public health
Cohen's first congressional brawl at CDC
CDC Director Mandy Cohen appears before the House Energy and Commerce Committee this morning in her first testimony as the agency's head, my co-author Sarah Owermohle reports. Republicans led by Chair Cathy McMorris-Rodgers (R-Wash.) have already taken aim at the embattled agency in hearings over the Covid-19 response, lab safety, and CDC's reorganization plan. They're planning to bring up much of the same, and to ask about lingering American distrust in public health institutions.
GOP lawmakers are also angling for more information on the reorganization launched this spring under then-director Rochelle Walensky, sparked in large part by criticism of the agency's Covid-19 response. "Whether these reforms, which have largely been carried out in secret and without input from Congress, the American people, or even external stakeholders, will be successful remains to be seen," leadership said in a memo this week.
Cohen's first congressional showdown as CDC director happens amid stark congressional battles over the budget for the agency and other health institutions. House Republicans want to gut certain data and forecasting programs and slash HIV funding. They also want to bar federal funding of gender-affirming care research, a non-starter for the Democrat-controlled Senate. More on Cohen, here.
a stat investigation
An HCA hospital in crisis in Appalachia
MIKE BELLEME FOR STAT
STAT's Tara Bannow traveled to Asheville, N.C. to bring to light a harrowing tale of the human impact of for-profit hospital giant HCA's cost-cutting measures at a health system in Appalachia.
She recounts complaints by 10 doctors who work or used to work at Mission Health, who described a staffing crisis and deteriorating quality of care. In total, more than 200 doctors have stopped practicing at six-hospital Mission since HCA took over in 2019. An HCA spokesperson said it has as many providers on staff as it did before the system was acquired.
The full story is worth your time — including an explanation of how the root of the issue was a controversial state law that allowed Mission to form a monopoly in the city's hospital market.
white house
To have been a fly on the wall
Top Biden administration officials took time out of their schedules to meet with tobacco lobbyists about a potential ban on menthol cigarettes, my colleague Nick Florko uncovered. And we're talking tippy-top officials — HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, White House Domestic Policy Advisor Neera Tanden, and FDA Commissioner Rob Califf, to name a few.
They met with a group called National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (the acronym spells NOBLE). It's sponsored by Altria, and a prominent lobbyist for the company sat in on the meeting, as well as several advocacy groups with ties to Reynolds American, the maker of Newport cigarettes. Philip Morris International, which doesn't sell cigarettes in the U.S. but has gotten FDA approval for several menthol-flavored smoking alternatives, sent multiple lobbyists too.
The meeting is extra notable because the top tier of officials hasn't attended other stakeholder meetings on the subject. And in the meantime, the administration has left major public health groups that have sought meetings hanging. Read more from Nick.
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