First Edition: March 9, 2023

KHN: Why Does Insulin Cost So Much? Big Pharma Isn’t The Only Player Driving Prices 
Eli Lilly & Co.’s announcement that it is slashing prices for its major insulin products could make life easier for some diabetes patients while easing pressure on Big Pharma. It also casts light on the profiteering methods of the drug industry’s price mediators — the pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs — at a time when Congress has shifted its focus to them. (Allen, 3/9)

KHN: Medicaid Health Plans Try To Protect Members — And Profits — During Unwinding 
The federal covid-19 pandemic protections that have largely prohibited states from dropping anyone from Medicaid since 2020 helped millions of low-income Americans retain health insurance coverage — even if they no longer qualified — and brought the U.S. uninsured rate to a record low. It also led to a windfall for the health plans that states pay to oversee care of most Medicaid enrollees. These plans — many run by insurance titans including UnitedHealthcare, Centene, and Aetna — have seen their revenue surge by billions as their membership soared by millions. (Galewitz, 3/9)

KHN and NPR: Jimmy Carter Took On The Awful Guinea Worm When No One Else Would — And Triumphed
Jimmy Carter took great pride in pointing out that the United States didn’t start any new wars during his term as president. But after he left office, he launched a war against “neglected” diseases — diseases in far-off lands that most Americans will never suffer from and may not have even heard of. Diseases like lymphatic filariasis, trachoma, river blindness, schistosomiasis … and a disease caused by a nasty little bug called a Guinea worm. Guinea worms are spread through contaminated drinking water and eating undercooked fish. The female worms, which can be up to 3 feet long once mature, cause incredibly painful, open blisters usually on the infected person’s lower legs and feet — through which the worms emerge. It can take a toll for weeks or months, and sometimes permanently, leaving some people unable to support a family. (Beaubien and Whitehead, 3/8)

The Wall Street Journal: Biden Budget To Propose Saving Hundreds Of Billions By Cutting Drug Prices, Fraud
President Biden’s budget blueprint will lay out plans to save hundreds of billions of dollars by seeking to lower drug prices, raising some business taxes, cracking down on fraud and cutting spending he sees as wasteful, according to White House officials. Mr. Biden is set to release his fiscal 2024 budget plan on Thursday. Administration officials said it would propose cutting federal budget deficits by nearly $3 trillion over the next decade. The proposal is unlikely to gain momentum, with Republicans expected to oppose many of Mr. Biden’s plans, and it will include some ideas that didn’t become law while Democrats controlled the House and Senate. But the release of the budget will kick off monthslong spending negotiations with lawmakers. (Restuccia, Rubin and Armour, 3/8)

The Hill: Here’s What To Watch For In Biden’s Budget 
The plan seeks to extend the lifetime for Medicare’s Hospital Insurance Trust Fund by at least 25 years, as the fund is projected to become insolvent by 2028. But to do so, the proposal also calls for a higher tax rate “on earned and unearned income above $400,000.” (Folley, 3/8)

Stat: Medicare Chief On The New Drug Price Negotiation Program’s Operations, Hiring, And Timelines
Medicare officials are still hammering out the technical specifics of how the massive program will start to negotiate drug prices — let alone the substantive ones, Medicare chief Meena Seshamani said at a STAT event Tuesday. (Wilkerson, 3/8)

Politico: The Latest Sign The White House Covid Operations Are Winding Down? Its Proposed Budget
President Joe Biden is not expected to seek significant new Covid funding as part of his forthcoming budget proposal, the latest sign that the White House is preparing to wind down its emergency response operation later this year. The move comes as Biden has insisted that the public health crisis is under control, and amid a broader administration shift toward new priorities aimed at bolstering the post-pandemic economy and lowering consumer costs. (Cancryn, 3/8)

Politico: Republicans Take Aim At Medicaid As Budget Talks Heat Up
Senior Republicans in the House and Senate are proposing deep cuts to Medicaid as talks around reducing the deficit intensify ahead of a budget showdown between President Joe Biden and House leaders. As outside conservative groups make a case for cuts in closed-door briefings and calls, members point to pledges from party leaders on both sides not to touch Social Security or Medicare as a key reason the health insurance program for low-income Americans is on the chopping block. (Ollstein, 3/8)

Bloomberg: Covid Origins Hearing Draws Call For Rules On Risky Research
The Trump administration’s top infectious disease official urged lawmakers during a hearing on the origins of the Covid-19 pandemic to ban research that enhances a pathogen’s ability to spread or cause disease. Robert Redfield, who served as the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at the outset of the health crises, has long maintained that Covid was likely caused by a lab accident in Wuhan, China. (Griffin and Ruoff, 3/8)

Stat: Revamped Covid Panel Argues For Research Limits, Even Bans
Pathogen-altering research is back under fire here, as Republican lawmakers argue it should be banned until policymakers and scientists work out whether these types of studies have helped advance infectious disease research — or played a role in the global Covid-19 pandemic. (Owermohle, 3/8)

Politico: Trump’s CDC Director Says Fauci Shut Down Debate On Covid’s Origin 
Trump administration CDC Director Robert Redfield told a congressional committee Wednesday that his former colleague, Anthony Fauci, and former National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins froze him out of discussions on Covid-19’s origins. The accusation came during a politically charged hearing Wednesday of the House Oversight and Accountability Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic and stoked Republican claims that Fauci in early 2020 promoted the view that an infected animal spread the virus to humans to divert attention from research the U.S. sponsored at China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology. (Paun, 3/8)

The Hill: House Democrats Denounce GOP COVID Witness As Having Racist Views 
A British author and former science editor of The New York Times was the subject of Democratic ire Wednesday when he testified during a congressional hearing on the origins of COVID-19. Nicholas Wade, who said he believes the virus originated in a research lab in Wuhan, China, came under fire by Democrats on the House coronavirus subcommittee for a controversial book he authored in 2014 that has been endorsed by white supremacists. (Weixel, 3/8)

AP: Congress Members Warned Of Significant Health Data Breach
A broker on an online crime forum claimed to have records on 170,000 DC Health Link customers and was offering them for sale for an unspecified amount. The broker claimed they were stolen Monday. Reached by The Associated Press on an encrypted chat site, the broker did no say whether the data had been purchased and said they could not provide additional data to back the claim. They said they were acting on behalf of the seller, who they identified as “thekilob.” (3/9)

The Washington Post: Sen. Mitch McConnell Hospitalized After Fall At Hotel
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has been hospitalized following a fall at a hotel in Washington, his spokesperson said late Wednesday. The 81-year-old senator was attending a private dinner at a local hotel when he tripped, spokesman David Popp said in a statement. “He has been admitted to the hospital where he is receiving treatment,” he added, without providing any further details on his condition. (Pannett, 3/9)

Bay Area News Group: California Cancels $54 Million Walgreens Contract Over Abortion Pill Fight
Making good on a threat, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday that California will cancel a $54 million contract with Walgreens as punishment for the pharmacy’s decision not to distribute abortion pills in states where attorneys general have warned it would be illegal. (Woolfolk, 3/8)

Politico: California To Halt $54M Walgreens Contract Over Company's Policy On Abortion Drug Sales
Walgreens will no longer provide medications to inmates in California’s sprawling correctional system as a result of the decision. A planned renewal of the contract was scheduled to take effect May 1. Newsom says this is just the first step in an “exhaustive review” of all of the state’s ties with Walgreens, some of which he may need to work with the state Legislature to terminate. (Ollstein and White, 3/8)

AP: California To End Walgreens Contract After Abortion Dispute 
“California will not stand by as corporations cave to extremists and cut off critical access to reproductive care and freedom,” Newsom said in a news release. “California is on track to be the fourth largest economy in the world and we will leverage our market power to defend the right to choose.” Walgreens representative Fraser Engerman said the company was “deeply disappointed by the decision by the state of California not to renew our longstanding contract due to false and misleading information.” “Walgreens is facing the same circumstances as all retail pharmacies, and no other pharmacies have said that they would approach this situation differently, so it’s unclear where this contract would not be moved,” Engerman said. “Our position has always been that, once we are certified by the FDA, Walgreens plans to dispense Mifepristone in any jurisdiction where it is legally permissible to do so, including the state of California.” (Beam, 3/9)

San Francisco Chronicle: Next Pandemic Will Be “Harder To Fight,” Says UCSF’s Wachter
The heavy politicization of the COVID-19 pandemic will make the next pandemic “even harder to fight,” according to Dr. Bob Wachter. The UCSF chair of medicine, who has large Twitter following for his COVID analysis and risk calculations, told the Jewish News of Northern California that the pandemic has opened the floodgates for misinformation. (Vaziri, 3/8)

The Washington Post: Covid Backlash Hobbles Public Health And Future Pandemic Response
When the next pandemic sweeps the United States, health officials in Ohio won’t be able to shutter businesses or schools, even if they become epicenters of outbreaks. Nor will they be empowered to force Ohioans who have been exposed to go into quarantine. State officials in North Dakota are barred from directing people to wear masks to slow the spread. Not even the president can force federal agencies to issue vaccination or testing mandates to thwart its march. Conservative and libertarian forces have defanged much of the nation’s public health system through legislation and litigation as the world staggers into the fourth year of covid. (Weber and Achenbach, 3/8)

San Francisco Chronicle: Lockdowns Reduced Virus Spread By 56% But At Steep Economic Cost, Study Finds
The lockdown orders issued at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic helped reduce the spread of the disease by an estimated 56%, according to a new study from researchers at USC, UC Riverside and other schools. But the lockdowns also took a heavy toll on the economy. (Vaziri, 3/8)

Los Angeles Times: Newsom Tests Positive For COVID, His Second Infection
California Gov. Gavin Newsom tested positive Wednesday for COVID-19 after exhibiting mild symptoms, according to his spokesman Alex Stack. Newsom will work remotely and self-isolate for at least five days, Stack wrote in a text message to reporters. He added that Newsom’s wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, has tested negative. (Rosenhall, 3/8)

Stat: FDA Issues Rare Comment On Approval Of Covid And Flu Home Test
Last week, the Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency authorization for the first at-home Covid-19 and flu combination test. The news came just days after the test’s maker, Lucira, filed for bankruptcy, blaming the FDA’s “protracted” approval process for its financial problems. (Trang, 3/8)

CIDRAP: Global Flu Activity Declines, With Flu B Proportions Increasing 
After peaking in late 2022, global flu activity continues to decline, though subtype proportions are shifting, the World Health Organization (WHO) said this week in its latest update, which covers roughly the middle 2 weeks of February. Though the H3N2 strain was dominant earlier in the season, a slightly larger proportion of viruses in the latest reporting period were the 2009 H1N1 virus. Influenza B now makes up 41% of samples, and all characterized influenza B viruses belonged to the Victoria lineage. Influenza B levels typically rise in the latter part of the Northern Hemisphere flu season. (Schnirring, 3/8)

Reuters: GSK Expects US Launch Of RSV Vaccine With No Supply Issues 
GSK expects to launch its respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine in the U.S. this year without supply constraints and sees China as a major future market for the shot, a senior executive told Reuters. The drugmaker is racing rival Pfizer Inc to introduce the first approved RSV vaccine in the United States, where 14,000 people die annually of the lower respiratory tract disease caused by the virus. (Fick, 3/9)

USA Today: Mental Health Number 988 Expands Text, Chat For LGBTQ Patients To 24/7
A government-backed 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline's LGBTQ pilot program is now offering text and online chat services 24/7. The 988 lifeline, (formerly known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline), is a suicide prevention network of more than 200 crisis centers across the U.S. that provides round the clock service available to anyone in suicidal crisis or emotional distress. (Neysa Alund, 3/8)

Stat: Health Secretary Signals Support For New Rule On Buprenorphine
A federal proposal to impose new restrictions on a key addiction-treatment medication has caused an uproar in certain segments of the medical community. But health secretary Xavier Becerra seems to be on board. (Facher, 3/8)

NBC News: Opioids Were Most Common Cause Of Child Poisoning, Study Found
Opioids were the most common substance contributing to the poisoning deaths of children ages 5 and younger, according to a new study. The research, published Wednesday in the journal Pediatrics, found that opioids accounted for more than 47% of the poisoning deaths among children in that age group between 2005 and 2018 — 346 of 731 total deaths reported to the National Center for Fatality Review and Prevention. (McShane, 3/8)

Reuters: U.S. FDA Approves Amphastar Pharma's Nasal Spray For Opioid Overdose
Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Inc said on Wednesday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had approved its nasal spray for emergency treatment of known or suspected opioid overdose. (3/8)

Reuters: US FDA Flags Shortage Of Medication Used To Treat Breathing Conditions 
The U.S. health regulator said on Wednesday that it is working to address a shortage of a particular form of albuterol, a medication used to treat breathing conditions, as its sole manufacturer Akorn has stopped production. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) added that it is working closely with manufacturers in the supply chain to "understand, mitigate and prevent or reduce any related impacts" due to the shortage of the medication. (3/8)

CNBC: Alzheimer's: Eli Lilly Treatment Solanezumab Failed To Slow Disease
Eli Lilly on Wednesday said it will halt development of its Alzheimer’s treatment candidate solanezumab after the antibody failed to slow disease progression. Solanezumab’s failure is a blow to efforts to treat Alzheimer’s in people who are in the very early stage of the disease and have not yet shown clinical symptoms. (Kimball, 3/8)

Stat: Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla Contributed To Dr. Oz Campaign
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla made the maximum possible campaign contribution to Mehmet Oz ahead of his failed bid last year to represent Pennsylvania in the U.S. Senate, according to federal campaign finance records. Oz is well-known for spreading medical misinformation, including touting astrology as a legitimate medical tool and the myth that apple juice contains unsafe levels of arsenic — a surprising political ally for Bourla, who runs one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. (Cohrs, 3/9)

The Boston Globe: Cambridge Biotech Testing Experimental ALS Drugs Based On Harvard Research
A Cambridge biotech startup based on work from a trio of Harvard researchers believes it has found a new approach to treating amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, a debilitating neurodegenerative disease that robs people of their ability to move and is often fatal within a few years. QurAlis said Thursday that it has raised $88 million from more than a dozen private investors, including EQT Life Sciences, which has taken a special interest in neurodegenerative disorders and dementias, as well as from the venture capital arms of pharmaceutical giants Amgen and Sanofi. (Cross, 3/9)

AP: Atlanta Hospital Closure Inquiry Sought By Georgia Democrats 
Democratic Georgia lawmakers, local officials and the NAACP are asking federal officials to investigate a health care system that closed hospitals in downtown Atlanta and a southern suburb, claiming Wellstar Health System has illegally discriminated against Black people and violated its tax-exempt status. State Sen. Nan Orrock, an Atlanta Democrat, said Wednesday that she and others filed complaints Tuesday with the IRS and the Office of Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (Amy, 3/8)

The Boston Globe: BMC’s Head Of Spine Surgery Identified As Recipient Of Alleged Kickbacks
Six weeks ago, Johnson & Johnson agreed to pay $9.75 million to the federal and state governments to settle allegations that it illegally gave a Massachusetts surgeon free medical devices for operations he performed on patients overseas to encourage him to use more of its products at his own hospital. (Saltzman, 3/8)

AP: Arkansas House Sends Governor Trans Care Malpractice Bill
The Arkansas House sent the GOP governor a bill Wednesday to make it easier to sue doctors who provide gender-affirming treatment to minors, moving to effectively reinstate the state’s blocked ban on such care. The office of Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said she backs the malpractice bill, which overwhelmingly passed the majority-Republican House on a mostly party-line vote. (DeMillo, 3/9)

Philadelphia Inquirer: Medical Malpractice Lawsuits Rise In Philadelphia After Pennsylvania Supreme Court Rule Change
Late last year, the family of a 9-year-old boy who fractured his jaw at a Nemours Children’s Hospital clinic in Montgomery County was ready to sue for negligent care. Their lawyer waited a few weeks, hoping to maximize their chances of a successful verdict when a change in state rules allowed them to try their case in a Philadelphia courtroom, instead of the county where the injury occurred. (Laughlin and Gutman, 3/8)

The Hill: Pandemic SNAP Benefits Just Ended. Here’s How Some States Are Making Up For It
As of Feb. 16, there have been at least 131 bills introduced in state legislatures across the country since the beginning of the year that are aimed specifically at strengthening SNAP programs, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.   But only a handful of state lawmakers have either passed or introduced legislation to make up for the recently cut aid by boosting overall SNAP benefits.  (O'Connell-Domenech, 3/8)

Indianapolis Star: Test Results Ordered By Holcomb Show No Dioxins In Train Wreck Waste
The contaminated soil that has arrived in Indiana from the train wreck in Ohio does not contain any harmful levels of dioxins, a toxic chemical that can cause cancer, according to results from sampling ordered by the Governor. Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb announced last week that he was directing his administration to conduct testing of the hazardous waste that had arrived at an Indiana landfill — three shipments of contaminated soil arrived last week. The state said it was working with a third-party laboratory, Pace Labs out of Minnesota. (Bowman, 3/8)

The Wall Street Journal: Former Blue Bell CEO Pleads Guilty To Misdemeanor Over Listeria Outbreak
U.S. prosecutors are dropping felony fraud charges they brought against a former chief executive of ice cream maker Blue Bell Creameries LP in the wake of a 2015 listeria outbreak that led to three deaths.  As part of a settlement reached Wednesday, Paul Kruse, Blue Bell’s CEO from 2004 until 2017, will plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge over food safety violations. He will pay a $100,000 fine and avoid jail time, according to a plea agreement filed in federal court in Austin, Texas. (Tokar, 3/8)

CNN: Mediterranean And MIND Diets Reduced Signs Of Alzheimer's In Brain Tissue, Study Finds
People who consumed foods from the plant-based Mediterranean and brain-focused MIND diets had fewer of the hallmark signs of Alzheimer’s — sticky beta-amyloid plaques and tau tangles in the brain — when autopsied, a new study found. The MIND diet is short for Mediterranean-DASH Diet Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay. In fact, people who most closely followed either of the diets had “almost 40% lower odds” of having enough plaques and tangles in brain tissue to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, according to the study. (LaMotte, 3/8)

CNN: 'Massive Efforts' Are Needed To Reduce Salt Intake And Protect Lives, World Health Organization Says
The world is off-pace for achieving the goal of reducing sodium intake 30% by 2025, according to a first-of-its-kind report from the World Health Organization. Although all 194 WHO member countries committed to the target set in 2013, only 5% have implemented comprehensive sodium-reduction policies, according to Thursday’s report. (Chavez, 3/9)

CNN: Viruses In Permafrost: Scientists Have Revived A 'Zombie' Virus That Spent 48,500 Years Frozen
Warmer temperatures in the Arctic are thawing the region’s permafrost — a frozen layer of soil beneath the ground — and potentially stirring viruses that, after lying dormant for tens of thousands of years, could endanger animal and human health. While a pandemic unleashed by a disease from the distant past sounds like the plot of a sci-fi movie, scientists warn that the risks, though low, are underappreciated. (Hunt, 3/8)