First Edition: July 18, 2018
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Kaiser Health News:
Hurricane Maria Still Taking A Toll On Puerto Rico’s Seniors
The question of who will care for Puerto Rico’s aging population is a growing crisis, says Dr. Angel Muñoz, a clinical psychologist and researcher at the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico in Ponce. The island’s elderly population is particularly at risk amid the new Atlantic hurricane season, which runs through Nov. 30. Earlier this year, a study by Harvard researchers estimated that 4,600 Puerto Ricans died in the months after Hurricane Maria hit last September. Many were seniors who faced delays in getting medical care. (7/18)
The Associated Press:
Dems See Kavanaugh As Obamacare Threat, But Law Likely Safe
The heated debate over how Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh would vote on the Affordable Care Act might not matter. As long as five past defenders of the health care law remain on the nation's highest court, the odds tilt in favor of it being allowed to stand. Some Democrats are warning that President Donald Trump's designee could spell doom for the statute, even as some conservatives are portraying Kavanaugh as sympathetic to former President Barack Obama's landmark legislation. (7/17)
The Associated Press:
States: Workaround Succeeding After Cut In Health Subsidies
A workaround by states to counter Trump administration cuts to Affordable Care Act subsidies has largely succeeded in protecting consumers from higher costs, California and 17 other states said. The assessment came late Monday in a court filing asking U.S. Judge Vince Chhabria to put a lawsuit involving the cuts on hold. The filing says states have mostly protected subsidized consumers by allowing insurers to raise premiums on some plans offered on health care exchanges. (Thanawala, 7/17)
Stat:
FDA Eyes New Ways To Lower Some Drug Costs, Boost Consumer Access
In its latest bid to address health care costs, the Food and Drug Administration issued a new guidance that offers suggestions for drug makers seeking to switch their prescription medicines to a so-called non-prescription status. The guidance, which the agency called a “first step,” is designed to encourage drug makers to think about ways to seek approval for over-the-counter approvals. A new FDA regulation that would formalize such an approach is expected next year, but the agency emphasized that approval standards for over-the-counter medicines are not being lowered. (Silverman, 7/17)
The Associated Press:
FDA Plans To Ease OTC Approvals For Some Prescription Drugs
Drugmakers would have to do studies showing those strategies allow consumers to safely pick a drug and use it without medical supervision. The agency will take comments from drugmakers, medical groups and the public before issuing final rules, a process that usually takes many months. (Johnson, 7/17)
The Washington Post:
The Truth About ‘Breakthrough’ Drugs
When federal regulators started giving certain drugs “breakthrough” status in 2012, pharmaceutical company interest exploded. The goal was to speed up the approval of drugs for serious diseases when there was preliminary evidence the new drugs were better than existing treatment options. Giving these drugs “breakthrough” status comes with a side benefit: an evocative name. The word “breakthrough” suggests scientific triumphs and miracle cures to many people, including physicians. Companies and media reports often tout the “breakthrough” designation for experimental drugs that have not yet been proved effective. (Johnson, 7/17)
NPR/Center For Public Integrity:
Drugmakers Exert Influence On Medicaid's Preferences
Eight months pregnant, the drug sales representative wore a wire for the FBI around her bulging belly as she recorded conversations with colleagues at a conference in Chicago. Her code name? Pampers. Her company, drugmaker Warner Chilcott, was using payments and perks to get doctors to prescribe its drugs. Then its sales representatives gave nurses hot tips about what kind of symptoms would get Medicaid to pay for the drugs. The representatives also violated privacy laws by going through patient files and kept fax machines in their cars to fill out the paperwork meant for doctors. (Whyte, Yerardi, Kodjak, 7/18)
Stat:
Appeals Court Rejects Hospital Industry's Challenge On 340B Changes
An appeals court on Tuesday rejected an attempt by hospitals to challenge the Trump administration’s changes to the controversial federal drug discount program known as 340B, sticking them with a $1.6 billion cut in federal payments. The decision is the latest in a series of blows to hospitals trying to preserve the program, which increasingly pits them against the drug makers who must offer steep discounts on medicines under its rules. Participating hospitals get higher reimbursement for the drugs from the federal government, and use the difference to cover charity care and other costs. (Mershon, 7/17)
The Hill:
Hospital Group Says It Will Refile Suit Over Trump Cuts To Drug Program
The American Hospital Association said it would refile a lawsuit against the Trump administration's cuts to a discount drug program after losing its appeal Tuesday. "We will continue our fight to reverse these unwarranted cuts and protect access for patients, and we expect to refile promptly in district court," the AHA said. Three judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled Tuesday that AHA's suit against the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) was premature. (Hellmann, 7/17)
Politico:
Trump’s Migrant Fiasco Diverts Millions From Health Programs
The health department has quietly dipped into tens of millions of dollars to pay for the consequences of President Donald Trump’s border policy, angering advocates who want the money spent on medical research, rural health programs and other priorities. The Department of Health and Human Services has burned through at least $40 million in the past two months for the care and reunification of migrant children separated from their families at the border — with housing costs recently estimated at about $1.5 million per day. (Diamond, 7/18)
The Associated Press:
Immigrant Children Describe Hunger And Cold In Detention
Wet and muddy from their trek across the Mexican border, immigrant children say they sat or lay on the cold, concrete floor of the immigration holding centers where they were taken. It was hard to sleep with lights shining all night and guards kicking their feet, they say. They were hungry, after being given what they say were frozen sandwiches and smelly food. (Taxin, 7/17)
Bloomberg:
A Trickle Of Immigrant Family Reunions As Judge’s Deadline Nears
Immigrant families who were separated after they crossed the U.S.-Mexico border are slowly being reunited as the Trump administration tries to satisfy a judge’s order to restore more than 2,500 children to their parents by next week. Two mothers, each with a daughter, arrived Monday night at the Catholic Charities of San Antonio center. Three more reunited families arrived on Tuesday afternoon. As they were offered hot meals of meat, rice and beans, and outfitted with new clothing and shoes, mothers and daughters stayed close, hugging and touching. (Epstein, 7/18)
The Wall Street Journal:
Acting Head Of VA Health, Hospital System Replaced With Temporary Appointee
The Department of Veterans Affairs will replace the acting head of its health care system with a temporary appointee on Wednesday, the VA’s acting secretary said Tuesday, though the department still hasn’t settled on a permanent replacement to lead the sprawling division. Dr. Richard Stone will take over the Veterans Health Administration, the VA’s acting secretary, Peter O’Rourke, told reporters. The health administration is one of the three main branches of the VA and comprises more than 1,500 health-care facilities, thousands of physicians and nurses and a budget of about $70 billion to treat some nine million veterans. (Kesling, 7/17)
Politico:
Verma: Court Ruling Won’t Close Door On Other Medicaid Work Requests
A federal judge’s decision to bar Kentucky from imposing a work requirement on Medicaid recipients won’t discourage the Trump administration from considering similar requests from other states, CMS Administrator Seema Verma said Tuesday at the POLITICO Pro summit. “We are very committed to this,” Verma said. “We are looking at what the court said. We want to be respectful of the court’s decision while also wanting to push ahead with our policy initiatives and our goals. … We are trying to figure out a path forward.” (Goldberg, 7/17)
The Hill:
Idaho Residents Will Vote On Medicaid Expansion In November
Voters in Idaho will get to decide in November whether the state will expand Medicaid, Secretary of State Lawerence Denney announced Tuesday. Denney certified that an activist group collected the required 56,192 signatures needed to place the measure on the ballot. (Weixel, 7/17)
The Associated Press:
UnitedHealth Posts Big Profit Jump But Sees Room To Improve
UnitedHealth Group easily topped profit expectations during the second-quarter and hiked its outlook for the third time this year, but company shares were punished Tuesday for a performance that even company executives believe falls short of the health insurer's full potential. Enrollment jumped due partially to a surge in government-funded business, and operating earnings soared about 21 percent for the company's fast-growing Optum segment, which strays well beyond health insurance. (7/17)
The Wall Street Journal:
UnitedHealth Raises Profit Outlook
Analysts said the earnings beat was fueled largely by non-operating factors, particularly a tax rate that was lower than some had estimated. The second quarter “seems mostly in-line with tax rate driving upside,” Wells Fargo analyst Peter Costa wrote in an investor note. During the earnings call, analysts zeroed in on the insurance arm’s medical loss ratio, which reflects the share of premiums that go toward health-care costs. The ratio was slightly worse than some analysts projected. (Chin and Wilde Mathews, 7/17)
CNN:
ADHD Study Links Symptoms With Digital Media Use
The more teens check social media and stream video, the more likely they might develop symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, a new study suggests. The study, published in the medical journal JAMA on Tuesday, sheds light on how more research is needed to determine whether symptoms of the disorder, commonly called ADHD, are possibly caused by digital media use. (Howard, 7/17)
The Wall Street Journal:
Frequent Technology Use Linked To ADHD Symptoms In Teens, Study Finds
The study, published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, tracked 2,500 teens over two years and monitored their usage and symptoms. It doesn’t prove a causal link. The study also didn’t rule out other possible causes such as lack of sleep, family stress at home or a family history of the disorder. But it was the first longitudinal study to follow so many teens over a two-year period, according to experts, going straight to an issue that pits parents and teachers against the tech industry in a battle for children’s attention. (Hernandez and Morris, 7/17)
Los Angeles Times:
Los Angeles High School Students Reveal A Link Between Copious Amounts Of Screen Time And ADHD
The results do not show that prolific use of digital media causes ADHD symptoms, much less that it results in a level of impairment that would warrant an ADHD diagnosis or pharmaceutical treatment. Indeed, it’s possible the relationship is reversed — that attention problems drive an adolescent to more intensive online engagement. (Healy, 7/17)
NPR:
Frequent Smart Phone, Internet Use Linked To Symptoms Of ADHD In Teens
Previous research has shown that watching television or playing video games on a console put teenagers at a slightly higher risk of developing ADHD behaviors. But less is known about the impact of computers, tablets and smartphones. (Chatterjee, 7/17)
The Washington Post:
Who Gets The Embryos? Whoever Wants To Make Them Into Babies, New Law Says.
When their marriage fell apart, the most contentious issue between Ruby Torres and John Joseph Terrell was the fate of their frozen embryos. There were seven in storage, created with her eggs and his sperm before Torres underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatment for breast cancer. Torres, 37, wanted to use the embryos to have a baby. In divorce proceedings, she told the judge that the embryos probably represented her only chance to have biological children. Terrell protested that he had no interest in having a child with Torres. (Cha, 7/17)
The Associated Press:
GAO: Less Than Half Of School Districts Test Water For Lead
A survey of school districts around the country finds that less than half test their water for lead, and among those that do more than a third detected elevated levels of the toxin, according to a federal report released Tuesday. Lead can cause brain damage and learning disabilities in children. (7/17)
NPR:
Test For Chronic Brain Injury Among Athletes And Soldiers Gets Closer
CTE has been part of the national lexicon in the U.S. since the 2015 movie Concussion dramatized the discovery of this degenerative brain disease among football players. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy is found among people who've had head injuries. Though not everyone with head trauma develops CTE, the group that's come to be most associated with it is football players, whose brains can be routinely jarred by hard hits. The disease has been linked to depression, dementia and even suicide among those who play the game. (Goldman, 7/17)
Stat:
New Challenge Filed To CRISPR Patent Licensed By Editas Medicine
Another key patent on the CRISPR genome editing technology is facing a legal challenge. On Tuesday, St. Louis-based Benson Hill Biosystems, a privately held agriculture biotech company, filed a petition for post-grant review with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, arguing that a CRISPR patent granted to the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard in 2017 and licensed by Editas Medicine (EDIT) is invalid. (Begley, 7/17)
The New York Times:
An Aspirin A Day For Heart Health? It May Depend On Your Weight
A daily dose of baby aspirin is widely recommended for heart disease prevention, but a one-dose-fits-all approach may not work. A new analysis, in The Lancet, looked at data from 10 randomized trials and found that the size of the dose and the weight of the patient have significant effects on outcome. Researchers found that a daily dose of 75 to 100 milligrams of aspirin lowered the risk of cardiovascular events by 23 percent for people weighing less than 154 pounds, but had no effect in those weighing more. In people over 154 pounds, low-dose aspirin increased the risk for a fatal cardiovascular event. (Bakalar, 7/17)
The New York Times:
To Stretch Or Not To Stretch? Athletes Put It To The Test
Should we stretch before exercise? A thought-provoking new experiment with athletes suggests that the answer could depend on how we feel about stretching and what kind of exercise — and stretching — we intend to do. (Reynolds, 7/18)
The New York Times:
Sleep Tied To Teenagers’ All-Around Health
A good night’s sleep may be critical for the metabolic health of teenagers. Researchers studied 829 boys and girls, average age 13, who wore electronic measuring devices that tracked sleep time, sleep quality and physical activity over seven to 10 days. They also recorded five factors associated with cardiovascular risk: waist circumference, blood pressure, HDL or “good” cholesterol, triglycerides and insulin resistance. (Bakalar, 7/17)
The Associated Press:
Planned Parenthood Sues Idaho Over Abortion Reporting Law
Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest and the Hawaiian Islands is suing the state of Idaho in federal court over new abortion reporting requirements that critics say are unconstitutional and intended to stigmatize women seeking medical care. Planned Parenthood filed the lawsuit in Idaho's U.S. District Court on Tuesday, asking a judge to declare the reporting law void. (7/17)
The Associated Press:
Oklahoma Medical Board Lawyer Charged With Making Threats
The top lawyer at the Oklahoma State Department of Health already at the center of a controversy over new marijuana rules was charged Tuesday for allegedly sending threatening emails to herself. The agency's former general counsel, 37-year-old Julia Ezell of Edmond, was charged Tuesday in Oklahoma County with two felonies and one misdemeanor for allegedly sending the threats and then lying to investigators about it. (7/17)
The Associated Press:
Lawsuit, Ex-Student Focus On Complaints About Ohio State Doc
Four former wrestlers say in a new lawsuit that Ohio State University officials ignored repeated complaints about "rampant sexual misconduct" by a now-dead team doctor, and a former student confirmed Tuesday that investigators have documentation about at least one decades-old incident that prompted a complaint. Former student Steve Snyder-Hill said he wrote to a student health center official in the 1990s after being examined by Dr. Richard Strauss, whose behavior is the subject of an independent investigation that began months ago. (7/17)
Los Angeles Times:
Assault Weapon Registrations In California Are Up 43% Under New Law
Assault weapons registered in California have increased by 43% under a new law that expanded the types of firearms gun owners must log with the state. Californians have applied to register 68,848 additional assault weapons in the last 11 months to comply with a state law enacted following the 2015 mass shooting in San Bernardino. The 2016 law bans sales of semi-automatic assault rifles equipped with “bullet buttons,” which have detachable magazines that enable quick replacement of ammunition, and requires old ones to be registered with the California Department of Justice by the end of June. The mandate should allow law enforcement to better track the weapons. (McGreevy, 7/17)