In A ‘Shot Across The Bow Of The Bad Guys,’ Hospitals Decide To Try Making Their Own Drugs
Hospitals have long borne the brunt of price increases in the industry, facing shortages of drugs like morphine or encountering sudden hikes for old, off-patent products. Sick and tired of it, they're taking measures into their own hands.
The New York Times:
Fed Up With Drug Companies, Hospitals Decide To Start Their Own
For years, hospital executives have expressed frustration when essential drugs like heart medicines have become scarce, or when prices have skyrocketed because investors manipulated the market. Now, some of the country’s largest hospital systems are taking an aggressive step to combat the problem: They plan to go into the drug business themselves, in a move that appears to be the first on this scale. “This is a shot across the bow of the bad guys,” said Dr. Marc Harrison, the chief executive of Intermountain Healthcare, the nonprofit Salt Lake City hospital group that is spearheading the effort. (Abelson and Thomas, 1/18)
In other national health care news —
The Associated Press:
Senate Panel Advances Trump Health Secretary Pick
A Senate committee has signed off on President Donald Trump's pick for health secretary, clearing the way for final confirmation of Alex Azar. The Finance Committee voted 15-12 on Wednesday to send Azar's nomination to the full Senate. Although the panel's vote was largely along party lines, Azar's confirmation hearings weren't nearly as contentious as the deliberations over his predecessor, Tom Price. (1/17)
The New York Times:
Trump’s Physical Revealed Serious Heart Concerns, Outside Experts Say
Cardiologists not associated with the White House said Wednesday that President Trump’s physical exam revealed serious heart concerns, including very high levels of so-called bad cholesterol, which raises the risk that Mr. Trump could have a heart attack while in office. Dr. Ronny L. Jackson, a rear admiral and the White House physician, said Tuesday in his report on the president’s medical condition that Mr. Trump was in “excellent” cardiac health despite having an LDL cholesterol level of 143, well above the desired level of 100 or less. (Shear and Kolata, 1/17)
The Washington Post:
Trump To Address Friday's March For Life Antiabortion Rally Via Satellite
A year ago, throngs of abortion opponents gathered in Washington for the March for Life on the Mall and to celebrate the promises of a newly sworn-in President Trump — wins they’d been seeking for decades: Defunding Planned Parenthood, permanently banning federal money for abortion, and overturning Roe v. Wade, something he said would happen “automatically” if he got to pick judges he wanted. On Friday, Trump will address the march from the White House Rose Garden via satellite, according to organizers. But as marchers return for the major annual antiabortion gathering, almost none of the core vows the president made have been fulfilled and there’s no clear sign they’ll be attained soon. (Boorstein and Zauzmer, 1/17)
The Wall Street Journal:
With Workplace Suicides Rising, Companies Plan For The Unthinkable
As suicide rates have climbed in recent years, so have instances of employees ending their lives at the workplace. It happened at a Bank of America Corp. call center in New Mexico in November, at a Ford Motor Co. plant outside Detroit in October, and at Apple Inc.’s Cupertino, Calif., headquarters in April 2016. Nationwide, the numbers are small but striking. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, suicides at workplaces totaled 291 in 2016, the most recent year of data and the highest number since the government began tallying such events 25 years ago. (Feintzeig, 1/17)