First Edition: March 21, 2018

Kaiser Health News: Research Misconduct Allegations Shadow Likely CDC Appointee
President Donald Trump’s likely pick to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is facing significant criticism because of a 20-year-old controversy over shoddy HIV research. The Army in 1994 acknowledged accuracy issues with HIV vaccine research led by Dr. Robert Redfield, who is expected to head the CDC, but concluded at the time that the data errors did not constitute misconduct. (Taylor, 3/20)

Kaiser Health News: Clash Over Abortion Hobbles A Health Bill. Again. Here’s How.
The Affordable Care Act very nearly failed to become law due to an intraparty dispute among Democrats over how to handle the abortion issue. Now a similar argument between Democrats and Republicans is slowing progress on a bill that could help cut soaring premiums and shore up the ACA. At issue is the extent to which the Hyde Amendment — language commonly used by Congress to prohibit most federal abortion funding — should be incorporated into any new legislation affecting the health law. (Rovner, 3/21)

Kaiser Health News: Reporter’s Notebook: The Tale Of Theranos And The Mysterious Fire Alarm 
It was November 2014, and I was working on a feature story about a buzzed-about blood-testing company in Silicon Valley that promised to “disrupt” the lab industry with new technology. The company, Theranos, claimed its revolutionary finger-prick test would be a cheap and less painful way to screen for hundreds of diseases with just a few drops of blood. Old-fashioned venous blood draws, where the patient watches as vial after vial of blood is collected, would quickly become obsolete, Theranos promised. (Gold, 3/21)

The Wall Street Journal: White House Report Says Insurers Doing Well, Increasing ACA Subsidy Doubts
Health insurers have largely adjusted to the impact of the 2010 Affordable Care Act, the White House will say in an economic report Wednesday, a finding that will likely undercut lawmakers’ efforts to secure federal funds to blunt potential premium increases for the coming year. Republicans, Democrats and the White House are negotiating the provisions of a major spending bill that must pass by Saturday or risk a government shutdown. The insurance payments are part of those discussions. (Radnofsky, 3/21)

The Hill: Dems Aim To Turn ObamaCare Hikes Into Election Weapon
Democrats are gearing up to blame Republicans for ObamaCare premium increases after the likely failure of an effort to stabilize the law in this month’s government funding package. The premium hikes for ObamaCare will likely be announced in October, just a month before a midterm election where Democrats are hoping to win back the House and Senate. (Sullivan, 3/21)

The New York Times: Supreme Court Warily Eyes California Law Involving Abortion And Free Speech
A California law that requires “crisis pregnancy centers” to provide information about abortion met a skeptical reception at Supreme Court arguments on Tuesday. The centers, which are often affiliated with religious groups, seek to persuade women to carry their pregnancies to term or to offer their offspring for adoption. The law requires centers licensed by the state to post notices that free or low-cost abortion, contraception and prenatal care are available to low-income women through public programs, and to provide the phone number for more information. (Liptak, 3/20)

Politico: Supreme Court Hostile To Part Of California Law Aimed At 'Crisis Pregnancy Centers'
A surprisingly broad array of justices expressed serious concerns that the Reproductive FACT Act intrudes on First Amendment rights, by requiring such centers to include in their ads a state-provided notice in as many as 13 languages offering contact information about abortion services and other options. Justice Anthony Kennedy, a pivotal vote to uphold a constitutional right to abortion, was openly hostile to that provision. And even liberals like Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan raised doubts about that portion of the law. (Gerstein, 3/20)

The Wall Street Journal: Justices Press California Over Law Challenged By Antiabortion Groups
Justice Samuel Alito suggested the law may have been designed to blunt the antiabortion message that such centers seek to deliver. While ostensibly covering hundreds of facilities across the state, the law contains many “crazy exemptions” that all point the same way, he said. If “it turns out that just about the only clinics that are covered by this are pro-life clinics,” couldn’t the court “infer intentional discrimination?” he said. (Bravin, 3/20)

Reuters: Mississippi's New Law Restricting Abortion Blocked By Judge For 10 Days
A U.S. federal judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked a Mississippi law that enacted the tightest restrictions on abortion in the United States, in a ruling handed down a day after the governor signed the measure. The Mississippi law would prohibit abortion after 15 weeks of gestation, with some exceptions. It went into effect immediately after Republican Governor Phil Bryant signed it on Monday. State law previously banned abortion at 20 weeks after conception, in line with limits in 17 other states. (Dobuzinskis, 3/20)

The Associated Press: Idaho Joins Other Red States With 'Abortion Reversal' Law
Idaho will become the latest conservative state to require women seeking abortions to be informed that the drug-induced procedures can be halted halfway, despite opposition from medical groups that say there is little evidence to support that claim. Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter quietly signed the proposal into law Tuesday along with nearly 50 other measures. The law, which will go into effect July 1, is the latest move by Republican-dominant states that are testing the government's legal ability to restrict a woman's right to terminate a pregnancy. (Kruesi, 3/20)

The Hill: Political Appointees Led Cancelation Of Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program
Internal emails and memos reveal that political appointees at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) went against career officials' objections by deciding to cut short grants aimed at preventing teen pregnancy. Documents released under a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request indicate that three political appointees directed the changes to the Teen Pregnancy Prevention (TPP) program: Valerie Huber, who prior to joining HHS headed a national abstinence education advocacy group; Teresa Manning, a former anti-abortion rights lobbyist who has since left HHS; and Steven Valentine, who previously worked for Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), chairman of the Congressional Pro-Life Caucus.  (Hellmann, 3/20)

The Hill: Top Senate Dem Raises Concerns Over Potential CDC Pick 
A top-ranking Senate Democrat said she was concerned about the Trump administration’s reported choice to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, sent a letter to President Trump, saying she was worried about Robert Redfield’s lack of public health experience, as well as his controversial past as an AIDS researcher. (Weixel, 3/20)

The New York Times: N.I.H. To Investigate Outreach To Alcohol Companies
The National Institutes of Health will examine whether health officials violated federal policy against soliciting donations when they met with alcohol companies to discuss funding a study of the benefits of moderate drinking, Dr. Francis Collins, the institutes’ director, said on Tuesday. Dr. Collins also will ask outside experts who are part of a standing advisory committee to review the design and scientific methodology of the 10-year government trial, which is already underway, an N.I.H. spokeswoman said. (Rabin, 3/20)

The Washington Post: NIH Will Examine Ethics Of Its Study On The Health Effects Of A Daily Glass Of Wine
The inquiry, announced by NIH Director Francis Collins, responds to a recent New York Times article that said a pair of outside scientists, including one who became the study’s principal investigator, and an NIH official asked liquor companies that stand to benefit from the research to help pay for it. The Times story, relying in part on emails and travel vouchers obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, said the scientists “pitched” the idea of the study at meetings in three cities with beverage-industry executives and an industry trade group in 2013 and 2014. (Goldstein, 3/20)

Stat: NIH: Dozens Of Drug Makers Interested In Effort To Address Opioid Epidemic
Francis Collins, the director of the National Institutes of Health, said Tuesday that the agency is nearing a formal announcement of a public-private partnership aimed at funding research to help address the opioid crisis. Despite a preliminary announcement in September, the partnership has not yet been rolled out formally. Its professed aims include developing non-addictive painkiller alternatives to opioids, new forms of medication-assisted therapy for addiction treatment, and in the long term even vaccines that would insulate individuals from the effects of heroin and fentanyl use. (Facher, 3/20)

Politico: Trump Can Execute Drug Dealers Already
The state execution of drug smugglers that President Donald Trump has pushed for as part of his plan to combat the opioid crisis is already legal under a 1994 law passed at the height of the crack cocaine epidemic. But in 24 years, federal prosecutors have never once used it. They hardly need to, considering the draconian penalties already available for punishing convicted drug smugglers. (Allen, 3/20)

The Associated Press: DOJ Shares Painkiller Sales Data Amid Opioid Lawsuit Talks
The U.S. Department of Justice has shared some federal data about prescription painkiller sales to help with settlement talks between local governments and drug companies targeted in hundreds of lawsuits over the opioid epidemic. The department previously agreed to release certain data on the grounds it not be circulated publicly and be returned or destroyed when the litigation is finished. (3/20)

Stat: Theranos's Mystery Man Revealed: Footage Of Sunny Bawlani Was Hiding In Plain Sight
The day after the story came out, though, an eagle-eyed sleuth on Twitter pointed us to something better: Video footage of Balwani talking up Theranos in front of an Arizona legislative committee in March 2014. (That was around the time Theranos, then at its peak valuation of $9 billion, started opening testing centers in Walgreens pharmacies in Arizona.) Donning a dark suit and tie and a blandly corporate affect, Balwani gave an 11 1/2-minute pitch that is vintage pre-scandal Theranos: He talked about working on “something that we believe is magical.” He cited glowing testimonials from patients whose blood tests, we would later learn, were not being processed the way Theranos had promised. (Robbins, 3/20)

Stat: Ex-Novartis Sales Reps To Testify They Got Prescriptions By Wooing Doctors
Former Novartis sales reps from around the U.S. are expected to testify they were “essentially buying” prescriptions in exchange for providing doctors with paid speaking engagements, fancy meals, and alcohol in a closely watched lawsuit that is being pressed by the federal government. And both doctors and sales reps are expected to testify that payments were made for speaking engagements that never took place, and that many of these events had little to no educational content, but were really just schmoozefests, according to a court filing on Monday by federal prosecutors. (Silverman, 3/20)

Bloomberg: Novartis Sales Reps Will Testify About Lavish Meals, U.S. Says
One sales representative said he and his colleagues were “essentially buying scripts” by providing health-care providers across the country with perks, including paid speaking opportunities at events with "little to no educational content," prosecutors said in a filing Monday in federal court in Manhattan. The government sought to highlight the depth of its evidence after Novartis had asked a judge to rule that there was insufficient proof to move forward. The government urged U.S. District Judge Paul Gardephe to reject the request and set a trial date. (Larson, 3/20)

Stat: The Anxious Launch Of Luxturna, A Gene Therapy With A Record Sticker Price
The treatment, developed after decades of research, is called Luxturna, and it is sometimes referred to as the first “true” gene therapy to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Cancer treatments such as Kymriah and Yescarta are also sometimes described as a kind of gene therapy, but they involve removing a patient’s cells, genetically modifying them, and sending them back into the body to fight the disease. With Luxturna, a doctor injects a virus underneath the retina, where it delivers a healthy, lab-grown copy of the RPE65 gene into the cells. If the therapy works for these patients, it could help restore some of the images they have been missing. (Boodman, 3/21)

Stat: NIH Urged To Probe Aegerion Patents For Failing To Disclose Federal Funding
An advocacy group has asked the National Institutes of Health to investigate whether several patents held by Aegerion Pharmaceuticals failed to disclose federal funding for grants that were used to develop a pricey cholesterol treatment. In its request, the advocacy group cited a federal database showing six patents were awarded to the University of Pennsylvania, where an academic researcher used NIH grants to develop a drug called Juxtapid, which was later licensed to Aegerion Pharmaceuticals. The school has received more than $68 million in grants for research led by Dr. Daniel Rader, who chairs the genetics department at the Perelman School of Medicine, and at least $293,000 pertained to his work on Juxtapid, according to Knowledge Ecology International, the advocacy group. (Silverman, 3/20)

The Wall Street Journal: CVS To Hire Former Eli Lilly CFO To Run Pharmacy Benefit Business
CVS Health Corp. tapped a former Eli Lilly & Co. finance chief to run its pharmacy benefit business as the drugstore giant works to complete an acquisition of insurer Aetna Inc. Derica Rice, a longtime Eli Lilly chief financial officer, is set to take over at CVS Caremark on March 30, according to an internal CVS memo reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. Mr. Rice will succeed Jonathan Roberts, who was promoted last year to the role of chief operating officer at CVS Health. (Terlep, 3/20)

The Associated Press: US Regulators Renew Scrutiny Of Menthol, Tobacco Flavors
Federal health officials are taking a closer look at flavors in tobacco products that appeal to young people, particularly menthol-flavored cigarettes, which have escaped regulation despite nearly a decade of government scrutiny. The Food and Drug Administration issued a call Tuesday for more information about flavored cigars and electronic cigarettes, which currently have no flavor restrictions. (3/20)

NPR: Religious Freedom Counts First In This HHS Civil Rights Division
When Roger Severino tells his story, discrimination is at its heart. "I did experience discrimination as a child. And that leaves a lasting impression," he tells me. Severino directs the Office for Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. When I meet with him at his office in the shadow of the Capitol, he talks about his childhood as the son of Colombian immigrants growing up in Los Angeles. (Kodjak, 3/20)

The Washington Post: Baltimore Hospital Faulted By Regulator After Mentally Ill, Half-Naked Woman Pushed Into Cold
In a widely viewed video circulated on social media in January, a mentally ill woman identified by her family only as Rebecca was removed from the University of Maryland Medical Center by security guards. “So wait, y’all just going to leave this lady out here with no clothes on?” Imamu Baraka, who filmed the incident, asked the guards. Rebecca’s face appeared bloody, and she moaned: “Please help me!” (Moyer, 3/20)

The Washington Post: Rep. Lipinski Of Illinois Narrowly Wins Democratic Primary
Rep. Dan Lipinski of Illinois, one of the most conservative Democrats in Congress, narrowly won a primary Tuesday over a progressive newcomer who argued the congressman’s views no longer reflect the Chicago-area district he has represented for seven terms. Marie Newman, who was little-known when she decided to challenge Lipinski for the seat he inherited from his father, had backing from progressive groups as well as Sen. Bernie Sanders, who won Illinois’ 3rd Congressional District by 9 points over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 Democratic primary. ... She campaigned as the “true Democrat,” blasting Lipinski for opposing abortion and voting against same-sex marriage and President Barack Obama’s signature health care overhaul. (Burnett, 3/21)