Finally figured out facebook downgrades. They hate these updates, regardless of how official the content, because it wants us to leave health policy to the experts.
No peons allowed.
Well, nix on that. Knowledge is power, and to self-govern we need to know what's going on.
Today's MedPage Today has a remarkable lineup of industry/government actions across the globe.
Some may be intended as a dog whistle to distract from others. I recommend to read them all as potentially impacting your healthcare freedoms - because they do.
Morning BreakTop Health News to Start Your DayAugust 24, 2023With an uptick in the number of COVID-19 cases, some experts said it may be time for people at high risk of serious illness or death from COVID-19 to start masking again. (CNN)
The AMA and four other health professional organizations filed an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold firearm prohibitions on domestic abusers.
Next week, the Biden Administration is expected to identify the first 10 prescription drugs selected for Medicare price negotiations. (Politico)
Hospital care across England is expected to come to a standstill as senior doctors launch another 48-hour strike. (AP)
AstraZeneca and Vaxess are developing a skin patch mRNA vaccine for pandemic influenza. (Endpoints News)
An international research team assembled the first complete sequence of a human Y chromosome, the final human chromosome to be fully sequenced.
The South Carolina Supreme Court upheld the state law banning abortion after the detection of a fetal heartbeat. (Reuters).
The FDA warned consumers against purchasing -- and to immediately stop using -- Dr. Berne's MSM Drops 5% Solution and LightEyez MSM Eye Drops – Eye Repair due to bacterial contamination, fungal contamination, or both.
The agency said certain products marketed as energy supplements are tainted with hidden ingredients that could pose a health risk.
The FDA also announced that EPA veteran James "Jim" Jones will serve as the first deputy commissioner for its proposed unified Human Foods Program.
A gene variant found exclusively among persons of African ancestry may increase the risk of developing Parkinson's disease. (Lancet Neurology)
Apellis Pharmaceuticals identified an injection needle as the possible cause of severe eye inflammation in patients treated with pegcetacoplan injection (Syfovre).
Twin City Foods is voluntarily recalling a limited quantity of sweet corn and mixed vegetables due to potential Listeria monocytogenes contamination.
E-cigarette maker Juul Labs plans to lay off 30% of its workforce. (Reuters)
Drug maker Mallinckrodt -- facing more than $1 billion in opioid settlement payments -- filed for bankruptcy a second time. (Washington Post)
CVS Health launched a company to produce and commercialize biosimilar versions of expensive drugs. (Forbes)
Johnson & Johnson's Janssen Division is closing much of its vaccine research and development operations. (Reuters)
Mike Bassett is a staff writer focusing on oncology and hematology. He is based in Massachusetts.
Another great lineup from MedPage Today's Morning Break.
Cheers for AP calling out the latest Red Flag on social media!
To pull up any of these reports in full, just copy and paste that line (including source) into a new browser page.
The AP debunked misinformation about U.S. plans for early pandemic-style lockdowns and masking mandates.
Meanwhile, a report from the Royal Society found that lockdowns and face masking "unequivocally" reduced the spread of COVID-19. (The Guardian)
After receiving backlash, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services tossed out a plan that might have limited breast cancer patients' options for reconstructive surgery. (KFF Health News)
Armed with new or updated vaccines against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), COVID-19, and the flu, U.S. health officials laid out their plans for the upcoming respiratory season. (STAT)
As for the cost of the new fall vaccines, that depends on the virus and people's insurance status. (KFF Health News)
Only 2 weeks into the school year, one Kentucky school district canceled classes for the rest of the week after multiple outbreaks of respiratory illness and strep throat. (NBC News)
Tens of thousands of workers at Kaiser Permanente will soon vote on whether to strike. (Insider)
About 500 patients were potentially exposed to tuberculosis (TB) at an Indiana hospital after a staffer tested positive. (Fox News)
Medicare is taking a closer look into shady hospice practices and fraud. (Axios)
Cigna announced it's dropping prior authorization requirements for nearly 25% of medical services and said it plans to ditch another 500 for its Medicare Advantage plans by the end of the year. (Healthcare Dive)
West Nile virus remains the most common mosquito-borne disease in the U.S., according to a CDC report.
The FDA issued a voluntary correction Class I recall -- not a product removal -- for Draeger's Carina Sub-Acute Care Ventilator because of contaminants in the device's air path. The vents can still be used in adults, but not pediatric patients.
Several phased-out flame retardants and new endocrine-disrupting replacement chemicals were found in the breast milk of mothers. (NPR)
The Consumer Product Safety Commission recommended the very first requirements to make nursing pillows safer following many infant deaths. (NBC News)
Midwestern health system Allina Health has ended its practice of denying care to patients in debt. (New York Times)
Health data breaches in the first half of 2023 were fewer compared with 2022, but they were larger. (Fierce Healthcare)
UCLA researchers said they recruited 40 times more research patients than usual by embedding study recruitment into patients' pre-appointment check-in. (Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association)
After surviving acute myeloid leukemia, Tae Butler followed in the footsteps of her pediatric oncologist and is now a fourth-year medical student -- and now they even work together. (People)
Around 40% of Texas medical schools possibly used unclaimed bodies for medical education in recent years, raising "ethical concerns regarding the nonconsensual use of human remains," said JAMA researchers.
Several competitors in a Bay Area "Tough Mudder" race last weekend have fallen ill with possible staph or serious bacterial infections. (ABC7 News)
A pharmaceutical lab agreed to boost protections of South Carolina horseshoe crabs used in medical tests. (Reuters)
A 26-year-old doctor in Japan who died by suicide last year reportedly worked over 200 hours of overtime in just 1 month. (CNN)
The higher rate of complications and deaths Black pregnant women face is "completely preventable," said a public health official. (KFF Health News)
American nurse Alix Dorsainvil opened up about her time held captive for 13 days in Haiti. (CNN)
Great to see progress with generic-equivalents for super expensive cell-based drugs! The first-generation biologics work great (Humira insulin, rheumatoid arthritis meds, etc) but some cost thousands of dollars per year or even per dose.
Called biosimilars, two 2nd generation "interchangeables" received FDA approval this week.
Morning Break announced one in yesterday's headlines, excerpted here for length:
Faculty shortages forced U.S. nursing schools to turn down almost 80,000 applications in 2022. (CNN)
The Arkansas Department of Health identified a locally acquired case of malaria in a state resident.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization's top scientist said dengue fever will become a major threat in southern parts of the U.S. this decade. (Reuters) [Dengue is no joke - I got it in Nicaragua]
Patients who take GLP-1 agonists for weight-loss have risk of pancreatitis nine times higher as compared with the older combination drug bupropion-naltrexone and a three to four times greater risk of bowel obstruction and gastroparesis. (JAMA)
A Georgia laboratory owner has been sentenced to 27 years in prison and has to forfeit his Ferrari for submitting almost $500 million in false Medicare claims for genetic testing. (CNBC)
Hawaii has accused a pharmacy benefits manager in the state with illegally driving up pricesopens in a new tab or window. (Reuters)
Vegetarianism may be in a person's genes. (NPR)
The cancer drug shortage has eased a bit but appears unlikely to go away anytime soon. (STAT)
Pfizer announced the FDA has granted interchangeability of the company's adalimumab biosimilar (Abrilada) with Humira for all of the biosimilar's currently approved indications. [insulin]
After years of hearing doctors blame her lupus symptoms on her weight, a Florida woman underwent bariatric surgery and lost half of her body weight -- only to find her symptoms worse than ever. (People)
The FDA's vaccine advisory panel endorsed removing an influenza vaccine strain that's no longer circulating in the U.S. (STAT)
Another 32 deaths have been linked to the foam breakdown problem in Philips' CPAP and BiPAP devices, bringing the total to 426 since 2021, according to the FDA.
A jury in Nevada ordered Real Water to pay $228 million in damages over cases of liver illness and death in people who drank the company's bottled water. (USA Today)
The other biosimilar is in this interesting lineup from Monday.
The GOP's physician lawmakers in Congress say the American Medical Association's "wokeism" is straining its credibility on standard issues like how much Medicare should pay doctors. (Politico)
The Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded to scientists whose research helped lay the groundwork for the mRNA COVID vaccines. (Axios)
Speaking of which, about 1.8 million people in the U.S. received the updated COVID vaccines last week. (Reuters)
Helped by climate change, the mosquitoes are winning the battle against malaria's spread, according to a package of articles from the New York Times, with some scientists saying genetically engineered bugs are the answer.
Short bursts of activity can lower a person's risk for heart attack, stroke, or death. (Lancet Public Health)
Hospitals in Appalachia pledged not to drive up prices and to expand charity care if allowed to merge, but data show they're failing to live up to those promises. (KFF Health News)
The FDA rejected lebrikizumab for atopic dermatitis, citing manufacturing concerns, Eli Lilly announced.
But the agency approved tocilizumab-bavi (Tofidence), the first biosimilar to Actemra, for treating adult and pediatric arthritis.
The FDA also warned on the risk for invasive disease with probiotics in preterm infants and about potentially harmful hidden ingredients in supplements promoted for arthritis and pain.
Proponents of birthing centers believe they improve health outcomes, but regulators aren't so sure. (New York Times)
An appeals court ruling has paved the way for Idaho's near-total abortion ban to take effect. (Reuters)
Meanwhile, women in the state are now struggling to find basic maternity care. (NBC News)
COVID-associated sepsis was common during the pandemic. (JAMA Network Open)
The World Health Organization called for ditching the influenza B/Yamagata strain in annual flu shots. (STAT)
Cigna reached a settlement with the U.S. Office of Inspector General over allegations the insurer overcharged for its Medicare Advantage program. (Reuters)
Medicare drug-price negotiation can proceed, a federal judge ruled. (Reuters)
During the first 7 months of the year, drugmakers spent nearly $500 million on ads for obesity and diabetes drugs. (CNBC)
A Chicago mother was diagnosed with acute leukemia after her child's pediatrician noticed the woman's color appeared off. (People)
Most adolescents who quit vaping did so without the support of vaping cessation programs. (Pediatrics)
Former Boston Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield died at age 57, reportedly due to brain cancer. (New York Times)
https://www.medpagetoday.com/washington-watch/washington-watch/106581
Shannon Firth reports on breaking healthcare news for MedPage Today's Washington D.C. bureau She is also a member of MedPage Today's Enterprise & Investigative Reporting team. She has written extensively about mental health, addiction and sexual harassment in medicine as well as faulty medical devices. Her other interests include medical ethics, precision medicine and social determinants of health. Shannon earned her master's degree at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY.
All kinds of treats in today's edition.
Congress has a new Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson (R-La.): here are his views on Medicare, abortion, the Affordable Care Act, and other healthcare issues. (The Hill)
Half of working-age Americans struggle to pay off medical debt, according to a new report from the Commonwealth Fund.
The FDA is gathering information regarding the death of a young woman with a heart condition who died after drinking a highly-caffeinated lemonade at Panera Bread. (NBC News)
What the research says on whether social media is addictive. (New York Times)
Japan's supreme court struck down a law requiring transgender people to undergo sterilization surgery in order to officially change their gender. (AP)
In other news from the Far East, the best new COVID drug may be an oral named ensitrelvir, developed by an Osaka-based pharmaceutical company. Why don't Americans have access to it? (The Atlantic)
Severe mental health illness was linked with a 50% higher risk of death following COVID infection. (British Journal of Psychiatry)
The Biden administration is asking Congress for $1.55 billion to support addiction treatment and overdose prevention associated with illicit fentanyl. (NBC News)
Former president George W. Bush is stepping up efforts to get Congress to renew a major global HIV/AIDS program he created. (Politico)
A pharmacist and clinic owner in Houston were sent to prison for unlawfully distributing and dispensing opioids, the Department of Justice announced.
About 22 minutes a day of moderate to vigorous activity is enough to balance the harms of sitting for long periods of time. (British Journal of Sports Medicine)
Older adults face exceedingly complex hurdles to getting routine vaccines. (STAT)
Racial disparities in breast cancer outcomes are even observed in controlled clinical trials. (JAMA Network Open)
Vaccine maker GSK says its RSV vaccine could provide protection to people as young as 50. (CNN)
A therapeutic HPV vaccine could help patients with respiratory papillomatosis, an incurable airway disease caused by the virus, phase I data suggested. (Science Translational Medicine)
NIH researchers linked enhanced musculoskeletal health with extended work careers and higher income. (Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research)
Food insecurity increased sharply in the U.S. in 2022. (Reuters and NBC News) [NOTE: great example of how national measurements can be
food is an essentially local issue. Food stamp administrator enjoyed COVID dollars while they lasted.]A third of chocolate products -- such as brownie mixes, chocolate chips, and hot cocoa -- contain "concerning" levels of lead or cadmium. (Consumer Reports)
The CDC said it's investigating a Salmonella outbreak tied to diced onion products that has so far caused at least 73 illnesses in 22 states.
A teen using "stop the bleed" training was able to save an elderly woman who fell off her four-wheeler and was trapped under the vehicle. (USA Today)
The crisis in the Middle East is creating a "tsunami" of mental health issues. (NPR)
The World Health Organization is considering adding noma -- an orofacial gangrene -- to its list of neglected diseases. (STAT)
https://www.medpagetoday.com/washington-watch/washington-watch/107019
A little bit of everything today from MedPage Morning Break: Waste, fraud, abuse... sometimes all in one shot. (See what I did there? 😜 )
Adults 85 and older who received COVID and flu vaccines at the same time appeared to have a very small higher risk of stroke. (CNN)
Only 7% of U.S. adults and 2% of kids received the new COVID-19 vaccine as of two weeks ago, according to the CDC. (AP)
An mRNA-based combination flu-COVID vaccine generated a strong immune response in a mid-stage trial of adults, developers Pfizer and BioNTech said.
A former executive at a South Florida Medicare Advantage organization was charged for her alleged role in a roughly $53 million fraud scheme, the Department of Justice said.
Exela Pharma Sciences issued a nationwide recall of some of its sodium bicarbonate, midazolam, and cysteine hydrochloride injections.
Here are warning signs that America's healthcare workforce is burned out. (Axios)
And here's how burnout is playing out among large retail pharmacists, too. (USA Today)
Republicans delayed more than $1 billion in funding for the PEPFAR HIV program. (The Washington Post)
An audit of the Maryland Heath Departments found $1.4 billion in unaccounted-for funds that the state received during the pandemic. (The Washington Post)
The only medical school on a Native American reservation is preparing students to serve in rural and tribal areas. (CBS News)
While global vaccine coverage for kids improved in past years, they're not back to pre-pandemic levels. (MMWR)
What would happen to developing nations if COVID-related patents were suspended? (The Hill)
Lawmakers are looking for ways to speed up the FDA approval process for new rare disease treatments. (Endpoints News)
Two workers at a Japanese nuclear power plant were hospitalized after being sprayed with liquid laced with radioactive materials. (AP)
Children and adolescents who received mental health counseling or therapy increased from 10% in 2019 to 13.8% in 2022, CDC data showed.
Twice as many parents of kids ages 9 to 15 reported concerns about internet addiction than substance addiction. (JAMA Network Open)
A woman filed a lawsuit against her ob/gyn claiming he secretly used his own sperm to impregnate her during fertility treatments. (The Seattle Times)
Healthcare professionals at D.C.'s Unity Health Care are trying to unionize. (DCist)
Savannah renamed one of its town squares after the first Black Civil War nurse. (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
https://www.medpagetoday.com/publichealthpolicy/productalert/107040
Another big week in the shifting landscape of healthcare.
— Health news and commentary from around the Web gathered by MedPage Today staff
Idaho prosecutors have charged a woman and her son with kidnapping after they allegedly took the son's teenage girlfriend out of state for an abortion. (AP)
Meanwhile, the Indiana Supreme Court reprimanded the state's attorney general, Todd Rokita, over statements made about Caitlin Bernard, MD, the Indiana physician who performed an abortion on a 10-year-old rape victim. (Reuters)
About one in seven Americans say they've experienced long COVID. (PLOS One)
The "unwinding" of Medicaid has created chaos for states as patients struggle to navigate the changing landscape of coverage in the aftermath of the COVID pandemic. (KFF Health News)
Taking a poke at European countries' insect infestations, Russian President Vladimir Putin responded to the latest round of economic sanctions against his country by saying "less junk" (from Europe) means "less of a chance of bedbugs coming here." (Politico)
Alabama's Supreme Court will allow an execution by nitrogen gas to proceed; it would represent the first U.S. execution by this method. (Reuters)
A federal appeals court rejected the Environmental Protection Agency's ban on chlorpyrifos, an insecticide linked to brain damage in kids, though left the door open for a ban in the future. (The Hill)
Meanwhile, the FDA has proposed a ban on brominated vegetable oil, a common additive in fruity sports drinks and sodas, after studies showed the substance might be hazardous to humans.
And the agency said that healthcare providers should make sure they administer the correct dose of the Moderna COVID vaccine to pediatric patients ages 6 months through 11 years (0.25 mL), as the single-dose vial of the vaccine contains "notably" more than that amount.
Plaintiffs including Tennessee teenagers and doctors have asked the Supreme Court to overturn a federal court ruling upholding a ban on gender-affirming care for minors in Tennessee and Kentucky. (Washington Post)
A California jury ruled that a clothing manufacturer should pay more than $1 million to four American Airlines flight attendants who said that chemicals in their uniforms caused a variety of health problems. (AP via ABC News)
Health officials in Long Beach, California reported a second case of locally acquired dengue in the state.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission announced a recall of Best Buy's Insignia brand of electric pressure cookers because of a potential burn hazard.
Canadian family doctors voted overwhelmingly against adding a third year to residency training, although the College of Family Physicians of Canada are not obligated to honor the nonbinding vote. (CBC)
The CDC detailed widening racial and income disparities in childhood vaccination coverage. (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report)
A bipartisan group of Senators introduced a bill that would permanently extend the COVID-era authorization to prescribe the opioid-addiction drug buprenorphine by telemedicine. (STAT)
Credit scores are rising in America now that medical debt cannot be considered in scoring. (KFF Health News)
Volunteer medical students in Chicago try to fill a rapidly expanding gap in healthcare for the city's migrant population. (AP)
Today's Morning Break from Medpage.
A security guard was killed during a shooting at a New Hampshire psychiatric hospital; no patients were harmed and the suspect has been killed, according to authorities. (CNN, CBS News Boston)
Heavy fighting has erupted around another Gaza hospital. (AP)
Sam Altman, the OpenAI CEO who pushed for the use of ChatGPT in medicine, was fired by the company. (Modern Healthcare)
Former first lady Rosalynn Carter, a humanitarian and mental health advocate, died at age 96. (NBC News)
Medtronic announced FDA approval of its Symplicity Spyral renal denervation system for hypertension.
Salem Hospital in Massachusetts is facing a class action lawsuit after acknowledging hundreds of patients may have been exposed to hepatitis and HIV during routine endoscopies. (CBS News Boston)
President Biden announced his intention to appoint W. Kimryn Rathmell, MD, PhD, of Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, as the next National Cancer Institute director.
A cancer patient's dying request -- donations to help clear other people's medical debt -- has raised over $450,000, which could wipe out approximately $45 million of debt.
Does Novavax's COVID vaccine carry fewer side effects? (NBC News)
Only one in four American adults worry they will catch COVID over the holidays, and just about half plan to get the updated vaccine, a KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor survey found.
COVID activity indicators are ticking slightly up, according to the CDC, while the flu is surging in seven U.S. states. (AP)
The American Academy of Pediatrics released guidance on use of fecal microbiota transplantation in children.
Amid the growing neurodiversity movement, a rift has developed over the term "profound autism." (Washington Post)
Bayer was ordered by a Missouri jury to pay $1.56 billion to plaintiffs who blame Roundup for injuries, including that the weedkiller caused cancer. (Reuters)
Meanwhile, the company said it stopped the phase III OCEANIC-AF trial early due to a lack of efficacy; the study was testing the investigational blood thinner asundexian in atrial fibrillation patients at risk for stroke.
A cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe has been linked with more than 150 deaths and over 8,000 cases. (AP)
The FDA announced a recall of cantaloupes following a Salmonella outbreak associated with 17 hospitalizations across 15 states.
The federal government is hiring more attorneys to handle vaccine-related claims. (Newsweek)
Whistleblowers suggested a top neuroscientist may have manipulated data that support a major stroke trial. (Science)
Initial data from New York City showed no significant increases in crimes or calls for emergency service in neighborhoods where two overdose prevention centers were located. (JAMA Network Open)
House Republicans have proposed a sprawling budget cut that affects former President Donald Trump's program to end HIV/AIDS in the U.S. (Politico)
Absent a coherent system for elder care in the U.S., many older adults face financial ruin. (New York Times, KFF Health News)
Could hearing aids help to fend off the risk of deadly falls in older adults? (NPR)
An 8-month-old British girl was removed from life support following a months-long court battle by her family to take her to Italy for treatment. (USA Today)
Catching up. This Nov. 22 Morning Break from MedPage Today has relevant headlines, even though over a week old.
Bayer issued a voluntarily recall of one lot of its cancer drug larotrectinib (Vitrakvi) due to possible microbial contamination, the FDA announced.
Want to protect your pets from harm during the holidays? The FDA has some tips for you.
Data from China suggest that people with long COVID may be at higher risk for reinfection. (Lancet Respiratory Medicine)
Only 17% of U.S. nursing home residents are up to date on COVID vaccination, new CDC figures show. (Axios)
The Omicron variant of COVID-19 is an evolutionary wonder, experts say. (New York Times)
Live in Maryland and need emergency care? Be prepared to wait almost a whole day. (Maryland Matters)
A federal appeals court struck down a Maryland law requiring fingerprinting, firearms training, and a waiting period in order to obtain a firearm license, saying it was unconstitutional under the Second Amendment. (Washington Post)
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has asked the CEOs of Johnson & Johnson, Merck, and Bristol Myers Squibb to testify before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions Committee on why the U.S. pays the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs. (Endpoints News)
House [R]epublicans, meanwhile, have called on CDC Directory Mandy Cohen, MD, MPH, to testify before the Energy and Commerce Committee.
Reesha Ahmed was thrilled to be pregnant -- until she got a $2,400 bill for lab tests. (KFF Health News via NPR)
Texas has sued Pfizer, alleging that the company covered up manufacturing problems with its drug methylphenidate (Quillivant XR) for attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder. (Fierce Pharma)
And a New Zealand microbiologist sued her employer, the University of Auckland, alleging that it didn't take steps to protect her from harassment when she was giving information to the public about the COVID-19 pandemic. (Nature)
The corporate shakeup at OpenAI brings to mind the need for AI standards in healthcare, experts say. (STAT)
The average fertility rate was higher in the first half of 2023 in states with abortion bans compared with states that did not have bans, a study found. (CNN)
Indoor air is still dirty, but inertia on the part of scientists and the government have slowed the response to the problem, experts say. (New York Times)
HEPA filters, anyone??
WHO announced that Gaza staff member Dima Abdullatif Mohammed Alhaj, 29, was killed Tuesday along with her husband, 6-month-old son, and her two brothers when her parents' house in southern Gaza was bombed.
The Arizona nursing board suspended the license of nurse practitioner Phillip Schafer for allegedly acting outside the scope of his practice by giving ketamine to patients he diagnosed with treatment-resistant depression, and doing so without collaboration with a mental health provider. (ABC15.com)
Unstable housing among dialysis patients was linked with higher all-cause mortality, a VA study found. (JAMA Network Open)
SoClean announced a voluntary recall of its SoClean2 and SoClean3 cleaning devices for continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines in order to notify users of a new user manual and the availability of a hose and mask adapter to reduce risk of ozone exposure.
MedPage Today dropped another great Morning Break on Dec. 12.
These headlines have enough spin to make a cat dizzy. How many can you spot?
https://www.medpagetoday.com/neurology/headtrauma/107801
Maine's chief medical examiner sent tissue samples from the brain of a gunman who killed 18 people in October to be tested for signs of injury related to his military service. (AP)
An analysis found that intimate partner violence was linked with an increased risk of major depressive disorder and maternal abortion and miscarriage. (Nature Medicine)
Wisconsin joined an interstate agreement for physician assistants that could streamline credentialing across state lines. (Wisconsin Public Radio)
The Hospital Price Files Finder, a free searchable database, aims to give patients better pricing information for medical bills. (USA Today)
The U.S. House passed a bill designed to lower healthcare costs, including a controversial "site-neutral" payments rule and a ban on pharmacy benefit managers. (STAT News)
In some states, millions of dollars from opioid settlements funds remain untouched. (CBS News)
A persistent 15-year increase in pedestrian deaths -- especially at night -- has stumped experts. (New York Times)
A Massachusetts General Brigham Waltham Hospital clinic was evacuated due to a car fire, delaying hundreds of medical appointments. (CBS News)
The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a case challenging a 2018 Washington state law banning conversion therapy for minors, an approach the American Medical Association said "is not based on medical and scientific evidence." (NPR)
People who lost weight taking tirzepatide (Zepbound) regained more than half of it back after discontinuing the treatment, a clinical trial showed. (JAMA)
Israeli forces may have used U.S.-supplied white phosphorus munitions, which can results in severe or fatal burns, during an October attack in Lebanon. (Washington Post)
Gao Yaojie, a Chinese physician who became a pioneering public health advocate during the HIV/AIDS epidemic, died in New York City at age 95. (NPR)
The mobile sports betting boom may have led to a rise in gambling addiction among college students. (TIME)
The pregnant woman whose abortion case was blocked by the Texas Supreme Court reportedly left the state to obtain an abortion. (Washington Post)
LeBron James' son Bronny made his collegiate basketball debut almost 5 months after he had a cardiac arrest during a practice. (NPR)
A consumer advocacy group filed a petition asking the FDA for stronger warning labels about risks related to botulinum toxin products. (Reuters)
The FTC planned to block Sanofi's proposed acquisition of a treatment in development for Pompe disease from Maze Therapeutics; in response, Sanofi said it would terminate the deal.
A House subcommittee demanded answers from Melissa DeRosa, top aide to former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D), over her involvement in the state's nursing home directive during the early days of the pandemic. (The Hill)
The President of Mexico plans to introduce legislation banning e-cigarettes and vapes before he leaves office in 2024. (Reuters)
MedPage Morning Break for Dec 27, 2023.
This is the last post in this thread!
Watch for a new thread beginning next week for early 2024.
https://www.medpagetoday.com/painmanagement/painmanagement/108023
CNN looked at how chronic pain patients found relief with ketamine.
Two Colorado paramedics were convicted for giving a fatal overdose of ketamine to sedate Elijah McClain in 2019. (AP)
If the legal case about the FDA's public statements on ivermectin and COVID-19 prevails, the agency's ability to support evidence-based medicine may be undermined, a law scholar said. (New England Journal of Medicine)
U.S. abortion rulings and anti-LGBTQ+ laws influenced Canada's decision to alert its citizens about travel risks last summer, Politico reported.
Meanwhile, large fentanyl labs in Canada may pose a new threat for the U.S. opioid crisis. (Washington Post)
COVID variant JN.1 continues to be the fastest-growing strain in the U.S. and accounts for 44% of cases, according to new CDC estimates. Here are its symptoms. (USA Today)
The FDA issued its final guidance document about direct-to-consumer prescription drug ads.
About 1 million Corewell Health patients in Michigan had personal and medical information exposed in a second data breach. (WXYZ)
NIH Director Monica Bertagnolli, MD, discussed drug patents, gain-of-function research, and overall trust in science in a New York Times interview.
About 1,800 Georgians have enrolled in a new Medicaid work requirement program in its 4 months. The state expected 31,000 people to sign up in the first year. (Politico)
Cases of extensively antibiotic-resistant Shigella sonnei infections -- mainly in men who have sex with men -- rose dramatically in the U.K. in 2023, the government health security agency said.
Young children screened in 2020 and 2021 were more likely to have high social-emotional scores, suggesting pandemic-related variables may have contributed to developmental delay. (JAMA Pediatrics)
Bayer ended its losing streak by winning a trial in a suit brought by a California man who said he developed cancer from exposure to its Roundup weedkiller. (Reuters)
The FDA nixed full approval of sotorasib (Lumakras) based on CodeBreaK 200 trial results and will require an additional confirmatory study, Amgen said. The drug received accelerated approval for previously treated KRAS G12C-mutated non-small cell lung cancer in 2021.
The agency also rejected dasiglucagon to treat pediatric patients with congenital hyperinsulinism based on inspection findings at a third-party manufacturing facility, according to Zealand Pharma.
Legend Biotech disclosed in a securities filing that the FDA updated a boxed warning about secondary cancers following treatment with ciltacabtagene autoleucel (Carvykti).
And the agency placed a clinical hold on a trial of LN-145 TIL for non-small cell lung cancer after a patient death, Iovance Biotherapeutics said.
Owning a pet was associated with slower declines in verbal memory and verbal fluency in older adults who lived alone, but not in those who lived with others. (JAMA Network Open)
Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) advocate and #MEAction cofounder Beth Mazur died after a 15-year battle with ME.
A woman born with a double uterus delivered two babies from two uteri on two separate days. (CNN)
Former NFL player Mike Williams died from bacterial sepsis traced to a dental infection, according to a medical examiner's report. Williams died in September at age 36. (AP)
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