AP: New Mexico Jury Says Meta Harms Children's Mental Health And Safety
A New Mexico jury determined Tuesday that Meta knowingly harmed children’s mental health and concealed what it knew about child sexual exploitation on its social media platforms, a verdict that signals a changing tide against tech companies and the government’s willingness to crack down. The landmark decision comes after a nearly seven-week trial, and as jurors in a federal court in California have been sequestered in deliberations for more than a week about whether Meta and YouTube should be liable in a similar case. (Lee, 3/24)

More mental health updates —

Wyoming News Now: New Wyoming Law Creates Contracts For Mental Health Holds To Address Lengthy Wait Times 
Gov. Mark Gordon has signed a new bill into law addressing mental health holds throughout the state. Senate File 10 allows the Wyoming Department of Health and Wyoming detention centers to enter into contracts, addressing lengthy mental health holds in jails. (Swanke, 3/24)

Minnesota Public Radio: Medicaid Freeze Could Lead To Minnesota Hospitals Closing Psychiatric Units
The Trump administration’s decision to temporarily freeze some federal Medicaid money has left hospital psychiatric units in a dire position. (Wurzer and Levin, 3/24)

Mississippi Today: Ole Miss Announces College Gambling Center
The University of Mississippi on Monday announced the upcoming launch of its new Center on Collegiate Gambling, which researchers describe as the “first of its kind in the nation” amid rising national concern about betting on collegiate sports. The center was approved by the Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees in February and will cost about $700,000 a year. It was conceived to study the “heightened risks” for college students and student athletes caused by the rapid growth of legalized sports betting and online gambling, its founders said. Researchers said the center will now begin hiring staff. (Goldberg, 3/24)

Legislative developments —

CBS News: Coloradans Who Underwent Conversion Therapy Could Sue For Damages Under Proposed Bill
A newly introduced bill at the Colorado State Capitol would allow LGBTQ individuals to sue for damages caused by so-called conversion therapy, or therapy aimed at changing the sexual orientation or gender identity of a person. The practice was banned in Colorado in 2019, and the American Medical Association - among other medical and mental health organizations - has said it is ineffective and can lead to depression, anxiety, and other psychological injuries. (Boyd, 3/24)

CBS News: Unhealthy Menu Items Could Be Flagged In Maryland Under Proposed Bill
A proposed bill in Maryland could make it easier for diners to spot unhealthy menu items before they order. The Informed Dining Act would require restaurant chains in the state to place simple icons on their menus to identify food items that are high in added sugar or sodium. The bill has already passed the Maryland House of Delegates. The Senate's version of the bill would rely on QR codes instead of adding icons directly to menus, a difference that supporters say could make the information harder to access. (Zizaza, 3/24)

Politico: In California, The War On Ultraprocessed Foods Moves To The Supermarket
A California Democrat is pushing a bill to create the nation’s first seal of approval for non-ultraprocessed foods — and require grocery stores to prominently display those products at the ends of aisles and other visible locations. The legislation, shared first with POLITICO, is the latest in a broader war on unhealthy food gaining traction at both the federal and state level, and across parties, with bipartisan support nationally for ridding American diets of ultraprocessed foods. It would create a “California Certified” seal on foods that aren’t ultraprocessed. (Norman and Bluth, 3/24)

Also —

WFSU: 'Forever Chemicals' Found In Wells Near Tallahassee Raise Concern Of Scientists, Officials 
As many as 50 private water wells in the Woodville area south of Tallahassee could have PFAS levels that exceed government standards. A nearby wastewater spray field could be the source. (Flanigan, 3/24)

The New York Times: Key Adviser Quits Federal Vaccine Panel
Dr. Robert Malone, vice chair of the federal committee that recommends vaccines to Americans, angrily resigned his position on Tuesday. The panel, called the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, is currently in judicial limbo. A federal judge ruled last week that the advisers, appointed by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., did not have the expertise needed to make vaccine recommendations and prevented them from meeting as planned this month. The judge also blocked all of the committee’s actions to date, including decisions to rescind recommendations for some childhood vaccines. (Mandavilli, 3/24)

Modern Healthcare: CMS Launches ASPIRE Medicaid Pay Model For Children
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will promote wraparound services for high-risk Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Plan enrollees under 21 years old through a payment demonstration, the agency announced Tuesday. The Accelerating State Pediatric Innovation Readiness and Effectiveness Model, or ASPIRE, is a voluntary, 10-year program that will provide a handful of states with funding to improve care for for children and young adults with complex behavioral and physical healthcare needs who are enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP. (Early, 3/24)

Scroll down to Editorials and Opinions to read more about this pilot program.

Modern Healthcare: Medicaid Work Requirements Spotlight Medical Frailty Definition
Two small words President Donald Trump’s tax law — medical frailty — promise to have an enormous impact. States that expanded Medicaid eligibility to working-age adults without children or disabilities under the Affordable Care Act of 2010 need to have work requirements in place by Jan. 1. Beneficiaries will have to verify that they are working, volunteering or attending school at least 80 hours each month to get and retain coverage. (McAuliff, 3/24)

Regarding the CDC, FDA, and rural health —

NBC News: Trump Is Expected To Nominate New CDC Director, As Measles Keeps Spreading
As the Trump administration prepares to nominate a new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, insiders say they worry the nominee will only further undermine trust in the nation’s top health agency, even as outbreaks of measles escalate and the federal government’s vaccine policies face resistance. President Donald Trump is expected to name the candidate on Truth Social by Wednesday. If confirmed by the Senate, the director will inherit an agency marked by the yearlong chaos of mass layoffs, a deadly shooting and hollowed-out leadership. (Edwards, 3/24)

Axios: Trump's CDC, FDA Vacancies Offers Chance To Pivot On Health
Multiple high-level vacancies at federal health agencies are giving the Trump administration a chance to pivot from contentious vaccine policies to a more mainstream public health strategy. The anticipated nomination of a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director and selection of a top Food and Drug Administration vaccine regulator will be closely watched for signs the White House wants to break from the drama that characterized much of the past year. (Sullivan, 3/25)

KFF Health News: Demoralized CDC Workforce Reels From Year Of Firings, Funding Cuts, And A Shooting
On the coffee table at her home in Atlanta, Sarah Boim has a pile of documents from her old job at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They are printouts of her employment records. Boim lost her job in the first big wave of CDC firings — more than 1,000 people were suddenly let go last February. “This is the termination letter. I also printed off my performance review from 2024,” she said. “I knew I wouldn’t have access to it, and everything was so chaotic that I needed proof of what was happening.” (Mador, 3/25)

The Washington Post: RFK Jr. And Dr. Oz Have A Plan To Save Rural Health Care. Here’s The Catch
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his team want to Make Rural America Healthy again. He has suggested that AI nurses could save dying rural hospitals. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz said robots could give ultrasounds to women and touted how AI avatars could help. And President Donald Trump’s administration is infusing $50 billion over five years to improve rural health, with some states proposing to use the money for drones to deliver lab samples or prescriptions. (Weber, 3/24)

Also —

Fox News: Higher-Dose Obesity Medication Wins FDA Approval, Promises Greater Weight Loss
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced on Thursday its approval of a new, higher-dose Wegovy (semaglutide) injection. The 7.2 mg dosage, called Wegovy HD, is intended for weight loss and long-term weight loss maintenance for adult patients. It is triple the previous maximum dose of 2.4 mg. (Stabile, 3/24)

Axios: HHS Pressed To Expand Vaccine Injury Table
A leading anti-vaccine activist is petitioning the Department of Health and Human Services to add more than 300 conditions to a table used for vaccine injury compensation claims — and is threatening to sue the agency if it doesn't. (Owens, 3/25)

MedPage Today: Is This Deadly Childhood Illness Making A Comeback?
Some physicians are increasingly worried that Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), a potentially disabling and sometimes lethal bacterial infection in children, is making a comeback as vaccine hesitancy rises. Serious cases are being reported in California, New York, Florida, and many other states, MedPage Today has learned. (Clark, 3/24)

CIDRAP: South Carolina: No New Measles Cases In Upstate Outbreak
For the first time in months, South Carolina health officials said a week has gone by with no new measles cases in the state, and the state total remains just under 1,000 cases, at 997. Of those cases, 940 were recorded in Spartanburg County, the epicenter of the outbreak. School children ages 5 to 17 represent 456 of the cases in the state, and 931 cases occurred in unvaccinated people. Twenty-five were fully vaccinated, 21 were partially vaccinated, and 20 have unknown status. (Soucheray, 3/24)

The New York Times: It Begins As A Tick Bite And Can Be Devastating. And It’s Spreading. 
Once regarded as a rarity, [alpha-gal syndrome], which involves an allergy to red meat that develops after a tick bite, has emerged as a significant health menace, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimating that as many as 450,000 people nationwide may have had it in the past 15 years. And that is probably an undercount, said Dr. Scott Commins, who helped solve the mystery of alpha-gal syndrome about two decades ago. (Goldstein, 3/25)

CIDRAP: RSV Symptoms In Older Adults Often Linger, Studies Show
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) has not been widely studied in the outpatient, adult setting, as symptoms have been similar to other respiratory infections and the biggest burden of disease were seen in severely ill, hospitalized patients. But the recent introduction of RSV vaccines has begged for a new understanding of RSV’s burden among older, community-dwelling adults. Two studies published earlier this month in Clinical Infectious Diseases assess the prevalence and burden of RSV among older adults (60 years and older) in six European nations (Finland, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom) across three consecutive RSV seasons (October 2021 through April 2024). (Soucheray, 3/24)

San Francisco Chronicle: New COVID Variant Detected In California Wastewater
A newly emerging coronavirus variant with signs of immune escape has been detected in California wastewater, offering an early signal that the virus continues to evolve even as COVID-19 activity remains low across the state. The variant, known as BA.3.2, has also been found in a small number of patients and international travelers in the United States, according to a March 19 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Vaziri, 3/24)

In other public health news —

AP: Heat Dome Is Still Sizzling Southwest. The Midwest Is Next
After smashing March heat records in 14 states and the U.S. as a whole, the gigantic heat dome that’s baked the Southwest is creeping eastward and may end up being one of the most expansive heat waves in American history, meteorologists and weather historians said. And it’s not going away for awhile, maybe not till the middle of the next week as April starts, said meteorologist Gregg Gallina of the National Weather Service’s Weather Prediction Center. (Borenstein, 3/24)

Bloomberg: Future Heat Danger Differs Starkly For Rich And Poor Countries
Poor countries may lose 10 times more people to deaths from high temperatures than rich ones, according to an analysis by Climate Impact Lab. The research, published Wednesday, is designed to help cities and communities understand and respond to the dangers they face from rising temperatures. It comes as a record-breaking heat wave grips much of the US and as more evidence emerges that global warming is accelerating. While the rising heat is global, its consequences for health vary dramatically depending on affluence. (Roston, 3/25)

KFF Health News: KFF Health News’ ‘An Arm and a Leg’: Steep Health Care Costs Steer Americans To Tough Decisions
Health insurance is out of reach for millions of Americans this year. Many are making difficult decisions about how to pay for coverage amid the loss of Affordable Care Act subsidies and nosebleed-high premiums. Attorney Nicole Wipp and skate-shop owner Noah Hulsman tell An Arm and a Leg host Dan Weissmann how they tried to balance their financial and physical health when they couldn’t find good options. (Weissmann, 3/25)

KFF Health News: Listen To The Latest 'KFF Health News Minute'
Sam Whitehead reads the week’s news: Amid federal spending cuts and suspicion of fluoride, tooth problems are sending more kids to the ER. Plus, patients look to health savings accounts to deal with rising medical costs. (Cook, 3/24)

Axios: Death Cafe: Why Strangers Are Talking About Dying Over Tea
More strangers are gathering over cake and tea to chat — about dying. Death comes for all of us. Meetups known as Death Cafes help make talking about it less taboo. (Mallenbaum, 3/24)

AP: Belgian Drugmaker UCB Plans Major Expansion In The US
Belgian pharmaceutical company UCB announced Tuesday that it would invest $2 billion to build a drug-making plant in suburban Atlanta. The rapidly growing drugmaker said the plant, which would employ about 330 people upon completion, would anchor its effort to sell more drugs in the United States. “This decision reflects our confidence in UCB’s long-term growth and our deep-rooted commitment to the United States,” company CEO Jean-Christophe Tellier said in a statement. (3/24)

The 19th: DeSantis Signs Law To Restore AIDS Drug Assistance Program Through June
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday signed a bill that gives low-income Floridians three more months of access to essential HIV medication. (Rummler, 3/24)

AP: ImmunityBio Anktiva Cancer Claims: FDA Flags Patrick Soon-Shiong's Comments
Federal health officials posted a warning Tuesday about misleading statements made by biotech billionaire Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, who recently told podcast listeners that his company’s bladder cancer drug may be able to treat, cure or even prevent other types of cancers. The warning letter from the Food and Drug Administration takes issue with a TV advertisement and a separate podcast episode promoting Anktiva, the lead product of ImmunityBio Inc. The drugmaker is one of several biotech firms acquired by Soon-Shiong, who also owns the Los Angeles Times. (Perrone, 3/24)

Fierce Healthcare: CVS Caremark, FTC Reach Settlement In Insulin Pricing Case
CVS Health's Caremark has become the second of the "Big Three" pharmacy benefit managers to reach a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in a lawsuit over insulin pricing. Per court documents (PDF) filed Monday, the parties have requested that the matter be withdrawn "for the purpose of considering a proposed consent agreement." Further details on the potential settlement have not yet been disclosed publicly, but a source familiar with the terms told Reuters the settlement is in line with the agreement the agency reached with Express Scripts last month. (Minemyer, 3/24)

Stat: Pharma Penalties For Doctors' Kickbacks Just A Cost Of Doing Business
Pharmaceutical companies that were penalized for kickbacks paid only 2.2% of their U.S. revenue generated by selling drugs that were the focus of the alleged violations during the past quarter century, according to a new analysis. (Silverman, 3/24)

Health insurance developments —

Healthcare Dive: CommonSpirit, Humana Reach New Nationwide Medicare Advantage Contract 
CommonSpirit and Humana have reached a new nationwide Medicare Advantage contract keeping Humana members in-network with the massive health system for the next three years. The agreement also reestablishes the companies’ relationship in Colorado and Texas, where some Humana members lost in-network access to CommonSpirit facilities at the start of 2025 after regional contracts lapsed. (Parduhn, 3/24)

Modern Healthcare: Highmark Health's 2025 Earnings Hit By High Utilization
High utilization dragged down Highmark Health’s full-year earnings — but the integrated system’s leaders are looking to boost revenue through dealmaking in 2026. Delayed care from the pandemic, along with an aging population, contributed to pressures on the system’s insurance arm, said President and CEO David Holmberg on a Tuesday earnings call. “The real challenge for all of us is that the cost of healthcare is becoming almost unsustainable,” he said. (Tong, 3/24)

More health industry news —

Modern Healthcare: UCI Layoffs To Hit 150 Employees
UCI Health will lay off about 150 workers, or roughly 1% of its workforce. The Irvine, California-based academic health system is adjusting its workforce amid shifts in federal funding, declining reimbursement from insurers and changes to how patients access care, according to a Monday news release. The organization did not respond to requests for comment about when the cuts will happen and what kinds of roles will be affected. (Kacik, 3/24)

Modern Healthcare: Oura CMO Ricky Bloomfield On The Smart Ring Tackling Healthcare
Smart ring company Oura wants to help usher in the next era of data-informed healthcare.Oura’s wearable smart ring, which gathers and tracks personal health data, hit the market in 2015. Over the years, the company has introduced features including heart health monitoring and tools related to women’s health. Oura has sold more than 5.5 million rings. In October, the company raised more than $900 million and reached an $11 billion valuation. (Famakinwa, 3/24)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Bridgeton Pediatrician Sentenced To Federal Prison
A federal judge on Tuesday sentenced a Bridgeton pediatrician to 20 years in prison for prescribing tens of thousands of pills in exchange for sex, explicit photos or cash. Over the course of nearly a decade, Dr. Craig Spiegel, 70, abused at least two dozen women — some of whom were his patients as children. (Rieck, 3/24)

CIDRAP: Isolation, Financial Struggles Tied To Lower Uptake Of Preventive Care
Social and physical isolation, along with financial hardship, are linked to lower uptake of recommended preventive health services, investigators at Cambridge Health Alliance and Harvard Medical School report this week in the Annals of Family Medicine. The team mined data from the 2022 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System phone survey to assess the association between self-reported social and physical isolation (using transportation barriers as a proxy for the latter), material deprivation (financial strain, inadequate health care access), and uptake of COVID-19, influenza, and pneumococcal vaccinations and cervical, colorectal, and breast cancer screening among US adults. (Van Beusekom, 3/24)

CIDRAP: Small Study Finds Promise In Phage Therapy For Cystic Fibrosis Patients
Bacteriophage therapy for chronic bacterial respiratory infections appears to be safe and well-tolerated in cystic fibrosis (CF) patients, according to a study published yesterday in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases. Because of the thick, sticky mucus that builds up in their lungs, CF patients are predisposed to chronic respiratory infections and colonization by intrinsically multidrug-resistant (MDR) pathogens like Pseudomonas aeruginosa. This requires repeated exposure to antibiotics, which accelerates the emergence of MDR strains and further limits treatment options. (Dall, 3/24)

MedPage Today: Dementia Risk Rises After Severe Infection
Dementia risk rose after older adults had severe infection and the risk was not attributable to other comorbidities, a Finnish registry study suggested. Of all hospital-treated diseases recorded 20 years before a dementia diagnosis, 29 were robustly associated with increased dementia risk, said Pyry Sipilä, MD, PhD, of the University of Helsinki, and colleagues. Two diseases were classified as infections: cystitis (urinary tract infection) and bacterial infection of an unspecified site. (George, 3/24)

MedPage Today: Can A Steroid Swap Protect Bone Health In Adrenal Insufficiency?
Patients with adrenal insufficiency had significant improvements in bone and metabolic markers on a once-daily, low-dose steroid regimen compared with conventional treatment, a randomized trial found. (Monaco, 3/24)

Modern Healthcare: How Intuitive Surgical's Da Vinci Robots Are Expanding Into ASCs
Yesterday’s robotic surgery systems are finding new life in today’s ambulatory surgical centers. Some health systems upgrading to the latest Intuitive Surgical da Vinci surgical robot are deploying the earlier generation to their outpatient surgery centers. Others are trading in the older model, allowing the company to recondition and resell them at a lower cost. (Dubinsky, 3/24)

Regarding the use of artificial intelligence —

MedPage Today: Deepfake X-Rays Sneak Past Radiologists And AI, Underscoring Abuse Potential
A majority of radiologists could not distinguish artificial x-rays -- deepfakes -- from real ones when they evaluated a mix of real and fake images, according to a study published today. (Bankhead, 3/24)

Iowa Public Radio: New Data Shows Abortions Decreased 22% In Iowa Last Year 
Abortions declined significantly during the first year that an Iowa law that severely restricted the procedure was put in place. Iowa had 3,050 clinician-provided abortions in 2025. That's a 22% drop from 2024, which saw 3,880 abortions, according to the Guttmacher Institute, an organization that supports abortion rights. (Krebs, 3/24)

Rewire News Group: Endometriosis Patients Are Changing Their Diets To Manage Symptoms
Adanze Benjamin spent the end of 2024 feeling terrible. The lymph nodes in her armpits had swelled to the size of golf balls. Walking up the stairs left her winded. Every inch of her body ached.“ I literally would wake up in a pool of sweat in my bed, like soaked,” said Benjamin, now 24. (Watson, 3/24)

New Hampshire Public Radio: A New Statewide Initiative Aims To Improve Communication During Labor 
During labor things said can get lost in the rush – like a patient not knowing an incoming doctor’s name at the start of a new shift. Or sometimes patients worry about where their doctors are and if their personal concerns during delivery are being addressed. It’s why a program called TeamBirth has been implemented at Dartmouth Health’s member hospitals with labor and delivery services. (Richardson, 3/24)

Also —

CBS News: New Report Focuses On Getting Help For Domestic Violence Abusers Before Situations Escalate 
Ending domestic violence is the goal of groups and advocates all over the world, and some experts in Chicago say it is time to become less reactive and more proactive when it comes to the people causing harm. The need is critical. In 2024, a total of 137 people died from a domestic violence crime — a figure up 14% from 2023, and an astounding 140% from 2022. (Harrington and Kozlov, 3/24)

Stat: Why CMS Is Launching A Pilot Program To Help Parents Coordinate Care 
Our public health programs are failing the children who need them most. Together, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) cover half of all children who have complex medical and behavioral needs or are at risk of developing them, but the current fee-for-service model doesn’t treat them holistically. (CMS administrator Mehmet Oz and Abe Sutton, 3/24)

Stat: How To Make ERs Less Problematic For Patients With Dementia 
I recently spent a long afternoon hiding from the nurse in the emergency room of a prestigious hospital. My sister and I were there with my mother, who has dementia, and the staff reminded us several times that only one caregiver at a time is allowed. But that wouldn’t have worked for my mother. The sights and sounds in the hallway overwhelmed her limited cognitive capacity, and she repeatedly got up to leave. (Gabriela Khazanov, 3/25)

Stat: U.S. Strikes In Iran Could Lead To Release Of A Bioweapon
The war with Iran has focused the world’s attention on nuclear weapons and oil. Those risks are real. But there is a third category of danger that the conflict has brought into sharp relief — one that the United States is far less prepared to handle than most people realize. Iran likely has a biological weapons capability. This has been the view of the U.S. government for several years now, predating the second Trump administration. (Ashish K. Jha, 3/25)

San Francisco Chronicle: Drinking Red Wine Increases Your Risk Of Getting Cancer. Warning Labels Should Say So
Unlike hard liquor and beer, which are associated with excess, red wine has enjoyed a special status in America in recent decades. A glass of wine with a meal is viewed in the same category as olive oil, simple cuisine and daily walks: part of a vaguely European prescription for vitality and longevity. (Cecily Mak, 3/23)

The Washington Post: New Cholesterol Guidelines Show How To Fight Heart Disease
Here are the key takeaways for patients and clinicians to improve cardiovascular health. (Leana S. Wen, 3/24)