In Quest To Treat Patients’ Pain, Doctors Struggle In Role Of Enforcer
As warriors on the front line of one of the worst drug epidemics in U.S. history, physicians are being called upon to balance their desire to care for their patients with the desire to stem the rising crisis.
The New York Times:
Patients In Pain, And A Doctor Who Must Limit Drugs
Susan Kubicka-Welander, a short-order cook, went to her pain checkup appointment straight from the lunch-rush shift. “We were really busy,” she told Dr. Robert L. Wergin, trying to smile through deeply etched lines of exhaustion. “Thursdays, it’s Philly cheesesteaks.” Her back ached from a compression fracture; a shattered elbow was still mending; her left-hip sciatica was screaming louder than usual. She takes a lot of medication for chronic pain, but today it was just not enough. Yet rather than increasing her dose, Dr. Wergin was tapering her down. “Susan, we’ve got to get you to five pills a day,” he said gently. She winced. (Hoffman, 3/16)
In other national news —
NPR/ProPublica:
Drug-Company Payments Mirror Doctors' Brand-Name Prescribing
Doctors have long disputed the accusation that the payments they receive from pharmaceutical companies have any relationship to how they prescribe drugs. There's been little evidence to settle the matter, until now. A new ProPublica analysis has found that doctors who receive payments from the medical industry do indeed prescribe drugs differently on average than their colleagues who don't. And the more money they receive, the more brand-name medications they tend to prescribe. (Ornstein, Jones and Tiga, 3/17)
The Wall Street Journal:
Some Co-Ops Under Health Law Still Have Tepid Enrollment
Four of the 11 remaining health cooperatives set up under the Affordable Care Act are still seeing tepid enrollment, according to a report by federal investigators, in another sign such insurance startups are on shaky footing despite more than $1 billion in federal loans. The cooperatives were launched under the health law to provide affordable insurance and infuse competition into the market. Twelve of the 23 co-ops that got off the ground have closed as a result of financial troubles. The Obama administration is seeking to recoup about $1.2 billion in federal loans to the co-ops that have closed. (Armour, 3/16)
The Associated Press:
Deficit-Slashing Plan Advances Through House Panel
A key House panel on Wednesday approved a GOP plan to eliminate the federal budget deficit without tax increases demanded by Democrats, relying on sharp cuts to federal health care programs, government aid to the poor, and hundreds of domestic programs supported by lawmakers in both parties. The 20-16 Budget Committee vote could be the high point for the GOP blueprint, which is short of the majority votes needed to advance through the GOP-controlled House. Two tea party Republicans defected on the otherwise party-line vote. (3/16)
Reuters:
Senate Advances Bill To Aid Drug-Dependent Newborns
A bipartisan bill designed to improve the health and safety of babies born to mothers who used heroin or other opioids during pregnancy was approved by a U.S. Senate committee on Wednesday. The bill, which will now move to the Senate floor, was prompted by a Reuters investigation last year. Reuters found 110 cases of children who were exposed to opioids while in the womb and who later died preventable deaths at home. No more than nine states comply with a 2003 law that calls on hospitals to alert social workers whenever a baby is born dependent on drugs, Reuters found. (Shiffman and Wilson, 3/16)
Modern Healthcare:
Conservative Lawmakers, Aetna CEO Suggest Advantage Plans Could Help Save Medicare
Lawmakers, health policy experts and the chief executive of one of the nation's largest insurers believe Medicare Advantage could help keep the Medicare program solvent. On Wednesday, the House Ways and Means Committee's Health Subcommittee held a hearing on Medicare's future. The Medicare board of trustees said in its most recent annual report that Medicare will be able to cover its costs until 2030, but suggested congressional action to strengthen the program's future. (Muchmore and Herman, 3/16)