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The Supreme Court will hear arguments about access to the abortion medication mifepristone on March 26. The lawsuit is the first major test of abortion limits to go before the highest court since the same panel overturned federal abortion rights in June 2022. It also could have massive ramifications for the Food and Drug Administration’s authority. (Owermohle, 1/29)

Pennsylvania’s highest court on Monday stopped just short of recognizing abortion access as a right protected by the state’s constitution. But in a fractured decision, three of the five justices weighing that question signaled that they could be open to making such a finding in the future. The debate arose in a case on a much narrower issue — a challenge to a state law limiting Medicaid funding for abortions except in cases involving rape, incest, or danger to the life of the mother. (Roebuck, Gantz, and McGoldrick, 1/29)

Abortion rights supporters in Florida are concerned about legislation that could allow parents to sue for civil damages in the death of a fetus. The bill would add “parents of an unborn child” to the list of people allowed to file wrongful death lawsuits. It specifies that legal action could not be brought against the mother. (Colombini, 1/29)

Vice President Kamala Harris brought her abortion rights tour to California on Monday, elevating the issue in a left-leaning state as Democrats nationwide warn that Republicans could enact a federal ban on the procedure if they take control of Congress on election day. At an event at the Mexican Heritage Plaza in San Jose, Harris applauded the state for having some of the nation’s strongest abortion access protections but rallied California voters to remain “vigilant” and to take the issue seriously in congressional races in November. (Mays, 1/29)

Anti-abortion groups have not yet persuaded Donald Trump to commit to signing a national ban if he returns to the White House. But, far from being deterred, those groups are designing a far-reaching anti-abortion agenda for the former president to implement as soon as he is in office. In emerging plans that involve everything from the EPA to the Federal Trade Commission to the Postal Service, nearly 100 anti-abortion and conservative groups are mapping out ways the next president can use the sprawling federal bureaucracy to curb abortion access. (Ollstein, 1/29)

When Donald Trump ran for president in 2016, many wondered how evangelical Christians could vote for him, a twice-divorced real estate magnate better known for a reality TV show, playboy image, and rumored affairs than for his faith. There was a common refrain: It's all about abortion. For a certain segment of evangelical Christians and Republicans, that's certainly true. But increasingly, for those who identify as evangelical Christians, abortion is not at the top of the priority list, experts said. (Vlamis, 1/29)

A new report from the Department of Defense inspector general found the military-run White House Medical Unit provided a wide range of health care and pharmaceutical services to ineligible staff, in violation of federal law and policy, with senior leaders in the unit directing practices out of line with Pentagon guidance. The report also found White House military medical unit providers said they weren't empowered to deny requests from senior unit leaders. (Watson, 1/29)

Attorney General Merrick Garland will hand off duties over the weekend to his top deputy while he undergoes lower back surgery on Saturday, Justice Department spokeswoman Xochitl Hinojosa said in a statement. Hinojosa described the surgery as “minimally invasive” and said Garland, 71, would be under general anesthesia for about 90 minutes. He is expected to return home the same day as the surgery and plans to report back to work next week. (Stein, 1/29)

Elon Musk’s neurotech startup Neuralink implanted its device in a human for the first time on Sunday, and the patient is “recovering well,” the billionaire said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Monday. The company is developing a brain implant that aims to help patients with severe paralysis control external technologies using only neural signals. (Capoot, 1/29)

Placed in the part of the brain that plans movements, the device is designed to interpret a person’s neural activity, so they can control external devices such as a smartphone or computer with their thoughts, Neuralink’s website says. The device is currently in clinical trials, which are open to some individuals who have quadriplegia due to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or a spinal cord injury, according to a recruitment pamphlet. Musk said Monday that the first Neuralink product will be called Telepathy and initially used by people who have lost the ability to use their limbs. “Imagine if Stephen Hawking could communicate faster than a speed typist or auctioneer,” he wrote. “That’s the goal.” (Ables, 1/30)

Neuralink builds on decades of technology aimed at implanting electrodes in human brains to interpret signals and treat conditions such as paralysis, epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease. One early device is known as the Utah array, which was first demonstrated in a human in 2004. Many competitors have entered the field, including Synchron and Precision Neuroscience. (McBride, 1/29)

It’s a potentially significant breakthrough in the field of brain-computer interface technology and the development will also have implications for the tech sector. Musk’s aim is for people to control smartphones and computers. Big Tech names such as the likes of Apple, Microsoft and others will undoubtedly be monitoring Neuralink’s progress even if they don’t plan to get involved in brain-computer interface technology for now. (Keown, 1/30)

Elon Musk says no primates died as a result of Neuralink’s implants. A WIRED investigation now reveals the grisly specifics of their deaths as US authorities have been asked to investigate Musk’s claims. (Mehrotra and Cameron, 9/20/23)

OSF HealthCare said Monday it will reopen a recently closed hospital in Peru, Illinois. The facility is expected to open April 7 and offer emergency services as well as a limited number of inpatient beds, according to the Peoria, Illinois-based health system. Diagnostic imaging, laboratory, pharmacy, EKG and respiratory services will be available in the emergency department and inpatient units. (DeSilva, 1/29)

US Senator Elizabeth Warren said Monday that Steward Health Care’s explanations for its financial distress “do not add up,” blaming the hospital operator’s problems on the economic motivations of its for-profit business model. In a statement, Warren said she was concerned about Steward’s stability, and that she was appalled by allegations that the company’s financial problems are affecting patient care. Steward has said it is in such a dire position that it may not be able to continue providing services at its nine Massachusetts hospitals. (Bartlett, 1/29)

ProMedica plans to sell Paramount Health, its health insurance subsidiary, to Medical Mutual. There would be no immediate change for members of either insurer and Paramount Health plans would still be available, Medical Mutual said Monday. The deal does not include Paramount Health's dental insurance plan. (DeSilva, 1/29)

2024 looks like another challenging year for hospitals and health systems trying to rebuild. Rising costs for labor, supplies and infrastructure continue to plague providers as they adjust to a new operating environment with higher wages and inflated prices after the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, patient volumes are increasing and putting pressure on existing care facilities, forcing providers to draw from their cash to keep up with demands. (Hudson, 1/29)

A large majority of residents and fellows at Northwestern Medicine hospitals and clinics voted in favor of unionizing, making them the biggest union of medical house staff in the Midwest with nearly 1,300 doctors. (Ahmad, 1/29)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: Where Are The Nation’s Primary Care Providers? It’s Not An Easy Answer 

Clinicians at Valley-Wide Health Systems never know who will appear at their clinic in San Luis, a town of about 600 people in southern Colorado. “If someone’s in labor, they’ll show up. If someone has a laceration, they’ll show up,” said nurse practitioner Emelin Martinez, the chief medical officer for the health care system serving 13 rural Colorado counties. But she struggled to find a full-time medical provider for that clinic, the only one in Costilla County. Born and raised in the area, Martinez filled some of the gap by driving about 45 minutes from Alamosa, the nearest city, once a week for months. A physician assistant from another town chipped in, too. (Bichell, 1/30)

The ban on surprise medical bills protected patients from more than 10 million claims for out-of-network services in the first nine months of 2023, according to new estimates by health insurer groups. But the process for settling billing disputes is still in disarray. (Bettelheim, 1/30)

More providers are participating in cost-cutting alliances of hospitals, doctors and other providers who care for groups of Medicare patients, according to new federal data. But participation in Medicare's dominant value-based payment program is still hovering at levels similar to 2019. (Goldman, 1/30)

Medicare Advantage plans have to follow the same response time frames for drugs administered in a doctor's office or hospital. State Medicaid programs have similar rules for outpatient drugs. Drugs account for a significant share of prior authorization requests, and patients and doctors argue the the new rules, as is, won't increase access to needed treatments. (Goldman, 1/30)

The ubiquity of AI tools like ChatGPT could be a boon to hospitals eager for diagnostic aids or administrative assistants that can flag crucial medical details and ease the burden of repetitive tasks. But security experts say they can just as easily be harnessed by malicious hackers to exploit an industry known for outdated cyber protections. (Ravindranath, 1/30)

Allegations of data manipulation in Dana-Farber Cancer Institute's research has sparked intense scrutiny of a long-revered pillar in cancer treatment and put its once-sparkling reputation into question. Cancer treatment is a big business. Retaining Dana-Farber's long-term standing and preserving its bottom line will depend on how fast the institute moves to control the fallout from a scandal that has made national headlines, marketing and risk management experts said. (Hudson, 1/29)

�鶹Ů�� Health News' 'An Arm and a Leg' Podcast:: Self-Defense 101: Keeping Your Cool While You Fight 

Navigating the U.S. health care system can feel like a “battle royale.” From challenging unfair medical bills to wrestling with insurance companies over pre-authorizations, patients have to be ready to stick up for themselves. So, how can you stay cool and confident in these fights? In this rebroadcast of “An Arm and a Leg” from 2020, host Dan Weissmann hits up self-defense coach Lauren Taylor about strategies for standing up for yourself and hears how she applied her approach in her own fight for health care coverage. (1/30)

Pharmaceutical companies are due to receive by Thursday the U.S. government's opening proposal for what are expected to be significant discounts on 10 of its high-cost medicines, an important step in the Medicare health program's first ever price negotiations. Five Wall Street analysts and two investors told Reuters they expect the negotiations over prices that will go into effect in 2026 to result in cuts ranging from the statutory minimum of 25% to as much as 60% when the final numbers are set in September. (Erman, 1/29)

European antitrust regulators want you to know that fighting crime in the pharmaceutical industry pays. Between 2018 and 2022, the European Commission and antitrust regulators in numerous European countries adopted 26 decisions concerning anti-competitive practices by drug companies by imposing more than $845 million in fines or accepting legally binding commitments by manufacturers to alter their corporate behaviors. All totaled, there were 70 investigations, and 30 remain ongoing, according to a new report. (Silverman, 1/29)

Azurity Pharmaceuticals is recalling some of its ADHD and narcolepsy medication because packages of the drug may contain the wrong pills. The drug maker said in a recent recall notice that it is calling back one lot of Zanzedi 30 mg with lot number F230169A and an expiration date of June 2025. The product is being pulled from shelves after a pharmacist found an antihistamine called carbinoxamine maleate in a package of Zanzedi, the company said. The two medications have opposite effects. (Napolitano, 1/29)

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday warned that global shortages last year of popular diabetes medicines that are also used for weight loss, such as Novo Nordisk's Ozempic, had been linked to rising reports of suspected counterfeits. The organization said fake versions of the drugs, which belong to a class called GLP-1 agonists, are most often sold and distributed through unregulated outlets, including social media platforms, and carry serious health risks. (Wingrove, 1/29)

Drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy — already game changers for diabetes and obesity — are being studied to treat an entirely different growing health problem: mental health illnesses, including depression and bipolar disorder. (Chen, 1/30)

It’s the end of an era for the Food and Drug Administration’s longtime drug chief, but she’s drawn the battle plans for the agency’s next chapter. Janet Woodcock joined the FDA’s biologics division in 1986 but soon moved to the drug side, where over nearly three decades, she oversaw hundreds of reviews, new and evolving classes of therapies and several clashes with Congress and patient advocates. (Owermohle, 1/30)

Five patients in the United Kingdom have developed Alzheimer’s disease that appears to be the result of contaminated injections they received as children decades ago, according to a new study that could change the way scientists think about the causes of dementia — and cause anxiety in patients who underwent the same therapy. All five patients received injections of human growth hormone from cadavers for several years as a treatment for very short stature, according to the study, which was published Monday in the journal Nature Medicine. Scientists extracted the hormone from the cadavers’ pituitary glands, located at the base of the brain. (Szabo, 1/29)

Wrapped in a purple blanket, Robert Williford settles into a quiet corner of a bustling neurology clinic, an IV line delivering a colorless liquid into his left arm. The 67-year-old, who has early Alzheimer’s disease, is getting his initial dose of Leqembi. The drug is the first to clearly slow the fatal neurodegenerative ailment that afflicts 6.7 million older Americans, though the benefits may be modest. The retired social worker, one of the first African Americans to receive the treatment, hopes it will ease his forgetfulness so “I drive my wife less crazy.” (McGinley, 1/29)

Older adults spend an average of three weeks every year on doctor’s appointments and other health care outside their homes, according to research published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Of those 21 “health care contact days,” 17 involve ambulatory services, such as office visits with primary-care doctors or specialists, testing and imaging, procedures, treatments and therapy. The remaining four days included time spent in an emergency room, hospital, skilled nursing facility or hospice. (Searing, 1/29)

Health insurers are investing in Medicare Advantage programs and supplemental benefits to tackle social isolation and loneliness in older adults, but they may not be reaching all the enrolles who could benefit. Whether health insurers' spending on programs to mitigate isolation and loneliness is reducing overall healthcare costs is unclear. A 2017 AARP analysis of Medicare data found socially isolated adults were associated with $7 billion in additional spending. (Eastabrook, 1/29)

The FDA recently approved the first-ever, at-home sterile insemination kit. PherDal Fertility Science received clearance last month after various tests did not raise "any new questions on the safety or effectiveness" of the product, as stated in the FDA's approval letter. PherDal's creator and CEO, Dr. Jennifer Hintzsche of Dixon, Illinois, confirmed to Fox News Digital that there have been 34 babies born from the first 200 proof-of-concept kits that were released. (Stabile, 1/26)

A new study identifies factors that might predict whether someone will have a migraine headache the next day. Chronic migraines are a leading cause of disability in people under 50, affecting more than 10% of people worldwide. ... They found that participants who had poor sleep quality and low energy were more likely to have a migraine the next morning. (Marshall, 1/29)

Teenagers who use cannabis, alcohol and nicotine are more likely to have underlying psychiatric symptoms, and worse symptoms, than their peers who are not regularly using substances, new research has found. The research, published Monday in JAMA Pediatrics, found that such substances are linked to an array of symptoms and conditions, including anxiety, depression, hyperactivity and suicidal ideation. These findings suggest that asking adolescents about substance use may provide a powerful screening tool when looking for underlying mental health issues, researchers said. (Richtel, 1/29)

College students who face discrimination are more likely than their peers to report high levels of social isolation, suicidal ideation and general distress to their counselors, according to a new report from the Center for Collegiate Mental Health at Penn State University. Those rates are even higher for students who experience multiple kinds of discrimination—say, both racism and sexism. And while students who have experienced discrimination see their mental health symptoms improve in counseling at a rate similar to other students, they still leave therapy with higher overall rates of distress, isolation and suicidal ideation than their peers, the report found. (Alonso, 1/29)

Social media companies design their feeds to be as gripping as possible, with complicated algorithms shuffling posts and ads into a never-ending stream of entertainment. A new California law would require companies to shut off those algorithms by default for users under 18, and implement other mandated tweaks that lawmakers say would reduce the negative mental health effects of social media on children. (Dean, 1/29)

For years, parents and providers have criticized what they see as a disorganized system for finding children mental health care in Illinois. State leaders are hoping a new partnership will change that. The Illinois Department of Human Services is partnering with Google to launch a new centralized portal for children’s mental health care, state officials announced Monday. (Raju, 1/30)

A group of Republican state lawmakers wants to expand parental consent requirements for medical and mental health services provided to children. But multiple health care groups are calling the proposal unnecessary, and warning of unintended consequences. Senate Bill 573 would require public and private entities to get parents’ permission before providing or “arranging” any surgery, physical exam, medication or mental health care for their child. (Cuno-Booth, 1/29)

James Tatsch was not charged with any crime. But when he was found unresponsive in an isolation cell at the Alcorn County Jail on Jan. 17, he had been locked up for 12 days. He died at the local hospital. Tatsch was waiting for mental health treatment through Mississippi’s involuntary commitment process. Every year, hundreds of people going through the process are detained in county jails for days or weeks at a time while they wait for evaluations, hearings and treatment. They are generally treated like criminal defendants and receive little or no mental health care while jailed. Mississippi Today and ProPublica previously reported that since 2006, at least 14 people have died after being jailed during this process. (Taft, 1/30)

Canada is postponing a plan to offer people suffering from mental illnesses the option of a medically assisted death, two cabinet ministers said on Monday. The announcement by Mark Holland, the health minister, and Arif Virani, the justice minister, came after a special parliamentary committee looking into the plan concluded that there are not enough doctors, particularly psychiatrists, in the country to assess patients with mental illnesses who want to end their lives and to help them do so. (Austen, 1/29)

The Supreme Court will this March will hear arguments centered on the government’s role in communicating — and sometimes censoring — pertinent public health information in the midst of a pandemic. At the core of the lawsuit is whether the federal government’s requests for social media and search giants like Google, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to moderate Covid-19 misinformation violated users’ First Amendment rights. (Owermohle, 1/29)

U.S. Health Secretary Xavier Becerra defended federal COVID isolation guidelines Monday that California earlier this month announced it was deviating from to shorten the amount of time people who test positive should stay home — a change that so far hasn’t led to a new spike in cases. ... “The CDC’s information is guidance, it is not mandatory, it is the best judgment of the experts who have been reviewing the evidence and data on what COVID is doing,” Becerra, secretary of Health and Human Services, said in an interview Monday with the Bay Area News Group during a stop in San Jose. (Woolfolk, 1/29)

At least one king penguin is suspected to have died from bird flu in the Antarctic. If confirmed, it will be the first of the species killed by the highly contagious H5N1 virus in the wild. Researchers have previously raised alarm about “one of the largest ecological disasters of modern times” if bird flu reached remote Antarctic penguin populations. ... Separately, at least one gentoo penguin has been confirmed to have died from H5N1 on the Falkland Islands – 900 miles (1,500km) west of South Georgia – with more than 20 chicks either dead or also showing symptoms. (Weston, 1/29)

Dogs are falling sick with a mystery illness across the United States, with cases being recorded in at least 19 states, according to the latest figures from Louisiana State University's School of Veterinary Medicine. Cases of Atypical Canine Infectious Respiratory Disease Complex (aCIRDC), as it has been dubbed until the cause of the illness is established, have appeared in Maine, North Dakota and Texas most recently, after being found among dogs in 16 states in mid-December. It was previously documented in 14 states as of the end of November. (Phillips, 1/29)

The Texas Supreme Court will hear a legal challenge Tuesday to a new state law banning doctors from prescribing gender-affirming care for transgender youth, a prohibition that a district court judge said was unconstitutional. (Melhado, 1/30)

Ohio politicians may be poised to consider whether the state might break its unofficial moratorium on the death penalty by following Alabama in using nitrogen gas to execute inmates. Ohio hasn’t executed anyone since 2018. In 2020, Republican Gov. Mike DeWine declared lethal injection “no longer an option,” citing a federal judge’s ruling that the protocol could cause inmates “severe pain and needless suffering.” Republican state Attorney General Dave Yost scheduled a news conference Tuesday to discuss “next steps to kickstart” Ohio’s capital punishment system. (Smyth, 1/30)

The large Florida hospital that shut down surgeries abruptly this month over concerns about sterilized operative room equipment is suspending all nonemergency surgeries for an additional week as it grapples with issues that could lead to serious patient infections, surgeons said. (Sandoval, 1/29)

Colorado may become the third state to allow out-of-state residents to receive medical aid in dying through a bill that would also shorten the mandatory waiting period for people seeking to end their lives. Senate Bill 68, which was introduced in the legislature on Jan. 22, would shrink the waiting period to 48 hours from 15 days and also let advanced practice registered nurses, in addition to doctors, prescribe aid-in-dying medication. (Paul, 1/30)

At Duke Health, annual openings for nurses hover around 5,000. For nursing care assistants, the hospital system sees more than 1,200 openings. The list goes on and on: certified medical assistants, 350 openings; respiratory care practitioners, 170; medical lab scientists, 170; clinical research coordinators, 100; surgical technicians, 100. (Fernandez, 1/30)

Calls for reform, increased staffing and resources for Broward’s four jail facilities are rising following reports of 21 inmate deaths in less than three years. The latest happened last week when Joseph Kirk, a 34-year-old inmate in the Broward County’s Main Jail in Fort Lauderdale, died at the facility’s hospital. Kirk was being held on a misdemeanor charge in the Main Jail’s detox unit. His death is under investigation. (Acevedo, 1/29)

Fresh data from the American Cancer Society show colon cancer is now the leading cause of cancer deaths in men under the age of 50. Among women under age 50, colon cancer is second only to breast cancer. Not so long ago, colon cancer ranked fourth in that age group. (Lisa Jarvis, 1/30)

In recent years, a handful of countries have authorized medically assisted dying in the form of lethal injections or other interventions administered actively by physicians. In the United States, assisted dying still takes only the comparatively passive form of “physician-assisted suicide,” in which doctors prescribe a lethal dose of medications for self-administration. The practice is lawful in 10 states and in D.C. We have supported limited assisted dying programs of this kind. (1/27)

At Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, every day we see patients whose health conditions are exacerbated by poverty, even in families in which both parents are employed. Hungry kids don’t perform as well in school. Children born into poverty also tend to have lower birth weights, behavioral issues, increased risk of chronic illnesses, and higher rates of infant mortality. (Madeline Bell, 1/30)

As a chronic pain sufferer, I sometimes surprise people by telling them that my pain doesn’t have a physical cause. It’s a mind-body thing, I say, related to stress and emotions. To many, this sounds like admitting to being a little bit crazy. And when I up the ante by suggesting they’ve probably had this kind of pain too, some become outright angry, interpreting my words to mean their pain is “all in their head.” (Nathaniel Frank, 1/29)

For all of the rending of our social fabric over the past eight years in the United States, nothing has been more bitterly polarizing than our public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic. (John Wood Jr., 1/30)

In the U.S., access to health care has long depended on insurance and a person’s ability to pay, with patients of color making up a disproportionate number of the under- or uninsured, as I have seen firsthand. This trend dates back to the mid-20th century, a period when medical technology improved substantially, and visits to hospitals increased. (Uche Blackstock, 1/30)

On Thursday evening, the state of Alabama executed Kenneth Eugene Smith by nitrogen gas. Now, there are dueling narratives about what happened. Alabama claims it went perfectly, proving that nitrogen is a humane, effective alternative to lethal injection (which it previously tried, unsuccessfully, to use on Smith). It says that based on this experience, other states should follow its example. But witness accounts suggest that Smith’s death was cruel and tortuous. (Joel B. Zivot, 1/29)