NRA Outspent In Elections By Gun-Control Advocates, Foretelling A New Era For The Political Heavyweight
Since the 1970s, NRA has been a big player in politics, pouring millions into lawmakers' campaigns. But the organization may finally have a formidable foe.
The New York Times:
Gun Control Groups Eclipse N.R.A. In Election Spending
Amid a numbing succession of mass shootings, gun control groups outspent the National Rifle Association in the midterm election cycle, federal filings and additional reporting indicate, upending the usual order in the partisan battle over gun use. Two groups that are focused on gun control, Giffords and Everytown for Gun Safety, spent at least $37 million at the state and federal level in the midterms, compared with at least $20 million by the N.R.A. (Hakim and Shorey, 11/16)
In other national health care news —
Stat:
An Industry Outsider Tries To Salvage Pharma's Bruised Reputation
Patrick O’Connor wants to emphasize that he’s not running a shadowy pharma front group. That’s why he’s attached his name to the group, the Alliance to Protect Medical Innovation, even as most of its donors have remained in the dark. It’s why he keeps repeating that the industry trade group PhRMA is not involved. And it’s why he agreed to sit down with STAT for this story, even though he cast himself as uninteresting. O’Connor is the executive director of APMI, a coalition that aims to “help educate policymakers and the public about medical breakthroughs developed by the biopharmaceutical industry.” (Swetlitz, 11/16)
Stat:
As New Therapies Arrive, Pressure Builds To Figure Out How To Pay For Them
The launch of a handful of inventive cell and gene therapies is already testing players in the health care system to figure out how to pay for them. But the real strain could be five years away, when a wave of these pioneering treatments could enter the market and overwhelm the system. That explains the growing pressure on drug companies, insurers, and others to develop value-based pricing — a mechanism to determine how much value any given therapy will provide over time. (Joseph, 11/15)
The Hill:
CDC: Suicide Rates Increasing Among American Workers
The suicide rate among Americans of working age increased 34 percent from 2000 to 2016, according to a report released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Increasing suicide rates in the U.S. are a concerning trend that represent a tragedy for families and communities and impact the American workforce,” said Dr. Debra Houry, director of the CDC National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. (Hellmann, 11/15)
The New York Times:
Blacks Are Twice As Likely As Whites To Experience Sudden Cardiac Death
The rate of sudden cardiac death in African-Americans is twice as high as in whites, and no one knows why. Sudden cardiac death is an unexpected fatality from cardiac causes that happens within an hour of the onset of symptoms, usually with no known cause. (Bakalar, 11/15)