PROGRAMMING NOTE: We’ll be off this Monday for Indigenous Peoples' Day but will be back in your inboxes on Tuesday.
WEEKEND READ
Acting House Speaker Patrick McHenry is among the Republicans to cash an AMPAC check in the 2022 election cycle. | House Television via AP
Republicans in Congress and the country’s leading lobby for doctors are at loggerheads over abortion, transgender care, climate policy, gun control and myriad other issues.
But given Congress’ role in setting Medicare payment rates, the American Medical Association still needs the GOP.
Daniel’s review of political contributions from the AMA’s political action committee shows how the group is trying to maintain good relations, even as it calls out Republicans for butting into medical decisions and downplaying public health threats.
Money flow: In the 2021-22 cycle, AMPAC contributed nearly $350,000 to lawmakers given ratings of A or A+ by anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, according to Federal Election Commission data.
Likewise, AMPAC contributed more than $26,000 to candidates who co-sponsored legislation to limit doctors’ ability to provide gender-affirming care.
In the days after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, the AMA suggested that it might withhold contributions to Republicans who voted against certifying state results for the 2020 presidential election.
At the time, the group added a note to its webpage explaining that “physicians abhor violence and were shocked and dismayed” by the insurrection, adding its political action committee would “include a review of the recent electoral college certification vote and the violent attacks” when donating to campaigns for the 2022 election.
But in the 2021-22 cycle, AMPAC donated more than $110,000 to candidates who voted to sustain objections to the electoral votes in the 2020 election. The group also donated $25,000 to the leadership funds of Reps. Kevin McCarthy and Steve Scalise, who both voted to sustain objections to the election.
Even so: Overall, AMPAC gave a record share of its contributions to Democrats — 61 percent, according to an analysis by Open Secrets.
AMA President Jesse Ehrenfeld, an anesthesiologist, said that the AMA’s political action committee makes its own decisions and is led by its own board.
He also said the AMA “will always stand up for the science” and the group continued to be “very effective at bringing people together” on policy matters.
Dr. Brooke Buckley, AMPAC’s chair, said in an email she wasn’t permitted to speak on the issue and referred questions to the AMA.
A message from Kidney Care Access Coalition:
Dialysis patients and their families are being harmed. Learn more from the Kidney Care Access Coalition.
WELCOME TO FUTURE PULSE
Yiliang County, Yunnan, China | Evan Peng
This is where we explore the ideas and innovators shaping health care.
We must admit that we hadn’t thought about one non-health-related benefit weight-loss drugs like Ozempic might have: saving airlines fuel. Will ticket prices drop as a result?
Today on ourPulse Checkpodcast, host Katherine Ellen Foley talks with POLITICO New York health care reporter Maya Kaufman about the increase in tuberculosis cases in New York City — on track to reach the city's highest levels in more than a decade — and the possible implications of the spike.
How so? Researchers from the University of Ottawa, University of Southern California and other institutions examined hospitalizations in Canada from 2015 to 2021. During that time, Canada legalized cannabis and later allowed commercial businesses to sell it.
The businesses were also granted permission to sell edibles, vape pens and concentrates in addition to the pot flower that users roll into joints or smoke in bongs.
The staggered timeline, as well as differing regulatory approaches at the provincial level, offered researchers a unique opportunity learn thow cannabis’ retail policies impacted public health.
How did they? Over the seven years, researchers found a nearly twofold increase in cannabis-related hospitalizations.
A variety of reasons accounted for hospital visits, including acute intoxication, harmful use, dependence, withdrawal and poisoning, but the largest relative spike was in cannabis-induced psychosis.
Even so: Canada’s weed industry took root during the pandemic, making it difficult to separate the public health effects of commercialization from any changes in hospitalization rates due to Covid-19.
But researchers think pot commercialization contributed to the increases because they didn’t see similar bumps for other drugs.
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CHECKUP
DEA Administrator Anne Milgram says her agency is considering public feedback on telemedicine prescribing. | AP
More patients can get their prescriptions via telemedicine, at least through the end of next year, POLITICO’s Ben Leonard reports.
That’s because the Drug Enforcement Administration announced Friday that it would permit continued telemedicine prescribing of the drugs it regulates for all patients through 2024.
It had previously planned to begin restricting telemedicine prescriptions next month.
Why it matters: The DEA permitted virtual prescribing during the pandemic but has signaled concern about overprescribing of controlled substances by virtual care doctors.
Before Friday’s announcement, it had planned to require in-person visits for new patients starting next month and for existing patients a year later, in November 2024.
But the agency is under pressure to back off, having received tens of thousands of comments urging it to retain greater access to telemedicine prescriptions.
A broad swath of common medications fall under the DEA’s purview, including Adderall to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, Oxycontin for pain relief, and buprenorphine for opioid use disorder.
What’s next? The agency said it plans to issue new “standards or safeguards” by fall 2024.
A message from Kidney Care Access Coalition:
Employer health plans can now discriminate against patients with kidney failure. Prevent that tragedy.
Congress: Restore what’s right – protect dialysis patients and their families.
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