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A federal advisory committee on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly against of the use of MDMA, commonly known as ecstasy, as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder. The novel treatment has the potential to transform a field with significant need, but the committee had concerns about the integrity of the particular trials up for review. After hearing presentations from the US Food and Drug Administration, treatment sponsor Lykos Therapeutics and members of the public, the independent committee voted on recommendations to be made to the FDA. (McPhillips, 6/4)

Testimony submitted to the FDA by a participant in a MAPS phase 3 trial reportedly claimed that at least three people who received MDMA during the trial reported a worsening of suicidality in the ensuing weeks — a detail that didn’t show up in the published journal articles about the trial (Lykos responded that all adverse events were reported to the FDA). Further, the same participant alleges that their trial therapists repeatedly told them that they were “helping make history,” and reminded them that their “responses and behaviors during and after the trial could jeopardize legalization.” (Jarow, 6/4)

In a statement after the advisory committee votes, Lykos CEO Amy Emerson said the firm was disappointed but “committed to continuing to collaborate with the FDA with their ongoing review.” She added that Lykos would work with the FDA to answer questions raised at the committee meeting. She said Lykos was in ongoing discussions with the FDA about a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy program that would seek to reduce the chance of adverse events stemming from its treatment. (Schumaker, 6/4)

PTSD is a mental health condition that can develop after a shocking, scary or dangerous event. The FDA is deciding whether MDMA, better known as ecstasy, can help. (Masih and Jeong, 6/5)

Approximately 22 women died from childbirth-related causes for every 100,000 live births in the United States in 2022, according to the Commonwealth Fund, a private research foundation, making the U.S. the country with the highest rate of maternal deaths of any high-income nation analyzed. In comparison, the three countries with the lowest rates are Sweden, with nearly three deaths for every 100,000 births, Switzerland, with one, and Norway, with zero. (Moniuszko, 6/4)

In the United States, 22% of maternal deaths happened during pregnancy, most often the result of heart conditions and stroke. Approximately 13% of all deaths occurred on the day of delivery. After delivery, 12% of deaths took place in the first week postpartum, the most common contributors being high blood pressure, severe bleeding and infection. Twenty-three percent of deaths occurred up to 42 days after birth. Late deaths, which accounted for 30% of all deaths, happened up to one year after birth and were frequently associated with cardiomyopathy. (Merchan and Jafari, 6/5)

According to the latest CDC data from 2021, Alabama is ranked as the fourth worst in the nation for maternal death. Which is why state health leaders have implemented a new maternal autopsy program. The Alabama Department of Public Health reports almost 50% of maternal deaths don’t have an autopsy performed. Lindsay Harris with ADPH Maternal Mortality Review Program told WAFF 48 that this could be due to several reasons: the cost, the family was never offered an autopsy or no one in their area can perform an autopsy. Now, through the new Alabama maternal autopsy program, family members of the woman who died during pregnancy or up to a year after delivery will be offered an autopsy completely free of charge. (Peppenhorst, 6/3)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finalized its guidelines for post-exposure prophylaxis against bacterial sexually transmitted infections on Tuesday. For groups at higher risk of contracting syphilis, chlamydia, and gonorrhea, the agency now recommends taking doxycycline, an antibiotic, within 72 hours of having sex. Doxycycline has been used to prevent malaria infection both before and after exposure, but this is the first time the antibiotic has been used prophylactically against STIs. (Merelli, 6/4)

In one of the first studies to examine the link between children’s sexual behavior and their social connections at home, school and neighborhoods, a new study led by a UCSF pediatrician has found that teenagers who have closer relationships with their family and neighbors are less likely to start having sex at a young age. The findings could ... potentially reduce the risks associated with having sex at a young age, such as sexually transmitted infections, unplanned pregnancies and depression. (Ho, 6/4)

Nearly two years after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, U.S. senators on Tuesday tussled over how the end to national abortion protections has played out across the country. There was little mistaking the fact that the debate was occurring in an election year. (Owermohle, 6/4)

Republican lawmakers in Missouri blocked a bill to widen access to birth-control pills by falsely claiming they induce abortions. An antiabortion group in Louisiana killed legislation to enshrine a right to birth control by inaccurately equating emergency contraception with abortion drugs. An Idaho think tank focused on “biblical activism” is pushing state legislators to ban access to emergency contraception and intrauterine devices (IUDs) by mislabeling them as “abortifacients.” Since the Supreme Court overturned the right to abortion two years ago, far-right conservatives have been trying to curtail birth-control access by sowing misinformation about how various methods work to prevent pregnancy, even as Republican leaders scramble to reassure voters they have no intention of restricting the right to contraception, which polls show the vast majority of Americans favor. (Weber, 6/5)

If the Supreme Court rules the anti-abortion doctors challenging mifepristone don’t have legal standing, three states could try to quickly revive the challenge. (Marimow and Kitchener, 6/4)

For seven years, Jacqueline Brock endured grueling fertility treatments – and all of the emotion that came with them. “I had to stop going to outings with our friends because they’d bring their kids or talk about their kids, and I would just cry,” she said. “I didn't go to a lot of baby showers and things because I couldn't physically handle it.” Last year, Brock, who lives in West Des Moines, Iowa, with her husband, James, underwent a third round of in vitro fertilization, or IVF. It produced two embryos. (Krebs, 6/4)

The number of teenage abortions in Finland fell by 66% between 2000 and 2023, its public health institute THL said on Monday, attributing the reduction to the offer of free contraception to adolescents and compulsory sex education in schools. Finland also passed a law in 2022 liberalizing abortion, at a time of deep divisions over abortion rights in Europe and court rulings in the U.S. that restricted access to terminations of unwanted pregnancies for millions of people there. (Kauranen, 6/3)

Since the Dobbs decision in June 2022, nearly half of states in the United States — including North Carolina — have curtailed access to abortion by implementing increased restrictions. The significant rollback in abortion legality throughout much of the country puts the United States in sharp contrast to the global trend of loosening abortion laws and increasing protections for abortion rights. (Crumpler, 6/5)

Deborah Birx, a physician who served as former President Trump’s coronavirus response coordinator, warned that the United States is making the “same mistakes” with the bird flu as it did with COVID-19. “This is why I’m really concerned because we’re making the same mistakes today that we made with COVID. And what do I mean by that? We’re not testing to really see how many people have been exposed and got asymptomatically infected,” Birx told CNN’s Kasie Hunt on Tuesday. (Sforza, 6/4)

Michigan officials are recommending that residents refrain from visiting dairy and poultry farms after two human cases of bird flu were detected in the state. In a memorandum on Tuesday, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services advises schools, child care providers, camps and Out of School Time Program operators to postpone field trips until further notice. (Booth-Singleton, 6/4)

Ten weeks after government scientists discovered that H5N1 bird flu was sickening dairy cattle in the United States, many of the mysteries surrounding what is happening on affected farms remain just that. Widespread reluctance on the part of farmers to allow scientists — government or otherwise — onto their premises to study spread of the virus among infected cows has created a frustrating lack of understanding of the dynamics of this outbreak. U.S. Department of Agriculture incentives aimed at getting farmers to test their cows and take preventive measures to protect both animals and farmworkers do not seem to have solved the impasse, even as the outbreak has affected 82 herds in nine states. (Branswell, 6/5)

The number of U.S. mpox cases has more than doubled compared with last year, and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been urging clinicians across states to encourage vaccinations for those at risk. As of May 25, the nation had seen a roughly 150% increase in cases of the disease formerly known as monkeypox — from 434 at that time last year to 1,089 this year, according to the CDC. About a third of the cases are in New York state, New York City (which the CDC reports separately), New Jersey and Pennsylvania. (Hassanein, 6/4)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: Watch: Anthony Fauci Defends Feds’ Covid Response, Calling Lawmakers' Accusations ‘Preposterous’

At a June 3 congressional hearing that underscored the nation's deep political divide over the coronavirus pandemic response, the longtime National Institutes of Health official addressed the agency’s controversies head-on. (Norman, 6/4)

In all, nearly 9,300 long COVID trials are listed on ClinicalTrials.gov. But many patients find the site difficult to navigate, said David F. Putrino, PhD, who runs the long COVID clinic at Mount Sinai Health System in New York City. (Novak, 6/4)

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, some states allowed COVID-19 patients to be discharged from hospitals to skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), and even offered financial incentives to SNFs to take in patients to deal with hospital bed shortages. ... Now a study in JAMA Internal Medicine shows this practice led to preventable COVID-19 cases in the SNFs and increased death rates. Furthermore, SNFs that reported staff and personal protective equipment (PPE) shortages saw bigger increases in COVID-19 morbidity and mortality. (Soucheray, 6/4)

A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday revived a $411 million antitrust class action accusing California health system Sutter Health of engaging in anticompetitive behavior that artificially drove up insurance premiums, overturning a verdict against the plaintiffs and ordering a new trial. A 2-1 panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that the San Francisco jury that delivered a verdict in favor of Sutter in March 2022 was given improper instructions and prevented from hearing relevant evidence. (Pierson, 6/4)

Congress needs to fix the 340B drug discount program, health system leaders told members of a House subcommittee Tuesday. But lawmakers will have to tread carefully to avoid harming some of the organizations that depend on the program the most, the witnesses said. (McAuliff, 6/4)

Rapper Fat Joe says, "Millions of people are getting robbed." In a public service announcement by Power to the Patients, he adds that it's "not by the guys you might think. But by hospital and insurance company executives. They crooks." That's why the Bronx-born rapper is urging officials in Washington, D.C., for price transparency in health care. (Guevara, Bearne and Martínez, 6/5)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: California Becomes Latest State To Try Capping Health Care Spending

California’s Office of Health Care Affordability faces a herculean task in its plan to slow runaway health care spending. The goal of the agency, established in 2022, is to make care more affordable and accessible while improving health outcomes, especially for the most disadvantaged state residents. That will require a sustained wrestling match with a sprawling, often dysfunctional health system and powerful industry players who have lots of experience fighting one another and the state. (Wolfson, 6/5)

Health insurers are investing hundreds of millions of dollars into building new affordable housing units. Why it matters: The housing affordability crisis is a major health care concern, since housing instability is tied to poorer health. Insurers say their investments will translate to healthier communities, which would also mean less costly enrollees. (Goldman, 6/5)

SCAN Health Plan has prevailed in a widely watched federal lawsuit brought last year against the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that alleged regulators did not appropriately calculate the insurer's Medicare Advantage star rating. Judge Carl J. Nichols, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, on Monday sided with SCAN and wrote that regulators violated the Administrative Procedure Act when calculating the company’s star ratings scores last year. (Tepper, 6/4)

Ascension said Tuesday it expects to restore electronic health records by June 14, a little more than a month after the nonprofit system reported a cyberattack. Ascension has already restored health records in Florida and Alabama, plus the Austin market, according to a Tuesday news release. Clinicians will be able to access health records as before, the release said. (Hudson, 6/4)

The American Medical Association said it is considering filing a class action lawsuit against UnitedHealth Group and its Optum and Change Healthcare subsidiaries following the latter's data breach in February. The organization said Optum and Change Healthcare, which processed about 50% of all medical claims as of March, allegedly received unjust enrichment by continuing to collect premiums while the breach caused cash flow issues and care interruptions for many providers across the country. (DeSilva, 6/4)

Challenges providing care for nursing home patients with mental health and behavioral health issues are adding to discharge bottlenecks for hospitals, and the demand for such care has led some facilities to set up specialized units with additional staff just for those patients. Older adults are suffering from higher rates of mental health and behavioral health problems, which can complicate their recovery from surgery or illness. (Eastabrook, 6/4)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: Health Worker For A Nonprofit? The New Ban On Noncompete Contracts May Not Help You

Many physicians and nurses are happy about the Federal Trade Commission’s new rule banning the use of noncompete agreements in employment contracts. But they are disappointed that it may not protect those who work for nonprofit hospitals and health care facilities, which provide most of the nation’s care and employ the largest number of medical professionals. (Meyer, 6/5)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: End Of Pandemic Internet Subsidies Threatens A Health Care Lifeline For Rural America

Myrna Broncho realized just how necessary an internet connection can be after she broke her leg. In fall 2021, the 69-year-old climbed a ladder to the top of a shed in her pasture. The roof that protects her horses and cows needed to be fixed. So, drill in hand, she pushed down. That’s when she slipped. (Tribble, 6/5)

Opening stores used to mean everything to pharmacy chains. CVS Health once boasted of opening or buying more than 2,900 locations in a five-year period. Now it’s shuttering hundreds, while Walgreens, Rite Aid and independent drugstores also pull back. An industry that saw waves of store growth before the COVID-19 pandemic faces headwinds like falling prescription reimbursement, persistent theft and changing shopping habits. But as drugstores right-size their physical footprint, experts say they can leave behind communities that have come to depend on them as trusted sources of care and advice — both of which can be hard to find in many urban and rural areas. (Murphy and Pananjady, 6/3)

Parts of the north side of Montgomery are defined by what it has lost: restaurants, grocery stores and a convenient pharmacy, the latter of which closed five years ago. People who still live in the historically Black neighborhood of Newtown, like Sharon Harris, are frustrated. She goes to a different location of the same pharmacy chain, which is four miles from her home. “You have to come back sometimes,” she said, “and then they wait so long to fill the prescription.” (Hunter, 6/4)

Basin Pharmacy fills more than prescriptions in rural northern Wyoming. It’s also the key health care access point for the town of about 1,300 people and the surrounding area. It sells catheters, colostomy supplies and diabetic testing strips. The storage room contains things that people rely on to survive, such as a dozen boxes of food for patients who must eat through tubes. The pharmacy fills prescriptions in bulk for the county jail, state retirement center and youth group homes. Some patients come from Jackson, five hours away by car, for the specialized services. (Shastri, 6/4)

What does pharmacy access look like in your area? Try this interactive map. (6/5)

In 1977, Bob Schreiber became the owner of Burns Pharmacy in Morrisville. For most of his 42 years in the business, he turned a reliable profit. But around 2016, Schreiber’s pharmacy reached an inflection point. While his business practices hadn’t changed, he was selling drugs at a loss. It was something he’d seen coming for years, and what ultimately drove him to sell the pharmacy in 2019. Schreiber blames a sort of middleman in the drug supply chain known as pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs). According to Schreiber and 11 other current and former independent pharmacists who spoke with the Capital-Star, those PBMs are responsible for effectively forcing them to sell drugs for cheaper than they can buy them. (Karbal, 6/2)

It started with posting memes on Facebook and has grown into a national labor-organizing campaign. The target: unionizing pharmacists at CVS, Walgreens and other chains. With social-media handles like “The Accidental Pharmacist,” “RxComedy” and the hashtag #PizzaIsNotWorking, a small group of social-media influencers late last year co-founded the Pharmacy Guild, a union affiliated with the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. (Walker, 6/4)

Amazon’s pharmacy business may be coming into its own as it expands its physical presence and eyes increased revenue from the new class of weight loss drugs. After struggling to find its foothold in the U.S. healthcare market since its launch in 2020, in March Amazon announced a partnership with Eli Lilly to deliver its weight-loss drug Zepbound to consumers, and expanded its same-day pharmacy delivery service to New York City and greater Los Angeles. Amazon Pharmacy vice-president John Love told the Financial Times at the time that Zepbound and its rivals are expected to generate “a lot of revenue.” (Bratton, 6/3)

Five children who were born completely deaf have had some reversal of hearing loss after receiving a "groundbreaking" gene therapy. The clinical trial, which was co-led by Mass Eye and Ear in Boston and the Eye & ENT Hospital of Fudan University in Shanghai, was the first in the world to apply gene therapy to children in both ears, according to the researchers. The research has just been published in Nature Medicine on June 5. (Rudy, 6/5)

Surgeons removed the kidney of a genetically engineered pig from a critically ill patient last week after the organ was damaged by inadequate blood flow related to a heart pump that the woman had also received, according to officials at NYU Langone Transplant Institute. The patient, Lisa Pisano, 54, who is still hospitalized, went back on kidney dialysis after the pig’s organ was removed. She lived with the transplanted organ for 47 days, Dr. Robert Montgomery, director of the institute, said. The kidney showed no signs of organ rejection. (Rabin, 6/4)

A novel approach to organ transplantation allowed patients to wean off anti-rejection drugs after two years, according to the results of a phase 3 clinical trial presented Monday. The drugs, called immunosuppressants, are an essential part of any transplant recipient’s life: They help ensure that the immune system doesn’t attack the donated organ as a “foreign” object, leading to rejection. In doing so, however, they come with a host of toxic side effects, including harming the donated organ and increasing the recipient’s risk of infection and cancer. (Syal and Herzberg, 6/4)

A Michigan company is recalling its ground black pepper product that was distributed throughout the U.S. because it could be contaminated with salmonella, health officials announced. UBC Food Distributors in Dearborn is recalling a ground black pepper product under the Baraka brand name. The product comes in 7-ounce plastic containers with an expiration date of January 2026, and it was distributed to retail stores nationwide. (Powers, 6/4)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: Listen To The Latest '�鶹Ů�� Health News Minute'

“Health Minute” brings original health care and health policy reporting from the �鶹Ů�� Health News newsroom to the airwaves each week. (6/4)

Despite no evidence that the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine causes autism, a quarter of US adults still think it does, and the false belief is fueling rising measles cases amid falling vaccination rates, finds a survey by the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC). (Van Beusekom, 6/5)

Japanese drugmaker Shionogi yesterday announced plans to expand its infectious disease and antibiotic research and development (R&D) operations in the United States. During a panel discussion at the BIO International Convention, Shionogi officials said they plan to establish the company's first US discovery laboratory. The lab will expand the existing R&D facility for San Diego–based Qpex Biopharma, which was acquired by Shionogi in 2023 and has an existing contract with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority to develop the investigational beta-lactamase inhibitor xeruborbactam. (Dall, 6/4)

Scientists have built upon BTE technology to develop new and improved recombinant and synthetic DNA versions of therapeutic antibodies that target CA9, called Persistent Multivalent T Cell Engager (CA9-PMTE), that shows promise in pre-clinical models as a potent, long-lasting treatment against ccRCC. (The Wistar Institute, 6/4)

Eli Lilly & Co.’s Mounjaro is being recommended for weight loss for some UK patients with obesity and could potentially be easier to access on the National Health Service than Novo Nordisk A/S’s hit treatment Wegovy. (Furlong, 6/4)

A flurry of deals at the start of the year sparked optimism for a biotech stock resurgence but a swing in sentiment at the direction of interest rates has left the sector hanging on tenterhooks. Over the past few years biotechs have struggled to raise funds as the Federal Reserve embarked on its fastest pace of rate hikes in a generation. But at the end of last year deals picked up and the sector had its first positive returns of the last three as traders wagered the first rate cut was nearing. (Adegbesan, 6/3)

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) recommended Valneva's single-dose chikungunya vaccine for use on Friday, setting it up as the first preventive shot against the disease in Europe. EMA's recommendation for the French firm's vaccine Ixchiq comes as the mosquito-borne disease, for which no approved drugs exist, has been spreading due to climate change. (5/31)

The World Organization of Animal Health (WOAH) said [May 30] that it has revised its international standards to strengthen efforts to control antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The revisions to the international standards on AMR, which provide a framework for surveillance of antimicrobial use and AMR in animals, were agreed to during WOAH's 91st General Session in Paris. They cover three major areas: the environment, companion animals, and WOAH's list of antimicrobial agents of veterinary importance.  (Dall, 5/31)

The narrative around HPV vaccinations has typically centered on their ability to prevent cervical cancer in women. But a new study, presented this weekend at a major cancer meeting, reinforces the notion that these shots directly benefit men, too. (Lisa Jarvis, 6/3)

In 2002, Peter and a co-author published an op-ed in The Post arguing that the federal government should step in to lower high prescription drug prices. It was authorized to do so, they wrote, based on the Bayh-Dole Act, a 1980 law that created a mechanism known as “march-in rights” that allows the government to re-license drug patents to a generic manufacturer if the drug is not publicly available at a reasonable price. (Peter S. Arno and Kathryn Ardizzone, 5/30)

In 2009, Massachusetts was the first state to pass a restaurant food allergy training law But the law needs to be updated. For the past three legislative sessions I have worked with state Senator Cynthia Creem, state Representative Carmine Gentile, regional nonprofit AAFA New England, and Food Allergy Research & Education in support of passing a common-sense, bipartisan bill that would expand and update the state’s food allergy restaurant training law. (Nicole Arpiarian, 6/5)

The Texas Supreme Court’s rulings leave the onus on the Texas Medical Board to provide guidance as perhaps the last lifeline left for pregnant women seeking emergency abortions. As we’ve written, the board’s initial proposed guidance failed to give physicians the protection some were asking for, including a clear, but not limited, list of specific medical conditions that would warrant an exemption to the abortion ban. (6/5)

Two programs in Boston to house people struggling with addiction were considered a success, which made the news of their impending closures a head-scratcher. After all, wouldn’t the state want to continue the programs if they were working — keeping people off the streets and giving them a pathway to recovery? (6/5)

Here’s what we know about Dr. Anthony S. Fauci: As a staff member at the National Institutes of Health for 54 years and director of its National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases for 38 years, Fauci was a key figure in the development of therapies for HIV and ensuring that funding was available for the search for a cure. (Michael Hiltzik, 6/4)