Health Care — Biden: US Women ‘made Their Voices Heard At Polls

Rest in peace, a true legend. Kevin Conroy, the voice actor who brought Batman to the small screen for generations of comic book fans, has died at the age of 66.

On health care, today we look at President Biden's better-than-expected response to the overnight primaries and the health issue he says drove women to vote.

Welcome to Nightly Health , where we'll be following the latest policy developments and news related to your health. For The Hill, we are Nathaniel Weichsel and Joseph Choi. Did someone forward you this newsletter?

Biden praises the "power of women" in the midterm elections

President Biden said Thursday that he believes people who support abortion bans know the power of women in America after this week's midterm elections.

"You all came and beat them to death," Biden said during a speech to the Democratic National Committee at Washington's Howard Theater. "Civil rights activists had no idea about the power of women in America, but now I do."

• "As I said, women's voices are being heard in America," he said.
  

• The President said that in the summer the Supreme Court Roe v. Wade was a man who mobilized women to vote.

Vice President Harris, First Lady Jill Biden and Vice President Doug Emhoff took the stage with dozens of people wearing T-shirts and holding signs reading "Come on Joe," "Fetterman," and "End the Civil Union."

"This is not a political article, this is a thank you, thank you, thank you," Biden said. "Tuesday was a good day for America, a good day for democracy and a strong night for Democrats."

More details here.

Laying off hundreds of people to avoid bankruptcy

Electronic cigarette maker Juul Labs Inc. found a way to avoid bankruptcy by bailing out its early investors, and the new plan calls for a number of layoffs.

“Juul Labs today charted a path forward with an equity investment from some of our earliest investors. This investment will allow Juul Labs to maintain its commercial operations, facilitate an administrative appeal of the FDA's no-market order, and support product innovation and science,” a Juul spokesperson told The Hill.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) briefly banned the sale and marketing of Juul e-cigarettes over the summer as part of the agency's efforts to combat underage smoking, a company spokesman said.

The FDA's ban on Juul products was lifted shortly after launch due to "scientific issues" that required "further testing."

• "To further ensure the company's ability to continue moving forward, we are also restructuring, including the difficult but necessary step of parting ways with many respected colleagues," said a Juul spokesperson.
  

• This is the latest development in a financially and legally challenging year for Juul. Last month, it was reported that the company had abandoned plans to expand outside the US.

More details here.

RESEARCH DETAILS RACIAL DISCIPLINE IN OPIA TREATMENT

Black and Hispanic patients with opioid use disorder have a shorter duration of buprenorphine treatment than white patients, and the gap has widened in recent years, according to a new study.

Although the length of treatment for white patients increased from 2017, it continued to decrease among black patients in 2014. In 2009, it began to decline among Hispanic patients.

Buprenorphine is a medication commonly prescribed for patients with opioid use disorder.

Although longer duration of treatment is associated with better outcomes, data show that racial and ethnic minority patients are less likely to take the drug for the recommended length of time than white patients.

"Disparities in education, employment, and access to health care may influence addiction treatment initiation, participation, and outcomes," the authors write.

More details here.

Early trials of a breast cancer vaccine have shown promise

An experimental breast cancer vaccine has been shown to reliably create immunity in patients with advanced cancer.

Data from the first phase of trials at the University of Washington School of Medicine suggest that the vaccine could one day be used to treat different types of breast cancer.

• "Because this was not a randomized clinical trial, the results should be considered preliminary, but the results are promising enough that the vaccine is now being evaluated in larger randomized clinical trials," said lead researcher Mary L. Diese. Director of the University of Washington and Cancer Vaccine Institute noted:
  

• The vaccine is specifically designed for the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) protein. High levels of the HER2 protein, which causes tumor cells to grow faster, are present in about 15-20% of breast cancers, making these cases more aggressive and more likely to recur after the patient is treated.

A suspicious paradox. however, overproduction of HER2 can also induce cytotoxic or cytotoxic immunity. Patients with this type of immune response are less likely to have their cancer come back and have a longer overall survival than non-responders.

More details here.

Cancer coordinating the Moonshot favors the results

At a recent event on The Hill, White House Cancer Moonshot Coordinator Daniel Carnavale highlighted several medical advances and outlined the program's ambitious goals for decades to come.

• "The interesting thing is that we have more tools today than we did a few decades ago," Carnaval said at the Healthcare Innovations event last month. "We have an HPV vaccine that prevents up to seven types of cancer."
  

• A study published in The Lancet found that women in their 20s who received the vaccine between the ages of 12 and 13 had an 87% lower incidence of cervical cancer than unvaccinated women.
  

• "If we had this vaccine widely available, we could eliminate cervical cancer, we could almost completely eliminate cancer," Carnaval said.

Administrative agenda. During the Hologic-sponsored event, Carnival also presented some of the goals of Cancer Awareness Month, which President Biden echoed during his inauguration.

The main goal is to reduce cancer mortality by at least 50% over the next 25 years.

Carnaval said he and his colleagues are working to close gaps in cancer screening, understand and address toxic and environmental exposures, promote innovation, reduce the impact of preventable cancers, and support the public and private sectors to support cancer patients. and their families. I'm looking forward to it.

More details here.

WHAT ARE WE READING?

• Many immunocompromised patients don't realize that Covid-19 drugs aren't as effective as they used to be (CNN)

• "Awaiting the Generational Crisis." Americans with disabilities lack long-term care plans (Kaiser Health News)

• COVID BQ.1 / BQ.1.1 variants account for 44% of US cases - CDC (Reuters)

WITH THE STATE

• Children's Hospital of Michigan reports 100% occupancy due to RSV outbreak (ABC News)

• Colorado Just Legalized 'Magic Mushroom', Idea Spreads Nationwide (NBC News)

• Supreme Court race gives anti-abortion groups a tough night (Politico)

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