Roll Call: CDC Reports Record Drop In Drug Overdose Deaths 
Drug overdose deaths dropped a record amount during the past year, according to provisional data the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released Wednesday. The CDC reported that 94,758 individuals died because of drug overdoses in the 12-month period ending May 2024 — a 15 percent drop from the previous 12-month period. The agency estimates that number may rise to 98,820 when finalized, which would be a 12.7 percent drop. Rahul Gupta, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, commended the data, which showed a decline in nationwide drug-related deaths for the sixth month in a row. (Raman, 10/16)

San Francisco Chronicle: San Francisco Overdose Deaths Plummet 
The number of people in San Francisco who died from accidental overdoses of fentanyl, the powerful synthetic opioid at the heart of the nation’s overdose epidemic, fell to a four-year low in September — a bright spot after years of the drug’s escalating devastation. Twenty-three people died from fentanyl overdoses last month, according to preliminary figures released by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner on Wednesday. That is the lowest number since the city began releasing monthly overdose data in January 2020. (Ho, 10/16)

ABC News: Weight Loss Drugs Like Ozempic May Help Reduce Overdose Risks: Study
A new study suggests that GLP-1 agonist medications like Ozempic, which are used for diabetes management and weight loss, may help reduce the risk of overdose and alcohol intoxication in people with substance use disorders. "It helps to underline another significant benefit of this class of medication," Dr. Angela Fitch, the co-founder, and chief medical officer of knownwell, a company that provides weight-inclusive health care, told ABC News. (Shareef, 10/17)

Reuters: McKinsey Close To Settling US Opioid Investigations, Sources Say
Consulting firm McKinsey & Co is close to an agreement with U.S. prosecutors to pay more than $500 million to resolve longstanding federal investigations into its past work helping opioid makers boost sales that allegedly contributed to a deadly addiction epidemic, two people familiar with the matter said. A deal, which has not been finalized, would resolve U.S. Justice Department criminal and civil probes, the people said. (Raymond and Spector, 10/16)

Also —

The New York Times: Man Whose Fentanyl Stash Killed Child At Day Care Gets 45-Year Sentence
Felix Herrera Garcia’s wife called him on a September afternoon last year, just after she had discovered that three children in her Divino Niño day care center would not wake up. He ran to the basement facility in the Bronx, which prosecutors say he had long used to store and package opioids. There, prosecutors said, Mr. Herrera Garcia would have stepped over a 22-month-old boy lying on a kindergarten mat, poisoned by fentanyl. ... The events last year at Divino Niño, in which four healthy toddlers were grievously sickened within hours of being dropped off by their parents, horrified people across New York City and beyond. (Moynihan, 10/16)

AP: Three States Try To Make Abortion Pill Mifepristone Harder To Access 
Three states are renewing a legal push to restrict access to the abortion medication mifepristone, including reinstating requirements it be dispensed in person instead of by mail. The request from Kansas, Idaho and Missouri filed Friday would bar the drug’s use after seven weeks of pregnancy instead of 10 and require three in-person doctor office visits instead of none in the latest attempt to make it harder to get a drug that’s used in most abortions nationally. (Mulvihill, 10/16)

AP: Abortion Ballot Measures May Not Have Quick Impact On Access 
Voters in nine states are deciding next month whether to add the right to abortion to their constitutions, but the measures are unlikely to dramatically change access — at least not immediately. Instead, voter approval would launch more lawsuits on a subject that’s been in the courts constantly — and more than ever since the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 overturned Roe v. Wade and opened the door to state abortion laws. In some states where the issue is on the ballot, it’s already widely available. (Mulvihill, 10/17)

Abortion news from Mississippi, Florida, Arizona, and Maryland —

AP: Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Over Old Abortion Rights Ruling In Mississippi 
A Mississippi judge dismissed a lawsuit Tuesday that challenged a potential conflict between a 2022 state law that bans most abortions and a 1998 state Supreme Court ruling that said abortion is guaranteed in the Mississippi Constitution because of the right of privacy. Hinds County Chancery Judge Crystal Wise Martin wrote that the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists lacks legal standing for the lawsuit it filed against the Mississippi State Board of Medical Licensure in November 2022. (Pettus, 10/16)

The Hill: Florida Health Officials Sued For Censorship Over Abortion Campaign Ad
The citizen-led ballot initiative Floridians Protecting Freedom has filed a lawsuit against state health officials alleging political speech has been censored in the state. The Florida Department of Health previously sent a cease and desist letter to television stations across Florida that aired an ad in support of an abortion-rights ballot initiative, Amendment 4. The ballot initiative would enshrine abortion rights into the state constitution, overturning the current law that bans abortion after six weeks of pregnancy. (Irwin, 10/16)

Politico: Florida Dems Tie Their Future To Abortion Ballot Measure 
Florida Democrats have launched a multi-million-dollar campaign to urge voters to pass the initiative that would guarantee access to abortion in the nation’s third largest state. The decision by Democrats to invest millions now in ads demonstrates how important state party leaders view Amendment 4 as part of their push to regain relevance in the former battleground state. Democrats — who remain at a significant financial disadvantage to Republicans — have been sharply critical of abortion restrictions pushed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis and the GOP-controlled Legislature. (Fineout, 10/16)

The 19th and The Arizona Republic: In Arizona, Gen Z Voters Fear Inconsistencies On Abortion And Climate
When Emilia Kim returned to Tucson in August after studying abroad in China, her first ever summer spent away from her mom, her vision for her future had shifted. Kim, now a senior at Basis Oro Valley High School, could no longer picture herself becoming a mom. (Meiners, 10/16)

AP: As Women Seek Open Congressional Seats In Maryland, Reproductive Rights Are Front And Center 
In an election where the future of reproductive rights is on the ballot in Maryland and elsewhere across the country, the state’s all-male congressional delegation stands to gain an influx of women. It could happen in Maryland’s 6th Congressional District, where Democrat April McClain Delaney is running against conservative Republican Neil Parrott, a former member of the Maryland House of Delegates. They’re competing to represent a wide swath of rural Maryland and more affluent liberal suburbs of Washington, D.C. (Skene, 10/17)

On IVF and surrogacy —

The 19th and The Salt Lake Tribune: IVF Is Popular In Pro-Family Utah. Why Aren’t Candidates Talking About It?
Marriage made the Smiths a family of eight — Tillia came with five kids, and Travis with one. As 7-year-old Margot, one of two additions to their brood since then, burrowed between them on the sofa, Tillia laughed, “we’re a Brady Bunch.” Tillia recounted the couple’s decision to grow the family to nine, then ten. (Stern, 10/16)

The New York Times: Italy Passes Law Banning People From Seeking Surrogacy Abroad 
Italy passed a law on Wednesday that criminalizes seeking surrogacy abroad, a move the country’s conservative government said would protect women’s dignity, while critics see it as yet another crackdown by the government on L.G.B.T. families, as the law will make it virtually impossible for gay fathers to have children. Surrogacy is already illegal in Italy. But the government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has vowed to broaden the ban to punish Italians who seek it in countries where it is legal, like in parts of the United States. (Bubola, 10/16)

The Hill: 1,500 Physicians Demand Trump's Health Care Plan Before Election
More than 1,500 physicians around the country are calling on former President Trump to release his health care plan with three weeks until election day. In the new letter authored by the Committee to Protect Health Care PAC, which has endorsed Vice President Harris, more than 1,500 physicians urge the GOP nominee to clarify his plans for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) following his remarks on the topic during his debate against Harris last month. (Timotija, 10/16)

Axios: Doctors Shouldn't Push Voting On Patients, GOP Says
An effort to get doctors to register their patients to vote during office visits is drawing the ire of national Republicans as Election Day nears and threatening to again make health care facilities partisan battlegrounds. The big picture: Vot-ER, a nonprofit spearheading health care-related voting efforts, likens the initiatives to nonpartisan voter registration at local motor vehicle departments. Conservatives contend they're exploitive and stretch the boundaries of physician freedom. (Goldman, 10/17)

AP: Trump Would Be The Oldest President And Isn't Providing Health Details
If he wins next month’s election, Donald Trump would be the oldest person in U.S. history to be elected president. Yet the 78-year-old Republican nominee refuses to disclose new details about his physical or mental well-being, breaking decades of precedent. (Peoples and Neergaard, 10/16)

The Hill: Omarosa Says Donald Trump 'Dictated' Medical History To Doctors
Omarosa Manigault Newman claimed former President Trump “dictated” what doctors wrote about his medical history, making the allegation during a Tuesday evening CNN appearance. “Let’s recall that Donald Trump dictated the letters that went out about his medical history, but doctors weren’t free to write what they want,” Manigault Newman said in a clip highlighted by Mediaite. The former Trump White House aide endorsed Vice President Harris for the 2024 election and has been adamant about publicly chronicling her interactions with her former boss. (Fields, 10/16)

Also —

Portland (Maine) Press Herald: Harris Plan To Expand Rural Health Care Could Have Impact In Maine
The Harris campaign rolled out a series of policy proposals on Tuesday that included investing in rural ambulance services, financial support for rural hospitals, health care workforce incentives, payment reforms for independent pharmacies and expanding telehealth services. (Lawlor, 10/16)

The Atlantic: What Is This ‘Post-Birth Abortion’ Donald Trump Keeps Talking About?
As a debate moderator once noted, killing a baby after birth is illegal in all states. What Donald Trump appears to have in mind, and to be disparaging, is perinatal palliative care (PPC)—a crucial medical service aimed at improving quality of life for women and their babies after a severe fetal diagnosis or extreme prematurity. (Donley and Lens, 10/17)

Stat: Medicare Advantage Insurers Used Tech To Help Deny Claims: Senate Report 
The nation’s three largest Medicare Advantage insurers increasingly refused to pay for rehabilitative care for seniors in the years after adopting sophisticated technologies to aid in their coverage decisions, a Senate investigation found. (Herman and Ross, 10/17)

In other health industry developments —

The Boston Globe: Newton-Wellesley Hospital Nurses Plan Strike Authorization Vote
Nurses at Newton-Wellesley Hospital plan to picket and hold a strike authorization vote next week, amid labor contract negotiations with the hospital’s parent organization, Mass General Brigham. The Oct. 22 vote could allow the nurses’ union bargaining committee to schedule a strike in the future, provided the union gives the hospital the required 10-day notice, according to a news release from the Massachusetts Nurses Association, the union representing the nurses. (Tannenbaum, 10/16)

Houston Chronicle: Texas Children's Pediatrics Awarded For Fighting Physician Burnout
Texas Children’s Pediatrics earned national recognition for its efforts to improve its physicians’ well-being by reducing the prevalence of burnout — a persistent problem in the health care industry. Texas Children’s Hospital’s pediatric primary care network is among 62 health systems, hospitals and medical groups across the U.S. recognized as Joy in Medicine health organizations by the American Medical Association. The program recognizes organizations that are working to alleviate physician burnout, which skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic and remains higher among health care workers than other professions. (MacDonald, 10/16)

The Texas Tribune: Texas Hospitals’ Citizenship Count Renews Focus On Uninsured
When Gov. Greg Abbott ordered hospitals this summer to start asking patients for their citizenship status, the intent was clear: to take the cost of caring for undocumented immigrants to the Biden administration and demand Texas taxpayers be reimbursed. Beginning Nov. 1, hospital patients will be asked their citizenship status. Abbott’s order does not say patients are legally bound to answer the question. However, the care of patients who answer this question, or don’t, will not be interrupted, according to the Texas Hospital Association (THA). (Langford, 10/17)

The Boston Globe: Steward Health Care Lawyers Seeking $36 Million
Lawyers for Steward Health Care were awarded more than $36 million — or more than $420,000 per day in fees — for their work on the first three months of the company’s bankruptcy case. New York-based law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges filed a request Tuesday for reimbursement of $36,255,939.14 for fees and expenses, which included rates for attorneys billing as much as $2,350 per hour. Other rates included $750 per hour for a law clerk, and up to $595 per hour for paralegals. (Pressman, 10/16)

Reuters: Sanofi Workers In France To Strike Over Sale Of Consumer Health Unit, Union Official Says 
French unions have called on workers at Sanofi to strike from Thursday to protest a planned sale of the pharmaceutical group's consumer health arm, adding to complications around a deal estimated at about $16 billion. ... Sanofi said last week it had entered into talks to sell a controlling 50% stake in its consumer health business Opella to U.S. private equity firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice, a year after flagging that it was looking at options for the business. (10/16)

KFF Health News: Patients Are Relying On Lyft, Uber To Travel Far Distances To Medical Care
When Lyft driver Tramaine Carr transports seniors and sick patients to hospitals in Atlanta, she feels like both a friend and a social worker. “When the ride is an hour or an hour and a half of mostly freeway driving, people tend to tell you what they’re going through,” she said. Drivers such as Carr have become a critical part of the medical transportation system in Georgia, as well as in Washington, D.C., Mississippi, Arizona, and elsewhere. (Scaturro, 10/17)

On veterans' health care —

Military.com: Supreme Court Weighs Arguments In Lawsuit Over Veterans Getting 'Benefit Of Doubt' In Claims Decisions 
The Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday in a case that could determine how the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims considers decisions on veterans' requests for disability compensation. For more than an hour Wednesday, the justices peppered attorneys for the plaintiffs and the federal government on whether the Veterans Court is obligated to determine whether the Veterans Board of Appeals -- the VA's deciding panel on denied claims -- must always consider, when there is equal evidence supporting and against a claim, the VA decided in favor of the veteran. (Kime, 10/16)

Forbes: New Cervical Cancer Treatment Regimen Cuts Risk Of Death By 40%
Giving people with cervical cancer a short course of chemotherapy before radiation therapy dramatically improves survival according to the results of a new clinical trial. The data published in The Lancet is being heralded as a big breakthrough in the treatment of cervical cancer and uses readily available chemotherapy drugs, given to patients before they receive the standard treatment of radiotherapy plus other chemotherapy. (Forster, 10/16)

CNN: Immunotherapy Improves Survival In People With Advanced Hodgkin Lymphoma, Study Shows
An immunotherapy approach to treating advanced Hodgkin lymphoma may drastically increase patients’ chances of survival, including those as young as 12, according to a new clinical trial. (Howard, 10/16)

ScienceDaily: Bacterial Vaccine Shows Promise As Cancer Immunotherapy 
Researchers have engineered bacteria as personalized cancer vaccines that activate the immune system to specifically seek out and destroy cancer cells. (Columbia University Irving Medical Center, 10/16)

USA Today: Why A Pediatric Cancer Drug Shortage Has Persisted For Decades
Doctors told Laura Bray that she was “lucky" because her 9-year-old daughter's leukemia was curable. Abby had a 90% chance of beating the blood cancer if she followed a three-year treatment. There was just one problem. Doctors told Bray the key drug that kicked off Abby’s chemotherapy in 2018 was hard to find. She had to figure out a way to tell her daughter. (Rodriguez, 10/17)

BioSpace: With Myriad Recent Approvals In Cancer, The Era Of Bispecifics Is Here 
As companies roll out data showing the power and improved safety profile of antibodies that target two antigens, analysts say the class could overtake monoclonal antibody Keytruda as the “immunotherapy backbone” of solid tumor treatment. (Goodwin, 10/14)

Stat: For This Cancer-Focused Digital Health Startup, An FDA Rejection Meant The End Of The Road
The bad news didn’t come all at once for Blue Note Therapeutics, but a final denial from the Food and Drug Administration in January proved to be the final blow. In late 2023, after a rejection from the agency earlier in the year, Blue Note had made a last ditch attempt to convince the FDA that Attune, its mental health app for cancer patients, could fill an urgent unmet need. The January response from the agency was definitive: The clinical evidence, including data from a randomized, placebo-controlled trial, failed to show that Attune helped patients. If Blue Note wanted clearance, the company would need to present more data. (Aguilar, 10/17)

Also —

Modern Healthcare: American Cancer Society Names Dr. Wayne Frederick As Interim CEO
The American Cancer Society named Dr. Wayne A.I. Frederick as interim CEO, effective Nov. 2. Frederick will replace Karen Knudsen, who is stepping down Nov. 1 after more than three years in the role. In his new position, Frederick will oversee the cancer society and the affiliated American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, according to a Tuesday news release. (Hudson, 10/16)

Reuters: Novartis Loses Latest Bid To Block Generic Version Of Blockbuster Heart Drug
Novartis has lost a bid to keep a generic version of its top-selling heart failure drug Entresto off the U.S. market by blocking regulators from approving it, though the generic's launch faces other legal roadblocks. U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich in Washington, D.C., in an order made public on Tuesday, said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration did not overstep its authority in approving MSN Pharmaceutical's generic of Entresto, despite a slightly different label and alleged differences between the drugs. (Pierson, 10/16)

BioSpace: J&J Scraps Pipeline Assets Including Alzheimer’s And Parkinson’s Candidates 
Johnson & Johnson is cutting several programs—most of which are in neurology and psychiatry—as the company also pulls back from the infectious diseases market. (Manalac, 10/16)

BioSpace: 5 Accelerated Approvals Gone Wrong
Since its inception in 1992, the FDA’s accelerated approval pathway has helped shepherd nearly 300 new drugs to the market. However, recent years have seen a number of high-profile market withdrawals and failed confirmatory trials. (McKenzie, 10/14)

On organ transplants and biotech breakthroughs —

AP: Kidney Transplants Are Safe Between People With HIV, New US Study Shows 
People with HIV can safely receive donated kidneys from deceased donors with the virus, according to a large study that comes as the U.S. government moves to expand the practice. That could shorten the wait for organs for all, regardless of HIV status. The new study, published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, looked at 198 kidney transplants performed across the U.S. Researchers found similar results whether the donated organ came from a person with or without the AIDS virus. (Johnson, 10/16)

NPR: A Man Declared Dead Almost Had Surgery To Donate His Organs, But He Was Still Alive
Natasha Miller says she was getting ready to do her job preserving donated organs for transplantation when the nurses wheeled the donor into the operating room. She quickly realized something wasn’t right. Though the donor had been declared dead, he seemed to her very much alive.“He was moving around — kind of thrashing. Like, moving, thrashing around on the bed,” Miller told NPR in an interview. “And then when we went over there, you could see he had tears coming down. He was crying visibly.” (Stein, 10/17)

The Wall Street Journal: Lab-Grown Blood Vessels By Biotech Humacyte Could Change Trauma Treatment 
Scientists are gaining ground in tissue engineering that could help a host of people who deal with circulatory-system problems. One of the companies furthest along is Humacyte, a Durham, N.C.-based biotech that makes lab-grown blood vessels, which could help patients with traumatic injuries along with those who use catheters for dialysis or suffer pain from narrowed circulation to the limbs. (Whyte, 10/16)

CIDRAP: CDC Issues Interim Recommendations To Prevent Sexual Oropouche Virus Spread 
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) yesterday said it has received reports of 90 imported Oropouche virus from 5 states, mostly from Florida, and it also issued recommendations for male travelers to prevent possible sexual spread. The group has warned about the risk of infected pregnant women passing the virus to their fetuses and the possibility of poor fetal outcomes. In its latest update, the CDC also acknowledged the risk of sexual transmission, raised in a recent scientific report, but said no sexual transmission cases have been reported. (Schnirring, 10/16)

On covid and flu —

Reuters: US FDA Pauses Novavax's Trial Of Combo COVID-Flu Shot On Safety Concerns
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has put on hold a trial of Novavax's COVID-influenza and its standalone flu vaccines after a participant who took the combination shot reported nerve damage, the company said on Wednesday. (Satija, 10/16)

Reuters: Northwestern Sues Moderna For Patent Infringement Over COVID-19 Vaccines
Moderna was hit with a new patent lawsuit on Wednesday in Delaware federal court from Northwestern University, which accused the company of misusing the school’s innovations to develop its blockbuster COVID-19 vaccine Spikevax. The lawsuit said, Moderna uses Northwestern-developed lipid nanoparticle (LNP) technology without a license in Spikevax shots to transport fragile messenger RNA into the human body. (Brittain, 10/16)

On bird flu —

Stat: Vaccine Veteran Adds To Criticisms Of Response To Bird Flu In Cows
Barney Graham, who for decades helped lead U.S. vaccine development efforts, said Wednesday that the lack of cooperation among U.S. agencies is hindering the country’s response to the H5N1 bird flu outbreak among dairy cattle, echoing criticisms that have been building over the past six months. (Joseph, 10/16)

CIDRAP: Michigan Reports Avian Flu In Another Dairy Herd 
The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) today announced another avian flu outbreak in dairy cattle, its first since early September. The state’s latest outbreak occurred at a farm in Clinton County, which is near Lansing. Michigan has now reported 30 outbreaks in dairy cattle. (Schnirring, 10/16)

Roll Call: Dietary Guidelines Become Mired In Row Over Alcohol Safety
Lawmakers and industry players are asking the Department of Health and Human Services to put a stop to a controversial study on alcohol and health that could inform the next round of U.S. nutrition recommendations. Specifically, they’re taking issue with a committee housed within HHS’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration focused on underage drinking. (DeGroot, 10/16)

The New York Times: In a Bid to Feed More Families, WIC Diversifies Its Menu
The program, which provides free groceries to millions of women and children nationwide, now covers naan, soy milk, teff and more. (Schmall, 10/17)

Los Angeles Times: Are Baby Food Pouches Healthy? Here's What Experts Say
While the occasional pouch can be part of a healthy diet, doctors and nutritionists are raising concerns that an overreliance on pouches can interfere with nutrition, long-term food preferences, dental hygiene and even speech and language development. And marketing practices can leave parents confused about what’s actually inside the packages. “Pouches are highly processed foods,” said Dr. Steven Abrams, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School. “They certainly serve as a quick snack, but we need to make sure that pouches don’t make up too much of a toddler’s diet. We want kids to learn to chew and eat foods like meat, and fruits and vegetables that are not processed.” (Gold, 10/17)

Stat: FDA Signals Flexibility In Evaluating Smoking Cessation Therapies
Food and Drug Administration leaders are signaling new flexibility in the agency’s approach to evaluating new therapies to help people stop smoking. In a perspective paper published with the National Institutes of Health this week, the agency labeled the effort to help Americans quit smoking a top priority and said it was willing to consider broader endpoints in clinical trials of smoking cessation products. (Lawrence, 10/16)

CBS News: Saint Vincent College Study Drills Down On Relationship Between Fracking Chemicals And Adverse Birth Outcomes
A new national study from Saint Vincent College digs into whether certain chemicals used in fracking could affect a baby's weight and whether they're born early. "There is something that is increasing the preterm birth rate nationally," said Mary Regina Boland, an associate professor at Saint Vincent College. Boland managed to drill down into data at a county level across the United States, and she found counties with more fracking wells that use chemicals that target certain hormones had higher amounts of preterm births and low birth weights. (Guay, 10/16)

USA Today: 14-Year-Old Sirish Subash Named America’s Top Young Scientist For 2024
Sirish Subash, an ninth grader from Snellville, Georgia, was the first-place winner for the 3M and Discovery Education competition, the nation’s premier middle school science competition, in St. Paul, Minnesota. In his presentation, Subash used data from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that said 70.6% of produce items contain pesticide residues. ... “My project is called PestiSCAND. What it is, is the device that allows everybody to check for pesticide residues on their produce at home,” Subash told USA TODAY. (Forbes, 10/16)

The Washington Post: Archdiocese Of Los Angeles To Pay $880M In Sexual Abuse Settlement
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles has agreed to pay $880 million to settle more than 1,300 claims of childhood sexual abuse. The sprawling agreement is believed to be the largest single child sexual abuse settlement with a Catholic archdiocese and comes after a state law provided a three-year window to revive past civil claims of sexual abuse involving minors. Some of the claims date to the 1940s, and the acts are alleged to have been perpetrated by archdiocesan clergy, lay people and religious order priests and clergy from other dioceses who were serving in Los Angeles, a letter from Archbishop José H. Gomez said. The Archdiocese of Los Angeles is the largest Catholic diocese in the United States. (Ables, 10/17)

The Washington Post: Md. Health Secretary Says Changes Coming To Mental Hospital After Post Report 
Maryland’s top health official told employees in a letter Wednesday that she is implementing reforms to address “critical deficiencies” at the state’s maximum security psychiatric hospital, a move that comes in the wake of a Washington Post investigation into chronic understaffing and violence at the facility. The letter from Health Secretary Laura Herrera Scott said that the allegations raised by the Post investigation were “of serious concern” to her and the administration of Gov. Wes Moore (D), and that officials were conducting a “top-to-bottom review and investigation into all aspects of policy and procedure” at Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center. (Mettler, 10/16)

Axios: Native Healing Practices To Get Medicaid Coverage
Several state Medicaid programs will soon cover Indigenous healing practices used by American Indians and Alaska Natives under waivers granted Wednesday by the Biden administration. Native patients are likelier to trust traditional healing that's been used for generations, and may experience better outcomes if they're incorporated into their care. (Reed, 10/17)

AP: Texas Man Set To Be First In US Executed Over Shaken Baby Syndrome Makes Last Appeals 
A Texas man who could be the first person in the U.S. executed for a murder conviction tied to a diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome is facing a lethal injection Thursday evening amid assertions by his attorneys and a diverse coalition of supporters who say he’s innocent and was convicted on faulty scientific evidence. Robert Roberson waited to hear whether his execution might be stopped by either Gov. Greg Abbott or the U.S. Supreme Court — his last two avenues for a stay. He is scheduled to receive a lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville. (Lozano, 10/17)

Houston Chronicle: Case Of Meningococcal Disease At HISD School
The Houston Health Department and Houston ISD confirmed Wednesday that it is investigating a case of a Bonham Elementary School student having meningococcal disease. KHOU reported a Bonham third-grader died Oct. 10 and parents were informed in a letter. It is unclear whether this is related to the meningococcal case under investigation. (Mizan, 10/16)

North Carolina Health News: Advocates Push To Raise Tobacco Sales Age To 21
Solomon Wynn came down with bronchitis in the spring of his freshman year in high school. The family doctor tried antibiotics and steroids, but nothing worked. The football player became so weak that he couldn’t even walk to the bus stop, his stepmother said. A trip to a specialist at Novant Health found the source of his worsening condition — vaping. It had destroyed his lungs and weakened his heart, eventually leading him to collapse on Friday, June 16, 2023. By the time he got to the hospital, he was already brain dead. (Fernandez, 10/17)

KFF Health News: Super Bowl Rally Shooting Victims Pick Up Pieces, But Gun Violence Haunts Their Lives
Twenty-four minutes before the mass shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl victory parade in February left one person dead and at least 24 people injured, Jenipher Cabrera felt a bullet pierce the back of her right thigh. The 20-year-old and her family were just four blocks from Union Station, in a river of red-shirted Chiefs fans walking toward the massive rally after the parade that warm Valentine’s Day. The bullet — fired by teen boys fighting in the street — thrust Cabrera forward. (Lowe, KCUR and Sable-Smith, 10/17)

Three Mile Island, site of the worst U.S. nuclear accident, takes steps to reopen in Pa. —

Reuters: Constellation Orders $100 Million Transformer For Three Mile Island Restart
Constellation Energy has ordered a main power transformer for the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor it is attempting to restart in Pennsylvania, pushing ahead with work critical to the plant's revival, Reuters learned on a tour of the site on Wednesday. ... No modern U.S. nuclear power plant has been restarted after fully shutting down, according to regulators. Three Mile Island is largely known as the site of the worst nuclear power accident in U.S. history. (Kearney, 10/16)

Reuters: Diabetes Drug Metformin Safe For Men Who May Become Fathers, Study Finds
Men can take the widely prescribed diabetes drug metformin without fear of causing birth defects in their children, according to results of a large study published on Wednesday. Tracking more than 3 million pregnancies in Norway and Taiwan, researchers found no association between birth defects and use of metformin by fathers during the three months before conception, which is the period of sperm development. (Lapid, 10/16)

CIDRAP: 3 Doses Of MRNA COVID Vaccine Show Advantage Against Severe Outcomes 
A team led by US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) researchers studying Medicare claims data during the early Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variant months conclude that a third dose of mRNA COVID-19 vaccine provides significant protection against hospitalization and death compared with two doses but wanes substantially after 4 months. (Van Beusekom, 10/15)

CIDRAP: WHO Approves Jynneos For Use In Teens As Study Shows Undiagnosed Mpox Common 
Yesterday the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the approval of Bavarian Nordic's mpox vaccine, Jynneos, for adolescents aged 12 to 17. The move comes as the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is still raging, and infecting children at high rates. (Soucheray, 10/15)

CIDRAP: Study: Natural Killer Cells Determine RSV Severity 
Researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital published new research in Science Translational Medicine showing that natural killer (NK) cells in some children may make them more prone to severe cases of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). (Soucheray, 10/14)

CIDRAP: Understaffed Hospitals Have Higher Rates Of Infection
A lack of infection prevention and control staffing leads to more healthcare-associated infections, according to a new study published today in the American Journal of Infection Control. (Soucheray, 10/10)

The Washington Post: Breakdancer Grew Tumor On Scalp From Head Spinning, Study Says 
The patient, who’s in his early 30s and has been breaking for about two decades, said in the case study that his “appearance has improved significantly” since his tumor, which was about a quarter-inch high, was extracted. (Melnick, 10/14)

The New York Times: This Is What It Takes To Get An Abortion In America
What does it really mean to live in a country where abortion is no longer a constitutional right? Since 2022, when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, many states have made it all but impossible to get abortion care within their borders, and have done their best to isolate people facing unwanted or complicated pregnancies, making them afraid to reach out to medical providers or even to friends and loved ones who might help them. (10/17)

The New York Times: My Patients Are Children. Dobbs Forced Me To Leave Them Behind. 
In the wake of the Dobbs decision, South Carolina banned abortion after around six weeks of pregnancy. The law does have a few exceptions, including for rape and incest. Dr. Kristl Tomlin, a pediatric and adolescent gynecologist, saw what those exceptions look like in practice for young victims of rape — and she decided to leave the state. (10/17)

Los Angeles Times: Menopausal Women Have A Lot At Stake In This Election
Like our younger counterparts, we too must be able to make informed choices about our health. We deserve access to affordable, competent medical care and treatment from trained professionals. We have every right and reason to demand lawmakers and political leaders invest in our well-being, our dignity, our humanity. Nor are we some niche special interest group. There are legions of us, 75 million strong in the U.S., in some stage of perimenopause, menopause or post menopause. (Jennifer Weiss-Wolf and Tamsen Fadal, 10/17)

KFF: The Role Health PLAYED In The Election
With no big health reform debate to command the attention of the nation and no big health proposal from either candidate, this is not a “health care election,” except, of course, for the impact abortion will have on voting and turnout, whatever the outcome on November 5. But health care has played a role in the campaign and the election in the following significant ways. (Drew Altman, 10/16)

The New York Times: It’s Always Virus Season Now
The notion of flu season is a relic of times when one virus could transfix our response efforts and dominate our collective consciousness. Influenza in 1918. H.I.V. in 1980s and ’90s. Ebola in 2014. We can no longer afford to react on a case-by-case basis. Today we need a broader vision. (David Quammen, 10/17)

Stat: The FDA's Rare Disease Innovation Hub Must Bust Silos
Over the summer, the Food and Drug Administration announced the creation of the Rare Disease Innovation Hub to serve as a point of collaboration and connectivity between the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER), patient organizations, and product innovators with the goal of ultimately improving outcomes for patients. But how can it become more than just another case of an aspirational agency press release’s best intentions failing to make a difference? (Peter J. Pitts, 10/17)

The Washington Post: The Cannabis Industry Is Out Of Control. The Feds Must Intervene. 
The nation’s leading scientific academies recently issued an important report calling for urgent federal action to protect the public from the harms of rising cannabis use. Policymakers should heed these recommendations — many of which don’t even require legislation. (Leana S. Wen, 10/16)