First Edition: Aug. 9, 2022

KHN:
Covid Sewage Surveillance Labs Join The Hunt For Monkeypox 

The same wastewater surveillance techniques that have emerged as a critical tool in early detection of covid-19 outbreaks are being adapted for use in monitoring the startling spread of monkeypox across the San Francisco Bay Area and some other U.S. communities. Before the covid pandemic, wastewater sludge was thought to hold promise as an early indicator of community health threats, in part because people can excrete genetic evidence of infectious diseases in their feces, often before they develop symptoms of illness. Israel has for decades monitored wastewater for polio. But before covid, such risk monitoring in the U.S. was limited largely to academic pursuits. (Kreidler, 8/9)

KHN:
‘American Diagnosis’: ‘We Need To Be At The Table’: Native-Led Medical Research Aims To Rebuild Trust 

Mending broken trust may be a first step for investigators who want to increase the participation of Native people in medical research. “There’s such a history of extractive research in Indigenous communities, such that ‘research’ and ‘science’ are sometimes dirty words,” said Navajo geneticist and bioethicist Krystal Tsosie. (8/9)

KHN:
After ‘A Lot Of Doors Shut In Our Face,’ Crusading Couple Celebrate Passage Of Burn Pit Bill

The battle was just beginning for Le Roy Torres and his wife, Rosie, when the Army captain returned to Texas in 2008, already starting to suffer from the toxic substances he’d inhaled from the 10-acre burn pit at Camp Anaconda in Balad, Iraq. Along the way, Le Roy would lose the job he loved as a Texas state trooper and take his fight all the way to a Supreme Court victory. He would be rushed to the emergency room hundreds of times, be denied health benefits by the Department of Veterans Affairs for years, attempt suicide, and seek experimental cures for the damage done to his lungs and brain. (McAuliff, 8/9)

The New York Times:
U.S. Moves To Stretch Out Monkeypox Vaccine Supply 

The Biden administration has decided to stretch out its limited supply of monkeypox vaccine by allowing a different method of injection that uses one-fifth as much per shot, according to people familiar with the discussions. In order for the Food and Drug Administration to authorize so-called intradermal injection, which would involve injecting one-fifth of the current dose into the skin instead of a full dose into underlying fat, the Department of Health and Human Services will need to issue a new emergency declaration allowing regulators to invoke the F.D.A.’s emergency use powers. That declaration is expected as early as Tuesday afternoon. (LaFraniere and Weiland, 8/8)

The Washington Post:
Limited Monkeypox Vaccine Supply Would Be Stretched Under FDA Plan 

“It really means, basically, sticking the needle within the skin and creating a little pocket there into which the vaccine goes,” Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Robert Califf said, comparing it to tests for tuberculosis and other injections performed by health-care workers. “This is really nothing highly unusual.” (Diamond, 8/8)

The New York Times:
There’s Just One Drug to Treat Monkeypox. Good Luck Getting It.

The only drug available to treat monkeypox is so difficult to access that just a fraction of the nearly 7,000 patients in the United States have been given it. Health officials have designated tecovirimat, also called Tpoxx, an “investigational drug,” which they say means it cannot be released from the strategic national stockpile without a series of convoluted bureaucratic steps. But most doctors do not have the time or resources to fill out the required 27-page application or to provide the detailed patient information. (Mandavilli, 8/6)

CIDRAP:
Monkeypox Cases Reach 7,500 In US; 99% Of Cases In Males 

New data published in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report and gathered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows 99% of monkeypox cases in the United States are in males, and 94% of cases report recent male-to-male sexual or intimate contact. (Soucheray, 8/8)

Becker’s Hospital Review:
Not Always Mild: What Physicians Are Seeing Among Monkeypox Patients

Most patients in New York City, an epicenter of the outbreak, are recovering at home with outpatient supportive care, said Jason Zucker, MD, an infectious diseases specialist at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York City, during an Aug. 5 call with reporters. They’re experiencing some symptoms that present with many other viral illnesses, such as fever, chills and swollen lymph nodes, in addition to a rash that develops a few days after the other symptoms. He said there’s been a “small number” of patients whose symptoms were severe enough to require hospitalization.  (Carbajal, 8/8)

San Francisco Chronicle:
S.F. All But Gives Up On Contact Tracing For Monkeypox

With 472 cases — 36% of the state’s 1,310 cases — city public health officials believe San Francisco has the nation’s highest per-capita rate. At first, the practice of tracing people exposed to a fast-spreading disease, then isolating or treating them, seemed like a good idea. Health officials relied on it in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic as cases climbed. (Asimov, 8/8)

Detroit Free Press:
Sparrow Health System Testing For Monkeypox; Offers Fast Result

Sparrow Health System is testing for the monkeypox virus through its own in-house system that started Thursday, the same day U.S. health officials declared the monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency. Two patients had been tested by noon Friday, with the main lab in Lansing having the capability of testing up to 200 patients per day, said Dr. Paul Entler, the health system’s chief clinical officer. (Hall, 8/8)

Poynter:
Image Falsely Claims Monkeypox Is ‘Airborne’

The Biden administration declared monkeypox a public health emergency on Aug. 4, but leading national and international health organizations haven’t made sweeping changes to the way they classify the virus and illness, despite alarming claims made by an image circulating online. An image shared in a Facebook post on Aug. 3 suggested that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization made major changes to their available monkeypox guidance and information. (Czopek, 8/8)

ABC News:
CDC Sends Team To New York To Investigate Polio Case

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has deployed a federal team to New York to investigate the case of polio detected in Rockland County. The team will also help administer vaccinations in the county. It’s unclear how long the CDC will remain in the county or if the findings will be released to the public. (Kekatos, 8/8)

Stateline:
Lawsuit Could End Free Preventive Health Checkups

A federal lawsuit heard in Texas last month could upend or even eliminate the preventive care requirement in the law, known as Obamacare or the ACA. A group of patients and employers are arguing that the requirement is unconstitutional. They also contend that some preventive health measures violate protections under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 that prohibit federal and state rules from unduly burdening one’s exercise of religion. (Ollove, 8/9)

NPR:
Texas Lawsuit Targets Coverage For Preventive Care

“The lawsuit could cause millions of Americans, probably more than 150 million, to lose guaranteed access to preventive services,” Dr. Jack Resneck, president of the American Medical Association, told NPR. “There’s really a great deal at stake,” he said. (Aubrey, 8/9)

NPR:
‘Staggering’ Number Couldn’t Get Care During Pandemic, Poll Finds

Among households that had a serious illness in the past year, one in five respondents said they had trouble accessing care during the pandemic. That’s a “staggering” number of people unable to access care, says Mary Findling, the assistant director of the Harvard Opinion Research Program. “From a health and a good care standpoint, that’s just too high.” (Chatterjee, 8/8)

Los Angeles Times:
Clearing COVID Infection Can Take Longer Than You Think

“If your test turns out to be positive after five days, don’t be upset because the majority of people still test positive until at least Day 7, to Day 10 even,” Dr. Clayton Chau, director of the Orange County Health Care Agency, said during a briefing Thursday. “So that’s the majority. That’s the norm.” (Lin II and Money, 8/8)

The Washington Post:
Norwegian Cruises To Drop Vaccination Requirement, Ease Testing Rules 

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings will end its vaccine requirement for customers and loosen coronavirus testing rules next month, the company announced Monday. Starting Sept. 3, fully vaccinated travelers who are 12 or older will no longer have to test before boarding a ship on Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises. (Benveniste, 8/8)

The Wall Street Journal:
Poor Demand For Its Covid Vaccine Prompts Novavax To Cut Sales Forecast 

Novavax Inc. slashed its full-year revenue outlook in half on Monday, citing a lack of demand for its Covid-19 vaccine from an international initiative to vaccinate lower-income countries and delays in winning expanded authorizations in the U.S. Novavax said Monday it now expects 2022 sales between $2 billion and $2.3 billion, down from its previous forecast of $4 billion to $5 billion.  (Walker, 8/8)

KUNM:
The Pandemic Induced More Home Births Around The Mountain West. What Does Race Have To Do With It?

A Pew Research Center analysis found that during the first year of the pandemic home births increased by 19% nationally. About 46,000 people had home births in 2020. A handful of the states with the most home births are in the Mountain West, and the region also includes two states that saw some of the country’s largest increases from 2019 to 2020. (Gibson, 8/8)

AP:
Judge Considers Whether To Block Georgia Abortion Law Again

A judge is considering whether Georgia officials should once again be prohibited from enforcing the state’s restrictive abortion law while a legal challenge against it is pending. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney heard arguments Monday from lawyers for the state and for doctors and advocacy groups who filed a lawsuit challenging the law. He said he needed to think about the issues but that he would issue a ruling soon. (Brumback, 8/8)

Indianapolis Star:
Lilly, Cummins Waited Until Holcomb Signed Abortion Ban To Speak Out

Eli Lilly and Co., and Cummins have released statements taking Indiana to task for adopting a near-total abortion ban since the law was signed by Gov. Eric Holcomb Friday, but neither of the two Indiana companies publicly spoke against the legislation in the preceding weeks despite being given multiple opportunities. (Huang and Kane, 8/9)

Axios:
Nebraska Republicans Lack Votes To Amend State’s Abortion Laws

Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts (R) was unable to garner enough votes Monday to convene a special legislative session for the state to consider stricter abortion laws. (Habeshian, 8/8)

NBC News:
Abortion Laws In Texas, Wisconsin Forcing Pregnant Women To Wait For Care

“Prior to SB8, most providers would offer the patient an opportunity to induce labor or have a procedure in order to prevent those complications from happening,” said Dr. Anitra Beasley, an OB-GYN and associate professor at Baylor College of Medicine, who wasn’t involved with the research. “And now we’re waiting till the complications are happening. It can be really dangerous. That’s the reason why it’s not something we want to do.” (Dunn and Dahlgren, 8/9)

The Washington Post:
Abortion Bans Complicate Access To Drugs For Cancer, Arthritis, Even Ulcers 

Becky Hubbard, 46, has decided to get sterilized so that she can go back on the only medication that has relieved her disabling pain from rheumatoid arthritis for the last eight years. Soon after the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, the Tennessee woman said she got an ultimatum from her rheumatologist. If she wanted to stay on the treatment of choice for her condition, a drug called methotrexate, she was told she had to go on birth control despite her age and history of infertility. (Shepherd and Sellers, 8/8)

The Washington Post:
A Look At Some Medications Under Increased Scrutiny Amid Abortion Bans 

Since abortion bans have taken effect in many states, there is increased scrutiny on drugs that can be used to terminate pregnancies that also have other common uses, as well as on drugs for non-pregnancy-related conditions that are known to harm a developing fetus. The list of drugs that can cause birth defects is long, including some antibiotics such as Cipro, mood stabilizers including lithium, and several medications to control arthritis, epilepsy and even acne. (Sellers, 8/8)

PBS NewsHour:
Despite State Efforts To Protect Abortion Access, Asian Americans In Michigan Still See Obstacles

Shortly after the Roe ruling came down, Isra Pananon Weeks, interim executive director of National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF), called the high court’s decision a “direct and pernicious assault” on AAPI communities and other marginalized groups “where the path to abortion care is riddled with language barriers, cultural stigmas, and low rates of insurance coverage among our most vulnerable community members.” (Kai-Hwa Wang, 8/8)

USA Today:
Pfizer Launches Lyme Disease Vaccine Trial With French Partner Valneva

If proven safe and effective, the vaccine, currently called VLA15, could be an important tool to stop the tick-borne disease that affects nearly half a million Americans a year. Although many people clear the infection with a course of antibiotics, others suffer for years from lingering symptoms. (Weintraub, 8/8)

Stat:
Pfizer Tries Another Drug Warranty In Response To Concerns Over High Costs

For only the second time, Pfizer is offering a warranty for a medicine that will cover the cost for any patient or health plan if the medication fails to work, a move that expands an effort to appease concerns about high drug costs. (Silverman, 8/8)

The Washington Post:
Cash-Rich Pfizer Snaps Up Global Blood Therapeutics For $5.4 Billion

Pfizer — cash-rich thanks to its coronavirus vaccine — is bringing Global Blood Therapeutics into the fold under a $5.4 billion all-cash deal announced Monday. The acquisition of the maker of Oxbryta, one of the few treatments approved by the Food and Drug Administration for sickle cell disease, is the latest blockbuster deal for the pharmaceutical giant. (Gregg, 8/8)

Modern Healthcare:
Centene Sued Over Ambetter Networks, Benefits

The plaintiffs claim the insurer acquired local Medicaid carriers to enroll people into its Ambetter exchange products when they lose eligibility for the low-income health program. Centene then named its exchange policies after the Medicaid plans to mislead members into thinking they were enrolling in coverage with similar benefits, the lawsuit alleges. (Tepper, 8/8)

Modern Healthcare:
Kaiser Permanente’s Second-Quarter Net Loss Exceeds $1B

Kaiser Permanente reported a $1.3 billion net loss in the second quarter, a 144% plunge from a year ago. Operating income for Kaiser, a not-for-profit integrated health system, fell nearly 75% year-over-year to $89 million. Expenses rose by 0.2% to $23.38 billion, while revenue fell 0.9% to $23.47 billion. Kaiser’s operating margin was 0.4%. It attributed the losses to investment market conditions. (Hudson, 8/8)

Jacksonville Daily Record:
Mayo Clinic Jacksonville Starts Work On $233 Million Oncology Building

Site work has begun on the $233 million Mayo Clinic integrated oncology building in Jacksonville that will include proton beam and carbon ion therapy. (Mathis, 8/8)

USA Today:
Are Hospitals Meeting Requirement Of Medical Billing Transparency Law?

Lax federal enforcement means hospitals feel little pressure to comply despite fines that could reach $5,500 a day, patient advocates say. And in cases where hospitals do make pricing information available to the public, the information can be incomplete or presented in formats that are nearly indecipherable to average consumers. (Alltucker, 8/9)

Becker’s Hospital Review:
How Social Media Is Shaking Up Hospital Marketing

From clinical healthcare to public health campaigns, chief marketing officers are using social media to find meaning in data gathered from social channels to support and engage their patients beyond their health systems’ walls. Here, three health system marketing leaders share how social media has shaken up the healthcare marketing field. (Diaz, 8/8)

Becker’s Hospital Review:
5 Best, Worst States For Women’s Healthcare In 2022

Hawaii earned the top spot for women’s healthcare on a ranking by SmartAsset, while Mississippi ranked the lowest. The analysis, published Aug. 3, examined data for all 50 states across a total of 11 metrics that researchers divided into three categories: access to care, affordability, and general health and well-being. (Gleeson, 8/8)  

Stat:
Access To Trauma Care Is Improving In The U.S., But Progress Is Uneven

Six years ago, an expert panel made a strong suggestion to the White House: set up a national system to care for patients with traumatic injuries, which lead to about 30,000 deaths every year. (Chen, 8/9)

Stat:
As Billionaires Fund Anti-Aging Projects, A Long-Delayed Study Is Overlooked

Beating back the diseases of aging has become something of a pet project for many of Silicon Valley’s tech titans. But many researchers in the field of longevity science say there’s one project they wish these billionaires could find a little pocket change to fund: Nir Barzilai’s TAME Trial. (Molteni, 8/9)

AP:
Study Connects Climate Hazards To 58% Of Infectious Diseases

Climate hazards such as flooding, heat waves and drought have worsened more than half of the hundreds of known infectious diseases in people, including malaria, hantavirus, cholera and anthrax, a study says. Researchers looked through the medical literature of established cases of illnesses and found that 218 out of the known 375 human infectious diseases, or 58%, seemed to be made worse by one of 10 types of extreme weather connected to climate change, according to a study in Monday’s journal Nature Climate Change. (Borenstein, 8/9)

NBC News:
Climate Hazards Are Turning 218 Diseases Into Bigger Threats

Professor Camilo Mora feels the impacts of climate change in his knees. During a 2014 visit to his native Colombia, heavy rains caused the worst flooding his hometown had seen in decades and boosted the mosquito population. A mosquito bit Mora, transferring the chikungunya virus and making him a patient during an unprecedented outbreak in the region. (Bendix and Bush, 8/8)

NBC News:
Teens Are Turning To ‘Tobacco-Free’ Nicotine Gummies And Lozenges

A survey of more than 3,500 high school students in Southern California found that flavored chewing gum, lozenges, gummies and other oral products that contain nicotine but not tobacco were the second most popular nicotine items among adolescents, after e-cigarettes. More than 3% of the students surveyed said they had tried these oral products before, and nearly 2% said they had done so in the last six months. Meanwhile, nearly 10% said they had tried e-cigarettes, and more than 5% reported doing so in the last six months. (Bendix, 8/9)

The Washington Post:
Study: Kids Who Vape Tobacco Are More Likely To Go On To Use Cannabis

Vaping is growing more prevalent among young people — in 2021, 1 in 9 high school students said they had vaped in the past month, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Increasingly, those kids are vaping cannabis. But is vaping a gateway to marijuana use? A new study suggests that is the case, finding that adolescents who use e-cigarettes are over three times more likely to use cannabis than those who don’t — and that more than 1 in 10 youths who say they have never used cannabis go on to do so within a year. (Blakemore, 8/8)

The New York Times:
Snapchat Introduces Its First Parental Controls

Snapchat, the ephemeral messaging app, introduced its first parental controls on Tuesday, as social media platforms face increasing scrutiny for exposing young users to potentially harmful content. Snap, Snapchat’s parent company, said in a blog post that its new tools would let parents see whom their teenagers were friends with on the app and whom they had communicated with in the previous seven days. (Huang, 8/9)