Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
EpiPen Makers Agree To $4.5M Deal With Maryland Over Its Pricing, Marketing
The Baltimore Sun: Maryland Reaches $4.5 Million Settlement With EpiPen Makers
Maryland reached a $4.5 million settlement with the makers of the potentially life-saving EpiPen over what the Office of the Attorney General’s Antitrust Division called “anticompetitive conduct” regarding the cost, marketing, and availability of the product. (Byrne, 5/5)
Chicago Tribune: Court Upholds $495 Million Verdict Against Abbott Laboratories
A Missouri appellate court has upheld a $495 million verdict against north suburban-based Abbott Laboratories in a case over whether its formula for premature infants caused a girl to become seriously ill. (Schencker, 5/5)
The New York Times: Illinois State Police To Investigate Fatal ICE Shooting
Officials said they were examining the shooting of Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez last summer during a Chicago-area crackdown on illegal immigration. (Smith, 5/6)
CBS News: Minn. Employee Strike Continues, With Health Insurance A Major Sticking Point
After a long negotiation period, nearly 170 employees in Chisago County, Minnesota, went on strike Friday. This comes after Teamsters Local 320 — the union that represents workers from the county government center and health and human services sector — filed an unfair labor practice against the county. Those on the picket line Tuesday told WCCO at this rate, it's over their health insurance premium. Strikers aren't only outside the county government center building in Center City, but they're also picketing across town. (McLister, 5/5)
Yale Environment 360: In Coal Country, Black Lung Surges As Federal Protections Stall
Justin Smarsh and his family used to kayak a few times a year on the rivers and creeks near their home in Cherry Tree, Pennsylvania. High on the Appalachian Plateau, northeast of Pittsburgh, he spent hours in the woods and taught his two sons to hunt. Today, Smarsh said, he gets “suffocated just walking.” He has a constant dry cough, and he loses his breath if he bends down to tie his shoes. A few years after he graduated from high school and got married, Smarsh went to work in a coal mine in his home county, just as his father and grandfather had. “It was the best-paying job around,” he said. “It still is.” Now Smarsh, 42, has progressive massive fibrosis — the most severe form of coal workers’ pneumoconiosis, or black lung. (Kate Morgan, 5/6)
Health news from California —
San Francisco Chronicle: SF Wants More Drug-Free Housing, But Doctors Are Pushing Back
A group representing thousands of Bay Area physicians is urging San Francisco officials to revise a proposal to expand drug-free supportive housing. The San Francisco Marin Medical Society has asked Supervisor Matt Dorsey to make changes to his legislation that it says are necessary to protect patients. Dorsey has criticized the requested changes, saying they mischaracterize the intent of the proposal. (Waxmann and Angst, 5/5)
CBS News: Bay Area Air Quality Management District Considers Gas Ban Changes To Ease Transition
New rules aimed at phasing out certain natural gas appliances across the Bay Area could be reconsidered, as regulators weigh possible exemptions that could ease the transition for some residents. The proposed changes by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District would affect the cost of replacing furnaces and water heaters across all nine Bay Area counties, drawing both support and criticism. (Choi, 5/5)
From Texas —
Bloomberg: What Is The Texas Two-Step? Bankruptcy Tactic Used To Avoid Asbestos Lawsuits
As far back as the Stone Age, humans started digging asbestos from cliffs or riverbeds. They mixed the fibrous silicate mineral into clay for pottery that could better withstand heat, and northerners stuffed it between rocks to insulate their shelters against the winter cold. The ancient Greeks and Romans wove asbestos fibers into cloth for garments, tablecloths and wicks that took advantage of the mineral’s ability to handle heat. By the peak of the industrial revolution, thanks to its extraordinary physical properties, asbestos was mined at sites across the US and used widely in daily life—from kitchen tiles to toothpaste, surgical thread to cement pipes. It could resist fire, stretch without breaking and tolerate abrasive or caustic cleaning chemicals. (Marx, 5/5)
CBS News: North Texas Firefighters Say Workers' Comp Coverage For Cancer Cases Is Battle
Fort Worth Fire Captain Brandon Rodriguez has spent the past three years battling terminal brain and throat cancer. Despite his suspicion that his cancer diagnosis could be traced back to his 29 years of fighting fires, his disease was not covered by workers' compensation insurance. He said this has cost him tens of thousands of dollars worth of both money and sick time. (Allen and Salazar, 5/5)
