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First Edition

Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.

KFF HEALTH NEWS ORIGINAL STORIES

KFF Health News: Jacksonville, Florida’s Gun Violence Is Rooted In Redlining And Homes Built On Toxic Waste In a Florida county with a startling rate of child firearm injuries, a boarded-up elementary school named for famed educator and civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune sits in a 250-acre site once called “Brown’s Dump.” The dump emerged in an era of redlining, systematic racism that divided American cities large and small. From the late 1940s until the mid-1950s, the city operated a landfill here, heaping toxic ash from nearby municipal incinerators. (Clasen-Kelly, Chang, Pierce and Gavino, 10/27)

KFF Health News: Remember This Acronym Next Time You’re Facing A Big Medical Decision: B.R.A.I.N. Gina Conley, an Army veteran in Aberdeen, North Carolina, knew she wanted a low-intervention birth for her first child. But her plan started to go off the rails as soon as she got to the hospital. “Everything that I did not want to happen had happened,” she said. “And I just remember that feeling of being just so utterly defeated.” Her cervix wasn’t dilating quickly, and Conley said her midwife insisted that she take Pitocin to speed up the labor. Later, when she was nearly fully dilated, the midwife asked to break Conley’s amniotic fluid sac, another intervention used to move labor along. (Farmer, Anthony, and Siner, 10/27)

THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION

The Washington Post: CDC’s Deputy Director To Leave Trump Administration After Six Months Jennifer Shuford, the CDC’s deputy director and chief medical officer, is leaving the administration after a short tenure, she confirmed to The Washington Post late Monday night. “I am leaving to spend more time with my family,” Shuford said in a statement. “I am so thankful to President Trump and Secretary Kennedy for giving me the opportunity to help lead CDC. It has been an amazing experience, and I will be forever grateful for it.” (Diamond and Sun, 10/26)

Stat: HHS Relaxes Security, Transparency Rules For Electronic Health Records The Trump administration on Monday removed 14 security, privacy, and transparency requirements for vendors of electronic health records, with the goal of streamlining government regulations and supporting the development of new technologies. (Ross, 10/26)

Modern Healthcare: HHS Finalizes ONC HTI-5 Health IT Certification Rule The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology at the Health and Human Services Department finalized a rule Monday that will significantly dial back federal health IT certification criteria. HTI-5, or the Health Data, Technology, and Interoperability: ONC Deregulatory Actions to Unleash Prosperity Final Rule, reduces requirements for developers participating in the ONC Health IT Certification Program. The program sets security and interoperability standards for health information technologies, such as electronic health records. (Famakinwa, 10/26)

The Hill: RFK Jr. Pledges Healthier Meals At 250 Hospitals Nationwide In MAHA Push Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced Monday that more than 250 hospitals have signed a pledge to serve healthier meals to patients, advancing his “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) agenda’s focus on treating food as medicine. Speaking at a press conference hosted at the Corewell Health Lifestyle and Culinary Medicine Practice in Grand Rapids, Mich., Kennedy said he expects improvements in patient satisfaction, citing hospitals that have already launched similar changes. (Choi, 10/26)

The Washington Post: The FDA Rarely Inspects Much Of The Produce Americans Eat Americans are eating more imported fruits and vegetables, but less than 10 percent of facilities that account for 90 percent of shipments have been inspected since 2009. (Gilbert and Roubein, 10/27)

CAPITOL WATCH

Politico: Bernie Sanders Could Soon Get A Powerful Perch To Help Shape 2028 Bernie Sanders probably isn’t going to be president. But he might be about to get one last chance to define his legacy in Washington. The Vermont independent is poised to lead the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee if Democrats can flip the Senate next month — giving the 85-year-old leftist icon a powerful perch he could use to promote his political movement and shape a 2028 presidential contest in which he has indicated he’s unlikely to be a candidate. (Carney, 10/26)

The Washington Post: Illinois Man Allegedly Sent Threatening Letters Containing A White Substance To Congress Members An Illinois man is facing federal charges for allegedly sending threatening letters containing a white substance to four members of Congress. An affidavit filed in Illinois’ Central District Court on Monday alleges Matthew G. Unglesbee sent the letters on Oct. 16 or 17. He is charged with sending false information and mailing threatening communications. The letters contained what the affidavit describes as a “granular white substance” that resembled chemical or biological toxins, although preliminary lab testing did not find such material. (Jira, 10/26)

HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY

Healthcare Dive: Five Major Companies Pledge Faster, Electronic Prior Authorizations Amazon, Google, Meta and other employers agreed to reform their prior authorization policies for their self-funded health plans, which provide coverage for millions of Americans. (LaPointe, 10/23)

AP: Cybersecurity Issue Knocks Out A Major New Mexico Hospital Network A major hospital network in New Mexico raced to fix a cybersecurity issue on Monday that forced it to send ambulances to other hospitals and left the state without an emergency department capable of treating the most serious injuries. The University of New Mexico Health System told people not to show up at its main hospital in Albuquerque and canceled appointments at its more than 30 clinics. It said it was working to resolve the issue, the extent and nature of which was not immediately clear. (Keller and Wu, 10/27)

Lake County News-Sun: Vista Medical's Future Uncertain After Losing Trauma Designation As State Sen. Adriane Johnson, D-Buffalo Grove, and state Rep. Rita Mayfield, D-Gurnee, work feverishly to ensure Waukegan continues to have a hospital, Vista Medical Center East officials are struggling to deal with ongoing financial issues. (Sadin, 10/26)

Chicago Tribune: Potential Buyer Of Weiss, West Suburban Hospitals Has Mixed Track Record After months of court battles and community outcry, the now-shuttered West Suburban and Weiss Memorial hospitals could soon have a new owner. But questions remain about whether it’s possible to reopen the hospitals at all and, if so, if an organization affiliated with Insight Hospital & Medical Center in Bronzeville is the right operator to do it. (Schencker, 10/26)

The Baltimore Sun: Howard Hospital Unveils New 29-Bed Observation Unit Flanked by Howard County officials, Dr. Shafeeq Ahmed, president of the Johns Hopkins Howard County Medical Center, hammered through a ceremonial wall in November to mark the start of construction on a new hospital project. Less than a year later, Ahmed held oversized scissors and cut the ribbon Thursday to unveil the hospital’s new 29-bed observation unit — which officials say will help provide faster, more-efficient care. (Kaiser, 10/26)

Fierce Healthcare: Walmart Builds Out Better Care Services With General Medicine Walmart is teaming up with startup General Medicine to expand its Better Care Services, turning the digital healthcare platform into a more comprehensive healthcare marketplace. With the updated experience, which launches today, consumers can compare providers, see their potential costs with and without insurance and connect to care. Walmart and General Medicine provided Fierce Healthcare with a first look at the partnership. (Landi, 10/26)

Modern Healthcare: Mass General Brigham Downsizes Hospital-At-Home Program Mass General Brigham is ratcheting back its hospital-at-home program after losing roughly $90 million in recent years. The Boston-based health system will suspend the program beginning Nov. 10 at Salem Hospital, Newton-Wellesley Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital, Heather O’Sullivan, President and Chief Operating Officer of Mass General Brigham Healthcare at Home, told employees in a letter late last week. Changes to staffing will be determined at a later date, she said. Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital will continue admitting patients to hospital-at-home where capacity constraints are the greatest. (Eastabrook, 10/26)

Wyoming Public Radio: Home Visitors — One Way To Monitor The Mental Health Of New Moms? Home visitors can help intervene when new moms struggle with their mental health. Disorders like postpartum depression and anxiety were the leading cause of maternal death in the U.S. as of 2022. (Merzbach, 10/26)

North Carolina Health News: Duke Study Links Home-Delivered Meals To Fewer Hospital Readmissions A hospital can treat an infection, stabilize blood sugar or care for a wound. But for an older adult heading home after a hospital admission, recovery can be affected by something far more fundamental — food. New research from Duke University suggests that getting people regular meals after a hospital stay could mean a lower chance of their winding up right back in the hospital. (Fredde, 10/27)

The Baltimore Sun: Wicomico Nursing Home Dispute Fuels Calls For Maryland Reforms Two Eastern Shore lawmakers are calling for stronger nursing home safeguards amid the dispute over Wicomico Nursing Home. Their push comes as a new state task force prepares to examine care across Maryland. (Davis, 10/26)

Axios: Long-Term Care For Elderly Joins Affordability Debate Drug prices and insurance premiums are front and center in any discussion about health affordability. But another cost driver will only become more burdensome in the coming years: long-term care. (Bettelheim, 10/27)

MedPage Today: AI Scribes Improved Note-Taking Time But Not Productivity, Study Finds The use of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven ambient scribe in outpatient practice was associated with reductions in time spent taking notes and increased note length, but other productivity measures were largely unchanged, researchers found. (Frieden, 10/26)

PHARMACEUTICALS

MedPage Today: GLP-1s May Interact With Psychiatry Medication, Case Report Suggests During an appointment with her psychiatrist, a 50-year-old woman with bipolar disorder reported new symptoms of tremor in both hands, slurred speech, and blurred vision. She was taking lithium, but 3 weeks prior, she had also started treatment with the dual GIP/GLP-1 receptor agonist tirzepatide (Zepbound), Jay Davis, MD, of the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, and colleagues wrote in a case report in the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology. (Jeffrey, 10/26)

MedPage Today: GLP-1s Tied To Lower Rates Of MS Relapse Activity, Real-World Study Shows Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients exposed to a GLP-1 receptor agonist had lower rates of relapse activity and steroid use, reduced incidence of optic neuritis, and fewer demyelinating events compared with those who didn't use these agents, a large real-world study in the U.S. showed. (George, 10/26)

Stat: GSK's Return To Cancer Gaining Traction In the past week, a GSK cancer drug picked up an approval for another tumor type, the company unveiled the first data from a global study of a promising next-generation chemotherapy, and a medicine that the firm has licensed got the limelight in a presidential session at a major oncology conference here. (Joseph, 10/26)

Stat: Pennsylvania Dutch Country, Tired Of Waiting For Biopharma, Builds Drug Company Of Its Own The odds are stacked against Kevin Strauss, a rural doctor who has spent most of his career working in a wooden, mortise-and-tenon frame medical center on a donated corner of Amish farmland. Most of his patients don’t have insurance, because their faith teaches that caring for the sick is a communal responsibility. They receive conscientious objector waivers from Medicare and Society Security taxes. Churches cover medical costs, with money raised from congregants. That means they can’t pay the multimillion dollar price tags that accompany virtually every approved gene therapy. For Strauss, this is both challenge and opportunity. If he can build gene therapies the Mennonite and Amish can afford, maybe he can build a gene therapy anyone can. (Mast, 10/27)

STATE WATCH

WP Intelligence: Exclusive: Medicaid Backup Plans Emerge As States Struggle With Federal Timelines A new federal document, first reported by WP Intelligence, offers states potential solutions to a long list of anticipated problems early next year. (Adams, 10/26)

New Hampshire Public Radio: Healthcare Providers Already See Patient Stress Over Looming Medicaid Work Requirements Beginning in 2027, people on Granite Advantage – the state’s expanded Medicaid program must document that they spend 80 hours per month working, volunteering, or in school, with exceptions for certain populations. Roughly 46,900 people are enrolled in the state’s Granite Advantage program. Residents who qualify for this program include those with low incomes, disabilities, pregnant mothers and people who make an income of 138% of the federal poverty level. (Richardson, 10/26)

Connecticut Public: Residents Sue CT For Using IQ Score To Deny Disability Services Trumbull resident Edna Borchetta wants for her 20-year-old daughter Carriella what most parents dream of for their children: the chance to go to college, work and explore new opportunities. But since Carriella lives with intellectual disabilities, she needs extra support to reach her full potential. (Marceles, 10/26)

The Washington Post: States Move To Take Ultra-Processed Foods Off The School Lunch Menu The issue of food safety has prompted a major political realignment since the start of the second Trump administration, with the right-wing Make America Healthy Again movement forming an uneasy alliance with progressives to rid the nation’s food system of ultra-processed snacks, sweets, lunch meats and other products. Public schools are their first target. (Wolfson, 10/26)

KANW New Mexico Public Radio: Kratom Derivatives Raise Alarm In The Mountain West As Overdose Risks Grow Products sold as energy drinks, gummies or herbal supplements at gas stations and convenience stores may contain potent opioid-like compounds, putting people at risk of addiction, overdose and death, according to health experts. (Kinsey, 10/26)

ProPublica & The Frontier: This Oil Company Is Linked to 1,000 Pollution Incidents and Other Violations. Oklahoma Never Punished It. Staff at an Oklahoma regulatory agency spent over a year building a case against Citation Oil & Gas, a company notorious for oil field pollution. Instead of disciplining the company, agency leaders chose to let it resume operations. (Bowlin, 10/27)

GLOBAL WATCH

AP: Cattle From Mexico Are Tested For Screwworm At The Border With the all-clear from U.S. agriculture inspectors, Mexican cattle began moving on Monday through a border crossing in New Mexico that had been closed for nearly two years as both nations work to stop the flesh-eating New World screwworm from spreading. The screwworm — actually a fly larva that burrows into the flesh of livestock, pets and even humans — has threatened the $113 billion U.S. cattle industry. Containment efforts have cost jobs and trade in border communities, cutting off a source of cattle as the U.S. struggles to rebuild drought-depleted herds. (Montoya Bryan, 10/26)

AP: Ebola Disease Outbreak In Congo Tops 10,000 Confirmed Cases The fast-moving Ebola outbreak in Congo has reached 10,000 confirmed cases, government data showed Tuesday, as health authorities race to slow the spread of the disease in multiple African countries. It is the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak in history and nearly half of the 10,060 confirmed to have the virus have died, according to data from Congo’s Ministry of Health. That also makes it the deadliest outbreak of the disease in the country’s history. (10/27)

Bloomberg: Nigeria Monitors Ebola Contacts After Patient Evacuated To Switzerland Nigeria is continuing to monitor 52 people who had contact with an Ebola patient who was evacuated to Switzerland after Nigerian doctors stabilized her, keeping the country on alert even though it currently has no active cases. It’s following the contacts for 21 days from their last possible exposure, the period during which symptoms of the deadly virus may develop. They include health workers and others who came into contact with the woman after she fell ill, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. (Kew, 10/26)

CIDRAP: Saskatchewan Walks Back Plan To End CWD Testing Of Hunter-Harvested Cervids After Stiff Pushback Rates of chronic wasting disease (CWD) among cervids such as deer and elk in southwestern Saskatchewan, Canada, are the highest in the world, with up to 87% of mule deer bucks infected in certain parts of the province. So the announcement late last week (midway through the deer-hunting season) that the government of Saskatchewan was ending its CWD surveillance program as of November 1 was met with shock and disappointment by wildlife experts and hunters, who worried about the repercussions for cervids, other wildlife, and people. (Van Beusekom, 10/26)

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