: A Family Struggled To Find Mental Health Help For Their Teen Girl. They Are Not Alone. 
Parents gave examples of trying to get help for their children, only to be met with months-long waiting lists to see counselors. “I’m a pediatrician. Most therapy offices are either not accepting new patients, don’t accept the patient’s insurance, don’t accept children under a certain age, or have a three- to six-month waiting list,” one respondent said. “Schools and doctors are doing their best, but these children need therapy and support.” (Hess, 5/30)

CBS News: There Aren't Enough Mental Health Counselors To Respond To 911 Calls. One County Sheriff Has A Virtual Solution. 
The Cook County Sheriff's Office aims to put mental health workers in the field virtually as cities grapple with alternative police responses. (Quraishi, Geller, Beard and Ramos, 5/28)

Health News Florida: DeSantis Signs Into Law A Measure To Designate 'Rural Emergency Hospitals'
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday signed a measure to create a new category of “rural emergency hospitals” that backers say would help ensure health care access in rural areas. The legislation (SB 644) stems from a federal law that allowed the designation of rural emergency hospitals and made them eligible for Medicare payments. The hospitals are required to be licensed by states, creating a need for the bill. (5/29)

KFF Health News: An Obscure Drug Discount Program Stifles Use Of Federal Lifeline By Rural Hospitals 
Facing ongoing concerns about rural hospital closures, Capitol Hill lawmakers have introduced a spate of proposals to fix a federal program created to keep lifesaving services in small towns nationwide. In Anamosa, Iowa — a town of fewer than 6,000 residents located more than 900 miles from the nation’s capital — rural hospital leader Eric Briesemeister is watching for Congress’ next move. The 22-bed hospital Briesemeister runs averages about seven inpatients each night, and its most recent federal filings show it earned just $95,445 in annual net income from serving patients. (Tribble, 5/30)

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

Billings Gazette: ACLU Asks Judge To Block Birth Certificate Restrictions
The ACLU of Montana asked a judge to temporarily block a state policy that bans transgender people from amending the sex designation on their birth certificates. (Graf, 5/28)

Texas Community Health News: Texas Revamps Narcan Distribution 
After years of struggling to consistently provide the overdose-reversing medication naloxone to organizations that rely on a free supply of the medication, the state government is revamping its centerpiece distribution program. (Buch, 5/30)

San Francisco Chronicle: After 1 Year Of Crackdown, More S.F. Drug Users Arrested Than Dealers
Law enforcement officials in San Francisco arrested more suspected drug users than suspected dealers in the year since the city launched coordinated efforts to dismantle open-air drug markets in the Tenderloin and South of Market neighborhoods, city leaders said Wednesday. Law enforcement arrested 1,284 suspected drug users and 1,008 suspected dealers since the launch of the Drug Market Agency Coordination Center on May 29, 2023, according to figures the mayor's office released. Another 858 people were arrested on warrants. (Hernandez, 5/29)

The Mercury News: San Mateo County Homelessness Jumps 18% Even As More People Get Shelter Beds
San Mateo County’s homeless population spiked 18% over the last two years, according to the latest official estimate, even as local officials added around 300 shelter beds to help people get off the street. The tally released Wednesday identified 2,130 homeless people countywide. More than half lived outdoors, in vehicles or in other places not meant for habitation. The rest stayed in shelters. (Varian, 5/29)

NPR: When Caregiving For A Family Member Leads To Homelessness 
When Wymon Johnson invited his older brother Obie to move into his one-bedroom apartment in Bakersfield, California, it was supposed to be temporary. But soon after, Obie got pneumonia. Next, he was diagnosed with a serious lung illness (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD), diabetes, and then kidney failure, all in 2010.Johnson let his brother use the apartment’s single bed, and started sleeping on the couch. He had worked as a street cleaner for the city before being sidelined by an injury, and soon was taking care of Obie fulltime, helping him with insulin injections and pills as his vision faded, arranging dialysis and doctor’s appointments, helping him bathe and taking him to the podiatrist. Caregiving “is not what people assume,” he says. “It’s not just babysitting.” (McGowan, 5/29)

CBS News: As Investors Pour In, For-Profit Nursing Homes Leave Some Seniors In Need
Based on her medical condition, Grace Song had been labeled a fall risk by the Southern California nursing home where the 92-year-old spent a month earlier this year. So it was a surprise to her family when they learned she was left alone in the bathroom, fell, and was rushed to the emergency room. "This is where you feel, how do I get to be so helpless?" Song told her daughter-in-law Lisa Ling, who is a CBS News contributor. (Ling, Kaplan, Reilly, Teitelbaum, Samu, 5/29)

KFF Health News: Safety-Net Health Clinics Cut Services And Staff Amid Medicaid ‘Unwinding’
One of Montana’s largest health clinics that serves people in poverty has cut back services and laid off workers. The retrenchment mirrors similar cuts around the country as safety-net health centers feel the effects of states purging their Medicaid rolls. Billings-based RiverStone Health is eliminating 42 jobs this spring, cutting nearly 10% of its workforce. The cuts have shuttered an inpatient hospice facility, will close a center for patients managing high blood pressure, and removed a nurse who worked within rural schools. It also reduced the size of the clinic’s behavioral health care team and the number of staffers focused on serving people without housing. (Houghton, 5/30)

CIDRAP: International Scientists Propose Additions To Dengue Virus Classification System 
An international group of experts led by the Yale School of Public Health has proposed adding two sub-classifications to the current dengue virus (DENV) nomenclature to help identify and track strains of potential epidemiologic or clinical importance. (Van Beusekom, 5/23)

ScienceDaily: Altering Cellular Interactions Around Amyloid Plaques May Offer Novel Alzheimer's Treatment Strategies
Researchers made a significant breakthrough in Alzheimer's disease research by identifying a novel way to potentially slow down or even halt disease progression. The study, which focuses on the role of reactive astrocytes and the plexin-B1 protein in Alzheimer's pathophysiology, provides crucial insights into brain cell communication and opens the door to innovative treatment strategies. (The Mount Sinai Hospital / Mount Sinai School of Medicine, 5/27)

ScienceDaily: Bird Flu: Diverse Range Of Vaccines Platforms 'Crucial' For Enhancing Human Pandemic Preparedness 
Review of research to-date suggests vaccination remains the most effective strategy for avian influenza prevention and control in humans, despite varying vaccine efficacy across strains. (Taylor & Francis Group, 5/29)

CIDRAP: COVID Patients At Higher Risk For Respiratory Complications Well After Infection, Study Finds 
The risks of respiratory complications were eightfold and nearly twofold greater in COVID-19 patients in South Korea and Japan during and after infection, respectively, than in the general population, suggests a study published yesterday in Nature Communications. (Van Beusekom, 5/28)

The Atlantic: The Maternal-Mortality Crisis That Didn’t Happen 
In 2019, the United States recorded twice as many maternal deaths as in 1999. You may have seen articles under headlines such as “More Mothers Are Dying” that frame this situation as a crisis. The notion that the U.S. has fallen behind other highly developed nations in addressing rising maternal deaths has filtered from academia into activist circles, newsrooms, social media, and everyday conversation. The general public might conclude: In America, pregnancy is getting deadlier by the year. (Jerusalem Demas, 5/30)

Salt Lake Tribune: When I Had My Miscarriage, I Could Access The Care I Needed. That Might Change Soon.
I remember the bright red drop of blood on my shoe as I wrapped up a meeting at work. At just shy of nine weeks pregnant, I was having a miscarriage. I knew something was wrong when the ultrasound the week before showed the fetus wasn’t developing right. I had no idea how fast an unviable pregnancy could resolve itself, if it would. And I was shocked by the amount of blood and how quickly it came once it started. I excused myself from the meeting, cleaned myself up and went out to my car to call my midwife. She reassured me that what I was experiencing was normal. (Shireen Ghorbani, 5/29)

Scientific American: We Can Prevent Another Summer Mpox Outbreak 
In May 2022, when the spread of mpox virus began to be reported outside of Central Africa for the first time, queer health advocates imagined it would become a clear demonstration of a successful emergency response. Because of the similarity between mpox and smallpox, the U.S. government had not only already developed and tested effective diagnostics, a treatment (the antiviral drug TPOXX) and a vaccine but had stockpiles of them all. (Joseph Osmundson, 5/29)

Stat: Stigma And The Return Of Syphilis 
Syphilis, one of the oldest infections known to humans, has returned to the U.S. at epidemic rates that have been climbing since 2001. In 2022, the last year with complete data, the highest number of infections were recorded in more than 70 years. It’s not yet clear why syphilis is spreading faster than other sexually transmitted infections. Recent shortages of single injection penicillin needed to treat this infection threatens to make matters worse. (Jacob D. Moses and Allan M. Brandt, 5/30)

The Boston Globe: Getting A Grip On Health Care Costs
The health care bill passed by the Massachusetts House earlier this month provides a strong foundation for policy makers to address important questions: How can we help financially struggling community hospitals? How can we enhance state oversight of health care transactions to avoid another debacle like Steward’s bankruptcy? And perhaps most importantly, how can we ensure health care is affordable? This board has previously supported policies like those included in the bill that would give state regulators more authority to scrutinize transactions involving for-profit health care. (5/30)