IHA Daily Briefing: September 9

IDPH Issues Guidance on Illinois End of Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act

The Illinois Dept. of Public Health (IDPH) has released a memorandum providing an overview of the Illinois End of Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act (P.A. 104-0441) outlining relevant information for clinicians, pharmacists, health systems and public health professionals in preparation for implementation of the Act, which is scheduled to become effective Sept. 12, 2026. Under the Act, physicians licensed in Illinois may prescribe medications for qualified patients with a terminal illness for the patient to self-administer to end their life. The document also summarizes steps for clinicians to follow if they choose to provide medical aid-in-dying.

The IDPH guidance document contains a general synopsis of the Act for clinicians who chose to provide aid-in-dying care under the Act, and the Department emphasized that practitioners and entities should familiarize themselves with the specifics of applicable laws and consult legal counsel about their legal rights and obligations. IDPH noted that potentially relevant statutes and legal authorities outside this Act, such as the Health Care Right of Conscience Act, are beyond the scope of the provided guidance.

IDPH said it plans to make the information available on the IDPH website. That information, including links to relevant forms and additional resources, will be sent via a future State of Illinois Rapid Electronic Notification System (SIREN) alert.

Meanwhile, there are multiple pending lawsuits challenging the Act and, at a minimum, requesting that the court enjoin or stay the effective date of the Act, which is currently scheduled for Sept. 12, until the litigation is resolved. As of this writing, the court has not issued a decision. IHA staff are actively monitoring these cases and will provide an update to the membership as soon as a decision has been reached.

In the meantime, hospitals are encouraged to be ready to comply with the provisions of this Act by the Sept. 12 effective date in case an injunction is not issued.

Staff contact: Karen Harris

HHS Announces Key Leadership Selections at FDA
The U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services has announced the selection of four senior leaders at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA):

• Jared Seehafer, MS, who has been selected to serve as FDA's first Deputy Commissioner for Technology and Artificial Intelligence; Seehafer will serve as the agency's senior leader for technology, software, and AI and will provide leadership in establishing FDA-wide strategy and priorities in these areas.
• Michael Davis, MD, PhD, who has been selected as Director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER); Davis will lead the FDA center with a focus on three critical areas: increasing patient access to safe and affordable critical medicines, advancing the science of drug development and evaluation, and strengthening the domestic and global drug supply chain.
• Karim Mikhail, BPharm, MSc, has been selected as Director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER); Mikhail will lead the center responsible for regulating biological products, including vaccines, blood and blood products, and cellular and gene therapies. He will focus on modernizing regulatory frameworks to accelerate drug development, including for rare diseases, and work to strengthen vaccine safety surveillance.
• Bret Koplow, PhD, JD, has been selected as Director of the Center for Tobacco Products (CTP); Koplow will lead CTP's dual priorities of promoting access to less harmful alternatives for adult smokers, and protecting youth and minors from tobacco and nicotine dangers.

FDA Issues Warning Citing Concerns with Unapproved GLP-1 Drugs
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a recent warning to patients and healthcare professionals citing safety and quality concerns involving compounded GLP-1 drugs and unapproved weight-loss drugs, saying that as of May 31 the FDA has received more than 1,700 adverse event reports involving compounded semaglutide and tirzepatide. The FDA statement provided recommendations for healthcare professionals and patients, specifically highlighting concerns related to compounded versions of the drugs; vials containing multiple doses; improper storage; dosing errors; and unapproved or fraudulent versions of the drugs. FDA is encouraging healthcare professionals report adverse events or quality problems with these or any medications to FDA's MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting program.

Report Highlights Decline in Availability of Hospital Obstetric Services
A recent report on hospital obstetric services found that between 2010 and 2024, 718 hospitals nationwide lost obstetric services due to obstetric unit or hospital closure. Nine percent of those losses happened from 2023-2024, with 57.5% of rural hospitals and 43.6% of urban hospitals across the U.S. without obstetric services by 2024.

The report stated that loss of obstetric services disproportionately impacts rural areas, noting that between 2010-2024, 14% of hospitals, including 16% of rural hospitals and 13% of urban hospitals lost obstetric services, while 35%, including 42% rural and 30% urban, never had obstetric services during that period. By 2024, more than half of the rural hospitals in more the 31 states, including Illinois, were without obstetric services.

Class I Recalls on Breathing Circuits, Catheters, Spinal Cord Stimulators
A number of Class I recalls have been identified by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently, including Hudson RCI Neonatal/Infant Heated Wire Breathing Circuits and certain reprocessed electrophysiology and ultrasound catheters by Medline, and all unused Infinion CX Leads by Boston Scientific. Several Early Alerts for medical products have also been issued by the FDA, including certain VentStar Resus Neo hoses by Draeger and convenience kits and IV start kits by AVID Medical.

Correction notices have also been issued for Medline convenience kits containing recalled BD ChloraPrep Applicators, as well as Portrait Mobile Monitoring Solutions devices by GE Healthcare. FDA has also been made aware of several voluntary recalls for certain lots of intravenous fluids by American Regent and B. Braun Medical.

Spotlight on IHA Business Resources: IPC Group Purchasing
As supply costs continue to rise, adding pressure to hospital finances, IHA's IPC Group Purchasing partners with Premier to deliver savings on a range of supplies to Illinois hospitals. To do so, our group purchasing organization (GPO) uses a successful volume aggregation model to reduce healthcare supply chain expenses.

With a member-first approach, IPC Group Purchasing delivers key benefits including:

• Contract aggregation that opens the door to better tier pricing and discounts;
• ccess to Premier's highly competitive contract portfolio representing billions of dollars in purchasing volume;
• Pre-vetted vendors for the best value and exceptional service; and Customized member support from our dedicated team.

Our GPO focuses exclusively on healthcare supplies, with service offerings designed around the resources and support hospitals and health systems need to achieve your supply chain goals. These include dedicated, on-site staff to identify cost-savings opportunities; collaboration with your supply chain team; training on contract management and spend analytic systems; and coordination on supply chain benchmarking reports.

See our flyer about IPC Group Purchasing and learn more on our hospital services webpage.

Staff contact: Patrick Sonin

Illinois Respiratory Disease Surveillance Data

The Infectious Respiratory Disease Surveillance Dashboard from the Illinois Dept. of Public Health (IDPH) provides the latest data on hospital visits, seasonal trends, lab test positivity and demographic data. IDPH also tracks COVID-19, influenza and respiratory syncytial virus information through the Illinois Wastewater Surveillance System dashboard.

Briefly Noted

Hawaii tops the nation as the happiest state in the U.S., according to personal finance company WalletHub's recent analysis. The 50 states were analyzed based on emotional and physical well-being, work environment, and community and environment, and further evaluated across 30 metrics, ranging from career well-being to average leisure time spent per day. Illinois came in "above average" as the 26th happiest state, while West Virginia lagged the nation as the least happiest.

Leading the News