First Edition: August 18, 2017

Kaiser Health News: Opioid Crisis Strains Foster Care System; Programs Aim To Keep Kids With Mom
Data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services show that from October 2012 to September 2015, as addiction surged, the number of kids entering the foster system rose 8 percent. In recent years, experts suggest, the number has continued to climb, though data aren’t yet available to track that increase. Even before this epidemic, social systems struggled to meet demand. Now, the swell of kids needing care is putting new pressure on a network already stretched to capacity — both financially and in its ability to find homes and families that can take in displaced children. (Luthra, 8/18)

Kaiser Health News: Podcast: ‘What The Health?’ Why Is It So Difficult To Control Drug Prices?
Mary Agnes Carey of Kaiser Health News, Sarah Karlin-Smith of Politico, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times and Julie Appleby of Kaiser Health News discuss the recent extension of cost-sharing subsidies for millions of low-income beneficiaries on the Affordable Care Act’s marketplaces — as well as the state of play on Capitol Hill and in the states concerning efforts to lower prescription drug costs. (8/17)

Kaiser Health News: Gun Sellers Join Forces To Curb Suicide-By-Firearm, Rampant In Rural Areas
John Yule, 53, manages Wildlife Sport Outfitters, a hunting and fishing supplies store on the edge of Manchester, N.H., and is “deeply involved in the Second Amendment community.” But six years ago, while listening to a public radio story, Yule heard about a way he could tackle a familiar problem — the high rates of suicide in rural areas like some nearby in his state ... Now he’s part of a team of people on the front lines, trying a simple but radical approach to curb rates of suicide, the nation’s 10th-leading cause of death. (Luthra, 8/17)

USA Today: Mylan $465M EpiPen Settlement Finalized
The drugmaker raised EpiPen prices by roughly 400% between 2010 and 2016, according to federal investigators. EpiPen is a disposable, pre-filled injector that administers epinephrine to counteract severe allergic reactions. (McCoy, 8/17)

Associated Press: EpiPen Maker Finalizes Settlement For Government Overcharges
EpiPen maker Mylan has finalized a $465 million government agreement settling allegations it overbilled Medicaid for its emergency allergy injectors for a decade — charges brought after rival Sanofi filed a whistleblower lawsuit and tipped off the government. It’s the second settlement with the Department of Justice that Mylan has made since 2009 for allegedly overcharging the government for its medicines. (Johnson, 8/18)

The Wall Street Journal: Mylan Settles EpiPen Medicaid Overcharge Claims For $465 Million
HHS’s Office of the Inspector General estimated that Medicaid paid $1.27 billion more for EpiPen from 2006 to 2016 than it would have if the drug had been classified as brand-name product. On Thursday, Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley and Texas Democratic Rep. Lloyd Doggett issued statements criticizing the settlement as too low. (Moise, 8/17)

Stat: Lawmakers Push Drug Makers To Explain Soaring Prices For MS Drugs
Two Democratic lawmakers are pressing major pharmaceutical companies to explain their pricing strategies for multiple sclerosis drugs. Reps. Elijah Cummings of Maryland and Peter Welch of Vermont wrote to Bayer, Biogen, EMD Serono, Novartis, Sanofi, Teva, and Roche Pharmaceuticals to request documents that reference pricing strategies. They also asked for information about corporate profits, expenses, patient assistance programs, and drug distribution systems. (Mershon, 8/17)

Reuters: U.S. House Democrats Launch Probe Into MS Drug Pricing
U.S. House Democrats said on Thursday they were launching an investigation into why prices for Multiple Sclerosis (MS) treatments have nearly quintupled since 2004, and they sent letters requesting information from seven drugmakers. (Erman, 8/17)

The Associated Press: Rhode Island OKs Health Insurance Premium Increases
Rhode Island officials have approved health insurance premium rates for 2018, giving the OK to increases ranging from 5 percent to 12.1 percent. Marie Ganim, the state health insurance commissioner, said Thursday that approved rates were in some cases lower than the insurance companies had requested. She says that will save consumers nearly $17 million. (8/18)

The New York Times: At Senator Menendez’s Trial, Stakes Are High For Democrats
If Mr. Menendez, a Democrat, is convicted and then expelled from the United States Senate by early January, his replacement would be picked by Gov. Chris Christie, the Republican governor of New Jersey and an ally of President Trump. That scenario — where Mr. Menendez’s interim replacement would more than likely be a Republican — would have immediate and far-reaching implications: The Republicans would be gifted a crucial extra vote just as the party remains a single vote shy in the Senate of advancing its bill to dismantle President Obama’s signature health care law. (Goldmacher, 8/17)

The Associated Press: Utah Submits Medicaid Plan To Help With Homeless, Treatment
Utah asked the Trump administration this week to approve a limited Medicaid plan to help the homeless and those in need of mental health and drug addiction treatment. The plan is part of a state strategy to curb violence and drug trafficking in a Salt Lake City neighborhood near an overcrowded homeless shelter, but it’s a very limited alternative to expanding Utah’s Medicaid plans as offered under President Barack Obama’s health care law. (8/18)

The New York Times: Guns Play Oversize Role In Rural Suicides
Suicide rates are higher in rural counties, according to a new study, and the reason is firearm use by men. The report, in the American Journal of Public Health, used data on 6,196 suicides of Maryland residents over age 15. They found that the rate of firearm suicides was 66 percent higher in the most thinly populated counties than in metropolitan areas with populations greater than a million. Non-firearm suicide rates in rural and urban counties were roughly the same. (Bakalar, 8/17)

The New York Times: Preventing Teen Suicide: What The Evidence Shows
There are evidence-based ways to prevent suicide. The World Health Organization has a guide for how media professionals should talk about the subject. They should avoid sensationalizing it or normalizing it. They should be careful not to repeat accounts of suicide or to provide explicit descriptions as to how suicide might be attempted or completed. They should word headlines carefully, and avoid video or photos of suicides or the victims. (Carroll, 8/17)

The Associated Press: FDA OKs Pfizer Drug For Rare, Fast-Killing Type Of Leukemia
The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new medicine for use against a rare, rapidly progressing blood cancer after other treatments have failed. The agency approved Pfizer Inc.’s Besponsa for patients with a type of advanced acute lymphoblastic leukemia. By then, life expectancy is low. (Johnson, 8/18)

Reuters: FDA Expands Use Of AstraZeneca/Merck Ovarian Cancer Drug
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday expanded the use of Lynparza, sold by AstraZeneca Plc and Merck & Co Inc, to include ongoing treatment of patients with recurrent ovarian cancer who have responded to platinum-based chemotherapy. The agency also approved a new two-tablet regimen for the drug, regardless of whether patients test positive for BRCA genetic mutations associated with high risk for the cancer. (8/17)

Stat: A Veteran Biopharma Executive Tries To Fund His Own Product — And Sees Firsthand How Hard It Is
After two decades as an executive at well-known drug companies, he’s used to navigating the ups and downs of raising money on the public market. But Greg Mayes has never faced a fundraising challenge like this before. Galvanized by his teenage son’s epilepsy diagnosis, Mayes started a new company to try to shepherd a promising inhaler technology for epilepsy through a key clinical trial. Now, he’s racing against the clock to convince venture capital firms and private investors to help him move forward. He needs a total of $21 million by the end of this month — and he still has a third of the way to go. (Robbins, 8/17)

Stat: Cleveland Clinic Reverses Course, Moves Fundraiser From Mar-A-Lago
The Cleveland Clinic and the American Cancer Society said they will not hold annual fundraising galas at President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida amid intense criticism over the president’s reluctance to denounce white nationalist groups. The announcements come as businesses have faced increasing pressure to distance themselves from Trump, who has been sharply criticized for his equivocal response to the deadly violence in Charlottesville, Va. The clinic’s decision, which was announced Thursday, was a reversal from its prior commitment to keep the event. (Ross, 8/17)

The Associated Press: Cleveland Clinic Will Pull Event From Mar-A-Lago Resort
A leading U.S. hospital pulled its annual fundraiser from Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort on Thursday, reversing course after initially resisting pressure from health professionals and others over the president’s support for repealing the Affordable Care Act and cutting federal budget dollars to medical research. (Carr Smyth, 8/17)

The Associated Press: Trump Signs Bill To Help Vets Exposed To Mustard Gas
World War II veterans exposed to mustard gas by the military will find it easier to receive help under legislation President Donald Trump has signed into law. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that Trump on Wednesday signed the legislation that Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill, of Missouri, pushed through Congress. It requires the Veterans Affairs Department to reconsider disability benefits denied to those who claimed the testing caused health problems. (8/18)

The Associated Press: Missouri Families Struggle With In-Home Care Cuts
Lawmakers approved a one-time funding fix aimed at avoiding cuts to the in-home care program in May, but it was vetoed by Gov. Eric Greitens. The bill passed the House with 83 votes — 26 votes shy of a two-thirds majority needed to override a veto. Without the $35 million funding fix, the $27 billion state budget approved by lawmakers and signed by Greitens changes eligibility requirements for Missourians to qualify for in-home and nursing care services through Medicaid. Essentially, people are now required to display more severe disabilities to get state-funded care, a change that could eventually affect more than 8,000 Missourians. (Hancock and Montgomery, 8/18)

Los Angeles Times: Don't Blame The Surgeons: Long-Term Opioid Use Rarely Starts With Surgery, Study Finds
Don’t blame the nation’s surgeons for an opiate-abuse crisis that now claims 142 lives daily in the United States. New research suggests that patients leaving the hospital after surgeries or inpatient procedures are rarely the ones whose long-term opioid use started with a doctor’s prescription. Instead, the patients who most frequently go on to use opioid medications for six months or more got their first prescription for some sort of back pain, or for pain described in medical code as “other ill-defined conditions,” according to a research letter published Wednesday in the journal JAMA Surgery. (Healy, 8/17)

The Associated Press: Cherokee Nation Says Opioid Lawsuit Belongs In Tribal Court
The Cherokee Nation is urging a federal judge to allow a tribal lawsuit against distributors and retailers of opioid medications to be litigated in the tribe’s own court. Cherokee Nation Attorney General Todd Hembree has filed written arguments with U.S. District Judge Terence Kern in a lawsuit that alleges the companies have contributed to “an epidemic of prescription opioid abuse” among the tribe’s citizens. The lawsuit alleges that six distribution and pharmaceutical companies have created conditions in which “vast amounts of opioids have flowed freely from manufacturers to abusers and drug dealers” within the tribe’s territory. (8/18)

Los Angeles Times: Married Alhambra Couple Sues Employer, Saying Insurance Was Revoked Because They're Gay
An Alhambra couple has filed a federal discrimination lawsuit against a former employer, alleging the company refused to provide spousal health insurance coverage because of their sexual orientation and rescinded previous coverage, leaving them with tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills. Judith Dominguez, 59, began working as a loan originator for Colorado-based Cherry Creek Mortgage at a branch office in Diamond Bar in 2016 and enrolled herself and her wife, Patricia Martinez, 55, in the UnitedHealthcare plan offered by the company. The couple had been covered for most of the year when, in November, Dominguez submitted her annual re-enrollment “employee + spouse” forms. (Branson-Potts, 8/17)

The Associated Press: Lawsuit: Birth Control For Sentencing Breaks Violated Rights
A Tennessee sheriff and judge violated the constitutional rights of jail inmates by promising to reduce their sentences if they underwent birth control procedures, an ex-inmate says in a federal lawsuit. Christel Ward was among the misdemeanor-level White County Jail inmates who took the deal, according to the lawsuit. She said Thursday that she still has the unwanted birth control device in her arm that authorities injected in her. “I want this out of my arm, and I’m still not allowed to get it out until I pay,” Ward said at a news conference. “I can’t come up with $250 to get this out.” (Mattise, 8/18)

The Washington Post: Elderly Couple Got ‘Deepest Wish’ — To Die Together — In Rare Euthanasia Case
In recent years, apparent double-suicides and murder-suicides have been capturing worldwide attention amid an emotional right-to-die debate — couples from Florida to Paris reportedly ending their lives together. Assisted suicide has summoned up deep religious and ethical concerns among critics. In the United States, the subject was widely debated in 2014, when a 29-year-old woman who had a fatal brain tumor moved from California to Oregon, where she could legally seek medical aid to end her life. California has since enacted its End of Life Option Act, joining a small number of states where it is legal. (Bever, 8/17)

The Associated Press: Bloomberg Funds $2 Million In Ads Backing Soda Tax
Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is throwing his support behind a Chicago-area sweetened beverage tax by financing an ad campaign backing the levy. Bloomberg's charity announced Thursday that $2 million will be spent on television, radio and digital ads. The ads will contend the tax could help fight "the epidemic of childhood obesity and diabetes" and support Cook County hospitals and health programs. (8/18)

NPR: A First Look: Inside The Lab Where Scientists Are Editing DNA In Human Embryos
Human eggs are the key starting point for the groundbreaking experiments underway in this lab. It's run by Shoukhrat Mitalipov, a biologist who's been on the cutting edge of embryonic genetic research for decades. Mitalipov and his international team electrified the world this summer when the group announced it had successfully — and seemingly safely — figured out how to efficiently edit the DNA in human embryos. (Stein, 8/18)