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Trump has a new drug chief. President Trump’s top health chief has appointed a new head of drug pricing following the death of the former official who held the role. John O’Brien, a current official in the Department of Health and Human Services, will be senior advisor to the health secretary, responsible for drug pricing reform. He replaces Dan Best, who died Nov. 1. “John O’Brien has already been an integral leader in HHS’s efforts to bring down the high price of prescription drugs,” HHS Secretary Alex Azar said in a statement alongside the announcement. “As a senior advisor, he will carry forward the legacy of our departed colleague Dan Best and build on the substantial progress that has already been made. John will continue to play an important role in our overall efforts to deliver Americans better, more affordable healthcare.” O’Brien, who is also a pharmacist, was previously advisor for health reform and drug pricing and deputy assistant secretary for health policy in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. Before joining the Trump administration he was vice president of public policy for CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield. He has also worked at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Notre Dame of Maryland University College of Pharmacy, and various pharmacy and pharmaceutical organizations. He received his master’s degree in public health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, a doctor of pharmacy degree from Nova Southeastern University, and studied pharmacy and public policy at the University of Florida.

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O’Brien kicked off his tenure with an HHS blog to ‘set the record straight’ on controversy of drug pricing plan. O’Brien pushed back in a blog post Thursday against acusations that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services was “importing price controls, threatening patient access, and jeopardizzing new cures” through its drug pricing proposals. He particularly focused on a provision that would lower Medicare drug prices to match those overseas. Under the plan, Medicare would determine the price it pays for certain drugs based on the cheapest price that another nation pays. “It’s time to set the record straight,” he wrote. He said the current system did not encourage free-market competition, and that other countries benefit from the fact that the U.S. pays much more. He noted that other countries walk away when they determine the price for a drug is too high. “Free market advocates and those who have philosophical concerns about government price fixing should be among the most vocal opponents of the status quo,” he wrote.

More than a quarter of adults say they have a pre-existing condition: Poll. Twenty-seven percent of U.S. adults say they have a long-term condition, illness, or disease that a health insurer would define as a pre-existing condition, according to a Gallup poll. An additional 17 percent said that they don’t have a pre-existing condition but that an immediate family member does. The data were collected in Gallup’s annual Health and Healthcare survey, conducted Nov. 1-11, and are based on self-reports from respondents. It did not ask people about the extent of their condition. The survey comes at a time when a judge is set to deliver a decision any day on whether to throw out Obamacare’s rules on pre-existing conditions, which obligate insurers to cover sick people at the same price as healthy people.

Coalition of 140 groups asks for Congress to repeal the medical device tax. Various organizations urged congressional leaders in a letter sent Wednesday to take a swing at repealing Obamacare’s medical device tax before the end of the year. The latest push is part of a continuing battle even after groups won a delay of the tax, which was supposed to go into effect this year, until 2020. “We urge you to act before the end of this year to permanently repeal the device tax, so that individuals with life-threatening conditions will continue to benefit from the promise of advanced medical technology to extend and improve lives,” the letter reads. It was signed by more than 140 patient advocacy, disability, research, community, and healthcare industry organizations.

41 percent of adults won’t get the flu shot. As of mid-November, 43 percent of adults reported that they had gotten a flu vaccination, according to a study from NORC at the University of Chicago. Another 14 percent had not yet been vaccinated but intended to, while 41 percent of adults report they have not been vaccinated and do not plan to. Of people who have children in the home, 39 percent do not vaccinate them.These rates are happening despite the urging of public health officials, and despite the U.S. facing a particularly dire flu season last year, when 80,000 people died from the flu and its complications, and an additional 900,000 were hospitalized. Top reasons people cited for not getting vaccinated included that they didn’t believe the shot was effective, that they were concerned about side effects, or that they didn’t think they would get the flu. About a third mistakenly thought that the vaccine caused the flu.

Obamacare enrollment in Massachusetts is trending ahead of last year. Unlike most states, ernollment in the Obamacare marketplaces in Massachusetts are outpacing last year. As of last Wednesday, the state had enrolled 261,619 people. The total could be as high as 261,619 if people pay the January premiums. This is an increase of about 4 percent over last year, according to Charles Gaba, the author of ACASignups.net, who supports the healthcare law. Last year’s tally around this time was 267,260 people. Massachusetts has long had a penalty on the uninsured, and much of the federal healthcare law was modeled after it.

Methamphetamines outpace all other drug arrests in most states. The most common drug in arrests in most U.S. states in 2017 was not marijuana, but methamphetamines, according to a study released Wednesday. Crime data pulled from all 50 states indicated in 30 states, charges connected to methamphetamine use or possession were higher than those related to other drugs, including opioids, cocaine, pot, and other synthetic chemicals, according to American Addiction Centers’ Detox.net.  The 2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration found drug use in general has also increased since 2016. Last year, 30.6 million Americans aged 12 or older admitted to having used a highly addictive and illegal substance just in the past 30 days. Cocaine topped the list in Florida, New York, South Carolina, and Washington, D.C. Marijuana, which has become legal in 10 states, was only named as the top drug in arrests for two states in 2017: Arizona and New Mexico.

Bear repellent set off in New Jersey Amazon facility sends 24 to hospital. Twenty-four people were hospitalized Wednesday in New Jersey after a can of bear spray was mistakenly set off in an Amazon warehouse. More than 50 employees reported feeling sick, and at least 30 were treated on the scene, town officials told NBC10 Philadelphia. The incident was reported at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday after the bear repellent fell off a shelf on the third floor of the facility. The spray was discharged, and the affected wing of the building was evacuated. Robbinsville town spokesman John Nalbone said that half a dozen ambulances were sent to the scene. Robert Wood Johnson Hospital confirmed that it is treating nine patients, and one is in critical condition.

RUNDOWN

The Hill Manchin pitched Trump on reviving bipartisan Obamacare fix

Forbes Fitch: Hospital profits slide as threats emerge from Amazon to CVS

Denver Post Feds threaten reprisals if Denver proceeds with supervised drug-use site

Houston Chronicle Alive inside: How a hospital restores patients with severe brain injuries

WBUR Why you may be denied life insurance for carrying naloxone

Bloomberg Pitocin and ketamine prices are surging as shortages drag on