Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
First Edition: November 28, 2017
Kaiser Health News: Heated And Deep-Pocketed Battle Erupts Over 340B Drug Discount Program
A 25-year-old federal drug discount program has grown so big and controversial that it faces a fight for survival as federal officials and lawmakers furiously debate the program’s reach. The program, known as 340B, requires pharmaceutical companies to give steep discounts to hospitals and clinics that serve high volumes of low-income patients. (Tribble, 11/28)
California Healthline: Putting Money Where Its Mouthpiece Is: Calif. Outspends U.S. To Market Obamacare
The marketing blitz is on. Californians are getting barraged with online pop-up ads, radio spots and television commercials, all aimed at persuading them to sign up for Affordable Care Act health plans during this year’s open-enrollment season. (Ibarra and Heredia Rodriguez, 11/27)
The Hill: Five Health-Care Fights Facing Congress In December
Health-care issues are at the top of Congress’s hefty December to-do list. Republicans spent much of the year on a failed bid to repeal and replace ObamaCare. That’s left several programs and taxes hanging in the balance as the year draws to a close, in addition to the latest health-care drama thrust into the GOP tax-reform debate. Here are five of the biggest health-care issues Congress will face next month. (Roubein, 11/26)
The Hill: Lawmakers Making Progress In Talks On Children's Health Care
Congressional negotiators are making progress towards a bipartisan deal to reauthorize children’s health insurance and several other important health-care programs, sources say. Staff from the relevant committees in both parties and chambers met over the Thanksgiving break and are getting closer to an agreement, according to lobbyists and aides. (Sullivan and Roubein, 11/27)
The Wall Street Journal: Senators Seek Changes To Tax Bill As Busy Week Kicks Off
Senate Republicans began a frenzied week of negotiations to pass a landmark tax overhaul, grappling with several blocs of wavering GOP senators and trying to cobble together enough votes. ... A third group, including Susan Collins (R., Maine) and John McCain (R., Ariz.), helped kill the Republican health-care bill earlier this year and could pose resistance over a variety of provisions, including plans to repeal the Affordable Care Act’s health-insurance mandate as part of the tax bill. Mr. McCain said Monday that he is still undecided and had “a lot of things” he is concerned about. (Rubin and Hughes, 11/27)
The Hill: Watchdog: VA Centers Failed To Report Potentially Dangerous Doctors
Five medical centers within the Department of Veterans Affairs failed to report eight potentially dangerous doctors to a national database where such information is collected, according to the results of a government investigation released Monday. The Government Accountability Office found in its of five VA medical centers that 148 providers were reviewed from October 2013 through March 2017 after concerns were raised about their conduct. (Hellmann, 11/27)
Stat: 7 Questions For Alex Azar, Trump's Health Secretary Nominee
On Wednesday, Alex Azar, the former drug company executive nominated to take over the country’s top health care agency, will face tough questions from the senators who try to keep that department in check. Azar heads first to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, whose members share jurisdiction on health care issues with the Senate Finance Committee, which will ultimately preside over his official confirmation hearing. (Mershon and Swetlitz, 11/28)
Stat: New Teva CEO Reorganizes With An 'Ax, Not Hedge Clippers Or Pruning Shears'
Facing a huge debt, pricing pressures, and various missteps, the new Teva Pharmaceutical (TEVA) chief executive on Monday overhauled his management team and reorganized key business units in a Hail Mary bid to revive the beleaguered drug maker. Underscoring the severity of the situation, those exiting at the end of next month include three key executives: R&D chief Michael Hayden; Rob Koremans, who headed the global specialty medicines group; and Dipankar Bhattacharjee, who ran the global generic drug business. (Silverman, 11/27)
The New York Times: As Walmart Buys Online Retailers, Their Health Benefits Suffer
The steady growth of e-commerce has been a source of jobs and benefits as employment in traditional stores declines. But at online retailers taken over by Walmart, workers are finding one benefit in retreat: their company-sponsored health coverage. In little more than a year, Walmart has spent nearly $4 billion acquiring e-commerce companies with thousands of workers. Last month, many learned that their potential out-of-pocket costs for medical expenses would increase in 2018 at a rate far exceeding the overall rise in health care costs — reaching thousands of dollars in many cases. (Scheiber and Corkery, 11/27)
Bloomberg: How Opioids Started Killing Americans
More than half of all people who succumbed to an overdose between 2001 to 2007 were chronic pain sufferers who filled an opioid prescription and sometimes even saw a doctor in the month before they died. Only 4 percent were ever diagnosed as having an abuse problem, said Dr. Mark Olfson, one of five researchers who conducted a massive study of the crisis and its causes for Columbia University Medical Center. The findings of the new study, published Tuesday in the American Journal of Psychiatry, split the epidemic into two groups: those who were diagnosed with chronic pain and those who weren’t. In the year before they died, about two-thirds of those studied were diagnosed with chronic pain and prescribed an opioid. (Rausch, 11/28)
Stat: How A Stepson’s Addiction Drove A Father To Try To Develop A Safer Opioid
Bill Crossman is an unlikely candidate to run a pharmaceutical firm. The 71-year-old Connecticut businessman had spent decades growing a diverse collection of companies making everything from elevators to eco-friendly products. He had never run a drug company — and had little to no experience in the industry. But Crossman’s long-lasting struggle to help his stepson overcome an opioid use disorder drove him to search for answers. A scientist who started Phoenix Pharma Labs, a tiny private drug company, introduced Crossman to an opioid he believed could someday treat pain well without increasing risk of addiction. (Blau, 11/28)
The New York Times: Gene Therapy Hits A Peculiar Roadblock: A Virus Shortage
Eager to speed development of revolutionary treatments, the Food and Drug Administration recently announced that it would expedite approval of experimental gene therapies. But the regulatory process may not be the biggest obstacle here. Biotech companies have exciting plans to introduce treatments that may be transformative, sometimes curing genetic diseases with a single treatment. And the firms are itching to test their products. (Kolata, 11/27)
The Washington Post: Science Shows Why It’s Important To Speak — Not Write — To People Who Disagree With You
In “The Humanizing Voice: Speech Can Reveal, and Text Conceal, The Presence of a Thoughtful Mind in The Midst of Disagreement” in a recent issue of Psychological Science, Juliana Schroeder of the University of California at Berkeley and faculty at the University of Chicago conducted several experiments exposing volunteers to ideas they agreed or disagreed with. In one, about 300 people watched, listened to or read arguments about war, abortion or music (country or rap — genres people tend to have strong feelings about). Afterward, the volunteers were asked to judge the person who communicated the argument. Those who were exposed to someone they disagreed with tended to “dehumanize” the communicator. That is, they regarded the person as “having a diminished capacity to either think or feel.” However, those who listened to the argument, either in a video or audio file, were less dismissive than those who read a transcript of the opposing opinion. (Nutt, 11/27)
The New York Times: It’s The Grim Reality Of Frequent Work Travel: Health Problems
Their lives may be portrayed as glamorous. In fact, they’re often the opposite. Pity frequent business travelers. Doctors at organizations including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the International Society of Travel Medicine say they are hearing of a range of health problems in frequent travelers, from insomnia and weight gain to viruses. And they said they see a need for more comprehensive research into the health compromises made by business travelers, both short haul and long haul. (La Gorce, 11/27)
The New York Times: Therapy For Sexual Misconduct? It’s Mostly Unproven
The recent surge in accusations of sexual harassment and assault has prompted some admitted offenders to seek professional help for the emotional or personality distortions that underlie their behavior. “My journey now will be to learn about myself and conquer my demons,” the producer Harvey Weinstein said in a statement in October. The actor Kevin Spacey announced that he would be “taking the time necessary to seek evaluation and treatment.” (Carey, 11/27)
Los Angeles Times: Inspired By Origami, Scientists Build Artificial Muscle That Lifts 1,000 Times Its Own Weight
Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University have developed a variety of origami-inspired artificial muscles that can lift up to a thousand times their own weight — and yet be dexterous enough to grip and raise a delicate flower. The devices, described in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, offer a new way to give soft robots super-strength, which could be used everywhere from inside our bodies to outer space. (Khan, 11/27)
NPR: Puerto Rico's Medical Manufacturers Worry Federal Tax Plan Could Kill Storm Recovery
In Caguas, south of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Jared Haley is fighting a daily battle at C-Axis, the medical device manufacturer where he's the general manager. The power has been out at his plant for nearly three months, since Hurricane Irma. Operating on emergency generators, the plant restarted operations last month and, Haley says, is delivering all its work on schedule. But he's not happy now with the plant's condition. Walking into his factory, he laments, "This shop used to look like a doctor's office." (Allen, 11/27)
The Associated Press: Arkansas Again Cuts Off Medicaid Funds To Planned Parenthood
Arkansas has again cut off Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood, the state's Department of Human Services said Monday, following a court ruling upholding the state's decision to defund the group over videos secretly recorded by an anti-abortion group. DHS spokeswoman Amy Webb said the state terminated the group's status as a Medicaid provider last week after the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' decision formally took effect. (DeMillo, 11/27)
The Associated Press: Lawsuit: Iowa School For Juvenile Offenders Misusing Drugs
Officials at an Iowa school for juvenile offenders are failing to provide adequate mental health care to youth and are instead administering powerful drugs without proper oversight or consent, according to a lawsuit filed Monday by two advocacy groups. Disability Rights Iowa and Children’s Rights, a national watchdog group, accuse administrators at the state-run Boys State Training School of giving juveniles “dangerous” psychotropic medications. The groups allege the drugs are used “as a behavioral management tool” they likened to a chemical straitjacket. (Rodriguez, 11/27)
The Washington Post: Nurse Removed From Hospital After Saying White Boys ‘Should Be Sacrificed To The Wolves’
An Indiana hospital system says a nurse is no longer an employee after she was tied to a message on Twitter claiming white women are raising sons “with the HIGHEST propensity to be a terrorist, rapist, racist, killer, and domestic violence all star.” Officials at Indiana University Health said over the weekend they were investigating “several troubling posts on social media” that appeared to be made by a recently hired employee identified in news reports as Taiyesha Baker. IU Health spokesman Jason Fechner confirmed Monday that the nurse no longer works at Indiana University Health Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis but he would not say whether she was fired, citing company policies. (Bever, 11/27)
Los Angeles Times: San Diego's Hepatitis A Update: Case Count Climbs, But Death Total Holds At 20
Though they continue to see fewer cases and no new deaths have been reported since Oct. 31, San Diego County supervisors on Monday chose to continue the local health emergency status for the region’s ongoing hepatitis A outbreak. Supervisor Ron Roberts noted that, while he considered the latest hepatitis A report from the county Health and Human Services Agency good news, the emergency won't be truly over until new-case rates shrink further. (Sisson, 11/27)
