Cigna-Express Scripts Deal Gets Green Light From Justice Department, Clearing Largest Hurdle In Merger Path
The companies say their merger would drive higher quality care and affordability by offering insurance and pharmacy services under one roof. The deal is just one in a string of acquisitions currently reshaping the health landscape as businesses struggle to survive in the ever-changing industry.
The New York Times:
Merger Of Cigna And Express Scripts Gets Approval From Justice Dept.
Federal officials on Monday gave the go-ahead to the proposed merger between Cigna, one of the nation’s largest health insurers, and Express Scripts, a major pharmacy benefit manager. The $52 billion deal, announced last March, is one of two proposed transactions involving pharmacy companies before the Justice Department. Last December, Aetna, another giant insurer, announced its plan to join forces with CVS Health, the drugstore chain that is the main independent rival to Express Scripts, in a $69 billion deal. (Abelson, 9/17)
In other national health care news —
The Wall Street Journal:
Don’t Let Them Eat Cake: Bosses Sugar-Shame Office Treats
Most employees like the free doughnuts, cake and other confections that get parked “in the usual place” at work. But exploding rates of obesity and diabetes make sugar more like cigarettes to some employers. Tempting treats are the new secondhand smoke. The rules at Health IQ in Mountain View, Calif., sounded pretty sour when they went viral earlier this year: “There is no sugar, candy bars, soda (diet or otherwise) allowed in our office. If you bring some it will get thrown away.” Chief executive Munjal Shah said the rules, more flexible than they sounded, were relaxed after the social media outrage. The company, however, still wags a finger at secondhand sugar. (Winkler, 9/17)
The Associated Press:
2 Million US Teens Are Vaping Marijuana
A school-based survey shows nearly 1 in 11 U.S. students have used marijuana in electronic cigarettes, heightening health concerns about the new popularity of vaping among teens. E-cigarettes typically contain nicotine, but many of the battery-powered devices can vaporize other substances, including marijuana. Results published Monday mean 2.1 million middle and high school students have used them to get high. (9/17)
The Associated Press:
Watchdog Slams Safeguards For Foster Kids On Psych Drugs
Thousands of foster children may be getting powerful psychiatric drugs prescribed to them without basic safeguards, says a federal watchdog agency that found a failure to care for youngsters whose lives have already been disrupted. A report released Monday by the Health and Human Services inspector general’s office found that about 1 in 3 foster kids from a sample of states were prescribed psychiatric drugs without treatment plans or follow-up, standard steps in sound medical care. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 9/17)
CNBC:
Mark Zuckerberg Is Selling Up To $13 Billion Of Facebook Stock To Fund An Ambitious Project To End Disease: Here's An Early Look Inside
Zuckerberg has begun to use the fortune he earned from creating one of the world's most valuable companies to invest in [The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative]. In October, he revealed that he plans to sell up to 75 million shares, worth more than $12 billion at the time, by March 2019 to fund the project. ... CZI has been around now for about two and a half years, and has ballooned to 250 employees, with about half of them hailing from the technology sector. ... Zuckerberg shared a few more details onstage in a 2016 conference call, where he declared "we have a real shot at preventing, curing or managing" most diseases in the next 100 years, particularly heart disease, cancer, stroke, neurodegenerative and infectious diseases. (Farr, 9/15)
The New York Times:
What 13,000 Patents Involving The DNA Of Sea Life Tell Us About The Future
Whether a single private entity should be able to set the direction of how the genes of so many living things are used was a piece of a broader debate at the United Nations this month. There, delegates from across the world were discussing the development of a global legal framework for genetic resources in the high seas, a vast realm outside any one nation’s control. For those interested in the future of innovation, inequality and even dairy alternatives, a closer look at what exactly is being patented offers intriguing hints. (Murphy, 9/17)