Daily Edition: July 3, 2024 🗽

Latest From California Healthline:

Planned Parenthood to Blitz GOP Seats, Betting Abortion Fears Can Sway Voters

The reproductive rights organization hopes to oust GOP incumbents from key California congressional seats by highlighting the possibility of a national abortion ban. A state Republican official calls it a swing and a miss, noting that, under Democrats, hospitals have closed maternity wards and filed for bankruptcy. (Molly Castle Work, 7/3 )

Settlement Reached Over Struggling Hospitals: UCSF must continue charity care, adhere to price growth caps, and invest hundreds of millions of dollars into St. Mary's Medical Center and Saint Francis Memorial Hospital, the two struggling San Francisco hospitals it is acquiring for $100 million, under a settlement reached with the state attorney general. Read more in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Hate Crime Report Shows Disturbing Trends: Overall hate crimes in California decreased by 7.1 % from 2022 to 2023, according to the state's annual hate crime report, but certain communities face escalating threats, particularly the LGBTQ, Jewish, and Muslim populations. Read more in the Los Angeles Blade.

Reader's note: California Healthline's Daily Edition will not be published July 4-5 in observance of Independence Day. Look for it again in your inbox on Monday. Happy Fourth!

Below, check out the roundup of California Healthline's coverage. For today's national health news, read KFF Health News' Morning Briefing.

More News From Across The State

San Francisco Chronicle: Supreme Court Ruling Curbing Federal Agencies Shocks Healthcare Sector
A landmark Supreme Court decision that reins in federal agencies' authority is expected to hold dramatic consequences for the nation's health care system, calling into question government rules on anything from consumer protections for patients to drug safety to nursing home care. The June 28 decision overturns a 1984 precedent that said courts should give deference to federal agencies in legal challenges over their regulatory or scientific decisions. Instead of giving priority to agencies, courts will now exercise their own independent judgment about what Congress intended when drafting a particular law. (Armour, 7/2)

Los Angeles Times: Supreme Court Ruling Could Jeopardize California Environmental Rules
A recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling will probably pave the way for more legal challenges — and potential setbacks — for California's groundbreaking clean air rules and myriad other federal environmental protections. In a 6-3 decision last week, the Supreme Court overturned the so-called Chevron doctrine, a long-standing legal precedent that instructed U.S. courts to rely on federal agencies to interpret ambiguous laws. By invalidating the legal doctrine, the nation's highest court has effectively stripped power from federal administrative agencies, such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and handed more authority to U.S. courts to independently decide whether newly enacted rules are consistent with federal law. (Briscoe, 7/3)

National Law Review: SCOTUS To Review DC Circuit Court Of Appeals Ruling On Medicare
On June 10, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in Advocate Christ Medical Center v. Becerra for the October 2024 – 2025 term to review a D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling potentially affecting up to $4 billion in federal funding for hospitals. The Supreme Court will determine whether the federal Department of Health and Human Services properly reimbursed hospitals for providing care to patients receiving financial aid from the Supplemental Security Income Program (the "SSI Program"). (Lipsky, Herbstritt, Foster, 7/2)

Roll Call: Fight Over Flavored Vapes Lands At Supreme Court
The latest battle in the fight over e-cigarettes has landed in the nation's highest court. The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear a case next session concerning the Food and Drug Administration's approval process for the sale of e-cigarettes amid concerns about use among children and teenagers. (Hellmann, 7/2)

Politico: Newsom Pulls Own Crime Ballot Measure
Gov. Gavin Newsom scrapped his last-minute push with legislative leaders to put a second crime-fighting measure before voters this fall, making a dramatic about-face hours before he heads to Washington to defend President Joe Biden. Their measure would have toughened penalties for repeat shoplifters and drug dealers who lace substances with fentanyl. It was an effort to compete with another tough-on-crime measure, backed by prosecutors and big-box retailers, that will appear on November's ballot. (Schultheis, Korte and Jones, 7/3)

Times Of San Diego: San Diego City Council Approves Resolution Supporting Sharp HealthCare Workers
The San Diego City Council Tuesday voted 7-0 for a resolution supporting Sharp HealthCare workers' rights under the National Labor Relations Act, calling on Sharp management "to commit to engaging in and forming working partnerships to make Sharp Healthcare a leader in quality patient care and good, middle-class jobs that San Diego needs." (Binkowski, 7/2)

Becker's Hospital Review: UC Davis Health, Best Buy Health Team Up For 'Holistic' Care
Through its partnership with Best Buy Health, UC Davis Health aims to adopt a more holistic approach to chronic disease management, Vimal Mishra, MD, associate chief medical officer at the health system told Becker's. "In the U.S., hypertension affects 1 in 2 adults, yet effective management remains elusive for many," Dr. Mishra said. "Despite advancements in medication and clinical practices, three-quarters of patients with high blood pressure do not have their condition adequately controlled." (Diaz, 7/2)

Modern Healthcare: Cedars-Sinai Health System Names Dr. Peter Slavin Next CEO
Cedars-Sinai Health System named Dr. Peter Slavin its next president and CEO, effective Oct. 1. Slavin, who also will be president and CEO of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, succeeds Thomas Priselac, who is retiring after 30 years as president and CEO at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and the subsequent Cedars-Sinai Health System. Priselac spent 45 years overall at the system, according to a Tuesday news release. (Hudson, 7/2)

Los Angeles Times: Elevated Fire Threat, Heat Prompt Northern California Power Shutoffs
The start of an extended, life-threatening heat wave has coincided with elevated fire conditions across Northern California, prompting Pacific Gas & Electric Co. on Tuesday to initiate the year's first planned power shutoffs, expected to last at least through Wednesday. The dangerous conditions were fueling several fires across the region, including one in Butte County that has prompted evacuations and another in Napa County. The de-energized lines may prevent new fires from starting. Officials are taking any help they can get as winds, low humidity, dry vegetation and extreme heat were combining for a potentially treacherous few days. Even with the power shutoffs, several fires in Northern California started Tuesday, at least two of which prompted evacuations. (Toohey, 7/2)

Voice of OC: How Much Do Fireworks Impact Orange County's Air Quality?
Every year, Orange County's local air quality regulators issue a warning for residents that fireworks from the Fourth of July will leave pollution scattered throughout their air with negative impacts to their health. But there's usually not much discussion about the issue. (Biesiada, 7/2)

LAist: Nearly A Quarter Of Unhoused Adults In LA County Report Having Serious Mental Illness
The latest homeless count showed a slight dip in the number of unhoused adults in Los Angeles County who said they live with serious mental illness, but experts warn there's still much to be done to meet the mental health needs of people living on the streets. They say one approach that has shown promise is providing psychiatrists in the field to treat people where they are. Examples include the county's Homeless Outreach and Mobile Engagement program, known as HOME, and other programs like the Street Medicine teams at the University of Southern California. (Garrova, 7/3)

inewsource: Migrant Families Living In Tents In San Diego Amid Shelter Shortage
From inside her tent, Luz Vasquez watched with weary eyes as her son bounced about the playground outside. Between glances, she folded her kids' clothes neatly into a suitcase. "They have more fun (here) because at the shelter they don't play or anything," she said Tuesday. (Mejías-Pascoe, 7/3)

VC Star: Ventura County Sheriff's Homeless Unit Extends Outreach
Muddied human belongings streaked the dry Ventura River bottom. They were the telltale signs of dwelling. Plastic containers, bicycle tires, piles of clothing, emptied propane cylinders and other household items peeked out from behind vegetation with bright yellow flowers and invasive arundo with stems resembling bamboo, which cover the riverbed off Highway 33. (Anjum, 7/2)

CIDRAP: Survey: Adults Dropped From Medicaid After Pandemic Faced Healthcare Access, Affordability Issues
A survey of low-income adults in four southern US states shows that nearly half of those disenrolled from Medicaid after COVID-19 pandemic protections ended had no insurance in late 2023, leading to struggles to afford healthcare and prescription drugs and threatening to broaden a gap that had narrowed during expanded governmental benefits. The data were derived from 89,130 adult residents of Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Texas participating in the National Health Interview Survey in 2019, 2021, and 2022. (Van Beusekom, 7/2)

The Washington Post: Medicare Pushes New Payment Rule After Alleged $3 Billion Fraud Scheme
Federal officials are seeking to overhaul how Medicare pays health-care providers after an alleged $3 billion scheme to defraud the program, which would be one of the largest such schemes in its history. For more than a year, officials said, about a dozen companies submitted bills to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for tens of millions of urinary catheters, using the personal information of Medicare beneficiaries and physicians — some of whom still have questions about how the companies obtained their private details and used them to bill the federal health program for catheters that they never wanted nor received. (Diamond and Weber, 7/2)

FiercePharma: Biden Joins Sanders' Campaign Targeting Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly's Diabetes And Obesity Drug Prices
In recent months, frequent pharma critic Sen. Bernie Sanders has been ratcheting up a campaign against Novo Nordisk over the price of its popular diabetes and weight loss medicines. Now, the senator has big-time backup in his fight. In a new USA Today op-ed piece, President Joe Biden and Sen. Sanders blasted Novo Nordisk for "charging the American people unconscionably high prices" for its popular GLP-1 medicines Ozempic and Wegovy. They noted that the drugs cost several times more in the U.S. than in many other developed nations, a point Sanders has raised repeatedly during his recent crusade against Novo Nordisk. (Sagonowsky, 7/2)

Fox Business: Prescription Drug Prices Have Surged Almost 40% Over The Past Decade
The cost of prescription drugs in the U.S. has surged nearly 40% over the past decade, easily outstripping the pace of inflation, according to a new study. Findings published by GoodRx, a drug savings company, show that the list price for prescription drugs has climbed about 37% since 2014. Although price increases have slowed this year, costs continue to pose a "significant burden" to many consumers. In 2024 alone, Americans have spent $21 billion on out-of-pocket prescriptions. That amounts to about $16.26 per person, according to the data. (Henney, 7/2)

The Wall Street Journal: Mail-Order Drugs Were Supposed To Keep Costs Down. It's Doing The Opposite.
A key tool that businesses have counted on to keep a lid on employees' drug spending—filling workers' prescriptions by mail—is now driving up their costs. Unity Care NW, a nonprofit health clinic in Washington state, forecasts the cost of medical and drug benefits for its 365 employees and their family members will increase this year by 25% to more than $3 million. A big reason: Drugs delivered by mail are costing multiples more than those picked up at a store counter. (Hopkins, 6/25)

The 19th: Biden Admin Says It Opposes Gender-Affirming Surgery For Minors
The Biden administration on Tuesday afternoon provided more details about its opposition to gender-affirming surgery for transgender minors, a position at odds with its previously broad support for gender-affirming care — and one taken by a presidential administration that has closely aligned itself with LGBTQ+ advocates. (Rummler, 7/2)

AP: Judge's Order Greatly Expands Where Biden Can't Enforce A New Rule Protecting LGBTQ+ Students
Enforcement of a federal rule expanding anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ+ students has been blocked in four states and a patchwork of places elsewhere by a federal judge in Kansas. U.S. District Judge John Broomes suggested in his ruling Tuesday that the Biden administration must now consider whether forcing compliance remains "worth the effort." (Hanna, 7/2)

Politico: Biden Administration Plans Major Cuts To AIDS Relief Programs In Africa
The Biden administration plans to cut funding by more than 6 percent in fiscal 2025 from the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the 21-year-old program credited with saving millions of lives in Africa, a senior PEPFAR official told POLITICO. The State Department, which oversees the program, confirmed the cuts. The department has gradually spent down a glut in the PEPFAR budget from years in which funding from Congress exceeded State's ability to spend it, said a department spokesperson who, like the PEPFAR official, was granted anonymity to discuss sensitive program decisions. Now the glut is gone and Congress in March held the program's $4.4 billion budget flat. (Paun, 7/2)

CNN: Latinos Represent Nearly A Third Of New HIV Diagnoses In The US, CDC Data Shows
When Felix Hernandez learned that he had HIV, he had no one to lean on. In the years since his diagnosis, he found a way to support other people who may be feeling alone by helping administer HIV tests at a Tennessee clinic. (Chavez and Mclean, 7/2)

Axios: Harvard Researchers Looking Into Over-The-Counter PrEP
Boston-area researchers are exploring whether PrEP, the HIV prevention medication, should be available over the counter. Marcus and Douglas Krakower, a fellow professor, received a $500,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health to conduct the research. They will survey gay and bisexual men, cisgender women and transgender women about whether they would want easy access to PrEP and why or why not. (Solis, 7/3)

Stat: Early Alzheimer's Drug Developed By Eli Lilly Approved By FDA
Eli Lilly's early Alzheimer's treatment was approved by the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday, making it the second drug on the U.S. market aimed at slowing progression of the debilitating neurological disease. (Chen and Herper, 7/2)

The Wall Street Journal: Approval Of Eli Lilly's New Alzheimer's Drug Will Accelerate New Era Of Treatment
Until recently, Alzheimer's treatment was limited. Some patients diagnosed with the disease would take a pill to relieve symptoms. More wound up at facilities that provided care for them once they couldn't take care of themselves. With drugs such as Lilly's newly approved Kisunla coming online, Alzheimer's treatment promises to slow the cognitive decline, if only modestly, and to become more widely used. (Loftus and Walker, 7/2)

NPR: African Ancestry Can Affect Alzheimer's, Stroke Risk In Black Americans
Black Americans have been underrepresented in most genomic studies of neurological disorders. As a result of this disparity, there's a lot scientists don't know about whether African ancestry affects a person's risk for these disorders or their response to a particular treatment. ... Now, the first study to come out of the initiative finds that genes associated with African ancestry seem to affect some brain cells in ways that could increase the risk of Alzheimer's disease and stroke. (Kwong, Hamilton and Carlson, 7/3)

CBS News: COVID Trend Reaches "High" Level Across Western U.S. In Latest CDC Data
A key indicator for tracking the spread of COVID-19 has officially reached "high" levels across western U.S. states, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now shows. But the agency says it remains too early to say whether this year's summer COVID-19 surge has arrived nationwide. Levels of SARS-CoV-2 virus showing up in wastewater samples are climbing in most parts of the country, according to figures from the agency through June 27. (Sheehan, 7/2)

CIDRAP: NIH Announces Launch Of Clinical Trial For Nasal COVID Vaccine
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) yesterday announced the launch of a phase 1 trial of a nasal vaccine against COVID-19, which also marks the first National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) trial conducted as part of the government's Project NextGen—an effort designed to advance the development of next-generation vaccines against the disease. (Schnirring, 7/2)

CIDRAP: HHS Awards Moderna $176 Million To Develop MRNA H5 Avian Flu Vaccine
The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through its Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), today announced that it has awarded Moderna $176 million to develop a prepandemic vaccine against H5 avian influenza. In its announcement, HHS said the award helps bolster the nation's pandemic flu vaccine capacity, which currently relies on an older traditional vaccine platform. Moderna will leverage its domestic large-scale commercial mRNA vaccine manufacturing platforms and ongoing development of mRNA-based seasonal flu vaccines. (Schnirring, 7/2)

Reuters: US FDA To Ban Use Of Brominated Vegetable Oil In Food, Soda
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Tuesday it would revoke the regulation that authorized the use of brominated vegetable oil in food items, effective Aug. 2, as it was no longer safe. BVO is a chemical ingredient containing bromine, which is found in fire retardants. Small quantities of BVO are used legally in some citrus-flavored drinks in the United States to keep the flavor evenly distributed. (Vanaik, 7/2)

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