First Edition: March 25, 2019
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Kaiser Health News:
She Was Dancing On The Roof And Talking Gibberish. A Special Kind Of ER Helped Her.
For decades, hospitals have strained to accommodate patients in psychiatric crisis in emergency rooms. The horror stories of failure abound: Patients heavily sedated or shackled to gurneys for days while awaiting placement in a specialized psychiatric hospital, their symptoms exacerbated by the noise and chaos of emergency medicine. Long wait times in crowded ERs for people who show up with serious medical emergencies. High costs for taxpayers, insurers and families as patients languish longer than necessary in the most expensive place to get care. (Gorman, 3/25)
Kaiser Health News:
States Push For Caregiver Tax Credits
Gloria Brown didn’t get a good night’s sleep. Her husband, Arthur Brown, 79, has Alzheimer’s disease and had spent most of the night pacing their bedroom, opening and closing drawers, and putting on and taking off his jacket. So Gloria, 73, asked a friend to take Arthur out for a few hours one recent afternoon so she could grab a much-needed nap. She was lucky that day because she didn’t need to call upon the home health aide who comes to their house twice a week. (Young, 3/25)
Bloomberg:
Pelosi Says Democrats To Unveil `Sweeping' Health Bill March 26
House Democrats plan to unveil health-care legislation on March 26 aimed at lowering costs and protecting people with pre-existing conditions, according to an advisory from the office of Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The bill, broadly timed to coincide with the 9th anniversary this weekend of Obamacare being signed into law, would “reverse the Trump administration’s health-care sabotage, and take new measures to lower health premiums and out-of-pocket costs for families,” according to the statement. (Chipman, 3/23)
The New York Times:
Medicare For All Would Abolish Private Insurance. ‘There’s No Precedent In American History.’
At the heart of the “Medicare for all” proposals championed by Senator Bernie Sanders and many Democrats is a revolutionary idea: Abolish private health insurance. Proponents want to sweep away our complex, confusing, profit-driven mess of a health care system and start fresh with a single government-run insurer that would cover everyone. But doing away with an entire industry would also be profoundly disruptive. (Abelson and Sanger-Katz, 3/23)
The Associated Press:
Medicare For All Legislation Has Thorny Issues
The "Medicare for All" legislation that's become a clarion call for progressives has two little-noticed provisions that could make it even more politically perilous for 2020 Democratic presidential candidates. The legislation from White House hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders, along with a similar measure in the House, lifts curbs on government health insurance for people in the country illegally and revokes longstanding restrictions on taxpayer-funded abortions. (3/25)
The Wall Street Journal:
New Anti-Abortion Measures Could Struggle For Traction In Courts
Republican-led states are pushing through a raft of new anti-abortion legislation recently, but it’s far from clear that the toughest restrictions will survive judicial scrutiny. States this year have introduced hundreds of anti-abortion bills—including “fetal heartbeat” laws recently enacted in Mississippi and Kentucky—at a rate abortion-rights advocates say is unprecedented. Perhaps most notably, the governors of Kentucky and Mississippi signed bills this month making it a crime for doctors to terminate a pregnancy after an ultrasound detects fetal cardiac activity. (Gershman, 3/24)
The Hill:
Dem Support Grows For Allowing Public Funds To Pay For Abortions
Support is growing among Democrats in Congress for allowing abortion coverage in publicly funded health programs. House Democrats, who say they have a “pro-choice majority” for the first time in history, are vowing to end a long-standing ban of abortion coverage in Medicaid. They also want to ensure that future government healthcare plans allow recipients to get abortion coverage. (Hellmann, 3/23)
The Associated Press:
Ohio Cuts Funding For Planned Parenthood After Court OK
The Ohio Department of Health is ending grants and contracts that send money to Planned Parenthood after a divided federal appeals court upheld a state anti-abortion law that blocks public money for the group. The department notified recipients and contractors Thursday that it will end that funding within a month to comply with the law, unless the court delays the effect of its ruling as Planned Parenthood has requested. The health department said the law requires it to ensure state and certain federal funds aren't "used to perform or promote nontherapeutic abortions." (3/22)
NPR:
'Abortion Reversal' With Progesterone Is Being Tested In Study
Dr. Mitchell Creinin never expected to be in the position of investigating a treatment he doesn't think works. And yet, Creinin will be spending the next year or so using a research grant from the Society of Family Planning to put to the test a treatment he sees as dubious — one that recently has gained traction, mostly via the Internet, among groups that oppose abortion. They call it "abortion pill reversal." (Gordon, 3/22)
The New York Times:
Guggenheim Museum Says It Won’t Accept Gifts From Sackler Family
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York said on Friday that it did not plan to accept future gifts from the family of Mortimer D. Sackler, a philanthropist and former board member whose money has been met with growing unease in the art world as his family’s pharmaceutical interests have been linked to the opioid crisis. The Guggenheim’s decision was announced one day after Tate, which runs some of the most important art museums in Britain, announced a similar move, saying that “in the present circumstances we do not think it right to seek or accept further donations from the Sacklers.” (Stack, 3/22)
The Washington Post:
Sackler Family Money Is Now Unwelcome At Three Major Museums. Will Others Follow?
The Sacklers are mired in legal action, investigations and looming congressional inquiries about their role in marketing a drug blamed for a significant early role in an epidemic of overdose deaths that has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans since 1997. Is this a trend? These moves may affect immediate plans but won’t put much of a dent in the museums’ budgets. The impact on the Sackler family’s reputation, however, will force American arts institutions to pay attention. The Sackler family, which includes branches with differing levels of culpability and involvement with the issue, has a long history of donating to cultural organizations. Arthur M. Sackler, who gave millions of dollars’ worth of art and $4 million for the opening of the Smithsonian’s Sackler Gallery in 1987, died long before the OxyContin scandal began. (Kennicott, 3/23)
The Wall Street Journal:
Sackler Family Actively Trying To Resolve Purdue Pharma Lawsuits
Members of the Sackler family who own OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP have become more involved in recent months in settlement negotiations to resolve the company’s share of more than 1,600 lawsuits accusing the drug industry of helping spark the nation’s opioid crisis, according to people familiar with the matter. Lawyers for cities and counties pressing claims have requested at least $10 billion from Purdue and its owners, the people said. Any potential settlement sought by plaintiffs would likely require more than just funding, such as treatment programs for people suffering from addiction. It isn’t known how close Purdue and other companies are to settlement, if one could be achieved. (Hopkins and Randazzo, 3/22)
The Washington Post:
Anti-Vaxxers Face A Crackdown From GoFundMe, Instagram And Other Platforms
GoFundMe has joined a growing list of social media companies cracking down on anti-vaccination propaganda to help stop the spread of misinformation. The increased effort from tech giants, such as Facebook, Pinterest and YouTube, comes amid a relentless anti-vaccine movement, talk about “chickenpox parties” and concerns over measles outbreaks across the country. It also comes as the American Medical Association, the nation’s most prominent doctors’ organization, has urged social media platforms to ensure users have access to accurate information on vaccines. (Bever, 3/22)
The Associated Press:
Kentucky Anti-Vaxxer Gets Hearing Over Chickenpox Ban
An unvaccinated student in Kentucky will get his day in court after suing because he can't participate in extracurricular activities during a chickenpox outbreak. The Courier Journal reports 18-year-old Jerome Kunkel's case will be heard in court April 1. Unvaccinated students have ordered by the state health department to stay away from the Our Lady of the Assumption Church school and its activities during the outbreak. (3/22)
The Washington Post:
FEMA ‘Major Privacy Incident’ Reveals Data From 2.5 Million Disaster Survivors
The Federal Emergency Management Agency shared personal addresses and banking information of more than 2 million U.S. disaster survivors in what the agency acknowledged Friday was a “major privacy incident.” The data mishap, discovered recently and the subject of a report by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General, occurred when the agency shared sensitive, personally identifiable information of disaster survivors who used FEMA’S Transitional Sheltering Assistance program, according to officials at FEMA. Those affected included the victims of California wildfires in 2017 and Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, the report said. (Achenbach, Wan, and Romm, 3/22)
ProPublica:
HUD’s Inspection System Gets A Poor Grade In Congressional Watchdog’s Report
The federal government’s system of inspecting taxpayer-subsidized housing is fundamentally flawed, and leaders at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development haven’t taken adequate steps to fix it, according to a congressional watchdog report released Thursday. The findings of the Government Accountability Office mirror those of an investigation by The Southern Illinoisan and ProPublica last year, which documented numerous cases in which substandard housing complexes received passing — and in some cases, glowing — scores from HUD. The news organizations built an online tool to allow users to look up the scores of taxpayer subsidized housing developments near them. (Parker, 3/23)
The Associated Press:
FDA Takes Up Decades-Long Debate Over Breast Implant Safety
U.S. health officials are taking another look at the safety of breast implants, the latest review in a decades-long debate. At a two-day meeting that starts Monday, a panel of experts for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will hear from researchers, plastic surgeons and implant makers, as well as from women who believe their ailments were caused by the implants. (3/24)
The Wall Street Journal:
Why Marlboro Maker Bet On Juul, The Vaping Upstart Aiming To Kill Cigarettes
The biggest U.S. tobacco company has made a $12.8 billion bet on a company whose stated goal is to get smokers to drop cigarettes. The calculated gamble: The move will help the Marlboro maker keep up with a quickly changing market. The risk: It could hasten its own decline. Facing an accelerating fall in cigarette sales, Altria Group Inc. in December put billions into Juul Labs Inc., a controversial startup whose sleek, nicotine-packed vaporizers have fueled a surge in the e-cigarette market. (Maloney and Mattioli, 3/23)
The Wall Street Journal:
Where Alzheimer’s Research Is Pushing Ahead
The failure last week of Biogen Inc. and Eisai Co.’s once-promising Alzheimer’s disease drug was the latest in a spate of disappointments for medicines designed to target Beta amyloid, a sticky substance long known to accumulate in the brains of people with the disease. The repeated failure of such drugs are giving greater currency to efforts by academics and smaller biotech companies to better understand the biology of Alzheimer’s and explore the use of drugs with alternative mechanisms of action. Some of the more promising research efforts are looking into the role that inflammation, the immune system, viruses and another brain substance called tau might play in the disease, disease experts say. (Walker and Loftus, 3/24)
Stat:
Biogen-Eisai Partnership May Suffer After Alzheimer's Drug Blowup
A rift may have opened in the Alzheimer’s disease partnership between Biogen (BIIB) and its Japanese pharma partner Eisai following the high-profile and costly failure of their jointly developed drug aducanumab. Eisai said Friday that it intends to push ahead with the development of a second Alzheimer’s drug, called BAN2401, also part of the Biogen partnership. A Phase 3 clinical trial of BAN2401 targeting the enrollment of 1,500 patients with early Alzheimer’s disease has been initiated, Eisai said. (Feuerstein, 3/22)
Stat:
Lilly Discloses Pricing Data On Insulin In Response To Political Pressure
Under pressure over its pricing of insulin, Eli Lilly (LLY) on Sunday issued a report in which it claims that the price it was paid for a key diabetes treatment fell by 8.1 percent over the past five years, after subtracting rebates and other discounts. Specifically, the net price for Humalog, after accounting for those givebacks, was $135 a patient per month last year, down from $147 in 2014. Meanwhile, the average list — or wholesale — price during that same period increased 51.9 percent to $594 per patient each month. (Silverman, 3/24)
Bloomberg:
Zulresso Postpartum Depression Drug Still Has High Hurdles
Zulresso, the world’s first-ever drug for postpartum depression, cleared a major hurdle when it won approval from the Food and Drug Administration this week. Even bigger challenges lie ahead for Sage Therepeutics Inc., the drug’s developer. Zulresso, the brand name for brexanolone, works much faster to treat the condition than anything currently available. Experts have hailed it as “groundbreaking,” a “game changer.” And postpartum depression affects as many as one in nine new mothers. These facts alone would suggest the drug is destined to be a blockbuster. Yet there’s a difference between a drug that works and a drug that sells. (Koons, 3/22)
The New York Times:
For Many Boys With Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, Bright Hope Lies Just Beyond Reach
Lucas was 5 before his parents, Bill and Marci Barton of Grand Haven, Mich., finally got an explanation for his difficulties standing up or climbing stairs. The diagnosis: muscular dystrophy. Mr. Barton turned to Google. “The first thing I read was, ‘no cure, in a wheelchair in their teens, pass in their 20s,” Mr. Barton said. “I stopped. I couldn’t read any more. I couldn’t handle it.” (Kolata, 3/25)
The New York Times:
For Urinary Incontinence, Try Behavioral Treatments Or Drugs, Or Both
Both behavioral and drug treatments can be effective in treating women for urinary incontinence, researchers report in the Annals of Internal Medicine, and they may work even better in combination. Researchers analyzed data from 84 randomized trials that looked at a variety of treatments for stress and urgency incontinence. Nondrug treatments, usually aimed at strengthening the pelvic floor or changing behaviors, included bladder training, biofeedback, acupuncture, education, weight loss, yoga and other treatments. (Bakalar, 3/22)
Stat:
Patients Are Using Digital Health Apps To Confess Suicidal Thoughts
Digital health apps, which let patients chat with doctors or health coaches or even receive likely medical diagnoses from a bot, are transforming modern health care. They are also — in practice — being used as suicide crisis hotlines. Patients are confessing suicidal thoughts using apps designed to help them manage their diabetes or figure out why they might have a headache, according to industry executives. As a result, many digital health startups are scrambling to figure out how best to respond and when to call the police — questions that even suicide prevention experts don’t have good answers to. (Robbins, 3/25)
The New York Times:
Depressed And Anxious? These Video Games Want To Help
In the coming adventure video game Sea of Solitude, the main character — a young woman named Kay — navigates a partly submerged city as she faces a multitude of red-eyed scaly creatures. None are as terrifying as her own personal demons. As the game progresses, Kay realizes the creatures she is encountering are humans who turned into monsters when they became too lonely. To save herself, she fights to overcome her own loneliness. (Parker, 3/24)
The New York Times:
Reading To Your Toddler? Print Books Are Better Than Digital Ones
As a supporter of reading with children and a fan of traditional print books, I cannot say I am entirely surprised by the results of new research suggesting that print books are the best way to go when reading with young children. Reading books is one of the great and ongoing pleasures of my life, and although I read all kinds of things on screens, I cling to the print book, the paper book, or what we all secretly call “the book-book.” (Klass, 3/25)
The Wall Street Journal:
The Flu Season Hasn’t Been This Bad This Late In 20 Years
The percentage of doctor visits for flulike symptoms last week, 4.4%, is the highest figure for this time of the year since 1998, the first season the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began tracking flu prevalence this way. While this season hasn’t been as extreme as some in recent years, it has been a long one. It is still widespread in 42 states, though that’s down from 47 states and Puerto Rico for the week ended March 9, the CDC says. (Umlauf and Abbott, 3/22)
The New York Times:
Can We Get Better At Forgetting?
Whatever its other properties, memory is a reliable troublemaker, especially when navigating its stockpile of embarrassments and moral stumbles. Ten minutes into an important job interview and here come screenshots from a past disaster: the spilled latte, the painful attempt at humor. Two dates into a warming relationship and up come flashbacks of an earlier, abusive partner. The bad timing is one thing. But why can’t those events be somehow submerged amid the brain’s many other dimming bad memories? (Carey, 3/22)
The Associated Press:
Special Evaluations Can Help Seniors Cope With Cancer Care
Before she could start breast cancer treatment, Nancy Simpson had to walk in a straight line, count backward from 20 and repeat a silly phrase. It was all part of a special kind of medical fitness test for older patients that's starting to catch on among cancer doctors. Instead of assuming that elderly patients are too frail for treatment or recommending harsh drugs tested only in younger patients, they are taking a broader look. Specialists call these tests geriatric assessments, and they require doctors to take the time to evaluate physical and mental fitness, along with emotional and social well-being. (3/22)
NPR:
Sleep Deprived? Try These Strategies To Catch Up
There are lots of reasons why many of us don't get the recommended seven hours or more of sleep each night. Travel schedules, work deadlines, TV bingeing and — a big one — having young children all take a toll. Research published recently in the journal Sleep finds that up to six years after the birth of a child, many mothers and fathers still don't sleep as much as they did before their child was born. For parents, there's just less time in the day to devote to yourself. (Aubrey, 3/24)
NPR:
Contrast Agents For CT Scans: Time To Rethink The Risk?
One of the most widely used drugs in the world isn't really a drug, at least not in the usual sense. It's more like a dye. Physicians call this drug "contrast," shorthand for contrast agent. Contrast agents are chemical compounds that doctors use to improve the quality of an imaging test. In the emergency room, where I work, contrast is most commonly given intravenously during a CT scan. (Dalton, 3/23)
The New York Times:
The Risks To Babies Of Older Fathers
People are becoming parents at ever-increasing ages, a trend that can have implications for the health of the pregnancy, the babies and the women who birth them. But while most women know that reproductive risks to themselves and their babies rise as they get older, few men past 40 realize that their advancing years may also confer a risk. The age at which couples start families has been rising steadily for the last four decades as more couples marry later and delay having children until they’ve completed their education and are secure in their careers. (Brody, 3/25)
The Washington Post:
Could Excessive Sleep During Pregnancy Be Related To Stillbirths?
It can be difficult to sleep while pregnant. Any number of issues can interrupt sleep, including the frequent need to urinate, back pain, abdominal discomfort and shortness of breath, among others. Moreover, disruptive sleep during pregnancy can be risky for the fetus, contributing to curbing growth. But a recent study suggests that excessive, undisturbed sleep may be a problem, too. Sleeping continuously for nine or more hours may be related to the danger of late stillbirth, that is, the loss or death of a baby before or during delivery. (Cimons, 3/24)
The Hill:
Ebola Outbreak Hits 1,000 Cases
More than a thousand people have been infected with the deadly Ebola virus in two eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in an outbreak that has claimed hundreds of lives and flummoxed public health officials. The Congolese health ministry said Sunday the virus has killed at least 629 people and infected 1,009 people, making it by far the worst Ebola outbreak in Congo's modern history, and the second-worst outbreak in the world, behind an epidemic that struck three West African countries beginning in 2014. (Wilson, 3/24)
The New York Times:
Why You Procrastinate. (It Has Nothing To Do With Self-Control.)
If you’ve ever put off an important task to, say, alphabetize your spice drawer, you know it wouldn’t be fair to describe yourself as lazy. After all, alphabetizing requires focus and effort — and hey, maybe you even went the extra mile to wipe down each bottle before putting it back. And it’s not like you’re hanging out with friends or watching Netflix. You’re cleaning — something your parents would be proud of! This isn’t laziness or bad time management. This is procrastination. (Lieberman, 3/25)
The Washington Post:
Americans Are Becoming Less Happy, And There’s Research To Prove It
Life in America keeps getting more miserable, according to the latest data from the General Social Survey, one of the longest-running and most highly regarded public opinion research projects in the nation. On a scale of 1 to 3, where 1 represents "not too happy" and 3 means "very happy," Americans on average give themselves a 2.18 — just a hair above "pretty happy." That's a significant decline from the nation's peak happiness, as measured by the survey, of the early 1990s. The change is driven by the number of people who say they're not too happy: 13% in 2018 compared with 8% in 1990. That's a more than 50% increase in unhappy people. (Ingraham, 3/23)
The Washington Post:
A Toddler’s Dwindling Voice Was Chalked Up To Acid Reflux. Her Problem Was Far More Serious.
Vivienne Weil was an unusually quiet baby. “She never cried loudly enough to bother us,” recalled Natalia Weil of her daughter, who was born in 2011. Although Vivienne babbled energetically in her early months, her vocalizing diminished around the time of her first birthday. So did the quality of her voice, which dwindled from normal to raspy to little more than a whisper. Vivienne also was a late talker: She didn’t begin speaking until she was 2. (Boodman, 3/23)
The Washington Post:
A Mind-Boggling Trip Into The 3-Pound Slimy, Spongy Mass That Is The Human Brain
What weighs three pounds and is much more than a slimy, spongy mass? The human brain, of course. It’s the most complex organ in the body — home to 86 billion neurons that act like a miraculous supercomputer, allowing our bodies to function and our minds to roam freely. But how much do you really know about your own brain? If you’re brain-curious, a visit to BrainFacts.org may be in order. (Blakemore, 3/23)
The Washington Post:
Can Beet Juice Improve Athletic Performance?
Carnitine, chromium, anabolic steroids: Athletes have experimented with a broad array of aids in pursuit of performance edge. A popular — if unglamorous — one today that seems safe and backed by solid data: the juice of beets, for the nitrates they contain. Inorganic nitrate is added to cured and processed meats to extend their shelf life and give them their distinctive pink color. It’s also naturally found in spinach, arugula and beets. In the past decade, new evidence has suggested that the nitrate in these vegetables enhances athletic performance and may also increase cardiovascular health in old age. (Ortega, 3/24)
Reuters:
'Apparent Suicide' Of Parkland Student Days After Massacre Survivor Took Her Life
A student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida has died in "an apparent suicide," police said on Sunday, less than a week after a 19-year-old survivor of the 2018 massacre at the school took her own life. The student's death occurred on Saturday evening and is under investigation, said Coral Springs Police spokesman Tyler Reik. The student's name, age and gender were not disclosed, he said. (3/24)
The Washington Post:
Parkland Teen Dies In Apparent Suicide, Police Say, A Week After Another Student's Death
“17 + 2,” tweeted Ryan Petty, who is the father of Alaina Petty, a student killed in the shooting, and the founder of the Walkup Foundation, a school safety organization. Hillary Clinton tweeted Sunday that “nothing is worth the tremendous costs our young people bear because of our inaction on guns.” David Hogg, one of the student activists who rose to prominence in the wake of the Parkland shooting, called for officials to do more to prevent such deaths. (Rozsa, Epstein and Mettler, 3/24)
The New York Times:
A Children’s Book Is Causing A Political Scandal In Baltimore. It’s Quite A Tale.
What has become a full-blown political scandal in Baltimore started innocently enough. In fact, it began with a children’s book. Mayor Catherine Pugh, a fitness fanatic, said that about a decade ago, she was inspired to encourage children to pursue healthy lifestyles, and so she created the “Healthy Holly” series of books, about a little girl devoted to self-improvement and the betterment of those around her. (Williams, 3/22)
The Associated Press:
Michigan Deal Bars LGBT Discrimination In State Adoptions
Faith-based adoption agencies that are paid by the state of Michigan will no longer be able to turn away LGBT couples or individuals because of religious objections under a legal settlement announced Friday. The agreement was reached between Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel's office and lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union, which sued the state in 2017 on behalf of two lesbian couples and a woman who was in foster care in her teens. (3/22)
The Associated Press:
Florida May Boost Regulation Of Cosmetic Surgery Clinics
Choeun Nuon traveled from her home in California to a Miami-area cosmetic surgery clinic to have a so-called Brazilian butt lift in February 2017. Instead of recovering after the procedure, the 32-year-old mother of two began slipping in and out of consciousness. She eventually passed out because of a severe drop in blood pressure. When Nuon awoke and slowly found her bearings, she was in an emergency operating room at a nearby hospital, surrounded by medical staff. Medics learned that her surgeon had punctured her lumbar artery, causing her profuse internal bleeding. (3/24)
The Associated Press:
California Grower Recalls Avocados Over Possible Listeria
A Southern California company is voluntarily recalling whole avocados over possible listeria contamination. Henry Avocado, a grower and distributor based near San Diego, said Saturday that the recall covers conventional and organic avocados grown and packed in California. The company says they were sold in bulk across California, Arizona, Florida, Wisconsin, North Carolina and New Hampshire. There have been no reports of any illnesses associated with the avocados. (3/24)