Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
First Edition: November 21, 2018
Kaiser Health News: Check Your Medical Records For Dangerous Errors
Although definitive data aren’t available, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology estimates that nearly 1 in 10 people who access records online end up requesting that they be corrected for a variety of reasons. In the worst-case scenario, an incorrect diagnosis, scan or lab result may have been inserted into a record, raising the possibility of inappropriate medical evaluation or treatment. (Graham, 11/21)
Kaiser Health News: Attention, Marketplace Shoppers: Don’t Delay On 2019 Enrollment
Don’t procrastinate. Most consumers who buy their own insurance on the federal health insurance marketplace face a Dec. 15 deadline. Advocates are reminding these customers that if they miss the deadline, they may not have a plan that starts in January 2019. Despite repeated efforts by Republicans to repeal the Affordable Care Act, it remains the law of the land, and subsidies that help bring down premiums and reduce cost sharing are still available to help people afford plans sold on the marketplaces, also called exchanges. (Andrews, 11/21)
California Healthline: Smoke-Filled Snapshot: California Wildfire Generates Dangerous Air Quality For Millions
At 11 a.m. last Friday, thousands of former Paradise, Calif., residents were taking stock of all they had lost to the worst wildfire in the state’s history while they continued the grim task of looking for missing loved ones. At the same moment, with smoke from the deadly Camp Fire blanketing much of the state, millions more Californians were struggling to breathe. (Rowan, 11/20)
The Associated Press: Feds Re-Approve New Rules For Kentucky Medicaid
The Trump administration has again approved new rules for some of Kentucky's Medicaid population, requiring them to either get a job, volunteer in the community or go to school to keep their government-funded health coverage. The Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services announced the approval on Tuesday, nearly five months after a federal judge blocked the state's first attempt. (Beam, 11/20)
The Washington Post: Trump Administration Again Permits Kentucky To Impose Work Requirement For Medicaid Recipients
Kentucky has been a lightning rod in the administration’s rewriting of the rules for the public health insurance system for poor Americans by inserting long-held conservative ideas — about individual responsibility and a limited government helping hand — for the first time in the history of a program run jointly by the federal government and states that began under the War on Poverty of the 1960s. (Goldstein, 11/20)
The Washington Post Fact Checker: The Recurring GOP Myth About John McCain’s ‘No’ On Obamacare Repeal
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) may have passed away in August, but his late-night thumbs-down vote that in 2017 blocked passage of a slimmed-down repeal of the Affordable Care Act continues to be an all-purpose excuse for Republicans. We’ve documented in our database of President Trump’s false and misleading claims that the president repeatedly claims he was just one vote away from triumphally killing Barack Obama’s signature achievement. He’s made the claim at least 30 times. (Kessler, 11/21)
The Hill: Sanders Unveils Aggressive New Bill Targeting Drug Prices
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) on Tuesday unveiled a bill aimed at aggressively lowering drug prices by stripping monopolies from drug companies if their prices are deemed excessive. Sanders has long railed against drug companies for their prices, and this bill is one of the most far-reaching proposals aimed at lowering them. (Sullivan, 11/20)
Politico: The Bernie Sanders-Trump Mind Meld On Drug Costs
It’s the latest alignment on drug prices by populist politicians on opposite sides of the aisle. During their 2016 presidential campaigns, both Sanders and Trump advocated for negotiating the cost of drugs in Medicare and importing cheaper drugs from overseas. Now, they’re embracing the idea of indexing U.S. prices to the lower prices paid by other countries — in effect, relying on price controls set by other countries. The proposed legislation stands almost no chance of gaining traction in a Republican-controlled Senate and is sure to face stiff opposition from the drug industry. But its similarities to Trump’s far narrower proposal for drugs administered as part of the Medicare Part B program speaks to the mounting pressure on both parties to address drug costs. (Karlin-Smith, 11/20)
Stat: What's The Fuss With Bernie Sanders' New Drug Pricing Bill?
Sen. Bernie Sanders, long an outspoken critic of the nation’s high drug prices, dropped a new bill Tuesday that, at least on the surface, positions him as a partner to President Trump in the administration’s efforts to bring down the cost of medicines. But the Vermont Independent’s bill — which won’t even formally be introduced until January — raises more questions about Washington’s efforts on this policy front than it answers. (Florko and Swetlitz, 11/20)
The Hill: Drug Industry Nervous About Grassley’s New Role
The drug industry is gearing up for a new threat in January when Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) takes over as head of the Senate Finance Committee. Drugmakers will soon lose a reliable ally in Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), the retiring committee chairman who has been viewed by industry lobbyists and drug pricing advocates alike as a major roadblock to reform efforts pushed by Democrats and even the Trump administration. (Weixel, 11/20)
The Associated Press: US Judge: Mississippi 15-Week Abortion Ban Unconstitutional
A federal judge on Tuesday struck down a Mississippi law that bans most abortions after 15 weeks, one of the most restrictive in the United States. U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves ruled that the law "unequivocally" violates women's constitutional rights. "The record is clear: States may not ban abortions prior to viability," Reeves said, citing Supreme Court rulings. (Pettus, 11/20)
The Hill: Anti-Abortion Group Launches Digital Ads To Support Hyde-Smith
Anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony List is jumping into the Mississippi Senate race with a five-figure digital ad campaign targeting Democrat Mike Espy. Espy is facing a runoff election against incumbent freshman Republican Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith on Nov. 27. Women Speak Out PAC, which is a partner of the group, is releasing the ads targeting inconsistent pro-life voters. The ads attack Espy for being “too extreme” for Mississippi because of his support for abortion. (Weixel, 11/20)
The Associated Press: Romaine Lettuce Is Not Safe To Eat, CDC Warns
Health officials in the US and Canada told people on Tuesday to stop eating romaine lettuce because of a new E. coli outbreak. The US Food and Drug Administration said it is working with officials in Canada on the outbreak, which has sickened 32 people in 11 states and 18 people in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The strain identified is different than the one linked to romaine earlier this year but appears similar to last year’s outbreak linked to leafy greens. (Choi, 11/20)
CNN: Don't Eat Romaine Lettuce, CDC Urges Amid E. Coli Concerns
People have become sick in California, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Wisconsin. The Public Health Agency of Canada has identified an additional 18 people who have become sick with the same strain of E. coli in Ontario and Quebec. (Scutti, 11/20)
The Washington Post: Romaine Lettuce Is Not Safe To Eat, CDC Warns U.S. Consumers
The CDC told consumers to throw away any romaine lettuce they may already have purchased. Restaurants should not serve it, stores should not sell it, and people should not buy it, no matter where or when the lettuce was grown. It doesn’t matter if it is chopped, whole head or part of a mix.The unusually broad warning, issued just two days before Americans sit down for their Thanksgiving dinners, reflects the uncertainties about the origin and extent of the bacterial contamination. The CDC is not claiming that all romaine contains the dangerous bacteria — something the millions of people who have eaten the popular lettuce recently should bear in mind — but investigators don’t know precisely where, when or how the contamination happened. (Achenbach and Sun, 11/20)
The New York Times: Do Not Eat Romaine Lettuce, Health Officials Warn
“If you do not know if the lettuce is romaine or whether a salad mix contains romaine, do not eat it and throw it away,” the C.D.C. statement said. “Wash and sanitize drawers or shelves in refrigerators where romaine was stored.” Officials said such measures were necessary while they track down the source of the contamination, and at the moment all they could say was that investigators believe the tainted lettuce was grown or processed in Canada or the United States. (Jacobs, 11/20)
Politico: CDC Tells Consumers To Not Eat Romaine Lettuce
FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb suggested the agency was taking quick action to try to prevent more illnesses, particularly before the Thanksgiving holiday. "We want to get this information out to consumers early," he said. (Bottemiller Evich, 11/20)
The Wall Street Journal: Regulators Urge Consumers To Avoid Romaine Lettuce As They Probe E. Coli Outbreak
The U.S. outbreak last spring was linked to romaine lettuce from the Yuma, Ariz. growing region, which supplies most lettuce in the U.S. during winter months. Federal investigators weren’t able to determine exactly how romaine lettuce in the desert region became contaminated, though the FDA has said water from an irrigation canal is the most likely culprit. The FDA earlier this month said it would boost surveillance of the salad green. The agency plans to collect and analyze samples of romaine lettuce for pathogen contamination through a “new special surveillance sampling assignment” to determine whether products are safe to eat, according to an earlier statement from Mr. Gottlieb. (Newman, 11/20)
Los Angeles Times: Don't Eat Romaine Lettuce, CDC Warns Amid Another E. Coli Outbreak
The agency recently was granted power to force a recall, under the Food Safety Modernization Act — previously, it had to rely on voluntary measures, said Michael Droke, a partner with Dorsey & Whitney law firm who has represented the produce industry. “Food and ingredient companies should prepare in advance for the need to recall their products to minimize the risk of a mandatory order,” Droke said. (Mohan, 11/20)
The Washington Post: Some Veterans With ALS Were Deprived Of Health Care Benefits, VA Watchdog Finds
The Veterans Affairs Department’s internal watchdog has uncovered widespread errors in how the agency awards benefits to some of its most vulnerable patients: those diagnosed with the devastating neurological disease Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. VA Inspector General Michael Missal, in a review released Tuesday, found that dozens of veterans suffering from ALS were deprived of financial support because staff mishandled their benefits claims. (Rein, 11/20)
The Wall Street Journal: Apple In Talks To Give Veterans Access To Electronic Medical Records
Apple Inc. is in discussions with the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide portable electronic health records to military veterans, a partnership that would simplify patients’ hospital visits and allow the technology giant to tap millions of new customers, according to people familiar with the effort and emails reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. Under the plans being discussed, Apple would create special software tools allowing the VA’s estimated nine million veterans currently enrolled in the system to transfer their health records to iPhones and provide engineering support to the agency. Apple in January announced its foray into the electronic-records field with a feature that allows patients to import and store medical information. (Kesling and Mickle, 11/20)
The New York Times: The Price Tag Of Migrant Family Separation: $80 Million And Rising
The federal government has spent $80 million to care for and reunite migrant children who were separated from their parents by immigration authorities, a figure that continues to grow months after the policy ended because more than 140 children are still in custody. The first official price tag on family separations — which ended abruptly in June in the face of widespread public opposition — comes to about $30,000 per child. That data, along with new details on the children who remain mired in the policy’s lingering effects, were handed over last week by the Health and Human Services Department to members of Congress, who shared the report with The New York Times. (Dickerson, 11/20)
The Texas Tribune: The Number Of Migrant Children In Texas Shelters Continues To Rise, Reaching A New High Under Trump
The number of unaccompanied migrant children held in Texas shelters reached a new high in November, months after the administration of President Donald Trump ended its policy of separating immigrant children from their parents at the border. There were 5,620 children living at privately run shelters for unaccompanied youth as of Nov. 15, according to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission, which regulates the federally funded shelters. That’s a record high under the Trump administration, up from 5,385 children last month. (Walters, Murphy and Cameron, 11/20)
The Wall Street Journal: Walgreens, Humana Are In Preliminary Talks To Take Stakes In Each Other
Drugstore owner Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. and health insurer Humana Inc. are in preliminary discussions to take equity stakes in each other, according to people familiar with the matter, as health-industry players scramble for tie-ups that will help them compete in a rapidly evolving environment. The companies, which already have a partnership focused on serving seniors from two Walgreens locations, are having wide-ranging talks that also include the possibility of expanding that venture, the people said. Details of the talks couldn’t be learned and there’s no guarantee there will be any new deal between the companies. (Mattioli, Siconolfi and Cimilluca, 11/20)
The New York Times: Task Force Calls For Offering PrEP To All At High Risk For H.I.V.
An influential government task force has drafted a recommendation that would for the first time urge doctors to offer a daily prophylactic pill to patients who are at risk for contracting H.I.V. The recommendation would include all men and women whose sexual behavior, sex partners or drug use place them at high risk of contracting the virus that causes AIDS. (Rabin, 11/20)
The Washington Post: Everyone At High Risk Of HIV Should Be Offered Preventive Meds, Panel Says
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force estimated that 1.2 million people are eligible for the daily drug regimen, which is very effective at preventing HIV infection, but that only 78,360 took the medication in 2016. About 40,000 people were newly diagnosed with HIV that year. John Epling, a member of the task force and a professor of community medicine at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and the Carilion Clinic, said routine discussion of the medication has not permeated primary care. He said he suspects that some doctors are not having conversations with patients who should be considered high risk. (Bernstein, 11/20)
Reuters: BioMarin Sets Stage Early For Hemophilia Cure Off-Broadway
BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc is turning to the theater to establish its name with hemophilia patients, long before its experimental cure for the bleeding disorder could reach the market. Earlier this month, BioMarin hosted 25 teenagers and their chaperones for an all-expenses paid trip to New York City, where they performed a Broadway-style musical based on their own experiences with bleeding disorders. Some came from as far away as Hawaii to work with a professional theater crew, have their headshots taken and meet members of the show Hamilton. (11/21)
NPR/ProPublica: A CPAP Machine Can Help Some Get Better Sleep But Insurers Don't Make It Easy
As many CPAP users discover, the life-altering device comes with caveats: Health insurance companies are often tracking whether patients use them. If they aren't, the insurers might not cover the machines or the supplies that go with them. And, faced with the popularity of CPAPs — which can cost $400 to $800 — and their need for replacement filters, face masks and hoses, health insurers have deployed a host of tactics that can make the therapy more expensive or even price it out of reach. (Allen, 11/21)
NPR: Critically Ill Children Who Received Wishes Cut Their Health Care Costs
Researchers looked back at the cases of nearly 1,000 children with serious illnesses who were treated at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. Half the children had received wishes and the other half hadn't. The children granted wishes were substantially less likely to visit the emergency department or to have an unplanned hospital admission within two years as compared with children who hadn't received wishes. (Researchers matched the children's personal and disease characteristics in the study.) "My hypothesis is that these kids, when they come back, are more engaged with their families and medical providers, and perhaps they're more adherent to their treatment plan," says the study's lead author Dr. Anup D. Patel, section chief of neurology at Nationwide Children's Hospital and an associate professor of pediatrics at Ohio State University College of Medicine in Columbus. (Haelle, 11/20)
CNN: North Carolina Chickenpox Outbreak Blamed On Vaccination Exemptions
A chickenpox outbreak among students at Asheville Waldorf School in North Carolina has grown to 36 cases as of Monday, and exemptions from vaccination were a contributing factor, according to the Buncombe County Health Department, which has been monitoring the situation since the end of October. Asheville Waldorf School, which serves students from nursery through sixth grade, is part of an educational movement that subscribes to a philosophy focused on physical activity and learning through hands-on tasks, according to its website. There are more than 900 Waldorf schools in 83 countries, and the Asheville school, which was founded in 2009, is one of about 160 in the United States. (Scutti, 11/20)
The New York Times: Chickenpox Outbreak At School Linked To Vaccine Exemptions
The school has 152 children in nursery school through sixth grade, and one of the state’s highest rates of religious exemptions for vaccination. “The size of this outbreak and the fact that this school continues to have a large number of unvaccinated students makes it very likely there will be continued spread of chickenpox within the school,” Dr. Mullendore said. “This also poses a risk of spread to the surrounding community.” (Caron, 11/20)
The New York Times: How Turkey Trots Became A Thanksgiving Tradition
In a matter of mere hours, you are likely to ingest a heaping plate of food: turkey, gravy and stuffing — need we go on? Then, a bit later, you may well return for seconds. You know this. And so you set your alarm a few hours early, lace up your running shoes and pile into the family van for a brisk Thanksgiving Day 5K. (Stevens, 11/21)
The New York Times: Regular Exercise May Keep Your Body 30 Years ‘Younger’
The muscles of older men and women who have exercised for decades are indistinguishable in many ways from those of healthy 25-year-olds, according to an uplifting new study of a group of active septuagenarians. These men and women also had much higher aerobic capacities than most people their age, the study showed, making them biologically about 30 years younger than their chronological ages, the study’s authors concluded. (Reynolds, 11/21)
The Wall Street Journal: Banks Monitor Older Customers For Cognitive Decline
Banks, brokerage firms and other financial institutions are starting to monitor older customers for mental capacity and susceptibility to fraud. But then the question is this: Once a financial institution suspects that a customer is becoming cognitively impaired or increasingly at risk of fraud, what does it do with this information? Financial exploitation of seniors is an underreported problem. (Ward, 11/20)
The New York Times: Breathing Through The Nose May Offer Unique Brain Benefits
Folklore, spiritual traditions and even mothers have for ages drawn an implicit connection between respiration and state of mind: Breathe in deeply through your nose, we are told, to clarify thoughts, achieve serenity, defuse tantrums. There isn’t a lot of scientific evidence to back up these ideas, but a growing number of experiments have been looking at the influence that breathing has on our cognition. In October, a study in The Journal of Neuroscience considered the relationship between memory and how we breathe. (Reynolds, 11/20)
The Washington Post: After Chicago Mercy Shooting Doctors Respond To NRA With #ThisIsOurLane Tweets
An emergency room physician in Rhode Island said one of her own had been “murdered” and vowed to fight. A Baltimore trauma surgeon proclaimed that “Gun Violence is not just a statistic,” and named the police officer, physician and pharmacy resident who were killed Monday at Mercy Hospital & Medical Center in Chicago. Physicians and nurses from Atlanta and Chicago to New York and Washington and even abroad expressed anger and anguish after another instance of gun violence — one that an emergency physician said “hits too close to home.” (Bever, 11/20)
Modern Healthcare: Mercy Shooting Highlights Importance Of Drills, Preparing Staff
Two months ago, staff at Chicago's Mercy Hospital and Medical Center participated in an active shooter drill. That training came into play and likely saved lives Monday when a gunman opened fired on the hospital campus. The tragedy left four people dead: a physician, pharmacy resident and police officer as well as the gunman. (Johnson, 11/20)
The Associated Press: A Look At 3 Lives Lost In Chicago Hospital Shooting
An emergency room doctor devoted to her community. A pharmacy resident who helped children with a disorder similar to her own. A police officer and father who responded to a shooting without being called. Chicago's mayor said the three people fatally shot at a local hospital on Monday were "doing what they loved" when they were attacked by the doctor's ex-fiance . Here is a look at their lives. (11/20)
Los Angeles Times: California Fires: Anxiety And Nightmares Grip Evacuees In Paradise Fire Zone
Inside the cafeteria of Bidwell Junior High School, 63-year-old Deborah Laughlin sipped on coffee and scooped up some apple pie. A lot was on her mind. Laughlin said she lost her home in Paradise. She had been living at Evergreen Mobile Home Park. Since the evacuations, she has been at the middle school, where the Red Cross operates a shelter. She said she registered with FEMA and hopes she’ll be able to get housing. (Vives, 11/20)
Los Angeles Times: California Fires: Heavy Rains Could Wash Away Human Remains In Paradise, Searchers Fear
Four members of the Oakland Fire Department’s Urban Search and Rescue Task Force removed a charred mattress spring and began combing through a mixture of ash, dirt, shredded wood and pieces of roofing tiles. Using their gloves to move around the blackened dirt, they looked for human remains. “This is hard,” one of the recovery workers said. “But we’re trying. Let everyone know we’re trying.” (Vives, 11/20)
CNN: Lawsuits Filed Over Drinking Water In South Carolina After CNN Report
Two lawsuits have been filed on behalf of residents of Denmark, South Carolina, where a CNN investigation revealed that a chemical was being added to the water supply for 10 years without EPA approval. The city of Denmark has been under scrutiny from residents suspicious of the rust-colored water coming from their taps, even though the local and state government assured them it was safe. (Ganim, 11/20)
Reuters: Judge Voids U.S. Female Genital Mutilation Law
A federal judge in Detroit on Tuesday declared unconstitutional a U.S. law banning female genital mutilation, and also dismissed several charges against two doctors and others in the first U.S. criminal case of its kind. U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman said Congress lacked authority under the Commerce Clause to adopt the 1996 law, and that the power to outlaw female genital mutilation, or FGM, belonged to individual states. (11/20)
Reuters: U.S. Judge Selects First Case In Federal Monsanto Weed-Killer Litigation
A U.S. judge overseeing the federal litigation against Bayer AG's Monsanto unit over glyphosate-based weed-killers allegedly causing cancer on Tuesday selected the first case to be tried in federal court in February 2019. U.S. District Judge Vince Chaabria in San Francisco in an order said the case of California resident Edwin Hardeman will be the first out of more than 620 cases pending in the federal litigation to go to a jury. (11/20)
The Associated Press: Victims Of Air Ambulance Crash In North Dakota Identified
Authorities have identified the three people who died when an air ambulance plane crashed in western North Dakota. Morton County identified the victims as 48-year-old pilot Todd Lasky and 63-year-old nurse Bonnie Cook, both of Bismarck, and 47-year-old paramedic Chris Iverson, of Mandan. Lasky and Iverson worked for Bismarck Air Medical and Cook for CHI St. Alexius Health. (11/20)
The Washington Post: UMd Student Dies From Adenovirus; Virus Confirmed In Five Other Students
A student at the University of Maryland died recently of an adenovirus-associated illness, the university said Tuesday. Eleven children have died recently in New Jersey after an adenovirus outbreak at a health center there. In a statement, U-Md. said it learned Nov. 1 of what it said was then an “isolated case” of adenovirus. However, the statement, issued by David McBride, head of the campus health center, said that since then five more cases have been reported of students with confirmed adenovirus-associated illness. (Weil, 11/20)
The Associated Press: Monsanto Appeals $78M Verdict In California Weed Killer Suit
Agribusiness giant Monsanto on Tuesday appealed a $78 million verdict in favor of a dying California man who said the company’s widely used Roundup weed killer was a major factor in his cancer. The company filed a notice of appeal in San Francisco Superior Court challenging a jury verdict in favor of DeWayne Johnson. In August, the jury unanimously found that Roundup caused Johnson’s non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and awarded him $289 million. (11/20)
