The Washington Post: Experimental Skin Cancer Vaccine Shows Promising Early Results 
For the first time, messenger RNA technology — the advance that undergirds the most commonly used coronavirus vaccines — has been shown effective against a deadly form of skin cancer, when used in conjunction with a second cancer drug, according to preliminary study results released Tuesday. The experimental cancer vaccine from Moderna that uses mRNA, combined with Merck’s cancer immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab, marketed as Keytruda, performed well in mid-stage testing in patients battling melanoma, the two companies announced Tuesday. (Bernstein, 12/13)

Bloomberg: Moderna MRNA Melanoma Vaccine Succeeds In Combination With Merck’s Keytruda
The combination of the vaccine with Merck’s Keytruda cut the risk of death or recurrence of the lethal skin cancer by 44%, the companies said Tuesday in a statement. The drugmakers plan to move the combined treatment into final-stage studies next year. Moderna shares rose as much as 26% as of 1 p.m. in New York, while Merck’s gained as much as 2.1%. (Peebles and Langreth, 12/13)

Stat: Moderna Cancer Vaccine Reduces Melanoma’s Return By 44%
The 157 patients in the Phase 2 study had stage 3 or stage 4 melanoma that could be surgically removed so that there was no visible disease. Then Moderna scanned samples of their tumors using genetic sequencing and artificial intelligence to look for mutations that are likely to make the cancer come back. A personalized mRNA vaccine was made containing mRNA code for up to 34 proteins found in this sample. Patients received the resulting vaccine at a dose of one milligram once every three weeks for nine months. (Herper, 12/13)

Stat: Addiction Treatment Would Stay Easier To Get Under New Rule 
Addiction treatment got easier during the Covid-19 pandemic — and the Biden administration wants to keep it that way. Federal regulators on Tuesday announced a proposal to take the emergency policies enacted in 2020, in response to the emerging pandemic, and make them permanent. (Facher, 12/13)

Axios: Biden Admin Extends Pandemic-Era Flexibilities On Opioid Use Treatments
The Biden administration is moving to make permanent the pandemic rules that allowed take-home drugs to help fight opioid addiction. The proposed rule from HHS would make it easier for patients with opioid use disorder to access drugs like methadone for home use and for providers to prescribe them via telehealth for patients with opioid use disorder. (Moreno and Reed, 12/14)

More on the opioid epidemic —

Health News Florida: Medical Examiners: Fentanyl Is Florida's Most Lethal Drug Among All Ages And Races
A Florida medical examiners report released this week says 6,000 residents died of fentanyl overdoses in 2021, making it the most lethal drug across all ages and racial demographics. (12/13)

San Francisco Chronicle: S.F. Supervisors Challenge Mayor Breed Over Supervised Drug Use Sites
Amid an ongoing drug crisis largely driven by the powerful opioid fentanyl, a majority of San Francisco supervisors back a plan to set aside millions of dollars to open “wellness” hubs where people can use drugs under the supervision of staff trained to reverse overdoses. Supervised sites are currently illegal under federal law, although New York City has pushed forward to open two sites. (Moench and Morris, 12/13)

The Washington Post: Inside The Daunting Hunt For The Ingredients Of Fentanyl And Meth
Griselda Martínez lost her freedom in a hail of bullets one warm July night. Gunmen on two motorcycles sped up to the mayor’s SUV, firing 36 times, as it crawled through traffic in this Pacific coastal city. Martínez was grazed by a bullet but survived. Today she lives at Manzanillo’s city hall, protected by 15 bodyguards. Her husband drops off groceries for her to cook in a kitchenette. She rarely sees her children or 4-year-old granddaughter. “Really, I’m a hostage,” said the mayor. “I have no personal life.” (Sheridan, Herscowitz and Chaoul, 12/13)

The Washington Post: In Tijuana, Mexico’s New Fentanyl Capital, Violence And Drugs Surge
Three worlds overlap in Mexico’s new fentanyl capital, where violence and synthetic drugs are bound dangerously together. Addicts, journalists and police navigate a city in disarray. (Sieff, Georges, O'Connor and Tenjarla, 12/14)

The New York Times: Long Covid Has Played Role In More Than 3,500 Deaths In US, CDC Says 
Long Covid has caused or contributed to at least 3,500 deaths in the United States, an analysis of death certificates by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found. The study, published on Wednesday, is believed to be the first nationwide examination of whether long Covid or related terms appear in official American death records. While it found that such phrases were recorded in only a tiny proportion of the more than a million deaths tied to infection with the coronavirus, the researchers and other experts said the results added to growing recognition of how serious long-term post-Covid medical problems can be. (Belluck, 12/14)

CNN: Long Covid Responsible For Thousands Of US Deaths, Report Says, But True Numbers Are Likely Much Higher
The majority of people who died from long Covid were White, older and male. Specifically, 78.5% of the deaths were among non-Hispanic White people. Non-Hispanic Black people made up 10.1% of the deaths, followed by Hispanic people at 7.8%. The death rate was highest among non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaska Natives, at 14.8 per 100,000 people. (Christensen, 12/14)

Stat: Long Covid Death Certificate Records Are A ‘Floor Of An Estimate’
Long Covid has begun appearing on death certificates for a small percentage of people who have died during the pandemic, but that tiny fraction of records only hints at the whole story, two experts told STAT, while another has doubts about drawing any conclusions from it at all. (Cooney, 12/14)

San Francisco Chronicle: New COVID Infections Among US Veterans Have Doubled In 1 Month
New COVID-19 cases in the Veterans Affairs health system have nearly doubled in the past month, according to data from the Department of Veterans Affairs and Military Times. More than 12,156 patients had active cases of COVID-19 as of Tuesday, nearly double the 6,425 on Nov. 1. There have been 267 deaths reported in that time. (Vaziri and Beamish, 12/13)

Military.com: VA Seeing A Resurgence Of COVID-19 Among Patients, Urges Veterans To Get Boosted
COVID cases in the Veterans Affairs health system have nearly doubled in the past month, prompting the department's top doctor to urge veterans to get the most recent coronavirus booster shot. According to data kept by the Department of Veterans Affairs and Military Times, more than 12,156 patients had active cases of COVID-19 as of Tuesday, nearly double the 6,425 it had on Nov. 1. (Kime, 12/13)

More on the spread of covid, flu, and RSV —

The 19th: Teachers Aren’t Taking Sick Days Despite A Rise In Flu, RSV And COVID Cases
Flu case counts are at their highest level for early December in a decade. COVID-19 is spiking once again. Surging diagnoses of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are resulting in overcrowded pediatric emergency rooms. And still, research shows, teachers may not be staying home when they’re sick. (Luthra, 12/13)

San Francisco Chronicle: COVID, Flu And RSV Are Causing Bay Area Students To Miss School
In San Francisco, roughly 38% of the 49,000 students missed at least one day of school in the first two weeks of December — up from 29% last year and 27% before the pandemic. (Alltucker, 12/13)

WLRN 91.3 FM: Disease Expert Says Common Sense Should Make A Comeback This Holiday Season
Flu cases are on the rise in many Florida counties. COVID-19 cases are up, too, according to state health department. For the third consecutive year, viruses may play a part in holiday gatherings. So before getting on a plane or going to a party, health officials are urging people to be safe. But precautions taken during the early part of the COVID pandemic have all but disappeared. (Royal, 12/13)

On covid vaccines and treatments —

Stat: Lawmakers Tell Pfizer CEO To 'Back Off' On Covid Vaccine Price Hike
A pair of U.S. lawmakers wrote Pfizer chief executive officer Albert Bourla that he should “back off” from plans to charge Americans up to $130 for the company’s Covid-19 vaccine, a move they described as “pure and deadly greed.” (Silverman, 12/13)

The Washington Post: DeSantis Forms Panel To Counter CDC, A Move Decried By Health Professionals
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Tuesday that he is forming a new state committee to counter policy recommendations from federal health agencies — a decision that medical professionals said will further politicize medicine in the Sunshine State. At a news conference in South Florida, DeSantis also said he is requesting a statewide grand jury investigation into alleged “crimes and wrongdoing” related to the coronavirus vaccine. He provided few details on what specifically he wants a panel to probe, but in a press release, his office noted side effects like myocarditis, a type of heart inflammation, that have been observed in rare cases. (Rozsa, 12/13)

The Boston Globe: Paxlovid Lowered COVID Hospitalizations, Deaths In Vaccinated Adults Over 50, Mass General Brigham Study Says
Paxlovid, the drug used to treat COVID-19 infections, reduced hospitalizations and death in a vaccinated population of adults over the age of 50 by 44 percent, according to a new study from Mass General Brigham researchers. (Andersen, 12/13)

In other pandemic news —

NPR: How COVID Warped Our Time Perception
The pandemic did something strange to our sense of time. For Ruth Ogden, lockdown spent confined to her 3-bedroom duplex in Manchester, England, with a newborn and two boys home from school, "was like climbing a mountain that never ended." Time stood still, she says, filled with children moaning of boredom, and her yearning for bedtime. (Noguchi, 12/14)

Stat: 'Right To Repair' Movement Challenges Medical Device Makers
When Covid-19’s first surge hit Boston in 2020, biomedical engineer Scot Mackeil knew every single ventilator mattered. Recruited by a local hospital to vet ventilators from a federal stockpile, he examined hundreds of the life-sustaining machines. When he came across one ventilator with a crushed power cord, he thought it’d be an easy fix — he’d simply ring up its manufacturer to ask for a replacement cord. “I never imagined that I would get the reaction that I got,” said Mackeil, a senior biomedical engineering technologist based in Quincy, Massachusetts. (Williamson-Lee, 12/14)

ABC News: States Who Banned Abortion Already Had High Maternal Death Rates And Fewer Doctors: Study
States who imposed strict abortion laws this year were already more likely to have significantly higher maternal and infant death rates as well as fewer doctors providing care to women, according to an analysis released Wednesday by an influential nonprofit research group. (Flaherty, 12/14)

NBC News: Abortion Restrictions Linked To Higher Maternal And Infant Mortality, Report Finds
According to the report, states that heavily restricted abortion access in 2020 had maternal death rates that were 62% higher than they were in states where abortion was more easily accessible. The disparity may be aggravated by state-level changes after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, the report says. (Madani, 12/14)

More on abortion and reproductive rights —

AP: Vermont Governor Signs Amendment Protecting Abortion Rights
Republican Gov. Phil Scott on Tuesday signed the document inscribing the Reproductive Liberty Amendment into the Vermont Constitution, formally changing the state’s founding document to protect reproductive rights including abortion. Scott also signed a second constitutional amendment stating that slavery and indentured servitude are prohibited in the state. (Ring, 12/13)

AP: Indiana Appealing 2nd Court Decision Blocking Abortion Ban
A second legal challenge that has blocked Indiana’s abortion ban from being enforced could also be headed to the state Supreme Court. The Indiana attorney general’s office asked the state’s highest court to review a county judge’s Dec. 2 ruling that the abortion ban adopted in August by the Republican-dominated Legislature violates the state’s 2015 religious freedom law signed by GOP then-Gov. Mike Pence. (Davies, 12/13)

Reuters: Full 7th Circuit Urged To Strike Down Indiana Fetal Burial Law 
Abortion patients and doctors are urging a federal appeals court to overrule a three-judge panel's order last month upholding a 2016 Indiana law that requires healthcare providers to bury or cremate fetal remains, rather than incinerate them with medical waste. (Pierson, 12/13)

The New York Times: Biden Signs Bill To Protect Same-Sex Marriage Rights
President Biden signed the Respect for Marriage Act into law on Tuesday, mandating federal recognition for same-sex marriages and capping his own personal evolution toward embracing gay rights over the course of a four-decade political career. In an elaborate signing ceremony on the South Lawn, complete with musical performances from Cyndi Lauper and Sam Smith, Mr. Biden told thousands of supporters and lawmakers that the new law represents a rare moment of bipartisanship when Democrats and Republicans came together. (Shear, 12/13)

Salt Lake Tribune: LDS Leaders At Biden Signing Event For Respect For Marriage Act
Even as representatives of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints joined others in celebrating President Joe Biden’s signing Tuesday of a measure codifying same-sex marriage, the Utah-based faith reaffirmed its belief in male-female marriage while praising the new law’s religious exemptions. (Fletcher Stack, 12/13)

More about LGBTQ+ health —

The Colorado Sun: To Access Care, Many Older LGBTQIA+ Adults Go Back Into Closet
After living in the closet for more than 40 years, ​Cynthia Johnson left her marriage with her high school sweetheart and embarked on a new life. She started dating women, continued to pursue a career in ministry and learned to be on her own for the first time. Now, she’s 86 and largely back in the closet, “because I don’t trust how people are going to respond,” she said, “and they don’t need to know.” (Cleveland, 12/13)

Axios: Report Details Online Harassment Of Trans Health Care Providers
Anti-transgender campaigns resulted in the online harassment of 24 different hospitals and health care providers in 21 states over a recent four-month period, according to a report from Human Rights Campaign shared first with Axios. (Fried, 12/13)

ABC News: Colorado Springs Shooting Survivors To Speak Before Congress About Anti-LGBTQ Violence
Survivors of last month's Club Q shooting in Colorado Springs, Colorado, will provide testimony on Wednesday at a House Oversight Committee hearing regarding anti-LGBTQ rhetoric, extremism and violence. The hearing, according to organizers, will address the ways in which anti-LGBTQ legislation and rhetoric is rising -- and may be fueling a rise in violence against LGBTQ Americans. (Alfonseca, 12/14)

USA Today: Ambulance Rides Yield Surprise Medical Bills: What's Being Done?
When people dial 911, perhaps the last thing they think about is how much the ambulance ride will cost. But a report released Tuesday by U.S. PIRG Education Trust shows ambulance companies routinely bill out-of-network charges. This happens when an insurance plan's network doesn't include the public or private ambulance company. (Alltucker, 12/13)

The Washington Post: Surprise Bills From Ground Ambulances Is Next Up In The Move Toward Reform 
The Biden administration is set to kick off the work of a key advisory committee designed to help stop patients from getting hit with pricey surprise medical bills from ground ambulances, The Health 202 has learned. It took roughly two years for the new committee to get its start. But the panel’s meetings are now set to begin in the new year, with the first scheduled for Jan. 17-18. A critical report will be due 180 days later on how to prevent patients from owing hundreds of dollars for receiving out-of-network ambulance rides through no fault of their own. (Roubein and Beard, 12/13)

On drug pricing —

Stat: New Changes To Obamacare Generics Coverage Splits Industry
The Biden administration signaled Monday that it will require health plans on federal exchanges to cover more of the costs of generic drugs, a small tweak that nevertheless has industry groups divided on how best to manage drug costs. (Owermohle, 12/13)

Axios: Biden's Prescription Drug Pricing Decisions Aren't Over
The Biden administration faces a host of high-stakes decisions on prescription drug costs over the next several months, accompanied by pressure from congressional Democrats eager for a sequel to pricing components in the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). (Owens, 12/13)

KHN: States Challenge Biden To Lower Drug Prices By Allowing Imports From Canada
The Biden administration is facing mounting pressure from states to let them import medicine from Canada to help lower prescription drug costs. Colorado on Dec. 5 became at least the fourth state to seek federal permission to use the strategy, following Florida, New Hampshire, and New Mexico. President Joe Biden has endorsed the approach, but his administration has yet to greenlight a state plan. (Galewitz, 12/14)

On medical debt —

CBS Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh City Councilman Introduces Proposal To Erase Medical Debt 
Pittsburgh City Councilman Bobby Wilson wants to help residents erase their medical debt. He's proposing that the city enters into an agreement with the national nonprofit "RIP Medical Debt." The city would "buy" your healthcare debt for pennies on the dollar and forgive it. (Damp, 12/14)

KHN: What Germany’s Coal Miners Can Teach America About Medical Debt 
Almost every day, Dr. Eckart Rolshoven sees the long shadow of coal mining in his clinic near the big brownstone church that dominates this small town in Germany’s Saarland. The region’s last-operating coal shaft, just a few miles away, closed a decade ago, ending centuries of mining in the Saarland, a mostly rural state tucked between the Rhine River and the French border. But the mines left a difficult legacy, as they have in coal regions in the United States, including West Virginia. (Levey, 12/14)

Stat and The Markup: ‘Out Of Control’: Dozens Of Telehealth Startups Sent Sensitive Health Information To Big Tech Companies
Open the website of Workit Health, and the path to treatment starts with a simple intake form: Are you in danger of harming yourself or others? If not, what’s your current opioid and alcohol use? How much methadone do you use? Within minutes, patients looking for online treatment for opioid use and other addictions can complete the assessment and book a video visit with a provider licensed to prescribe suboxone and other drugs. But what patients probably don’t know is that Workit was sending their delicate, even intimate, answers about drug use and self-harm to Facebook. (Palmer, Feathers and Fondrie-Teitler, 12/13)

In other health care industry news —

AP: Study: Medicaid Providers Mostly Can't Be Reached By Phone 
A “secret shopper” accountability study shows that medical patients can’t readily schedule appointments by phone through Medicaid providers in New Mexico, even as the state and federal government spend $8.8 billion annually on the health care program that serves nearly half of state residents. The budget and accountability office of the Legislature presented its findings Tuesday to a panel of lawmakers as evidence of an inadequate network of health care providers. (Lee, 12/14)

Stat: 9 In 10 Health Companies With Financial Stress Are Owned By Private Equity
Almost 90% of the health care companies deemed to be under financial stress by a leading credit rating agency are owned by private equity, a stark indicator of the toll financial investors have taken on a vital sector. (Bannow, 12/14)

Modern Healthcare: Bright Health Eyes Reverse Stock Split To Prevent Delisting
The insurtech received a notice from the New York Stock Exchange Dec. 6 that, because its average stock price has been below $1 for the past 30 days, the company is in danger of being dropped from the exchange if it does not raise its share prices within six months. (Tepper, 12/13)

In news about health personnel —

San Francisco Chronicle: Nurses At Alta Bates Summit Plan To Strike, Sutter Officials Say
“The nurses’ union at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center has called a 9-day strike from December 24 - January 2, its third strike of the year,” according to a Sutter, which released a statement on Tuesday night. Alta Bates Summit has hospitals in Oakland and Berkeley. (Parker, 12/13)

WMFE: AdventHealth Orchestra Made Up Of Doctors And Nurses Who Use Music To Heal 
In Central Florida, AdventHealth is known for, well, health care. But the organization is made up of people – individuals who have put everything they have into caring for the community. And now, they say they have a new way to help – and to heal: the AdventHealth Orchestra. (Creston, 12/13)

Reuters: Ex-Employee Of Pharmacy In Deadly 2012 Meningitis Outbreak Gets Prison
A former employee of a Massachusetts compounding pharmacy whose mold-tainted drugs sparked a deadly nationwide fungal meningitis outbreak in 2012 was sentenced on Tuesday to five months in prison for deceiving regulators about its operations before the tragedy. (Raymond, 12/13)

AP: US Study: Over Half Of Car Crash Victims Had Drugs In System
A large study by U.S. highway safety regulators found that more than half the people injured or killed in traffic crashes had one or more drugs, or alcohol, in their bloodstreams. Also, just over 54% of injured drivers had drugs or alcohol in their systems, with tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), an active ingredient in marijuana, the most prevalent, followed by alcohol, the study published Tuesday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found. (Krisher, 12/13)

In related news —

The Boston Globe: ‘No One Really Wants To Talk About Alcohol’: Alcohol Abuse Costs Mass. More Than $5 Billion Yearly, New Analysis Finds
Alcohol abuse costs Massachusetts at least $5.6 billion annually, while causing thousands of deaths and illnesses, according to a new analysis from Boston University researchers. (Lazar, 12/13)

In other health and wellness news —

The New York Times: When Black Psychiatrists Reach Out To Teens Of Color 
The lack of specialized and long-term care has contributed to poor teens of color being underdiagnosed or misdiagnosed. Black children and adolescents are more likely to be diagnosed with a disorder involving hostility or aggression than their white counterparts are, even when their symptoms are similar, according to an analysis published in 2019 in the journal Families and Society. And they are less likely to be diagnosed with “internalizing” disorders, such as depression and anxiety. ... For adolescents, such a misdiagnosis can be a fork in the road, leading to the wrong care, improper medication, school detention or misperception by a justice system that is inclined to view adolescents labeled hostile as inherently threatening. (Richtel, 12/13)

The CT Mirror: 10 Years After Sandy Hook, First Responders Still Struggle To Forget
Scott Ruszczyk, a Newtown police officer, walked into roll call the morning after the shooting. Several other officers were there who had witnessed the horrors inside the classrooms of Sandy Hook Elementary School the day before, when 20 children and six educators were shot to death. They were sobbing in their chairs. (Altimari, 12/14)

CIDRAP: Studies Show Mpox Viral Clearance Time, Impact Of Pre-Exposure Vaccination 
A new study based on 77 mpox patients from Spain shows that the time from symptom onset to viral clearance for 90% of cases was likely 41 days in skin lesions and 39 days in semen. The study was published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. In the first study, participants had the most viral DNA in skin lesion swabs, followed by rectal swabs, whole blood, oropharyngeal swabs, and semen samples. And different body parts had detectable DNA for a range of durations, with blood containing detectable virus DNA for 5 days, compared to 25 days for skin lesions. (Soucheray, 12/13)

In other science and research —

The Washington Post: Women Can Develop High Blood Pressure Up To A Year After Giving Birth 
For up to a year after giving birth, more than 1 in 10 women (12 percent) who did not have high blood pressure before or during pregnancy develop the condition, according to research published in the journal Hypertension. The study found that, in nearly a fourth of those cases, hypertension developed six weeks or more after childbirth, and 17 percent of the women had what was considered a severe case. The researchers analyzed blood pressure measurements from the prenatal period through 12 months after delivery for the 3,925 study participants, including 2,465 women with no history of chronic or pregnancy-related hypertension. (Searing, 12/13)

Axios: Everything You Know About Stress And High Blood Pressure Is Wrong
Your hectic job, difficult marriage, rebellious children and dwindling bank account? They're probably not raising your blood pressure in a medically meaningful way, according to the latest research. Rather than everyday stressors, the real culprits are genetics and poor habits that are often linked to stress, like overeating, smoking and hitting the bottle. (Kingson, 12/14)

The Washington Post: From Heart Disease To IUDs: How Doctors Dismiss Women’s Pain
One woman was told she was being “dramatic” when she pleaded for a brain scan after suffering months of headaches and pounding in her ears. It turned out she had a brain tumor. Another was ignored as she cried out in pain during a 33-hour labor. She was supposed to be getting pain medication through her epidural, but it had fallen out. Dozens of women complained of torturous pain as their vaginal walls were punctured during an egg retrieval process. They were told their pain was normal, but, in actuality, they were getting saline instead of anesthesia. (Bever, 12/13)

The New York Times: Brain Implants Have Begun To Restore Functions, But Advances Are Slow
A jumble of cords and two devices the size of soda cans protrude from Austin Beggin’s head when he undergoes testing with a team of researchers studying brain implants that are meant to restore function to those who are paralyzed. Despite the cumbersome equipment, it is also when Mr. Beggin feels the most free. He was paralyzed from the shoulders down after a diving accident eight years ago, and the brain device picks up the electrical surges that his brain generates as he envisions moving his arm. It converts those signals to cuffs on the major nerves in his arm. They allow him to do things he had not done on his own since the accident, like lift a pretzel to his mouth. (Jewett and Metz, 12/13)

Stat: Study Finds Why Some Drugs May Trigger Lethal Brain Disease 
Medicines that reshape or tamp down immune responses may be life-changing for patients with cancer and autoimmune disorders, but in some cases they can awaken a dormant virus and unleash a deadly brain disease. A new study suggests that the root of the problem is buried in our genetic code. (Wosen, 12/14)

USA Today: The All Of Us Research Program Has Analyzed The Genes Of 150,000 Americans. The Results Are Coming In.
Michelle Anderson recently learned her body metabolizes medicines more slowly than average. It was a small piece of information, but a "eureka" moment for Anderson, "not because it was a surprise, but because it was a validation of what I know about my body." (Weintraub, 12/13)

Reuters: WHO Appoints Jeremy Farrar As Chief Scientist
The World Health Organization said on Tuesday that Jeremy Farrar will become its new chief scientist as the agency prepares to cope with post-pandemic health challenges. He will join the WHO in the second quarter of 2023, replacing Soumya Swaminathan, who departed in November ahead of a broader shakeup at the health agency. (12/13)

CIDRAP: WHO Report Shows Rising Antibiotic Resistance, Need For Better Data 
New global data on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and consumption shows high levels of resistance in the pathogens that cause the deadliest infections. (12/9)

Reuters: Eli Lilly Prepares For As Many As 5 New Drug Launches Next Year 
Eli Lilly and Co. said on Tuesday it hopes to launch as many as five new treatments next year that could drive growth through the decade as it bets on multi-billion dollar markets for treating obesity and Alzheimer's disease. (Leo, 12/13)

NPR: CRISPR Gene-Editing Improves Cancer Immunotherapy 
Katie Pope Kopp went through round after round of chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant to treat her non-Hodgkin lymphoma. But nothing could beat it. ... Victor Bartolome suffered through decades of chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant, too, to keep his blood cancer at bay. Eventually, his doctors told him he had run out of options. ... But then Kopp and Bartolome heard about something new: In the last few years, some doctors have started using the gene-editing technique CRISPR to try to modify cells of the immune system to treat cancers like theirs. (Stein, 12/13)

Reuters: Amgen Dives Deeper Into Rare Disease Drugs With $27.8 Bln Horizon Deal
Amgen Inc on Monday agreed to buy Horizon Therapeutics Plc in a deal valued at $27.8 billion, fortifying its rare diseases portfolio in the biggest buyout in the sector this year. (Mishra and Satija, 12/12)

Stat: An Early Lesson From The Uganda Ebola Vaccine Trial 
A clinical trial of vaccines targeting the Ebola Sudan virus is starting this week in Uganda, with first doses going into arms potentially on Tuesday. Already, though, this effort has taught the World Health Organization and partners two important lessons. They’ve learned they can get clinical trials to test countermeasures for rare but dangerous pathogens up and running far more quickly than eight years ago, when a similar effort was launched to test vaccines as Ebola Zaire raced through three West African countries. That effort took more than five months. This one has taken roughly 80 days. (Branswell, 12/13)

Bloomberg: CRISPR Gene-Editing Breakthrough Brings Cancer Cures Closer 
A 13-year old girl in the UK saw her cancer go into remission after becoming the first person in the world to receive a treatment that relies on a newer type of Crispr gene editing called base editing. (Lisa Jarvis, 12/13)

The New York Times: CRISPR Can Cure Disease By Editing A Person’s DNA. Now What? 
Several approved gene therapy medicines now exist. All involve taking a virus, replacing its harmful contents with a disease-treating gene, and injecting it into a person (or exposing the person’s cells to that virus in a dish and putting them back). (Fyodor Urnov, 12/9)

Stat: Expand Methadone Access For People With Opioid Use Disorder
Physicians who specialize in addiction treatment and who care for people with opioid use disorder in settings outside of institutional opioid treatment programs are hamstrung by unscientific federal regulations that prohibit them from prescribing methadone for treating opioid use disorder. (Greg Rudolf, 12/12)

The New York Times: What Comes Next For The War On Drugs? The Beginning Of The End
The MAT Act would eliminate the special Drug Enforcement Administration waiver that doctors must apply for in order to prescribe buprenorphine (a medication that helps reduce the craving for opioids). (12/12)

Bloomberg: Amgen-Horizon's $27.8 Billion Merger Makes Strategic Sense 
Pharma investors are finally getting the M&A they’ve been craving. Amgen Inc. is paying $27.8 billion in cash for Horizon Therapeutics Plc, adding a portfolio of drugs for rare autoimmune diseases. (Lisa Jarvis, 12/12)

Los Angeles Times: 988 Is A Crucial Lifeline — But Needs Federal Guidance And Funding To Remain Vital 
For all the convulsive court decisions, congressional hearings, price increases, invasions, mass killings and social media takeovers, 2022 should also be remembered as the year of 988 — the nationwide crisis line that went live in July. (12/14)

Chicago Tribune: Cook County Is Embracing Holistic Health Care Solutions To Tackle Disparities Caused By Systemic Bias
As reported by the Tribune in 2019, a study by New York University’s School of Medicine, which built on similar, earlier research, found that Chicago residents living in Streeterville could expect to live 30 years longer on average than their neighbors in Englewood just 10 miles away. That is the largest urban disparity in the U.S. (Ram Raju, 12/13)

Stat: Hospice Care Needs Saving 
Hospice in America is gravely ill. An extensive investigation jointly published by The New Yorker and ProPublica documented outright fraud, predatory practices, and flagrant mistreatment by specific publicly traded and private equity-owned hospice companies. (Ira Byock, 12/14)

Stat: 'Made In America' Will Help Protect The Medical Supply Chain
The Covid-19 pandemic exposed a serious flaw in the United States’ medical supply chain: an overreliance on imported supplies. Reinvigorating a domestic supply chain is an important step toward protecting Americans’ health and the country’s national security. (Tony Paquin and David Sanders, 12/14)

The CT Mirror: Reflecting On Gun Laws On The Anniversary Of Sandy Hook
It’s been 10 years since a gunman took 26 innocent lives at Sandy Hook Elementary — the lives of children and educators. And while this anniversary is difficult, it offers us an opportunity to reflect on gun violence policy in our state and nation. (Kerri M. Raissian, 12/14)