First Edition: December 4, 2019

Kaiser Health News: An Atlanta Nonprofit Brings Medical Care And Connection To The Homeless
Herman Ware got his seasonal flu shot while sitting at a small, wobbly table inside a mobile health clinic. The clinic-on-wheels is a large converted van, and on this day it was parked on a trash-strewn, dead-end street in downtown Atlanta where homeless residents congregate. The van and Ware’s flu shot are part of a “street medicine” program designed to bring health care to people who haven’t been able to pay much attention to their medical needs. For those who struggle to find a hot meal or a place to sleep, health care can take a back seat. (Whitehead, 12/4)

Kaiser Health News: HHS Hands Out Free HIV Prevention Drugs. Do You Qualify?
If you are interested in signing up for the program, here’s what you need to know. (Heredia Rodriguez, 12/4)

California Healthline: Anthem Blue Cross Gets Flagged And Fined More Than Other Insurers
One of California’s largest health insurance plans has distinguished itself, and not in a good way. The state Department of Managed Health Care hit Anthem Blue Cross with $9.6 million in fines from January 2014 through early November 2019, according to a California Healthline analysis of agency data. That is about 44% of the $21.7 million in penalties the department issued against full-service health plans during that period. (Rowan, 12/3)

Kaiser Health News: Built For Counterterrorism, This High-Tech Machine Is Now Used To Detect Fentanyl
Sarah Mackin runs a cotton swab around the inside of a tiny plastic baggie that appears empty. She spreads whatever residue the swab picked up onto a test strip that resembles a Band-Aid, then slides the strip into a buzzing machine about the size of a boxed, take-home pie. Then she waits, hoping for information that she can share with Boston’s community of opioid users. Mackin is using an MX908, a mass spectrometer initially marketed as a counterterrorism tool. (Bebinger, 12/4)

The Associated Press: Biden Steps Up Hits On Buttigieg, Warren Over Health Care
Joe Biden is taking aim at Pete Buttigieg and Elizabeth Warren during an eight-day tour of Iowa that the former vice president hopes will help him gain ground in the state that holds the first presidential caucus. Biden argued Tuesday that Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, is riding his coattails in pushing for a “public option” government-insurance plan to be sold alongside private insurance. He argued that Warren, meanwhile, is out of step with the Democratic Party and the general electorate with her call for a single-payer “Medicare for All” system that would supplant the private insurance market altogether. (12/3)

The Hill: Biden: Majority Of Democratic Enthusiasm Isn't Around 'Medicare For All' 
Former Vice President Joe Biden downplayed enthusiasm for "Medicare for All" within the Democratic Party on Thursday, saying the majority of the party was not behind the policy idea. "I don’t think the bulk of the enthusiasm in the Democratic Party is for Medicare for All," Biden said in Iowa, according to NBC News. (Manchester, 12/3)

The Hill: Buttigieg Responds To Biden's Accusation He 'Stole' Health Care Proposal 
South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg on Tuesday responded to fellow Democratic White House contender Joe Biden’s allegations that he “stole” the former vice president’s health care proposal. “Well, first of all, I’ve been talking about ‘Medicare for all who want it’ since at least February, and also the plans are not exactly the same,” Buttigieg told CNN. (Campisi, 12/3)

The Hill: Former Health Insurance Executive Praises Sanders, Warren 'Medicare For All' Plans
A former health insurance executive offered praise on Tuesday for “Medicare for All” plans put forth by Democratic presidential candidates Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). Wendall Potter, who spent 20 years in the health insurance industry, told Hill.TV that both policy ideas would create much needed structural changes to the health care system. (12/3)

The Hill: Powerful House Panel To Hold Medicare For All Hearing Next Week 
A powerful House committee announced on Tuesday that it will hold a hearing next week on Medicare for All, as well as several other proposals to expand health coverage, in a boost for backers of the progressive policy priority. The House Energy and Commerce health subcommittee will hold a hearing next Tuesday on the Medicare for All bill introduced by Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), along with six other bills, including scaled-back, “public option” proposals. (Sullivan, 12/3)

Colorado Sun: Michael Bennet Says He’s Shifting National Health Care Debate. But Even In His Home State, There’s Pushback.
Michael Bennet is predicating his improbable presidential campaign on the issue of health care — more specifically, the need for a public insurance option and not a “Medicare for All” system. ... His moderate voice struggled to register in a campaign dominated by far-reaching policy ideas, but now as the first early-state caucus approaches, Bennet believes his message is starting to take hold. The problem: So far his big ideal is not translating into more support for his campaign. (Frank, 12/3)

The New York Times: Labor Unions Team Up With Drug Makers To Defeat Drug-Price Proposals
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s bill to lower drug prices has the backing of many of the nation’s biggest labor groups, including the United Auto Workers, the A.F.L.-C.I.O., and unions representing teachers and other government workers. But a wave of Facebook ads that ran this fall appeared to suggest otherwise. The ads, featuring a dejected-looking man in a hard hat, warned that the bill “threatens thousands of good-paying jobs and restricts access to lifesaving medication.” (Thomas, 12/3)

CNBC: White House: Pelosi's Drug-Pricing Bill Would Result In 100 Fewer Drugs
Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s sweeping drug-pricing bill would result in as many as 100 fewer drugs hitting the U.S. market over the next decade, the White House claimed in a report Tuesday. The White House, citing an analysis from the Council of Economic Advisers, an agency within the executive office, also said Pelosi’s bill would lead to worse health outcomes and cost the U.S. economy $1 trillion per year over that time period. The report from the administration, which has some health policy analysts scratching their heads, suggests far greater consequences than other estimates for both the drug industry and American consumers if the bill is enacted. (Lovelace, 12/3)

The New York Times: 200,000 Uninsured Americans To Get Free H.I.V.-Prevention Drugs
With donated drugs and services provided by major pharmacy chains, 200,000 uninsured Americans will gain access to H.I.V.-preventive medicines at no cost, the Trump administration announced on Tuesday. The announcement, by Alex M. Azar II, the health and human services secretary, essentially explained how the government plans to distribute the drugs for pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, that were promised in May by the drugmaker Gilead Sciences. (McNeil, 12/3)

The Associated Press: Health Program Offers Free HIV Prevention Drug To Uninsured
Expanding access to what’s called PrEP — for pre-exposure prophylaxis — is one key to the Trump administration’s ambitious goal of ending the nation’s HIV epidemic by 2030. “We have the tools to stop the spread of HIV in its tracks. It’s about execution,” Azar told The Associated Press. (12/3)

CNN: HIV Prevention Drugs Provided As Part Of New Government Program For Uninsured
The program will cover 100% of the cost of the medication, but it won't cover the costs of clinic visits and lab tests that an individual would need to obtain or renew a PrEP prescription. Azar said these other services are often available at low or no cost from many health care providers, including federally qualified health centers that serve those who don't have health insurance or are ineligible for Medicaid. (Kounang, 12/3)

The Washington Post: Trump Administration Pushes Efforts To Wipe Out HIV Amid Stalled Progress
Only 40 percent of U.S. adults have ever been tested for HIV, and fewer than a fifth of the people at high risk for developing the infection are receiving the medication that prevents it, the government reported Tuesday. Dramatic improvement in testing and prevention, and better treatment of people who already have HIV, are urgently needed if the government is to reach President Trump’s goal of virtually wiping out transmission of the infection by 2030, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. (Bernstein, 12/3)

NPR: For Black Men Living With HIV, Grassroots Group Helps With Connection, Support
When asked to start a support group for gay black men living with HIV, or human immunodeficiency virus, Larry Scott-Walker said no thanks. His friend raised the question in 2015, and by that point, the 35-year-old HIV program manager had accumulated over a decade's worth of experience working in the HIV field, first in Baltimore and then in Atlanta, often leading such support groups. "They were just, like, really sad," he explains. People would come to the groups to unpack each week's traumas. (Landman, 12/4)

The Associated Press: Senate Panel Backs Trump's Pick To Run FDA
Senate lawmakers on Tuesday moved one step closer to confirming President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Food and Drug Administration, the agency responsible for combating a recent wave of underage vaping. The Senate’s health committee voted 18-5 to advance the nomination of Dr. Stephen Hahn, a cancer specialist and medical executive at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Several Democrats opposed Hahn for the role, worrying he would not be tough enough tackling the vaping problem among teenagers. (12/3)

The New York Times: F.D.A. Nominee Clears Senate Panel
Dr. Hahn, chief medical executive at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, was nominated by President Trump last month to replace Dr. Scott Gottlieb, who left the job in April. Dr. Norman E. Sharpless, director of the National Cancer Institute, had served as acting commissioner from April to Nov. 1. Although Dr. Sharpless was endorsed by four former F.D.A. commissioners and dozens of patient advocacy groups, he had donated to Democrats, which seemed to weigh heavily against him. Dr. Hahn has donated to Republicans, but not to the president’s campaign. (Kaplan, 12/3)

The Washington Post: Senate Health Committee Approves Stephen Hahn As Next FDA Head
Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the panel’s ranking Democrat, voted against Hahn, saying during his confirmation hearing last month he had “refused to commit to implementing a strong policy to clear nontobacco e-cigarettes” from the market — a step President Trump promised in September but has not finalized. Other Democrats split, with some voting for Hahn’s confirmation and others voting against him. (McGinley, 12/3)

The Wall Street Journal: Senate Health Committee Approves Texas Doctor To Lead FDA
The full Senate is expected to vote on Dr. Hahn’s nomination before the end of December, said Sen. Lamar Alexander (R., Tenn.), chairman of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. (Burton, 12/3)

Reuters: FDA Bowed To Industry For Decades As Alarms Were Sounded Over Talc
At an invitation-only gathering late last year, U.S. regulators and their guests huddled at a hotel near Washington, D.C., to discuss the best way to detect cancer-causing asbestos in talc powders and cosmetics. The “Asbestos in Talc Symposium,” sponsored by the Food and Drug Administration, was dominated by industry hands: Most of the 21 non-government participants had done work for talc companies, such as testing and serving as expert witnesses and consultants, symposium documents and other records show. (12/3)

Reuters: Johnson & Johnson Says New Tests Show No Asbestos In Johnson's Baby Powder
Johnson & Johnson said on Tuesday that recent tests showed that Johnson's Baby Powder was free of asbestos, after U.S. Food and Drug Administration investigations reported trace amounts of the material in the product earlier this year. A total of 155 tests were conducted by two different third-party labs using four different testing methods on samples from the same bottle tested by the FDA's contracted lab, the company said. (12/3)

The New York Times: They Pushed Hard This Year To Curtail Abortion. Wait For 2020.
Months after state lawmakers around the country approved some of the most restrictive limits on abortion seen in decades, some states want to push still further. Leading the way is Ohio, where Republicans are contemplating banning nearly all abortions from the time of conception, with no exceptions for rape or incest, and the highly unusual step of allowing women who have abortions to be prosecuted for murder. Especially contentious in the Ohio proposal is a provision that would direct doctors treating women with a sometimes life-threatening condition when a fertilized egg implants outside of the uterus to try to “reimplant an ectopic pregnancy into the woman’s uterus.” (Williams, 12/4)

The Hill: Survey: 37 Percent Of Americans Plan To Skip Flu Vaccine This Season
Thirty-seven percent of American adults don't plan to get flu shots this season, according to a poll released Tuesday. A survey conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago found those who don't plan to get shots have concerns about the side effects of the vaccine or think it doesn't work very well. (Hellmann, 12/3)

CNN: A Hospital Had 9 Flu Cases At This Time Last Year. This Year, It Had More Than 1,400
When Donna Bonin's 13-year-old son recently came down with a sky-high fever, she thought to herself: This can't be the flu. It's November. But Bonin is an experienced mother of seven, and she'd never seen any of her children so sick. She brought Adrian to the emergency room at Children's Hospital New Orleans, where he was, indeed, diagnosed with influenza. Adrian is in good company during what has proven to be an extraordinary fall for the flu in parts of the country, causing strain and long waits in the emergency room in some hospitals. (Cohen, 12/3)

The New York Times: This Woman Wants To Help Regulate Your Period With Food
A few months ago, in a conference room at the Yard, a co-working space in Manhattan, a group of female employees were updating their boss, Alisa Vitti, on their latest projects and the state of their hormones. “I’m in my luteal phase right now, so very into organization,” said one woman, citing the second phase of her menstrual cycle as explanation for the series of perfectly structured charts she was presenting on a screen at the front of the room. (Schiffer, 12/4)

The New York Times: Fake Meat Vs. Real Meat
The meat industry has a warning for consumers: Beware of plant-based meat. That is the message behind a marketing campaign by the Center for Consumer Freedom, a public relations firm whose financial supporters have included meat producers and others in the food industry. In recent weeks the group has placed full-page ads in The New York Times and other newspapers raising health concerns about plant-based meat substitutes like the Impossible Burger and the Beyond Burger, which are designed to look, taste and even appear to bleed like real meat. (O'Connor, 12/3)

The New York Times: 25 Again? How Exercise May Fight Aging
Regular exercise throughout adulthood may protect our muscles against age-related loss and damage later, according to an interesting new study of lifelong athletes and their thighs. The study finds that active older men’s muscles resemble, at a cellular level, those of 25-year-olds and weather inflammatory damage much better than the muscles of sedentary older people. The study also raises some cautionary questions about whether waiting until middle age or later to start exercising might prove to be challenging for the lifelong health of our muscles. (Reynolds, 12/4)

The New York Times: The Beauty Myth For Boys
As long as I have been a pediatrician, boys have told me — usually in not so many words — that they feel the exact same body pressures girls do, just in different directions. This body-sense emerges earlier than we might expect thanks to the younger onset of puberty, which has moved squarely into the elementary school years, yes for both boys and girls. The difference is that female body changes tend to be obvious from the start; not so for the male ones. (Natterson, 12/3)

NPR: Physician BJ Miller's Freak Accident Taught Him How To Ease Suffering
When BJ Miller was a sophomore at Princeton University, he climbed atop a commuter train that had been parked for the night. What began as a lark took a tragic turn when 11,000 volts of electricity suddenly surged through his body. "There was a big explosion, a big flash of light, and I was thrown ... quite some distance," Miller says. "My body was literally smoking." (Gross, 12/3)

The New York Times: Rikers Guards Stood By For 7 Minutes As Inmate Tried To Hang Himself
At least four New York City correction officers failed to act for seven minutes as an 18-year-old detainee tried to hang himself at the Rikers Island jail complex, with some of them watching the suicide attempt before intervening, according to four people with knowledge of the matter. The officers have been suspended while the city’s Department of Investigation conducts an inquiry, officials said. The inmate was hospitalized and put into a medically induced coma on Tuesday, the people said. (Shanahan and Rashbaum, 12/3)

The Associated Press: Tennessee Doctor Pleads Guilty To Overprescribing Opioids
A Tennessee doctor who lost five patients to fatal overdoses in 10 months now faces up to 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine. News outlets report 64-year-old Dr. Darrel Rinehart pleaded guilty Monday to prescribing drugs without medical necessity. U.S. Attorney Don Cochran says Rinehart also admitted to unreasonably distributing opioids and other substances to multiple patients. (12/3)

The New York Times: They Ended Up In Decrepit Housing In Newark. Is New York To Blame?
Julie Rodriguez’s apartment in Newark was so cold that the water in her dog’s bowl froze. At times, Sha-kira Jones’s apartment did not have heat or electricity. In Loreal Bell’s apartment, raw sewage seeped into the basement. All three women had moved out of the New York City shelter system into what they described as decrepit conditions in Newark through a rental assistance program. (Stewart, 12/3)