Pandemic-Era Telehealth Prescribing Powers Will Stay In Place A Bit Longer
May 4, 2023
Morning Briefing
Doctors will be able to continue to prescribe some drugs without in-person visits while the Drug Enforcement Administration finalizes new telemedicine rules. The agency received a record 38,000 comments on its earlier plan to roll back permission with next week’s end to the federal covid emergency.
Morning Briefing for Thursday, May 4, 2023
May 4, 2023
Morning Briefing
RSV vaccine approval, Alzheimer’s therapy, medical credit cards, telehealth, covid, abortion, weight loss drugs, and more are in the news.
Though Covid Endures, US Deaths And Hospitalizations Fall To Lows
May 4, 2023
Morning Briefing
Even as new covid subvariants are on the rise, and cutbacks in reporting on covid data have “clouded” the view of recent trends, as the Wall Street Journal notes, U.S. hospitalizations and deaths are near new lows. Meanwhile, the WHO is considering if covid is still a global emergency.
Florida Criminalizes Trans People’s Use Of Gender-Aligned Public Bathrooms
May 4, 2023
Morning Briefing
State Sen. Erin Grall, a Republican, is quoted in the media as saying, “there’s not anything in the language of this bill that is targeting any specific group.” The bill aims to penalize people who use public restrooms or changing facilities that don’t correspond with sex as assigned at birth.
North Carolina House Passes Bill That Would Limit Abortion After 12 Weeks
May 4, 2023
Morning Briefing
Legislators fast-tracked the measure that would reduce the window in North Carolina from 20 weeks to 12 in order to get an abortion. The bill passed with what would be a veto-proof majority.
Trial Data: Eli Lilly Treatment Modestly Slows Alzheimer’s Progression
May 4, 2023
Morning Briefing
Clinical trial data released by Eli Lilly Wednesday suggests that its antibody treatment donanemab may work better than an-already approved rival drug at slowing cognitive and functional decline in Alzheimer’s patients. But this therapy also has risks of deaths and serious brain side effects.
FDA Clears A RSV Vaccine For The First Time
May 4, 2023
Morning Briefing
This fall, adults 60 and older in the U.S. will be able to get GSK’s vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus, sold as Arexvy, after the FDA approved the shot Wednesday. Next steps are for the CDC to approve guidelines for use.
First Edition: May 4, 2023
May 4, 2023
Morning Briefing
Today’s early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Biden Administration Issues New Warning About Medical Credit Cards
By Noam N. Levey
May 4, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Americans paid an estimated $1 billion in deferred interest on medical debt in just three years, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau reports. The agency warns against medical credit cards, which are often pitched right in doctors’ offices.
Gun Assault Rates Doubled for Children in 4 Major Cities During the Pandemic, New Data Shows
By Sammy Caiola, WHYY
May 4, 2023
KFF Health News Original
A study of roughly 2,700 shootings in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and Philadelphia found that racial disparities in gun injuries and deaths widened during the covid-19 pandemic. Researchers looked only at assaults, excluding accidents or incidents of self-harm.
Colorado Becomes the First State to Ban So-Called Abortion Pill Reversals
By Claire Cleveland
May 4, 2023
KFF Health News Original
The controversial practice of administering progesterone to people after they have taken the abortion pill mifepristone may be coming to an end in Colorado. Pills have emerged as the latest front in the war over abortion since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last summer.
Pregúntale a chatbot: ¿qué hay para cenar?
By Tarena Lofton
May 3, 2023
KFF Health News Original
Los usuarios de ChatGPT están entusiasmados con las capacidades del programa y con la idea de que podría simplificar las tareas cotidianas. Pero hay dudas.
Majority Of Older Adults Are Afraid To Get Covid Booster, Survey Finds
May 3, 2023
Morning Briefing
Read about the biggest pharmaceutical developments from the past week in KFF Health News Prescription Drug Watch roundup.
Vermont’s Medically Assisted Death Law Now Allows Out-Of-Staters
May 3, 2023
Morning Briefing
In other news: Georgia’s state government will for the first time run its individual health insurance marketplace; a review of a Montana nuclear missile base shows no risk factors to explain a blood cancer cluster; a trans surgery ban for minors advances in North Carolina; and more.
If Grandma Uses The Net, It May Help Lower Her Dementia Risk
May 3, 2023
Morning Briefing
A new study finds that being online may help boost the brain health of older adults. Separately, half of parents in a survey said they think social media is bad for their children’s mental health. And a legal push for parental control over kids’ social media use becomes complicated.
A Single HPV Shot Can Protect For At Least 3 Years: Research
May 3, 2023
Morning Briefing
Just one dose is highly effective at preventing infections over three years, according to a study, potentially extending supplies and lowering costs. Meanwhile, researchers have managed for the first time to get some chemo drugs through the blood-brain barrier.
Hospital Infection Rates Worsened During Covid: Leapfrog Safety Data
May 3, 2023
Morning Briefing
Though rates of infection and hospital performance on safety measures continued to get worse during peak covid in late 2021 and 2022, data from the Leapfrog Group’s spring 2023 Safety Grades Rankings showed some hospitals got the top A grades — like the Cleveland Clinic.