Analysts fret over cuts to hep C budget

Gov. Charlie Baker's attempt to trim spending with cuts to hepatitis C prevention could be penny-wise and pound-foolish, boosting the demand for costly treatment, forcing the state to shoulder perhaps a larger financial burden, health care watchers say.

"State prevention works and it saves a lot of money on expensive drugs," said Barry Bloom, of the Harvard School of Public Health. "Then, if you don't spend money on expensive drugs, you end up spending even more money on things like liver transplants down the line. Prevention is ... a lot cheaper than both of those options."

He added, "The benefits of prevention are financially — as well as personally — incredibly important."

Baker cut $2.3 million in prevention and care for AIDS/HIV and hepatitis C in his budget proposal earlier this month — a $38 billion plan that includes $1 billion in new net spending at MassHealth.

But hepatitis C is on the rise in Massachusetts, according to Mass.gov, with 200,000 patients in the state and at least $8,000 new diagnoses every year.

Hepatitis C medications can cost nearly $100,000 per 12-week regimen, according to AbbVie, a research-based bio-pharmaceutical company.

Rhonda Mann, a spokeswoman for the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, said, "MassHealth currently pays for treatment for its members, recognizes the importance of the benefits of these treatments and is looking at all options to make them more cost-efficient."

However, she did not say whether federal funds will replace the state cuts, and it is unclear how the 
$2.3 million in cuts will be divided between HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C funding.

Dr. Raymond Chung, director of hepatology at Massachusetts General Hospital, said hepatitis treatments are highly curative — about 
95 percent — but the limitation lies in the astronomical costs.

Viekira Pak, a commonly prescribed medication for patients, runs about $83,000, according to maker AbbVie. Harvoni, another common treatment, costs $94,500.

"The main challenge now that we've got the science is the implementation. That's our most vexing challenge for sure," Chung said. "Preventive measures are helpful in the big picture. Treatment is very expensive, and with prevention you require less money per patient to bring about all over better public health."

He added that MassHealth is "on the hook for a lot of drug costs."

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Fish fraud program unveiled

In an effort to eradicate illegal fishing and seafood fraud, the Obama Administration is launching a fish tracking system that would eventually tell consumers where their fish was caught, processed and stored.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce Bruce Andrews announced the initiative at the Seafood Expo conference in Boston yesterday, describing an action plan to stamp out imports of illegally caught fish.

"The steps the United States has taken to be a leader in environmental stewardship are paying off," he said. "However, our nation's fisheries remain threatened by illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing and seafood fraud, which negatively affects our markets."

While seafood industry groups are skeptical about potentially onerous and expensive tracking mandates in some fisheries where there are no problems, environmental organizations lauded the new rules that will roll out over the next few years.

"Today's announcement is proof that the Obama administration is committed to stopping seafood fraud and ending global illegal fishing," said Beth Lowell, a senior campaign director of nonprofit Oceana.

An Oceana study found between 20 to 32 percent of wild-caught seafood imported to the U.S. comes from illegal fishing, either fishing in closed areas, catching threatened or endangered species or using banned gear, that damages marine ecosystems. The illegal takes cost an estimated $32 billion a year.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration administrator Kathleen Sullivan told U.S. seafood industry leaders the Administration does not want to add an additional burden to industry, and said they plan to work with the Department of Homeland Security to create a trusted trader program.

Ninety percent of seafood in the U.S. is imported, and about 1 percent of seafood imports are inspected, according to NOAA.

The new strategy does not require changes in legislation, but instead will involve interagency and international collaboration. Sullivan said they will also tighten enforcement of existing laws that already ban importing 
illegally caught seafood.

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Booting Up: Chang’s embrace of technology intrigues

Tommy Chang, Boston's incoming superintendent of schools, wants to talk about something called the three-screen day — where students are focused on learning content, producing content and sharing content on a computer, tablet and smartphone — nearly all day long.

"I'm not saying this is what Boston Public Schools is moving toward," said Chang, 39, a top Los Angeles administrator with a background in charter school innovation, 
recently chosen for the top job in Boston. "I'm saying this is something we should be discussing: How do we create an education system that leverages technology?"

I called Chang on Friday wanting to chat about the three-screen day concept, and I had my arguments at the ready. Chang got back to me almost immediately. But he didn't just make his case: He cited books, education researchers and a specific institution in Los Angeles, the Incubator School, that embodies his philosophy. And I realized something: The three-screen day idea is meant to be provocative. It's Chang's way of getting people talking about innovation in education.

I went in fearing that Chang wanted to shove tablets and smartphones in the hands of kindergarteners, and came out believing that Boston's incoming school chief wants schools to be more like incubators, and each classroom like a startup, where students are the entrepreneurs of their own education, tinkering and testing as they would in a laboratory.

"The mayor has called on all of us to drive innovation," Chang said. "And to ask how we reinvent our schools to be vastly different, and how does Boston become a model for what public education looks like."

Technology has a leading role at the Incubator School that Chang mentioned. But it's equally about making learning relevant to students' lives. They develop prototypes and create their own little businesses. And in online testimonials, they talk about finding friends and acceptance.

If you're a luddite — the type of person who thinks that wooden toys were good enough for Thomas Jefferson, so why not our kids? — then Chang won't be your favorite superintendent.

But if you think technology must be woven though all aspects of education so that our classrooms are laboratories that nurture the next generation of entrepreneurs, then Chang is your man.

And if you're wrestling between those two extremes, like most people — if you know Boston Public Schools need to change and you know that innovation must play a central role — then you'll find Chang's ideas bold, thought-provoking, and you'll want to continue the conversation with him.

"Twenty years from now, should learning exist with a kid going to school at 8 a.m. and going to school six periods a day and going home and doing work?" asked Chang. "Is that really what learning should look like? I don't think so. And I think Boston can lead that conversation."

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Inspector Gadget: Don’t snooze on this sleep tracker

Withings Aura ($299, various retailers)

There are lots of sleep-monitoring devices on the market these days, but this is one that is supposed to actually help you fall asleep and wake up. With a light-emitting bedside alarm clock and a connected sensor that monitors your movements and heartbeat, this is a very intriguing piece of technology.

The good: Well-
designed, futuristic-
looking and easy to use, the Aura lulls you to sleep with peaceful nature sounds and a melatonin-inducing red spectrum light.

An iOS app collects all of your data on REM and deep sleep. And it does a good job of waking you up at the right time in your sleep cycle.

The bad: If there's someone else in the bed, your tracker may be skewed by their movements. Also, the price is a bit steep.

The bottom line: If you're an insomniac who sleeps alone, then this sleep tracker is one to consider.

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Stocks rise on Chinese stimulus hopes, ahead of Fed

HONG KONG — Chinese stocks led global markets higher on Monday on hopes of new stimulus in the world's second-largest economy. Investors were also looking ahead to a Federal Reserve meeting this week that may set the stage for the first U.S. interest rate hike since the global financial crisis.

KEEPING SCORE: In early European trading, Germany's DAX rose 1.1 percent to 12,036.12, the first time it has traded above the 12,000 level. France's CAC 40 was up 0.8 percent to 5,049.09, while Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.5 percent to 6,775.73. U.S. stocks were poised to open higher, with Dow and S&P 500 futures both climbing 0.4 percent.

CHINA CHEER: Chinese stocks surged 2.3 percent to their highest level in about 5 ½ years a day after Premier Li Keqiang was quoted by official news agency Xinhua as saying policymakers have "fairly ample room" and a "host of policy instruments" to boost economic growth if it slows more than expected. Speaking at the close of China's annual legislature on Sunday, Li said authorities have that leeway because they held off on bringing in sweeping stimulus measures since the major stimulus in response to the 2008 global financial crisis.

FED IN FOCUS: Investors elsewhere hunkered down ahead of the Fed's two-day meeting that begins Tuesday. A growing number of investors expect the U.S. central bank to raise its benchmark interest rate sooner rather than later and they will be watching to see whether officials signal through their language whether that's the case. Global stock markets have been lifted for several years by ultralow rates and other monetary stimulus but a Fed rate hike would mark the start of a return to more normal levels for borrowing costs.

THE QUOTE: The Fed meeting will "undoubtedly" be the week's highlight for investors, said Michael Every, head of Asia-Pacific financial market research at Rabobank, in a commentary. "We might well say goodbye to the key term 'patience', which has become a rolling rule of thumb for 'a few more months'. In other words, March could officially open the door to a potential June rate hike."

ASIA'S DAY: China's Shanghai Composite jumped 2.3 percent to 3,449.30, its highest since August 2009, on Li's comments. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 slipped less than 0.1 percent to close at 19,246.06 while South Korea's Kospi added 0.1 percent to 1,987.33. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.5 percent to 23,949.55. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.3 percent to 5,797.70. Markets in Southeast Asia were mixed.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude was down 60 cents to $44.24 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after falling earlier to its lowest level in six years. The contract fell $2.21 to close at $44.84 a barrel on Friday.

CURRENCIES: The euro strengthened to $1.0534 from $1.0497 Friday. The dollar weakened to 121.31 yen from 121.40 yen.

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Juries in the drivers' seats

Two federal lawsuits brought by a Boston labor attorney are going to trial thanks to rulings by federal judges in California last week — with vast implications for Uber and Lyft.

"The judges soundly rejected the companies' arguments that they are not in the car business, they are a technology business," said Shannon Liss-Riordan, the attorney who brought the suits.

Two judges both denied a motion for summary judgment, ruling that the cases would have to be decided by juries.

The suits center on how Uber and Lyft classify their drivers. The companies claim the drivers are independent contractors, but Liss-Riordan and her clients say the drivers should be treated as full employees. By classifying drivers as independent contractors, Uber and Lyft avoid having to pay for benefits including unemployment insurance, worker's compensation and overtime. If the companies are required to pay their drivers as employees, it would mean a huge change to their business model.

"Companies like Uber and Lyft save enormously on their labor costs by calling their workers independent contractors," she said.

The problem, the two federal judges said separately, is that neither the legal definition of employee or contractor seems to describe Uber and Lyft drivers.

Uber and Lyft drivers can choose their own hours and accept or reject ride requests, like independent contractors. However, like employees, the drivers are subject to control and potential termination at will by the ride-for-hire companies.

"The jury in this case will be handed a square peg and asked to choose between two round holes," Judge Vince Chhabria wrote of the Lyft case.

"The application of the traditional test of employment — a test which evolved under an economic model very different from the new 'sharing economy' — to Uber's business model creates significant challenges," wrote Judge Edward Chen in the Uber case. "Arguably, many of the factors in that test appear outmoded in this context."

The lawsuits will only apply to California right now, but another case that would apply to Massachusetts is ongoing. The companies have come under fierce fire in Massachusetts, largely by taxi companies and cab drivers who claim they are being driven out of business.

Traditional employment laws have a long way to go to catch up with the rise of the so-called gig economy, said Pat Petitti, chief executive of HourlyNerd, which connects freelance consultants with companies looking for outside expertise.

"Neither the employee or contractor definition fits what an Uber driver does," he said. "The traditional definitions for an employee and contractor are not correct — they don't work in a world like this, where technology is changing the workforce."

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Gigaom writer says tech blog's abrupt shutdown was about debt and hubris

The abrupt shuttering of Om Malik's leading technology blog, GigaOm, on Monday caught many by surprise — even its own media writer didn't see it coming.

"Like many of my former colleagues, I am still trying to process all of the feelings and thoughts its closure has triggered and understand why and how it happened. I consider this post part of that process — I'm certainly not claiming to have any definitive answers, if there are any," GigaOm's media writer Matthew Ingram wrote on Saturday.

Ingram wasn't alone. According to Recode, the company had been struggling financially for two months but had not made that public. It all came to a head when last weekend, GigaOm's investors failed to sell the company and then decided to take it over.

From CNN to the New York Times, media writers scrambled to figure out what had gone wrong for the site that attracted more than 6 million readers monthly between Monday morning when articles continued to post and later that same afternoon when Malik announced its closure, which would layoff about 70 employees.

"GigaOm is winding down and its assets are now controlled by the company's lenders. It is not how you want the story of a company you founded to end," the tech blog's founder wrote.

Founded in 2006, GigaOm not only provided consumer-facing content, but it also ran several high-cost tech conferences, performed white paper research and sold advertising. Despite raising $40 million with a recent $2 million more, the company found itself unable to pay vendors for a conference set for next week, which was the impetus for trying to sell the company last weekend.

After having the week to reflect on GigaOm's closing, Ingram explained that it came down to several factors, including its reliance on venture capital funding, taking on debt from bank loans and other lenders, and increased competition for advertisers against "behemoth" sites like Buzzfeed and Vice, as well as a lack of revenue from the research arm of the company that would've helped it stave off its venture capital funders and loan debts. And, maybe, Ingram wonders, the site just grew too fast.

"Some have argued that GigaOm was guilty of an excess of hubris, and that instead of trying to grow into something so quickly, it should have taken the slower approach," Ingram posed.

As for the future of GigaOm, Malik has said that he has no idea what the lenders will do with the company and its assets, but a bankruptcy filing is not being planned. Recode reports that the investors are still looking to sell the publication with individuals attached to GigaOm naming Time Inc., International Data Group and O'Reilly Media as interested parties.

2015 TheWrap news inc. All rights reserved.

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Officials: Listeriosis not cause of 3 deaths, may be factor

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A foodborne illness linked to some Blue Bell ice cream products might have been a contributing factor in the deaths of three hospital patients in Kansas, health officials said Saturday.

But listeriosis didn't cause the deaths, according to Kansas Department of Health and Environment spokeswoman Sara Belfry.

Officials have not released the names of the five patients at Via Christi St. Francis hospital in Wichita, Kansas, who developed listeriosis in after eating products from one production line at the Blue Bell creamery in Brenham, Texas.

But the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the five individuals were older adults and three of them are women. The CDC did not specify the gender of those patients who died.

The five patients became ill with listeriosis during their hospitalizations for unrelated causes between December 2013 and January 2015. But hospital spokeswoman Maria Loving said she couldn't discuss why the patients were hospitalized, citing patient confidentiality laws.

According to the CDC, information available for four of the five patients shows they had eaten while hospitalized milkshakes made with Blue Bell ice cream product called "Scoops" in the month before the infection.

The FDA says listeria bacteria were found in samples of Scoops, as well as Blue Bell Chocolate Chip Country Cookies, Great Divide Bars, Sour Pop Green Apple Bars, Cotton Candy Bars, Vanilla Stick Slices, Almond Bars and No Sugar Added Moo Bars.

Blue Bell spokeswoman Jenny Van Dorf said the company has recovered all recalled products from all 23 states where they were sold, as well as those that were in storage.

Cincinnati-based supermarket chain Kroger removed recalled Blue Bell products from 860 of its 2,625 stores and the company is alerting customers through its recall notification system, spokesman Keith Dailey said in an email.

"We would not sell any product that we believed to be potentially harmful to our customers," Dailey responded when asked if Kroger has confidence in Blue Bell products not affected by the recall and that remain on store shelves.

Blue Bell says its regular Moo Bars were untainted, as were its half gallons, quarts, pints, cups, three-gallon ice cream and take-home frozen snack novelties.

The Texas Department of State Health Services said facilities like Blue Bell's are inspected on a monthly basis. The agency added that no enforcement action has previously been taken against the facility in Brenham and it is operating in compliance with food safety laws.

"Our last full inspection was February. We cited a couple minor issues but nothing related to this issue," agency spokeswoman Carrie Williams said in an email.

Van Dorf said the machine that the contamination was traced to has been shut down permanently.

It's not unusual to see listeria outbreaks linked to dairy products, including ice cream, said William Marler, an attorney who represented victims of a 2011 listeria outbreak that killed 33 people and was traced to a Colorado cantaloupe farm.

In December, an ice cream company in Snohomish, Washington, recalled nearly a year's worth of ice cream and related products because of possible listeria contamination that sickened two men.

Marler said he thought Blue Bell had responded appropriately once it knew its products were linked to illnesses and deaths. His only criticism was that Blue Bell didn't mention the patients who were sickened or died in Kansas in a statement on its Web site, instead highlighting that this was the first product recall in its 108-year history.

Listeriosis is a life-threatening infection caused by eating food contaminated with bacteria called Listeria monocytogenes, the CDC said. The disease primarily affects pregnant women and their newborns, older adults, and people with immune systems weakened by cancer, cancer treatments, or other serious conditions.

___

Lozano reported from Houston.

___

Follow Juan A. Lozano on Twitter at www.twitter.com/juanlozano70

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BCEC expansion weighed against other needs

Boston officials yesterday weighed in on the debate over spending $1 billion to expand the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center amid a deep budget deficit and a crumbling public transit system.

"In difficult economic times we have to look at every single thing ... and determine what's best for now and the long term," said Boston City Councilor Tito Jackson. "Everyone has to take a look at their budgets. We need to look at the T not only as transportation, but as critical infrastructure, and it's literally the driver of our economy."

The Herald reported yesterday the convention center authority's expansion committee held an emergency closed-door session over fears the bond offering meant to pay for the expansion would be cut by Gov. Charlie Baker.

Mayor Martin J. Walsh yesterday said he supports the convention center expansion, which backers say will draw bigger — and more lucrative — shows to Boston, but said the T is in desperate need of a fix.

"The governor has to look at the budget, look at the numbers and how they work for him, but I'll be talking to him as well. I think the expansion of the convention center is about economic development and the future of our city, and this region," Walsh said. "Certainly the governor has a big concern with the MBTA ... it's not going to be one easy fix, the governor inherited a big problem here."

During the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority's public meeting on Friday, MCCA head Jim Rooney said he "has a high level of confidence" that the project will go forward.

Baker remained noncommittal on his plans yesterday, saying his administration needs to look at the numbers involved.

"We're just getting started on the capital budget, and until we have a better understanding about where the capital budget sits — not just for this year but for the next year and the year after — we're not going to say much more about it than that," Baker said. "We need to do a thorough deep dive on the capital budget before we talk about specifics or proposals."

Baker said his administration will spend the next 30 days reviewing capital projects.

In January, Baker told the MCCA he would delay the bond offering until March 30, to give the incoming administration time to review the project. The expansion will add 1.3 million square feet to the South Boston expo center.

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UNH hosting 2nd robotics competition

DURHAM, N.H. — Nearly 2,000 high school students from teams in New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts and Connecticut are participating in a FIRST Robotics Competition at the University of New Hampshire this month.

The competition pits teams of high school students — mentored by professional engineers — against each other for a shot at the national championships and at scholarships. UNH is hosting for the second year, the weekend of March 21-22.

Each team has six weeks to build a robot from a common kit of parts for the competition. This year's contest is a recycling-themed game played by two teams of three robots each. The robots score points by stacking notes on scoring platforms, capping those stacks with recycling containers and disposing of pool noodles, representing litter.

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