Nominee For Indian Health Services’ Top Spot Touts Business Acumen, But Financial History Tells Different Story
The Wall Street Journal reviewed the financial history of Robert Weaver, President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Indian Health Services, and found that he has filed for personal bankruptcy and has liens against one of his businesses. Elsewhere in the administration, documents show that HHS worked with a conservative group to find ways to defund Planned Parenthood.
The Wall Street Journal:
Trump Pick For Indian Health Services Cites Business Savvy, But Financial History Show Struggles
President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the troubled Indian Health Service left his latest employer in a state of financial disarray, filed for personal bankruptcy and had liens imposed on one of his own businesses for failing to pay federal taxes, according to public documents and interviews. The nominee, Robert Weaver, a member of the Quapaw tribe of Oklahoma, has cited his private-sector business acumen and leadership of several small businesses as key qualifications to lead the agency and its roughly $6 billion budget. (Frosch and Weaver, 2/13)
Politico:
Trump's HHS Worked With Conservative Group On Planned Parenthood Policy
A conservative legal organization worked with the Trump administration to make it easier for states to defund Planned Parenthood, according to documents obtained by congressional Democrats and shared with POLITICO. HHS last month told states they no longer have to comply with Obama administration policy that made it difficult for states to exclude the women's health group from their Medicaid programs — an announcement timed to the March of Life anti-abortion rally. HHS received a draft legal analysis from the conservative Alliance Defending Freedom a week before the announcement, according to House Oversight Committee ranking Democrat Elijah Cummings. (Haberkorn, 2/12)
And in other national health care news —
Stat:
NIH Funding Contributed To 210 Approved Drugs In Recent Years, Study Says
Anew study makes a strong case for the importance of government support for basic research: Federally funded studies contributed to the science that underlies every one of the 210 new drugs approved between 2010 and 2016. Researchers at Bentley University scoured millions of research papers for mentions of those 210 new molecular entities, or NMEs, as well as studies on their molecular targets. Then, they looked to see which of those studies had received any funding from the National Institutes of Health. (Thielking, 2/12)
Stat:
Risky Tactic, Desperate Need: Trial To Test Brain Implants For Opioid Addiction
The arsenal of therapies available to combat opioid addiction has expanded beyond pills and shots to include over-the-ear electrodes and virtual reality headsets. But an upcoming clinical trial could push the boundaries of addiction treatment further, and by a more invasive means than any therapy currently embraced by medical experts. The therapy, called deep brain stimulation, requires electrodes to be implanted into the brain to regulate activity in the brain’s neurons, much like a pacemaker does to the heart. Deep brain stimulation is currently used to treat tremors related to Parkinson’s disease, and is being tested on patients diagnosed with a variety of brain disorders. (Blau, 2/13)
Stateline:
Why Police Backing Is Key To Needle Exchanges
Until the opioid epidemic began seeping into nearly every city and town in the country, the idea of a Main Street storefront offering free needles, alcohol wipes and small metal cookers for heroin users was unthinkable in a conservative Southern city like this one. But these days, most of the roughly 100,000 residents of this historic port on the Cape Fear River are painfully aware that their community has a serious drug problem. Syringes carpet sections of public walkways, drug users congregate in vacant lots, and an increasing number of residents are attending the funerals of friends and family members who have died of an opioid overdose. (Vetal, 2/13)