Pharma & Tech: May 18, 2022

Emergency Contraception Marks a New Battle Line in Texas
By Sarah Varney In the shadow of Texas’ austere abortion regulations, grassroots organizers employ stealth tactics to help young women get emergency contraception.

Medicare Surprise: Drug Plan Prices Touted During Open Enrollment Can Rise Within a Month
By Susan Jaffe Even the savviest Medicare drug plan shoppers can get a shock when they fill prescriptions: That great deal on medications is no bargain after prices go up.

Why Won’t More Older Americans Get Their Covid Booster?
By Liz Szabo Approximately 1 in 3 Americans 65 and older who completed their initial vaccination round still have not received a first booster shot. The numbers dismay researchers, who say the lag has cost tens of thousands of lives.

‘That’s Just Part of Aging’: Long Covid Symptoms Are Often Overlooked in Seniors
By Judith Graham Millions of older adults are grappling with long covid, yet the impact on them has received little attention even though research suggests seniors are more likely to develop the poorly understood condition than younger or middle-aged adults.

Is Paxlovid, the Covid Pill, Reaching Those Who Most Need It? The Government Won’t Say
By Hannah Recht Many public health workers are unable to see how many doses of Pfizer’s antiviral treatment are shipped to their communities and cannot tell whether vulnerable residents are filling prescriptions as often as their wealthier neighbors.

A Guide to Help You Keep Up With the Omicron Subvariants
By Louis Jacobson, PolitiFact How different are the seemingly endless stream of emerging omicron subvariants from one another and how protected are we?

Sweeping, Limited, or No Powers at All? What’s at Stake in the Mask Mandate Appeal
By Julie Appleby Dictionaries, public comments, and even an old court case that involved underwear pricing could play a role as the government appeals a ruling that sharply limits federal authority during pandemics.

Despite Losing Federal Money, California Is Still Testing Uninsured Residents for Covid — For Now
By Rachel Bluth Federal funding that paid for covid testing, treatment, and vaccines for uninsured people has run out. While some states struggle to make up the difference, California is relying on other state and local programs to continue free testing.

How Better Ventilation Can Help ‘Covid-Proof’ Your Home
By Liz Szabo Is someone at home sick with covid-19? One simple but effective strategy for keeping the virus from spreading is to make your indoor air as much like the outdoors as possible.

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: More Covid Complications for Congress
Congress is back in session, but covid diagnoses for Vice President Kamala Harris and two Democratic senators have temporarily left the Senate without a working majority to approve continued covid funding. Meanwhile, opponents of the Affordable Care Act have filed yet another lawsuit challenging a portion of the law, and we say goodbye to the late Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, who left a long legacy of health laws. Rachel Cohrs of STAT News, Anna Edney of Bloomberg News, and Rebecca Adams of KHN join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more.

No Prison Time for Tennessee Nurse Convicted of Fatal Drug Error
By Brett Kelman Hundreds of nurses gathered outside a Nashville courthouse to protest RaDonda Vaught’s prosecution for a medical mistake, and cheered when her probation sentence was announced.

At US Hospitals, a Drug Mix-Up Is Just a Few Keystrokes Away
By Brett Kelman After a Tennessee nurse killed a patient because of a drug error, the companies behind hospital medication cabinets said they’d make the devices safer. But did they?

As Overdoses Soar, More States Decriminalize Fentanyl Testing Strips
By Andy Miller Georgia may soon join a growing list of states decriminalizing the use of fentanyl testing strips. Bans of the strips — on the books in about half of states, experts say — stem from laws criminalizing drug paraphernalia adopted decades ago. But the testing devices are now recommended to help prevent overdose deaths.

Can a Monthly Injection Be the Key to Curbing Addiction? These Experts Say Yes
By Jenny Gold In California, where overdose deaths are on the rise, physicians say administering anti-addiction medication as a monthly injection holds tremendous potential. So, why aren’t more patients getting it?

National Addiction Treatment Locator Has Outdated Data and Other Critical Flaws
By Aneri Pattani Three years after a government site launched to connect Americans to treatment, finding addiction care is still a struggle.

Is My Drug Copay Coupon a Form of Charity — Or a Bribe?
By Elisabeth Rosenthal Drug copayment assistance is a form of profitable charity — and, yes, that’s an oxymoron. Amid skyrocketing drug prices, it's understandable that patients desperately need help affording medicine, especially when their health is on the line. But these programs create a mirage that perpetuates our health care system’s reckless spending.

As Red Cross Moves to Pricey Blood Treatment Method, Hospitals Call for More Choice
By Julie Appleby The nation’s largest supplier of platelets is moving to a method it says is easier for hospitals, but one that sharply raises costs, leading some centers to demand more options.

US Rep. Gaetz’s Diagnosis of What’s Driving Insulin Costs Misses the Root Cause
By Victoria Knight and Colleen DeGuzman A diabetes diagnosis is not always related to a person’s weight or overall health, especially for those with Type 1 diabetes, who are dependent on insulin treatment for life.

Journalists Cover the Gamut, From Rising Insulin Costs to Delays in Autism Care for Children
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.

Physicians Are Uneasy as Colorado Collects Providers’ Diversity Data
By Markian Hawryluk Colorado is requiring insurers that offer public option plans to collect demographic data on health providers, including race and sexual orientation. The aim is to connect patients with the right provider, but providers are worried about their privacy.

Should You Worry About Data From Your Period-Tracking App Being Used Against You?
By Hannah Norman and Victoria Knight After a leaked Supreme Court draft opinion was published May 2 suggesting that Roe v. Wade would soon be overturned, social media users started worrying that their use of period-tracking apps could lead to trouble if they sought an abortion and lived in a state with strict limits or bans on the procedure.

Tech Titans Want the Richest Californians to Pay for Pandemic Preparedness
By Angela Hart A measure likely to be on California’s November ballot would tax the state’s wealthiest residents to rebuild crumbling public health infrastructure and try to head off another pandemic. But are inflation-weary Californians willing to vote for new taxes?

Rural California Hatches Plan for Engineered Mosquitoes to Battle Stealthy Predator
By Anna Maria Barry-Jester Tulare County officials hope the region will soon be a testing ground for a new generation of technology in a centuries-old war: Human vs. Mosquito.

Shopping for Space, Health Systems Make Over Malls
By Blake Farmer, Nashville Public Radio Dying malls have turned out to be good places to care for the living. During the pandemic, mall-to-medicine transitions accelerated, with at least 10 health systems moving in where retail has moved out.

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: The Invisible Pandemic
Covid cases are again climbing, but you wouldn’t know it from the behavior of public health and elected officials, much less the general public, all of whom seem to want to put the pandemic in the rearview mirror. Meanwhile, the fallout over the leaked Supreme Court draft opinion on abortion continues even as the Senate fails — again — to muster the votes to write abortion rights into law. Joanne Kenen of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Politico, Alice Miranda Ollstein of Politico, and Sandhya Raman of CQ Roll Call join KHN’s Julie Rovner to discuss these issues and more. Plus, for extra credit, the panelists suggest their favorite health policy stories of the week they think you should read, too.

Journalists Recap the Latest on the Supreme Court Leak, Mental Health Care, and Fentanyl Testing Strips
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.

¿Puede una inyección mensual frenar la adicción a opioides? Expertos dicen que sí
By Jenny Gold Una opción inyectable mensual para el tratamiento de la adicción a opioides no logra llegar a todos los que la necesitan por las trabas burocráticas para obtener el medicamento.

Guía para entender a las subvariantes de ómicron
By Louis Jacobson, PolitiFact ¿Qué tan diferentes son estas subvariantes entre sí? ¿Puede la infección por una subvariante proteger a alguien de la infección por otra? Y, ¿qué tan bien funcionan contra estas variantes las vacunas que se desarrollaron antes de la aparición de ómicron?

Cómo una mejor ventilación puede ayudar a que tu hogar sea “a prueba de covid”
By Liz Szabo Para las personas que no viven en casas grandes con varias habitaciones y baños, un familiar con covid genera riesgos extra. Mejorar la ventilación puede cambiar los resultados.

¿Por qué más adultos mayores no reciben los refuerzos contra covid?
By Liz Szabo Según los CDC, aproximadamente 1 de cada 3 estadounidenses mayores de 65 años que completaron su ronda inicial de vacunación aún no han recibido la primera vacuna de refuerzo. Investigadores enfatizan que este grupo sigue teniendo el mayor riesgo de enfermedad grave y muerte por covid-19.