�鶹Ů��

Attention, Medicare Advantage enrollees: It’s a good idea to review your plans during open enrollment, which begins Tuesday, so you don’t get caught by surprise next year. Although the swiftly growing market remains stable overall, insurers are making a flurry of changes that could leave some senior citizens hunting for new policies, paying more out of pocket or getting skimpier supplemental benefits. (Luhby, 10/14)

However, just 30% of people on Medicare review their options every year, according to research from �鶹Ů��, a provider of health policy research. “Every year, it makes sense to compare coverage options, because people’s needs change from one year to the next, and also plans make changes,” said Tricia Neuman, executive director for the program on Medicare policy at �鶹Ů��. “Doing these comparisons can make a big difference in terms of coverage and costs,” she said. (Konish, 10/14)

The monetary consequences of sinking Medicare Advantage star ratings are real, and insurers have taken risky steps to steady their finances by tweaking plan design for next year that may or may not pay off. Yet market leaders UnitedHealthcare and Humana are likely to remain at the top of the heap. Competitors from national carriers such as CVS Health subsidiary Aetna and Elevance Health to regional insurers such as Highmark Health and Florida Blue will split the remainder. (Tepper, 10/14)

But it's Medicare Part D — the cost of prescription medications — that will see premiums rise by significant amounts in eight states for 2025. (Quiggle, 10/14)

There’s one question people over 65 will need to answer for the first time during Medicare Open Enrollment (Oct. 15 to Dec. 7): Should I sign up for the optional, new, and little-known Medicare Prescription Payment Plan for 2025? Like so many things about Medicare, making the decision is not simple. (Eisenberg, 10/14)

Medicare could be throwing away as much as $336 million worth of a costly Alzheimer's drug each year because the size of vials is too big, UCLA researchers estimate. The findings, published Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine, add to questions around the coverage of Leqembi, an infusable $26,500-a-year drug that's only available in single-use 500- and 200-milligram vials. (Goldman, 10/15)

Paychecks are set for a big squeeze next year. Merit raises in 2025 are projected to remain largely flat, with an average bump of 3.3%, according to a new survey of more than 1,100 companies by benefits advisory firm Mercer. Meanwhile, the cost of employer-provided health insurance, which rose 7% in 2024 for a second straight year, is likely to rise again. Companies’ total health-benefit cost for an employee is expected to increase an average of 5.8% in 2025, according to a separate Mercer survey. (Smith, 10/14)

About 165 million Americans get their health insurance through work, and yet most don’t spend much time considering what their employer is offering in the way of benefits and what it will cost. In fact, employees only spent about 45 minutes a year, on average, deciding which benefit options suit them best, a report from Aon found. Open enrollment season, which typically runs through early December, is an opportunity to take a closer look at what’s at stake. And, for starters, costs are going way up. (Dickler, 10/14)

A health care spending surge looms in the new year, and Business Group on Health is helping employers understand it. The nonprofit found in a recent survey that large employers expect the cost to treat patients will jump nearly 8% next year before they make coverage changes to address it. That’s the highest growth rate in a decade. (Murphy, 10/14)

One of the biggest shake-ups in recent years is the growth of high deductible plans, which offer lower monthly premiums but require consumers to pay most initial medical costs out of pocket before the plan’s coverage kicks in. While their cheaper premiums may look like a bargain, consumers risk paying much more if they have unexpected illnesses or failed to budget well for more routine care. Here’s what you need to know when it’s time to choose a health insurance plan. (Dooley Young, 10/14)

President Joe Biden’s career-defining victories over Big Pharma — reforming Medicare to lower prices and capping inhaler costs for millions of Americans with lung disease — are facing an unlikely threat: drug companies going green. Drug companies are taking advantage of a global climate treaty to boost profits. The treaty, signed by some 120 countries nearly a decade ago, is now providing inhaler makers with a golden escape hatch from Biden’s reforms that could earn them hundreds of millions of dollars annually. (Wittenberg, 10/14)

Vice President Kamala Harris is in “excellent health” and “possesses the physical and mental resiliency” required to serve as president, her doctor said in a letter released Saturday that summarizes her medical history and status. Dr. Joshua Simmons, an Army colonel and physician to the vice president, wrote that Harris, 59, maintains a healthy, active lifestyle and that her most recent physical last April was “unremarkable.” (Superville, 10/12)

More than 230 doctors, nurses and health care professionals, most of whom are backing Vice President Kamala Harris, are calling on former President Donald Trump to release his medical records, arguing that he should be transparent about his health "given his advancing age." "Trump is falling concerningly short of any standard of fitness for office and displaying alarming characteristics of declining acuity," the 238 signatories wrote in a letter dated Oct. 13 and first obtained by CBS News. "In the limited opportunities we can examine his behavior, he's providing a deeply concerning snapshot." (Navarro, 10/14)

Donald Trump’s running mate has hit on a new strategy to defend the GOP’s oft-criticized health-care record: talk about his own family’s experience. “Members of my family actually got private health insurance, at least, for the first time … under Donald Trump’s leadership,” Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) said at this month’s vice-presidential debate, repeating a line he has used on the stump. ... Vance was referring to his mother, who purchased private health insurance through the Affordable Care Act’s insurance marketplace run by Ohio after she overcame substance-abuse challenges, became financially stable and subsequently made too much money to remain on Medicaid, a campaign spokesman told The Washington Post. (Diamond and Stanley-Becker, 10/12)

Vice President Kamala Harris, now on the presidential campaign trail, is making inroads with a key voting bloc: Black women, who are rallying behind her because of her work on issues such as preserving abortion access, curbing gun violence and reducing maternal deaths. (Armour and Beard, 10/14)

Both parties are ramping up their efforts to court Native American voters in the final stretch to Election Day. This demographic could swing the election results in several closely divided states like Arizona. Native Health, an urban Indian health center, has held several voter registration events across the Grand Canyon state in the run-up to the election. ... President Biden only won Arizona in 2020 by about 10,000 votes — less than a 1% margin — in a state where Native Americans make up 5% of the population. (Bustillo, 10/14)

Both Harris and Trump have called for sweeping changes to the costly, complicated and entrenched U.S. health-care system of doctors, insurers, drug manufacturers and middlemen, which costs the nation more than $4 trillion a year. Despite spending more on health care than any other wealthy country, the U.S. has the lowest life expectancy at birth, the highest rate of people with multiple chronic diseases and the highest maternal and infant death rates, according to the Commonwealth Fund, an independent research group. (Son and Constantino, 10/14)

The disabled voting bloc is growing as the U.S. population ages, but voters and advocates say the hurdles that make people feel excluded from the electoral process aren’t being addressed. That ranges from inaccessible campaign materials to former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris seldomly mentioning how issues like COVID-19 impact the disability community, as well as Trump making a statement at a rally last month that advocacy groups considered discriminatory. (Hunter and Alexander, 10/14)

Former President Trump said Sunday that a national abortion ban is “off the table,” but he left the door open on the conversation by saying “we’ll see what happens.” “Let me just tell you, I think that it’s something that’s off the table now, because I did something that everybody has wanted to do, I was able to get it back to the states,” Trump said on Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures.” (Irwin, 10/13)

Separately, on Friday, the Office of Election Crimes and Security issued a report claiming a “large number of forged signatures or fraudulent petitions” were submitted to get the question on the ballot. The state also announced a $328,000 fine against the ballot-measure group. The campaign director for the group says that the campaign has been “above board” and that the state government is acting improperly to try to defeat the amendment. (Mulvihill, 10/14)

A Palm Beach County attorney has filed an elections fraud complaint against a top Florida health official, alleging he has illegally used his position to try to tank the state's abortion access ballot measure. (Soule, 10/14)

The American Hospital Association has urged a federal appeals court to stop Idaho from enforcing its near-total abortion ban in cases where doctors believe abortion is needed to save a pregnant woman's life or prevent serious harm. The AHA, along with the Association of American Medical Colleges, a medical school and teaching hospital group, and America's Essential Hospitals, which represents hospitals serving low-income communities, said in an amicus brief on Friday that the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals should find that a federal law requiring hospitals that receive federal funds to provide certain emergency care takes precedence over the state ban. Otherwise, it said, patients could be endangered. (Pierson, 10/14)

A free family planning center in Twin Falls, Idaho, asks its visitors for sensitive, private information, including nonmedical questions about religion and financial status, according to documents obtained by NBC News. While the Sage Women’s Center promises to protect the information of its clients, it isn’t bound by medical privacy laws and may be misleading women who are coping with unplanned pregnancies, consumer advocates say. (Brooks, 10/13)

Montana's role as a safe haven for abortion care in the rural West is at stake in November's election. (Owermohle, 10/14)

The little clump of cells looked almost like a human embryo. Created from stem cells, without eggs, sperm, or a womb, the embryo model had a yolk sac and a proto-placenta, resembling a state that real human embryos reach after approximately 14 days of development. It even secreted hormones that turned a drugstore pregnancy test positive. To Jacob Hanna’s expert eye, the model wasn’t perfect—more like a rough sketch. It had no chance of developing into an actual baby. (Brown, 10/8)

Back-to-back superstorms have tested health systems' ability to turn tabletop crisis exercises into reality on a dime as they raced to keep their facilities operational in the face of dangerous storm surges. (Reed, 10/15)

Hospitals like Mission need potable water for staff to sanitize equipment, clean wounds and simply wash their hands with soap. Other facilities − such as Asheville's Planned Parenthood clinic and local birthing centers − were forced to cut key health services because they didn't have running water. The surrounding community has been battling an array of public health challenges in the aftermath of the historic deluge in late September, including residents' risk of being exposed to sewage, toxic industrial waste and mosquito-borne illnesses. (Cuevas, 10/15)

Hurricane Milton may have dissipated over the Atlantic Ocean, but the floodwaters it left across Florida still pose a major risk to human health and safety. Even though the risk of drowning or getting injured in rising, fast-moving water is past, standing water remains treacherous to navigate and likely harbors dangerous diseases. Walking in it should be avoided at all costs, government officials and health experts warn. (Hirji, 10/12)

Gulf Coast citizens 65 and older have had a difficult time after heavy hits from Helene and Milton. Many live in retirement communities with manufactured homes, which are easily destroyed during storms. (Williams, 10/14)

The staff of the Asheville-based Manna Foodbank tried their best to prepare for Hurricane Helene. Workers at the nonprofit’s primary distribution site just feet from the Swannanoa River moved tens of thousands of food items onto tall shelves ahead of the storm’s arrival. The shelves, they thought, would be high enough to protect the food if the building flooded. But after the storm’s catastrophic lurch through western North Carolina, the region’s largest and most wide-reaching food bank was almost fully submerged in rippling waves of brown water. Its stockpile of food, now more badly needed than ever, was gone. (Baxley, 10/15)

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has resumed door-to-door neighborhood outreaches in some areas afflicted by Hurricane Helene as one man is accused of making a threat against its employees. Amid reports of militia involvement, the agency told CNN it was the subject of several threats and the alleged threat from the man later arrested was the main one it was aware of when it decided to pull back on outreach. (Almasy, 10/15)

While Baxter International cleans and restores a North Carolina medical supply plant that was damaged by Hurricane Helene, the Deerfield-based company is temporarily importing products from its manufacturing facilities in other countries to help stem hospital supply shortages. Baxter today provided more details on plans to import intravenous solution and dialysis products from sites in Canada, China, Ireland and the U.K., a move the U.S. Food & Drug Administration authorized Oct. 9. (Davis, 10/14)

Hospitals across the United States are reeling from a shortage of IV fluids after Hurricane Helene struck a major manufacturing plant in North Carolina, prompting some to postpone elective surgeries and others to conserve supply by restricting use. The Food and Drug Administration formally declared a shortage for three fluid products Friday, allowing some hospitals and facilities to manufacture their own supply. The FDA last week had allowed shipments of IV fluids from other countries. But complications make it difficult to immediately end the shortage. (Nirappil and Roubein, 10/14)

Baxter International Inc., one of the biggest makers of fluid used during home dialysis, asked health care providers to limit new patient sign-ups because of shortages caused by hurricane damage at its key manufacturing plant. Only children and other patients with specific medical needs should start home peritoneal dialysis for the time being, the company said in a statement Monday. It doesn’t know when it will be making enough of its fluid to resume taking new at-home patients normally, it said. (Swetlitz and Suvarna, 10/14)

Walgreens on Tuesday reported fiscal fourth-quarter sales and adjusted profit that beat Wall Street’s expectations, as the company slashes costs in an attempt to steer itself out of a rough spot. The retail drugstore chain also said it plans to close roughly 1,200 stores over the next three years, which includes 500 in fiscal 2025 alone. The company said those closures will be “immediately accretive” to its adjusted earnings and free cash flow. (Constantino, 10/15)

CVS Health Corp. is exiting its core infusion services business and plans to close or sell 29 related regional pharmacies over the coming months, a company spokesperson confirmed Friday. The company stopped taking new patients seeking antibiotics, drugs supporting muscular health, and intravenous nutrition services on Oct. 8, the spokesperson said. Core infusion services provide patients with medications that are administered intravenously. (Rutherford, 10/11)

The Food and Drug Administration said in a court filing late Friday that it would allow pharmacists to continue making compounded versions of tirzepatide — the active ingredient in Eli Lilly’s diabetes and weight loss drugs Mounjaro and Zepbound — while it reconsiders its decision to remove the drug from its nationwide shortage list. The surprise move is a major victory for compounding pharmacists and patients who were furious with the FDA after its announcement on Oct. 2 that the tirzepatide shortage was resolved. (Lovelace Jr., 10/14)

More and more people are talking abut the monitoring device, also known as CGM, for non-diabetics. But not everyone in the health field is so bullish on the prospects of CGMs for everyone, and they question whether digging in too much is worth the hassle. (Oliver, 10/14)

A surge in the use of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic or Wegovy play a role in a projected calorie intake decline of 10 trillion in U.S. adults by 2030, according to a new report. The U.S. total calorie consumption reduction marks the first since 1960s, according to a report by Impact Analytics published Oct 9. ... The AI-driven data group reported that by 2030, the average adult should consume 100 to 800 less kilocalories per year, leading to an around 10 trillion kilocalorie annual reduction in most U.S. adults. (Robledo, 10/14)

The former CEO of Loretto Hospital has been charged in an embezzlement scheme that allegedly bilked millions of dollars from the small West Side safety-net hospital, even as the COVID-19 pandemic was raging. George Miller, 73, was charged in a superseding indictment made public Friday with a single count of bribery conspiracy. An arraignment date has not been set. (Soglin, 10/11)

Blue Shield of California, a nonprofit health plan provider, is set to lay off 61 employees across the state, including in Oakland, just before the holiday season, according to regulatory filings. “Blue Shield of California is driven by its mission to provide access to quality health care that’s sustainably affordable for all,” the company said in a statement. “This includes reducing administrative costs, operating efficiently, and ensuring we have the right talent, skills, and capabilities in place. With that in mind and the economic headwinds we are now facing, we have decided to reduce our staff by 61 positions.” (Vaziri, 10/14)

The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and its 33 member companies will pay $2.8 billion and change the way they operate under a tentative settlement reached with a collection of providers. The multipronged settlement would end a 12-year legal battle concerning allegations that the companies and the nonprofit association violated the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 by colluding to suppress competition and lower reimbursement. (Tepper, 10/14)

The operator of Clinical Care Medical Centers, a Florida-based health system owned by Sun Capital Partners, has filed for bankruptcy and intends to sell the business to an affiliate of Humana Inc. MBMG Holding LLC filed Chapter 11 Sunday in Miami, attributing its financial troubles to Medicaid and Medicare-related changes that have cut into its revenue as well as rising costs following the Covid-19 pandemic which have stressed the health sector. (Randles, 10/14)

In the wake of the loss of three primary care physicians from Concord Hospital's Laconia Clinic, health care professionals in the Lakes Region say they’re worried about patient outcomes, and hospital officials have left them with more questions than answers. But hospital representatives assure the public there are no intentions of consolidating primary care to Concord. (Perry, 10/11)

Mammogram studies show that almost half of women over age 40 have dense breasts. Going forward, women with dense breasts will be encouraged to talk to their doctors and told that “other imaging tests in addition to a mammogram may help find cancers.” Some health advocates argue that the notifications have oversimplified a complex issue. They argue that without clear, evidence-based instructions, women could be left scared, confused and frustrated. (Szabo, 10/12)

Nicole Hallingstad credits her cat, Rudy, with finding her breast cancer. ... Hallingstad, a member of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, faced profound barriers to breast cancer care that are shared by many American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) women. These barriers have contributed to growing disparities over the last three decades. "It's often really difficult to get to a qualified health care center that is close to the rural areas where so many of our people live," Hallingstad said. (Cobern and Parekh, 10/14)

A panel of experts identified 36 nutrition competencies for inclusion in undergraduate and graduate medical school and training in a new consensus statement in JAMA Network Open. The experts noted that diet is a strong behavioral influence on health risks and that “seven of the 10 leading causes of death in the US are directly affected by diet.” Yet, they wrote, nutrition is “limited or completely absent” from most medical education programs in the United States. (McMahan, 10/14)

When children’s hospitals around the country were subject to threats and harassment in 2022 over misconceptions about gender-affirming care services, many of them responded by stripping information about the care from their websites. Two years later, new research shows that few adult and children’s hospital websites share information about LGBTQ+ services and policies. (Gaffney, 10/14)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: California Hospitals Scramble On Earthquake Retrofits As State Limits Extensions

More than half of the 410 hospitals in California have at least one building that likely wouldn’t be able to operate after a major earthquake hit their region, and with many institutions claiming they don’t have the money to meet a 2030 legal deadline for earthquake retrofits, the state is now granting relief to some while ramping up pressure on others to get the work done. (Sciacca, 10/15)

Five more people who presumably contracted the bird flu are being tested amid outbreaks in California's dairy industry, health officials confirmed Monday. The five new possible positive cases are located in the state's Central Valley and are pending testing, according to the California Department of Health. There are total of six confirmed cases in the state as of Monday, the department said in a news release. (Robledo and Cuevas, 10/14)

Whooping cough cases have jumped sharply year over year but remain in line with pre-pandemic numbers, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Thursday. The CDC, which tracks whooping cough cases using a national surveillance system, noted that more than five times as many whooping cough cases have been reported this year as of Oct. 5, compared to the same time frame in 2023. The CDC reported 17,579 whooping cough cases in the U.S. through the week of Oct. 5. In October last year, that number was 3,962 – an increase of just over 13,600. (Martin, 10/14)

Galveston County health officials are emphasizing vaccination and education after several cases of whooping cough were confirmed by the county's health district Monday. Pertussis, often referred to as whooping cough, is a highly contagious bacterial infection accompanied by uncontrollable coughing spells. The cases highlight a significant increase in the volume of pertussis cases this year compared to 2023, when zero cases were recorded, according to a release by the Galveston County Health District. (Orozco, 10/14)

Several food items sold at some of the most popular U.S. grocery stores are included in a sweeping new recall of 9,986,245 pounds of meat and poultry products that may be contaminated with listeria, a bacteria that can cause illness in humans. BrucePac, a precooked meat producer, is recalling the items, which were produced from June 19 to Oct. 8 and have been distributed nationwide, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) said last week. Big-name outlets including Walmart, Target, Kroger and Trader Joe’s are among those affected by the recall. (Ables, 10/15)

Eleven people were hospitalized after they ate wild and apparently toxic mushrooms last week, a fire agency that serves Pennsylvania Dutch Country said. The patients in Peach Bottom Township were a man, a woman and nine children who were treated at a hospital and released, according to NBC affiliate WGAL of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The township is in Dutch Country, which overlaps with Amish Country and shares culture and history, about 80 miles west of Philadelphia on Pennsylvania’s border with Maryland. (Romero, 10/14)

Passengers on more than 200 Delta Air Lines flights out of Detroit Metropolitan Airport were denied meal service over the weekend after the airline on Friday shut down its Detroit meal service facility. The closure came after the airline was notified of a "food safety issue" following a routine Food and Drug Administration inspection of the facility, Delta said. (Cerullo, 10/14)

Your nose may be more powerful than you think. In a single sniff, the human sense of smell can distinguish odors within a fraction of a second, working at a level of sensitivity that is “on par” with how our brains perceive color, “refuting the widely held belief that olfaction is our slow sense,” a new study finds. (Howard, 10/14)

It was a dramatic call to action by the American Heart Association: The organization declared its decade-long goal culminating in 2020 was to slash deaths from cardiovascular disease and stroke by 20%. It also promised in its scientific journal to move all Americans toward “ideal cardiovascular health.” That never happened. (Cooney, 10/15)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: Journalists Talk Obesity, Oximeters, And Severe Weather's Impact On Public Health

�鶹Ů�� Health News and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media in recent weeks to discuss topical stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances. (10/12)

It may be time to add Covid-19 infection to the list of possible risk factors for developing type 2 diabetes at a young age. An observational study published Monday in JAMA Network Open found that children and adolescents were one-and-a-half times more likely to be diagnosed with the metabolic disorder in the months after having Covid-19 compared to similar kids who weathered other respiratory infections. Children with obesity were twice as likely to have new type 2 diabetes post-Covid and those who were sick enough to be hospitalized were almost three times as likely to do so. (Cooney, 10/14)

A large team of immunologists and physician–scientists from multiple institutions in France has conducted an in-depth study that compares the immune response of preschoolers to older children and adults. The team focused on the adaptive immune response—the activities of T cells and B cells—to understand how the youngest among us are generally spared from severe, even fatal infections. (Ricks, 10/15)

When the U.S. health care system pivoted to meet Covid-19 in 2020, routine health visits and screenings where many cancer cases would have been caught didn’t happen. It wasn’t ideal, but many health experts thought that as the country opened back up, screenings would help “catch up” to these missed cases. A new paper published Monday in JAMA Network Open suggests that didn’t happen as quickly as experts had hoped. (Chen, 10/14)

A recent study published in Emerging Infectious Diseases reported on the potential association between vaccination against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and facial palsy (FP). They found an increased risk of FP within 28 days post-vaccination, especially after the first and second doses of both messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) and viral vaccines. (Chaphalkar, 10/15)

A new COVID variant called XEC has been spreading around the globe as respiratory virus season begins — and many public health experts are concerned about a pattern of troublingly low COVID and flu vaccination rates in recent years. (Lourgos, 10/12)

Mask mandates are returning for a limited time during cold and flu season in the heart of deep-blue California's San Francisco Bay Area. With winter fast approaching, several Bay Area counties have recently issued health orders requiring that face makes be worn in hospitals, skilled nursing facilities and other health care settings beginning on Nov. 1 and extending through either March 31 or April 30, 2025, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. The new mandates were put into effect to prevent the spread of the flu, COVID and other seasonal illnesses. (Pandolfo, 10/12)

After years of continuously rising opioid overdoses, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that overdose deaths decreased 3% in 2023, the first annual decrease since 2018. A new study shows how the increased administration of naloxone by non-medical laypersons – or bystanders with little to no medical training – could be one factor contributing to this decline. (Tupper, 10/14)

Overdoses in San Diego County are both highly visible and deceptively hidden. Drug use in public, particularly among people living outside, is an obvious reminder of how the crisis intersects with homelessness. Downtown San Diego sometimes features people standing at seemingly impossible angles, knees bent and arms loose, in what one fire captain described as the “fentanyl fold.” Yet that’s only part of the picture. Last year, calls about more than 13,700 potential overdoses took the San Diego Fire and Rescue Department to almost every corner of the city. (Nelson, 10/13)

Despite an encouraging national dip in the past year, overdose deaths are still on the rise in many Western states as the epicenter of the nation’s continuing crisis shifts toward the Pacific Coast, where deadly fentanyl and also methamphetamine are finding more victims. Overdose deaths remain sharply higher since 2019. Many states are working on “harm reduction” strategies that stress cooperation with people who use drugs; in some cases, states are getting tougher on prosecutions, with murder charges for dealers. (Henderson, 10/14)

The billionaire family that owns Purdue Pharma is signaling they intend to fight lawsuits against them by challenging the use of public nuisance laws, a legal strategy that has already led to billions of dollars in settlements between drug companies and communities ravaged by the opioid crisis. Attorneys for Sackler family members disclosed their lines of defense as part of a court filing Monday in the long-running bankruptcy saga of Purdue Pharma. Creditors are also seeking to recover billions of dollars they claim the Sacklers withdrew from the company in the years before the bankruptcy to evade future claims, an allegation the family denies. (Ovalle, 10/14)

It should be easier to get methadone today than it has been in decades. In April, 2024, the federal government relaxed some of the rules around the treatment for opioid addiction. But many patients are still not benefitting from those changes. Kellyann Kaiser, 30, is among those in recovery who had been waiting eagerly for greater access to methadone. She said she was addicted to opioids from the age of 13 into her late 20s. She tried several different addiction medications, including buprenorphine and naltrexone. (Brown, 10/12)

For the first time in her 10-year career, Dr. Lindsay Clukies is admitting toddlers into the hospital and even the intensive care unit for accidentally eating products infused with cannabis. (Munz, 10/14)

One in five U.S. adults reports feeling lonely on a daily basis, according to a new Gallup survey. It's the highest rate of reported loneliness in the past two years. The figure is up slightly from earlier this year, when 17% to 18% of survey respondents reported feeling a lack of social connection, but it's lower than the peak of 25% of respondents who reported feeling lonely during the three-year stretch of the COVID-19 pandemic from 2019 to 2021. (Neporent, 10/15)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: Millions Of Aging Americans Are Facing Dementia By Themselves

In a health care system that assumes older adults have family caregivers to help them, those facing dementia by themselves often fall through the cracks. (Graham, 10/15)

It’s never been easier to gamble in Massachusetts, and state health officials are hoping an infusion of funds to community-based groups will help combat problem gambling and addiction, as well as encourage young people to keep their money in their pockets instead of spending it on wagers or lottery tickets. The state Department of Health last week announced $3.1 million in grants to support a pair of programs focused on youth gambling prevention and staff development for outpatient substance use and gambling treatment programs. (Stoico, 10/12)

A group of 100 survivors and families of victims of the Lewiston, Maine, mass shooting signaled their intent Tuesday to pursue claims against the US Army, the Defense Department, and a New York military hospital, alleging that officials were negligent in failing to respond to warnings that an Army reservist had threatened to commit violence. (Hilliard, 10/15)

It's been almost a year since the nation's first mental health treatment facility operated by a school district opened in Aurora. Since then, dozens of Cherry Creek School students facing mental health crises have attended Traverse Academy. About a year later, a local parent says the facility helped turn his daughter's life around, and the school's principal is highlighting some of the work that's been done since opening. (Portillo, 10/14)

Co-responders have been a staple in the Wheat Ridge community since 2017. That's when the city partnered with Jefferson Center Mental Health to aid officers on crisis calls. Denver County has the STAR program that works the same way. "Having a mental health professional that can attend these mental health or crisis calls, they're able to give a different perspective," said Bonnie Collins, a social worker that is a director with Jefferson Center. "They have training on that." (Haubner, 10/14)

A lawsuit accusing social media companies of harming the mental health of Native American youth is front and center in a courtroom on Monday. The 164-page suit against Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube and other platforms was filed earlier this year by several tribal nations, including Minnesota's Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin and two other tribes in the Dakotas. (Le, 10/14)

A Washington Post investigation found that officials didn’t act on staff complaints about facility violence, which culminated in a patient brawl, rape and death. (Mettler, 10/15)

Despite half a decade of Cleveland’s focus on combatting the ill effects of lead paint, childhood lead poisoning rates among young Cleveland children remain two to three times higher than they were in Flint, Michigan during the height of that city’s lead crisis. That stunning statistic was shared Monday by Cleveland Public Health Director Dr. David Margolius, who, among other municipal leaders, are now calling for a revamp of City Hall’s landmark 2019 lead-safe law. (Astolfi, 10/14)

Missouri lawmakers will convene a special committee to study the consequences of nuclear weapons production in the St. Louis area and recommend legislation for next year, House Speaker Dean Plocher announced Thursday. In a press release, Plocher said the Special Interim Committee on the Impact of U.S. Nuclear Weapon Programs on Missouri will allow “policymakers, health professionals, environmental experts and affected community members to document their concerns and develop legislative solutions.” (Kite, 10/14)

A 4-year-old burn victim at Massachusetts General Hospital received the first two-layered skin graft in the United States using a new procedure that, if successful, could improve outcomes for reconstructive burn care. The procedure was performed in June, according to Dr. Jeremy Goverman, the Mass General surgeon who undertook the operation. It is the first of its kind to create bi-layered, “full-thickness” skin grafts that are bioengineered from the patient’s own donor tissue. (Fonseca, 10/11)

When San Francisco Supervisor Hilary Ronen first started asking around about what artificial intelligence programs the city uses, she was surprised to find out no one person or department knew. That is why Ronen is planning to introduce legislation Tuesday at the Board of Supervisors requiring the city’s Department of Technology to keep a public list of where and how AI technology is used across the city and county, and the reasons for it. “This is basically just a transparency bill,” Ronen told the Chronicle. “We’re not prohibiting any uses” of AI. (DiFeliciantonio, 10/14)

The leading private prison company in the U.S. has spent more than $4.4 million to settle dozens of complaints alleging mistreatment — including at least 22 inmate deaths — at its Tennessee prisons and jails since 2016. More than $1.1 million of those payouts involved Tennessee’s largest prison, the long-scrutinized Trousdale Turner Correctional Center, which is now under federal investigation. (Mattise, Loller and Hall, 10/13)

Like many health care workers, I am required to receive my annual flu shot by the end of October. Every year, I wait until the last possible day to get vaccinated. (Jeremy Samuel Faust, 10/13)

Vice President Harris’s campaign recently released a lengthy critique of former President Trump’s health care plan. The document not only details Trump’s confusing “concept of a plan,” but highlights an issue we as doctors know all too well: affordability. As physicians, we are witnessing firsthand how growing health care costs affect average Americans. (Nishant Uppal and Kedar Mate, 10/14)

Hospitals are heavily regulated, labyrinthine institutions that straddle the public and private sectors. In many cases, their pricing is subject to forces beyond their control. But absent (another) major reform to the US health-insurance system, more straightforward changes can still help rein in spending. (10/15)

Among my community, I’m not alone. A 2012 study found 50% of people with schizophrenia don’t take their prescribed medication, and it’s not just because of side effects. A 2020 research review found we disengage with treatment in part because we don’t trust health care. (Sally Littlefield, 10/15)

Much has been made of COVID’s consequences for overall health, productivity and the economy. But recent research suggests a compelling new basis for vaccine advocacy: COVID’s capacity to reduce intelligence. (Ian Ayres and Lisa Sanders, 10/14)