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The Federal Trade Commission is launching a probe into the extent to which group purchasing organizations and wholesalers may contribute to ongoing shortages of key medicines at hospitals and other facilities across the country. The agency will explore how these companies — which are responsible for brokering and distributing countless medicines — might misuse their market power to influence pricing and availability. Three group purchasing organizations, or GPOs, buy drugs on behalf of most hospitals in the U.S., while three leading wholesalers supply about 90% of medicines to hospitals, clinics, and nursing homes, among others. (Silverman and Wilkerson, 2/14)

A leaked version of a proposed agreement between India and the European Free Trade Association is causing alarm among civil society and patient advocacy groups over concerns the deal would delay access to affordable generic versions of newer, lifesavings medicines for several years. (Silverman, 2/14)

A top Biden administration official was in Columbus, Ohio, on Monday to tout the president’s work in lowering drug prices. A showpiece example: Savings of nearly $100 billion over the next 10 years from negotiating Medicare drug prices, said Xavier Becerra, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, citing figures from the bipartisan Congressional Budget Office. "We believe it’s going to save a lot of money once we finish the negotiations," he said - although recipients won't see them until 2026. But the secretary would not commit to action many say would result in much greater, across-the-board savings: Ending an exemption for drug supply-chain members from federal laws against kickbacks. (2/12)

Skyrocketing prescription drug prices are forcing Maryland legislators to look at several solutions to try to bring those costs down for citizens. Introduced in both chambers of the General Assembly, the Lowering Prescription Drug Costs for All Marylanders Act of 2024 would allow the state’s Prescription Drug Affordability Board to set up “upper payment limits” for drugs that they deem unaffordable. “A staggering one in three Marylanders reporting that they have skipped a dose to ration medication, or left a prescription at the pharmacy counter due to cost,” said Sen. Dawn Gile of Anne Arundel County who introduced the bill. (Lukert, 2/12)

One hundred physicians signed a letter Monday urging the Virginia General Assembly to get behind a bill they say will save patients money on prescription drugs and give them better health outcomes. Two bills making their way through the legislature (HB 570, SB 274) would establish a Prescription Drug Affordability Board. That board would be able to set price limits in some cases. (Hudson, 2/12)

The Biden administration has dedicated an additional $515 million to a major initiative to study long Covid, a nearly 50% increase to the project’s budget. The research initiative at the National Institutes of Health, dubbed RECOVER, was created in 2020 with a $1.15 billion investment in research to understand and investigate treatments for long Covid. (Cohrs, 2/15)

People who have had COVID-19 have a significantly higher risk of suffering chronic fatigue than those who haven’t had the disease, a new study published Wednesday shows. “Our data indicate that COVID-19 is associated with a significant increase in new fatigue diagnoses,” according to the study, published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases. “Physicians should be aware that fatigue might occur or be newly recognized [more than a year] after acute COVID-19,” the report said. (Lin II, 2/14)

A single-center study conducted at a free community testing site in Maryland suggests that patient-administered BinaxNow COVID-19 rapid antigen tests (RATs) have similar accuracy as those performed by a clinician, although the results can be misinterpreted or falsely negative. (Van Beusekom, 2/14)

Data from the California Health Department shows COVID-19 hospitalizations peaked at 2,797 patients on Jan. 2 and have since decreased to 1,761 as of Feb. 3, marking the lowest figure since early December. New hospital admissions have also dropped by approximately 50%, decreasing from 615 for the week ending Dec. 30 to 309 on Feb. 3. Over the past month, the state’s seven-day rolling coronavirus test positivity rate has decreased from 12.3% to 8.1%. (Vaziri, 2/14)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: Watch: The Feds May Reexamine Covid Protocols. Here's Why You Should Care

Céline Gounder, �鶹Ů�� Health News’ editor-at-large for public health, appeared Feb. 14 on “CBS Mornings” to discuss why the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may be weighing a change in its current isolation guidelines for people with covid-19, and how to protect others if they continue to test positive. (2/15)

This winter, for the first time ever, there were two vaccines available to ward off respiratory syncytial virus, which is particularly dangerous to older adults and infants. Only one of them — Abrysvo, made by Pfizer — was approved for pregnant women, and neither was for young children. The distinction apparently slipped by some clinicians and pharmacists. At least 128 pregnant women were mistakenly given the alternative vaccine — Arexvy, by GSK — and at least 25 children under age 2 received a vaccination, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has warned. (Mandavilli, 2/14)

Anthony Epstein, a British pathologist whose chance attendance at a lecture on childhood tumors in Africa began years of scientific sleuthing that led to the discovery of the ultra-common Epstein-Barr virus and opened expansive research into its viral links to cancers and other chronic ailments, died Feb. 6 at his home in London. He was 102. Dr. Epstein’s work in the 1960s to isolate the virus — a type of herpes — set the foundation for sweeping studies into viral and biological triggers for cancers such as Hodgkin’s lymphoma and potential links to other diseases including multiple sclerosis, lupus and, most recently, so-called long covid. (Murphy, 2/14)

When North Carolina launched Medicaid expansion on Dec. 1, state officials said the measure would provide health insurance to an estimated 600,000 low-income adults over a span of two years. It took just two months to reach 58 percent of that goal. More than 346,400 newly eligible beneficiaries have been approved for coverage as of Feb. 1, according to data from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services. (Baxley, 2/15)

Supporters gathered at the Capitol on Wednesday morning to celebrate advances in securing Medicaid coverage for some undocumented children in Connecticut, but also to reiterate demands for further expansion this session. (Golvala and Carlesso, 2/14)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: New Eligibility Rules Are A Financial Salve For Nearly 2 Million On Medi-Cal 

Millions of Medi-Cal beneficiaries can now save for a rainy day, keep an inheritance, or hold on to a modest nest egg, without losing coverage, thanks to an eligibility change phased in over the past year and a half. It also has opened the door for thousands who previously did not qualify for Medi-Cal, the health insurance program for low-income residents that covers over one-third of California’s population. Until Jan. 1, 3 million Medi-Cal beneficiaries, mainly those who are aged, blind, disabled, in long-term care, or in the federal Supplemental Security Income program, faced limits on the value of financial accounts and personal property they could hold to qualify for coverage. Now, nearly 2 million of them will no longer face these restrictions, putting them on par with the roughly 12 million other Medi-Cal beneficiaries who don’t have asset limits. (Wolfson, 2/15)

While nearly every state now provides Medicaid coverage for a full year after giving birth, cost concerns and political opposition in some states have prevented the policy from being fully adopted nationwide. (Goldman, 2/15)

Missouri’s highest court for the second time in four years rebuked lawmakers’s efforts to ban abortion providers and their affiliates from receiving Medicaid reimbursements. The legislature included a line in the 2022 state budget to spend $0 for any Medicaid-covered services if the provider also offers abortions or is affiliated with an abortion provider. (Spoerre, 2/14)

San Francisco’s overdose epidemic showed no signs of slowing in January, with 66 people dying from accidental drug overdoses during the first month of 2024, according to preliminary data released by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner on Wednesday. The latest figures come on the heels of a particularly deadly year: a record 806 people died in 2023 from accidental drug doses, the most ever recorded since San Francisco began tracking the deaths in 2020. (Ho, 2/14)

Experts say syphilis is a growing concern in Orange County. This month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published research that showed syphilis cases had spiked from 2018 to 2022. Cases of babies born with syphilis were a particularly concerning spike. (Pedersen, 2/14)

With the bill citing an “urgent need” to increase the number of doctors and other workers to care for people with mental health and substance-abuse issues, the Florida Senate on Tuesday began moving forward with a $114 million plan that includes designating behavioral health teaching hospitals. (Saunders, 2/14)

An 18-year-old transgender patient whose surgery was called off when Children’s Hospital Colorado stopped providing gender-affirming surgeries is suing the hospital. The ACLU of Colorado filed the lawsuit Wednesday on behalf of the 18-year-old, claiming the hospital violated state anti-discrimination laws. (Brown, 2/14)

A U.S. District Court judge on Wednesday ordered Houston to temporarily stop enforcing a law that requires city permission before anyone can serve more than five people in need on public property. The order marked a significant victory for Food Not Bombs, a group that has provided free meals outside of Central Library downtown for roughly two decades and received nearly 100 tickets for doing so since 2023. The ruling is a part of the group’s federal lawsuit against the city claiming that the food service is a form of constitutionally protected protest. (Schuetz, 2/14)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: Early Detection May Help Kentucky Tamp Down Its Lung Cancer Crisis 

Anthony Stumbo’s heart sank after the doctor shared his mother’s chest X-ray. “I remember that drive home, bringing her back home, and we basically cried,” said the internal medicine physician, who had started practicing in eastern Kentucky near his childhood home shortly before his mother began feeling ill. “Nobody wants to get told they’ve got inoperable lung cancer. I cried because I knew what this meant for her.” (Huff, 2/15)

Bullets ripped through crowds of spectators following a Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl victory parade attended by tens of thousands Wednesday, killing one and injuring at least 21 others in the nation's latest shooting assault at a major sports or concert venue. Lisa Augustine, spokesperson for Children’s Mercy Kansas City, said the hospital was treating 12 patients from the rally, including 11 children, some of whom suffered gunshot wounds. (Arshad and Nurse, 2/14)

The parade shooting comes on the sixth anniversary of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., that killed 17 people and injured 17 more. It remains the deadliest school shooting in U.S. history. “I’m heartbroken for the victims of the senseless mass shooting in Kansas City. On the anniversary of one of America’s deadliest school shootings, the persistent cycle of gun violence is a painful reality,” Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost (D-Fla.), said on X, formerly Twitter, Wednesday. “We ALL deserve to live without the fear of being shot, whether at school, home, or celebrating special moments with our communities,” he continued. “We don’t have to live like this.” (Robertson, 2/14)

President Joe Biden on Wednesday said the country should be shocked by the shooting in Kansas City that killed at least one and injured 22 after the Chiefs Super Bowl victory parade. He also reiterated his long-standing call for more action to address gun violence. “Today’s events should move us, shock us, shame us into acting,” Biden said. “What are we waiting for? What else do we need to see? How many more families need to be torn apart?” “It is time to act. That’s where I stand.” (Desrochers, 2/14)

Someone opened fire from a car at an Atlanta high school, wounding four students on Wednesday. The victims were hospitalized and treated for non-life threatening injuries after being shot at the Benjamin E. Mays High School campus parking lot, according to NBC News and FOX 5. The Atlanta Public Schools district said the shooting occurred shortly after dismissal. "No other students, faculty, or staff were injured," the district said in a statement sent to news media outlets. "The safety and security of our students and staff are paramount." (Robledo, 2/14)

An 18-year-old student authorities say had researched school shootings and had an arsenal of guns at his home was charged Wednesday with planning to attack a Southern California campus. Sebastian Villasenor of Eastvale was charged with five counts of attempted murder and one count of attempting to make criminal threats, the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement. He remained jailed. Investigators determined that Villasenor wasn’t “bullied or harassed” but had difficulties “forming relationships with other students and in his social interactions.” (2/14)

A year ago, the city pumped more than a million taxpayer dollars into a raft of nonprofits in hopes of quelling a surge of shootings that marred dozens of lives. But after doling out the cash, officials kept few tabs on where the money went or what was accomplished. Now the money is running out as hard questions surface about the program’s effectiveness. Officials are pointing fingers at one another for the lack of oversight. Everyone — from council members to police officers to city staffers — said that responsibility fell to someone else. (Herscowitz and Grzeszczak, 2/14)

A study finds infants exposed to gun violence before birth were as much as 25% more likely to be born premature or with low weight. Northwest Florida experts say this research should resonate in the region. (Strickland, 2/14)

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved Eicos Sciences' injection, making it the first-ever treatment to treat severe frostbite in adults. The treatment, which will help reduce the risk of amputation, will be sold under the brand name Aurlumyn and is expected to be available in Spring 2024, although its pricing has not yet been determined, the company said in an e-mailed statement. (2/14)

At least 120 prescriptions were written for the first pill treating postpartum depression in the days following its launch, drugmaker Sage Therapeutics disclosed in its year-end earnings report on Wednesday. Postpartum depression affects an estimated 500,000 people each year. But with a launch price of $15,900 for the drug Zurzuvae, analysts had expressed uncertainty about its potential market and how insurers may cover the treatment. (Reed, 2/15)

A new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report today notes that 38.6% of children age 9 to 17 had received at least one dose of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine in 2022, with rates rising with age from 7% in the youngest kids to 57% in the oldest. HPV vaccination has been recommended in the United States since 2006 for girls and 2011 for boys. The multiple-dose vaccine, targeted to be initiated for children ages 11 to 12 years, may be started as young as age 9 and prevents against the most common cancer-causing HPV strains. (Soucheray, 2/14)

A new program called SHIP Trial Network, led by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), is exploring testing for human papillomavirus (HPV) via self-collection to prevent cervical cancer, according to a press release.The Last Mile Initiative, announced at the White House Cervical Cancer Forum on Jan. 25 by NCI's director Dr. Kimryn Rathmell, will gather data on a self-collection method for HPV. (Stabile, 2/15)

President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russian scientists were close to creating vaccines for cancer that could soon be available to patients. Putin said in televised comments that "we have come very close to the creation of so-called cancer vaccines and immunomodulatory drugs of a new generation". Putin did not specify which types of cancer the proposed vaccines would target, nor how. (2/14)

The emergency global stockpile of cholera vaccines is empty with all available doses for this month already allocated to countries battling major outbreaks, two United Nations agencies told Reuters. The rest of this year will see a predicted shortfall of at least 50 million doses between demand and supply, a UNICEF official added, as cases continue to surge worldwide. (Rigby and Dickie, 2/14)

Catalent has reduced its headcount by about 300 employees as part of its ongoing restructuring plans, the company disclosed in a regulatory filing on Wednesday. The contract drug manufacturer first adopted plans to reduce costs and consolidate facilities last June and extended the efforts during the second-quarter with reported job-cuts in its Biologics and Pharma and Consumer Health segments. (2/14)

A new trove of internal emails and other documents from the e-cigarette maker Juul reveals the company’s extensive behind-the-scenes efforts to promote its interests in Washington — a rare insight into the otherwise opaque methods corporations use to influence the government. (Florko, 2/15)

Public health messages have told us for decades that if you smoke, you should quit. And if you don’t smoke, don’t start. But a new study suggests smoking may be even worse than we thought. (Cooney, 2/14)

The University of Georgia plans to launch an independent medical school amid a worsening shortage of medical professionals. The school will be transitioning from a 14-year partnership with the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University and expanding its own reach across the state. Almost two-thirds of Georgia’s 159 counties lack adequate dental, mental health, and primary care services, largely due to a lack of providers, according to the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute. (Devereaux, 2/14)

Cybersecurity experts are warning that hospitals around the country are at risk for attacks like the one that is crippling operations at a premier Midwestern children’s hospital, and that the U.S. government is doing too little prevent such breaches. Hospitals in recent years have shifted their use of online technology to support everything from telehealth to medical devices to patient records. Today, they are a favorite target for internet thieves who hold systems’ data and networks hostage for hefty ransoms, said John Riggi, the American Hospital Association’s cybersecurity adviser. (Seitz, 2/14)

Lurie Children's Hospital phone lines are opening back up and providers and other employees are now able to share email with the outside world following a complete network outage that the hospital initiated Jan. 31 due to a cyberattack. The children's hospital is still using a call center to communicate with patients and their families while the restoration of its communications progresses, Julianne Bardele, director of public affairs and communications at Lurie, said in a text message to Crain's. (Asplund, 2/14)

Quest Diagnostics, one of America’s largest medical testing companies, has agreed to pay $5 million to settle charges that it improperly disposed of hazardous chemicals, medical waste and patient information at multiple locations across the Bay Area and California. California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the settlement on Wednesday. “Quest Diagnostics’ illegal disposal of hazardous and medical waste and patient information put families and communities at risk and endangered our environment,” Bonta said. “Let today’s settlement send a clear message that my office will hold corporations, including medical services providers, accountable.” (Rogers, 2/14)

A driver died and at least five people were hurt as a vehicle crashed Tuesday evening into an Austin, Texas, medical center emergency room, the facility’s chief medical officer said. (Simonson, Sykes, Razek and Davis, 2/14)

Rural hospitals are teaming up to provide specialty care to patients via a new telehealth program. Telehealth provider Eagle Telemedicine on Tuesday launched the Eagle Rural Care Alliance, in which hospitals share the cost of physicians who provide outpatient endocrinology, nephrology and rheumatology services virtually. Nine critical access hospitals in Kansas are part of the alliance, which plans to expand to 28 rural hospitals this year, said Jason Povio, CEO of Eagle Telemedicine. (Kacik, 2/14)

Children’s Hospital Los Angeles has opened its new Fetal Cardiac Clinic, a unique space for expectant mothers and the fetal patient population to continue receiving the highest level of comprehensive care during pregnancy, birth and beyond. Located next door to CHLA at Hollywood Presbyterian Doctors Tower, the Fetal Cardiac Clinic is home to CHLA’s world-class team of specialists trained in diagnosing and treating congenital heart defects and heart diseases before birth. (2/14)

Elevance Health's $2.5 billion bid to acquire Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana is on hold again, the companies announced Wednesday. The health insurers proposed the transaction in January 2023 but encountered resistance in Louisiana. Nonprofit Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana and for-profit Elevance already backed off the deal in September, only to try again in December. (Berryman, 2/14)

Health insurance companies SCAN Group and CareOregon called off their merger Tuesday amid skepticism about the merits of the proposed deal. The companies in December 2022 announced their intent to combine into a $6.8 billion Medicaid and Medicare Advantage insurer, to be called HealthRight Group. The insurers had expected to complete the deal last year. The Oregon Health Authority twice delayed offering a recommendation on whether to approve the proposed transaction at the request of the companies and was scheduled to offer its opinion on the matter March 18. (Tepper, 2/14)

Deborah Weymouth, the chief executive officer of Manchester Memorial and Rockville General hospitals, owned by embattled Prospect Medical Holdings, will take the reins of Waterbury Hospital, the third Prospect facility in Connecticut. (Carlesso and Altimari, 2/14)

More healthcare organizations are looking at their real estate portfolios as a way to combat high operating costs and inflation by consolidating space and shedding lesser-used properties. Providers have always had to rationalize their square footage needs. Now, however, there is increased emphasis on finding efficiencies—and savings—because of the changing shape of healthcare services. (DeSilva, 2/14)

The level of care patients receive in a medical emergency varies widely based on where 911 is being dialed. A first-of-its-kind study of emergency medical service systems' performance across the country points to opportunities to improve patient care when the pressure is on. (Millman, 2/14)

The study found that participants with higher body temperatures also reported higher rates of depressive symptoms and feelings of depression using temperatures taken while users were awake. ... While it’s not clear if poor body temperature regulation is a symptom of depression or vice versa, the researchers said people with depression overall had a change to their natural immune-based feedback system. (Wright, 2/14)

When a wave of depression hits, exercise may sound like the last thing you want to do. But a new study says it could be crucial to feeling better. Many types of exercise — including walking, jogging, yoga, tai chi, aerobic exercises and strength training — showed benefits as strong as therapy when it came to treating depression, according to the study published Wednesday in the BMJ. (Holcombe, 2/14)

Living alone is linked to higher rates of self-reported depression than living with others, according to data released today from a 2021 National Health Interview Survey. (Mallenbaum, 2/15)

There isn’t a silver bullet to maintaining mental acuity or warding off dementia, scientists of aging say. But a combination of genetics, healthy lifestyle habits and factors such as cleaner air and good education have been linked to prolonged mental agility. (Mosbergen, 2/15)

The popular dating apps Tinder, Hinge and the League hook users with the promise of seemingly endless romantic matches in order to push people to pay money to continue their compulsive behavior, according to a federal lawsuit filed in San Francisco on Wednesday. The suit, brought by six plaintiffs in states including New York, California and Florida, argues that dating app parent company Match Group gamifies the services "to transform users into gamblers locked in a search for psychological rewards that Match makes elusive on purpose." (Allyn, 2/14)

Tai chi, a traditional, slow-moving form of Chinese martial art, is known to increase flexibility and improve balance. Now, new research suggests it's better than more vigorous aerobic exercises for lowering blood pressure in people with prehypertension. Prehypertension is blood pressure that's higher than normal but doesn't quite reach the level of high blood pressure, or hypertension. It's considered a warning sign that heart disease may be ahead, and it raises the risk of having a heart attack. (Godoy, 2/14)

The length of antibiotic therapy for US patients hospitalized with uncomplicated community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) has decreased but remains excessive for too many patients, researchers reported today in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology. (Dall, 2/14)

A groundbreaking scientific study has unveiled a remarkable discovery that may have far-reaching implications for the treatment of heart disease. The implications are immense offering glimpses of a future where heart disease may no longer be an irreversible condition but a challenge that can be overcome through medical intervention. (Texas Heart Institute, 2/14)

A large study in Spain finds that COVID-19 is associated with a 30% increased risk of major cardiovascular events in people with HIV during the year following infection. The study is published in Clinical Microbiology and Infection. (Soucheray, 2/12)

The U.S. government did not violate the University of South Florida's patent rights by breeding mice with Alzheimer's disease for research purposes, a federal appeals court said on Friday. The government had the right to use the patented mice based on the National Institutes of Health's funding of the USF research that led to the patent, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit determined. (Brittain, 2/9)

Last month, drugmaker Eli Lilly took a stand against using its two antidiabetic medications, Mounjaro and Zepbound, for cosmetic weight loss. In a public letter, the company emphatically said, in part, “Mounjaro and Zepbound are indicated for the treatment of serious diseases; they are not approved for — and should not be used for — cosmetic weight loss.” (Elizabeth Wassenaar, 2/15)

More than 100,000 doctors have left private practice and become employees of hospitals and other corporate entities since 2019. Today, nearly three in four physicians are employees of larger health care entities or other corporations — a record high. As an independent physician, I know exactly why so many are making that choice. (Paul Berggreen, 2/15)

I’ve lived in Kansas for 35 years, and for most of that time, the state has been a wonderful place to raise three kids and build my career as a leader in community health care. Through my work, I’ve seen firsthand how important access to community health care is, first as executive director of the E.C. Tyree clinic in northeast Wichita, and currently as co-executive director of Trust Women, providing reproductive health care to Kansans and many other people from across the region. (Shaunta James-Boyd, 2/15)

Walt Myers recently shared the financial difficulties he endured because of the $135,000 in medical bills he owed to cover his late wife's breast cancer treatments. At a Feb. 9 State Capitol news conference, the Lakeville resident spoke in support of proposed legislation that would end spousal liability for medical debt. (2/14)

As a neurologist who specializes in critical care, I believe we need a clearer, more consistent legal definition of death. The Uniform Determination of Death Act (UDDA), the legal standard for death throughout the U.S., has deficiencies, particularly with respect to the description of death by neurologic criteria, aka brain death. This causes confusion and moral distress for both families and health care teams and can lead to protracted lawsuits about whether a person is alive or dead. (Ariane Lewis, 2/14)

The worst thing about this stomach-turning mass shooting on what had been such a proud and jubilant occasion is just how unsurprising it was. Two people were shot at last year’s parade for the Denver Nuggets after their NBA championship last year. Seven were shot and killed at a July Fourth parade in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park in 2022. (Melinda Henneberger, 2/14)