General
Targeting ‘Medicare For All’ Proposals, Trump Lays Out His Vision For Medicare
Selena Simmons-Duffin, NPR News
President Trump gave a speech and signed an executive order on health care Thursday, casting the “Medicare for All” proposals from his Democratic rivals as harmful to seniors.
U.S. likely to retain measles elimination status — but barely
Eileen Drage O’Reilly, Axios
New York says it has reached a “milestone” in halting the measles outbreak that started in October 2018, and U.S. public health officials now believe the country has retained its measles elimination status — just barely meeting the year deadline, a spokesperson for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday.
Tennessee governor says block grant opponents ‘misinformed’
Kimberlee Kruesi, The Associated Press
Gov. Bill Lee on Thursday downplayed recent pushback on his administration’s effort to change Tennessee’s Medicaid program into a block grant system, countering that the opposition is likely due to misinformation.
Ohio counties tell court: Don’t let state stop opioid trial
Geoff Mulvihill, The Associated Press
Two Ohio counties have asked a court to deny their state attorney general’s request to delay a major trial over the toll of opioids.
Thousands of Schools Fall Below Recommended Measles Vaccination Rate
Brianna Abbott et al., The Wall Street Journal
Even as outbreaks end, pockets of low vaccination leave local communities vulnerable to outbreaks, WSJ examination finds.
Trump baselessly accuses drug industry of fueling impeachment push
Sarah Karlin-Smith and Sarah Owermohle, Politico
President Donald Trump charged Thursday without evidence that the pharmaceutical industry was behind House Democrats’ impeachment proceedings, suggesting it was payback for his administration’s effort to lower drug costs.
Massachusetts officials to defend toughest-in-nation vaping ban in federal court
Tim McLaughlin, Reuters
Massachusetts health officials on Friday are expected to defend their crackdown on sales of vaping products in a courtroom battle that will test the toughest measures yet in a rapidly developing response against e-cigarettes and their potential link to a lung disease.
Vaping bans are supposed to help. But could they become a ‘public health disaster’?
Soumya Karlamangla, Los Angeles Times
With multiple cities and states cracking down on vaping in recent weeks, spurred by a wave of mysterious illnesses and deaths, some public health advocates say they are energized by the sudden movement to reduce access to nicotine.
Hepatitis A Outbreaks Flare Up Across U.S.
Arian Campo-Flores and Betsy McKay, The Wall Street Journal
Hepatitis A outbreaks are erupting across the U.S., reversing a long-term decline in cases of the viral liver disease and prompting state health departments to mount aggressive vaccination campaigns.
Abortion appeals awaiting Supreme Court action
Mark Sherman, The Associated Press
Both sides of the abortion debate are waiting to see if the Supreme Court adds new disputes over state abortion regulations to its election-year docket. The court is expected Friday to announce new cases it will consider in the term that begins next week.
U.S. Stock Futures Slip, Bonds Edge Up Before Jobs: Markets Wrap
Yakob Peterseil, Bloomberg
U.S. equity futures declined and European stocks drifted as investors awaited jobs numbers for clues on whether the Federal Reserve will cut rates this month to bolster the world’s largest economy. Government bonds including Treasuries edged higher.
Payers
Medicare Shopping Season Is Almost Here
Mark Miller, The New York Times
Every fall, the 60 million Americans who use the health plan can compare options and save money. Here’s what to consider.
Medicare Advantage insurers tout pest control, acupuncture among new 2020 benefits
Shelby Livingston, Modern Healthcare
Medicare Advantage plans this year were slow to take advantage of new flexibility to offer different kinds of supplemental benefits, but some are making up for lost time.
Providers
High Medical Bills Set Up Major Legal Showdown in California
Reed Abelson, The New York Times
Sutter Health, the big hospital group, is accused of abusing its market power to charge higher prices.
“It’s Very Unethical”: Audio Shows Hospital Kept Vegetative Patient on Life Support to Boost Survival Rates
Caroline Chen, ProPublica
Darryl Young suffered brain damage during a heart transplant at Newark Beth Israel and never woke up. But, hardly consulting his family, doctors kept him alive for a year to avoid federal scrutiny.
Pharma, Biotech and Devices
Altria launches Iqos tobacco device in US, and the timing couldn’t be better
Angelica LaVito, CNBC
Marlboro maker Altria started developing its new tobacco device more than a decade ago — as smoking rates declined but long before vaping took hold in the U.S.
Nevada fines 21 companies for not providing drug-pricing data
Ed Silverman, Stat News
For the first time since requiring drug makers to report pricing data about their diabetes medicines, Nevada officials plan to impose fines totaling more than $17 million on 21 companies for failing to supply information required by a controversial state law.
CVS drug coverage plan based on outside pricing review is off to a slow start
Caroline Humer, Reuters
A CVS Health Corp (CVS.N) health plan that uses an outside drug pricing group to help it decide whether to cover certain new medicines has gained little traction with customers, according to its top medical executive, and has drawn fierce criticism from patient advocacy groups.
Bayer Executive Joins Johnson & Johnson as CIO
Sara Castellanos, The Wall Street Journal
Jim Swanson has roots in Bayer’s crop-science division, where he led data-science initiatives.
‘It shows how much pharma has on their plate’: Congress just quietly passed a bill that will cost drug makers $3 billion
Nicholas Florko, Stat News
It’s on the lips of every presidential candidate, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and even President Trump: It’s time to lower drug prices. And yet when Congress passed a drug pricing bill last week that will save the government $3 billion — the first it’s passed in nearly a year — no one really noticed.
U.S. FDA approves Gilead’s Descovy for HIV prevention
Deena Beasley, Reuters
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved Gilead Sciences Inc’s (GILD.O) Descovy to reduce the risk of sexually acquired HIV infection in men and transgender women who have sex with men.
FDA green lights AstraZeneca’s asthma drug Fasenra for self-administration
Pushkala Aripaka, Reuters
British drugmaker AstraZeneca said on Friday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved self-administration of its asthma treatment Fasenra which uses a pre-filled, single-use auto-injector pen.
Why Lifesaving Drugs May Be Missing on Your Next Flight
Roni Caryn Rabin, The New York Times
Citing chronic shortages, airlines have received exemptions from regulations requiring that flights carry five drugs on board.
GlaxoSmithKline unveils $139M U.S. plant for Benlysta production
Eric Palmer, FiercePharma
GlaxoSmithKline invested about $139 million to retrofit a building at its site in Rockville, Maryland to meet growing demand for its lupus drug Benlysta.
Health IT
As Silicon Valley faces a tech reckoning, biologists point to the next big opportunity
Christina Farr, CNBC
At one of the world’s largest synthetic biology conferences this week, a food truck handed out papaya and yogurt samples to hundreds of attendees.
Opinions, Editorials and Perspectives
When Are Presidential Candidates Going to Talk about the Opioid Crisis?
Anne Woodbury, Morning Consult
Another day, another debate without any discussion of how presidential candidates plan to end the opioid crisis.
What to expect from AI in oncology
Nature
An increasing number of studies suggest that artificial intelligence could revolutionize medicine. In oncology, we are only beginning to fully understand the practical implications.
Research Reports
NIH reveals its formula for tracking foreign influences
Jeffrey Mervis, Science
To fight what it calls China’s theft of U.S.-funded intellectual property, the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) is focusing on China’s foreign talent recruitment programs.
M&A Quarterly Activity Report: Q2 2019
KaufmanHall
Although the overall number of transactions moderated in the second quarter, a number of significant transactions kept the quarter on pace with recent growth trends in total transacted revenue and average seller size by annual revenue.
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