First Edition: April 29, 2019

Kaiser Health News: Will Ties To A Catholic Hospital System Tie Doctors’ Hands?
As Catholic health care systems across the country expand, the University of California’s flagship San Francisco hospital has become the latest arena for an emotional debate: Should the famously progressive medical center increase its treatment space by joining forces with a Catholic-run system that restricts care according to religious doctrine? At issue is a proposal that UCSF Medical Center affiliate with Dignity Health, a massive Catholic health care system that, like other Catholic chains, is bound by ethical and religious directives from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. (Gold, 4/29)

Kaiser Health News: Is Insulin’s High Cost Keeping Diabetes Patients From Taking Their Medicine?
High prescription drug prices are fast becoming a leading political topic, with medications like insulin emerging as a poster child for the issue. Nearly doubling in price from 2012 to 2016, the diabetes medication has commanded bipartisan attention on Capitol Hill and even a shoutout in a recent Netflix comedy special. Voters say curbing such prices should be a top priority for lawmakers — and Democratic presidential candidates are paying attention. (Luthra, 4/29)

Kaiser Health News: Hurricane Maria’s Legacy: Thousands Of Puerto Rican Students Show PTSD Symptoms
Food shortages, damaged homes, fear of death, loved ones leaving. The cumulative stresses of Hurricane Maria contributed to thousands of schoolchildren developing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, in Puerto Rico, according to a study published Friday. The study in JAMA Network Open found that 7.2% of the students reported “clinically significant” symptoms of PTSD. More girls tended to show signs of PTSD than boys. Researchers surveyed 96,108 public school students five to nine months after the 2017 hurricane. The cohort included youth in third through 12th grades across different regions of the island. (Heredia Rodriguez, 4/26)

The Associated Press: AP-NORC Poll: Democrats Are Trusted More On Health Care
Americans are giving Democrats a clear edge on health care as the 2020 presidential race gears up, according to a new poll that also finds many Republicans backing one of their competitors' top ideas: a government insurance plan people can buy into. But support for the plan that has attracted the most attention, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders' "Medicare for All," is concentrated mostly among Democrats. (Alonso-Zaldivar and Fingerhut, 4/26)

The Hill: Americans Trust Dems More On Health Care: Poll
Americans are open to the government taking primary responsibility for providing health insurance, with 57 percent of those surveyed saying they believe the federal government is responsible for making sure all Americans have health care coverage. Forty-one percent said the opposite, according to the poll. Among those surveyed, 42 percent said they support a single-payer system like the one touted by progressives including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.); 31 percent of those polled, meanwhile, expressed opposition to such a plan while one-quarter said they were undecided. The results broke down along partisan lines, according to the AP. (Axelrod, 4/26)

The Associated Press Fact Check: Trump's Follies On Immigration, Health Care
[Trump's] not protecting health coverage for patients with pre-existing medical conditions. The Trump administration instead is pressing in court for full repeal of the Affordable Care Act — including provisions that protect people with pre-existing conditions from health insurance discrimination. Trump and other Republicans say they'll have a plan to preserve those safeguards, but the White House has provided no details. (4/28)

The New York Times: Trump Repeats A False Claim That Doctors ‘Execute’ Newborns
President Trump revived on Saturday night what is fast becoming a standard, and inaccurate, refrain about doctors “executing babies.” During a more than hourlong speech at a rally in Green Bay, Wis., Mr. Trump admonished the Democratic governor, Tony Evers, for vetoing a Republican bill that could send doctors to prison for life if they fail to give medical care to children born alive after a failed abortion attempt. The comments are the latest in a long string of incendiary statements from the president on abortion. (Cameron, 4/28)

The New York Times: Kansas Constitution Protects Abortion Rights, State Supreme Court Rules
The Kansas Supreme Court on Friday blocked a law that would have banned the most commonly used procedure for second-trimester abortions, arguing that the state Constitution protected the right of women to “decide whether to continue a pregnancy.” The court sided in a 6-1 majority with the plaintiffs in the case, two physicians who performed the procedure, in a sweeping ruling that opens the door for abortion rights activists to challenge a series of other restrictions that the state’s Republican-controlled Legislature has enacted. (Tavernise and Robertson, 4/26)

Reuters: Top Kansas Court Rules State Constitution Protects Abortion Rights
The ruling would protect the right to abortion in Kansas even if the conservative-leaning U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v Wade, the 1973 ruling that recognized a right to abortion in the U.S. Constitution. Rulings by state appeals courts on state constitutional issues are not normally subject to U.S. Supreme Court review. The state's constitution protects "the right to control one's own body, to assert bodily integrity, and to exercise self-determination," wrote the court. (4/26)

Reuters: Trump Tells Americans: Go Get Your Measles Vaccination
U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday urged Americans to protect themselves with the measles vaccination as the number of cases of the once-eradicated disease in the United States hit the highest levels since 2000. The growing outbreak in pockets across the country has triggered multiple public health efforts seeking to limit exposure to measles, including quarantines at two California universities. (Heavey and Mason, 4/26)

The New York Times: More Than 700 At 2 California Universities Under Quarantine Amid Measles Outbreak
More than 700 students and staff members at two California universities were under quarantine on Friday — an increase of about 400 from the day before — as officials continued steps to curb the potential spread of measles after an outbreak was declared in Los Angeles County. The two universities — the University of California, Los Angeles, and California State University, Los Angeles — have been working with county health officials to identify and contact students and employees who may have been exposed to measles this month. (Mele, 4/26)

The Washington Post: UCLA, Cal State LA Measles Quarantine Issued For Hundreds Of Students And Staff
The University of California at Los Angeles also warned students and staff of potential exposure, saying Thursday that a student infected with measles attended classes at two campus buildings on April 2, 4 and 9. He did not enter any other buildings while on campus, but the school determined that more than 500 students and staff may have been exposed or come into contact with the sick student. The school said that one student was still quarantined on campus on Friday, with “fewer than 50 students and faculty members” asked to stay at their off-campus residences because they have not yet confirmed their immunizations. (Brice-Saddler, 4/26)

The New York Times: Religious Objections To The Measles Vaccine? Get The Shots, Faith Leaders Say
The measles outbreak in the United States is now the largest since the disease was declared eliminated here 19 years ago. The return of this scourge has been driven by one factor in particular: misinformation, spread by vaccine critics, that scares parents into not immunizing their children. Along with rumors that vaccines cause autism or that the trace amounts of mercury and aluminum in them are dangerous — falsehoods that were long ago debunked — have come innuendos aimed at deeply religious parents. (McNeil, 4/26)

Reuters: U.S. Measles Outbreak Raises Questions About Immunity In Adults
Adults in the United States who were vaccinated against measles decades ago may need a new dose depending on when they received the shot and their exposure risk, according to public health experts battling the nation’s largest outbreak since the virus was deemed eliminated in 2000. Up to 10 percent of the 695 confirmed measles cases in the current outbreak occurred in people who received one or two doses of the vaccine, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Steenhuysen, 4/28)

NPR: As Measles Cases Climb, Doctors Say Some Adults Need A Booster Shot
Measles is on the rise again, all around the globe. Though the number of people affected in the U.S. is still relatively low compared with the countries hardest hit, there are a record number of U.S. measles cases — the highest since the disease was eliminated in the U.S. back in 2000. Measles has been documented in more than a third of states, with large outbreaks in New York and Washington. (Aubrey, 4/29)

NPR: How 'Brady Bunch' Measles Episode Is Fueling Campaigns Against Vaccines
As the number of measles cases nationwide rises to levels not seen since before the virus was declared eliminated in 2000, some people who oppose vaccines cite an odd cultural reference as evidence that the concern about measles is overblown: a 1969 episode of The Brady Bunch. Some former Brady Bunch cast members aren't happy about it. (Hogan, 4/28)

The Hill: Colorado Governor Says He Won't Sign Bill That Aims To Increase Vaccination Rates Without Key Changes 
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) said this week that he won’t sign a bill that aims to increase childhood vaccination rates by decreasing non-medical vaccine exemptions without seeing some changes to the legislation. The Colorado House bill would require parents who wish to have their children exempted from mandatory vaccines for non-medical reasons submit a form in-person to the state or local heath department, Colorado Public Radio (CPR) reported Friday. Forms are currently submitted directly to a school. (Gstalter, 4/27)

The Hill: Crowdfunding Site Indiegogo To Ban Anti-Vaccine Fundraisers 
The crowdfunding website Indiegogo is banning anti-vaccine fundraisers and other health fundraisers that aren't backed by science, the company said Friday, according to BuzzFeed News. A spokesperson for the company added that the ban has not yet been implemented and did not a provide a timeline for implementation, BuzzFeed News reported.  (Burke, 4/28)

Politico: McConnell Plan To Hike Smoking Age Could Be Win For Tobacco Companies
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s push to raise the legal smoking age to 21 sounds like a victory for public health. But anti-tobacco advocates fear McConnell and the tobacco industry may use the bill to block other, more proven measures to reduce youth smoking. McConnell pledged last week to introduce legislation to raise the legal age to buy tobacco from 18 to 21, calling it a "top priority" when the Senate returns from recess in late April. The move quickly drew surprising enthusiasm from cigarette and vaping manufacturers, who pledged to throw their considerable weight behind his initiative. (Rayasam, Pradhan and Owermohle, 4/28)

The New York Times: Guantanamo Bay As Nursing Home: Military Envisions Hospice Care As Terrorism Suspects Age
Nobody has a dementia diagnosis yet, but the first hip and knee replacements are on the horizon. So are wheelchair ramps, sleep apnea breathing masks, grab bars on cell walls and, perhaps, dialysis. Hospice care is on the agenda. More than 17 years after choosing the American military base in Cuba as “the least worst place” to incarcerate prisoners from the battlefield in Afghanistan, after years of impassioned debates over the rights of the detainees and whether the prison could close, the Pentagon is now planning for terrorism suspects still held in the facility to grow old and die at Guantánamo Bay. (Rosenberg, 4/27)

The New York Times: In Washington, Juul Vows To Curb Youth Vaping. Its Lobbying In States Runs Counter To That Pledge.
For months, Juul Labs has had a clear, unwavering message for officials in Washington: The e-cigarette giant is committed to doing all it can to keep its hugely popular vaping products away from teenagers. But here in Columbia, the South Carolina capital, and in statehouses and city halls across the country, a vast, new army of Juul lobbyists is aggressively pushing measures that undermine that pledge. (Kaplan, 4/28)

The Wall Street Journal: NIH Blocks Two Doctors From Speaking Out To Investigators
The National Institutes of Health, the U.S. government’s premier health research agency, is refusing to allow two of its doctors to respond to government investigators looking into the quality of a continuing clinical trial of new blood-infection treatments on thousands of patients, according to NIH documents and multiple interviews. The resulting tensions within the NIH have pitted the office of the agency’s director, Francis Collins, against an internal NIH committee of 24 scientists, who are raising questions over the freedom researchers are afforded to critique the work of colleagues. (Burton, 4/28)

The Wall Street Journal: Cancer-Drug Giant Roche Loses Edge As Rivals Grow
Many pharmaceutical companies expect cancer treatments to drive growth in the coming years. One notable exception: the world’s largest cancer-drug maker. Switzerland’s Roche Holding AG has enjoyed almost two decades as an unrivaled force in oncology. Now, with more companies piling into the space and its top-selling drugs losing sales to lower-cost copies, that is about to change. (Roland, 4/28)

Bloomberg: Opioid Court Case: Still No Verdict 
It’s been almost three weeks since a Boston jury began deliberating in the racketeering trial of Insys Therapeutics Inc. executives over the promotion of their opioid drug, with nary a peep from the panel. In that time a defense lawyer has grown almost a full beard, one of the defendants says she’s out of money and can’t afford to stay near the courthouse anymore, and observers are left speculating about what’s going on in the jury room high above Boston Harbor. (Lawrence, 4/28)

The Associated Press: Hospital's Replacement Opens Amid Scandal Over Doc, Dosages
An Ohio health system is opening a new hospital in suburban Columbus as it deals with a scandal involving a doctor accused of ordering excessive painkiller doses for dozens of patients who died. The 210-bed Mount Carmel Grove City hospital opens Sunday. Mount Carmel Health System is moving inpatient services and hundreds of employees to the $361 million facility from Mount Carmel West, the flagship hospital it's closing in the lower-income Franklinton neighborhood. (4/27)

The Washington Post: Did You Take Your Medicine? Abilify MyCite Could Help Doctors Track Patients' Medication -- Or Frighten Them.
When the Food and Drug Administration approved in late 2017 a schizophrenia pill that sends a signal to a patient’s doctor when ingested, it was seen not only as a major step forward for the disease but as a new frontier of Internet-connected medicine. Patients who have schizophrenia often stop taking their medicine, triggering psychotic episodes that can have severe consequences. So the pill, a 16-year-old medication combined with a tiny microchip, would help doctors intervene before a patient went dangerously off course. (Rowland, 4/28)

The New York Times: Chasing Growth, A Women’s Health Start-Up Cut Corners
When Matt Cronin worked in customer service at Nurx, a San Francisco start-up that sells prescription drugs online, one of his jobs was to manage the office’s inventory of birth control pills. The pills were kept in the pockets of a shoe organizer hanging inside a closet, Mr. Cronin said. They had been shipped to Nurx customers from its partner pharmacies, but ended up at the office when they bounced back in the mail. His supervisors regularly assigned him to mail those same medications to different Nurx customers who had not received their pills, he said. (Riski, Singer and Thomas, 4/26)

The New York Times: Virtual Reality As Therapy For Pain
I was packing up at the end of a family vacation in Florida when my back went into an excruciating spasm unrelieved by a fistful of pain medication. As my twin sons, then 8 years old, wheeled me through the airport, one of them suggested, “Mom, if you think about something else, it won’t hurt so much.” At the time, I failed to appreciate the wisdom of his advice. Now, four decades later, a sophisticated distraction technique is being used to help patients of all ages cope with pain, both acute and chronic. (Brody, 4/29)

The New York Times: Why Your Doctor’s White Coat Can Be A Threat To Your Health
A recent study of patients at 10 academic hospitals in the United States found that just over half care about what their doctors wear, most of them preferring the traditional white coat. Some doctors prefer the white coat, too, viewing it as a defining symbol of the profession. What many might not realize, though, is that health care workers’ attire — including that seemingly “clean” white coat that many prefer — can harbor dangerous bacteria and pathogens. (Frakt, 4/29)

NPR: 3D Mammography Creates More Precise Images To Detect Breast Cancer
When women get a mammogram they may be offered one of two types. The older type of mammogram takes a single straightforward X-ray image of the breast. The newer 3D takes pictures from many angles. Now, more evidence shows that 3D mammography offers a more thorough picture of breast tissue and is more accurate. When Mary Hu, an administrator in communications with Yale School of Medicine, went to get a mammogram two years ago, she didn't even know she was getting 3D mammography, also called digital breast tomosynthesis. But she's glad that's what she got. (Neighmond, 4/28)

The Washington Post: A Surprising Number Of Children Are Accidentally Poisoned. Simple Steps Can Prevent That.
It only took a few seconds. During a family trip, a woman took out an Ambien and put the prescription sleep aid on her bathroom counter. Then, she turned to grab a bottle of water. In an instant, her toddler grandson grabbed the pill and ate it. “She was standing right there, not even moving away, just reaching with her hands,” says Maneesha Agarwal, a pediatric emergency medicine doctor at the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, who treated the child in the ER. “It was that fast.” (Sohn, 4/28)

NPR: To Feel Better Now, Act With Compassion For Someone Else
For most of his career, Dr. Stephen Trzeciak was not a big believer in the "touchy-feely" side of medicine. As a specialist in intensive care and chief of medicine at Cooper University Health Care in Camden, N.J., Trzeciak felt most at home in the hard sciences. Then his new boss, Dr. Anthony Mazzarelli, came to him with a problem: Recent studies had shown an epidemic of burnout among health care providers. As co-president of Cooper, Mazzarelli was in charge of a major medical system and needed to find ways to improve patient care. (Ritchie, 4/26)

The Wall Street Journal: The FDA Says It’s Safe, So Feel Free To Say ‘Yes’ To MSG
When restaurants across America put signs in their windows vowing never to use your company’s flagship product, you might have a problem. That realization has dawned on Ajinomoto Co. AJINY 1.99% of Tokyo, founded more than a century ago to make the seasoning monosodium glutamate, or MSG. The company is in the middle of a $10 million, three-year campaign to persuade Americans that MSG is safe--and maybe even good for you, if it helps you eat less salt. (Davis, 4/27)

The New York Times: Ageism: A ‘Prevalent And Insidious’ Health Threat
It happened about a year ago. I stepped off the subway and spotted an ad on the station wall for a food delivery service. It read: “When you want a whole cake to yourself because you’re turning 30, which is basically 50, which is basically dead.” After a bunch of us squawked about the ad on social media, the company apologized for what it called attempted humor and what I’d call ageism. Maybe you recall another media campaign last fall intended to encourage young people’s participation in the midterm elections. In pursuit of this laudable goal, marketers invoked every negative stereotype of old people — selfish, addled, unconcerned about the future — to scare their juniors into voting. (Span, 4/26)

NPR: How Palliative Care Can Help Seriously Ill Patients Live And Die Well
"He will not die on your watch." That's what the family of a patient told Sunita Puri when she was a resident in internal medicine. They were chilling words for the young doctor as she took over the care of a very sick man on the overnight shift. To Puri, the patient, who had widespread metastatic liver cancer, appeared to be dying. She tried to talk with the family about forgoing heroic measures, to let him have peace in his last hours. But they were adamant. (Wroth, 4/25)

The Wall Street Journal: The New Strategies For Raising A Boy
It’s a challenging time to parent a boy. Moms and dads worry about everything from hypermasculine cultural stereotypes to how to talk about sex in the #MeToo era. A new book, “How to Raise a Boy: The Power of Connection to Build Good Men,” suggests there’s good reason for concern. Author Michael C. Reichert cites research showing that boys seek help from health care or school staff at rates nearly twice those of girls; they lag behind girls in social and behavioral skills; and they are the primary recipients of disciplinary sanctions and medication prescriptions. (Bernstein, 4/29)

The New York Times: Lego Is Making Braille Bricks. They May Give Blind Literacy A Needed Lift.
When Carlton Cook Walker’s young daughter developed health problems that led to near-total blindness, she knew she wanted her to learn Braille. But the family’s school, in rural central Pennsylvania, was resistant. A teacher pointed out that the girl, then in preschool, could still read print — as long as it was in 72-point type and held inches from her face. “I said, ‘What about when she is in high school? How will she read Dickens like this?’” recalled Ms. Cook Walker, whose daughter, Anna, is now 18. “The teacher’s response was chilling: ‘Oh, she’ll just use audio.’” (Mervosh, 4/27)

The Washington Post: If Allergies And Air At Home Bother You, Here's What To Do
When spring arrives, it’s a joy to open your windows and feel the fresh air. All too soon it will be summer and we’ll shut ourselves in again. This ritual raises a question: Which is healthier — outdoor air or indoor air? They’re related, of course. The air inside our homes originates from outside and can carry pollen or pollutants, such as those produced by combustion engines. Indoor sources might add to the mix with tobacco smoke, cooking, mold spores, dust and pet dander. (Adams, 4/27)

The Associated Press: Chief Of Maryland Medical System Resigns Amid Scandal
The president and CEO of a major medical system in Maryland resigned Friday following revelations of numerous questionable financial arrangements involving board members, including Baltimore's embattled mayor. Robert Chrencik had led the University of Maryland Medical System since 2008 before being sent on a leave of absence in late March. He departed on the requested leave amid embarrassing allegations of "self-dealing" involving members of the $4 billion hospital system's volunteer board. (4/26)

The Washington Post: California Seeks Lessons From Florida For Fire Evacuations
With Hurricane Michael strengthening as it took aim at Florida’s Panhandle, Mark Bowen and his employees watched the live footage through tears. They weren’t looking at increasingly dire storm forecasts last October. They were watching cameras trained on rural Bay County’s three main evacuation routes leading away from sugar-white beaches. Traffic was flowing smoothly when there should have been gridlock. (Kay and Elias, 4/27)

The Wall Street Journal: PG&E’s Radical Plan To Prevent Wildfires: Shut Down The Power Grid
PG&E Corp. can’t prevent its power lines from sparking the kinds of wildfires that have killed scores of Californians. So instead, it plans to pull the plug on a giant swath of the state’s population. No U.S. utility has ever blacked out so many people on purpose. PG&E says it could knock out power to as much as an eighth of the state’s population for as long as five days when dangerously high winds arise. Communities likely to get shut off worry PG&E will put people in danger, especially the sick and elderly, and cause financial losses with slim hope of compensation. (Gold and Blunt, 4/27)

The Associated Press: Catholic Group Sues Over Michigan Policy On Adoption
A Roman Catholic social services agency that declines to place children with same-sex couples has filed a lawsuit to stop Michigan from penalizing the group if it sticks to its policy on foster care and adoption. Catholic Charities West Michigan in Grand Rapids filed the lawsuit Thursday. The group says Michigan law allows it to practice its religion by turning down same-sex couples. But the group says services will be threatened by a recent change at the Department of Health and Human Services. (4/26)

The Associated Press: Company Seeks $1.2 Million Grant For New Medical Facility
A privately run health care company is seeking more than $1 million in state taxpayer money to redevelop a former hospital campus in southern Delaware. The state Council on Development Finance meets Monday to consider a request by Nationwide Healthcare Services for a Strategic Fund grant of about $1.2 million. The grant would be used to build a new “wellness village,” including a 150-bed skilled nursing center, on the site of the old Milford Memorial hospital. (4/29)