First Edition: November 12, 2019

Kaiser Health News: Some Academics Quietly Take Side Jobs Helping Tobacco Companies In Court
In 1998, major tobacco companies reached a historic legal settlement with states that had sued them over the health care costs of smoking-related illnesses. But individual smokers have continued to sue, and to this day the tobacco industry remains tied up in hundreds of court fights with sickened smokers, or with family members who lost a loved one to cancer, heart disease or other smoking-related illness. These days, tobacco companies no longer try to claim that cigarettes aren’t harmful — in fact, in an ironic reversal, a favorite legal defense in current cases is the argument that nearly everyone was aware of the dangers, even back in the 1950s. (Farmer, 11/12)

Kaiser Health News: Warren Says Out-Of-Pocket Health Spending Will Total $11 Trillion In The Next Decade. We Checked Her Math.
Promoting her much-discussed plan to create a single-payer “Medicare for All” health system, Sen. Elizabeth Warren emphasized a striking figure. “If we make no changes over the next 10 years, Americans will reach into their pockets and pay out about $11 trillion on insurance premiums, copays, deductibles and uncovered medical expenses,” the Democratic presidential candidate said in an Instagram video posted Monday. (Luthra, 11/12)

Kaiser Health News: More Adolescents Seek Medical Care For Mental Health Issues
Less than a decade ago, the emergency department at Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego would see maybe one or two young psychiatric patients per day, said Dr. Benjamin Maxwell, the hospital’s interim director of child and adolescent psychiatry. Now, it’s not unusual for the emergency room to see 10 psychiatric patients in a day, and sometimes even 20, said Maxwell. “What a lot of times is happening now is kids aren’t getting the care they need, until it gets to the point where it is dangerous,” he said. (Reese, 11/12)

Politico: Federal Health Contract Funneled Hundreds Of Thousands Of Dollars To Trump Allies
At least eight former White House, presidential transition and campaign officials for President Donald Trump were hired as outside contractors to the federal health department at the cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars per year, according to documents newly obtained by POLITICO. They were among at least 40 consultants who worked on a one-year, $2.25 million contract directed by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma. The contractors were hired to burnish Verma’s personal brand and provide “strategic communications” support. They charged up to $380 per hour for work traditionally handled by dozens of career civil servants in CMS's communications department. (Diamond and Cancryn, 11/12)

The New York Times: Big Nurses Union Backs Bernie Sanders And His Push For ‘Medicare For All’
The country’s largest nurses union will endorse Senator Bernie Sanders for president this week, a significant boost to his campaign from a major ally in the fight for his signature health care proposal. The union, National Nurses United, fervently supported Mr. Sanders’s last bid for the White House in 2016, and its members have been significant players in Democratic politics since then, showing up in red T-shirts to support Mr. Sanders’s progressive allies in intraparty battles. They have also canvassed neighborhoods in swing congressional districts, urging voters to get behind “Medicare for all,” Mr. Sanders’s plan for a nationalized health insurance system. (Epstein, 11/12)

The Wall Street Journal: Google’s ‘Project Nightingale’ Gathers Personal Health Data On Millions Of Americans
Google is engaged with one of the U.S.’s largest health-care systems on a project to collect and crunch the detailed personal-health information of millions of people across 21 states. The initiative, code-named “Project Nightingale,” appears to be the biggest effort yet by a Silicon Valley giant to gain a toehold in the health-care industry through the handling of patients’ medical data. Amazon.com Inc. and Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp. are also aggressively pushing into health care, though they haven’t yet struck deals of this scope. Google began Project Nightingale in secret last year with St. Louis-based Ascension, a Catholic chain of 2,600 hospitals, doctors’ offices and other facilities, with the data sharing accelerating since summer, according to internal documents. (Copeland, 11/11)

The New York Times: Google To Store And Analyze Millions Of Health Records
The partnership between Google and the medical system, Ascension, could have huge reach. Ascension operates 150 hospitals in 20 states and the District of Columbia. Under the arrangement, the data of all Ascension patients could eventually be uploaded to Google’s cloud computing platform. It is legal for health systems to share patients’ medical information with business partners like electronic medical record companies. Even so, many patients may not trust Google, which has paid multiple fines for violating privacy laws, with their personal medical details. (Singer and Wakabayashi, 11/11)

Reuters: Google Signs Healthcare Data And Cloud Computing Deal With Ascension
Google said in a blog post on Monday that patient data "cannot and will not be combined with any Google consumer data." Ascension "are the stewards of the data, and we provide services on their behalf," wrote Tariq Shaukat, president for industry products and solutions at Google Cloud. In a press release, Ascension said the partnership is in compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) which safeguards medical information. (Dave, 11/11)

The New York Times: E.P.A. To Limit Science Used To Write Public Health Rules
The Trump administration is preparing to significantly limit the scientific and medical research that the government can use to determine public health regulations, overriding protests from scientists and physicians who say the new rule would undermine the scientific underpinnings of government policymaking. A new draft of the Environmental Protection Agency proposal, titled Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science, would require that scientists disclose all of their raw data, including confidential medical records, before the agency could consider an academic study’s conclusions. (Friedman, 11/11)

The Hill: EPA Rule Proposes To Expand Limitations On Scientific Studies
The move is an expansion from previous drafts of the formally titled Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science rule, also dubbed the “secret science” rule, which was first pitched in 2017 by former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler told a congressional committee in September that the agency was moving forward with the rule to "ensure that the science supporting agency decisions is transparent and available for evaluation by the public and stakeholders.” The new rule is now headed for the White House, according to the Times. (Green, 11/11)

The New York Times: As Vietnam Veterans Age, Hospices Aim To Meet Their Needs
When Timothy Hellrung was told he had aggressive cancer this past June and had only days or weeks to live, he knew where he wanted to die. Mr. Hellrung, a 73-year-old veteran of the Vietnam War disabled by Agent Orange, spent his last 10 days in hospice care at the community living center of the V.A. Ann Arbor Healthcare System in Michigan. The staff provided him with a roomy suite. A social worker wheeled in a bed for his wife of 44 years, Brenda, and gave her pajamas so she could be comfortable spending every night with him. (Halpert, 11/11)

The New York Times: How The 2020 Democrats Plan To Help Veterans
The large field of Democrats running for president may have differing views on the best way to provide health care to the masses or exactly how to reform the immigration system. But when it comes to helping America’s veterans they largely agree: The Department of Veterans Affairs needs some serious help, and those who have served need much better access to benefits, health care, housing, education and jobs. (Stevens, 11/11)

The Washington Post: Veterans Day Search-And-Rescue Mission Targets District’s Homeless
About 40 volunteers, led by a handful of former military personnel, marked Veterans Day on Monday by reaching out to homeless veterans in the District. The effort — organized by Veterans on the Rise and the Union Veterans Council of the AFL-CIO — targeted shelters and other places frequented by the homeless. The volunteers gathered in the parking lot of Shiloh Baptist Church for an 8 a.m. briefing before breaking into smaller teams that handed out kits containing toiletries, gloves, socks and wool caps to anyone who needed them. They also handed out cards with information on how to obtain temporary shelter or assistance from Veterans Affairs. (Kunkle, 11/11)

Reuters: Trump To Meet With Vaping Industry As He Mulls Tighter Regulation
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he will be meeting with vaping industry representatives as his administration considers tightening e-cigarette regulations amid a nationwide outbreak of vaping-related injuries and deaths. "Will be meeting with representatives of the Vaping industry, together with medical professionals and individual state representatives, to come up with an acceptable solution to the Vaping and E-cigarette dilemma. Children’s health & safety, together with jobs, will be a focus!" he wrote on Twitter. (11/11)

The Wall Street Journal: Trump To Meet With Vaping Industry Representatives As Policy Nears On E-Cigarettes
“Will be meeting with representatives of the Vaping industry, together with medical professionals and individual state representatives, to come up with an acceptable solution to the Vaping and E-cigarette dilemma,” Mr. Trump wrote in a tweet Monday morning. “Children’s health & safety, together with jobs, will be a focus!” He didn’t say when the meeting would happen, but the policy has been delayed under heavy lobbying. On Friday, Mr. Trump said he supported raising the minimum purchase age for e-cigarettes nationwide to 21 years old from 18. (Burton and Leary, 11/11)

The Hill: Vaping Advocates Feel Confident Trump Will Turn From Flavor Ban 
Vaping advocates feel optimistic that the Trump administration will back off its plan to ban the sale of all flavored e-cigarette products. President Trump and some of his top advisers have questioned in recent days whether the flavor ban it promised two months ago could have an adverse effect on the economy. They’ve also worried it could make it harder for adults who use the products to try to quit smoking. (Hellmann, 11/12)

The Associated Press: Vaping-Related Lung Transplant Performed At Detroit Hospital
Doctors at a Detroit hospital have performed what could be the first double lung transplant on a man whose lungs were damaged from vaping. No other details of the transplant were released Monday by Henry Ford Health System, which has scheduled a news conference Tuesday. The patient has asked his medical team to share photographs and an update to warn others about vaping. (Williams, 11/11)

The Associated Press: US Held Nearly 70,000 Migrant Kids In Custody In 2019
The 3-year-old girl traveled for weeks cradled in her father's arms, as he set out to seek asylum in the United States. Now she won't even look at him. After being forcibly separated at the border by government officials, sexually abused in U.S. foster care and deported, she arrived back in Honduras withdrawn, anxious and angry, convinced her once-beloved father abandoned her. He fears their bond is forever broken. (Sherman, Mendoza and Burke, 11/12)

The New York Times: ‘I Am Desperate For Leadership’ On Reducing Gun Violence
A select group of 11 executives and activists struggled to tackle the role of the corporate world in combating one of the most polarizing issues in the United States today: guns. They didn’t solve the problem. No one has yet. Which is why they were there. At the head of the table sat two fathers of students who died in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School massacre in Parkland, Fla., on Feb. 14, 2018. At one corner next to them sat two staunch defenders of the Second Amendment who were worried about having to relinquish their firearms. (Robbins, 11/11)

The New York Times: Cannabis-Based Medicines Approved For Use In England And Wales
Cannabis-based medicines were approved on Monday for use by the National Health Service in England and Wales, a milestone decision that could change the lives of thousands of patients. Three treatments using medicinal cannabis were authorized by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, a public body that provides guidance on health care practices. The decision comes a year after Sajid Javid, then the British home secretary, said that some doctors could legally prescribe the drug in special cases. (Magra, 11/11)

Reuters: Merck Wins European Approval For First-Ever Ebola Vaccine
Since the middle of last year, the Congo Ebola outbreak has killed more than 2,100 people, making it the second-largest Ebola outbreak in history, after the 2013-16 epidemic in West Africa that killed more than 11,300. “The EU is supporting international efforts to combat Ebola on all fronts, from vaccine development to delivering humanitarian aid on the ground,” EU Ebola Coordinator Christos Stylianides said in a statement dated Nov. 10. (11/11)

The New York Times: Getting A Handle On Self-Harm
The sensations surged up from somewhere inside, like poison through a syringe: a mix of sadness, anxiety, and shame that would overwhelm anyone, especially a teenager. “I had this Popsicle stick and carved it into sharp point and scratched myself,” Joan, a high school student in New York City said recently; she asked that her last name be omitted for privacy. “I’m not even sure where the idea came from. I just knew it was something people did. I remember crying a lot and thinking, Why did I just do that? I was kind of scared of myself.” (Carey, 11/11)

The Wall Street Journal: Sadfishing, Predators And Bullies: The Hazards Of Being ‘Real’ On Social Media
It seems like lately everyone on Instagram and YouTube is feeling anxious, stressed and depressed. Images of amazing vacations, flawless bodies and beautiful homes that once dominated social-media feeds are being replaced with snapshots of real life, with all its laundry piles and stretch marks. Celebrities and influencers are sharing more of their emotional baggage. But when regular teens do the same, it can be risky. Influencers have used the word “anxiety” three times more so far this year than they did in all of 2016 and more than six million posts on Instagram reference #mentalhealthawareness, according to Captiv8 Inc., an influencer marketing firm. (Jargon, 11/12)

The Associated Press: Cholesterol Levels Dropping In US, But Many Still Need Care
Some good health news: Americans' cholesterol levels are dropping, and more people at especially high risk are getting treatment. Researchers say Monday's report suggests a controversial change in recommendations for cholesterol treatment may be starting to pay off. "It is very heartening," said Dr. Pankaj Arora of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, who led the study. "But there is more to do." (Neergaard, 11/11)

The New York Times: Shifting The Focus Of Breast Cancer To Prevention
Efforts to reduce deaths from breast cancer in women have long focused on early detection and post-surgical treatment with drugs, radiation or both to help keep the disease at bay. And both of these approaches, used alone or together, have resulted in a dramatic reduction in breast cancer mortality in recent decades. The average five-year survival rate is now 90 percent, and even higher — 99 percent — if the cancer is confined to the breast, or 85 percent if it has spread to regional lymph nodes. (Brody, 11/11)

The Associated Press: Is My Kid Too Young For Contact Sports? Advice Still Unclear
New guidance on concussions shows there isn't enough solid evidence to answer some of parents' most burning questions about contact sports. That includes what age is safest to start playing them. Pediatric experts in sports medicine, neurology and related fields evaluated and rated three decades of sports concussion-related research. They say recent evidence filled in some blanks. (Tanner, 11/11)

The New York Times: Omega-3s Show Little Or No Benefit For Depression Or Anxiety
Some studies, and many ads, suggest that omega-3 supplements are helpful for improving mental health. But a systematic review of research has found the supplements are probably ineffective in treating or preventing depression and anxiety. The analysis, in the British Journal of Psychiatry, included a broad range of long-term trials of omega-3 fatty acid supplementation. Omega-3s are found in fatty fish like salmon and other foods. Neither length of treatment nor size of dosage demonstrated effectiveness. (Dixon, 11/12)

The Associated Press: The Most Destructive Hurricanes Are Hitting US More Often
Big, destructive hurricanes are hitting the U.S. three times more frequently than they did a century ago, according to a new study. Experts generally measure a hurricane's destruction by adding up how much damage it did to people and cities. That can overlook storms that are powerful, but that hit only sparsely populated areas. A Danish research team came up with a new measurement that looked at just the how big and strong the hurricane was, not how much money it cost. They call it Area of Total Destruction. (Borenstein, 11/11)

The New York Times: Virginia Doctor Performed Hysterectomies Without Consent, Prosecutors Say
The authorities have charged a Virginia obstetrician and gynecologist accused of performing unnecessary hysterectomies and removing one patient’s fallopian tubes without her knowledge. The doctor, Javaid Perwaiz, 69, was arrested on Friday and charged with one count of health care fraud and making false statements relating to health care matters, according to court documents filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. (Diaz, 11/11)

The Washington Post: An OB/GYN Mutilated Women With Unnecessary Hysterectomies, Tube Ties And ‘Cleanouts,’ Feds Say
At Javaid Perwaiz’s gynecology practice in Chesapeake, Va., authorities say excessive surgery has been the norm for years. Women were given hysterectomies they didn’t need or want and underwent surgical procedures to remove growths they didn’t have, according to court documents. When one woman consulted with a fertility doctor after trouble conceiving, authorities said, she learned Perwaiz had burned her fallopian tubes “down to nubs” — without her knowledge. (Mettler, 11/11)

The Washington Post: Gavin Newsom Accused PG&E Of ‘Corporate Greed.’ The Utility Spent $700,000 Funding His Campaigns And His Wife’s Films.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has accused his state’s largest utility company of mismanaging funds he said it should have used to upgrade an aging electrical grid prone to deadly wildfires. But over the past two decades, Newsom (D) and his wife have accepted more than $700,000 from the Pacific Gas & Electric Co., its foundation and its employees as the utility has supported his political campaigns, his ballot initiatives, his inauguration festivities and his wife’s foundation, including her film projects, according to records reviewed by The Washington Post. (MacMillan and Satija, 11/11)

The Washington Post: Kansas Restaurant Worker Alleges In Lawsuit That He Was Fired For HIV Status
When Armando Gutierrez learned he was HIV-positive last December, he struggled to share the information with his employer. The 31-year-old believed he was well-liked at the Kansas chain restaurant where he had worked as a server for a year, but he still worried his co-workers would stigmatize him if they learned of his condition. In a lawsuit filed last week in U.S. District Court in Kansas, Gutierrez claims his fears were well founded, because shortly after sharing his status with a manager, he says he was fired. (Epstein, 11/11)

The Associated Press: Tenn. Doctor Plans To Plead Guilty To Opioid Distribution
A Tennessee doctor who had five patients fatally overdose in a 10-month span intends to plead guilty to distributing a controlled substance. The Tennessean reports 64-year-old Dr. Darrel Rinehart's attorney filed a motion to have a hearing in December where Rinehart "intends to plead guilty." (11/11)