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Morning Briefing

Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations

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Thursday, May 11 2017

Full Issue

'Change-Agent' Tapped To Head HHS Mental Health Office, And Even Some Liberal-Leaning Psychiatrists Are Cheering

Dr. Elinore McCance-Katz, Trump's pick to lead the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, is a proponent of shifting away from education-based approaches to aggressive treatment.

President Trump鈥檚 pick to run federal mental health services has called for a bold reordering of priorities 鈥 shifting money away from education and support services and toward a more aggressive treatment of patients with severe psychiatric disorders. The proposal has some psychiatrists 鈥 a generally liberal bunch 鈥 cheering despite their distrust of the Trump administration. But it鈥檚 also sparked concern among other health professionals, who worry that the administration will put too much emphasis on medicating and hospitalizing patients, and remove supports that might help them integrate successfully into society. (Keshavan, 5/11)

In other administration news聽鈥

America, you have a new commissioner at the Food and Drug Administration. Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a 44-year-old physician, was confirmed by the Senate this week in a 57-42 vote. Many Democrats expressed concern about Gottlieb鈥檚 financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), who chaired the panel that forwarded the nomination to the Senate floor, countered that Gottlieb鈥檚 extensive experience in the drug industry would be an asset in his regulatory role. Here are four things you鈥檒l want to know about Gottlieb. (Healy, 5/10)

Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price on聽Wednesday commended police in West Virginia for 鈥渄oing what they thought was appropriate鈥 in arresting a journalist who shouted questions at him, but added that it wasn鈥檛 his call to say whether they聽took the proper measures. Price said the reporter confronted him while he was walking down a hallway. 鈥淭hat gentleman was not in a press conference,鈥 he said. Daniel Ralph Heyman, a reporter for the independent Public News Service, was arrested and charged with willful disruption of governmental processes, a misdemeanor, after police in West Virginia鈥檚 Capitol building said he was聽鈥渁ggressively鈥 trying to get past Secret Service agents while yelling questions at Price. (Joseph, 5/10)

A Chicago health care company has hired Andy Slavitt, a former top government health care official who oversaw Medicare and Medicaid under President Barack Obama and was instrumental in helping to build Obamacare. Avia announced Wednesday that Slavitt would act as a senior adviser to the company, which works to help hospital systems find digital ways to improve their operations, clinical work and finances. (Schencker, 5/10)

This is part of the Morning Briefing, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.
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