Happy Friday! If you鈥檙e like me, you鈥檙e hooked on the The Golden State Killer case, where investigators to hunt down their suspect. (And if you鈥檙e also a health wonk like me, you鈥檒l want to check out on what privacy concerns the investigators鈥� strategy sparked.)
On to the rest of the best from the week.
Dr. Ronny Jackson鈥檚 alleged misconduct听(like how he was called 鈥渢he candy man鈥� and oversaw a hostile workplace) has dominated the headlines. But behind the theatrics of the failed nomination process lies a crucial but leaderless agency听鈥� the Department of Veterans Affairs听鈥� that鈥檚 caught in the midst of a fierce battle over privatization. There has been a recent legacy of turmoil and scandal at the VA, and veterans鈥� health care is at stake.听鈥淭his is complete and total chaos after years of complete and total chaos,鈥� said Paul Rieckhoff,听with Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.
Do drug companies see rare-disease patients as human jackpots? A deep dive into the money flow for charities that are, in theory, set up to help those patients pay for expensive drugs reveals that pharma may not be donating to the organizations out of the goodness of their hearts. (Go ahead, feign surprise.)
Don鈥檛 forget our new KHN patient advocacy group database, 鈥淧re$cription for Power,鈥� which tracks the donations of some of the country鈥檚 biggest drugmakers to hundreds of patient groups. It was a resource for the USA Today story and is available for all to use.
Short-term plans are back in the news because the comment period for the proposed extension was Monday. Lots of people in the industry spoke out against them for obvious reasons听鈥� they know healthy and young consumers are likely to jump ship to these enticingly cheap plans leaving the population buying individual coverage sicker and older, on the whole.听Also, they warn, those young and healthy consumers may well find that the plans don鈥檛 offer good coverage if they get sick.
In the new trend of transparency as a fix for high health prices, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services wants to require hospitals to post their prices online in an easily accessible format for patients. But experts say that while the idea sounds good in theory, it鈥檚 not actually going to help most consumers because list prices aren鈥檛 what people end up paying. And there鈥檚 the big question:听Does CMS really have the legal authority to make them do this?
There was a lot of movement in women鈥檚 health this week: The administration is favoring abstinence-focused programs with its teen pregnancy prevention funds; a judge has blocked cuts to Planned Parenthood grants; and an executive order banning Title X funding for Planned Parenthood is apparently in the pipeline for next month.
The research on needle exchanges is crystal-clear. They cut deaths, curb spending and reduce disease without increasing drug use. But in the midst of a raging opioid epidemic, public health leaders just can鈥檛 quite convince the public that they鈥檙e a good idea.
And a drug distributor absolves itself of responsibility in the opioid crisis听鈥� but, uh, it doesn鈥檛 really work that way.
In the miscellaneous file: In Oregon, the criminally insane get better mental health services than people who don鈥檛 commit a crime; oncologists wonder if the slimmest chance of a therapy working justifies offering the treatment to terminal patients or if it鈥檚 better to keep their mouths shut;听 and a reporter offers a heartbreaking look at West Virginia鈥檚 long history of broken promises over black lung disease.
Have a great weekend! And let me know what you think of this doctor who is pushing the idea of as a way to solve the country鈥檚 organ shortage.