Politico: Biden To Announce First-Ever Federal Office Of Gun Violence Prevention
President Joe Biden will announce the creation of the first-ever federal office of gun violence prevention on Friday, fulfilling a key demand of gun safety activists as legislation remains stalled in Congress, according to two people with direct knowledge of the White House’s plans. Stefanie Feldman, a longtime Biden aide who previously worked on the Domestic Policy Council, will play a leading role, the people said. (Ward, 9/19)

The Washington Post: Biden To Create New Office Of Gun Violence Prevention 
Greg Jackson, a gun violence survivor who is the executive director of the Community Justice Action Fund, and Rob Wilcox, the senior director for federal government affairs at Everytown for Gun Safety, are expected to have key roles in the office, the people said. ... Since Biden was elected, gun violence prevention groups have pressed the White House to create such an office, arguing that it would help coordinate efforts across the federal government to reduce gun violence. Activists say this type of office would also allow the White House to exert more leadership on the issue. (Pager and Cox, 9/19)

Fox News: House Republican Moves To Protect Gun Owners' Rights From 'Radical Left' National Emergency Declarations
Texas Rep. Michael Cloud re-introduced a bill Tuesday that would prohibit the president and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from declaring public health emergencies to enforce gun control measures. If enacted, the Protecting the Right To Keep and Bear Arms Act would also prevent government officials from restricting the production, sale or transfer of firearms and ammunition during major disasters or emergencies, "thereby preventing them from illicitly using public health authority." (Joseph, 9/19)

AP: New Mexico Official Orders Insurance Companies To Expand Timely Access To Behavioral Health Services
New Mexico’s top insurance regulator on Tuesday ordered health insurance companies to expand timely access to behavioral health services in response to the governor recently declaring a public health emergency over gun violence in the state’s largest metropolitan area. Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham initially sought to ban people from the open and concealed carry of firearms in Albuquerque and surrounding Bernalillo County, but a federal judge put that effort on hold pending the outcome of multiple legal challenges. (9/19)

WHIO TV 7 And WHIO Radio: ‘A Game Changer’: Ohio Unveils New Gun Violence Initiative 
Gov. Mike DeWine announced a new gun initiative created to decrease gun violence within Ohio. DeWine was joined by state, local, and federal leaders for the debut of the Central Ohio Crime Gun Intelligence Center (CGIC).This center serves to both investigate and eliminate gun violence within Central Ohio using the help of firearm evidence examiners, investigators, and intelligence analysts, according to a media release. (9/19)

Also —

AP: Parkland School Shooting Survivor Develops Joy, An App Built On AI That Helps People Heal 
Kai Koerber was a junior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School when a gunman murdered 14 students and three staff members there on Valentine’s Day in 2018. Seeing his peers — and himself — struggle with returning to normal, he wanted to do something to help people manage their emotions on their own terms. While some of his classmates at the Parkland, Florida, school have worked on advocating for gun control, entered politics or simply took a step back to heal and focus on their studies, Koerber’s background in technology — he’d originally wanted to be a rocket scientist — led him in a different direction: to build a smartphone app. The result was Joy, which uses artificial intelligence to suggest bite-sized mindfulness activities for people based on how they are feeling. (Ortutay, 9/20)

Los Angeles Times: He Heard Voices. He Bought A Gun. Now He’s Accused Of Killing An L.A. Deputy
When Kevin Cataneo Salazar, 29, allegedly shot Los Angeles Sheriff’s Deputy Ryan Clinkunbroomer, he may have been using a handgun he had purchased legally despite a history of mental illness, authorities said Tuesday, raising questions about how he was able to slip through the cracks of a system designed to prevent such tragedies. Cataneo Salazar’s mother told The Times her son had been hospitalized for mental health crises and twice attempted suicide. (Castelman, Solis, Hernandez, Curwen and Winton, 9/20)

The Washington Post: Homeland Security Outlines Plan To Stop Fentanyl, Precursor Chemicals
Homeland Security officials on Tuesday announced a plan to increase fentanyl seizures and break up the supply chains and financial networks fueling the most lethal drug crisis in U.S. history. Officials said the department’s investigative unit, Homeland Security Investigations, will assign more agents to track shipments of precursor chemicals, primarily originating in China, used to manufacture the powerful synthetic opioid. (Miroff, 9/19)

More on the opioid crisis —

ABC News: NYC Mayor Eric Adams Calls For ‘National Assault’ On Fentanyl Epidemic Following Death Of Child At Day Care
An emotional New York City Mayor Eric Adams Monday denounced the suspects accused of the alleged opioid exposure in a Bronx day care last week, which left one toddler dead and sent three others to the hospital, and called for a "national assault" on the epidemic. ... City health inspectors conducted a surprise inspection of the facility on Sept. 6 and did not find any violations, according to City Health Commissioner Ashwin Vasan. "I'm very sorry, but one of the things that my child care inspectors are not trained to do is look for fentanyl. But maybe they need to," Vasan said at a news conference Monday evening. (Katersky and Pereira, 9/18)

Side Effects Public Media: The Region Is In The Thick Of 'a Synthetic Drug Crisis'
More than 100,000 people died of an opioid overdose nationwide in 2022 and more than two-thirds of those deaths involved synthetic opioids. Synthetic opioids are substances that are synthesized in a laboratory and act on the same targets in the brain as natural opioids to reduce pain. In contrast, natural opioids — including heroin, morphine, and codeine — are naturally occurring substances extracted from the seed pod of certain varieties of poppy plants. (Li, 9/19)

CBS Minnesota: More Minnesotans, Including Children, Succumbing To Fentanyl-Related Deaths
The fentanyl crisis doesn't discriminate. It touches the youngest Minnesotans and its hold spans across demographics. Fentanyl poisoning and overdose deaths skyrocketed in the last few years. Some of the victims are children. It's making headlines in Minnesota. Two charged in the fentanyl-related death of a 17-month-old in Ramsey County. A Maple Plain mother charged with manslaughter after her 6-year-old son chewed on a drug-tainted dollar bill. A 7-year-old in St. Paul dead from fentanyl poisoning. A 1-year-old in Minneapolis. (Mayerle, 9/19)

Deseret News: Fentanyl Is Becoming More Potent, Prevalent And Affordable In Utah, Law Enforcement Tells Lawmakers
Fentanyl, the powerful synthetic opioid, has become increasingly prevalent and affordable in Utah, state law enforcement officials told lawmakers. During a Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Interim Committee meeting on Monday, lawmakers were shown “alarming data” from members of the Utah Department of Public Safety. In the last few years, the synthetic opioid has increasingly turned up in seizures and fueled overdose deaths, said Tanner Jensen, director of the statewide information and analysis center at the Department of Public Safety. Fentanyl, he said, “is the greatest drug threat in Utah.” (Dunphey, 9/19)

The Hill: White House Outlines Potential Consequences Of Shutdown Amid Divisions In House GOP 
The White House accused House Republicans of putting the nation at risk of a shutdown “that would undermine our economy and national security, create needless uncertainty for families and businesses, and have damaging consequences across the country.” The White House said FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund would risk being depleted without a funding bill, complicating emergency response efforts. A government shut down would stall research on cancer, the White House said, and delay food inspections conducted by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). (Samuels, 9/20)

Roll Call: Partisan House GOP Stopgap Funds Bill On Halting Comeback Trail
House Republicans were starting to move closer together Tuesday on a revised stopgap funding measure that would cut nondefense appropriations more deeply than an earlier version and possibly establish a new commission to tackle long-term budget challenges. But there were real questions about whether the necessary 217 votes among Republicans were possible on a compromise continuing resolution that would ultimately be rejected by the Democratic-controlled Senate anyway. The key divide was where to set the annualized funding rate for the month of October on the measure, which would avert a partial government shutdown after Sept. 30. (Krawzak and Weiss, 9/19)

NBC News: Republican Infighting Paralyzes The House As Some Call A Shutdown Inevitable
The House GOP chaos is worse than it may appear. The bills Republicans are fighting over have no chance of becoming law — and if they passed the chamber they’d merely represent an opening bid to negotiate with the Democratic-led Senate and President Joe Biden, who oppose the spending cuts and conservative policies that House Republicans are pursuing. (Kapur, Wong, Vitali and Kaplan, 9/1)

Politico: White House Watches As House GOP Implodes Over Spending Bill
President Joe Biden has steered well clear of the chaos engulfing the House, where Republicans are battling each other over a government funding bill. Within the White House, aides have settled on a hard-line strategy aimed at pressuring McCarthy to stick to a spending deal he struck with Biden back in May rather than attempt to patch together a new bipartisan bill. “We agreed to the budget deal and a deal is a deal — House GOP should abide by it,” said a White House official granted anonymity to discuss the private calculations. (Haberkorn and Cancryn, 9/20)

In other news from Capitol Hill —

Modern Healthcare: PBMs Battle PhRMA In House Oversight Committee Hearing
Pharmacy benefit managers emerged as public enemy No. 1 in a congressional hearing Tuesday, underscoring growing bipartisan sympathy for advancing any of the many measures that target drug industry middlemen. While lawmakers often praised the intent of PBMs to bring down drug costs, most argued that PBMs are either failing to achieve that goal, or doing more to boost their own bottom lines. (McAuliff, 9/19)

Ohio Capital Journal: Hospitals Plead With Congress To Avert $8 Billion In Cuts In Medicaid Funding
Health care representatives from across the United States are urging Congress to halt cuts to funding that helps hospitals care for uninsured or low-income patients who rely on Medicaid. More than 250 hospitals and health systems appealed to House and Senate leadership in a letter Thursday asking the lawmakers to avert or delay a forthcoming $8 billion cut to “America’s health care safety net.” (Murray, 9/18)

NBC News: The 2023 Covid Spike Is Easing In Some Areas, Wastewater Testing Suggests
Wastewater data suggest that the recent uptick in Covid cases may have peaked, at least in some areas. Biobot Analytics, a company that tracks wastewater samples at 257 sites nationwide, said that the current average Covid levels across the United States are approximately 5% lower than they were last week. "All fingers crossed," Cristin Young, a Biobot epidemiologist said, "this wave is plateauing and may be declining." (Edwards, 9/19)

News5Cleveland: Ohio Gov. DeWine Tests Positive For COVID-19 After Mistaking It For 'Mild Head Cold'
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced Tuesday that he has tested positive for COVID-19 after believing he had a "mild head cold." DeWine began experiencing mild cold symptoms Monday and, believing he had a mild head cold, proceeded with his work day Tuesday, according to a news release from the governor's office. (9/19)

San Francisco Chronicle: Bay Area Counties Issue New Mask Mandates As COVID Rises
In response to the increasing threat of respiratory illnesses, including COVID-19 and influenza, officials in multiple Bay Area counties have issued orders requiring health care workers in patient care settings to wear masks during the upcoming respiratory virus season. The measures announced on Tuesday in Sonoma, Contra Costa and San Mateo counties remain in effect from Nov. 1 through April 30. The move comes amid concerns of a potential “tripledemic” of COVID-19, flu and RSV that could strain health care systems. (Vaziri, 9/19)

On covid vaccines —

The Wall Street Journal: A Game Plan for Timing Your Flu, Covid and RSV Shots This Fall
Respiratory virus season is around the corner. With vaccines available for Covid-19, flu and, for some people, RSV, when should you get them? Doctors generally suggest getting your flu and Covid shots before the end of October, and say it’s OK to get both those shots at the same time. The most important thing, doctors say, is to get vaccinated. If you’re in a doctor’s office or a drugstore and can get your shots, it usually makes sense to do it.  (Reddy, 9/19)

USA Today: Fact Check: No Evidence COVID-19 Vaccines Shorten Life Expectancy
The claim: CDC data shows COVID-19 vaccines could lower life expectancy by up to 24 years. "BREAKING: According to new CDC data, the Covid vaccine could take 24 years off of your life," reads the post. False: There is no evidence any data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a link between COVID-19 vaccines and lower life expectancy. The dataset cited in a related article wasn't released until months after the claim was made. The claim originated with a website that frequently publishes misinformation. (Mueller, 9/19)

Reuters: Moderna To Cut MRNA Drug Substance Production At Lonza Facility
Moderna said on Tuesday it will cut production of mRNA drug substance for its COVID-19 vaccine at Lonza's facility in Switzerland this quarter as part of a plan to align manufacturing of the shots with lower post-pandemic demand. The U.S. company had said last week it was in talks with its partners that fill vials and syringes globally to downsize vaccine production. (9/19)

On long covid —

Stat: Experts Study Whether Long Covid Risk Adds Up With Each Reinfection
More than three years into the coronavirus pandemic, fewer and fewer people are experiencing their first Covid-19 infections. But as cases climb, those who’ve had the virus before may wonder: What are their chances of developing long Covid — and does the risk increase with each reinfection? (Cooney, 9/20)

CIDRAP: How Common Long COVID Is May Depend On How It's Defined 
In Open Forum Infectious Diseases, Dutch scientists report that the definition of post-COVID condition (PCC, or long COVID) matters when estimating prevalence in a population. In people who had previously tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the prevalence of long-term symptoms varied from 26.9% to 64.1%, depending on which of six different definitions was used, while in those who tested negative, the prevalence varied from 11.4% to 32.5%. (Soucheray, 9/19)

On preventing the next pandemic —

The Boston Globe: CDC Gives Northeastern U. $17.5 Million To Predict Pandemics
Northeastern University has been selected for a leading role in a new national network formed to better forecast the spread of a future pandemic. The university announced Tuesday the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has awarded it $17.5 million over the next five years to develop a center focused on detecting and preparing for the next outbreak of infectious disease, especially in rural areas. (Freyer, 9/19)

Politico: GOP Governors Who Passed Abortion Bans Hit Trump For Calling Restrictions 'A Terrible Thing' 
Staunchly anti-abortion Republican governors who have shepherded abortion restrictions in their states are piling on to Donald Trump for his recent comment labeling Florida’s six-week abortion ban “a terrible thing.” ... “I applaud Governor @KimReynoldsIA and the Iowa legislature for promoting a culture of life,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis wrote on X. “Donald Trump is wrong to attack the heartbeat bill as ‘terrible.’ Standing for life is a noble cause.” (Zhang, 9/19)

The Hill: Iowa Governor Defends 6-Week Abortion Ban After Trump ‘Terrible Thing’ Comments
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) defended legislation she signed that bans most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, after former President Trump called Florida’s six-week ban on the procedure a “terrible thing.” “It’s never a ‘terrible thing’ to protect innocent life,” Reynolds said Tuesday in a post on X. “I’m proud of the fetal heartbeat bill the Iowa legislature passed and I signed in 2018 and again earlier this year.” (Timotija, 9/19)

The Hill: Kemp Joins In Defense Of 6-Week Abortion Ban Amid Trump Blowback 
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) defended a six-week abortion ban after former President Trump criticized a similar ban Sunday. “There’s nothing ‘terrible’ about standing up for life.” Kemp posted on X Tuesday. “In addition to passing the heartbeat bill, Georgia has proudly protected and valued life through implementing adoption and foster care reforms, and combatting human trafficking —and will continue to do so as long as I’m governor.” (Sforza, 9/19)

More abortion updates —

The Hill: Tuberville To Try Going Around His Own Abortion Blockade To Confirm Marine Commandant
Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) told senators that he will attempt to force a one-off vote Wednesday to confirm Gen. Eric Smith to become the new commandant for the Marine Corps, while he maintains his blockade on more than 300 other military promotions. (Weaver, 9/19)

The Hill: Progressives Push Democrats To Reach Beyond Roe In Abortion Battles
Rachel O’Leary Carmona, executive director of Women’s March, characterized the focus on simply bringing back Roe’s protections as too narrow and “backward looking.” “Roe is gone. It’s gone, and it’s not coming back in the form that it was in,” O’Leary Carmona said, urging Democrats to think bigger and broader. “Public opinion on abortion has shifted and it’s shifted in favor of abortion. So now is the time for Democrats to strike when the iron is hot and put forth a vision that is of a future where we can all win,” she said.  (Weixel, 9/19)

The Washington Post: Billboards Tell I-55 Drivers ‘Abortion Is OK, You Are Loved’
When she drove past a new billboard along Interstate 55 in Arkansas earlier this month, a 58-year-old woman cried. The billboard, which said in big block letters “God’s plan includes abortion,” reminded her of the abortion she’d had 41 years ago. Queen, who spoke on the condition that her last name not be used out of fear of harassment, said that she was taught as a child that abortion was a sin. Seeing a message like the one she passed this month would’ve reassured her that the procedure was her best choice, she said. That feeling of support is what Amelia Bonow, the executive director of the activist group Shout Your Abortion, hoped to spread when she recently posted six billboards along I-55, which runs through five states that have banned most abortions. (Melnick, 9/20)

In other reproductive health news —

WGCU: Maternity And Family Leave Have Been Expanded For Florida's State Employees
Maternity and family leave have been expanded for Florida state employees. The expansion, approved Monday at a meeting of Gov. Ron DeSantis and his Cabinet, will allow eligible state employees to receive paid maternity leave for up to seven weeks and parental leave for two weeks, which can be combined to provide nine weeks of paid leave for mothers. Previously, state employees could use sick and annual leave or unpaid leave following the birth of a child. (9/19)

The Boston Globe: Some Health Experts Say There’s A ‘Concerning Decline’ In HPV Vaccination Rates Since Pandemic Began
Planned Parenthood of Southern New England is seeing a “concerning decline” in vaccination rates for human papillomavirus, or HPV, with vaccinations down roughly 40 percent over the last few years, according to health experts from the organization. The reason? Primarily the pandemic, experts say, after people put off in-person doctors appointments, and as a result, certain preventative health measures, like getting the HPV vaccine. (Bowker, 9/19)

Stat: FDA Weighs Limits Of Animal Data In Assessing Artificial Wombs
The Food and Drug Administration’s advisory panel of pediatric experts met on Tuesday to discuss advances in artificial womb technology, which aim to save the lives of premature babies. The goal of the meeting was to discuss measures for evaluating the safety and efficacy of an artificial womb. The group grappled with the limits of current animal data, as well as the ethical difficulties in running human trials. On Wednesday, the committee’s meeting will be closed to the public in order to protect trade secrets. (Lawrence, 9/19)

NBC News: FDA Rejects First Needle-Free Alternative To EpiPens, Calling For Additional Research
The Food and Drug Administration did not approve an epinephrine nasal spray that would have been the first needle-free alternative to epinephrine autoinjectors, including EpiPens. The agency told drugmaker ARS Pharmaceuticals that it needed to conduct another study on the drug, called Neffy, to support approval, the company said in a statement late Tuesday night. The move came as a surprise: In May, an FDA advisory committee voted to recommend approval of the drug for children and adults. (Lovelace Jr. and Miller, 9/20)

On weight-loss drugs —

CNBC: Eli Lilly Sues Clinics Allegedly Selling Knockoff Versions Of Mounjaro
Eli Lilly on Tuesday sued 10 medical spas, wellness clinics and compounding pharmacies across the U.S. for allegedly selling cheaper, unauthorized versions of the company’s diabetes drug Mounjaro. (Constantino, 9/19)

The Washington Post: Inside The Gold Rush To Sell Cheaper Imitations Of Ozempic
The popularity of Ozempic for weight loss has fueled a cottage industry selling off-brand versions, taking advantage of a regulation allowing pharmacies to copy drugs in shortage. (Gilbert, 9/19)

In other pharmaceutical developments —

The Wall Street Journal: Marlboro Maker Hits Reset On $2 Billion Bet On Medicine 
Philip Morris International’s push into healthcare is faltering, prompting the tobacco giant to consider options such as selling a stake in its biggest pharmaceuticals unit. In 2021, the tobacco giant agreed to acquire three pharmaceutical companies for a total of more than $2 billion as part of a plan to pivot away from cigarette sales. The deals inserted the Marlboro maker into the market for inhalers and other treatments for respiratory diseases that are linked to cigarette smoking.  (Dummett and Maloney, 9/19)

The Boston Globe: Lab Space Demand Is Dropping In Boston
A report released Tuesday by Chicago-based commercial real estate giant JLL depicted an overbuilt market that is forcing building owners, who only recently commanded top dollar for premium lab space, to reduce rents and scramble for tenants. The rising vacancies are the result of a slowdown in the biopharma, medical technology, and biomanufacturing sectors after a building boom that started before the arrival of COVID and accelerated in the first two years of the pandemic. (Weisman, 9/19)

CIDRAP: Experts Say CDC Not Getting Right Advice On Hospital Infection Prevention
This week hundreds of industrial hygienists, healthcare worker union reps, epidemiologists, and aerosol scientists plan to send a second letter to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), asking the agency to hold public meetings to discuss the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee's (HICPAC's) proposal to update the CDC's Isolation Precautions guidance, last updated in 2007. A proposal from HICPAC, a federal advisory committee, will become the standard for hospital safety practices across the country, setting infection control protocols for a variety of pathogens in different healthcare scenarios. (Soucheray, 9/19)

More health care industry news —

Modern Healthcare: NCQA’s 2023 Health Plan Ratings Include HEDIS Measure
Most insurers scored high on an equity measure included for the first time as a part of the National Committee for Quality Assurance’s 2023 health plan ratings. The measure, which comes from the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) and assesses industry preparedness to address disparities and care gaps, asks health plans whether they can report any data stratified by their members’ race and ethnicity. (Devereaux, 9/19)

Axios: Medicare Advantage Ads Will Look Different This Fall
A new analysis finds more than 25% of Medicare Advantage television ads last year used images evoking government Medicare cards — a tactic that's now forbidden under a federal crackdown on misleading advertising in the program. (Goldman, 9/20)

NBC News: Unlicensed New York Acupuncturist Accused Of Causing Patient’s Lungs To Collapse
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz charged Yong De Lin, 66, with four counts of reckless endangerment, unauthorized practice of a profession, and assault in the first and second degree. “The difference between receiving health care from a competent, licensed professional or someone who is unlicensed can mean the difference between life and death,” Katz said in a news release announcing the charges. She said Lin did not even bother to apply for the required state licensure. (Kainz, 9/20)

In corporate developments —

Modern Healthcare: Bright Health Group, CMS Reach Risk-Adjustment Shortfall Agreement
Bright Health Group has entered into an agreement with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to pay down a $380 million shortfall the company owes through the Affordable Care Act's risk-adjustment program. Through this program, exchange insurers that cover healthier customers must transfer funds to carriers that insure sicker, more costly enrollees. Marketplace carriers are expected to pay $9.24 billion in risk-adjustment funds this year. (Tepper, 9/19) 

Bloomberg: UpHealth Puts Unit In Bankruptcy After Losing SPAC Fee Ruling
A unit of UpHealth Inc. filed for bankruptcy after a judge recently ruled the telemedicine provider must pay investment bank Needham & Co. a $31.3 million fee for arranging its 2021 merger with a publicly traded blank-check company. UpHealth Holdings Inc. filed for Chapter 11 on Tuesday, listing assets and liabilities each of between $100 million and $500 million, according to a Delaware bankruptcy petition. (Randles, 9/19)

Bloomberg: American Physician Partners Files Bankruptcy After Shutting Down
Medical staffing company American Physician Partners LLC filed for bankruptcy protection to wind down its business after it ceased operations in July, citing economic headwinds brought by the pandemic and lost revenue from new regulation. The company listed assets of as much as $500 million and liabilities of as much as $1 billion in its petition, filed Monday in Delaware. As of July 31, American Physician Partners had transitioned its clients to other emergency medicine companies, hospitals and health systems, according to a statement. It plans to liquidate under court supervision. (Steinberg and Boston, 9/19)

Stat: Bankrupt Pear's Prescription App Helped MassHealth Save Money, Data Suggests
Pear Therapeutics may be gone, but one of its most important deals is still driving critical conversations about how medical apps can find a foothold in the slow-moving health care system. (Aguilar, 9/19)

Axios: Zocdoc CEO: We Want To Be Health Care's "Connective Tissue"
Zocdoc has long been known as the site where patients can scope out doctor reviews and book appointments. But now it's getting into the business of actually running physicians' front offices, the company announced Tuesday. The company's platform will manage patient intake, handle a practice's entire online scheduling and host telehealth visits — and, for now, the product is entirely free to doctor's offices. (Reed, 9/19)

Modern Healthcare: Oracle Health To Add Generative AI To Millennium EHR System
Oracle Health is adding generative artificial intelligence features to its Millennium electronic health record system. At its user conference Monday in Las Vegas, the company formerly known as Cerner highlighted the addition of a voice-enabled generative AI clinical digital assistant. ... Patients will be able to use the company's voice-enabled generative AI technology through the patient portal to schedule appointments, review labs and ask clinical questions. (Perna, 9/19)

Reuters: GE HealthCare Gets $44M Grant To Develop AI-Assisted Ultrasound Tech 
GE HealthCare Technologies Inc has received a grant of more than $44 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop AI-assisted ultrasound technology, the company said on Monday. The grant will facilitate development of AI-assisted ultrasound imaging auto-assessment applications and tools to help address maternal and fetal health and respiratory diseases. (9/18)

Stat: Artificial Intelligence In Dentistry? AI Spots Cavities, Bone Loss Faster
Open wide, AI wants a look inside your mouth. A new wave of software is promising to supercharge dentists’ ability to spot decay and bone loss — and propose treatments earlier in the disease process. (Ross, 9/20)

Axios San Antonio: First Degree In AI, Medicine Comes To San Antonio
The first known dual degree in the U.S. to combine medicine and artificial intelligence is available in San Antonio. The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and UTSA are teaming up to offer a combined doctor of medicine and master of science in artificial intelligence to form a five-year program. (Stringer, 9/19)

Axios: New Tool From Google's AI Lab Hunts For Genetic Disease Causes
A new program from Google's artificial intelligence lab DeepMind aims to tackle one of the toughest problems in genetics: sifting through the millions of variations in the human genome to predict those that ultimately cause disease. (Reed, 9/20)

MedPage Today: AI Has An Image Problem In Healthcare, Expert Says
Artificial intelligence (AI) has an image problem when it comes to healthcare, but it actually represents a big opportunity to improve things, Tom Lawry said at the Population Health Colloquium here. "When you think about everything that you've been reading, whether it's lay journals or clinical journals, there's a lot of talk about the [AI] threat, that we should go slower," Lawry, managing director at Second Century Technology in Seattle, said. The speed of change is hard to keep up with and many things still need to be figured out, "and we will -- we'll find the guardrails," he added. "But we should also be talking about what I call the 'existential opportunity'" of AI. (Frieden, 9/19)

North Carolina Health News: State Budget Deal Opens Door For Medicaid Expansion
Statehouse leaders have finally announced a budget deal, which will fund the state and also allow for Medicaid expansion to go into effect in coming months. For weeks, leaders in the Senate and the House of Representatives tussled over the issue of adding legalization of casinos into the $30 billion state budget. Senate leader Phil Berger (R-Eden) was all in on the casino proposal, which would have won one of the four proposed casinos for his home in Rockingham County. (Baxley and Hoban, 9/20)

KFF Health News: How Will Rural Americans Fare During Medicaid Unwinding? Experts Fear They’re On Their Own
Abby Madore covers a lot of ground each day at work. A staffer at a community health center in Carson City, Nevada, Madore spends her days helping low-income residents understand their health insurance options, including Medicaid. Her phone is always ringing, she said, as she fields calls from clients who dial in from the state’s remote reaches seeking help. It’s a big job, especially this year as states work to sort through their Medicaid rolls after the end of a pandemic-era freeze that prohibited disenrollment. (Rodriguez, 9/20)

In other health news from across the U.S. —

Modern Healthcare: Family CNA Programs To Launch In Florida, New Jersey
The nursing shortage and lawsuits are prompting a growing number of states to pay family members to provide skilled nursing care at home to medically fragile children. New Jersey and Florida are the latest states to pass laws that allow a family member to get free training as a certified nursing assistant and get paid by Medicaid to provide up to 40 hours a week of home-based care to a child with significant medical needs such as cerebral palsy, epilepsy or severe autism who needs 24/7 care. (Eastabrook, 9/19)

The Boston Globe: State Approves New Health And Sex Ed Guidelines
State education officials on Tuesday unanimously approved revised sex ed curriculum guidelines for the first time since 1999, incorporating more inclusive language and updating recommendations to schools for K-12 instruction in physical, mental, emotional, and sexual health. The new framework emphasizes skills like healthy decision-making and problem solving, social awareness, media literacy, and communication and relationship skills, as well as topics like the difference between sexual orientation and gender identity, and sexual health. (Griswold, 9/19)

AP: Sacramento Prosecutor Sues California’s Capital City Over Failure To Clean Up Homeless Encampments 
Sacramento’s top prosecutor is suing the city’s leaders over failure to cleanup homeless encampments, escalating a monthslong dispute with leaders in California’s capital city. County District Attorney Thien Ho announced the lawsuit Tuesday during a news conference in Sacramento, saying the city is seeing a “collapse into chaos” that he said reflects the “erosion of everyday life.” A group of residents and business owners also filed a companion lawsuit against the city. (Nguyen, 9/19)

The Texas Tribune: Laws Have Changed Around Parking For Disabled Texans Over The Years. Here’s How It Looks Today
For millions of disabled Texans, accessible parking is vital to navigating daily life. A lasting impact of the Americans with Disabilities Act passed in 1990, the blue signage and crosshatches between spots have become more common than ever. They make it possible for people with a range of disabilities — some visible, some not — to access everything from hospitals and clinics to movie theaters and amusement parks. (Bohra, 9/20)

The Washington Post: Many Junk Foods Today Were Made And Marketed By Big Tobacco 
For decades, tobacco companies hooked people on cigarettes by making their products more addictive. Now, a new study suggests that tobacco companies may have used a similar strategy to hook people on processed foods. In the 1980s, tobacco giants Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds acquired the major food companies Kraft, General Foods and Nabisco, allowing tobacco firms to dominate America’s food supply and reap billions in sales from popular brands such as Oreo cookies, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese and Lunchables. (O'Connor, 9/19)

On mental health —

Axios: Unions Call For More Federal Workplace Mental Health Protections
Two of the country's biggest unions have joined a coalition calling on federal regulators to protect workers' mental health the way they enforce standards for physical health and safety. The press comes amid widespread post-pandemic burnout, growing awareness of the country's worsening mental health and some of the strongest pro-union sentiment in decades. (Owens, 9/20)

NPR: These Habits Can Cut The Risk Of Depression In Half, A New Study Finds
New evidence shows that people who maintain a range of healthy habits, from good sleep to physical activity to strong social connections, are significantly less likely to experience depression. (Aubrey, 9/19)

In other health and wellness news —

MoneyWatch: Work Stress Can Double Men's Risk Of Heart Disease, Study Shows
Male workers who experienced either job strain or effort-reward imbalance were 49% more likely to have heart disease compared to men without those stressors, the study published Tuesday in the American Heart Association's journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, found. Men in both job predicaments were twice as likely to have heart disease compared with men who did not experience the two stressors simultaneously. (Cerullo, 9/19)

Fox News: Dust At Day Care Centers Contained Bacteria That Could Cause Lung Issues In Kids, Study Found
Bacteria-containing dust found at day care centers could put children at a higher risk of asthma, a new study from the European Respiratory Society suggests. In the study, the researchers collected dust samples from 103 different day care facilities in Paris, France. Then they analyzed the samples in a lab to identify the bacteria found in each one. The researchers also asked the parents of 515 children to disclose whether the children experienced any wheezing or other respiratory issues. (Rudy, 9/19)

WMFE: Can Climate Change-Related Heat Bring On More Mosquito-Borne Diseases? 
A team dressed head-to-toe, donning breathing masks, and armed with a motorized spray pack of insecticide spread out around a west Orlando neighborhood setting up an aerosol treatment barrier and knocking down any blood-sucking, disease-carrying insects. The Orange County Mosquito Control was on scene for a routine call after a resident tested positive for dengue — a mosquito-borne illness. (Pedersen, 9/19)

USA Today: Dangerous Air Quality In Bay Area Due To California, Oregon Wildfires
California's Bay Area is grappling with poor air quality caused by northern smoke coming into the region from wildfires in California and Oregon. The Bay Area Air Quality Management District issued an air quality advisory for Tuesday and Wednesday as smoky and hazy skies are scattered in parts of the region. Health officials advise anyone who smells smoke to stay indoors, make sure windows and doors are closed and use air conditioning units and car vent systems to prevent outside air from intruding. (Robledo, 9/19)

KFF Health News: Hep C’s Number Comes Up: Can Biden’s 5-Year Plan Eliminate The Longtime Scourge? 
Rick Jaenisch went through treatment six times before his hepatitis C was cured in 2017. Each time his doctors recommended a different combination of drugs, his insurer denied the initial request before eventually approving it. This sometimes delayed his care for months, even after he developed end-stage liver disease and was awaiting a liver transplant. “At that point, treatment should be very easy to access,” said Jaenisch, now 37 and the director of outreach and education at Open Biopharma Research and Training Institute, a nonprofit group in Carlsbad, California. “I’m the person that treatment should be ideal for.” (Andrews, 9/20)

KFF Health News: Listen To The Latest 'KFF Health News Minute'
This week on the KFF Health News Minute: Feds clash with business leaders over proposed regulations to protect workers from excessive heat, and scientists are developing tattoos that could one day be medical diagnostic tools. (9/19)

Reuters: US NIH Begins Human Trials Of 'Universal' Flu Vaccine 
The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) said on Friday that it has begun an early-stage study on its experimental vaccine targeting six strains of influenza virus. The vaccine candidate, FluMos-v2, is designed to offer protection against four strains of the influenza A virus and two strains of influenza B virus, the health agency said. "An ideal universal influenza vaccine could be taken less frequently than once a year and protect against multiple strains of influenza virus. With each new universal influenza vaccine candidate and clinical trial, we take another step closer to that goal," said Hugh Auchincloss, acting director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the NIH. (9/15)

Reuters: BioNTech Wins Up To $90 Mln In Funding For Mpox Vaccine Development 
Germany's BioNTech announced on Monday a partnership with a global coalition for up to $90 million in funding to support the development of mpox vaccine candidates. BioNTech would initiate an early-to-mid stage trial for the vaccine program BNT166 to prevent mpox, a viral illness that causes skin rashes and could be transmitted to humans through physical contact. (9/18)

Stat: After A Pressure Campaign, Cepheid Agrees To Sell A TB Test At Cost
Following a high-profile pressure campaign, the company that makes a crucial tuberculosis test has agreed to sell its product at cost to an international organization that works with low-income countries to eradicate infectious diseases. But the move was met with mixed reactions by advocates who say prices should drop for still other tests. (Silverman, 9/19)

CIDRAP: Two Pediatric Sinusitis Antibiotics Found Equally Effective
The results of a large observational study in children show no difference in treatment failure rates between the two most commonly prescribed antibiotics for pediatric acute sinusitis, researchers reported today in JAMA. Overall, treatment failure for sinus infections was rare in children treated with amoxicillin or amoxicillin-clavulanate. But the latter was associated with more adverse events, a finding the study authors say could inform prescribing decisions. (Dall, 9/19)

CIDRAP: Trial Finds Limited Benefit From Continuous Antibiotic Prevention For Infant Urinary Condition
The results of a randomized clinical trial indicate that continuous antibiotic prophylaxis (prevention) significantly reduced the incidence of urinary tract infection (UTI) in over 2 years infants with backwards urine flow, researchers reported today in the New England Journal of Medicine. (Dall, 9/14)

The Boston Globe: People With Down Syndrome Deserve Access To Alzheimer’s Treatment
The clinical trials for new Alzheimer’s disease treatment drugs — which researchers believe will slow the course of the disease over time — offer hope to thousands of people who have the disease. Unfortunately, the trials failed to include the very population that made progress on Alzheimer’s treatments possible — those with Down syndrome. (Hampus Hillerstrom and Jo Ann Simons, 9/18)

Newsweek: We Must Prioritize The Incarcerated In HIV Elimination Efforts
PrEP is a medication—either in the form of a pill or more recently an injection—that people without HIV can take to reduce the risk of getting HIV by up to 99 percent. At the same time, Democrats here at home re-introduced the PrEP Access and Coverage Act, which would expand access to HIV prevention medicines. As a researcher studying the health impacts of mass incarceration, any measure to expand PrEP access must prioritize people within our country's prisons and jails. (Tyler Harvey, 9/15)

Stat: Apellis Pharmaceuticals Rebounds, Competitor Astellas Stumbles
Apellis Pharmaceuticals has been slowly rebounding from an unjustified safety scare related to its approved treatment for a common type of vision loss. Now, a competing medicine from Astellas, also recently approved, may have stumbled, which could further boost Apellis’ business outlook — and its stock price. (Adam Feuerstein, 9/20)

The Washington Post: For The Immunocompromised, Covid Isn’t ‘Over.’ It’s Complicated
Myelodysplastic syndrome, or high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome, the official diagnosis my husband had received that spring (“high risk of dying,” as I tended to clarify), has complicated the already complicated notion of a “post-pandemic” world for me. (Esme Weijun Wang, 9/20)

The Boston Globe: The Controversial Birth Of The Artificial Womb
The Food and Drug Administration has convened a Pediatric Advisory Committee this week to determine whether artificial womb technology is ready to try on premature infants as well as to address regulatory and ethical considerations. Although the technology is promising, this development poses numerous ethical challenges. (Arthur Caplan and Gwendolyn P. Quinn, 9/19)

The Washington Post: Dialectical Behavior Therapy Could Save Lives From Suicide 
In the 1980s, when Anthony DuBose set out to become a psychologist, he was told never to work with people with borderline personality disorder because they had high rates of suicide and intense emotional distress. They were considered untreatable. (Kate Woodsome, 9/20)

Chicago Tribune: Cut To VA Funding For Ambulances Would Harm Our Nation’s Veterans
Unless stopped, the Department of Veterans Affairs is set to knock over a domino that may drastically harm veterans’ health care and then spread to the general community. (William Enyart, 9/19)

Stat: How Value-Based Payments Are Straining Access To Primary Care
Difficulty scheduling an urgent or time-sensitive appointment is now the most common gripe my patients sound off about to my primary care colleagues and me. Our practice is not the exception — it has become the rule. A 2022 national survey showed that, on average, it takes 20.6 days to get a family medicine appointment. (Jeffrey Millstein, 9/20)