First Edition: August 6, 2018
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Kaiser Health News:
In Weary Post-Storm Puerto Rico, Medicaid Cutbacks Bode New Ills
Blue tarps still dot rooftops, homes lack electricity needed to refrigerate medicines, and clinics chip away at debts incurred from running generators. Yet despite the residual effects from last year’s devastating hurricanes, Puerto Rico is moving ahead with major cuts to its health care safety net that will affect more than a million of its poorest residents. The government here needs to squeeze $840.2 million in annual savings from Medicaid by 2023, a reduction required by the U.S. territory’s agreement with the federal government as the island claws its way back from fiscal oblivion. (Varney and Heredia Rodriguez, 8/6)
The Washington Post:
Tossing Aside Skepticism, Democratic Candidates For Governor Push For State-Based Universal Health Care
Wherever he takes his campaign for governor, Abdul El-Sayed is followed by activists handing out information about “Medicare for all.” When he grabs the microphone, El-Sayed makes a promise: He’ll bring universal health care to Michigan. “Why can the CEOs of big insurance corporations take home $13 million a year when 600,000 Michiganders still don’t have access to health care?” asked El-Sayed, who is a doctor, at a campaign stop last week in one of the state’s poorest cities. “When are we going to have leadership that stands up for statewide Medicare for all?” (Weigel, 8/5)
Politico:
Single-Payer, Once Shunned, Makes A Comeback In Colorado Governor's Race
Two years ago, 79 percent of Colorado voters rejected a ballot initiative to create a single-payer health system. Today, the idea — rechristened "Medicare for all" — has become a raison d’etre for Democratic candidates such as five-term Rep. Jared Polis, who recently beat back a crowded gubernatorial primary field in the purple state to take on Republican nominee Walker Stapleton. (Haberkorn, 8/3)
The Washington Post Fact Checker:
Do Democrats Have A ‘Plan’ To Cut Medicare Spending By $800 Billion?
When the chips are down, you can always count on either political party to run Medicare attack ads. Polls indicate a neck-and-neck race in Ohio’s special election on Aug. 7 pitting Danny O’Connor, a Democrat, against Republican Troy Balderson to fill the state’s vacant seat in the 12th Congressional District. O’Connor has made headway by charging that Balderson’s support of President Trump’s debt-financed tax cut will lead to reductions in Social Security and Medicare spending, such as by raising the retirement age. In one ad, O’Connor says he stands “against any cuts to Social Security and Medicare” — potentially an unrealistic pledge, given the burdens placed on old-age programs by the retirement of the baby-boom generation. (Kessler, 8/4)
The Associated Press:
Insurance Companies Approach Trump Health Plans Cautiously
President Donald Trump says insurers are "going wild" about his new health care options and "millions and millions" of people will be signing up. But insurance companies say it will take time to design new plans and get approval from state regulators, and two major industry groups have actually expressed concern about potential downsides for consumers. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 8/6)
The Wall Street Journal:
Judge Orders Trump Administration To Find Hundreds Of Deported Parents
A federal judge said the Trump administration is responsible for finding hundreds of immigrant parents deported or released into the U.S. without their children in the wake of the government’s policy of separating families at the Mexican border. U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw said not finding those parents, as many as 400 who may have been deported primarily to Central America, could leave hundreds of children permanently orphaned. “That is 100% the responsibility of the administration,” Judge Sabraw said during a hearing Friday in San Diego. (Caldwell, 8/3)
The Washington Post:
Government Lowers Number Of Migrant Parents It Says Waived Reunification With Children
The number of migrant parents who have signed away the right to be reunited with their children is significantly lower than the Trump administration has said before, according to fresh information the government filed in a family-separation court case. The latest figures show that 34 parents waived the chance to be back together with their children — compared with the 120 that the government reported a week earlier. Migrants’ advocates and congressional Democrats have challenged the idea that large numbers of parents were signing away those rights, contending that some — traumatized by the separations — were misled, did not understand the form or never signed in the first place. (Goldstein, 8/3)
Stat:
Gawande Calls His Venture A 'Nonproft.' But Whose Bottom Line Will Benefit?
Dr. Atul Gawande has described his new health care company as a “nonprofit” that will operate independently from the three massive corporations providing its funding — a firewall he said is crucial to ensuring its mission stays focused on the needs of patients. ...A person familiar with the inner-workings of the enterprise told STAT that its corporate creators view it as a non-profit-seeking internal unit “that serves the three founding companies.” This person stressed that the new entity, even though designed to accomplish public good, is a private organization that is accountable to its funders, not to people in need of health care solutions outside it walls. (Ross, 8/6)
The Washington Post:
Nonprofit’s Plan To Take Over The U.S. Organ Network Is Thwarted
A government legal opinion has dashed the hopes of an upstart nonprofit organization that wants to take over operation of the nation’s organ transplant network. Organs for Life, a new nonprofit critical of the way the transplant system is run, hoped to bid for the fiscal 2019 contract to oversee the vast and complex U.S. organ transplant system. That network includes more than 800 transplant programs and other organizations that serve them. (Bernstein, 8/3)
The Associated Press:
Hospital System Pays $65M To Settle Medicare Billing Claims
Prime Healthcare Services, one of the nation’s largest hospital systems, agreed Friday to pay $65 million to settle allegations of Medicare overbilling in California. The company and CEO Prem Reddy agreed to settle a whistleblower lawsuit alleging that 14 of its hospitals unnecessarily admitted patients and also “upcoded” patient diagnoses, exaggerating their illnesses in order to receive more Medicare money. (8/3)
The Wall Street Journal:
Hospital System, CEO To Pay $65 Million To Settle Lawsuit Alleging Medicare Fraud
Prime Healthcare Services Inc. will pay the bulk of the settlement, while Chief Executive Prem Reddy will pay $3.25 million and the system’s nonprofit affiliate will pay an undisclosed small amount, according to the Justice Department and a Prime spokeswoman. Ontario, Calif.-based Prime also agreed to a five-year corporate integrity agreement with the U.S. Health and Human Service Department’s inspector general. The agreement requires Prime to have an “independent review organization” scrutinize its Medicare bills. Under the terms, the settlement resolves allegations against Prime and its nonprofit affiliate Prime Healthcare Foundation without a determination of liability. (Evans, 8/3)
Stat:
New Jersey Court Gives Pharma A Boost In Consumer Lawsuits
In a closely watched decision, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that higher federal standards of evidence should be applied in product liability litigation, giving a boost to drug makers because so many lawsuits are filed in the state by people who claim they were harmed by medicines. The ruling came in a long-running case involving a Roche (RHHBY) acne drug that was blamed for causing Crohn’s disease in more than 2,100 lawsuits filed against the drug maker. (Silverman, 8/3)
NPR:
A Marijuana-Based Medication Prevents Seizures For Some Epilepsy Patients
The first prescription medication extracted from the marijuana plant is poised to land on pharmacists' shelves this fall. Epidiolex, made from purified cannabidiol, or CBD, a compound found in the cannabis plant, is approved for two rare types of epilepsy. Its journey to market was driven forward by one family's quest to find a treatment for their son's epilepsy. (McClurg, 8/6)
Stat:
Congressional Committee Pressures Opioid Makers And Distributors
ACongressional committee is stepping up pressure on three of the largest purveyors of opioids — Purdue Pharma, Mallinckrodt (MNK), and Insys Therapeutics (INSY) — by seeking a raft of documents concerning their controversial marketing and distribution practices. In letters sent on Thursday to the companies, the House Energy and Commerce Committee asked the drug makers to provide information pertinent to their role in the opioid crisis, such as relationships with doctors, oversight of suspicious orders, funding to outside organizations, training for sales reps, and policies for educational programs, among other things. (Silverman, 8/3)
The Washington Post:
Demi Lovato Breaks Silence After Apparent Drug Overdose: ‘I Will Keep Fighting’
In Demi Lovato’s first public statement since being hospitalized for an apparent drug overdose, the pop star says she is focused on her sobriety and “road to recovery.” “I have always been transparent about my journey with addiction,” Lovato wrote in a letter posted on her Instagram. “What I’ve learned is that this illness is not something that disappears or fades with time. It is something I must continue to overcome and have not done yet.” (Schmidt, 8/6)
The New York Times:
The Age That Women Have Babies: How A Gap Divides America
Becoming a mother used to be seen as a unifying milestone for women in the United States. But a new analysis of four decades of births shows that the age that women become mothers varies significantly by geography and education. The result is that children are born into very different family lives, heading for diverging economic futures. First-time mothers are older in big cities and on the coasts, and younger in rural areas and in the Great Plains and the South. In New York and San Francisco, their average age is 31 and 32. (Bui and Miller, 8/4)
Stat:
Appalachian Odyssey: Hunting For ALS Genes Along A Sprawling Family Tree
The man had come for a third opinion. Other doctors had told him he had amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, a neuromuscular disease that causes progressive paralysis, but he didn’t believe them. In his hometown of Ewing, Va. — just east of the state’s mountainous meeting point with Kentucky and Tennessee — a handful of his relations had had the same thing, and they knew it as cancer of the throat. They lost the ability to chew, swallow, and speak, they lost weight, and then they died. (Boodman, 8/5)
The Washington Post:
Is Moderate Drinking Healthy Or Is Alcohol Bad For You?
Research on alcohol consumption is in a pickle. There’s no question that pounding one drink after another is bad for your health. Things get murkier when it comes to “moderate” drinking. What does that mean? What’s the limit? Can a health-conscious person serenely order a second round? The alcohol industry has long embraced the notion that alcohol in moderation not only won’t harm you but is actually good for you. The hypothesis gained traction in the early 1990s when “60 Minutes” reported on what is called the French Paradox. (Achenbach, 8/5)
The Washington Post:
Almond Breeze Soy Milk Recalled Because It Was Tainted By Cow's Milk
In the decades-long war over milk — with purveyors of cow juice on one side and the people who make an increasing array of ecru-colored plant- and nut-based drinks on the other — this is as close to consorting with the enemy as it gets. The manufacturer of a popular brand of almond milk has announced a recall for what some would say sacrilegious act: Somehow, cow's milk got into their almond milk. (Wootson, 8/4)
The New York Times:
The Illness Is Bad Enough. The Hospital May Be Even Worse.
When she moved from Michigan to be near her daughter in Cary, N.C., Bernadine Lewandowski insisted on renting an apartment five minutes away. Her daughter, Dona Jones, would have welcomed her mother into her own home, but “she’s always been very independent,” Ms. Jones said. Like most people in their 80s, Ms. Lewandowski contended with several chronic illnesses and took medication for osteoporosis, heart failure and pulmonary disease. Increasingly forgetful, she had been diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment. She used a cane for support as she walked around her apartment complex. (Span, 8/3)
The Washington Post:
Since The Darkest Days Of AIDS, These Men Have Offered Succor To The Sick
For Les Ralston, 1991 was a dark time. The AIDS crisis had ravaged the gay community, and many of his friends were dead or dying. No effective treatment had been found for HIV, and many people were afraid to go near those with the disease. “A lot of people were dying at home without any food,” Ralston recalled. So when he saw a note on a billboard seeking volunteers to help a D.C. organization, Food & Friends, deliver meals to people with AIDS, Ralston, a systems analyst for the IRS, signed on. By 1995, he had quit his government job and was working full-time for the organization. (Bahrampour, 8/4)
The Associated Press:
Confirmed Ebola Cases Rise To 13 In Congo's Latest Outbreak
The number of confirmed cases in Congo's new outbreak of the Ebola virus has risen to 13, including three deaths, the health ministry said late Saturday. The World Health Organization has warned that this new outbreak of the deadly virus in North Kivu province poses a particular challenge as the region is a "war zone" with several active armed groups and thousands of displaced people. (8/4)
Reuters:
Eastern Congo Ebola Outbreak Believed To Have Killed 33-Health Ministry
An outbreak of the Ebola virus declared this week in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo is believed to have killed 33 people, the health ministry said on Saturday. Thirteen cases of the haemorrhagic fever have been confirmed, including three deaths, the ministry said in a statement, adding that suspected cases had been detected in both North Kivu and neighbouring Ituri province. (Ross, 8/4)
The Associated Press:
Texas Republicans Squelch 'Red Flag' Gun Law Prospects
Texas schools have been adding metal detectors and armed personnel in an effort to improve campus security in response to the deadly May attack at a Houston-area high school that left eight students and two teachers dead. Among the steps that Texas apparently won't be taking anytime soon is tightening restrictions on gun access for people deemed dangerous to themselves or others. (8/5)
The New York Times:
Parkland Shooting Suspect Lost Special-Needs Help At School When He Needed It Most
Nikolas Cruz was an 18-year-old junior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., when a spate of disturbing behavior led to a fateful meeting about the future of his schooling. Education specialists told Mr. Cruz he should transfer to Cross Creek, an alternative school for students with emotional problems where he had thrived in ninth grade. His mother, Lynda Cruz, agreed. (Mazzei, 8/4)
The Associated Press:
Psychiatrist: Much Is Still Hidden In Theater Shooter's Mind
A psychiatrist who spent hours talking with mass murderer James Holmes says that what led Holmes to open fire in a crowded Colorado movie theater was a one-of-a-kind vortex of his mental illness, his personality and his circumstances — and some other, unknown currents that will probably never be uncovered. "A big part of it is, it's hidden in Holmes' mind, and he can't see it either," William H. Reid said in an interview with The Associated Press about his new book, "A Dark Night in Aurora: Inside James Holmes and the Colorado Mass Shootings." (8/5)
NPR:
California Wildfires Bring Fresh Terror To Survivors Of Last Year's Flames
There are 18 wildfires now blazing across California, which means many of the state's residents are waking up to the smell of smoke and hazy skies. The Carr fire near Redding has scorched at least 145,015 acres and killed seven people, and three fires in Mendocino County are all less than an hour away from Santa Rosa — where some neighborhoods burned to the ground last year. (McClurg and Snow, 8/5)
The Washington Post:
Country Doctor Life Recalled In North Carolina Museum
The term “country doctor” may call a horse and buggy to mind. But handling a horse used to be just one of a rural doctor’s many skills. A country doctor might be called on to practice dentistry, dispense prescriptions and deliver babies over a wide swath of territory. The Country Doctor Museum brings that history to life. The Bailey, N.C., museum is dedicated to interpreting the history of medicine in rural America — a history that spans 200 years. (Blakemore, 8/5)