First Edition: August 23, 2017
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Kaiser Health News:
‘Breakthrough’ Leukemia Drug Also Portends ‘Quantum Leap’ In Cost
When doctors talk about a new leukemia drug from Novartis, they ooze enthusiasm, using words like “breakthrough,” “revolutionary” and “a watershed moment. ”But when they think about how much the therapy is likely to cost, their tone turns alarmist. “It’s going to cost a fortune,” said Dr. Ivan Borrello at Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center in Baltimore. (Szabo, 8/23)
The Associated Press:
Senate Panel Plans 2 Hearings On Girding Health Insurance
The Senate health committee will hold two hearings early next month on how the nation's individual health insurance marketplaces can be stabilized, as party leaders grasp for a fresh path following the collapse of the Republican effort to repeal and replace much of former President Barack Obama's health care law. GOP and Democratic leaders are exploring whether they can craft a bipartisan but limited bill aimed at curbing rising premiums for people who buy their own insurance. (Fram, 8/22)
USA Today:
Senate Panel To Hold Hearings On Health Insurance Reform
“Eighteen million Americans, including 350,000 Tennesseans – songwriters, farmers, and the self-employed – do not get their health insurance from the government or on the job, which means they must buy insurance in the individual market,” said Sen. Lamar Alexander, the Tennessee Republican who chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. “My goal by the end of September is to give them peace of mind that they will be able to buy insurance at a reasonable price for the year 2018,” Alexander said. (Collins, 8/22)
Politico:
Trump Sticks It To GOP In Thundering Phoenix Speech
President Donald Trump put the Republican Party on notice on Tuesday evening — implicitly attacking two Republican senators on their home turf, threatening a government shutdown over his border wall, and demanding that senators kill the filibuster because it's impeding his agenda. ... Trump did not name Sen. John McCain or Sen. Jeff Flake by name in his remarks — he joked that his aides pleaded with him not to mention the senators explicitly — but it was unmistakable who he was talking about. Over and over, Trump noted that Senate Republicans were "one vote away" from passing a bill to repeal Obamacare. The crowd at the Phoenix Convention Center immediately began jeering McCain, a longtime Trump critic who delivered the tie-breaking vote that sank the overhaul bill. The 80-year-old McCain is being treated for brain cancer. (Isenstadt, 8/23)
Los Angeles Times:
Trump Fills Phoenix Speech With Charged Language, Accusing Media And Fellow Republicans Of Failings
Raising the subject of the failed GOP effort to repeal and replace Obamacare, Trump repeatedly noted that the Senate fell “just one vote away from victory after seven years of everyone proclaiming ‘repeal and replace.’ One vote,” he said, referring to McCain. At that, a member of the audience screamed “Traitor,” seemingly referring to the Navy veteran who spent years as a Vietnam War prisoner before going into politics.Trump, in a sarcastic tone, characterized Flake as an inconsequential senator.“Nobody wants me to talk about him,” Trump said. “Nobody knows who the hell he is.... See, I haven’t mentioned any names and now everyone is happy.” (Decker, 8/22)
NPR:
A 'Smart' Pill Bottle's Reminder To Take Meds Isn't Enough, Research Shows
What if I told you there was a way to use technology to save an estimated $100 billion to $300 billion dollars a year in health care spending in the U.S.? That's the estimated cost incurred because people don't take the medications they're prescribed. A number of companies are now selling wireless "smart" pill bottles, Internet-linked devices aimed at reminding people to take their pills. But recent research suggests that actually changing that behavior may take more than an electronic nudge. (Silverman, 8/22)
Los Angeles Times:
Depressed But Can't See A Therapist? This Chatbot Could Help
Fifty years ago, an MIT professor created a chatbot that simulated a psychotherapist. Named Eliza, it was able to trick some people into believing it was human. But it didn’t understand what it was told, nor did it have the capacity to learn on its own. The only test it had to pass was: Could it fool humans? (Lien, 8/23)
NPR:
Does Baby Powder Cause Cancer? A Jury Says Yes. Scientists Aren't So Sure
If you're a woman, there's a good chance you've used Johnson's Baby Powder at some point. It smells good, and it can keep you dry. But is it dangerous? Dr. Daniel Cramer says yes. He's a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. He says talc — the mineral in talcum powder — can cause ovarian cancer. "Overall, women may increase their risk in general by about 33 percent by using talc in their hygiene," Cramer says. (Kodjak, 8/22)
The Washington Post:
Mapping Out The Causes Of Suicide In Teenagers And Children
Just before Christmas 2015, child psychiatrist Daniel Nelson noticed an unusual number of suicidal kids in the hospital emergency room. A 14-year-old girl with a parent addicted to opioids tried to choke herself with a seat belt. A 12-year-old transgender child hurt himself after being bullied. And a steady stream of kids arrived from the city’s west side, telling him they knew other kids — at school, in their neighborhoods — who had also tried to die. (Murgia, 8/22)
The New York Times:
Age Like A Former Athlete
Being a world-class distance runner in your youth does not guarantee that you will be fit and healthy in retirement. But it helps, according to a new study that followed a group of elite American runners for 45 years. The study’s findings raise interesting questions about how we can and should age and the role that youthful activity might play in our health later in life. (Reynolds, 8/23)
The Associated Press:
Lab-Made 'Mini Organs' Helping Doctors Treat Cystic Fibrosis
Els van der Heijden, who has cystic fibrosis, was finding it ever harder to breathe as her lungs filled with thick, sticky mucus. Despite taking more than a dozen pills and inhalers a day, the 53-year-old had to stop working and scale back doing the thing she loved best, horseback riding. Doctors saw no sense in trying an expensive new drug because it hasn't been proven to work in people with the rare type of cystic fibrosis that van der Heijden had. (8/23)
Los Angeles Times:
Jury Begins Deliberating Sanity Of Man Convicted Of Killing Newport Beach Urologist
An Orange County Superior Court jury began deliberating Tuesday whether a 79-year-old Lake Elsinore man was legally insane the day he fatally shot his former Newport Beach doctor in 2013. On Monday, the 12-member jury swiftly convicted Stanwood Elkus, a retired barber, of first-degree murder in the slaying of Dr. Ronald Gilbert, who had been Elkus’ urologist years earlier. Prosecutors said Elkus used a fake name to get an appointment in Gilbert’s Newport office, where he shot the 52-year-old physician 10 times after he walked into the exam room. (Fry, 8/22)