- Transgender Care
NBC News: UCLA Student Sues California Doctors, Alleging She Was 'Rushed' Into Transgender Surgery
A UCLA student is suing multiple California health care providers and hospitals for medical negligence, alleging she was wrongly diagnosed with gender dysphoria and then “fast-tracked onto the conveyor belt of irreversibly damaging” puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgery, according to her lawsuit. (Schwanemann, 12/12)
- Vaccines
The New York Times: RFK Jr.’s Lawyer Urges FDA to Withdraw Approval for Polio Vaccine
The lawyer helping Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pick federal health officials for the incoming Trump administration has petitioned the government to revoke its approval of the polio vaccine, which for decades has protected millions of people from a virus that can cause paralysis or death. That campaign is just one front in the war that the lawyer, Aaron Siri, is waging against vaccines of all kinds. (Jewett and Stolberg, 12/13)
The Washington Post: Study Ties Decline in Cervical Cancer Deaths Among Younger Women to HPV Vaccine
Cervical cancer deaths among women younger than 25 have plummeted in recent years, the likely result of vaccinating adolescents against human papillomavirus, or HPV, high-risk strains of which cause the cancer, researchers said. “This is a huge public-health success story,” said Ashish Deshmukh, co-leader of the cancer prevention and control research program at the Medical University of South Carolina’s (MUSC) Hollings Cancer Center, and senior author of research recently published in JAMA Network. “Vaccination is the only explanation for this startling and substantial decline.” (Cimons, 12/5)
The New York Times: Trump Hints RFK Jr. Will Investigate Disproven Vaccine-Autism Connection
President-elect Donald J. Trump, who has promoted the debunked theory that vaccines cause autism for more than a decade, suggested on Sunday that he would have his choice for health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., look into the issue. “I think somebody has to find out,” Mr. Trump said on NBC’s “Meet The Press,” after his interviewer, Kristen Welker, brought up autism in the context of a conversation about Mr. Kennedy’s skepticism of vaccines. (Gay Stolberg, 12/8)
- Health Insurance
KFF Health News: 'What The Health?': Killing Sparks Backlash Against Health Insurers
The shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on the streets of New York City prompted a surprising wave of sympathy for the perpetrator, rather than the victim, from Americans who say they have been wronged by their health insurers. It remains to be seen whether backlash from the killing will result in a more serious conversation about what ails the health care system. (12/12)
- Homelessness
Audit Finds Many Shelter Beds in Los Angeles Go Unused: An average of one in four city-funded shelter beds for people experiencing homelessness went unused, costing Los Angeles taxpayers about $218 million over five years, according to a new audit from the city controller’s office. Read more from LAist. Keep reading for more on the homelessness crisis.
- ADHD
The New York Times: ADHD Diagnoses on the Rise Among Older Adults
An analysis by Truveta, a health care data and analytics company, shows that the rate of first-time A.D.H.D. diagnoses has been on the rise since 2021, but the increase has occurred only among people 30 and older. From January 2021 to October 2024, the rate of first-time diagnoses rose about 61 percent among those ages 30 to 44 and 64 percent among those ages 45 to 64. As a result, about 31 percent of first-time diagnoses are now among people ages 30 to 44, the largest proportion of any age group. (In 2018, younger adults took the top spot.) (Caron, 12/11)
- Allied Health Workforce
Becker's Hospital Review: Cedars-Sinai's Strategy to Expand the Allied Health Workforce
Los Angeles-based Cedars-Sinai is taking a novel approach to addressing an acute, nationwide shortage of allied health workers through its newly established Chuck Lorre Allied Health School. The school will soon begin enrolling students in a range of programs that prepare them for certification in some of the highest-demand technical jobs in hospitals. Initially, training programs will be offered for careers in pharmacy technology, respiratory therapy, clinical lab science and radiation therapy. Within several years, Cedars-Sinai plans to introduce pathways to other allied health areas, such as nuclear medicine, physician assistant careers and surgical technology. (Carbajal, 12/10)
- Healthcare Costs
Modern Healthcare: How AI Can Reduce Hospital Costs and Boost Revenue
Health systems are using artificial intelligence to get patients in and out of the hospital quicker, increase capacity and hone staffing levels. Cleveland Clinic, OhioHealth and UCHealth are among the many systems using predictive analytics and machine learning to try to run hospitals more efficiently, cut down on unnecessary expenses, increase revenue and improve the patient experience, executives said. Much of the cost savings stem from reallocating nurses to different departments based on demand, and revenue increases come from treating more patients. (Kacik, 12/10)
The Washington Post: 3 in 5 Underinsured Adults Report Avoiding Needed Care Due to Costs
Some 8 percent of Americans, or an estimated 26 million people, lacked health insurance in 2023, according to the Commonwealth Fund 2024 Biennial Health Insurance Survey. Before implementation of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, nearly twice as many people, 16 percent of the population, were without health coverage, the Commonwealth Fund reported, citing data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (McMahan, 12/9)
Modern Healthcare: Gallup: Only 19% of Americans Satisfied with Healthcare Costs
The vast majority of people in the U.S. are dissatisfied with the cost of healthcare, according to researchers. Meanwhile, the percentage of those who would rate the quality of U.S. healthcare as excellent or good has hit its lowest point in more than two decades. Research and polling firm Gallup's annual Health and Healthcare poll, released Friday, found that 11% of Americans said healthcare quality was excellent and 33% said it was good. Additionally, nearly 80% of respondents said they were dissatisfied with the cost of healthcare. (DeSilva, 12/6)
- LA Care Health Plan New CEO
Modern Healthcare: LA Care Health Plan Appoints Martha Santana-Chin as New CEO
Health Net executive Martha Santana-Chin will take the helm at LA Care Health Plan after CEO John Baackes retires next month, the company announced Friday. Santana-Chin will join LA Care Health Plan from Centene subsidiary Health Net, where she is president of Medicaid operations. Santana-Chin has held various positions at Health Net since 2013, according to her LinkedIn profile. (Tepper, 12/6)