First Edition: February 7, 2018
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Kaiser Health News:
Nurse Calls Cops After New Mom Seeks Help For Depression. Right Call?
Four months after having her second baby, Jessica Porten started feeling really irritable. Little things would annoy her, like her glider chair.“It had started to squeak,” she said. “And so when I’m sitting there rocking the baby and it’s squeaking, I would just get so angry at that stupid chair. ”She read online that this could be a symptom of postpartum depression — a condition that affects up to 1 in 7 women during or after pregnancy, according to the American Psychological Association. In California, where Porten lives, those rates are even higher, spurring state lawmakers to introduce a package of bills to improve mental health screening and treatment for new moms. (Dembosky, 2/7)
Kaiser Health News:
Listen: Why Don’t You Hear More About Sickle Cell Disease?
Jenny Gold, a Kaiser Health News senior correspondent, joined a panel of experts and patients to discuss sickle cell disease on “1A,” the national affairs radio show hosted by Joshua Johnson. The conversation on Feb. 5 tackled how discrimination may affect the level of attention sickle cell disease receives and why only two drugs exist to treat a problem that afflicts about 100,000 Americans. (2/7)
The Washington Post:
Senate Leaders See Two-Year Budget Deal Within Their Grasp
Top Senate leaders were working Tuesday to finalize a sweeping long-term budget deal that would include a defense spending boost President Trump has long demanded alongside an increase in domestic programs championed by Democrats. (DeBonis and Werner, 2/6)
The Associated Press:
House And Senate Pursue Spending Deals As Shutdown Looms
Democratic leaders have dropped their strategy of using the funding fight to extract concessions on immigration, specifically on seeking extended protections for the "Dreamer" immigrants who have lived in the country illegally since they were children. Instead, the Democrats prepared to cut a deal that would reap tens of billions of dollars for other priorities — including combatting opioids — while taking their chances on solving the immigration impasse later. Tuesday night's 245-182 House vote, mostly along party lines, set the machinery in motion. (Taylor, 2/7)
The Hill:
Senate Nears Two-Year Deal On Spending
“I’m optimistic that very soon we’ll be able to reach an agreement,” McConnell told reporters, predicting that another shutdown this week is very unlikely. (Bolton and Zanoma, 2/7)
The Hill:
House Funding Bill Includes Bipartisan Medicare Reforms
The House’s short-term bill to fund the government also includes a range of bipartisan Medicare reforms aimed at making the program more efficient and saving money over the long term. The measure, known as the Chronic Care Act, has largely flown under the radar because it has been mainly free of political controversy. (Sullivan, 2/6)
The Hill:
House Bill Cuts ObamaCare Public Health Fund By $2.85 Billion
The House’s short-term bill to fund the government cuts $2.85 billion over 10 years from an ObamaCare public health fund, using the money to help pay for a range of health-care programs. The cut is drawing criticism from public health groups who warn that it will harm work at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in areas like vaccination and anti-smoking. (Sullivan, 2/6)
The Hill:
Trump Admin Says It's 'Committed' To Federal Family Planning Program Amid Delays
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) officials are assuring family planning providers set to run out of federal funding this spring that there will be no gaps in services, even as the administration runs months behind in the grant process. Valerie Huber, the acting assistant secretary for population affairs, the HHS office that oversees the Title X program, said in a notice to providers Tuesday that the Trump administration remains committed to the people who rely on the program. (Hellmann, 2/6)
The Hill:
40 Patient Advocacy Groups Oppose 'Right To Try' Drug Bill
Nearly 40 patient advocacy groups told House leaders they opposed the "right to try" bill on experimental drugs, arguing the measure would “likely do more harm than good.” In a letter sent to the House leaders of both parties, the groups wrote that they believe the right to try legislation wouldn’t actually lead to greater patient access to unapproved drugs and that the current regulatory framework exists so patient protections aren’t undermined. (Roubein, 2/6)
The Wall Street Journal:
Taxing This High Earner But Not That One: Hospital Nonprofits Wrestle With New Rules
Phoenix-based hospital system Banner Health employed 11 people who earned over $1 million in 2015—the kind of high nonprofit pay Congress targeted in the sweeping tax overhaul enacted in December. But a quirk of the law means Banner likely will owe tax on just five of these executives, while other large nonprofits, such as Michigan-based Trinity Health, could be taxed on more such employees. (Evans and Fuller, 2/6)
The Washington Post:
FDA Ramps Up Warnings About Kratom, Calling Unregulated Herb An 'Opioid'
The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday intensified its warnings about kratom, saying new research provides strong evidence that the unregulated botanical substance has “opioid properties” and is associated with 44 deaths. “We feel confident in calling compounds found in kratom, opioids,” FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in a statement. The agency's conclusion is based on recent computational modeling and on scientific literature and reports of adverse effects in people, he said. The new data, he added, reinforced agency concerns about kratom’s “potential for abuse, addiction and serious health consequences, including death.” (McGinley, 2/6)
The Associated Press:
Herbal Supplement Kratom Contains Opioids, Regulators Say
The Food and Drug Administration analysis, published Tuesday, makes it more likely that the supplement, kratom, could be banned by the federal government. The FDA also said it has identified 44 reports of death involving kratom since 2011, up from 36 reported in November. Sold in various capsules and powders, kratom has gained popularity in the U.S. as a treatment for pain, anxiety and drug dependence. Proponents argue that the substance is safer than opioid painkillers like OxyContin and Vicodin, which have contributed to an epidemic of drug abuse. More than 63,000 Americans died in 2016 from drug overdoses, mostly from opioids. (Perrone, 2/6)
The Hill:
GOP Chairman Blasts DEA Over Reduced Opioid Enforcement
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden (R-Ore.) on Tuesday blasted the Drug Enforcement Administration for failing to provide information requested by the panel on why it has cut back enforcement actions against opioid distributors. The committee had asked the DEA why it dramatically cut back on “immediate suspension orders” freezing suspicious shipments of opioids by drug distribution companies. (Sullivan, 2/6)
The Associated Press:
Alabama Files Lawsuit Against Opioid Manufacturer
Alabama filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against the manufacturer of OxyContin and other opioids, becoming the latest state seeking to hold drug companies accountable for an addiction epidemic. Alabama Attorney General Alabama Steve Marshall filed the lawsuit in Montgomery federal court against Purdue Pharma, L.P. and its branches. The lawsuit claims the manufacturer engaged in deceptive marketing practices that misled patients and doctors about the benefits of the drugs and the risks of addiction to the powerful painkillers. (Chandler, 2/6)
The New York Times:
A Brain Implant Improved Memory, Scientists Report
Scientists have developed a brain implant that noticeably boosted memory in its first serious test run, perhaps offering a promising new strategy to treat dementia, traumatic brain injuries and other conditions that damage memory. The device works like a pacemaker, sending electrical pulses to aid the brain when it is struggling to store new information, but remaining quiet when it senses that the brain is functioning well. (Carey, 2/6)
NPR:
Scientists Find That Memories Can Be Saved With Pulses Of Electricity
A little electrical brain stimulation can go a long way in boosting memory. The key is to deliver a tiny pulse of electricity to exactly the right place at exactly the right moment, a team reports in Tuesday's Nature Communications. "We saw a 15 percent improvement in memory," says Michael Kahana, a professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania and an author of the study. (Hamilton, 2/6)
The New York Times:
Far More U.S. Children Than Previously Thought May Have Fetal Alcohol Disorders
More American children than previously thought may be suffering from neurological damage because their mothers drank alcohol during pregnancy, according to a new study. The study, published Tuesday in the journal JAMA, estimates that fetal alcohol syndrome and other alcohol-related disorders among American children are at least as common as autism. The disorders can cause cognitive, behavioral and physical problems that hurt children’s development and learning ability. (Belluck, 2/6)
The Wall Street Journal:
A Breakthrough Stroke Treatment Can Save Lives—If It’s Available
Minutes mattered to two Atlanta-area residents who showed severe-stroke symptoms last autumn. The right treatment done quickly can help prevent brain damage. An ambulance raced a 74-year-old man to a hospital nearby that wasn’t an institution capable of offering the most-advanced procedure. He arrived Oct. 30 at 9:30 a.m. with right-side weakness, unable to speak. (Burton, 2/6)
NPR:
Black Lung Study Finds Biggest Cluster Ever Of Fatal Coal Miners' Disease
Epidemiologists at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health say they've identified the largest cluster of advanced black lung disease ever reported, a cluster that was first uncovered by NPR 14 months ago. In a research letter published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, NIOSH confirms 416 cases of progressive massive fibrosis or complicated black lung in three clinics in central Appalachia from 2013 to 2017. (Berkes and Lancianese, 2/6)
The Washington Post:
Why Car Horns, Planes And Sirens Might Be Bad For Your Heart
The roar of a jet plane, the rumble of a big rig, that shrill scream from the siren of a speeding emergency vehicle: The common but loud noises that keep you awake at night and agitate you throughout the day may have a notable effect on your cardiovascular health, experts say. (Bever, 2/6)
The New York Times:
Acne Can Increase The Risk For Depression
People with acne are at substantially higher risk for depression in the first years after the condition appears, a new study reports. Researchers used a British database of 134,427 men and women with acne and 1,731,608 without and followed them for 15 years. Most were under 19 at the start of the study, though they ranged in age from 7 to 50. The study is in the British Journal of Dermatology. (Bakalar, 2/7)
The Associated Press:
Publix Reverses, Will Cover HIV Prevention Drug For Workers
The Southeast's largest supermarket chain announced Tuesday that it is changing its employee prescription plan to cover a drug that helps prevent HIV infections, remedying an omission that doctors and gay rights groups said was highly unusual. Publix announced its change in a Twitter reply to Florida state Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, an Orlando-area Democrat who had met with company officials Monday to discuss their refusal to cover Truvada for PrEP. The 6-year-old drug is more than 95 percent effective in preventing the contraction of human immunodeficiency virus, which can cause AIDS. It is usually prescribed to HIV-negative gay men and other people at higher risk of infection. (Spencer, 2/6)
The Associated Press:
Justices Issue Legal Blows To 2 Ohio Abortion Clinics
A pair of abortion clinics claiming hardships related to Ohio's escalating restrictions on the procedure lost separate fights in the state's high court on Tuesday. The Ohio Supreme Court agreed with the state's decision to close the last abortion clinic in Toledo and end litigation initiated by a clinic in Cleveland challenging the constitutionality of abortion-related restrictions by the state. (2/6)
The Washington Post:
Flu Kills Child In Maryland, Health Officials Say
The flu has killed a child in Maryland for the first time this season, health officials said Tuesday. In a news release, the Maryland Department of Health confirmed the first influenza-related pediatric death of the 2017-2018 season. Flu-related deaths must be reported to the department, the release said. The death comes during a particularly challenging flu season nationwide, with the disease causing the deaths of dozens of children. (Moyer, 2/6)
The Associated Press:
$500K Will Help Mental Health Agency Fund Telemedicine
New York state is getting a $500,000 federal grant to fund telemedicine projects. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand say the money granted to the state Office of Mental Health will help buy video conference equipment, tablets, and software. The two Democrats said the equipment will be used by clinics, schools, doctors' offices, nursing homes, and prison facilities to provide and expand mental health care. (2/7)
The Associated Press:
House Panel Rejects Suicide Prevention Resolution
A resolution urging Virginia schools to increase their suicide prevention efforts has failed as Republicans on a House Rules subcommittee defeated the proposal in a 3-4 vote.HJ 138, introduced by Del. Danica Roem, D-Prince William, would have asked all school boards to offer every employee resources or training on how to identify students at risk of committing suicide. Roem told the subcommittee she had two reasons for making the resolution a request instead of a requirement. “One, we don’t have to (have) concern for it being an unfunded mandate” - a state-imposed cost that Republicans frequently oppose on principle. (Barbieri, 2/6)
The Associated Press:
Maryland Could Bar Kids’ Tackle Football On Public Fields
A bill proposed to the Maryland General Assembly would bar children from participating in tackle football and other contact sports on publicly funded fields until high school. Sen. William C. Smith Jr., D-Montgomery County, who filed the bill, tells the Baltimore Sun it’s not meant to undermine football. He says it’s meant to show the state doesn’t want to enable an activity that’s developmentally detrimental. (2/7)