First Edition: February 4, 2020

Kaiser Health News: Beyond Burnout: Docs Decry ‘Moral Injury’ From Financial Pressures Of Health Care
Dr. Keith Corl was working in a Las Vegas emergency room when a patient arrived with chest pain. The patient, wearing his street clothes, had a two-minute exam in the triage area with a doctor, who ordered an X-ray and several other tests. But later, in the treatment area, when Corl met the man and lifted his shirt, it was clear the patient had shingles. Corl didn’t need any tests to diagnose the viral infection that causes a rash and searing pain. All those tests? They turned out to be unnecessary and left the patient with over $1,000 in extra charges. (Bailey, 2/4)

Kaiser Health News: What To Do If Your Home Health Care Agency Ditches You
Craig Holly was determined to fight when the home health agency caring for his wife decided to cut off services Jan. 18. The reason he was given by an agency nurse? His wife was disabled but stable, and Medicare was changing its payment system for home health. Euphrosyne “Effie” Costas-Holly, 67, has advanced multiple sclerosis. She can’t walk or stand and relies on an overhead lift system to move from room to room in their house. (Graham, 2/4)

Kaiser Health News: Watch: Let’s Talk About Trump’s Health Care Policies
Polls say health care is consistently at the top of voters’ minds in this election cycle. And President Donald Trump clearly wants to own the issue, often talking about the “wins” stemming from his administration’s policies. In this video explainer, KHN correspondent Shefali Luthra examines the president’s talking points on a range of topics — from insurance coverage, access to care and affordability issues to preexisting condition protections and prescription drug costs. (2/4)

USA Today: Trump's State Of The Union Comes Amid Impeachment And Election Frenzy
While touting proposals on on drug pricing and medical billing, Trump is also expected to brand Democratic health care plans as "socialist," a claim he has also made on the campaign trail. While failing to repeal Obama's health care law, Trump has said he wants to promote plans to reduce drug prices, make medical billing more transparent, and give people more flexibility in choosing doctors and health plans. (Jackson, 2/4)

The Washington Post: What Trump Will Say In The State Of The Union Address
In a briefing with reporters to preview the speech, a senior administration official said Trump would focus on five issue areas: a “blue-collar boom” for which he credits his trade negotiations with China, Mexico and Canada; domestic policies to help working families, including paid family leave; health care; illegal immigration; and national security. (Rucker and Kim, 2/3)

Stat: Sensing An Advantage, Democrats Dare Trump To Talk Drug Prices During State Of The Union
While both parties have highlighted the importance of lowering drug prices, Democrats who spoke with STAT are convinced that Trump’s decision to bring up the issue in a nationally televised speech will only remind voters how little the White House has accomplished. Trump’s nod to high pharmaceutical costs, which the White House hinted at in a call with reporters last week, will play out far better for their party than for Republicans in large part because when in comes to health care, voters trust Democrats over the GOP by double-digit margins, they said. (Facher and Florko, 2/4)

Stat: To Highlight Prices, Dems Will Bring Insulin Advocates To State Of The Union
No fewer than 13 members of Congress, from the ultra-progressive Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) to the moderate, once-Republican Rep. Charlie Crist (D-Fla.), are planning to bring insulin affordability advocates as their guests for Tuesday’s State of the Union address, congressional staffers confirmed to STAT. It’s the latest sign that insulin, above all else, has become Democrats’ signature drug pricing talking point. The lawmakers are likely to use the advocates’ stories not only to push for comprehensive drug pricing reform, but to bludgeon President Trump and his party over their spotty progress in tackling high drug prices over the past year. (Florko, 2/4)

The Washington Post: Most Iowa Democratic Caucus-Goers Support A Single-Payer Health Care Plan
About 6 in 10 Democrats at the Iowa caucuses on Monday reported that they support eliminating private health insurance as part of establishing a single-payer health-care system, according to preliminary poll results, suggesting that most of the party’s voters agree with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on the divisive issue. Sanders has campaigned on a Medicare-for-all health-care system in which every American would be placed with a single government insurer, regardless of whether they want it or not. (Stein, 2/3)

CNN: Health Care Is The Top Issue For Iowa Caucusgoers, Entrance Polls Show
Caucusgoers for whom health care is the top issue in choosing a nominee were split between Sanders and Buttigieg, with around a quarter supporting each. Almost 2 in 5 support Warren while 1 in 6 support Biden and the same for Klobuchar. Among caucusgoers who oppose replacing private insurance with a government plan, 3 in 10 supported Biden, and another 3 in 10 went for Buttigieg. About 1 in 6 in this group supported Klobuchar. (Struyk and Sparks, 2/4)

The Wall Street Journal: Iowa Caucus Results Delayed Amid Counting Issues
An election debacle unfolded Monday night as the Iowa Democratic Party failed to release the results of the state’s presidential caucuses, saying it had found “inconsistencies in the reporting” as the nation awaited the outcome of the first-in-the-nation nominating contest. (McCormick and Thomas, 2/4)

Politico: Democratic Candidates Vow To Cover Islanders Who Lost Medicaid
Four leading candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination said that their health care plans would cover tens of thousands of Pacific Islanders who were promised Medicaid coverage after U.S. nuclear-weapons testing but lost coverage in a 1996 welfare reform bill. Spokespeople for the campaigns of Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), former Vice President Joe Biden and businessman Andrew Yang all vowed that their candidates would provide coverage for residents of the Marshall Islands, a population profiled by POLITICO last week, as well as cover residents of Palau and Micronesia. (Diamond, 2/3)

The New York Times: U.S. Officials Promise ‘Aggressive Measures’ To Contain Coronavirus
Four military bases in Texas, California and Colorado were preparing to house American citizens for up to two weeks as part of a highly unusual federal effort aimed at slowing the spread of the deadly coronavirus. As of late Monday, though, expectations that a large number of Americans who had traveled to parts of China might quickly be held under quarantine had not come to pass. No new travelers from China had been brought to the military bases, federal officials said. The only people under federal quarantine were fewer than 200 people who had been in Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, and were flown to a base in Riverside, Calif., last week. (Bosman and Grady, 2/3)

The Washington Post: States Scramble To Carry Out Trump’s Coronavirus Travel Order
After a weekend of panicked calls and emergency meetings, federal and state officials were still struggling Monday with how to carry out stringent new travel restrictions ordered by the Trump administration and where to quarantine passengers arriving from China to control the spread of the coronavirus in the United States. In interviews, state officials said the order came on Friday with no advance notice and little planning. (Sun, Aratani, Wan and Olivo, 2/3)

The Washington Post: White House Coronavirus Response Could Require $136 Million In Additional Funds
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services notified Congress on Sunday it may need to transfer up to $136 million to help combat the fast-moving coronavirus epidemic, a new sign of how the White House has increased its response in recent days. The notification came as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is quickly burning through $105 million that was set aside for emergency public-health responses to things such as the coronavirus. (Abutaleb and Werner, 2/3)

Los Angeles Times: CDC Warns Coronavirus Cases Will Continue To Spread
After a steady increase in the last week in the number of coronavirus cases in California and across the U.S., officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday the virus is likely to spread. “We expect to find other cases in the United States,” said Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases. (Shalby, 2/3)

Politico: U.S. Waiting To Learn If It's Part Of Mission To Assess Coronavirus Outbreak
U.S. health officials are still waiting to find out if they'll be part of an international mission to China to assess the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak amid growing tensions between Beijing and the Trump administration over the U.S. response. HHS submitted a list of government experts to the World Health Organization in Geneva that was transmitted to Chinese authorities on Monday, according to an HHS spokesperson. The Chinese government hasn't yet given its feedback or a signoff. (Ehley and Owermohle, 2/3)

Reuters: U.S. Evacuees From China Placed On 72-Hour 'Hold' At California Military Base For Medical Evaluation
Nearly 200 Americans airlifted from China in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak arrived on Wednesday at a U.S. military base in California, where they will remain isolated for at least 72 hours of medical evaluation, public health officials said. The group, mostly U.S. diplomats and their families, were evacuated from Wuhan at the epicenter of the outbreak aboard a U.S. government-chartered cargo jet that stopped to refuel in Alaska on Tuesday night before flying on to March Air Reserve Base, about 60 miles east of Los Angeles. (Younis, 2/3)

The Associated Press: 1st US Patient With New Virus Leaves Hospital, Is Recovering
The man who became the first U.S. patient infected with the new virus from China has left the hospital and said in a statement that he is getting better and looking forward to life returning to normal, according to a statement from the man provided to The Associated Press on Monday. The 35-year-old man thanked his doctors, nurses and other staff at Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett, Washington, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) north of Seattle, according to the statement from the unidentified man given to the AP by hospital officials. (Johnson, 2/3)

NPR: U.S. Coronavirus Quarantine And Travel Limits: Needed Protection Or Overreaction?
The Trump administration's aggressive efforts to protect Americans from the coronavirus are drawing both praise and criticism. On Friday, the federal government temporarily banned entry into the United States for anyone traveling from China who isn't a U.S. citizen, permanent resident or an immediate family member of either. In addition, any Americans returning to the U.S. from China's Hubei Province, which is the epicenter of the outbreak, will be quarantined for 14 days. (Stein, 2/3)

NPR: Poll: Americans' Views On Coronavirus Outbreak
Two-thirds of Americans say the novel coronavirus poses a "real threat" and has not been "blown out of proportion." And, though the majority of Americans are concerned about the potential spread of the virus within the U.S., 61% also say U.S. government officials are doing enough to prevent it. (Aubrey, 2/4)

Reuters: U.S. Universities Set Up Front-Line Defenses To Keep Coronavirus At Bay
On its sprawling campus in America's heartland, thousands of miles from China, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has taken aggressive steps to keep the fast-spreading coronavirus away from its classrooms and students. The school, with one of the highest percentages of Chinese students among U.S. universities, has suspended academic programs in China for the spring semester and banned students from traveling to the country for academic-related matters. (2/3)

The Wall Street Journal: Gov. Murphy Sets Up New Jersey Coronavirus Task Force
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy established a coronavirus task force to coordinate the state’s response to the outbreak as Newark Liberty International Airport began accepting rerouted flights from China that require enhanced health screenings. New Jersey health, human-services, education and homeland-security officials will staff the task force and manage the state’s preparedness and response to the deadly virus, Mr. Murphy said on Monday. (de Avila and West, 2/3)

The Washington Post: Spread Of Coronavirus Threatens To Strain U.S.-China Relations Along With Global Health System
China on Monday accused the United States of contributing to public hysteria over the deadly novel coronavirus, as the struggle to contain the illness adds further strain to diplomatic relations that have grown more distrustful under the Trump administration. The rapid spread of the virus has put Beijing on the defensive for what critics have called a slow initial response to contain it and a lack of transparency over the scale of the outbreak. In a briefing for reporters, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman attempted to deflect blame by citing an “overreaction” from the U.S. government that has “spread fear” and set a “bad example” for other nations. (Nakamura and Fifield, 2/3)

Reuters: As Coronavirus Misinformation Spreads On Social Media, Facebook Removes Posts
Facebook Inc said it will take down misinformation about China's fast-spreading coronavirus, in a rare departure from its usual approach to dubious health content that is presenting a fresh challenge for social media companies. The coronavirus outbreak has stoked a wave of anti-China sentiment around the globe. Hoaxes have spread widely online, promoted by conspiracy theorists and exacerbated by a dearth of information from the cordoned-off zone around China's central city of Wuhan, where the outbreak began. (Paul, 2/3)

Los Angeles Times: Coronavirus Symptoms: What To Look For If You Think You Might Be Sick
Feeling sick? You may be wondering whether you could be infected with the new strain of coronavirus that has spread from China to more than two dozen countries and territories around the world. If you live in the United States, chances are good that it’s not the coronavirus that ails you. The Centers for Disease Control has confirmed 11 cases of novel coronavirus infection in the U.S., including six in California. The CDC also determined that 167 people who had symptoms consistent with the coronavirus were not actually infected. (Kaplan, 2/3)

The Washington Post: How Effective Are Face Masks Amid Coronavirus Concerns?
The new coronavirus (2019-nCoV) is now responsible for 17,228 confirmed cases in China, reported by the country’s National Health Commission on Monday, and confirmed cases of the strain in 23 countries outside China, according to the World Health Organization. As with any outbreak, global travelers have the risk of exposure on their minds — as evidenced by masks on their faces. (Japhe, 2/3)

Reuters: China Virus Triggers Global Rush For Protective Masks
From South Korea to the Czech Republic, China's coronavirus outbreak has triggered a massive surge in demand for protective masks, with factories scrambling to fill orders and shops selling out. The virus, which first appeared in the Chinese city of Wuhan, has killed 170 people and infected more than 8,000. It spreads through droplets from coughs and sneezes. (Lee and Zhang, 2/3)

The New York Times: Beijing Sees ‘Major Test’ As Doors To China Close And Coronavirus Deaths Surpass SARS
China’s Communist Party leadership called the month-old coronavirus epidemic a “major test” on Monday as other nations escalated efforts to isolate China, unnerving China’s stock market, depressing global oil prices and raising new anxiety about the world’s most populous country. The growing global move to effectively cut off China’s 1.4 billion people came as government officials reported the new coronavirus strain had killed more in mainland China, 425 as of Tuesday morning, than the SARS outbreak in 2002 and 2003, confirming it as one of the deadliest epidemics in recent Chinese history. (Wee, 2/3)

The New York Times: China, Desperate To Stop Coronavirus, Turns Neighbor Against Neighbor 
One person was turned away by hotel after hotel after he showed his ID card. Another was expelled by fearful local villagers. A third found his most sensitive personal information leaked online after registering with the authorities. These outcasts are from Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province, where a rapidly spreading viral outbreak has killed more than 420 people in China and sent fear rippling around the world. They are pariahs in China, among the millions unable to go home and feared as potential carriers of the mysterious coronavirus. (Mozur, 2/3)

The Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Outbreak A Major Test Of China’s System, Says Xi Jinping
Chinese leader Xi Jinping described the coronavirus outbreak rampaging through central China as a major test of the country’s system of governance, and vowed consequences for officials who shirk responsibility in tackling the crisis. The first virus-related death in Hong Kong was confirmed Tuesday, hours after the special Chinese territory announced it was tightening its borders with the mainland. City Chief Executive Carrie Lam has stopped short of a full border closure. (Li, Abbott, and Wang, 2/3)

South China Morning Post: Coronavirus: China Says U.S. Action ‘Spreading Fear’ As Mainland Death Toll Hits 361
China has blamed the United States for spreading fears about the coronavirus and accused Washington of doing nothing to help contain the outbreak. The Chinese foreign ministry made the accusation on Monday, as the number of deaths in mainland China attributed to the coronavirus overtook the Sars epidemic of 2003. Mainland health officials also called on people to pay more attention to personal hygiene after traces of the coronavirus were found on surfaces such as a door handle. (Zhou, Wu, Pinchui and Wong, 2/3)

The Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Cases Rise Above 20,000 In China As Hong Kong Reports First Death
Macau moved to shut its casinos and China injected more cash into its banking system on Tuesday, as the number of confirmed cases of the coronavirus rose above 20,000 and Hong Kong reported its first death from the quickly spreading pathogen. Gambling center Macau, whose casinos rack up revenues that are more than six times that of the Las Vegas Strip, is closing casinos for two weeks because of the coronavirus, Chief Executive Ho Iat-seng said Tuesday. (Yang, 2/4)

The Associated Press: Experts Prepare But New China Virus Not A Pandemic Yet
Health authorities are preparing for a possible pandemic as they work to contain a respiratory illness in China that's caused by a new virus. Governments are limiting travel, isolating sick people and keeping travelers returning from the affected region under quarantine to watch for symptoms. In the United States, the scope and cost of the government response is increasing. U.S. health officials already have tapped into a $105 million rapid response fund and notified Congress that they may need $136 million more. (Johnson, 2/3)

Stat: Experts Envision Two Scenarios If New Coronavirus Isn't Contained
Researchers are therefore asking what seems like a defeatist question but whose answer has huge implications for public policy: What will a world with endemic 2019-nCoV — circulating permanently in the human population — be like? “It’s not too soon to talk about this,” said Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease specialist at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. “We know that respiratory viruses are especially difficult to control, so I think it’s very possible that the current outbreak ends with the virus becoming endemic.” (Begley, 2/4)

The Wall Street Journal: Health Officials Err On Side Of Caution To Contain Viral Outbreak
Amid the fast-moving coronavirus outbreak emanating from China, companies, governments and schools are developing policies on the fly to try to halt the spread, creating a live global public-health experiment in containment. In the U.S., some businesses and universities have told people who had recently returned from the epicenter of the outbreak or from mainland China to stay home for as long as two weeks after returning. The U.S. government also said on Friday that it would deny entry to foreign citizens who had traveled to China within the past 14 days and imposed a maximum two-week quarantine on Americans returning from Hubei province where the outbreak started. (Abbott, 2/3)

The New York Times: Hong Kong Reports First Death From Coronavirus Outbreak
A 39-year-old man in Hong Kong died Tuesday from the new coronavirus, the city’s Hospital Authority said. The death from the outbreak was the first in Hong Kong, a semiautonomous Chinese territory that has had 15 confirmed cases, and the second outside mainland China. A man in the Philippines who was from Wuhan, China — the epicenter of the outbreak — also died from the coronavirus, Philippine officials said Sunday. (2/3)

The New York Times: Hong Kong Tightens Border As Medical Workers Call For Shutdown
Hong Kong’s government said Monday that it would close more border checkpoints, as some medical workers went on strike to demand a complete ban on entries from mainland China to limit the outbreak of the new coronavirus. Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s top official, has faced increasing calls from hospital employees, the business community and even some pro-government lawmakers to further tighten border controls with mainland China, where the virus emerged in December. (Ramzy and May, 2/3)

The Associated Press: North Korea Making 'All-Out Efforts' To Guard Against Virus
North Korea said Tuesday it was mobilizing 30,000 health workers everyday in its “all-out efforts” to guard against the spread of a virus from neighboring China. North Korea hasn’t reported any case of the new coronavirus, but some experts say an epidemic in North Korea could be dire because of its chronic lack of medical supplies and poor health care infrastructure. (2/4)

The New York Times: China Pledged To Build A New Hospital In 10 Days. It’s Close.
People desperate for treatment started descending on a new hospital that was mostly built in just 10 days to help cope with the outbreak of the new coronavirus in the central city of Wuhan on Monday. Construction workers in hard hats, medical staff in hazmat suits, and men and women in army fatigues scrambled around the dusty site on Monday afternoon, dodging moving trucks, excavators and cranes. (Qin, 2/3)

The Washington Post: Hospital In Wuhan, China, Built In Days Amid Coronavirus Outbreak
Dubbed the “super-fast hospital” by the state-owned China Daily newspaper, construction of the 1,000-bed Huoshenshan facility began formally on Jan. 25. Officials hope the facility will relieve pressure on Wuhan’s overcrowded medical institutions, where some seeking care have been turned away because of a shortage of beds and basic supplies. It comes as the World Health Organization has cautioned against panic about the outbreak and praised China’s efforts to contain it, even as fears of transmission have continued to grow. (Brice-Saddler, 2/3)

The Wall Street Journal: How China Built A Coronavirus Hospital In 10 Days
The Huoshenshan hospital spans about eight acres and includes an intensive care unit, patient wards, consultation rooms, medical equipment rooms and more. Separate quarantine wards were built to minimize cross-infection risks, according to state broadcaster China Central Television. The hospital is a two-story building consisting of prefabricated units, according to China State Construction Engineering Corp.’s website. Videos and images of construction at the Huoshenshan site began appearing online on Jan. 24, showing dozens of excavators, bulldozers and other earthmoving equipment rushing to level the ground. The construction companies then added several layers of matting and poured concrete. The hospital units are on pillars to keep them off the ground. The units are made of flat boards that hook together. (Wang, Zhu and Umlauf, 2/3)

The New York Times: Deputy Secretary Of Veterans Affairs Is Abruptly Dismissed
In a sign of continuing turmoil at the Department of Veterans Affairs, a deputy secretary in charge of key initiatives was dismissed on Monday, just as the agency rolls out complex changes to its health care system and a plan to address veterans suicide. “Today, I dismissed V.A. deputy secretary James Byrne due to loss of confidence in Mr. Byrne’s ability to carry out his duties,” Robert L. Wilkie, the secretary of veterans affairs, said in a statement. “This decision is effective immediately.” (Steinhauer, 2/3)

The Wall Street Journal: VA’s Deputy Secretary Dismissed By Department’s Top Official
Mr. Byrne was asked to resign earlier in the day but declined to do so, people familiar with the matter said. Mr. Wilkie then fired him. Messrs. Byrne and Wilkie recently clashed over the department’s handling of allegations of sexual assault at a Washington, D.C., VA medical center, people familiar with the matter said. No charges were filed after an investigation begun after allegations made in September and whose findings were released in January by the VA Office of Inspector General. The report wasn’t made public, and the people familiar with the matter didn’t provide details about the allegations. (Kesling, 2/3)

Politico: Deputy VA Secretary Fired After Less Than 5 Months On The Job
Byrne was only confirmed in the Senate on Sept. 11 by an 81-11 vote. His departure continues a trend of leadership turmoil at President Donald Trump’s Department of Veterans Affairs. The president’s first VA Secretary, David Shulkin, was forced out after questions emerged about taxpayer-funded travels, and his pick to replace Shulkin, then-White House physician Ronny Jackson, withdrew from consideration amid reports of misconduct on the job. (Oprysko, 2/3)

Politico: Indicted Parnas Associate Was Set To Partner With VA On Cannabis Research
A businessman facing federal charges over an alleged plot to trade political donations for help obtaining marijuana licenses around the country was working on a medical cannabis research deal with the Department of Veterans Affairs just weeks before his indictment. Andrey Kukushkin, a Ukraine-born cannabis investor whose multistate marijuana projects and political donations were allegedly illegally funded by a Russian national, was set to partner with the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center in September on a five-year research and development agreement to study medical cannabis therapies for cancer, according to a copy of the proposed agreement reviewed by POLITICO. (Bertrand and Zhang, 2/3)

The Associated Press: Some Hospitals Wary As New Liver Transplant Rules Begin
Long-delayed rules that will more broadly share scarce donated livers go into effect Tuesday, to the dismay of some hospitals in Tennessee, Kansas and other states that fear their patients may lose out. Where you live makes a difference in how sick you have to be to get an organ transplant, and wealthier patients sometimes travel to other states to get on shorter waiting lists. The new rules are an attempt to ease that geographic disparity by giving the sickest patients first chance at a donated liver even if it has to be flown about 500 miles to reach them. (2/3)

The Washington Post: Trial Of Promising HIV Vaccine Fails In South Africa
A broad study of a promising vaccine for HIV has ended in failure after an interim analysis showed it was no more effective than a placebo, researchers announced Monday. Vaccinations were halted after an independent monitoring panel for the “Uhambo” study in South Africa determined on Jan. 23 that 129 people who received the vaccine developed HIV while 123 who were given a placebo contracted the infection. (Bernstein, 2/3)

The Wall Street Journal: Patients Often Get Antibiotics Without A Doctor Visit, Study Finds
Patients widely received antibiotics with no record of seeing a doctor, a nationwide study found, despite recommendations that doctors physically screen patients to prevent unnecessary prescriptions that could contribute to superbugs. Researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Northwestern University looked through a decade of medical bills for 53 million people nationwide. They found nearly 83 million antibiotic prescriptions that were filled with no record of an associated doctor visit that could have verified that the antibiotics were necessary. (Evans, 2/3)

The Wall Street Journal: CVS Sloughs Off Key Player In Aetna Deal
CVS Health Corp. announcement Monday that former Aetna Inc. Chief Executive Mark Bertolini will leave the CVS board exposed tensions underlying one of the biggest U.S. health-care mergers. Mr. Bertolini joined the board after the pharmacy operator paid nearly $70 billion to buy the health insurer in 2018. The two companies promised an ambitious health-care transformation, melding their varied businesses of filling prescriptions, managing drug benefits and providing health insurance to reduce costs and improve customer experience. (Wilde Mathews, 2/3)

The Wall Street Journal: The Flu Is Hitting Children Especially Hard This Season
Every day for the past few months, children have appeared in Ari Brown’s pediatric office in Austin, Texas, and tested positive for influenza. “About 10% of the patients we’re seeing every day have the flu,” says Dr. Brown. “We’ve had five this morning.” Public attention is fixated on the coronavirus. But the far more widespread flu virus is infecting people across the country—and hitting children particularly hard. (Reddy, 2/3)

Stat: Brain 'Hot Spot' May Explain Why African Americans Feel Greater Pain
Despite the persistence of the slavery-era myth that African Americans are less sensitive to pain than people of other backgrounds (as a large fraction of white laypeople, medical students, and hospital residents in a 2016 study believed), the science is unambiguous. African Americans, and in some studies Latinxs, report more pain from the identical stimulus (being touched with something very hot, for instance) than non-Hispanic white people. Yet somewhat surprisingly, when it seems that every mental and emotional experience has been analyzed with brain imaging, the neurobiological mechanisms for that heightened pain sensitivity have been unclear. (Begley, 2/3)

NPR: Study Links Autism To 'Insulation' That Coats Brain Cells And Speeds Signals
Scientists have found a clue to how autism spectrum disorder disrupts the brain's information highways. The problem involves cells that help keep the traffic of signals moving smoothly through brain circuits, a team reported Monday in the journal Nature Neuroscience. The team found that in both mouse and human brains affected by autism, there's an abnormality in cells that produce a substance called myelin. (Hamilton, 2/3)

NPR: U.S. Sees Sharp Drop In Visit To Primary Care Providers, As Costs Rise
Efforts across the U.S. in recent years to encourage medical students, nurse practitioners and others to go into primary care, especially in underserved areas, are built on a consensus in research: Primary care is good for patients. "It's the foundation of the health care system," says Dr. Ishani Ganguli, Harvard assistant professor of medicine and physician in general internal medicine and primary care at Brigham and Women's Hospital. (Renken, 2/3)

The New York Times: Why Fruits And Vegetables May Lower Alzheimer’s Risk
Flavonols, a large class of compounds found in most fruits and vegetables, may be associated with a reduced risk for Alzheimer’s disease. Flavonols are known to have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects, and animal studies have suggested they may improve memory and learning. A study in Neurology involved 921 men and women, average age 81 and free of dementia, who reported their diet using well-validated food questionnaires. During an average follow-up of six years, 220 developed Alzheimer’s disease. (Bakalar, 2/4)

The Associated Press: Prince Doctor To Pay $4K Civil Penalty For Prescription
A Minnesota medical board has disciplined a doctor who treated Prince for prescribing pain medication for the pop megastar in another person's name. The Minnesota Board of Medical Practice last month reprimanded Dr. Michael Schulenberg and ordered him to pay a civil penalty of $4,648. The board did not name Prince, but the Star Tribune reports he was identified as “Patient No. 1” and his longtime friend and bodyguard Kirk Johnson as “Patient No. 2.” (2/3)

The Associated Press: Mississippi Has At Least 15th Inmate Death In Recent Weeks
Another inmate has died in Mississippi, bringing the total to at least 15 in the state prison system since late December. Jesus Garcia, 39, was found unresponsive in his cell Saturday at the Wilkinson County Correctional Facility, according to a statement from Management & Training Corporation, the private company that operates the prison. (2/3)

The Washington Post: Poppy Seed Defense: Rebecca Hernandez’s Newborn Was Taken Away After False-Positive Opiate Test
An Alabama mother is calling for institutional changes after she lost custody of her baby within hours of giving birth Tuesday. Citing a same-day drug screening, health officials said they had detected traces of opiates in her system. But she was clean. Rebecca Hernandez was forced to spend three days apart from her newborn boy as she awaited a confirmatory test. By then, her doctor had already theorized a likely culprit behind the false-positive result: the poppy seed bread Hernandez ate Monday. (Brice-Saddler, 2/3)