First Edition: November 14, 2017
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
The New York Times:
Former Eli Lilly Executive Is Trump’s Choice For Health Secretary
President Trump, who has repeatedly assailed pharmaceutical companies for the high cost of prescription medications in the United States, nominated on Monday a former executive of one of the nation’s largest drug companies to be secretary of health and human services, which has responsibility for regulating the pharmaceutical industry. Mr. Trump announced his choice of Alex M. Azar II, a former president of the American division of Eli Lilly and a health official in the George W. Bush administration, on Twitter while traveling in Asia. (Shear, 11/13)
The Associated Press:
Trump Turns To Drug Industry For His New Health Secretary
If confirmed, Alex Azar would oversee a $1 trillion department responsible for major health insurance programs, including "Obamacare," as well as medical research, food and drug safety, and public health. The nomination of Azar is unusual because Health and Human Services secretaries have come from the ranks of elected officials such as governors, leaders in academia and medicine, or top executive branch managers — not industries regulated by the department. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 11/13)
The Washington Post:
Trump Picks Alex Azar To Lead Health And Human Services
In announcing his decision on Monday, Trump tweeted that Azar “will be a star for better healthcare and lower drug prices!” He has a close rapport with the department’s top political appointees as well as Vice President Pence. Azar has been highly critical of the Affordable Care Act, saying in interviews in recent months that the law was “certainly circling the drain” and that many of its problems “were entirely predictable as a matter of economic and individual behavior.” (Eilperin and Goldstein, 11/13)
The Wall Street Journal:
Trump Nominates Alex Azar As Health And Human Services Secretary
The choice of a detail-oriented lawyer familiar with the workings of the federal government drew praise from Republicans, who said that Mr. Azar would bring significant institutional knowledge to the job. Some consumer groups criticized Mr. Azar’s pharmaceuticals background, saying he might neglect to focus on lowering drug costs. Democrats also said they would press broad objections to the administration’s desire to overturn the ACA during his confirmation process. (Armour and Radnofsky, 11/13)
NPR:
Trump Picks Alex Azar To Lead Health And Human Services
Azar also favors moving authority to the states over Medicaid, the program that provides health care to the poor, elderly and disabled. That means turning over the program to the states to make them "better stewards of the money," he said in an interview at a February conference on YouTube. "It turns these sovereign states and governors from supplicants to the HHS secretary into people running their own health insurance system for the poor." He said at the time that HHS could use its regulatory powers to allow states to customize the rules around Medicaid. (Kodjak, 11/13)
Los Angeles Times:
Trump Goes A Different Direction In His Choice Of Health And Human Services Secretary
[A]mong many of those those well-versed in healthcare policy, Azar's pick was seen as heartening. Andy Slavitt, who oversaw Medicare, Medicaid and insurance markets during the Obama administration, said that while he differed with any Trump pick over "political values…realistically, it could have been a helluva lot worse." "He's somebody who has been a career civil servant; he has a lot of respect for the people in the department and that's a good start," Slavitt said. (Decker, 11/13)
Politico:
Pence’s Health Care Power Play
Vice President Mike Pence is exerting growing influence over the American health care system, overseeing the appointments of more than a half-dozen allies and former aides to positions driving the White House's health agenda. On Monday President Donald Trump nominated Alex Azar, a former Indianapolis-based drug executive and longtime Pence supporter as HHS secretary. If confirmed, Azar would join an Indiana brain trust that already includes CMS Administrator Seema Verma and Surgeon General Jerome Adams. Two of Verma’s top deputies — Medicaid director Brian Neale and deputy chief of staff Brady Brookes — are former Pence hands as well, as is HHS’ top spokesman, Matt Lloyd. (Cancryn, 11/13)
The Washington Post:
The Senate GOP Tax Bill Keeps The Medical Expense Tax Deduction
Let the negotiations begin. The Senate Republican tax bill differs in a lot of ways from the House version. And one chief difference is the deduction for medical expenses. It’s left alone in the Senate bill. House Republicans want it gone. (Singletary, 11/13)
The New York Times:
Trump Again Wades Into Tax Debate, Suggesting Repeal Of Obamacare Mandate
As Republican lawmakers worked on Monday toward a delicate compromise on a $1.5 trillion tax cut, President Trump threw himself back into the discussion, suggesting that Republicans could reduce taxes even further by repealing the Affordable Care Act’s mandate that most people have health insurance. (Rappeport and Kaplan, 11/13)
Stat:
This Tennessee Insurer Doesn’t Play By Obamacare’s Rules — And The GOP Sees It As The Future
When Phil Yates walked into a tiny strip mall storefront last month, he was hopeful he might walk out with an affordable health insurance plan. Here in the Volunteer State, the 61-year-old retiree had a decent shot: Another 61-year-old retiree could have walked into that same office and enrolled in a relatively basic plan for as little as $283 per month, far less than the $860 a month Yates paid this year for an Obamacare plan. (Mershon, 11/13)
The New York Times:
What Red States Are Passing Up As Blue States Get Billions
For years, red states have effectively been subsidizing part of health insurance for blue states. By declining to expand their Medicaid programs as part of the Affordable Care Act, many of those states have passed up tens of billions of federal dollars they could have used to offer health coverage to more poor residents. That means that taxpayers in Texas are helping to fund treatment for patients with opioid addiction in Vermont, while Texans with opioid problems may have no such option. (Sanger-Katz and Quealy, 11/13)
The New York Times:
Justices Take Cases On Free Speech At Pregnancy Centers And Polling Places
The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear two cases on the limits of the First Amendment’s protection of free speech. One asks whether California may require “crisis pregnancy centers” to provide information about abortion. The other is a challenge to a Minnesota law that forbids wearing political buttons, badges and other insignia at polling places. The California case, National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v. Becerra, No. 16-1140, concerns a state law that requires centers operated by opponents of abortion to provide women with information about the availability of the procedure. The centers seek to persuade women to choose parenting or adoption. (Liptak, 11/13)
The Associated Press:
Justices Add Anti-Abortion Counseling To Free-Speech Lineup
The justices said Monday they will review the centers’ complaint that the new law, pushed by an abortion-rights group, forces them to provide information about abortion and other services. Lower courts had allowed the law to take effect. Unlicensed centers also must inform clients of their status. (Sherman, 11/13)
The Wall Street Journal:
Supreme Court To Review California Law On Disclosure Of Abortion Availability
California’s Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown signed the abortion-clinic measure in 2015 and it took effect last year. The law, the Reproductive FACT Act, requires certain licensed pregnancy-related centers to post notices and include disclaimers in their literature advising patients that Medi-Cal, the state’s version of Medicaid, covers abortions for eligible low-income residents. It also requires unlicensed facilities to disclose that they don’t have a license. The Legislature said the law was necessary because the targeted facilities, in their efforts to discourage abortions, “often confuse [and] misinform women” about their rights and available benefits. Lawmakers said the dissemination of accurate information was hindered by so-called crisis pregnancy centers that offered women some services but discourage abortion. (Kendall and Bravin, 11/13)
Los Angeles Times:
Supreme Court Agrees To Hear Antiabortion Challenge To California Disclosure Law For Pregnancy Centers
The case presents a clash between the state's power to regulate the medical profession and the Constitution's protection for the freedom of speech. Historically, states have had broad authority to regulate physicians and medical providers to protect patients from fraud and sub-standard care. But in recent years, doctors have sued and won claims that state lawmakers had gone too far and were wrongly interfering with the doctor-patient relationship. (Savage, 11/13)
The New York Times:
Veterans Claiming Disability Pay Face Wall Of Denials And Delays
Jonathan Bey hurt his back while repairing buoys at sea in the Coast Guard, and after he was discharged, he filed what he thought would be a routine request for veterans disability benefits. That was 34 years ago. After repeated denials by the Department of Veterans Affairs, appeals by Mr. Bey, and more than a couple of letters saying that the department had lost his files, Mr. Bey is still waiting. (Philipps, 11/13)
The New York Times:
First Digital Pill Approved To Worries About Biomedical ‘Big Brother’
For the first time, the Food and Drug Administration has approved a digital pill — a medication embedded with a sensor that can tell doctors whether, and when, patients take their medicine. The approval, announced late on Monday, marks a significant advance in the growing field of digital devices designed to monitor medicine-taking and to address the expensive, longstanding problem that millions of patients do not take drugs as prescribed. (Belluck, 11/13)
The Wall Street Journal:
Digital Pills That Talk To Your Doctor Are Here
Tuesday’s green light from the Food and Drug Administration means Japan’s Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. can implant a tiny chip containing minerals like silicon, magnesium and copper inside tablets of Abilify, which is used to treat schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and other mental illnesses. Once swallowed, the chip mixes with stomach acids and sends a heartbeat-like signal to an adhesive patch worn on a patient’s torso. The patch records the dosage and time of ingestion and relays this to a smartphone app for patients to monitor and share with doctors and caretakers. The chip ultimately passes through the digestive tract normally. (Rana, 11/13)
Stat:
FDA Approves The First Pill That Can Alert Your Doctor When You Swallow It
Monday’s hard-won approval could come as a big boost for Otsuka, which had lost market share after Abilify went generic but will now have a way to make the product stand out. The company is expected to price the new product at a markup above the original Abilify. The company is finalizing that price and expects to announce it next year, closer to the product launch, according to company spokeswoman Kimberly Whitefield. (Robbins, 11/13)
The New York Times:
At The New York Division Of Fentanyl Inc., A Banner Year
The middle-aged couple in the station wagon went shopping at a New Jersey Walmart on a warm night in August. They stopped for dinner at an IHOP on the way home. And when they arrived at their apartment building in a quiet residential section of Queens, the narcotics agents following them got a warrant to go inside. They found several suitcases loaded with brick-shaped bundles of what appeared to be heroin. But lab tests determined that most of it — 141 pounds — was pure fentanyl, a synthetic and supremely dangerous opioid 50 times more powerful than heroin. (Miroff, 11/13)
Stateline:
New App Maps Overdose Epidemic In Real Time
In an opioid overdose epidemic that killed more than 53,000 Americans last year and shows no signs of relenting, nearly every community in the nation is fortifying its public health, emergency medical and law enforcement response. But with limited resources, it’s essential to target efforts where they are needed most, said Washington/Baltimore HIDTA deputy director Jeff Beeson. (Vestal, 11/14)
Stat:
With Cures In Hand, A Major City Tries To Eliminate Hepatitis C — And Build A Model For Others
Just a few years after the introduction of a reliable cure for hepatitis C, this city has launched a campaign built on shoe leather and shrewd epidemiology to eliminate the virus. Health workers are expanding testing and searching the streets for homeless patients who don’t pick up their medication. Clinicians are training more doctors to treat infections. Patients can store their medications at a syringe exchange. (Joseph, 11/14)
The Washington Post:
Blood Pressure Of 130 Is The New ‘High,’ According To First Update Of Guidelines In 14 Years
Leading heart health experts tightened the guidelines for high blood pressure Monday, a change that will sharply increase the number of U.S. adults considered hypertensive in the hope that they, and their doctors, will address the deadly condition sooner. The American Heart Association, the American College of Cardiology and nine other groups redefined high blood pressure as a reading of 130 over 80, down from 140 over 90. The change, the first in 14 years, means that 46 percent of U.S. adults, many of them under the age of 45, now will be considered hypertensive. Under the previous guideline, 32 percent of U.S. adults had high blood pressure. (Bernstein and Cha, 11/13)
Stat:
Finding A Way For The ‘Right’ Microbiome To Help Cancer Immunotherapy Work
Could tweaking the microbiome optimize the way immunotherapy works in cancer patients? A recent study from MD Anderson Cancer Center found that a microbiome padded with specific “good bacteria” could improve the efficacy of certain immunotherapies. (Keshavan, 11/14)
The Washington Post:
Bill Gates Joins The Fight Against Alzheimer’s — And It’s Personal
Billionaire Bill Gates is personally investing $50 million to help fund research to find a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease, a type of dementia Gates says has struck members of his own family. There is no cure for Alzheimer’s, which destroys memory and other mental processes, so Gates said he is investing his own money in the Dementia Discovery Fund, a private-public partnership to search for a solution. (Bever, 11/13)
The New York Times:
Under New Guidelines, Millions More Americans Will Need To Lower Blood Pressure
The nation’s leading heart experts on Monday issued new guidelines for high blood pressure that mean tens of millions more Americans will meet the criteria for the condition, and will need to change their lifestyles or take medicines to treat it. Under the guidelines, formulated by the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology, the number of men under age 45 with a diagnosis of high blood pressure will triple, and the prevalence among women under age 45 will double. (Kolata, 11/13)
The Associated Press:
A Study Suggests Women Are Less Likely To Get CPR From Bystanders
Women are less likely than men to get CPR from a bystander and more likely to die, a new study suggests, and researchers think reluctance to touch a woman’s chest might be one reason. Only 39 percent of women suffering cardiac arrest in a public place were given CPR versus 45 percent of men, and men were 23 percent more likely to survive, the study found. (11/13)
The Washington Post:
These Scientists Say You’ll Probably Never Have Heart-Stopping Sex
Heart patients have worried that they may die suddenly from having sex, but a new study suggests they probably won’t. Researchers found that less than 1 percent of people who experienced sudden cardiac arrest were having, or just had, sex. Now Sumeet Chugh, one of the study’s authors, has some “happy news” to tell his nervous patients. (Silverman, 11/13)
Stat:
With Genetic Engineering And Hubris, These Biology Olympians Compete To Improve On Nature
If there is one point of agreement among the 300 teams from 42 countries that participated in this year’s synthetic biology Olympics in Boston, it is probably this: The microbes that nature made are a good starting point, but we can do better. Begun as an independent study course at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2003, the iGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machines) Jamboree is now a global competition that culminates a year or more of experiments by teams of high schoolers, undergraduates, and graduate students aimed at producing such “machines.” (Begley, 11/14)
NPR:
AARP Foundation Sues Nursing Home To Stop Illegal Evictions
A California judge could decide Tuesday if Gloria Single will be reunited with her husband, Bill. She's 83 years old. He's 93. The two have been married for 30 years. They lived in the same nursing home until last March, when Gloria Single was evicted without warning. Her situation isn't unique. Nationwide, eviction is the leading complaint about nursing homes. In California last year, more than 1,500 nursing home residents complained that they were discharged involuntarily. That's an increase of 73 percent since 2011. (Jaffe, 11/13)
The Associated Press:
Appeals Court Won't Reconsider Planned Parenthood Defunding
A federal appeals court said Monday it won't reconsider a ruling that Arkansas can block Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood, setting up a potential showdown over defunding efforts by conservative states over videos secretly recorded by an anti-abortion group. The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied a request by three Planned Parenthood Great Plains patients to reconsider a three-judge panel's decision upholding the state's defunding decision. (DeMillo, 11/13)
The Associated Press:
Man: Psychiatric Hospital Staff Tormented, Kicked Brother
A man who says his brother was abused repeatedly by staff at Connecticut's only maximum-security psychiatric hospital urged lawmakers on Monday to look more deeply into the case and make changes at the state-run facility. Al Shehadi said he came forward to give a name to the victim at the center of internal and criminal investigations, to tell his brother's story and to "encourage this committee to continue to investigate what happened." (11/13)
The Associated Press:
CA Doctor's License Suspended After 2 Patient Deaths
The board's ruling says one of the patients experienced respiratory arrest after waking up from breast augmentation surgery in 2013 and died after being taken to a hospital. It says another patient's 2013 death was "likely due to 'trauma' caused by the surgical procedure." Yoho's attorney, Albert Garcia, said that the women died from fat embolisms but he decided to settle with the medical board. (11/13)
Los Angeles Times:
San Diego's Fancy $2-Million Public Restroom Raises Eyebrows Amid Hepatitis Outbreak
The city of San Diego helped install an aesthetically pleasing structure on its signature waterfront in 2014, designed by an artist to invoke "Jonathan Livingston Seagull," the popular 1970 novella about a seagull who wanted to be special. Its function? A restroom. Its cost? Two million dollars. (Cook, 11/13)