First Edition: January 10, 2019
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Kaiser Health News:
Extreme Temperatures May Pose Risks To Some Mail-Order Meds
Take a look at your prescription bottles. Most say “Store at room temperature” or “Keep refrigerated.” But what happens when drugs are delivered by mail? Were those instructions followed as the medicine wended its way from the pharmacy to your doorstep? Those questions haunt Loretta Boesing, who lives in Park Hills, a small town in the hills of eastern Missouri, where the weather varies dramatically from season to season. (Smith, 1/10)
The Washington Post:
House Votes To Protect Health-Care Law As Democrats Put GOP On Record
In the first health-care vote since Democrats seized the House majority, the chamber on Wednesday gave itself the power to intervene legally after a federal judge ruled that the Affordable Care Act was unconstitutional. Wednesday’s vote was largely symbolic — Democrats voted last week to authorize legal action as part of a broader rules package — but it was the first time that lawmakers were presented with a discrete measure dealing with what was a dominant issue in the Nov. 6 midterm elections. (DeBonis, 1/9)
The Hill:
Dems Hit GOP On Health Care With Additional ObamaCare Lawsuit Vote
Democrats framed Wednesday's vote as proof that Republicans don't want to safeguard protections for people with pre-existing conditions — one of the law’s most popular provisions. “If you support coverage for pre-existing conditions, you will support this measure to try to protect it. It’s that simple,” said Rules Committee Chairman Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) before the vote. (Hellmann, 1/9)
NPR:
House Democrats Look To Hearings And Courts To Protect Affordable Care Act
In her first speech as speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi made it clear that she knows that health care is key to why voters sent Democrats to Congress. "In the past two years the American people have spoken," Pelosi told members of Congress and their families who were gathered Thursday in the House chamber for the opening day of the session. "Tens of thousands of public events were held, hundreds of thousands of people turned out, millions of calls were made, countless families, even sick little children — our little lobbyists, our little lobbyists — bravely came forward to tell their stories and they made a big difference," said Pelosi, a California Democrat. What is the Democrats' mandate? (Kodjak, 1/9)
Politico:
Veteran House Dems Poised To Get Seats On Exclusive Committees
Three former Democratic House members who were again elected in 2018 appear to have the inside track to gain seats on highly sought-after House committees. Newly-elected Democratic Reps. Ed Case of Hawaii and Ann Kirkpatrick of Arizona are being considered for spots on House Appropriations, and Steven Horsford of Nevada is being considered for Ways and Means. All three are on the final slates for the committees but their assignments will not be finalized until the entire caucus votes in the coming days. (Barron-Lopez, Caygle and Bresnahan, 1/9)
The Associated Press:
Routine Food Inspections Halted By US Government Shutdown
Routine food inspections aren't getting done because of the partial government shutdown, but checks of the riskiest foods are expected to resume next week, the Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday. The agency said it's working to bring back about 150 employees to inspect riskier foods such as cheese, infant formula and produce. FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said the agency can't make the case that "a routine inspection of a Nabisco cracker facility" is necessary during the shutdown, however. (Choi, 1/9)
The New York Times:
Government Shutdown Curtails F.D.A. Food Inspections
F.D.A. inspectors normally examine operations at about 160 domestic manufacturing and food processing plants each week. Nearly one-third of them are considered to be at high risk of causing food-borne illnesses. Food-borne diseases in the United States send about 128,000 people to the hospital each year, and kill 3,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Domestic meat and poultry are still being inspected by staff at the Agriculture Department, but they are going without pay. The F.D.A. oversees about 80 percent of the nation’s food supply, as well as most overseas imports. (Kaplan, 1/9)
The Washington Post:
FDA Food Inspections, Reduced By Shutdown Furloughs, Put 'Food Supply At Risk'
Food inspections are just one of the public health and safety efforts that have been cut or curtailed during the shutdown, now deep into its third week. The federal government also keeps airplanes from colliding, inspects pharmaceutical drugs, pursues criminals and defends against possible terrorist and cyberattacks. It is a 24-7-365 effort to make Americans safer.But a shutdown upends the calculus of risk management as agencies including the FBI, Coast Guard, Secret Service, FDA, Federal Aviation Administration and Agriculture Department face drastically reduced resources. (McGinley and Achenbach, 1/9)
Reuters:
Multistate E.Coli Infection Outbreak Appears To Be Over: CDC
The multistate outbreak of E. coli infections linked to romaine lettuce from the Central Coastal growing regions in northern and central California appears to be over, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Wednesday. (1/9)
Reuters:
U.S. Government Says Shutdown May Slow Resolution Of CVS/Aetna Court Process
The Justice Department has said in a court filing that a partial government shutdown could delay its response to comments on pharmacy chain CVS Health Corp's purchase of health insurer Aetna, a necessary step in a court giving final approval to the deal. Judge Richard Leon of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has been reviewing a consent decree reached by the government and the companies in October to allow their $69 billion merger. The deal has closed, although Judge Leon has required that some aspects of integration be halted during the review process. (1/9)
The Washington Post:
How Food Stamps, Housing Subsidies And Other Programs For Americans In Need Will Be Hit By Shutdown
The waterlogged ceiling of Betty Gay’s rural Kentucky home sags so low that she hits her head on the light fixture. She’s only 5-foot-1. When it rains, the retired nurse’s aide covers her bathroom floor with buckets and towels. Mold festers on the damp walls. Gay, 70, was counting on a $20,000 loan from the Agriculture Department this winter to patch the hole in the roof of the ranch-style Mount Sterling home she’s lived in for 30 years. But the money is on hold. (Jan and Wan, 1/9)
The New York Times:
Shutdown Means E.P.A. Pollution Inspectors Aren’t On The Job
The two-week-old shutdown has halted one of the federal government’s most important public health activities, the inspections of chemical factories, power plants, oil refineries, water treatment plants, and thousands of other industrial sites for pollution violations. The Environmental Protection Agency has furloughed most of its roughly 600 pollution inspectors and other workers who monitor compliance with environmental laws. (Davenport, 1/9)
Reuters:
Trump Storms Out Of Talks On Shutdown, Bemoans 'Total Waste Of Time'
U.S. President Donald Trump stormed out of talks with Democratic congressional leaders on Wednesday over funding for a border wall with Mexico and reopening the government, complaining the meeting at the White House was "a total waste of time." On the 19th day of a partial government shutdown caused by the dispute over the wall, a short meeting that included Trump, House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer ended in acrimony with no sign of a resolution. (Zengerle, 1/10)
The Associated Press:
California's Top Lawyer Offers Look Inside Trump Offensive
[California Attorney General Xavier] Becerra has been among the most aggressive of the Democratic state attorneys general who have battled Trump in court. Since former Gov. Jerry Brown appointed him to the job two years ago, Becerra has taken on the Trump administration in nearly 100 briefs and other legal actions, including 45 lawsuits filed mostly over immigration, the environment and health care and often joined by other attorneys general. He has notched some significant victories, though many of the cases are still pending in court. But his office's operation against the Trump administration — who works on the cases, how much it costs and how the office approaches potential suits — has largely remained opaque. (Thanawala, 1/10)
The Associated Press:
A Look At California's Key Lawsuits Against Trump
Becerra sued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in October 2017 over rules that allowed more employers to opt out of providing women with no-cost birth control. A judge blocked the rules, and an appeals court in December upheld that decision. The administration has revised the rules, prompting another, ongoing court battle. (1/10)
Stateline:
Medicaid ‘Buy-In’ Could Be A New Health Care Option For The Uninsured
Even as calls for “Medicare for All” grow louder among Democrats in Washington, D.C., at least 10 states are exploring whether to allow residents to pay premiums to “buy in” to Medicaid, the federal-state health care program for the poor. Currently, Medicaid recipients pay for their coverage in only a handful of states, and the buy-in plans that states are considering might not offer the full range of benefits available to traditional beneficiaries. But advocates say the policies might be an appealing option for people hard-pressed to pay for plans on the health care exchanges, and spur competition that could lower prices for everybody. (Ollove, 1/10)
The Wall Street Journal:
Health-Care CEOs Outline Strategies At J.P. Morgan Conference
One of the biggest health conferences of the year for investors, the J.P. Morgan Health-Care Conference, is taking place this week in San Francisco. Here are some of the hot topics covered at the four-day event, which wraps up Thursday. (Loftus and Wilde Mathews, 1/9)
Stat:
For Tiny Biotechs, J.P. Morgan Is A Big Opportunity — And A Big Cost
For the smallest, newest companies, the conference acts as something of a corporate debutante ball — a way for executives to introduce their work to biotech’s high society and (hopefully) catch an investor’s eye. That’s why NeuBase Therapeutics is attending this year. The company, which is working on drugs based on antisense oligonucleotides to treat genetic conditions, announced a reverse merger with Ohr Pharmaceutical on January 3, which would allow its stock to trade publicly. (Sheridan, 1/10)
The Washington Post:
Drugmakers’ Alleged Scare Tactics May Hold Back Competition
Health care and government officials are growing concerned that the makers of the most advanced drug therapies are using scare tactics to ward off emerging generic versions of their products, a bid to protect profits that has enormous implications for the nation’s efforts to control health care costs. Doctors, drug companies and the nation’s top drug regulator say the companies that make costly name-brand biologic drugs, which are grown from living cells, are sowing doubt about the wisdom of switching to cheaper, unbranded versions of their medicines — even though the Food and Drug Administration has certified they are safe and effective. (Rowland, 1/9)
The Hill:
Grassley Says Not In Favor Of Government Negotiating With Companies On Drug Prices
The new Republican chairman of the Senate Finance Committee squashed Democratic hopes Wednesday of passing a proposal to allow the government to negotiate directly with drug companies to lower prescription drug prices. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) told reporters he would pursue legislation to lower drug prices, but will not pursue the Democratic proposal on negotiations. (Hellmann, 1/9)
The Associated Press:
Experimental App Might Spot Drug Overdoses In Time To Help
Too often people die of an opioid overdose because no one's around to notice they're in trouble. Now scientists are creating a smartphone app that beams sound waves to measure breathing — and summon help if it stops. The app is still experimental. But in a novel test, the "Second Chance" app detected early signs of overdose in the critical minutes after people injected heroin or other illegal drugs, researchers reported Wednesday. (Neergaard, 1/9)
The Hill:
House Dems Call On Leadership To Prioritize Opioid Epidemic
More than 60 House Democrats are urging leadership to make the opioid crisis a top priority in the new Congress. The Democrats said Congress should dedicate more funding and staff to addressing the crisis, which killed 47,600 people in 2017. ... Congress passed a massive bill last session increasing access to treatment and recovery, but Democrats and some Republicans wanted more funding for the crisis. (Hellmann, 1/9)
The Associated Press:
Judge Dismisses Opioid Crisis Lawsuits Against Drugmakers
A Connecticut judge has dismissed lawsuits against Purdue Pharma and two dozen other drug companies brought by 37 cities and towns in the state, which blame them for the opioid crisis and seek to recoup millions of dollars spent on emergency response and other services. Judge Thomas Moukawsher in Hartford Superior Court ruled Tuesday that the lawsuits were not allowed because they were not government enforcement actions, such as those filed under consumer protection and public health laws. Instead, the judge said the lawsuits were filed as "ordinary civil cases" seeking money damages for the "indirect harm" from the opioid crisis. (1/9)
The Associated Press:
Scientists Seek Ways To Finally Take A Real Measure Of Pain
There's no stethoscope for pain. Now, U.S. health officials are pushing for development of a pain meter, the first objective way to measure it. The National Institutes of Health stresses the goal isn't a lie detector for pain, but to spur better treatment. A device that peeks into patients' eyes is among the approaches in early-stage studies. The theory is that patterns of pupil reactions could signal pain, and what drug might help. (1/10)
Stat:
With Search For Alzheimer's Drugs Failing, Tech Firms Offer Solutions
The drug industry’s foundering search for an Alzheimer’s cure is fueling a parallel quest by technology companies to help patients and family caregivers cope with the disease by using virtual reality software, robotics, and novel communication tools. Several companies engaged in the effort gathered here on Wednesday to deliver a unified message: Waiting for pharma to deliver a miracle is a recipe for financial Armageddon, as the cost of treating Alzheimer’s is expected to quadruple, to more than $1 trillion in the U.S. by 2030, if no breakthrough treatments reach the market. (Ross, 1/10)
The Wall Street Journal:
How Fertility Rates Vary Around The Country
The birthrate in America has been declining, but some places are more fertile than others, according to a new look at federal data that reveals significant variation in fertility rates around the country. Only South Dakota’s and Utah’s fertility rates reached the level needed to sustain the current population. The number of babies born in 2017, around 3.85 million, was the lowest since 1987. In order for the country’s population to essentially replace itself, researchers say that 2,100 babies should be born for every 1,000 women. In 2017, the total fertility rate—an estimate of the total number of children a woman will eventually have in her lifetime—was 1,765 births per 1,000 women, well below what is known as the replacement level. (Abbott, 1/10)
The New York Times:
Artificial Sweeteners, Not Good, Not Bad
Artificial sweeteners offer no health benefits, a large review of studies found. But it found no proof that they do any harm, either. Researchers looked at 35 observational studies and 21 controlled trials of nonsugar sweeteners in children and adults. Some compared intake of sweeteners with no intake; others compared lower with higher intakes. They found no convincing evidence that nonsugar sweeteners had any effect in adults on eating behavior, cancer, cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, mood, behavior or cognition. (Bakalar, 1/9)
The New York Times:
Hormone Replacement Skin Patches Don’t Raise Risk For Blood Clots
Oral hormone replacement therapy, or H.R.T., increases the risk for potentially fatal blood clots. But a study in BMJ found that hormone replacement delivered through the skin by injection or skin patch entails no increased risk for blood clots. British researchers looked at 80,396 women who had blood clots while on various H.R.T. regimens, comparing them with 391,494 controls. (Bakalar, 1/9)
The New York Times:
The Death Of The Sick Day
Adam Toren remembers the last time he crawled into bed, pulled the covers over his head and took off sick from work. “My whole family got wracked by the flu around 2006,” said Mr. Toren, a tech entrepreneur and writer. “Hopefully, that was the last time.” Thirteen years later, Mr. Toren, who lives in Phoenix, said he has not missed another day of work from illness, a streak of which he is exceedingly proud. To keep it going, “I monitor my sleep cycles,” he said, laying out the things he believes keep him healthy. “I don’t drink coffee. I drink specialty teas — Gyukuro, a Japanese tea. I take turmeric and resveratrol,” a supplement. (Kurutz, 1/10)
CNN:
How Does Someone In A Vegetative State Have A Baby?
News of a woman in a vegetative state for more than a decade giving birth to a boy on December 29 has stirred emotions nationwide. The rare medical event raises many questions, including: How can a woman who is unconscious give birth?" It is very rare," said Dr. Deborah Feldman, who has heard about "maybe two or three cases" in the past two decades. Feldman, director for maternal fetal medicine at Hartford HealthCare Medical Group, treated a woman 20 years ago who had a stroke that rendered her brain-dead during her second trimester and who went on to have the baby. Feldman has read about, but has no direct knowledge of, the Arizona case. (Scutti, 1/9)
The Associated Press:
Comatose Woman Who Had Baby Is Hospitalized, Police Say
An Arizona woman in a vegetative state who had a baby after she was sexually assaulted at a long-term care facility is recovering at a hospital along with her child, authorities said Wednesday as they ramped up the search for a suspect in a case that's made shockwaves. (Tang, 1/9)
Los Angeles Times:
Trump Threatens To Cut Off Disaster Funding For California Fire Victims
President Trump injected new uncertainty into California’s wildfire recovery efforts, tweeting early Wednesday that he has ordered the Federal Emergency Management Agency not to send more disaster funding to state officials “unless they get their act together, which is unlikely.” Neither the White House nor FEMA provided clarification, in response to emails and calls, about whether Trump’s threat was bluster like other tweets he has sent making false assertions while criticizing the state’s fire management, or if he has actually ordered a funding cutoff to thousands of Californians trying to rebuild after the devastating fires late last year. (Wire and Bierman, 1/9)
The Associated Press:
Idaho Appeals Ruling Ordering Surgery For Transgender Inmate
Idaho said Wednesday it will appeal a recent court ruling ordering the state to provide gender confirmation surgery to a transgender inmate. The Idaho Department of Correction filed a notice advising U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill that the state will appeal his ruling to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The inmate would be the first in Idaho to get the procedure while in state custody and only the second inmate in the nation to receive the surgery. (1/9)
The Washington Post:
Study: Bullying Rates At Virginia Middle Schools Were Higher In Trump Country After His Election
In spring 2017, not long after President Trump took office, bullying rates among Virginia middle school students were 18 percent higher in places where voters had chosen Trump over Hillary Clinton, a study says. There were no meaningful differences in bullying and teasing rates between Democratic and Republican localities before the 2016 election. But a statewide sample of more than 155,000 seventh- and eighth-grade students across Virginia’s 132 school districts suggested a correlation between voter preference and the rise in bullying after Trump was inaugurated. (Strauss, 1/9)
The Associated Press:
Arkansas Moves Closer Toward Launching Medical Pot Program
An Arkansas panel on Wednesday named 32 companies it intends to license to sell medical marijuana, two years after voters approved its legalization and following a series of delays that have frustrated patients and advocates. The state Medical Marijuana Commission approved the scores from an outside consultant it had hired to evaluate about 200 applications for dispensaries. (1/9)
The Associated Press:
Virginia Firm Says It Has License To Study Medical Marijuana
A research firm in Virginia says it has gotten a federal license to import high-quality extracts of marijuana for medical research. The Virginian-Pilot reported Wednesday that Sanyal Biotechnology will soon embark on a series of critical studies into treatment of various diseases and disorders. (1/10)