Stat: Early Alzheimer's Drug Developed By Eli Lilly Approved By FDA
Eli Lilly’s early Alzheimer’s treatment was approved by the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday, making it the second drug on the U.S. market aimed at slowing progression of the debilitating neurological disease. (Chen and Herper, 7/2)

The Wall Street Journal: Approval Of Eli Lilly’s New Alzheimer’s Drug Will Accelerate New Era Of Treatment 
Until recently, Alzheimer’s treatment was limited. Some patients diagnosed with the disease would take a pill to relieve symptoms. More wound up at facilities that provided care for them once they couldn’t take care of themselves. With drugs such as Lilly’s newly approved Kisunla coming online, Alzheimer’s treatment promises to slow the cognitive decline, if only modestly, and to become more widely used. (Loftus and Walker, 7/2)

Also —

NPR: African Ancestry Can Affect Alzheimer's, Stroke Risk In Black Americans
Black Americans have been underrepresented in most genomic studies of neurological disorders. As a result of this disparity, there's a lot scientists don't know about whether African ancestry affects a person's risk for these disorders or their response to a particular treatment. ... Now, the first study to come out of the initiative finds that genes associated with African ancestry seem to affect some brain cells in ways that could increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease and stroke. (Kwong, Hamilton and Carlson, 7/3)

WCTI ABC12: Karine Jean-Pierre Gives Stern 'No' When Asked If Biden Has Dementia
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre refuted speculation Tuesday that President Joe Biden is suffering from dementia. The question followed mounting panic in Democratic circles following Biden’s lackluster performance at the first presidential debate. His frequent looks of confusion and hoarse voice, Jean-Pierre said, should not be attributed to symptoms of dementia or degenerative illness. “I have an answer for you, are you ready for it?” she asked. “It’s no.” (Walker, 7/2)

NBC News: Your Diet At 40 May Affect How Healthy You Are At 70, Study Finds
If you eat well now, you may live better later. A diet rich in fruits and vegetables, whole grains and unsaturated fats in midlife can improve the chances of good mental, physical and cognitive health decades later, a new report shows. A study presented at a major nutrition conference Tuesday builds on years of research that a daily diet filled with highly nutritious foods can reduce the risk of developing common chronic diseases and help maintain cognitive functioning in older age. (Sudhakar, 7/3)

The Washington Post: How The Supreme Court Has Roiled U.S. Health-Care Agencies
Recent Supreme Court decisions curbing the power of federal agencies will hobble government efforts to protect public health, legal experts warn. The rulings will make it harder for some federal agencies to bring enforcement actions, give judges more leeway to second-guess agency decisions and, following a decision Monday, make it easier to challenge long-settled regulations. Legal experts and heath officials expect a gusher of litigation that will complicate the regulation of drugs, tobacco products and cutting-edge medical technologies. The administration of government health insurance programs could be further mired in lawsuits. And decades-old agency decisions may be newly vulnerable to challenges. (Ovalle, Achenbach and Roubein, 7/2)

Modern Healthcare: Chevron Ruling May Slow Telehealth, AI, PBM Bills In Congress
The post-election healthcare package Congress is slowly constructing has encountered a Supreme Court complication. The prospects of combining a slew of healthcare measures affecting providers, insurers, pharmacy benefit managers and technology companies by the end of the year dimmed Friday, when the high court overturned a longstanding legal precedent that gave federal agencies wide latitude to interpret laws. (McAuliff, 7/2)

What's next for the Supreme Court? —

Roll Call: Fight Over Flavored Vapes Lands At Supreme Court 
The latest battle in the fight over e-cigarettes has landed in the nation’s highest court. The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear a case next session concerning the Food and Drug Administration’s approval process for the sale of e-cigarettes amid concerns about use among children and teenagers. (Hellmann, 7/2)

National Law Review: SCOTUS To Review DC Circuit Court Of Appeals Ruling On Medicare
On June 10, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in Advocate Christ Medical Center v. Becerra for the October 2024 – 2025 term to review a D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling potentially affecting up to $4 billion in federal funding for hospitals. The Supreme Court will determine whether the federal Department of Health and Human Services properly reimbursed hospitals for providing care to patients receiving financial aid from the Supplemental Security Income Program (the “SSI Program”). (Lipsky, Herbstritt, Foster, 7/2)

CIDRAP: Survey: Adults Dropped From Medicaid After Pandemic Faced Healthcare Access, Affordability Issues
A survey of low-income adults in four southern US states shows that nearly half of those disenrolled from Medicaid after COVID-19 pandemic protections ended had no insurance in late 2023, leading to struggles to afford healthcare and prescription drugs and threatening to broaden a gap that had narrowed during expanded governmental benefits. The data were derived from 89,130 adult residents of Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Texas participating in the National Health Interview Survey in 2019, 2021, and 2022. (Van Beusekom, 7/2)

VTDigger: Vermont Approved To Expand Medicaid Coverage For People Transitioning Out Of Prison
On Tuesday, Vermont joined a small list of states approved to bill Medicaid for some prison health care coverage. “We were expecting this, but it’s definitely very exciting,” said Isaac Dayno, chief of staff for the Vermont Department of Corrections. “Now comes the hard work of designing our implementation plan.” Vermont is now among nine states approved for the prison health care expansion, and Dayno said Vermont is aiming to launch the increased coverage in 2026. (Weinstein, 7/2)

Oregon Capital Chronicle: Oregon Expands Free Medicaid Health Insurance To Tens Of Thousands More People
After two years of planning, Oregon is officially expanding its Medicaid program to give tens of thousands of more people access to the free health insurance program. The Oregon Health Authority announced on Monday the launch of its OHP Bridge Plan to those who earn more than the federal limits for traditional Medicaid. The Oregon Health Plan, the state’s version of Medicaid, currently covers 1.4 million Oregonians who earn up to 138% of the federal poverty level, or nearly $21,000 a year for one person or more than $43,000 a year for a family of four. (Terry, 7/1)

On Medicare and aging —

The Washington Post: Medicare Pushes New Payment Rule After Alleged $3 Billion Fraud Scheme 
Federal officials are seeking to overhaul how Medicare pays health-care providers after an alleged $3 billion scheme to defraud the program, which would be one of the largest such schemes in its history. For more than a year, officials said, about a dozen companies submitted bills to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for tens of millions of urinary catheters, using the personal information of Medicare beneficiaries and physicians — some of whom still have questions about how the companies obtained their private details and used them to bill the federal health program for catheters that they never wanted nor received. (Diamond and Weber, 7/2)

KFF Health News: Lack Of Affordability Tops Older Americans’ List Of Health Care Worries
What weighs most heavily on older adults’ minds when it comes to health care? The cost of services and therapies, and their ability to pay. “It’s on our minds a whole lot because of our age and because everything keeps getting more expensive,” said Connie Colyer, 68, of Pleasureville, Kentucky. She’s a retired forklift operator who has lung disease and high blood pressure. Her husband, James, 70, drives a dump truck and has a potentially dangerous irregular heart rhythm. (Graham, 7/3)

AP: Biden Administration Tells Doctors They Must Provide Emergency Abortions
The Biden administration told emergency room doctors they must perform emergency abortions when necessary to save a pregnant woman’s health, following last week’s Supreme Court ruling that failed to settle a legal dispute over whether state abortion bans override a federal law requiring hospitals to provide stabilizing treatment. In a letter being sent Tuesday to doctor and hospital associations, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Director Chiquita Brooks-LaSure reminded hospitals of their legal duty to offer stabilizing treatment, which could include abortions. (Seitz and Fernando, 7/2)

AP: Wisconsin Supreme Court To Consider Whether 175-Year-Old Law Bans Abortion
The Wisconsin Supreme Court decided Tuesday to consider two challenges to a 175-year-old law that conservatives maintain bans abortion without letting the cases wind through lower courts. Abortion advocates stand an excellent chance of prevailing in both cases given the high court’s liberal tilt and remarks a liberal justice made on the campaign trail about how she supports abortion rights. (Richmond, 7/2)

Politico: Trump Campaign Blocks Pair Of Anti-Abortion Activists From RNC Platform Committee 
Two hardline anti-abortion delegates to next week’s GOP platform committee have been stripped of their positions, according to several members of the Republican National Committee, underscoring a broader fear among evangelicals and other social conservatives that the party is poised to moderate its stance on abortion at the direction of former President Donald Trump. The Trump campaign’s efforts to block the two South Carolina delegates from the platform committee and replace them with loyalists is described in several affidavits as “interference from paid RNC staff … to circumvent the will of the delegation.” (Allison and Messerly, 7/2)

AP: Pro-Choice Advocates Set To Turn In Around 800,000 Signatures For Arizona Abortion Ballot Measure
Pro-choice advocates are set to deliver petition signatures Wednesday in hopes of getting the abortion rights issue on Arizona’s November general election ballot. Organizers collected about 800,000 signatures and need 383,923 of them to be deemed valid. If that happens, Arizona voters will be asked whether to enshrine in the state constitution the right to an abortion. (Berry and Snow, 7/3)

The Texas Tribune: Amarillo Voters To Decide On Abortion Travel Ban Access
Amarillo residents will vote on a so-called abortion travel ban in November, one of the few times Texas voters will have a say on abortion rights since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022. (Carver, 7/2)

Mother Jones: Abortion Bans Are Also Terrible For Babies 
In many ways, the end of Roe v Wade didn’t happen when the US Supreme Court issued its decision to overrule Roe in the Dobbs case in June 2022. Rather, it came nine months earlier, on September 1, 2021, when the Texas Heartbeat Act, also known as SB8, took effect. The law banned abortion after embryonic cardiac activity became detectable, around six weeks of pregnancy, with no exceptions for fetal abnormalities. (Martin, 7/3)

Politico: Biden Administration Plans Major Cuts To AIDS Relief Programs In Africa 
The Biden administration plans to cut funding by more than 6 percent in fiscal 2025 from the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the 21-year-old program credited with saving millions of lives in Africa, a senior PEPFAR official told POLITICO. The State Department, which oversees the program, confirmed the cuts. The department has gradually spent down a glut in the PEPFAR budget from years in which funding from Congress exceeded State’s ability to spend it, said a department spokesperson who, like the PEPFAR official, was granted anonymity to discuss sensitive program decisions. Now the glut is gone and Congress in March held the program’s $4.4 billion budget flat. (Paun, 7/2)

Also —

CNN: Latinos Represent Nearly A Third Of New HIV Diagnoses In The US, CDC Data Shows
When Felix Hernandez learned that he had HIV, he had no one to lean on. In the years since his diagnosis, he found a way to support other people who may be feeling alone by helping administer HIV tests at a Tennessee clinic. (Chavez and Mclean, 7/2)

Gothamist: Program To Keep Patients' HIV ‘Undetectable’ Saved In NYC Budget 
Last-minute cuts to HIV services that New York City’s health department announced in May will be reversed in the city's new budget, protecting a program that helps HIV patients keep their viral loads low and avoid spreading the virus to others. The move means some HIV services that already started turning away new patients can open up their rolls once again. It follows swift pushback from city councilmembers and activists, who protested against the cuts outside City Hall earlier this month. (Lewis, 7/1)

Axios: Harvard Researchers Looking Into Over-The-Counter PrEP 
Boston-area researchers are exploring whether PrEP, the HIV prevention medication, should be available over the counter. Marcus and Douglas Krakower, a fellow professor, received a $500,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health to conduct the research. They will survey gay and bisexual men, cisgender women and transgender women about whether they would want easy access to PrEP and why or why not. (Solis, 7/3)

The 19th: Biden Admin Says It Opposes Gender-Affirming Surgery For Minors
The Biden administration on Tuesday afternoon provided more details about its opposition to gender-affirming surgery for transgender minors, a position at odds with its previously broad support for gender-affirming care — and one taken by a presidential administration that has closely aligned itself with LGBTQ+ advocates. (Rummler, 7/2)

AP: Judge's Order Greatly Expands Where Biden Can't Enforce A New Rule Protecting LGBTQ+ Students
Enforcement of a federal rule expanding anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ students has been blocked in four states and a patchwork of places elsewhere by a federal judge in Kansas. U.S. District Judge John Broomes suggested in his ruling Tuesday that the Biden administration must now consider whether forcing compliance remains “worth the effort.” (Hanna, 7/2)

Idaho Capital Sun: ‘I’m Not Ready To Give Up:’ Idaho Ban Prompts Clinic To Halt Gender-Affirming Care 
In 2018, Kody Gates moved back to his hometown. But he was terrified about whether he could still access gender-affirming care. He felt relieved when he found Dr. Neil Ragan, who founded Health West ISU’s gender-affirming care clinic in Pocatello. But in response to a new law that took effect Monday that bans public funds for gender-affirming care, Health West will stop providing gender-affirming care to everyone. Counseling will still be offered at the Idaho-based non-profit health center. (Pfannenstiel, 7/2)

NPR: In Just A Few Years, Half Of All States Passed Bans On Trans Health Care For Kids
Transgender people under 18 face laws that bar them from accessing gender-affirming health care in 25 states — just a few years ago, not a single state had such a law. (Simmons-Duffin and Fung, 7/3)

CIDRAP: HHS Awards Moderna $176 Million To Develop MRNA H5 Avian Flu Vaccine
The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through its Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), today announced that it has awarded Moderna $176 million to develop a prepandemic vaccine against H5 avian influenza. In its announcement, HHS said the award helps bolster the nation's pandemic flu vaccine capacity, which currently relies on an older traditional vaccine platform. Moderna will leverage its domestic large-scale commercial mRNA vaccine manufacturing platforms and ongoing development of mRNA-based seasonal flu vaccines. (Schnirring, 7/2)

Stat: U.S. Expanding Capacity To Test People For H5N1 Bird Flu 
As the H5N1 bird flu outbreak in dairy cows enters its fourth month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is taking steps to ramp up the nation’s capacity to test for the virus in people. (Molteni, 7/2)

Stat: Bird Flu Outbreak Puts Veterinarians In Tough Spot — The Frontlines
When, in April, the federal government began requiring some cows to be tested for a strain of avian flu before their herds could be moved across state lines, it seemed like an obvious step to try to track and slow the virus that had started spreading among U.S. dairy cattle. But Joe Armstrong, a veterinarian at the University of Minnesota extension school, feared the U.S. Department of Agriculture rule could lead to potential problems for his colleagues, who were in effect being deputized to implement it. (Joseph, 7/3)

KFF Health News: Listen To The Latest 'KFF Health News Minute'
“Health Minute” brings original health care and health policy reporting from the KFF Health News newsroom to the airwaves each week. (7/2)

In covid news —

CIDRAP: NIH Announces Launch Of Clinical Trial For Nasal COVID Vaccine 
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) yesterday announced the launch of a phase 1 trial of a nasal vaccine against COVID-19, which also marks the first National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) trial conducted as part of the government's Project NextGen—an effort designed to advance the development of next-generation vaccines against the disease. (Schnirring, 7/2)

The Wall Street Journal: GSK To Buy CureVac’s Covid-19, Flu Vaccine Rights In Up To $1.56 Billion Deal
GSK struck a deal to buy the rights to CureVac’s Covid-19 and flu vaccines for up to 1.45 billion euros ($1.56 billion), bolstering the U.K. pharmaceutical company’s vaccine portfolio at a time when bird-flu concerns are boosting demand. Governments around the world are stepping up efforts to prevent the potential spread of the avian flu virus to people. (Goriainoff, 7/3)

CIDRAP: No Link Between First Trimester COVID-19 Vaccination And Birth Defects
Maternal COVID-19 vaccination in the first trimester of pregnancy is not linked to major structural birth defects, according to a study yesterday in JAMA Pediatrics. The study was based on outcomes seen among women who received one or two mRNA COVID-19 vaccine doses in the first trimester of pregnancy and gave birth from March 5, 2021, to January 25, 2022, at eight US study sites. (Soucheray, 7/2)

CBS News: COVID Trend Reaches "High" Level Across Western U.S. In Latest CDC Data
A key indicator for tracking the spread of COVID-19 has officially reached "high" levels across western U.S. states, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now shows. But the agency says it remains too early to say whether this year's summer COVID-19 surge has arrived nationwide. Levels of SARS-CoV-2 virus showing up in wastewater samples are climbing in most parts of the country, according to figures from the agency through June 27. (Sheehan, 7/2)

Modern Healthcare: Prospect Medical Holdings Probed By DOJ
The Justice Department opened an investigation into potential fraud at Prospect Medical Holdings, according to recent court filings in a legal battle between Yale New Haven Health and Prospect. The DOJ on Nov. 3 sent a civil investigative demand to Prospect, the for-profit health system confirmed in a June 27 filing in the Superior Court for the Judicial District of Hartford. (Kacik, 7/2)

San Francisco Chronicle: UCSF, Bonta Agree To Terms Allowing $100 Million SF Hospital Takeover
UCSF must continue charity care, adhere to price growth caps and invest hundreds of millions of dollars into St. Mary’s Medical Center and Saint Francis Memorial Hospital, the two struggling San Francisco hospitals it is acquiring for $100 million, under a settlement reached with the California attorney general. The settlement, announced Tuesday, resolves a complaint brought by the AG that sought to halt the deal over concerns it could harm people’s access to medical services. (Ho, 7/2)

Modern Healthcare: Why M&A Antitrust Scrutiny Overlooks Academic Medical Centers
Academic medical centers are acquiring community hospitals, sometimes while benefiting from a gap in federal antitrust law. Alabama, California, Pennsylvania and Virginia have seen academic medical centers expand, and analysts expect merger and acquisition activity to continue. (Kacik, 7/2)

Reuters: Walmart Has Held Talks To Sell Its Shuttered Medical Clinics, Fortune Reports
Walmart has held talks with potential buyers to sell its already shuttered medical clinics, Fortune reported on Tuesday, citing multiple sources familiar with the matter. In April, Walmart decided to close all 51 of its health clinics and shut its virtual healthcare operations, saying it could not see them as a sustainable business model to continue. The report added that some of the talks have involved health insurance companies, including Fortune 50 firm Humana. (7/2)

Modern Healthcare: Cedars-Sinai Health System Names Dr. Peter Slavin Next CEO
Cedars-Sinai Health System named Dr. Peter Slavin its next president and CEO, effective Oct. 1. Slavin, who also will be president and CEO of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, succeeds Thomas Priselac, who is retiring after 30 years as president and CEO at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and the subsequent Cedars-Sinai Health System. Priselac spent 45 years overall at the system, according to a Tuesday news release. (Hudson, 7/2)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Major St. Louis Hospital Expansions Contain Pandemic Lessons
Workers have begun on the foundation. Next year, the structure will rise out of the ground. In 2027, the building will be completed and doctors will begin seeing patients in the new children’s hospital on South Grand Boulevard, which will replace SSM Health’s Cardinal Glennon. (Merrilees, 7/2)

In global news —

Reuters: UK Baby Killer Letby Found Guilty Of Trying To Kill Another Child 
Former nurse Lucy Letby was found guilty on Tuesday of trying to murder another newborn baby, adding to convictions last year that made her Britain's most prolific serial child killer of modern times. Letby, 34, was found guilty last August of murdering seven babies and trying to kill six more between June 2015 and June 2016 while working as a nurse in the neonatal unit of the Countess of Chester Hospital in Chester, northern England. (Holden, 7/2)

Reuters: US FDA To Ban Use Of Brominated Vegetable Oil In Food, Soda 
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Tuesday it would revoke the regulation that authorized the use of brominated vegetable oil in food items, effective Aug. 2, as it was no longer safe. BVO is a chemical ingredient containing bromine, which is found in fire retardants. Small quantities of BVO are used legally in some citrus-flavored drinks in the United States to keep the flavor evenly distributed. (Vanaik, 7/2)

USA Today: Salmonella Outbreak In Cucumbers Linked To Florida Grower: CDC, FDA
A multistate investigation by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration has identified a Florida grower as a likely source in an outbreak caused by salmonella-tainted cucumbers. Amidst the monthlong investigation – during which 449 people in 31 states and the District of Columbia have reported salmonella illnesses – salmonella found in untreated canal water used by Bedner Growers, Inc., of Boynton Beach, Florida, matched the strain (Salmonella Braenderup) sickening some in the outbreak, the agencies said. (Snider, 7/2)

In other health and wellness news —

NBC News: Why U.S. Kids Are Dying At Higher Rates Than In Other Wealthy Countries
Children in the U.S. are dying at higher rates than in other wealthy, developed countries. Research published Monday in the journal JAMA Pediatrics attempts to calculate these “excess deaths” — in other words, how many more kids under age 19 are dying in the U.S. compared to similar countries. The estimate: 20,000 per year. It’s a bleak picture of the country’s pediatric health. (Bendix, 7/2)

CNN: ARFID: The Eating Disorder You Haven’t Heard Of 
When Hannah was 7 years old, she told her parents she didn’t want to be afraid of food anymore. She had stopped wanting to go to Girl Scouts, birthday parties, restaurants, family celebrations and even the dinner table. (Holcombe, 7/2)

KFF Health News: Beyond PMS: A Poorly Understood Disorder Means Periods Of Despair For Some Women
For the most part, Cori Lint was happy.She worked days as a software engineer and nights as a part-time cellist, filling her free hours with inline skating and gardening and long talks with friends. But a few days a month, Lint’s mood would tank. Panic attacks came on suddenly. Suicidal thoughts did, too. She had been diagnosed with anxiety and depression, but Lint, 34, who splits her time between St. Petersburg, Florida, and Tulsa, Oklahoma, struggled to understand her experience, a rift so extreme she felt like two different people. (Peace, 7/3)

NPR: Medical Amputations Are No Longer A Uniquely Human Treatment
When an ant injures its leg, it sometimes will turn to a buddy who will help out by gnawing the leg off, effectively performing a lifesaving limb amputation. That’s according to some new experiments described in the journal Current Biology, which show that ants are the only animal other than humans known to practice amputation as a medical treatment. (Greenfieldboyce, 7/2)

The Boston Globe: House Passes Bill Targeting Sexual Assault By Health Care Provider
Patients who are sexually assaulted by medical professionals would gain expanded protections under a bill that has cleared the House and is awaiting action in the Senate. Medical providers and clergy members who inappropriately touch or assault patients while claiming to be providing legitimate care could face jail time under legislation (H 4350) the House passed last week. (Kuznitz, 7/2)

More health news from Massachusetts —

The Boston Globe: Boston Ends Funding For Needle Collection Program
Since it launched in 2020, Boston’s Community Syringe Redemption Program has taken about five million dirty needles off the street and halved calls to the city for syringe cleanup. In exchange, the program provided small cash payments to those living with addiction, keeping some from turning to theft and prostitution, according to Addiction Response Resources, the small business that runs the program. As of last Friday, though, the needle exchange program is defunct. (Laughlin, 7/2)

The Boston Globe: West Nile Virus Detected In Massachusetts For First Time This Year
West Nile virus has been detected in mosquitoes in Massachusetts for the first time this year, public health officials said Tuesday. The virus was found in two mosquito samples collected June 25 in Quincy and confirmed by the state’s public health laboratory Tuesday, the state Department of Public Health said. (Stoico, 7/2)

Other developments from across the U.S. —

The Washington Post: Feds: D.C. Owes $4.4 Million Penalty For Poor SNAP Performance
D.C. is facing a $4.4 million penalty from the federal government due to persistent errors in processing critical food assistance benefits that thousands of Washingtonians rely on, once again putting in sharp focus the challenges the District has had in responding to high demand for public benefits. The U.S. Department of Agriculture notified D.C. officials in a letter Friday that it was issuing the fine because for the second consecutive year, the District far exceeded what federal officials consider an acceptable error rate in processing benefits in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). (Flynn, 7/2)

WUSF: Over 4,500 Enroll In New USF Course About Mental Health In The Workplace
Mental health issues in the workplace are on the rise across the country. Seventy-six percent of workers reported at least one symptom of a mental health condition in 2021, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. A new University of South Florida course is trying to combat this, and over 4,500 working professionals enrolled in its first year. They came from top companies across the nation and the world. (Shanes, 7/2)

The Colorado Sun: Colorado Leaders Launch Online Portal To Create Accountability In Mental Health
Southern and eastern Coloradans accessed behavioral health care services more often than people in any other regions in the state last year and may become a focus for state leaders working to improve the mental health system. The new data was published this week when the Colorado Behavioral Health Administration launched an online portal that aims to increase transparency and accountability and help the administration offer better care to Coloradans who need it during the coming years. (Flowers, 7/3)

WLRN Public Media: Locally Acquired Dengue Fever Cases Reported In Monroe County
Two cases of locally contracted dengue fever were confirmed by health officials in Monroe County this week. The viral infection is not contagious but is transmitted by infected mosquitoes. Dengue can present as a flu-like illness with severe muscle aches, joint pain, fever and sometimes a rash, according to the Florida Department of Health in Monroe County. (Cooper, 7/2)

FiercePharma: Biden Joins Sanders' Campaign Targeting Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly's Diabetes And Obesity Drug Prices 
In recent months, frequent pharma critic Sen. Bernie Sanders has been ratcheting up a campaign against Novo Nordisk over the price of its popular diabetes and weight loss medicines. Now, the senator has big-time backup in his fight. In a new USA Today op-ed piece, President Joe Biden and Sen. Sanders blasted Novo Nordisk for "charging the American people unconscionably high prices" for its popular GLP-1 medicines Ozempic and Wegovy. (Sagonowsky, 7/2)

Investor's Business Daily: Novo Nordisk Stock Falls After Biden Slams Drugmaker For 'Unconscionably High' Prices 
Novo Nordisk stock slumped Tuesday after President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders slammed the drugmaker and rival Eli Lilly for "unconscionably high" prices for weight-loss drugs. The two companies criticized their position. Biden and Sanders said the companies can make their weight-loss drugs for significantly less than they charge. (Gatlin, 7/2)

Read the editorial by President Biden and Sen. Sanders —

USA Today: President Biden: Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly Must Stop Ripping Off Americans With High Drug Prices
As president of the United States and the chairman of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee in the Senate, we have long been concerned about the outrageous prices that the pharmaceutical industry charges the American people for prescription drugs. There is no rational reason why Americans, for decades, have been forced to pay, by far, the highest prices in the world for the prescription drugs they need. (President Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), 7/2)

Other news about the high cost of prescription drugs —

Fox Business: Prescription Drug Prices Have Surged Almost 40% Over The Past Decade 
The cost of prescription drugs in the U.S. has surged nearly 40% over the past decade, easily outstripping the pace of inflation, according to a new study. Findings published by GoodRx, a drug savings company, show that the list price for prescription drugs has climbed about 37% since 2014. Although price increases have slowed this year, costs continue to pose a "significant burden" to many consumers. In 2024 alone, Americans have spent $21 billion on out-of-pocket prescriptions. That amounts to about $16.26 per person, according to the data. (Henney, 7/2)

The Wall Street Journal: Mail-Order Drugs Were Supposed To Keep Costs Down. It’s Doing The Opposite. 
A key tool that businesses have counted on to keep a lid on employees’ drug spending—filling workers’ prescriptions by mail—is now driving up their costs. Unity Care NW, a nonprofit health clinic in Washington state, forecasts the cost of medical and drug benefits for its 365 employees and their family members will increase this year by 25% to more than $3 million. A big reason: Drugs delivered by mail are costing multiples more than those picked up at a store counter. (Hopkins, 6/25)

Time: What To Do If You Can’t Afford Your Medications 
After Jackie Trapp was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, an incurable blood cancer, in 2015, she thought her biggest health shock was behind her. Then came the bills for Revlimid, a powerful cancer drug that her doctor said was her best hope for controlling the disease. The first month’s supply cost $11,148; the second, $12,040—and her insurer denied coverage. “I’d need to take the drug every month, for years,” says Trapp, 59, a former high school teacher and realtor from Muskego, Wis. “My husband and I had done well in our careers, we’d been frugal and we’d saved, but there was no way paying $120,000 a year or more was sustainable.” (Harris, 6/27)

Los Angeles Times: Why The Surgeon General's Gun Violence Declaration Matters 
The federal government acknowledged for the first time last week that gun violence is an urgent public health crisis. You already knew that, of course. We all knew it. But thanks to the gun lobby‘s stranglehold on our political class, it’s been nearly impossible to focus the federal government’s attention — and money — on this shameful and uniquely American problem. That’s why the “Surgeon General’s Advisory on Firearm Violence” is so encouraging. In fed-speak, an advisory is the equivalent of sending up a flare; it is reserved for a situation that, as Surgeon General Vivek Murthy put it, requires “the nation’s immediate awareness and action.” About damn time. (Robin Abcarian, 7/3)

The Washington Post: Crucial Questions About Gender Care For Kids Aren’t Political Or Legal
The allegations against Rachel Levine, assistant secretary for health at the Department of Health and Human Services, need to be investigated, and if they are true, she needs to be replaced — not only because she will have endangered children, but also to send the message that, when it comes to figuring out the proper medical treatment of children, politics never comes before science. (Megan McArdle, 7/2)

San Francisco Chronicle: As A Doctor, I See Patients Showing Signs Of Domestic Abuse But I Barely Have Any Training To Help Them
As an internal medicine physician, I am chillingly familiar with the health consequences of intimate partner violence, which affects 10 million Americans each year. I often see patients hospitalized with complications of chronic disease, but as their cases unfold, it comes to light that the underlying cause of symptoms or injuries is abuse. It breaks my heart every time but there’s not much I can do except give them a referral to a social worker and verbal validation that the way they have been treated is not OK. Why? Because doctors are not trained to do anything more than that. (Amrapali Maitra, 7/2)

Los Angeles Times: Fentanyl Could Fuel Another Cycle Of Loss In L.A.’s Black Communities. It Doesn’t Have To
The disproportionate number of Black children in Los Angeles’ child welfare system has been scrutinized since the late 1980s, the height of Los Angeles’ heroin and crack epidemics. The drugs, then largely addressed as a criminal issue through heavy-handed policing and prosecution, consigned a generation of young and middle-aged Black Angelenos, both users and dealers, to premature death and incarceration. Many of their children wound up in the city’s fragmented child welfare system and, all too often, on a similar path toward addiction and entanglement with the legal system. (Jerel Ezell, 7/2)

Stat: Can The NIH Rebuild Its Bipartisan Support? 
Few federal agencies have enjoyed a more sterling reputation on Capitol Hill over the past several decades than the National Institutes of Health. But a bevy of challenges are spurring calls for reform on Capitol Hill that may be difficult for the agency to fend off without making some concessions. (Nick Manetto, 7/3)