First Edition: Oct. 24, 2022

KHN:
Drivers In Decline: A Shortage Of Volunteers Complicates Access To Care In Rural America 

Several times a month, Jim Maybach drives 5 miles from his house in Hay Creek, Minnesota, toward the Mississippi River. When he reaches Red Wing, a city of nearly 17,000 people, the 79-year-old retired engineer stops to pick up a senior whom he then delivers to an appointment, such as a dentist visit or an exercise class. When the appointment ends, Maybach is there to drive the person home. (Saint Louis, 10/24)

KHN:
For The Houma People, Displacement Looms With Every Storm 

For generations, Thomas Dardar Jr.’s family has lived on a small bayou island off the coast of Louisiana called Isle de Jean Charles. Environmental changes, rising seawaters, and storms have dramatically changed the island. Home to members of the United Houma Nation, the island is now about 320 acres, a sliver of the more than 22,000 acres it was in the mid-20th century. Massive hurricanes, including Katrina and Ida, have raked the area. Relief efforts struggled to meet the devastation caused in 2005 by Hurricane Katrina, which killed more than 1,800 people along the Gulf Coast, swept away coastal land, and caused more than $100 billion in damage. The island’s only road to the mainland is often impassable because of strong winds and rising water. Encroaching water has made growing food difficult. (Huetteman, 10/24)

KHN:
Listen: How Does Human Composting Work? 

California Healthline senior correspondent Bernard J. Wolfson appeared on KMOX, a St. Louis radio station, in mid-October to discuss a new California law that will allow “human composting” as an alternative to burial and cremation. Human composting, also known as “natural organic reduction,” can be appealing to those who worry about the health of the environment. Cremation leaves a big carbon footprint, while the toxic chemicals used to embalm bodies before burial can leach into the soil. (10/24)

USA Today:
Biden Administration Vows Tougher Oversight Of Poor-Performing Nursing Homes With Safety Issues

The Biden administration announced plans Friday to toughen oversight of the nation’s poorest-performing nursing homes with escalating fines and terminating federal funding for the homes that fail to improve. (Alltucker, 10/21)

Modern Healthcare:
CMS Nursing Home Crackdown Targets Poorest Performers

“Poor-performing nursing homes have the opportunity to improve, but if they fail to do so, the changes we are making to CMS’ Special Focus Facilities Program will hold these facilities accountable for the health and safety of their residents,” CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure said in a news release. (Devereaux, 10/21)

The New York Times:
Biden Administration Offers Plan To Get Addiction-Fighting Medicine To Pregnant Women 

The Biden administration will use federal courts and health programs to expand the use of medication to treat substance use disorders in pregnant women, according to a report by the White House released Friday. The plan is part of the administration’s broader effort to combat a drug crisis that now kills more than 100,000 Americans annually. (Baumgaertner, 10/21)

CNN:
CDC Director Tests Positive For Covid-19 

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, tested positive for Covid-19 Friday. Walensky is experiencing mild symptoms and is up-to-date on her Covid-19 vaccines, according to a statement released by the agency. Walensky received an updated Covid-19 booster in September. (Gumbrecht and Elassar, 10/22)

Reuters:
U.S. CDC Director Tests Positive For COVID-19, Experiencing Mild Symptoms 

A spokesperson said Walensky was not at the White House late this week and did not meet with any senior U.S. officials before testing positive. She attended the World Health Summit in Berlin on Monday and Tuesday, the spokesperson said, adding that she wore a mask at all times except when eating or publicly speaking. She returned to the United States on Wednesday. (10/22)

NBC News:
Biden To Get Updated Covid Booster Shot Tuesday

President Joe Biden will get the updated Covid-19 shot Tuesday after he delivers remarks about the pandemic and the administration’s efforts to get people in the U.S. boosted, a White House official said. (Alba, 10/23)

Stat:
FDA’s Vaccines Chief Sees Possibility Of More Covid Boosters

Peter Marks, who leads the Food and Drug Administration’s vaccines operation, is still losing sleep over Covid. He thinks it’s conceivable that the booster shot people are getting now may not be the last some will need for the coming year. (Branswell, 10/21)

The New York Times:
Among Seniors, A Declining Interest In Boosters 

Although Americans over 65 remain the demographic most likely to have received the original series of vaccinations, at 92 percent, their interest in keeping their vaccinations up-to-date is steadily declining, data from the C.D.C. shows. To date, about 71 percent have received the first recommended booster, but only about 44 percent have received the second. (Span, 10/22)

San Francisco Chronicle:
Californians Are Not Getting The Latest COVID Booster. Here Is Where Uptake Is The Lowest

Have you gotten your bivalent booster yet? If you live in California, chances are the answer is no, according to data from the California Department of Public Health. As of Oct. 18, just 9% of eligible residents statewide — about 2.6 million people — have had a bivalent booster, the first COVID shot directed at the highly infectious omicron variants responsible for almost all new infections in the state. (Neilson, 10/22)

NBC News:
Omicron Subvariants Pose A New Threat To People With Immune Deficiencies

People with compromised immune systems face a new winter of discontent as the ever-mutating omicron virus threatens to outrun the preventive monoclonal antibody cocktail that hundreds of thousands of them have relied upon for extra protection against Covid. (Ryan, 10/23)

San Francisco Chronicle:
BQ.1 And BQ 1.1 Make Up Nearly One In Five U.S. Coronavirus Samples

BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 made up 16.6% of the total coronavirus variants circulating in the United States this week, up from 11.4% last week, according to data published Friday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The rapidly spreading offshoots of the omicron BA.5 variant continue to crowd out their dominant ancestor, which made up 62.2% of the sequenced cases, down from 70.2%. BF.7 has also gained some ground, making up 6.7% of the cases. (Vaziri, 10/21)

CIDRAP:
Ivermectin Doesn’t Speed Time To Recovery From Nonsevere COVID

Adding further evidence that the antiparasitic drug ivermectin is ineffective as a COVID-19 treatment, preliminary findings from an ongoing randomized, controlled clinical trial of repurposed drugs today in JAMA finds that it does not speed time to recovery in patients with mild to moderate infections. (Van Beusekom, 10/21)

The New York Times:
Lab Manipulations Of Covid Virus Fall Under Murky Government Rules 

Even as the government publicly reprimanded Boston University, it raised no red flags publicly about several other experiments it funded in which researchers manipulated coronaviruses in similar ways. One of them was carried out by the government’s own scientists. (Zimmer and Mueller, 10/22)

The New York Times:
A ‘Tripledemic’? Flu And Other Infections Return As Covid Cases Rise 

With few to no restrictions in place and travel and socializing back in full swing, an expected winter rise in Covid cases appears poised to collide with a resurgent influenza season, causing a “twindemic” — or even a “tripledemic,” with a third pathogen, respiratory syncytial virus, or R.S.V., in the mix. (Mandavilli, 10/23)

The Washington Post:
RSV, Other Viruses Push Several Children’s Hospitals To Capacity 

Children’s hospitals are under strain in the United States as they care for unusually high numbers of kids infected with RSV and other respiratory viruses.It’s the latest example of how the pandemic has upended the usual seasonal patterns of respiratory illnesses, denying a respite for health-care professionals ahead of a potential hectic winter as the coronavirus, influenza and other viruses collide. (Nirappil and Cha, 10/21)

The Boston Globe:
Hospitals Scramble To Find Beds As Pediatric Admissions Rise

Dr. Lara Jirmanus asked the mom on the video visit last week to bring the computer closer to the baby’s chest. The 2-week-old’s breathing was noisy and concerning, but Jirmanus couldn’t tell from the video if the sounds were from the baby’s nose or from her lungs. (Bartlett, 10/21)

CNN:
RSV In Children: Symptoms, Treatment And What Parents Should Know

In September, an 8-month-old baby came into Dr. Juanita Mora’s office in Chicago with an infection the doctor hadn’t expected to see for another two months: RSV. Like her peers across the country, the allergist and immunologist has been treating little ones with this cold-like virus well before the season usually starts. (Christensen, 10/24)

The Washington Post:
Half Of Virginia High School Out With ‘Flu-Like’ Symptoms

Half the student body of a Virginia high school has fallen ill, leading the district to cancel athletics and activities for the school through Sunday. Stafford County Public Schools spokeswoman Sandra Osborn said Friday that roughly 1,000 of Stafford High School’s 2,100 students were absent from class “with flu-like/gastrointestinal symptoms.” (Natanson, 10/23)

CNN:
Six People Who Tested Positive For Monkeypox Have Died, Health Departments Confirm

Six people who tested positive for monkeypox – two in New York City, two in Chicago, one in Nevada and one in Maryland – have died, local health departments have confirmed. (Frehse, Dillinger and Elassar, 10/23)

CIDRAP:
CDC: Monkeypox Vaccine Reaching More Members Of Minority Groups

Disparities among groups receiving the Jynneos monkeypox vaccine have narrowed somewhat, with vaccine receipt proportions more than doubling in Black people and increasing almost 50% in Hispanic groups, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published today in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). (Wappes, 10/21)

Roll Call:
New Pentagon Abortion Policy Likely To Trigger Legislative War

A day-old Pentagon policy on female servicemembers’ access to reproductive health services is already triggering election-year sniping among lawmakers and figures to loom large in forthcoming legislation. (Donnelly, 10/21)

AP:
Trial Over Georgia’s Restrictive Abortion Law To Begin

A trial to determine whether Georgia can continue to ban abortion as early as six weeks into a pregnancy is set to begin in an Atlanta courtroom Monday. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney has scheduled two days of testimony in a lawsuit that seeks to strike down the law on multiple grounds, including that it violates the Georgia Constitution’s right to privacy and liberty by “forcing pregnancy and childbirth upon countless Georgians.” (10/24)

CBS News:
2 Employees Killed In Dallas Hospital Shooting

Two employees were shot and killed by the suspect, Methodist Health said. The victims were not immediately identified. Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson tweeted that both employees were nurses, but neither the hospital nor law enforcement had publicly confirmed those details as of Sunday. (Tanyos, 10/23)

AP:
Official: Dallas Shooter Was Attending Birth At Hospital 

The 30-year-old man charged with capital murder in the fatal shooting of two Dallas hospital employees was on parole and had been given permission to be at the medical facility for the birth of a child, a Texas prison official said Sunday. Nestor Hernandez was granted leave to be with his “significant other” at Methodist Dallas Medical Center during her delivery Saturday, according to Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokeswoman Amanda Hernandez. She said he’d been sentenced to prison for aggravated robbery and was released on parole last October, but did not provide additional details on the circumstances of the shooting. (10/23)

CNN:
Dallas Hospital Shooting: Suspect Was In The Building To Attend The Birth Of His Child, Authorities Say

Hernandez was on parole for aggravated robbery and was wearing an active ankle monitor, Dallas police said. He was given permission to be at the hospital while his significant other gave birth, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The shooting took place in the “mother/baby” unit of the hospital, the health system said. (Hamasaki and Wolfe, 10/24)

Modern Healthcare:
Physicians Left Their Jobs In Droves In 2021: Report

As a profession, physicians lost the most members, with 117,000 individuals leaving their roles last year, followed by nurse practitioners, which lost 53,295 members and physician assistants, with 22,704 positions vacated, according to a report published Thursday by Definitive Healthcare. (Devereaux, 10/20)

Bay Area News Group:
Registered Nurses Plan Five-Day Strike At Alta Bates Summit Medical Center Campuses In Oakland, Berkeley

Hundreds of registered nurses plan to hold a five-day strike over concerns about workplace conditions at Sutter Health’s three Alta Bates Summit Medical Center campuses in Oakland and Berkeley. (Rodgers, 10/23)

Indianapolis Star:
Hospitals Struggling Financially After COVID-19 Pandemic, Survey Says

The past year has proven more taxing financially than any in recent memory for the Good Samaritan Hospital in Vincennes, pushing hospital leaders to consider whether they will discontinue certain types of care. (Rudavsky, 10/21)

The Washington Post:
Doctors’ Advice On Renewing Adderall Prescriptions Amid The Shortage 

If you’re having trouble renewing your Adderall prescription, experts say you should work with your health-care provider to shop around at nearby pharmacies or discuss rewriting your prescription to a version of the medication that isn’t in such high demand. (Amenabar, 10/21)

Bloomberg:
Amoxicillin, Common Antibiotic To Treat Infections In Children, In Short Supply In US

Three of the top four makers of the antibiotic amoxicillin, commonly used to treat bacterial infections in children, are reporting supply constraints in the US. (Swetlitz and John Milton, 10/21)

NBC News:
Helium Shortage: Doctors Are Worried That Running Out Of The Element Could Threaten MRIs

Strange as it sounds, the lighter-than-air element that gives balloons their buoyancy also powers the vital medical diagnostic machines. An MRI can’t function without some 2,000 liters of ultra-cold liquid helium keeping its magnets cool enough to work. But helium — a nonrenewable element found deep within the Earth’s crust — is running low, leaving hospitals wondering how to plan for a future with a much scarcer supply. (Hopkins, 10/22)

AP:
First Lady To Host Roundtable On Breast And Cervical Cancer 

First lady Jill Biden will host a roundtable Monday on breast and cervical cancer, part of the administration’s “moonshot” effort to reduce deaths from cancer, the White House said. The event is one of many being launched by the American Cancer Society. Singer Mary J. Blige, an advocate for cancer screening, will participate in the roundtable with Biden. (10/21)

AP:
Genes Link Bipolar, Schizophrenia, Once Thought Unrelated

A growing body of research shows that bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and the in-between diagnosis of schizoaffective disorder share common genetic underpinnings as well as overlapping symptoms and signs. “They can be considered as part of a spectrum,” said Dr. Morgan Sheng, who co-directs a psychiatric research center at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. (Ungar, 10/22)

USA Today:
Weight Loss Surgery Qualifications May Change Under New Guidelines

Two groups of bariatric surgeons have overhauled weight loss surgery guidelines for the first time in more than 30 years, saying the previous standards are out of date and inadequate to cope with America’s growing levels of obesity. The new standards, released early Friday, will vastly increase the number of people eligible for the operations. (Weintraub, 10/21)

The Boston Globe:
Growing Scrutiny Of A Quality Standard That May Influence End-Of-Life Decisions For Heart Surgery Patients

Some surgeons are believed to “game the system to improve their statistical outcomes,” said Dr. Mary Braun, who has worked as a palliative care doctor in New Hampshire. In these cases, “suffering is typically tremendous for frail, near-death patients being subjected to these extreme measures to keep them alive.” (Kowalczyk, Ostriker and Fernandes, 10/22)

Houston Chronicle:
How Groundbreaking Tech Could Revolutionize Heart Transplants In Houston

On Sept. 24,  doctors filed into a bustling Houston Methodist operating room to gaze at the novelty of a heart that appeared to beat on its own. A close look revealed the secret — a waist-high apparatus that looked like an office-style copy machine, housing a bag of blood to supply oxygen through two tubes fastened to key arteries. (Gill, 10/21)

AP:
Dems Push Medicaid Expansion For Left-Behind Rural Georgia

Nine years after the hospital closed in the southwest Georgia town of Arlington, the worry about health care lurks. Health insurance premiums are high, many residents report poor health and there’s no guarantee Calhoun County’s sole ambulance will arrive promptly if it’s taking a patient to a distant hospital. “If it’s out on a call, you might as well throw them in the truck then and try to get somewhere,” said resident Sam Robinson. (Amy, 10/22)

San Diego Union-Tribune:
San Diego Jails’ Medically Vulnerable Get Health Monitoring

The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department is launching a pilot program that will outfit 10 of the downtown Central Jail’s most medically at-risk people with a health-monitoring device. (Davis, 10/22)

Las Vegas Review-Journal:
First “Superbug” Candida Auris Cluster In Children Identified At Las Vegas Hospital

Three cases of once-rare Candida auris, a drug-resistant “superbug,” were reported in infants with heart defects at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report obtained through a public records request. (Hynes, 10/22)

The Wall Street Journal:
Three New Yorkers Ordered Cocaine From The Same Delivery Service. All Died From Fentanyl. 

Cocaine has long had allure in New York City, where in the 1980s it became associated with jet setting clubbers and elite professionals. Usage estimates in the city remain higher than the roughly 2% national rate of Americans taking the drug annually for the past two decades. The addition of fentanyl into supplies in the past decade has tripled the yearly number of New Yorkers dying. (Patrick, 10/23)