What We're Reading: Health Tech Pact; Alarm Over e-Cigs; Icahn Drops Cigna Fight

Tech Firms Join Forces at Washington Health Event on Interoperability

Major tech companies, including Amazon, Google, Microsoft, IBM, Salesforce, and Oracle, publicly committed at a Trump administration event to improve provider—patient communications and data exchanges in health information technology in an effort to cut costs and improve outcomes, The Wall Street Journal reported. Such efforts are focused on interoperability so that information is not locked away in separate digital silos, unreadable paper PDFs, or worse, fax machine transmissions.

Despite Public Alarm Over Vaping Devices by Youth, Regulation Thwarted

Public health advocates and the FDA are at odds over how to regulate the exploding electronic cigarette industry, even as both sides agree teens and college students are using the devices at an alarming rate, USA Today reported. The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, and others wrote to FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD, last week, saying that new devices are continuing to be introduced, despite the lack of required marketing orders from the FDA.

Ichan Drops Oppostion to Cigna—Express Scripts Deal

Billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who last week said Cigna was overpaying for Express Scripts, is no longer intending to solicit proxies to vote against the $52 billion deal, Reuters reported. Icahn's comments come after proxy advisory firms Glass Lewis and Institutional Shareholder Services, as well as hedge fund Glenview Capital Management, extended their support.