First Edition: September 25, 2018

Kaiser Health News: Workers Overdose On The Job, And Employers Struggle To Respond
Jimmy Sullivan prepared for his job as a bricklayer the same way every morning for years: injecting a shot of heroin before leaving his car. The first time he overdosed on the job, in 2013 at a Virginia construction site, a co-worker who is his cousin stealthily injected a dose of Narcan, an opioid antidote, into Sullivan’s leg. He woke up and went straight back to work. The second time, in 2014, his cousin revived him again, and after resting for an hour in his car, Sullivan was back on the job. His boss told him not to let it happen again. But within a month, Sullivan had again overdosed on the job site. This time, another worker called 911. After a few hours at the hospital, he went back to work. (Gold, 9/25)

Kaiser Health News: 5 Things To Know About Trump’s New ‘Public Charge’ Immigration Proposal
A proposed rule from the White House would make it harder for legal immigrants to get green cards if they have received certain kinds of public assistance — including Medicaid, food stamps and housing subsidies. Green cards allow them to live and work permanently in the United States. “Those seeking to immigrate to the United States must show they can support themselves financially,” Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said in a statement. (Luthra, 9/25)

California Healthline: Judges In California Losing Sway Over Court-Ordered Drug Treatment 
Dressed in jailhouse orange, with hands and feet shackled, Jimi Ray Haynes stood up in a Santa Cruz County courtroom and pleaded guilty to a felony weapons charge. Haynes, then 32, had spent the previous two weeks in jail detoxing from methamphetamine and heroin. The judge told Haynes he could serve part of his yearlong jail sentence in a drug treatment program rather than locked in county jail. (Rinker, 9/24)

Kaiser Health News: Parents Are Leery Of Schools Requiring ‘Mental Health’ Disclosures By Students
Children registering for school in Florida this year were asked to reveal some history about their mental health. The new requirement is part of a law rushed through the state legislature after the February shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. On registration forms for new students, the state’s school districts now must ask whether a child has ever been referred for mental health services. (Ochoa, 9/25)

The New York Times: Brett Kavanaugh, Facing New Allegations, Vows He Will Not Withdraw 
Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, facing new allegations of sexual impropriety and growing doubts over his confirmation to the Supreme Court, mounted an aggressive defense of himself on Monday, vowing to fight the “smears” and declaring that he will not withdraw his nomination. With President Trump publicly backing him, and senior Senate Republicans closing ranks around him, Judge Kavanaugh — joined by his wife, Ashley Estes Kavanaugh — gave an extraordinary interview to Fox News that aired Monday evening. He pledged to “defend my integrity, my lifelong record,” and told his interviewer, Martha MacCallum, that he “did not have sexual intercourse or anything close to sexual intercourse in high school or for many years thereafter.” (Stolberg and Edmondson, 9/24)

NPR: Brett Kavanaugh Says 'I'm Not Going Anywhere' Following 2nd Accusation
"We're looking for a fair process where I can be heard and defend my integrity and my lifelong record of promoting dignity and equality for women, starting with the women who knew me when I was 14 years old. I'm not going anywhere," Kavanaugh said. (Naylor, Taylor and Snell, 9/24)

The Wall Street Journal: Republicans Rally Around Kavanaugh Nomination
Republicans rallied around embattled Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, vowing Monday to push his confirmation through the Senate even as a new allegation of sexual misconduct emerged days before a hearing on an earlier assault claim. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) took to the Senate floor to call the allegations a “smear campaign” and promise a vote on the Senate floor to confirm the judge “in the near future.” President Trump, in New York for a United Nations meeting Monday, reiterated his support for his second Supreme Court pick, saying, “I am with him all the way.” (Andrews and Peterson, 9/24)

Politico: Kavanaugh Drama Rattles GOP Support
Senate Republicans have gone from confidently predicting the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court to a new message: It all comes down to Thursday. The GOP is staking Kavanaugh’s prospects to his hearing later this week, when he and Christine Blasey Ford will testify publicly about her allegations that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in high school more than 30 years ago. (Everett and Bresnahan, 9/24)

Politico: Graham: Ford’s Testimony Won’t Change My Vote
Sen. Lindsey Graham said Sunday the testimony of Brett Kavanaugh’s accuser won’t change his mind, no matter what she says. “You can’t bring it in a criminal court, you would never sue civilly, you couldn’t even get a warrant,” Graham said on “Fox News Sunday” with Chris Wallace. “What am I supposed to do? Go ahead and ruin this guy’s life based on an accusation? I don’t know when it happened, I don’t know where it happened, and everybody named in regard to being there said it didn’t happen.” (Kullgren, 9/23)

Bloomberg: Gilead To Sell Cheaper Versions Of Drug That Sparked Cost Debate 
Gilead Sciences Inc. will sell cheaper versions of its blockbuster hepatitis C drugs, the original versions of which sparked widespread debate about U.S. pharmaceutical costs when they were introduced at a price of more than $1,000 a pill. The new, cheaper versions of Gilead’s Epclusa and Harvoni will cost $24,000 for a course of treatment, the Foster City, California-based company said in a statement on Monday. When Harvoni came on the market in 2014, Gilead set a list price of $94,500. Epclusa was approved for sale in 2016, with a price of $74,760. (Spalding, 9/24)

The Wall Street Journal: Gilead To Slice List Prices Of Liver Drugs
By launching these so-called authorized generics, Gilead said it is attempting to circumvent the Byzantine U.S. drug-payment system in which the discounts and rebates provided by drugmakers to insurers don’t always benefit consumers. “Our country’s complex drug supply chain means that a drug’s list price does not always fully reflect the price paid by insurers—let alone a patient’s out-of-pocket cost, Gilead Chief Executive John Milligan said in a written statement. (Walker, 9/24)

Stat: Looking To Bolster Dwindling Hepatitis C Sales, Gilead Plans To Sell Generic Versions
One analyst, Umer Raffat of Evercore ISI, observed in an investor note that Gilead’s market share in Medicaid “has been very low lately” and that AbbVie, which sells its Mavyret treatment at a $26,000 list price, has been dominant with a 70 percent share. “Perhaps this authorized generic Epclusa will move market shares around meaningfully in (the) Medicaid channel,” he speculated. (Silverman, 9/24)

The Associated Press: AP Investigation: Drug Prices Going Up Despite Trump Promise
President Donald Trump made reducing drug prices a key promise during his election campaign, repeatedly accusing drugmakers of “getting away with murder.” At the end of May, he promised that drug companies would be announcing “massive” voluntary drug price cuts within two weeks. That hasn’t happened, and an Associated Press analysis of brand-name prescription drug prices shows it’s been business as usual for drugmakers, with far more price hikes than cuts. The number of increases slowed somewhat and were not quite as steep as in past years, the AP found. (Johnson and Forster, 9/24)

The Hill: Drug Companies Hiking Prices Despite Trump's Promise To Lower Them: Analysis 
Drug prices have spiked over the last decade, putting a pinch on consumers who have not seen wages keep up with the hikes. Prices for the Novartis cancer drug Gleevec, for example, rose in price by 440 percent — from $26,000 to $140,000 — from 2001 to 2017. President Trump has made cutting drug prices a major priority. He blasted the pharmaceutical industry for “getting away with murder” with steep drug prices during the campaign and since. (Weixel, 9/24)

The New York Times: Drug Industry Tries To Slip $4 Billion Windfall Into Opioid Bill
Drug companies usually get what they want in public-policy battles on Capitol Hill, but a move by the pharmaceutical industry to grab $4 billion from the federal Treasury in a bill that is supposed to address the nation’s deadly opioid epidemic is meeting fierce resistance. At issue is a small measure that the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, or PhRMA, has deemed a “technical correction” to a bipartisan budget law signed by President Trump in February. The law required drug manufacturers to provide deeper discounts to Medicare beneficiaries whose spending on prescription drugs falls within a range called the coverage gap, or the “doughnut hole.” The discount, now 50 percent on brand-name drugs, is set to rise next year to 70 percent. (Pear, 9/24)

Stat: Sarepta's Gene Therapy Program For Duchenne Resumes After Clinical Trial Hold Lifted
Sarepta’s early-stage clinical trial for a gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy is back on schedule, the company announced Monday. The Food and Drug Administration had put the trial on hold in July. The FDA ordered the hold after small fragments of DNA turned up in the treatment, which is being used at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. The contaminated lot was never used in patients, but the company said it would switch to a higher-grade of plasmids. Sarepta spokesperson Ian Estepan confirmed that the new plasmids are coming from the same supplier — something the company had floated as a possibility this summer. (Sheridan, 9/24)

The Wall Street Journal: Surprise Heart Data Is Just The Beginning For Amarin
It isn’t every morning that a stock triples before breakfast, even in biotech.But that is exactly what happened Monday. Amarin announced stunning results in a clinical trial evaluating its lead drug, Vascepa, in high-risk cardiovascular patients. The company said that patients who took Vascepa in addition to a statin experienced a 25% reduction in risk of a heart attack, stroke or other serious cardiac event, compared with patients who took a placebo instead of Vascepa. Shares were up 230% in morning trading. (Grant, 9/24)

The Wall Street Journal: Health-Care Stocks Lead This Leg Of Rally, After Tech Giants’ Stumbles
Health-care stocks have emerged as market leaders in the third quarter, helping push major U.S. indexes to new highs. One reason: money managers are embracing the sector as a safety play, particularly after big technology stocks stumbled in September. (Wursthorn, 9/25)

The Wall Street Journal: TPG In Exclusive Talks To Take Over Abraaj’s $1 Billion Health-Care Fund
U.S. private-equity firm TPG is in exclusive talks to take over Abraaj Group’s $1 billion health-care fund, according to a letter to employees of the fund. Abraaj was the largest private-equity firm in the Middle East with almost $14 billion of assets until it filed for provisional liquidation in June. The Dubai-based firm is selling assets and winding down operations. It got into difficulty in 2017 after investors in its health-care fund, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the World Bank, started investigating whether their money was being mismanaged. (Clark and Louch, 9/24)

Reuters: Some 129 Countries Sign Up To Trump's Pledge At U.N. To Fight Drugs
Some 129 countries at the United Nations signed on to a U.S.-drafted pledge to fight the global drug problem on Monday that U.S. President Donald Trump warned presented a public health and national security threat. In order to attend the brief U.N. event with Trump, countries had to sign the one-page "call to action on the world drug problem." Trump held a similar event at the annual gathering of world leaders in New York last year, focused on U.N. reform. (Nichols and Mason, 9/24)

The New York Times: Trial By Fire: Critics Demand That A Huge Sepsis Study Be Stopped
A large government trial comparing treatments for a life-threatening condition called sepsis is putting participants at risk of organ failure and even death, critics charge, and should be immediately shut down. A detailed analysis of the trial design prepared by senior investigators at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Bethesda, Md., concluded that the study “places seriously ill patients at risk without the possibility of gaining information that can provide benefits either to the subjects or to future patients.” (Rabin, 9/24)

The New York Times: Giving Malaria A Deadline
Malaria is among the world’s worst scourges. In 2016 the disease, which is caused by a parasite and transmitted by mosquitoes, infected 194 million people in Africa and caused 445,000 deaths. But biologists now have developed a way of manipulating mosquito genetics that forces whole populations of the insect to self-destruct. The technique has proved so successful in laboratory tests that its authors envisage malaria could be eliminated from large regions of Africa within two decades. (Wade, 9/24)

The New York Times: Should You Give Birth At A Birth Center?
When Gillian Tarr became pregnant with her second child, she chose a free-standing birth center in Seattle for her prenatal care and delivery. Her first baby had been born in a hospital, and while it was a relatively uncomplicated birth, she felt dissatisfied with the care she received. “It was impersonal and lacked any real support,” said Dr. Tarr, an epidemiologist now living in Calgary, Alberta. (Callahan, 9/25)

The Associated Press: WHO Warns Of ‘Perfect Storm’ For Ebola In Eastern Congo
The emergencies chief for the World Health Organization says insecurity, public defiance about vaccinations and political jockeying could create a “perfect storm” leading Congo’s latest Ebola outbreak to spread. Dr. Peter Salama says the response is at a “critical juncture” in eastern North Kivu province, where the outbreak was declared nearly two months ago. Health officials have counted 150 confirmed and probable cases, including over 100 deaths. (9/25)

The Washington Post: Weight Watchers Slims Down To WW. (No One Likes A Diet.)
Want to lose weight? That’s what Weight Watchers is doing in the name of ... a new name. The wellness behemoth its dropping its brand name in exchange for something slimmer: “WW.” The company says the new logo -- coupled with the tagline “Wellness that Works” -- puts an emphasis on overall health and well being, with less of a concerted focus on counting calories and shedding pounds. The logo “WW” has been used before, including in the company’s current app, but Monday marks the start of a company-wide overhaul. But not all are convinced that “WW” is a winner, and that it may instead confuse potential customers tripping over a double-letter tongue-twister. (Siegel, 9/24)

The Wall Street Journal: Weight Watchers Changes Name As It Shifts Mission
In February, the company’s Chief Executive Mindy Grossmantold stock analysts the “world doesn’t need another diet.” Instead, she said, customers need help becoming healthier. WW also said Monday that it will launch new products to reflect the company’s focus. Customers who sign up for the “WellnessWins” program, for example, earn “Wins” for tracking meals, activities, weight and for attending WW Wellness Workshops that they can redeem for products and services. It will be launched for all WW customers in the U.S. on Oct. 4. The firm is also creating what it calls “Connect Groups,” each of which is built around a theme like food, activities or “Life Stages,” according to WW. (Maidenberg, 9/24)

The Associated Press: Implant, Intense Rehab Help 3 Paralyzed For Years Take Steps
Three people whose legs were paralyzed for years can stand and take steps again thanks to an electrical implant that zaps the injured spinal cord — along with months of intense rehab, researchers reported Monday. The milestone, reported by two teams of scientists working separately, isn't a cure. The patients walk only with assistance — holding onto a rolling walker or with other help to keep their balance. Switch off the spinal stimulator and they no longer can voluntarily move their legs. (Neergaard, 9/24)

The Washington Post: Paralyzed People Are Beginning To Walk With A New Kind Of Therapy
Kelly Thomas woke up in a Florida hospital four years ago with no recollection of the car accident that had robbed her of the ability to walk. Thomas, an active college student who had barrel raced in rodeos, moved to Kentucky for a year to try out a research study that she hoped would retrain her spinal cord on how to walk. In February, a trainer who had been scooting along the floor at Thomas’s feet, helping her move her legs and place her feet as she used a walker, stopped and stood up. (Johnson, 9/24)

Reuters: Facebook Not Protecting Content Moderators From Mental Trauma: Lawsuit
A former Facebook Inc contract employee filed a lawsuit in California, alleging that content moderators who face mental trauma after reviewing distressing images on the platform are not being properly protected by the social networking company. Facebook moderators under contract are "bombarded" with "thousands of videos, images and livestreamed broadcasts of child sexual abuse, rape, torture, bestiality, beheadings, suicide and murder," the lawsuit said. (Vengattil and Babu, 9/24)

The Washington Post: A Content Moderator Says She Got PTSD While Reviewing Images Posted On Facebook
The suit by former moderator Selena Scola, who worked at Facebook from June 2017 until March, alleges that she witnessed thousands of acts of extreme and graphic violence “from her cubicle in Facebook’s Silicon Valley offices,” where Scola was charged with enforcing the social network’s extensive rules prohibiting certain types of content on its systems. Scola, who worked at Facebook through a third-party contracting company, developed post-traumatic stress disorder “as a result of constant and unmitigated exposure to highly toxic and extremely disturbing images at the workplace,” the suit says. (Dwoskin, 9/24)

Los Angeles Times: Former Content Moderator Files Lawsuit Against Facebook, Claims The Job Gave Her PTSD
“Facebook is ignoring its duty to provide a safe workplace and instead creating a revolving door of contractors who are irreparably traumatized by what they witnessed on the job,” Korey Nelson, an attorney with Burns Charest LLP, said in a statement. The firm is seeking class-action status for the lawsuit. ...Facebook and other internet service providers voluntarily established industry standards for training, counseling and supporting content moderators more than a decade ago, attorneys said. The lawsuit claims Facebook does not follow the workplace safety guidelines it helped create. (Parvini, 9/24)

The Associated Press: 3 Deaths Found In Investigation Of Impaired Pathologist
A Veterans Affairs hospital official said Monday investigators have discovered 11 significant errors including three deaths in more than 30,000 cases originally seen by a fired Arkansas pathologist officials say was working while impaired. Veterans Health Care System of the Ozarks spokeswoman Wanda Shull said those 11 errors constituted "institutional disclosures," which are mistakes in patient care that could or did result in "death or serious injury." Shull said those veterans and their families, including families of the three deceased veterans, have been notified. (9/24)

The Associated Press: Ken Burns Turns His Attention To The Mayo Clinic
After spearheading an epic, 18-hour documentary on the Vietnam War, acclaimed filmmaker Ken Burns has turned to more personal subject matter — one that knows him very intimately, too. Burns tackles the famed Mayo Clinic in his next film, exploring the history of the innovative Rochester, Minnesota-based hospital that has been dubbed "The Miracle in a Cornfield." It has treated luminaries such as the Dalai Lama — and Burns. (9/24)

The Washington Post: Case Of Legionnaires’ Disease At Upper NW Washington Retirement Home
One case of Legionnaires’ disease has been confirmed at a retirement home in upper Northwest Washington, the D.C. health department said Monday. According to the department, the disease is serious, but can be treated successfully with antibiotics. No information about the victim’s condition was available, and the victim was not identified. The case was confirmed at the Ingleside at Rock Creek Retirement Community, on Military Road, the health department said. (Weil, 9/25)

The Associated Press: Ten Days After Florence Came Ashore, Waters Still Rising In South Carolina
More than a week ago, pastor Willie Lowrimore and some of his congregants stacked sandbags around their South Carolina church to protect it from the fury of Hurricane Florence. They moved the pews to higher ground and watched anxiously for days as the nearly black, reeking water from the swollen Waccamaw River rose, even though the hurricane was long gone. Finally, before dawn Monday, the water seeped around and over the sandbags, flooding the sanctuary. (9/24)

The Associated Press: Texas Prisons Often Deny Dentures To Inmates With No Teeth
Inmates without teeth in Texas are routinely denied dentures because state prison policy says chewing isn’t a medical necessity because they can eat blended food. Texas prisons’ medical providers approved 71 dentures to a state inmate population of more than 149,000 in 2016, the Houston Chronicle reported. It’s a sharp decline from 15 years ago, when more than 1,000 dental prosthetics were approved. (9/24)

Los Angeles Times: West Nile Virus Kills At Least 4 In California, Health Officials Say
At least four people in California have died of West Nile virus this year, state health officials said. The first deaths were reported earlier this month in Glenn and Yuba counties, the officials said. Two other deaths occurred in Placer and Yolo counties. On Monday, Butte County reported a West Nile virus death. The patient who died reported symptoms in August and was between 50 to 70 years old. (Parvini, 9/24)

The Wall Street Journal: The Most Dangerous Place To Bicycle In America
Trung Huynh used a marked crosswalk with flashing yellow lights when he rode his bike across busy, six-lane Park Boulevard in Pinellas Park, Fla., one morning in June. The 18-year-old didn’t make it to the median. A white Chevy Malibu going an estimated 45 mph slammed into him and his bike, police said. Mr. Huynh died at the scene. (Calvert and Rust, 9/25)

The Washington Post: Hospital ER Reports 161 Percent Spike In Visits Involving Electric Scooters
As injured electric-scooter riders pour into emergency departments across the country, doctors have scrambled to document a trend that many view as a growing public safety crisis. A detailed statistical portrait of that crisis won’t be available for another year, emergency physicians say, but some early samples are beginning to emerge. (Holley, 9/24)