Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
ICE Detainee With Type 1 Diabetes Dies At Louisiana Facility; Family Alleges Neglect
AP: Costa Rican Man With Diabetes Dies In ICE Detention In Louisiana
A 36-year-old Costa Rican man whose family says he complained of missing insulin shots and meals to manage his diabetes is the third detainee to die in less than six months at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Louisiana. Carlos Josue Marchena Marchena was found unresponsive Sept. 18 at Winn Correctional Center in Winnfield, ICE said in a statement. It said staff began lifesaving measures before he was taken by ambulance to a hospital where he was later pronounced dead. (Brook and Pineda, 9/22)
The Texas Tribune: Quick Hospital Release Of Venezuelan Shot By ICE Raises Questions
About four hours after Wilber Rafael Garces Perez was admitted to an Austin hospital with a gunshot wound, the Venezuelan man was discharged Sunday and taken 135 miles south to an immigration detention center where some detainees have complained about inadequate medical care. (Garcia, Leggio and Nguyen, 9/22)
The Washington Post: ICE Officer In Texas Shooting Was Recruit Not Using A Body Camera
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who shot a Venezuelan man in Austin over the weekend is a recruit who was issued a body camera but was not using it during the incident, according to two former Department of Homeland Security officials briefed on the matter. The officer had previously worked at another federal law enforcement agency and joined ICE during DHS’s hiring spree last year, said the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters. (Nakamura and Sacchetti, 9/22)
In other news from the federal government —
The Hill: Susan Collins Urges White House To Drop Plan For National Institutes Of Health Grant Oversight
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, on Tuesday urged Trump administration officials to not proceed with an executive order that would give the White House political control over scientific grants at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In a letter to Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought and NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya, Collins noted that the stopgap government funding bill passed earlier this month blocked a similar proposal that sought to give political appointees broader authority over approving federal research grants to ensure they meet the president’s priorities. (Weixel, 9/22)
AP: Sen. Bernie Sanders Unveils Bill To Ban Artificial Superintelligence
Two leading progressive lawmakers, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Greg Casar, are unveiling legislation Wednesday that would ban artificial superintelligence and create a federal agency to oversee advanced AI as some of the industry’s own leaders urge Congress to impose guardrails on the advancing technology. The bill, provided first to The Associated Press, would also pause advanced AI development until guidelines are implemented while creating the Department of Artificial Intelligence. Multiple employees at leading AI companies are endorsing the bill. (Cappelletti, 9/23)
Axios: Why Congress Can't Avoid Medicare Cuts To Docs
Congress may be going home to campaign — but not before laying the groundwork for possible changes to how Medicare pays doctors. Wary of yet another headache for patients and physicians, lawmakers are growing more receptive to addressing a long-running complaint about the way the program reimburses physicians. That would be a departure from Congress' perennial practice of passing short-term funding patches, or doc fixes, to offset scheduled cuts. (Bettelheim, 9/23)
KFF Health News: Economic Frustration Tests Trump’s Standing With Rural Voters, New KFF-AP Poll Finds
About half of rural American voters believe the economy is worse off now than when President Donald Trump returned to office, according to a new survey that points to economic frustration among a key group that has backed Trump and other Republicans in recent elections. The poll of more than 2,000 rural registered voters by The Associated Press in partnership with KFF found broadly negative views on the national and local economies, including from many Republicans. The costs of groceries, gas, and healthcare rank as top pain points for the rural voters, who were surveyed over two weeks starting in mid-August. (Tribble, Swenson and Sanders, 9/23)
