Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
J&J Again Blocked From Using Bankruptcy Move Over Talc Payouts
Reuters: Johnson & Johnson Unit Loses Bid To Stay In Bankruptcy During Supreme Court Appeal
A Johnson & Johnson company cannot delay a court order dismissing its bankruptcy, a U.S. court said on Friday, despite the company's planned Supreme Court appeal to use bankruptcy to resolve tens of thousands of lawsuits over its talc products. J&J sought to use the bankruptcy of its subsidiary company, LTL Management, to halt more than 38,000 lawsuits alleging the company's Baby Powder and other talc products are contaminated with asbestos. J&J maintains its consumer talc products are safe and asbestos-free. (Knauth, 3/31)
In other pharmaceutical news —
The New York Times: Drug-Resistant Bacteria Tied To Eyedrops Can Spread Person To Person
A highly drug-resistant bacteria that was linked to eyedrops imported from India and that spread from person to person in a Connecticut long-term care center has prompted concerns that the strain could gain a foothold in U.S. health care settings, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Infectious disease specialists said the strain had not been previously detected in the United States, and that it was particularly difficult to treat with existing antibiotics. (Jewett and Jacobs, 4/3)
The Wall Street Journal: Cancer Patients Choose Lifestyle Over More Aggressive Treatment
More cancer patients are making decisions about their own care, informed by evidence that some people with breast and prostate cancer can choose less treatment without hurting survival. The shift is sparing them from side effects, even as it presents risks of some cancers progressing further than they would have after more aggressive care. (Abbott, 4/2)
Stat: Epidermolysis Bullosa Could Soon Get New Kind Of Gene Therapy
Wounds have been a constant fact of Aaron Owens’ life. His skin is so fragile that friction that would be trivial to others — rolling over in bed, weight shifting against the seat as the car turns — could scrape off his tissue. He didn’t like being in public sometimes because people would stare at the boy covered in bandages. When he enrolled in a clinical trial a few years ago, the teenager didn’t know which wound on his body was treated with the experimental medication, and which was dosed with a placebo. This trial wasn’t like so many others where some enrollees get the drug in question and others get a sham dose. Rather, Owens received both, but on different wounds. (Joseph, 4/3)
USA Today: Downside Of Weight Loss Drugs: Side Effects, Mental Health, Big Pharma
Common side effects of these so-called GLP-1 receptor agonists – nausea, diarrhea, vomiting and constipation – can be significant. Nearly half of people with diabetes quit an earlier generation of the medications within a year, one real-world study showed, and 70% within two years. (Weintraub, 4/2)
The Boston Globe: A Young Boy’s Nightmare Diagnosis, And The $3 Million One-Time Treatment That Will Likely Save His Life
When the long-awaited moment arrived, a nurse helped Adam Hess loosen a tiny plastic clamp on an intravenous line leading to the chest of his son, who lay asleep in a bed at Boston Children’s Hospital. (Saltzman, 4/1)
Also —
Modern Healthcare: Radiation Masks Find New Purpose Thanks To 911 4 HNC Artists
One cancer survivor and artist has found a way to turn a painful memory into something more beautiful. Cookie Kerxton, who resides in Chevy Chase, Maryland, spent five weeks undergoing radiation therapy for vocal cord cancer in 2008. For each 15-minute treatment, she wore the same stiff, custom-fitted radiation mask secured to a table to limit her movement so the treatment was as precise as possible. (Berryman, 4/3)
