Some of the most promising cancer therapies alter the DNA of T-cells so they will attack cancerous cells. Scientists announced earlier this week in Nature that they developed an alternative process that doesn't use viruses to accomplish this and could lead to safer, more precise treatments for cancer and other diseases.
"This could be a faster, cheaper, better way of making the next generation of cell therapies."
— Alexander Marson, study author, UCSF associate professor of microbiology and immunology
Democratic Sen. Chris Coons pushed back today against his party's leftward shift on health care, saying a more moderate tack is better for both winning elections and governing. "We can be bold by saying we can make healthcare affordable, without having to say we’ll make it free,” Coons said, according to the Washington Examiner.
Why it matters: The highest-profile Democrats — most of the party's leading 2020 prospects as well as insurgent candidates like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez — have embraced some version of "Medicare for All." Coons is not the only Democrat who's afraid the party is going too far, embracing what he called "pie in the sky policies" that energize progressives but may not appeal to the political center.
Three drug distributors shipped 1.6 billion opioid doses to Missouri between 2012 and 2017, according to a new report from Sen. Claire McCaskill, the top Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee.
By the numbers: That's 260 pills per Missourian, over a five-year period.
Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee blocked a proposal on Wednesday that would allocate $10 million to fund the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's gun violence research, reports Politico.
Between the lines: The party-line vote conflicts with a bipartisan agreement from earlier this year that allows the federal agency to study the issue. Previously, a 1996 measure limited the CDC's capacity to do so. But Republicans say the agency is free to study firearm injuries and argue that funding the amendment would only politicize the 2019 spending bill.
The bully pulpit is not, in fact, putting much of a dent in drug prices. But it's at least providing an illusion of lower prices.
The intrigue: Pfizer said yesterday that after "an extensive conversation with President Trump," it would "defer" the price increases it imposed on July 1, "to give the president an opportunity to work on his blueprint."
Democrats are putting the Affordable Care Act front and center in their campaign against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, hoping the same coalition that helped defeat last year's ACA repeal bills can also sink a Supreme Court pick.
The catch: It's definitely possible that a Justice Kavanaugh would be able to cast the deciding vote to strike down protections for pre-existing conditions. But a lot of stars would have to align to get there.
The Trump administration said Tuesday it will cut funds to local nonprofit groups that help people get insurance under the Affordable Care Act, per the New York Times.
Why it matters: This marks the second round of the cuts since Trump took office, as the administration moves to weaken the healthcare law — one of President Obama’s signature achievements. The administration will cut funds from $36.8 million to $10 million when the next enrollment period begins in November.
