First Edition: December 5, 2018
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Kaiser Health News:
No Cash, No Heart. Transplant Centers Require Proof Of Payment.
Virtually all of the nation’s more than 250 transplant centers, which refer patients to a single national registry, require patients to verify how they will cover bills that can total $400,000 for a kidney transplant or $1.3 million for a heart, plus monthly costs that average $2,500 for anti-rejection drugs that must be taken for life, Caplan said. Coverage for the drugs is more scattershot than for the operation itself, even though transplanted organs will not last without the medicine. (Aleccia, 12/5)
Kaiser Health News:
Without Obamacare Penalty, Think It’ll Be Nice To Drop Your Plan? Better Think Twice
Dana Farrell’s car insurance is due. So is her homeowner’s insurance — plus her property taxes. It’s also time to re-up her health coverage. But that’s where Farrell, a 54-year-old former social worker, is drawing the line. “I’ve been retired two years and my savings is gone. I’m at my wit’s end,” says the Murrieta, Calif., resident. (Bazar, 12/5)
The Hill:
Bipartisan Senators Introduce New Drug Pricing Bill
A bill introduced by Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) will seek to crack down on the tactics used by drug companies like Mylan to overcharge taxpayers for Medicaid rebates. The bipartisan bill from the incoming chairman and ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee could be a sign the two will seek common ground on drug prices. (Weixel, 12/4)
Stat:
Bipartisan Drug Pricing Bill Hints At Next Steps For Senate Finance Panel
It’s the first sign of how the duo, Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) intends to use their respective perches at the Senate Finance Committee to lower drug prices. Grassley will chair the committee beginning in January, and Wyden is already its top Democrat. The committee has jurisdiction over Medicare and Medicaid, including oversight of most of the Trump administration’s work to date on the issue of drug prices. The bill itself was motivated by allegations that the drug company Mylan misclassified its signature epinephrine auto-injector, EpiPen, under the Medicaid program, which resulted in taxpayers spending more money than they should have whenever a Medicaid recipient purchased the product. In August, Mylan settled the allegations for $465 million with the Department of Justice. (Swetlitz, 12/4)
The Hill:
Top Biotech Lobbyist: Industry Under 'Greater Threat' Than Ever Before
The top biotech industry lobbyist said his industry is “under a greater threat than it’s ever been before” as the Trump administration and Democrats in Congress set their sights on drug companies. ... Democrats are set to take over the House in January after winning elections across the country on a message of health care and lower drug prices. President Trump has also attacked drug companies for raising prices, which the industry worries could combine with a Democratic House to create a perfect storm aimed at drug companies. (Sullivan and Weixel, 12/4)
The Associated Press:
Freshman Democrats In Congress Ready To Use New-Won Power
Incoming members of the Democratic Party's new U.S. House majority say they're ready to turn the energy of their campaigns into real power on Capitol Hill. Rep.-elects Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and a handful of other liberal-leaning incoming Democrats used an orientation event for freshman lawmakers Tuesday sponsored by the Harvard Kennedy School's Institute of Politics to stake out some of their top issues — from gun violence to health care to climate change. (12/4)
CQ:
Pro-Choice Caucus Preps For Democratic Majority
An influential House caucus hopes to use the Democrats’ majority next year to counteract Republican efforts to restrict abortion and family planning, although the group still faces an uphill battle against a Republican Senate and administration with strong ties to the anti-abortion lobby. The Pro-Choice Caucus has been recently overshadowed by its conservative rival, the Bipartisan Congressional Pro-Life Caucus, which counts Republican leadership and lawmakers from the influential Freedom Caucus among its members. (Raman, 12/5)
The Washington Post:
Trump Administration Threatens Future Of HIV Research Hub
The Trump administration has thrown into doubt a multimillion-dollar research contract to test new treatments for HIV that relies on fetal tissue — work targeted by antiabortion lawmakers and social conservatives aligned with the president. The turmoil over the National Institutes of Health contract with the University of California at San Francisco is part of a building battle between conservatives opposed to research using fetal tissue and scientists who say the material is vital to developing new therapies for diseases from AIDS to Parkinson’s. (Goldstein, 12/4)
The Associated Press:
Wisconsin Republicans Work Overnight On Lame-Duck Bills
Wisconsin Republicans worked through the night Tuesday to muster enough votes to pass a sweeping package of lame-duck proposals designed to empower the GOP-controlled Legislature and weaken the Democrat replacing Republican Gov. Scott Walker. ... The Legislature passed one measure to enact Medicaid work requirement rules Walker recently won a federal waiver to establish. The bill would also give the Legislature oversight over the governor seeking future waivers for health care, a change Democrats said would handcuff the new administration. (12/5)
The Associated Press:
New Kansas Governor Wants To Roll Back Cash Assistance Rules
Kansas' new Democratic governor wants state lawmakers to roll back a work requirement and other cash assistance rules championed by a Republican predecessor as she prepares to grapple with problems in the state's child welfare system. Gov.-elect Laura Kelly, a veteran state senator from Topeka, suggested Tuesday during a meeting of a child welfare task force that the cash assistance rules have put additional stress on poor families. She and other child welfare advocates contend the rules have helped fuel a rise in the number of abused and neglected children in the state's foster care system. (12/4)
Stat:
'CRISPR Babies' Experiment More Flawed Than Scientists First Realized
When He Jiankui unveiled data last week on the two baby girls born from embryos whose genes he had edited with CRISPR-Cas9 — the world’s first “CRISPR babies” — his 59 slides flew by in a 20-minute blur, leaving scientists in the audience of the International Summit on Human Genome Editing desperately taking iPhone pictures for later scrutiny. Now many of them, as well as researchers who watched the webcast of the Hong Kong summit, have had time to analyze the data. The verdict: What He did is way worse than initially realized. (Begley, 12/5)
Los Angeles Times:
Surgery To Remove Wisdom Teeth Puts Some Teens And Young Adults On A Path To Opioid Abuse
For older teens and young adults, the extraction of so-called wisdom teeth is a painful rite of passage. A new study suggests it’s likely made more perilous by the package of narcotic pain pills that patients frequently carry home after undergoing the common surgical procedure. The study offers fresh evidence of how readily — and innocently — a potentially fatal addiction to opioids can take hold. It also underscores how important it is that dentists rethink their approach to treating their patients’ postoperative discomfort. (Healy, 12/4)
NPR:
Schools Help Students Whose Families Struggle With Opioid Addiction
When Maddy Nadeau was a toddler, her mother wasn't able to care for her. "I remember mom was always locking herself in her room and she didn't take care of me. My mom just wasn't around at the time," she says. Every day, her older sister Devon came home from elementary school and made sure Maddy had something to eat. "Devon would come home from school and fix them cold hot dogs or a bowl of cereal — very simple items that both of them could eat," says Sarah Nadeau, who fostered the girls and later adopted them. (Gotbaum, 12/5)
The Wall Street Journal:
Slowing Cigarette Sales Push Altria To Explore Other Opportunities
Marlboro maker Altria Group Inc. is eyeing cannabis and e-cigarettes, searching for growth outside its traditional business, as the long decline of U.S. cigarette sales accelerates. The tobacco giant is in separate talks to make investments in Canadian cannabis company Cronos Group Inc. and in San Francisco e-cigarette startup Juul Labs Inc., according to Cronos and people familiar with the Juul matter. The two companies would give Altria access to new customers and overseas markets, but a deal with either isn’t imminent. (Maloney, 12/4)
Reuters:
Medtronic To Pay $51 Million To Resolve U.S. Medical Device Probes
Medtronic Plc said on Tuesday it would pay $50.9 million to resolve U.S. Justice Department probes into how companies it later acquired marketed medical devices, including one meant to treat a vascular defect in the brain. As part of the accord, ev3 Inc, which Medtronic now owns, will pay $17.9 million and plead guilty to a charge related to its marketing of a neurovascular medical device for unproven and potentially dangerous uses, federal prosecutors in Boston said. (12/4)
The Associated Press:
More US Beef Being Recalled Over Salmonella Fears
An Arizona company is expanding the scope of its recall of raw beef that could be contaminated with salmonella, federal officials said Tuesday. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a news release that a unit of Brazil's JBS is now recalling a total of more than 12 million pounds (5.44 million kilograms) of raw beef that was shipped around the U.S. According to officials, information obtained in three additional cases of sickened patients led to the identification of other ground beef products that weren't part of the initial recall. ...There were 246 illnesses reported from 25 states as of mid-November.(12/4)
The Hill:
5.1 Million Pounds Of Beef Added To Salmonella Recall
The raw beef items, which were sold to grocery stores across the country, were packaged between July and September, according to the statement. This is an expansion of an October recall by JBS Tolleson, which took around 7 million pounds of beef off the market after a salmonella outbreak caused hundreds of people to fall ill in the U.S. (Birnbaum, 12/4)
The Washington Post:
Beef Salmonella Recall: Hundreds Fall Ill In Outbreak
Common symptoms of salmonella illness are diarrhea, abdominal cramps and fever within 12 to 72 hours of eating the contaminated product, according to the food safety alert, which also advises individuals concerned about an illness to contact their health-care provider. Tuesday’s recall follows a Thanksgiving-time salmonella outbreak linked to raw turkey. Earlier this year, one person died and 17 others were sickened after consuming contaminated chicken. (Paul, 12/4)
USA Today:
Cancer Researchers In Australia Develop Universal Blood Test
Australian scientists have developed a simple blood test that they claim can diagnose cancer in mere minutes by identifying a unique DNA signature present in all types of the disease. A genetic pattern in all cancers, researchers said Tuesday, could help make diagnosing cancer more accessible and affordable. The blood test detected cancer with 90 percent accuracy in the University of Queensland’s tests of different human cancers and healthy cells and can be done in only 10 minutes. (Lam, 12/4)
CNN:
Australian Researchers Develop 10-Minute Cancer Test
The test works by identifying the presence of that structure, a discovery which could help detect cancer in humans far earlier than current methods, according to the paper published in journal Nature Communications. "Discovering that cancerous DNA molecules formed entirely different 3D nanostructures from normal circulating DNA was a breakthrough that has enabled an entirely new approach to detect cancer non-invasively in any tissue type including blood," said Professor Matt Trau in a statement. (McKirdy, 12/5)
CNN:
Sleep: Too Much Is Linked To A Greater Chance Of Disease Or Death
The recommended amount of sleep for adults is six to eight hours a night. Sleeping more than those hours is associated with an increased risk of death and cardiovascular diseases, says a global study published Wednesday in the European Heart Journal. Looking at data from 21 countries, across seven regions, the research team found that people sleeping more than the recommended upper limit of eight hours increased their risk of risk of major cardiovascular events, like stroke or heart failure, as well as death by up to 41%. (Avramova, 12/4)
The Associated Press:
1st Baby Born Using Uterus Transplanted From Deceased Donor
Brazilian doctors are reporting the world's first baby born to a woman with a uterus transplanted from a deceased donor. Eleven previous births have used a transplanted womb but from a living donor, usually a relative or friend. Experts said using uteruses from women who have died could make more transplants possible. Ten previous attempts using deceased donors in the Czech Republic, Turkey and the U.S. have failed. (12/4)
NPR:
Under Pressure, U.S. Medical Schools Increase Diversity
In 2009, the body that accredits medical schools issued a new requirement: All medical schools must implement policies that help them attract and retain more diverse students. Failure to do so can lead to citations from this body, the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, and can affect their status as accredited institutions. (Gordon, 12/4)
CNN:
Chrissy Teigen Inspires Parents To Share Photos Of Babies With Head-Shaping Helmets
American model Chrissy Teigen sparked a social media trend after sharing on Twitter and Instagram a photo of her son, Miles, with a corrective helmet to treat his flat head syndrome. The 6-month-old was fitted for the helmet to fix his "adorable slightly misshapen head," Teigen posted. Flat head syndrome, or plagiocephaly, is a common problem for babies -- one in every five is affected -- because they spend a lot of time sleeping on their backs, the UK's National Health Service says. (Mezzofiore, 12/4)
The New York Times:
Why The World Needs To Rethink Retirement
The golden years look very different depending on where in the world you are, and, increasingly, which generation you are in. Aging populations and decreasing birthrates are spurring countries across the globe to reassess how retirement works — and what needs to change in order to extend the benefits available today to future retirees. (Robertson, 12/4)
The New York Times:
What A Hungry Snail Reveals About Your Grocery Store Breakdowns
If you’ve ever gone grocery shopping when you’re super hungry, you may have bought a few foods in strange combinations that you later regretted. “It’s not just one thing that you’re more likely to buy,” said Michael Crossley, a neuroscientist at the University of Sussex in England. “Your entire perception of everything is slightly altered when you undergo hunger.” Dr. Crossley has found that we’re not the only creatures in the animal kingdom that make unusual dietary choices when hungry: Hungry pond snails will also swallow potentially harmful foods they’d normally spit out. (Klein, 12/5)
The Wall Street Journal:
California Fire Survivors Begin Returning To Homes That No Longer Exist
Nearly a month after the Camp Fire destroyed the town of Paradise and surrounding communities, some residents are beginning to see what is left. Authorities gave residents of Magalia, Calif., just north of Paradise, 12 hours on Sunday to look through what remained of their homes. “It really looks like a bomb went off,” Manny Carrasco, 46, said after briefly visiting what was once a two-bedroom home surrounded by pine trees in Magalia. “All the houses in the neighborhood were leveled. It was total devastation.” (Carlton, 12/5)
Los Angeles Times:
How Northern California's Destructive Wildfires Could Exacerbate The State's Housing Crisis
Northern California’s recent wildfires have burned homes at a greater pace than developers are building them, deepening a housing shortage that already has left millions struggling to find affordable places to live. Five large wildfires over the past 14 months, with November’s Camp fire the most devastating, have destroyed nearly 21,000 homes across six counties. That total is equivalent to more than 85% of all the new housing built in those counties over the past decade, according to Construction Industry Research Board building permit statistics. (Dillon, 12/5)
The Wall Street Journal:
Women Sue Columbia University, Alleging School Failed To Protect Them From Abusive Doctor
Seventeen women who claim they were sexually abused by a Manhattan gynecologist filed a lawsuit Tuesday against hospitals and clinics affiliated with Columbia University, claiming the institution was aware of the doctor’s alleged abuse but didn’t protect its patients. The women, all but one of whom are kept anonymous in the suit, were patients at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center in northern Manhattan and elsewhere, the lawsuit says. (Ramey, 12/4)
The Associated Press:
New York Hospitals To Repay Victims Charged For Rape Kits
Six New York hospitals have agreed to repay sexual assault victims who were illegally charged as much as $3,000 for rape examinations that should've been billed to the state or their insurers, Attorney General Barbara Underwood said Thursday. The hospitals — five in New York City and the other in suburban Rockland County — wrongly billed victims for at least 200 forensic rape exams in recent years and had collections agencies go after some women who failed to pay, Underwood said. (11/29)
The Associated Press:
Utah Patients Can Use Medical Pot; But Concerns Still Loom
Patients can use medical marijuana legally in conservative Utah after a compromise agreement was signed into law despite concerns from advocates that it's too restrictive, but they likely won't be able to buy it legally in-state until at least 2020, officials said Tuesday. The state will need time to first build up a database to start issuing patients medical-cannabis cards, and then begin granting licenses for dispensaries, health department spokesman Tom Hudachko said. (12/4)