FDA To Focus On Drug Review Process As Shutdown Forces Agency To Make Tough Prioritization Decisions
Drugs to treat epilepsy, triple-negative breast cancer and spinal muscular atrophy are just a few of the medications slated for review over the next several months. But there's only so much time that FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb can buy with dwindling funds. Meanwhile, a furloughed worker who had to start rationing her insulin puts a face to the troubles thousands of people are facing as the shutdown drags on.
The Washington Post:
FDA Directs Dwindling Resources Toward Reviewing New Drugs
The Food and Drug Administration plans to furlough more people and suspend lower-priority tasks to preserve money for drug reviews, including for new treatments for depression, diabetes and several types of cancer. With money for drug reviews rapidly diminishing as the government shutdown drags into its fourth week, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in an interview Thursday that he plans to curtail “discretionary activities” and call for additional furloughs in areas in which workloads have been reduced due to the shutdown. (McGinley, 1/17)
CNN:
This Diabetic Federal Worker Rationed Her Insulin During The Shutdown Because Debt Was Scarier Than Dying
A furloughed federal worker who is diabetic said she resorted to rationing her insulin medication because "the thought of having more debt was scarier than the thought of dying" in her sleep. "I thought, no end in sight for the shutdown. I can't afford an ambulance bill. I can't afford to go to the emergency room right now, because I know there's more bills coming our way," Mallory Lorge explained on CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360." (Barrett, 1/17)
In other national health care news —
The Associated Press:
Trump Administration Proposes Higher 'Obamacare' Premiums
The Trump administration on Thursday announced proposed rule changes that would lead to a modest premium increase next year under the Affordable Care Act, potentially handing Democrats a new presidential-year health care issue. The roughly 1 percent increase could feed into the Democratic argument that the Trump administration is trying to "sabotage" coverage for millions. The administration said the proposal is intended to improve the accuracy of a complex formula that affects what consumers pay for their premiums. (1/17)
Politico:
Senate Measure Banning Abortion Funds Defeated
Senate Republicans on Thursday failed to muster the 60 votes needed to approve a permanent ban on federal funding of abortion, a largely symbolic effort timed to coincide with the country’s largest annual anti-abortion demonstration in Washington this week. The Senate vote was the first on an anti-abortion measure since Republicans narrowly expanded their majority in the chamber in the 2018 midterms, and it marked a sharp contrast with House Democrats' plans to loosen restrictions on taxpayer support for the procedure. (Ollstein, 1/17)
The Hill:
Abortion Foes March Into Divided Washington
The country's largest annual march against abortion comes to Washington on Friday, and this year there’s a new sense of urgency and frustration from a voting bloc that helped put President Trump in the White House. With virtually no chance of moving abortion restrictions through a divided Congress, anti-abortion activists are re-applying pressure on the Trump administration to take executive action ahead of the 2020 elections. (Hellmann, 1/18)
The Washington Post:
VA IG Report Says Shulkin Violated Ethics Rules, Executive Protection Division Compromised Security
Members of the security detail tasked with protecting senior leaders at the Department of Veterans Affairs followed questionable procedures that put officials' safety at risk, abused rules governing overtime pay, and acted as chauffeur for former Secretary David Shulkin’s wife, according to a new investigation. The alleged failures, documented by VA Inspector General Michael Missal in a report released Thursday, detail missteps that went on for years and came to a head under Shulkin. The investigation was commissioned after “various complaints” alleged broadly that VA’s protection division was being grossly mismanaged, the report says. (Mettler and Rein, 1/17)