Daily on Healthcare: Surgeon who operated on Biden: He’s better now than before brain surgery

SURGEON WHO OPERATED ON BIDEN: HE’S BETTER NOW THAN BEFORE BRAIN SURGERY: Joe Biden almost died after suffering an aneurysm while serving in the Senate, but the surgeon who operated on his brain says that the incident shouldn’t hold him back in his pursuit of the presidency.

Dr. Neal Kassell, the renowned neurosurgeon who operated on Biden, said he’s confident that former vice president is “totally in the clear,” and joked that he believed the surgery had even “made him better than how he was.”

“Joe Biden of all of the politicians in Washington is the only one that I’m certain has a brain, because I have seen it,” Kassell said. “That’s more than I can say about all the other candidates or the incumbents.”

Apart from Kassell’s endorsement of his brain health, little has been publicly disclosed about Biden’s overall health since 2008, when he released medical records as a vice presidential candidate. Biden would be 78 on Inauguration Day, and he still calls up Kassell every year on the anniversary of his surgery.

Initially, Biden suffered an aneurysm that burst and required him to undergo emergency surgery. A few months later, surgeons clipped a second aneurysm before it burst, after discovering it during a routine screening.

Not everyone is as fortunate after an aneurysm as Biden was: 30,000 people have aneurysms that rupture every year, and about 40% of those cases are fatal. Of those who survive, 66% have a neurological deficit.

Those close to Biden say they have no concerns about his health as he enters yet another White House run. A former senior aide said Biden remains a “picture of health.”

“I don’t think there’s anything to worry about, his fitness is like someone 10 years younger than him. This is a man who enjoys running for president,” the former aide told the Washington Examiner. “His health has never been a concern for anyone who knows him or works with him.”

Read more about Biden’s brush with death and his medical history.

Good morning and welcome to the Washington Examiner’s Daily on Healthcare! This newsletter is written by senior healthcare reporter Kimberly Leonard (@LeonardKL) and healthcare reporter Cassidy Morrison (@CassMorrison94). You can reach us with tips, calendar items, or suggestions at [email protected]. If someone forwarded you this email and you’d like to receive it regularly, you can subscribe here.

TRUMP CHANGES HIS TUNE ON VACCINES AMID MEASLES OUTBREAK: President Trump said Friday that people should get vaccinated for measles in the midst of the worst outbreak since its elimination in 2000. The president in the past has been skeptical of vaccine science, linking vaccinations to autism. Before departing to Indiana, he said, “They have to get the shots. The vaccinations are so important. This is really going around now. They have to get their shots.”

BIDEN KICKS OFF RUN WITH PHILLY FUNDRAISER: Comcast executive David Cohen held a fundraiser for Biden at his Philadelphia home on Thursday evening, the same day the former vice president announced his White House bid. The fundraiser counted the CEO of insurance giant Independence Blue Cross, Daniel Hilferty, among its attendees.

WASHINGTON JUDGE BLOCKS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S RULES TARGETING PLANNED PARENTHOOD: A federal judge on Thursday blocked the Trump administration from setting new rules that would have cut off millions of dollars in government funding from Planned Parenthood.

Judge Stanley Bastian in the Eastern District of Washington state, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, granted the preliminary injunction concerning government family planning funds known as Title X.

Bastian said he would block the rule following three hours of oral arguments, according to the Washington attorney general’s office. Democratic Attorney General Bob Ferguson brought the suit alongside the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association.

CBO WILL SCORE MEDICARE FOR ALL: The Congressional Budget Office will release an analysis on Wednesday, May 1, documenting some of the considerations that will go into running a fully government-financed healthcare system.

House Budget Committee Chairman John Yarmuth, D-Ky., had originally requested the score, asking the nonpartisan agency to evaluate how the healthcare system would be financed, whether private insurers would play a role, whether patients would face any direct costs, what methods could be put into containing costs, and how to set reimbursement rates. The score will hit a day after a House Rules Committee hearing on the Medicare for All Act.

DRINKING IN PREGNANCY IS UP: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday that 11.5% of pregnant women drink alcohol, and that 3.9% reported binge drinking during the past 30 days. This means that a third of women who drink during pregnancy are drinking to excess. Healthcare professionals say women shouldn’t drink at all during pregnancy because it raises the possibility of miscarriage, stillbirth, or giving birth to a baby with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, a condition affecting neurological function and that can result in birth defects.

MARIJUANA GROUP CONDEMNS BIDEN’S ‘ABYSMAL RECORD’ ON DRUGS: Biden has the ‘worst record’ of any Democratic or Republican presidential candidate when it comes to marijuana law reform, the largest pot legalization group in the nation said on Thursday. The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws described him as “one of the architects of many of our nation’s draconian drug policies.” Criminal justice reform advocates have criticized Biden for helping to craft the 1994 crime law that implemented mandatory life sentences for repeat offenders.

INDIANA ACLU SUES THE STATE AFTER ABORTION BANS ARE SIGNED INTO LAW: The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana has filed a lawsuit challenging abortion restrictions signed by GOP Gov. Eric Holcomb. The law bans dilation-and-evacuation abortions except when the mother is at risk of “substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function,” or when the fetus is no longer viable. Dilation and evacuation is the most commonly used abortion procedure in the second trimester, but second-trimester abortions are rare in Indiana overall. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says the procedure has fewer complications than other types of second-trimester abortions.

FDA LAUNCHES PUBLIC EDUCATION CAMPAIGN ABOUT SAFE DISPOSAL OF OPIOIDS: The Food and Drug Administration announced an initiative to educate Americans about proper disposal of prescription opioids Thursday. The education program is aimed at women ages 35-64, who often oversee household healthcare, and will help them understand how to properly dispose of unused prescription opioids from their homes. The “Remove the Risk” campaign is a part of the FDA’s continued efforts to address and stop the opioid crisis. “If every household removed prescription opioids once they’re no longer medically needed for their prescribed purpose it would have a major impact on the opioid crisis’ hold on American families and communities,” said Dr. Amy Abernethy, principal deputy commissioner at the FDA.

LA TO QUARANTINE COLLEGE STUDENTS WHO CAN’T PROVE THEY RECEIVED MEASLES VACCINATION: College students at the University of California, Los Angeles and California State University Los Angeles will now be quarantined if they cannot prove they have received the measles vaccine after being exposed to a confirmed case of the viral infection. The quarantine for measles can last up to 21 days.

JUDGE: TRUMP ADMINISTRATION HAS 6 MONTHS TO IDENTIFY CHILDREN SPLIT FROM FAMILIES AT BORDER: U.S. District Court Judge Dana Sabraw said Thursday the Trump administration has six months to identify as many as thousands of children who were separated from their families at the U.S.-Mexico border. The judge he would consider an extension, but he wanted to hold the government to a date after administration officials opposed any deadline. The administration said it could take as long as two years to reunite the separated children with their parents.

VETERANS SLAM OCASIO-CORTEZ FOR HER FIERCE DEFENSE OF THE VA: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez‘s fierce defense of the Department of Veteran Affairs — “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” — has earned her flak from the very people who are served by the scandal-ridden agency: veterans. During a town hall, she said the VA would be a blueprint if “Medicare for all” were to pass: “If you ask me, I would like VA for all.” Eli Crane, a former Navy SEAL who now runs the company he started from his garage said, “I would love to see her tell that to the family members of veterans who died waiting for treatment from the VA.”

NORTH KOREA BILLED US $2M FOR HOSPITAL CARE OF COMATOSE OTTO WARMBIER: North Korea reportedly billed the U.S. $2 million for the hospital care of American college student Otto Warmbier and insisted a U.S. official sign a pledge to pay the fee before he was released in 2017. Trump denied Friday that he had paid any money for Warmbier’s return. The Washington Post reported the bill, signed off on an agreement in accordance with instructions from Trump, reportedly went to the Treasury Department where it remained unpaid through 2017. It is unclear if the bill was discussed in the runup to Trump’s two summits with Kim Jong Un.

The Rundown

Kaiser Health News Klobuchar wants to stop ‘pay-for-delay’ deals that keep drug prices high

The New York Times E.P.A proposes weaker standards on chemicals contaminating drinking water

California Healthline Patients caught in middle of fight between healthcare behemoths

The Wall Street Journal Psychedelics as a path to social learning

KTAR News Arizona AG backs first responders’ right to healthcare coverage

Los Angeles Times USC cardiovascular fellowship to be stripped of national accreditation

Calendar

FRIDAY | April 26

House and Senate in recess.

April 25-26. Baltimore. Conference of the National Association of Accountable Care Organizations. Agenda.

MONDAY | April 29

8:30 a.m. 1615 H St NW. Chamber of Commerce event on “”Innovations: Redesigning Wellness.”

TUESDAY | April 30

10:30 a.m. 2322 Rayburn. House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Health Subcommittee to hold hearing on the payment of prescription drugs in Medicare Part B and C. Details.

10 a.m. H-313. House Rules Committee hearing on the Medicare for All Act. Details.

WEDNESDAY | May 1

8 a.m. 214 Massachusetts Ave. NE. Washington Examiner’s “Examining Healthcare” event with Sens. Bill Cassidy, R-La., and Doug Jones, D-Ala. Register.