NORTHWESTERN MEMORIAL SUED IN LEGIONNAIRES’ DISEASE DEATH: The family of 35-year-old Carol Ruiz, who died after their lawyers say she contracted Legionnaires’ disease at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the hospital. A statement from the family’s law firm said Ruiz, of Cypress, Texas, was admitted to Northwestern on Oct. 25, 2017, as part of a stem cell clinical trial for patients with multiple sclerosis. She contracted pneumonia in the hospital and died there Nov. 12, 2017, said the statement, from law firm Salvi Schostok & Pritchard. The lawsuit accuses Northwestern Memorial of negligence related to, among other things, treating and protecting its water supply from Legionella bacteria after a previous patient was diagnosed with the disease in May 2017. A spokesman for Northwestern Memorial said the hospital does not comment on pending litigation.

BAXTER IN TALKS TO BUY SEPRAFILM SURGICAL PRODUCTS: Deerfield-based Baxter International is in talks with French medical products maker Sanofi to acquire a surgical products unit in a deal that would boost Baxter's surgical care business. READ MORE.

HOW PENDING ACA RULING MAY CHANGE PRESIDENTIAL RACE: A federal appeals court in New Orleans is preparing a ruling on the Affordable Care Act that could put the law’s future front and center in the presidential race, overwhelming the current Democratic debate over Medicare for all and reigniting the health care-driven worries that helped Democrats win back the House last year, the New York Times reports.

UIC RECEIVES $1.7 MILLION TO STUDY HOUSEHOLD HEALTH HAZARDS: The University of Illinois at Chicago will use $1.7 million in U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development funding for two studies of lead and other household health hazards. Samuel Dorevitch, associate professor of environmental and occupational health sciences, will be awarded $1 million through the Lead & Healthy Homes Technical Studies program, according to a UIC statement. Dorevitch is studying lead in drinking water of homes that use private, on-site wells for drinking water. Apostolis Sambanis, adjunct assistant professor of environmental and occupational health sciences, will get $700,000 to assist the Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity’s Help Eliminate Lead Program, also known as HELP, the statement said. HELP is a pilot program in Galesburg that is evaluating the lead risk of homes built before 1978.

UNDERWOOD DETAILS FIVE-POINT PLAN FOR DRUG COSTS: U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood, D-Naperville, has introduced a five-point plan to reduce the cost of prescription drugs. The concepts in the plan all have bipartisan support, Underwood said in a statement. The five points involve:

• Reducing out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs, specifically by capping Medicare out-of-pocket costs at $2,000 a year.

• Negotiating lower drug prices, by giving the secretary of the Department of Health & Human Services the power to negotiate lower prices on the highest-cost drugs and insulin.

• Eliminating "outrageous price hikes" with new transparency requirements for pharmaceutical companies to report and justify price increases.

• Ensuring generics remain affordable by closing loopholes that let name-brand drug manufacturers "game the system."

• Investing in research by restoring full federal funding for biomedical research over the next 10 years.

Each point of the plan is tied to house legislation that Underwood supports, the statement said.

WALGREENS, INSURER AND PBM PLAN MODEL PHARMACY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM: Walgreens, Centene and RxAdvance are partnering to introduce a model of pharmacy management that will increase transparency and “ultimately result in better health outcomes at lower costs,” the companies said in a statement. An existing partnership between Deerfield-based Walgreens and St. Louis health insurer Centene will now integrate a pharmacy benefit management platform of Southborough, Mass.-based RxAdvance. The companies will implement RxAdvance’s Collaborative PBM Cloud platform in initial markets as they create the new pharmacy benefits management model. Walgreens has also made a small investment in RxAdvance, and Centene has increased its stake in RxAdvance, following its initial investment announced in March 2018, the statement said.

LINK SEEN BETWEEN HOSPITAL DISINFECTANTS AND LUNG DISEASE IN NURSES: Exposure to hospital disinfectants has been linked to lung disease among nurses, according to a new study in JAMA Network Open. Researchers tracked the health of more than 73,000 female nurses from 2009 to 2015 and found occupational exposure to several commonly used cleaning products including bleach, hydrogen peroxide and alcohol was associated with a 25% to 38% higher risk of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Modern Healthcare reports.

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE:

• Stephanie Wilding will join Community Health as CEO on Nov. 11. Wilding previously was chief officer of strategy, planning and development at Chicago Family Health Center.