Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Pharma Manufacturers Say Trump Should Be Removed From Office
FiercePharma: Pharma Condemns Pro-Trump 'Thugs' And Riots—And Backs Manufacturing Group's Call For Consequences
The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM)—which counts reps from Pfizer, Merck & Co., Johnson & Johnson, Eli Lilly and Mallinckrodt among its executive committee members—called for consideration of the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office. It condemned the attacks as sedition and placed the blame squarely at his feet. “Throughout this whole disgusting episode, Trump has been cheered on by members of his own party, adding fuel to the distrust that has enflamed violent anger. This is not law and order. This is chaos. It is mob rule. It is dangerous. This is sedition and should be treated as such," said NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons in a statement. "The outgoing president incited violence in an attempt to retain power, and any elected leader defending him is violating their oath to the Constitution and rejecting democracy in favor of anarchy." (Snyder Bulik, 1/7)
New York Post: Trump's Assistant Secretary For Mental Health Quits After DC Riots
The assistant secretary for mental health announced her resignation Thursday night, adding to a long list of White House staffers who stepped down amid the violent mob protests in Washington, DC. Elinore McCance-Katz said she couldn’t continue working for the Trump administration because of the “unacceptable” behavior from the thousands of rioters who broke into the US Capitol to disrupt Congress’ certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s election victory on Wednesday. (Elizalde, 1/7)
Boston Globe: UMass Memorial Health Care Investigating Whether Employees Attended Trump-Inspired Riot In US Capitol
UMass Memorial Medical Health Care said Friday that an employee who was on the grounds of the US Capitol on Wednesday during the Trump-inspired violence that led to the deaths of five people, including a Capitol Police officer, was no longer affiliated with the organization. The nonprofit issued a brief statement Friday, making it the first Massachusetts company to publicly acknowledge a connection between its employees and the storming of the Capitol that delayed congressional approval of the 2020 presidential election results. (Ellement, 1/8)
Newsweek: Donald Trump Needs Psychiatric Assessment, Mental Health Doctors Tell Congress
A team of Washington, D.C.-licensed psychiatrists and the president of an organization of mental health professionals that has been warning against the mental unfitness of President Donald Trump are submitting documents to Congress calling for the commander-in-chief to be psychiatrically assessed. World Mental Health Coalition President Bandy X. Lee hopes the move will provide information that can make the 25th Amendment possible at the same time as offering immediate security measures. (Cole, 1/8)
In other Trump administration news —
Washington Blade: Amid Coup Chaos, Trump Quietly Erases LGBTQ Protections In Adoption, Health Services
Under the cover of chaos the day after Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol, the Trump administration has officially nixed regulations barring federal grantees in the Department of Health & Human Services from discriminating against LGBTQ people, including in adoption services. HHS went public on Thursday with the final rule, which rescinds regulations implemented in the Obama administration barring discrimination among HHS grantees with respect to sex, religion, sexual orientation and gender identity. The change also rescinds the Obama-era regulations requiring HHS grantees to “treat as valid the marriages of same-sex couples.” (Johnson, 1/8)
FierceHealthcare: HHS Finalizes Rule That Mandates Exhaustive Review Of Older Regulations
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has finalized a rule that requires the agency to review all of its existing regulations and sunset any that don’t meet certain criteria. The final rule, released Friday, is a regulatory overhaul that could impact rules across the healthcare industry. Since proposing the rule in November, HHS made several changes intended to make it easier for the public to determine when a rule is under review and to comment on it. “I do believe that by doing this it will be the boldest and most significant regulatory reform ever undertaken, for sure by HHS and also by the federal government,” said Brian Harrison, HHS chief of staff, in an exclusive interview with Fierce Healthcare. (King, 1/8)
