Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: For Trump And Drug Prices, Talk Is Cheap; Executive Order On Immigration Could Hurt Medical Training, Health System
The Washington Post: Will Trump Have The Guts To Stand Up To Drug Companies?
President Trump and other Republicans have talked about the greed of the pharmaceutical industry. Recently, Trump said (rightly) that Big Pharma is “getting away with murder.” But talk is cheap. The question is: Will Republicans really have the guts to join me and many of my colleagues in standing up to the drug companies to fight for American consumers and end the disgrace of having our country pay by far the highest prescription drug prices in the world? If Trump believes what he has said about the industry, he will rally his party to help save American lives. Here’s why. (Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., 2/2)
The Washington Post: Trump Is Handing Democrats A Gift On Drug Prices
President Trump said he wasn’t like other politicians. He wouldn’t sell voters out to lobbyists in Washington. He would “drain the swamp.” One piece of evidence for this argument was his promise to break with GOP orthodoxy and support the government — especially Medicare — negotiating drug prices directly with the pharmaceutical industry, saving billions. In typical Trump fashion, he overestimated those savings, but the stand against the industry was nevertheless an important symbol, particularly to older voters. Less than two weeks in, Trump is already waffling on that stand. (James Downie, 2/2)
Bloomberg: Trump Had One Good Idea. Then He Ditched It.
It was Tuesday morning. The new president was about to go into a meeting with chief executives from Johnson & Johnson, Merck and a handful of other major pharma companies. During his campaign, he often said that if he were elected, the federal government would start negotiating with the drug companies over the prices Medicare and Medicaid had to pay for drugs -- something it's now prevented from doing by statute. This is an issue that resonated with most Americans, the majority of whom want the government to do something about high drug prices. ... When [the doors] opened again, Trump had not only abandoned his promise to use the government's bargaining power to bring down drug prices, he was now totally against it! (Joe Nocera, 2/2)
The New England Journal Of Medicine: Trump’s Executive Order On Immigration — Detrimental Effects On Medical Training And Health Care
On January 27, 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning nationals of seven countries — Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen — from entering the United States for at least 90 days, with the possibility of a wider “Muslim ban” in the works. Setting the broader ethical and political ramifications aside, this order will have a detrimental effect on graduate medical education (GME) and the U.S. health care system as a whole. (Ahmad Masri and Mourad H. Senussi, 2/1)
The New England Journal Of Medicine: International Exchange And American Medicine
Although all medical specialties share the goal of preventing violence, including terrorist attacks, we — chairs of major academic departments of medicine — are concerned that the consequences of this approach for U.S. health care, and our field of internal medicine, are far reaching and damaging. (Katrina Armstrong, Mark E. Anderson, John M. Carethers, Joseph Loscalzo, Michael S. Parmacek, Robert M. Wachter, and Mark L. Zeidel, 2/1)
The Washington Post: One Step Forward For The Mentally Ill In Virginia
It was a measure of the dysfunction in Virginia’s tattered services for mentally ill people that Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D), even while facing a projected budget deficit that prompted him to propose an array of spending cuts, singled out mental-health care as the one major area for which he is seeking new funding this year. (2/2)
The Charlotte Observer: If You’re Pro-Life, Celebrate Past 8 Years
Many conservative Christians said that despite his long list of improprieties and morally questionable behavior, Donald Trump was the right choice for president because a Republican would be the best option on “life.” The numbers on the ground don’t back up that belief, though. (2/2)
Cleveland Plain Dealer: Guard Your Well-Being By Looking Under The Hood Of Alternative Health And Wellness Treatments
Drugs and medical devices must be rigorously tested before they are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. However, health and wellness programs often include complementary and alternative treatments such as meditation, massage, acupuncture, reiki, and dietary supplements, which are not subject to similar testing and approval. (Ashwini Sehgal, 2/2)
