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House Democrats want to haul drugmaker CEOs before Congress. Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., the likely next head of the House Oversight Committee, wants to bring the CEOs of drugmakers to grill them on high drug prices. Cummings told the Washington Examiner on Tuesday that Congress has been “constantly told that nobody seems to know why prices are so high.” If he helms the House Oversight Committee as expected next year when Democrats take control of the House, he will have the power to subpoena CEOs and hold oversight hearings. Cummings said he wants CEOs to explain their funding for research and development. Pharma companies often employ a defense that high prices are justified to compensate for high research and development costs. “We have to bring the drug companies in here and let them explain to us that when they say they are doing R&D does that mean advertisement, does that mean giving doctors extra money to prescribe their medications?” Cummings said. “We have to figure all of that out, and once we do, we will figure out how to attack it.”

Welcome to Philip Klein’s Daily on Healthcare, compiled by Washington Examiner Executive Editor Philip Klein (@philipaklein), Senior Healthcare Writer Kimberly Leonard (@LeonardKL) and Healthcare Reporter Robert King (@rking_19).  Email [email protected] for tips, suggestions, calendar items and anything else. If a friend sent this to you and you’d like to sign up, click here. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email and we’ll add you to our list.

A new speaker for Democrats? Anti-Pelosi faction agitates, but others say leader will stay. One week after Democrats won their largest House majority since Watergate, agitators within the Democratic caucus say they’re certain they can oust Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

A core group of Pelosi opponents, who’ve long called for her to step aside, are working overtime to gather fellow incumbent and newly elected Democrats to their side ahead of a private caucus vote on Nov. 28. On their first day back in Washington after the election, the contingent of roughly 10 Pelosi defectors held a meeting and continued their whipping efforts of incoming freshmen. “I have a hundred percent confidence we’re going to have new leadership,” said Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., who is helping lead the charge against Democrats’ longtime leader.

Andy Biggs wants one last vote to repeal Obamacare. Since Republicans took the House in 2011, they have voted more than 50 times to repeal Obamacare. But the law is still here after Republicans failed to advance a repeal bill out of the Senate. Now Republicans in the House only have a few weeks left in power before Democrats take over and one Republican want to take one last vote for repeal. “Let’s vote for a clean repeal of Obamacare,” said Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., in an op-ed on Tuesday. “That’s what we promised. We must deliver on that promise.” It is highly unlikely that Speaker Ryan would bring up another Obamacare repeal bill that would meet a swift death in the Senate where 60 votes would be needed to fully repeal the law. Republicans used a budgetary tool called reconciliation that let them repeal most of the law with only 51 votes, but there are no signs that Republicans will go down that road again.

JUUL to halt flavored e-cigarette sales to more than 90,000 retailers. Major e-cigarette maker Juul Labs announced Tuesday it will stop selling flavored versions of its products to more than 90,000 retail stores as the federal government prepares to crack down on e-cigarette use among minors. The manufacturer said on Tuesday that it would no longer accept retail orders from more than 90,000 retailers for flavored products. “We will now make mango, fruit, creme, and cucumber available only on JUUL.com, where we are adding additional age-verification measures to an already industry-leading online sales system that is restricted to people 21 years old and utilizes third party verification,” Juul said in a statement. JUUL also said that it would discontinue its social media promotions on Facebook and Instagram, key marketing tactics that helped fuel the company’s rise. Gottlieb has called on major e-cigarette makers to put together a plan to curb e-cigarette use among minors or else he would pursue a ban on e-cigarette sales to convenience stores. He is also looking at bans on menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars. Gottlieb tweeted after Juul announced its plan that “voluntary action is no substitute for regulatory steps #FDA will soon take. But we want to recognize actions by Juul today and urge all manufacturers to immediately implement steps to start reversing these trends.”

Blu e-cigarette maker will also restrict sales ahead of impending federal crackdown. The makers of the popular Blu brand of e-cigarette announced on Wednesday that it will raise the minimum age to buy its e-cigarette “pods” on its website to 21 across the U.S. It will also require online retail partners to use age verification to stop kids from buying the products, according to Rich Hill, CEO of Blu manufacturer Fontem Ventures, on CNBC. Hill’s comments come a day after e-cigarette giant JUUL Labs said it would stop sales of its flavored products to 90,000 retailers that include convenience stores and vape shops.

Public health emergency declared after California wildfires. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar on Tuesday declared a public health emergency in California due to the wildfires. The disaster is exposing people to smoke, which is particularly dangerous to people with asthma or other lung conditions. The declaration allows California residents on Medicare and Medicaid to get emergency needs met faster.  

93,689 is the final count for healthcare.gov customers affected by breach. The breach of the Direct Enrollment Pathway for agents and brokers, which was discovered Oct. 16, affected 93,689 people, according to CMS. Agency officials have reached out to all consumers by phone and mailed them letters to offer them free credit protection or other services such as identity theft insurance.

90 children have polio-like illness. Acute flaccid myelitis is affecting 90 children across 27 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Scientists still don’t know what’s causing the illness and more could become confirmed because they are monitoring 252 people showing symptoms that include weakness in the muscles and legs. Most of the infections are occurring among children between the ages of 2 and 8. 

Guidelines urge regular screening for dangerous alcohol use. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force is advising doctors to screen all patients for dangerous alcohol consumption, which it defines as drinking several alcoholic drinks in one setting or drinking every day. When doctors find patients who struggle with alcohol use they should undergo “brief behavioral counseling interventions to reduce unhealthy alcohol use,” the group said.

Democratic poll attributes Kyrsten Sinema’s Arizona Senate victory to healthcare. A new poll of Arizona voters found that a majority listed healthcare as a top issue in the state, and newly elected Democratic Senator-elect Kyrsten Sinema was the benefactor. Democratic polling firm Public Policy Polling found that 62 percent of Arizona voters had healthcare as the top issue. Of those 62 percent of voters, the overwhelming majority supported Sinema over Rep. Martha McSally, R-Ariz., by a 68 to 29 percent margin. McSally has been hammered by Sinema, who is also a House lawmaker, over the course of the campaign for her vote to repeal Obamacare last year while serving in the House. Sinema was projected to be the victor in the extremely close Senate battle to replace retiring GOP Sen. Jeff Flake. The poll was based on interviews with 764 voters with a 3.6 percentage point margin of error.

RUNDOWN

STAT News HHS will bring in fetal tissue expert for ‘listening sessions’

New York Times New Jersey sues pharmaceutical company over opioid crisis

Washington Post Experts chase the cause of a paralyzing childhood disease spiking this year

Politico How one blue state is defying Trump’s Obamacare moves

NPR A search for new ways to pay for drugs that cost a mint

Reuters Many U.S. drugstores fail to provide naloxone for opioid overdoses

Roll Call With divided Congress, healthcare action high tails it to the states