| | | |   By Elizabeth Cooney | Good morning. Kick off Election Day with on-the-ground STAT reporting in Michigan and Arizona below, and keep up with our coverage tonight at statnews.com and on Twitter. Also stay tuned for a special midterms edition of the newsletter tomorrow. | | | 'Sick of watching women die,' doctors mobilize to protect abortion access in Michigan  Jamiel Martin of Planned Parenthood passes out shirts in support of Proposition 3 at Renaissance Unity Church at in Royal Oak, Mich. (ANNTANINNA BIONDO FOR STAT) Abortion is on the ballot today in five states, and that means doctors are on the frontlines of a battle burning across the country after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. “Doctors fought hard for these rights because we’re sick of watching women die,” Melissa Bayne, an OB-GYN in Fremont, Mich., told the audience at a rally Saturday in Grand Rapids. Michigan voters will weigh in on Proposition 3, which would enshrine abortion access in the state constitution, permanently protecting abortion rights.
Bayne said she isn’t usually so politically active, but could not forget a young woman who died in a religiously affiliated hospital that denied lifesaving care during pregnancy. If Prop 3 doesn’t pass, Bayne said, pregnancy will become that much more deadly in Michigan. STAT’s Olivia Goldhill has more from Michigan on the issue that galvanized usually apolitical health care workers into a legion of campaigners. | Pharma helped finance committees that support election deniers Pharmaceutical companies are well-known for their donations to politicians on both side of the aisle who align with the industry’s interests, but a new analysis puts a finer point on this standard procedure. The trade group PhRMA has donated more than $1.2 million to organizations that funneled money toward Republican candidates for state offices who have denied the 2020 election results. Individual companies have done the same: Pfizer ($600,000), GSK ($280,000), Eli Lilly ($265,000), Novartis ($235,00), Astellas Pharma ($195,000), Johnson & Johnson ($175,000), and Merck ($125,000).
The Center for Political Accountability focused on high-profile election deniers who benefit from this largesse, including Republican candidate for governor Kari Lake in Arizona and Ashley Moody, running for re-election as attorney general in Florida. Several companies told STAT’s Ed Silverman they donate on health care policy issues alone. Read more. | Opinion: Voters should prohibit sales of flavored e-cigarettes Today Californians will vote on whether to ban the sale of nearly all flavored tobacco products in their state. By voting yes on Proposition 31, they can protect the health of their children, Margaret Foti of the American Association for Cancer Research and Clifford Hudis of the American Society of Clinical Oncology say in a STAT First Opinion. Flavored e-cigarettes have addicted a new generation of Americans to nicotine, they write. Adding flavors like fruit, candy, or dessert flavoring increases e-cigarettes’ appeal by masking the harsh taste of chemicals.
“As cancer specialists, we are deeply concerned about the growing use of [electronic nicotine delivery systems] because teens and young adults who might not have used traditional tobacco products are now using ENDS, risking addiction to nicotine which, in turn, may lead to the long-term use of combustible tobacco,” they write. Read more. | What older adults really want from their dental benefits in 2023 In a new survey, 800+ older adults reveal their most common oral health concerns, what’s important to them when it comes to dental coverage, and why their plans are often complicated, confusing, limited — and a significant source of frustration. Fortunately, new dental benefit solutions are prioritizing value, clarity, and cost savings, and giving older adults what they need and deserve. Download the free report to learn more. | Closer look: At a NASCAR race, free Covid shots are a tough sell  (BRANDON SULLIVAN FOR STAT) At the Phoenix Raceway in Arizona, as many as 100,000 people gathered to watch NASCAR drivers whiz toward this year’s championship. Free sunscreen and ear plugs were on offer, as is traditional, but so were vaccinations. A small battalion of nurses and trainees, working in tents or even going to one woman in her RV, tried to convince attendees they should get vaccinated against Covid-19. “I love being out and being able to talk to people and see people … in something that’s more of their element,” student nurse Sonia Paredes told STAT’s Sarah Owermohle.
But others shared with Sarah their skepticism over how well the shots worked, their side effects, and the pharmaceutical industry. Some derided Anthony Fauci, a national lightning rod in the coronavirus response. The health workers made a modest dent in lagging vaccination rates. Read more on how they did it. | Demand for eating-disorder care grew with the pandemic We know Covid has been cruel to the mental health of young people, sparking a rise in anxiety and depression. A new case series study in JAMA Pediatrics documents eating disorders and the growing number of youths and adolescents seeking treatment. Other research has reported worsening symptoms and behaviors in those diagnosed with eating disorders, such as increased caloric restriction, compulsive exercise, binge eating, and purging. This new study tracks requests for hospital admission or outpatient care at 14 centers across the U.S.
Both inpatient and outpatient volume increased significantly in the first year of the pandemic compared to the two previous years. Admissions and visits leveled off in 2021 but stayed above pre-pandemic levels through the end of the year. Unlike other illnesses, “ED-related care increases seem to represent a unique pandemic-associated trend,” the researchers say. | How hibernating turtles might be like people recovering from severe Covid This study reads like a “what if?” story. Published yesterday in PNAS, it’s a conceptual analysis considering why some patients with Covid-19 infections so severe they require a ventilator to breathe can emerge from comas without brain damage. It also brings in the painted turtle, “perhaps nature’s most anoxia-resistant vertebrate,” for its ability to hibernate with little oxygen. The idea is that reduced oxygen levels caused by Covid and its treatments could prompt similar neuroprotective mechanisms in the human brain to kick in.
It's already known that brain activity can change after injuries, hypothermia, and some seizures, settling into an EEG pattern called burst suppression. Other researchers have studied this phenomenon after post-cardiac arrest comas, finding that some people make excellent cognitive and physical recoveries. “The possible existence of a human [protective down-regulated state] suggests many testable hypotheses for further investigation and the possibility of developing novel therapeutic strategies,” the authors write. | | | | | Correction: Abortion-related measures are on five state ballots, including Montana but not Missouri. An item in yesterday’s newsletter — not the story — got it wrong. | What we're reading - FDA places clinical hold on Verve Therapeutics gene-editing treatment, STAT
- Paxlovid may reduce risk of long Covid in eligible patients, study finds, New York Times
- J&J’s Mammen out of the running for Biogen CEO post, STAT
- At Guinea's only specialized snake bite clinic, doctors need luck and antivenom, NPR
- This gulp of engineered bacteria is meant to treat disease, Wired
| Thanks for reading! More tomorrow,  P.S.: A couple of wedding invitations I’ve gotten this year asked guests what would get them up on the dance floor. If you’re stuck for an answer, you could turn to the science. This Current Biology study says it really is all about that bass — even if the frequency is too low to hear. | | | | Have a news tip or comment? Email Me | | | | | |
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