First Edition: May 15, 2018
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Kaiser Health News:
Will We Still Be Relevant ‘When We’re 64’?
A gnawing sense of irrelevancy and invisibility suddenly hits many aging adults, as their life roles shift from hands-on parent to empty nester or from workaholic to retiree. Self-worth and identity may suffer as that feeling that you matter starts to fade. Older adults see it in the workplace when younger colleagues seem uninterested in their feedback. Those who just retired might feel a bit unproductive. New research suggests this perception of becoming irrelevant is very real. And that’s why some seniors are determined to stay social, remain relevant and avert the loneliness often linked with aging. (Jayson, 5/15)
The New York Times:
Trump Administration Defends Plan To Lower Prescription Drug Prices
The Trump administration hit back on Monday against critics of President Trump’s plan to reduce prescription drug prices, saying his ideas would be far more effective than remedies championed by Democrats. Democrats have long supported two proposals that Mr. Trump endorsed during the 2016 presidential campaign. The government, they say, should directly negotiate with drug manufacturers to obtain lower prices for Medicare beneficiaries. And consumers, they say, should be allowed to import pills from Canada and certain other developed countries where brand-name drugs often cost less. (Pear, 5/14)
Stat:
Azar Suggests Trump Will Call Out Drug Companies Behind Major Price Hikes
Days after President Trump delivered a speech on prescription drug prices that was notably light on criticism of the pharmaceutical industry, his health secretary on Monday struck a far more aggressive tone, warning that the administration would be “turning on the pressure” on drug makers. The American public, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said, deserves to know which companies are “gouging consumers.” (Facher, 5/14)
USA Today:
No Medicare Drugs Negotiations, But Co-Payments Could Increase
Federal health officials Monday targeted drug makers and companies that negotiate drug benefits as they provided more details to back up President Trump's plan to lower drug prices. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar bristled Monday at criticism that the plan Trump announced Friday does not go far enough. He said the plan has more teeth than critics claimed. But some consumer advocates weren't convinced. (O'Donnell, 5/14)
Reuters:
U.S. To Consider Expanding Medicare Drug Price Negotiation
Azar, a former pharmaceutical company executive, said Trump views tougher negotiation as key to the plan. Azar said his agency will consider an alternative system for buying Medicare Part B drugs, which are administered by a healthcare provider and covered directly by the government, such as many cancer treatments and infused biotech drugs. The administration would seek to allow private payers to negotiate the price of those medicines, as health insurers and PBMs already do in Medicare Part D, which covers drugs patients get at the pharmacy. (Abutaleb and Erman, 5/14)
The Wall Street Journal:
Health-Agency Chiefs Defend Trump’s Plan To Lower Drug Prices
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, in remarks delivered in Washington, backed the president’s decision not to allow for the importation of American-made drugs from other countries such as Canada, a move Mr. Trump previously had suggested he favored. Mr. Azar said there is no way to ensure such drugs are really from Canada or Europe, rather than routed from a counterfeit factory in China or elsewhere. “Canada doesn’t have enough drugs to sell them…for less money,” he said. (Armour and Burton, 5/14)
The Washington Post:
Trump’s Big Campaign Promise On Drug Prices Wouldn’t Have Worked, Health And Human Services Secretary Says
[Azar] added that there are widespread misperceptions about the effects of direct government negotiation on drug prices, which, he said, would achieve minimal savings — unless the government were willing to deny access to certain medicines or set drug prices. “This is a topic the President and I have discussed at great length, and the idea of direct negotiation in Medicare has come up. He is tired of the government getting bad deals on the drugs seniors need, and I couldn’t agree more,” Azar said, in a speech before the briefing at Health and Human Services headquarters. “We formulated this plan with fixing that problem as the number one priority, and the President is following through on his promise.” (Johnson, 5/14)
NPR:
HHS Secretary Azar Wields Pen Against Drug Prices
Here are three of the big ideas Azar laid out Monday, three days after President Trump unveiled a blueprint to lower the cost of prescription drugs that was criticized for being light on substance. (Kodjak, 5/14)
Stat:
Trump Attacked ‘Drug Lobby' Before Lawmakers Well Funded By Pharma
There were moments during President Trump’s address on prescription drug prices on Friday that had Republican lawmakers in attendance bursting into applause and even rising from their seats. The president’s jab at the pharmaceutical lobby, however, was not one of them. Many of the lawmakers who were present are in fact at the center of the pharmaceutical industry’s efforts to lobby Congress. Those invited by the White House included Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), a longtime industry ally who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, which oversees Medicare. (Facher, 5/15)
Stat:
Biotech Stocks Open Higher Monday On 'Trump Bump'
Health care stocks are trading higher Monday following President Trump’s drug pricing speech on Friday afternoon. Call it a relief rally. Or, the Trump bump. The snap judgment from Wall Street is that Trump’s proposals to rein in drug prices will have a limited impact on biotech and pharmaceuticals companies. But will this be the D.C. “clearing event” that sparks a deeper and sustainable rally in biotech and drug stocks? (Feuerstein, 5/14)
Politico:
Democrats Ready To Run On Health Care In 2018
Democrats are confidently running on Obamacare for the first time in a decade. They’ve got a unified message blaming Republicans for “sabotaging” the health law, leading to a cascade of sky-high insurance premiums that will come just before the November midterm elections. They’re rolling out ads featuring people helped by the law. And Tuesday, they’re starting a campaign to amplify each state’s premium increases — and tie those to GOP decisions. (Haberkorn, 5/15)
The Star Tribune:
Medica Sees Enrollment Jump In ACA Markets
Medica's status as the last health plan selling coverage on government-run insurance exchanges for Iowa and Nebraska helped the insurer double its individual market enrollment for 2018. In the market where self-employed people under age 65 buy coverage, Medica saw enrollment grow to 196,479 people as of March across Minnesota and five other states where the insurer sells the coverage. Last year, the comparable tally was about 91,000, according to a Star Tribune analysis of regulatory filings. (Snowbeck, 5/14)
The Hill:
Dems Warn Against Changes To Federal Family Planning Program
More than 200 Democratic lawmakers from the House and Senate are warning the Trump administration against making changes to a federal family planning program for low-income Americans. Anti-abortion groups and Republicans have urged the administration to bring back Reagan-era regulations that banned organizations receiving Title X funding from promoting or referring patients for abortions. It would also require funding recipients have a physical and financial separation from abortion facilities. (Hellmann, 5/15)
The Hill:
Trump To Keynote Anti-Abortion Gala Next Week
President Trump will speak at a campaign event next week held by a national anti-abortion group. The Susan B. Anthony List announced Monday that Trump will keynote its 11th annual "Campaign for Life" gala on May 22. ... Anti-abortion groups have cheered the Trump administration for taking many actions targeting abortion, including his reinstatement of the so-called Mexico City policy, which prohibits federal funds from going to international organizations that discuss, provide or offer referrals for abortion services. (Hellmann, 5/14)
Reuters:
U.S. Joins Whistleblower Case Against Insys Over Kickbacks
The U.S. Department of Justice has joined whistleblower litigation accusing Insys Therapeutics Inc of trying to generate more profit by paying kickbacks to doctors to prescribe powerful opioid medications. The government's involvement was disclosed in a filing made public on Monday. It adds firepower to the civil litigation as Insys tries to resolve a federal probe into its marketing of Subsys, a spray form of fentanyl. (Raymond, 5/14)
The Associated Press:
Delaware Officials Eye Response To Addiction Crisis
Delaware officials are set to release an initial report on how the state can best confront drug addiction. The report to be released Tuesday is the work of an advisory body tasked with assessing the problem and outlining a plan to address prevention, treatment, and recovery for mental health, substance use, and related disorders.The panel is developing both short-term and long-term strategies and initiatives to address the state’s major addiction and mental health challenges. (5/15)
Modern Healthcare:
Providers Expect Amazon To Lower Medical Supply Prices
Providers welcome a disruptor like Amazon to shake up the medical supply space, and most think the giant e-tailer will deliver lower prices, according to a new survey. Some 62% of 152 CEOs, materials managers, operations directors and other executives said they support Amazon's growing presence in the medical supply sector, according to a Reaction Data survey. Nearly the same amount said the company could deliver medical supplies faster and at a lower price than current medical supply companies. (Kacik, 5/14)
Bloomberg:
Elliott Says Athenahealth Isn't Engaging In Takeover Talks
Elliott Management Corp. said it has heard nothing from Athenahealth Inc. or its board after proposing on May 7 to acquire the health technology company for $6.46 billion. “Since that time, we have heard nothing from the company beyond its cursory, boilerplate press release,” Jesse Cohn, an Elliott partner and senior portfolio manager, said in a letter to Athenahealth’s board Monday. The New York hedge fund run by billionaire Paul Singer offer would take the company private for $160 a share. (Deveau, 5/14)
The Associated Press:
Virginia Senate Leader: No Shutdown Over Medicaid
The top Republican in the Virginia Senate pledged Monday that a long-simmering and unresolved fight over Medicaid expansion won’t lead to a state government shutdown. But Senate Majority Leader Tommy Norment didn’t say how the dispute will be resolved. Norment said at a committee hearing Monday that would be “unacceptable” and “untenable” for lawmakers not to pass a state spending plan before the end of the fiscal year.“There will be a timely biennium state budget before June 30th,” Norment said. “There will be a budget.” (Suderman, 5/14)
The Washington Post:
Virginia Budget Inches Along As Passions Over Medicaid Inspired ‘Die-In’
Virginia’s slow-motion battle over the state budget and Medicaid expansion inched forward Monday as the state Senate convened for a procedural move that put the spending bill before the chamber’s money committee. The Senate gathered to assigned the House’s two-year, $115 billion spending plan to the Senate Finance Committee, which met immediately afterward but did not vote. The panel is expected to vote on the bill at a meeting Tuesday or Wednesday. (Vozzella, 5/14)
The New York Times:
As D.I.Y. Gene Editing Gains Popularity, ‘Someone Is Going To Get Hurt’
As a teenager, Keoni Gandall already was operating a cutting-edge research laboratory in his bedroom in Huntington Beach, Calif. While his friends were buying video games, he acquired more than a dozen pieces of equipment — a transilluminator, a centrifuge, two thermocyclers — in pursuit of a hobby that once was the province of white-coated Ph.D.’s in institutional labs. “I just wanted to clone DNA using my automated lab robot and feasibly make full genomes at home,” he said. (Baumgaertner, 5/14)
The Washington Post:
Fertility Doctor John Zhang Pushes Boundaries In Human Reproduction
When future historians look back on the 21st century, one of the most iconic photos may be of a smiling, dark-haired man in blue scrubs protectively holding a newborn — the world’s first commercially produced “three-parent” baby. This is John Zhang, the Chinese-born, British-educated founder and medical director of a Manhattan fertility center that is blowing up the way humans reproduce. In 2009, Zhang helped a 49-year-old patient become the world’s oldest known woman to carry her own child. In the not-too-distant future, he says, 60-year-old women will be able to do the same. (Cha, 5/14)
The Washington Post:
Among Thousands Of LGBTQ Teens, A Survey Finds Anxiety And Fears About Safety
A new survey finds significant anxiety and fear among teenagers who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer. The survey findings, released Tuesday, are based on the answers of roughly 12,000 youth ages 13 to 17 who responded to an online solicitation by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation and other advocacy groups. Researchers say they reveal the depth of challenges that LGBTQ teens face. At home, at school, in social circles and communities, these teens are experiencing high levels of anxiety, feelings of rejection and fears for their safety, according to a report on the survey findings. (Nutt, 5/15)
Stat:
In Cancer Immunotherapies, A Radioactive Crystal Ball May Predict Success
The whole point of the game-changing cancer immunotherapies is to get armadas of T cells sailing into battle against tumors. But for some patients there’s a fundamental problem: Their T cells aren’t armed — or, in bio-speak, “activated,” a big reason why many patients aren’t helped by much-hyped new therapies. If a new technique reported on Monday works in people as well as it does in lab mice, however, physicians will be able to tell almost immediately if a patient’s immune system is armed and, if it’s not, quickly switch therapies, increase dosages, or just spare patients often-serious side effects. (Begley, 5/14)
The Associated Press:
Parkland Students Quietly Share Stories To Process Trauma
When freshman Eden Hebron wanted to capture the searing experience of being in a classroom where a fellow student killed her best friend and three other people, she turned to poetry. The result was "1216," named after the number of the room at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School: "The screams blasting in my ear. The blood still won't disappear. I scream for their names, call for my friends. Nothing else to do, they are gone, they are dead." (5/15)
The Wall Street Journal:
How Doctors Locate Stroke Victims’ Brain Clots
It was 2 p.m., and the seventh stroke patient of the day, an elderly woman, was just flown in by helicopter to Erlanger Medical Center. Neurologist Emily DeCroos asked her a series of questions. “What time did you wake up?” “What day is it? What month? ”Repeat after me: ‘No ifs ands or buts.’” Other common commands: Close your eyes and stick out your tongue. Show me two fingers on your right hand. (Burton, 5/14)
The Associated Press:
Schumer Urges Passage Of Firefighter Cancer Registry Bill
Sen. Charles Schumer is urging the House of Representatives to pass legislation creating a national firefighter cancer registry. The Democrat says the registry to be managed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would help medical professionals more effectively track and treat firefighters with cancer. The registry bill has been approved by the Senate. (5/15)
The Hill:
Air Pollution Tied To High Blood Pressure For Children
Babies exposed to more air pollution are more likely to face elevated blood pressure, according to a study published Monday in the American Heart Association's journal Hypertension. The study found that air pollution is associated with higher risk of high blood pressure in adults and children. (Sanchez, 5/14)
The Wall Street Journal:
Collagen, A Wrinkle-Cream Staple, Catches On In Foods
The stuff in beauty creams is appearing in foods, as companies launch pricey snacks and drinks containing collagen—and many consumers are eating it up despite little hard evidence that it works. Valerie Grogan, a 53-year-old teacher’s aide in Torrance, Calif., three years ago began making a collagen-rich bone broth in her crockpot every week, hoping it would help soothe aches and smooth her skin. Recently, she discovered a vanilla-coconut collagen powder, which she mixes into coffee and smoothies. (Chaker, 5/14)
The New York Times:
How Exercise Can Help You Recall Words
Call them tip-of-the-tongue moments: those times we can’t quite call up the name or word that we know we know. These frustrating lapses are thought to be caused by a brief disruption in the brain’s ability to access a word’s sounds. We haven’t forgotten the word, and we know its meaning, but its formulation dances teasingly just beyond our grasp. Though these mental glitches are common throughout life, they become more frequent with age. Whether this is an inevitable part of growing older or somehow lifestyle-dependent is unknown. But because evidence already shows that physically fit older people have reduced risks for a variety of cognitive deficits, researchers recently looked into the relationship between aerobic fitness and word recall. (Reynolds, 5/15)
The Washington Post:
Ebola Outbreak Has Killed 19 So Far In Democratic Republic Of Congo
Nineteen people have died of Ebola in Congo as health officials plan to send an experimental vaccine to prevent the spread of the virus that killed thousands in West Africa a few years ago. The World Health Organization said there have been 39 confirmed and suspected cases of Ebola over the past five weeks as the virus spreads across three rural areas covering nearly 40 miles in the northwest part of the country. Among the dead were three health-care workers. Health officials are following up with nearly 400 people identified as contacts of Ebola patients. (Phillips, 5/14)
Bloomberg:
Melania Trump Had Surgery To Treat Benign Kidney Condition, White House Says
First Lady Melania Trump underwent successful surgery to treat a kidney condition on Monday and is expected to remain in the hospital for the duration of the week, the White House said. The first lady had “an embolization procedure” at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, to treat “a benign kidney condition,” the White House said in a statement. The White House didn’t otherwise describe her medical diagnosis. (Sink and Cortez, 5/14)
Los Angeles Times:
Melania Trump Had An Embolization To Treat A Kidney Condition. What Is An Embolization?
The White House announced that First Lady Melania Trump underwent an embolization procedure Monday to treat a benign kidney condition. According to the statement, the treatment was a success. However, she is expected to remain at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for the rest of the week. To find out what an embolization procedure entails and why it might be necessary, we spoke to Dr. Mark S. Litwin, professor and chairman of urology at UCLA. (Netburn, 5/14)
The Associated Press:
Maryland Announces Agreement On All-Payer Health Model
Maryland officials on Monday announced federal approval of a new contract for the state’s unique all-payer health care model. Maryland is the only state that can set its own rates for hospital services, and all payers must charge the same rate for services at a given hospital. The policy has been in place since the 1970s, though Maryland modernized its one-of-a-kind Medicare waiver four years ago to move away from reimbursing hospitals on a fee-for-service basis to a fixed budget. “The new Maryland Model will expand health care access and affordability — and ultimately improve quality of life — for Marylanders, especially those with chronic and complex medical conditions,” said Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican. (Witte, 5/14)
The Associated Press:
Report Finds Cases Of STDs Reach All-Time High In California
The number of cases of sexually transmitted diseases in California reached a record high last year and officials are particularly concerned by a spike in stillbirths due to congenital syphilis, state health authorities said Monday. More than 300,000 cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis were reported in 2017, a 45 percent increase from five years ago, according to data released by the California Department of Public Health. (Weber, 5/14)