First Edition: Oct. 11, 2022

KHN:
Hospitals Have Been Slow To Bring On Addiction Specialists 

In December, Marie, who lives in coastal Swampscott, Massachusetts, started having bother respiration. Three days after Christmas, she awakened gasping for air and dialed 911. “I used to be so scared,” Marie mentioned later, her hand clutched to her chest. Marie, 63, was admitted to Salem Hospital, north of Boston. The workers handled her persistent obstructive pulmonary illness, a lung situation. A physician checked on Marie the subsequent day, mentioned her oxygen ranges appeared good, and advised her she was prepared for discharge. (Bebinger, 10/11)

KHN:
If You’re Worried About The Environment, Consider Being Composted When You Die

Would you moderately be buried or cremated if you die? In the event you really feel the best way I do, the reply is neither. I cringe on the considered my physique burning up at properly over 1,000 levels Fahrenheit or being pumped filled with poisonous chemical substances and spending the remainder of eternity in a cramped field 6 toes underground. So right here’s one other query: How do you’re feeling about having your physique decreased to compost and used to plant a tree, develop flowers, or restore depleted soil in a forest? (Wolfson, 10/11)

KHN:
Miami’s Little Haiti Joins Global Effort To End Cervical Cancer 

Greater than 300,000 girls around the globe die from cervical most cancers annually. Within the U.S., girls of Haitian descent are identified with it at larger charges than the final inhabitants. The illness is preventable, although, attributable to vaccines and efficient remedies for situations that may precede the most cancers. That’s why well being care employees and even the World Well being Group are specializing in Miami’s Little Haiti to attempt to save lives. (Zaragovia, 10/11)

KHN:
Reporter Follows Up On ‘Cancer Moonshot’ Progress And The Bias In Digital Health Records 

KHN correspondent Darius Tahir mentioned the newest developments associated to the federal “Most cancers Moonshot” initiative on Houston Public Media’s “City Sq. With Ernie Manouse” on Oct. 4. Tahir additionally mentioned how bias could be embedded in medical data on America’s Heroes Group’s “Roundtable” on Oct. 1. (10/8)

Stat:
In Gold-Standard Trial, Colonoscopy Fails To Cut Rate Of Cancer Deaths

For many years, gastroenterologists put colonoscopies on a pedestal. If everybody would get the screening simply as soon as a decade, clinicians believed it might virtually make colorectal most cancers “extinct,” mentioned Michael Bretthauer, a gastroenterologist and researcher in Norway. However new outcomes from a scientific trial that he led throw confidence in colonoscopy’s dominance into doubt. (Chen, 10/9)

NBC News:
Colonoscopies Made No Difference In Death Rates, European Study Finds

In one of many largest research ever, researchers discovered colonoscopy screenings minimize most cancers danger by 18 p.c and made no distinction in demise charges. (10/10)

CNN:
Colonoscopy: What To Know After Study Questions Its Effectiveness

A brand new European examine on colonoscopies – the biggest of its type – has difficult outcomes, and it’s left some folks questioning whether or not they need to have the process to display screen for colon most cancers. (Cohen, 10/10)

The Washington Post:
Spread Of Catholic Hospitals Restricts Abortion, Birth Control Access

The Supreme Court docket choice overturning the constitutional proper to abortion is revealing the rising affect of Catholic well being methods and their restrictions on reproductive companies together with contraception and abortion — even within the diminishing variety of states the place the process stays authorized. Catholic methods now management about 1 in 7 U.S. hospital beds, requiring non secular doctrine to information therapy, typically to the shock of sufferers. Their ascendancy has broad implications for the evolving nationwide battle over reproductive rights past abortion, as bans towards it take maintain in additional than a dozen Republican-led states. (Sellers and Venkataramanan, 10/10)

The 19th:
Abortion Bans Are Preventing Cancer Patients From Getting Chemotherapy

A six-week abortion ban in Ohio has compelled folks with most cancers to journey out of state for abortions which are essential to proceed with life-saving therapy, in keeping with affidavits submitted by abortion suppliers within the state. (Luthra, 10/7)

The Boston Globe:
Massachusetts Has Expanded Abortion Rights. But Even In The Metro Region, Clinics Can Be Distant

Massachusetts has emerged as a protected haven for reproductive well being care, following the Supreme Court docket’s reversal on Roe v. Wade, however there are huge swaths of the state, some densely populated, the place it’s inconceivable to schedule an abortion. (Ebbert, 10/9)

Houston Chronicle:
Nearly Half Of U.S. Abortion Clinic Closures Are In Texas

Twelve clinics have shuttered their operations solely within the state, and the remainder have targeted on different companies, which might embrace most cancers screenings, STI remedies and contraception, in keeping with the assessment by the Guttmacher Institute, which research reproductive well being entry. The depend didn’t embrace a listing of clinics which have closed. (Blackman and Goldenstein, 10/7)

Politico:
On Pennsylvania’s Campaign Trail, The Doctor Will See You Now 

Physicians throughout Pennsylvania are politicking in unprecedented methods with lower than a month to go earlier than the midterm election, making the case that the abortion restrictions proposed by Republicans would threaten one of many state’s most essential financial sectors. They’re flanking Democrats at marketing campaign rallies and knocking on doorways in flippable state legislative districts. They’re registering sufferers and colleagues to vote. At city halls and in adverts, they warn that docs, residents and medical college students will keep away from a state the place they may very well be prosecuted for serving to a affected person terminate a being pregnant — damaging one of many largest and most recession-proof items of the economic system. (Ollstein, 10/10)

AP:
Judge Blocks Restrictive Ohio Abortion Law As Suit Proceeds

An Ohio regulation banning just about all abortions will stay blocked whereas a state constitutional problem proceeds, a decide mentioned Friday in a ruling that may permit being pregnant terminations by 20 weeks’ gestation to proceed for now. … “This courtroom has no problem holding that the Ohio Structure confers a basic proper on all of Ohioans to privateness, procreation, bodily integrity and freedom of alternative in well being care decision-making that encompasses the precise to abortion,” Hamilton County Frequent Pleas Choose Christian Jenkins mentioned. (Smyth, 10/7)

Reuters:
Appeals Court Temporarily Blocks Arizona’s Abortion Ban

An appeals courtroom on Friday quickly blocked Arizona from imposing a 1901 ban on practically all abortions within the state, overruling a trial courtroom’s choice final month to let the ban proceed. The Arizona Court docket of Appeals granted Deliberate Parenthood’s request for an emergency keep of Pima County Superior Court docket’s ruling on Sept. 23 that lifted an injunction on the ban. The appeals courtroom mentioned the abortion-rights advocacy group “demonstrated a considerable chance of success” in its problem of that call. (Shakil and Singh, 10/10)

The New York Times:
‘The Cash Monster Was Insatiable’: How Insurers Exploited Medicare for Billions

A New York Instances assessment of dozens of fraud lawsuits, inspector normal audits and investigations by watchdogs reveals how main well being insurers exploited this system to inflate their income by billions of {dollars}. (Abelson and Sanger-Katz, 10/8)

Stateline:
Many Patients Can’t Afford Health Costs Even With Insurance

The variety of People with medical insurance has climbed to historic highs throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, however inside that silver lining is a darker hue. Many People have insurance policies that solely present restricted monetary safety, to the purpose that many sufferers report forgoing wanted medical care or prescriptions to keep away from being hit with punishing out-of-pocket prices. (Ollove, 10/7)

The Wall Street Journal:
Why A $158,000 Drug With Unclear Benefits Hurts Whole Health System

Like many sufferers affected by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS—also referred to as Lou Gehrig’s illness—Layne Oliff didn’t have any time to waste. Even earlier than the drug Relyvrio was accredited late final month by the Meals and Drug Administration, he has had his personal do-it-yourself technique: He will get sodium phenylbutyrate in liquid kind from a New Jersey pharmacy and taurursodiol on-line from Amazon. That prices him over $7,000 a yr, however he says it has been properly price it as a result of he feels the mixture has helped stabilize a illness that always causes demise inside a number of years. (Wainer, 10/10)

USA Today:
Medicare Part D Drug Prices Vary Widely Between States

New information from the Medicare startup Chapter reveals the price of prescriptions can fluctuate extensively from one state to a different and even from one zip code to a different. For seniors with persistent medical situations, a distinction in geography might imply paying hundreds of {dollars} extra per yr out-of-pocket for a similar medication. (Wedell, 10/9)

Modern Healthcare:
Centene’s Medicare Advantage Stars Scores Curtailing Future Growth

Centene won’t be allowed to increase its Medicare Benefit footprint in sure locales subsequent yr after its plans constantly acquired poor scores within the federal high quality scores program. (Tepper, 10/10)

The Washington Post:
Unions Fight Plan To Privatize Western Maryland Hospital Center Services

Unions representing nurses and different health-care employees at Western Maryland Hospital Heart are preventing what they are saying is Gov. Larry Hogan’s last likelihood to outsource care on the Hagerstown facility earlier than he leaves workplace. The highly effective three-member Board of Public Works, which incorporates the governor, is scheduled Wednesday to vote on expediting contracts that will outsource key features of the general public, long-term-care hospital, which cares for sufferers with complicated situations who typically have been turned away from non-public amenities. (Portnoy, 10/10)

Stat:
Maternity Care ‘Deserts’ On The Rise Across The U.S., Report Finds

The house beginning had been going properly, with the infant having been delivered safely, when midwife Lauren Genter seen that the mom was shedding extra blood than regular. (Gaffney, 10/11)

Stat:
Second U.S. Oncology Provider Plans To Go Public 

The U.S. is about to haven’t only one, however two, standalone publicly-traded oncology suppliers. (Bannow, 10/10)

Modern Healthcare:
American Oncology Network To Combine With SPAC

The oncology supplier would be the second of its type to be publicly traded on NASDAQ because of combining with a SPAC. The Oncology Institute was the first most cancers specialist to hit the inventory market in November 2021 following its merger with blank-check firm DFP Healthcare Acquisitions Corp. (Berryman, 10/10)

NBC News:
The Anesthesiologist Who Is Putting You Under May Work For A Private-Equity Firm

North American Companions in Anesthesia is the nation’s largest anesthesia staffing firm, using 6,000 clinicians at 500 amenities in 21 states. The corporate is owned by two well-heeled private-equity corporations, American Securities of New York Metropolis and Leonard Inexperienced & Companions in Los Angeles. 4 of NAPA’s 9 administrators are private-equity executives. (Morgenson, 10/10)

AP:
Info Expected To Emerge Slowly In Hospital Chain Cyberattack 

Particulars of an obvious cyberattack on one of many largest well being methods within the U.S. have been sluggish to emerge as safety consultants on Friday warned that it typically takes time to evaluate the complete affect on sufferers and hospitals. Earlier this week, CommonSpirit Well being confirmed it skilled an “IT safety difficulty” nevertheless it has but to reply detailed questions concerning the incident, together with what number of of its 1,000 care websites that serve 20 million People might have been affected. The well being system large, which is the second largest nonprofit well being system in America, has 140 hospitals in 21 states. (Foody and Kruesi, 10/7)

Reuters:
White House Says COVID Booster Campaign Going Well, Should Pick Up 

The White Home expects the speed of vaccination in its fall booster marketing campaign to choose up over the approaching weeks, and its COVID response coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha on Friday characterised the preliminary tempo as “a very good begin.” Jha estimated that between 13 million and 15 million People can have gotten the so-called bivalent booster by the tip of [last] week. (Aboulenein and Erman, 10/7)

Reuters:
AstraZeneca’s COVID Vaccine Suffers A Setback In Nasal Spray Trial

Makes an attempt by Oxford College researchers and AstraZeneca Plc to create a nasal-spray model of their collectively developed COVID-19 shot suffered a setback on Tuesday as preliminary testing on people didn’t yield the specified safety. An antibody response within the respiratory mucous membranes was seen in solely a minority of contributors within the trial, which was within the first of normally three phases of scientific testing, the College of Oxford mentioned in an announcement on Tuesday. (10/10)

Reuters:
Norwegian Cruises Loses Challenge To Florida Ban On Vaccine Mandates

A divided U.S. appeals courtroom has rejected a problem by Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd to a Florida regulation barring companies from requiring prospects to indicate documentation proving they acquired a COVID-19 vaccine. The eleventh U.S. Circuit Court docket of Appeals in a 2-1 ruling on Thursday mentioned the ban on “vaccine passports” adopted by Florida final yr regulates financial conduct and never speech, so it doesn’t violate Norwegian’s free speech rights beneath the First Modification of the U.S. Structure. (Wiessner, 10/7)

CIDRAP:
Omicron Tied To Less Preterm Birth, Maternal Illness Than Delta

The chance of maternal essential care admission and preterm beginning have been a lot decrease amid dominance of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant than throughout the Delta-dominant interval, finds a Scottish examine revealed late final week in The Lancet Respiratory Medication. (Van Beusekom, 10/10)

Los Angeles Times:
With COVID On The Retreat, How Safe Are Holiday Gatherings?

“Folks ought to plan on with the ability to get along with the those who they love,” Los Angeles County Public Well being Director Barbara Ferrer mentioned lately. However that optimism, as all the time, is tinted with warning. Households with members who’re at excessive danger of growing extreme COVID-19 sickness ought to contemplate taking some extra precautions, officers say. (Cash and Lin II, 10/10)

Chicago Tribune:
If You Misled Others About Your COVID Status, Getting Vaccinated Or Prevention Measures, You’re Not Alone

Through the peak of the pandemic, 4 in 10 People misled others about their COVID-19 standing or their adherence to public well being measures designed to stop the unfold of the virus, in keeping with a examine revealed Monday in JAMA Community Open, a journal of the Chicago-based American Medical Affiliation. (Lourgos, 10/10)

AP:
Telemedicine Was Made Easy During COVID-19. Not Any More

Telemedicine exploded in reputation after COVID-19 hit, however limits are returning for care delivered throughout state traces. That complicates follow-up remedies for some most cancers sufferers. It can also have an effect on different varieties of care, together with psychological well being remedy and routine physician check-ins. Over the previous yr, practically 40 states and Washington, D.C., have ended emergency declarations that made it simpler for docs to make use of video visits to see sufferers in one other state, in keeping with the Alliance for Related Care, which advocates for telemedicine use. (Murphy, 10/9)

Reuters:
FDA Expands Use Of GSK’s Vaccine During Pregnancy To Prevent Whooping Cough In Infants

The U.S. Meals and Drug Administration on Friday allowed the usage of GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK.L) Boostrix vaccine throughout the third trimester of being pregnant to stop whooping cough in infants youthful than two months of age. “When the Boostrix vaccine is given throughout being pregnant, it boosts antibodies within the mom, that are transferred to the growing child,” the company mentioned. (10/7)

NPR:
There’s A Spike In Respiratory Illness Among Children — And It’s Not Just COVID

America is seeing a big spike in respiratory sickness amongst kids. Sick children are crowding emergency rooms in varied components of the nation, and a few pediatric hospitals say they’re operating out of beds. However this uptick in sickness has largely been attributable to viruses aside from the coronavirus, like RSV, enteroviruses and rhinovirus. (López Restrepo and Louise Kelly, 10/11)

CIDRAP:
Monkeypox Study Spotlights Role Of Sexual Transmission 

A major proportion of sufferers reported attending massive mass gatherings earlier than growing monkeypox signs. Of 161 sufferers with out there data, 37 (23%) met their sexual companions at such gatherings, together with the Maspalomas Competition on Spain’s Gran Canaria island, and varied different Satisfaction-related festivities in Europe and america, the authors mentioned. Thirty p.c of sufferers mentioned they developed lesions or rash as a primary symptom. (Soucheray, 10/10)

Houston Chronicle:
UT’s Narcan Program Can’t Keep Up With Student Demand

The College of Texas at Austin has run out of its Narcan provide twice since spring, when it started offering the opioid overdose reversal treatment free to college students at a few of its libraries. (Ketterer, 10/7)

NPR:
Is ‘Rainbow Fentanyl’ A Threat To Your Kids This Halloween? Experts Say No

The DEA says they recognized a deliberate new advertising scheme by Mexican cartels and road sellers who need the drugs to “appear to be sweet to kids and younger folks.” “It appears to be like like sweet,” DEA Administrator Anne Milgram advised NBC Information. “In truth, among the drug traffickers have nicknamed it Candy Tarts, Skittles.” (Mann, 10/11)

NPR:
A Lawsuit Accuses Amazon Of Selling Suicide Kits To Teenagers

Amazon is going through a lawsuit accusing it of promoting so-called suicide kits, introduced by the households of two youngsters who purchased a lethal chemical on the corporate’s web site and later used it to take their very own lives. (Hernandez, 10/9)

AP:
As Suicides Rise, US Military Seeks To Address Mental Health

After ending a tour in Afghanistan in 2013, Dionne Williamson felt emotionally numb. Extra warning indicators appeared throughout a number of years of subsequent abroad postings. “It’s like I misplaced me someplace,” mentioned Williamson, a Navy lieutenant commander who skilled disorientation, despair, reminiscence loss and persistent exhaustion. “I went to my captain and mentioned, ‘Sir, I need assistance. One thing’s mistaken.’” Because the Pentagon seeks to confront spiraling suicide charges within the army ranks, Williamson’s experiences shine a light-weight on the realities for service members searching for psychological well being assist. For many, merely acknowledging their difficulties could be intimidating. And what comes subsequent could be irritating and dispiriting. (Khalil, 10/10)

NPR:
AI App Could Diagnose Illnesses Based On Speech

Voices provide a number of data. Seems, they will even assist diagnose an sickness — and researchers are engaged on an app for that. The Nationwide Institutes of Well being is funding an enormous analysis undertaking to gather voice information and develop an AI that might diagnose folks based mostly on their speech. (Molina Acosta and Weiner, 10/10)

CIDRAP:
Frozen Falafel Tied To 20 E Coli Illnesses In 6 States

The US Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention (CDC) on Oct 7 introduced an Escherichia coli O121 outbreak that has sickened 20 folks from 6 states is linked to frozen falafel bought at Aldi shops. (10/10)

The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer:
Beware Of Deadly Wild Mushrooms: Portage County Man Survives Poisoning, Thanks To Experimental Drug At UH

A current rash of practically deadly poisonings have consultants anxious that cellular naturalist apps could also be lulling in any other case cautious residents right into a false sense of safety, they usually’re warning Ohioans towards consuming any mushrooms discovered rising within the wild. (Kroen, 10/10)

NBC News:
Toxic Herbicides: Map Showing How High Exposure Is By State

Every day, many individuals within the U.S. may very well be uncovered to a doubtlessly cancer-causing chemical used on the earth’s most typical weedkillers. Knowledge reveals that individuals within the Midwest, components of the South and Colorado have the best publicity. (Jefferies, 10/10)

The New York Times:
Fall Allergies Are Real. And They’re Getting Worse.

Ragweed, a tall, willowy plant that grows in cities and rural areas alike, is the most typical offender behind fall allergy symptoms, mentioned Dr. Michele Pham, an allergist and immunologist on the College of California, San Francisco. Only one pesky plant can launch one billion grains of pollen, she mentioned, which might irritate and inflame our sinuses. Ragweed begins to bloom in August and sometimes peaks in mid-September, however it might probably proceed to develop into November. (Blum, 10/8)