First Edition: April 8, 2019
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Kaiser Health News:
Mourning Paradise: Collective Trauma In A Town Destroyed
One of the final memories Carol Holcomb has of her pine-shaded neighborhood was the morning sun that reflected red and gold on her trees last Nov. 8. That day, she said, promised to be a beautiful one in the Butte County town of Paradise. So she was surprised to hear what sounded like raindrops tapping her roof a short time later. Holcomb, 56, stepped outside to investigate and saw a chunk of pine bark floating down from the sky. “It was about 3 inches by 2 inches,” she said. “And it was smoking.” (O'Neil, 4/8)
The Associated Press:
Watchdog To Examine Medicare Chief’s Publicity Spending
A government watchdog said Friday it will review costly outside contracts to handle public relations for Medicare chief Seema Verma, whose agency oversees health insurance programs covering more than 100 million Americans. Responding to a request by congressional Democrats, the Health and Human Services inspector general’s office said it will examine Verma’s public relations contracts at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, known as CMS. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 4/5)
Politico:
Trump’s Health Care Brain Trust Says No Thanks
President Donald Trump promised a new plan to replace Obamacare. But the four Senate Republicans he tapped for the job aren’t jumping at the opportunity. Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) says any new plan has to come from the White House — and that he had no warning Trump planned to make him part of the health policy group. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) won't say more than he and colleagues are “working on health care thoughts.” John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), when asked about the Republican plan, turned the question back on the opposition, saying, “Democrats want to go to the complete government takeover of health care.” (Cancryn and Ollstein, 4/8)
The Hill:
Mulvaney: Trump Admin To Release ObamaCare Replacement Plan 'Fairly Shortly'
The Trump administration will release a health care plan to replace the Affordable Care Act “fairly shortly,” acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said Sunday. Administration officials and White House aides, including Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Seema Verma and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar, met for a Saturday summit at Camp David to discuss possible proposals, according to CNN. (Budryk, 4/7)
The Washington Post:
Kansas Lawmakers Pass Bill To Allow Farm Bureau Health Plan
Republican lawmakers in Kansas pressed ahead Friday with allowing the state Farm Bureau to offer health coverage to members that doesn’t satisfy the Affordable Care Act, a state-level effort to circumvent an Obama-era law that President Donald Trump wants to replace. The Kansas House approved an insurance bill on an 84-39 vote that includes provisions to exempt health coverage offered by the Farm Bureau from state insurance regulation, anticipating that the nonprofit group could offer lower-cost products to thousands of individuals and families. The Senate approved the bill Thursday on a 28-12 vote, so it goes next to Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly. (Hanna, 4/6)
The New York Times:
Hunger And An ‘Abandoned’ Hospital: Puerto Rico Waits As Washington Bickers
A newborn’s cries rarely echo anymore though the hallways of what passes as a hospital on the ravaged island of Vieques, off the coast of Puerto Rico. “We miss it,” said Dennisse Bermúdez Colón, a nurse. Hurricane Maria closed the island’s only labor and delivery room, forcing expectant mothers to travel, usually by sea, to the big island eight miles away to have their babies. Just a few emergency births have taken place in an old storm shelter converted into a provisional clinic. (Mazzei, 4/7)
Politico:
House Dems Look To End Months-Old Stalemate Over Disaster Funds
With a disaster relief bill deadlocked in the Senate, House Democrats are prepared to move ahead with their own package that includes billions of dollars in aid for the rain-swollen Midwest. The Democrats’ revised bill would add $2.5 billion for heartland states reeling from catastrophic floods, an overture to Republicans after months of partisan bickering. (Ferris and Bresnahan, 4/7)
Reuters:
U.S. Government Says It Could Take Two Years To Identify Families Separated At Border
It could take the U.S. government up to two years to identify potentially thousands of additional children separated from their parents by the authorities at the southern border, the government said in a court filing. The filing late on Friday outlined for the first time the Trump administration's plan for identifying which family members might have been separated by assessing thousands of records using a combination of data analysis, statistical science, and manual review. (Cooke and Torbati, 4/6)
The New York Times:
U.S. Says It Could Take 2 Years To Identify Up To Thousands Of Separated Immigrant Families
These families were separated before the administration unveiled its “zero-tolerance” immigration policy in the spring of 2018, when nearly all adults entering the country illegally were prosecuted and any children accompanying them were put into shelters or foster care. To identify these families, the government said it would apply a statistical analysis to about 47,000 children who were referred to the Office of Refugee Resettlement and subsequently discharged, according to the court filing. From there, the government said it would manually review the case records of the children who appeared to have the highest probability of being part of the separated families. (Jacobs, 4/6)
The Hill:
Man With Flu Symptoms Dies In Immigration Detention Center, ICE Says
A Mexican man who was exhibiting flu-like symptoms died in an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center this week, immigration officials said Friday. Abel Reyes-Clemente, 54, died at the Florence Service Processing Center in Arizona two days after he was treated for flu symptoms, officials said in a news release. (Frazin, 4/6)
The Wall Street Journal:
Federal Judge To Hold Hearings On Decision To Allow CVS-Aetna Merger
A federal judge on Friday said he wants to hear in court from witnesses who object to the Justice Department’s decision last year to approve CVS Health Corp.’s nearly $70 billion acquisition of Aetna Inc.—a highly unusual move that threatens to shake up the already-consummated deal. U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in Washington, D.C., is reviewing a department settlement last fall that allowed the merger after the companies agreed to sell off assets related to Medicare drug coverage. “This is a matter of great consequence to a lot of people,” Judge Leon said during a brief court hearing. Health care “is a high priority issue for tens of millions of families,” he added. (Kendall, 4/5)
The Hill:
Federal Judge To Hear Witness Testimony In Review Of Aetna And CVS Merger DOJ Approval
Leon reportedly inquired in court whether the settlement sufficiently protected industry competition. A CVS lawyer argued that judges had never called for witnesses in such hearings. Leon reportedly said he foresaw a weeklong May hearing on the matter. The American Medical Association and consumer rights groups reportedly said they wanted to testify. The Justice Department and CVS would also be permitted to present witnesses. (Frazin, 4/5)
Stat:
Lawmakers Will Grill Five Pharmacy 'Middlemen' — Some More Than Others
President Trump has blasted them as “middlemen,” known for their “dishonest double dealing.” Key Democrats decry the industry as a “black box” under a “veil of secrecy.” Pharmaceutical companies, pharmacists and doctors incessantly pummel them, in ads and in testimony, as the key culprits behind the nation’s rising drug prices. Now, the “middlemen” — pharmacy benefit managers, entities that aim to help insurance companies negotiate lower drug prices by managing formularies and extracting rebates — will have an unprecedentedly high-profile chance to defend themselves. (Florko, 4/8)
Stat:
Protestors Slam FDA With Claims It Did Too Little On Opioids
Activists on Friday delivered a parting gift to Scott Gottlieb, the outgoing Food and Drug Administration commissioner, at the entrance of a federal building here: an 800-pound, supersized heroin spoon stamped with the FDA’s logo. The group urged FDA to stop approving “dangerous” opioids and to instead encourage the development of more drugs to treat addiction. Many protesters decried the November approval of Dsuvia, a mega-potent pain drug, and urged the Trump administration to nominate an FDA commissioner who would take a different tack than Gottlieb on opioid approvals. (Facher, 4/5)
The Washington Post:
NIH Director Apologizes For 'Mishandled’ Security That Blocked Iranian Scientists
National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins has apologized to two Iranian graduate students blocked from campus after they were asked to disclose their citizenship, amid growing opposition to the new security protocols enforced with scant explanation or notice. In an email Friday to the “NIH Family,” Collins said he is “deeply troubled” that a Georgetown University graduate student was interrupted during a presentation that was part of an application for a postdoctoral job and escorted from the campus in Bethesda, Md. He said he has “extended a personal apology" to that person. (Sun and Bernstein, 4/5)
The New York Times:
In A Poor Kenyan Community, Cheap Antibiotics Fuel Deadly Drug-Resistant Infections
Four days after her toddler’s health took a turn for the worse, his tiny body racked by fever, diarrhea and vomiting, Sharon Mbone decided it was time to try yet another medicine. With no money to see a doctor, she carried him to the local pharmacy stall, a corrugated shack near her home in Kibera, a sprawling impoverished community here in Nairobi. The shop’s owner, John Otieno, listened as she described her 22-month-old son’s symptoms and rattled off the pharmacological buffet of medicines he had dispensed to her over the previous two weeks. None of them, including four types of antibiotics, were working, she said in despair. (Jacobs and Richtel, 4/7)
The New York Times:
A Mysterious Infection, Spanning The Globe In A Climate Of Secrecy
Last May, an elderly man was admitted to the Brooklyn branch of Mount Sinai Hospital for abdominal surgery. A blood test revealed that he was infected with a newly discovered germ as deadly as it was mysterious. Doctors swiftly isolated him in the intensive care unit. The germ, a fungus called Candida auris, preys on people with weakened immune systems, and it is quietly spreading across the globe. Over the last five years, it has hit a neonatal unit in Venezuela, swept through a hospital in Spain, forced a prestigious British medical center to shut down its intensive care unit, and taken root in India, Pakistan and South Africa. (Richtel and Jacobs, 4/6)
The New York Times:
What You Need To Know About Candida Auris
A mysterious and dangerous fungal infection called Candida auris has emerged around the world. It is resistant to many antifungal medications, placing it among a growing number of germs that have evolved defenses against common medicines. Here are some basic facts about it. (Richtel, 4/6)
The Washington Post:
E. Coli Outbreak Affects More Than 70 People In Five States
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday it has yet to determine the source of an E. coli outbreak that has infected 72 people in five states — an admission one expert in food-borne illness called “perplexing,” considering how many have become sick. The recent spate of sickness, which began March 2, is directly linked to a strain of E. coli known as “O103,″ according to the CDC. Eight people have been hospitalized as a result of the outbreak, however, no deaths have been reported. The patients’ ages range from 1 to 74 with a median age of 17. (Brice-Saddler, 4/5)
The Washington Post:
For CBD Food Craze, Regulations And Restrictions Are All Over The Map
At Joshua Hudson’s smoothie shop, a bohemian outpost called Twisted Smoothie in a small strip mall here, customers can add a 15 mg or 30 mg shot of cannabidiol, or CBD, to their blended drinks for a few extra dollars. They also can get a minilecture from Hudson on the virtues of the cannabis extract, found in both hemp and marijuana, which he and other fans claim can ease a range of health problems without making users high. “It makes everybody better,” said Hudson from behind the counter. He takes CBD before important meetings and first dates to calm his nerves, he said. “I tell people, ‘CBD — it’s a natural Tylenol and Xanax mixed together.’ ” (Quinton, 4/7)
NPR:
Spring Allergies? Sublingual Immunotherapy Tablets Might Help
Sneezing, runny nose, congestion, or irritated eyes? Yes, we hear you: The misery of seasonal allergies is real. A lot of us find temporary relief with over-the-counter medications, but these don't treat the cause. As we head into grass pollen season over the next few months, here's an option to consider: Many allergists now prescribe immunotherapy tablets to some of their patients with grass allergies, that work in the same way as allergy shots. (Aubrey, 4/8)
The New York Times:
The Latest In Military Strategy: Mindfulness
As commander of the coalition forces in Iraq, Maj. Gen. Walter Piatt juggled ruthless pursuit of enemies and delicate diplomacy with tribal leaders, using a trove of modern weaponry and streams of tech-generated data. But his best decisions, he said, relied on a tool as ancient as it is powerful. Maj. Gen. Piatt often began daily operations by breathing deliberately, slack-jawed, staring steadily at a palm tree. Mindfulness — the practice of using breathing techniques, similar to those in meditation, to gain focus and reduce distraction — is inching into the military in the United States and those of a handful of other nations. (Richtel, 4/5)
The Washington Post:
Poor Diets Responsible For More Deaths Globally Than Any Other Risk Factor, Including Smoking, Study Says
Too much salt — and not enough whole grains, fruits and vegetables — may be shaving years off our lives, a new analysis suggests. In a study published Wednesday in the journal Lancet, researchers looked at people’s eating habits across 195 countries to estimate how much poor diets contribute to mortality. Their findings? That 11 million people die each year around the world because, at least in part, of certain foods or lack thereof, according to the study. (Bever, 4/5)
The Washington Post:
Dissecting Brains To Find Signs Of Mental Illness
About noon most days, the Lieber Institute for Brain Development in East Baltimore gets a case — that is, a brain. It arrives in an inconspicuous red cooler. Almost immediately, resident neuropathologist Rahul Bharadwaj gets to work, carefully inspecting it for any abnormalities, such as tumors or lesions. Often, the brains come from the Maryland Medical Examiner’s Office, just a 15-minute drive across town. On other days, they are flown in — packed on dry ice — from around the country. (Mullin, 4/6)
The Associated Press:
Smoking Pot Vs. Tobacco: What Science Says About Lighting Up
As more states make it legal to smoke marijuana, some government officials, researchers and others worry what that might mean for one of the country’s biggest public health successes : curbing cigarette smoking. Though there are notable differences in health research findings on tobacco and marijuana, the juxtaposition strikes some as jarring after generations of Americans have gotten the message that smoking endangers their health. (Peltz, 4/7)
NPR:
Prenatal Expanded Carrier Screening Tests Can Be Difficult To Interpret
It wasn't hard for Shara Watkins to get pregnant. It was hard for her to stay pregnant. In 2016, she was devastated by two miscarriages. With the help of several medications, she successfully carried a child last year. Shara and her husband, Robert, were elated when she reached her second trimester, the phase when the highest risk of miscarriage subsides. Unfortunately the San Mateo, Calif., couple's struggles continued. (McClurg, 4/8)
The New York Times:
Dealing With Aggression In Children
Behavior problems in children, especially aggression and defiance, don’t get a great deal of sympathy, said Dave Anderson, a psychologist who is senior director of national programs at the Child Mind Institute in New York City. “For a child to get better requires just as much empathy and scaffolding as for a child who might be depressed, but behavioral issues inspire nowhere near as much empathy.” There is a persistent belief that these behaviors reflect poor parenting, he said, but in fact, there is often a strong biological component to behavioral issues, and the responses which come naturally to most parents faced with these behaviors may not have the desired results. (Klass, 4/8)
The New York Times:
France Is First To Ban Breast Implants Linked To Rare Cancer
France has banned several types of textured breast implants that have been linked to a rare form of cancer. The ban, which covers macro-textured and polyurethane implants, took effect on Friday. It was announced this week by France’s National Agency for Safety of Medicines and Health Products, or ANSM, in a letter to manufacturers. (Meheut, 4/5)
The Washington Post:
For Hospital Patients, Bedside Tablets And Apps Are Providing Some Control Over Care
Shannon Olson got more sleep than she expected during her daughter Emilia’s hospital stay in January. Emilia, 2½ , was hospitalized for 10 days at the Geisinger Janet Weis Children’s Hospital in Danville, Pa., to treat an infected cyst on her face. Olson slept in Emilia’s room and had planned to wait up for the nurses’ last rounds. Instead, she went to sleep before the late rounds, and each morning logged into an app on the tablet Geisinger offers each patient. The app provided access to Emilia’s hospital chart. “It made it so much easier knowing that all of Emilia’s updated chart information was available to me on the tablet,” Olson said. (Kritz, 4/7)
The Wall Street Journal:
Amazon Wants You To Use Alexa To Track Health Care
Amazon.com Inc. is positioning Alexa, its artificial-intelligence assistant, to track consumers’ prescriptions and relay personal health information, in a bid to insert the technology into everyday health care. Seattle-based Amazon says Alexa can now transfer sensitive, personal health information using software that meets health-privacy requirements under federal law. Five companies, including insurer Cigna Corp. , diabetes-management company Livongo Health Inc. and major hospital systems, said they developed new Alexa features for consumers using the federal protocol. (Evans, 4/7)
The New York Times:
Can Technology Stop The Duane Reade-Ization Of New York?
Four years ago, Eric Kinariwala woke up with a throbbing headache from a sinus infection. So he did what most New Yorkers do. He called his doctor, got a prescription for a Z-Pak, and walked to the Duane Reade near his apartment on the Lower East Side. When he got there, the elevator to the basement pharmacy was broken, and 40 people were in line ahead of him, he said. After waiting for an hour, the pharmacist told him they were out of stock. His phone had died, so he couldn’t ask his doctor to send the prescription elsewhere. “It was so miserable,” said Mr. Kinariwala, 36, who left the drugstore that day without antibiotics. “I’m a pinball in the middle of this thing.” (Lokting, 4/5)
The Washington Post:
Telemedicine Tied To More Antibiotics For Kids, Study Finds
Sniffling, sore-throated kids seen via telemedicine visits were far more likely to be prescribed antibiotics than those who went to a doctor’s office or clinic, according to a new study. Many of those prescriptions disregarded medical guidelines, raising the risk they could cause side effects or contribute to the rise of antibiotic-resistant germs. “I understand the desire for care that’s more convenient and timely,” said the study’s lead author, Dr. Kristin Ray of the University of Pittsburgh. “But we want to make sure that we don’t sacrifice quality or safety or effectiveness in the process.” (Stobbe, 4/8)
The Washington Post:
Florida Businessman Convicted In $1B Medicare Fraud Case
A federal jury on Friday convicted a Florida health care executive on 20 criminal counts in what prosecutors described as a $1 billion Medicare fraud scheme. Jurors reached a partial verdict after four days of deliberating the fate of Philip Esformes in one of the biggest such cases in U.S. history. Jurors were undecided on six additional counts, but prosecutors accepted the verdict rather than send them back for further deliberations. (Gomez Licon, 4/5)
Modern Healthcare:
Fla. Healthcare Executive Found Guilty In $1B Medicare Fraud Case
During the seven-week trial in federal court in Miami, prosecutors called Esformes a trickster and mastermind of a scheme paying bribes and kickbacks to doctors to refer patients to his nursing home network from 2009 to 2016. The fraud also included paying off a regulator to learn when inspectors would make surprise visits to his facilities, or if patients had made complaints. Esformes owns dozens of Miami-Dade nursing facilities as well as homes in Miami, Los Angeles and Chicago. (4/5)
Politico:
California Tests If Addiction Treatment Can Be Incorporated Into Primary Care
California had just weeks to get a program that used medication to treat opioid use disorder up and running after receiving $90 million in federal grants in 2017. So officials found a model that was already working in Vermont, and supersized it to fit the sprawling state. The scaling up of the "Hub and Spoke" system, particularly in rural areas, has presented challenges but also delivered results in locales like this Gold Rush-era city east of Sacramento — and dovetailed with existing efforts to expand medication-assisted treatment to give the state a two-pronged approach to confronting the opioid epidemic. (Colliver, 4/5)
NPR:
Hospital Closure Makes It Harder For A Town To Attract Retirees
When a rural community loses its hospital, health care becomes harder to come by in an instant. But a hospital closure also shocks a small town's economy. It shuts down one of its largest employers. It scares off heavy industry that needs an emergency room nearby. And in one Tennessee town, a lost hospital means lost hope of attracting more retirees. Seniors, and their retirement accounts, have been viewed as potential saviors for many rural economies trying to make up for lost jobs. (Farmer, 4/7)
The Washington Post:
Florida Abortion Bill Would Require Minors To Obtain Consent
Stephanie Loraine Piñeiro was 17 when she discovered she was pregnant for the second time. She says her parents were livid about her first pregnancy a year earlier, though she never dared tell them she was raped. Her father took her to a clinic for an abortion. On the way home, she says, he threw birth control pills from the clinic out of the car window and ordered her to abstain. A year later, the circumstances were different. She said she became pregnant after having sex with a boyfriend, and was afraid her parents would force her to continue an unwanted pregnancy if she told them. She sought but was denied emergency contraception from a pharmacy. (Rua, 4/7)
The Associated Press:
Baltimore’s Embattled Mayor Intends To Return To Work
A spokesman for the embattled mayor of Baltimore says she’ll return from her leave of absence as soon as her health allows. Spokesman James Bentley told The Baltimore Sun on Saturday that Catherine Pugh’s health is improving. It’s unclear when she’ll return. It won’t be Monday. Pugh abruptly took her leave last Monday to recover from pneumonia. Meanwhile, a scandal involving her sale of children’s books to high-profile clients has intensified. (4/7)
The Hill:
95 Percent Of Oregon Parents Who Secure Vaccine Exemptions Use Do-It-Yourself Option, State Data Shows
An overwhelming majority of parents in Oregon who secure vaccine exemptions for their children do so using the state's do-it-yourself option, according to state data. Data from the Oregon Health Authority shows that of the 31,500 non-medical vaccine exemptions sent in last year, 30,000 were from parents who watched an online education video and printed a do-it-yourself form, according to The Oregonian. (Frazin, 4/6)
The Washington Post:
D.C. Hospital Reports Norovirus Outbreak In Three Young Patients
A children’s hospital in the District has reported an outbreak of norovirus, saying three of its patients showed signs of the illness last week and have tested positive. Officials with the HSC Pediatric Center, formerly the Hospital for Sick Children, said they have been working closely with the D.C. Health Department to contain the spread of the virus, which produces symptoms commonly associated with stomach flu. (St. George, 4/7)
The New York Times:
Texas Inmate With Allergies Has Asked For A Cotton Blanket For 10 Years, Lawsuit Says
A Texas inmate who says he is allergic to the synthetic blankets provided by his prison says he has asked for 10 years to be given a cotton blanket instead. The inmate, Calvin E. Weaver, 73, filed a lawsuit against the prison system in May, claiming that its employees violated his civil rights by ignoring his frequent complaints about relentless itchiness and resulting health problems caused by the blanket. (Jacobs, 4/6)