First Edition: May 22, 2018
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Kaiser Health News:
Are You And Your Primary Care Doc Ready To Talk About Your DNA?
If you have a genetic mutation that increases your risk for a treatable medical condition, would you want to know? For many people the answer is yes. But such information is not commonly part of routine primary care. For patients at Geisinger Health System, that could soon change. Starting in the next month or so, the Pennsylvania-based system will offer DNA sequencing to 1,000 patients, with the goal to eventually extend the offer to all 3 million Geisinger patients. (Andrews, 5/22)
The New York Times:
Despite Attacks On Obamacare, The Uninsured Rate Held Steady Last Year
Last year, Trump administration officials declared Obamacare “dead,” pulled enrollment ads offline, distributed social media videos critical of the law and sent signals that the law’s requirement to buy health insurance was no longer in effect. But the number of Americans with health insurance stayed largely unchanged. The results of a big, government survey on health insurance status were published Tuesday, and they show that the uninsured rate remained basically flat at 9.1 percent in the first year of the Trump presidency. (Sanger-Katz, 5/22)
The Associated Press:
US Clings To Health Coverage Gains Despite Political Drama
Overall, the survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 9.1 percent of Americans were uninsured in 2017, or a little more than 29 million people. After nearly a year of Trump, that was almost the same as toward the end of the Obama administration. For perspective, the uninsured rate dropped from 16 percent since the Affordable Care Act was signed in 2010, which translates roughly to 19 million people gaining coverage. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 5/22)
CQ:
Uninsured Rate Saw Small Rise In 2017, Survey Shows
Younger adults between the ages of 25 and 34 were nearly twice as likely to not have insurance coverage than older adults between the ages of 45 and 65, the survey found. The Obama administration had sought to pull more “young invincibles” into the insurance exchanges to improve the healthiness of the population of people purchasing coverage there in an effort to drive down premium costs. Adults in states that relied on HealthCare.gov for its coverage under the health law were more likely to be uninsured than adults in states that ran their own marketplaces or had a federal-state partnership last year, the survey showed. The study found that adults between ages 18 and 64 were less likely to be uninsured if they lived in a state that had expanded eligibility for Medicaid under the 2010 law than if they lived in a state that hadn’t. (McIntire, 5/22)
Los Angeles Times:
6 Women Sue USC, Alleging They Were Victimized By Campus Gynecologist
Six women filed civil lawsuits Monday alleging that a longtime gynecologist at the University of Southern California sexually victimized them under the pretext of medical care and that USC failed to address complaints from clinic staff about the doctor's behavior. One woman alleged Dr. George Tyndall forced his entire ungloved hand into her vagina during an appointment in 2003 while making "vulgar" remarks about her genitalia, according to one of the lawsuits. Another woman alleged that Tyndall groped her breasts in a 2008 visit and that later he falsely told her she "likely had AIDS." A third woman accused the doctor of grazing his ungloved fingers over her nude body and leering at her during a purported skin exam, the lawsuit states. (Hamilton, Ryan and Winton, 5/21)
The Associated Press:
USC Sued Over Clinic Gynecologist Accused Of Misconduct
Dr. George Tyndall routinely made crude comments, took inappropriate photographs and forced the plaintiffs to strip naked and groped them under the guise of medical treatment for his "sexual gratification," the civil lawsuit said. Tyndall, who worked at a USC clinic for 30 years, denied wrongdoing in interviews with the Los Angeles Times. He didn't return phone calls and it wasn't known Monday if he has an attorney. The complaint accuses the university of failing to properly respond to complaints about Tyndall. USC said in a statement that it was aware of the lawsuit. (5/21)
The New York Times:
5 Women Sue U.S.C., Alleging Sexual Abuse By Campus Doctor
“There will be other women coming forward,” said Louanne Masry, a lawyer at Taylor & Ring, a law firm in Manhattan Beach, Calif., that represents one of the women. “We’re getting lots of calls in. This is only going to grow.” A second lawsuit, filed on behalf of four unnamed women, called the former gynecologist, Dr. George Tyndall, a “serial sexual predator” and blamed the university for “actively and deliberately” covering up Dr. Tyndall’s predations for years. (Arango, 5/21)
The Hill:
HHS Secretary To Head U.S. Delegation At World Health Assembly
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar will attend the 71st World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva, Switzerland, as the head of U.S. delegation on Tuesday. Azar will deliver remarks on the the U.S. commitment to global health security, attend official events focused on key public health challenges and participate in multiple bilateral meetings with health ministers and officials from other nations, according to HHS.The WHA is the decisionmaking body of the World Health Organization. (Hellmann, 5/21)
Modern Healthcare:
Supreme Court Rules In Favor Of Epic In Arbitration Case
The Supreme Court ruled Monday that companies can prohibit workers from using class-action litigation to resolve workplace disputes, handing Epic Systems Corp. and other employers a win. In a 5-4 decision on three consolidated cases, the justices said companies can include clauses in employment contracts that require employees to use individual arbitration to resolve disputes. That decision could affect about 25 million employees. (Arndt, 5/21)
The Wall Street Journal:
Supreme Court Imposes Limits On Workers In Arbitration Cases
The decision, which overturns the position of the National Labor Relations Board and resolves a split among federal appeals courts, gives teeth to employment contracts drawn to minimize corporate exposure to public trials and class actions filed by their own employees. Tens of millions of employees currently work under contracts limiting redress to claims filed before a private arbitrator on an individualized basis. With the issue clarified, employers are expected to impose such limits on millions more. (Bravin, 5/21)
Stat:
Supreme Court Allows Lawsuit Over Eyedrop Bottles To Proceed
The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear a case in which consumers alleged drug makers caused them to waste money by designing prescription eyedrop bottles that dispense unnecessarily large drops. The decision, which was announced Monday morning, is a setback for several companies — including Allergan (AGN), Pfizer (PFE), and Novartis (NVS) — because they must now face a lawsuit in a federal district court in New Jersey. The drug makers had argued the consumers did not have proper legal standing, but an appeals court had ruled the consumers suffered economic injury and so they did have the right to press their case. (Silverman, 5/21)
The New York Times:
Opioid Crisis Compels New York To Look North For Answers
An aging construction worker arrived quietly in the building’s basement, took his seat alongside three other men and struck his lighter below a cooker of synthetic heroin. A woman, trained to intervene in case of an overdose, placed a mask over her face as his drug cooked and diluted beneath a jumping flame. He injected himself, grew still and then told of the loss of his wife who died alone in her room upstairs — an overdose that came just a few months before this social service nonprofit opened its doors for supervised injections. (Goodman, 5/21)
Reveal:
Drug Users Got Exploited. Disabled Patients Got Hurt. One Woman Benefited From It All
Jennifer Warren has spent years recruiting the poor and desperate to her drug rehabilitation program in the mountains outside Asheville, North Carolina. She promised them counseling and recovery for free. When they arrived, she put them to work 16 hours a day for no pay at adult care homes for the elderly and disabled. Thrust into the homes with little training or sleep, the rehab participants changed diapers, bathed patients and sometimes dispensed the same prescription drugs that sent them spiraling into addiction in the first place. (5/21)
The Associated Press:
Virginia Leaders Propose Spending Plan That Expands Medicaid
Top Republican lawmakers in Virginia unveiled a new budget proposal Monday that will expand Medicaid, give state workers raises and boost the state’s rainy-day fund. Sen. Emmett Hanger and Del. Chris Jones said they’d hammered out a compromise spending plan they hope will have the support of a majority in both chambers of the General Assembly. The plan will face its first big hurdle Tuesday when the Senate reconvenes. Republican Senate leaders oppose Medicaid expansion and could try to block the proposed spending plan. (Suderman, 5/21)
The New York Times:
For First Time, W.H.O. Names Some Lab Tests ‘Essential’
For the first time, the World Health Organization has published a list of diagnostic tests that it considers essential to every health care system in the world. The list, published Wednesday, is similar to the agency’s essential medicines list, which the W.H.O. launched in 1977. In its day, the medicines list was revolutionary because it was both a global guide to rational treatment regimens and because it fostered the idea that certain medicines were so important that they should be available to the whole world, regardless of price. (McNeil, 5/21)
The New York Times:
Want To See Your Baby? In China, It Can Cost You
A day after Juliana Brandy Logbo gave birth to twins this month through an emergency cesarean section in a Chinese hospital, she thought the worst was over. Then the demands for money began. First, Ms. Logbo said, the hospital told her that she had to pay $630 in hospitalization fees if she wanted to see her girls. Three days later, she said, the amount rose to nearly $800. She didn’t have the money. The demands left her weeping outside the newborn department in the hospital. (Wee, 5/22)
The Hill:
Ebola Vaccine Reaches Congo As Death Count Grows
A massive vaccination campaign began in Congo on Monday in an effort to stem an outbreak of the Ebola virus that has spread for more than a month. The World Health Organization (WHO) and a nongovernmental organization that delivers vaccines, Gavi, said Monday that more than 7,500 doses of a new vaccine had been deployed to the Equator Province. (Wilson, 5/21)
Stat:
Scientists Who Toiled On Ebola Vaccine Watch As Their Work Is Put To The Test
An Ebola outbreak has once again commanded global attention, eliciting feelings of dread, anxiety, and concern. But for a small community of researchers who have toiled for years to develop a vaccine against Ebola — one that is being used for the first time to try to contain an outbreak — it is also thrilling. These scientists take no joy in knowing as they do the devastation that the virus can wreak. But after years of frustration with the global response to Ebola outbreaks — and a sense of helplessness in the face of so much misery — they see what’s happening now in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as a possible watershed moment, one that could forever shape the way in which health officials respond to Ebola epidemics. (Branswell, 5/22)
The New York Times:
New Cancer Treatments Lie Hidden Under Mountains Of Paperwork
Dr. Nikhil Wagle thought he had a brilliant idea to advance research and patient care. Dr. Wagle, an oncologist at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, and his colleagues would build a huge database that linked cancer patients’ medical records, treatments and outcomes with their genetic backgrounds and the genetics of their tumors. The database would also include patients’ own experiences. How ill did they feel with the treatments? What was their quality of life? The database would find patterns that would tell doctors what treatment was best for each patient and what patients might expect. (Kolata, 5/21)
Bloomberg:
When Working For The U.S. Government Is A Cancer Risk
Located on the National Mall just steps from the Washington Monument, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s imposing headquarters include employees who monitor the health and safety of America’s food supply. But some people who work there are beginning to worry about their health. According to a union representing USDA employees, officials are exposing them to risks from cancer-causing asbestos and lead paint. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration opened a probe of the building March 29 in response to an employee complaint. The union accused management of failing to provide sufficient notice about asbestos and lead abatement or to maintain secure, sealed physical barriers between ongoing work and staff at nearby desks. (Eidelson, 5/22)
The Washington Post:
Suicide Rates For Black Children Twice That Of White Children, New Data Show
African American children are taking their lives at roughly twice the rate of their white counterparts, according to a new study that shows a widening gap between the two groups. The 2001-2015 data, published Monday in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, confirm a pattern first identified several years ago when researchers at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Ohio found that the rate of suicides for black children ages 5 to 12 exceeded that of young whites. The results were seen in both boys and girls. (Nutt, 5/21)
Stat:
At 23, Laura Deming Is Investing Millions In The Quest To Defy Death
It’s an audacious, absurd-sounding vision, the sort of comment you might chalk up to her youth. Yet she’s got plenty of company in the pursuit of this idea. Money is pouring into the longevity space, much of it coming from Silicon Valley investors who’d like to extend their time on Earth. Google alone put $1 billion into its startup, Calico Labs, wooing Kenyon as a vice president. On May 2, one of the life-extension companies in [Laura] Deming’s portfolio, Unity Biotechnology, closed an $85 million public stock offering and is now trading on the NASDAQ stock exchange. (Waters, 5/22)
The New York Times:
What Barbershops Can Teach About Delivering Health Care
Heart disease is the most common killer of men in the United States, and high blood pressure is one of the greatest risk factors for heart disease. Despite knowing this for some time, we have had a hard time getting patients to comply with recommendations and medications. A recent study shows that the means of communication may be as important as the message itself, maybe even more so. Also, it suggests that health care need not take place in a doctor’s office — or be provided by a physician — to be effective. (Carroll, 5/21)
NPR:
Doctor Burnout Fueled By Denying Immigrant Care
One patient's death changed the course of Dr. Lilia Cervantes' career. The patient, Cervantes says, was a woman from Mexico with kidney failure who repeatedly visited the emergency room for more than three years. In that time, her heart had stopped more than once, and her ribs were fractured from CPR. The woman finally decided to stop treatment because the stress was too much for her and her two young children. Cervantes says she died soon after. Kidney failure, or end-stage renal disease, is treatable with routine dialysis every two to three days. Without regular dialysis, which removes toxins from the blood, the condition is life threatening: Patients' lungs can fill up with fluid, and they're at risk of cardiac arrest if their potassium level gets too high. (Harper, 5/21)
The New York Times:
Every Cell In Your Body Has The Same DNA. Except It Doesn’t.
James Priest couldn’t make sense of it. He was examining the DNA of a desperately ill baby, searching for a genetic mutation that threatened to stop her heart. But the results looked as if they had come from two different infants. “I was just flabbergasted,” said Dr. Priest, a pediatric cardiologist at Stanford University. The baby, it turned out, carried a mixture of genetically distinct cells, a condition known as mosaicism. Some of her cells carried the deadly mutation, but others did not. They could have belonged to a healthy child. (Zimmer, 5/21)
Los Angeles Times:
Yes, President Trump, There Is A Difference Between HIV And HPV. Here's A Handy Tipsheet
In the early days of his presidency, Donald Trump famously declared that "nobody knew that healthcare could be so complicated." At the time, he was talking about health insurance. But perhaps he was also thinking about two potentially life-threatening viruses — HIV and HPV. In a video that came to light this week, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates described two meetings with Trump where the men discussed a variety of issues related to innovation, science, education and global health. (Kaplan, 5/18)
Los Angeles Times:
California Attorney General Appeals Judge's Decision To Overturn Physician-Assisted Suicide Law
California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra on Monday filed an appeal against a judge's recent ruling overturning the state's physician-assisted suicide law. The controversial law, which allows terminally ill patients to request lethal medications from their doctors, has been the subject of litigation since it was enacted two years ago. Last week, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Daniel A. Ottolia ruled that the law's passage was unconstitutional and the law should be overturned. (Karlamangla, 5/21)
The New York Times:
Texas Governor Scraps Campaign Contest To Give Away Shotgun
Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas’ re-election campaign scrapped its plan to give away a shotgun in a contest after a high school student used a shotgun and a handgun to kill 10 people in the state on Friday. The campaign created its contest in early May, well before Santa Fe High School, about 35 miles southeast of Houston, became the nation’s latest scene of bloodshed inside a school. Dimitrios Pagourtzis, 17, has been charged with capital murder in the killing of 10 people. (Victor, 5/21)
The Washington Post:
Cynthia Tisdale’s Death At Santa Fe Shooting Led Strangers To Help Her Husband, William
Cynthia Tisdale gave everything to the people around her. When her granddaughter needed help after a severe accident, Tisdale was there. The mother of three and grandmother of 11 was at her side during physical therapy for weeks in the past year, Cynthia’s son Recie wrote. It was as if her love and support helped will her granddaughter back to health, and Recie said his daughter can walk again. (Horton, 5/21)