KFF Health News Original Stories
Nursing Homes Are Left in the Dark as More Utilities Cut Power To Prevent Wildfires
A nursing home in Colorado had 75 minutes to prepare for a power outage that lasted 28 hours. Such public safety power shut-offs are being used more often as a fire prevention tool, but not all health facilities are prepared. (Kate Ruder, )
Heat Rules for California Workers Would Also Help Keep Schoolchildren Cool
Proposed state standards to protect indoor workers from extreme heat would extend to schools. The rules come as climate change is bringing more frequent and intense heat waves, causing schools nationwide to cancel instruction. (Samantha Young, )
Journalists Discuss Abortion Laws, Pollution, and Potential Changes to Obamacare Subsidies
KFF Health News and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media in the last two weeks to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances. ( )
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Pharmaceuticals
With Info Gleaned From MDMA Vote, Developers Press On With Psychedelics
Enthusiasm has not diminished among researchers, biotech executives and investors to find a new treatment for patients with mental health disorders—though some say it's time to look elsewhere. Also, Stat examines Lykos' journey to the thumbs-down FDA panel vote.
The Washington Post: Pyschedelic Drug Boosters Assess Challenges After FDA Panel Turns Thumbs Down On MDMA
Developers of mind-bending drugs for medical use are distancing themselves from the first company to seek regulatory approval for a psychedelic compound, after its application encountered strong opposition from a government panel. … But biotech executives, investors and researchers said in interviews that their enthusiasm for psychedelics to treat mental health disorders remains undimmed. They are betting that a by-the-books clinical trial design run by a more conventional drugmaker will ultimately succeed. (Gilbert and Ovalle, 6/8)
Stat: The Inside Story Of How Lykos’ MDMA Research Went Awry
At a heated advisory committee meeting convened by the Food and Drug Administration last week, regulators repeatedly expressed frustration that Lykos, a company seeking approval of MDMA-assisted therapy to treat PTSD, failed to follow instructions and track positive feelings such as “euphoria” that could be used to inform understanding of the drug’s addiction potential. The missing data, said clinical reviewer David Millis, were “a major concern.” (Goldhill, 6/9)
Politico: Acid For The Ear
The Pentagon is investigating how psychedelic medicine can help servicemembers — beyond mental health issues. The agency has awarded $825,000 to Boston-based Delix Therapeutics for the development of a nonhallucinogenic version of the famed counterculture drug LSD to treat hearing loss. Delix is among several pharmaceutical companies developing drugs that are structurally similar to psychedelics but without the characteristic high. (Reader, Odejimi, Paun, Payne and Schumaker, 6/7)
In marijuana news —
Politico: Florida Pot Legalization Amendment Has A Surprising Opponent: Medical Marijuana Doctors
Florida’s ballot initiative to legalize recreational pot has divided the state’s growing medical marijuana industry. The state’s largest medical marijuana company has bankrolled Amendment 3, which would legalize recreational marijuana for adults 21 and older. But some of the roughly 2,000 doctors who are state-certified to recommend pot as medicine are warning patients about the consequences that could jeopardize access to the drug for medicinal purposes. (Sarkissian, 6/7)
Reproductive Health
United To Take Down Roe V. Wade, Conservatives Now Find Themselves At Odds
Defeats at the ballot box have prompted Republican lawmakers to consider what comes next in the abortion debate and how far they're willing to go. Meanwhile, Democrats seize on the public backlash in hopes of boosting President Joe Biden's chances in battleground states.
Axios: The GOP/Pro-Life Coalition Frays Amid Backlash To Abortion Limits
Republicans and anti-abortion groups worked in lockstep for decades to dismantle the nationally protected right to abortion in the U.S. — but their unity has frayed since the Supreme Court struck down abortion rights two years ago. (Kight, 6/9)
Axios: Swing States To Test Biden's Abortion-Rights Push
Democrats hope the backlash to the recent blitz of state abortion restrictions will continue to give them a boost in November. But the bigger question is how much it will help President Biden in the battleground states likely to decide the election. (Doherty, 6/9)
Axios: Democratic-Leaning Doctors Flex Political Muscle Over Abortion Restrictions
The wave of state abortion restrictions that began after the Supreme Court's reversal of Roe v. Wade in 2022 has led Democratic-leaning doctors to become an organizing and political force against such laws. Doctors driving the backlash say many of the new state laws jeopardize patients' health and restrict their ability to practice medicine. (Goldman, 6/9)
Also —
KFF Health News: Journalists Discuss Abortion Laws, Pollution, And Potential Changes To Obamacare Subsidies
KFF Health News and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media in the last two weeks to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances. (6/8)
Environmental Health
As Climate Change Hits Health, Debate Deepens On How Many People It Kills
NPR reports on the question of how many people climate change is killing: It depends on who you ask and how they're counting. Separately, as utilities cut power to limit wildfires, the power outages are hitting nursing homes.
NPR: Multiple Death Counts For Climate-Related Disasters
Despite the growing danger from climate-driven disasters, there is no single, reliable count of who is dying as a result of extreme weather in the United States. For any given weather disaster, multiple government agencies publish independent — and often widely differing — death counts. (Hersher and Borunda, 6/10)
Also —
KFF Health News: Nursing Homes Are Left In The Dark As More Utilities Cut Power To Prevent Wildfires
When powerful wind gusts created threatening wildfire conditions one day near Boulder, Colorado, the state’s largest utility cut power to 52,000 homes and businesses — including Frasier, an assisted living and skilled nursing facility. … The practice, also known as public safety power shut-offs, has taken root in California and is spreading elsewhere as a way to keep downed and damaged power lines from sparking blazes and fueling the West’s more frequent and intense wildfires. (Ruder, 6/10)
KFF Health News: Heat Rules For California Workers Would Also Help Keep Schoolchildren Cool
Proposed rules to protect California workers from extreme heat would extend to schoolchildren, requiring school districts to find ways to keep classrooms cool. If the standards are approved this month, employers in the nation’s most populous state will have to provide relief to indoor workers in sweltering warehouses, steamy kitchens, and other dangerously hot job sites. The rules will extend to schools, where teachers, custodians, cafeteria workers, and other employees may work without air conditioning — like their students. (Young, 6/10)
Capitol Watch
Uninsured Rates Among Minorities Took A Nosedive Under The ACA
Research out from the Department of Health and Human Services Friday points toward an impact of the Affordable Care Act on minority groups in the U.S: There was an increase in the number of those with health insurance between 2010 and 2022. In other news, Former President Donald Trump tries to take credit for insulin pricing.
The Hill: Minority Groups' Uninsured Rates Plummeted Under Affordable Care Act: Research
Uninsured rates among minority groups in the U.S. plunged between 2010 and 2022, according to reports released Friday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The increase in the number of insured people points to the impact of the Affordable Care Act, former President Obama’s signature health law. (Maher, 6/7)
Meanwhile —
The Hill: Trump Takes Credit For Insulin Pricing: Biden 'Had Nothing To Do With It'
Former President Trump attempted to take credit for insulin pricing in a Saturday post on Truth Social. “Low INSULIN PRICING was gotten for millions of Americans by me, and the Trump Administration, not by Crooked [President Biden,]” Trump said in the Truth Social post. “He had NOTHING to do with it. It was all done long before he so sadly entered office. All he does is try to take credit for things done by others, in this case, ME!” (Suter, 6/8)
The Hill: James Clyburn On Donald Trump Attempt To Take Credit For Insulin Pricing: 'How Can You Be So Bold With Your Lies'
“Donald Trump is now saying he, not Joe Biden, reduced the cost of insulin. How can you be so bold with your lies? If this guy didn’t do a single thing, but the push to reduce, in fact, eliminate the Affordable Care Act? In fact, he used that as his reason for being against John McCain and mimic him for having cast the deciding vote, not to eliminate the Affordable Care Act,” Clyburn said. (Sforza, 6/9)
Politico: What Can Trump Do To Undermine Vaccines? More Than You Might Think
Trump’s new anti-vaccine persona could have far-reaching consequences if he’s elected to a second stint as president with far-reaching administrative powers. Public health experts say a White House opposed to immunization mandates could potentially cause upticks in cases of measles, polio and other vaccine-preventable diseases, or hamper efforts to fight a future pandemic. The CDC could pare back the number of vaccines it recommends children receive or eliminate those recommendations entirely. (Messerly, 6/9)
The Washington Post: Democrats Increasingly Take Aim At Patents In Bid To Lower Drug Prices
Democrats have hit on a new tactic in their long battle with drug companies: challenge patents that they say are deliberate attempts to game the system and box out low-cost, generic competitors. … The Democrats are targeting Novo Nordisk, including some of its patents related to expensive drug Ozempic; GlaxoSmithKline; and other companies that produce asthma and diabetes medications. (Diamond, 6/7)
Modern Healthcare: DOJ Motion To Toss Humana Medicare Advantage Lawsuit Denied
A federal judge Friday denied a motion by the federal government to dismiss a legal challenge seeking to block updated Medicare Advantage auditing standards. Humana, the second-largest Medicare Advantage insurer by membership, sued the Health and Human Services Department in September 2023 over a regulation announced by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services earlier that year. (Tepper, 6/7)
In other administration news —
Modern Healthcare: NIH Pilots Primary Care Research Network To Boost Access, Delivery
The National Institutes of Health is piloting a cross-country network for primary care research to improve community-based primary care and increase the presence of underserved populations in clinical research, the agency announced Thursday. As part of the Communities Advancing Research Equity for Health initiative, also known as CARE for Health, NIH-funded clinical research networks and primary care sites will partner to conduct studies and research on health issues affecting local patient populations. (Devereaux, 6/7)
Reuters: US FDA Expands GSK's RSV Vaccine Approval To Adults Aged 50 To 59
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the expanded use of GSK's (GSK.L) respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine on Friday in adults aged between 50 and 59, making it the first shot endorsed for that age group. The shot, branded Arexvy, and vaccines from rivals Pfizer (PFE.N) and Moderna (MRNA.O) are already approved for people aged 60 and older for the virus. RSV is a leading cause of pneumonia … causing 177,000 hospitalizations and 14,000 deaths in the United States annually. (Roy and Santhosh, 6/8)
Axios: Lilly's Alzheimer's Drug Faces Delayed Reckoning
The outlook for the latest experimental drug shown to delay Alzheimer's disease will come into focus Monday, when Food and Drug Administration advisers review an application from Eli Lilly that's been held up by questions about the design of clinical trials and safety risks. Their conclusions could influence how the FDA treats future drugs that target proteins in the brain known as amyloid plaques that are believed to contribute to the development of the dreaded neurological condition that afflicts nearly 7 million people in the U.S. (Bettelheim, 6/10)
Politico: Farmers Sue EPA Over ‘Forever Chemicals’ In Fertilizer
Five Texas farmers and ranchers are suing EPA over its failure to limit "forever chemicals" in sludge, a problem that they say has killed their animals, jeopardized their health and devalued their land. The complaint, filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, comes while EPA assesses the risks of two types of PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, in biosolids, a term for sewage sludge treated to be used as fertilizer. (Borst, 6/7)
Public Health
Verbal And Physical Aggression Is Recurrent In Long-Term Care Homes
Resident-against-resident incidents that could be classified as abuse in individual homes – verbal aggression and physical events that can even be violent – can affect large numbers of people living in elder-care group settings.
The New York Times: Personal Conflicts, Even Violence, Are Not Uncommon In Long-Term Care
"We have this extraordinary paradox: the institutions, nursing homes and assisted livings who care for the most vulnerable members of our society are some of the most violent in our society,” said Karl Pillemer, a Cornell University gerontologist who has studied resident-to-resident conflict for years. Aside from psychiatric hospitals and residential youth facilities, he said, “it doesn’t happen anywhere else that one in five residents are involved in some kind of aggressive incident every month.” (Span, 6/9)
Fortune: Zyn Nicotine Patches And Teens: Are There Health Risks?
According to the National Youth Tobacco Survey of 2023, an estimated 1.5% of high school and middle school students (more than half of them boys), representing 400,000 adolescents, use nicotine pouches—around the same percentage (1.6%) who smoke cigarettes, but much less than those who vape (7.7%). Those numbers have remained unchanged in recent years, noted an April press release from the FDA regarding underage sales of nicotine pouches by retailers. (Greenfield, 6/8)
CNN: The Color Of Your Child’s Swimsuit Can Play A Role In Their Safety At The Pool, Experts Say
The color of your child’s swimsuit could impact their safety at a swimming pool or the beach. That’s according to water safety experts who have taken a close look at how the hue of swimwear may influence how visible a child is under water. (Howard, 6/9)
In other outbreak, infection news —
USA Today: New COVID Variant KP.3 Is On The Rise: Here's What To Know
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data shows that a new COVID variant, the KP.3 variant, is rising to dominance across the United States. For the two-week period starting on May 26 and ending on June 8, the government agency data shows that KP.3 accounts for 25% of COVID cases in the U.S. and is now the dominant variant. This knocks down previous frontrunner, the JN.1 variant, which spread globally last winter, and now makes up 22.5% of cases. (Forbes, 6/8)
NPR: The Tick-Borne Illness, Babesiosis, Is On The Rise. A Malaria Drug May Help
The first case of babesiosis in the U.S. was identified on Nantucket Island in 1969. The tick-borne parasitic disease is endemic in New England. … The CDC points to a significant increase in incidence over the last decade. … Now, researchers are launching a randomized, controlled clinical trial, slated to begin this month, to test whether the anti-malaria drug — tafenoquine — in combination with the other drugs already used, can speed up recovery and clear the parasite from patients’ bodies faster. (Aubrey, 6/10)
Science And Innovations
Alzheimer's Can Be Slowed By Healthy Diet, Exercise: Study
Early-stage Alzheimer's disease patients in a group who made intensive lifestyle changes saw their dementia symptoms stabilize, a study found. Meanwhile, other researchers found higher rates of drug-resistant organisms in areas with more economic deprivation.
The Hill: Diet, Exercise May Slow Decline In Some Alzheimer’s Patients: Study
A healthy diet and consistent exercise may slow decline in some early-stage Alzheimer’s disease patients, according to research published Friday. The study, published in the journal Alzheimer’s Research and Therapy, found that patients in a group who implemented “intensive” lifestyle changes — like eating whole foods, exercising moderately and performing stress management techniques — saw their dementia symptoms stabilize. (Timotija, 6/7)
CIDRAP: Study Ties Prevalence Of Drug-Resistant Organisms To Socioeconomic Conditions
A study in Texas found higher rates of antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) organisms in areas with higher levels of economic deprivation, researchers reported today in Clinical Infectious Diseases. Using electronic health records from two large healthcare systems in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area, a team led by researchers from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center collected select patient bacterial culture results from 2015 to 2020. (Dall, 6/7)
The New York Times: Cancer Researchers Begin Large Long-Term Study Of Black Women
The American Cancer Society has begun an ambitious, far-reaching study focusing on a population that has long been overlooked, despite high rates of cancer and cancer-related deaths: Black women. The initiative, called VOICES of Black Women, is believed to be the first long-term population study of its size to zero in specifically on the factors driving cancer prevalence and deaths among Black women. (Caryn Rabin, 6/7)
The Washington Post: OB/GYNs Routinely Experience Sexual Harassment, Study Suggests
Sexual harassment, bullying and workplace discrimination are commonly encountered by doctors and other clinicians in the field of obstetrics and gynecology, a recent literature review suggests. The analysis, published in JAMA Network Open, shows that although the field is increasingly female-dominated, medical students, residents, fellows and attending physicians in obstetrics and gynecology regularly experience sexual harassment and gender bias on the job. (Blakemore, 6/9)
Axios: Scientists Get A New Tool To Study A Common Genetic Heart Condition
Disease-specific cells developed by the Allen Institute for Cell Science offer a new window into the world's most common genetic heart condition. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) — which affects an estimated 600,000 to 1.5 million Americans or 1 in 500 people — involves mutations that can cause heart muscle to thicken and other changes to the heart's mitral valves and cells. (Snyder, 6/9)
In covid-related research news —
Reuters: Pfizer's Paxlovid Fails As 15-Day Treatment For Long COVID, Study Finds
A 15-day course of Pfizer's COVID-19 antiviral treatment Paxlovid did not relieve symptoms of long COVID, according a study by Stanford University researchers. Currently, there are no proven treatments specifically for long COVID in which a host of symptoms can last for many months after initial coronavirus infection. Scientists and patients had hoped that Pfizer's two-drug oral treatment would ease symptoms of long COVID after anecdotal reports of patients who said Paxlovid helped them. (Erman, 6/7)
CIDRAP: Study Shows No Link Between Stillbirths, COVID-19 Vaccines
A new study from Yale researchers in Obstetrics and Gynecology shows no link between stillbirth and COVID-19 vaccines. Moreover, pregnant women who had received COVID-19 vaccines in pregnancy were at a decreased risk of preterm birth. The authors say the findings should offer further reassurance that COVID-19 vaccination is safe and useful in pregnancy. (Soucheray, 6/7)
CIDRAP: RSV Research: Nirsevimab 80% Effective Against Hospitalization
Two studies highlight new respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) findings, with one estimating that the monoclonal antibody nirsevimab was 80% effective against hospitalization in French pediatric intensive care units (PICUs) and the other showing that more hospitalizations occurred during the atypical 2021 and 2022 RSV seasons despite similar disease severity to previous seasons. RSV is the No. 1 cause of the hospitalization of US infants, leading to an estimated annual 58,000 to 80,000 hospitalizations and 100 to 300 deaths in children younger than 5 years old. (Van Beusekom, 6/7)
Also —
Stat: ALS Patient Reclaims Some Autonomy Thanks To Wearable 'Robot'
John Goodson practiced medicine for almost 50 years at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. As a primary care physician, he saw thousands of patients and ailments, so when he struggled to raise the front of his foot in 2021, he felt a knowing dread. (Broderick, 6/10)
Reuters: Olympic Athletes Turn To Diabetes Tech In Pursuit Of Medals
Olympians including Dutch marathon runner Abdi Nageeye are using a new tool they hope will boost their medal chances this summer: tiny monitors that attach to the skin to track blood glucose levels. Continuous glucose monitors or CGMs, were developed for use by diabetes patients but their makers, led by Abbott (ABT.N) and Dexcom (DXCM.O), also spy opportunities in sports and wellness. The Paris Olympics, which start on July 26, are an opportunity to showcase the technology – even though there is as yet no proof it can boost athletic performance. (Burger, 6/10)
CNN: He Was The First Person To Be Diagnosed With A New Sleep Disorder. It Led To A Scientific Breakthrough
Donald Dorff could hear the crowd roaring as he snatched the quarterback’s pitch from the air and sprinted toward the goal line. “There was a 280-pound tackle waiting for me, so I decided to give him my shoulder,” the 67-year-old told National Geographic magazine in 1987. “When I came to, I was on the floor in my bedroom,” Dorff said. “I had smashed into the dresser and knocked everything off it and broke the mirror and just made one heck of a mess. It was 1:30 a.m.” (LaMotte, 6/8)
Health Industry
Kroger Health To Offer GLP-1 Weight Loss Drugs At In-Store Clinics
In other industry news: providers push for expanded billing codes for remote patient monitoring; rural pharmacies finding it hard to stay open; the rise of unregulated home testing; CityMD will pay $12 million to Justice Department over alleged covid payments violations; and more.
Modern Healthcare: Kroger Health's Little Clinics To Offer GLP-1s
Kroger Health is revamping the weight management program offered in its in-store clinics and offering glucagon-like peptide agonists such as Wegovy and Zepbound. The move by Kroger, announced Friday, adds it to the growing list of health care providers interested in expanding their patient base by offering GLP-1s, which are surging in popularity among consumers. (DeSilva, 6/7)
Modern Healthcare: Remote Patient Monitoring Companies Push For Expanded CPT Code
Six years after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services rolled out the first standalone billing code for remote patient monitoring, there is debate over how the technology will be reimbursed. The American Medical Association’s CPT Editorial Panel postponed a May vote on a proposal that would have lowered the threshold for how much remote patient monitoring must occur before a provider can seek reimbursement. (Perna, 6/7)
Modern Healthcare: Waystar Raises $968M In IPO
Shares of Waystar closed below their offering price Friday on the first day of trading for the healthcare payment technology company. Waystar raised $967.5 million in its initial public offering, selling 45 million shares priced at $21.50 a share. On Friday, shares closed at $20.70 a share, down 3.72%. (Turner, 6/7)
The Wall Street Journal: CityMD Agrees To Pay $12 Million To Justice Department Over Alleged Covid-19 Payments Violation
CityMD has agreed to pay more than $12 million to the Justice Department for allegedly submitting false claims for payment for Covid-19 testing to the Health Resources and Services Administration governmental program for uninsured patients. The urgent-care chain’s settlement resolves allegations related to the violation of the False Claims Act, the Justice Department’s Office of Public Affairs said Friday. The act encourages people with knowledge of suspected false claims to sue on the government’s behalf. (Ojea, 6/7)
AP: Rural Pharmacies Fill A Health Care Gap In The US. Owners Say It's Getting Harder To Stay Open
Basin Pharmacy fills more than prescriptions in rural northern Wyoming. It’s also the key health care access point for the town of about 1,300 people and the surrounding area. The storage room contains things that people rely on to survive, such as a dozen boxes of food for patients who must eat through tubes. The pharmacy fills prescriptions in bulk for the county jail, state retirement center and youth group homes. Some patients come from Jackson, five hours away by car, for the specialized services. (Shastri, 6/7)
The Washington Post: Doctors Couldn’t Help, So They Turned To Unregulated Home Health Tests
Angelika Sharma was desperate. An array of basic first foods — from bananas to sweet potatoes — caused her 6-month-old Annika to vomit uncontrollably, so many times in one night that she landed in the hospital for dehydration. Half a dozen pediatric specialists largely dismissed her daughter’s ailments, Sharma said. … After a year and a half, an answer came finally in the form of a Facebook ad for Tiny Health, a Silicon Valley start-up that could test her baby’s gut microbiome. (Dwoskin, Gilbert and Hunter, 6/9)
State Watch
New York Moves To Import Cheaper Canadian Drugs In Bulk
The move follows a similar policy in Florida to try to tackle high drug prices. Also in the news: Bird flu variant that infected Texas dairy worker found lethal to ferrets in experiments; layoffs at Oregon Health and Science University; and more.
Politico: Following Florida’s Lead, New York Wants A Taste Of Canada’s Medicine
New York is making a rare move in Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ footsteps. State legislators are pressing forward with creating a program to import drugs in bulk from Canada, emboldened by federal approval of a similar plan in Florida earlier this year. The bill directs New York health and education officials to develop a list of medications that are “expected to generate substantial savings for consumers in the state” if acquired from Canadian suppliers. (Kaufman, 6/7)
Reuters: Texas Bird Flu Strain Kills Ferrets Used To Mimic Disease In Humans, US CDC Says
The bird flu virus strain that infected a Texas dairy farm worker in March was lethal to ferrets in experiments designed to mimic the disease in humans, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported on Friday. Seasonal flu, by contrast, makes ferrets sick but does not kill them, the CDC said. Ferrets are considered the best small mammal for studying influenza virus infection and transmission and are commonly used as a tool to inform public health risk assessments of emerging influenza viruses, according to the CDC. (Lapid, 6/7)
Modern Healthcare: Texas Rejects Centene, Elevance Protests Over Alleged Aetna Leak
Texas denied requests by Centene, Elevance Health and six other insurers to reconsider which managed care companies it will rely on to run its $116 billion Medicaid program over the next six years, rejecting allegations that local officials’ process improperly advantaged rival CVS Health. The Texas Health and Human Services Commission in March announced it intended to award new, six-year Medicaid and Children Health Insurance Program managed care contracts to 14 companies including CVS Health’s Aetna, Centene, Elevance Health, Humana, Molina Healthcare and UnitedHealthcare. (Tepper, 6/7)
Reuters: Lawsuits Over Change Healthcare Data Breach Centralized In Minnesota
A federal panel on Friday centralized 49 lawsuits accusing UnitedHealth Group's Change Healthcare payment processing unit of failing to protect personal data from February's cyber attack in Minnesota. The federal Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation said in an order on Friday that Minnesota, where UnitedHealth is based and where several cases are already pending, is the most logical venue. (Pierson, 6/7)
In other news from across the country —
Modern Healthcare: Oregon Health And Science University Layoffs Impact Hundreds
Oregon Health and Science University said Friday it plans to lay off at least 500 employees in the coming months. The academic health center attributed layoffs to financial pressures from rising labor and supply costs, according to a message sent to employees Thursday. (Hudson, 6/7)
The Hill: Midwest Health Departments Warn Of New Deadly Animal Tranquilizer’s Emergence
Health departments in the Midwest are warning of the emergence of a new deadly animal tranquilizer that’s linked to overdose deaths. The drug, medetomidine, is a powerful sedative used in veterinary medicine to keep dogs sedated and comfortable during exams and medical procedures, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said when it approved the drug in 2022. (Irwin, 6/7)
The Wall Street Journal: ‘Tranq’ Turns More Illicit Drug Users Into Amputees
As a boy, Nathan Clark developed a fear that he would lose his limbs and be unable to fish and crab with his grandfather. Today, Clark is a triple amputee. He lost his limbs after using fentanyl and xylazine, an animal tranquilizer also known as “tranq” that rots flesh and bone. Less than five years after xylazine showed up in his dope bag, the 29-year-old can’t bathe or use the toilet on his own. (Wernau, 6/9)
The Colorado Sun: A Car Crash Devastated A Colorado Family. Amputation Turned It Around.
At the dinner table the night before she died, Judy Rohwer told her daughters and grandson that they were all working too hard on the family farm. They must stop working seven days a week, take breaks and do fun things. “She wanted us each to come up with two things we wanted to do away from the farm,” Angela Rohwer said. About 12 hours later, they were forcibly torn from their work when their pickup was struck head-on as they traveled May 21, 2022, to the Durango Farmers Market from their southwestern Colorado farm hauling a trailer full of seedlings and produce. (McMillin and Carey, 6/9)
The CT Mirror: CT's Black Mothers Face More Risks During Childbirth, Data Shows
Besides facing greater mortality rates due to heart disease, cancer and overdoses, Connecticut’s Black residents also face higher rates of maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity. (Martinez, 6/7)
Also —
Charlotte Ledger: Charlotte-Area Urgent Care Center Stays Open Late
On a Friday night in late May, a soccer ball struck 12-year-old Dhruvtej Karande in the face, driving the edge of his glasses into his eyebrow and opening up a two-inch gash. His parents rushed to the nearest urgent care center, but it was already closed when they arrived, said his mom, Priyanka Karande. Then it was off to another urgent care in Charlotte’s University City area. It, too, was closed. (Crouch, 6/10)
St. Louis Public Radio: Advocates Allege Missouri Prison's Health Care Is In Decline
Health care services in Missouri state prison facilities are deteriorating according to activists and groups like the Missouri Prison Reform. The nonprofit has been receiving concerns from prison residents, their families and current medical staff about the health care conditions for years, but Executive Director Lori Curry said conditions have been getting worse. She said the organization has received complaints from both staff and residents as recently as this week. (Holcomb, 6/10)
Wyoming Public Radio: The White Buffalo Recovery Center Grounds Intergenerational Healing In Culture And Connection
At a white plastic table in an office in Arapahoe, Lance Oldman is pounding a mix of ground-up cedar, water and honey into something a bit unexpected: an empty Chapstick tube. “Fill it up with cedar and use a stick, push them out and they come out perfect little cylindrical circles,” he said. Oldman is Northern Arapaho and is a certified peer specialist at the White Buffalo Recovery Center, an outpatient addiction treatment facility in Riverton and on the Wind River Reservation. He’s making sticks of cedar incense. Cedar, he said, is traditionally used to heal the mind, body and spirit. (Habermann, 6/7)
St. Louis Public Radio: Drug Treatment Tool To Protect Missouri Kids Is Underutilized
Elisha Griffith directly experienced the positive impact of a tool that steers parents to drug rehabilitation. Griffith is a Franklin County resident and the mother of four children. Eight years ago, her daughters were placed in foster care for four years as she struggled with substance use. “They were super traumatized from it, and I'm traumatized from thinking back to that moment,” Griffith said. “My daughter broke out in blotches and was freaking out and didn't know what was happening or where she was going with strangers.” (Rosenbaum, 6/10)
Editorials And Opinions
Viewpoints: Will Supreme Court Make Smart Decision On Mifepristone?; Let's Reframe Alzheimer's Diagnosis
Editorial writers discuss reproductive rights, Alzheimer's, childhood diseases, and more.
The Washington Post: A Scientific Controversy At The Supreme Court
In March, the Supreme Court heard a case about access to mifepristone, one of two pills used for a medication abortion. Just weeks before that, though, a scientific controversy roiled the debate: Some of the scientific studies underlying the legal challenge to the abortion pill were retracted by Sage, the academic publishing company, over methodological and ethical concerns. The Supreme Court is expected to rule in a matter of days or weeks. (Katelyn Jetelina and Heidi Moseson, 6/10)
The New York Times: My Mom Had Alzheimer’s. Now I Do Too.
Through watching my mother, and through volunteer work I’ve done writing minibiographies for people who are losing their memories, I’ve learned that many of the more than six million Americans with Alzheimer’s have a relatively tolerable experience. They shouldn’t be referred to as “victims,” “sufferers” or even necessarily as “patients.” They’re still individuals in pursuit of happiness. (Stephen Gettinger, 6/8)
Stat: Curing Rare Childhood Diseases Will Falter Unless Congress Steps Up
When our son Peter was diagnosed with an ultra-rare form of muscular dystrophy at the age of 10, the first question we asked was: Is there a treatment? The answer was no. By the time our daughter Maggie, then just 6, received the same diagnosis, that answer hadn’t changed. We soon learned that our situation is tragically common. (Joe and Courtney Dion, 6/10)
The New York Times: A Lesson From Covid On How To Destroy Public Trust
Under questioning by a congressional subcommittee, top officials from the National Institutes of Health, along with Dr. Anthony Fauci, acknowledged that some key parts of the public health guidance their agencies promoted during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic were not backed up by solid science. What’s more, inconvenient information was kept from the public — suppressed, denied or disparaged as crackpot nonsense. (Zeynep Tufekci, 6/8)
Stat: How Faith Leaders Like Me Can Help Address America's Obesity Epidemic
Many factors drive America’s obesity epidemic — environment, genetics, eating habits, and more. Solving the problem isn’t solely about getting people to lose weight. What’s also needed is overcoming the stigma and systemic bias directed at people living with obesity. (W. Franklyn Richardson, 6/10)
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Americans With HIV Are Living Longer. Federal Spending Isn’t Keeping Up.
Montana Creates Emergency ‘Drive-Thru’ Blood Pickup Service for Rural Ambulances
Indiana Weighs Hospital Monopoly as Officials Elsewhere Scrutinize Similar Deals
California Lawmakers Preserve Aid to Older, Disabled Immigrants
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