First Edition: Jan. 24, 2023 – Kaiser Health News

KHN: As States Seek To Limit Abortions, Montana Wants To Redefine What Is Medically Necessary 
Montana’s conservative leaders, stymied by the courts from passing laws that impose significant statewide abortion restrictions, seek to tighten the state’s Medicaid rules to make it more difficult for low-income women to receive abortions. The Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services is proposing to define when an abortion is medically necessary, limit who can perform such services, and require preauthorization for most cases. (Houghton, 1/24)

KHN: Watch: Fifty Years After ‘Roe,’ Abortion Rights Battle Shifts To The States
Sunday marked the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling in Roe v. Wade, granting federal constitutional protection for the right to seek an abortion. Last year, a very different Supreme Court overturned Roe, erasing that federal right for women across the United States and, instead, giving individual states broad authority to regulate and restrict abortion within their borders. In this report co-produced by PBS NewsHour, KHN senior correspondent Sarah Varney joins “PBS News Weekend” anchor John Yang to discuss how abortion opponents and supporters are taking their campaigns to the states, the impact of abortion bans on medical care for women, and the emerging conflicts over medication abortion pills. (Varney, 1/24)

KHN: Latino Teens Are Deputized As Health Educators To Sway The Unvaccinated 
Classmates often stop Alma Gallegos as she makes her way down the bustling hallways of Theodore Roosevelt High School in southeast Fresno, California. The 17-year-old senior is frequently asked by fellow students about covid-19 testing, vaccine safety, and the value of booster shots. Alma earned her reputation as a trusted source of information through her internship as a junior community health worker. She was among 35 Fresno County students recently trained to discuss how covid vaccines help prevent serious illness, hospitalization, and death, and to encourage relatives, peers, and community members to stay up to date on their shots, including boosters. (de Marco, 1/24)

Stat: FDA Proposes Annual Covid Shot Matched To Current Strains
Scientists at the Food and Drug Administration propose making Covid vaccination a regular, once-a-year shot that is updated to match current strains of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, according to documents posted by the FDA on Monday. For people who are older or immunocompromised, the FDA would recommend two annual doses of the revised shot. (Herper, 1/23)

Fortune: The FDA Is Proposing A Move To Annual COVID Shots. Some Experts Worry It’s Too Soon, And Too Simple Of An Approach 
But it may be too soon to commit to annual boosters, some experts tell Fortune. The virus has not yet fully settled into a pattern of seasonality and may never. … Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious-disease specialist and senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, doesn’t think a “one-size-fits-all booster policy” makes sense at this point in the pandemic, he tells Fortune. (Prater, 1/23)

Los Angeles Times: Half Moon Bay Shootings: Gunman Kills 7 People In The Second California Massacre In 3 Days
At least seven people were killed in a pair of related shootings that have rocked the beach-side community of Half Moon Bay, an act of violence that comes just two days after 11 people were killed in another mass shooting in Monterey Park. A 67-year-old resident of the community is suspected of opening fire at two rural locations about a mile distant, shooting some of the victims in front of children who lived nearby and had recently been released from school. “This kind of shooting is horrific; it’s a tragedy we hear about too often,” San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus said. “For children to witness this is unspeakable.” (Hernandez, Lin, Rust and Mejia, 1/23)

The New York Times: 7 Killed In Half Moon Bay As California Mourns Earlier Mass Shooting 
Gov. Gavin Newsom of California wrote on Twitter that as news of the shooting broke, he had been at a hospital, meeting victims of a mass shooting on Saturday in Monterey Park. “Tragedy upon tragedy,” Gov. Newsom said. (Secon, Yoon and Young, 1/24)

Reuters: California Staggered By Deadly Back-To-Back Mass Shootings 
The two latest shootings were notable for the age of the suspects, one in his late 60s, another in his early 70s. A database of 185 mass shootings between 1966 and 2022 maintained by the nonprofit Violence Project includes just one carried out by someone 70 or older – a retired miner who killed five people in Kentucky in 1981. (Reid and Trotta, 1/24)

Los Angeles Times: Not Invited To The Dance: Possible Monterey Park Shooting Motive
The investigation into the Monterey Park mass shooting is focused on previous interactions the gunman had with the two dance studios he targeted and whether jealousy over a relationship was a motive, according to law enforcement sources. … Law enforcement sources also believe 72-year-old Huu Can Tran was having unspecified emotional problems that had been getting worse in the weeks before the shooting. He showed up at the Hemet Police Department lobby twice this month, on Jan. 7 and 9, making allegations of fraud and theft and saying that his family had tried to poison him in the L.A. area 10 to 20 years ago, Hemet police spokesperson Alan Reyes said. (Winton, Fry, Tchekmedyian, Smith, Lin, Park, Goldberg and Martinez, 1/23)

CBS News: Gavin Newsom After Monterey Park Shooting: ‘Second Amendment Is Becoming A Suicide Pact’
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is renewing his calls for stricter gun control measures following the mass shooting at a dance hall in Monterey Park on Saturday that killed at least 11 people and injured nine others. “Nothing about this is surprising. Everything about this is infuriating,” he told “CBS Evening News” anchor and managing editor Norah O’Donnell on Monday. “The Second Amendment is becoming a suicide pact.” Newsom clarified that he has “no ideological opposition” against people who “responsibly” own guns and get background checks and training on how to use them. But he told O’Donnell that current regulations are falling short. (Yilek, 1/23)

The Hill: Newsom Blasts Fox News Primetime Over Gun Coverage: ‘It’s A Disgrace’  
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) criticized Fox News primetime hosts over coverage of mass shootings and gun violence in the U.S., calling it a “disgrace.” “It’s a disgrace what they say, what these people say every single night,” Newsom told reporters, according to ABC 10. “There’s xenophobia, they’re racial priming, what they have done to perpetuate crime and violence in this country, by scapegoating, and by doing not a damn thing about gun safety, not a damn thing for decades.” (Sforza, 1/23)

Politico: California Lawmakers Face Supreme Court Limits As They Weigh Response To Lunar New Year Shooting
Calls for legislative action following the mass shooting at a dance hall outside Los Angeles were tempered Monday by a hard reality: The legal landscape for gun laws has never looked so bleak. A Supreme Court decision in June voided New York’s concealed carry law while also encouraging challenges to restrictions elsewhere — including California’s ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. (Korte, White and Nieves, 1/23)

The Hill: Biden Lauds Senate Democrats Who Introduce Bill To Ban Assault Weapons
President Biden on Monday praised a contingent of Senate Democrats who earlier in the day introduced a pair of bills to ban military-style weapons and high-capacity magazines as well as raise the age of purchasing them to 21 years old. … Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein (Calif.), Richard Blumenthal (Conn.) and Chris Murphy (Conn.) introduced bills one day after a gunman shot and killed 11 people at a Lunar New Year celebration in Monterey Park. (Sforza, 1/23)

The Conversation: Horror And Anguish Are Playing Out On Repeat Following The Latest Mass Shooting – And The Mental Health Scars Extend Far Beyond Those Directly Affected
When the trauma is caused by people, as in a mass shooting, the impact can be profound. The rate of PTSD in mass shootings may be as high as 36% among survivors. Depression, another debilitating psychiatric condition, occurs in as many as 80% of people with PTSD. … Children and adolescents, who are developing their worldview and deciding how safe it is to live in this society, may suffer even more. Exposure to horrific experiences such as school shootings or related news can fundamentally affect the way people perceive the world as a safe or unsafe place, and how much they can rely on the adults and society in general to protect them. (Javanbakht, 1/23)

Los Angeles Times: You May Feel Secondary Trauma From Mass Shooting Coverage. Therapists Discuss Ways To Cope
When we read and watch the news after a mass shooting, we can experience what experts call secondary and collective trauma. Last year, we asked four psychologists about secondary and collective trauma, how it affects us and what we can do to healthily process and cope. Here are their responses.(Valdez, 1/23)

Politico: Florida Supreme Court Agrees To Hear Challenge To 15 Week Abortion Law 
The Florida Supreme Court has agreed to take up a legal challenge to Florida’s 15-week abortion ban, which was one of the most controversial measures passed during the 2022 legislative session. The case the high court agreed to take up centers on a lawsuit filed by Planned Parenthood, the American Civil Liberties Union, and a handful of abortion providers challenging the recently-passed law. They argued that the Florida Constitution protects the right to an abortion. (Dixon, 1/23)

AP: New Mexico AG Seeks To Codify Abortion Rights, Nullify Bans
New Mexico’s top prosecutor on Monday asked the state Supreme Court to nullify abortion ordinances that local elected officials have passed in conservative reaches of the Democratic-led state. Attorney General Raúl Torrez urged the court to intervene against recent ordinances he said overstep local government authority to regulate health care access, and violate state constitutional guarantees of equal protection and due process. (Bryan and Lee, 1/24)

Salt Lake Tribune: ‘Expression Of Unchecked Power’: Court May Be Forced To Reconsider Hold On Utah’s Abortion Ban Soon
Republicans in the Legislature are one step closer to ending a hold placed on their abortion trigger law in district court after the Utah House voted to change the rules regarding when a judge can issue an injunction. The joint resolution, introduced by Rep. Brady Brammer, R-Pleasant Grove, aims to retroactively eliminate a judge’s ability to grant a preliminary injunction unless a case has a “substantial likelihood” of success. (Anderson Stern, 1/23)

Bangor Daily News: Janet Mills Said She Didn’t Want Abortion Law Changes, Then Proposed Them
Both the Democratic governor and former Gov. Paul LePage were quizzed often on the first subject after the U.S. Supreme Court’s summer decision to overturn federal abortion rights. But it was LePage, an anti-abortion Republican, who created the most memorable exchanges, including when he vowed to veto a 15-week ban if his party brought one to him. (Shepherd and Marino Jr., 1/23)

AP: Oregon Launches Abortion Hotline Offering Free Legal Advice 
Oregon is launching a new abortion hotline offering free legal advice to callers, moving to further defend abortion access after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last summer and eliminated federal protections for the procedure. The state’s Department of Justice announced the initiative Monday. It is modeled on similar hotlines launched by the attorneys general of New York and Delaware, as states where abortion remains legal have seen an increase in the number of patients traveling from areas where the procedure has been banned or restricted. (Rush, 1/24)

Reuters: Amazon Deepens Healthcare Push With $5 Monthly Subscription 
Amazon.com Inc said on Tuesday it is offering a $5 monthly subscription plan for U.S. Prime members that will cover a range of generic drugs and their doorstep delivery, furthering the ecommerce giant’s push into healthcare. The program, named RxPass, includes more than 50 medications addressing over 80 chronic conditions such as high blood pressure, anxiety, diabetes and male pattern baldness, Vin Gupta, Amazon Pharmacy’s chief medical officer, told Reuters. (Dastin and Mehta, 1/24)

AP: Amazon Launches A Subscription Prescription Drug Service 
The company said the flat fee could cover a list of medications like the antibiotic amoxicillin and the anti-inflammatory drug naproxen. Sildenafil also made the list. It’s used to treat erectile dysfunction under the brand name Viagra and also treats a form of high blood pressure. Amazon sells a range of generic drugs through its pharmacy service. Some already cost as low as $1 for a 30-day supply, so the benefit of this new program will vary by customer. (Murphy and Hadero, 1/24)

Modern Healthcare: Dollar General Opens Mobile Healthcare Clinics At 3 Tennessee Stores
Goodlettsville, Tennessee-based Dollar General has opened mobile healthcare clinics at three stores in Tennessee, partnering with DocGo, which provides mobile medical and transportation services. The mobile clinics will offer onsite services including annual physicals, vaccinations, urgent care and lab testing a couple of days per week at each location. (Hudson, 1/23)

Modern Healthcare: Elevance Health To Buy Blue Cross Of Louisiana
Elevance Health plans to add Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana to its family of health plans for an undisclosed price, the companies announced Monday. Elevance Health’s Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield plans will operate in 15 states if the transaction is completed. The for-profit company has partnered with the Louisiana Blue Cross and Blue Shield affiliate for the five years. The Pelican State company will remain headquartered in in Baton Rouge and retain its 3,000 employees, according to a news release. (Berryman, 1/23)

Modern Healthcare: AHCA Jobs Report: Nursing Home Staffing Lowest Since 1994
Nursing homes have 210,000 fewer workers than before the pandemic, bringing workforce levels to the lowest they have been since 1994, according to a trade group representing nursing homes. The long-term care jobs report, released last week by the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living, outlines the sector’s dire staffing conditions. (Devereaux, 1/23)

Stat: Despite Court Ruling, FDA Will Continue With Its Approach To Approving Orphan Drug Exclusivity
In an unexpected move, the Food and Drug Administration will continue to apply exclusive marketing rights for so-called orphan drugs under its existing regulations, rather than take a broader approach suggested by a federal court in a highly controversial case involving one such medicine. (Silverman, 1/23)

USA Today: Black Kidney Failure Patients Now Can Get On Transplant Lists Sooner
Black people are almost four times as likely to be diagnosed with renal failure as white people — but many are often diagnosed late and it takes longer to get on transplant lists. That’s because of an antiquated kidney function test that can overestimate kidney function in Black patients, masking the severity of their kidney disease and resulting in late diagnosis and delayed transplant referrals. (Hassanein, 1/23)

Bloomberg: CVS Health Names New Top Executives David Joyner, Amy Bricker
CVS Health Corp. will name a new head for the company’s pharmacy services business and fill a new position, chief product officer for consumer businesses, according to a person familiar with the matter. David Joyner, a former CVS executive, will return to the company as head of the pharmacy services segment after leaving three years ago. He’ll replace Alan Lotvin, who is retiring in April. The area he’ll lead includes pharmacy benefit manager Caremark. (Tozzi, 1/23)

AP: Promising Gene Therapy Delivers Treatment Directly To Brain
When Rylae-Ann Poulin was a year old, she didn’t crawl or babble like other kids her age. A rare genetic disorder kept her from even lifting her head. Her parents took turns holding her upright at night just so she could breathe comfortably and sleep. Then, months later. doctors delivered gene therapy directly to her brain. Now the 4-year-old is walking, running, swimming, reading and riding horses — “just doing so many amazing things that doctors once said were impossible,” said her mother, Judy Wei. (Ungar, 1/24)

Stat: Predictive Biomarkers Could Ease Trial-And-Error Of Antidepressants
When a patient is suffering from depression and considering medication, practically all physicians have the same go-to treatment: a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor. Patients start on a low dose and slowly increase it. It may take weeks for the drug to work, if it works. If not, a cycle begins. Wean off the SSRI, wean onto a new medication. All the while, the patient must manage depressive symptoms along with any side effects of a medication, which, counterintuitively, can include suicidal thoughts. (Gaffney, 1/24)

Stat: Grail Is Spending More Than Ever Lobbying Congress 
Grail spent more than $1 million last quarter lobbying Congress, underscoring the urgency of the company’s bid to secure Medicare coverage for its pricey blood-based cancer screening test that has been on the market for over a year but is not widely used. (Wosen, 1/23)

AP: Noted Orthopedic Surgeon J. Richard Steadman Dies At 85 
Dr. J. Richard Steadman, an orthopedic surgeon who founded the renowned Steadman Clinic in Vail, Colorado, where many of the world’s elite athletes have gone for career-saving treatment, has died at age 85. Steadman died in his sleep Friday at his home in Vail, said Lynda Sampson, vice president of external affairs at the Steadman Clinic and the Steadman Philippon Research Institute. (1/23)

AP: West Virginia Senate Passes Mandate On Rape Kit Training 
Victims of sexual assault in West Virginia may have an easier time finding health care providers to conduct forensic examinations and collect rape kits if a bill passed Monday by the state Senate becomes law. Currently, some sexual assault victims have to travel hours to find a provider properly trained to complete forensic examinations, Republican Sen. Michael Maroney said. There are only a few hospitals in northern West Virginia with personnel who are properly trained to collect evidence from rape victims. (Willingham, 1/23)

Wyoming Public Radio: Wyoming’s Version Of ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Advances To Senate Floor
A bill working its way through the Wyoming Senate could forbid teachers from discussing sexual orientation and gender identity in the classroom. Opponents say it stifles free speech and puts queer youth at risk. The bill closely resembles the famed “Don’t Say Gay” bill passed in Florida last year. According to research, trans youth are at a much higher risk for depression and suicide than their cisgender peers. It’s been found that risk is higher in communities where trans youth are not accepted. (Victor, 1/20)

AP: Ky. Gov Touts Program To Strengthen Drug Epidemic Fight
Kentucky communities can apply for certification through a program that evaluates the services being offered to residents seeking help for drug or alcohol addiction, Gov. Andy Beshear said. The governor announced the creation of the Recovery Ready Communities program last year. (1/24)

Arizona Republic: Arizona Could Spend $30M To Study Psychedelic Mushrooms
Arizona would spend $30 million to research psychedelic mushrooms as a treatment for a host of medical conditions under a bipartisan proposal at the state Capitol. House Bill 2486 is groundbreaking not only because it would allow for such research, but also because it would lead to peer-reviewed research on the effects of natural psilocybin mushrooms, rather than a synthetic version of the drug commonly used in such studies. (Randazzo, 1/23)

Chicago Tribune: ‘Alarming’ Jump In Illinois Kids Eating Marijuana Edibles Prompts Warning
Medical workers in Illinois are warning adults to keep marijuana edibles away from kids, after an “alarming” jump in the number of accidental consumptions. The number of exposures to edible cannabis among children 5 and younger from 2017-2021 reported in Illinois increased from 5 to 232 cases — a 4,500% increase. Most of the increase was during the pandemic years of 2020-2021. Illinois legalized recreational marijuana in 2020. (McCoppin, 1/23)

San Francisco Chronicle: UC Berkeley Agrees To Safety Measures After Cheerleader Concussion Lawsuit
High-flying cheerleaders at UC Berkeley sporting events will receive new protection and training under a $695,000 settlement with a former student who suffered three concussions in five months during acrobatic cheerleading in 2017-18. (Egelko, 1/23)

CNN: A Few Minutes Of Brisk Activity Can Help Your Brain, Study Finds
People who spent “even small amounts of time in more vigorous activities — as little as 6 to 9 minutes — compared to sitting, sleeping or gentle activities had higher cognition scores,” said study author John Mitchell, a Medical Research Council doctoral training student at the Institute of Sport, Exercise and Health at University College London, in an email. (LaMotte, 1/23)

CNN: Midriff Bulge Linked To Later Physical Decline, Study Says
If you are a man or woman approaching 50, look down at your middle. If you’re like many people, you might have to lean over a bit to see your feet. Yes, it’s the dreadful midriff bulge — that expanding waistline that can often creep up on you as you age, much like a receding hairline or extra wrinkles. Tough to combat, it almost seems like a rite of passage, just part of the cycle of life, right? But a new study has found that allowing your middle to expand will do more than send you shopping for the next size up in britches -— it can also harm your physical abilities later in life. (LaMotte, 1/24)

CNN: Many Women Underestimate Breast Density As A Risk Factor For Breast Cancer, Study Shows
Dense breast tissue has been associated with up to a four times higher risk of breast cancer. However, a new study suggests few women view breast density as a significant risk factor. The study, published in JAMA Network Open, surveyed 1,858 women ages 40 to 76 years from 2019 to 2020 who reported having recently undergone mammography, had no history of breast cancer and had heard of breast density. (Chavez, 1/23)

Reuters: Consumer Reports Urges Dark Chocolate Makers To Reduce Lead, Cadmium Levels
Consumer Reports on Monday urged four chocolate producers to commit by Valentine’s Day to reduce the amounts of lead and cadmium in their dark chocolate products, after testing revealed harmful levels of the heavy metals. In letters to Hershey Co, Mondelez International Inc, Theo Chocolate and Trader Joe’s, Consumer Reports said long-term exposure to the metals can result in nervous system problems, immune system suppression and kidney damage. (Stempel, 1/23)

CIDRAP: More Salmonella Cases Reported In Outbreak Tied To Pet Bearded Dragons 
A pair of Salmonella outbreaks linked to pet bearded dragons, first announced in October, has sickened at least nine more people in five more states, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a Jan 20 update. The added cases bring the total to 32 infections from 20 states. Ten people have been hospitalized, and no deaths have been reported. The outbreaks involve two Salmonella serotypes: Vitkin (12 cases) and IIIb 61:z52:z53 (20 cases). (Schnirring, 1/23)

Reuters: WHO Seeks $2.5 Billion To Battle Health Emergencies
The World Health Organization on Monday launched a funding appeal for $2.54 billion to help people facing health emergencies across the world. … The organization is responding to what it says is an unprecedented 54 health emergencies around the world including 11 which it classifies as the highest Grade 3 level including the war in Ukraine; outbreaks of cholera and mpox in Democratic Republic of Congo and malnutrition in Somalia. (1/23)

Reuters: Exclusive: WHO Investigating Links Between Cough Syrup Deaths, Considers Advice For Parents 
The World Health Organization (WHO) is investigating whether there is any connection between manufacturers whose contaminated cough syrups it has linked to the deaths of more than 300 children in three countries, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters. (Rigby, 1/24)