• The New York City Council moved to prohibit all flavored electronic cigarettes, including menthol, citing public health concerns. Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) will likely receive the bill Tuesday and either “sign it or let it lapse into law,” his press secretary said. (The New York Times)

• A group of hospitals led by Capital Health System Inc. are suing the Health and Human Services Department, accusing the agency of continued enforcement of a Medicare policy regarding reimbursement for low-income patients despite it being invalidated by the Supreme Court. The hospitals argue that though the rule was changed, they were reimbursed at a lower rate calculated based on the outdated policy and are seeking to recoup those underpayments. (Bloomberg Law)

• Sanofi SA is in talks with financial advisers over options for its consumer-health business, according to people familiar with the matter, and Chief Executive Officer Paul Hudson will provide a strategy update Dec. 10. The business, which owns Allegra allergy tablets, Rolaids antacids and Dulcolax laxatives, could be worth $30 billion, and a spinoff or merger could help top executives shift the drugmaker to focus on areas like cancer and gene therapy. (Bloomberg)

VA put millions of people at risk of identity theft, audit finds
Eric Yoder, The Washington Post

The Veterans Affairs Department, while responding to requests for records on veterans’ benefits claims, “put millions of people at risk of identity theft” by not deleting personally identifying information on other people from those records, an audit has found.

Agents make one of the largest tobacco and cigarette busts in Maryland’s history
Dana Hedgpeth, The Washington Post

Authorities said they have arrested and charged two Maryland men in connection with one of the largest tobacco and cigarette busts in the state’s history.

Group wants FDA investigation of Louisiana prisons offering unapproved addiction-fighting implant
Jacqueline DeRobertis, The Advocate

A Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group is calling for a federal investigation into a short-lived pilot program that involved treating Louisiana prisoners addicted to opioids using a surgical implant never approved by regulators.

Teen in Canada develops ‘popcorn lung’ symptoms after vaping flavors and THC
Jacqueline Howard, CNN

A 17-year-old boy in Canada has been treated for a life-threatening popcorn lung-like illness after vaping flavored e-liquids and THC — the main psychoactive component of cannabis.

Vape debate: Are e-cigarettes wiping out teen smoking?
Matthew Perrone, The Associated Press

In almost any other year it would be hailed as a public health victory: The smoking rate among U.S. high schoolers took its biggest hit ever this year, federal figures show, falling to a new low.

Salad product recall over E. coli bacteria impacts 22 states
The Associated Press

The U.S. Department of Agriculture says thousands of pounds of salad products are being recalled due to a possible E. coli contamination.

U.S. Equity Futures Edge Higher as Treasuries Gain: Markets Wrap
Constantine Courcoulas, Bloomberg

U.S. equity futures edged higher while European stocks advanced as investors digested the latest headlines on the trade dispute between America and China. Treasuries rose along with most benchmark bonds in Europe after some mixed economic data.

Investors bet Obamacare insurers will win court battle for billions in payments
Shelby Livingston, Modern Healthcare 

Health insurers are fielding offers from specialized investors who are betting big that the Supreme Court will force the federal government to fork over billions in unpaid Obamacare funds.

Tiny Tax Moves Can Save You Big on Medicare Premiums
Laura Saunders, The Wall Street Journal

Now is a good time for higher-earning Medicare recipients to check whether a small reduction in this year’s income could make a big difference in future premiums.

ProMedica insurance company is weighing Medicaid exit in Ohio
Shelby Livingston, Modern Healthcare

Paramount, the insurance company owned by Toledo, Ohio-based health system ProMedica, is contemplating dropping out of Medicaid in the state after losing money in the program this year.

Community Health Centers Undergo ‘Chaos and Confusion’ Without Long-Term Funding
Yusra Murad, Morning Consult

To avert a government shutdown just before tonight’s deadline, President Donald Trump signed into law a continuing resolution sustaining government funding through Dec. 20. But the temporary fix is unlikely a cause for celebration for community health centers, which again find themselves ensnared in the political infighting preventing Congress from passing full-year funding, and with only enough finances on hand to keep clinics open until May 2020 at current funding levels.

Hospitals’ uncompensated care continues to rise
Alex Kacik, Modern Healthcare

Hospitals’ uncompensated care and unreimbursed costs increased from 2015 to 2018, albeit at a slower rate since 2016, according to new data.

Hospitals Sue HHS Over Medicare Rule SCOTUS Allegedly Axed
David McAfee, Bloomberg Law

Capital Health System Inc. and other hospitals allege in a Nov. 21 suit that the U.S. Health and Human Services Department has continued to pursue a Medicare reimbursement policy that was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Bankrupt Insys Reaches Deal to Divvy Cash Among Opioid Victims
Tom Hals, Reuters

Drugmaker Insys Therapeutics Inc outlined a deal on Thursday to divide its dwindling cash among governments, insurers, hospitals and individuals who accused the company of fueling the U.S. opioid crisis.

Pricing Tactics Slow Uptake of Generic Drugs by Medicare Plans
Cynthia Koons and Riley Griffin, Bloomberg

Medicare prescription plans are much slower to cover new generic drugs than private plans, according to an industry study, a sign that many seniors may be overpaying for their medicines.

Gene therapy pioneer says the field is behind — and that delivery technology is ‘embarrassing’
Rebecca Robbins, Stat News

Gene therapy pioneer Dr. James Wilson is disappointed by the progress in his field — and expects current therapies and technologies to be soon surpassed by new approaches.

No Safety Switch: How Lax Oversight of Electronic Health Records Puts Patients at Risk
Fred Schulte and Erika Fry, Fortune

Special interests and congressional inaction doomed efforts to regulate electronic medical records, putting patients at risk.

A bold prediction: Machine learning will yield new drug candidates within three years
Casey Ross, Stat News

An explosion of biological data will lead to the first drug candidates discovered by an artificial intelligence system within the next few years, a feat that promises to change the way pharmaceutical companies conduct research.

To Really Cut Health Spending, Put Pharmacists on the Front Line
Vassilios Papadopoulos, Morning Consult

The bill to lower drug prices introduced by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has a big number attached to it. By allowing Medicare to negotiate prices on select brands and insulin, the federal government will save $350 billion over seven years, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Value-based Care Report: Highlighting physician progress and patient outcomes
Humana Inc.

Physicians in value-based agreements with Humana are evolving and seeing results. This report details three key areas of data: prevention, outcomes and cost and payments for Humana Medicare Advantage individual members assigned to primary care physicians in value-based agreements.

Global trends in insufficient physical activity among adolescents: a pooled analysis of 298 population-based surveys with 1·6 million participants
Regina Guthold et al., The Lancet

The majority of adolescents do not meet current physical activity guidelines. Urgent scaling up of implementation of known effective policies and programmes is needed to increase activity in adolescents.