Friday, November 17, 2023

Reuters: ‘Staggering’ Rise In Measles Cases Last Year, Says WHO And CDC 
There was a “staggering” annual rise in measles cases and deaths in 2022, according to a new report from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Cases jumped by 18% to an estimated 9 million, and deaths to 136,000, mostly among children, the health agencies said in a joint statement on Thursday. There were large or disruptive outbreaks in 37 countries last year, the majority in Africa, compared to 22 in 2021. (Rigby, 11/16)

Stat: Measles Cases And Deaths Increase Worldwide, Report Finds
The problem is mounting, with year-to-date numbers for 2023 on track to potentially double the 2022 figures, Natasha Crowcroft, the WHO’s global lead for measles and rubella, told STAT in an interview. “If this carries on the direction it’s going in, this is going to be a disaster for children in the most vulnerable settings,” Crowcroft said. (Branswell, 11/16)

AP: Measles Deaths Worldwide Jumped 40% Last Year, Health Agencies Say 
Measles is among the most infectious diseases known and spreads in the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes. It is most common in children under 5. Symptoms include fever, cough, runny nose and a distinctive rash. Most deaths are due to complications like encephalitis, severe dehydration, serious breathing problems and pneumonia. Complications are most likely in young children and adults over 30.The disease has also surged in some rich countries in recent years. British health authorities warned in July that there was an extremely high risk of outbreaks in London, with some areas of the capital reporting that only 40% of children were vaccinated. (11/16)

CIDRAP: WHO And CDC Warn Of Rising Measles Cases And Deaths
The researchers also saw coverage gaps of the vaccine, which is given as a two-dose series. Though global vaccine coverage was up modestly between 2021 and 2022, 33 million kids missed a measles vaccine dose, including 22 million who didn’t get their first dose and 11 million who never received their second shot. (Schnirring, 11/16)

On the global spread of tuberculosis —

NPR: Can TB Be Eliminated? This Year Brings Progress But Obstacles Loom
A promising way to prevent the spread of drug-resistant tuberculosis was announced at the Union World Conference on Lung Health on Thursday in Paris. Two clinical trials, conducted in South Africa and Vietnam, looked at levofloxacin, one of the antibiotics most commonly used to treat people who’ve developed drug-resistant TB. Now there’s strong evidence that taking the drug can reduce the risk of developing drug-resistant strains of the bacterial disease by about 60%. (Kritz, 11/16)

Reuters: CDC Expedites Release Of 77,000 Additional Doses Of Sanofi-AstraZeneca’s RSV Drug 
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday it has expedited the release of more than 77,000 additional doses of Sanofi and AstraZeneca’s respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) drug Beyfortus. The additional doses, which the CDC said will be distributed immediately to physicians and hospitals, will help improve the availability of the drug at a time when a surge in cases of the disease is outpacing supply. (11/16)

AP: RSV Is Straining Some Hospitals, And US Officials Are Releasing More Shots For Newborns
RSV infections are rising sharply in some parts of the country, nearly filling hospital emergency departments in Georgia, Texas and some other states. At Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas, Dr. Laura Romano said kids and parents are spending 10 or more hours in the emergency department’s waiting room. Kids are presenting sicker than they have in previous years, with more in need of oxygen, Romano said. … In Georgia, the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta hospital system is in “surge” mode because of RSV, with a high volume of patients straining staff, said Dr. Jim Fortenberry, the system’s chief medical officer.(Stobbe and Hunter, 11/16)

In news about covid and flu —

Fox News: COVID And Flu Vaccine Rates Are Declining For US Health Care Workers, CDC Reports: ‘Disturbing Trend’
Fewer U.S. health care workers are keeping up to date on their COVID-19 and flu vaccinations, according to two separate reports this week from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). For the first study, researchers pulled data from the CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) for January to June 2023. They found that flu vaccine coverage was 81% among health care employees at hospitals and 47.1% at nursing homes. (Rudy, 11/16)

CBS News: COVID-19 Testing Firm Leaves SF After Investigators Said Sites Fueled Drug Activity
A COVID-19 testing company has ceased operations in San Francisco after officials said an investigation revealed cash payments given to those being tested had facilitated drug activity. … “At this time, almost four years into the pandemic, the public can rest assured that the vast majority of testing operators in San Francisco are legitimate and provide a much-needed public health service. However, the City has put a health order in place make sure we have the legal tools necessary to weed out any bad actors,” Chiu said. (Fang, 11/16)

CIDRAP: 4th COVID Vaccine Dose Tied To Reduced Infection, Poor Outcomes In Those With Rheumatic Disease 
People with rheumatic disease who received a fourth mRNA COVID-19 vaccine dose had a 41% lower risk of infection and a 65% lower risk of hospitalization or death than those who received only three doses, according to a study published yesterday in The Lancet Rheumatology. … The authors noted that patients with rheumatic diseases who take DMARDs have suppressed immune systems: many patients with systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases receiving DMARD therapy also have blunted humoral responses to COVID-19 vaccines.” (Van Beusekom, 11/16)

CIDRAP: Nearly Half Of US Veterans Had Long-COVID Symptoms Up To 6 Months Later 
Nearly half of 363,000 US veterans who tested positive for COVID-19 still had symptoms up to 6 months later, and the risk factors for this condition were Black race, older age, diabetes, and severe infection, concludes a study published yesterday in the Annals of Epidemiology. (Van Beusekom, 11/16)

Also —

Roll Call: COVID Aid Fuels Telehealth Expansion In Rural America 
“Can you lift your arms?” physician Luke Van Oeveren asked. An elderly woman stared blankly at him from the back of an ambulance, where she sat strapped onto a stretcher. After a moment, she complied, but when Van Oeveren added another instruction to the cognition test, she became confused. “Close your eyes and lift your arms up,” he said. (Clason, 11/16)

Stat: FDA’s Woodcock To Retire Early Next Year
Principal Deputy FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock will retire early next year from the Food and Drug Administration after helping steer the agency through an historic period of medical advances during nearly four decades in key leadership positions, she confirmed to STAT Thursday. Woodcock, a doctor with a chemistry degree, joined FDA in 1986 at its biologics center, where she oversaw the approval of the first biotechnology-based treatments for multiple sclerosis and cystic fibrosis. In 1994, she was named director of the drug center, where she played a key role in guiding some of the most impactful changes to the regulation of medicine, according to Trump administration FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb. (Wilkerson and Silverman, 11/16)

Pink Sheet: With Woodcock’s Retirement, US FDA Loses A Renaissance Woman 
The FDA will go on without Janet Woodcock, but it will likely take multiple people to fill in the gaps given her breadth of institutional knowledge, interests and skill sets, former close colleagues told the Pink Sheet. (Karlin-Smith, 11/16)

Last week, Woodcock criticized the drug industry’s post-covid malaise —

Stat: FDA’s Woodcock, Other Experts Highlight Persistent Issues Plaguing Pharma, Biotech In The Wake Of Covid-19
Officials, including the Food and Drug Administration’s second-in-command Janet Woodcock, acknowledged the drug industry’s persistent lack of interest in collaborating on clinical trials, the ways hypercompetition pervades academic research and slows progress, and biotech investors taking the wrong lessons from pandemic. (Florko, 11/7)

Axios: Christmas Minus The Tree: Health Policy Gridlocked As Congress Bolts
By punting their spending disputes past the holidays, House Republicans have put the kibosh on what’s become an annual rite for health care interests: the year-end legislative grab bag sometimes known as the Christmas tree. It’s the first December since 2012 without a critical funding deadline, Raymond James analyst Chris Meekins notes. (Bettelheim, 11/17)

The New York Times: Biden Signs Spending Bill, Staving Off A Government Shutdown
President Biden signed a short-term government funding bill on Thursday, narrowly averting a government shutdown but leaving a larger spending clash for Congress early next year. The Senate gave final approval to the package late Wednesday, about 48 hours before a shutdown deadline at midnight Friday. In a two-step plan, the bill funds congressional priorities including military construction, veterans affairs, transportation, housing and the Energy Department through Jan. 19. Other agencies would be funded until Feb. 2. (Friedman, 11/17)

Modern Healthcare: Community Health Center Funding Delay Sparks Anxiety 
Few people enjoy witnessing a dysfunctional Congress run up against one deadline after another just to avoid shutting down the government, but if you lead a community health center, you have little choice but to watch and hope. Congress narrowly avoided a shutdown in September but at that time only extended funding until this Friday. At the same time, lawmakers failed to reauthorize multi-year funding for federally qualified health centers, granting them the same brief reprieve. (McAuliff, 11/16)

KFF Health News’ ‘What The Health?’ Podcast: Congress Kicks The (Budget) Can Down The Road. Again. 
Congress narrowly avoided a federal government shutdown for the second time in as many months, as House Democrats provided the needed votes for new House Republican Speaker Mike Johnson to avoid his first legislative catastrophe of his brief tenure. But funding the federal government won’t get any easier when the latest temporary patches expire in early 2024. It seems House Republicans have not yet accepted that they cannot accomplish the steep spending cuts they want as long as the Senate and the White House are controlled by Democrats. (11/16)

USA Today: On Preterm Labor, U.S. Gets Failing Grade (Again) In New Report
The U.S. has landed another poor grade when it comes to preterm births, with festering disparities in outcomes for Black and Native women that are life-threatening, according to a new annual report. Preterm birth, when babies are born before 37 weeks gestation, is among the leading causes of infant death in the U.S., according to the March of Dimes. Outcomes across the country improved only slightly this year. …The March of Dimes gave the U.S. a D+ grade in its “State of Maternal and Infant Health for American Families” report card published Thursday. (Cuevas, 11/16)

Stat: Premature Births: Study Finds The Rate Remains Alarmingly High In U.S.
Preterm births and infant mortality are at alarming levels in the U.S., according to a new report published on Thursday by March of Dimes. In 2022, 10.4% of all babies were born premature — before 37 weeks of gestation — a slight improvement after the decade-high 10.5% peak of 2021, but still higher than the global average of 9.9%. This makes the U.S. the country with the highest risk of preterm birth among its wealthy peers: In the U.K., for instance, the rate is 7.6%; in Italy, it’s 6.8%; in Japan, it was around 5%. (Merelli, 11/17)

More on pregnancy and birth —

News Service of Florida: Florida Lawmakers To Consider Starting A Website On Pregnancy And Parenting
Two Republican lawmakers filed identical proposals Monday that would lead to the state setting up a website to provide information about issues such as maternal health services, prenatal and postnatal services and adoption services. Sen. Erin Grall, R-Vero Beach, and Rep. Berny Jacques, R-Seminole, filed the bills (SB 436 and HB 415) for consideration during the 2024 legislative session, which will start in January. (11/16)

KFF Health News: Most States Ban Shackling Pregnant Women In Custody, Yet Many Report Being Restrained 
Ashley Denney was about seven months pregnant in 2022 when police handcuffed her during an arrest in Carroll County, Georgia. Officers shackled her even though the state bans the use of restraints on pregnant women in custody beginning at the second trimester. In early July, she said, it happened again. (Rayasam, 11/17)

In abortion updates —

AP: Lawyers For Religious Leaders Challenging Missouri Abortion Ban Say Law Imposes Beliefs On Everyone
Missouri lawmakers intended to “impose their religious beliefs on everyone” in the state when they passed a restrictive abortion ban, lawyers for a group of religious leaders who support abortion rights said at a court hearing Thursday. But attorneys for the state countered that just because some supporters of the law oppose abortion on religious grounds doesn’t mean that the law forces their beliefs on anyone else. (Salter, 11/16)

Axios: Planned Parenthood To Invest In Ohio Following Abortion Amendment 
Erica Wilson-Domer, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio, said the amendment will enable Planned Parenthood to make investments in staffing and facilities it has previously put off, including exploring adding facilities near the state’s borders. “It has been incredibly challenging to staff for abortion services and recruit providers to the state given the [previous] restrictions,” Wilson-Domer said. (Smith, 11/17)

CNN: GOP Senators’ Late Night Effort To Approve Military Nominations Fails To Overcome Tuberville And Lee Hold
Republican Senators Tommy Tuberville and Mike Lee maintained the Alabama Republican’s hold on military nominations because of the Pentagon’s abortion policy despite a group of Republican senators who attempted to push through nominations when they returned to the Senate floor in the wee hours of Thursday morning. Sens. Dan Sullivan, Joni Ernst, Lindsay Graham and Todd Young began their effort to confirm nominees around 12:15a.m. ET and wrapped around 3:45a.m. ET. (Rimmer, 11/16)

NBC News: Child And Teen Cancer Deaths Fell 24% In The Last 2 Decades, CDC Says
The rate of child and teen cancer deaths in the U.S. fell 24% from 2001 to 2021, according to a report released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The report looked at death rates for Black, Hispanic and non-Hispanic white youths up to 19 years old. Those three groups comprised 92% of all youth cancer deaths in 2021, the report noted. Death rates among children of all ages in those groups dropped between 2001 and 2011. But after 2011, only children 9 and younger saw “significant” declines. (Mogg, 11/16)

In other cancer news —

Reuters: US FDA Approves AstraZeneca’s Breast Cancer Drug Combination 
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved AstraZeneca’s Truqap in combination with an older drug, providing another treatment option for patients with the most common type of breast cancer. The FDA decision allows use of the drug, chemically known as capivasertib, in combination with the British drugmaker’s older cancer treatment faslodex. (11/16)

Reuters: FDA Panel Urges Acrotech To Speed Up Study On Cancer Drugs 
A panel of independent experts to the U.S. health regulator urged Acrotech Biopharma to work with the agency to bring forward the date for releasing trial data that could confirm benefits of the company’s blood cancer drugs. The drugs, Folotyn and Beleodaq, have already been on the market for nearly a decade or more. They were approved under the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s accelerated pathway in 2009 and 2014, respectively, for treating a rare form of blood cancer. (11/16)

Stat: Colon Cancer Screening Kits Have High Rate Of Untestable Samples
More than a tenth of fecal immunochemical tests, used for routine colorectal cancer screening, contained samples that could not be processed by labs, according to a study published this week in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. This is over twice the amount recommended by the U.S. Multi-Society Task Force, whose guidance says that for such tests the proportion of returned and unprocessed samples should not be more than 5%. (Balthazar, 11/16)

Reuters: J&J Settles First Talc Cases To Go To Trial After Failed Bankruptcies
Johnson & Johnson on Thursday said it has settled two lawsuits claiming its talc products caused cancer, the first such cases to go to trial since a federal court rejected the company’s plan to move its talc liabilities into bankruptcy court. The settlements resolved lawsuits brought by two men, Rosalino Reyes and Marlin Eagles, who said they developed mesothelioma related to asbestos in J&J talc powder, and was part of a broader deal to settle all talc cases brought by the law firm representing them, Kazan, McClain, Satterley & Greenwood, the company said. Reyes’ family continued his lawsuit after he died in 2020. (Pierson, 11/16)

CBS News: Denver Health Study Aimed At Expanding Genetic Testing For Cancer
A study underway at Denver Health has big implications for cancer patients in Colorado. Thanks to a grant from the National Institutes of Health, Denver Health is offering genetic testing to all breast cancer patients and plans to expand the study to all cancer patients within a couple of years. (Boyd, 11/16)

AP: Barefoot Workers And Cracked Floors Were Found At A Factory That Made Recalled Eyedrops, FDA Says
An Indian company that recently recalled eyedrops sold in the U.S. had a host of sanitation and manufacturing problems, including barefoot workers, cracked floors and altered records, U.S. health inspectors found. Food and Drug Administration officials uncovered more than a dozen problems at the Mumbai plant operated by Kilitch Healthcare India, according to a preliminary inspection report posted by the agency. The factory produced more than two dozen varieties of eyedrops that were subject to an FDA safety warning last month. (Perrone, 11/16)

Stat: FDA Cites Dr. Reddy’s For Quality Control Issues At A Biologics Plant
Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, one of the world’s largest generic drugmakers, was cited by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for a host of manufacturing violations at one of its plants in India, the latest instance in which the company was tagged by the regulator for quality-control problems. (Silverman, 11/16)

In other pharmaceutical news —

Reuters: Walgreens To Close Nearly All Pharmacies On Thanksgiving For First Time 
Walgreens Boots Alliance will close nearly all of its stores and pharmacies on Thanksgiving Day for the first time in the chain’s history, amid pushback from pharmacists and technicians over poor work conditions and under-staffing. Peer CVS Health (CVS.N) also said it plans to shut all of its non-24-hour pharmacy locations early next Thursday, while Rite Aid said its pharmacies will be closed but retail stores will remain open. (11/16)

Stat: Even As Wegovy Rides High, Interest Surges In Weight Loss Drugs That Preserve Muscle
Have you ever seen a mouse with a set of muscles more appropriate for a bodybuilder or comic book superhero? Well, 25 years ago, researchers at Johns Hopkins University made it happen. By silencing a gene responsible for producing a protein called myostatin, they directed tiny mouse bodies to grow double the amount of lean muscle they would normally, leading to mice with bulky arms, defined pectorals, and an overall more substantial body mass. Now, biotech startups are hoping to use those findings to create what they believe will be better weight loss medications. (DeAngelis and Chen, 11/17)

Stat: Questions And Answers On Casgevy, A New CRISPR-Based Therapy
History just happened. For the first time, a regulator has cleared a treatment using CRISPR, the gene-editing technology, for patients. The regulator is the United Kingdom’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. The product is Casgevy, a treatment for sickle cell disease and beta thalassemia, two blood disorders. (Herper, Feuerstein, Trang and Boodman, 11/16)

KFF Health News: Beyond Insulin: Medi-Cal Expands Patient Access To Diabetes Supplies 
June Voros sprang from her couch as a high-pitched beep warned her that she needed a quick dose of sugar. Her blood sugar was plummeting, and the beep came from a continuous glucose monitor attached to her abdomen. The small but powerful device alerts Voros when her blood sugar is dangerously high or low. (Hart, 11/17)

Stat: Docs Divide Over Reforms To Panel That Determines Medicare Pay
Doctors are splitting, specialty by specialty, over whether and how to overhaul a secretive panel that helps determine how much Medicare pays them for their work. (Trang, 11/17)

Modern Healthcare: CMS Pay-For-Performance Sepsis Measurement Worries Providers
Worries about care quality and antibiotic resistance are growing as a financial component is added to hospital compliance with federal requirements designed to reduce sepsis cases. … Starting in January, hospitals will have to improve their compliance with the metrics to receive full points and avoid a penalty under the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program. (Devereaux, 11/16)

On ambulance delays, rural health care, and private equity firms —

Modern Healthcare: CommonSpirit To Expand Ambulatory Services Amid Financial Losses
After a year of cost-cutting, CommonSpirit Health is looking to add ambulatory care capacity next year. The health system plans to add more facilities for ambulatory patients in the coming year, as care continues to move outside of the hospital, it said in financial documents released Wednesday. The nonprofit system recently added 19 imaging centers, seven ambulatory surgery centers and six primary and urgent care sites across multiple states, including California and Texas. (Hudson, 11/16)

The Wall Street Journal: Your Ambulance Is On The Way. ETA: 65 Minutes.  
Call 911 in this northwest Nebraska town, and the ambulance responding will likely be coming from South Dakota. If that crew isn’t available, the ambulance might drive from Valentine, Neb., 60 miles and a different time zone away. Or from Gordon, where the all-volunteer staff includes employees of a grocery store, bank, veterinary office and farmer’s co-op. “You’re looking at an hour or longer for a response,” said Rose Chappell, the last emergency medical technician in Merriman, which had to shut down its ambulance service. (Najmabadi, 11/16)

The Washington Post: A Hospital’s Abrupt Closure Means, For Many, Help Is Distant
There is no place in this county to give birth short of an emergency. The only facility caring for adults, Madera Community Hospital, closed in January, leaving women in labor a 40-minute drive to the closest alternative in another county. Babies often cannot wait out the ride. More than 1,000 women had delivered babies each year at Madera Community. Over just a couple of weeks this fall, with it closed, a woman gave birth in a car on the shoulder of Avenue 9 in downtown Madera. (Wilson, 11/16)

The CT Mirror: The Hospital Mega-Landlord At The Center Of The Yale-Prospect Deal
If Yale New Haven Health’s proposed $435 million acquisition of three Connecticut hospitals owned by Prospect Medical Holdings gets state approval, most of the money will go to a company that most state legislators, local leaders and residents have never heard of: the hospitals’ landlord. (Golvala and Carlesso, 11/16)

In other hospital news —

Axios: New York’s Hospital Cybersecurity Rules Could Spur Similar Mandates
The idea of mandating that hospitals meet minimum cybersecurity standards is gaining traction amid scrutiny of mounting attacks that have knocked health systems offline for weeks and upended patient care. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul this week proposed the state become the first to require health systems to adopt certain cyber defenses, including preparation of response plans for a potential attack. (Reed, 11/17)

The Washington Post: UCLA Sues Toymaker Mattel For Allegedly Reneging On $49M Donation 
As the toymaker behind the Barbie DreamHouse, Mattel knows a thing or two about grand designs. In 2017, the company pledged to bring one such vision to life with a $49 million gift to the University of California at Los Angeles’s health system to expand bed capacity through a new hospital tower. As part of the donation, UCLA agreed to integrate Mattel’s logo into all of its signage and publications. But the toy company never fulfilled its pledge, offering only a fraction of the cash, UCLA alleged last week in a new breach-of-contract lawsuit. (Rosenzweig-Ziff and Bellware, 11/16)

St. Louis Public Radio: Missouri Will Keep Children On Medicaid Starting In 2024 
Missouri children who receive government health insurance will soon be able to keep their coverage for a year without worrying about being kicked off the state rolls. A provision in the federal spending bill approved last year ensures all people 18 and under who receive insurance through Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program will be covered continuously starting Jan. 1. Missouri is among the states that do not offer yearlong coverage. (Fentem, 11/17)

North Carolina Health News: Medicaid Rates Increasing For Behavioral Health Providers 
Medicaid expansion, a decade-in-the-making measure that is expected to provide health insurance to more than 600,000 low-income North Carolinians, will take effect in less than two weeks. But the coverage created by expansion is only useful if eligible residents have access to health care providers that accept Medicaid. That’s particularly true for people looking for mental health care, which has been in even higher demand since the COVID-19 pandemic. (Baxley, 11/17)

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

News Service of Florida: Florida Bill Would Create ‘Remote-Site’ Pharmacies Where Techs Dispense Meds
A Florida Senate Republican has filed a proposal that would allow “remote-site” pharmacies, where pharmacy technicians could dispense medications while being supervised by pharmacists elsewhere. Sen. Jay Collins, R-Tampa, filed the bill (SB 444) Tuesday for consideration during the 2024 legislative session, which will start in January. (11/16)

CBS News: Minnesota Hiring For New Advisory Council On African American Health Disparities
The Minnesota Department of Health is hiring for a new state advisory council focusing on African American health outcomes. The MDH on Thursday said it would welcome applications from community members to serve on the council, but added they would accept applications only through the end of Friday. They’re looking for anywhere from 12 to 20 people to represent or serve. They’re seeking health care providers, college students, patients or those who receive services, elders or older people, health and human services professionals, health equity researchers and others who may be qualified. (Henderson, 11/16)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: High Medical Costs Have Patients Skipping Appointments, Not Taking Medication
Medical debt is pervasive: Some 41% of Americans reportedly have at least one unpaid medical bill and roughly half say they’d be unable to pay an unexpected $500 bill. A new survey shows many Pennsylvanians are unable to afford health care. Just over half of Pennsylvania residents who responded to a survey by nonprofit research and consulting firm Altarum said they had skipped a medical appointment or rationed medications because of cost. (Gantz, 11/17)

The Missouri Independent: Transgender Minors Sue University Of Missouri For Refusing Puberty Blockers, Hormones
Two transgender boys filed a federal lawsuit Thursday seeking to reverse the University of Missouri’s decision to stop providing gender-affirming care to minors. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri, alleges halting transgender minors’ prescriptions unconstitutionally discriminates on the basis of sex and disability status. (Hanshaw, 11/16)

CBS News: Attorney: Salem Hospital Patients Should Use Caution When Testing After Potential HIV And Hepatitis Exposure
Roughly 450 Salem Hospital patients were alerted that they may have been exposed to hepatitis and HIV – a problem that lasted for two years before it was corrected. Endoscopy patients were getting intravenous medication “in a manner not consistent with our best practice,” a spokesperson for Salem Hospital said. “It’s very surprising to see this scope of falling below what would be considered the standard of care,” said Michael Walsh, a trial attorney for Altman Nussbaum Shunnarah. … If you do test positive, Walsh suggests calling an attorney. (Chan, 11/16)

On mental health care in Colorado —

The Colorado Sun: Two Colorado Mental Health Centers Merge
Two of Colorado’s community mental health centers will merge in July, creating the largest behavioral health center in the state. WellPower, which provides mental health services and homeless outreach in Denver, is combining with Jefferson Center, the safety-net mental health organization for Jefferson, Clear Creek and Gilpin counties. (Brown, 11/16)

The Colorado Sun: Self-Portrait Of Anxiety And Depression: Teens’ Artwork Paints Dire Picture Of Colorado’s Mental Health Crisis
The deep colors and gray shadows illuminate the pain that teens like Reina Kushihashi often suffer in silence with shape and imagery. And with beauty, even. Art, Reina said, helps “give form to things like feelings which are really vague sometimes and difficult to process.” The 17-year-old Denver student is one of 35 young artists from across Colorado who have put paint, ink, watercolor, pen and other materials to canvas to bring the outside world into the mental health challenges that often cast streaks of self-doubt, depression, anxiety and loneliness over them. (Breunlin, 11/17)

AP: A Cannabis Worker Died On The Job From An Asthma Attack. It’s The First Reported Case In US 
The U.S. cannabis production industry’s first reported occupational asthma death took the life of a worker in Massachusetts, federal health and safety officials said. The woman, 27, was working in a cannabis cultivation and processing facility when she experienced worsening work-related respiratory symptoms that ended in a fatal asthma attack in January 2022, officials said in a federal report published Thursday. The report states that allergic diseases such as asthma are a growing concern in the U.S. cannabis industry, which has grown rapidly in recent years thanks to a wave of state-level legalizations. (Whittle, 11/16)

The Boston Globe: Cannabis Worker’s Death Prompts Call For Steps To Prevent Work-Related Asthma
The state Department of Public Health on Thursday called on the cannabis industry to take steps to prevent work-related asthma, in the wake of the 2022 death of a 27-year-old worker from an asthma attack triggered by cannabis dust. The department also sent a bulletin to health care providers asking them to be alert for asthma among cannabis industry employees and reminding them of the requirement to report cases of work-related asthma and other respiratory diseases to the state. (Freyer, 11/16)

More news on cannabis and pot —

CBS News: University Of Minnesota Launches State’s First Research Center For Cannabis
 A new research center at the University of Minnesota will be looking into the impact of adult-use cannabis legalization on the state. On Thursday, the University of Minnesota School of Public Health announced the launch of the Cannabis Research Center. The bill that legalized cannabis for adults included a $2.5 million annual appropriation from cannabis sales tax to establish the CRC. (Premo, 11/16)

Missouri Independent: Missouri Legislators Criticize Cannabis Packaging Regulations 
A panel of Missouri lawmakers have spent several hours in recent weeks debating whether or not aliens and robots should be banned on marijuana product labels. Humans, animals and fruits are already not allowed — an effort by the state to keep products out of the hands of children. But would robots fall under that ban? (Rivas, 11/17)

AP: In Federal Lawsuit, Owner Of Medical Marijuana Dispensary Says Mississippi Censors Business Owners 
The owner of a Mississippi medical marijuana dispensary filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday challenging state regulations that he says censor business owners by preventing them from advertising. After Mississippi legalized medical marijuana for people with debilitating conditions in 2022, Clarence Cocroft II opened Tru Source Medical Cannabis in Olive Branch, Mississippi. But he says he has struggled to reach customers because Mississippi’s Department of Health has banned medical marijuana businesses from advertising in any media. (Goldberg, 11/14)

The New York Times: Why Some Seniors Are Choosing Pot Over Pills
Seniors are one of the fastest-growing populations of cannabis users in the United States. While some older adults have used pot for decades, studies suggest that others are turning to the drug for the first time to help them sleep better, dampen pain or treat anxiety — especially when prescription drugs, which often come with unwanted side effects, don’t work as intended. In 2007, only about 0.4 percent of people age 65 and older in the United States had reported using cannabis in the past year, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. That number rose to almost 3 percent by 2016. As of 2022, it was at more than 8 percent. (Caron, 11/16)

The Washington Post: A Maryland Home Birth Midwife With A Felony Record Faces Scrutiny After A Baby Dies 
Tori DiVincenzo lay in bed at home, dazed and bleeding. She had pushed for hours under the watch of a veteran midwife, only to deliver her daughter silent and still. On this November afternoon in 2021, Sophie Rose DiVincenzo was being rushed to the hospital in an ambulance. First responders milled about the house in Calvert County, Md. DiVincenzo’s midwife, Karen Carr, and her assistant drained the birthing pool, stripped the stained bedsheets and ran a load of laundry. (Brittain, 11/14)

The New York Times: ‘A Monster’: Super Meth And Other Drugs Push Crisis Beyond Opioids 
Millions of U.S. drug users now are addicted to several substances, not just opioids like fentanyl and heroin. The shift is making treatment far more difficult. (Hoffman, 11/13)

The New York Times: What The Golden Gate Is (Finally) Doing About Suicides 
After years of pressure from victims’ families, the installation of $217 million in steel netting is almost complete. (Branch, 11/5)

The New York Times: They Started Playing Football As Young As 6. They Died In Their Teens and Twenties With C.T.E. 
They started playing football as kids, began to suffer mentally and died before 30. Researchers found they had C.T.E., the brain disease linked to hits to the head. If their families could go back, would they still let them play? (Bracken, Branch, Laffin, Lieberman and Ward, 11/16)

The Washington Post: How CDC’s New Director Is Trying To Regain Trust Shattered By Covid
The new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had spent days on television and social media urging Americans to get the updated coronavirus vaccine. The new shot is the most effective protection for the looming virus season, she said. And it’s free. But by the afternoon of Sept. 21, it was becoming clear to Mandy Cohen that the nine-day-old vaccine rollout was stumbling, with many Americans unable to promptly get shots at pharmacies, insurers making erroneous claims about who would have to pay, and little explanation from the government. (Sun and Diamond, 11/12)

ProPublica: A Knoxville Detention Center Illegally Locks Kids Up Alone
The Richard L. Bean Juvenile Service Center has been punishing kids with seclusion more than any other facility in Tennessee. And as the laws and rules on how to treat kids changed, the facility failed to keep up. (Pfleger, 11/16)

The New York Times: V.A. Recruits Millionth Veteran For Million Veteran Program Genetic Database 
On Saturday, after a 12-year effort, the Department of Veterans Affairs reached a long-term goal — it enrolled the millionth veteran in a genetic database, the Million Veteran Program. According to the V.A., the Million Veteran Program is the largest such database in the world. It includes not only genetic information but also is linked to the department’s electronic medical records and even contains records of diet and environmental exposure. (Kolata, 11/15)

The Washington Post: ‘Aging Is A Disease’: Inside The Drive To Postpone Death Indefinitely 
Longevity has become an industry, a subject of bestsellers, podcasts and newsletters. But is a life meted out in metrics, often for a price, worth it? (Heller, 11/6)

The New York Times: Their Final Wish? A Burial In Space
There are two ways to contemplate the question Where do we go when we die? One is philosophical, ultimately unanswerable; the other is logistical. Humans, being human, have tended to see them as being intertwined: The many traditions we’ve devised for handling our remains are meant to honor the selves that left those bodies behind. The seven people pictured here have chosen to send their ashes, or in some cases a sample of their DNA, into outer space. (Litovsky and Mooallem, 11/7)

The Wall Street Journal: That Scannable Spotify Tattoo Sounded Like A Good Idea At The Time 
It’s becoming popular to get inked with a barcode so you can flash your flesh to turn on music. But the codes can stop working as skin sags and ink fades. (Graham, 11/15)

Scientific American: Unions Bring A Surprising Side Effect–Higher Vaccination Rates 
At the height of the pandemic, unions across the U.S. demanded better COVID safety and health protection. From hospitals to fast food stands, warehouses to libraries, workers fought for personal protective equipment, cleaner workplaces, hazard pay and, where possible, telecommuting. To win protections, they signed petitions, organized sickouts, filed grievances, collectively bargained and, in some cases, engaged in work stoppages. (Todd E. Vachon, 11/16)

Newsweek: As The Climate Crisis Escalates, Building Resilient Health Systems Is Imperative
As the world prepares for the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28), in Malawi, we are still fighting to recover from the devastating effects of that cyclone on our whole health system and health service delivery. (Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda, 11/17)

The New York Times: Cannabis For Seniors: Why Older Adults Are Opting For Medical Marijuana 
Seniors are one of the fastest-growing populations of cannabis users in the United States. While some older adults have used pot for decades, studies suggest that others are turning to the drug for the first time to help them sleep better, dampen pain or treat anxiety — especially when prescription drugs, which often come with unwanted side effects, don’t work as intended. (Christina Caron, 11/16)

The Washington Post: Four Virus Safety Considerations For Thanksgiving Gatherings 
This Thanksgiving will be the fourth since the start of the covid-19 pandemic. While the coronavirus is little more than an afterthought for many Americans, plenty of people are still concerned about exposure to it and other respiratory viruses during holiday gatherings. (Leana S. Wen, 11/16)

Stat: Ransomware Attacks On Hospitals: Study Outlines Patient Impact
On a Thursday in early August, staff at Manchester Memorial Hospital in Connecticut realized they’d been hit by a ransomware attack. What happened next is the stuff of nightmares. Manchester Memorial had to ask ambulances to take emergency patients elsewhere. They cancelled elective surgeries and worked without access to essential imaging equipment like X-rays and CT scans. (Hannah Neprash, Claire McGlave and Sayeh Nikpay, 11/17)

Also —

Bloomberg: Drug Shortages: Are Generics Too Cheap For Their Own Good?
More than 90% of prescriptions in the US are filled with generic drugs. These cheaper alternatives to branded medications have expanded access to care for millions of Americans while saving the health system hundreds of billions of dollars a year. While the prices of branded drugs have skyrocketed in recent years, generics prices have been falling steadily. (11/16)

The Baltimore Sun: Maryland, Learn From Colorado: Price Controls On Drugs Can Do More Harm Than Good
Patients with rare and deadly diseases worry that government-enforced price cuts will disrupt — or end entirely — their access to the best medicines. For example, at a hearing on Oct. 23, eight patients and parents of children with cystic fibrosis separately told the Colorado PDAB that they live in fear that they won’t be able to access Trikafta, one of the first five targeted pharmaceuticals, if the board orders its price reduced. (James K. Glassman, 11/16)