Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
From KFF Health News - Latest Stories:
KFF Health News Original Stories
Why One New York Health System Stopped Suing Its Patients
Most U.S. hospitals aggressively pursue patients for unpaid bills. One New York hospital system decided to work with them instead.
Tribal Nations Invest Opioid Settlement Funds in Traditional Healing To Treat Addiction
Hundreds of Native American tribes are getting money from settlements with companies that made or sold prescription painkillers. Some are investing it in sweat lodges, statistical models, and insurance-billing staffers.
After a Child’s Death, California Weighs Rules for Phys Ed During Extreme Weather
A California lawmaker wants the state to craft guidelines for how and when schoolchildren can play or exercise during extreme weather, including heat waves. The bill comes after a 12-year-old boy died after a physical education instructor told him to run as the temperature topped 90 degrees.
An Arm and a Leg: Digging Into Facility Fees
“An Arm and a Leg” is looking for listener stories about facility fees for a new project.
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Summaries Of The News:
Environmental Health
Number Of People At Risk From Extreme Heat Will Double By 2050
NPR: Study Finds Over 200 Million Seniors Face Extreme Heat Risks In Coming Decades
A person in their 40s now will be nearing 70 in the year 2050. And they won't be alone, because the world is undergoing an unprecedented and inexorable shift: by 2050, scientists project, more than 20% of Earth's population will be over 60. That demographic shift coincides with another major change: the Earth heating up because of human-caused climate change. The confluence of those two factors represents an enormous risk, says Giacomo Falchetta, the lead author of a new paper published Tuesday in Nature Communications. (Borunda, 5/14)
AP: Climate: Last Northern Summer Was The Warmest In More Than 2,000 Years, Tree Rings Show
The broiling summer of 2023 was the hottest in the Northern Hemisphere in more than 2,000 years, a new study found. ... A study Tuesday in the journal Nature uses a well-established method and record of more than 10,000 tree rings to calculate summertime temperatures for each year since the year 1. No year came even close to last summer’s high heat, said lead author Jan Esper, a climate geographer at the Gutenberg Research College in Germany. (Borenstein, 5/14)
Stat: Hottest Summer In 2,000 Years Puts Focus On Extreme Heat, Health
Last summer’s heat waves demonstrated all the ways that extreme heat takes a toll on the human body. In cities across the U.S. from Phoenix to New York, people suffered from heat exhaustion, heat stroke, heat cramps, and more. In Texas, more than 300 people died from heat last year — the highest number since the state started tracking the deaths in 1989. (Gaffney, 5/14)
KFF Health News: After A Child’s Death, California Weighs Rules For Phys Ed During Extreme Weather
Yahushua Robinson was an energetic boy who jumped and danced his way through life. Then, a physical education teacher instructed the 12-year-old to run outside on a day when the temperature climbed to 107 degrees. “We lose loved ones all the time, but he was taken in a horrific way,” his mother, Janee Robinson, said from the family’s Inland Empire home, about 80 miles southeast of Los Angeles. “I would never want nobody to go through what I’m going through.” (Young, 5/15)
Capitol Watch
Biden Administration's New Tariffs Include Chinese Medical Supplies
Stat: The White House Hikes Tariffs On Chinese Medical Products
The Biden administration announced Tuesday that it’s raising taxes on a range of imported products from China, including syringes, needles, and surgical gloves. Pitched as a plan to support American workers, the tariffs are meant to protect domestic manufacturers from China’s “unfair trade practices” and “artificially low-priced exports.” (Lawrence, 5/14)
Axios: What The China Biotech Crackdown Means For U.S. Drug Supply
Lawmakers in the House of Representatives on Wednesday are expected to set in motion a massive reordering of how U.S. pharmaceuticals are developed and made, by advancing a contracting ban on five key Chinese research firms. (Goldman, 5/15)
Also —
The Hill: President Joe Biden Reelection Campaign Launches Spanglish Health Care Ad
President Biden’s reelection campaign is launching a new health care ad Tuesday, delivered in Spanglish. ... “For Latino communities already facing health care disparities, this election isn’t just about politics — it’s about survival. Latinos deserve a president who is fighting to make health care better and more affordable — and that’s exactly what President Biden has focused on in his first term,” said Biden-Harris 2024 campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez. (Bernal, 5/14)
Politico: Congress Considers Deadline For VA To Fix Beleaguered Health Record System
Congress is poised to set a hard two-year deadline for the VA and contractor Oracle Cerner to hit quality metrics for the agency’s beleaguered project to modernize its electronic health record system or terminate the contract. Lawmakers have repeatedly threatened to rein in the project, which the agency has told POLITICO is tied to at least four veterans’ deaths and estimated to cost more than $50 billion after initial estimates put it at $10 billion. (Leonard, 5/14)
The 19th: Rep. Jennifer Wexton’s Use Of A Voice App On The House Floor Sparks Larger Disability Conversation
Last week, Rep. Jennifer Wexton made disability history by becoming the first member of Congress to deliver a speech using an assistive and augmentative communication device on the House floor. Wexton has a rare degenerative condition called progressive supranuclear palsy, or PSP. However, some in the disability community feel that the news coverage has missed the point, focusing on novelty without acknowledging Wexton’s actions in the deeper historical and social context of a world that is not built for people like them. (Luterman, 5/14)
Politico: Social Media Bills Aim To Protect Kids’ Health
The Kids Online Safety Act, which Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) sponsored, would require social media platforms to prevent the spread of harmful content, such as material related to suicide or eating disorders, on their sites. Why it matters: Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has warned that social media might be contributing to an increase in mental illness among youth. (Payne, Reader and Schumaker, 5/14)
Politico: Judge Throws Out FTC Case Against Private Equity Firm In Texas Anesthesia Antitrust Case
A Texas federal district court threw out the Federal Trade Commission's suit against a private equity firm the agency accused last September of conspiring to corner the Texas market for anesthesia through a series of under-the-radar acquisitions. In a Monday ruling, Judge Kenneth Hoyt in Houston dismissed the case against Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe. But Hoyt declined to dismiss the FTC's case against U.S. Anesthesia Partners, a group of doctors Welsh Carson created in 2012 that now dominates the anesthesia market in Houston and Dallas. (Sisco, 5/14)
Axios: Private Equity Escapes Major Antitrust Lawsuit
Private equity is breathing easier this morning, after a federal judge in Texas dismissed what could have been a landmark antitrust lawsuit against Welsh Carson Anderson & Stowe. The Federal Trade Commission last year sued both WCAS and one of its portfolio companies for suppressing competition and driving up prices of anesthesiology services in Texas. (Primack, 5/14)
In bird flu news —
NBC News: Bird Flu Virus Possibly Found In A Handful Of Wastewater Sites, CDC Says
There’s no solid evidence that bird flu is spreading among people, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday amid an outbreak of the virus in dairy cows. New data from 189 of the agency’s wastewater sampling sites showed that as of May 4, an influenza A virus had been detected at higher-than-average levels in a handful of sites across the country, including in Alaska, California, Florida, Illinois and Kansas. (Edwards, 5/14)
Reuters: US Relaxes Regulations For Labs Handling Bird Flu Samples To Ease Virus Response
U.S. government officials have temporarily relaxed strict guidelines on how public health laboratories and healthcare facilities handle, store and transport H5N1 bird flu samples, which are considered high-risk pathogens, in response to the recent spread of the virus to dairy cattle. The revised guidance, which has not been previously reported, came at the request of the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL), which represents state and local labs that monitor and detect public health threats. (Steenhuysen, 5/14)
Reproductive Health
8,000 Women A Month Skirt Abortion Bans Via Telehealth, Survey Finds
AP: 8,000 Women A Month Got Abortion Pills Despite Bans Or Restrictions, Survey Finds
Thousands of women in states with abortion bans and restrictions are receiving abortion pills in the mail from states that have laws protecting prescribers, a new report shows. Tuesday’s release of the #WeCount survey shows about 8,000 women a month in states that severely restrict abortion or place limits on having one through telehealth were getting the pills by mail by the end of 2023, the first time a number has been put on how often the medical system workaround is being used. (Ungar and Mulvihill, 5/14)
The Hill: Survey Finds Telehealth Is Driving Increase In Abortions, Despite State Bans
In the 18 months since Roe v. Wade was overturned, the number of abortions in the United States has continued to grow, according to new data, even as 14 states have banned abortion completely. Tuesday’s report from the Society for Family Planning’s WeCount project found much of that growth was likely related to telemedicine, which accounted for 19 percent of all abortions nationwide by December. (Weixel, 5/14)
Meanwhile in legal news —
AP: An Arizona Judge Helped Revive An 1864 Abortion Law. His Lawmaker Wife Joined Democrats To Repeal It
When it was Shawnna Bolick’s turn to speak, the words tumbled out of her for 20 minutes. The conservative lawmaker was in the middle of a heated debate in the Republican-led Arizona Senate on a bill to repeal an 1864 law banning nearly all abortions. ... Shawnna Bolick’s vote to repeal the near-total ban her spouse helped reinstate underscores the increasingly chaotic philosophical and legal landscape surrounding abortion access in Arizona. (Yamat, 5/15)
The New York Times: Anti-Abortion Activist Who Led Blockade Of Clinic Gets Nearly 5 Years In Prison
An anti-abortion activist who led a blockade of a reproductive health clinic in Washington, D.C., in 2020 and drew widespread attention after the authorities found human fetuses at her home was sentenced on Tuesday to nearly five years in prison. Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of U.S. District Court in Washington sentenced the activist, Lauren Handy, 30, of Virginia, to 57 months in prison for her role in the blockade, officials said. (Ortiz, 5/14)
News Service of Florida: Court Sets September For Hearing On Florida Blocking Medicaid For Trans Care
A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear arguments in September in a battle about whether Florida violated federal laws by blocking Medicaid coverage for transgender people seeking hormone therapy and puberty blockers. (5/14)
Public Health
32% Of Outbreaks Linked To Food That Could've Been Treated To Avert Illness
CIDRAP: A Third Of US Food Outbreaks And 3,500 Illnesses Tied To Non-Irradiated Eligible Food
Of 482 US foodborne outbreaks caused by four common bacteria from 2009 to 2022, 32.2%—involving more than 3,500 sick people and 10 deaths—were linked to a food that could have undergone pathogen-neutralizing irradiation but did not, researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported yesterday in Emerging Infectious Diseases. (Van Beusekom, 5/14)
AP: There's Bird Flu In US Dairy Cows. Raw Milk Drinkers Aren't Deterred
Since March 25, when the bird flu virus was confirmed in U.S. cattle for the first time, weekly sales of raw cow’s milk have ticked up 21% to as much as 65% compared with the same periods a year ago, according to the market research firm NielsenIQ. That runs counter to advice from the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which calls raw milk one of the “riskiest” foods people can consume. (Aleccia, 5/14)
Stateline: As States Loosen Childhood Vaccine Requirements, Health Experts’ Worries Grow
Louisiana Republican state Rep. Kathy Edmonston believes no one ought to be required to vaccinate their children. So, she wants schools to proactively tell parents that it’s their right under Louisiana law to seek an exemption. “It’s not the vaccine itself, it is the mandate,” Edmonston told Stateline. “The law is the law. And it already says you can opt out if you don’t want it. If you do want it, you can go anywhere and get it.” (Chatlani, 5/15)
CNN: US Drowning Death Rates Have Increased, Reversing Decades Of Decline
After decades of decline, accidental drowning rates are rising in the US, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported. With Americans getting ready to hit swimming pools and beaches on Memorial Day weekend, a new study shows that many lack the skills they need to stay safe in the water. (Goodman, 5/14)
The Wall Street Journal: Cheating On Workplace Drug Tests Hits A Record
Workers are cheating on drug tests at the highest rate in more than 30 years, according to one of the U.S.’s largest drug-testing labs. The increase in tampered tests came from samples collected in 2023. About 31,000 drug screens out of 5.5 million showed signs of cheating, according to Quest Diagnostics. (De Avila, 5/14)
The New York Times: At-Home IV Drip Therapy Is The Latest Luxury Building Amenity
About two weeks after Marcell Leon Viragh moved into the Park Santa Monica, a Los Angeles building where residents can sweat in a Himalayan salt sauna or gaze at the Pacific Ocean from the expansive roof deck, he took the elevator down to the spa, where a registered nurse slid a needle into a vein in his arm, sending a liter of saline, vitamins and electrolytes coursing through his bloodstream. (Kaysen, 5/14)
In news on mental health matters —
CNN: Internet Access Is Linked To Higher Well-Being, New Global Study Reveals
The internet is ruining our lives, right? Not necessarily, according to a new study. “Nearly everyone seems to think that internet-powered technologies are driving an epidemic of ill-being and mental health problems,” said lead study author Dr. Matti Vuorre, assistant professor of social psychology at Tilburg University in the Netherlands, in an email. “Our study of over two million individuals from 160+ countries runs contrary to this idea.” (Holcombe, 5/15)
Fortune: Adult Mental Health Survey: Lost Time Due To Depression, Anxiety
Every now and then you may wonder, Where did the time go? Whether mystified at how quickly an afternoon slipped away or reflecting on years gone by at lightning speed, you’ve probably experienced periodic sensations of lost time. Yet 44% of Americans feel they’ve lost time in their lives due to a known culprit: poor mental health. Among people diagnosed with depression and/or anxiety, this percentage nearly doubles to 78%. That’s according to a new national survey from Myriad Genetics, dubbed the GeneSight Mental Health Monitor. (Leake, 5/15)
Science And Innovations
Study Links Some Sepsis-Treating Antibiotics With Higher Risk Of Death
CIDRAP: Study Finds Increased Risk Of Death In Sepsis Patients Treated With Broad-Spectrum Antibiotic
A new study, ... led by researchers with the University of Michigan Medical School and the Veteran Affairs (VA) Ann Arbor Healthcare System, found that, in patients with suspected sepsis and no clear indication for anti-anaerobic antibiotics, the combination of piperacillin-tazobactam and vancomycin was associated with a 5% absolute mortality increase at 90 days compared with cefepime and vancomycin. (Dall, 5/14)
CIDRAP: Study Highlights Inappropriate Antibiotic Prescribing In US Emergency Departments
A review of US emergency department (ED) visits involving antibiotic prescribing found that more than a quarter had inappropriate antibiotic prescriptions, and nearly half of those didn't even have a plausible indication for antibiotics, US researchers reported today in Antimicrobial Stewardship & Healthcare Epidemiology. (Dall, 5/14)
In covid news —
CIDRAP: TB-COVID Co-Infections Increasingly Common, Tied To Worse Outcomes, Data Show
A new meta-analysis of 17 studies reveals that tuberculosis (TB) and COVID-19 co-infection are becoming increasingly prevalent around the world, with death rates gradually declining but remaining higher than COVID-19 infection alone. The study was published yesterday in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. (Soucheray, 5/14)
CIDRAP: COVID Patient Testing, Isolation Of Sick Staff Cut In-Hospital Viral Spread, Modeling Study Suggests
Interventions such as testing patients for COVID-19 on admission, isolation of ill healthcare workers (HCWs), and universal HCW masking from March 2020 to July 2022 significantly reduced SARS-CoV-2 transmission among patients and staff in UK hospitals, suggests a simulation study led by UK Health Security Agency researchers in London. The findings were published last week in BMC Infectious Diseases. (Van Beusekom, 5/14)
On weight-loss drugs —
Stat: Novo Nordisk Testing Wegovy Against Alcohol-Related Liver Disease
Novo Nordisk will test whether its GLP-1 drugs can help people with alcohol-associated liver disease, and, as part of that, will study if the treatments will change the amount of alcohol people drink. (Cueto and Chen, 5/14)
Politico: Novo’s Weight-Loss Drug Could Be Taken For Life, Expert Says
Long-term use of a popular obesity drug significantly reduces the risk of heart attack and stroke while sustaining weight loss over time, a study has shown, raising the prospect of lifetime treatment with the drug. Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk presented data on the effects of semaglutide — sold under the brand names Wegovy for obesity and Ozempic for diabetes — over a four-year period, at the European Congress on Obesity in Venice, on Tuesday. (Ciappa, 5/14)
Also —
Newsweek: Autism Diagnoses May Be Improved 'Substantially' By New Study
A simple set of eye-tracking exercises may offer an effective solution for autism diagnosis in young children that can also assess the scale of the condition, new research has found. The findings promise to help overcome delays and disparities in diagnoses to allow for early interventions and ultimately reduce lifetime care costs. Autism spectrum disorders are ... affecting roughly one in 36 U.S. children by the age of 8 years old, according to a 2020 report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Dewan, 5/14)
Newsweek: New Herpes Study Reveals 'Significant' Information
Scientists have figured out how the dreaded herpes virus breaks into our cells.Herpes simplex virus type 1—the major cause of oral herpes—enters the nerve cells by taking over cellular transport processes, according to a new paper in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. This discovery may help researchers develop new and more effective treatments for this sneaky and surprisingly common virus. (Thomson, 5/14)
Stat: Abbott's New Stent May Help Patients With Peripheral Artery Disease
An Abbott device that failed in heart disease patients is getting a new life in patients with severe vascular disease. The device is a below-knee stent that widens clogged blood vessels, and then vanishes into the vessel’s walls over the course of three years. It also delivers a drug that prevents scar tissue from forming — a common risk factor with traditional metal stents that further narrow the vessel. (Lawrence, 5/15)
The San Diego Union-Tribune: New Device Could Identify Which Babies Will Struggle With Breastfeeding
Doctors traditionally use a finger to gauge how well a baby suckles, but researchers at UC San Diego have come up with a new way to more precisely measure just how well each child gets the job done. (Sisson, 5/14)
AP: Will AI Replace Doctors Who Read X-Rays, Or Just Make Them Better Than Ever?
How good would an algorithm have to be to take over your job? It’s a new question for many workers amid the rise of ChatGPT and other AI programs that can hold conversations, write stories and even generate songs and images within seconds. For doctors who review scans to spot cancer and other diseases, however, AI has loomed for about a decade as more algorithms promise to improve accuracy, speed up work and, in some cases, take over entire parts of the job. (Perrone, 5/14)
Axios: Studies On Ecstasy For PTSD Called Into Question
Clinical trials using the drug known as ecstasy to treat PTSD may have been tainted by investigator biases and understated possible harmful effects, the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review said in a report on Tuesday. (Bettelheim, 5/15)
Health Industry
Insurers Brace For Expected Medicare Advantage Losses Next Year
Modern Healthcare: Aetna, Humana Expect Medicare Advantage Membership Losses In 2025
Industry heavyweights CVS Health Aetna and Humana foresee Medicare Advantage membership losses next year. Anticipated changes to health plan offerings and benefit design to achieve long-term business profitability could mean losing a significant portion of their Medicare Advantage membership, executives told investors at the Bank of America Securities Healthcare Conference on Tuesday. (Tepper and Berryman, 5/14)
Stat: CVS Is Willing To Dump 10% Of Its Medicare Advantage Members
CVS Health is preparing to make significant changes to its 2025 Medicare Advantage plans, which could potentially drive away 10% of its membership, the company’s chief financial officer said at an investment banking conference Tuesday. (Herman, 5/14)
Modern Healthcare: Rural Hospitals Facing Low Medicare Advantage Pay Risk Closing
To explain how the accelerating penetration of Medicare Advantage is harming rural hospitals in ways that will likely require action by Congress and regulators to fix, Nemaha Valley Community Hospital CEO Kiley Floyd pointed to patients in her northeastern Kansas community who previously were covered by traditional Medicare. One diabetic man who was not competent to mind his own finances used to have his care covered by regular Medicare and his veteran's benefits, Kiley said — until a Medicare Advantage marketer called and he said the magic word: "Yes." (McAuliff, 5/14)
Modern Healthcare: Talkspace Enters Medicare Space With Services In 11 States
Behavioral health provider Talkspace rolled out services Tuesday to 13 million Medicare members across 11 states and will expand to 33 million members nationwide by the end of the year. Talkspace services are available to those with traditional Medicare in California, Florida, New York, Ohio, New Jersey, Virginia, Missouri, Maryland, South Carolina, New Mexico and Idaho. The company plans to offer services to Medicare Advantage members later on, as well. (DeSilva, 5/14)
In other industry news —
Reuters: Getinge Limits Sale Of Heart Devices In The US After FDA Warning
Sweden's Getinge (GETIb.ST), opens new tab will limit sales of some of its heart products in the U.S., the medical equipment maker said late on Tuesday, after recent advice from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to move away from its devices. "We have decided to immediately pause promotional activities of the Cardiohelp System and Cardiosave Intra-Aortic Balloon Pump in the U.S. until outstanding actions related to quality improvements have been addressed and approved," said CEO Mattias Perjos in a statement. (5/15)
Modern Healthcare: Humana’s Jim Rechtin To Succeed CEO Bruce Broussard On July 1
Jim Rechtin will take the helm as Humana's next CEO on July 1. Rechtin will succeed CEO Bruce Broussard, who has led the company for more than a decade. Rechtin joined Humana’s leadership team in January as president and chief operating officer with plans to move into the additional role of CEO during the second half of the year. (Berryman, 5/14)
Reuters: Activist Jana Partners Built Position In QuidelOrtho In First Quarter, Sources Say
Activist investor Jana Partners built a new stake in U.S. diagnostics company QuidelOrtho (QDEL.O) during the first quarter, sources familiar with the hedge fund's position told Reuters. It is unclear whether the hedge fund will seek changes at the company, which makes the popular QuickVue COVID-19 test for home use, and it could not be determined how large Jana's stake is. (Herbst-Bayliss, 5/14)
Modern Healthcare: What Healthcare REITs Mean For Providers, Patients
Steward Health Care's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing is the latest example of the significant role real estate investment trusts play in healthcare. REITs have served as a financial solution for providers and health systems, allowing them to broaden their networks without as hefty a capital investment. (DeSilva, 5/14)
Also —
KFF Health News: Why One New York Health System Stopped Suing Its Patients
Jolynn Mungenast spends her days looking for ways to help people pay their hospital bills. Working out of a warehouse-like building in a scruffy corner of this former industrial town, Mungenast gently walks patients through health insurance options, financial aid, and payment plans. Most want to pay, said Mungenast, a financial counselor at Rochester Regional Health. Very often, they simply can’t. (Levey, 5/15)
State Watch
Critics Highlight Health Implications Of North Carolina Protester Mask Ban
AP: North Carolina Bill To Curb Mask-Wearing In Protests Could Make It Illegal For Medical Reasons Too
People wearing a mask during protests in North Carolina could face extra penalties if arrested, under proposed legislation that critics say could make it illegal to wear a mask in public as a way to protect against COVID-19 or for other health reasons. Republicans supporters say the legislation, which passed its first committee Tuesday, was prompted in part by the recent wave of protests on universities nationwide — including at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill — against Israel’s war in Gaza. (Seminera, 5/14)
In other news from across the country —
Politico: Newsom To Start Doling Out Prop 1 Funds In July, Months Ahead Of Schedule
The first $3.3 billion of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s mental health and homelessness bond will start going toward new facilities in July, just months after voters narrowly approved the bond in March and also months ahead of initial plans. “We will quickly approve those plans,” Newsom announced during a press conference Tuesday at a newly constructed psychiatric facility in San Mateo County, which he touted as the kind of project the money will support. (Bluth, 5/14)
San Francisco Chronicle: Advocates Press SF For New Approach To Combat Drug Crisis: 3,000 Dead
Prominent addiction medicine doctors and harm reduction advocates Tuesday blasted San Francisco’s response to the drug overdose crisis, which they say has claimed twice as many lives as the COVID-19 pandemic, and urged the city to open a supervised drug consumption site like the controversial Tenderloin Center that closed in late 2022. Since January 2020, 3,026 people have died from accidental drug overdoses in San Francisco — more than double the 1,319 people who have died from COVID, according to city data. (Ho, 5/14)
KFF Health News: Tribal Nations Invest Opioid Settlement Funds In Traditional Healing To Treat Addiction
Outside the Mi’kmaq Nation’s health department sits a dome-shaped tent, built by hand from saplings and covered in black canvas. It’s one of several sweat lodges on the tribe’s land, but this one is dedicated to helping people recover from addiction. Up to 10 people enter the lodge at once. Fire-heated stones — called grandmothers and grandfathers, for the spirits they represent — are brought inside. Water is splashed on the stones, and the lodge fills with steam. It feels like a sauna, but hotter. (Pattani and Orozco Rodriguez, 5/15)
AP: 'Micropreemie' Baby Who Weighed Just Over 1 Pound At Birth Goes Home
A baby girl who weighed just over one pound when she was born prematurely in November has beaten the odds and gone home with her parents after spending her first six months at a suburban Chicago hospital. Nyla Brooke Haywood was treated to a send-off party Monday at Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox, Illinois, attended by family, friends and hospital staffers before the 6-month-old was taken home by her first-time parents, NaKeya and Cory Haywood of Joliet. (5/14)
Prescription Drug Watch
Relyvrio Manufacturer Withdraws Ineffective ALS Drug From Sale
NPR: Maker Of ALS Drug Pulls Relyvrio Off The Market, Keeping A Promise To Patients
In April, the co-CEOs of Amylyx Pharmaceuticals fulfilled a promise they made years earlier to people with the deadly disease ALS. Justin Klee and Josh Cohen, who started Amylyx while they were students at Brown University, announced that the company would voluntarily stop selling an ALS drug that had brought in $380 million in 2023. (Hamilton, 5/15)
In other drug pricing and pharmaceutical news —
Reuters: Roche Says FDA Approves HPV Self-Test In US
Swiss drugmaker Roche on Wednesday said the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved its human papillomavirus (HPV) self-testing kit. (5/15)
Reuters: Eisai Starts Rolling Submission For Injectable Version Of Alzheimer's Drug With US FDA
Eisai (4523.T) and partner Biogen (BIIB.O) said on Tuesday that the Japanese drugmaker has begun submitting data on a rolling basis to the US health regulator for a marketing application of a subcutaneous form of their Alzheimer's disease drug Leqembi. The companies are seeking the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) approval of a weekly dose of Leqembi to be given as an under-the-skin injection. (5/15)
Reuters: Novo Nordisk Owner Buys Majority Stake In Austrian Life Science Tools Company
Novo Holdings, the controlling shareholder of Danish obesity drugmaker Novo Nordisk (NOVOb.CO), said on Wednesday it would buy a controlling stake of about 60% in Single Use Support, an Austria-based life science tools company. It declined to give a precise value for the deal but a spokesperson said it would be a "high triple-digit million euros" amount. Single Use Support's two founders will each retain 10% and U.S. life sciences firm Danaher (DHR.N) will retain 20%. (Fick, 5/15)
The Wall Street Journal: Merck KGaA Confirms Outlook After Drop In Sales, Earnings
Germany’s Merck KGaA confirmed and detailed its guidance for 2024 after it reported lower sales and earnings for the first quarter, hit by inventory reductions at its life-science segment. The life-sciences and electronics company said Wednesday that it expects full-year organic sales growth to range from 1% to 5% at the net sales level and to range from 1% to 7% in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization and one-time items, the company’s preferred profitability metric. (Calatayud, 5/15)
Perspectives: Flawed Study Upended Menopause Therapy; Ditching Old Insulin Versions Hurts Drug Pricing
The Washington Post: Hormonal Menopause Therapy Hurt By Misinterpreted Study
In 2002, a well-intentioned but flawed study upended medical care for middle-aged women. It suggested that hormone therapy, then the gold standard to treat menopausal symptoms, led to higher risks of breast cancer, heart attacks and strokes. (Leana S. Wen, 5/14)
Stat: Discontinuing Older Versions Of Insulin Is Bad For Drug Pricing
Physicians Frederick Banting and John MacLeod declined to be listed on the patent for insulin in 1923; their co-inventors Charles Best and James Collip sold the patent to the University of Toronto for $1. But despite the discoverers’ efforts to make insulin available and cheap for everyone, it has today become the poster child for soaring pharmaceutical prices. (Robin Feldman, 5/15)
Editorials And Opinions
Viewpoints: Can The CDC Regain Public Trust?; Palliative Care Should Start Much Sooner
The New York Times: ‘There Are Layers Of Mistrust And Fear’
Dr. Cohen was the top public health official in North Carolina during the Covid pandemic, winning praise for working with Gov. Roy Cooper to steer the state’s response without allowing it to become politicized. (Jyoti Thottam, 5/15)
Scientific American: Patients Fare Better When They Get Palliative Care Sooner, Not Later
Evidence of the benefits of palliative care continues to grow. For people with advanced illnesses, it helps to control physical symptoms such as pain and shortness of breath. It addresses mental health issues, including depression and anxiety. And it can reduce unnecessary trips to the hospital. But barriers to access persist—especially a lack of providers. (Lydia Denworth, 5/14)
Scientific American: Asbestos Is Finally Banned In The U.S. Here’s Why It Took So Long
In March the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that it was banning ongoing uses of asbestos. People might have thought, Wait—what? Wasn’t it already banned? (Naomi Oreskes, 5/14)
Scientific American: Medical ‘Digital Twins’ Will Lead The Way To Personalized Medicine
Amid this geopolitical jousting, this simulation technology—already widely used in manufacturing—is coming to medicine. It promises to speed up a long-envisioned era of personalized medicine, which uses targeted interventions customized to each patient, to maintain or restore health. (Reinhard C. Laubenbacher, 5/14)