First Edition: January 28, 2019

Kaiser Health News: In Search Of Financial Donors, Hospitals Screen Patients For Wealth, Deep Pockets
Nonprofit hospitals across the United States are seeking donations from the people who rely on them most: their patients. Many hospitals conduct nightly wealth screenings — using software that culls public data such as property records, contributions to political campaigns and other charities — to gauge which patients are most likely to be the source of large donations.Those who seem promising targets for fundraising may receive a visit from a hospital executive in their rooms, as well as extra amenities like a bathrobe or a nicer waiting area for their families. (Galewitz, 1/28)

Kaiser Health News: Analysis: Pulling Back Curtain On Hospital Prices Adds New Wrinkle In Cost Control
As President Donald Trump was fighting with Congress over the shutdown and funding for a border wall, his administration implemented a new rule that could be a game changer for health care. Starting this month, hospitals must publicly reveal the contents of their master price lists — called “chargemasters” — online. These are the prices that most patients never notice because their insurers negotiate them down or they appear buried as line items on hospital bills. What has long been shrouded in darkness is now being thrown into the light. (Rosenthal, 1/28)

The Washington Post: ‘It Feels Like We Are Still Hostages’: Federal Contractors Who Lost Health Insurance During Shutdown Remain In Limbo
Janice Morgan, a federal contractor out of work because of the government shutdown, spent part of January fearing that she might finally lose her husband, Milton, to his battle with multiple sclerosis. He was in intensive care. An infection had sent his heart rate and blood pressure soaring. And when she tried nine days ago to fill his prescription for a $7,600-a-month medication, another blow came: Her insurance coverage had been canceled. Morgan called her boss, the president of Unispec Enterprises, a contracting firm that provides personnel to government agencies. He told her that the shutdown had left him unable to pay the company’s premiums. Soon, all 75 of Unispec’s technical writers, data analysts and economists — most of whom have their coverage through the firm — would learn of the lapse in an email. (Davis and Satija, 1/27)

The New York Times: ‘Our Country Is Being Run By Children’: Shutdown’s End Brings Relief And Frustration
Some cried with relief. Their 35-day nightmare of missing bill payments, working without paychecks, asking strangers for money and visiting food pantries was finally ending. But many of the federal workers who have been furloughed or working for free since December were leery of the three-week deal reached on Friday to reopen the government. New worries gnawed: How long before they got paid? Would federal contractors see even a dime of back pay? (Healy, Taylor and Bernard, 1/25)

The New York Times: Indian Tribe Joins Big Pharma At The Supreme Court, Defending A Lucrative Deal
When a pharmaceutical company sold its patent rights for a blockbuster drug to an Indian tribe 16 months ago, stymied competitors and consumer groups condemned the move as a flagrant abuse of the patent system. This month, the company, Allergan, doubled down, asking the Supreme Court to rule that the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe can use its sovereign immunity to fend off challenges by makers of low-cost generic copies of the best-selling prescription eyedrops, Restasis. (Pear, 1/26)

CQ: The State Of The Union: Drug Prices
Some of the proposed changes are significant: The administration wants to give state Medicaid programs more flexibility to negotiate with drug companies on prices. A separate Medicare proposal would base the prices of certain drugs on the average prices of the drugs in a group of comparable nations, which the Health and Human Services Department estimates would save $17 billion over a five-year period. In Congress, the atmosphere is conducive to legislating on drug prices. The bill with the most realistic shot at enactment is a bipartisan effort championed by Senate Finance Chairman Charles E. Grassley, an Iowa Republican, that would make it harder for drug companies to block generic competition by refusing to share samples needed for testing. (Siddons, 1/28)

Reuters: Exclusive: CVS To Cover Migraine Drugs From Teva, Lilly; Excludes Amgen
CVS Health Corp, a top U.S. manager of pharmacy benefits, has added new migraine drugs from Teva Pharmaceutical Industries and Eli Lilly and Co to its list of covered drugs, excluding a rival treatment from Amgen Inc, a CVS spokeswoman told Reuters on Friday. CVS's decision represents a setback for sales of Amgen's Aimovig, as many patients who rely on the coverage list will now have easier access to the rival Teva and Lilly drugs. Inclusion on the preferred drugs lists by the largest pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and health insurers is seen as critically important for sales of new medicines. (1/25)

The Washington Post: FDA Identifies Contamination Source In Blood Pressure Medicines Used By Millions
Federal regulators say they’ve identified the source of the cancer-causing impurities that have tainted millions of bottles of commonly used generic blood pressure and heart failure medications recalled by drugmakers over the last seven months. The carcinogens are a chemical byproduct of the process used to synthesize the active ingredient in the drugs, which include valsartan, losartan and irbesartan. People who take those drugs may have been exposed to trace amounts of impurities for at least four years, after a switch in how companies manufactured the active ingredient, according to the Food and Drug Administration. (Johnson, 1/25)

The Wall Street Journal: FDA Says Up To Two Million People Exposed To Likely Carcinogens In Blood-Pressure Drugs
Half or more of the patients taking the common hypertension medicines are in the U.S., the Food and Drug Administration officials said. The drugs are certain lots of some manufacturers’ products, including generic drugs going by the names valsartan, irbesartan and losartan. Not all generic products are affected, nor are the brand-name versions of the medicines, called Diovan, Avapro and Cozaar. The FDA’s website contains details about which lots and companies are affected. The number of generic-drug versions that contain the class of chemicals, called nitrosamines, has been increasing since the issue first surfaced last summer. (Burton, 1/25)

The Associated Press: Moms Of The Dead From Drugs: 'Where Is The Outrage For Us?'
The moms meet in a parking lot overlooking the little white funeral home and watch the mourners drifting toward the chapel doors — a familiar scene, beginning again. Cheryl Juaire taps nervously on her steering wheel. "Are we ready?" she asks the two other mothers leaning into the window of her SUV. (Galofaro, 1/28)

The Associated Press: After The Overdose: A Family's Journey Into Grief And Guilt
There is nothing left to do, no more frantic phone calls to make, no begging or fighting that can fix this because the worst thing that could happen already has, so Doug Biggers settles into his recliner and braces for his daughter's voice to echo through his head. "Keep going, Daddy," she's saying. It's been months since they knelt over his 20-year-old son on the bedroom floor. But in these quiet moments, her words haunt him. "Don't give up," she'd said as he thrust down on his son's chest — his skin already blue, his hands already clenched. (1/28)

The New York Times: Balancing The Risks And Benefits Of Opioids For Children
In a new survey of more than 1,000 parents by the American Society of Anesthesiologists, more than half were worried about opioid addiction, but almost two-thirds thought that opioids were the most effective pain medications for a child to take after a fracture or an operation. Experts in pediatric pain want parents to understand that there are effective alternative pain management strategies for many situations, and they should review them carefully with their children’s doctors. (Klass, 1/28)

The Associated Press: Families Hoping For Justice From Prescription Bribes Trial
Drug company executives weren't satisfied with sales for their powerful painkiller, so they devised a plan, prosecutors say: Offer cash to doctors in exchange for prescriptions. Soon, the highly addictive fentanyl spray was flourishing, and executives were raking in millions. Now, the company's wealthy founder is heading to trial in a case that's putting a spotlight on the federal government's efforts to go after those it says are responsible for fueling the deadly drug crisis. (Richer, 1/25)

Stat: Walgreens Shareholders Want To Know How The Retailer Manages Opioid Risks
Reflecting growing concern over the opioid crisis, Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) shareholders voted in favor of a proposal calling for the company to issue a regular report on how it manages the risk of distributing these addictive prescription painkillers, according to preliminary results. The proposal requires the pharmacy chain to prepare a report by June 30 detailing any changes the company has made to corporate governance since 2012 concerning opioid sales. The report should include specific board oversight of programs pertaining to opioids and whether and how executive compensation has been changed to reflect incentives. (Silverman, 1/25)

Stat: Judge To Rule Next Week On Disclosing Claims About Purdue Pharma 
A Massachusetts judge said Friday she would rule by early next week on a request from media organizations, including STAT and the Boston Globe, to make public redacted portions of a lawsuit brought by the Massachusetts attorney general’s office against Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin and other opioid painkillers. The Connecticut company’s aggressive and misleading marketing of OxyContin has been blamed by addiction experts for helping spawn the opioid addiction crisis. Outside the Boston courthouse Friday, families of people who became addicted to opioids after taking Purdue’s medications rallied, with some calling for criminal charges against the company. (Joseph, 1/25)

Bloomberg: Fraud Trial May Make Ex-Insys CEO Kapoor Face Of Opioid Crisis 
The first prosecution of a pharmaceutical company chief executive tied to opioid overdoses begins this week, when Insys Therapeutics Inc.’s John Kapoor goes on trial. The fallout may jolt an industry facing steep penalties for its own role in the crisis. Kapoor, 75, is accused of masterminding illegal marketing tactics that contributed to an epidemic of addiction and death. A onetime billionaire who rose from modest means in India, he’s on trial for using speakers’ fees, dinners and cash to lure doctors into prescribing a highly addictive opioid painkiller meant solely for cancer patients. (Feeley, Griffin and Lawrence, 1/27)

The Associated Press: Q&A: Feds Tackle Opioid Epidemic, But Is It Helping?
President Donald Trump has declared the opioid epidemic a national public health emergency and urged prosecutors to seek the death penalty against drug dealers. Congress has provided targeted grants for treatment, recovery and prevention and made numerous policy changes to help people struggling with addiction get access to services. From the National Institutes of Health to Veterans Affairs and the Agriculture Department, government agencies are deploying their own specialized skills. Still, the addiction crisis will not easily release its grip on the nation, even as progress is made providing resources and improving coordination. (1/28)

The Associated Press: Ohio Doc's License Suspended Amid Review Of Hospital Deaths
Ohio's medical board on Friday suspended the license of a doctor accused of ordering excessive and possibly fatal pain medicine for dozens of hospital patients without their families' knowledge. William Husel invoked his right against self-incrimination when he met with board representatives this week and was questioned, including when he was asked whether he purposefully ordered excessive doses to end patients' lives, according to the board's notification letter. (1/25)

The Associated Press: Timeline Shows Investigation Of Alleged Pain Meds Overdosing
Investigations are underway into allegations that a doctor working for an Ohio hospital system ordered inappropriately high doses of pain medication to dozens of patients, leading to the deaths of at least 28 people at two hospitals. A review of events so far based on information provided by Mount Carmel Hospital System, details in lawsuits and accounts from patients' family members. (Welsh-Huggins, 1/26)

NPR: Big Hike In Benzodiazepine Prescriptions Traced To Primary Care Providers
The percentage of outpatient medical visits that led to a benzodiazepine prescription doubled from 2003 to 2015, according to a study published Friday. And about half those prescriptions came from primary care physicians. This class of drugs includes the commonly used medications Valium, Ativan and Xanax. While benzodiazepines are mostly prescribed for anxiety, insomnia and seizures, the study found that the biggest rise in prescriptions during this time period was for back pain and other types of chronic pain. The findings appear online in JAMA Network Open. (Chatterjee, 1/25)

The Associated Press: Trump Donates $100,000 From Salary To Alcoholism Research
President Donald Trump has donated his salary from the third-quarter of 2018 to the federal agency that researches alcoholism and alcohol-related problems. The White House says Trump donated $100,000 to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Alcoholism is a personal issue for the president. His older brother, Fred Jr., died in 1981 after struggling with alcoholism, and the president has said he learned from his brother's experience. (1/25)

The Hill: Trump Donates $100,000 From Salary To Alcoholism Research
The president's older brother, Fred Trump Jr., died of alcoholism-related complications in 1981, a death that the president has frequently cited as a reason why he does not drink and has not engaged in recreational drug use. Trump pledged in 2016 to donate his $400,000 presidential salary if he won the White House, and has since donated the paycheck in installments to various government agencies. (Bowden, 1/26)

Reuters: The Digital Drug: Internet Addiction Spawns U.S. Treatment Programs
When Danny Reagan was 13, he began exhibiting signs of what doctors usually associate with drug addiction. He became agitated, secretive and withdrew from friends. He had quit baseball and Boy Scouts, and he stopped doing homework and showering. But he was not using drugs. He was hooked on YouTube and video games, to the point where he could do nothing else. As doctors would confirm, he was addicted to his electronics. (1/27)

CNN: Courts Say Anti-Abortion 'Heartbeat Bills' Are Unconstitutional. So Why Do They Keep Coming?
Time and again, when it's introduced in a state legislature, the bill is touted as the most restrictive in the nation. It's often referred to as a "heartbeat bill" and seeks to ban abortions at the time when a fetus' heartbeat can be detected, which can be as early as six weeks into a pregnancy -- before many women even know that they are pregnant. But just as often as they are introduced, these bills get stymied. They are held up in committees, rejected in legislative votes, vetoed by governors and struck down in courts. Not one state has managed to put a heartbeat bill into lasting practice. (Ravitz, 1/26)

CNN: New York Abortion Measure: State Moves To Protect Access To Abortion Even If Roe V. Wade Is Overturned
On the 46th anniversary of Roe V. Wade, New York state passed a law to protect women's access to abortion if the historic case is overturned. "Today we are taking a giant step forward in the hard-fought battle to ensure a woman's right to make her own decisions about her own personal health, including the ability to access an abortion. With the signing of this bill, we are sending a clear message that whatever happens in Washington, women in New York will always have the fundamental right to control their own body," said Gov. Andrew Cuomo after signing New York's Reproductive Health Act on Tuesday night. (Marco, 1/23)

The Wall Street Journal: After Abortion Vote, Progressive Activists Remind Lawmakers They Are Watching
The same activists who pushed Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez into office and helped oust members of the state Senate’s former Independent Democratic Conference have a message for lawmakers: We’re still watching. Leaders of groups like No IDC NY and other progressive community organizations, many energized by the election of Donald Trump, immediately reacted last week when State Sen. Joe Addabbo broke ranks with his Democratic colleagues and voted against the Reproductive Health Act. (Vielkind, 1/27)

Los Angeles Times: School Homicides Have Become More Common And More Deadly, CDC Data Show
A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirms what too many students across the country already know: The incidence of mass homicides on school campuses has risen steeply in recent years, as has their toll. Between 1994 and 2018, there were 38 school rampages that resulted in multiple fatalities. Five of those occurred during the 2017-2018 academic year, which ended in June, and three others were in the 2016-2017 school year, according to a study in Friday’s edition of the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. (Healy, 1/25)

CNN: Handguns Are More Popular In US Homes, With Deadly Consequences For Children, Study Says
Fewer Americans are likely to own a gun now than 40 years ago, but those who do are more likely to own handguns over rifles or shotguns. As the proportion of those with handguns has increased, so has the number of children under the age of 5 who are dying from firearm injuries, according to a new study. (Bracho-Sanchez, 1/28)

The New York Times: These Patients Had Sickle-Cell Disease. Experimental Therapies Might Have Cured Them.
Scientists have long known what causes sickle-cell disease and its devastating effects: a single mutation in one errant gene. But for decades, there has been only modest progress against an inherited condition that mainly afflicts people of African descent. With advances in gene therapy, that is quickly changing — so much so that scientists have begun to talk of a cure. (Kolata, 1/27)

Politico: What A Medical School On A Rwandan Hilltop Can Teach The United States
Three hours along a bumpy dirt road from the capital of Rwanda, a new medical school is emerging from the unlikeliest of places — a small hilltop in the poor farming village of Butaro. The school’s name reveals its ambitious mission: The University of Global Health Equity. It aims to transform both medical education and medical care for the rural poor in central Africa and to serve as a model for more equitable health care around the globe. The new university is setting out to achieve this from the poorest part of Rwanda, a nation still recovering and rebuilding from genocide and civil war a quarter-century ago. (Karlin-Smith, 1/27)

The Associated Press: Companies Navigate Dementia Conversations With Older Workers
Faced with an aging American workforce, companies are increasingly navigating delicate conversations with employees grappling with cognitive declines, experts say. Workers experiencing early stages of dementia may struggle with tasks they had completed without difficulty. Historically punctual employees may forget about scheduled meetings. And those who have traveled to the same office day after day, sometimes for years on end, may begin to lose their way during their morning commutes. (Soergel, 1/28)

The Washington Post: How To Avoid Getting A Cold This Winter
“Don’t go outside with wet hair, you’ll catch a cold!” “Take vitamin C to ward off the sniffles.” “Stay inside during cold season.” Chances are, you’ve heard these words of advice before, probably from your parents when you were little. Indeed, a survey published last week, shows that many parents have tried these strategies to keep their kids from getting sick — even though little evidence exists that they work. (Rettner, 1/26)

The Washington Post: Child's Cold Could Be Often Overlooked Infection RSV
Our holiday season was a symphony of sneezes. It’s inevitable, we joked, as family members from as far away as Illinois and Italy joined our celebrations in suburban Philadelphia. We added packages of colorful tissues to last-minute shopping lists, drank ginger tea with lemon and recalled wryly how much worse it was a few years back when three generations in close quarters shared a stomach bug. (Sellers, 1/26)

The Washington Post: Fascia Encases Tissues And Organs And May Have Widespread Effects
Americans, who spend about $8 billion a year in massage and chiropractic treatments to relieve pain, may have no idea that they’re all probably experiencing the same thing — a manipulation of their fascia, a three-tiered layer of tissue that encases tissues and organs. Although some people who are kneaded, stretched, or cracked may have a vague notion that fascia exists, they probably don’t know much about their fascia — or understand why it even matters. Some in the scientific and medical communities think the same way. (Damiani and Spiker, 1/26)

NPR: Giving A Name To Your Anger May Help You Tame It
Over the past three years, I've had one major goal in my personal life: To stop being so angry. Anger has been my emotional currency. I grew up in an angry home. Door slamming and phone throwing were basic means of communication. I brought these skills to my 20-year marriage. "Why are you yelling?" my husband would say. "I'm not," I'd retort. Oh wait. On second thought: "You're right. I am yelling." (Doucleff, 1/28)

The New York Times: For Real Weight Control, Try Portion Control
Unlike the myriad diet fads that have yet to stem the ever-increasing girth of American men and women, what Dr. Young describes is not a diet but a practical approach to food and eating that can be adapted to almost any way of life, even if most meals are eaten out or taken out. It is not prescriptive or even proscriptive. It does not cut out any category of food, like carbohydrates or fats, nor does it deprive people of their favorite foods, including sweet treats. (Brody, 1/28)

The Washington Post: The Odd, Often Unhealthy, Weight-Loss Methods Of The Past Included Smoking Cigarettes And Eating Tapeworms.
Welcome to diet season, that time of year when people are looking for a reset after the overconsumption of the holidays. There is a smorgasbord of choices for those who are looking to lose weight or stave off a winter doldrums gain, and a few of them actually do work. Some of the trendiest weight-loss schemes, from intermittent fasting to Tom Brady’s alkaline diet, might seem a bit odd or excessive — until you consider some of the crazy or even dangerous things (tapeworms anyone?) we’ve done in the past to lose weight. (Bruno, 1/27)

The New York Times: Don’t Kiss Your Pet Hedgehogs, C.D.C. Warns
Hedgehog owners should refrain from kissing their small, spiky friends, health officials said on Friday. Since October, 11 people across eight states have been infected with a particular strain of salmonella, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported, and all but one of those infected said they had contact with a hedgehog. “Don’t kiss or snuggle hedgehogs because this can spread salmonella germs to your face and mouth and make you sick,” the agency warned. (Jacobs, 1/27)

The Washington Post: ‘Don’t Kiss Or Snuggle Hedgehogs’ Because Of Salmonella Risk, CDC Warns
If you do touch a hedgehog or clean its supplies, wash your hands immediately afterward. And don’t clean your hedgehog’s cage or toys in the same place you prepare human food. This may be a tall order for a new crop of hedgehog owners eager to cuddle with their new pets. Just last week, hedgehogs were legalized as household pets in Fairfax County. ...They are legal in most of the United States — but remain banned in California, Georgia, Hawaii, New York City, Pennsylvania and the nation’s capital, according to the Hedgehog Welfare Society. (Wang, 1/26)

Politico: Newsom Makes Health Care The Centerpiece Of California’s Resistance To Trump
For California under Gov. Gavin Newsom, the resistance to President Donald Trump is about health care. Much as his predecessor Jerry Brown made climate change the state’s big challenge to Trump, Newsom has embarked on a health agenda that includes extending care to undocumented adults and direct government negotiation of drug prices. (Colliver, 1/27)

The Associated Press: Measles Outbreak Grows In Northwest US, 31 Cases Reported
The number of confirmed measles cases near Portland grew to 31 on Friday — an outbreak boosted by lower-than-normal vaccination rates in what has been called an anti-vaccination U.S. "hot spot." Public health officials in southwest Washington, just across the Columbia River from Portland, Oregon, said people may have been exposed to the dangerous disease at more than three dozen locations, including Portland International Airport, a Portland Trail Blazers game, an Amazon Locker location and stores such as Costco and Ikea. (1/25)

The Hill: Vaccine Skeptics Appointed To New Minnesota Council On Autism 
Two vaccine skeptics have been appointed to a new Minnesota state council on autism, alarming public health advocates who worry they will promote the hoax linking vaccines to autism. The MN Autism Council, formed last year by Republican state Sen. Jim Abeler, was aimed at advising the Minnesota Legislature on autism and public policy. But the makeup of the council is raising concerns, The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported Thursday. (Gstalter, 1/25)

The Washington Post: Whole Foods Spinach Recall: Possible Salmonella Linked To Satur Farms.
The grocery chain Whole Foods on Wednesday announced a voluntary recall of numerous prepared food items containing baby spinach because of possible salmonella contamination. Whole Foods said in a notice the potentially contaminated products were sold in eight states and contain baby spinach and mesclun from Satur Farms — a Cutchogue, N.Y., supplier that initiated the recall. (Brice-Saddler, 1/25)