Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Biden's Cancer Initiative Suspends Operations In Wake Of Questions Over Possible Future Ethical Complications
The Associated Press: Biden Cancer Nonprofit Suspends Operations Indefinitely
A nonprofit foundation set up by Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden that relied on health care world partnerships to speed a cure for cancer has suspended its operations, it announced Monday. The Biden Cancer Initiative's sudden move to cease its activities comes two years after it was founded in 2017 by the former vice president and his wife, Jill, as a philanthropic extension of Biden's stewardship of the White House Cancer Moonshot program. (Braun, 7/15)
The Hill: Biden's Cancer Nonprofit Suspends Operations
Greg Simon, president of the Biden Cancer Initiative, said the organization is “suspending activities given our unique circumstances.” Simon added that “we remain personally committed to the cause, but at this time will have to pause efforts. We thank the community for their incredible response to our mission to improve the cancer journey for patients and to improve outcomes for all patients for generations to come.” (Weixel, 7/15)
Stat: Biden Cancer Initiative To Suspend Operations As 2020 Campaign Heats Up
Those unique circumstances: Biden is currently the top-polling Democratic candidate for the nomination of the Democratic Party in the 2020 presidential election. Last month, the Associated Press raised concerns as to whether the Biden Cancer Initiative’s connections with for-profit health care companies would pose ethical issues for a Biden administration. The AP cited concerns from Arthur Caplan, a prominent New York University bioethicist, who said that a “Biden administration would give favorable treatment for anyone who supported his foundation in the past.” (Herper and Facher, 7/15)
The Washington Post: Joe Biden’s Cancer Nonprofit Suspends Operations Indefinitely
Biden and his wife, Jill, founded the organization in June 2017 to continue efforts begun by the Obama administration’s Cancer Moonshot, which Biden oversaw while in the White House. The couple’s son Beau died of brain cancer in 2015. The Biden Cancer Initiative did not fund cancer research. Rather, it tried to harness the Bidens’ “convening” power to prod researchers, companies and patient groups to collaborate and move faster to improve data sharing, clinical trials and cancer-care accessibility, Greg Simon, the group’s president, said in an interview. (McGinley, 7/15)
