Brainstorm Health Daily: May 4, 2017

Today, the House of Representatives will vote on a bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. It will almost certainly pass. (After the March 24 failure, it would be nearly unthinkable for the Republican leadership in Congress to call for a vote without being sure of the count ahead of time.)

The “landmark” passage, as supporters will call it, will join at least 56 other landmarks in the Rand McNally Guide to Congressional Showmanship. Ed O’Keefe of the Washington Post has detailed 54 times between 2011 and 2014 when the House voted to repeal, defund, hobble, or restrict all or part of the ACA. And that legislative body managed to pass Obamacare-repeal bills in 2015 and 2016, too.

Today’s effort will get lots of press. And then die in the Senate.

Actual news below.

DIGITAL HEALTH

A plethora of cool digital health updates from our Brainstorm Health conference. I highly encourage you to take Cliff's advice and read about some of the fascinating panels and demos from our 2nd annual Brainstorm Health conference, which concluded last evening in San Diego. Here are just a few of the awesome highlights: NLF players are using wearables to boost their post-workout recovery times; the big breakthroughs that are changing the way we take our medicine; and a live demonstration of how listening to a renowned cello player lights up different parts of the brain.

INDICATIONS

New drug report sheds light on spending trends, projects way more cancer and orphan drugs. QuintilesIMS is out with a new report predicting a moderation in prescription drug spending over the next few years thanks to both public and payer pushback against high drug prices. One thing that could wind up bucking the trend down the line? A big spike in new drug approvals for pricey therapies such as cancer treatments and medicines for rare diseases after the FDA approved just 22 new drugs last year. The agency has already significantly picked up the pace in 2017.(Reuters)

THE BIG PICTURE

A spit test may be able to tell how severe a concussion is. Penn State researchers have published findings showing that a simple spit test was almost 90% accurate in predicting whether or not concussion symptoms in a child would subside after just days or last for weeks. In fact, the test of tiny bits of genetic material contained in saliva proved significantly more accurate than a different conventional concussion survey commonly used by doctors, according to the researchers.(NPR)

REQUIRED READING

The Apple Watch Could Help You Lose 30 Pounds. Just Ask Tim Cook, by Kevin Lui

Health Care Startups Getting Hyped, by Adam Lashinsky

United Prepares for Second Congressional Grilling Over Passenger Dragging Incident, by Reuters

Best Buy Makes a Bigger Push Into the Smart Home, by Leena Rao