The New York Times: Trump Proposals Could Increase Health Costs For Consumers
Consumers who use expensive brand-name prescription drugs when cheaper alternatives are available could face higher costs under a new policy being proposed by the Trump administration. The proposal, to be published this week in the Federal Register, would apply to health insurance plans sold under the Affordable Care Act. Health plans have annual limits on consumers’ out-of-pocket costs. Under the proposal, insurers would not have to count the full amount of a consumer’s co-payment for a brand-name drug toward the annual limit on cost-sharing. Insurers would have to count only the smaller amount that would be charged for a generic version of the drug. (Pear, 1/21)

Stat: Medicare Experiment Could Pressure Insurers To Save On Prescription Drugs
The federal government is giving health insurance companies that run Medicare prescription drug plans new tools it hopes will save money for patients. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced a voluntary program Friday that will allow Medicare Part D plans, which share the cost of prescription drug insurance with the federal government, to keep more of the savings they negotiate — with the caveat that if they don’t save enough money, they have to pay the government back for it. (Swetlitz, 1/18)

The Star Tribune: In Pursuit Of Better Health Care For Less Money, Minnesota Hospitals Show Uneven Results
A federal experiment meant to reward hospitals for saving money on Medicare patients ended with two of the three Twin Cities participants dropping out when they instead both lost millions providing that care. The uneven outcome showed that Minnesota has a long way to go to achieve the promise of better health care for less money. Three Twin Cities hospital and clinic systems participated in the federal Next Generation Accountable Care Organization program, known as Next Gen — the latest of many efforts to make the nation’s health care system more accountable. (Olson, 1/18)

And on Capitol Hill —

The Hill: Grassley To Test GOP On Lowering Drug Prices 
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is giving Republicans an early test on their commitment to lowering drug prices.Legislation sponsored by the Senate Finance Committee chairman and Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar (Minn.) would allow people to buy prescription drugs from approved pharmacies in Canada. (Weixel and Hellmann, 1/21)

Politico: Democrats’ Plan To Neuter Medicare For All Irks Liberals
Medicare for All may be progressives' rallying cry. But it’s Medicare for More that’s likely to wind up becoming reality. Several likely 2020 Democratic presidential candidates are pushing plans for something short of universal health care, a move already creating friction within the party's empowered left wing, which has panned any attempt to water down the progressive dream of a single-payer system. (Ollstein and Cancryn, 1/22)

The Associated Press: Pelosi 'Playing Chess On 3 Boards' With Health Care
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is laying out her strategy on health care and first up is improvements to "Obamacare" and legislation to lower prescription drug costs. "Medicare for all" will get hearings. Pelosi and President Donald Trump have been sounding similar themes about the need to address the high drug costs. But her plans to broaden financial help for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act are unlikely to find takers among Republicans. (1/22)

The Associated Press: Democrats Lurch Left On Top Policies As 2020 Primary Begins
Democratic presidential contender Julian Castro launched his campaign by pledging support for "Medicare for All," free universal preschool, a large public investment in renewable energy and two years of free college for all Americans. That wasn't enough for some of his party's most liberal members. (Peoples, 1/22)

The Washington Post: Sen. Kamala Harris’s 2020 Policy Agenda: $3 Trillion Tax Plan, Tax Credits For Renters, Bail Reform, Medicare For All
Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.) will run for president proposing a nearly $3 trillion tax plan, billions in tax credits to low-income renters, a Medicare-for-all health-care system, and a reduction in cash bail for inmates charged with criminal offenses, her aides said. Harris announced her candidacy Monday. (Stein, 1/21)

The New York Times: Shutdown’s Pain Cuts Deep For The Homeless And Other Vulnerable Americans
Ramona Wormley-Mitsis got welcome news in December: After years of waiting, the federal government had approved a subsidy that allowed her to rent a three-bedroom house, bracketed by a white picket fence to keep her two autistic sons from bolting into traffic. A few days later, the dream was deferred. The Department of Housing and Urban Development — one of the federal agencies hit hardest by the shutdown — would not be able to pay her new landlord until the government reopened. (Thrush, 1/21)

WBUR: Another Shutdown Casualty: Biotech IPOs
The partial government shutdown may be cooling the red-hot market for biotech IPOs — aka initial public offerings on the stock market. The Securities and Exchange Commission said this week that its normal functions are suspended because the agency isn't funded. (Borchers, 1/18)

New Hampshire Public Radio: Democratic N.H. Lawmakers Consider Legislation To Give Benefits To Furloughed Federal Workers
Senate President Donna Soucy and House Speaker Steve Shurtleff announced on Monday--the 31st day of the partial government shutdown--that they are considering an emergency bill that would permit the state’s Employment Security office to issue unemployment benefits to impacted federal workers. Currently, those residents are not eligible for benefits because they are technically still employed. (Bookman, 1/21)

San Francisco Chronicle: Supervisor Matt Haney Wants SF To Help Out Federal Workers Who Aren’t Getting Paid
Supervisor Matt Haney is calling on San Francisco to help federal workers affected by the government shutdown by offering free public transportation, deferred payments on utilities and parking tickets, and emergency loan assistance. It’s a long shot for Haney, though, because as a district supervisor, his authority to force largely autonomous city agencies like the Municipal Transportation Agency and the Public Utilities Commission to offer such assistance is limited. (Thadani and Fracassa, 1/21)

The Hill: FDA Threatens To Pull E-Cigarettes Off The Market
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says that e-cigarettes face an uncertain future in U.S. markets unless youth smoking rates drop over the next year. Speaking at a public hearing Friday in Silver Spring, Md., FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said he could see the entire category of e-cigarette and vaping products removed from store shelves if companies don’t stop marketing such products to youth. (Bowden, 1/19)

The Hill: FDA: Level Of Young People Addicted To Vaping May Require Drug Therapies
The Trump administration's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner says levels of e-cigarette use among young people are reaching new heights even as traditional cigarette use drops to historic lows. Commissioner Scott Gottlieb remarked at a public hearing Friday in Silver Spring, Md., that it was shocking to him that the rate of young people addicted to e-cigarettes use, commonly referred to as "vaping," had reached levels where FDA-approved methods for quitting e-cigarettes could be necessary. (Bowden, 1/18)

Meanwhile, in Virginia —

The Washington Post: Virginia Considers Hiking The Smoking And Vaping Age To 21
Some prominent legislators are backing a bill to raise the minimum age for buying cigarettes and vapes from 18 to 21 in Virginia, a state where tobacco once loomed so large that images of the leaves adorn its stately Capitol. Alarmed by rampant vaping by teens, a group of Republicans and Democrats in both the House and Senate rolled out legislation last week targeting an industry whose roots in the commonwealth stretch back four centuries to the Jamestown Colony. (Vozzella and Schneider, 1/20)

The New York Times: Study Links Drug Maker Gifts For Doctors To More Overdose Deaths
A new study offers some of the strongest evidence yet of the connection between the marketing of opioids to doctors and the nation’s addiction epidemic. It found that counties where opioid manufacturers offered a large number of gifts and payments to doctors had more overdose deaths involving the drugs than counties where direct-to-physician marketing was less aggressive. The study, published Friday in JAMA Network Open, said the industry spent about $40 million promoting opioid medications to nearly 68,000 doctors from 2013 through 2015, including by paying for meals, trips and consulting fees. (Goodnough, 1/18)

The Washington Post: Drug Company Payments To Doctors May Influence Opioid Overdose Deaths, Study Finds
“What seems to matter most wasn’t the amount of money doctors were paid, it was the number of times they were paid,” said Magdalena Cerdá, an associate professor of population health and director of the Center for Opioid Epidemiology and Policy at the NYU School of Medicine. Michael Barnett, an assistant professor of health policy and management at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, who has studied the role of physicians in the opioid epidemic, called the findings “deeply concerning for the raging [opioid] crisis that we’re all quite aware of.” (Bernstein, 1/18)

Bloomberg: Big Pharma Marketing Spending Tied To Opioid Deaths, Study Finds 
“Areas in this country hardest hit by the prescription opioid crisis were the same areas targeted by drug companies marketing opioids,” said Scott Hadland, a pediatrician and researcher at the Grayken Center who was the lead author of the study. Cabell County, West Virginia, for example, received 32 times more dollars in prescription opioid marketing than the national average. Opioid manufacturers spent $11,676 on marketing per every thousand residents living in the region at the foothills of the Appalachians. (Griffin, 1/18)

Kaiser Health News: County By County, Researchers Link Opioid Deaths To Drugmakers’ Marketing
Researchers sketched a vivid line Friday linking the dollars spent by drugmakers to woo doctors around the country to a vast opioid epidemic that has led to tens of thousands of deaths. The study, published in JAMA Network Open, looked at county-specific federal data and found that the more opioid-related marketing dollars were spent in a county, the higher the rates of doctors who prescribed those drugs and, ultimately, the more overdose deaths occurred in that county. (Knight, 1/18)

Politico: ‘I’m Trying Not To Die Right Now’: Why Opioid-Addicted Patients Are Still Searching For Help
The Trump administration, Congress and states are pouring billions of dollars into addiction treatment to fight the opioid crisis, but accountability for the burgeoning industry hasn’t kept pace with those efforts — leaving patients vulnerable to ineffective care, fraud and abuse. Interviews with patients in recovery and nearly two dozen advocates, officials and public health and addiction experts in and out of government reveal a fragmented addiction care industry, with a patchwork of state regulations and spotty oversight. (Ehley and Roubein, 1/20)

And in news from the states —

Bloomberg: U.S. Drug Overdose Deaths Eased In 10 States, CDC Data Show 
America’s drug overdose epidemic eased in ten states, primarily in the West, with flat or declining levels between June 2015 and June 2018, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. At the same time, overdose deaths rose by about 500 or more in ten states, with Florida accounting for an increase of more than 2,000 deaths. Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Illinois and Ohio posted increases topping 1,000 fatalities. (Tanzi, 1/19)

The Associated Press: Ohio Health Department Investigates Doctor For Deaths
The state Department of Health is investigating a doctor accused of ordering potentially fatal doses of the powerful painkiller fentanyl for 27 gravely ill patients who died at an Ohio hospital system. The Columbus Dispatch reports that the Health Department is investigating Dr. William Husel, a former Columbus-based Mount Carmel Health System physician, on behalf of the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (1/19)

Columbus Dispatch: Ohio Hospitals Review Policies On Painkillers Amid Mount Carmel Investigation
When announcing that a doctor had been fired and a total 20 pharmacists and nurses placed on leave in an investigation into excessive doses of painkillers given to hospital patients who died, Mount Carmel Health System executives acknowledged that their processes were insufficient to prevent the administration of the potentially fatal drugs. Among the many questions from administrators and the community: How could this have happened? (Viviano, 1/20)

The Washington Post: In Alexandria, Four Apparent Opioid Overdoses Leave Two Dead
Four people are said to have overdosed on opioids — two fatally — over the holiday weekend in Alexandria, prompting city officials to warn on Monday about the dangers posed by the illegal use of narcotics. The overdoses occurred within a 72-hour period in different parts of the city, said Capt. Gregg Ladislaw of the Alexandria Police Department’s criminal investigations division. One of the people who fatally overdosed was a 50-year-old woman who died in the west end of Alexandria; the other was an Alexandria resident who was brought to a hospital but could not be revived, he said. (Barrios and Sullivan, 1/21)

San Francisco Chronicle: Chico’s Mass Overdose Highlights Severe New Phase Of Opioid Epidemic
The incident is among the worst mass overdose events in Northern California since the opioid epidemic hit the state a decade or so ago. It offers a window into a still-new phase of that epidemic, as the ultra-potent drug fentanyl snakes into the supply of not just heroin and other opiates, but recreational drugs such as cocaine and ecstasy. (Allday, 1/21)

The Associated Press: Trump Promises March For Life Crowd That He Stands With Them
President Donald Trump sought to assure opponents of abortion rights on Friday that he stands with them and would veto any legislation from a Democratic-controlled House that "weakens the protection of human life." Trump spoke via video to participants at this year's March for Life on the National Mall. Thousands of people across the country braved the cold to attend the event. "As president, I will always defend the first right in our Declaration of Independence, the right to life," Trump said. (Freking, 1/18)

The Hill: Trump Vows To Veto Bills Expanding Abortion Rights In Video Address To March For Life
Vice President Pence spoke in person at the march, calling Trump a “champion” for abortion opponents. “President Donald Trump is the most pro-life president in American history,” Pence told the crowd. He touted the slew of conservative judges that Trump has named to the courts, as well as actions like reinstating the Mexico City policy, which restricts U.S. foreign aid dollars from going to nongovernmental organizations that promote or provide abortions. (Sullivan, 1/18)

The Washington Post: Trump Administration Hammers California Over Defunct Crisis Pregnancy Center Law Before March For Life Rally
As thousands of activists gathered for the country’s largest antiabortion rally on Friday, the Trump administration announced the first enforcement action by its year-old Conscience and Religious Freedom Division — a finding that the state of California violated federal conscience protections. The action appeared symbolic, since the state law requiring crisis pregnancy centers to provide women with information on how to access free and low-cost abortion services was blocked by the U.S. Supreme Court in a 5-to-4 ruling in June. Its announcement came as the administration made a series of overtures to antiabortion activists to promote its track record of advancing anti-abortion judges and regulations and expanding protections for doctors, nurses and others opposed to providing such services. (Johnson, 1/18)

WBUR: With Higher Stakes In The Abortion Debate, Activists March On Washington
On Friday, as they have for decades, anti-abortion rights activists marched through Washington, D.C., to the U.S. Supreme Court – a location that symbolizes the long-held goal of reversing the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized the procedure nationwide in 1973. But this year's rally comes at a moment when many anti-abortion activists are feeling more hopeful about that goal, on the heels of the confirmation and swearing-in of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. (McCammon, 1/18)

CQ: Anti-Abortion Advocates Push Action On Nominations And Rules
Lawmakers and anti-abortion advocates who gathered Friday for the nation's largest annual anti-abortion rally say they are pivoting to a defensive strategy in Congress, with a focus on confirming conservative judges as legislation stalls. Thousands of advocates gathered to protest the anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court case that guaranteed a woman’s right to an abortion. The event featured a surprise appearance by Vice President Mike Pence with second lady Karen Pence, and a video message from President Donald Trump. (Raman, 1/18)

Kaiser Health News: New House Democrats’ Focus On Abortion Rights Could Stymie Work With Senate
For the first time since the Supreme Court legalized abortion nationwide in its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, the House of Representatives has a majority supporting abortion rights. And that majority is already making its position felt, setting up what could be a series of long and drawn-out fights with a Senate opposed to abortion and stalling what could otherwise be bipartisan bills. Democrats have held majorities in the House for more than half of the years since abortion became a national political issue in the 1970s, but those majorities included a significant number of Democrats who opposed abortion or had mixed voting records on the issue. A fight among Democrats over abortion very nearly derailed the Affordable Care Act as it was becoming law in 2010. (Rovner, 1/22)

Politico Pro: Trump Poised To Finalize Conscience Protections For Health Workers
Health care workers would have more power to opt out of providing care based on their religious or moral beliefs under regulations that the Trump administration is working to finalize, perhaps even by Friday, two officials with knowledge of the plan tell POLITICO. The rule was posted to the White House budget office's regulatory dashboard on Thursday night and is awaiting approval. It "would bring an entire procedural enforcement regime around the 25 different protections of conscience that are in federal statute that have often laid too dormant," HHS Secretary Alex Azar said at an event hosted by the anti-abortion Family Research Council on Friday morning. (Diamond, 1/18)

The Associated Press: No Rehearing For Louisiana Abortion Law
A divided federal appeals court has refused to reconsider a decision upholding Louisiana's law requiring that abortion providers have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals, despite a dissenting judge's insistence that the decision is in "clear conflict" with a Supreme Court decision striking down a similar Texas law. A three-judge panel of the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled in September, in a 2-1 decision, that the Louisiana law did not impose the same burdens on women as the Texas law. On Friday, the court said the full court decided in a 9-6 vote against a rehearing. (McGill, 1/18)

The Washington Post: Court Rules Against Planned Parenthood In Texas ‘Sting Videos’ Case, Bringing It A Step Closer To Getting Defunded
When Texas tried to kick Planned Parenthood out of the state’s Medicaid program based on “sting" videos produced by undercover antiabortion activists, a federal judge in Austin said the whole case sounded more as if it belonged in a “best-selling novel.” “Yet, rather than a villain plotting to take over the world, the subject of this case is the State of Texas’s efforts to expel a group of health care providers from a social health care program for families and individuals with limited resources,” U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks wrote in February 2017. (Flynn, 1/18)

Austin American-Statesman: Planned Parenthood Still Part Of Texas Medicaid, For Now
The ruling in favor of Texas by a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals lifted a lower-court order that blocked state efforts to oust Planned Parenthood from Medicaid, a federal-state program that provides health care to low-income people. The ruling can be enforced when the appeals court issues its mandate Feb. 8, the date Planned Parenthood expects to be removed as a provider offering contraceptives and other health care, but not abortions, under Medicaid. (Lindell, 1/18)

The New York Times: Hospitals Stopped Readmitting So Many Medicare Patients. Did That Cost Lives?
It was a well-intended policy. Almost all parties agree on that much. A decade ago, when Medicare beneficiaries were discharged from hospitals, one in five returned within a month. Older people faced the risks of hospitalization all over again: infections, deconditioning, delirium, subsequent nursing home stays. And preventable readmissions were costing Medicare a bundle. (Span, 1/18)

Modern Healthcare: CMS, Yale New Haven Health On Hot Seat Over Design Of Quality Measures 
The CMS' long-standing hospital readmissions penalty program has taken quite a beating recently from members of the research community over problems with its underlying measures. But while criticism of the program has escalated, not everyone has joined the bandwagon. Dr. Harlan Krumholz, a well-known researcher at Yale New Haven Health, passionately defends the measures, and with good reason: He led the group that helped the CMS develop the readmission measures as part of a multimillion-dollar contract the agency gave to the academic healthcare institution. (Castellucci, 1/19)

In other news —

The Washington Post: JAMA Opinion Piece Slams Our Addiction To ‘Unnecessary’ MRIs, CT Scans
When the Food and Drug Administration approved magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners in 1984, the machines seemed incredible. They offered an inside view of the human body, making it easier to diagnose disease, injuries and physical abnormalities. Today, they’re part of a multibillion-dollar industry: In 2016, 118 out of every 1,000 Americans got an MRI. The use of CT scans was even higher: 245 per 1,000 people in 2016. But was all of that testing actually necessary? (Blakemore, 1/20)

The New York Times: Scientist Who Edited Babies’ Genes Is Likely To Face Charges In China
A Chinese scientist who claimed to have created the world’s first genetically edited babies “seriously violated” state regulations, according to the results of an initial government investigation reported on Monday by Chinese state media. The investigators’ findings indicate that the scientist, He Jiankui, and his collaborators are likely to face criminal charges. (Ramzy and Wee, 1/21)

The Wall Street Journal: China Takes Steps Against Scientist Who Engineered Gene-Edited Babies
Officials told the Xinhua News Agency that the scientist, Shenzhen-based He Jiankui, “will be transferred to public security authorities,” and the people involved in the experiment “severely dealt with according to the law.” Xinhua didn’t elaborate. A spokesman for Dr. He didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. The comments marked the first time Chinese authorities alluded to the possible fate of the scientist. It was also the first time China acknowledged the controversial births. (Rana, 1/21)

The Associated Press: China Seems To Confirm Scientist's Gene-Edited Babies Claim
Chinese authorities appear to have confirmed a scientist's unpublished claim that he helped make the world's first gene-edited babies and that a second pregnancy is underway, and say he could face consequences for his work. China's official Xinhua News Agency said Monday that investigators in Guangdong province determined that the scientist, He Jiankui, evaded supervision of his work and violated research norms because he wanted to be famous. The report said He acted alone and will be punished for any violations of the law, although it didn't say which regulations he may have broken. (1/21)

The New York Times: Scientists Are Teaching The Body To Accept New Organs
It was not the most ominous sign of health trouble, just a nosebleed that would not stop. So in February 2017, Michael Schaffer, who is 60 and lives near Pittsburgh, went first to a local emergency room, then to a hospital where a doctor finally succeeded in cauterizing a tiny cut in his nostril. Then the doctor told Mr. Schaffer something he never expected to hear: “You need a liver transplant.” (Kolata, 1/22)

The New York Times: Yoga And Veterans: A Different Kind Of Warrior
To casual observers of either military service or the practice of yoga, the path from Oorah to Om may not seem obvious. But the intersection of yogi and veteran is natural if unexpected, beginning with the five classic yoga poses known as warriors. While veterans make up a small percentage of yoga instructors, their ranks are growing. Many members of the military now often include yoga — sometimes taught by veterans — as an element of their workout routine, and veterans turn to the practice for therapeutic applications. The Department of Veterans Affairs has successfully used yoga to help treat opioid addiction and post-traumatic stress. (Steinhauer, 1/19)

The New York Times: A Rising Threat To Pregnant Women: Syphilis
Syphilis continues to make a dismaying comeback in the United States. Between 2012 and 2016, the rate of primary and secondary syphilis among women increased 111 percent. Over the same period, the rate of congenital syphilis increased by 87 percent. The sexually transmitted disease is caused by infection with the bacterium Treponema pallidum. The bacterium also can be passed from mother to child during pregnancy or birth. (Bakalar, 1/21)

The Washington Post: Suicides Among Veterinarians Has Become A Growing Problem
Pushed to the brink by mounting debt, compassion fatigue and social media attacks from angry pet owners, veterinarians are committing suicide at rates higher than the general population, often killing themselves with drugs meant for their patients. On a brisk fall evening in Elizabeth City, N.C., Robin Stamey sat in her bed and prepared to take her own life. (Leffler, 1/19)

The Washington Post: Vaginal Mesh Has Caused Health Problems Including Chronic Inflammation, Scarring, Infection And Pain That Can Resist Treatment.
Regina Stepherson needed surgery for rectocele, a prolapse of the wall between the rectum and the vagina. Her surgeons said that her bladder also needed to be lifted and did so with vaginal mesh, a surgical mesh used to reinforce the bladder. Following the surgery in 2010, Stepherson, then 48. said she suffered debilitating symptoms for two years. An active woman who rode horses, Stepherson said she had constant pain, trouble walking, fevers off and on, weight loss, nausea and lethargy after the surgery. She spent days sitting on the couch, she said. (Berger, 1/20)

The New York Times: Your Sweat Will See You Now
Someday soon, perhaps within a year, you’ll be able to slap a soft, stretchy patch on to your arm that tells you if you’re dehydrated. Or that your electrolytes are dangerously out of balance. Or even that you have diabetes. Fitness trackers such as Fitbit and Apple Watch already track step counts, heart rate and sleep rhythms. But they tend to be rigid and bulky, and mostly gather mechanical metrics, rather than assess a person’s underlying biology. (Mandavilli, 1/18)

PBS NewsHour: Consumption Of Marijuana Edibles Rises Amidst Scarce Research Into Their Health Impact
As more states legalize recreational use of marijuana, edible forms of the drug are also becoming increasingly popular. But little research has been done on potential complications of consuming the substance, and some scientists believe they can cause hallucinogenic reactions. (Gliha, 1/21)

The Wall Street Journal: High Cholesterol? It Must Be January
Is your cholesterol high? The answer may depend on whether it’s January or June. An observational study of 25,764 Danes found that after gorging on traditional holiday foods throughout December, their bloodstreams were swimming with low-density-lipoprotein—the “bad” cholesterol commonly known as LDL. (McGinty, 1/18)

The Washington Post: Semen Injection: A Man Tried To Treat His Back Pain With His Semen
A 33-year-old man who had been suffering from back pain decided to treat himself by resorting to an unusual remedy not supported by scientific research: he injected himself with a dose of his own semen every month for a year and a half. The “alternative therapy” baffled doctors at Tallaght University Hospital in Dublin, where the man showed up recently with severe back pain and a swollen arm, according to a case report published this month in the Irish Medical Journal. (Phillips, 1/20)

WBUR: Think You're Allergic To Penicillin? Maybe Not, Specialists Say, And That's Worth Knowing
Specialists at Massachusetts General Hospital and around the country are calling for more testing of whether patients are really allergic, because research finds that most who've been told in the past that they are allergic to penicillin actually are not. And that matters for their care. (Goldberg, 1/18)

WBUR: She Wanted To Be The Perfect Mom, Then Landed In A Psychiatric Unit
California researchers just finished their first big study on maternal suicides. The state's public health department hasn't published the findings yet, KQED was able to review some of the data: 99 new moms in the state died by suicide over a 10-year period. The investigators determined that of those 99 suicides, 98 were preventable. (Dembosky, 1/19)

KCUR: A Decades-Old Approach To Prevent Gunshot Wounds Is Catching On In Hospitals Around The U.S. 
The approach is designed to offer a menu of resources and support to gunshot victims, like educational support, job training and mental health services. It’s all in the hopes that they won’t end up back in the Emergency Room — or worse. Grady’s hospital intervention program is called PIVOT, and it’s about six months old. ...For now, the PIVOT outreach is reserved for people shot in a select set of zip-codes, based on data from the Atlanta Police Department. They are all predominantly black neighborhoods with median incomes significantly lower than average for metro Atlanta. PIVOT is looking to follow a well-trodden path. (Hagen, 1/18)

The New York Times: Stuck And Stressed: The Health Costs Of Traffic
Sometimes the seemingly small things in life can be major stressors. Nobody likes sitting in traffic, for example. According to one study, commuting is one of the least pleasant things we do. But it’s not just an annoying time waster — there’s a case that it’s a public health issue. (Frakt, 1/21)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Meat, Poultry Recalls Nearly Double Since 2013, Study Finds
Recalls of food and poultry products have increased significantly since the nation’s last major food safety law, the Food Safety Modernization Act, passed in 2011. Recent high-profile recalls — from romaine lettuce to eggs to beef — reveals how fundamental flaws in our current food safety system have led to a jump in these recalls since 2013, a new report from the Public Interest Research Groups found. (Clanton, 1/18)

The Washington Post: Women Seem To Need More Cooling During And After Exercise
When the body heats up during exercise, it copes in several ways. There are involuntary systems, such as sweating that help it cool off, and voluntary measures, such as dousing with cold water or wearing (and switching) hats filled with ice, as American Galen Rupp did every five kilometers during the Rio 2016 Olympic marathon. (He won a bronze medal.) Voluntary actions are known as “thermal behavior.” (Cimons, 1/19)

The New York Times: Can A Nice Doctor Make Treatments More Effective?
In the age of the internet, it’s easier than ever to pull together lots of information to find the best doctor. And if you’re like most patients, the metric you probably rely on most is the doctor’s credentials. Where did she go to school? How many patients has he treated with this condition? You might also read some Yelp reviews about how nice this doctor is; how friendly and how caring. But all that probably seems secondary to the doctor’s skills; sure, it would be great to have a doctor whom you actually like, but that’s not going to influence your health the way the doctor’s competence will. (Howe and Leibowitz, 1/22)

Stat: A Spot Of Good News In Ebola Crisis: Vaccine Supplies Are Expected To Last
There’s some good news related to an Ebola crisis that has offered very little up until now. The World Health Organization now predicts there are adequate supplies of an experimental Ebola vaccine to control the outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. “I believe we will have enough vaccine to stop this outbreak unless something very dramatic changes,” Dr. Peter Salama, WHO’s deputy director-general of emergency preparedness and response, told STAT. (Branswell, 1/22)

The New York Times: Helping Children Conquer Chronic Pain
Acute pain that calls out to warn you — “Hey, don’t walk on this broken leg!” — may be unpleasant, but it’s also protective. That acute pain is letting you know that a part of your body needs to heal, or in some other way needs extra attention, said Dr. Neil Schechter, the director of the chronic pain clinic at Boston Children’s Hospital. That’s very different, he said, from chronic pain that goes on over the course of months, whether abdominal pain or headache or musculoskeletal — it may persist and be incapacitating, because “the pain has become the disease.” (Klass, 1/21)

The Washington Post: Here's Why Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh Will Have A Hard Time Getting Money For Lead Paint Victims Swindled By Access Funding
A Chevy Chase company that made millions of dollars from deals with victims of lead poisoning targeted an “entire generation of youth coming of age in Baltimore” with its deceptive practices, Maryland’s top law enforcement official alleges. But even if a lawsuit filed by Attorney General Brian E. Frosh (D) is successful, the amount of restitution those victims can receive is severely limited by a separate class-action claim. The settlement of that lawsuit, brought by two of Access Funding’s former customers, entitles victims of the company to receive about $750,000 — about 4 percent of what Frosh’s office asserts they are owed. (Chason, 1/21)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Hope And Hesitation: Lead Poisoning Prevention Advocates Await Word On Cleveland’s Latest Plan
In 2017, about 13 percent of Cleveland children tested had levels at or above 5, more than three times the national rate.Lower levels of poisoning don’t kill children or require hospitalization. They can, however, lower IQs and contribute to behavioral problems, like poor impulse control, with costly long-term implications for children and society. (Dissel and Zeltner, 1/21)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: New Plan To Reduce Lead Poisoning To Be Announced By Cleveland, Cuyahoga And Community Partners
City, county and community leaders Tuesday will announce a new plan to tackle lead poisoning in Cleveland, according to a city news release sent out Friday afternoon. The plan will formalize the work of the coalition and could include a lead summit, legislation and a lead remediation fund, according to multiple sources involved with the announcement who asked that their names not be used. (Dissell, 1/19)

The New York Times: New York Passes A Ban On ‘Conversion Therapy’ After Years-Long Efforts
Between 2012 and 2018, 14 states and Washington, D.C., passed laws prohibiting “conversion therapy” for minors. Deep-blue New York was not among them. That finally changed this month when the State Legislature voted overwhelmingly to bar mental health professionals from working to change a minor’s sexual orientation or gender identity. (Gold, 1/21)

The Associated Press: 2 Doctors For Incapacitated Patient Who Gave Birth Leave
Two doctors who cared for an incapacitated woman who gave birth as a result of a sexual assault are no longer providing medical services at the long-term care center in Phoenix. Hacienda HealthCare says Sunday that one has resigned. The other has been suspended. The victim in her 20s had been in Hacienda’s care since she became incapacitated at age 3 after suffering a near-drowning. She gave birth Dec. 29. (1/21)

Arizona Republic: Doctor Who Cared For Hacienda HealthCare Rape Victim Has Been Suspended
Two physicians responsible for caring for the 29-year-old rape victim who gave birth at Hacienda HealthCare are no longer providing services at the Phoenix nursing facility. One doctor has resigned, while a second has been suspended, according to a statement Monday from Hacienda HealthCare. (Náñez, 1/21)

Boston Globe: Hired To Help The Sick, She Leaves A Trail Of Accusations In Her Wake
Stephanie Crosman is nothing if not consistent. The home care worker from Sharon allegedly used the credit card of one client — a woman with dementia — to pay a $1,500 veterinarian bill for her cat, part of a freewheeling $16,000 spree. (Matchan, 1/22)

Boston Globe: With New Day-Care Inspection System, High Caseloads And Shorter Visits
Over the past year, the state has launched a new day-care inspection system that requires more frequent visits to each facility, giving operators no notice at least once a year, the better to assess the true quality of each center. But it has come at a cost: The inspectors, who were already monitoring two to four times the caseloads specialists recommend, now spend far less time at most sites. (Lazar, 1/21)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Wellstar, Anthem At Impasses With Contract Nearing Expiration
Thousands of Georgia Obamacare customers who just signed up for 2019 coverage with the state’s biggest health insurance company are getting a surprise. The Wellstar health care network of nearly a dozen hospitals, three health parks, 10 urgent care clinics and untold doctors will no longer be covered for individual policyholders as of Feb. 4, as the two companies are letting that contract expire rather than agree on a new one. (Hart, 1/19)

The Hill: Florida Mother Suing Caregiver After Developmentally Disabled Daughter Becomes Pregnant
A Florida woman is reportedly suing her daughter's former health care provider and three of its employees, alleging that her developmentally disabled daughter was raped and impregnated in their care. According to a lawsuit filed in Escambia County, Florida, the 23-year-old unidentified woman was attending Westgate School on weekdays when the employees noticed changes in her behavior and bruising on her hip, the complaint reads, according to the Pensacola News Journal. (Rodrigo, 1/19)

Reuters: Lack Of School Nurses Puts Los Angeles Students At Risk, Striking Teachers Say
Los Angeles teacher Natali Escobedo says she will never forget the image of a diabetic fourth-grader “wilting” at her school because there was no nurse on hand to administer his insulin. The episode, which followed years of tight budgets that left little money for medical staff, highlights the potential impact of a lack of nurses throughout the Los Angeles Unified School District, one of the key reasons Escobedo and her colleagues are on strike. (1/19)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: Program Helps New Orleans' Hospitals Support Breastfeeding Moms
Several birthing hospitals in the Greater New Orleans area were included in a program aimed at boosting breastfeeding rates, according to a study published in Pediatrics on Friday (Jan. 18). Researchers found that the Communities and Hospitals Advancing Maternity Practices program (CHAMPS) led to some particularly positive changes especially among black mothers. (Clark, 1/18)

The Oregonian: An Unvaccinated Child Brings Vancouver-Area Measles Outbreak To 22 
Since Jan. 1, 21 children have been infected with measles -- the majority of them younger than 11. One adult also has measles. Of those, 19 did not receive a vaccine against measles. One person out of the 22 has been hospitalized. Three people are suspected of having measles, but have not been confirmed yet. The outbreak has hit religious and private schools in Clark County especially hard. Clark County also has one of the worst vaccination rates among all Washington counties, with just 77.4 percent of all public students having completed their vaccinations, state records show. (Harbarger, 1/21)

Pioneer Press: Home But Not Alone: Minnesota’s Aging Find Help To Live Where They Want To 
The nursing home exodus has been in full swing in Minnesota for at least 20 years. The rate of people 65 and older in nursing homes fell an estimated 46 percent from 2007 to 2016. There are now 24,500 older Minnesotans in nursing homes, a mere 3 percent of the total. ...Officials say that number is increasing because seniors no longer have to move out to manage their affairs. Help has arrived — a small army of volunteers organized by nonprofits and businesses. The strategies of the groups vary. Some charge fees, while others are free. Some are strictly on-call, and others offer regular weekly visits. Some don’t offer medical services or transportation. (Shaw, 1/19)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Flu-Related Hospitalizations Rise In Cuyahoga County, Smaller Workplaces Impacted The Most By ‘The Bug’
Hospitalizations for flu-related illnesses have tripled in Cuyahoga County during the past week, but no more flu-related deaths have been reported beyond the initial two. The number of hospitalizations jumped from 72 earlier in January to 272 during the week of Jan. 6-12, the county reported Monday. (Washington, 1/21)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Flu Activity Down For Second Week In Row But Still High In Ga
Flu activity is unpredictable, and the levels are still considered high in the state. The Georgia Department of Public Health said 4 percent of patient visits to doctors were for the flu during the week ending Jan. 12. But that’s down from 5.5 percent of visits the week before, according to the most recent report released on Friday. (Oliviero, 1/18)

MPR: Rural Hospitals Retreat From Delivering Babies; Small Towns Pay The Price
A growing number of rural hospitals will not do planned baby deliveries, citing legal and insurance costs. There's also the challenge of attracting doctors to small towns and the demands of hospital systems to consolidate birthing centers. All of these spring from a fundamental problem: fewer rural babies. (Richert, 1/22)

San Francisco Chronicle: SF’s $185 Million Windfall Should Go To Housing And Homelessness
In the coming weeks, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors will deliberate on how to spend $185 million of discretionary funding that’s a part of the $415 million windfall from newly available property tax revenue. These funds should be focused on the No. 1 priority for our city — homelessness, housing and clean and safe streets. (Bunim, 1/21)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: ‘There Is No Oversight:’ Staff Cuts Leave Ohio Prison Inspections To Interns
The staff of the legislative watchdog that monitors the Ohio prison system is so depleted that it uses interns to evaluate the state’s correctional facilities, authorities said. The administrative staff of the Correctional Institution Inspection Committee has just one full-time employee. Five years ago, it had six: a director and five inspectors with backgrounds in the criminal justice system. (Caniglia, 1/20)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Former Cuyahoga County Jail Director Lied About Blocking The Hiring Of Jail Nurses Weeks Before First Of 8 Inmates Died, Court Records Say
Cuyahoga County’s former jail director helped block the hiring of “necessary nursing staff” at the jail days before the first of eight inmates died, county prosecutors said in an indictment released to the public Friday afternoon. Ken Mills, who resigned in November ahead of a scathing U.S. Marshals report that found inadequate healthcare at the jail, later lied to federal and county investigators about his communications with a “high-level Cuyahoga County official," according to county prosecutors. (Ferris and Astolfi, 1/19)

Pioneer Press: Rise In Flu Cases Causes Allina To Restrict Visitation. Here’s Who Should Stay Home 
Starting Tuesday, Allina Health will implement new patient visitation guidelines in what officials say is an effort to stave off an influenza epidemic. Seasonal flu is now widespread throughout Minnesota, state health officials said in its latest flu update. Based on indicators such as the number of outbreaks in schools and long-term care facilities, the state’s caseload is expected to increase this week, said Doug Schultz, a spokesman for the Minnesota Department of Health. (Divine, 1/21)

KCUR: Management Company To Run Rural Kansas Hospital After Bank Moved To Foreclose 
A Marion County, Kansas, judge on Friday appointed a receiver to run Hillsboro Community Hospital after its lender moved to foreclose on the 15-bed facility earlier this month. The judge found that “immediate and irreparable harm is likely to result if a receiver is not appointed to operate and manage the Hospital in order to ensure that it remains open and retains as much of its value as possible.” (Margolies, 1/18)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: DFCS Dismissed Abuse Report Before Kids Were Found Buried In Effingham
The Division of Family and Children Services, the state agency responsible for protecting Georgia’s kids, heard this account in 2017 but declined to investigate because the alleged incident had occurred a year earlier, according to documents obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The remains of JR and his younger sister, Mary, were discovered in December, buried behind their family’s trailer in Effingham County. Experts say DFCS, which had an extensive history with the family, should have investigated the girl’s claims. (Sharpe, 1/19)

San Jose Mercury News: Verity Health Gets $610 Million Offer For Four Hospitals
erity Health System has entered into an agreement to sell four hospitals — including two in San Mateo County — to Southern California-based KPC Group for $610 million unless other bidders submit better offers. The local hospitals are Seton Medical Center in Daly City and Seton Coastside in Moss Beach and the others are the St. Francis and St. Vincent medical centers in Los Angeles County. (Vo, 1/18)

Denver Post: Colorado High Health Care Costs Due To Cost Of Living, Hiring Workers
Colorado hospitals have come under scrutiny in recent months for the high bills patients face when seeking care at their facilities, with lawmakers aiming to address the issue this session. Now, the Colorado Hospital Association has released its own report analyzing health care costs in the state. It found that the state spent almost 17 percent less per person on health care than the national average in 2014. (Seaman, 1/21)

Stat: Public-Private Partnerships Can Help Life Sciences Companies Grow 
Bills like the Affordable Drug Manufacturing Act, if enacted, could help a beneficial trend gather momentum in 2019: life sciences companies making public-private partnerships a bigger focus of their business strategies. The bill, proposed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), would create an Office of Drug Manufacturing aimed at boosting competition, lowering drug prices, and addressing prescription drug shortages, among other goals. (Su Linna, 1/21)

Dallas Morning News: High Prices Are Still Plaguing Health Care, And The More We Talk About It, The Better
Starting this month, hospitals must post their list prices online and the numbers can be startling: $13,361 to treat chest pain, $72,092 for a major hip and knee replacement, $112,644 for a certain kidney and urinary tract procedure. What are patients supposed to do with this information? Probably not much. For all the talk about empowering people to become better consumers of health care, relatively few take advantage of shopping tools that already exist. (Mitchell Schnurman, 1/21)

The New York Times: How To Inoculate Against Anti-Vaxxers
The World Health Organization has ranked vaccine hesitancy — the growing resistance to widely available lifesaving vaccines — as one of the top 10 health threats in the world for 2019. That news will not come as a surprise in New York City, where the worst measles outbreak in decades is now underway. Nor in California or Minnesota, where similar outbreaks unfolded in 2014 and 2017, respectively. Nor in Texas, where some 60,000 children remain wholly unvaccinated thanks in part to an aggressive anti-vaccine lobby. (1/19)

Boston Globe: Are We Ready For A Flu Pandemic?
As 2018 has come to a close, the memory of the remarkable crisis of the 1918-19 influenza pandemic looms large over public health practitioners. On this centennial anniversary, we must ask: Are our tools, systems, and collective mindset prepared for the next pandemic? (Pardis Sabeti and Nathan Yozwiak, 1/22)

Stat: The NIH Needs To Become Leaner And More Innovative. Here's How
Worried about America’s biomedical research enterprise, academics have persistently sounded the alarm over slow growth in the National Institutes of Health budget. The Trump administration responded to those concerns in its 2018 proposed NIH budget by recommending a 22 percent budget cut and a reduction in support for indirect costs. While those cuts never came to pass, they marked a manifestation of political will to examine spending at the NIH.There’s no question that the NIH could be a leaner and more innovative organization. But that would require elemental reforms in how it supports indirect costs (more on those in a minute) and its reliance on study sections to review grant proposals. (Brian J. Miller and Kyle Richardville, 1/22)

Boston Globe: Elizabeth Warren Is Calling For Medicare For All. What Does England’s Experience Tell Us?
Mainstream Democrats are now lining up behind a more radical proposal: single-payer health care, or “Medicare for all.” ...So Ideas leapt at the opportunity to chat with one of the world’s leading experts on single-payer: Sir Malcolm Grant, who recently stepped down after seven years as chairman of England’s National Health Service. (David Scharfenberg, 1/18)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Community Networks Might Help Solve Opioid Epidemic
Instead of pouring billions into law enforcement and medical facilities, we have to find a sweet spot that will not only help people stop using opioids but also help them lead productive lives. Recently, I advised a group of international communities on drug use issues. A unique concept we tested was the Peer Supported Vocational Networks (PVNs). These networks are managed by former drug users in recovery. (Jagdish Khubchandani, 1/19)

Stat: Medical Drones Can Help Save Lives In The United States
Many believe that deploying drones for public safety and humanitarian aid will be key to public acceptance here in the United States. Drones could benefit Americans in multiple ways. Sizable portions of America are sparsely settled, with people living far from urban medical centers. Weather conditions often render existing delivery vehicles impractical or hazardous, such as icy roads for cars, trucks, and ambulances, or foggy skies for helicopters. Traffic conditions impose dangerous slowdowns in delivery — imagine trying to drive emergency blood supplies across Los Angeles at rush hour. Drones could offer effective alternatives in these situations. (Robert Graboyes and Darcy Nikol, 1/18)

The New York Times: Roe V. Wade Is At Risk. Here’s How To Prepare.
Abortion opponents have spent decades planning for a Supreme Court with a majority hostile to reproductive rights. So it’s little surprise that, with the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh in the fall, the necessary fifth vote, they’ve been quick to seize the moment. The anti-abortion movement has also spent those decades building a vast fund-raising and organizing network, with the goals of securing an anti-abortion voting bloc and getting more like-minded judges, at every level, and lawmakers — and presidents — into power. (1/21)

USA Today: Abortion Restrictions Can Hurt Women. Follow Evidence, Not Ideology.
The assertion that admitting privileges laws protect patients is yet another false argument advanced by those who seek abortion laws based on ideology, rather than scientific evidence. State legislatures have an obligation to ensure that claims made by proponents of laws are backed by evidence before they vote for them. And courts have a legal and ethical responsibility to weigh the benefits of these laws against the harm they cause to patients. (Ushma Upadhyay, 1/21)

Louisville Courier-Journal: Abortion Soon To Be Illegal: Right To Life Louisville Says
Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton (its lesser known companion case) said it was OK to tear apart, vacuum out or poison a baby up to the point of birth for reasons of “health” so broad to include not only a woman’s physical, emotional or psychological well-being, but her social health as well, and her age. Today, the vast majority of abortions are done because a woman feels pressure to abort from someone else, or because she simply doesn’t want or can’t afford a child (many couples, unable to have children of their own, would love to adopt). (Schu Montgomery, 1/22)

Louisville Courier-Journal: Roe V. Wade: 'Heartbeat Bill' Would Ban Abortion In Kentucky
Senate Bill (SB) 9 would ban abortion once fetal heart tones can be detected. In practice, this means banning abortion in the commonwealth at about six weeks of pregnancy. This proposal is so extreme that it was vetoed by former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a conservative Republican, last month even as he signed another abortion restriction. SB 9 does not include exceptions for rape, incest or diagnosis of fetal anomalies. After Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a similar “heartbeat bill” earlier in 2018, polling showed that the majority of Iowans felt the law went too far. Abortion is a complex and personal issue, and harsh bans like SB 9 do not have broad support. (Kim Greene, 1/22)