Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
New Legislation About Drug Trials Offers Hope For Children With Incurable Cancers
The Wall Street Journal: For Children With Cancer, Hope For New Treatments
The health-care industry is preparing for a new law that researchers say will mean more treatments for pediatric cancers, which are the leading cause of death from disease among children. The legislation, which requires pharmaceuticals companies to test potential cancer drugs on children as well as adults, goes into effect in 2020. Companies already are ramping up and some plan children’s drug trials this year. (Lagnado, 1/15)
Stat: After 37 Years, This Biotech Nears A First Drug Approval In Breast Cancer
Immunomedics (IMMU) was founded in 1982. Thirty-seven years later, the biotech is finally on the cusp of its first marketing approval — possibly ending one of the longest drug-development droughts in the industry’s history. On Friday, the Food and Drug Administration is expected to render an approval decision on sacituzumab govitecan, an antibody drug conjugate developed by Immunomedics to treat women with triple-negative breast cancer. As its name implies, these breast cancer cells do not carry receptors for estrogen, progesterone, or human epidermal growth factor, which are targeted by such drugs as Herceptin or tamoxifen. (Feuerstein, 1/16)
Los Angeles Times: Preventing Breast Cancer Just Got Easier. Will More Women Give These Drugs A Try?
Breast cancer will strike 1 in 8 women in her lifetime. But women who face an increased risk of being that one unlucky patient may improve their chances with three prescription medications, according to a new report. If 1,000 women took one of the three medications for roughly five years, somewhere between seven and 18 breast cancers could be prevented, and possibly more. But each of the drugs — two originally used to treat breast cancer and a third that prevents the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis — comes with the possibility of serious side effects, including blood clots and a higher likelihood of uterine or endometrial cancer. (Healy, 1/15)
The Associated Press: Senators Ask FDA To Update Rules On Certain Pot Products
Oregon's two senators on Tuesday urged the head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to update federal regulations to permit interstate commerce of food products containing a key non-psychoactive ingredient of cannabis. The appeal by Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley came after Congress legalized the production and sale of industrial hemp and hemp derivatives, including cannabidiols, known as CBD. Wyden and Merkley had been behind a hemp provision that Congress passed and was included in the 2018 Farm Bill. (1/15)
The New York Times: Eliminating Dental Woes Without Worrisome Debt
Zaps of pain, like tiny shocks, bombarded her head. Susann Davis assumed it was a migraine, a seemingly minor annoyance when stacked against the crises she already faced. In 2016, Ms. Davis lost her job in the hospitality industry. Soon after, she was diagnosed with stomach cancer. Then she learned she was being evicted from her apartment. Luckily, Ms. Davis said in a recent interview, while early into unemployment she had consulted a friend, Katherine Earle, a Community Health Advocates counselor. Ms. Earle had helped her sign up for Medicaid. (Otis, 1/15)
CNN: Killings Of Transgender People In The US Saw Another High Year
For decades, every year she's been active in the transgender community, Isa Noyola has attended a funeral for a friend. As deputy director at the Transgender Law Center based in Oakland, California, she has met many community members who have the same experience. "Death, profound loss, the violence that surrounds us, it's constant. It's a significant part of my transgender experience." (Christensen, 1/16)
The New York Times: Finding Open-Minded Health Care Abroad
Lola Méndez is no stranger to new experiences. Ms. Méndez. 29, an American freelance travel writer, has explored 56 countries, documenting her adventures on her blog. She has visited ancient tombs in Vietnam and trekked across mountains in Chiang Mai, Thailand. While working as an English teacher in Spain in 2015, she had to embark on a new kind of undertaking: going to the gynecologist in a foreign country. Many women don’t look forward to their yearly exam, and language barriers made an awkward situation all the more unnerving for Ms. Méndez. But her appointment soon went from uncomfortable to degrading. (McHugh, 1/16)
The New York Times: How Exercise May Help Keep Our Memory Sharp
A hormone that is released during exercise may improve brain health and lessen the damage and memory loss that occur during dementia, a new study finds. The study, which was published this month in Nature Medicine, involved mice, but its findings could help to explain how, at a molecular level, exercise protects our brains and possibly preserves memory and thinking skills, even in people whose pasts are fading. (Reynolds, 1/16)
The New York Times: Opposed To G.M.O.S? How Much Do You Know About Them?
Most scientists agree that genetically modified organisms, or G.M.O.s, are safe to eat. But a new study suggests that the people who are most extremely opposed to them know the least about them. Researchers surveyed 501 randomly selected adults, testing their knowledge of G.M.O.s with a series of true/false questions — for example, the cloning of living things produces genetically identical copies (true), or it is not possible to transfer animal genes into plants (false). (Bakalar, 1/15)
