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Monday, April 9, 2018





[Morning Rounds by Megan Thielking]





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Welcome to Monday, everyone, and welcome to Morning Rounds.





Feds raked in billions by cracking down on health care fraud



HHS and the Justice Department brought in more than $2.4 billion last year cracking down on health care fraud, according to a new report<https://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=629ecc7707&e=4aad33fd68> from the government’s Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control program. Here’s what you need to know:



§  The government won or negotiated more than $2.4 billion in health care fraud settlements and judgments in fiscal year 2017.



§  In 2017, the Medicare Trust Funds received roughly $1.4 billion back thanks to health care fraud investigations, while more than $400 million in federal Medicaid money was transferred back to the treasury.



§  The Justice Department opened 967 new criminal cases involving health care fraud, and 639 defendants were convicted in criminal health care fraud cases last year.





How Iowa is overhauling mental health care



Iowa lawmakers have passed sweeping new legislation that overhauls the state’s mental health care delivery system. One big change: A requirement that mandates the creation of critical access centers for people experiencing an immediate mental health crisis. Mental health care advocates say they hope to get six critical access centers set up across the state, so there's one within 90 miles of every person in Iowa.



The legislation also requires a statewide mental health crisis hotline and would establish residential services for people with severe, persistent mental health conditions that require intensive care. The catch: The state hasn't approved any new funding for the legislation. Officials tell the Sioux City Journal<https://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=b9b65e604f&e=4aad33fd68> that the 14 health care delivery regions in the state are expected to pay for the program for now, but that’s not a long-term funding plan.





Health clinics flooded with patients after attack in Syria



Dozens of people in Syria have died after a suspected chemical attack that also sent hundreds of patients flooding to area health clinics in Douma, which is part of an area near Damascus known as Eastern Ghouta. There have also been a string of recent attacks on health care facilities in Eastern Ghouta. The nonprofit Syrian-American Medical Society says that since fighting in the region escalated in mid-February, at least 25 medical facilities have been targeted by attacks and four medical staff have been killed.





Inside STAT<https://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=043efd794b&e=4aad33fd68>: CRISPR might one day reverse devastating brain diseases



[https://gallery.mailchimp.com/f8609630ae206654824f897b6/images/8f5b11aa-7315-4304-bf69-ab9529b655a6.gif]



(dominic smith / stat)



The hottest question right now at the intersection of brains and genes is whether genome editing like CRISPR might reverse complicated brain disorders like Huntington’s disease and schizophrenia, among others. The idea: CRISPR would penetrate the brain of a patient with a brain disorder and repair the genetic mutation that caused it. Then, the brain would get to work growing new neurons and weaving new circuitry. But there are significant obstacles standing in the way of CRISPR’ing damaged brains.  STAT’s Sharon Begley has a fascinating story on the science — read here<https://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=785fce43b5&e=4aad33fd68>.



And for more on how CRISPR actually works, watch this great two-minute explainer video<https://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=8cfdf51598&e=4aad33fd68>.





23andMe CEO defends consumer genetic tests



Anne Wojcicki — CEO of the genetic testing company 23andMe — is taking on critics in a new First Opinion piece for STAT today. Her company recently got a green light<https://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=4568418e20&e=4aad33fd68> for the first ever direct-to-consumer genetic test<https://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=7aff170be6&e=4aad33fd68> for an inherited risk of cancer. Historically, patients haven't been able to access that kind of testing without an order from a doctor or a genetic counselor. Wojcicki argues that some of the early reactions<https://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=ea9364024c&e=4aad33fd68> to the FDA authorization took a similar tone to criticism of the first home pregnancy tests that hit the market nearly 40 years ago — that is, that consumers can't handle their own medical information without an expert involved. Read her take here<https://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=e58c687018&e=4aad33fd68>.





Michigan bans unapproved antidepressant



Michigan has become the first state to ban a drug that’s marketed as an antidepressant, but hasn’t been approved by the FDA and has been linked to a series of overdoses in the state. Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has signed a law to classify the drug, tianeptine sodium, as a Schedule II controlled substance. The drug is often sold as a antidepressant supplement, but in high doses, it can have psychoactive effects, health officials say. Lawmakers say adding the drug to Schedule II gives the state more flexibility if, down the line, research shows the drug has medical benefits and it’s approved by the FDA.





What to read around the web today

§  The murky perils of trying to quit antidepressants. New York Times<https://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=1b90c2f880&e=4aad33fd68>

§  Patient advocacy groups take in millions from drug companies. Is there a payback? Kaiser Health News<https://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=5a69819c1c&e=4aad33fd68>

§  Women at risk of hereditary cancer can 'fall through the medical cracks.' Los Angeles Times<https://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=9454d25e2d&e=4aad33fd68>





More reads from STAT

§  The strange story of a global pharma company's Silicon Valley winery<https://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=84fee50c48&e=4aad33fd68>.

§  Incyte’s cancer drug fails trial<https://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=d11e6d1fdb&e=4aad33fd68>, marking major blow for immunotherapy combination treatment.





The latest from STAT Plus

§  Why are some of New York’s top investors bullish on biotech<https://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=a7d0158b2d&e=4aad33fd68>? The science is getting better.

§  New York panel to review Vertex pricing<https://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=47649df6a4&e=4aad33fd68> in first test of new law.









Thanks for reading! More tomorrow,

[Megan]















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