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US life expectancy drops for historic third consecutive year. U.S. life expectancy decreased for the third year in a row in 2017, a trend that hasn’t been observed in 100 years. The finding comes from a series of reports released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They showed that drug overdoses and suicides fueled the trend, resulting in earlier deaths and a changed view of how long people in the U.S. can expect to live. Life expectancy for the U.S. population declined from 78.7 years in 2016 to 78.6 years in 2017. The life expectancy for women was unchanged, at 81.1 years, but for men it decreased from 76.2 years in 2016 to 76.1 years. Rates of death increased most among white men and women, and among adults between the ages of 25 to 34. “Life expectancy gives us a snapshot of the nation’s overall health and these sobering statistics are a wakeup call that we are losing too many Americans, too early and too often, to conditions that are preventable,” CDC director Robert Redfield said in a statement. The data, which come from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, show that 2,813,503 people died in 2017, 69,255 more deaths than in 2016.

The last time life expectancy dropped for the third year in a row was in during World War I, when a flu pandemic tore through the population, resulting in 50 million deaths across the globe.

Drug overdoses by the numbers. Drug overdoses were tied to 70,237 deaths in 2017, an increase of nearly 10 percent from the year before, and opioids such as heroin and fentanyl were responsible for 47,600 of these deaths. Deaths from fentanyl grew from 19,413 in 2016 to 28,466 in 2017. Just a salt-shake amount into the palm is enough to kill most people. Other studies have demonstrated that fentanyl is often mixed with other drugs, including heroin and cocaine, sometimes without the knowledge of the person taking them.

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Number of uninsured children in U.S. goes up for first time in eight years. The number and rate of uninsured children in the U.S. rose in 2017, according to a new report based on government data, the first such increase in eight years. There were 3.9 million uninsured children nationwide in 2017, 276,000 more than the year before, according to Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families’ eighth annual report on uninsured children released Wednesday. The share of children that are uninsured rose from 4.7 percent in 2016 to 5 percent in 2017, according to the report’s analysis of census data. The center attributed the increase partly to a lack of awareness about government programs for insuring children and congressional delays in funding the Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP.

Obamacare signups still lag, but could recover. Sign-ups for Obamacare continue to fall behind last year’s pace, but the final tally could jump in two weeks when millions more current customers are automatically re-enrolled into the program if they fail to drop out or make changes. The latest numbers out Wednesday from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services show that during the first 24 days of open enrollment, 2,424,913 people signed up for health insurance plans on healthcare.gov, the Obamacare website that connects people with private insurance who don’t have coverage through a job or government program. Around the same time last year, at 25 days into enrollment, 2,781,260 people had signed up for coverage. By the end of the six-week sign-up period two weeks later, 8.7 million people were enrolled, a significantly larger sum than the current tally. But, as is true every year, customers who already have Obamacare plans and don’t make any changes will be automatically enrolled in another one after the Dec. 15 deadline.

Democrats cried ‘sabotage.’ Top House Democrats on Wednesday seized on the figures in a statement, saying that “these lagging numbers show that Republicans’ sabotage of our nation’s health care system is working.” “The Trump administration has starved the program intended to help families get covered by refusing to make congressionally required investments in outreach and enrollment,” said Democratic Reps. Frank Pallone of New Jersey, Richard Neal of Massachusetts, and Bobby Scott of Virginia, all of whom are top Democrats on key health-related committees.

Verma wouldn’t predict final open enrollment number. CMS Administrator Seema Verma in a press conference Tuesday, before the sign-up figures were released, declined to make predictions about open enrollment but said her agency was working to make the website run smoothly. She also declined to comment on the impact auto-enrollment might have. Verma acknowledged that the sign-ups were happening at a slightly slower rate than last year but said it was still early and added that after the Thanksgiving holiday the sign-ups may accelerate. The cost of health insurance continued to be too steep for many customers, even though it had gone down slightly for the first time this year under her tenure, she noted. “People signing up for coverage have a smooth experience,” Verma said of this year’s open enrollment website. “We are trying to aim for high customer satisfaction.”

NIH director criticizes scientist’s claim of genetic editing of human embryos. The director of the National Institutes of Health on Wednesday described a Chinese scientist’s claim to have genetically edited a human embryo as “deeply disturbing.” “It is profoundly unfortunate that the first apparent application of this powerful technique to the human germline has been carried out so irresponsibly,” NIH Director Francis Collins said regarding the claim by Dr. He Jiankui on Monday that he modified two embryos in infant twins to make them immune to HIV. Collins added that He and his team “flaunted international ethical norms” by carrying out the project in secret. He said that there needed to be limits on the type of genetic editing technology that led to the claim from He, which hasn’t been independently verified or confirmed.

Controversial scientist breaks his silence over gene editing experiment. Dr. He broke his silence on the experiment, first revealed by the Associated Press on Monday, during a speech early Wednesday. He said at a conference on gene editing that there is another potential pregnancy from genetically modified human embryos. He has also submitted the research on the project to a scientific journal for review, but did not list the journal, according to a report from CNN. The chairman of the conference, David Baltimore, bashed He’s claims because there are treatments for HIV and that the experiment was not medically necessary, CNN reported.

Nancy Pelosi easily wins speaker nomination in private House Dem vote. California Democrat Nancy Pelosi overwhelmingly won the nomination for House speaker Wednesday in a private vote, securing majority support from the Democratic caucus. Pelosi trumped the opposition, clinching the nomination 203 to 32. Pelosi’s victory was expected and changes little in the ongoing intracaucus war on her continued leadership. Those aligned against Pelosi have shown no indication they’re willing to give up their crusade. Opposition forces say they have more than 20 Democrats prepared to vote against Pelosi in the public January vote, which could deny her the necessary 218 to be elected speaker if every member voted today. House Democrats on Wednesday also nominated Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., as House Majority Leader by acclamation, and Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., was nominated to be House Majority Whip.

Democrats flip 40 in the House. Democrat TJ Cox widened his lead Wednesday over incumbent Rep. David Valadao, R-Calif., leading the nonpartisan Cook Political Report and others to call the race a wrap. The result solidifies the so-called “blue wave” that had been hyped up before the midterm elections. Democrats flipped 40 seats in the lower chamber; they only needed 23 to take command of the House next term.

In Senate, former drug company lobbyist Jon Kyl readies fast getaway after just two months in Senate. Sen. Jon Kyl lingered beside his white Corvette a few days before the midterm elections, as if to signal plans to make a fast get-away from Congress and return to the perks of the private sector. The Arizona Republican never intended to spend much time on Capitol Hill after accepting Gov. Doug Ducey’s appointment to succeed the late Sen. John McCain in early September. It was clear he didn’t miss his old job and had no intention of sticking around. “‘Enjoy’ is not the right word,” Kyl told the Washington Examiner in Phoenix, Ariz., several weeks ago. “It’s hard.” He is widely expected to depart at the end of the 115th Congress, which would be a matter of weeks, say Republican insiders familiar with his thinking. One Arizona-based GOP strategist described Kyl’s desire to leave the Senate as “definitive,” despite urging from many of his colleagues and Ducey to remain in the seat through late 2020. Kyl served was elected to the Senate in 1994 after serving eight in the House. He then spent part of his nearly-six years out of office lobbying and consulting for Covington & Burling, a high-powered Washington law firm, where he represented groups such as PhRMA, Northrup Grumman, and Qualcomm.

CVS completes $69 billion Aetna deal. CVS Health completed its $69 billion acquisition of health insurer Aetna on Wednesday, in a move widely anticipated to transform the U.S. healthcare system with similar mergers ahead. The agreement will combine the companies’ coverage options with drugstore capabilities and a pharmacy benefits platform. Both sides expect that their customers will be able to benefit from the services they deliver and keep patients out of the emergency room, as they will receive much of their primary care from CVS MinuteClinics. CVS Health President and Chief Executive Officer Larry Merlo called the deal a “transformative moment” for the company and for the healthcare industry, saying it would help to deliver lower costs to consumers. “By delivering the combined capabilities of our two leading organizations, we will transform the consumer health experience and build healthier communities through a new innovative health care model that is local, easier to use, less expensive and puts consumers at the center of their care,” he said in a statement.

Melania Trump says she has talked to son Barron about dangers of opioids. First lady Melania Trump cautioned thousands of college students on Wednesday that the opioid epidemic could affect any of them, and said she’s had talks about the dangers of opioids with her own 12-year-old son, Barron. Trump has visited several hospitals and facilities in the last two years that treat people who are addicted to opioids, as part of her Be Best initiative. Her visit to Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., was one of her more high-profile events on the issue. “What has struck me with each visit is how this epidemic has touched so many people — whether it is because of personal use, or that of family members, friends, coworkers, or neighbors — opioid addiction is an illness that has truly taken hold of our country,” Trump said.

Scientists studying kratom ask federal agencies to take a closer look at FDA studies on the drug. A dozen scientists are calling on federal agencies to reexamine a report from the Food and Drug Administration that declared kratom had a potential for abuse, and has asked that the federal government issue regulations about safety rather than scheduling the drug. The scientists outlined their objections n a 33-page letter to the FDA, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Advocates have been pushing against the possibility of categorizing kratom as a Schedule 1 drug, something the FDA has called for, while issuing multiple warnings to the public. David Herman, chairman of the American Kratom Association said in a statement that the letter demonstrated the FDA “did not engage in a comprehensive, scientifically based process, but rather what appears to be an exercise to reinforce its fight against kratom.”  

FDA warns another e-cigarette liquid maker for marketing kid-friendly flavors. The Food and Drug Administration warned Electric Lotus LLC for marketing liquids used in e-cigarettes that resemble kid-friendly food products like cereal, candy and peanut butter and jelly. The company is the latest to be warned by the FDA for peddling liquids that have kid-friendly flavors. The agency has taken several measures to crack down on e-cigarette use among minors and have pinpointed flavored e-cigarettes as a key driver of use. Earlier this year, the agency warned 17 companies for marketing kid-friendly e-cigarette liquids. The FDA proposed a few weeks ago a ban on sales of flavored e-cigarettes at convenience stores unless the store can take extreme measures like a separate room to offer the products.

RUNDOWN

Politico Babies of the opioid crisis seek their day in court

Wall Street Journal Altria in talks to take significant minority stake in JUUL Labs

The Hill Dem single-payer fight set to shift to battle over Medicare ‘buy-in’

Reuters Merck raised prices on five drugs including Keytruda in November

Morning Consult Majority of voters back national health plan, unless it’s called single payer

Modern Healthcare Mental health coverage limits in self-insured plans hang on judge’s ruling

Kaiser Health News Democrats taking key leadership roles have pocketed millions from pharma

STAT News China halts genome editing research that led to claimed birth of CRISPR babies