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Morning Briefing: June 25, 2024

Gun violence public health crisis, drug prices, mental health struggles, infant deaths, electronic health records, and more are in the news.
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Tuesday, June 25, 2024
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Morning Briefing

In This Edition:

From KFF Health News:

KFF Health News Original Stories

1. US Surgeon General Declares Gun Violence 'a Public Health Crisis'

Gun violence is the No. 1 cause of death for children and teens in America. Vivek Murthy says the toll extends beyond deaths, as survivors deal with "a lifetime of physical and mental health impacts" and those who witness shootings become traumatized. (Rachana Pradhan and Fred Clasen-Kelly, )

3. 'An Arm and a Leg' Podcast: Meet the Middleman's Middleman

Why are patients facing bigger bills than they expect for out-of-network care? In this episode of "An Arm and a Leg," the show explains the hidden mechanics of MultiPlan, a data firm that helps health insurers set these rates and make bigger returns. (Dan Weissmann, )

4. Political Cartoon: 'Hemogoblin'

KFF Health News provides a fresh take on health policy developments with "Political Cartoon: 'Hemogoblin'" by Wayno & Piraro.

Here's today's health policy haiku:

FLOUTING THE LAW

The ACA says
birth control should be free now;
payers break the rules.

If you have a health policy haiku to share, please Contact Us and let us know if we can include your name. Haikus follow the format of 5-7-5 syllables. We give extra brownie points if you link back to an original story.

Opinions expressed in haikus and cartoons are solely the author's and do not reflect the opinions of KFF Health News or KFF.

Summaries Of The News:

Gun Violence

5. Surgeon General: Gun Violence Is A Public Health Crisis

"The safety and well-being of our children and future generations are at stake," Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said in an advisory note that also called for a national "commitment" to stop gun violence. Separately, 7 states show progress against the youth mental health crisis.

KFF Health News: US Surgeon General Declares Gun Violence 'A Public Health Crisis'
Murthy, a physician, told KFF Health News he hoped to convey the broader toll of gun violence on the nation and the need for an urgent public health response. He cited soaring gun deaths among children and teens and noted that "the mental health toll of firearm violence is far more profound and pervasive than many of us recognize." "Every day that passes we lose more kids to gun violence," Murthy said, "the more children who are witnessing episodes of gun violence, the more children who are shot and survive that are dealing with a lifetime of physical and mental health impacts." (Pradhan and Clasen-Kelly, 6/25)

CNN: US Surgeon General Calls For 'Collective Commitment' To Stop Gun Violence In The United States
Gun violence in the United States is an urgent public health crisis that demands the "collective commitment of the nation" to stop it, Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy says in a new advisory released Tuesday. It's the first time a publication from the Office of the Surgeon General has focused on firearm violence and its "profound consequences" on survivors, communities, and mental health. (Christensen, 6/25)

More mental health news —

The Mercury News: Teens Lean On AI For Mental Health Support
For many teenagers, digital tools such as programs that use artificial intelligence, or AI, have become a go-to option for emotional support. As they learn to navigate and cope in a world where mental health care demands are high, AI is an easy and inexpensive choice. Venkatesh, who will be a senior at American High School in Fremont in the fall, said she always ends up convincing herself she doesn't need therapy. "I would rather take a different approach than pay that price. The cost of therapy isn't changing any time soon." (Kaur, 6/24)

ABC News: Long-Term Loneliness Associated With Higher Risk Of Stroke: Study
Middle-age and older adults with long-term loneliness are at higher risk of stroke than those who do not report being lonely, according to a new study published in the journal eClinicalMedicine on Monday. Researchers found the risk of stroke among lonely adults was higher regardless of co-existing depressive symptoms or feelings of social isolation. (Kumar, 6/25)

NPR: Gut Microbiome Is Linked To How We Handle Stress In New Study
The gut microbiome -- the ecosystem of tiny organisms inside us all -- has emerged as fertile new territory for studying a range of psychiatric conditions and neurological diseases. Research has demonstrated the brain and gut are in constant communication and that changes in the microbiome are linked to mood and mental health. Now a study published this month in Nature Mental Health finds distinct biological signatures in the microbiomes of people who are highly resilient in the face of stressful events. (Stone, 6/24)

KFF Health News: Therapists Learn How To Help Farmers Cope With Stress Before It's Too Late
The farmers' co-op here is a center of hope every spring. It's where farmers buy seed and fertilizer for the summer's crops, and where they seek tips to maximize their harvest of corn and soybeans. But on a recent morning, a dozen mental health professionals gathered at the Key Cooperative Agronomy Center to discuss why so many farmers quietly struggle with untreated anxiety and depression. (Leys, 6/25)

Supreme Court

6. Supreme Court First: Deciding Whether Minors Will Have Transgender Rights

The court also is weighing in on disability bias, antitrust, the Feres doctrine, and religious covid-vaccine exemptions.

The Hill: Supreme Court Sets Stage For Transgender Rights Showdown
The Supreme Court's decision to hear a challenge to Tennessee's gender-affirming care ban for minors sets the stage for a potentially blockbuster case implicating transgender protections. It marks the first time the justices will weigh in on the issue, which could impact laws passed by 24 Republican-led states since 2021 that ban medications like puberty blockers and hormones for transgender children and teens. Legal challenges mounted by transgender youths, their families and medical providers have been met with mixed results. (Migdon and Schonfeld, 6/24)

Reuters: US Supreme Court To Decide If Retirees Can Sue For Disability Bias
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to decide whether retired workers retain the ability to sue their former employers for disability discrimination after they leave their jobs, a question that has divided federal appeals courts. The justices granted a petition by Karyn Stanley, a retired firefighter for the Orlando suburb of Sanford, Florida, who is appealing a lower court ruling that said she could not sue the city for allegedly curbing benefits for disabled retirees because it no longer employed her. (Wiessner, 6/24)

Modern Healthcare: Supreme Court Denies Challenge To BCBS Antitrust Settlement
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday denied a request from Home Depot and other employers to hear a challenge to policyholders' $2.67 billion antitrust settlement with Blue Cross Blue Shield. Justices declined a petition from the home improvement retailer, design consultancy Topographic and benefits provider Employee Services alleging that the settlement does not treat self-insured customers fairly and does not go far enough to promote competition between Blue Cross companies. (Tepper, 6/24)

Reuters: US Supreme Court Gives Pharma Companies A Chance To Thwart Terrorism-Funding Lawsuit
Hundreds of American service members and civilians, and their families, sued the defendant companies, part of five corporate families: AstraZeneca, Pfizer, GE Healthcare USA, Johnson & Johnson and F. Hoffmann-La Roche. The plaintiffs accused major U.S. and European pharmaceutical and device makers of providing corrupt payments to the Hezbollah-sponsored militia group Jaysh al-Mahdi in order to obtain medical supply contracts from Iraq's health ministry. (Scarcella, 6/24)

Military.com: Paralyzed During Surgery At Walter Reed, Guardsman Asks Supreme Court To Consider Feres Doctrine Challenge
Since April 6, 2018, Air National Guard Staff Sgt. Ryan Carter has been unable to dress himself, eat alone or walk from one room to another. On that day, Carter was admitted to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, for back surgery to address chronic pain; he left 19 days later, a paraplegic and victim, he says, of medical malpractice. At the time of the surgery, Carter was not on active-duty orders or medical orders -- an inactive status his attorneys argue made him eligible to file a malpractice claim against the government under the Federal Tort Claims Act. (Kime, 6/24)

Also —

After Roe V. Wade

7. Texas Infant Deaths Increased Nearly 13% In Wake Of Strict Abortion Law

In the rest of the U.S., infant mortality rates climbed just 2% over the same period, an analysis shows. Among other news: Republican anti-abortion ballot initiatives are falling short; Democrats are aiming to repeat success at the polls with abortion-rights candidates; and more.

The Guardian: Over Half Of US Women On Probation Or Parole Need Permission To Travel For Abortion – Study
The number of women on probation or parole who must seek permission to travel for an abortion more than doubled to 635,000 in two years since the supreme court overturned the federal right to abortion, a new report finds. Fourteen states have near-total abortion bans and 21 restrict the procedure. Together with near ubiquitous travel restrictions imposed by probation and parole, more than half of women on probation or parole in the US must seek permission to travel before obtaining an abortion. (Glenza, 6/24)

NBC News: Two Years After Dobbs, Activists Look To Capitalize On Abortion-Rights Support Ahead Of The November Election
Nearly 28 million women of reproductive age live in states with partial or total bans on abortion, according to Planned Parenthood Action Fund data provided to NBC News. Several states with partial bans could prove decisive for presidential contenders in November, including Arizona, Georgia and North Carolina. Democrats have watched abortion-rights candidates and positions win again and again in purple and even red states. Now, with less than five months before voters cast their ballots, abortion-rights advocates are looking to replicate those successes nationally. (Lebowitz, 6/24)

Bloomberg: After Dobbs, Republican Anti-Abortion Ballot Measures Falter
Two years after the Supreme Court delivered the religious right their long-sought goal of repealing nationwide abortion rights, state-level initiatives to curb access are faltering. Deadlines are rapidly approaching ahead of November's general election, but in state after state, Republican activists are falling short of the signatures necessary to put anti-abortion initiatives in front of voters. (Lowenkron, 6/24)

Also —

The Boston Globe: Mass. Governor Healey Says She Would 'Absolutely Not' Enforce A National Abortion Ban
Massachusetts won't spend "one dime" enforcing a national abortion ban if such a ban ever becomes law, Governor Maura Healey pledged Monday. ... "Absolutely not. Absolutely not," Healey replied when asked by a reporter if she would enforce a national abortion ban were it to become law. "I won't put one dime or any energy or effort or personnel into enforcing laws that are a direct violation of a woman's freedom and autonomy." (Piore, 6/24)

The Boston Globe: Elizabeth Warren Campaigns For Biden On Abortion
Senator Elizabeth Warren sat in front of dozens of voters at a campaign office plastered with posters waiting for her turn to speak on a panel about abortion access. When she did, Warren at times grew so impassioned that she nearly left her seat. But it wasn't her event, or her campaign. It wasn't even her home state. She was in the battleground of Wisconsin, to make the case for President Biden in the hopes of firing up the Democrats who had taken time out of their Monday to listen. (Villa de Petrzelka, 6/24)

Health IT

8. Health Providers Must Allow EHR Access Or Face Consequences: HHS

A final rule from the Health and Human Services Department aims at discouraging "information blocking," where providers bar authorized users from electronic health records. Separately, inconsistencies in EHR symptom data fields are highlighted.

Modern Healthcare: EHR Information Blocking Rule Finalized By HHS
Healthcare providers that prevent authorized users from accessing electronic health records data face new consequences under a final rule the Health and Human Services Department published Monday. The regulation to discourage so-called information blocking emerged from the 21st Century Cures Act of 2016 and applies to providers including hospitals, physicians and accountable care organizations. (Early, 6/24)

Modern Healthcare: Oracle Launches Generative AI-Powered Clinical Documentation Tool
Oracle Health is rolling out an artificial intelligence clinical documentation tool for its ambulatory customers, the electronic health record company said Monday. Oracle said the tool will transcribe patient-clinician conversations and create draft notes within the EHR. The company had 13 of its ambulatory clinic customers test the tool beginning in October 2023, a month after it was first announced at its user conference. It is available for primary care, internal medicine and family medicine clinics. (Turner, 6/24)

Also —

Stat: AliveCor Gets FDA Nod For 12-Lead, AI-Powered ECG Machine
AliveCor has spent years battling with Apple over the market for consumer heart monitoring technology. Now it's hoping to make its imprint on professional health care with its new device, which recently received clearance from the Food and Drug Administration. (Aguilar, 6/25)

Neuroscience News: First Child Brain Implant For Epilepsy Appears Successful
A groundbreaking implantable device has significantly reduced the frequency and severity of seizures in children with severe epilepsy, according to a new UK clinical trial. The rechargeable device, attached to the skull, delivers constant electrical stimulation to the brain, allowing patients like Oran to experience dramatic improvements in quality of life. (6/24)

Health Industry

9. Bill Would Stop Real Estate Investment Trusts From Owning Hospitals In Mass.

In the wake of the Steward Health Care System collapse, state lawmakers included a provision in a health care oversight bill that would ban hospitals leasing their sites from REITs — a first-of-its-kind crackdown in the U.S. Also in the news: Hartford HealthCare, Oscar, Centene, and more.

Bloomberg: Massachusetts Is Trying To Prevent REITs From Owning Hospitals
The collapse of Steward Health Care System has Massachusetts lawmakers pointing fingers at the hospital operator's landlord and other companies like it. Real estate experts say their proposed fixes miss the mark. A sweeping health-care oversight bill that passed the state House of Representatives with almost unanimous support includes a provision that would ban hospitals from leasing their main campuses from real estate investment trusts, known as REITs. Other types of landlords would still be allowed to own hospitals and existing leases with REITs can continue. The crackdown would be among the first of its kind in the US. (Taylor and Sutherland, 6/24)

Modern Healthcare: Oscar, Centene, Highmark See Opportunity In Exchange-Based ICHRAs
Health insurance companies hungry for a piece of the large and lucrative employer health plan market see a recently created exchanges-based product as their way in. Although only a small — albeit growing — share of businesses offer individual coverage health reimbursement arrangements, or ICHRAs, to their workers, insurers such as Oscar Health, Centene and Highmark are gambling they are the wave of the future as employers strive to contain healthcare spending. (Berryman, 6/24)

The CT Mirror: CT Is Considering Health Plan Rate Increases. Here's What To Know.
The Connecticut insurance department is again considering annual rate hikes for state-regulated health plans on and off the insurance exchange. Insurers are seeking an average increase of 8.3% on 2025 individual plans and 11.9% on small group policies. The proposed hikes are lower than what was requested the last two years, but similar to those sought in 2021. (Carlesso, 6/24)

In news about health personnel —

Modern Healthcare: Travel Nursing Demand Declines, Staffing Agencies Pivot
Healthcare employment agencies are reevaluating their strategies as interest in travel nurses wanes among both hospitals and workers. It's another sign of the shifting needs of the industry since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Testing firms have laid off workers or folded. Telehealth companies have been challenged. (DeSilva, 6/24)

The New York Times: In San Francisco, Doctors Feud Over 'Do No Harm' When It Comes To War Protests
It looked like any other pro-Palestinian encampment at a college campus in the United States. The tents, the flags, the banners calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war. But this was at the University of California, San Francisco, one of the nation's pre-eminent medical schools and teaching hospitals. The protesters were medical students and doctors. And the chants of "intifada, intifada, long live intifada!" could be heard by patients in their hospital rooms at the U.C.S.F. Medical Center. (Knight, 6/24)

CBS News: Surgeons Perform Kidney Transplant With Patient Awake During Procedure
Surgeons at Northwestern Medicine performed a kidney transplant on an awake patient, marking a first for the Chicago-based healthcare system. The patient, 28-year-old John Nicholas of Chicago, felt no pain during the May 24 procedure and was discharged the next day. Typically a patient is hospitalized for 2-3 days following a kidney transplant at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. (Moniuszko, 6/24)

Pharmaceuticals

10. Novo Nordisk To Build Second US Factory To Meet Ozempic Demand

As the company faces supply and cost criticisms, Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk A/S says it will spend $4.1 billion to build a manufacturing plant in Clayton, North Carolina, to manufacture the popular drugs Ozempic and Wegovy.

Bloomberg: Ozempic Maker Novo Plans Another $4.1 Billion US Factory
Novo Nordisk A/S plans to invest $4.1 billion in another US factory, plowing more money into its biggest market amid rising discontent over the cost of its obesity and diabetes drugs. The project in Clayton, North Carolina, will double the company's production footprint in the US, adding 1.4 million square feet of space for the final stages of manufacturing in which Novo's medicines are filled into injector pens and prepared for consumers. The facility will add 1,000 jobs, the Danish drugmaker said Monday. (Kresge, 6/24)

Stat: Will Lilly's Zepbound Make CPAP Machines Obsolete? Experts Split
Continuous positive airway pressure "is here to stay," sleep medicine doctor Atul Malhotra declared in a May 2024 editorial published in the Lancet. But after Eli Lilly reported the full results of its obesity drug in sleep apnea patients last week, industry watchers are now debating the lasting power of CPAP machines. The trial, run by Malhotra himself, demonstrated that Zepbound reduced the number of sleep apnea episodes in patients both who were using the machines and those who were not. (Lawrence and Chen, 6/25)

In other pharmaceutical news —

Fox News: For Diabetes Patients, Inhaled Insulin Is Shown Just As Effective As Injections And Pumps
Most of the 38 million people living with diabetes in the U.S. use daily injections or insulin pumps to keep glucose at safe levels — but new research suggests that a third option could be just as effective. In a study led by Dr. Irl B. Hirsch, M.D., medical director of the Diabetes Care Center of the University of Washington Medical Center, an inhaled form of insulin — similar to an asthma inhaler — worked just as well as injections or pumps to control type 1 diabetes. (Rudy, 6/25)

Bloomberg: Rite Aid Wins $200 Million Dispute Over Elixir Sale To MedImpact
Rite Aid Corp. isn't responsible for more than $200 million in extra costs tied to the recent acquisition of its pharmacy benefit manager Elixir by MedImpact Healthcare Systems Inc., a judge ruled MondayJudge Michael Kaplan said during a hearing in New Jersey bankruptcy court that the underlying Elixir sale agreement makes MedImpact responsible for the disputed liabilities, which include millions of dollars in unpaid reimbursements owed to CVS Health Corp., Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. and Walmart Inc. (Randles, 6/24)

Stat: Former Moderna Executive Launches Genome Editing Company
As chief medical officer of Moderna, Tal Zaks used to be skeptical of genome editing. Why repair a patient's broken gene, he would ask, with all the havoc CRISPR can wreak on DNA, when a company like Moderna can just replace that gene with regular, transient doses of mRNA? (One reason: Moderna was having immense difficulty doing just that.) (Mast, 6/25)

Public Health

11. Minnesota City Starts Chlorinating Water To Stem Legionnaires' Outbreak

Officials have not found the cause of the outbreak, but they know it is linked to the city's water system. In other news, USDA epidemiologists found that Michigan poultry infected with the H5N1 bird flu virus likely got it from dairy cows.

The Guardian: Clothes, Cookware, Floss: Colorado Law To Ban Everyday Products With PFAS
A new law coming into effect in Colorado in July is banning everyday products that intentionally contain toxic "forever chemicals", including clothes, cookware, menstruation products, dental floss and ski wax – unless they can be made safer. Under the legislation, which takes effect on July 1, many products using per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances – or PFAS chemicals linked to cancer risk, lower fertility and developmental delays – will be prohibited starting in 2026. (Helmore, 6/24)

On flu, covid, and bird flu —

NBC News: The Covid Summer Wave Is Here
Cases are most likely increasing in 39 states and aren't declining anywhere in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — evidence that an anticipated summer wave is underway. The CDC no longer tracks Covid cases, but it estimates transmission based on emergency department visits. Both Covid deaths and ED visits have risen in the last week. Hospitalizations also climbed 25% from May 26 to June 1, the latest data available. (Bendix, 6/24)

Toledo Blade: USDA Finds Unusual Twist: Bird Flu Moved From Dairy Cows To Poultry In Michigan
A team of epidemiologists from the U.S. Department of Agriculture have traced the H5N1 viral spread in Michigan to a single herd of dairy cattle that had been unknowingly introduced in the spring to infected cows imported from a Texas dairy operation. From there, poultry farmers in the state took the viral hit. It is unknown how the Texan dairy cow contracted the virus, though some have surmised that it was transmitted by some dead waterfowl on the property. (Wynn, 6/23)

More health and wellness news —

Stat: One Third Of Older Americans Still Take A Daily Aspirin For Heart Health
New research shows that, in spite of recommendations discouraging use of aspirin in primary prevention of cardiovascular disease among older adults, nearly a third of adults 60 years and older are still using it for this very purpose. The study, published on Monday in Annals of Internal Medicine, found that 18.5 million adults 60 and older without cardiovascular disease reported using preventative aspirin in 2021. Of those, 3.3 million were using the pills without medical advice. (Rajeev, 6/24)

Editorials And Opinions

12. Viewpoints: What's The Next Step In The Reproductive Rights Battle?; Here's What It's Like Living With Long Covid

Editorial writers tackle abortion rights, long covid, U.S. health insurance, and more.

Dallas Morning News: Fewer Americans Are Uninsured. So Why Does Texas Lag The Nation?
Roughly 25 million Americans were uninsured in 2023, down from 27.6 million in 2022 and 33.2 million in 2019, according to a National Center for Health Statistics report. Unfortunately, an estimated 5 million Texans, or 16.6%, are uninsured, a percentage more than twice the national average of 7.6% in 2023. That ranks Texas dead last among the states by a large margin. (6/25)

Stat: How To Advance MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy For PTSD
Many people have interpreted as a setback the "no" vote by an advisory committee to the Food and Drug Administration on Lykos Therapeutics' new drug application for MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for post-traumatic stress disorder. We believe it is an opportunity to build upon Lykos' success and rally support for better-funded, well-controlled clinical trials to determine the safety and efficacy of a promising PTSD treatment. (Andrew D. Forsyth, Mallory O. Johnson and Jae M. Sevelius, 6/25)

Stat: AI Drug Discovery Investments Swamp The Rest Of The R&D Process
Drug discovery has quickly become the most enticing place to apply artificial intelligence. Billions of dollars are being invested in AI-driven "techbios." In an industry where nothing changes overnight, even large biopharma companies are touting AI as key to how they're transforming their discovery engines. (Ashu Singhal and Sajith Wickramasekara, 6/25)

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF. (c) 2024 KFF Health News. All rights reserved.

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