Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
First Edition: November 13, 2019
California Healthline: More Vapers Are Making Their Own Juice, But Not Without Risks
Danielle Jones sits at her dining room table, studying the recipe for Nerd Lyfe (v2) vape juice. The supplies she’s ordered online are arrayed before her: a plastic jug of unflavored liquid nicotine, a baking scale and bottles of artificial flavors that, combined, promise to re-create the fruity taste of Nerds Rope candy in vapor form. This is Jones’ first attempt to make her own e-liquid after buying it for the past five years. Jones, 32, wants to be prepared for the worst-case scenario: a ban on the sale of the e-liquids she depends on to avoid cigarettes. (Gold, 11/12)
Kaiser Health News: Medicaid Tweak Might Offer Means To Improve U.S. Maternal Health
When Madavia Johnson gave birth to Donald Ray Dowless III last year, she was hit by a case of severe postpartum anxiety. She was scared to carry her son downstairs or drive him in a car. She couldn’t manage to continue law school ― and could hardly leave the house ― because she didn’t trust anyone to watch him. Her weight dropped from 140 to 115 pounds. “It was very stressful for me mentally,” said Johnson, now 29, who lives in Clayton, N.C. And she found it hard to secure medical assistance because her Medicaid coverage ran out just two months after her son’s birth. Public health advocates are pushing to change that. (Bluth, 11/13)
Kaiser Health News: Verma Attacks Critics Of Medicaid Work Requirement, Pushes For Tighter Eligibility
Seema Verma, the Trump administration’s top Medicaid official, Tuesday sharply attacked critics of her plan to force some Medicaid enrollees to work, a policy that led to thousands of people losing coverage in Arkansas. “We cannot allow those who prefer the status quo to weaponize the legal system against state innovation,” the administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said in a fiery speech to the nation’s 56 state and territorial Medicaid directors in Washington, D.C. (Galewitz, 11/12)
The Hill: Top Health Official Defends Federal Contract Payments To Trump Allies
A top administration health official on Tuesday defended her office’s spending of hundreds of thousands of dollars on outside GOP communications consultants with close ties to President Trump. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Seema Verma said the use of contractors was appropriate, because the agency did not have the necessary communications staff in place to enact her “vision” for the department. (Weixel, 11/12)
The New York Times: Supreme Court Allows Sandy Hook Relatives To Sue Gun Maker
The Supreme Court cleared the way on Tuesday for relatives of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victims to sue the Remington Arms Company, the maker of the rifle used in the massacre. The court said that it would not hear an appeal by Remington of a ruling by Connecticut’s Supreme Court that allowed a lawsuit brought by the families of the victims to go forward. The case has been seen as a test of the ability of plaintiffs to pierce the legal immunity of firearm manufacturers in the aftermath of shootings. (Hussey and Williamson, 11/12)
NPR: Supreme Court Allows Sandy Hook Families' Case Against Remington Arms To Proceed
The closely watched lawsuit has survived many legal twists and turns, moving from state to federal court and back, and repeatedly escaping bids by Remington and gun owners' groups to quash it. While the suit initially centered on a claim of negligent entrustment — or providing a gun to someone who plans to commit a crime with it — the case now hinges on how Remington marketed the gun. (Chappell, 11/12)
Reuters: U.S. Supreme Court Declines To Shield Gun Maker From Sandy Hook Lawsuit
The family members of nine people slain and one survivor of the Sandy Hook massacre filed the lawsuit in 2014. Remington was backed in the case by a number of gun rights groups and lobbying organizations including the powerful National Rifle Association, which is closely aligned with Republicans including President Donald Trump. The NRA called the lawsuit “company-killing.” (Chung, 11/12)
The Associated Press: Supreme Court Lets Sandy Hook Shooting Lawsuit Go Forward
The lawsuit says the Madison, North Carolina-based company should never have sold a weapon as dangerous as the Bushmaster AR-15-style rifle to the public. Gunman Adam Lanza used it to kill 20 first graders and six educators. It also alleges Remington targeted younger, at-risk males in marketing and product placement in violent video games. Lanza was 20 years old. Lanza earlier shot his mother to death at their Newtown home and killed himself as police arrived at the school. The rifle was legally owned by his mother. (11/12)
CNN: Supreme Court Allows Sandy Hook Families To Sue Remington
Lawyers for the victims sued Remington contending that the company marketed rifles by extolling the militaristic qualities of the rifle and reinforcing the image of a combat weapon -- in violation of a Connecticut law that prevents deceptive marketing practices. The rifle was "designed as a military weapon" and "engineered to deliver maximum carnage" with extreme efficiency, they argue in legal briefs. (De Vogue, 11/12)
The Washington Post: Supreme Court Allows Families Of Sandy Hook Shooting Victims To Sue Gunmaker Remington
“Gun manufacturers throughout the country should be on notice that they’ll need to answer for their reckless business practices in the courts,” Eric Tirschwell, managing director of litigation for Everytown Law, said in a statement. “This reaffirms that the gun industry is not above the law and that the families of the Sandy Hook victims will have their day in court,” he said. (Marimow, 11/12)
The Wall Street Journal: Google’s ‘Project Nightingale’ Triggers Federal Inquiry
Google’s project with the country’s second-largest health system to collect detailed health information on 50 million American patients sparked a federal inquiry and criticism from patients and lawmakers. The data on patients of St. Louis-based Ascension were until recently scattered across 40 data centers in more than a dozen states. Google and the Catholic nonprofit are moving that data into Google’s cloud-computing system—with potentially big changes on tap for doctors and patients. At issue for regulators and lawmakers who expressed concern is whether Google and Ascension are adequately protecting patient data in the initiative, which is code-named “Project Nightingale” and is aimed at crunching data to produce better health care, among other goals. (Copeland and Needleman, 11/12)
The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Lawmakers Scold Google’s ‘Project Nightingale’ Over Health-Data Privacy
Several U.S. lawmakers called for sharper regulatory scrutiny of patient health-data deals, including one between Google and the nonprofit health system Ascension, on concerns such arrangements run afoul of federal privacy rules regarding medical records. ... Sens. Mark Warner (D., Va.), Amy Klobuchar (D., Minn.), Bill Cassidy (R., La.) and Richard Blumenthal (D., Conn.) are among legislators who separately issued statements raising serious concern over the arrangement. Mr. Warner urged Congress or the Department of Health and Human Services to halt it pending an investigation. (Needleman and Copeland, 11/12)
The Associated Press: Google’s Health Care Ambitions Now Involve Patient Data
Google announced a partnership with a large U.S. health care system aimed at modernizing its information system and providing new tools for doctors, in the tech giant’s latest foray into the health industry. Announcement of its arrangement with the Catholic health care system Ascension followed a Wall Street Journal report on Monday that Google had access to thousands of patient health records without doctors’ knowledge. (Lerman, 11/12)
Stat: More Americans Can't Afford Prescriptions; Most Think Trump Isn't Helping
As President Trump looks toward the next election, a new poll finds that a growing percentage of adults did not have enough money to pay for prescription medicines over the past year and only a fraction of Americans believe he is doing enough to lower drug costs, which is a key campaign issue for him. To wit, 22.9% reported they lacked the funds this past September to pay for a prescription during the previous 12 months, up from 18.9% in January. All totaled, about 58 million adults experienced “medication insecurity,” according to the latest Gallup Poll. (Silverman, 11/12)
The New York Times: Facing ‘Certain Death,’ Teenager With Vaping Injury Gets Double Lung Transplant
A 17-year-old boy whose lungs were irreversibly damaged by vaping received a double-lung transplant at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, a lifesaving measure taken when a patient’s own lungs are diseased or damaged beyond repair and there is no other hope of survival, doctors said on Tuesday. Without the transplant, performed last month, the patient “would have faced certain death,” Dr. Hassan Nemeh, who led the surgical team, said during a news conference at the hospital. (Grady, 11/12)
The Washington Post: Michigan Doctors Say They Performed The First Vaping-Related Double Lung Transplant
The medical team from Detroit’s Henry Ford Hospital said the patient, a 17-year-old male, underwent the roughly six-hour transplant surgery Oct. 15. He spent a month on a life-support machine after suffering “complete lung failure” and would have faced “certain death” without the operation, according to the doctors. The teen’s family described him as an athlete who was in perfect health before he was admitted to the hospital in early September with what appeared to be pneumonia. Within weeks, his condition had become so dire that he shot to the top of a national transplant list, where most patients spend months waiting for a donor. (Hawkins, 11/12)
The Wall Street Journal: Death Of CEO Comes At A Time Of Expansion, Big Bets For Kaiser Permanente
The unexpected death of Kaiser Permanente Chief Executive Bernard Tyson leaves the hospital and health-insurance giant in flux at a time of ambitious growth and it was met with shock by those who praised his work on public health and social issues. Kaiser, based in Oakland, Calif., gained heft as one of the nation’s largest hospital and health insurance systems with $83 billion in annual revenue under Mr. Tyson. He bet heavily on technology to reach more patients and set plans to expand Kaiser’s reach nationally. (Evans, 11/12)
The Wall Street Journal: Major Midwest Hospital Systems Call Off Planned Merger
Two Midwestern hospital giants became the latest to break off merger talks, another drag on deal making across the $1 trillion hospital sector. Sanford Health, based in Sioux Falls, S.D., and UnityPoint Health, based in Des Moines, Iowa, separately said Tuesday they had ended merger talks. Sanford CEO Kelby Krabbenhoft faulted UnityPoint for rejecting an agreement to create a major U.S. hospital system. The combination would have created a 76-hospital giant with operations across 26 states and $11 billion in operating revenue, executives said in June. (Evans, 11/12)
Bloomberg: KKR Makes Formal Approach To Walgreens Boots On Record Buyout
KKR & Co. has formally approached drugstore giant Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. about a deal to take the company private, in what could be the biggest-ever leveraged buyout, people familiar with the matter said. The New York private equity firm has been preparing a proposal to potentially buy out shareholders of Walgreens Boots, said the people, who asked not to be identified because discussions are private. (Hammond, Kirchfeld and Nair, 11/11)
The New York Times: ‘Emboldened’ N.F.L. Players Value Health Over Paychecks
One player defied his team and had surgery on his damaged shoulder. Another blamed his club for not spotting a rare form of cancer sooner. Still another, according to media reports, disputed his team’s assertion that his concussion symptoms had abated. The players — former Jets guard Kelechi Osemele, Washington Redskins tackle Trent Williams and Cincinnati Bengals tackle Cordy Glenn — had very different ailments. But what they had in common was a willingness to question their employers over how their injuries were handled, and all of them appear to have paid a financial price. (Belson, 11/13)
The Wall Street Journal: These People Got The Flu So You Won’t Have To
Amy Edwards got the flu precisely 2½ hours ago. It was injected into her nostrils, one at a time. “They took a syringe filled with the flu virus that they defrosted,” says the 37-year-old. “They shot one into each nostril and had us lie down.” Ms. Edwards and 19 strangers are confined to an isolation unit at the University of Maryland School of Medicine for at least a week. They’re participating in a federally funded human influenza study that is a key part of an effort to develop a better and longer-lasting flu vaccine. (Reddy, 11/12)
The New York Times: A Black Paratrooper’s First Veterans Day, And His Last
On Monday, for the first time in his life, Needham Mayes was a veteran on Veterans Day. His hospital bed was far from any parade, but the nation’s recognition of his service was no different from that of his fellow officers marching beneath flying flags. It was an honor hard fought, one that had taken the 85-year-old man’s entire adult life to arrive. He had been a paratrooper in the Army, among the first black soldiers at Fort Bragg, N.C., after the military was desegregated. He had an exemplary record for more than two years. It all ended in a bar fight in 1955. (Wilson, 11/12)
The New York Times: Another Reason To Take Your Blood Pressure Drugs: Lower Dementia Risk
Controlling blood pressure in middle age may reduce the risk for dementia. The benefits of reducing blood pressure to lower the risk for cardiovascular disease are well known, but the role of blood pressure control in dementia has been less certain. Now pooled data from six large observational studies suggests that antihypertensive medicines may lower the risk for Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. The review is in Lancet Neurology. (Bakalar, 11/12)
NPR: Drug Pipeline To Fight Antibiotic Resistance Is Running Low
Five years ago, Mary Millard went to the hospital for heart surgery. A contaminated medical instrument gave her an infection that led to septic shock. Her heart struggled and her lungs and kidneys started to fail. "What I caught was pseudomonas, and it's a very virulent superbug," says the 60-year-old former nurse who lives in Baton Rouge, La. This bacterium no longer responds to most antibiotics, and "it lives in you permanently, so I'm on lifetime antibiotics," she says. (Harris, 11/13)
The Washington Post: Giving Into Arthritis Pain Will Only Make Things Worse. Here’s How To Keep Moving.
Some days, it seems regular exercise has become a panacea — good for the heart, good for blood pressure, good for glucose levels, good to limit sad days and depression. But what about people tormented with the pain and stiffness of osteoarthritis, particularly in the knees and hips? What are they supposed to do? There was an era when ethical medical practice demanded a no-movement solution for people in pain. Not anymore. Today, the more than 50 million adult Americans with arthritis are advised to seek the same 150 minutes a week of moderate exercise as everyone else. (Burfoot, 11/12)
The Associated Press: Michigan Lawmaker Criticized For Comparing Abortion, Slavery
A Michigan Republican legislative leader is drawing criticism from Democrats for likening abortion to slavery. Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey told Hillsdale College's radio station last week that allowing abortion to occur "at all" is the "scourge of our country now today." "In my mind it's comparable, and people are going to be very upset when I say this, it is comparable to the scourge that we endured when we still had slavery in this country," the business owner from Clarklake said after being asked about Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's support for newly introduced legislation that would undo abortion restrictions. (11/12)
The Associated Press: USC Campus Left Shaken By 9 Student Deaths Since August
The first death occurred in late August, two days before classes began, when an incoming freshman was struck by a car while walking on a freeway near the University of Southern California. In the more than 2 months since, eight other USC students have died — three by suicide, others by unknown means. The string of fatalities has left students and faculty at the prestigious university shaken and struggling for answers. (11/12)
Los Angeles Times: 9 Student Deaths At USC Alarm Students And Administrators
Winston Crisp, the university’s vice president for student affairs, said he and other administrators decided to move quickly with as much transparency as possible to quell rumors about the deaths, as well as to remind students that resources are available if anyone does need help. School administrators have faced a balancing act, trying to share adequate information with students without overloading them with unnecessary details. Although not all the deaths have been attributed to suicide, the lack of information has prompted speculation among parents and students alike, increasing concerns. (Shalby, Fry, Karlamangla and Miller, 11/12)
The Associated Press: Case Of Former Phoenix Body Donation Facility Goes To Jury
Jurors have started deliberations in the civil trial involving a now-closed body donation facility in Phoenix. The relatives of 23 people whose remains were donated to the Biological Resource Center contend in a lawsuit that the facility mishandled their deceased loved ones and misled them about how the remains would be used. The suit alleges the facility committed fraud by claiming the donated bodies would be used for medical research, when in at least two cases it knew the human remains would be sold for use in destructive military testing. (11/13)
The Associated Press: Residents Want Federal Probe Of Cancer Near Georgia Facility
Residents of an Atlanta suburb want the federal government to investigate cases of cancer near a medical sterilization plant that uses a gas linked to an increase cancer risk. WXIA-TV reports some Covington residents are asking the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry to investigate cases near the plant, which has released leaked ethylene oxide into the surrounding air. (11/12)
