What you need to know about bird flu right now

Plus: Pharmacies and hospitals spent a LOT of money on weight loss drugs last year.

April 24, 2024 Check out STAT+

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By Theresa Gaffney Morning Rounds Writer and Podcast Producer

Good morning! Yesterday was a busy day across the newsroom. Scroll down to read the many updates on bird flu from our fantastic team of reporters. And don't forget to breathe while doing so.  Also, sorry, yes, the newsletter survey. Just two more days of me mentioning this, I promise.

public health Bird flu has likely been spreading among cows for a while, so here's what you need to know Christine Kao/STAT The H5N1 bird flu outbreak in dairy cows in the U.S. has likely been going on for months longer than was previously realized, and has probably spread more widely across the country than the confirmed outbreaks would imply, STAT's Helen Branswell reported late yesterday. Though there were reports of a mysterious illness affecting dairy cows in Texas as early as February this year, the USDA first confirmed an outbreak of H5N1 in dairy cows in that state in late March. The genetic data point to a single spillover event that probably occurred in late 2023, experts told her.  What does that mean for us, and for our milk? Helen and some colleagues also reported yesterday evening that testing conducted by the Food and Drug Administration on pasteurized commercially purchased milk has found genetic evidence of the H5N1 bird flu virus. The testing, done by polymerase chain reaction, cannot distinguish between live virus or fragments of viruses that could have been killed by the pasteurization process, but the FDA said commercial, pasteurized milk is still safe to consume. Do we need to be prepared for the worst? There is no evidence that this virus is on a path to acquiring the ability to easily infect people. But the first signs that H5N1 — or any new flu virus — was starting to spread from person to person would trigger a race to produce massive amounts of vaccine to try to mitigate the damage a flu pandemic might be expected to cause. In a new story this morning, Helen spoke to experts about whether we're prepared to produce pandemic flu vaccines, if the need arises. Read more on how widespread bird flu probably is among cows, on what, exactly, the FDA found in our milk, and how prepared the U.S. might be to make a bird flu vaccine if needed.  research NIH postdocs are getting a raise — but is it enough? The National Institutes of Health will raise the minimum salary for postdoctoral researchers to $61,008 next year, the agency announced Tuesday, responding to growing calls from young life scientists to provide a liveable wage. The bump falls short of the increase to $70,000 that was recommended by an NIH working group late last year. But the agency noted in a press release that it's the largest year-over-year update for NIH-funded postdocs since 2017.  The announcement comes as increasing numbers of life sciences researchers exit academia for more lucrative jobs in the biopharmaceutical industry. Read more from me on what experts think about the salary increase, and whether or not they believe it will be enough to stop the exodus. drug shortages Discontinued insulin leaves patients to 'pick up the pieces' A year ago, Novo Nordisk announced that it would cut the price of multiple insulin products by up to 75%. The move was largely counted as a win for diabetes patients, but several months later, the company decided to discontinue one of those products, the basal insulin Levemir. In a statement, Novo said "significant insurance formulary losses" contributed to its decision to discontinue the drug. Though it won't officially be off the market until the end of this year, patients are already running into supply disruptions and insurance cutoffs, STAT's Elaine Chen reports. "This is a business decision that has real impacts on real people," said Reshma Ramachandran, a family doctor and assistant professor of medicine at Yale. Read more from Elaine on what factors led to this decision, and what options patients have left.

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first opinion This vital health law you've never heard of is in danger Getty Images Anyone who has gone to a hospital's emergency room expecting to receive medical care — not knowing where else to turn, uncertain whether a loved one is having a medical emergency and what can be done about it, or unsure if they can pay — has relied on a law they probably couldn't name: the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act. EMTALA is the only law in the country that ensures no matter who you are or what you're dealing with, a hospital emergency department will provide you with emergency care.  Today, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear a state challenge to EMTALA's universal access rule, as Idaho lawmakers claim that laws criminalizing abortion, with only an exception to save the life of the pregnant person, are not preempted by the act. In a First Opinion essay, health law professor Nicole Huberfeld argues that if any carve-out to EMTALA is allowed, there will be far-reaching effects for emergency care beyond abortion.  one big number 131 million The number of people living in areas around the U.S. with unhealthy levels of air pollution, according to the "State of the Air" report released today from the American Lung Association. obesity Spending on new weight-loss drugs surged last year Spending on GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy ballooned last year and is set to further increase costs for the U.S. health care system and the federal government, according to two new reports released Wednesday.  One study from the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists found that GLP-1 treatments were a main driver of the increase in overall drug spending by health entities such as pharmacies and hospitals last year. The other report, from the Kaiser Family Foundation, looked at the impact of the recent approval of Wegovy to prevent cardiovascular complications. Taken together, the reports provide a window into the financial pressure that GLP-1 drugs could place on the health care system as more people take the medications, STAT's Elaine Chen reports. Read more on the financial implications of these blockbuster drugs.

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What we're reading A cheap drug may slow down aging. A study will determine if it works, NPR Who coined the term 'neurodiversity?' It wasn't Judy Singer, some autistic academics say, The 19th Health care lobbying giants spent big as little got done in Congress, STAT Nestlé adds more sugar to baby food in poorer countries, report finds, Washington Post HCA to expand the use of AI tool to automate clinical documentation in ER, STAT

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Thanks for reading! More tomorrow,

theresa.gaffney@statnews.com

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