First Edition: January 11, 2016

Kaiser Health News: Telenovelas, Spanish Website Seek To Inform Hispanics About Kidney Donations
Infórmate, a new bilingual website, [is] dedicated to using culturally familiar methods to educate Latinos about options for living kidney donation. The marketing strategy is intended to address a growing need among Latinos. Kidney failure in this population has increased by more than 70 percent since 2000, and more than 23,000 Latinos are on the kidney transplant list, according to federal statistics. But too often, researchers and doctors said, families are not aware of the transplant regimen involving a live donor and have unfounded fears about what could happen if they volunteer to offer a kidney to a relative or friend. (Kritz, 1/11)

The New York Times: Obama’s Last State Of The Union Address Aims To Set Tone For ’16 Campaign
For the final time, President Obama will mount the rostrum in the House chamber on Tuesday to deliver a State of the Union address. But this time, aides said, he will not bring with him a long list of proposals that will languish in Congress. Instead, Mr. Obama plans a thematic message that effectively will be as much a campaign agenda as a governing document. ... Among the ideas being discussed [as a centerpiece for the speech] was a new “moon shot” to cure cancer, sought by Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., whose son Beau died of brain cancer last year. Mr. Biden at one point hoped to include a major new initiative in the State of the Union, but it has taken time to sort through the options and create a plan, so while it will be referred to in the speech, the vice president will wait to make a major rollout in the next few weeks. (Baker, 1/10)

The New York Times: Obama Vetoes Bill To Repeal Health Law And End Planned Parenthood Funding
President Obama vetoed legislation Friday that would have repealed the Affordable Care Act and stripped all federal funds from Planned Parenthood, writing in his veto message that the measure would “reverse the significant progress we have made in improving health care in America.” Mr. Obama’s veto — only the eighth of his presidency — was expected, and his decision to issue a simple message without holding a public ceremony indicated that he did not wish to draw attention to the showdown. Republicans do not have the votes in the House or the Senate to override the veto. (Harris, 1/8)

The Associated Press: Obama Vetoes Bill To Repeal Signature Health Care Law
The veto was expected. But Republicans claimed victory nonetheless, arguing that they met two goals by finally passing a repeal bill: keeping a promise to voters in an election year, and showing that they are capable of repealing the law if a Republican wins November’s presidential election. All the GOP presidential candidates support repealing the law widely referred to as “Obamacare.” (Superville, 1/8)

The New York Times: Insurers Say Costs Are Climbing As More Enroll Past Health Act Deadline
Eager to maximize coverage under the Affordable Care Act, the Obama administration has allowed large numbers of people to sign up for insurance after the deadlines in the last two years, destabilizing insurance markets and driving up premiums, health insurance companies say. The administration has created more than 30 “special enrollment” categories and sent emails to millions of Americans last year urging them to see if they might be able to sign up after the annual open enrollment deadline. But, insurers and state officials said, the federal government did little to verify whether late arrivals were eligible. (Pear, 1/9)

Los Angeles Times: California Regulators Are Urged To Scrutinize Health Insurance Mega-Mergers
California is becoming a battleground state in the fight over health insurance mega-mergers. Consumer advocates are putting pressure on regulators in California and a dozen other key states to scrutinize the deals amid concerns that consumers will be left with fewer choices and higher costs. There's a lot at stake for families and employers if the deals go through and leave three health insurers in control of nearly half of the U.S. commercial insurance market. (Terhune, 1/11)

The Associated Press: Planned Parenthood Backing Clinton In Primary Race
Planned Parenthood is swinging behind Hillary Clinton in the Democratic presidential race and says that won't mean negative campaigning against her primary opponents. Accepting the endorsement Sunday in New Hampshire, Clinton sought to energize her Democratic base with a passionate pledge to always protect reproductive rights. And she painted a dark picture of what women's health care would look like under a Republican president, singling out two of the top Republican contenders by name. (1/10)

The New York Times: Law On Ultrasounds Reignites Abortion Battle In North Carolina
A state law requiring that doctors who perform an abortion after the 16th week of pregnancy supply an ultrasound to state officials has sparked a new and bitter front in the war over abortion here, with stakes that are both personal and political. Supporters say the purpose of the law is to verify that doctors and clinics are complying with state law, which outlaws abortions after 20 weeks but with an exception made for medical emergencies. Critics say the purpose is to intimidate and provide hurdles to women and doctors. (Fausset, 1/10)

The Wall Street Journal: Drugmakers Raise Prices Despite Criticisms
Drugmakers didn’t let up on price increases with the start of a new year, demonstrating the industry’s pricing power in the face of mounting criticisms of prescription costs in the U.S. Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. on Jan 1 raised the price of its new drug Hetlioz, which treats a sleep disorder in blind people, by 10%, to $148,000 a year. Since New Year’s Day, Pfizer has raised list prices an average of 10.6% for more than 60 branded products with annual U.S. sales of at least $10 million, according to Deutsche Bank. Prices for eight of the products went up at least 20%. (Loftus, 1/10)

Politico: Adding The Patient Voice To Drug Development
“Patient focused drug development” is more than the buzzword for Bray Patrick-Lake. Seemingly healthy and athletic, Patrick-Lake discovered she had a hole between two chambers of her heart after she collapsed while six months pregnant with her second child. She suffered debilitating migraines, was put on oxygen and told there was nothing more doctors could do. She turned to the Internet, ultimately finding a clinical trial of a medical device, which was implanted in her heart. The trial got canceled in 2008 — which she learned about not from her doctors or the device maker, but from a Google alert. (Karlin, 1/11)

NPR: Anatomy Of Addiction: How Heroin And Opioids Hijack The Brain
They trigger the release of dopamine, which is a neurotransmitter that causes intense pleasure in parts of the brain that include the limbic system, according to Savage. It links brain areas that control and regulate emotions such as the pleasure of eating, drinking, and sex. "This is a very ancient part of the human brain that's necessary for survival," says Savage. "All drugs that people use to get high tickle this part of the brain." (Rodolico, 1/11)

Los Angeles Times: Afrezza Patients Worry They'll Lose Access To Their Insulin
As Valencia drugmaker MannKind scrambles to replace the strategic partner it was relying on to market and distribute its Afrezza inhalable insulin treatment, diabetics who have come to rely on the drug are wondering whether they’ll be able to continue using it — despite assurances that it will remain available. (Rufus Koren, 1/8)

The New York Times: Doctors Unionize To Resist The Medical Machine
The outsourcing of hospitalists became relatively common in the last decade, driven by a combination of factors. There is the obvious hunger for efficiency gains. But there is also growing pressure on hospitals to measure quality and keep people healthy after they are discharged. This can be a complicated data collection and management challenge that many hospitals, especially smaller ones, are not set up for and that some outsourcing companies excel in. ... It was the idea that they could end up seeing more patients that prompted outrage among the hospitalists at Sacred Heart, which has two facilities in the [Springfield, Ore.] area, with a total of nearly 450 beds. ... Some Sacred Heart hospitalists left for other jobs, and the rest formed a union, one of the first of its kind in the country. (Scheiber, 1/9)

The Associated Press: Secondhand Smoke Hits Almost Half Of Teens Who Don’t Smoke
Even though fewer U.S. teens are smoking, secondhand smoke remains a big problem for them, a government study found. Nearly half of nonsmoking kids in middle school and high school encountered secondhand tobacco smoke in 2013, and rates were even higher among smokers. (Tanner, 1/11)

The Washington Post: Va. Lawmakers, McAuliffe Poised For Fight And Compromise This Session
Take one governor bent on furthering his liberal policies. Add a Republican-controlled legislature determined to stop him. It’s a recipe for partisan fireworks that will heat up Mr. Jefferson’s Capitol when the General Assembly reconvenes Wednesday. But amid expected fights over Medicaid, gun control and climate change, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) and Republican lawmakers are showing signs that they will try something new: compromise. ... But the session is expected to bring its share of partisan tension, as well. The No. 1 issue both parties have tangled over is Medicaid expansion. For the third straight year, McAuliffe called on lawmakers to cover 400,000 uninsured Virginians under the Affordable Care Act. ... This time [McAuliffe is] trying something new. (Portnoy, 1/9)

USA Today: Texas Allows Guns Into State Mental Health Hospitals
As of New Years Day, licensed gun owners in Texas have been allowed to openly carry firearms into restaurants, shops and zoos. Add a new place to the gun-friendly list: state mental health hospitals. (Jervis, 1/8)