Politico: Defense Bill Rolls Back Pentagon’s Covid Vaccine Mandate 
A compromise defense policy bill released Tuesday night would end the Pentagon’s policy requiring troops to receive the Covid vaccine — and kicking out those troops who refuse it — delivering a win to Republicans who railed against the policy. A final version of the National Defense Authorization Act included the measure after conservatives threatened to hold up the bill to curtail the vaccine mandate. The policy became a point of contention in talks in recent days between Democratic and Republican leaders over the bill. (O'Brien, 12/6)

The Hill: Democrats Make Major Concession On Vaccine Mandate 
In a compromise with Republicans, House Democrats are allowing language into the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that repeals the coronavirus vaccine mandate for U.S. service members a year after it was enacted, House Armed Services Committee ranking member Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) confirmed to The Hill Tuesday. The bill, which lays out how an $847 billion Defense Department top line will be allocated in fiscal 2023, is tentatively set to be released as early as Tuesday evening and voted on by the House Thursday, Rogers said. Asked if he believes the language will stick amid all the last-minute jostling over the bill, Rogers replied: “Yes.” (Mitchell, Frazin and Lillis, 12/6)

The Wall Street Journal: Lawmakers Agree To Rescind Military’s Covid-19 Mandate In Defense Deal 
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) hailed the revocation of the vaccine mandate as a victory for the military and common sense. But the policy change doesn’t reinstate troops discharged for refusing the vaccine, as Mr. McCarthy and other Republicans had wanted. (Wise and Ferek, 12/6)

In related legislative news —

Bloomberg: Cannabis Banking Measure Left Off Defense Bill In Setback For Industry
A marijuana banking measure was left out of a must-pass defense bill, significantly narrowing the chances that legislation to clear the way for legal cannabis businesses to use the financial system can get passed before Democrats lose control of the House in January. (Dillard, 12/7)

Roll Call: New Wrinkle In Veterans Dispute As Negotiators Seek Omnibus Deal
Democrats want to reclassify some Veterans Affairs spending as mandatory during the current negotiations for a fiscal 2023 omnibus, but Republicans object to the effort as a chance for Democrats to increase nondefense spending in other policy areas. (McPherson and Quigley, 12/6)

In election updates —

The New York Times: Georgia Win Gives 51-49 Senate Majority To Democrats 
Senator Raphael Warnock’s victory in Georgia’s runoff election on Tuesday delivered Democrats just one additional seat, but that single layer of padding for their majority will hand them exponentially more leeway to control the chamber than they have now. ... With an additional vote, Democrats can take much more operational control of the Senate, easing the confirmation of contentious nominees, clearing the way for investigations and in general availing themselves of breathing room on a variety of matters. (Hulse, 12/6)

The Washington Post: Scathing Report Urges Major Changes At FDA, Including Possibly Breaking Up Agency
An outside group that was asked to examine problems at the Food and Drug Administration in the wake of an infant formula crisis this year offered a scathing indictment of the agency’s structure and culture and recommended major restructuring, including possibly breaking up the agency so that oversight of the food system gets more attention. The FDA has long been accused of giving its food program short shrift, and it came under fire from members of Congress and others for not heading off a formula shortage that left many parents scrambling to feed their infants. (Reiley, 12/6)

The New York Times: FDA Report Faults Agency’s Food Unit For Leaderless Dysfunction
The Food and Drug Administration’s food division has no clear leadership, avoids bold policy or enforcement actions, and fosters a culture that doesn’t adequately protect public health, according to a report issued on Tuesday by an agency-related group. Experts with the group, the Reagan-Udall Foundation, which was asked to examine the food division after widespread criticism stemming from the infant formula crisis, concluded in the report that the division’s management structure and mission should be overhauled. (Jewett, 12/6)

The Hill: Panel Recommends Leadership Overhaul At FDA Food Program
According to the report from the Reagan-Udall Foundation released Tuesday, “The lack of a single clearly identified person to lead the Human Foods Program has adversely impacted the organizational culture and led to overlapping roles and competing priorities that result in what is perceived as constant turmoil.” The food program is led by officials with overlapping jurisdictions, and the independent report recommended either establishing a food safety agency that would be separate from the Federal Drug Administration or establishing better, clearer lines of command within the existing agency. (Weixel, 12/6)

Politico: ‘Constant Turmoil’ At FDA’s Food Regulatory Agency, Report Says 
In response to the report, the FDA said in a statement that it plans to release a public update on the “new vision” in January 2023 and any changes to leadership as well as internal process and procedures by February 2023. The “new vision and structure” will be based on the RUF report, the internal review of the FDA’s response to the infant formula crisis as well as new advances in food science. (Brown, 12/6)

Axios: FDA Fast-Tracks Review Of Over-The-Counter Opioid Drug
A nasal spray for reversing opioid overdoses could become available over-the-counter as early as next March after the Food and Drug Administration gave it priority review. Advocacy groups, medical associations and federal agencies have said expanding the availability of naloxone is critical to addressing the addiction epidemic that killed more than 100,000 Americans last year. (Moreno, 12/7)

CBS News: Narcan Maker Says Anti-Opioid Nasal Spray Will Soon Be Available Over The Counter
Emergent BioSolutions on Tuesday said the Food and Drug Administration has fast-tracked its application for an over-the-counter version of Narcan, a nasal-spray form of naloxone. Approved in 2015, Narcan and its somewhat less expensive generic competitors are widely used by first responders and laypeople to treat known or suspected opioid overdoses that kill tens of thousands of Americans in the U.S. each year. (Gibson, 12/6)

In related news about FDA drug approvals —

AP: Speedier Drug Approvals Hit Slowdown As FDA Faces Scrutiny 
Expedited drug approvals slowed this year as the Food and Drug Administration’s controversial accelerated pathway came under new scrutiny from Congress, government watchdogs and some of the agency’s own leaders. With less than a month remaining in the year, the FDA’s drug center has granted 10 accelerated approvals — fewer than the tally in each of the last five years, when use of the program reached all-time highs. (Perrone, 12/7)

NBC News: Drug Deaths Among Pregnant Women Hit A Record High
The number of pregnant women and new mothers dying from drug overdoses grew dramatically as the pandemic took hold, reaching a record high in 2020, a new study finds. The research, published Tuesday in JAMA, provides a stark look at how substance use disorder is harming pregnant people who are less likely than others to seek or receive help for a dependency on opioids and other drugs. (Edwards, 12/6)

More on the opioid crisis —

News 4 Jax: Doctors Say Reversing Effects Of Fentanyl Overdose Becoming More Challenging
For years, naloxone, which is also sold under the commonly-known brand name Narcan, has been used to reverse the effects of a life-threatening opioid overdose. But doctors who treat overdose victims say reversing the effects of a fentanyl overdose is becoming more challenging. “Fentanyl, over the past year, they’ve come up with different strands of it to where it’s almost 100 times stronger than what the fentanyl was a year ago,” explained Chris Chodkowski, a trauma therapist. (Avanier, 12/6)

Gothamist: Hochul Says No To Funding Overdose Prevention Centers With Opioid Settlement Dollars 
Gov. Kathy Hochul’s administration is rejecting a proposal from the state’s Opioid Settlement Fund Advisory Board to support overdose prevention centers with some of the $2 billion that New York has procured in legal settlements with drug manufacturers. The rejection was included in a letter sent to the board on Tuesday by Dr. Chinazo Cunningham, commissioner of the state’s Office of Addiction Services and Supports. (Lewis, 12/6)

San Francisco Chronicle: San Francisco’s Plan To Open 12 Supervised Drug Consumption Sites Stalled By Legal Issues
San Francisco’s plan to open a dozen so-called wellness hubs where people can use drugs under the supervision of trained staff, including a couple by next June, has stalled because of legal and logistical issues. (Moench, 12/6)

Fast Company: This Breakthrough Fentanyl Vaccine Could Curb The Opioid Crisis
A new vaccine in development at the University of Houston aims to help those who are addicted by blocking fentanyl from entering their brain or spinal cord, preventing the drug’s euphoric effects, and, ultimately, averting an overdose or relapse. (Toussaint, 12/7)

Modern Healthcare: Health Insurance Prior Authorization Rules Proposed By CMS
The regulation would require Medicare Advantage, Medicaid and health insurance exchange carriers to ease their prior authorization processes and respond to “urgent” requests within 72 hours and standard requests within seven days. This would halve the amount of time Medicare Advantage plans currently have to respond to clinicians’ prior authorization requests, according to CMS. (Tepper, 12/6)

Bloomberg Law: Health Insurers Look To Move Ex-Medicaid Customers To Obamacare
Insurers hope to soften the financial hit from the expected end of the Covid-19 health emergency next year by steering some of their departing Medicaid enrollees into their individual marketplace plans. Doing so will give carriers like UnitedHealthcare, Aetna CVS Health, and Ambetter Health, Centene Corp.‘s marketplace provider, an opportunity to retain billions of dollars in revenue that would otherwise disappear. That’s because millions of their Medicaid managed care enrollees will no longer qualify for Medicaid once the public health emergency is lifted and the federal requirement for continuous Medicaid enrollment ends. (Pugh, 11/7)

In Medicaid news from the states—

North Carolina Health News: Study: Medicaid Transition Still Facing Problems
When North Carolina swapped its Medicaid system from a program run by the state to a program run and managed by five insurance companies, researchers at the Urban Institute — a D.C.-based think tank — took note. Among other policies, the organization’s researchers took a look at how transitions to Medicaid managed care impact patients nationwide. (Donnelly-DeRoven, 12/7)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Bipartisan Effort Underway To Extend Health Coverage For New Moms In Missouri
Missouri lawmakers are set to consider plans to extend Medicaid coverage for new moms and their babies after a similar idea fell short earlier this year. Five bills have been introduced in the Missouri House that would extend insurance coverage for low-income mothers from a current 60 days after giving birth to 12 months. Two other versions have been introduced in the Senate. (Erickson, 12/6)

Stateline: More States Offer Health Coverage To Immigrant Children
Come January, Connecticut and New Jersey will join the nine states plus Washington, D.C., that already allow children without permanent legal status to enroll in either Medicaid, the public health plan for residents with lower incomes, or in its sister program, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, known as CHIP. (Ollove, 12/6)

KHN: Watch: Big Medicaid Changes In California Leave Millions Of Patients Behind
KHN senior correspondent Angela Hart appeared on Spectrum News 1’s “Los Angeles Times Today” on Nov. 29 to discuss her reporting on California’s pricey and ambitious experiment to transform its Medicaid program, called Medi-Cal. The initiative, known as CalAIM, will provide some of Medi-Cal’s sickest and costliest patients with social services such as home-delivered healthy meals, help with housing move-in costs, and home repairs to make living environments safer for people with asthma. (12/7)

CIDRAP: Meta-Analysis Estimates 29% Vaccine Effectiveness Against Long COVID 
A meta-analysis of six studies estimates that one dose or more of COVID-19 vaccine is 29% effective against symptoms persisting for at least 3 weeks after infection, or long COVID. (Van Beusekom, 12/6)

In other news about covid —

Los Angeles Times: L.A. County Coronavirus Cases Spike; Deaths Rise
Los Angeles County appears in the midst of another full-blown coronavirus surge, with cases doubling since Thanksgiving. The spike — which partially captures but likely does not fully reflect exposures over the Thanksgiving holiday — is prompting increasingly urgent calls for residents to get up to date on their vaccines and consider taking other preventive steps to stymie viral transmission and severe illness. (Money and Lin II, 12/6)

Reuters: China Loosens Anti-COVID Rules In Major Policy Shift
China announced on Wednesday the most sweeping changes to its tough anti-COVID regime since the pandemic began three years ago, loosening rules that curbed the spread of the virus but had hobbled the world's second largest economy and sparked protests. The relaxation of rules, which include allowing infected people with mild or no symptoms to quarantine at home and dropping testing for people travelling within the country, are the strongest sign yet that Beijing is preparing its people to live with the disease. (Pollard and Goh, 12/7)

Reuters: China Medical Expert Says COVID Has Mutated, Should Be Renamed - State Media
China should change its official name for COVID-19 to reflect the virus' mutation, and patients with light symptoms should be allowed to quarantine at home, a leading authority on traditional Chinese medicine was quoted as saying on Wednesday. Gu Xiaohong told the state-run Beijing Daily newspaper that the coronavirus' Chinese name, which identifies it as a pneumonia-causing disease, should be changed to call it simply an infectious virus. (12/6)

In updates on the spread of flu, RSV, and strep —

Houston Chronicle: Galveston County Teenager Dies Of Flu
Galveston County on Tuesday reported a teenaged boy as its first flu death of the season. The child died Saturday after testing positive for Influenza A on Nov. 30, according to the Galveston County Health District. He was not vaccinated and had pre-existing medical conditions. (Ketterer, 12/6)

CNN: Why Colds And Flu Viruses Are More Common In Winter 
In what researchers are calling a scientific breakthrough, scientists behind a new study may have found the biological reason we get more respiratory illnesses in winter. It turns out the cold air itself damages the immune response occurring in the nose. (LaMotte, 12/6)

The Washington Post: Strep A: What To Know About The Usually Mild Infection Leading To Children’s Deaths
Strep A is highly contagious and commonly carried by many of us in our nose and throats and on our skin without resulting in serious illness, medical officials and experts say. While most cases are not life-threatening, it can develop into an infection known as invasive Group A strep (iGAS), which can be fatal, with the risk greatest among children and the elderly. (Hassan and Suliman, 12/6)

The Boston Globe: Pfizer Partners With Tiny Cambridge Startup To Develop New COVID Pills
The coronavirus hasn’t seen the last of Pfizer yet. The pharmaceutical giant has tapped Clear Creek Bio, a tiny Cambridge startup, for help in developing new antiviral pills that treat COVID-19, the companies said Tuesday. (Cross, 12/6)

Reuters: Pfizer Partners With Clear Creek Bio To Develop Oral COVID-19 Drug
Pfizer and Clear Creek Bio Inc on Tuesday announced a collaboration to identify a potential drug candidate and develop a new class of oral treatment against COVID-19, as Pfizer seeks to expand its anti-infective pipeline. (12/6)

Updates on Paxlovid and other covid treatments —

CIDRAP: COVID-19 Rebound Found Uncommon After Antiviral Treatment 
Early reports suggested a link between nirmatrelvir-ritonavir (Paxlovid) and viral rebound, but more recent studies have concluded that rebound may be simply part of the natural course of some COVID-19 cases. (Van Beusekom, 12/6)

KHN: Paxlovid Has Been Free So Far. Next Year, Sticker Shock Awaits.
Nearly 6 million Americans have taken Paxlovid for free, courtesy of the federal government. The Pfizer pill has helped prevent many people infected with covid-19 from being hospitalized or dying, and it may even reduce the risk of developing long covid. But the government plans to stop footing the bill within months, and millions of people who are at the highest risk of severe illness and are least able to afford the drug — the uninsured and seniors — may have to pay the full price. And that means fewer people will get the potentially lifesaving treatments, experts said. (Recht, 12/7)

Stat: U.S. Delays Backing Patent Waivers On Covid Therapies, Diagnostics
The U.S. government wants to extend a Dec. 17 deadline for waiving intellectual property protection for Covid-19 diagnostics and treatments, a move that is likely to impede the chances for a World Trade Organization agreement to bolster global access to needed medical products. (Silverman, 12/6)

Axios: Some COVID Clinical Trials Lacked Diversity, Female Representation
Women were underrepresented in pandemic trials of antiviral treatments, and sponsors didn't recruit enough Black and Asian participants for human studies on COVID vaccines, a new JAMA analysis of more than 100 trials found. (Dreher, 12/6)

On the covid vaccine rollout —

The New York Times: Global Partners May End Broad Covid Vaccination Effort In Developing Countries 
The organization that has led the global effort to bring Covid vaccines to poor and middle-income countries will decide this week whether to shut down that project, ending a historic attempt to achieve global health equity with a tacit acknowledgment that the effort fell far short of its goal. (Nolen, 12/6)

CNBC: Covid Vaccine: Omicron Boosters Weaker Against BQ.1.1 Subvariant
Covid shots designed to protect against the omicron variant trigger a weaker immune response against the rapidly emerging BQ.1.1 subvariant than the previously dominant strain, according to a new lab study. Scientists at the University of Texas Medical Branch, in a study published online Tuesday in Nature Medicine, found that the booster shots performed well against the BA.5 subvariant they were designed to target. (Kimball, 12/6)

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Pagan Nurse Files Religious Discrimination Lawsuit Against UMC
A Las Vegas nurse and self-described pagan has sued the hospital that fired her after it rejected her request for a religious exemption to its COVID-19 vaccination requirement. (Hynes, 12/6)

AP: New Zealand Court Rules Against Anti-Vax Parents Of Ill Baby 
A New Zealand court temporarily took away medical custody of a baby from his parents on Wednesday after they refused blood transfusions for him unless the blood came from donors who were unvaccinated against COVID-19. The court’s ruling in favor of health authorities places the 4-month-old boy into the guardianship of authorities until after he undergoes an urgently needed heart operation and recovers. The parents remain in charge of decisions about their boy that don’t relate to the operation. (Perry, 12/7)

Reuters: Pandemic Lockdowns Linked To Decline In U.S. Twin Births, Study Suggests
Reduced access to infertility treatments early in the pandemic may have contributed to a drop in twin births, data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggest. The number of twin births fell 7% between 2019 and 2020 - from 120,291 to 112,437 - compared to an average 2%-per-year decline from 2014 to 2019, researchers reported on Wednesday in the CDC's National Vital Statistics Reports, based on data from 50 states and the District of Columbia. (Alleyne-Morris, 12/7)

In other reproductive health news —

Bloomberg: Abortion Clinic Closures Double In Year After End Of Roe V. Wade
As of November, 42 independent clinics had closed this year, most of which were in the South and Midwest. That’s up from 20 in 2021, according to a Tuesday report from Abortion Care Network, an association of community-based abortion providers. Independent clinics provide 55% of abortion services nationwide. (Butler, 12/6)

Reuters: Alabama Case Over Mistaken Pregnancy Highlights Risks In A Post-Roe World
Etowah County officials are facing what appears to be the first lawsuit in the state alleging false imprisonment because a woman who was jailed for exposing her unborn child to drugs wasn’t pregnant — although it isn’t the first time such dystopian injustice has played out in Alabama. Stacey Freeman, who is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, was under investigation by a family services agency for substance abuse when her daughter incorrectly told social workers that Freeman was pregnant, according to her Nov. 7 complaint. Freeman said she offered to take a pregnancy test, but it wasn’t administered. (Kanu, 12/6)

The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer: Genital Examinations Removed From Ohio Legislature’s Transgender Sports Bill, Though Prohibition Remains 
Lawmakers amended a bill Tuesday afternoon that would prohibit transgender high school girls from playing women’s sports by removing a provision that could have required genital examinations when an athlete’s sex is in question. (Hancock, 12/6)

Houston Chronicle: Texas' Maternal Death Report Was Ready. So Why Was It Shelved?
State health officials had completed a long-awaited report on maternal deaths and were preparing talking points about the findings just days before it was shelved until after the November midterms, according to emails obtained by Hearst Newspapers. (Blackman and Gill, 12/6)

Stat: Limits Of ‘Fauci Effect’: Infectious Disease Applicants Plummet
The lack of doctors entering ID fellowships — and the ensuing shortage of these specialists — has been a concern for years, with experts pointing to the comparatively low earnings these physicians make as a major disincentive for doctors considering which field to enter. But this year’s numbers marked a backslide. Fully a quarter of available positions went unfilled. Among the fellowship programs, 44% didn’t fill their slots, according to data from the National Resident Matching Program. (Joseph, 12/7)

AP: Foundations, Major Donors Tackle Nation’s Nursing Shortage 
As more nurses leave their jobs in hospitals and health-care centers, foundations are pouring millions of dollars into efforts to ensure that more stay in the profession and get more out of the job than just the applause and pats on the back they got during the bleakest days of the pandemic. (Daniels, 12/6)

AP: Minnesota Nurses Reach Tentative Contract, Averting Strike
The union representing Minnesota nurses announced Tuesday that it has reached tentative contract agreements with 15 hospitals in the Twin Cities and Duluth areas, averting a strike that was scheduled to begin Sunday. (12/6)

In legal news —

The Guardian: More Women Accuse US Doctor Who Died By Suicide Of Raping Them While Sedated 
A doctor in Florida who recently died by suicide after being arrested on allegations that he drugged and raped two patients is now accused of similarly attacking at least three other women under his care. As of Tuesday, five patients of Eric Salata’s Pura Vida cosmetic surgery clinic in Naples had gone to police there and reported that the physician had either sexually assaulted them or attempted to during medical procedures, Adam Horowitz, an attorney for one of the women, said on Tuesday. (Vargas, 12/7)

WEAU 13: Nurse Accused Of Removing Patient’s Foot Without Permission Barred From Caregiver Work
A Wisconsin woman charged with removing a patient’s foot without permission is not allowed to work as a caregiver, according to bond conditions set in her case Tuesday in Pierce County Circuit Court. ... Nurses interviewed as part of the investigation said that Mary K. Brown removed the foot for compassion and comfort as the foot was necrotic, had begun to smell, and was barely still attached to the man’s body. (Kaska, 12/6)

In other news —

WMBF News: Doctor Helping Teacher Shortage By Working As Substitute, Donating Paycheck
A Louisville doctor says he is working as a substitute teacher to help feel a need within the community. Dr. Greg Cilbierti has been working in the classroom every Friday and donates his teaching paycheck back to the school. “I’m a primary care physician during the week and use my Fridays to substitute teach,” Cilbierti said. The doctor said he started substitute teaching after hearing the district was short on teachers. (Meiners, 12/6)

Modern Healthcare: IHI, AMA Launch National Coalition Targeting Health Equity
The Institute for Healthcare Improvement and American Medical Association are launching a coalition to bring together hundreds of health systems, companies and organizations with the goal of developing a cohesive approach to more equitable patient care and remove areas of inequity and bias. (Devereaux, 12/6)

Stat: New Coalition Aims To Set The Agenda For AI In Health Care
To read the medical literature, you might think AI is taking over medicine. It can detect cancers on images earlier, find heart issues invisible to cardiologists, and predict organ dysfunction hours before it becomes dangerous to hospitalized patients. (Ross, 12/7)

The Colorado Sun: University Of Colorado Launches New Cancer Center
When Dr. Sachin Wani goes to work every day at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, it can often feel like he is fighting an uphill battle. Wani is a gastroenterologist and an interventional endoscopist, as well as a professor of medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Much of his work with patients involves diagnosing and treating cancer of the esophagus. But, too often, doctors don’t catch esophageal cancer soon enough — and the same goes for patients with stomach cancer. (Ingold, 12/6)

The Boston Globe: Local Startup Turtle Health Aims To Bring Fertility Care Into The Home
In 2018, after finding out that her fetus had a birth defect, Amy Zwanziger made the devastating decision to end her pregnancy at 19 weeks. Afterward, she and her husband decided to embark on fertility testing, hoping to find out if having a child was still a possibility. (Gerber, 12/6)

CBS News: Hospital Shutdown In Pennsylvania Spurs Questions About Private Equity In Health Care
After a car accident last month, Latifa Dixon, a mother of two, arrived at the emergency room at Delaware County Memorial Hospital in suburban Philadelphia only to learn the ER had just shut down. Twenty-eight-year-old Cecilia Vizuete, who was having trouble feeding her one-year-old daughter because of a breast infection, said she was told by a security guard to search Google Maps for another hospital. Shirley Posey arrived there suffering from shortness of breath and tightness in her chest. (Lapook and Kaplan, 12/6)

Becker's Hospital Review: New Jersey Hospital Fined $63K Over Gun Cache
The New Jersey Department of Health has fined Hudson Regional Hospital $63,000 for various licensure violations after dozens of guns were found in an unlocked closet at the Secaucus, N.J.-based hospital in July. Police found the cache of firearms July 18 while doing a sweep of Hudson Regional Hospital in response to a bomb threat, which was later determined to be a hoax. The guns were discovered in the closet of an office used by Reuven Alonalayoff, the hospital's marketing director. Mr. Alonalayoff was arrested in August and charged with possession of an assault firearm and two counts of possession of a high-capacity magazine. (Bean, 12/6)

Modern Healthcare: Aetna Lumbar Disc Surgery Lawsuits Settled
Aetna has reached a deal to settle two class-action lawsuits that allege the CVS Health subsidiary violated federal law by improperly denying to cover spinal surgery for more than 230 patients, according to orders submitted in federal court this week. (Tepper, 12/6)

CIDRAP: CDC Reports Cholera In A Few Travelers, Urges Travel History In Diarrhea Workup 
Amid an unprecedented increase in global cholera activity, eight infections in travelers returning from affected areas have been reported in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in an email to clinicians yesterday. (Schnirring, 12/6)

In other public health news —

CBS News: Frozen Raspberries Recalled Due To Potential Hepatitis A Contamination 
Frozen raspberries are being recalled because of potential hepatitis A contamination. Exportadora Copramar, a company that exports fruit, is voluntarily recalling 1,260 cases of frozen raspberries sold under the James Farm brand. (O'Kane, 12/6)

The Washington Post: Weighted Blankets May Boost Melatonin, A Sleep Hormone, Study Shows
The use of a weighted blanket may result in more melatonin — a sleep-promoting hormone produced by the brain — being released, the research reveals. ... While the study observed an increase in melatonin, it observed no difference in participants’ sleep duration or feeling of sleepiness with use of a weighted blanket. The researchers also measured oxytocin, a hormone released in response to physical touch that is known to induce feelings of well-being and calm, but saw no increase for the weighted blanket condition. (Kim, 12/6)

The Washington Post: Why You Don't Need To Drink Eight Cups Of Water A Day 
We’ve all heard the age-old advice to drink eight cups of water a day. But if you fall short, don’t worry: That advice is probably wrong anyway. That’s according to new research, published in the journal Science, which found that for most healthy adults, drinking eight cups of water a day is completely unnecessary. The advice is misguided in part because it doesn’t take into account all the water that we get from our food and from other beverages like coffee and tea. The research found that our water needs vary from one person to next and depend on factors like your age, sex, size, physical activity levels and the climate that you live in. (O'Connor, 12/6)

NBC News: Kirstie Alley Died Of Colon Cancer. These Are The Disease's Early Signs
Following the news that actor Kirstie Alley died of colon cancer at age 71, several doctors and cancer specialists urged people to get the recommended screenings for the disease. Alley's manager confirmed to NBC News on Tuesday that the actor died of colon cancer. Alley’s family said in a statement on Monday night that the cancer had only recently been discovered. (Bendix, 12/6)

Bangor Daily News: Maine’s Emergency System Needs More Funding To Avert Crisis, Panel Says
A legislative commission is recommending that Maine set aside $70 million annually for the next five years to cover a shortfall in funding for emergency medical services. The panel said nearly a third of those funds should be dedicated toward EMS services at immediate risk of failing due to a lack of funding and few volunteers. (Ogrysko, 12/6)

AP: New Mexico Governor Wants Free Lunch For All Students K-12
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham wants New Mexico to help provide school lunches without charge to all K-12 students across the state. Lujan Grisham spokeswoman Nora Meyers Sackett confirmed Tuesday that the governor will pursue legislation when lawmakers meet in January 2023 to ensure that every student has access to free and nutritious school meals by covering the cost of breakfast and lunch for students that don’t already qualify for free or reduced-price meals. (12/7)

Columbus Dispatch: Adult Changing Tables: More Sought In Ohio's Public Restrooms
Kim Boulter has used bathroom floors, angled the back of her van away from onlookers in various parking lots and cleared off conference room tables in order to change her 9-year-old son. (King, 12/6)

WUSF Public Media: Immunizations For Florida's Kindergarten Students Are At A 10-Year Low
Last school year marked a more than 10-year low for Florida’s kindergarten and seventh-grade students completing all doses of required immunizations, according to a recent report from the state Department of Health. (Dailey, 12/6)

The Boston Globe: In Major Policy Shift, Massachusetts Clears Marijuana Growers To Use Certain Pesticides
Licensed marijuana growers in Massachusetts will now be allowed to apply certain pesticides to their crops, after state agricultural officials repealed a longstanding ban on the practice that the cannabis industry had long derided as unnecessarily strict. (Adams, 12/6)

NPR: Asbestos Exposure On The Job Was Common, These Chemical Plant Workers Say
When LaTunja Caster started working at the Olin Corp. chemical plant outside of McIntosh, Alabama, she had no idea that asbestos was used in the production process. But when she became a union safety representative around 2007, she started to pay attention. In certain parts of the plant, "you would see it all the time," she said. "You definitely breathed it in." (McGrory and Bedi, 12/7)

The Texas Tribune: East Texas Has Regular Boil-Water Notices That Go Unnoticed
On the same day that 2 million residents in the nation’s fourth-most-populous city faced a boil-water notice that garnered national attention, a water system near this tiny East Texas town issued similar warnings to customers, marking the 68th boil-water notice issued this calendar year. And while Houstonians responded to the news by scrambling to stock up on bottled water, customers of the Consolidated Water Supply Corp. proceeded as usual. (Salhotra and Lozano, 12/7)

AP: Dozens On Hunger Strike At Nevada Prison Over Food, Health 
At least two dozen people are on hunger strike over conditions at a maximum-security prison in rural eastern Nevada, prison officials and an advocacy organization said Tuesday. The strike was launched Thursday by people incarcerated at Ely State Prison who are fed up over what they say are inadequate food portions and shortages in the prison commissary, among other grievances, said Jodi Hocking, executive director of the prisoners’ rights group Return Strong. She said they’re also protesting longstanding problems at correctional facilities across the state. (Stern, 12/7)

KHN: Colorado Option’s Big Test: Open Enrollment
Critics declared Colorado’s new quasi-public option a failure this fall, before it was even available for purchase on the state’s Affordable Care Act health insurance marketplace. They seized on an October announcement from the state that premiums for individual coverage were rising by an average of 10% in 2023 despite the arrival of the much-anticipated Colorado Option, which was meant to drive down costs. What’s more, people in most counties had access to traditional plans that were cheaper than the new option. Supporters warned against calling the Colorado Option a bust just yet. With open enrollment underway, consumers on the ACA marketplace can choose Colorado Option plans for the first time since the 2021 law that created them took effect. State officials are betting that people will look beyond the cost of the premiums. (Hawryluk, 12/7)

Bloomberg: Juul Says It’s Settling More Than 5,000 Youth Vaping Lawsuits 
Juul Labs Inc. reached a settlement of more than 5,000 lawsuits blaming the company for a youth vaping epidemic across the US. As part of the accord, the embattled e-cigarette maker isn’t allowed to immediately disclose the settlement amount, the company said in a statement, adding that the accord will be funded with an equity investment. (Nayak, 12/7)

In other legal developments —

Stat: Zantac Suits Tossed, Judge Lambasts Lack Of Data On Cancer Links
Several big drugmakers — Sanofi, GSK, Pfizer and Boehringer Ingelheim — will not have to face thousands of lawsuits claiming the Zantac heartburn drug can cause cancer after a federal judge decided consumers’ claims were not backed by sound scientific evidence. (Silverman, 12/6)

Reuters: DuPont Loses Challenge Over Cancer Victim's $40 Mln Verdict In PFAS Case 
A federal appeals court has upheld a $40 million verdict for a cancer survivor who sued E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co after years of exposure to a toxic chemical that it manufactured. (Mindock, 12/6)

More pharmaceutical news —

CIDRAP: Shortage Of ADHD Drug Adderall Likely To Last Into 2023
Americans with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are struggling to find good alternatives to the stimulant Adderall, which has been in short supply this fall and will likely not be back in stock until early next year. (Van Beusekom, 12/6)

CBS News: Young Man's Death Leads To Questions About An Adderall Prescription Obtained Online 
Elijah Hanson struggled with his mental health for years. The 21-year-old from Tacoma, Washington, had been diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder and was receiving treatment from a local behavioral health clinic. According to years of therapy notes, he was desperate to better understand himself and his emotions. (Werner and Kegu, 12/6)

Stat: Eli Lilly Tightens Access To Diabetes Drug, Frustrating Obesity Patients
Touted by celebrities, raved about by TikTok users and advertised by med spas, a new class of drugs for treating diabetes and obesity has exploded in popularity for its weight-loss effects, leading to rippling shortages across several of the medications. Amid the surge in demand, Eli Lilly and pharmacies have started to tighten access to the latest of this type of drug, tirzepatide, focusing on giving it to people with type 2 diabetes, the only population it’s authorized for so far. (Chen, 12/7)

Stat: Prices Of 7 Drugs Were Hiked Without Proof Of New Benefits In 2021
During 2021, drugmakers substantially raised prices on seven widely used medicines without any new clinical evidence to justify the increases, leading patients and health insurers in the U.S. to spend an additional $805 million last year, according to a new report. (Silverman, 12/6)

Reuters: Unsubstantiated Price Hikes Drove U.S. Drug Spending Up $805 Mln In 2021-Report 
Price increases spread among seven of the 10 drugs in 2021 behind an $805 million increase in U.S. spending from the prior year were not supported by clinical evidence, an influential U.S. pricing research firm said on Tuesday. (Satija, 12/6)

Also —

San Diego Union-Tribune: UCSD Creates Experimental 'Smart Pill' That Could Aid In Fighting Inflammatory Bowel Disease And Diabetes 
UC San Diego has created an experimental “smart pill” that continuously monitors the inside of the small intestine, work that could lead to better ways to spot and treat gastro-intestinal disorders, including inflammatory bowel disease and diabetes. (Robbins, 12/3)

CIDRAP: For PASTEUR Act Advocates, The Finish Line Is In Sight For Antibiotic Development Aid 
With the clock ticking on Congress to finish its business before the end of the year, groups representing infectious disease and public health professionals and the pharmaceutical industry are trying to push a bill across the finish line that could change the antibiotic development landscape. (Dall, 12/6)

Stat: Breakthrough Therapies Act: Good Idea, Wrong Solution 
The Breakthrough Therapies Act, recently proposed by Senators Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) as a way to expand access for therapeutic purposes to potentially beneficial but highly regulated Schedule I substances like psilocybin and LSD, has the right underlying idea but provides a solution that is wrong. (Arthur L. Caplan and Kenneth I. Moch, 12/2)

Houston Chronicle: Abbott's Big Flip-Flop On Fentanyl Could Save Lives
For too long, many believed that fentanyl wasn’t a Texas problem. “There’s no sense of urgency,” paramedic Daniel Sledge complained to the Chronicle last year. As one of the people who saw the drug’s deadly impacts on the state, he knew better than most the damage the potent, highly addictive drug could do. (12/3)

The (Santa Rosa) Press Democrat: Jarvis: Alzheimer’s Drug Is A Breakthrough, But Not A Cure
Biogen Inc. and Eisai Co. caused a stir in September when they announced positive results in a late-stage trial for a closely watched Alzheimer’s drug, lecanemab. Doctors tempered their excitement, though, until they could scrutinize the full peer-reviewed data. (Lisa Jarvis, 12/1)

Bloomberg: New Data On Alzheimer’s Drug Lecanemab Show It’s A Step, Not A Cure 
Biogen Inc. and Eisai Co. caused a stir in September when they announced positive results in a late-stage trial for a closely watched Alzheimer’s drug, lecanemab. Doctors tempered their excitement, though, until they could scrutinize the full peer-reviewed data. (Lisa Jarvis, 11/30)

The Star Tribune: Renew The Battle Vs. Antibiotic Resistance
It usually doesn't take long for new parents to fill a prescription for amoxicillin — an antibiotic frequently wielded in fighting ear infections and other common childhood illnesses. (12/1)

Bloomberg: Amgen Has A Contender In The Weight-Loss Drug Wars
The first detailed look at data on Amgen Inc.’s obesity drug offers a promising glimpse into the future of weight-loss treatment. How promising? (Lisa Jarvis, 12/1)

Bloomberg: Leave The Ancient Zombie Virus Under The Permafrost 
Last month, scientists announced they’d taken a sample of tundra from Siberia, extracted a virus that had been frozen for 50,000 years, and showed it was still capable of infecting its normal host — amoebas. (Faye Flam, 12/6)

Los Angeles Times: COVID Wave Is Rising In U.S. Because Immunity Is Down And Precautions Have Grown Lax 
Over recent weeks, since before Thanksgiving, there has been a significant and steep rise in COVID-19-related hospitalizations for Americans 70 and older. Nationally, that rate now exceeds the peak of the BA.5 summer wave and the Delta wave in the summer of 2021 — and this surge is still in sharp ascent. (Eric J. Topol, 12/6)

Stat: Victims Of Domestic Violence Deserve Better Concussion Care 
Two vastly different experiences — serving as a “guest coach” on the sidelines for a Division I football team and volunteering in a busy emergency department — showed me just how unequal and damaging the lack of care provided for women who are victims of domestic violence can be. (Earl Smith, 12/6)

Dallas Morning News: Texas Ranks Last In Access To Mental Health Care. We Can Do Better
Mental Health America of Greater Dallas has released its 2023 State of Mental Health in America Report. This is the eighth consecutive year the organization has released the report, and sadly, Texas’ overall rank continues to be poor at 46th in the country. (Bonnie Cook, 12/7)

Stat: Deferral Of Primary Care Means Trouble For Americans' Health
Americans may be returning to their pre-pandemic habits, but most have not returned to their primary care doctors. Primary care visits are down 10.3% on average across U.S. cities relative to pre-pandemic levels. That, combined with more people with chronic diseases like diabetes, obesity, and cancer, and accelerating health care costs as inflation soars, signal a troubled future for the health of Americans and the U.S.’s $4.1 trillion health economy. (Sanjula Jain, 10/7)