First Edition: September 16, 2019

Kaiser Health News: Air Ambulances Woo Rural Consumers With Memberships That May Leave Them Hanging
On a hot June day as the Good Ol’ Days festival was in full swing, 7-year-old Kaidence Anderson sat in the shade with her family, waiting for a medevac helicopter to land. A crowd had gathered to see the display prearranged by staff at the town’s historic fort. “It’s going to show us how it’s going to help other people because we don’t have the hospital anymore,” the redheaded girl explained. (Tribble, 9/16)

Kaiser Health News: At-Home Rape Kits Now Off The Market
Two companies who were advertising at-home sexual assault evidence collection kits appear to have halted selling and marketing the products after widespread objections and two state attorneys general threatened the companies with legal action. The PRESERVEkit, which was previously being sold on Amazon, is now listed as “currently unavailable.” On Friday, the website for the PRESERVEkit stated that “we will not be selling this product while we review the legal concerns.” (Knight, 9/16)

Kaiser Health News: Purveyors Of Black-Market Pharmaceuticals Target Immigrants
The bootleg medications were smuggled across the border and sold to mostly Latino immigrants in public spaces throughout Los Angeles — at swap meets, parks, beauty salons and makeshift stands outside mom-and-pop grocery stores. The drugs were cheap, and the customers — mostly from Mexico and Central America — did not need prescriptions to buy them. Some of the products featured brand names and colorful packaging that immigrants knew well from their home countries — including Ciprofloxacina, a potent antibiotic, and Dolo Nervi Doce — translated as “Pain Nerve 12” — an injectable B-complex vitamin taken for fatigue. (Glionna, 9/16)

Kaiser Health News: UVA Will Cut Back On Lawsuits Against Patients In Wake Of KHN Investigation
UVA Health System, which sues thousands of patients each year, seizing wages and home equity to collect on overdue medical bills, said Friday it would increase financial assistance, give bigger discounts to the uninsured and “reduce our reliance on the legal system.” “This will have a huge impact on patients to the good,” Doug Lischke, the health system’s chief financial officer, said in an interview. The changes will “positively, drastically reduce the legal process” of lawsuits, garnishments and property liens. (Hancock and Lucas, 9/13)

The Associated Press: Sanders Accuses Biden Of Distorting 'Medicare For All' Plan
Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders accused former Vice President Joe Biden on Friday of distorting his proposal to provide single-payer, universal health care through "Medicare for All." Campaigning in the early caucus state of Nevada, the 78-year-old Vermont senator said one of the things that disturbed him about Thursday's debate was that he was hoping "to have a serious discussion about the health care crisis in America." (Sonner, 9/13)

The Hill: Sanders Rips Biden For Praising Drug Companies At Fundraiser
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) criticized fellow Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden for praising drug companies at a fundraiser. Sanders asserted that he disagreed with Biden, saying the companies are "greedy, corrupt and engaged in price fixing," in a statement obtained by The Hill. (Coleman, 9/15)

The Associated Press: Biden Shrugs Off Age Chatter, Pledges Medical Disclosures
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is shrugging off thinly veiled criticism from younger rivals that he is too old for the Oval Office. The 76-year-old former vice president told reporters Friday that he'll prove his fitness through the campaign, even asking one questioner jokingly: "You wanna wrestle?" (Barrow, 9/13)

The Wall Street Journal: Democratic Rivals Differ On Whether It’s Fair To Attack Biden’s Fitness For Office
Mr. Castro defended his comments and said they weren’t related to Mr. Biden’s age or mental sharpness. “You know, this is what the media does,” he said. “This was not a conversation about personalities. This was a conversation about health-care policy.” Mr. Castro added: “When we get on the stage in October 2020 against Donald Trump, does anybody think that he’s going to be the nicest guy in the world?” (Jamerson, 9/13)

The New York Times: Schumer And Pelosi, Talking To Trump On Guns, Try To Sweeten The Deal
The top two Democrats in Congress, seeking to ramp up pressure on Republicans to pass legislation extending background checks to all gun buyers, told President Trump on Sunday that they would join him at the White House for a “historic signing ceremony at the Rose Garden” if he agreed to the measure. The offer, made by Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, during an 11-minute phone conversation with Mr. Trump, comes as the president is considering a package of measures to respond to the mass shootings that have terrorized the nation in recent months. (Stolberg, 9/15)

Reuters: Top Democrats Tell Trump Gun Bill Must Include Universal Background Checks
Pelosi and Schumer said in a joint statement after the phone call with Trump: “This morning, we made it clear to the President that any proposal he endorses that does not include the House-passed universal background checks legislation will not get the job done, as dangerous loopholes will still exist and people who shouldn’t have guns will still have access." The two leaders said they promised to join Trump “for a historic signing ceremony at the Rose Garden” if the president would endorse the legislation and lean on McConnell to pass it “to save as many lives as possible.” (9/15)

The Washington Post: In Call With Trump, Pelosi And Schumer Say Any Gun Bill That Doesn’t Include Background Checks ‘Will Not Get The Job Done’
Trump, Deere said, “made no commitments” on the measure “but instead indicated his interest in working to find a bipartisan legislative solution on appropriate responses to the issue of mass gun violence.” “The president reiterated his commitment for his administration to continue work on these issues,” Deere said in a statement. According to an official familiar with the negotiations, who was not authorized to speak publicly, Trump told Pelosi and Schumer he was having a “big meeting” Monday on the issue and would be doing something “this week.” (Sonmez, 9/15)

The Wall Street Journal: Democrats Press Trump To Back House Bill On Background Checks
A person close to the White House efforts on gun policy said the president has ruled out supporting the House-backed bill, though he would like to see new gun restrictions on people with mental-health issues or a criminal record. White House aides and the president have been talking with lawmakers from both parties, including Sen. Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.) and Sen. Pat Toomey (R., Pa.), who have long urged legislation expanding background checks for gun sales. Currently, federal law requires background checks only for sales by federally licensed dealers, though some states have added their own requirements. (Lucey, 9/15)

Politico: Beto O'Rourke Wants Action On Guns, Regardless Of Political Cost
Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke on Sunday dismissed criticisms that his recent rhetoric on gun control is playing into the hands of the National Rifle Association. During the third Democratic debate on Thursday, O'Rourke said he planned to take assault rifles from civilians as part of a nationwide buy-back program in response to the spate of mass shootings afflicting the country in recent years. The emphatic comments raised concerns among his fellow Democrats that they would offer fuel for attack ads by the NRA, feeding into the idea that Democrats were out to destroy the Second Amendment. (Choi, 9/15)

The Associated Press: Coming For Your AR-15? O'Rourke Scrambles Dems' Gun Message
Beto O'Rourke's "hell yes" moment at the Democrats' presidential debate is scrambling his party's message on guns. The Democrats have long contended their support of gun control laws does not mean they want to take away law-abiding citizens' firearms. But on Friday, they struggled to square that message with their presidential contender's full-throated call on national TV for confiscating assault rifles. (9/13)

Reuters: OxyContin Maker Purdue Pharma Files For Bankruptcy Protection
OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP filed for bankruptcy protection Sunday night, succumbing to pressure from more than 2,600 lawsuits alleging the company helped fuel the deadly U.S. opioid epidemic. Purdue's board met Sunday evening to approve the long-expected bankruptcy filing, which the company is pursuing to restructure under terms of a proposal to settle the widespread litigation. (Spector, 9/16)

The Associated Press: After Bankruptcy Filing, Purdue Pharma May Not Be Off Hook
"Like families across America, we have deep compassion for the victims of the opioid crisis," Sackler family members said in the statement, which called the settlement plan a "historic step towards providing critical resources that address a tragic public health situation." But the filing may not get either the drugmaker or the Sacklers off the legal hook. (Mulvihill, 9/16)

The New York Times: Purdue Pharma Files For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
The terms of the filing, which include a proposed resolution of most of those cases, are expected to be fiercely contested by a group of 26 states that have refused to settle with Purdue and are intent on pursuing the company’s owners, the Sacklers, considered one of the wealthiest families in the United States. A showdown in bankruptcy court in White Plains could come as early as this week. Restructuring the company through bankruptcy was at the heart of a tentative settlement agreement reached last week between the company and thousands of cities and counties that have sued it in federal court for its role in the opioid epidemic. Twenty-four states and five United States territories have also accepted the agreement. (Hoffman and Walsh, 9/15)

The Washington Post: Purdue Pharma, Maker Of OxyContin, Files For Bankruptcy
The bankruptcy also will raise the stakes on legal sparring over how much of the personal fortunes of the billionaire Sackler family, which owns Purdue, will be available to compensate plaintiffs. Multiple states that have rejected the proposed settlement have accused the family of improperly stripping billions of dollars out of the company’s coffers in the past decade to protect the cash from expected court judgments. “The controversial piece is going to be about how much the Sacklers need to kick in for the deal to work,’’ said Adam J. Levitin, a professor specializing in bankruptcy at Georgetown Law. (Rowland, 9/15)

The Wall Street Journal: OxyContin Maker Purdue Pharma Files For Bankruptcy Protection
The company and the Sacklers have broadly denied the accusations and said they are committed to helping curb opioid addiction. “My objective here is to put this company on a course to be a major positive contributor to our society,” said Steve Miller, a longtime restructuring specialist who joined Purdue’s board as chairman last year. Other drugmakers and distributors are also battling opioid lawsuits, including Johnson & Johnson , McKesson Corp. and Cardinal Health Inc. (Randazzo and Hopkins, 9/16)

The New York Times: New York Uncovers $1 Billion In Sackler Family Wire Transfers
The New York attorney general’s office said on Friday that it had tracked about $1 billion in wire transfers by the Sackler family, including through Swiss bank accounts, suggesting that the family tried to shield wealth as it faced a raft of litigation over its role in the opioid crisis. Earlier this week, thousands of municipal governments and nearly two dozen states tentatively reached a settlement with the Sackler family and the company it owns, Purdue Pharma, maker of OxyContin. It was unclear if the new disclosure would change the thinking of any of the parties that agreed to the settlement. (Hakim, 9/13)

The New York Times: Opioid Defendants Seek To Disqualify Judge Overseeing 2,300 Cases
Scarcely five weeks before a landmark federal civil trial in the opioid epidemic, the giant retail pharmacy chains and drug distributors that are defendants in the bellwether Ohio case are seeking to disqualify the judge from overseeing it and nearly 2,300 other opioid-related lawsuits before him. In a brief filed in federal court at 1:24 a.m. on Saturday, the defendants’ lawyers claimed that over the past 21 months, Judge Dan A. Polster has shown his bias against the defendants by making extensive comments about his intention to settle the sprawling case and bring relief as quickly as possible to local governments and individuals hit hard by crisis. (Hoffman, 9/14)

The Associated Press: Drug Company Attorneys Seek To Disqualify Federal Judge
Attorneys for eight drug distributors, pharmacies and retailers facing trial next month for their roles in the opioid crisis want to disqualify the federal judge overseeing their cases, saying he has shown bias in his effort to obtain a multibillion-dollar global settlement. According to the motion filed late Friday in U.S. District Court in Cleveland, where Judge Dan Polster presides over most of the 2,000 lawsuits filed by state, local and tribal governments, the judicial code requires judges to recuse themselves when there is an appearance of prejudice or bias. (Gillispie, 9/14)

The Washington Post: Judge At The Center Of Landmark Opioid Trial Under Attack 
In seeking to remove Polster, the defendants pointed to comments he made in early 2018, before any of the parties had begun producing evidence or marshaling their arguments. Polster said, for example, “150 Americans are going to die today, just today, while we’re meeting.” He also argued that everyone “shares some of the responsibility” for the epidemic, and that he hoped to “do something meaningful to abate this crisis,” including reducing the number of opioids being manufactured and distributed, according to the companies. (Achenbach and Bernstein, 9/15)

The Hill: Drug Companies Back Effort To Remove Judge From Federal Lawsuit
Lead attorneys for the plaintiffs on Saturday slammed the defense memorandum in a statement obtained by The Hill while defending Polster's tenure as a federal judge. Polster "has been held in the highest regard for decades on the Federal bench as a judge with great integrity, intelligence, and impartiality," attorneys Paul Hanly Jr., Paul Farrell Jr. and Joe Rice said in the statement. (Frazin, 9/14)

The Associated Press: Amid Settlement Talks, Opioids Keep Taking A Grim Toll
As the nation’s attorneys general debate a legal settlement with Purdue Pharma, the opioid epidemic associated with its blockbuster painkiller OxyContin rages on in state after state, community after community, killing tens of thousands of people each year with no end in sight. In Pennsylvania’s York County, the coroner investigated eight suspected overdose deaths in a single week of August — four in 24 hours. “This is a battle that’s not going to end easily, and it will be something we are fighting for a while,” Coroner Pam Gay said. “It’s going to take a while to see a significant decline.” (Rubinkam, 9/16)

USA Today: When Opioid Treatment Isn't Enough: Man Still Injected Cocaine To 'Feel Something'
More than eight years into his opioid-addiction treatment, Paul Moore was shooting cocaine into his arms and legs up to 20 times a day so he could “feel something. ”The buprenorphine he took to quell cravings for opioids couldn’t satisfy his need to get high. Moore said he treated himself like a "garbage can," ingesting any drug and drink he could get, but soon enough, alcohol and weed had almost no effect unless he vaped the highest-THC medical marijuana available. (O'Donnell and DeMio, 9/15)

The Wall Street Journal: Trump Administration Blames Increase In Uninsured Americans On Obamacare
A senior Trump administration health official blamed the first increase in uninsured Americans in a decade on the Affordable Care Act, pushing back against Democrats’ claims in Thursday night’s debate that the president is hurting the law. The uptick is due to higher premiums under the law that have priced people without subsidies out of the market, Seema Verma, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said in a blog post on Friday, in a response to data released Monday by the Census Bureau. (Armour, 9/13)

The Associated Press: Rise In Health Uninsured May Be Linked To Immigrants' Fears
When the Census Bureau reported an increase in the number of people without health insurance in America, it sent political partisans reaching for talking points on the Obama-era health law and its travails. But the new numbers suggest that fears of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown may be a more significant factor in the slippage. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 9/15)

Stateline: States Flubbed The Rollout Of Their Health Insurance Exchanges. Now They’re Ready To Try Again.
The launch of President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act was marred by the performance of the newly created state health insurance marketplaces. With generous federal financial support, many states created these markets, also called exchanges, based on soaring promises: Individuals and small businesses could compare policies. They could get federal subsidies. It would be easy to sign up. And if people’s income declined, they could enroll in their state’s Medicaid plan. (Ollove, 9/13)

The New York Times: Vaping Bad: Were 2 Wisconsin Brothers The Walter Whites Of THC Oils?
The drug bust shattered the early-morning stillness of this manicured subdivision in southeastern Wisconsin. The police pulled up outside a white-shuttered brick condo, jolting neighbors out of their beds with the thud of heavy banging on a door. What they found inside was not crystal meth or cocaine or fentanyl but slim boxes of vaping cartridges labeled with flavors like strawberry and peaches and cream. An additional 98,000 cartridges lay empty. Fifty-seven Mason jars nearby contained a substance that resembled dark honey: THC-laced liquid used for vaping, a practice that is now at the heart of a major public health scare sweeping the country. (Bosman and Richtel, 9/15)

The Associated Press: Vapes Spiked With Illegal Drugs Show Dark Side Of CBD Craze
Jay Jenkins says he hesitated when a buddy suggested they vape CBD. "It'll relax you," the friend assured. The vapor that Jenkins inhaled didn't relax him. After two puffs, he ended up in a coma. That's because what he was vaping didn't have any CBD, the suddenly popular compound extracted from the cannabis plant that marketers say can treat a range of ailments without getting users high. Instead, the oil was spiked with a powerful street drug. (9/16)

The Associated Press: AP Investigation Finds Spiked CBD Being Sold In Maryland
An Associated Press investigation shows a dark side to booming sales of the cannabis extract CBD. Some people are substituting cheap and dangerous street drugs for the real thing. For the investigation, a reporter in Towson purchased three vape pods that were advertised as delivering inhalable CBD. Lab testing showed one contained synthetic marijuana. The store’s co-owner then pulled the brand from shelves. (9/16)

The Hill: Trump Defends Push To Ban Flavored E-Cigarettes: Let's 'Keep Young Children From Vaping!'
President Trump defended his push to ban flavored e-cigarettes, saying the products could be harmful to children despite them being an alternative for some to smoking. “While I like the Vaping alternative to Cigarettes, we need to make sure this alternative is SAFE for ALL! Let’s get counterfeits off the market, and keep young children from Vaping!” he tweeted Friday evening. (Axelrod, 9/13)

The Hill: Trump Move On Flavored E-Cigarettes May Hit Adults Trying To Quit
The Trump administration argues flavors such as cherry and mint are fueling a youth vaping "epidemic" and must be removed from the market. But experts say flavored vapes have also helped some adults wean themselves off of cigarettes, one of the leading causes of death in the U.S. (Hellmann, 9/14)

Reuters: Explainer: One Possible Culprit In Vaping Lung Illnesses-'Dank Vapes'
As U.S health officials scramble to identify the root cause of hundreds of severe lung illnesses tied to vaping, one possible culprit identified so far is a line of illicit marijuana vape products sold under the brand names "Dank Vapes" and "Chronic Carts." A study published last week in the New England Journal of Medicine found that more than half of patients with the lung illness - 24 of 41 - who were extensively interviewed in Wisconsin and Illinois reported having used the "Dank Vapes" brand. (9/13)

Politico: State Lawmakers See Momentum For Vaping Crackdown After Trump Ban
From Utah to New Jersey, long-stalled state plans to curb teen vaping got a huge boost from President Donald Trump’s plan to remove flavored e-cigarettes from the market. And some states want to go further than the White House. State lawmakers believe the surprise ban Trump announced this week, amid an outbreak of a mysterious vaping-related illness that’s sickened hundreds and killed at least six, provides much-needed momentum to legislation cracking down on the young but rapidly growing e-cigarette industry. (Goldberg, 9/15)

Reuters: New York To Ban Flavored E-Cigarettes After Illnesses, Deaths
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Sunday announced a ban on all flavored e-cigarettes besides tobacco and menthol in response to a recent nationwide spate of sometimes deadly lung illnesses that U.S. health officials have linked to vaping. Cuomo said vaping was dangerous and that he was concerned fruit- and candy-flavored e-cigarettes were leading young people to get hooked on nicotine. (9/15)

The New York Times: New York Moves To Ban Flavored E-Cigarettes By Emergency Order
The governor’s action comes days after President Trump announced an effort to ban similar vaping products at the federal level. If New York does outlaw flavored e-cigarettes, it would become the second state to move toward such a ban, following Michigan, which announced earlier this month that it would prohibit such products. Speaking from his office in Midtown Manhattan, Mr. Cuomo described a growing health crisis, likening it to illnesses related to traditional tobacco products. (McKinley and Goldbaum, 9/15)

The Wall Street Journal: In New York, Gov. Cuomo Moves To Ban Flavored E-Cigarettes
The ban would affect traditional retail stores and New York-based companies selling the product, but it doesn’t address all online sales. Banning all online sales with regulatory action by a state agency is legally complicated and would require legislation, a spokesman for the governor said. The governor intends to pursue permanent legislation that would ban all sales of flavored e-cigarettes, but federal action would also be necessary to be effective, the spokesman said. (Morris, 9/15)

The Associated Press: Illinois Lawsuit Filed Against Top E-Cigarette Maker
An Illinois teenager who fell ill with a lung disease after vaping for over a year sued a leading e-cigarette maker on Friday, accusing it of deliberately marketing to young people and sending the message that vaping is cool. Attorneys filed a lawsuit in Lake County Circuit Court on behalf of 18-year-old Adam Hergenreder, who was hospitalized at the end of August for about a week after complaining of nausea and labored breathing. (9/13)

Politico: Health Groups Backed Dark Money Campaign To Sink 'Surprise' Billing Fix
A group calling itself Doctor Patient Unity has spent nearly $30 million on a campaign designed to kill the leading congressional legislation that would make it harder for hospitals and doctors to spring massive, unexpected bills on patients. Its funding source has been secret thanks to the rules surrounding this “dark money” group, but multiple sources tell POLITICO that doctor staffing firms Envision Healthcare and TeamHealth are significant sponsors — showing just how powerful corporate medicine has become in trying to derail changes to a system that has put thousands of Americans in debt. (Roubein, 9/13)

The Hill: Senators Struggle To Get Spending Bills Off Ground As Shutdown Looms
Senate government funding talks are off to a rough start with 10 working days to go until the shutdown deadline. The impasse is throwing into question if senators will be able to get any of the fiscal year 2020 bills through the chamber this month, a setback for Republicans who wanted to clear a major package before October. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) said he still wants to bring bills to the Senate floor for a vote but warned that lawmakers need to “negotiate the terrain.” (Carney, 9/16)

The Associated Press: US Finds Contaminant In Popular Heartburn Drug 
U.S. health officials said Friday they are investigating low levels of a potentially dangerous contaminant in the popular heartburn medication Zantac and related generic drugs. For now, the Food and Drug Administration said patients can continue taking their medications. (Perrone, 9/13)

The New York Times: Zantac Has Low Levels Of A Cancer-Causing Chemical, The F.D.A. Says 
It was advising patients who take over-the-counter versions to consider switching to a different medication. But no recalls have been initiated, and the agency said patients who take prescription versions of the drug, known as ranitidine, should consult with their doctors before stopping. The European Medicines Agency is also looking into the issue. Zantac, the brand-name version of the drug, is sold by Sanofi, but generic versions are widely sold. (Thomas and Kaplan, 9/13)

Stat: FDA, EMA Probing Carcinogen In Zantac And Other Heartburn Meds
“The agency is examining levels of NDMA in ranitidine and evaluating any possible risk to patients,” the FDA said in its statement. The agency is not telling consumers to stop taking ranitidine medications, “at this time,” but did say consumers “could consider using other OTC medicines approved for their condition. There are multiple drugs on the market that are approved for the same or similar uses as ranitidine.” (Silverman, 9/13)

The New York Times: For Children With Peanut Allergies, F.D.A. Experts Recommend A New Treatment
A Food and Drug Administration panel on Friday recommended approval of the first-ever drug to treat life-threatening peanut allergies in children, a condition that confounds and frightens families across the country. The recommendation all but assures the agency will approve the drug, called Palforzia and made by Aimmune Therapeutics. The F.D.A. typically follows the advice of its expert advisory committees. (Rabin, 9/13)

The Washington Post: Aimmune Therapeutics’s Peanut Allergy Pill, Palforzia, Is Not A Cure
The company is seeking approval for administering the drug to children ages 4 to 17. “For a family with high anxiety and a significant burden of anxiety and fear from living with [a] peanut allergy, this might give that extra buffer of safety,” said Marcus Shaker, a pediatric allergist at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine, who was not involved with the trial. “They’re still going to need to strictly avoid peanuts, but [this will help] to let go of some of the fear they may have.” (Johnson, 9/13)

The Associated Press: Health Experts Back Treatment For Kids With Peanut Allergy
The treatment is daily capsules of peanut powder that gradually help children build up a tolerance. The outside panel of advisers to the Food and Drug Administration voted overwhelmingly in favor of the treatment from Aimmune Therapeutics. The nonbinding vote amounts to an endorsement for approval. The FDA is expected to make its final decision by January. (9/13)

Stat: Updates From An FDA Panel's Review Of Aimmune's Peanut Allergy Therapy
By an 8-1 margin, the experts agreed that the the FDA should require 1) Documentation that any patient prescribed Palforzia has a valid prescription for injectable epinephrine; 2) caregivers/patients must attest to carrying injectable epinephrine while on Palforzia; and 3 ) initial dose escalation and the first dose of each up-dosing level must be administered in a certified facility capable of treating systemic allergic reactions. (Feuerstein, 9/13)

NPR: Peanut Allergy Treatment Palforzia Gets Greenlight From FDA Committee
The recommendation came despite concerns raised in some testimony that the treatment could actually lead to more allergic reactions, in some cases. "I also want my patients to have a lower risk of having reactions, but I think from the data that we have had presented to us that neither the safety nor efficacy have been demonstrated," said Dr. John Kelso, an allergy specialist at Scripps Clinic in San Diego. (Smith, 9/13)

Reuters: First Peanut Allergy Therapy Gets Backing From U.S. Regulators' Expert Advisers
Peanut allergies are the leading cause of death from food-induced allergic reactions in the United States but a lack of approved preventive treatments has left patients and caregivers desperate for options. Palforzia, previously known as AR101, is an oral immunotherapy consisting of fixed doses of powdered peanut that is sprinkled over food daily. (Mathias and Joseph, 9/13)

The Wall Street Journal: Peanut Allergy Drug Supported By FDA Advisory Panel
Research in recent years has raised hopes for a preventive treatment. Studies have shown that gradually introducing small amounts of foods containing peanuts to children could prevent or limit the severity of allergic reactions. That approach is known as oral immunotherapy. The drug developed by Aimmune, of Brisbane, Calif., builds on that concept. A study released last year found that the treatment helped reduce the incidence and severity of allergic reactions when children ingested a small amount of peanuts, compared with a placebo. (Loftus, 9/13)

The Associated Press: Lead Pipes That Tainted Newark's Water Are Found Across US
A drinking water crisis in New Jersey's biggest city is bringing new attention to an old problem: Millions of homes across the U.S. get their water through pipes made of toxic lead, which can leach out and poison children if the water isn't treated with the right mix of chemicals. Replacing those lead pipes is a daunting task for cities and public water systems because of the expense involved — and the difficulty of even finding out where all those pipes are. (Porter and Catalini, 9/13)

The New York Times: Planned Parenthood And Fired Former Chief Mired In Escalating Dispute
Leana Wen, the recently fired former president of Planned Parenthood, appears headed toward an increasingly contentious exit, after accusing the organization’s leadership of trying to “buy my silence” in a dispute that threatens to prolong and magnify an acrimonious transition at the top of the nation’s best known women’s health care and reproductive rights group. Dr. Wen has been engaged in two months of fraught negotiations over her severance package since she was fired in July. (Goldmacher, 9/14)

The New York Times: In First, California Would Require Public Universities To Provide Abortion Pills
At a time when conservative states are sharply limiting abortion access, California signaled a new frontier in abortion-rights on Friday with the passage of legislation that would require all public universities in the state to provide medication abortion on campus. The bill, which would use money raised from private donors to equip and train campus health centers, grew out of a student-led movement at the University of California, Berkeley, and it has sparked the introduction of a similar bill in Massachusetts. (Belluck, 9/14)

The Associated Press: Over 2,000 Fetal Remains Found At Ex-Abortion Doctor's Home
More than 2,000 medically preserved fetal remains have been found at the Illinois home of a former Indiana abortion clinic doctor who died last week, authorities said. The Will County Sheriff's Office said in a news release late Friday that an attorney for Dr. Ulrich Klopfer's family contacted the coroner's office Thursday about possible fetal remains being found at the home in an unincorporated part of Will County in northeastern Illinois. (9/14)

The New York Times: Mystery Solved: Private-Equity-Backed Firms Are Behind Ad Blitz On ‘Surprise Billing’
Early this summer, Congress appeared on its way to eradicating the large medical bills that have shocked many patients after emergency care. The legislation to end out-of-network charges was popular and had support from both sides of the aisle. President Trump promised his support. Then, in late July, a mysterious group called Doctor Patient Unity showed up. It poured vast sums of money — now more than $28 million — into ads opposing the legislation, without disclosing its staff or its funders. (Sanger-Katz, Creswell and Abelson, 9/13)

The Wall Street Journal: How To Make Health-Care Crowdfunding Work For Everyone
Crowdfunding campaigns have become the go-to funding option for more and more people who find themselves stretched by the costs of a medical crisis, whether that consists of uninsured health-care service or medical equipment, or related costs like making up for missed earnings. But not everyone is equally able to access this source of funding: The ability to raise money online depends heavily on how wealthy a person’s friends and other connections are. For those who aren’t well off, it’s often hard to raise even a fraction of what’s needed. What we need are ways to spread the crowdfunding money around more evenly. (Samuel, 9/15)

The Associated Press: Whole Foods To Cut Health Care For Part-Time Workers
Whole Foods, the grocery chain owned by Amazon, is cutting health care benefits for its part-time workers, a move that could leave about 1,900 of its employees without medical coverage. Starting next year, Whole Foods employees have to work at least 30 hours a week to qualify for its health care benefits, up from the 20 hours a week it currently requires. (9/13)

The Washington Post: Medical Debt Is Soaring But Author Says It Can Be Fixed
For many Americans, questions about the cost of health care in the United States start when they open their mail to see an unexpected bill or pick up their phone to answer a call from a medical debt collector. Medical debt is all too common: According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 1 in 5 working-age Americans with health insurance has had problems paying medical bills within the past year, and the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau finds that nearly 1 in 5 credit reports include medical collections. (Blakemore, 9/14)