NPR: U.S. Maternal Deaths Keep Rising. Here's Who Is Most At Risk
The number of people dying in the U.S. from pregnancy-related causes has more than doubled in the last 20 years, according to a new study, published in JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association. And while the study found mortality rates remain "unacceptably high among all racial and ethnic groups across the U.S.," the worst outcomes were among Black women, Native American and Alaska Native people. (Huang and Greenhalgh, 7/4)

Reuters: U.S. Maternal Mortality More Than Doubled Since 1999, Most Deaths Among Black Women - Study 
To the researchers' surprise, Black women had the highest maternal mortality rates in some Northeast states. "Often, states in the South are called out as having the worst maternal mortality rates in the nation, whereas California and Massachusetts have the best. But that doesn't tell the whole story," study leader Dr. Allison Bryant of Mass General Brigham in Boston said in a statement. "It's essential to look at the disparities between populations that exist even in the 'best' states." (Lapid, 7/3)

AP: Maternal Deaths In The US More Than Doubled Over Two Decades. Black Mothers Died At The Highest Rate 
“It’s a call to action to all of us to understand the root causes — to understand that some of it is about health care and access to health care, but a lot of it is about structural racism and the policies and procedures and things that we have in place that may keep people from being healthy,” said Dr. Allison Bryant, one of the study’s authors and a senior medical director for health equity at Mass General Brigham. (Ungar, 7/3)

Also —

The New York Times: A Blood Test Predicts Pre-Eclampsia In Pregnant Women
The Food and Drug Administration has approved a blood test that can identify pregnant women who are at imminent risk of developing a severe form of high blood pressure called pre-eclampsia, a leading cause of disability and death among childbearing women. The condition disproportionately affects Black women in the United States and may have contributed to the recent death of Tori Bowie, a track star who won gold at the 2016 Olympics. Two Black teammates of Ms. Bowie — Allyson Felix and Tianna Bartoletta — also developed pre-eclampsia during their pregnancies. (Caryn Rabin, 7/3)

NPR: July Has Already Seen 11 Mass Shootings. The Emotional Scars Won't Heal Easily
These are among the 11 mass shootings — defined as acts of gun violence injuring or killing at least four people — that have occurred this month, and 346 mass shootings since the beginning of the year, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Mass shootings have been rising in recent years, as have other kinds of gun violence, making firearms a major public health issue. This year alone, more than 21,000 people have died due to gun violence. Of those deaths, 12,210 were suicides. (Chatterjee, 7/4)

USA Today: Deadly Shootings In Philadelphia, Fort Worth And Other US Cities
Even before this weekend, the nation had already seen more mass killings and victims at this point in the year than in any other year since at least 2006. But Independence Day weekend has emerged as a particularly bloody holiday in the United States. The nation has witnessed an average of five mass shootings on Independence Day over the past decade − more than on any other day of the year. (Voyles Pulver, 7/4)

Politico: Biden Again Calls For Stricter Gun Measures After String Of Shootings 
President Joe Biden on Tuesday again called for further gun restrictions following a string of deadly shootings as the nation celebrates Independence Day. “Today, Jill and I grieve for those who have lost their lives,” Biden said in a statement. “We pray for the day when our communities will be free from gun violence.” (Berg, 7/4)

On a ceremony one year after the Highland Park shooting —

The Hill: Highland Park Shooting Marked With Remembrance, Renewed Call For Gun Reform
Highland Park, Illinois, celebrated July 4th in somber remembrance, one year after seven people were killed in a mass shooting during the previous running of the city’s parade. The community gathered in a ceremony to remember the seven people killed and dozens injured, and to “reclaim” the Independence Day parade route from the tragedy. (Robertson, 7/4)

The Hill: Almost 1 In 4 People In The US Hadn’t Gotten COVID By The End Of 2022: CDC 
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has estimated that almost 1 out of 4 people in the U.S. still hadn’t been exposed to COVID-19 by the end of 2022 after nearly three years of the pandemic. In its final survey looking at the period between October and December 2022, the CDC estimated that about 77.5 percent of people had infection-induced antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. (Choi, 7/3)

CBS News: How Many Americans Still Haven't Caught COVID-19? CDC Publishes Final 2022 Estimates
Virtually every American ages 16 and older — 96.7% — had antibodies either from getting vaccinated, surviving the virus or some combination of the two by December, the CDC now estimates. The study found 77.5% had at least some of their immunity from a prior infection. (Tin, 7/3)

CIDRAP: US COVID Markers Stay Low 
The indicators the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) uses to track COVID activity remain low, according to yesterday's update. Nationally, hospital admission rates for COVID declined 5.3% over the past week, and deaths remained level. For hospitalizations, most counties remain in the green zone, except for a few in Iowa, Louisiana, Nebraska, Texas, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. (Schnirring, 6/30)

On covid vaccines —

CIDRAP: COVID Vaccine May Boost Antibody Response To MERS, Other Coronaviruses
A small Qatar University–led study published today in JAMA Network Open suggests that COVID-19 vaccination might enhance immunity against Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) and, to a lesser degree, other human coronaviruses. The researchers analyzed antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and MERS-CoV, which causes MERS, as well as cross-reactive responses to other human coronaviruses using 18 sera samples from 14 men who had previous MERS-CoV infections before (12) and after (6) receipt of two doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. (Van Beusekom, 6/30)

The Texas Tribune: Emergency Room Visits Surge, Texans Die Amid Dangerous Heat Wave 
A dangerous heat wave that blanketed Texas this month has prompted a public health crisis that’s particularly affecting older people and outdoor workers across the state, local and federal health data shows. At least nine people have died from the heat in one South Texas county, the local medical examiner reported, eight of them older than 60. In sweltering Texas prisons, at least nine inmates, including two men in their 30s, have died of heart attacks or unknown causes in facilities that lack air conditioning. (Douglas, 6/30)

AP: Hiker Dies While On 8-Mile Hike In Triple-Digit Heat At Grand Canyon National Park
A 57-year-old woman has died while on an eight-mile hike in triple-digit heat at Grand Canyon National Park, authorities said Monday. The victim’s name and hometown weren’t immediately released. Park officials said a ranger was notified around 6:30 p.m. Sunday about a distressed day hiker in the remote Tuweep area of the park. (7/3)

San Francisco Chronicle: Here’s Where It Was Hottest In Bay Area’s 1st Big Heat Wave Of Summer
Highs pushed near 100 degrees in the Bay Area’s inland valleys and reached well into the 70s along the coast Saturday as soaring temperatures were on track to make this weekend the hottest of the year to date. The heat was expected to peak by Sunday and taper off throughout next week, according to the National Weather Service’s Bay Area division. (Castro-Root, 7/1)

AP: World Swelters To Unofficial Hottest Day On Record 
The entire planet sweltered to the unofficial hottest day in human recordkeeping July 3, according to University of Maine scientists at the Climate Reanalyzer project. High temperature records were surpassed July 3 and 4 in Quebec and northwestern Canada and Peru. Cities across the U.S. from Medford, Oregon to Tampa, Florida have been hovering at all-time highs, said Zack Taylor, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. Beijing reported 9 straight days last week when the temperature exceeded 35 C (95 F). (Walling and Borenstein, 7/5)

Meanwhile, heat events are expected to worsen —

CNN: El Niño Is Here And The World Must Prepare For More Extreme Heat, UN Weather Agency Warns
Governments must prepare for more extreme weather events and record temperatures in the coming months, the World Meteorological Organization warned Tuesday, as it declared the onset of the warming phenomenon El Niño. El Niño is a natural climate pattern in the tropical Pacific Ocean that brings warmer-than-average sea-surface temperatures and has a major influence on weather across the globe, affecting billions of people. (Regan, 7/5)

Also, on air quality and the environment —

NPR: Canada's Record Wildfire Season Continues To Hammer U.S. Air Quality
Several hundred wildfires are continuing to burn across several Canadian provinces this weekend, with an ongoing impact on impact air quality for vast swaths of the North American continent. Earlier this week the air quality in Toronto was assessed to be among the worst in the world, just weeks after the wildfires had left New York City with that dubious title. (Marx, 7/1)

The New York Times: July 4 Fireworks Can Add To Air Quality And Wildfire Concerns 
This year Salt Lake City is replacing its fireworks with synchronized dancing drone displays to avoid worsening air quality and setting off more wildfires. Boulder, Colo., is switching to drones, too, and Minneapolis is opting for lasers, simply because those technologies have been easier to source than fireworks in recent years. And as wildfire smoke from Canada again blanketed much of the United States last week, New York City officials debated whether to set off fireworks on the 4th but, as of Monday night, had not called them off. (Erdenesanaa, 7/4)

Bloomberg: Biden Administration Ordered To Limit Social Media Contacts
A federal judge in Louisiana ordered key Biden administration officials and agencies not to contact social media platforms to suppress speakers and viewpoints they disagree with in a major development that could curtail efforts to combat misinformation about health and other issues. (Forden and Gardner, 7/4)

The Hill: Federal Judge Limits Biden Administration Contact With Social Media Platforms
The Republican attorneys general of Louisiana and Missouri are suing the administration over what they describe as a “campaign of censorship,” in which the Biden administration allegedly “coordinated and colluded with social-media platforms to identify disfavored speakers, viewpoints, and content.” They argued that administration officials’ public and private communications with social media companies about removing content related to COVID-19 vaccines and public health measures, election integrity and other topics violated the First Amendment. (Shapero, 7/4)

On Medicare payments and Medicaid enrollment —

Axios: Medicaid Payment Proposal For Health Aides Rankles Home Health Companies
Home health agencies say they could be driven out of business by a Biden administration proposal that would require them to spend the majority of their Medicaid dollars on higher pay for direct care workers. The proposal aims to improve stability in the home- and community-based care workforce, which is shrinking as the demand for services increases. (Goldman, 7/5)

Modern Healthcare: Home Health Providers Set For 2.2% Medicare Pay Cut 
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has proposed cutting reimbursements to home health providers by 2.2% in fiscal 2024 in a draft regulation published Friday. The proposed rate change is the product of a 3% market basket update, a minus 5.1% adjustment related to the Patient-Driven Groupings Model and other factors. (Turner and Eastabrook, 6/30)

Modern Healthcare: Medicare 2024 Payment Rules Draw Critical Responses
In comments on the proposed rules to update reimbursements for nursing homes, inpatient rehabilitation facilities and inpatient psychiatric hospitals, providers and trade groups urged CMS to recognize macroeconomic trends such as inflation and other challenges facing the healthcare sector. These include workforce shortages and the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. These comments align with pleas from the hospital industry about the draft regulation to set inpatient reimbursements. (Turner, 7/3)

KFF Health News: Journalists Discuss Floridians Being Dropped From Medicaid And Tips For Telemedicine Visits
KFF Health News and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances. (7/1)

And in other administration news —

AP: 10 States Plan To Sue The EPA Over Standards For Residential Wood-Burning Stoves
Attorneys general from 10 states plan to sue the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, saying its failure to review and ensure emissions standards for residential wood-burning stoves has allowed the continued sale of appliances that could worsen pollution. That means programs that encourage people to trade in older stoves and other wood-burning appliances, such as forced-air furnaces, haven’t necessarily improved air quality, the states say. (7/2)

AP: Secret Service Found Cocaine At The White House When Biden Was Away, AP Sources Say
The White House was briefly evacuated Sunday evening while President Joe Biden was at Camp David after the Secret Service discovered suspicious powder in a common area of the West Wing, and a preliminary test showed the substance was cocaine, two law enforcement officials said Tuesday. Secret Service agents were doing routine rounds on Sunday when they found the white powder in an area accessible to tour groups, not in any particular West Wing office, the officials said. The officials were not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. (Long and Balsamo, 7/4)

More from Capitol Hill —

The Hill: Republicans Divided Over 15-Week Abortion Ban Ahead Of 2024 
Republicans are split on whether their presidential contenders should embrace a federal 15-week ban on abortion as the party tries to find its footing on the issue going into 2024. In a radio ad released Thursday in Iowa, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) vowed to back a national 15-week ban on the procedure. That ad followed a call last week from former Vice President Mike Pence, who urged the other candidates to embrace a federal 15-week ban. (Vakil and Manchester, 7/4)

Roll Call: Senate Releases Bipartisan Draft Of Emergency Preparedness Bill 
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Monday released a bipartisan draft of a bill to reauthorize a wide-ranging emergency preparedness law, although leaders in both parties are also seeking feedback on two outstanding legislative proposals. Both chambers are contending with a Sept. 30 deadline to reauthorize the law. Negotiations in the House Energy and Commerce Committee are apparently deadlocked over a rift about prescription drug shortages. The Senate draft includes provisions to launch pilot programs for data sharing and state medical stockpiles, improve wastewater detection capabilities and boost research on treatments for viral pathogens, among other things. (Clason, 7/3)

North Carolina Health News: Judge Allows New Abortion Law To Take Effect
A federal court judge has temporarily blocked one portion of North Carolina’s new abortion restriction law one day before it is set to take effect. The ruling, issued Friday afternoon by Judge Catherine Eagles, an Obama appointee, stops short of curbing the new limits to abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy — changes passed into law this year by the Republican-led state legislature. Most of the law and ensuing clarifying amendments, passed this week, take effect on Saturday. Health care providers say they already are having an impact on patients. (Blythe, 6/30)

Axios: Federal Judge Allows N.C. Abortion Ban To Take Effect, With One Exception 
That measure, Planned Parenthood South Atlantic argued in a lawsuit against the state, makes it unclear whether providers are allowed to provide a medication abortion if it's too soon to tell whether or not the patient has an intrauterine pregnancy. State lawmakers passed legislation last week fixing numerous other provisions Planned Parenthood named in the lawsuit, and Gov. Roy Cooper signed those changes into law less than a day before Eagles' ruling. (Sherman, 7/3)

Also —

Iowa Public Radio: A Year After The Dobbs Decision, The Future Of Abortion In Iowa Is Still Unclear
Vanessa was trying to get away from an abusive partner earlier this year when she found out she was pregnant. “Everybody kept saying, ‘Oh, you should just keep it.’ But then I was thinking of my future,” she said. “I thought of myself being, like, dirt poor and just struggling to raise this baby on my own. And I didn’t really want to do that.” Vanessa said her ex-partner was stalking her and she didn’t know what he was capable of. She decided to get an abortion. But abortion was banned in her state after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. With the help of a Planned Parenthood navigator, Vanessa came to Iowa. (Sostaric, 6/29)

AP: Morning-After Pill Vending Machines Gain Popularity On College Campuses Post-Roe
Need Plan B? Tap your credit card and enter B6. Since last November, a library at the University of Washington has featured a different kind of vending machine, one that’s become more popular on campuses around the country since the U.S. Supreme Court ended constitutional protections for abortion last year. It’s stocked with ibuprofen, pregnancy tests and the morning-after pill. (Komenda and Haigh, 7/1)

Meanwhile a legal decision in the U.S. is hitting countries across the ocean —

AP: After The Fall Of Roe, Emboldened Religious Conservatives Lobby To Restrict Abortion In Africa
Efforts to legalize and make abortions safer in Africa were shaken when the U.S. Supreme Court ended the national right to an abortion a year ago. Within days, Sierra Leone President Julius Maada Bio declared that his government would decriminalize abortion “at a time when sexual and reproductive health rights for women are being either overturned or threatened.” But some U.S.-based organizations active in Africa were emboldened, especially in largely Christian countries. One is Family Watch International, a nonprofit Christian conservative organization whose anti-LGBTQ+ stance, anti-abortion activities and “intense focus on Africa” led to its designation as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. (Anna, 7/2)

The New York Times: Supreme Court Backs Web Designer Opposed To Same-Sex Marriage
The Supreme Court sided on Friday with a web designer in Colorado who said she had a First Amendment right to refuse to design wedding websites for same-sex couples despite a state law that forbids discrimination against gay people. Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, writing for the majority in a 6-3 vote, said that the First Amendment protected the designer, Lorie Smith, from being compelled to express views she opposed. (VanSickle and Liptak, 6/30)

Politico: Supreme Court Limits LGBTQ Protections In Dispute Over Services For Same-Sex Weddings
Sotomayor said the court’s ruling opens the door for a wide variety of businesses to discriminate against prospective customers. She read portions of her dissent from the bench — an unusual move that signaled she felt especially strongly. It was the second day in a row that Sotomayor dissented from the bench. (On Thursday, she read long portions of her dissent in the court’s decision ending affirmative action.) (Gerstein and Frasier, 6/30)

The Hill: Levine On Anti-LGBTQ Legislation: ‘These Laws And Actions Will Not Stand’
Rachel Levine remained optimistic about the LGBTQ+ community’s future in the U.S. at an event about health inequity. During Thursday’s event, hosted by The Washington Post, associate editor Jonathan Capehart and the nation’s assistant secretary for health discussed the recent slew of bills in state legislatures that target the LGBTQ+ community. (Kelly, 7/3)

Also —

NPR: LGBTQ+ Women Rely On Community When Facing Harassment And Violence, Survey Finds 
The executive summary of the survey report, entitled "We Never Give Up the Fight: A Report of the National LGBTQ+ Women's Community Survey," was released this week. It found that while LGBTQ+ women experience high rates of violence in multiple areas of their lives, they regularly rely on their friends, not institutions – such as the education system, law enforcement, or religious organizations – for support. Specifically, 76% of respondents reported experiencing harassment, discrimination, or violence in educational settings, and 43% said their childhood faith traditions became a source of conflict because of their identity as an LGBTQ+ woman. (Roldan, 7/1)

Meanwhile, in Florida —

The Hill: LGBTQ Conservatives Say They Feel Misled By DeSantis 
LGBTQ Republicans say they feel misled by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) after the GOP presidential hopeful’s “war room” shared a bizarre video widely seen as inflammatory. The video bashed former President Donald Trump’s (R) support for the LGBTQ community and leaned into conservative state policies passed under DeSantis this year that were criticized as anti-LGBTQ. (Migdon, 7/3)

The 19th: Gender-Affirming Care In Florida Just Got Even Harder To Access
Two Florida medical boards met Friday to finalize rules for how transgender minors and adults in the state can access gender-affirming care. Amid confusion that has prevented adults from accessing care, LGBTQ+ Floridians and their doctors asked the boards to do better to protect trans people — and to acknowledge gender-affirming care as legitimate medical care. (Rummler, 6/30)

WGCU: Transgender Floridians Remain In Limbo As Legal Fight Over Gender-Affirming Care Continues
Six weeks after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill that places restrictions and bans on gender-affirming care, many transgender Floridians feel uncertainty and dread about their future in the state. SB 254, signed into law May 17, has been criticized for its broad restrictions on health care for the estimated 94,900 transgender people who live in Florida. Under the law, a ban is placed on all gender-affirming care for minors. and further limits are put into place on how transgender adults can receive care. (Stewart, 7/5)

The New York Times: How Colleges Admissions Might Diversify Without Affirmative Action
For the head of admissions at a medical school, Dr. Mark Henderson is pretty blunt when sizing up the profession. “Mostly rich kids get to go to medical school,” he said. In his role at the medical school at the University of California, Davis, Dr. Henderson has tried to change that, developing an unorthodox tool to evaluate applicants: the socioeconomic disadvantage scale, or S.E.D. (Saul, 7/2)

Stat: What Affirmative Action's End Means To A Medical Student 
When the U.S. Supreme Court released its landmark ruling overturning the use of race-conscious college admissions, LaShyra Nolen was on clinical rotation. For Nolen, a fourth-year medical student at Harvard Medical School, the news sent a chill down her spine even though she had been anticipating it. “It felt very lonely,” said Nolen, who is Black and the first in her family to get a bachelors of science degree and attend medical school. The court’s decision effectively ends affirmative action at U.S. colleges and universities. Many medical education leaders view the ruling as a seismic shift in the American higher education landscape. (Tsanni, 7/3)

Stat: After Affirmative Action Ruling, Medical Educators Look To 'Holistic Review'
After having a day to read through the Supreme Court’s decision on affirmative action, some medical school and educational leaders are more hopeful that a path exists for them to diversify future classes and the health care workforce as they scramble to understand its impact on the next admissions cycle and the class of 2024. Several told STAT they saw the court’s ruling as explicitly endorsing the use of “holistic review,” a tool used increasingly by medical, dental, and nursing schools and other institutions to build classes that better reflect the demographics of the nation. For years, medical schools have been seeking to train physicians who better resemble the patients they treat — a key part of the effort to reduce health disparities. (McFarling, 6/30)

On other health industry staffing matters —

Axios: Staffing Standard Could Boost Nursing Home Unionization Efforts
A looming national staffing mandate for nursing homes could open the door for more labor organizing in a sector where a low proportion of workers are covered by union contracts. Higher pay, better benefits and baseline staff-to-patient ratios could lure more people to a workforce that was hollowed out during the pandemic, organizers say. (Dreher, 7/5)

Modern Healthcare: Telehealth, Staffing Concern Health Clients: Lawyers
The healthcare industry has been thrown numerous curveballs over the past year, from an unprecedented Supreme Court decision regarding access to abortion care nearly a year ago to the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency last month—along with a rocky economy and staffing shortages. In response to the uncertainty, lawyers working with health systems, nursing homes, digital health startups and provider groups have seen the demand for certain services spike. (Berryman, 6/30)

The Washington Post: UNOS, Buckeye Dispute Threatens Flow Of Organs To Transplant Hospitals
The flow of lifesaving organs to 63 U.S. transplant centers could be disrupted as soon as Wednesday by a dispute over the use of data, another potential blow to the troubled transplant system the government has promised to overhaul. (Bernstein, 7/3)

The Washington Post: Transplant Group Extends Deadline That Threatened Flow Of Crucial Organs 
The United Network for Organ Sharing has given Buckeye Transplant Services until July 19 to comply with its demands on use of transplant data. The extension offers a reprieve to the 63 hospitals and transplant centers that rely on Buckeye to evaluate the suitability of organs for potential recipients. Nathan Kottkamp, an attorney for UNOS, wrote to lawyers for Buckeye this week to notify the company of the extension, according to a copy of an email shared with The Washington Post. (Miroff and Bernstein, 7/4)

In other developments across the health industry —

Reuters: US FDA Declines To Approve Amneal's Parkinson's Drug Over Safety Concerns 
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has declined to approve Amneal Pharmaceuticals' (AMRX.N) drug designed to help control symptoms in Parkinson's disease patients for a longer duration, citing inadequate safety data. ... .The health regulator, in a complete response letter, has requested additional data as it was not convinced beyond doubt about the safety of one of the ingredient, carbidopa, used in the drug, even though some studies have demonstrated the safety of the other component, levodopa, the company said. (7/3)

Reuters: Fresenius Launches Biosimilar Version Of AbbVie's Humira At 5% Discount 
The generic drug unit of Germany's Fresenius (FREG.DE) said on Monday the price for Idacio, its copycat version of Abbvie's (ABBV.N) top-selling rheumatoid arthritis drug, will be at a 5% discount to Humira's list price. Fresenius joins drugmakers Boehringer Ingelheim, Sandoz and Organon, which launched Humira biosimilars, or copies of biologic drugs, this week. (7/3)

Reuters: Samsung Biologics Unveils $897 Mln Manufacturing Deals For Pfizer
South Korea's Samsung Biologics (207940.KS) announced on Tuesday two deals with Pfizer (PFE.N) worth a combined $897 million to manufacture products for the U.S. pharmaceutical giant. The latest deals will see the biotech division of the Samsung Group produce biosimilar products ranging from oncology and inflammation to immunotherapy in the period to 2029 at its new Plant 4 in South Korea. (7/4)

Reuters: Evotec Wins Orthopoxvirus Antibody Contract From U.S. Government 
Evotec's (EVTG.DE) Seattle-based subsidiary has won a $74 million contract with the U.S. Department of Defence to develop monoclonal antibody-based drugs targeting orthopoxviruses, the German biotech firm said on Wednesday. The contract includes existing antibody development, antibody discovery, and artificial intelligence driven de novo antibody design of therapeutic candidates, Evotec said in a statement. (7/5)

Stat: Ozempic's Maker Bought Prescribers Over 450,000 Meals Last Year
Novo Nordisk spent $11 million on meals and travel for thousands of doctors last year, federal records show, as part of its push to promote Ozempic and other weight loss-inducing diabetes drugs. The pharmaceutical company bought more than 457,000 meals to educate doctors and other prescribers about its portfolio of drugs known as GLP-1 agonists, according to the newly released data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (Florko, 7/5)

Modern Healthcare: Y Combinator Leads Funding For Startup Alfie Health
Y Combinator, the startup accelerator that helped produce Airbnb and Instacart, led a pre-seed funding round of $2.1 million for Alfie Health, a virtual obesity clinic. Alfie uses an artificial intelligence system to produce treatment recommendations and behavioral changes for patients. The recomendations are reviewed by clinicians, with the company relying on telehealth visits to track a patient's progress. Treatment prescribed by Alfie's clinicians may include popular glucagon-like peptide agnostics, or GLP-1 medications. (Turner, 6/30)

Minnesota Public Radio: Hennepin Healthcare Makes Its Case For More Equity, Inclusion Training
Between taking care of patients, filling out medical charts and teaching students, doctors and nurses at Hennepin Healthcare in Minneapolis are taking the time to do their own education. For about three hours each month, staff from across the system sit together in small groups to discuss racism in the broader world and inside the walls of their own institution. Using documentaries, podcasts and instructor-led conversations, staff from across the health care system spend time discussing, learning and, ideally, implementing the training in a clinical setting. While diversity, equity and inclusion programs are common in health care, having this kind of intensive requirement is an atypical move. (Wiley, 7/5)

The Wall Street Journal: Tyson Foods To Drop ‘No Antibiotics Ever’ Label On Some Chicken Products 
Tyson Foods is reintroducing certain antibiotics to its chicken supply chain, and will drop its “no antibiotics ever” tagline from Tyson-branded chicken products. (Thomas, 7/2)

USA Today: Eli Lilly Weight Loss Drug Retatrutide: What You Need To Know
Retatrutide is one of Lilly’s latest wonder drug developments, another potential treatment among the many the company has invested in to help reduce obesity. The phase 2 results translated to an average weight loss reduction of up to 24% of body weight over 11 months, and Lilly scientists say longer studies could show that number to be higher. The company plans to extend the study period in the phase 3 trial to examine the drug’s full potential. Other improvements noticed during the trial included lowered blood sugar levels and improved cholesterol levels. (Napier, 7/2)

Stat: Gilead And Teva Defeat Antitrust Lawsuit Over HIV Medicines
In a setback to AIDS activists, a federal court jury on Friday cleared Gilead Sciences and Teva Pharmaceuticals of allegations that the companies struck an illegal deal that inflated prices for HIV medicines. A lawsuit filed four years ago accused Gilead of using a range of controversial business tactics that led the U.S. health care system to overspend for HIV medicines. These included so-called pay-to-delay settlements of patent litigation and moves that purportedly stalled development of safer versions of medicines that had years left of patent protection. (Silverman, 6/30)

Stat: Dexcom's Push To Bring CGM To Type 2 Diabetes Patients
For years, diabetes tech company Dexcom has been striving to get its continuous glucose monitors into the hands of type 2 diabetes patients. Last week at the American Diabetes Association’s conference, the company unveiled plans for software built entirely for these patients, including ones who don’t take insulin. (Lawrence, 7/3)

Bloomberg: Daiichi, AstraZeneca Drop On Concern Over Lung-Cancer Drug
While the drug significantly slowed progression of the most common form of lung cancer more than standard chemotherapy, it hasn’t yet improved overall survival rates, Daiichi and AstraZeneca said in a statement late Monday. There were also some adverse reactions that led to patient deaths, the companies said, using the technical term of Grade 5 events. No further details were given. (Mulier and Matsuyama, 7/3)

Stat: AstraZeneca Lung Cancer Study Comes In Below Expectations
AstraZeneca said on Monday that a new lung cancer treatment outperformed standard-of-care chemotherapy in a trial, but investors found the results less impressive than anticipated, sending company shares down in early trading. (Joseph, 7/3)

Stat: Psychedelics Near Approval, But How Do They Work? 
The founder of Field Trip, a chain of shuttered ketamine clinics currently facing insolvency, put forward an unexpected theory of how psychedelics work to treat depression last month. “The truth is, almost all of the effect of psychedelic-assisted therapy could be placebo,” said Ronan Levy, speaking at a five-day conference on the emerging field of psychedelic medicine. “Personally I don’t have a problem with that. The outcomes are the outcomes, and that’s really what matters in my view.” While there’s evidence to support the idea (which, if correct, would make Field Trip’s $5,250 price for six ketamine sessions an unusually expensive placebo effect), attendees at Psychedelic Science 2023 heard an array of explanations for the potential benefits of psychedelic drugs for people with various mental illnesses. (Goldhill, 7/3)

Axios: Most Hepatitis C Patients Encounter Barriers To Treatment: CDC
Only a third of Americans infected with hepatitis C from 2013 to 2022 were treated and cured, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control that pointed to barriers to diagnoses, drugs and preventive services. Overcoming those barriers will require comprehensive screening and treatments for all persons regardless of insurance status, the report said. (Dreher, 7/30)

Also —

KFF Health News: Patients Squeezed In Fight Over Who Gets To Bill For Pricey Infusion Drugs
Health insurers and medical providers are battling over who should supply high-cost infusion drugs for patients, with the tussle over profits now spilling into statehouses across the country. The issue is that some insurers are bypassing hospital pharmacies and physician offices and instead sending more complex drugs through third-party pharmacies. Those pharmacies then send the medications directly to the medical provider or facility for outpatient infusing, which is called “white bagging,” or, more rarely, to patients, in what is called “brown bagging.” That shifts who gets to buy and bill for these complex medications, including pricey chemotherapy drugs. (Liss, 7/5)

CIDRAP: Artificial Intelligence Better Predicts Death In Pneumonia Patients, Study Suggests 
A deep-learning (DL) model that analyzes the initial chest x-rays of patients who have community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) may predict the risk of death by 30 days more accurately than an established risk-prediction tool, finds a new study published in the American Journal of Roentgenology. (Van Beusekom, 7/3)

Fortune: Smartwatches Could Help Diagnose Parkinson's Disease, Study Suggests
The experts at the university’s Neuroscience and Mental Health Innovation Institute (NMHII) and the U.K. Dementia Research Institute analyzed the accelerometry—the acceleration of motion—in 103,712 smartwatch wearers using artificial intelligence models. By tracking the speed of motion over the course of a week, the computer programs were able not only to identify patients who had already been diagnosed with Parkinson’s but also those who were in the early stages of the disease who had not yet been diagnosed. (Pringle, 7/4)

NBC News: Brain Scans Of Coffee Drinkers Show Its Effects Go Beyond Caffeine
The results, published last week in the journal Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, suggest that, indeed, certain changes in brain activity were attributable only to coffee, while others were attributable to caffeine, as well. The scans revealed that both groups — those who consumed caffeine and those who drank coffee — had decreased activity afterward in a part of the brain that puts people in a resting state. That indicated that people were more ready to start their days and engage with others after consuming either beverage. Decades of research has already shown that caffeine, a psychostimulant, can help people feel more aroused and alert. (Bendix, 7/2)

The Boston Globe: What Are The Roots Of Chronic Pain? New Research Looks Within Cells For Answers
The heart monitor beeped rhythmically as Dr. Kyle Eberlin approached the operating table at Massachusetts General Hospital one morning in April. A 30-year-old Navy veteran lay unconscious, and Eberlin set to work on a frequent mission of his: to ease pain. He slid his scalpel along the man’s ankle. Fractured six years ago during a training exercise, the ankle had never stopped hurting. The skin parted easily, exposing a pearly-white cord with a bulbous end — the nerve. (Freyer, 7/1)

Also —

CIDRAP: Review Shows Average Mpox Incubation Period Is 7 Days, Symptoms Vary 
A 21-study meta-analysis finds that the median incubation period for the global mpox outbreak that began last year is 7 days, symptoms vary widely, and immunocompromised people with HIV make up 36.1% of documented cases. The study is published in Archives of Virology. (Soucheray, 6/30)

CIDRAP: More Kids Diagnosed With Type 1 Diabetes During COVID-19
More kids were diagnosed as having type 1 diabetes after the COVID-19 pandemic began, and researchers have yet to determine the mechanism behind this increased incidence rate, the authors of a new meta-analysis said in JAMA Network Open today. "Our findings underscore the need to dedicate resources to supporting an acute increased need for pediatric and ultimately young adult diabetes care," the authors said. (Soucheray, 6/30)

Houston Chronicle: Houston Mosquitoes Can't Bear Extreme Summer Temperatures, Study Finds
Houston may be getting too hot even for mosquitoes, whose bites can be both annoying and dangerous, according to a new analysis of daily temperature and humidity in 242 locations across the contiguous U.S. The report, published by climate science research group Climate Central, calculated that from 1979 to 2022, Houston has had a drop in annual number of "mosquito days" — defined as days with daily minimum and maximum temperatures between 50 and 95 degrees and an average relative humidity of 42 percent or higher. (Breen, 7/3)

In other news from across the country —

Axios: East Palestine Train Derailment: Ohio Governor Asks Biden To Declare Disaster
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) asked President Biden Monday to declare a major disaster in response to February's toxic train derailment in East Palestine that led to the release of hazardous chemicals from several rail cars. Officials are still responding to the fallout from the disaster that saw nearby residents raise health concerns from the controlled release amid reports that some had been diagnosed with conditions including chemical bronchitis. (Falconer, 7/3)

Los Angeles Times: He Walked Out Of Hospital, Collapsed And Died. State Finds Facility Isn't Responsible
California public health officials will not hold a San Diego County medical facility responsible for failing to detain a patient who died after leaving the hospital’s intensive care unit Aug. 11, 2022 .A California Department of Public Health “statement of deficiencies” obtained last week instead finds that Paradise Valley Hospital in National City should have more thoroughly documented the condition and circumstances of Alberto Herrera, 32, who fell unconscious in front of a nearby taco shop after walking out against the advice of his caregivers. (Sisson, 7/3)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Illinois Teen In Protective Custody Has Been Stuck For A Year In A St. Louis Hospital Room
For over a year, 14-year-old Charlotte Dubois has been stuck in a hospital room, where she has little contact with the outside world. A hospital is not a homeless shelter or foster home, but that’s what SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital has been for Charlotte since May of last year, when she was taken into protective custody after her mother was charged with neglect and their house in Collinsville was condemned. (Munz, 7/3)

St. Louis Public Radio: Missouri To Start Kicking Ineligible Medicaid Patients Off Rolls 
Medicaid recipients in Missouri are now at risk of losing their health insurance coverage for the first time in three years. During the height of the coronavirus pandemic, the federal government issued emergency protections that barred states from removing people from the government-funded health insurance program for low-income people and families. That changes this month. State workers from the Department of Social Services have been redetermining people’s eligibility, but now Medicaid recipients could lose their coverage because they make too much money or did not fill out paperwork. (Fentem, 7/3)

The Colorado Sun: Why Every Public Rate Hearing For The Colorado Option Got Canceled
A highly anticipated showdown between Gov. Jared Polis’ administration and the health care industry won’t take place this year. The expected faceoff had to do with the Colorado Option, a Polis-backed initiative to push private insurance companies and hospitals to provide better care at cheaper prices — or else. The marquee bit of regulatory gladiatorship was to occur during public rate hearings, when officials from the state Division of Insurance could battle insurers over why their plans cost so much. (Ingold, 7/5)

AP: Dispute Over Human Remains Part Of Battle Between North Dakota Medical Waste Facility, Health System 
Human remains are at the center of tangled litigation involving a major regional health care system and the company contracted to dispose of its medical waste. Monarch Waste Technologies sued Sanford Health and the subsidiary responsible for delivering the health care system’s medical waste, Healthcare Environmental Services, saying the latter “brazenly” deposited a human torso hidden in a plastic container to Monarch’s facility in March. Monarch discovered the remains four days later after an employee “noticed a rotten and putrid smell,” according to the company’s complaint. (Dura, 7/3)

Fox News: Measles Protection Is Paramount Before Traveling Outside The US, Says CDC 
A recent health alert from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warns travelers to protect themselves against measles before heading out to visit other countries this summer. A recent rise in cases of measles sparked the health advisory urging people to check that they've had two doses of the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine at least two weeks before leaving on international trips, the CDC said. (McGorry, 7/4)

Fox News: Dangers You Can't See May Be Lurking In Your Unwashed Bedding, Says Study: Beware The 'Health Concerns' 
Monsters under the bed aren’t the only bedtime horrors to worry about. Sheets and pillowcases may actually be embedded with bacteria, according to a new study by Amerisleep, a mattress company in Scottsdale, Arizona. Unwashed bedding could even contain more bacteria than toilet seats after just one week, according to the study findings. (Stabile, 7/5)

CBS News: What Is Leaky Gut? Causes, Symptoms And Treatments Explained By Experts
If you've ever been on #GutTok, the popular corner of TikTok dedicated to gut health, chances are you've heard people talk about "leaky gut" or "leaky gut syndrome." But what exactly is it? Leaky gut refers to the concept of relative intestinal permeability, or the ability for things to move through the intestinal lining. (Moniuszko, 6/30)

CNN: Forget TikTok Claims: ‘Nature’s Ozempic’ Is No Such Thing, Experts Say
If TikTok and Reddit influencers are to be believed, the plant-based compound called berberine can be a replacement for such popular diabetes and weight loss drugs as Ozempic and Wegovy. Using berberine as a supplement has become so trendy, in fact, that it has been dubbed “Nature’s Ozempic” by social media users. Some manufacturers are jumping on the trend. (LaMotte, 7/4)

NBC News: Fungal Meningitis Outbreak Patients Have Surprising Complications
“We’re still having people trickle in that have not been tested but the vast majority have been notified,” said Dr. Ivan Melendez, the public health authority for Hidalgo County in Texas. “Less than half have actually done the test,” a spinal tap to look for signs of meningitis. Melendez and other health officials are concerned that people who have been exposed aren’t taking the risk seriously. Symptoms of fungal meningitis, unlike bacterial or viral meningitis, typically take weeks or longer to appear. Some fungal infections can take up to a year to show symptoms. The CDC declined to give a specific date when people could be confident they’re no longer at risk. (Syal, 7/3)

The Hill: More Than One Third Of Young Women In US Suffer From Iron Deficiency: Research 
More than a third of American women between the ages of 12 and 21 have an iron deficiency, according to new research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The research published online last week found nearly 39 percent of American girls and women aged 12-21 were affected by iron deficiency, and 6 percent were iron-deficient anemic. (Mueller, 7/3)

NBC News: CTE Diagnosed In A Female Professional Athlete For The First Time
A female professional athlete has been diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, for the first time, researchers say. The degenerative brain disease, which is believed to be caused by repeated head injuries, was diagnosed in the Australian rules footballer Heather Anderson, who died at age 28 in November, researchers said. (Da Silva, 7/4)

Houston Chronicle: Psychedelics Get Boost From Celebrities Aaron Rodgers, Elon Musk
Psychedelics are the latest craze in performance-enhancing drugs, not for improving physical prowess but by providing greater emotional and intellectual acuity, proponents claim. Star NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers publicly called for legalizing nature-based hallucinogens after consuming ayahuasca, a drink made from psycho-active Amazonian plants. He’s not worried about prohibitionists denouncing him. (Tomlinson, 7/5)

Also —

KFF Health News: More States Legalize Sales Of Unpasteurized Milk, Despite Public Health Warnings
Babe the goat is trendier than she looks. Babe lives a quiet life on a hillside farm in southern Iowa, where she grazes on grass with a small herd of fellow goats. Her owner, Stacy Wistock, milks her twice a day. (Leys, 7/5)

Obituaries —

The New York Times: Dr. Susan Love, Surgeon And Breast Health Advocate, Dies At 75 
Dr. Susan Love, a surgeon, author, researcher and activist who was for decades one of the world’s most visible public faces in the war on breast cancer, died on Sunday at her home in Los Angeles. She was 75. The cause was a recurrence of leukemia, said Allie Cormier, the chief marketing officer at the Dr. Susan Love Foundation for Breast Cancer Research. (Fox, 7/3)

CIDRAP: Brookings Experts Propose Steps To Prevent Generic-Drug Shortages
A new Brookings proposal outlines potential US policies to address the country's persistent generic-drug shortages. (Van Beusekom, 6/29)

The Lancet: Safety And Immunogenicity Of A Novel Multivalent OspA-Based Vaccine Candidate Against Lyme Borreliosis
Lyme borreliosis, potentially associated with serious long-term complications, is caused by the species complex Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato. We investigated a novel Lyme borreliosis vaccine candidate (VLA15) targeting the six most common outer surface protein A (OspA) serotypes 1–6 to prevent infection with pathogenic Borrelia spp prevalent in Europe and North America. (Bezay, PhD, et al, 7/4)

CIDRAP: Paxlovid Tied To 30% Lower Risk Of Severe COVID In Patients With Chronic Conditions 
Paxlovid was linked to a 30% lower risk of all-cause emergency department (ED) visits, hospitalization, and death among vaccinated, nonhospitalized COVID-19 patients with serious chronic conditions but didn't appear to benefit those with only asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or no serious underlying conditions, concludes a Harvard University–led study. (Van Beusekom, 6/30)

New England Journal of Medicine: Mirikizumab As Induction And Maintenance Therapy For Ulcerative Colitis
Mirikizumab, a p19-directed antibody against interleukin-23, showed efficacy in the treatment of ulcerative colitis in a phase 2 trial. (D'Haens, M.D., Ph.D., et al, 6/29)

FiercePharma: Bausch + Lomb Scoops Up Novartis' Dry Eye Med Xiidra For $2.5 Billion
Novartis is passing off the dry eye disease drop Xiidra to eye health specialist Bausch + Lomb in a $2.5 billion deal, another step in the company's overhaul as it focuses on five core areas. (Becker, 6/30)

Reuters: Pfizer-OPKO's Growth Hormone Drug Gets US Approval In Kids 
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Pfizer Inc and partner OPKO Health Inc's treatment for growth hormone deficiency in children, the companies said on Wednesday. The approval, which comes after an initial rejection from the FDA in January last year, lifted Pfizer's shares marginally and Opko Health's nearly 19% in premarket trading. (Leo, 6/28)

Stat: Sen. Bill Cassidy On How To Lower Drug Prices 
Many formerly debilitating and fatal chronic diseases, genetic conditions, and cancers are now curable or manageable thanks to medical innovation. Treatments that would once have been miraculous are commonplace. But if a patient cannot afford innovative treatments, to them it is as if that innovation never occurred. (Bill Cassidy, 7/5)

Bloomberg: How The FDA Should Deal With Tainted Drugs From India And China 
In recent months, US regulators uncovered serious lapses in quality control at Indian pharmaceutical factories making generic drugs for sale in America — including contaminated products, unsanitary conditions, poorly trained staff and suspicious quantities of shredded documents. (6/30)

Stat: Prescription Digital Therapeutics Are Key To Pharma’s Future
Five years from now, when patients walk into a doctor’s office presenting symptoms of almost any condition you can envision — whether migraine, multiple sclerosis, or obesity — their physician will offer a new kind of treatment plan that involves both pharmaceutical-based medication and a prescription digital therapeutic. (David Benshoof Klein, 7/3)

The New York Times: Our Children's Lungs Are Uniquely Vulnerable To All This Wildfire Smoke
As physicians who specialize in respiratory health and children, our first thought last week as wildfire smoke again engulfed parts of the United States was of little ones Ian’s age and younger because their developing lungs are particularly vulnerable to smoke inhalation. (Alexander Rabin and Lisa Patel, 7/2)

The Washington Post: A Governor's Playbook For Improving Youth Mental Health Should Catch On
As we have noted here before, governors across the country are putting the youth mental health crisis at the top of their agendas. Now, one of them has pulled together ideas for what they can do about it. (7/4)

USA Today: Why Peter Hotez Is Right Not To Do Joe Rogan, RFK Jr. Vaccine Debate
Dr. Peter Hotez of Baylor University is a top infectious disease specialist and vaccine researcher with an autistic child, Rachel, who he famously said did not get autism from a vaccine. Hotez recently declined to debate Kennedy on host Joe Rogan's podcast and has been harassed outside his home and online since announcing that decision. (Dr. Marc Siegel, 7/5)

The New York Times: As An Abortion Doctor, I Have A Duty To Expose The Harms Of Post-Roe Legislation 
Start with a story. It’s the standard advice for any doctor who sets out to write, speak or advocate on behalf of her patients. Stories change minds. They change how people think about issues that can otherwise feel impersonal. Stories matter. (Christine Henneberg, 7/4)

The Tennessean: Patients Suffer From Tennessee Abortion Law, But We Can Change That
Tennesseans are still struggling to navigate vague laws crafted at the State Capitol– laws that hold little regard for what takes place at a patient's bedside. We are seeing the health of Tennesseans continue to worsen in the wake of these laws; we are seeing families suffer. As clinicians, we need to provide support for rape victims and patients pregnant with a child with severe fetal anomalies. These patients still cannot receive abortion care in their own communities. (Laura Andreson, Nicole Schlechter, Amy Gordon Bono, Heather Maune, Katrina Green and Carolyn Thompson, 7/1)

The Atlantic: Actually, Public Health Did A Remarkably Good Job With The Pandemic 
Medicine revolves around the care of individual patients; public health, by contrast, works to protect and improve the health of entire populations, whether small communities or large countries. This encompasses researching how to prevent injuries, developing policies to address health disparities, and, of course, tackling disease outbreaks. (Craig Spencer, 6/30)

Scientific American: Here's How CDC Can Put The 'Public' Back In Public Health 
President Biden has tapped Mandy Cohen as the next director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Her appointment is not a usual changing of the guard, but rather a chance for a fresh direction for the beleaguered agency—with implications for the health of us all. (Dave A. Chokshi, 6/30)