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“We’ve lost more Americans from drugs in the past four years than we lost in World War II. Yeah. Our bloodiest war. More than we lost in World War II. Does anybody care? It is pathetic. It is pathetic. And do you hear a single word from Washington about doing anything about it?”— Tucker Carlson, Trump ally and former Fox News host. This is false. Mr. Carlson can certainly argue that lawmakers have not done enough to address the opioid crisis in the United States, but his suggestion that they have done nothing is wrong. (Qiu, 7/19)

JD Vance says he’s grown all too accustomed to hearing a certain phrase when his family calls to catch him up on life in small-town Ohio: “They died of an overdose.” The phrase, which Vance invoked Wednesday night at the Republican National Convention as he accepted his party’s nomination for vice president, is in keeping with the political identity he has cultivated since the 2016 publication of his famous memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy.” (Facher and Owermohle, 7/18)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: At Trump’s GOP Convention, There’s Little To Be Heard On Health Care

No talk of Obamacare. Or abortion. At the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee this week, where delegates officially nominated Donald Trump as the party’s 2024 presidential candidate, health care issues received little attention from prime-time speakers. The silence is surprising, given health care makes up the largest chunk of the federal budget, nearly $2 trillion, as well as 17% of U.S. economic output. (Galewitz, 7/19)

�鶹Ů�� Health News' 'What The Health?' Podcast: At GOP Convention, Health Policy Is Mostly MIA

The Republican National Convention highlighted a number of policy issues this week, but health care was not among them. That was not much of a surprise, as it is not a top priority for former President Donald Trump or most GOP voters. The nomination of Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio adds an outspoken abortion opponent to the Republican ticket, though he brings no particular background or expertise in health care. (Rovner, 7/18)

Well-connected Democratic Party insiders say they expect President Biden to make a major announcement about his future soon after the Republican National Convention concludes in Milwaukee and that congressional leaders expect that Vice President Harris will become their nominee for president if Biden drops his reelection bid. The talk among high-level Democratic strategists and donors has now turned to who is best positioned to serve has Harris’s running mate. (Bolton and Parnes, 7/18)

Nearly 1 of every 5 uninsured working-age adults across the 10 states that have not expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act are, according to a new analysis, stuck in a health care limbo known as a “coverage gap.” That means they earn too much money to receive Medicaid but not enough to qualify for financial help to purchase their own plan on the marketplace. In Alabama and Mississippi, more than a quarter of uninsured working-age adults are left with no affordable pathways to health coverage, according to the analysis from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a progressive think tank that researches federal and state budget policies. (Chatlani, 7/19)

Dementia is on the rise in the U.S., with 14 million projected cases by 2060. Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia, representing 60-80% of all diagnoses. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, approximately 6.9 million Americans age 65 and older had Alzheimer’s in 2024, or 10.9% of those 65 and older. ... “In addition to symptoms related to dementia, the overwhelming majority of dementia patients have one or more chronic health conditions,” says Matthew Baumgart, Vice President of Health Policy, at the Alzheimer’s Association. (Zable Fisher, 7/19)

Unaccompanied migrant children in the government’s custody have been repeatedly sexually abused over the last decade by employees of the contractor providing them shelter care, according to a lawsuit filed by the Justice Department. The suit alleges that Austin, Texas-based Southwest Key Programs, a nonprofit shelter operator that runs the largest number of migrant child shelters across the country, is responsible for years of “severe, pervasive” sexual abuse and harassment of children as young as 5 years old. (Hackman, 7/18)

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday authorized sales of certain tobacco-flavored Vuse Alto electronic cigarette products from R.J. Reynolds, allowing the company to keep the products on the market. Vuse is the top-selling e-cigarette brand in the country, according to Nielsen data, comprising more than 40 percent of the market. (Weixel, 7/18)

The Senate Health Committee is launching an investigation into the bankruptcy of Steward Health Care, a Dallas-based hospital chain with a significant presence in eastern Massachusetts, and will vote next week on issuing a subpoena to its CEO, Ralph de la Torre. Steward operates 31 hospitals in eight states, including eight in Massachusetts. It filed for Chapter 11 protection in May and is looking to sell all its hospitals. But bankruptcy documents show it paid executives, including de la Torre, millions of dollars. (Weixel, 7/18)

Amazon workers are injured at higher rates than previously reported by the company, according to an interim report released this week by the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee in Washington, D.C. (Wimbley, 7/19)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: Misleading Ads Play Key Role In Schemes To Gin Up Unauthorized ACA Sign-Ups, Lawsuit Alleges

The government is giving away money! So say ads on a variety of social media platforms. Consumers, the ads claim, can qualify for $1,400 or even $6,400 a month to use on groceries, rent, medical expenses, and other bills. Some mention no-cost health insurance coverage. But that’s not the whole story.And here’s the spoiler — no one is getting monthly checks to help with these everyday expenses. (Appleby, 7/19)

Overturning Roe is one of the crowning achievementsof Donald Trump’s presidency. No one at the Republican National Convention is talking about it. Heading into the final day of the Republican Party’s first national gathering since the Supreme Court’s landmark decision, which has allowed more than a third of states to ban nearly all abortions, the issue has barely received a passing mention. Main-stage speakers have instead leaned into economic populism, isolationism and — frustratingly, for evangelicals and other social conservatives — social libertarianism. (Messerly, 7/18)

Though a state panel this week revamped a financial impact statement that will appear on the November ballot with a proposed constitutional amendment on abortion rights, Attorney General Ashley Moody’s office argued Thursday that a legal battle about an earlier version of the statement should continue. (Saunders, 7/18)

Kansas isn’t enforcing a new law requiring abortion providers to ask patients why they want to terminate their pregnancies, as a legal challenge against that rule and other older requirements makes its way through the courts. Attorneys for the state and for providers challenging the new law along with other requirements announced a deal Thursday. (Hanna, 7/18)

Women’s health in the United States is in a “perilous place” as preventable deaths keep rising, and nowhere is it worse than in Mississippi, according to a new state scorecard on women’s health and reproductive care from The Commonwealth Fund. The scorecard ranks all 50 states and Washington, D.C., on how well they provide reproductive care and overall health care to women. The highest-ranking states include Massachusetts, Vermont and Rhode Island. (O’Connell-Domenech, 7/18)

One of the last remaining birthing units in southern Alabama will close next month to qualify for federal funding that will save the hospital’s emergency services, but doctors warn the move may cost newborns and pregnant women essential access to obstetric care. ... The board said closure was necessary for the hospital to qualify for much needed federal funding that is designated for rural emergency hospitals, defined as facilities with fewer than 50 beds that provide 24/7 emergency care and no inpatient services, including obstetrics. (Riddle, 7/18)

Nico Olalia had just finished her initial nurse training in the Philippines when she realized her aspirations were growing bigger than her home archipelago. “There are a lot of trans Filipinos, but they’re always known in the beauty industry, and they’re very seldom found in the professional side,” Olalia said. So she moved back to the United States, where she was born, for better career prospects. (Deng, 7/18)

A widespread Microsoft outage disrupted flights, banks, media outlets and companies around the world on Friday. Escalating disruptions continued hours after the technology company said it was gradually fixing an issue affecting access to Microsoft 365 apps and services. ... Several practices within the National Health Service in England reported that the outage had hit their clinical computer system that contains medical records and is used for scheduling. (Graham-MClay and Kurtenbach, 7/19)

State health officials have identified more cases of measles tied to an outbreak in the Upper Valley, and say more people could have been exposed at additional locations in early July. Five total cases have been linked to the outbreak, including two New Hampshire residents and three people from out of state, according to health officials. (Cuno-Booth, 7/18)

The spread of bird flu among poultry and dairy farms has heightened some health experts' concerns that the process of killing and disposing of poultry infected with the virus may pose a risk to humans and livestock. Recent instances of farms dumping carcasses in landfills and using methods to kill chickens that put workers in close proximity to the virus show how the process of getting rid of infected birds could further spread the disease, according to data obtained by Reuters and interviews with officials and disease experts. ( Douglas, 7/18)

President Joe Biden and Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra this week became prime examples of the nation’s newest COVID-19 wave, and although it’s unclear what variant they’re infected with, infectious disease experts say the latest dominant strains of COVID-19 are no more dangerous than previous iterations. (Cohen, 7/18)

Masks are creating controversy for businesses again, but this time for a different reason. Early in the pandemic, retailers faced backlash for mandating face coverings. Now some store owners are demanding customers drop their masks. (Miller, 7/18)

Vegetables are great not only for their versatility — they can be eaten raw or cooked, whole or chopped — but also for their health benefits. However, those looking to incorporate more veggies into their diet may be overlooking one in particular. Eating three servings of baby carrots a week can give a significant boost of important nutrients found in the orange root vegetables, according to a new unpublished study presented June 30 in Chicago at Nutrition 2024, the annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition. (Nicioli, 7/18)

Losing weight is hard. Even for the most disciplined among us, sticking to a sustained regimen of nutritious eating, quality sleep, and strength training and aerobic exercise—not to mention managing mental health—is no small feat. Neither is healthy weight loss swiftly attained; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends losing no more than 2 pounds per week for those who plan to keep off what they shed. (Leake, 7/18)

The pitch is all over social media and irresistible for many people desperate to lose weight: Get an imitation version of pricey, hard-to-find drugs like Ozempic or Mounjaro for a fraction of the cost. But the booming business of off-brand versions of the blockbuster drugs, which trigger the hormone GLP-1 and curb hunger, has left many consumers wondering whether it is worth trying. (Gilbert and Amenabar, 7/18)

Authorities are taking measures to contain an outbreak of Newcastle disease on a poultry farm in Brazil's southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul, Agriculture Minister Carlos Favaro told a press conference on Thursday. Favaro estimated around 7,000 birds perished on the small property where the outbreak was detected, representing 50% of the flock there. Newcastle is a viral disease that affects domestic and wild birds, causing respiratory problems, among other symptoms, and can lead to death. Its notification is mandatory as per guidelines from the World Organization for Animal Health. (Mano, 7/18)

A German man's HIV has likely been cured after undergoing a stem cell transplant in a first-of-its-kind case, scientists announced on Thursday ahead of next week's International AIDS Conference in Munich, Germany. (Falconer, 7/19)

Mothers' diets during pregnancy may affect their child's likelihood of developing autism, new research suggests. ... Studies have shown that prenatal multivitamins and folic acid supplement use, as well as adequate vitamin D and high fish intakes, are all associated with a reduced likelihood of childhood autism diagnoses. However, considering these factors in isolation neglects the synergistic and antagonistic effects that nutrients can have when consumed as part of a realistic prenatal diet. (Dewan, 7/18)

Children with an older sibling with autism are 20 percent more likely to develop autism themselves, new research finds. Scientists hope that the discovery will facilitate timely autism diagnoses in young children, enabling earlier interventions for more effective symptom management. (Dewan, 7/18)

A daily dose of a widely used antibiotic can prevent some infections with syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia, potentially a new solution to the escalating crisis of sexually transmitted infections, scientists reported on Thursday. Their study was small and must be confirmed by more research. Scientists still have to resolve significant questions, including whether S.T.I.s might become resistant to the antibiotic and what effect it could have on healthy gut bacteria in people taking it every day. (Mandavilli, 7/18)

An expansive new study offers clear evidence that sequencing the genomes of diverse populations can yield fresh insights into how our DNA shapes our health. (Wosen, 7/18)

Studying the fattest of cats may help us understand how to treat obesity in humans. The shifts in feline gut microbiomes in response to changes in diet are very similar to those seen in humans, according to a new paper in the journal Scientific Reports. This may mean that cats are a good model for studying obesity in humans, and studying them could help both us and felines get healthier overall. (Thomson, 7/18)

Gabby Lopes doesn’t remember much about that day, two weeks before her 13th birthday, other than she’d just finished running a lap in her P.E. class at San Leandro’s John Muir Middle School and was about to do a pushup when she passed out. She awoke to a crowd standing over her, including her P.E. teacher and a vice principal. She recalls someone told a “dad joke” and that she laughed — only to discover the right side of her face was numb. She tried to lift herself up but couldn’t move the right side of her body. (Ho, 7/18)

Artificial intelligence is giving a member of Congress her voice back. Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-Va.) was diagnosed with progressive supranuclear palsy last year, a condition she called “Parkinson’s on steroids.” The rare brain disorder has affected the volume and clarity of her speech and her mobility. It also led to her decision to leave Congress at the end of this term. ... “This will be a big upgrade from the robotic-sounding text-to-speech app I’ve been using over the past few months,” she said in a video announcing her AI voice. (Paun, Payne, Reader, Schumaker and Odejimi, 7/18)

The Parker Institute of Cancer Immunotherapy, the San Francisco nonprofit founded by former Napster and Facebook executive Sean Parker, has received $125 million that it will distribute over the next five years to fund cancer research, the organization announced Thursday. The vast majority of the contribution is from billionaire Parker and his wife, Alexandra, though other philanthropists contributed as well. It is the second largest tranche of funding the institute has received since it was created in 2016 with $250 million from the Parker Foundation — at that time the single largest donation to cancer immunotherapy research. (Ho, 7/18)

Abbott Laboratories will use a mix of TV advertisements and guerilla marketing as well as seek to personalize health data to tap people without diabetes for the U.S. launch of its glucose monitoring device, CEO Robert Ford said on Thursday. The company plans to launch the over-the-counter device, Lingo, this year. It could be a multi-billion-dollar product for Abbott, Ford estimated, adding it was still in its early days. (Leo and Singh, 7/18)

The CEO of Abbott Laboratories defended the company’s infant formula products Thursday, remarks that came as a trial continues this week in Missouri over allegations that Abbott’s formula led a premature infant to develop a serious gastrointestinal disease. (Schencker, 7/18)

A close copy version of Abbvie's blockbuster arthritis drug Humira will be available at a 92% discount to its list price on the GoodRx website, the digital healthcare platform and German drugmaker Boehringer Ingelheim said on Thursday. GoodRx said that Boehringer will offer both high- and low- concentration versions of the biosimilar at an exclusive cost of $550 per two-pack on the GoodRx website. (Satija, 7/18)

Insurance technology company Sidecar Health reached a deal with ProMedica to offer its members medical services at the health system, and is looking to extend its reach through other partnerships. The agreement, the first of its kind between Sidecar and a provider, sets pricing for services for Sidecar members and is part of the company's long-term growth plan. Sidecar plans to pursue similar arrangements with other health systems and in other markets, the company said in a news release Thursday. (DeSilva, 7/18)

After years of mounting financial losses, a St. Louis County-based operator of nursing homes and retirement communities filed for bankruptcy this week, a move it blamed on lower resident numbers, staffing shortages and inflation. (Merrilees, 7/18)

Healthcare provider Ardent Health's, opens new tab shares opened 6% below their initial public offering price in their NYSE debut on Thursday, reflecting new investor caution with new listings amid rate cut uncertainties. Ardent's shares began trading at $15 apiece, giving the company a market valuation of $2.15 billion, compared with the IPO price of $16 each. (7/18)

Hundreds of emails have been hitting the inboxes of St. Louis County Council members, all with the same message: don’t approve a new health insurance contract for county employees. St. Louis County Executive Sam Page, meanwhile, is warning that open enrollment is less than a month away and the council needs to act now on a new contract with UnitedHealthcare or risk being unable to offer insurance to employees. (Barker, 7/18)

The former owner of a Cherry Hill nursing home won a $100 million whistleblower settlement against PharMerica Corp., a pharmacy that serves nursing homes and other long-term care institutions, the plaintiff’s Philadelphia law firm Berger Montague PC announced Wednesday. In a lawsuit originally filed in 2011, Marc Silver — who owned Silver Care Center — alleged that PharMerica violated the Anti-Kickback Statute and False Claims Act by underpricing some drugs Medicare paid for in order to secure other Medicare- and Medicaid-funded drug business that was much more lucrative. (Brubaker, 7/18)

For the first time, the more than 250 health care professionals who form the Team USA Medical Team have a uniform. Figs, a direct-to-consumer medical apparel brand—and the first company led by two female cofounders to go public—partnered with the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) to break another barrier. ... Figs cofounder and CEO Trina Spear tells Fortune. “It’s very much about something that speaks to our overall mission and values as a company from day one: putting health care professionals in the spotlight that they deserve.” (Leake, 7/18)

A new study published Thursday finds that several mushroom candies, which are widely promoted as containing legal psychedelic ingredients, actually contain illegal hallucinogens. The study sampled products sold in gas stations and smoke shops near Charlottesville, Va. It identified the Schedule I drug psilocin in mushroom candies sold under the brand names Diamond Shruumz and Wonderland Legal Psychedelics. A product sold under the brand Urb contained both psilocybin and psilocin. (Florko, 7/18)

People eating some of the now-recalled Diamond Shruumz brand candies may also have been getting a dose of an illegal substance from magic mushrooms, testing by a Virginia poison control center has confirmed. The Blue Ridge Poison Center at the University of Virginia says they found psilocin among the undisclosed substances mixed into Diamond Shruumz gummies. (Tin, 7/18)

Five people in Virginia, including a three-year-old child, fell ill after consuming the gummies, according to a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. ... Researchers also found other harmful ingredients in the gummies, including the hallucinogen psilocin, as well as caffeine, ephedrine, and kratom. (Thomson, 7/18)

At a contentious advisory committee meeting in June, the Food and Drug Administration announced it was investigating allegations of data suppression and misconduct in clinical trials of MDMA-assisted therapy. (Goldhill, 7/19)

A federal judge on Thursday refused to halt New York City's crackdown on unlicensed sellers of cannabis, citing public safety concerns. U.S. District Judge Paul Oetken in Manhattan said 27 cannabis sellers whose businesses were shut down were unlikely to succeed on their claim that the closures violated their due process rights under the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment. A lawyer for the sellers did not immediately respond to requests for comment. (Stempel, 7/18)

Mayor London Breed said that San Francisco will launch a “very aggressive” crackdown on homeless encampments in the city next month. The mayor’s comments — made Thursday during an election debate hosted by the firefighters union — come about three weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court granted cities broad power to evict unhoused people from encampments. (Angst and Wilson, 7/18)

The University of California Board of Regents approved a $1.5 billion plan on Thursday to expand UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland that will double the safety net facility’s emergency department space and triple the number of single-patient hospital rooms. The project, slated for completion by 2030, entails the construction of a seven-story, 277,500-square-foot hospital that will include a neonatal intensive care unit, seven surgical suites and a 20-bed inpatient behavioral health unit, as well as updates to imaging and surgical services. (Ho, 7/18)

A continued exodus of health care workers from a historic Manhattan hospital on the brink of closure is posing risks to patient safety “in the very near future,” according to hospital officials. Staffing woes have escalated in recent weeks as Mount Sinai Beth Israel approached and then passed its long-planned closure date of July 12, which was predicated on state approval. The medical director of Beth Israel’s intensive care unit left at the end of June, and the hospital’s chief nursing officer is resigning next month, hospital officials said in court papers filed as part of an ongoing lawsuit over the closure. (Kaufman, 7/18)

“At the sound of the chime,” she says, “take a deep breath in.” The relaxation class, held at a union hall for New York City transit employees, has emerged as one of the ways in which transportation workers around the country are trying to manage their fear and anxiety over a rise in violent crime on subways and buses. Concern has grown after a series of especially brutal attacks in recent months against bus drivers, subway operators and station agents. (Bussewitz, 7/19)

The Massachusetts Senate approved a bill Thursday aimed in part at addressing some of the issues raised after Steward Health Care said it plans to sell off all its hospitals after announcing in May that it filed for bankruptcy protection. Democratic Sen. Cindy Friedman, Senate chair of the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing, said the bill is meant to address the state’s struggling health care system, which she said is putting patients and providers at risk. (LeBlanc, 7/19)

The state’s largest nursing home plans to close its doors weeks after being terminated from the federal Medicare and Medicaid program after “ a history of serious quality issues ” and violations for deficient patient care. In a recent public notice, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid announced that its relationship with The Ivy At Great Falls would end effective July 9, after the federal agency determined that the 278-bed facility “failed to attain substantial compliance with certain Medicare and Medicaid participation requirements.” (Hudson and Silvers, 7/18)

On a street corner east of Durham’s downtown, Cheryl Riley spotted a woman sitting on a ledge outside a grocery store, her upper body bobbing back and forth. Riley, a Durham County paramedic, pulled over her Ford Expedition with bright blue and yellow markings and asked the woman if she could take her vitals. After getting a go-ahead, Riley checked her blood pressure and oxygen levels. (Nandagiri, 7/19)

The U.S. government announced Thursday that $325 million in federal funds will be available for solar and battery storage installations across Puerto Rico as the U.S. territory struggles with chronic power outages. The program, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, will target community centers and healthcare facilities, as well as common areas in subsidized, multi-family housing. (Coto, 7/19)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: A California Medical Group Treats Only Homeless Patients — And Makes Money Doing It

They distribute GPS devices so they can track their homeless patients. They stock their street kits with glass pipes used to smoke meth, crack, or fentanyl. They keep company credit cards on hand in case a patient needs emergency food or water, or an Uber ride to the doctor. These doctors, nurses, and social workers are fanning out on the streets of Los Angeles to provide health care and social services to homeless people — foot soldiers of a new business model taking root in communities around California. (Hart, 7/19)

By dismissing a case that would have determined whether emergency abortion care is encompassed under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), along with other protected emergency care services, the Supreme Court of the United States has opened the door for states to deny women stabilizing and often lifesaving medical procedures. (Mark N. Simon, 7/19)

President Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders wrote in a recent op-ed that there’s “no rational reason” why Americans pay the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs — almost three times more than their peers overseas, according to a recent analysis. (7/19)

The first time I saw Maya (not her real name) huddled under blankets in a hospital bed in 2013, she had been to dozens of inpatient detox programs and residential treatment centers since she had begun using heroin two decades earlier. After every release, she returned to heroin use, usually within days. (Sarah E. Wakeman, 7/19)