Every 5 seconds a child under 15 years old died in 2018, mostly from preventable causes, according to the latest mortality trends report from 2 UN agencies.
The big picture: UNICEF and the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UNIGME) found the total number of deaths among children and adolescents under 15 years old has dropped by 56% since 1990 — from about 14.2 million to 6.2 million in 2018. Causes of death include treatable infectious diseases, nutritional causes, drowning, burns and injuries.
The number of possible cases of severe respiratory illnesses among people who vaped nicotine or cannabis products has jumped by nearly 50% to 530 in 38 states and 1 territory, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Thursday.
Why it matters: There have been8 confirmed deaths related to e-cigarette use, but no single product or substance has been definitively tied to the illnesses, the CDC said in its media briefing. This includes products purchased from unauthorized retailers. The CDC still advises that people should avoid using e-cigarettes.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has put forward an aggressive plan allowing Medicare to negotiate the prices of some prescription drugs that could also be applied in the commercial market.
Why it matters: Under any other GOP administration, this plan would be dead on arrival. But Washington is waiting to see whether President Trump bites — and can then browbeat other Republicans into voting for it.
New York Reps. Tom Suozzi (D) and Peter King (R) will announce Thursday a bill that would introduce a federal tax on e-cigarettes and codify into law a ban on flavored e-cigarette and tobacco products.
Why it matters: It's the only bipartisan federal legislation that introduces a tax on e-cigarettes.
The health care industry continued to rake in record-level profits in the second quarter, with its year-over-year earnings increasing by 23%, according to an Axios analysis of 160 companies.
The bottom line: Pharmaceutical firms and hospitals, in particular, are reaping some of the largest rewards even amid the sustained public furor over drug prices and surprise medical bills.
CBS will no longer run advertisements from any e-cigarette company as a matter of policy, a company spokesperson confirmed to Axios on Wednesday.
What's happening: CBS joins CNN and its parent company, WarnerMedia, in banning e-cigarette ads, as first reported by CNBC and The Daily Beast. Viacom, which is in the middle of a massive merger with CBS, also told CNBC on Wednesday the network will stop running e-cigarette ads.
The global market for vaping is suddenly under extreme scrutiny, with major backlash in the U.S. — paired with a ban in India and Juul yanked from online marketplaces in China.
Why it matters: Companies like Juul and others — which now market their vaping products around stopping smoking — suddenly face a nasty political climate based on fears of kids getting addicted.
Less than a week after debuting in China, all of Juul's products have been pulled from some of the country's biggest online retailers with no explanation, Bloomberg reports.
The big picture: "International growth is important for Juul, especially as vaping comes under increasing scrutiny in the U.S.," even as Big Tobacco companies invest billions, Bloomberg writes. A successful expansion into China could have helped launch Juul's global presence, since it's the world's largest market of smokers.
Advocates of a single-payer system may have a hard time persuading workers that their wages would go up if their employer-based health care went away.
Why it matters: “Medicare for All” would bring an enormous amount of change to the health system, and the disruption of employer-based insurance is already an important political flashpoint.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told Jim Cramer on CNBC's "Mad Money" on Tuesday that Democrats should focus on making improvements to the Affordable Care Act instead of pushing to introduce Medicare for All.
Why it matters: The Medicare for All bill from Sen. Bernie Sanders has 16 co-sponsors, including several other 2020 Democrats. Other Democratic candidates support versions of the bill. Pelosi's health care comments seem more in line with 2020 front-runner Joe Biden, whose policies involve improving the Affordable Care Act.
