Coroner: White mulberry leaf caused death of Congressman's wife
Friday Pulse Check
Good morning and happy Friday. Welcome to FLATLINING’S Friday Pulse Check. This is the newsletter where we bring you some of the most interesting stories in healthcare from this week. So, with that, let’s do the news:
Is it time for FDA oversight of dietary supplements?
Kaiser Health News reported this week that the wife of US Representative Tom McClintock (R-CA 4) died from dehydration due to gastroenteritis caused by “adverse effects of white mulberry leaf ingestion.” Lori McClintock died in December of last year and the coroner’s report is dated 10 March 2022, but Kaiser Health News only saw copies of the report in July.
White mulberry leaves are used in a variety of dietary supplements and leaves for treating diabetes, obesity, and high cholesterol. Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) decried the no-man’s land of regulation for dietary supplements. He said on the Senate floor last spring, “Many people assume if that product is sold in the United States of America, somebody has inspected it, and it must be safe. Unfortunately, that’s not always true.” At the same time, he introduced legislation to provide more oversight of these supplements.
Believe it or not, there is a lobby that represents natural health supplement manufacturers and they don’t agree with the Sacramento County coroner’s findings. They say there is already an FDA reporting system for these kinds of adverse events (a few clicks this morning showed an eerie resemblance to VAERS). Read more from Kaiser Health News.
What do you think about the regulation of dietary health supplements? Let us know in the comments below.
US government agencies that lend money will no longer look at health debt
This week, as President Biden administration announced he was forgiving $10,000 of student loan debt for millions of Americans, the White House budget director announced that federal agencies that provide loans to Americans will no longer look at medical debt when making loan determinations. Some of these agencies include the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. This follows a private sector trend; earlier this year Equifax (EFX 0.00%↑) , Experian, and TransUnion (TRU 0.00%↑) all announced that medical debt would no longer have an effect on credit scores. Medical debt continues to be one of the largest sources of debt for Americans. Read more from Bloomberg.
Texas man sentenced to prison for threats to physician over COVID-19 vaccine
Scott Eli Harris of Aubrey, Texas was sentenced on Wednesday for making threats over interstate communication to a physician in Maryland over that physician’s support of a COVID-19 vaccine. Mr. Harris told the physician, who was not named in the Justice Department statement, over a cell phone message that he was “Never going to take your wonder drug. My 12 gauge promises I won't. … I can’t wait for the shooting to start.” Mr. Harris was sentenced to six months in prison followed by three years of supervised release.
Centene agrees to settle with Washington and Washington
Finally, insurance carrier Centene (CNC 0.00%↑) has agreed to pay $19 million to the state of Washington and $13 million to the federal government to settle allegations that it overcharged the state's Medicaid pharmacy benefits management program. According to a press release from the state attorney general's office, Centene allegedly failed to pass on discounts it received to the state Medicaid program and inflated dispensing fees and that it is the second largest Medicaid fraud recovery settlement in state history. This marks the eleventh state, including Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Mexico, and Ohio plus three unnamed states, that Centene has settled with over allegations it overbilled Medicaid programs for prescription drugs and services since 2021.
Don't hate the player, hate the game
This week on a FLATLINING Podcast Short, Ron explains why we shouldn't demonize the insurance carriers even though, as physicians and physician advocates, we may see them as the “enemy.” It is true that UnitedHealthcare (UNH 0.00%↑) and Cigna (CI 0.00%↑) and the others continue to bring in record profits, but this is the hand they were dealt. Ron explains how this came to be and what can be done.
Let us know what you think in the comments below, email us at flatlining@substack.com, or tweet Matthew or Ron.
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Ukraine
A team from the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was supposed to visit the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant overnight, however, new shelling prevented them from doing so. Europe’s largest power plant was knocked offline earlier this week, fueling fears that Ukraine could face another nuclear accident; the site of the 1986 Chornobyl disaster remains uninhabitable. Reports at this hour say the plant has returned to the grid. Earlier this month, the director of IAEA said that fighting at the power plant posed a “very real risk of a nuclear disaster that could threaten public health and the environment in Ukraine and beyond. Read more from AP News.
Final thought
A new drug to treat multiple sclerosis can reportedly cut symptom flare-ups in half compared to standard treatment. The new drug, ublituximab, is currently in clinical trials and is being developed by TG Therapeutics (TGTX 0.00%↑) This antibody treatment is part of a new class of MS treatments called anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies which are lab-engineered antibodies that target specific immune system cells. Ublituximab is not yet approved by the FDA. Read more from US News.
And with that, have a good weekend.
Matthew