First Edition: June 11, 2019
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Kaiser Health News:
Using Obamacare Authority, Trump Aims To Shift Dialysis Care To Patients’ Homes
Dr. Mark Rosenberg, president of the American Society of Nephrology, said he was pleased that some of the new payment models offered by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services have only “upside” potential for doctors. He said doctors now get paid more to see their patients at the dialysis center than at home. As a result, there is little incentive to promote home dialysis options. “I have been a kidney doctor for 35 years, and this is the most game-changing thing ever to happen,” he said. (Galewitz, 7/10)
Kaiser Health News:
Biden Calling ACA ‘Breakthrough’ For Mental Health Parity Highlights Gaps
In a sit-down interview with CNN, 2020 Democratic presidential primary candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden touted the Obama administration’s passage of the Affordable Care Act, asserting that this law evened out the playing field when it came to insurance coverage of mental and physical health. “We made parity between mental health and physical health,” Biden told CNN’s Chris Cuomo. “It was a fundamental breakthrough in how we thought about how things should work.” (Luthra, 7/11)
Kaiser Health News:
Medicare Going In ‘Right Direction’ On Opioid Epidemic
Prescriptions for two drugs used to treat opioid addiction increased significantly from 2016 to 2018 for people on Medicare, according to a federal report out Wednesday. About 174,000 Medicare beneficiaries received such a medication — either buprenorphine or naltrexone — to help them with recovery in 2018, according to the Office of Inspector General in the Department of Health and Human Services. (Bebinger, 7/10)
The New York Times:
Trump Proposes Ways To Improve Care For Kidney Disease And Increase Transplants
President Trump issued a sweeping set of proposals aimed at improving medical care for the tens of millions of Americans who have kidney disease, a long-overlooked condition that kills more people than breast cancer. “This is a first, second and third step. It’s more than just a first step,” Mr. Trump said in a speech Wednesday, which was attended by patients, advocates and industry executives. (Abelson and Thomas, 7/10)
The Washington Post:
Trump Signs Executive Order Revamping Kidney Care, Organ Transplantation
In an executive order signed by President Trump Wednesday morning, the administration also committed to move many people receiving kidney dialysis away from commercial centers to less expensive, more convenient in-home care. By 2025, the administration wants 80 percent of newly-diagnosed kidney failure patients to receive a transplant or get dialysis at home. Trump, speaking at a morning ceremony at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, said the order delivers “groundbreaking action to millions of Americans suffering from kidney disease. It’s a big deal.” (Bernstein, 7/10)
The Hill:
Trump Signs Executive Order Aimed At Improving Kidney Disease Treatment
A key part of the plan would shake up a multibillion-dollar industry, run by two dialysis companies, that favors expensive treatment in health centers instead of home-based services that can be easier for patients. Currently, only 12 percent of dialysis patients receive treatment at home. Patients who receive dialysis in centers often go multiple times a week. (Hellmann, 7/10)
USA Today:
Trump Signs Executive Order Aimed At Helping Kidney Disease Patients
Officials cited a study that suggests long term it may be possible to find 17,000 more kidneys and 11,000 other organs from deceased donors for transplant every year. “It’s truly an exciting day for advancing kidney health in our country,” Trump said. (Cummings, 7/10)
NPR:
Trump Executive Order To Encourage In-Home Dialysis And More Kidney Donations
Better prevention of kidney failure is desperately needed, according to Dr. Holly Mattix-Kramer, a kidney specialist at Loyola University Chicago and the president of the National Kidney Foundation. Mattix-Kramer was among dozens of kidney specialists and patient advocates who attended the announcement Wednesday. "We're extremely excited," she says. "For so long we felt like no one was paying attention to this epidemic of kidney disease." (Simmons-Duffin and Wroth, 7/10)
The New York Times:
Trump’s Assault On Obamacare Could Undermine His Own Health Initiatives
In court, the Trump administration is trying to get all of Obamacare erased. But at the White House, President Trump and his health officials are busily using the law to pursue key proposals. Last week, the president highlighted a policy in the works meant to narrow the gaps between what drugs cost in the United States and overseas. On Wednesday, he signed an executive order to transform care for patients with kidney disease. Both measures were made possible by a provision in the Affordable Care Act, and both would be effectively gutted if the administration’s position prevailed in court. (Sanger-Katz, 7/11)
The Associated Press:
Asylum-Seeker Talks About Daughter's Death After US Custody
A Guatemalan mother seeking asylum told a House panel Wednesday that she came to the United States seeking safety, but instead watched her infant daughter die slowly and painfully after the baby received shoddy medical care while they were in immigration custody. As Yazmin Juárez spoke, an image of her brown-eyed baby girl, Mariee, was put up on television screens in the hearing room. (Long, 7/10)
Reuters:
'World Should Know,' Migrant Tells U.S. Congress Of Toddler's Death
Yazmin Juarez told a House of Representatives subcommittee that it was “like they tore out a piece of my heart” when just weeks after they were released her daughter Mariee died at 19 months old. She said she left a hospital with nothing but a piece of paper with two handprints in pink paint that staff had made for her, and described through a translator how she missed her daughter’s hugs. (Pietsch, 7/10)
The Hill:
Mother Of Toddler Who Died After ICE Detainment Testifies Before House Subcommittee
"Mariee was a healthy baby girl when she was taken into ICE custody. But 20 days later, she left with a life-threatening infection," she said. Small children do not belong in detention. But if ICE’s detention center had just been safe and sanitary – and if they’d given my daughter the proper medical care she needed – Mariee might still be here today, preparing to celebrate her third birthday in August." (Frazin, 7/10)
USA Today:
Guatemalan Migrant Testifies About Daughter's Illness, Eventual Death
“Your story has broken the heart of America,” said the subcommittee chairman, Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md. “But your courage has given us a second chance to get it right.” Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, called for a consensus on border security and asylum laws. He noted that Customs and Border Protection had rescued 3,000 people this year despite how thin its resources are stretched. “I cannot possibly imagine what you have gone through,” Roy said. “We have a broken immigration system and must act quickly.” (Jansen, 7/10)
The Washington Post:
‘Kids In Cages’: House Hearing Examines Immigration Detention As Democrats Push For More Information
No Trump administration officials testified at Wednesday’s hearing, but former acting ICE director Ronald Vitiello appeared at the request of Republican committee members. Vitiello retired in April after President Trump pulled his nomination to lead the agency; Trump said he wanted to go in a “tougher” direction on immigration enforcement. (Sacchetti, 7/10)
The New York Times:
A Drastic Drop In Migrant Arrivals On The Border: What’s Happening?
At its peak, the nonprofit shelter run by Jewish Family Service of San Diego held more than 300 migrants dropped off by United States immigration authorities after they crossed the border from Mexico. Some days this spring were so busy that new arrivals had to be sent to overflow sites. Now, the shelter is almost eerily empty. The number of people arriving there has plunged in recent weeks amid a precipitous decline in arrivals along the southern border, where the Department of Homeland Security said that apprehensions dropped 28 percent in June. (Jordan and Semple, 7/10)
Politico:
Border Arrests Dropped Sharply In June
A summer falloff in border arrests isn’t unusual. May-to-June declines occurred in nine of the last 10 years. But a senior CBP official argued Wednesday that June's decline was due partly to new border security measures put in place by Mexican and U.S. authorities following talks last month. “I would attribute Mexico to making some difference,” the official told reporters on a background call. (Hesson, 7/10)
Reuters:
U.S. Holding 200 Children At Border, Down From 2,500 In May
Almost all detained unaccompanied children picked up by border officers are being turned over to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) officials within 72 hours of apprehension, the official told reporters on a conference call, speaking on the condition he not be named. Criticism mounted after government inspectors and immigration lawyers found evidence children were being held long past legal limits at border facilities not equipped to house them. (Trotta and Chavez, 7/10)
The New York Times:
U.S. Prepares To Arrest Thousands Of Immigrant Family Members
Nationwide raids to arrest thousands of members of undocumented families have been scheduled to begin Sunday, according to two current and one former homeland security officials, moving forward with a rapidly changing operation, the final details of which remain in flux. The operation, backed by President Trump, had been postponed, partly because of resistance among officials at his own immigration agency. (Dickerson and Kanno-Youngs, 7/11)
The Associated Press:
New Holding Center For Migrant Children Opens In Texas
A former oilfield worker camp off a dirt road in rural Texas has become the U.S. government's newest holding center for detaining migrant children after they leave Border Patrol stations, where complaints of overcrowding and filthy conditions have sparked a worldwide outcry. (Merchant, 7/10)
The Hill:
Newly Opened Facility For Migrant Children Expected To Cost Up To $300 Million
The shelter, which was formerly used as a lodging facility for oil field workers, is one of two temporary “influx” shelters, the other being the Homestead facility in Florida. That facility is the administration's largest for unaccompanied children and currently houses around 2,300 children, but the number changes daily. (Weixel, 7/10)
The Wall Street Journal:
New Shelter For Migrant Teenagers Lacks Residents
For the first 60 days the facility is open, BCFS will be paid up to $50 million, according to federal contracting records. The records show the contract could be worth as much as $300 million through January. The dorms, which previously housed oil workers, have three-bedroom suites, each with two sets of bunk beds and a private bathroom. The young residents have decorated the rooms with drawings, including some of family, and flags from their home countries, which include Guatemala and El Salvador. (Caldwell, 7/10)
The Washington Post:
‘I Hate This Mission,’ Says Operator Of New Emergency Shelter For Migrant Children
As he stood before reporters in a newly opened emergency shelter for unaccompanied migrant children, the chief executive of the contracting firm that could be paid up to $300 million to run the facility was far from thrilled about the task before him. “I hate this mission,” Kevin Dinnin, head of the San Antonio-based nonprofit BCFS Health and Human Services, said on Wednesday in this remote Texas town. “The only reason we do it is to keep the kids out of the Border Patrol jail cells.” (Satija, 7/10)
The Hill:
Children Urge Congress To Renew Funds For Diabetes Research
More than 160 children with type 1 diabetes made a personal plea for lawmakers to approve more funding to research the disease at a hearing Wednesday before the Senate Special Committee on Aging. The children were dressed in blue shirts and Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins (R-Maine) also sported a light blue jacket in solidarity. “Your passion and hope for a cure are contagious,” Collins said. “I’m inspired by that sea of blue that is out there.” (Siegel, 7/10)
The Hill:
Support For Abortion Rights At Highest Point In Decades: Poll
The poll released Tuesday shows 60 percent of Americans consider abortion to be an important issue when considering how they will vote for president. A majority also said they disapprove of the way President Trump is handling abortion, 54 percent to 32 percent. (Hellmann, 7/10)
The Washington Post:
Abortion Access Is More Difficult For Women In Poverty
Women living below the federal poverty level are being disproportionately affected by tightening antiabortion regulations, particularly as clinics across the country have been closing in recent years. Poor women of childbearing age are more likely than other women to have to drive more than an hour to reach the closest abortion provider, according to drive-time analysis by The Washington Post. (Keating, Meko and Rindler, 7/10)
The Washington Post:
‘There’s A Lot Of Screaming Into The Void’: Toddler’s Parents Battle For Coverage Of $2.1 Million Gene Therapy
When a $2.1 million gene therapy offering the chance of a cure for her daughter’s rare disease won government approval in May, Lauren Sullivan was struck by a sense of “dangerous hope.’’ But after UnitedHealthcare said it would not cover the treatment, Sullivan’s hope has given way to an anxious race against the calendar. The Food and Drug Administration said the new drug, which works by replacing the defective gene that causes Daryn’s spinal muscular atrophy with a good one, must be administered by age 2. Daryn’s second birthday arrives in early October. (Rowland, 7/10)
The New York Times:
This Drug, Underused In The U.S., May Help Make H.I.V. Very Rare In Australia
It took universal health care, political will and a health campaign designed to terrify the public, but nearly four decades into the H.I.V. crisis, Australian researchers say the country is on a path toward making transmissions of the virus vanishingly rare. The fight is not yet won, the experts caution, and the last stretch of disease eradication efforts is often the toughest. (Albeck-Ripka, 7/10)
Stat:
Every Data Point Has A Face: What Michael Becker Taught Us
Michael Becker was a biotech executive before he was a patient advocate. When he discovered he had head and neck cancer, he decided to go public, and in doing so made an impact — both within the drug industry and beyond. Cancer, Becker once said, takes away a lot more than it gives. But he wanted his own experience to show people the risks of the human papillomavirus, which caused his disease, and the importance that preteens get the vaccine that prevents HPV infection. (Herper, 7/10)
The Wall Street Journal:
U.S. Reaches $1.4 Billion Opioid-Drug Settlement With U.K.’s Reckitt
Reckitt Benckiser Group RBGLY 0.56% PLC will pay up to $1.4 billion to settle U.S. investigations into whether its former pharmaceuticals unit organized a multibillion-dollar fraud to drive up sales of an opioid-addiction treatment. The U.K. consumer-goods company—which owns Lysol cleaner and Durex condoms—on Thursday said it struck a deal with the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission to resolve their long-running investigations into the sales and marketing of Suboxone Film. (Chaudhuri, 7/11)
The Wall Street Journal:
PG&E Knew For Years Its Lines Could Spark Wildfires, And Didn’t Fix Them
PG&E Corp. knew for years that hundreds of miles of high-voltage power lines could fail and spark fires, yet it repeatedly failed to perform the necessary upgrades. Documents obtained by The Wall Street Journal under the Freedom of Information Act and in connection with a regulatory dispute over PG&E’s spending on its electrical grid show that the company has long been aware that parts of its 18,500-mile transmission system have reached the end of their useful lives. The failure last year of a century-old transmission line that sparked a wildfire, killed 85 people and destroyed the town of Paradise wasn’t an aberration, the documents show. (Blunt and Gold, 7/10)
The Wall Street Journal:
Judge Orders PG&E To Respond To Journal Article
A federal judge on Wednesday ordered PG&E Corp. to respond, “on a paragraph-by-paragraph basis,” to a Wall Street Journal article that said the company has failed to upgrade hundreds of miles of high-voltage power lines despite knowing they could fail and spark wildfires. (Blunt, 7/10)
CNN:
Cameron Boyce's Death: How Seizures Can Kill People With Epilepsy
Most of these deaths occur during or after seizures, which can cause people to stop breathing and can trigger dangerous irregular heart rhythms. An estimated 3.4 million Americans have epilepsy, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and those with uncontrolled seizures are at higher risk for unexpected death. "What appears to happen most of the time is people just stop breathing at the end of the seizure, and they never start breathing again," said Dr. Jacqueline French, chief medical officer at the Epilepsy Foundation and a professor of neurology at NYU Langone Health. "Their respiratory drive just goes away and never comes back." (Azad, 7/11)
CNN:
Many Sudden Cardiac Deaths Linked To Prior Silent Heart Attacks, Study Says
Many people who die of sudden cardiac arrest may have had a heart attack earlier in life without ever realizing it, according to a new study. In the study, almost half -- 42.4% -- of people who had no prior knowledge of coronary artery disease, but died of sudden cardiac arrest, showed signs of having had a prior silent heart attack. The study published Wednesday in the journal JAMA Cardiology. (Howard, 7/10)
The Wall Street Journal:
Doctor Visits Could Provide Relief To Uber And Lyft
Uber and Lyft have long been competing to take riders to work, to the movies or to the airport. Increasingly, they also are jockeying for the chance to give patients subsidized rides to the doctor’s office. Both ride-share giants have been hard at work to build a footprint in an industry known as nonemergency medical transportation (NEMT), which helps mostly elderly and low-income patients lacking reliable transportation options to get to medical appointments. (Forman, 7/10)
The New York Times:
Rolling Out The Welcome Mat For Travelers With Autism
When Nicole Thibault had her first child, she imagined traveling everywhere with him. But by age 2, he would become upset by simply passing a restaurant that smelled of garlic. Waiting in line elicited tantrums and crowded places overwhelmed him. Autism was diagnosed within the year. “I thought maybe our family dream of travel wouldn’t happen,” said Ms. Thibault, 46, of Fairport, N.Y., who now has three children. But she spent the next three years learning to prepare her son for travel by watching videos of future destinations and attractions so that he would know what to expect. (Glusac, 7/11)
The Associated Press:
Shortening Trainee Doctor Hours Hasn't Harmed Patients
When reforms shortened working hours for U.S. doctors-in-training, some worried: Was that enough time to learn the art of medicine? Would future patients suffer? Now a study has answers, finding no difference in hospital deaths, readmissions or costs when comparing results from doctors trained before and after caps limiting duties to 80 hours per week took effect. (7/11)
The New York Times:
Even Moderate Air Pollution May Lead To Lung Disease
Even moderate levels of air pollution can cause lung function impairment that rivals the damage caused by smoking, a new study found. Researchers studied 303,887 British men and women, with data on lung health gathered by physical examination and air pollution statistics geographically coded to the participants’ home addresses. (Bakalar, 7/10)
The Wall Street Journal:
Parents Sue Over Ban On Religious Exemptions For Vaccinations
The first of several anticipated lawsuits challenging a recently passed New York state law that eliminated religious exemptions from school-vaccination rules was filed Wednesday in Albany. The suit, which was filed in state Supreme Court and seeks class-action status, says the law is unconstitutional and violates religious freedom. Fifty-five families who had used a religious exemption for their children are represented in the suit. (West, 7/10)
Stat:
University Of Calif. Loses Access To New Journal Articles From Elsevier
Researchers in the University of California system on Wednesday lost subscription access to the major publisher Elsevier, the result of a closely watched fight between the two parties over how academic research should get read and paid for. The UC system, one of the largest in the country, has long paid Elsevier so that its affiliates could access hundreds of Elsevier journals. (Robbins, 7/10)
The Associated Press:
Report: No Police Misconduct In Hospital Patient's Arrest
An independent investigator has found no evidence of police misconduct or racial bias in the arrest of a black patient who was accused by a white security officer of stealing equipment when he stepped outside a northern Illinois hospital last month while still attached to an IV stand, according to a report released Wednesday. (7/10)
Los Angeles Times:
Desperate To Get Rid Of Homeless People, Some Are Using Prickly Plants, Fences, Barriers
With dirt, they can weigh hundreds of pounds. The makeshift planter boxes are Peter Mozgo’s creations — roughly 140 of them lined up on the sidewalk to prevent homeless people from pitching tents outside his business. Mozgo acquires the boxes from a Bell Gardens company that imports ginger, paints them firetruck red, pays $120 per cubic yard for dirt and then uses a $900 trailer to haul it all back to his neighborhood on the south end of downtown Los Angeles. (Oreskes, 7/10)
Los Angeles Times:
To Block Homeless Shelter, San Francisco Residents Are Suing On Environmental Grounds
A group of San Francisco residents filed a lawsuit Wednesday to block construction of a 200-bed temporary homeless shelter, another instance of the state’s environmental laws being used to derail such projects. The coalition, Safe Embarcadero for All, had been threatening for months to bring the case as the planned homeless shelter, proposed for a parking lot on the Embarcadero, wound its way through the approval process. They raised at least $100,000 and organized robust protests at city meetings since Mayor London Breed first proposed it in March. (Oreskes, 7/10)