First Edition: February 26, 2019

Kaiser Health News: Congress Squares Off With Pharma CEOs In Showdown Over High Drug Prices
The Senate Finance Committee will host executives from Pfizer, Merck, AbbVie and other drugmakers. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the chairman, said he hopes the hearing will pull back the curtain on how drugmakers set prices — and how they justify the culture of secrecy surrounding those decisions. Skeptics are quick to note that the pharmaceutical industry is among Congress’ most generous benefactors. In 2017 and 2018, members of the Senate Finance Committee received more than $2 million from political action committees associated with pharmaceutical companies, including the companies they’re hearing from Tuesday, according to a Kaiser Health News analysis. (Huetteman and Hancock, 2/26)

Kaiser Health News: In Florida, Drug Re-Importation From Canada Finds New Champions, Old Snags
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Wednesday he intends to bring down skyrocketing drug prices by leaning on an existing federal law that could enable the state to import prescription meds wholesale from Canada, where they’re much cheaper. He’s citing direct support from President Donald Trump, whose administration would have to approve the endeavor. “He not only supports this, he is enthusiastic,” DeSantis said at a news conference northwest of Orlando. But it’s not clear Florida’s idea has actually gotten that level of commitment. (Luthra and Galewitz, 2/25)

Kaiser Health News: States' 'Medicaid Buy-In' Plans Would Expand Affordable Health Coverage
Laura Lucero Y Ruiz De Gutierrez has a heart condition and fibromyalgia and is in danger of developing diabetes. She has health insurance through her husband’s job. But, between the $800 monthly premium for the couple’s coverage and the $2,100 deductible she has to pay down before insurance starts picking up the tab, she doesn’t feel she can afford to go to the doctor when she needs to. She hopes that may soon change. Identical bills proposed in recent weeks in the New Mexico House and Senate would make Gutierrez eligible to buy in to a public health plan modeled on Medicaid. She also could receive state-funded assistance that would save her hundreds of dollars a month on premiums. (Andrews, 2/26)

The Washington Post: Drug Industry Defense For High Prices: Blame Insurance Companies
A line of defense is emerging for top prescription drug companies whose top executives will be pulled before Congress Tuesday to testify about high prices for medicine: They are not to blame. It’s a corporate version of a “devil made me do it’’ argument. The industry contends it is trapped in a reimbursement system that has become badly distorted, one that rewards companies for jacking up list prices and then offering deep discounts, in the form of rebates, to win favorable treatment by insurance plans. (Rowland, 2/25)

The Wall Street Journal: Pharmaceutical Industry CEOs Face Senate Hearing On Drug Prices
Members of the Senate Finance Committee, chaired by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa), are expected to question the executives on their pricing practices and how the companies can reduce costs for patients, according to people familiar with the matter. They are also likely to face questions about their strategies to fight off cheaper generic alternatives, according to the people. The hearing could inform bipartisan legislation this year to target high drug prices. Sen. Grassley and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D., Minn.) have introduced bills to legalize personal importation of lower-priced medicines from Canada, and to curtail patent-infringement-litigation settlements in which makers of brand-name drugs pay generic manufacturers to delay competition. (Hopkins and Loftus, 2/25)

Reuters: Factbox: Pharma Company Executives To Testify At U.S. Senate Drug Price Hearing
Executives from seven of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies are set to testify about high U.S. prescription drug prices at a U.S. Senate hearing on Tuesday, amid an intensifying focus on the industry's practices by both political parties. Lowering drug prices and healthcare costs for U.S. consumers has been a key focus of President Donald Trump, and rival Democrats are stepping up congressional scrutiny of drug price hikes after gaining control of the U.S. House of Representatives. (2/25)

Reuters: Pharma Stocks Could See Turbulence From U.S. Senate Drug-Price Hearing
U.S. healthcare stocks could face more turbulence on Tuesday, after a bumpy early 2019, as top executives from some of the largest pharmaceutical companies are expected to get grilled in the U.S. Senate on the high cost of prescription drugs. The Senate Finance Committee hearing on drug pricing is likely to turn up the volume on the debate over healthcare costs, an issue looming as a potential negative for the sector's performance in the coming months. (Krauskopf, 2/25)

The Washington Post Fact Checker: The CBO’s Shifting View On The Impact Of The Obamacare Individual Mandate
Policymaking in Washington can live and die by “the baseline” — in particular, the baseline set by the Congressional Budget Office. During the debate over the 2017 Republican efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Democrats often cited estimates that the repeal would result in 23 million fewer people having health insurance within a decade. That number came from the CBO’s estimate of the impact of the law versus what it predicted would happen under existing policy — i.e., “the baseline.” The big part of the change was because the law proposed to repeal the mandate that individuals must be insured. (Kessler, 2/26)

Politico: Trump’s Former Refugee Director Faces Congress Over Family Separations
A Trump appointee accused of mishandling efforts to reunify migrant children who were separated at the border will testify before Congress on Tuesday after months of resistance, as newly empowered House Democrats push the administration to hold officials responsible for the policy. Scott Lloyd, who led the HHS refugee office last year as it took custody of thousands of migrant kids separated from their families, will face a grilling on Tuesday before the House Judiciary Committee — one of four panels escalating probes into family separations. (Diamond, 2/26)

The Associated Press: House Committee To Vote On Approving Trump Admin Subpoenas
House Democrats are laying the groundwork to subpoena Trump administration officials over family separations at the southern border. The Oversight Committee will vote Tuesday on whether to approve subpoenas to the heads of Justice, Homeland Security and Health and Human Services. With Democrats as a majority, the authorization is expected, but it's still not clear whether the subpoenas will actually be served. (2/26)

The Washington Post: A 24-Year-Old Honduran Woman’s Pregnancy Ended In A Stillbirth At An ICE Detention Center
A 24-year-old woman went into premature labor and delivered a stillborn baby while she was in custody at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in South Texas last week, officials said. The woman, a migrant from Honduras whose identity the agency withheld, was arrested near Hidalgo, Tex., on Feb. 18. She was six months pregnant at the time. Four days later, she went into labor and delivered a premature and unresponsive baby boy. Local doctors pronounced the newborn dead soon after. (Thebault, 2/25)

The Associated Press: Dems Block Senate GOP Bill On Infants Surviving Abortions
Senate Democrats on Monday blocked a Republican bill that would have threatened prison for doctors who don't try saving the life of infants born alive during abortions. The measure seemed doomed from the start but offered the GOP a chance to appeal to conservative voters. The vote was the latest instance in which Republicans have tried to go on offense on the issue and put Democratic abortion-rights lawmakers in an uncomfortable position. Supporters said the measure presented lawmakers with a simple, moral choice. (Fram, 2/25)

The Washington Post: Senate Blocks Bill On Medical Care For Children Born Alive After Attempted Abortion
The bill would require a health-care practitioner to “exercise the same degree of professional skill, care, and diligence to preserve the life and health of the child” as he or she would to “any other child born alive at the same gestational age.” The bill includes criminal penalties, a right of civil action for an affected mother and a mandatory reporting requirement for other health providers. Opponents of the bill argued that it represented an unjustified attack on abortion rights, preventing doctors from exercising their best medical judgment and exposing them to possible lawsuits or prosecution. (DeBonis and Sonmez, 2/25)

The Wall Street Journal: GOP’s ‘Born Alive’ Abortion Bill Fails To Advance In Senate
Republicans, including the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Ben Sasse (R., Neb.), argued the bill doesn’t restrict access to abortions but rather focuses on the care of fetuses that are “born alive” during such procedures. “It isn’t about new restrictions on abortion, it isn’t about changing the options available to women. It’s just about recognizing that a newborn baby is a newborn baby, period,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Monday. (Jamerson, 2/25)

The Hill: Trump Claims Democrats ‘Don’t Mind Executing Babies After Birth’ After Blocked Abortion Bill 
President Trump on Monday ramped up his attacks against Democratic senators over abortion after the Senate failed to advance an anti-abortion measure on Monday. "Senate Democrats just voted against legislation to prevent the killing of newborn infant children," Trump claimed on Twitter on Monday. "The Democrat position on abortion is now so extreme that they don’t mind executing babies AFTER birth." (Wise, 2/26)

CNN: They Had Abortions Late In Their Pregnancies. These Are Their Stories
Strangers have called them monsters, trolled them on social media and said their living children should be taken away. Their darkest moments are judged and politicized by figures who know nothing about them. They feel like involuntary pawns in an ugly, vicious game they didn't ask to play. Women who've had abortions later in their pregnancies are "bonded in a sisterhood through a club nobody ever wanted to be a part of," one woman said. She was one of half a dozen women who recently shared their stories with CNN. They chose to speak up after President Donald Trump called on Congress to pass legislation that would ban "late-term abortion," a phrase derided by ob-gyns. (Ravitz, 2/25)

The Associated Press: Washington State To Sue Over Trump's New Abortion Policy
Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson said Monday he will sue to challenge President Donald Trump's policy setting up new obstacles for women seeking abortions, calling it "a transparent attack on Planned Parenthood" that would severely impair access to many types of medical care, especially for low-income women in rural areas. It's the first of several legal challenges expected to be announced by Democratic-led states. A national organization representing publicly funded family planning providers said Monday it would file a separate lawsuit over the policy. (Johnson, 2/25)

The Hill: Washington State To Sue Trump Administration Over Rule Targeting Planned Parenthood 
“We stand united with Attorney General Ferguson and our state and legislative leaders against this blatant assault on women’s health,” Inslee said in a statement. “Washington has been, and will continue to be, a state that stands with women and their right to safe and legal abortion and reproductive care. We will never allow President Trump or anyone else in D.C. to take those rights away.” The rules announced by the Trump administration on Friday would cut off federal family planning funds under the Title X program from clinics that provide abortions or that refer patients for abortions, a way of partially defunding Planned Parenthood. (Sullivan, 2/25)

The Associated Press: Judge Rules Central Missouri Clinic Cannot Resume Abortions
Planned Parenthood cannot resume abortions at a clinic in central Missouri after a federal judge ruled that state restrictions were not "undue" burdens on women seeking abortions. Current Missouri law requires clinics that provide abortions to have physicians with admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. The Columbia clinic has been unable to secure a physician with those privileges after a panel of medical staff at University of Missouri Health Care decided to stop offering the privileges in 2015 during a Republican-led legislative investigation on abortion in the state. (2/25)

The Associated Press: 'Trigger' Abortion Bill Clears Oklahoma Senate Panel
Oklahoma would automatically ban abortions if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns its landmark 1973 ruling that legalized abortion nationwide under a bill that has cleared a Senate panel. While abortion opponents chanted, prayed and sang hymns outside the committee room, the Senate Health and Human Services Committee voted 11-4 on Monday for the so-called "trigger" abortion ban . Similar bills already have passed in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Dakota and South Dakota. (2/25)

The Associated Press: Arkansas House Approves Tightening Abortion Ban To 18 Weeks
The Arkansas House on Monday approved a proposal to ban abortion 18 weeks into a woman's pregnancy, moving the state closer toward enacting what could be the strictest prohibition in the country. Without any debate, the majority-Republican House approved the ban by a 77-13 vote. Arkansas already has some of the strictest abortion limits in the country and bans the procedure 20 weeks into a woman's pregnancy. The bill advanced Monday includes an exemption for medical emergencies, but not for rape or incest. The 18-week ban now heads to the majority-Republican Senate. (2/25)

The Associated Press: Lawmakers, First Responders Sound Alarm On 9/11 Fund
More than 17 years after the 9/11 attacks, first responders and their advocates were back at the Capitol Monday urging Congress to ensure that a victims’ compensation fund does not run out of money. Members of the New York delegation, joined by first responders, survivors and family members, lamented an announcement by the Justice Department that the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund is running low on money and future payments may be cut by up to 70 percent. (Daly, 2/25)

Politico: Jon Stewart Joins Lawmakers In Push For 9/11 Victims Funding
“If we learn that more people are hurt, we don’t stop and say ‘too late buddy, too late ma’am you got your cancer five years too late,’” Schumer said at a press conference. “We step up to the plate. That’s what America’s always done. That’s what America must do now.” The legislation comes after a report from the compensation fund’s special master last week that warned benefits would be reduced between 50 and 70 percent, depending on when a claim was filed, citing insufficient funds. “I sincerely apologize to the 9/11 community for making a promise that I could not keep,” special master Rupa Bhattacharyya wrote. (Levine, 2/25)

The Wall Street Journal: GE To Sell Its Biotech Business To Danaher For $21 Billion
The proposed sale marks a strategic shift by Mr. Culp. Since taking over as CEO in October, he had kept GE on track for a spinoff of its entire health-care business in an initial public offering later this year. The biotech deal gives GE funds to fix its balance sheet and will allow the company to “play a little more offense” in restructuring itself, Mr. Culp said in an interview Monday. “So folks don’t look at us like a desperate seller,” he said. “We are on better footing.” He said management now plans to focus on closing the biotech sale to Danaher this year, while re-evaluating plans for an IPO of the rest of the health-care division, which primarily makes MRI machines and hospital equipment. (Gryta, 2/25)

Bloomberg: GE Jumps As $21.4 Billion Bio-Pharma Sale Lifts New CEO’s Revamp 
GE jumped 6.4 percent to $10.82 at the close in New York, the highest level since Oct. 29. The shares have advanced 43 percent this year, the best performance on a Standard & Poor’s sub-index of U.S. industrial companies. That’s a sharp turnabout from GE’s plight at the end of 2018, as a two-year stock collapse wiped out more than $200 billion in shareholder value. The Boston-based manufacturer has been reeling from mounting debt, cash shortfalls and a deep slump in the market for gas turbines. (Clough, 2/25)

Stat: Is Allergan Too 'Sanguine' Over New Competition For Botox? 
As Allergan (AGN) faces pressure from a big hedge fund for “chronic underperformance,” a survey of doctors suggests the drug maker may be “overly sanguine” about new competition for its Botox wrinkle smoother, and that sales growth and operating margins for the key product could take a hit. Specifically, more than 75 percent of dermatologists reported they would be at least moderately more likely to offer a forthcoming treatment called Jeuveau to their existing Botox patients, if the new medication costs significantly less for them to purchase. Notably, Wall Street analysts expect Evolus (EOLS), which recently won regulatory approval for Jeuveau, to sell its drug at a discount of up to 25 percent. (Silverman, 2/25)

Reuters: U.S. Asks Judge To Give Final Approval To Settlement With CVS To Buy Aetna
The U.S. Justice Department formally asked a judge on Monday to approve its deal to allow CVS Health Corp to merge with insurer Aetna. Judge Richard Leon of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia scolded the government and parties late last year for closing the $69 billion dollar merger before the consent order was approved by the court. In response, CVS offered to halt some integration of the two companies. (2/25)

Bloomberg: Anthem Says Bid To Save $49 Billion Deal Was ‘Cut Off At Knees’
Cigna Corp. officials did everything they could to sabotage a $48.9 billion merger with Anthem Inc., including refusing to consider divestitures that would have helped the deal win regulatory approval, Anthem’s general counsel told a judge. Cigna refused to turn over data Anthem executives needed to convince U.S. Justice Department attorneys of the merger’s value to customers, Thomas Zielinski, Anthem’s top lawyer, testified Monday in the opening of a damages trial tied to the transaction’s collapse. (Feeley, 2/25)

Bloomberg: Insys Call Center Revealed At Trial As Hotbed Of Opioid Lies 
The goal for Insys Therapeutics Inc.’s call center in Phoenix was simple: persuade insurers to authorize at least 70 prescriptions a week of its expensive opioid spray. Workers would get bonuses for surpassing the goals, a former call center manager testified. Even if the patient had minor skin cancer decades earlier, employees were told to lie to insurers to get approval for the powerful and expensive drug, which had only been approved for “breakthrough” cancer pain, Elizabeth Gurrieri told a Boston jury. (Lawrence, 2/25)

The Washington Post: FDA Takes Fresh Look At Whether Opioids Are Effective For Chronic Pain
The Food and Drug Administration will require drug companies to study whether prescription opioids are effective in quelling chronic pain — another step in the government’s efforts to rein in use of the narcotics that spawned the drug epidemic. Some studies already indicate that opioids are ineffective for pain beyond 12 weeks and many experts say long-term use can cause addiction, by prompting patients to build up tolerance to the drugs and seek higher doses. But conclusive, controlled research is scarce. (Bernstein and McGinley, 2/25)

CNN: Opioid Epidemic: Eastern United States Most Affected
While there's early evidence that the explosive rate of opioid deaths has started to slow, opioids killed more than 49,000 people in the United States in 2017, according to preliminary data. A new study reveals which part of the country has been affected the most by the ongoing epidemic. In a study of opioid deaths from 1999 to 2016, "we found that, in general, opioid mortality is skyrocketing," said Mathew Kiang, a postdoctoral research fellow at Stanford University's Center for Population Health Sciences. (Tinker, 2/22)

The Washington Post: Anti-Vaxxers Face Backlash As Measles Cases Surge
The resurgence of measles across the United States is spurring a backlash against vaccine critics, from congressional hearings probing the spread of vaccine misinformation to state measures that would make it harder for parents to opt out of immunizing their children. In Washington state, where the worst measles outbreak in more than two decades has sickened nearly 70 people and cost over $1 million, two measures are advancing through the state legislature that would bar parents from using personal or philosophical exemptions to avoid immunizing their school-age children. Both have bipartisan support despite strong anti-vaccination sentiment in parts of the state. (Sun, 2/25)

CNN: Facebook To Get Tougher On Anti-Vaxers
Facebook will soon take action against misinformation about vaccines, according to a Facebook representative. Public health experts have pointed fingers at social media platforms, saying that false claims that vaccines cause autism and other diseases have frightened parents into refusing to vaccinate, resulting in the current measles outbreak that started in Washington state. (Cohen and Bonifield, 2/25)

The Hill: Measles Outbreaks Lead States To Reconsider Vaccine Exemptions 
Measles outbreaks across the nation are prompting state lawmakers to consider eliminating vaccination exemptions for religious and personal beliefs that have been claimed by the parents of some children. Public health experts and officials blame the exemptions as one reason why states are seeing an increased number of cases of measles. (Hellmann, 2/26)

The New York Times: CBD Is Everywhere, But Scientists Still Don’t Know Much About It
Cannabidiol, or CBD, a nonintoxicating component of the marijuana plant, is touted as a magic bullet that eases pain, anxiety, insomnia and depression. Salves, sprays, tinctures and oils containing CBD are marketed as aphrodisiacs that boost desire; as balms for eczema, pimples and hot flashes; and even as treatments for serious diseases like diabetes and multiple sclerosis. Unlike THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, the “psychoactive” component of the cannabis plant, CBD won’t get you “high.” But scientists know little about what it can do: Most of the information about CBD’s effects in humans is anecdotal or extrapolated from animal studies, and few rigorous trials have been conducted. (Rabin, 2/25)

Reuters: Physical Punishment Of Kids Tied To Antisocial Behavior In Adulthood, Study Says
Children who are spanked, slapped, shoved or otherwise physically punished may be more prone to antisocial behavior as adults, a U.S. study suggests. Four in five children in the United States have been spanked at least once by the time they reach kindergarten, researchers said in JAMA Network Open. While spanking and other forms of harsh physical punishment have long been linked to mental health problems in children, less is known about how these childhood experiences influence adult behavior. (2/25)

The Associated Press: Using 1 Germ To Fight Another When Today's Antibiotics Fail
Bacteria lodged deep in Ella Balasa's lungs were impervious to most antibiotics. At 26, gasping for breath, she sought out a dramatic experiment — deliberately inhaling a virus culled from sewage to attack her superbug. "I'm really running out of options," said Balasa, who traveled from her Richmond, Virginia, home to Yale University for the last-resort treatment. "I know it might not have an effect. But I am very hopeful." (2/26)

NPR: Access To Parks In Childhood Associated With Better Adult Mental Health
The experience of natural spaces, brimming with greenish light, the smells of soil and the quiet fluttering of leaves in the breeze can calm our frenetic modern lives. It's as though our very cells can exhale when surrounded by nature, relaxing our bodies and minds. Some people seek to maximize the purported therapeutic effects of contact with the unbuilt environment by embarking on sessions of forest bathing, slowing down and becoming mindfully immersed in nature. (Lambert, 2/25)

The Washington Post: A Smoker Wrote His Own Obituary To Stop Others: ‘Quit — Now — Your Life Depends On It’
Four days before he died, Geoffrey Turner turned to his daughter and asked for his laptop. Sarah Huiest knew that her father had made preparations for his death, including writing his obituary — a way, she said, for the 66-year-old to tell his own story in his own words. Huiest said she had not yet read it — but now, it was time. (Bever, 2/25)

The Washington Post: Smoking Can Damage Eyesight By Age 35, Study Suggests
Smoking cigarettes has long been known for its ability to damage eyesight, on top of the harm it causes to the lungs, heart and other organs. But a new study suggests that smoking can impair vision far earlier than is commonly thought. Heavy smokers with an average age of 35 were markedly worse than nonsmokers at distinguishing colors as well as the contrast between different shades of gray, the study authors said. (Avril, 2/26)

The New York Times: Ireland Diagnosed Record Number Of H.I.V. Infections In 2018, Health Data Suggests
Ireland diagnosed a record high number of new H.I.V. infections in 2018, new health data suggests, a trend that contrasts with a general decline in infections across Europe, and that some Irish activists attribute to poor sex health education and insufficient access to preventive drugs. Preliminary figures released last month by the Health Protection Surveillance Center, a state watchdog, suggested that 531 new cases of H.I.V. infection had been diagnosed in Ireland last year, an increase from 492 the previous year. (O'Loughlin, 2/25)

The New York Times: Falls Can Kill You. Here’s How To Minimize The Risk.
Every day, I scan the obituaries to see why or how people die. You might call it morbid fascination, but I attribute it to the combined influence of my age (77) and my profession (health reporting). Obituaries give me ideas for Personal Health columns like this one that might help others — and me — avoid a preventable ailment or accident and premature demise. One of the most frequent causes of death listed for people my age, as well as some younger and many older folks, is “complications from a fall,” the explanation given for the death last month at 93 of Russell Baker, the much-loved Pulitzer Prize-winning humorist and columnist for The New York Times. (Brody, 2/25)

The Wall Street Journal: No One Listening? Maybe You’re The Problem
A good friend called me recently to say hello. We chatted about his kids, a problem he was having at work, and his recent vacation. When he asked how I was doing, I mentioned a big work project. “The deadline is bearing down on me and I am stressed,” I said. He didn’t respond, so I asked: “Do you think you could brainstorm a few things with me sometime?” There was more silence. Then my friend—who had woken me up at 6 a.m. to talk—blurted out: “Oh darn, I missed one! I’m taking this online training course for work and just messed up the last answer.” (Bernstein, 2/25)

The Wall Street Journal: Patients Face Monthslong Waits To See Specialists At New York City Hospitals
New York City Health + Hospitals chief Mitchell Katz told members of the City Council during testimony Monday that wait times to see medical specialists at some of the city’s public hospitals can stretch to months, depending on where a person seeks care and incremental staffing changes. A patient at North Central Bronx, for example, might wait as long as three months to see a cardiologist, said Dr. Katz, the president and chief executive of the city’s 11 public hospitals and 70 clinics. Patients of Jacobi, also in the Bronx, might have to wait three months to see an endocrinologist, cardiologist, renal specialist, neurologist or ophthalmologist, Dr. Katz said. Meanwhile, Harlem Hospital in Manhattan has the shortest wait times to see a cardiologist and gastroenterologist, but it would take three months to see a podiatrist, he said. (West, 2/25)

The Wall Street Journal: Lawyers Spar Over Science At Start Of Second Roundup Weedkiller Trial
Bayer AG on Monday began defending itself in a second trial alleging its Roundup weedkiller causes cancer, a case the German chemicals and pharmaceuticals company is under pressure to win to help stop a downward spiral of its share price. Jurors heard competing scientific viewpoints on whether 70-year-old California resident Edwin Hardeman developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma because of decadeslong Roundup use on his property. A lawyer for Mr. Hardeman previewed scientific studies she said will prove that Roundup is to blame, followed by a lawyer for Bayer arguing that other risk factors in Mr. Hardeman’s health history are more likely the cause. (Randazzo and Bender, 2/25)