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Morning Break: ‘Dry January’; Healthcare Giant’s Labor Dispute; Travel Bugs

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“Dry January” has yearlong benefits, according to British researchers who found that people who volunteered to give up alcohol for one month also drank less over subsequent months and reported other benefits, including less money spent. But it wasn’t a randomized trial. (University of Sussex)

The list of recalls involving valsartan lengthens again. (Reuters)

And a Big Pharma firm gets bigger: Bristol-Myers Squibb will acquire Celgene for $74 billion. (CNBC)

Wondering why fentanyl didn’t make CNN‘s list of “five most addictive substances”? Maybe because it’s based on decade-old analyses.

The National Labor Relations Board will hear a complaint from Kaiser Permanente’s unions that the healthcare giant has refused to negotiate a new contract in good faith.

Without options from insurers, some parents give custody of their children back to the state so their mental healthcare is covered. (NPR)

Airport officials in Cleveland shut off water fountains suspected of sickening passengers on a New Year’s Day flight to Tampa. (AP via NBC News)

President Trump still says he expects a big decrease in drug prices, even though 30 companies have already promised increases. (Reuters)

The correct diagnosis continues to elude a teenage girl and her doctors trying to figure out why she got stomach pain and lost her taste, smell, and sight after coming home from a cruise. (Yahoo Lifestyle)

Sugar substitutes don’t help overweight patients shed weight faster, according to a meta-analysis in The BMJ.

Trump? Obama? Clinton? Which political figure was most influential on U.S. healthcare, according to the Kaiser Health News? None of the above; it’s outgoing Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah).

Medicare’s bundled-payment model for hip and knee replacements in select cities saved a “modest” $812 per case without an uptick in complications. (New England Journal of Medicine)

An unlicensed provider of silicone buttock enhancements in the Bronx was arrested for conducting a botched procedure that led to a woman’s death. (New York Daily News)

Morning Break is a daily guide to what’s new and interesting on the Web for healthcare professionals, powered by the MedPage Today community. Got a tip? Send it to us: [email protected]

2019-01-03T09:00:00-0500

Source: MedicalNewsToday.com