View this email in your browser<http://mailchi.mp/statnews/tk-579705?e=4aad33fd68> [STAT]<https://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=84ba76c2b2&e=4aad33fd68> Thursday, January 18, 2018 [Morning Rounds by Megan Thielking] Sponsored by [https://gallery.mailchimp.com/f8609630ae206654824f897b6/images/c43ef410-7283-470e-9c2d-f734895c82cf.png] Good morning, folks! I'm here to get you ahead of the day's news in science and medicine. What happens to health care if the government shuts down? There’s a showdown happening right now to keep the government funded past Friday — and a big part of negotiations center around health care. House Republicans rolled out a bill this week that would fund CHIP for six years and delay two Obamacare taxes, one on medical devices and one on so-called “Cadillac” health insurance plans. It would also pause the ACA’s tax on health insurers next year. But it's still not clear whether it'll garner enough support. There could be wide-reaching ramifications<https://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=3208146f67&e=4aad33fd68> to health and medicine if lawmakers don’t come to an agreement and the government shuts down, from the NIH stopping enrollment for clinical trials to the CDC furloughing employees during a particularly bad flu season. Aetna to pay $17 million over envelopes that revealed HIV status The health insurance giant Aetna has agreed<https://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=3968ecdd2c&e=4aad33fd68> to shell out $17 million over claims that it violated the privacy of thousands of customers who take HIV drugs. In July, Aetna mailed<https://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=019a6770dd&e=4aad33fd68> letters to 12,000 people in 23 states about their HIV medications, but some of that confidential information was visible through a clear window on the envelope. The insurer has agreed to pay at least $500 to each customer whose HIV status was revealed. A court still has to approve the settlement. Lab Chat: Blowing balloons to detect esophageal damage [87396691-e5ca-4560-8a09-e04a5b7a5bdb.png] this balloon swabs the spot where the esophagus meets the stomach. (cWRU school of medicine) This little, swallowable balloon could one day replace invasive tests to determine if a patient has damage to her esophagus. The doctors who created it want to identify cases of Barrett’s esophagus, or damage to the spot where the esophagus meets the stomach. In rare cases, it can lead to esophageal cancer. Here’s what Dr. Amitabh Chak of Case Western Reserve University told me about the work, published in Science Translational Medicine<https://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=f313820eda&e=4aad33fd68>. How does the go into the body? The device is a balloon that is protected inside a small capsule that’s about the size of a vitamin. When the pill travels down to the stomach, we blow up the balloon in the stomach. Then, you can pull the ballon back and you can feel where stomach and esophagus join. What happens next? We get a small brushing when it touches the lower esophagus that picks up enough cells. The balloon goes back into the pill, which protects the sample, and then we pull it back out. You can re-inflate the balloon once it’s out, then cut it off into a vial and send it off to the lab. Sponsor content by The Ad Club The Ad Club's Vital Signs conference brings together healthcare's top marketing executives Join The Ad Club on February 8<https://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=6d456fd162&e=4aad33fd68> for a half-day marketing conference and hear from experts at companies like Cleveland Clinic, Aetna, and Shire, as they address the innovations that are driving major changes in the marketing of the health and wellness industries. Humana comes under fire for raising breast cancer drug copays [87396691-e5ca-4560-8a09-e04a5b7a5bdb.png] (@itsjeniflower / twitter) Humana is scurrying to respond to a slew of complaints from breast cancer patients who are now being charged much more for a medication. The insurer recently changed how it covers Herceptin — which was approved to treat metastatic breast cancer back in 1998 — in some Florida markets. Now, breast cancer patients in those markets have a 20 percent copay, which some patients say can shake out to $900 a month. Humana took to Twitter to respond to customer complaints and defend the change: "We remain committed to helping our members receive affordable access to their treatments," the company said<https://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=a3e5d6a65e&e=4aad33fd68>. Inside STAT<https://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=ce5c881777&e=4aad33fd68>: Will Trump's 'incredible' genes keep protecting his health? Dr. Ronny Jackson, physician to the president, told reporters this week that Trump "has incredible genes, I just assume." The idea of incredible genes might seem like hand-waving, but some genetic variants do protect against heart disease, diabetes, and other killers. Trump's genetic inheritance might explain, for example, how Trump has a blood pressure of 122/74 while only sleeping four to five hours a night, which is thought to raise the risk of high blood pressure. STAT's Sharon Begley broke down how research and the results from the president's physical might tell us about Trump's genes — read here<https://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=294720642f&e=4aad33fd68>. Expert panel recommends lowering legal blood alcohol limit for drivers A new report<https://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=f82a5dfdf8&e=4aad33fd68> from the National Academies lays out a series of steps to curb deaths tied to alcohol-impaired driving, which kills more than 10,000 people in the U.S. each year. Among their recommendations: § Change the legal limits for driving. Right now, drivers age 21 and older aren’t allowed to drive in any state if their blood alcohol concentration is at or above 0.08 percent. But the authors say a person’s ability to operate a car or motorcycle starts deteriorating at 0.05 percent. § Increase alcohol taxes. The report found there’s strong evidence that higher alcohol taxes can cut rates of alcohol-related crashes and binge drinking. But the new tax law passed by Congress last month actually slashed federal alcohol taxes. § Direct people who drive while intoxicated to treatment when it’s appropriate. The authors say every state should have DWI courts that get offenders into effective treatment when needed. For a doctor’s take on what it would take to get to zero alcohol-impaired driving fatalities, read this<https://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=cb4e3336f3&e=4aad33fd68>. What to read around the web today § A shrinking number of rural Texas hospitals still deliver babies. Here's what that means for expecting moms. Texas Tribune<https://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=c23c46b7f6&e=4aad33fd68> § Given medicine, the patients got better. They remained in shackles anyway. New York Times<https://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=09709a10df&e=4aad33fd68> § A popular school fundraiser is just 'junk-food marketing to kids,' experts say. Washington Post<https://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=5e19c04b78&e=4aad33fd68> More reads from STAT § From dancer, teacher, or astronaut to doctor: When medicine is a second career<https://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=33710477af&e=4aad33fd68>. § It’s time to levy penalties for failing to report clinical trial results<https://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=bc9bb38690&e=4aad33fd68>. The latest from STAT Plus § When the well runs dry, where will unicorns — and biotech <https://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=2949a16d06&e=4aad33fd68> — go? § PhRMA is angered by Colombia’s move to cut prices for hepatitis C drugs<https://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=eba4d36ad1&e=4aad33fd68>. Thanks for reading! More tomorrow, [Megan] [Facebook]<https://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=c098eea12a&e=4aad33fd68> [Twitter]<https://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=093caa6e6a&e=4aad33fd68> [STAT]<https://statnews.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=f8609630ae206654824f897b6&id=6d66168265&e=4aad33fd68>