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The COVID-19 pandemic’s early death toll was much higher than the official U.S. count, according to a new study that spotlights dramatic disparities in the uncounted deaths. About 840,000 COVID-19 deaths were reported on death certificates in 2020 and 2021. But a group of researchers — using a form of artificial intelligence — estimate that as many as 155,000 unrecognized additional deaths likely occurred in that time outside of hospitals. That would mean about 16% of COVID-19 deaths went uncounted in those years. (Stobbe, 3/18)

In the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly 75% of hospitalized COVID patients received antibiotics on admission, primarily because of limited treatment options and concerns about bacterial coinfections. One of those antibiotics was azithromycin, a macrolide antibiotic commonly used for respiratory infections. Use of azithromycin was driven in part by a study, now retracted, that suggested it could improve outcomes in COVID patients when used in combination with the antimalaria drug hydroxychloroquine. Although subsequent trials would find the combination had no benefit for COVID patients, widespread azithromycin use continued for several months. (Dall, 3/18)

More on vaccines and RSV —

With a backlash against vaccines following the Covid-19 pandemic — and the rise of health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — there has been an intense focus among some in the United States on the importance of individual autonomy and “medical freedom” when it comes to choosing which immunizations to get and when. (Branswell, 3/19)

Dr. Adam Ratner hovered over a gravely ill infant in a New York City intensive care unit on a grim day in 2022. The 3-month-old girl spiked a fever two days earlier and had become lethargic. Soon she was having seizures and struggling to breathe. She didn’t register Ratner’s towering frame or the bright hospital lights. Her eyes stared up and to the right, eerily frozen.  (Callahan, 3/19)

The respiratory illness RSV is still going strong in Chicago — an unusually late showing for the virus, which can strike infants especially hard. RSV activity has moved from moderate to high in Chicago, according to the Chicago Department of Public Health. Though it’s typical for RSV to spread more widely in the winter — along with illnesses like the flu and COVID-19 — it’s often more prevalent earlier in the season. (Schencker, 3/18)

The CDC recommends taking extra precautions against polio if you travel —

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated a travel advisory earlier this month that recommends travelers take extra precautions when visiting certain countries where polio is circulating. (Felton, 3/19)

Democrats are laying out their plans to rebuild the health care system in the hopes of eventually regaining control of Congress and the White House. On Thursday, a dozen Senate Democrats proposed a framework for private health insurance with the goal of making it affordable, and more standardized and simple. (Wilkerson, 3/19)

Provider consolidation was tip of the tongue Wednesday during a hearing that sat hospital and physician association leaders across from legislators. Members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Health often returned to the issue when seeking answers on the drivers of, and solutions for, Americans’ rising healthcare costs. (Muoio, 3/18)

On ACA subsidies and affordability —

Nearly one in 10 people who had Affordable Care Act plans last year dropped health insurance altogether, after premium costs rose sharply because of the expiration of federal subsidies, according to a new survey. Most of those who remained in ACA plans reported larger out-of-pocket healthcare expenses in the form of higher copays, coinsurance or deductibles, according to the survey from health-research nonprofit �鶹Ů��. About one-sixth of those who still have ACA coverage, or 17%, weren’t sure they would be able to afford their new premium payments for the entire year, indicating more people might drop insurance as the year goes on. (Wilde Mathews, 3/19)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: Many ACA Customers Are Paying Higher Premiums. Most Blame Trump And Republicans, Poll Finds
Most people who get their health coverage through the Affordable Care Act say they face sharply higher costs, with many worried they will have to pare back other expenses to cover them, according to a poll released Thursday. Some are uncertain whether they will be able to continue paying their premiums all year. Still, 69% of those enrolled last year signed up again this year, often for less generous coverage. About 9% said they had to forgo insurance, according to the survey by �鶹Ů��, a health information nonprofit that includes �鶹Ů�� Health News. (Appleby, 3/19)

Roughly half of Americans fall short of the annual income needed to cover their basic needs, according to new research. A U.S. family with children needs about $145,000 in income to be considered economically secure, according to a March 16 report from the Urban Institute. About 49% of Americans live below that financial threshold, the nonpartisan think tank found. In 2024 (the latest available data), the median household income for married couples in the U.S. was $128,700, U.S. Census data shows. (Picchi, 3/18)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: Watch: Affordability Plagues Health Care In Its Shift From Nonprofit To Profit Machine
On What the Health? From �鶹Ů�� Health News, distributed by WAMU, chief Washington correspondent and host Julie Rovner sat down with Drew Altman, president and CEO of �鶹Ů��, to talk about the likelihood of a national health care debate to rein in costs. As the midterm elections approach, the cost of health care is the public’s top economic concern, Altman said. Although past reforms have significantly increased the number of people with health insurance, they have not successfully addressed affordability, he said. (Rovner, 3/19)

On TrumpRx —

Americans are furious about drug prices. The Trump administration’s answer? A new website. But more than a month after its launch, the site, TrumpRx.gov, remains small — offering discounts on just 54 prescription drugs. Many of those drugs already have cheaper generic versions or savings programs available elsewhere, and the discounts can’t be used with insurance or count toward a deductible. Awareness of the site remains limited. (Lovelace Jr., 3/18)

Billionaire enterpreneur Mark Cuban on Wednesday touted the federal government’s TrumpRx drug platform, saying the initiative is saving Americans money. “Everyone wants me to rip on TrumpRx,” Cuban wrote on the social platform X. “Reality is, it’s saving patients money on IVF and a few other drugs. A lot of money. IMO, anything that saves patients money is a win.” Cuban, who has criticized President Trump and endorsed former Vice President Harris in the 2024 presidential race, co-founded Cost Plus Drugs — which intends to cut out pharmaceutical middlemen and reduce the price of prescription drugs — in 2022. (Rego, 3/18)

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has detained and deported hundreds of pregnant, postpartum and nursing immigrants since the start of the Trump administration, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed for the first time Wednesday. Federal policy says that such individuals should only be detained in limited circumstances. (Luthra, 3/18)

Amanda Isabel Fanego Cardoso was about 11 weeks pregnant when she was detained last September, then transferred between five immigration facilities over several months. Because her medical care was so limited, she said, it was only after her release this February that she learned she had developed potentially life threatening pregnancy-related conditions. (Luthra, 3/18)

Updates from the FDA —

The Food and Drug Administration official in charge of reviewing infectious disease products is leaving the agency, according to an email viewed by STAT. (Lawrence, 3/18)

The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday withdrew a proposed rule that would have barred all Americans under age 18 from using tanning beds. Dozens of states — including California, Delaware, Illinois, Kansas and Minnesota — as well as Washington, D.C., already ban the use of tanning beds for minors. Other states have restrictions that allow teens to use tanning beds with parental consent. (Sullivan, 3/18)

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Office of Coordinated Outbreak Response, Evaluation, & Emergency Preparedness (CORE+EP) has released its annual report on 2024 foodborne illness investigations, showing that vegetables and fruits were responsible for 60% of illnesses, trailed by multi-ingredient foods (20%), dairy products (10%), and nuts and seeds and eggs (5% each). The multi-ingredient foods were frozen shakes, shrimp salad, bagged salad mix, chocolates, gummies, and cones, while the nuts were walnuts, and the cheese consisted of raw cheddar, queso fresco, and cotija. The produce included mangoes, romaine lettuce, spinach, cucumbers, jalapeno peppers, carrots, onions, sprouts, alfalfa sprouts, basil, and parsley. (Van Beusekom, 3/18)

The FDA approved the Trilogy Transcatheter Heart Valve System for the treatment of symptomatic severe aortic regurgitation, device maker JenaValve Technology announced. This approval makes Trilogy the only transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) system indicated for patients with symptomatic severe aortic regurgitation who are at high risk for surgical aortic valve replacement. (Lou, 3/18)

On federal funding for scientists —

A nationwide STAT survey of federally funded researchers reveals that, a year after Donald Trump’s return to the White House, many academic scientists are reeling. Rather than waning, the impacts of the administration’s seismic changes to science funding are intensifying, causing researchers to drastically scale back the ambition of their work and driving some to shut down their labs entirely. (Wosen, 3/19)

Scientists, as a whole, are a resilient and patient bunch. Expanding the frontiers of human knowledge by even an iota can take decades and comes with frequent disappointment. But for many, the uncertainty they’ve confronted over the past year, amid a dizzying array of funding cuts, delays, and other changes by the Trump administration, is unprecedented. It has caused some biomedical researchers to hit their breaking point. (Wosen and Oza, 3/19)

When the CBS News Texas I‑Team returned to a small North Austin office tied to an alleged multimillion‑dollar Medicare billing scheme, two workers were inside placing what appeared to be medical billing records into large black trash bags. They did not respond when asked whether someone instructed them to discard the documents. Weeks earlier, the same two employees told the I‑Team they had been hired to open mail and scan documents and were unaware of the fraud allegations or arrest of the man who ran the company. (New, 3/17)

Doctors and other providers in six states must get permission from AI-driven tech companies before giving seniors selected medical care. The experiment is a pilot program that could be expanded. (Adams, 3/17)

A pair of federal watchdog reports released Thursday urge Medicare to do more to crack down on nursing homes’ use of antipsychotic drugs and inappropriate schizophrenia diagnoses for residents with dementia. (Bannow, 3/19)

More health care industry developments —

The cyberattack against Stryker Corp. has delayed surgeries for some patients, the company said Wednesday, adding to the fallout from the incident last week. The medical technology company said its products are safe and its systems are being restored, but disruptions to ordering, manufacturing and shipping have held up procedures for patients waiting on custom implants. (Swetlitz and Thornton, 3/18)

A $900 million proposal to build a new hospital in South Fulton aims to address what some call a medical desert. South Fulton doesn't have any hospitals. People who live there have to drive some 30 minutes or more to get to an emergency room. A proposal to build a hospital in Union City would make emergency room care more accessible. (Head, 3/17)

Highmark Health and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City are set to finalize an affiliation agreement. The deal, which resembles an acquisition with no cash changing hands, was approved by the Missouri Commerce and Insurance Department. The affiliation is expected to close March 31, the two parties announced Tuesday. (Tong, 3/18)

Technology company MedArrive acquired some software assets of shuttered hospital-at-home company Inbound Health. MedArrive announced the purchase Wednesday but did not disclose financial terms. (Eastabrook, 3/18)

Geisinger is asking Pennsylvania regulators to relax capital requirements for its insurance businesses, set as part of its 2024 acquisition by Risant Health. Risk-based capital requirements are designed to ensure an organization has enough money in reserve to cover the risks it assumes. Geisinger is requesting the requirement threshold be lowered for the next 13 years, according to a filing it made on behalf of its insurance subsidiaries and Risant with the Pennsylvania Insurance Department. (Hudson, 3/18)

States shut down more troubled health insurance companies in 2025 than during the prior year, but the total remained below historical trends. Georgia and Minnesota each declared Sonder Health Plans and UCare insolvent last year, according to a preliminary analysis of financial filings the credit ratings agency AM Best performed for Modern Healthcare. In 2024, Opticare Vision Services was the sole health-related insurance company subject to these measures when Utah placed it in rehabilitation, AM Best reported last week. (Tepper, 3/18)

Also —

In her surgical care for women with reproductive cancers, Dr. Maryann Wilbur said she faced repeated demands from both insurance companies and the hospitals she worked for to compromise on providing the best care for her patients. “You start to see there are perverse incentives in both directions to withhold care — to perform care that is not needed — to perform the wrong care,” Wilbur told The Baltimore Sun. “What we have here is a reimbursement model that is based around the dollar and not on patient outcomes.” (Hille, 3/18)

If you need help —

Thousands of mothers in Wisconsin will now have access to postpartum Medicaid coverage after Gov. Tony Evers signed a bill extending the program from 60 days to one year. The effort has been years in the making, with Evers including it in all four of his proposed budgets since he took office in 2019. In a press release after he signed the bill, Evers said he’s proud to have gotten it “across the finish line.” (Peek, 3/18)

More health news from across the U.S. —

Nine gubernatorial candidates attended a forum Wednesday in Augusta hosted by the Maine Primary Care Association. The candidates — four Democrats, four independents and one Republican — all agreed that Maine’s next governor must tackle an increasingly costly and complex health care crisis. Several have already released health plans, though on Wednesday they differed on how and where to focus spending. (Kail, 3/18)

Delawareans with private insurance pay some of the highest prices in the nation for hospital services. Research also shows the state’s hospitals generally have higher profits than the national average. New legislation sponsored by Senate Majority leader Bryan Townsend, D-Newark, aims to invest more in primary care and reduce hospital spending. But the powerful health care lobby fiercely opposes the bill. (Mueller, 3/17)

In a bid for transparency in pharmaceutical marketing, a bill introduced in the Maryland legislature would require drugmakers to disclose that they sell or are developing a medicine to combat an illness in disease awareness advertisements. (Silverman, 3/18)

$10 million in federal funding is now available for critical access hospitals in North Dakota, as part of the first year of the Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP). The funding opportunity is meant to support the retention of health care professionals in North Dakota’s 37 critical access hospitals and their clinics, thus making rural healthcare more sustainable throughout the state. (Segal, 3/18)

Rhode Island health officials are warning the public after a spike in non-fatal drug overdoses last week surpassed a statewide threshold for the first time since 2023. Officials noted that fentanyl continues to be detected in stimulants such as cocaine and crack cocaine, as well as counterfeit pills — putting people who use stimulants at heightened risk of opioid overdose, particularly those with lower opioid tolerance. (Belmore, 3/18)

Hallucinogenic chocolate bars were removed from six Denver-area gas stations. The PolkaDot-branded chocolate bars were marketed as “mushroom blends” and said to include lion’s mane, reishi, turkey tail and cordyceps — all non-hallucinogenic varieties. But laboratory tests showed otherwise. The bars contained psychoactive drugs: psilocybin and psilocin, the principal psychedelics found in Psilocybe mushrooms, as well as other chemical relatives called synthetic tryptamines. (Kroll, 3/17)

We analyzed data from more than 2,600 households reporting the use of medical devices, drawn from a nationally representative federal survey of nearly 18,500 American homes. Using statistical modeling, we identified four distinct groups, each facing a very different situation when the power goes out. (Dean and Asmussen, 3/18)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: Oz Says California’s Not Fighting Health Care Fraud, But Data Shows It’s Part Of A Larger Battle
For weeks, Mehmet Oz has been waging a public feud with California leaders over health care fraud, accusing the blue state of failing to adequately combat such abuse. Oz, who heads the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, alleged that there was approximately $3.5 billion of fraud in the hospice and home health care industry in Los Angeles County alone. “This administration under President [Donald] Trump is not going to tolerate taxpayer dollars being stolen because people aren’t paying attention anymore. We’re focused on this,” Oz said. (Thompson, 3/19)

Also —

Friends arranged the ceremony over the weekend, making sure Bill Kerwin, a local coach and school district staffer, enjoyed seeing the major life milestone happen. (Wang, 3/17)

Women who go through menopause before turning 40 have a significantly higher lifelong risk of heart attacks than women who go through the transition later, according to a new study. The study found that women who went through what is referred to as premature menopause had 40 percent more fatal and nonfatal heart attacks throughout the course of their lives than those who went through menopause after 40. (Rabin, 3/18)

On abortion and 'crisis pregnancy centers' —

In the years since the US Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022, Massachusetts has emerged as a major national provider of abortion care, with new state data showing terminations using medication have more than doubled, and most patients receiving care are from out of state. The increase was driven largely by the rapid expansion of telehealth services in which providers can prescribe abortion pills, as well as a surge of patients traveling from states that imposed tighter restrictions following the Supreme Court decision. (Rahal, 3/18)

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced today that it is launching investigations into 13 states for violating a federal health refusal clause and “coercing” healthcare entities into providing or performing abortion services. The states HHS will be investigating are California, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Vermont and Washington. States will have 20 days to respond to letters sent by HHS. (Choi, 3/19)

An Anaconda man accused of planning to kill an abortion provider in Missoula earlier this month and firing a gun at a Helena clinic in 2023 is being held on $5 million bail. After his arrest, Charles Felix Jones, 20, admitted to firing into the front entry of the Helena Planned Parenthood clinic in 2023 when he was 17 years old, according to charging documents. Neither the police nor the FBI had previously identified a suspect in the case. (Fairbanks, 3/18)

While Sen. Josh Hawley's bill won't get Democratic votes needed to advance in the Senate, it's roiling the waters within the GOP caucus. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), locked in a tough primary, quickly endorsed the legislation. Senate health committee Chair Bill Cassidy (R-La.), who's also facing a primary challenge, held a hearing in January on what he termed the dangers of mifepristone but hasn't said whether his panel will take up Hawley's bill. Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio), who faces a competitive reelection race, told Axios he hasn't seen Hawley's bill when asked for his position on it. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) likewise said he had not seen the bill. But asked if Republicans are talking about the issue in general, he replied, "No." (Sullivan, 3/19)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: Lawmakers Seek To Protect Crisis Pregnancy Centers As Abortion Clinic Numbers Shrink
Conservative lawmakers in multiple states are pushing legislation drafted by an anti-abortion advocacy group to increase protections for crisis pregnancy centers, organizations that provide some health-related services but also work to dissuade women from having abortions. The legislation would prohibit state and local governments from requiring crisis pregnancy centers to perform abortions, provide referrals for abortion services, or inform patients about such services or contraception options. It also would allow crisis pregnancy centers to sue the violating government entity. (Orozco Rodriguez, 3/19)

A new study suggests men's health may significantly influence their partners' pregnancy outcomes, as well as their children's future health. The new review, published in the journal The Lancet on Monday, analyzed multiple studies and concluded that a man's health prior to conception, including their mental health, nutrition, lifestyle choices like smoking, and environmental factors, may all have an impact on their partner's pregnancy. (Jinnah and Yu, 3/17)

Logistical advantages and safety aside, whole-blood transfusion offered no clinical improvement for the treatment of life-threatening hemorrhage in the prehospital setting, the randomized SWiFT trial found. (Lou, 3/17)

Shingles vaccination may halve the one-year risk of serious cardiac events among older adults who have heart disease, adding to accumulating evidence that the vaccine may protect against health conditions in addition to shingles (herpes zoster), University of California researchers say. The study findings will be presented at the upcoming American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Session in New Orleans. (Van Beusekom, 3/17)

Patients with hidradenitis suppurative (HS) had a significantly higher incidence of self-harm, including suicide, compared with the general population, a large registry-based study from Denmark showed. (Bankhead, 3/16)

Telehealth use is associated with higher adherence to endocrine therapy among women with breast cancer, according to a study in the Journal of Cancer Survivorship. Researchers from Athens-based University of Georgia analyzed claims data from the Merative MarketScan database, examining more than 1,100 commercially insured women under age 65 who were diagnosed with nonmetastatic breast cancer and started endocrine therapy in 2018 and followed for five years after. (Bruce, 3/16)

The wide-ranging suspicions being voiced in East Palestine mirror what we hear as hosts of a podcast that explores the breakdown in Americans’ trust in public health, medicine, science and one another. Alongside a doctor and virologist, we convene discussions among public health veterans, scientists and populist critics of traditional health institutions. (Brinda Adhikari and Tom W. Johnson, 3/17)

The nation’s health crisis is a design flaw, not a lack of personal responsibility. (Aaron E. Carroll, 3/19)

The 340B drug discount program requires manufacturers to sell drugs to safety-net hospitals at deep discounts, so they can reinvest the savings into care for low-income and uninsured patients. (Sujith Ramachandran, 3/19)

An influx of new providers raises questions about quality. (3/19)

If the rise of precautionary full-body scans, experimental anti-aging treatments and trendy supplements tells us anything, it’s that we’re obsessed with living as long as possible. (Lara Williams, 3/19)