View this email in your browser<http://mailchi.mp/statnews/uev8m9ed2b?e=4aad33fd68> [STAT]<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=9f0d7720a3&e=4aad33fd68> Tuesday, May 9, 2017 [Morning Rounds by Megan Thielking] Follow STAT on Facebook<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=eed00559dd&e=4aad33fd68> and Twitter<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=b8b0bf07ba&e=4aad33fd68>, and visit us at statnews.com<http://statnews.us11.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=f08d93b4a5&e=4aad33fd68> Good morning! Welcome to Morning Rounds, where I get you ahead of the day's health news. A not-as-secret meeting on writing genomes from scratch After catching heat<http://statnews.us11.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=42eb453e89&e=4aad33fd68> last year for holding a 'secret' meeting at Harvard, organizers of GP-Write — the project to assemble genomes from scratch — will kick off a two-day meeting in New York City this morning. This time, they said, they included enough reporters and ethicists to defuse some of that criticism. But despite opening their doors, they still have a ways to go to embrace transparency. The day before the meeting, a PR exec gave reporters new ground rules: No publishing content without permission from the scientist involved. Attendees will hear scientific talks ranging from "Octopus Genome Insights" to a talk on constructing synthetic bacteria, with a focus on technologies that promise to make DNA synthesis and assembly fast, accurate, and cheap. The meeting landed five corporate sponsors — each with a minimum contribution of $10,000 — including the Brooklyn-based company Modern Meadow, which is trying to bioengineer animal products like leather to create a pigskin in a Petri dish. Conflict-of-interest concerns at FDA meeting on opioids The FDA is taking a closer look this morning at opioid use in treating pain — but one senator is taking issue with federal officials inviting groups tied to opioid manufacturers to the table without disclosing their conflicts of interest. The FDA is convening government experts, patient advocacy groups, and health providers to weigh in on how to train prescribers, improve pain management, and safely use opioids. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) asked HHS Secretary Tom Price late last week to push off today's meeting <http://statnews.us11.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=c3bf55def9&e=4aad33fd68> until the agency could examine the deep financial ties at play. "The apparent financial relationships between opioid manufacturers and pain advocacy groups participating in the workshop raise serious conflict-of-interest concerns that could undercut efforts to curb over-prescribing," Wyden wrote in a letter<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=967c023c97&e=4aad33fd68> to Price. In particular, Wyden is worried about the influence of groups such as the American Academy of Integrative Pain Management, which is heavily funded by opioid makers such Mallinckrodt and Purdue. The life expectancy gap is growing [https://gallery.mailchimp.com/f8609630ae206654824f897b6/images/efb1d94b-f6ee-4bdc-a2cc-b327d9279914.gif] (Ihme / university of washington) The gap between counties with the highest and lowest life expectancies in the US is ballooning. A new analysis<http://statnews.us11.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=dc70049e81&e=4aad33fd68> breaks down life expectancy data by county to uncover the disparities masked by national progress in lengthening life. Colorado’s Summit County — with an average life expectancy of 87 years — tops the list. That’s 20 years longer than the life expectancy in Oglala Lakota County in South Dakota, which lands at the bottom spot. Some of the variation can be explained by higher rates of obesity, hypertension, and smoking. But socioeconomic factors such as race, education, and income are also significant drivers of the disparity, the authors say. The good news: Every county in the US has seen the death rate under age 5 fall in since 1980, and the gap between counties is narrowing for children's life expectancies. This is likely thanks to public policies and health programs designed to make sure young kids have access to care. Inside STAT<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=00f228199e&e=4aad33fd68>: Capturing joy at the end of life [https://gallery.mailchimp.com/f8609630ae206654824f897b6/images/fce6d5d4-a558-447b-883a-22dafaf6053c.jpg]<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=db831105d5&e=4aad33fd68> Howie and laurel embrace (nancy borowicK) Photographer Nancy Borowick documented every moment as her parents Howie and Laurel underwent parallel treatments for stage 4 cancer. “Photography gave me a familiar context and a language through which I could understand this terrifying and profound reality unfolding before me,” Borowick writes. When she published a piece<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=e43961ca52&e=4aad33fd68> in the New York Times in late 2013, emails began to pour in from strangers who went through a similar trial. Now, four years after her father’s death and three years after her mother’s, she’s getting ready to publish a book of her photographs, journal entries, and conversations from that time. And in turning back to those emails, Borowick has found a place in a community forged by loss and love. Read her moving First Opinion<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=ce69150b5d&e=4aad33fd68>. Doctors who are moms report workplace discrimination About 36 percent of female doctors with kids report experiencing workplace discrimination tied to their roles as parents, according to a new survey<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=9b69e682bb&e=4aad33fd68> of nearly 6,000 women. And of those 6,000 women, 66 percent said they’d experienced gender discrimination. Some felt they’d been treated unfairly when it came to pay or promotions, while others said they were being held to higher standards than their peers. That has experts worried that doctors who are moms might be at a higher risk of burnout. Their recommendations to employers: provide sufficient paid maternity leave, backup child care, lactation support, and schedule flexibility for those women. One caveat: Researchers surveyed an online community of women who are doctors and moms. There might be a bit of a selection bias if women who run into discrimination are more likely to participate in that type of community. New push to boost birth control access in poor nations Global health groups are doubling down on their efforts to bring cheap contraceptives to women in poor nations. Aid groups and industry have collaborated in recent years to slash the rate of unintended pregnancy and maternal death worldwide by boosting access to contraceptives. “Partnerships like these are really tipping the scales on progress,” says Chris Elias of the Gates Foundation. “A core part of accelerating progress is reaching more women in the hardest-to-reach places,” he adds. Now, they’re stepping up their work to get more contraceptives to those women. The Gates Foundation has teamed up with Pfizer and others to reduce the price of a dose of a monthly injectable contraceptive to just 85 cents, which they hope will help ease the burden of paying for contraception. Mapping where autism resources fall short A new tool gives the public a picture of autism in the US and what resources might be available to individuals with autism. Stanford researchers used autism prevalence estimates from the CDC to create an interactive tool dubbed the GapMap. Then, they culled information on the hundreds of autism diagnosis and treatment centers. Users can enter their location and find what resources are available in their area. The tool shows a stark divide between the demand for autism treatment and the number of providers available — explore the findings<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=47edcd8028&e=4aad33fd68> to see resources in your area. What to read around the web today § How easy is it to access naloxone in your state? Pacific Standard<http://statnews.us11.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=63252eaa6d&e=4aad33fd68> § Some pregnant women on Medicaid must wait weeks, months before first doctor's visit. Alabama.com<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=9894b2d08d&e=4aad33fd68> § Public restrooms become ground zero in the opioid epidemic. WBUR<http://statnews.us11.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=6564a78bbe&e=4aad33fd68> More reads from STAT § As they fight the opioid crisis, addiction counselors see a grave new threat<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=91836f9353&e=4aad33fd68>: the GOP health plan. § The shadow of Big Tobacco looms over e-cigarettes and harm reduction<http://statnews.us11.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=d0ddd2b37f&e=4aad33fd68>. The latest from STAT Plus § ‘The tailwind is coming’: 5 forces shaping biopharma investment in China<http://statnews.us11.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=7a9b72a925&e=4aad33fd68>. § Patient dies from severe brain swelling after taking Kite’s CAR-T therapy<http://statnews.us11.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=523f22f2d9&e=4aad33fd68>. Thanks for reading! More tomorrow, [Megan] [Facebook]<http://statnews.us11.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=ffbcbb8a01&e=4aad33fd68> [Twitter]<http://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=9affb86941&e=4aad33fd68> [STAT]<http://statnews.us11.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=ad9454db53&e=4aad33fd68>