The Associated Press: GOP, Dems Offer Compromise To Reduce Drug Costs For Seniors
Two veteran senators — a Republican and a Democrat — unveiled compromise legislation Tuesday to reduce prescription drug costs for millions of Medicare recipients, while saving money for federal and state health care programs serving seniors and low-income people. Iowa Republican Chuck Grassley and Oregon Democrat Ron Wyden said the bill would for the first time limit drug copays for people with Medicare's "Part D" prescription plan , by capping patients' out-of-pocket costs at $3,100 a year starting in 2022. They're hoping to have it ready soon for votes on the Senate floor. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 7/23)

CNBC: Senate Finance Committee Unveils Bipartisan Bill To Lower Drug Prices For Seniors
“The cost of many prescription drugs is too high,” Grassley and Wyden said in a joint statement Tuesday. “Without action, we’re on an unsustainable path for taxpayers, seniors and all Americans. A working class family shouldn’t have to pick between making their rent or mortgage payment and being able to afford their kids’ medications.” (7/23)

Stat: Senate Finance Committee Unveils Bill To Cap Drug Price Hikes 
The bill also tweaks other federal drug-payment approaches, including implementing a value-based system for some gene therapies under Medicaid. The bill also ups the maximum rebate allowed under Medicaid, which the committee projected would save taxpayers $15 billion. The committee estimated the legislation would save beneficiaries $27 billion in out-of-pocket costs and an additional $5 billion in premiums in the coming 10-year period. Those savings are in addition to the $85 billion in savings the bill would generate for taxpayers. (Facher and Florko, 7/23)

The Washington Post: Senate Releases Bipartisan Proposal To Lower Seniors’ Drug Prices
The measure would also save seniors $27 billion in out-of-pocket costs over that period and $5 billion from slightly lower premiums, according to the CBO. The White House endorsed the proposal and said it would build support among senators. President Trump has made lowering drug prices a top priority headed into his 2020 reelection campaign and is eager to strike a deal with Congress that he can tout on the campaign trail. (Abutaleb, 7/23)

Politico: Senate Finance Pushes Ahead On Plan To Address High Drug Prices
CBO also estimates that Medicare beneficiaries will save $27 billion in out-of-pocket costs and $5 billion in premium spending from the two policies. The bill would place a similar inflation cap on physician-administered drugs in Medicare Part B — pricey treatments for cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and other conditions that the Trump administration wants to buy at the sums paid in developed countries overseas. Grassley’s office worked closely with Trump's health department on the drug bill, but declined to say whether the administration ultimately supports this alternate approach. Another provision would cap seniors' out-of-pocket spending in Medicare Part D and shift more of the payments for the catastrophic phase — when prescription drugs cost patients thousands of dollars — to health plans and drugmakers rather than the government. (Cancryn and Owermohle, 7/23)

Reuters: Senators Announce Bipartisan Proposal To Lower Drug Prices
It is not clear how much support this, or any other drug pricing measure proposed in Congress, will receive ahead of 2020 presidential elections. But the cost of U.S. healthcare is sure to be a top campaign issue. A spokesman said the White House was encouraged by the bipartisan package. "Today we are engaging with coalitions to help build support," spokesman Judd Deere wrote on Twitter. (7/23)

Bloomberg: Senate Bill Aims To Tame Drug Costs With Inflation Link 
Some lawmakers and business groups are already lining up on the other side, saying the legislation goes too far in limiting drugmakers’ discretion to set prices and doesn’t do enough to help consumers. Getting drug prices under control has been a top priority of the Trump administration and lawmakers of both parties, but action so far has been limited. Last week, the White House pulled back a proposal that would have curbed rebates paid to drug-plan middlemen, and earlier this week Democrats in the House said they would put off debate on a drug-price bill until September. (Edney, 7/23)

Modern Healthcare: Major Drug-Pricing Plan Released By Senate Panel
Michael Zona, GOP spokesman for the committee, said amendments must pass a "germaneness test" to be considered. And they must include a way to pay for any increased cost. Lawmakers who want to offer amendments have to file their changes by noon Wednesday. (Luthi, 7/23)

The Hill: Grassley Gambles On Drug Price Bill Despite GOP Doubts
“I think it’s moving in a positive direction,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas). “The CBO score was certainly encouraging.” But other GOP senators sounded a less positive note. “I still have some concerns, but I hope we can work it out,” said Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.). Asked if he could vote for it on Thursday, Roberts said, “We’ll see.” (Sullivan, 7/23)

Kaiser Health News: Summer Setbacks: The Long Road To Lower Drug Prices Hits Some Potholes
When Washington returned from its winter holiday break in January, it seemed everyone was talking about lowering drug prices. Energized by a new class of freshmen and a few weeks away from the office, members of Congress were ready to wag their fingers at drug company executives and pitch their fixes. President Donald Trump had unveiled some of his solutions to a problem he said was a top priority, and more would follow. (Huetteman, 7/24)

The New York Times: 9/11 First Responders Fund Clears Senate And Heads To Trump
Thousands of emergency workers who rushed to the rubble of the World Trade Center after the Sept. 11 attacks will be granted health care and other compensation for the rest of their lives. The Senate on Tuesday gave final approval to legislation that would care permanently for those who have grown deathly ill from the toxins of ground zero. White House officials said President Trump was expected to sign it. Even before the Senate’s 97-to-2 vote was gaveled to a close, retired New York firefighters and police officers, advocates and Jon Stewart, the comedian who championed the legislation, had leapt to their feet in the usually hushed chamber to lead a standing ovation. (Cochrane, 7/23)

The Associated Press: Senate Approves Bill To Extend 9/11 Victims Fund
The bill would extend through 2092 a fund created after the 2001 terrorist attacks, essentially making it permanent. The $7.4 billion fund is rapidly being depleted, and administrators recently cut benefit payments by up to 70%. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the House-passed bill would result in about $10.2 billion in additional compensation payments over 10 years, including more than $4 billion for claims already filed. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said the bill guarantees "once and for all that the heroes who rushed to the towers 18 years ago will no longer have to worry about compensation for their families when they're gone." (7/23)

CNN: Congress Passes 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund Extension Championed By Jon Stewart
The original fund from 2001 to 2004 distributed over $7 billion to compensate the families of over 2,880 people who died on 9/11 and 2,680 individuals who were injured, according to the Justice Department. In 2011, Congress reactivated the fund and in 2015 reauthorized it for another five years, appropriating $7.4 billion to aid thousands more people. The fund was set to stop taking new claims in December 2020. (Rogers, 7/23)

NPR: Sept. 11 Victims Fund Extension Passes Senate, Goes To President
In February, Rupa Bhattacharyya, who heads the fund, said it would soon expend the amount of its appropriation, $7.375 billion, in light of a surge in new claims. She said that the fund had paid out some $5 billion to more than 21,000 claims. At that point, she said that the fund would have to make "significant reductions in awards," adding that she was "painfully aware of the inequity of the situation." (Kennedy, 7/23)

The Washington Post: Senate Votes To Extend 9/11 Victims Fund For First Responders Who’ve Become Sick Since 2001 Attacks
Wearing a blue firefighter T-shirt, Stewart said Feal and other advocates “lifted this 9/11 community on their shoulders, and they carried them home, and I will always be so proud to be associated with it. . . . There have been too many funerals, too many hospices. These families deserve better. ”The moment was bittersweet, Feal said. “We’re not celebrating, we’re not spiking a football,” he said. “Too many people are dying or have died.” (Barrett and Epstein, 7/23)

NBC News: 'Put Down Your Swords': Senate Passes Bill Ensuring 9/11 Victims Fund Will Never Run Out Of Money
Feal also thanked Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who advocates charged had slowed down earlier versions of the bill, for getting the bill to the floor. "He kept his word to me," Feal said. (Gregorian and Thorp, 7/23)

Rolling Stone: Jon Stewart Delivers Emotional Address After 9/11 Victim Bill Passes
“We can never repay all that the 9/11 community has done for our country, but we can stop penalizing them,” [Stewart] said. “And today is that day that they can exhale. Unfortunately, the pain and suffering of what these heroes continue to go through is going to continue. There have been too many funerals, too many hospices, and these families deserve better. I’m hopeful that today begins the process of being able to heal without the burden of having to advocate.” (Bort, 7/23)

The Wall Street Journal: Senate Passes Bill Securing 9/11 Compensation Fund
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a New York Democrat who pushed to get the legislation passed in the Senate, said the bill was “for every person who spent days, weeks and months on the pile, and has had to suffer physical and mental scars for years because of that heroic work.” The bill had been approved overwhelmingly in the House of Representatives this month, and Mr. Trump is expected to sign it. “This was a tremendous victory today, but it’s bittersweet,” said Rep. Peter King (R., N.Y.), a co-sponsor of the bill who noted the unknown number of people who could become sick in the future and the many first responders who died or are sick because of their work. (Naranjo, 7/23)

USA Today: Senate Approves Financial Lifeline For 9/11 First-Responders
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, were the only two senators to vote against the bill. The two senators offered amendments to the bill Tuesday that would have limited how much federal taxpayers would cover compensation costs. Both amendments were defeated by large margins. (King and Wu, 7/23)

The Salt Lake Tribune: Utah Sen. Mike Lee Votes Against 9/11 First Responders Bill After Losing Bid To Limit Spending
Lee, a Utah Republican, had held up the bill while attempting to curtail the expansion to only what is needed in the next decade. His amendment, shot down by a 32-66 vote, would have given $10.18 billion to the fund in the next 10 years and another $10 billion after that. (Burr, 7/23)

Kaiser Health News: Why It’s So Hard To Predict How Much Funding 9/11 First Responders Need
The idea of getting cancer from searching through the rubble of Ground Zero after the 9/11 attacks — and then standing guard over it for months — didn’t occur to Kevin Zweigbaum. It did cross his mind that the swirling dust and fumes from the shattered World Trade Center might be unhealthy. Now retired, the New York City police sergeant vividly remembers raising the idea with workers from the Environmental Protection Agency who were at the site. (McAuliff, 7/23)

The Washington Post: Newly Unsealed Exhibits In Opioid Case Reveal Inner Workings Of The Drug Industry
Newly unsealed documents in a landmark lawsuit Tuesday in Cleveland show the pressure within drug companies to sell opioids in the face of numerous red flags during the height of the epidemic. The release of the exhibits — sworn depositions of executives, internal corporate emails and experts’ reports — also reveals the ignored concerns of some employees about the huge volume of pain pills streaming across the nation. In one exhibit, emails show that a Purdue Pharma executive received an order from a distributor for 115,200 oxycodone pills, which was nearly twice as large as that distributor’s average order over the previous three months. (Horwitz, Higham, Davis and Rich, 7/23)

The Washington Post: Internal Documents Show What Drug Companies Knew About The Spread Of Opioids In America
A cache of previously undisclosed internal drug company documents and other records are being released as the result of the largest civil action in U.S. history. About two dozen drug companies are being sued in federal court by nearly 2,000 cities, towns and counties, alleging they conspired to flood the nation with opioids. Below are portions of some of the documents in the case, entered by the plaintiffs as exhibits and selected by The Post. (7/23)

Stat: California Cites AmerisourceBergen For Not Flagging Big Opioid Sales 
The state of California wants to revoke or suspend the wholesale license for a facility run by AmerisourceBergen (ABC), one of the nation’s largest pharmaceutical distributors, for failing to note patterns of unusual sales of opioid painkillers and other controlled substances shipped to different pharmacies over a number of years. Between 2008 and 2014, the facility based in Sacramento, Calif., sold large quantities of such medicines as Norco, which is a mixture of acetaminophen and hydrocodone; oxycodone; and promethazine with codeine syrup to four different pharmacies, according to a May 30 complaint filed by the state Board of Pharmacy. The complaint was made public on the agency website last week. (Silverman, 7/23)

New Hampshire Public Radio: DEA: N.H. Received 280 Million Opioid Pills Over Six Years
The Washington Post has released data obtained by the Drug Enforcement Administration that is painting a clearer picture of the prevalence of opioid drug use in New Hampshire. According to the data, 280 million oxycodone and hydrocodone pills were supplied to the state between 2006 and 2012. That’s about 36 pills per person, per year. (Haime, 7/24)

And in other news —

Stateline: Overdose Prevention Efforts Reach Bars And Clubs
“Just Say No” — the 1980s anti-drug slogan — doesn’t cut it here at the Brooklyn cabaret House of Yes. Starting this month, House of Yes and dozens of other bars and nightclubs in the vibrant Williamsburg and Bushwick neighborhoods are handing out coasters and pinning up posters to warn people that the deadly opioid fentanyl might be mixed with their cocaine, and if it is, they could overdose and die. (Vestal, 7/23)

Politico: Crackdown On Food Stamps Could Worsen Hunger, USDA Acknowledges
The Agriculture Department acknowledged Tuesday that its latest push to cut back on who is eligible for food stamp benefits may worsen food insecurity in the U.S. The Trump administration has just released a proposed rule seeking to rein in what's known as broad-based categorical eligibility. That policy has allowed 43 states to expand the number of low-income people who qualify for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps. (Bottemiller Evich, 7/23)

PBS NewsHour: How Would Trump’s Food Stamp Plan Affect Low-Income Americans?
The Trump administration has proposed a new rule that could eliminate food stamp benefits for 3.1 million Americans if the change goes into effect.The proposal could save the federal government $9.3 billion over five years. But some worry that this policy could come at too high a cost, if families lose the ability to buy enough food they otherwise could not afford. (Santhanam, 7/23)

The Associated Press: FDA Warns Top Marijuana Company For Making CBD Health Claims 
U.S. regulators warned a leading marijuana company for making unproven health claims about CBD, the trendy ingredient that's turning up in lotions, foods and pet treats. The Food and Drug Administration announced Tuesday it warned Curaleaf Inc., of Wakefield, Massachusetts, for illegally selling unapproved products. Curaleaf's claims could lead people to delay medical care for serious conditions like cancer, the agency said. (7/23)

The Hill: FDA Warns Company Against Making 'Unsubstantiated Claims' About CBD 
The FDA also said the promises of some products, like helping treat cancer, could lead people to delay medical care for serious conditions. "Selling unapproved products with unsubstantiated therapeutic claims — such as claims that CBD products can treat serious diseases and conditions — can put patients and consumers at risk by leading them to put off important medical care," acting FDA Commissioner Ned Sharpless said in a statement. (Rodrigo, 7/23)

Bloomberg: FDA Targets Curaleaf (CURLF) In Crackdown On CBD Marketing 
The most valuable marijuana company in the U.S. is under fire for how it’s marketing and selling CBD, the trendy cannabis extract now sold at national retailers. The Food and Drug Administration sent Curaleaf Holdings Inc. President Joseph Lusardi a letter dated Monday warning the company its lotion, pain-relief patch, tincture and disposable vape pen are considered drugs because they claim to treat conditions like pain, anxiety and ADHD, according to language on its website and social media pages. (Edney and Giammona, 7/23)

Boston Globe: FDA Warns Curaleaf To Stop Marketing CBD With Unfounded Claims
“Today’s action demonstrates that the agency stands firm in its commitment to continue monitoring the marketplace and protecting the public health by taking action as needed against companies that deceive consumers and put them at risk,” said Dr. Ned Sharpless, acting FDA commissioner. “Consumers should beware of purchasing or using any such [CBD] products.” (Martin, 7/23)

In other news from the FDA —

Stat: FDA Cancels Panel Review Of Intra-Cellular's Lead Drug, Shares Tumble
Shares of Intra-Cellular Therapies (ITCI) fell sharply Tuesday afternoon after the Food and Drug Administration canceled an advisory committee meeting scheduled for next week to review the company’s lead drug, seeking approval as a new schizophrenia treatment. The meeting of outside experts was set to review the Intra-Cellular drug lumateperone on July 31. FDA canceled the meeting, however, citing “new information regarding the application,” according to an agency statement. (Feuerstein, 7/23)

Vox: Obamacare Study: 15,600 Fewer Deaths If Every State Expanded Medicaid
The United States could have averted about 15,600 deaths if all 50 states expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, new research suggests.The Affordable Care Act initially expanded Medicaid, the federal health insurance program for low-income people, to everyone making less than 138 percent of the federal poverty line. But a 2012 Supreme Court ruling weakened the policy, allowing states to reject the expanded program. As of 2019, 36 states and the District of Columbia have adopted the Medicaid expansion, and 14 have not. (Golshan, 7/23)

Stateline: With Trump’s Blessing, Some States Aim To Cap Medicaid Rolls
Backed by President Donald Trump, Republicans in Congress have made several runs at changing Medicaid from an entitlement program — open to anybody who is eligible — to a program with a spending limit. They have failed. But that hasn’t stopped some red states, with the encouragement of Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services, from making their own attempts to put historic limits on the federal-state health program for the poor, which covers more than 72 million U.S. residents. (Ollove, 7/24)

Politico Pro: Trump Administration Asks Judge To Delay Decision On Medicaid Work Rules
The Trump administration today asked a federal judge to delay ruling on New Hampshire's Medicaid work rules until at least mid-November, arguing a decision before then would be premature because the state delayed the program. U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg, who previously threw out similar work rules in Arkansas and Kentucky, during oral arguments Tuesday appeared unlikely to uphold the New Hampshire rules. (Pradhan, 7/23)

The Advocate: Medicaid Expansion Enrollment Dips Slightly, Down 50,000 From Peak Amid New Wage Check System
After two rounds of quarterly wage checks that are part of a new eligibility system for Louisiana’s Medicaid program, the number of people enrolled in Medicaid expansion in the state has fallen by nearly 51,000 people. Data released this week by the Louisiana Department of Health shows the Medicaid expansion enrollment has fallen from a high of 505,503 in April to 454,638 as of July 2. (Karlin, 7/23)

Kansas City Star: Kansas Governor Changes Brownback’s KanCare Clearinghouse
After years of criticism over delays and mishandling of Medicaid applications at a centralized call center, the state of Kansas is sending more workers to help people directly, face-to-face. Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly announced this week that Kansans will soon be able to walk into regional offices again and get help with Kansas Medicaid, or KanCare, applications for themselves or loved ones. (Marso, 7/24)

The Washington Post Fact Checker: Trump Cuts Medicare For Tax Cuts?
The ad purports to show a couple who have been farmers for 42 years — “Bill A.” and “Mona A.” At first, it seems the ad would delve into the impact that President Trump’s policy of putting tariffs on Chinese goods has had on U.S. farmers, but then it veers into familiar territory for a Democratic attack ad. “I paid into Medicare my whole life. Trump wants to cut it just to pay for tax breaks to billionaires,” Bill says. “It’s just the rich wanting to be richer, and the rest of us are just going to have to deal with it,” Mona adds. The ad closes with this line: “Trump’s economy isn’t working for us.” (Kessler, 7/24)

Modern Healthcare: Azar Touts New Medicare Advantage Opportunities In Pay Models
HHS Secretary Alex Azar on Tuesday hinted that Medicare Advantage plans could see pay boosts as part of the Trump administration's strategy to tackle maternal mortality rates, social determinants of health and rural healthcare access. "We can also enhance value through payments in Medicare Advantage, where we want to open up more opportunities for MA plans and entities they work with, including creative value-based insurance design arrangements, moving care to the home and community, and new ways for MA plans to improve a patients' health over the long term," Azar said at the Better Medicare Alliance's policy summit. (Luthi, 7/23)

The New York Times: Someday, An Arm Implant May Prevent H.I.V. Infection For A Year
In what could eventually become a milestone for H.I.V. prevention, very preliminary tests of an implant containing a new drug suggest that it may protect against infection for a full year. The new implant, by the drug company Merck, was tested in just a dozen subjects for 12 weeks. But experts were quite excited at its potential to revolutionize the long battle against H.I.V. The research was described on Tuesday at an international AIDS conference in Mexico City. (McNeil, 7/23)

The Washington Post: Implanted Drug Could Someday Prevent HIV Infection
The approach uses a small implant the size of a matchstick, inserted in the upper arm, to slowly release a new medication that appears to block the virus for a year or more. If it is proven safe and successful in larger studies, the method could be a major improvement for people at high risk of contracting HIV who have trouble adhering to the once-a-day pill regimen and other methods used now. The new drug, islatravir, and the implant were developed by the drug company Merck and described at a news conference at an international gathering of HIV researchers in Mexico City. (Bernstein, 7/23)

Stat: Merck Unveils Early Data On HIV Drug It Says Could Be ‘A Game Changer’
At an all-day meeting for investors last month in a posh Manhattan event space, executives at Merck couldn’t have been more excited about a new HIV drug, MK-8591. They mentioned it 25 times, calling it “a game changer” and talking up its “remarkable properties.” Why? If effective, it could be used in a new drug combination that might have fewer side effects, the company says. More excitingly, it might be fashioned into an implant that could be given only once a year to prevent patients at high risk from contracting HIV, a boon to public health. (Herper, 7/23)

In other news —

The Associated Press: Sex With HIV Still A Crime? Updated Laws Divide Advocates
As Sanjay Johnson describes it, his sexual encounter with James Booth on Oct. 2, 2015, was a one-night stand. But it would bind the men inextricably two years later, when Booth walked into an Arkansas police station and accused Johnson of exposing him to HIV. Little Rock prosecutors pursued a criminal charge against Johnson even though a doctor said he couldn't have transmitted HIV to Booth because he was on medication that suppressed his virus. (7/23)

The Associated Press: Judge Temporarily Blocks New Arkansas Anti-Abortion Laws
A federal judge blocked three new abortion restrictions from taking effect Wednesday in Arkansas, including a measure that opponents say would likely force the state’s only surgical abortion clinic to close. U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker granted a 14-day temporary restraining order shortly before midnight Tuesday. The 159-page order blocks the state from enforcing the new laws, including a measure prohibiting the procedure 18 weeks into a woman’s pregnancy. (Demillo, 7/24)

The Wall Street Journal: Arkansas Antiabortion Bills Temporarily Blocked
U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker issued a temporary restraining order lasting two weeks, expiring Aug. 6, in a 159-page order at 11:45 p.m. local time. The legislation was expected to take effect Wednesday at 12:01 a.m. The laws, part of a raft of new antiabortion legislation pushed by Republican lawmakers around the country, would have required physicians providing abortions to be board-certified or board-eligible in obstetrics and gynecology—a mandate that would have led to the closure of Little Rock Family Planning Services, the only clinic providing surgical abortions in the state. They also would have banned abortions after 18 weeks and prohibited abortions sought because of fetal diagnoses of Down syndrome. (Calfas, 7/24)

NPR: Federal Judge Temporarily Blocks Arkansas Abortion Restrictions
Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge said Monday in a statement to KATV that the hearing was "the initial step in our defense of Arkansas Laws that protect the sanctity of life for mothers and their unborn children." Tuesday night's ruling will allow Little Rock Family Planning Services to remain open to provide medical abortions up to 10 weeks. (Neuman, 7/24)

In other news on women's health and abortions —

The Associated Press: Georgia Abortion Law Foes Seek To Keep It From Taking Effect
Opponents of a Georgia law that bans most abortions on Tuesday asked a judge to keep it from taking effect while their legal challenge plays out. The law is set to become enforceable Jan. 1. Lawyers with the American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood and the Center for Reproductive Rights sued on behalf of Georgia advocacy groups and abortion providers last month to challenge the measure. (7/23)

Stat: Pharma Donations To Politicians Restricting Abortions Could Backfire
Drug makers, of course, regularly contribute to both Republican and Democratic candidates. But in some cases, a candidate’s view could have negative repercussions for the very products these companies market. And this appears to be possible when it comes to the highly charged issue of abortion, which is once again becoming a major flashpoint in the nation’s political discourse. (Silverman, 7/24)

The Hill: Faith-Based Health Clinics Spurn Contraceptives Under Trump Rule 
The Trump administration’s effort to reshape a decades-old, federally funded family planning program has its roots in Southern California, where one faith-based group wants to be the “pro-life” Planned Parenthood. Obria Medical Clinics, which opposes contraception and teaches abstinence, recently became the first group of its kind to receive federal funding through a family planning program established by Congress in 1970 to support clinics and organizations providing low-income women with birth control and other reproductive health care services. (Hellmann, 7/24)

The Washington Post: ICE Detained U.S. Citizen For Nearly A Month Over Paperwork Problem, Attorney Says
An 18-year-old U.S. citizen who was detained in federal immigration custody for nearly a month has been released, his mother confirmed to The Washington Post Tuesday night. Francisco Erwin Galicia, a rising high school senior in Edinburg, Tex., had set off on a Texas road trip on June 27 to attend a college soccer team tryout only to end up accused of lying about his citizenship as authorities questioned the authenticity of his documents, according to his attorney, Claudia Galan. (Flynn, 7/23)

Dallas Morning News: A Dallas-Born Citizen Picked Up By The Border Patrol Has Been Detained For Three Weeks, His Lawyer Says
Francisco Erwin Galicia was detained at a CBP checkpoint in Falfurrias on June 27, said Claudia Galan, his attorney. Galicia was traveling with his 17-year-old brother Marlon Galicia and a group of friends from Edinburg where they live to Ranger College in North Texas for a soccer scouting event when they came upon a CBP checkpoint, said Sanjuana Galicia, his mother. (Manuel, 7/23)

In other news —

The Associated Press: New US Facility To Hold Immigrant Children Already Closing
The U.S. government's new holding facility for migrant youth will close as early as this week, less than one month after it was opened in response to the squalid conditions in which children were being detained by the Border Patrol, according to the nonprofit operating the facility. The last children at the camp at Carrizo Springs, Texas, are on track to leave by Thursday, said Kevin Dinnin, the CEO of the nonprofit BCFS. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services opened the facility in late June. An HHS spokeswoman declined to comment Tuesday. (7/23)

The Hill: Newly Opened Migrant Children Shelter Could Close This Week: Reports 
The Carrizo Springs camp officially opened June 30 in order to provide more beds to children who were being held in squalid Border Patrol facilities on the U.S.-Mexico border. It is run by the nonprofit firm BCFS, which the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will pay $50 million for its first 60 days of operation. Kevin Dinnin, the CEO of BCFS, told Vice that his staff was told to leave the facility by the end of the week. He said the facility will also have discharged its remaining children by the end of the week. (Weixel, 7/23)

The New York Times: Were U.S. Diplomats Attacked In Cuba? Brain Study Deepens Mystery
In late 2016, dozens of United States diplomats working in Cuba and China began reporting odd mental symptoms: persistent headaches, vertigo, blurred vision, hearing phantom sounds. Since then, scientists and commentators have groped for plausible explanations. Deliberate physical attacks, involving microwaves or other such technology? Or were psychological factors, subconscious yet mind-altering, the more likely cause? The strangeness of the symptoms, and the spookiness of the proposed causes, have given the story a life of its own in the diplomatic corps, the Pentagon and in assorted pockets of the internet where conspiracy theories thrive. (Carey, 7/23)

Reuters: Scans Show Changes To Brains Of Havana U.S. Embassy Workers Who Reported Illness
Advanced brain scans of U.S. Embassy employees who reported falling ill while serving in Havana revealed significant differences from a control group, according to a new study published on Tuesday. The finding does little, however, to resolve the cause of a string of mysterious health incidents that led the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump to withdraw many personnel from Cuba. (7/23)

Los Angeles Times: Victims Of Havana Embassy ‘Sonic Attack’ Have Distinctly Different Brains, MRIs Show
Given the workers’ reported symptoms — balance problems, sleep and thinking difficulties, headaches and other complaints — the researchers had expected the cerebellum, near the brain stem, to be affected. But they also found unique patterns in tissue connecting brain regions. (Tanner, 7/23)

CNN: Cuba 'Sonic Attacks' Changed People's Brains, Study Suggests
Differences in connectivity were also observed in the brain's auditory and visuospatial areas, according to the study. However, the authors note that the clinical importance of these findings is uncertain, and they didn't have earlier MRIs of the patients to compare what their brains looked like before the incidents. (Nedelman and Azad, 7/23)

NPR: Brain Scans Find Differences But No Injury In U.S. Diplomats Who Fell Ill In Cuba
But those differences "do not reflect the imaging differences that we see in [traumatic brain injury] or concussion," Verma says. "All you can say is something happened, which caused their brain to change," she says. And even that conclusion was challenged by brain scientists who have been skeptical that any diplomat was attacked or injured from what became known as "Havana syndrome." (Hamilton, 7/23)

The New York Times: How Weight Training Changes The Brain
Weight training may have benefits for brain health, at least in rats. When rats lift weights, they gain strength and also change the cellular environment inside their brains, improving their ability to think, according to a notable new study of resistance training, rodents and the workings of their minds. The study finds that weight training, accomplished in rodents with ladders and tiny, taped-on weights, can reduce or even reverse aspects of age-related memory loss. The finding may have important brain-health implications for those of us who are not literal gym rats. (Reynolds, 7/24)

NPR: Neurologist Unlocks A 'Secret World' Of Sleep — And Sleep Disorders
We tend to think of being asleep or awake as an either-or prospect: If you're not asleep, then you must be awake. But sleep disorder specialist and neurologist Guy Leschziner says it's not that simple. "If one looks at the brain during sleep, we now know that actually sleep is not a static state," Leschziner says. "There are a number of different brain states that occur while we sleep." As head of the sleep disorders center at Guy's Hospital in London, Leschziner has treated patients with a host of nocturnal problems, including insomnia, night terrors, narcolepsy, sleep walking, sleep eating and sexsomnia, a condition in which a person pursues sexual acts while asleep. (Davies, 7/23)

NPR: How To Help Your Anxious Partner — And Yourself
Living with anxiety can be tough — your thoughts might race, you might dread tasks others find simple (like driving to work) and your worries might feel inescapable. But loving someone with anxiety can be hard too. You might feel powerless to help or overwhelmed by how your partner's feelings affect your daily life. If so, you're not alone: Multiple studies have shown that anxiety disorders may contribute to marital dissatisfaction. (Neilson, 7/24)

Kaiser Health News: ‘An Arm And A Leg’: Real Lessons Doctors Can Learn From Fake Patients
Sometimes doctors get the “medical stuff” right while patients still get the wrong care. That’s one finding from a study that sent fake patients — actors wired with recording devices — into real doctors’ offices. When the “patients” walked into the doctor’s office to tell their story, physicians were often laser-focused on biomedical issues. But the physicians often missed the psychosocial problems that can be a barrier to good health. (Weissmann, 7/24)

CNN: More People Try Drugs In Summer, Study Says
Summer brings heat waves, trips to the beach and sometimes painful sunburns. But according to a new study, the season may also usher in the use of cocaine, ecstasy and molly. People are more likely to try those three party drugs and marijuana during the summer, researchers found, with over a third of LSD use and around 30% of ecstasy and marijuana use starting in the season. Around 28% of cocaine use also began in the summer. (Azad, 7/23)

The Washington Post: Deadly Fungal Disease May Be Linked To Climate Change, Study Suggests
Three years ago, U.S. health officials warned hundreds of thousands of clinicians in hospitals around the country to be on the lookout for a new, quickly spreading and highly drug-resistant type of yeast that was causing potentially fatal infections in hospitalized patients around the world. Candida auris has become a serious global health threat since it was identified a decade ago, especially for patients with compromised immune systems. (Sun, 7/23)

The Wall Street Journal: Are Oreos Part Of A Mindful Diet? Snack Makers Promote Chewing Thoughtfully
Earlier this month, about two dozen employees from Mondelez International ’s headquarters sat facing a wall emblazoned with the company’s snack brands including Oreo cookies, Triscuit crackers, Swedish Fish candy, Cadbury chocolate and Nilla wafers. They gathered to learn how to eat these foods in a new way. After breathing and meditation exercises, the group was told to slowly reach for a cracker, take one bite, and then set it down. “Close your eyes and chew slowly,” said Claire Mark, a local meditation instructor who led the class. “Try to bring in a deeper level of awareness to the muscles that it takes to chew, to the physical experience of having food in your mouth, to recognize how it feels to swallow.” After a pause, the group repeated the process for each of the remaining bites needed to eat two crackers. (Byron, 7/23)

The New York Times: Your Data Were ‘Anonymized’? These Scientists Can Still Identify You
Your medical records might be used for scientific research. But don’t worry, you’re told — personally identifying data were removed.Information about you gathered by the Census Bureau might be made public. But don’t worry — it, too, has been “anonymized.” On Tuesday, scientists showed that all this information may not be as anonymous as promised. The investigators developed a method to re-identify individuals from just bits of what were supposed to be anonymous data. (Kolata, 7/23)

Stat: Fitbits, Other Wearables May Not Accurately Track Heart Rates In People Of Color
Nearly all of the largest manufacturers of wearable heart rate trackers rely on technology that could be less reliable for consumers who have darker skin, according to researchers, engineers, and other experts who spoke with STAT. Fitbit uses the potentially problematic technology in every heart rate tracker it offers, and it’s also in many Garmin and Samsung devices. Other popular trackers, like the Apple Watch, use it, too — but simultaneously track heart rates with another method. (Hailu, 7/24)

Kaiser Health News: When A Doctor’s Screen Time Detracts From Face Time With Patients
Electronic health records can help reduce medical errors, but when not used well they can strain the doctor-patient relationship. But medical providers — and patients — can learn skills to keep communication flowing even when there’s a screen in the room, Lee said. Improving doctor-patient communication is the topic of this week’s episode of the podcast “An Arm and a Leg.” Kaiser Health News co-produces the podcast. (Heredia Rodriguez, 7/24)

ProPublica: Boston Hospital Reports Disciplining Of Renowned Child Abuse Skeptic
A Boston hospital has notified the Massachusetts medical board that it has restricted the work of a world-renowned endocrinologist criticized for espousing controversial theories as an expert witness for people accused of child abuse. The action against Dr. Michael Holick is cited on his profile page on the board’s website under “health care facility discipline.” The listing is intended to alert members of the public who visit the site that Boston Medical Center, where Holick practices, has restricted his rights or privileges. (Armstrong, 7/24)

The New York Times: The Crisis Lurking In Californians’ Taps: How 1,000 Water Systems May Be At Risk
It was bath time and Rosalba Moralez heard a cry. She rushed to the bathroom and found her 7-year-old daughter, Alexxa, being doused with brown, putrid water. “We kept running the tub, we turned on the sink, we flushed the toilet. All the water was coming out dirty,” Ms. Moralez said. For more than a year, discolored water has regularly gushed from faucets in the family’s bathroom and kitchen, as in hundreds of other households here in Willowbrook, Calif., an unincorporated community near Compton in South Los Angeles. (Del Real, 7/24)

The Associated Press: Gun Group Wants Judge To Block Ammunition Background Checks
A California affiliate of the National Rifle Association has asked a U.S. judge to block a new law requiring background checks for anyone buying ammunition. The California Rifle & Pistol Association asked San Diego-based U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez to halt the checks and related restrictions on ammunition sales.Voters approved tightening California's already strict firearms laws in 2016. The restrictions took effect July 1. (7/23)

Sacramento Bee: CA Health Care Spending Hurts Community Health, Report Says
In a report released Tuesday, community health advocates at Oakland’s Well Being Trust warned California’s leaders that they must curb prices and waste in health care spending or risk a dangerous paradox where soaring medical costs gobble up funding that should go to essential social programs. To illustrate that point, researchers noted that the state of California paid out $1.22 on education, public health, environmental protections and social services for every dollar it spent on health care in 2007 but 11 years later, only 68 cents went toward those four areas for each dollar spent on health care. (Anderson, 7/23)

Cincinnati Enquirer: Neil Armstrong’s Family Got $6M Settlement From Hospital After Death
When Neil Armstrong died Aug. 25, 2012, at Mercy Health Fairfield Hospital, his family simply attributed the cause to complications from coronary bypass surgery. A month later, the first man on the moon was buried at sea with military honors and the thanks of a grateful nation. Armstrong’s family has never talked publicly about the astronaut’s last days in the hospital, largely to stay in harmony with how he lived. The modest, humble man from Wapakoneta, Ohio, shied from the spotlight in the decades after his flight aboard Apollo 11 and his July 20, 1969, walk on the lunar surface. (Saker, 7/23)

The Baltimore Sun: 3D Printed Hearts And Joints? Doctors At UMMC, VA Hospital Are Starting With Models 
About 1 percent of babies are born with congenital heart defects. A fraction of those children, like Syah, have severe heart problems. With a kinked aorta, holes in her heart and two right ventricles, the shape of Syah’s heart is rare, making surgical repairs complicated. But using 3D-printed models of her heart, doctors at the University of Maryland Medical Center were able to anticipate the anatomical differences they would find when they cut open Syah’s chest, increasing the chances for a shorter and successful surgery. (Meehan and Cohn, 7/24)

Sacramento Bee: Former Sutter Executive Alleges His Firing Was Retaliatory
A former Sutter Health IT executive said the company fired him because he told an investigator that management could have avoided a systemwide computer failure in May 2018 if they had taken his advice to install backup infrastructure for electronic medical records, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Sacramento Superior Court. Stuart James said that Sutter not only wrongfully terminated him in July 2018 but that the health provider also went on to defame him by naming him as one of three information technology executives terminated in the fallout from the outage. (Anderson, 7/23)

WBUR: Mass. Nursing Homes Get $50 Million Lifeline, But More Closures Are Expected
Massachusetts lawmakers are extending a financial lifeline to the state's nursing home industry, which has seen a string of providers shutter in recent months. On Monday, both houses of the state legislature passed a budget with $415.4 million in Medicaid funding for nursing homes—a $50 million increase from the previous year's budget. (Ma, 7/23)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Cleveland Lead-Safe Legislation ‘One Step Closer’ To Passing
City Council’s lead poisoning prevention legislation is “one step closer” to becoming law.Introduced in June, the legislation would require mandatory lead-safe certificates for pre-1978 rental properties. The full council could vote on and pass the legislation as soon as tomorrow. (Dissell, 7/23)

Texas Tribune: New Texas Law Makes It Easier To Punish Students Who Harass Teachers
Starting in September, such students will be subject to a new state law, one that requires students who harass teachers to be referred to disciplinary alternative education programs — outside of their regular classrooms. The law narrowly passed the Republican-dominated state Legislature in May after a lobbying group for Texas teachers argued it was key to ensuring educators are safe and protected in their classrooms. (Swaby, 7/24)

The Associated Press: Judge Orders Improvements At County Jail In Georgia
A U.S. judge ordered officials in a metro Atlanta county Tuesday to improve conditions at a local jail where women with mental health problems said in a lawsuit that they were subject to prolonged solitary confinement and dirty cells. Fulton County Sheriff Theodore Jackson must permit the women at South Fulton jail to have one hour of recreation time and two hours of free time each day and come up with a plan to provide clean cells and "therapeutic activities," Judge William Ray said. (7/23)

San Francisco Chronicle: Court Orders Consultation With Patients Or Reps In End-Of-Life And Psychiatric Drug Decisions
Doctors and staff at nursing homes can administer psychiatric drugs and make end-of-life decisions for patients who have been found mentally incompetent, as long as the patients or their representatives have a say in the decision. That was the verdict Monday from a state appeals court in San Francisco about a 1992 California law that allowed nursing home physicians to make decisions affecting the health and lives of incapacitated residents with no close friends or relatives to make decisions for them. (Egelko, 7/23)

Los Angeles Times: Peak Fire Season Is Near And The Federal Government Is Short Hundreds Of Firefighters
Heading into the hottest and driest months of the wildfire season, the Department of the Interior is short hundreds of firefighters, a result of recruitment problems and the longest federal government shutdown in history. Based on interviews and internal agency memos obtained through a public records request, The Times found that the agency has about 500 fewer firefighters available than expected — a roughly 10% shortfall. (Phillips, 7/23)

Georgia Health News: Residents, Officials Voice Concern About Ethylene Oxide Pollution
Local residents and their elected officials in metro Atlanta are responding with concern after learning that a cancer-causing gas could be drifting through the air near their homes, schools and workplaces. On Friday, WebMD and Georgia Health News revealed that Georgia had three census tracts the EPA identified as having elevated cancer risks because of a toxic gas called ethylene oxide. (Goodman and Miller, 7/23)

The Washington Post: Northern Virginia Health Officials Investigating Foodborne Illness Outbreaks
Virginia health officials are investigating an increase in cases of a foodborne intestinal illness and dozens of suspected cases involving two large employers. The Virginia Department of Health reported Tuesday on a recent increase of cyclosporiasis, an intestinal illness caused by the foodborne parasite cyclospora, since mid-June in Northern Virginia. The source of the outbreak has not been identified. (Moyer, 7/23)

Stat: Claire McCaskill: Drug Pricing System Is A 'Stinking Stew Of A Mess'
As Claire McCaskill fought to keep her U.S. Senate seat in Missouri a year ago, she made bipartisan outrage over drug prices a defining feature of her campaign. It wasn’t enough. McCaskill lost her seat by 6 points, and Congress lost one of the pharmaceutical industry’s most unabashed critics. But McCaskill got some shots in along the way, likening drug company lobbying to a magical “fairy dust” that makes legislation disappear and telling voters in a television ad that “pharmaceutical companies are using the law to feed their greed.” (Facher, 7/23)

Bloomberg: Drugmaker Group Boosts Lobbying As Push To Lower Prices Stalls
The drug industry’s primary trade group increased its spending on lobbying during the second quarter, as President Donald Trump’s promised efforts to lower the prices of prescription drugs stalled. The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, which represents leading drugmakers, reported spending $6.2 million in the quarter that ended June 30, a 12% increase from $5.5 million in the same period last year, according to a disclosure filed with Congress by Monday’s deadline. The group reported lobbying on several pieces of legislation that dealt with drug pricing. (Dillard, 7/22)

CQ: Drug Price Transparency Prompts Fight Among Democrats
A dispute among Democrats over competing drug transparency bills is complicating an issue that should have been one of the least controversial parts of the congressional effort to lower health care costs. Two panels that oversee health care issues each approved measures this year to require drug companies to reveal information when they increase prices. While consumer advocates note drawbacks with both, they clearly prefer a measure (HR 2296) from the Energy and Commerce Committee by Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., over a similar Ways and Means Committee bill (HR 2113). (Siddons, 7/22)

The Wall Street Journal: A Prescription For Pain At The American Drugstore Chain
It may soon become easier for Americans to buy prescription drugs online. That presents an opportunity for upstarts but a potential body blow for some retailers. In a world where brick and mortar store traffic is in decline, businesses operating pharmacies have held up better than most. The largest pharmacy chains and grocery store operators— CVS Health , Walgreens Boots Alliance and Walmart —operate more than 20,000 stores in the U.S., generating hundreds of billions in annual sales.For store operators, the profits from selling prescription drugs are just part of the equation. (Grant, 7/19)

Stat: Mass. Lawmakers OK Compromise To Lower Medicaid Drug Spending 
Bowing to industry pressure, Massachusetts lawmakers on Monday approved a compromise measure that is designed to lower prescription drug spending for the state Medicaid program, although consumer advocates maintain the diluted effort may still achieve its goals. The initial proposal from Gov. Charlie Baker sought to negotiate supplemental rebates for Medicaid and potentially cite drug makers for violating consumer protection laws for failing to cooperate, a step that generated significant interest from other states seeking solutions to high drug costs. But the final version contains language that notably softens the original approach. (Silverman, 7/23)

Boston Globe: Budget Sets Stage For Ed Reform, Drug Cost Controls
Another small victory on the transparency front — and possibly the cost-containment front — is the compromise crafted on dealing with the most expensive drugs purchased by the state for its MassHealth clients. The final effort isn’t all it might have been — lobbying by the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council saw to that. But it does enough to make a gubernatorial veto pointless. (7/22)

Boston Globe: Deal Struck On $43 Billion State Budget, Drug Price Controls
Three weeks into the fiscal year, legislative leaders on Sunday filed a compromise state budget proposal that plows nearly $270 million more into public school spending, increases funding to the University of Massachusetts without freezing tuition, and spends hundreds of millions more dollars than either the House or Senate initially proposed. The $43.1 billion proposal, which lawmakers expect to pass and send to Governor Charlie Baker on Monday, also includes compromise language aimed at curbing the cost of prescription drugs in the state Medicaid program — a time-consuming debate during lawmakers’ weeks-long negotiations. (Stout and McCluskey, 7/21)

Columbus Dispatch: Ohio's Budget Deal Would Dump Current PBMs, Give Pharmacists $100 Million
Frustrated by repeated revelations about middlemen in Ohio’s Medicaid drug-supply chain, legislative leaders agreed on a plan Tuesday to add transparency while slashing the authority of private managed care companies and the pharmacy benefit managers they hire. The agreement giving the state unprecedented control over how prescription drugs get to Ohio’s poor, blind and disabled — approved by a conference committee as part of the new two-year budget — directs the Department of Medicaid to cut out the managed care plans and contract directly with a single pharmacy benefit manager, or PBM, to administer the drug benefits. (Candisky, 7/16)

WBUR: Massachusetts Moves To Negotiate Medicaid Drug Prices
On Monday, Massachusetts legislators passed steps designed to reduce spending on the most costly drugs covered by MassHealth, the state Medicaid program. Gov. Charlie Baker is reviewing the plan, a spokesman for his office said. It included much of what the Republican governor initially proposed in January to curb drug costs that he says have nearly doubled since 2012. (Bebinger, 7/22)

The Advocate: Louisiana's 'Netflix-Style' Model For Getting Hep C Drugs To People Draws Interest In Washington 
Louisiana's new subscription model for getting hepatitis C treatment to Medicaid patients and prisoners was the focus of a gathering Monday to see whether such an idea can be mirrored in other states. “It was important to have a laser-focus on this issue and keep trying," Louisiana Health Secretary Dr. Rebekah Gee said during the meeting at the Brookings Institution on Louisiana's nearly three-year path toward what's been dubbed a "Netflix-style" model for hepatitis C treatment. (Crisp, 7/22)

Stat: European Medicines Agency Advised To Take Steps To Avoid Bias 
Following a two-year inquiry, the European Ombudsman has recommended the European Medicines Agency take several steps to ensure that private talks with drug makers about marketing applications do not influence approval decisions. At issue are pre-submission discussions that occur between companies and the regulator, which Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly probed over concerns such talks run the risk of creating a perception of bias or that companies may somehow exert pressure on agency officials to view applications favorably. (Silverman, 7/22)

The Wall Street Journal: Trump’s Diabetic Shock
Bernie Sanders has been registering his outrage about the price of insulin, and the presidential candidate thinks government-run health care is the solution to high drug costs. But almost no one noticed last week a Trump Administration move that could make the diabetes treatment more affordable for more Americans. In any event the insulin story is more about perverse incentives than corporate greed. The Trump Administration put out an IRS guidance last week for high-deductible health plans that are paired with a health-savings account. (7/22)

USA Today: How Big Pharma Plays Games With Drug Patents And How To Combat It
President Donald Trump came into office promising to do something about the inflated prices Americans pay for prescription drugs. He considered limiting rebates to the middlemen between insurance plans and drug companies but recently concluded that the complex plan was unworkable. This leaves policymakers back at square one. And it leaves Americans with a number of questions. Should they just resign themselves to paying more for their meds? Should they insist on price controls? Is there something in between? (7/18)

The Wall Street Journal: The Drug-Price Problem Won’t Heal Itself
As the political wars rage, unsolved problems multiply, including issues of deep concern to the American people. Every survey places the cost of health care at or near the top of the list, and prescription drugs are where Americans most frequently experience these costs. Let’s look at one of the most common examples—diabetes—and ask a simple question: Why does insulin cost so much? The raw statistics are stunning. According to the most recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 23 million Americans have diagnosed diabetes, compared with only 1.6 million in 1958. (William A. Galston, 7/23)

Stat: Patent Reform Is Needed To Protect Access To Lifesaving Drugs
It’s no secret that the cost of prescription drugs is too high for many Americans to afford. Across the country, patients are struggling to access medicines they desperately need. In fact, we are charged, on average, significantly more than residents of other high-income countries for the same prescription drugs. These high prices are due in no small part to the ability of pharmaceutical companies to protect sometimes decades-long monopolies on their products. It’s past time for patent reform. (Lyrissa Lidsky, 7/23)

Bloomberg: Save On Drug Costs By Identifying The Pills That Don't Work
Many of the prescription drugs Americans struggle to pay for don’t work very well, and if we were better informed, we might not consider them worth the risk of side effects. Buried among the mediocre drugs are a few that do add years of life or alleviate significant suffering. Clarifying which ones really are lifesavers – such as insulin, drugs for HIV and hepatitis C – would help get those drugs to the people who need them, and help spare everyone from unnecessary medication. Medical costs, especially drug costs, have rightly taken center stage in political debates as prices continue to rise and surveys indicate that cost deters many people from filling prescriptions. The problem has needlessly spread: The number of prescriptions being written has tripled in the last 15 years, but this has not been matched by a tripling of the number of miracle cures and magic bullets. (Faye Flam, 7/18)

Los Angeles Times: Wonder Where Generic Drug Names Come From? Two Women In Chicago, That's Where
Orange resident Wayne King had a simple enough question: How do prescription drugs get named? My initial guess was there must be some blue-ribbon panel of experts involved, or maybe a fancy computer algorithm. I couldn’t have been more wrong. King, 80, made clear that he wasn’t so interested in brand names, which drug companies typically struggle to concoct because, simply, all the good ones have been taken. (David Lazarus, 7/23)

USA Today: PhRMA: Patents Yield Real Benefits For Patients
Patients need help paying for their medicines at the pharmacy counter, and the pharmaceutical industry wants to be part of the solution, but undermining the patent system is the wrong approach. Patents are the lifeblood of the medicines patients rely on every day in America. Not only would weaker patent protections limit investment in new medicines and other important medical advances, they would also reduce competition by undermining the incentive to create new medicines to compete with existing medicines. (James Stansel, 7/18)

The Wall Street Journal: Cures For Cancer Could Grow On Trees
Politicians talk a lot about farming but seldom about “pharming,” even though the latter can also have a big impact on Americans’ pocketbooks—and their health. The punny name refers to genetically modifying plants such as corn, rice, tobacco and alfalfa to produce high concentrations of pharmaceutical ingredients. Many common medicines already come from plants, including morphine, the fiber supplement Metamucil and the cancer drug Taxol. Yet heavy-handed federal regulations have frozen out pharming efforts, making it far too difficult for researchers to use this approach to create new medications.An article this month in the journal Nature highlights pharming’s enormous promise. (Kathleen L. Hefferon and Henry I. Miller, 7/18)

The Hill: Effective Overseas Inspections Are Key To Ensuring Drug Quality
Americans assume their generic drugs are safe, effective and cheaper versions of name brand drugs. The problem is that the assumption is right, until it is wrong. Reports from mainstream news outlets such as NBC News have found that drugs manufactured in overseas locations such as China and destined for American consumers have been tainted, sometimes with chemicals that cause cancer. While several former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspectors have attempted to sound the alarm, warning consumers that generic drugs manufactured in China and India may be less than pure, the system set up to police these overseas manufacturers continues to fail. (Former Rep. George Nethercutt, 7/22)

Stat: Personalized Treatments Threatened By Drug Cost-Containment Plans
President Trump has said he plans to issue an executive order to lower what the United States government would pay for drugs to no more than “whatever the lowest nation’s price is.” The proposal is designed to end what he has called “global freeloading,” whereby Americans pay more for drugs than residents of other countries.The executive order announcement follows an earlier proposal by the Trump administration to decrease the price of physician-administered therapies by tying them to an international price index so their prices will not exceed those charged in other countries. (Edward Abrahams, 7/18)

Stat: Indian Pharmaceutical Industry In Denial Over Drug-Quality Charges
Katherine Eban’s new book, “Bottle of Lies,” has focused a very intense spotlight on the mostly ignored transgressions of the Indian generic pharmaceutical industry in the processes they follow — or all too often don’t follow — to make quality products. This industry, which has rarely been subjected to such rigorous journalistic scrutiny, has lashed back at Eban, attacking her integrity and her work. The latest salvo comes from Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, who calls Eban’s exposé anecdotal, biased, unfair, and unbalanced, and accuses the author of playing up to the poor perceptions of the Indian pharmaceutical industry and the country. Shaw did this in a softball interview she gave to an Indian publication in which she is an investor. (Dinesh Thakur, 7/22)

Stat: New Insights From A Bird's-Eye View Of Clinical Trials 
Waste and inefficiency in drug development are big problems. They can be hard to spot, especially when you are in the midst of the process. A new way of visualizing clinical trials might help.Some experts believe that as much as 85% of biomedical research may be wasteful due to biases in study design, lack of publication, unnecessary duplication, or investigating questions of little importance. It is also estimated that only about one (or maybe two) of every 10 drugs that enter into clinical testing will turn out to be effective. (Spencer Phillips Hey, 7/18)

Stat: A Simple Bureaucratic Organ Donation Fix Will Save Thousands Of Lives
The partisan debates raging across the U.S. are often framed as a battle for the nation’s soul. The battle for our nation’s organs, however, is a distinctly more bipartisan affair. Both President Trump — via executive order — and elected officials from both parties are pushing for reforms to improve the U.S. organ donation system in order to save lives and taxpayer dollars. (Laura Arnold and John Arnold, 7/24)

USA Today: Health Care In Immigration Detention: Migrants Deserve Humane Care
As medical students who will all take an oath to uphold the highest standard of patient care, we are profoundly disturbed by the detrimental treatment of detained migrants. As future public servants, we dedicate our careers to the health of all human beings, regardless of race, sex, gender identity, ethnicity, ability, religion or country of origin. Current practices by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) blatantly disregard and endanger detainees' health and well-being, and directly oppose our values and beliefs. (Thomas Pak and Neha Siddiqui, 7/23)

The Hill: Trump's Health Care Initiatives Are Great For Small Business — Except For One Huge Problem
When it comes to health insurance, President Trump is certainly trying to do his best by way of small businesses. Ask any small business owner and they'll tell you that providing affordable and competitive health insurance is an enormous challenge in these days of continued cost escalation and competition from larger companies. Health care – now expected by most employees and demanded by the dwindling number of qualified job applications in this low-unemployment economy – ranks among a small business owner's top expenses. (Gene Marks, 7/23)

Modern Healthcare: As Healthcare Prices Are Revealed, Hospitals Face Hard Choices
Greater transparency has always been a source of anxiety for many healthcare industry stakeholders. When I was the founding CEO of the Leapfrog Group, verbal rotten tomatoes were often launched my way when speaking to hospital leaders about the insights into hospital quality and safety sought by employers. The argument: There is no easy, accurate and fair way to measure quality, much less report it publicly. Over the last decade, the voice of employers seeking transparency into healthcare prices and quality has been amplified, and healthcare providers and payers have warned about unintended consequences. (Suzanne Delbanco, 7/20)

The Washington Post: Trump’s New Food Stamp Proposal Weaponizes Government Against Poor People
The Trump administration has learned that some food stamp recipients may have a few hundred dollars in the bank, and the administration is on it. So it is responding to this emergency by taking steps that could take food stamps away from 3.1 million Americans who rely on them to eat. This is a story about government and budgets and bureaucracy, but it’s also a story about philosophy. One way to think about it is to ask this question: Which makes you angrier, a child going hungry, or someone getting a government benefit who might be able to do without it? (Paul Waldman, 7/23)

The Hill: Danger In Paradise: Modern Lessons Of Rat Lungworm
"Tropical parasites in our food? No way!” most Americans think. It’s time to think again. In May Hawaii’s Department of Health announced three more cases of rat lungworm in recent visitors. Already endemic in Hawaii, Asia, Australia, Brazil and the Caribbean, the exotic foodborne menace is also emerging in Florida and other southeastern states. (Claire Panosian Dunavan and Stephen Ostroff, 7/23)  

Stat: Value-Based Care Works Well, According To A 'Meticulous' Study
Health care is a deeply partisan issue, as the presidential campaign makes clear every day. Yet beneath the bitter debates and far from the daily headlines, Republicans and Democrats have quietly come to agree on one reform with far-reaching consequences: transforming our century-old system for paying doctors for the care they provide from one based on fee-for-service visits, tests, and hospital admissions to one based on quality of care, health outcomes, and patient satisfaction, otherwise known as value-based care. (Andrew Dreyfus, 7/24)

Los Angeles Times: The Key To Reducing Suicide Rates? It's Definitely Not Lowering Taxes
The fascinating thing about economic research is that it moves in ways that often can’t be anticipated. Sometimes, your assumptions are upended. I was recently part of a research team that showed that people living in states with relatively high taxes tended over time to move to states with lower taxes. Case in point: The states with the highest rates of taxation — New Jersey, California and New York — also had the highest levels and rates of net outward migration. (James Doti, 7/23)

Modern Healthcare: Healthcare Innovation Is Coming From State Legislatures
United States of Care is a nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to the goal of every American having access to quality and affordable healthcare. "The health of our nation is more important than any political party or partisan victory. United States of Care will chart a path toward a long-term healthcare solution, starting by checking allegiances at the door and putting the patient—our citizens—first." Dr. Bill Frist, former U.S. Senate majority leader and current USofC board member, said these words at our founding just one year ago. We continue to live by them. (Kristin Wikelius, 7/23)

The Hill: Public Quality Standards For Biologic Drugs Promote Transparency And Competition — Don't Get Rid Of Them
A draft of the Lower Health Care Costs Act circulated by the U.S. Senate’s powerful Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee includes a provision that would drastically change how the U.S. develops standards for the strength, quality, and purity of medicines, particularly cutting-edge biologics and biosimilars. Unlike traditional small-molecule chemical drugs, like aspirin, manufactured using biochemical processes, biologics are large, complex molecules produced in living organisms. (Liam Sigaud, 7/23)

The Washington Post: The Fatal Shooting Of An 11-Year-Old Is Unimaginable. So, Too, Is The Recent Violence In D.C.
It's unclear whether or not the 11-year-old was the intended target. It’s unimaginable that an 11-year-old would ever be an intended target, but we have not ruled that out at this point.” That was D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham on Monday discussing the fatal shooting four days earlier of Karon Brown in Southeast Washington. Indeed, there is much that is unimaginable about the death of this child. How a simple walk in his neighborhood to a McDonald’s on a hot summer night turned fatal. How his mother is now making plans to bury her son instead of getting him ready for sixth grade. How her other children are trying to cope with what happened. “I still can’t believe it,” said Kathren Brown, Karon’s mother. “I am waiting for someone to say all this did not just happen.” (7/22)

USA Today: Kyoto Animation Killings Highlight Media Preference For Gun Violence
While obsessing over President Donald Trump’s racist rants and his supporters’ hateful chants, Americans could easily have missed the awful news from thousands of miles away in Kyoto, Japan. Last Thursday, as Trump was facing a firestorm over his raucous campaign rally, a 41-year-old man aired his grievance against Kyoto Animation by means of a literal firestorm. Shouting, “You die!”, the enraged assailant doused the three-story anime studio with gasoline and then set it ablaze. By the time the smoke had cleared, 34 employees — mostly young women — were dead and nearly three dozen were injured. (James Alan Fox, 7/23)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: End HIV In Fulton County And We End It In The Country
Contrary to popular belief, the story of HIV in Atlanta has never been about white gay men with resources. The story is black gay men with few resources. If you’re wondering why that’s important, here’s your answer: The vast majority of people newly diagnosed and living with HIV are African American and living in metro Atlanta.That might not surprise a lot of people, but maybe this will. An end to the epidemic might be near. (Gracie Bonds Staples, 7/19)