Santa Rosa Press Democrat: EpiPen Cost Increase Hits Home In Sonoma County
[Liz] Liddiard-Griffin had become accustomed to stocking three injectors: One for her, one for her son and one for the office at her son’s school. So the prospect of paying hundreds more dollars than she had ever paid for EpiPens before irritated and frustrated her. “I was like, ‘Why? What’s going on?’ Obviously, I couldn’t say no,” she recalled in an interview this week. In the end, Liddiard-Griffin had little choice but to pay full price for the device, which is used to quickly inject a dose of epinephrine, a hormone that can counter life-threatening allergic reactions. She had to pay out of pocket because she had not yet reached her family’s $1,500 deductible. (Morris, 8/25)

The Washington Post: Why Mylan’s ‘Savings Card’ Won’t Make EpiPen Cheaper For All Patients
Although the company said that the savings card would halve the cost of the drug to commercially insured patients who pay full price, outside experts said the overall impact will likely be small and that it did not amount to a solution to the broader problem. Such savings cards are a classic public relations move by the pharmaceutical industry, said Harvard Medical School professor Aaron Kesselheim, and it will only be used by a fraction of the people who need the drug. For example, such savings cards are illegal in government health programs such as Medicaid. (Johnson, 8/25)

The Washington Post: How Mylan, The Maker Of EpiPen, Became A Virtual Monopoly
EpiPen’s rising price is particularly notable because state and federal legislation have been key to the drug’s rapid growth. Annual prescriptions for EpiPen products have more than doubled in the past decade to 3.6 million, according to IMS Health data. Mylan benefited from factors including failed competitors, patent protections and laws requiring allergy medications in schools. Having a virtual monopoly has facilitated the rapid price hike. Mylan reached $1 billion in sales for the second time last year. (Johnson and Ho, 8/25)

The New York Times: Painted As EpiPen Villain, Mylan’s Chief Says She’s No Such Thing
America has a new pharmaceutical villain. Her name is Heather Bresch. As the chief executive of Mylan, the owner of the severe allergy treatment EpiPen, Ms. Bresch is at the center of the latest public outrage over high drug prices, excoriated for overseeing a fourfold price increase on EpiPen while taking a huge pay raise. (Thomas, 8/26)

Politico: Manchin Shares 'Concerns' On Drug Prices Amid Daughter's Company Controversy
Sen. Joe Manchin said Thursday that he shares the concerns his colleagues have voiced about how a pharmaceutical company run by his daughter prices a life-saving medicine it produces. The West Virginia Democrat’s daughter is Heather Bresch, the CEO of Mylan, the company that makes the EpiPen, a product that delivers the life-saving drug epinephrine for people with allergies to bee stings or certain foods. Mylan has come under fire in recent days for raising the price of the EpiPen by 548 percent since it acquired the rights to the product in 2007. (Nelson, 8/25)

Stat: Senators Want To Know What FDA Is Doing To Make EpiPen Rivals Available
While anger is directed at Mylan Pharmaceuticals over the rising cost of its EpiPen device, some lawmakers wonder whether the US Food and Drug Administration should share some of the blame for the high prices paid by consumers. How so? They want to know if the agency made it possible for Mylan to dominate the market and charge whatever price it wants. (Silverman, 8/25)

USA Today: Why Not Reuse EpiPens With New Epinephrine After They Expire?
The controversy surrounding skyrocketing prices over the EpiPen emergency allergy shots has nothing to do with what's in the devices. That's the 100-year-old chemical epinephrine, which costs just pennies. It's the device that Mylan is charging so much for. So why not replace cartridges of epinephrine that have expired with new ones? (O'Donnell, 8/25)

The New York Times: How Parents Harnessed The Power Of Social Media To Challenge EpiPen Prices
[Mellini Kantayya] went online to Petition2Congress.com, a service that collects signatures and then sends them to designated lawmakers, and created the petition “Stop the EpiPen Price Gouging,” which went live on July 11. Then Ms. Kantayya shared the link with her 836 Facebook friends, with a post that began, “Stupid pharmaceutical company!” What happened next is a lesson in the power of social media to help create a groundswell, particularly among a group as committed and motivated as the parents of children with food allergies, who must often buy multiple pens for home, school and day care. In just 45 days, Ms. Kantayya’s petition grew from a few dozen signatures to more than 80,000 people who sent more than 121,000 letters to Congress. (Parker-Pope, 8/25)

Stat: Sarah Jessica Parker, Angry At EpiPen Price, Drops Mylan Sponsorship
Under fire for aggressively hiking the price of the EpiPen device, Mylan Pharmaceuticals has now lost an influential advocate: Sarah Jessica Parker. The actress said on her verified Instagram account Thursday that she has ended her relationship as a paid spokeswoman for the drug maker “as a direct result” of the price increases. Parker wrote that she is “disappointed, saddened and deeply concerned by Mylan’s actions” and called on the company to “take swift action to lower the cost to be more affordable for whom it is a life-saving necessity.” (Robbins, 8/25)

KPCC: Audio: Bill To Alert Consumers Of 'Unreasonable' Health Plan Rate Hikes Heads To Governor
State lawmakers have sent Gov. Jerry Brown a bill that would alert consumers whenever state regulators consider increases to their health insurance premiums to be too high. Under existing law, the California Department of Managed Health Care and the California Department of Insurance review rate hikes proposed by the insurers and health plans each regulates.  When the agencies conclude that an increase is unjustified, they can ask the insurer to rescind the increase, but the company is not legally obligated to comply. The two departments' only recourse is to post the information on their websites.  (O'Neill, 8/25)

Los Angeles Times: Governor To Consider Banning Smoking Near Youth Sports Events
Having already signed several anti-tobacco bills this year, Gov. Jerry Brown will also get to decide whether to ban smoking within 250 feet of Little League baseball games and other youth sports events. The latest bill was approved Thursday by the state Senate and sent to Brown, who previously raised the smoking age to 21 and designated electronic cigarettes as tobacco products subject to bans on use in restaurants and other public places where smoking is banned. (McGreevy, 8/25)

The Desert Sun: Protecting Porn Stars: Debating California's Condom Vote
At the same time Californians decide major questions like whether recreational marijuana should be legal and the death penalty banned in their state, voters this November will have their say on another question far more — let's just get it over with — sexy: Should porn stars be required to wear condoms? It's a straightforward question that glosses over the full scope of the ballot measure, known as Proposition 60, one of 17 being decided this fall. State law is already used to mandate condoms in adult films, but the rules are routinely ignored. (Newkirk, 8/25)

The Wall Street Journal: Burden Of Health-Care Costs Moves To The Middle Class
Growth in overall health-care spending is slowing, but middle-class families’ share of the tab is getting larger, squeezing households already feeling stretched financially. Overall, health-care spending across the economy reached 18.2% of gross domestic product as of June, up from 13.3% in 2000, according to Altarum Institute, a health research group. (Sussman, 8/25)

The Wall Street Journal: 5 Things To Know About Health-Care Spending In The U.S.
Despite a slowdown in the growth rate of overall national health expenditures, Americans are seeing more of their paychecks go to health-care costs. The increase is largely thanks to cost-shifting through higher deductibles in plans offered by employers, which cover the majority of workers and their families. The trend has hit middle-income households the hardest. Here are five things to know about trends in U.S. health-care spending. (Sussman, 8/25)

And in other consumer costs news —

Kaiser Health News: Report For State Insurance Commissioners Offers Options To Improve Drug Access
As prescription drug costs continue to rise, ensuring that consumers have access to the drugs they need is a growing concern. Insurers blame the drug companies for high prices while drug companies blame insurers for restrictive plans. Consumers are stuck in the middle picking up a higher tab. Now a new study highlights strategies for states to help consumers in this tug of war. (Andrews, 8/26)

The Wall Street Journal: Zika Virus’s Spread Pushes Testing Labs To Expand Capacity
As summer drew near, the nation’s health officials took stock of whether they could handle a surge in demand for Zika diagnostic tests if disease-carrying mosquitoes began to proliferate. A survey of state and local laboratories found enough capacity to perform 3,500 to 5,000 tests a week for the Zika virus. But that wouldn’t be enough to meet demand under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s worst-case scenario for a domestic Zika outbreak. (Evans, 8/26)

Health News Florida: Officials Announce Another Local Transmission In Palm Beach County 
Florida officials announced a new locally transmitted Zika case Wednesday—this time in Palm Beach County. It’s the second case stemming from local mosquitos in the county, but officials say the two cases aren’t connected.During an interview on Fox News, Governor Rick Scott attempted to put the state’s Zika cases in context. (McCarthy, 8/25)

In news about Theranos' controversial diagnostics business —

The Wall Street Journal: Theranos To Appeal Regulatory Sanctions
Silicon Valley startup Theranos Inc. said late Thursday it plans to appeal a decision made last month by regulators to revoke its license to operate a lab in California, among other penalties, because of unsafe practices. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the agency that oversees U.S. labs, also banned Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes from the blood-testing business for at least two years. (Ng, 8/25)

The New York Times: How Expanding Medicaid Can Lower Insurance Premiums For All
The Obama administration for years has been pleading with states to expand their Medicaid programs and offer health coverage to low-income people. Now it has a further argument in its favor: Expansion of Medicaid could lower insurance prices for everyone else. A new study published by in-house researchers at the Department of Health and Human Services compared places that have expanded their Medicaid programs as part of Obamacare with neighboring places that have not. They found that, in 2015, insurance in the marketplace for middle-income people cost less in the places that had expanded Medicaid. (Sanger-Katz, 8/25)

CNBC: Expand Medicaid And Obamacare Will Cost Less, Federal Government Says
States that allow nearly all poor adults to enroll in their Medicaid health coverage programs saw prices on Obamacare private insurance marketplaces about 7 percent lower than states that haven't expanded Medicaid eligibility, the federal government said Thursday. The findings reflect the fact that poorer people tend to be less healthy than people with higher incomes, who make up the lion's share of Obamacare enrollees in expansion states. (Mangan, 8/25)

Modern Healthcare: Fewer Than A Third Of Medicare ACOs Received Bonuses Last Year 
The mixed results for Medicare accountable care organizations continued last year with fewer than one-third of them qualifying for bonus payments, the CMS said Thursday. The news comes as the administration is preparing providers for the new Medicare reimbursement program known as MACRA, which is set to begin collecting data in January. It shifts away from fee-for-service payments and toward value-based payments, thus promoting the use of programs like ACOs. (Muchmore, 8/25)

KHN's ABCs of ACOs: Accountable Care Organizations Explained

Ventura County Star: Covered California Premiums Projected To Rise 15.8 Percent In County
In an increase that a watchdog contends could push people to drop health insurance, next year's premiums in the Covered California marketplace are expected to rise an average of 15.8 percent in Ventura County. The weighted rate increase, which also affects Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, rises above the projected average hike of 13.2 percent across the statewide exchange. It ranks as the third largest increase among 19 Covered California pricing regions. Covered California is the exchange created by the Affordable Care Act to provide coverage, often with government subsidies, to people who were once uninsured. (Kisken, 8/25)

Los Angeles Times: 'The Cheapest Buzz You Can Get On Skid Row': Officials Try To Stop Homeless From Smoking Spice After Dozens Sickened
Now officials are scrambling to warn people about the drug, which can produce effects similar to those of marijuana but is actually a different plant material sprayed with a psychoactive chemical. Health experts say smoking spice is risky because it’s impossible to know what’s in each batch. Spice has been available on skid row for years, with several people on San Pedro Street peddling it every day, advocates say. Spice joints go for a dollar or less, making them an appealing fix for addicts — and a challenge for those trying to tamp down sales, said skid row activist General Jeff Page. (Karlamangla, 8/25)

Stat: Street Drugs, Not Prescriptions, Now Powering Opioid Crisis
The widespread abuse of the potent opioid fentanyl appears to be largely the result of illicit manufacturing of the synthetic drug as opposed to the misuse of legally prescribed versions of the painkiller, according to two US government studies released Thursday. That represents a dramatic change in the way opioids have traditionally been abused, and means public health officials will likely have to adjust their response to the two-decade-long crisis. (Armstrong, 8/25)

CBS: Surgeon General Takes Unprecedented Step Amid Opioid Epidemic 
Opioids cause more than 1,000 emergency room visits and kills 78 people every day. ... Now, to tackle this health crisis, Dr.  (Vivek) Murthy is taking the unprecedented step of mailing letters to the 2.3 million prescribers in America, urging them to to do three things. (8/25)

The Washington Post: Teen Boys’ HPV-Vaccination Rate Hits Almost 50 Percent, CDC Says
The rate of HPV vaccination among teen boys in the United States surged in 2015, suggesting that more parents and physicians are embracing the message that it's as important for boys to be vaccinated against the human papillomavirus as it is for girls. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday that 49.8 percent of boys ages 13 to 17 had gotten at least one of the recommended three doses as of 2015, up 8 percentage points from 2014. The rate for teen girls rose more slowly: Almost 63 percent had gotten at least one dose, compared to 60 percent in 2014. (McGinley, 8/25)

The Washington Post: How Violence Could Be Hurting Kids With HIV
Exposure to gunfire, assaults and other violence may negatively impact the health of children born with HIV, according to a new Harvard University study. Researchers analyzed the medical records of 268 youths ages 8 to 15 and then asked them about their exposure to violence within the previous year. Fifty-three said they had heard gunshots on their block, for example, and 23 said they lived in a neighborhood where there had been a murder. Twenty reported that a neighbor had been hit by a police officer. (Kelly, 8/25)

Los Angeles Times: Court Ruling Could Mean Death With Indignity For Terminally Ill Californians
In the more than two months since California’s End of Life Option Act took effect, an unknown number of terminally ill patients have signed up for a lethal prescription to take control of their final days. We won’t know exactly how many until the state makes its first annual report next year. Anecdotally, however, about 30 people are known to have requested the lethal prescription since June 9, according to Compassion & Choices, an aid-in-dying advocacy group. But this option may be denied other terminally ill people as soon as Friday, when a legal challenge to the new law comes up for a key court hearing. Riverside County Superior Court Judge Daniel Ottolia is expected to decide whether to put the law on hold until the case is resolved. (8/25)

The Desert Sun: End Of Life Options Law Foes Hurt The Terminally Ill
It’s bad enough that I have terminal bladder cancer. Now all three Coachella Valley hospitals have forbidden their affiliated physicians who support medical aid in dying from offering this option so I can take doctor-prescribed medication to die peacefully in my sleep if my suffering becomes unbearable. ... To add insult to injury, several physicians have filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn California’s new End of Life Option Act to prevent physicians who support medical aid in dying from offering this option to terminally ill Californians statewide! These physicians allege the law fails “to make rational distinctions” between terminally ill adults “and the vast majority of Californians” not covered by the law. (Wayne McKinny, 8/25)

San Francisco Chronicle: Homeless Doesn’t Mean Mentally Ill
Homeless people living on the street need housing and most need mental health services. In our desire to help the street homeless, however, let’s not forget the goal of self-sufficiency that gets people out of poverty and prevents homelessness for the next generation. (Paul Webster, 8/23)

Daily Pilot: Bill Would Help Social Workers Better Care For The Elderly
Out of sight, out of mind, a phrase we have heard sporadically thrown about, in this instance rings true. When pain, isolation, depression and dementia are locked away behind hospital walls, we fail to see the problem. Our society, somewhere down the line, has shifted. It went from rendering respect to the wisdom of the elderly and compassion to the wounded, to creating concrete walls to house those who no longer hold the ability to physically produce. This, combined with other naturally caused conditions, has led to what we are now witnessing: a high prevalence of mental illness among our elders and disabled. (Jennifer Nava, 8/25)

San Diego Union-Tribune: The Economics Of Ending California's 'Tampon Tax'
Women's hygiene products like tampons and maxi pads are subject to regular sales tax, but in many states — including California — that could soon change. The California Assembly unanimously passed a bill on Tuesday that would exempt these products from taxes on health and gender equity grounds. Now Gov. Jerry Brown must decide whether to sign the legislation and make it a law. (Abby Hamblin, 8/24)

San Francisco Chronicle: Why A Single-Payer System Is Inevitable
The best argument for a single-payer health care plan is the recent decision by giant health insurer Aetna to bail out next year from 11 of the 15 states where it sells Obamacare plans. Aetna’s decision follows similar moves by UnitedHealth Group, the nation’s largest health insurer, and by Humana, another one of the giants. (Robert Reich, 8/25)

The Desert Sun: Nurse Practitioners Can Help Bridge The Health Care Gap
As millions of Americans have been given access to health insurance through the Affordable Care Act, there is clearly a shortage of primary care providers (PCPs) available to care for them.  Emergency rooms are seeing more patients overall and providing an expensive alternative to primary care.  The demand for PCPs is expected to rise, and it is well documented that California is already facing a significant shortage. (Kerri Woelfle, 8/24)

San Francisco Chronicle: Better Oversight Of Foster Kids’ Meds Is Needed
There is a growing awareness that California’s foster children are being overmedicated. The state auditor released a report Tuesday that concludes “the State and counties have failed to adequately oversee the prescribing of these medications.” The Legislature and Gov. Jerry Brown have made significant strides to improve oversight and use of these drugs, but legislation to reduce the likelihood of these drugs being administered in the first place has met strong resistance. (Bill Monning and Jim Beall, 8/25)

Los Angeles Times: EpiPen Price Gouging Demonstrates Need For More Competition In Generic Drugs
In the latest in a recent series of controversies over prescription drug prices, Mylan Pharmaceuticals has come under well-deserved fire for jacking up the price of a package of EpiPens — devices that deliver an emergency shot of epinephrine to someone suffering a potentially fatal allergic reaction — 550% since acquiring the right to sell the devices in 2007, from $94 to $608. That may seem modest in comparison to the more than 5,000% increase that Turing Pharmaceuticals quickly imposed on Daraprim, an anti-malarial drug also used by HIV patients, or the more than 3,000% increase that Valeant has extracted for Syprine, a blood-cleaning agent. But given the life-saving nature of EpiPens, their widespread use and Mylan’s effective monopoly, the company’s profiteering is outrageous. (8/26)

Los Angeles Times: Another Reason To Hate Mylan, Which Jacked Up The Price Of Life-Saving EpiPens: It's A Tax Dodger
The pharmaceutical company Mylan has been taking on a boatload of vituperation — and rightfully so — for jacking up the price of its lifesaving EpiPen injector, which reverses allergic reactions, by 500%.But there’s another reason to detest this remarkably amoral corporation: It’s also a tax dodger. Mylan is one of the leading exploiters of the technique known as inversion, in which a U.S. company cuts its tax bill by acquiring a foreign firm and moving its tax domicile to the acquired company’s homeland. (Michael Hiltzik, 8/23)

Los Angeles Times: Mylan Will Help More Patients Pay For Its EpiPen. Here's Why That's Bad News For Healthcare
The truth is, however, that these programs are detested by insurers, healthcare economists and government agencies -- with good reason. In fact, they’re illegal when applied to Medicare or Medicaid patients, because they may violate federal anti-kickback laws, which bar payments made to induce patients to choose particular services. Also excluded from the program: uninsured customers. They’ll still have to pay the full freight for EpiPens, which can be as much as $600 for a two-pack. Before Mylan began raising the price, it was about $100. (Michael Hiltzik, 8/25)