Happy Friday! Have drug prices gotten so bad that patients are now turning to robbing banks to afford them? It sounds like something out of a movie script, but it’s what a Utah man told police when he was accused of just that. While it’s unverified whether he, in fact, had any prescriptions, it doesn’t seem like much of a stretch for anyone paying attention to the state of drug prices in this country.
On to what you may have missed this week (including one of the wilder health stories I can recall reading in a while).
Lawmakers were busy, busy bees this week with hearings on health care issues.
The moment that drew perhaps the biggest spotlight was almost cinematic: A furious Jon Stewart took members to task in an almost nine-minute display of pointed, nonpartisan outrage over their feet-dragging on health care funding for 9/11 first responders and victims. Why is this “so damn hard?” the comedian asked. Firefighters, police and other first responders “did their jobs with courage, grace, tenacity and humility,” Stewart said. “Eighteen years later, do yours.” A bill allocating money to the fund for 70 years passed the House panel following the hearing.
The Associated Press: Jon Stewart Lashes Out at Congress Over 9/11 Victims Fund
The New York Times: How Jon Stewart Became a Fierce Advocate for 9/11 Responders
Reuters: House Panel Approves Permanent Sept. 11 Victims’ Compensation
But it wasn’t just made-for-TV drama on Capitol Hill this week. There was a flurry of activity related to health care. Here are some of the highlights, including a hearing on universal health coverage, which was heavy on fiery political rhetoric and light on substance:
• The Hill: House Democrats Vote to Overturn Trump Ban on Fetal Tissue Research
• CNN: Medicare for All Hearing Turns Into a Defense of Obamacare
• Modern Healthcare: Arbitration for Surprise Medical Bills Splits House Panel
• The Hill: Pelosi to Change Drug-Pricing Plan After Progressive Complaints
• The Hill: Democrats Scuttle Attempt to Strike Hyde Amendment From Spending Bill
• The Hill: House Panel Launches Investigation Into Juul
Even if “Medicare for All” were to overcome the daunting political hurdles lying in its path, it’s likely it would face so many legal challenges it could be bled out before it’s ever implemented. “There could be a death by a thousand-lawsuits approach,” Georgetown law professor Katie Keith told Politico. Other experts note, though, that there’s a difference between forcing someone to buy a product and banning something, which makes Medicare for All less vulnerable legally than the health law.
Politico: ‘Death by a Thousand Lawsuits’: The Legal Battles That Could Dog ‘Medicare for All’
Over in Chicago at the American Medical Association’s annual meeting, a medical student-led push to get the organization to reverse its decades-long opposition to single-payer health care failed. But, there’s more to it than that! A fabulous thread on Twitter from Bob Doherty of the American College of Physicians explains how the fact that the vote percentages were so close is remarkable in and of itself. The outcome would have been “unimaginable” in years past, he says.
The Hill: Major Doctors Group Votes to Oppose Single-Payer Health Care
And read Doherty’s thread here.
When premiums shot up over the past several years, more and more people turned to health care sharing ministries — which essentially connect people of similar faiths and set up a cost-sharing arrangement among the members. Because these models are not technically insurance, they’re allowed to skirt health law regulations and aren’t regulated by state commissioners. All of that was seen as a point in their favor from supporters at the time they joined them. But now it means that when bills aren’t paid on time, or at all, consumers have little recourse and officials’ hands are tied in holding the organizations responsible for their promises.
The Wall Street Journal: As Sharing Health-Care Costs Takes Off, States Warn: It Isn’t Insurance
Meanwhile, the Trump administration continues to chip away at the health law with its latest rule on health reimbursement arrangements, which will allow small firms to use tax-free accounts to help workers pay for insurance.
The Hill: Trump Officials Issue New Rule Aimed at Expanding Health Choices for Small Businesses
If you took anything away from last week’s drama over former Vice President Joe Biden’s stance on the Hyde Amendment it was probably that it seems the parties are dead set on their positions on abortion. But a look at how the public feels about the issue reveals blurred lines and nuance that doesn’t always fit into pat sound bites and political declarations. Many Americans struggle with the moral complexities surrounding abortion and their opinions can change from one question to the next, depending on the wording.
The New York Times: Politicians Draw Clear Lines on Abortion. Their Parties Are Not So Unified.
A new poll does show, however, that despite the ever-increasing threat to Roe v. Wade a strong majority of Americans don’t want to see it overturned.
NPR: Abortion Poll: Majority Wants to Keep Abortion Legal, but With Restrictions
Actress Jessica Biel ignited a firestorm of criticism after speaking out about a controversial California bill that would give a state official the final say on medical exemptions from vaccines. Once the blaze was lit, Biel tried to clarify that her issue was not with the vaccines themselves, but rather with the legislation introducing bureaucrats into the process. California’s governor has even hinted at similar concerns. The blowback, though, highlights how inherently inflammatory the topic has become as measles cases continue to climb across the country.
The New York Times: Here Is What Jessica Biel Opposes in California’s Vaccine Bill
In New York — the state at the heart of the record-busting measles outbreak — lawmakers passed a bill banning religious exemptions to vaccines. The governor signed it minutes later.
The Associated Press: New York Set to Cut Religious Exemption to Vaccine Mandates
I have kept you on tenterhooks long enough! One of the wilder health stories I’ve read in a long time comes from gruesomely fascinating Arizona Republic reporting. It’s a look into the thriving for-profit world of whole-body donations following death. Critics deem the practice as no better than “back alley grave robbing.” “There’s a price list for everything from a head to a shoulder, like they are a side of beef. They make money, absolutely, because there’s no cost in getting the bodies,” lawyer Michael Burg told The Arizona Republic. Supporters, however, see it as an affordable way to dispose of the remains of loved ones (which can actually be very expensive for low-income families).
Either way, it garnered my favorite quote of the week, asked by one potential donor: “Will I have a head in heaven?”
In a move that left Flint, Mich., residents stunned and frustrated, prosecutors dropped all criminal charges against officials over the city’s water contamination crisis. Although prosecutors said the old investigation was bungled and there will be new charges, the announcement came like a fist to the jaw to people who already have had their faith in the government shattered.
Detroit Free Press: All Flint Water Crisis Criminal Charges Dismissed by AG’s Office
In the miscellaneous file this week:
• If you ever think you’re having a bad day at work, read this story about how an employee’s small photocopier mishap triggered a series of events that undermined a pair of late-stage clinical trials and ultimately scrapped a development deal between pharma companies.
Stat: How a Mishap at a Photocopier Derailed Clinical Trials and a Development Deal
• I am fascinated by the anatomy of pandemics, and this is a great tick-tock of the start of the last one. They don’t play out as they would in Hollywood, but, to me, the reality is even more interesting (I can’t be the only one, right?!).
• World health officials have been begging farmers to stop using antibiotics on healthy farm animals in an effort to combat the ever-looming threat of resistance (which, as you know, terrifies yours truly). The farmer,s though, also have drugmakers whispering in their ears — despite a public facade from pharma of wanting to help combat the problem.
The New York Times: Warning of ‘Pig Zero’: One Drugmaker’s Push to Sell More Antibiotics
• Are you a sufferer of “white coat hypertension”? You might think it’s just because you get stressed out when you visit the doctor (join the club!), but a study shows that those anxiety-induced numbers are linked to an increased risk of a cardiac event.
Stat: Those With ‘White Coat Hypertension’ More Likely to Die From Cardiac Events
That’s it from me! Have a great and restful weekend. (Truly, insomnia can kill!)