Axios

The family of a nursing home resident on Medicaid has a right to bring a civil rights suit against the state-owned facility over his care, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday in a closely watched patients' rights case.

Why it matters: The 7-2 decision in Health and Hospital Corp. v. Talevski addressed whether people in safety net programs can go to court if health care and other essential benefits are threatened.

Hazardous smoke from Canada's wildfires that has triggered air quality alerts across the East Coast this week was lingering in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic Thursday.

Why it matters: Wildfire smoke, when present in high concentrations at ground level, can cause serious health complications, especially for elderly populations and people with heart ailments or asthma.

Summers have gotten hotter in many cities across the U.S. over the past five decades, per a new analysis by climate research group Climate Central.

• Between 1970 and 2022, summer temperatures rose by 2.4°F on average across nearly 230 locations — 95% of the locations the group analyzed.

Pharmacies that carved out new lines of business during the pandemic are pushing to expand their reach amid a broader effort to rethink the health care consumer experience.

Why it matters: Pharmacies got paid to deliver vaccines, tests, and treatments for COVID during the pandemic.

As anxiety disorder diagnoses surged in kids and young adults between 2006 and 2018, doctors were more likely to opt for drug treatments over therapy, a new study in Pediatrics found.

Why it matters: Federal health agencies like the CDC and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration recommend a combination of the two, but cost and health workforce barriers strain access to adequate treatment.

The Federal Trade Commission put North Carolina lawmakers on notice about encouraging health care consolidation, stating its opposition to a state Senate bill that would exempt the University of North Carolina health system from federal and state antitrust laws.

Why it matters: It's more evidence of Biden administration scrutiny on health care mergers and anticompetitive behavior.

Mosquitoes probably don't think your blood's "sweet," but they might like your stink.

Why it matters: Thanks to the warmer, wetter weather, mosquito season could be especially itchy and long this year. And everything from body odor to what you drink can affect how miserable you get.

There's been a sixfold increase in the number of public pickleball courts in the 100 biggest U.S. cities since 2017 — from 420 to 2,788 — but municipal leaders say they still can't come close to meeting demand from pickleheads.

• There's now about one pickleball court for every 24,000 residents in these cities, according to the Trust for Public Land (TPL), a pro-parks nonprofit.

A high-profile appellate court hearing on Tuesday took up whether a single judge could halt the Affordable Care Act's preventive health services mandate nationwide.

Why it matters: Nationwide injunctions have become a hotly contested topic in several cases involving health care, with critics questioning if one judge should be able to shape national policy on matters like drug safety.

Merck's lawsuit challenging drug price negotiations established by the Inflation Reduction Act is the likely start of a flurry of litigation to undo Democrats' signature effort to tackle pharmaceutical costs.

Why it matters: At a minimum, the IRA's drug pricing provisions probably won’t start on time, experts say. And a Merck victory could cripple the way the law forces manufacturers to the bargaining table with the threat of steep excise taxes.

Intermittent fasting (IF) was a natural part of life thousands of years ago, when food was scarce for our hunter-gatherer ancestors. But interest in the idea as a modern life hack continues to grow in the U.S.

Why it matters: Although IF can lead to quick weight loss, there are concerns around it, partly because there's a lack of conclusive data on its long-term effects.