Scientists and ethicists are urging further debate on the current 14-day limit over research on human embryos.
Why it matters: Some scientists, speaking with Axios and others at an event hosted by Rice University's Baker Institute Wednesday, say expanded research on early embryo development would provide untapped insight into how humans, and their diseases, develop.
Measles epidemics have surged in the past year, according to a new report from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and one from the Pan American Health Organization.
The details: Between April 1, 2017, and March 30, 2018, there were more than 14,000 measles cases across Europe, led by Italy (4,448 cases), Romania (3,243), and Greece (2,400). The vast majority (84%) occurred among people who did not receive their measles vaccination, while only 4% of the cases were imported. In the latest dire development, more than 9,000 cases were reported in Ukraine in the first 13 weeks of 2018.
Pfizer is paying the federal government nearly $24 million to settle allegations it funneled money to an outside foundation as a way to cover drug copays for Medicare beneficiaries. United Therapeutics paid a $210 million settlement late last year for similar allegations.
The bottom line: Drug copay coupons are legal in private health insurance but are illegal in Medicare (although the Trump administration may be open to changing that). Insurers are fighting back against coupons, and it could erupt into a big drug pricing issue this year.
Vox has another installment in its series on emergency room billing, and it's (once again) a doozy. This time, a patient went to an in-network hospital for emergency jaw surgery, but received treatment from an out-of-network surgeon and thus found himself responsible for a nearly $8,000 hospital bill.
Why it matters: Even the most responsible of patients — like this one, who made sure the hospital he was in was in-network before undergoing surgery — are getting stuck between insurers and providers who can't agree on rates, finding themselves on the hook for medical bills that the average person can't afford.
New figures from the Congressional Budget Office put a finer point on just how bad things are getting for Affordable Care Act premiums.
The state of play: The premium for an average "benchmark" plan is 34% higher this year than in 2017, when the rules of the road had been set by the Obama administration. CBO expects premiums for the same set of plans to go up another 15% for 2019, then to level out at about 7% per year after that.
The Nipah virus has been confirmed as the culprit in a cluster of patients in the Indian state of Kerala, killing at least 10 people and leaving 2 others critically ill. A relatively rare virus harbored in fruit bats and pigs, Nipah has a fatality rate above 70% and has no cure.
Why it matters: A person infected in Kerala today could be in New Delhi or Frankfurt or Washington tomorrow. The 2014–15 West Africa Ebola outbreak highlighted just how threatening a runaway epidemic can become.
Not-for-profit hospitals are paying bankers, lawyers and other financial advisers hundreds of millions of dollars every year to help them with a relatively routine task: issuing debt.
Why it matters: Collecting debt fees from hospitals is a steady source of money for Wall Street interests like Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo. But those costs could encourage hospitals to chase revenue through higher prices.
