The Washington Post: Trump Lashes Out At HHS Secretary After Briefing Shows Democrats Have Edge On Health Care
President Trump lashed out at Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar for not doing enough on health care and drug pricing during a campaign meeting this week after he was briefed on polling that showed the public trusted Democrats more than Republicans on the issue, according to four people present at or briefed about the meeting. Campaign advisers were updating Trump at the White House on Thursday on polling from battleground states, including Florida, that showed which party voters trusted more on various issues. (Dawsey and Abutaleb, 1/17)

Politico: Trump Berates Azar Over Bad Health Care Polling
Trump’s outburst sent White House staff scrambling to convene a meeting on drug pricing this morning with potentially more to come. Some predicted Trump could look to push harder on stalled drug pricing proposals, including one opposed by many in his party. Trump on Thursday grilled Azar about the administration’s new plan to let states import drugs from Canada, with a focus on how it would affect his reelection prospects in battleground states like Florida, according to two individuals. Azar, whose job does not appear to be in jeopardy, and other officials have promised Trump that the new importation plan will play a significant role in lowering drug costs, although some experts have derided the idea as a political stunt. (Cook, Diamond and Cancryn, 1/17)

Axios: Trump Tells HHS Sec. Alex Azar He Regrets Taking Action On Vaping
President Trump told his health secretary yesterday that he regrets getting involved in the administration's policy on vaping, according to two sources familiar with the conversation. (Swan and Owens, 1/17)

The New York Times: In Oval Office Meeting, Trump Expresses Regret On Vaping Policy
After one of Mr. Trump’s pollsters, Tony Fabrizio, described the importance of health care as an electoral issue, Mr. Trump reached for the phone on the Resolute Desk and called Alex M. Azar II, the secretary of health and human services. “I never should have done this vaping thing,” Mr. Trump said, adding an expletive, according to two of the people familiar with what happened. (Haberman, 1/17)

The Hill: Trump Lashes Out At Health Chief Over Polling: Reports
Trump has been touting a series of actions on drug pricing and other consumer-friendly issues, a move designed to position the president as a populist champion of transparency and reduced medical bills. But the president faces an uphill battle, especially with regards to ObamaCare. While Trump has tried to defend his record with misleading statements and tweets, Democrats aren't letting voters forget his repeated efforts to repeal and undermine the law. (Weixel, 1/17)

Meanwhile, in other news from the administration on vaping —

The Wall Street Journal: CDC Steps Back From Broad Recommendation To Refrain From E-Cigarettes
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has moved away from a broad recommendation that people consider refraining from vaping altogether during the investigation into the outbreak of lung illnesses linked to the practice. The agency removed from its website guidance that people should stop vaping if they were concerned about the illnesses. The agency first said people should end the use of vaping products in September, but later narrowed that recommendation, warning that people should stop using vaping products containing THC—the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis—but consider refraining from all vaping. (Abbott, 1/17)

The Hill: CDC Removes Advisory From Website Recommending To Consider Stopping All Vaping
Brian King, the chief science officer for the CDC’s outbreak response, said "recommendations were refined to reflect the best available scientific evidence and to best protect public health." More and more evidence has linked the outbreak of vaping-linked illnesses to vitamin E acetate, an oil that is sometimes used to dilute THC, which is the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. (Johnson, 1/18)

The Wall Street Journal: Trump Administration To Soon Issue Guidance On Medicaid Block Grants
The Trump administration plans to release guidance as soon as this month for granting states waivers to convert Medicaid funding to block grants, according to two people familiar with the matter, paving the way for a transformation of the 55-year-old program that is likely to reignite a partisan feud. The impending release comes as a surprise after the Office of Management and Budget, which reviews regulatory actions, indicated in November that block-grant instructions had been withdrawn. Lawmakers and legal advisers speculated that the guidance may have been shelved or significantly delayed. (Armour, 1/19)

The Hill: Medicaid Advocates Frustrated By Red-State Holdouts
The politics of Medicaid expansion are changing as an increasing number of red states are dropping their opposition, but for expansion advocates there is also increasing frustration at the remaining holdouts. To date, 36 states and the District of Columbia have adopted Medicaid expansion, including a handful of conservative strongholds. (Weixel, 1/20)

And in other Medicaid news from New York and Tennessee —

The Wall Street Journal: New York’s Health-Care Industry Awaits Cuomo’s Budget-Deficit Fix
Officials representing New York’s hospitals, nursing homes, counties and insurance plans are bracing for reductions to Medicaid funding as Gov. Andrew Cuomo proposes a new state budget this week. The Democratic governor will have to bridge a projected $6.1 billion deficit in a roughly $175 billion spending plan. About $4 billion of the shortfall comes from cost overruns in the state’s Medicaid program, which provides health-care services for more than six million people. The current state budget expires March 31. (Vielkind, 1/20)

Nashville Tennessean: TennCare Director Gabe Roberts Leaving Amid Block Grant Negotiations
Division of TennCare Director Gabe Roberts, a driving force behind Tennessee's ongoing effort to secure a federal Medicaid block grant, is leaving the state to work in the private sector. Roberts, who has been with the agency since 2013 and was appointed director by Gov. Bill Lee last January, most recently has overseen the state's application with the federal government for a Medicaid block grant, making Tennessee the first in the nation to apply for one. (Allison, 1/17)

NPR: More Pizza And Fries? USDA Proposes To 'Simplify' Obama-Era School Lunch Rules
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has proposed new rules for school meals aimed at giving administrators more flexibility in what they serve in school cafeterias around the country each day. For instance, instead of being required to offer higher quantities of nutrient-dense red and orange vegetables such as carrots, peppers and buttternut squash, schools would have more discretion over the varieties of vegetables they offer each day. In addition, students will be allowed to purchase more entree items as a la carte selections. (Aubrey, 1/17)

CNN: USDA Proposes Allowing 'More Flexibility' In School Lunches
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said in a statement, "Schools and school districts continue to tell us that there is still too much food waste and that more common-sense flexibility is needed to provide students nutritious and appetizing meals. We listened and now we're getting to work." (Sullivan, 1/19)

The New York Times: Trump Targets Michelle Obama's School Lunch Program On Her Birthday
A spokeswoman for the department said that it had not intended to roll out the proposed rule on Mrs. Obama’s birthday, although some Democratic aides on Capitol Hill had their doubts. Food companies applauded the proposal, while nutritionists condemned it, predicting that starchy foods like potatoes would replace green vegetables and that fattening foods like hamburgers would be served daily as “snacks.” “Schools and school districts continue to tell us that there is still too much food waste and that more common-sense flexibility is needed to provide students nutritious and appetizing meals,” Sonny Perdue, the agriculture secretary, said in a statement. “We listened and now we’re getting to work.” (Fadulu, 1/17)

Politico: USDA Changes Obama-Era School Lunch Rules, Citing 'Flexibility'
The USDA said the rules build upon its 2018 changes, which relaxed sodium limits and whole grain requirements in the National School Lunch Program and brought back 1 percent flavored milk. Nutrition groups, as well as a coalition of states, sued the department over those rules, arguing that they put children's health at risk and undermine nutrition science. (Crampton, 1/17)

The Wall Street Journal: USDA Proposes Relaxing School Lunch Healthy Eating Rules
Some consumer-advocacy groups said the changes would give students more leeway in choosing pizza and burgers over balanced meals. “This would create a huge loophole,” said Colin Schwartz, deputy director of legislative affairs at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a group that is suing the USDA over its prior moves to roll back health requirements for school food. (Gasparro, 1/17)

The New York Times: Supreme Court To Consider Limits On Contraception Coverage
The Supreme Court agreed on Friday to decide whether the Trump administration may allow employers to limit women’s access to free birth control under the Affordable Care Act. The case returns the court to a key battleground in the culture wars, but one in which successive administrations have switched sides. In the Obama years, the court heard two cases on whether religious groups could refuse to comply with regulations requiring contraceptive coverage. (Liptak, 1/17)

The Wall Street Journal: Supreme Court To Review Exemptions To Birth Control Mandate
The justices said Friday they would hear the administration’s appeal of lower- court decisions that blocked the rules nationwide. A Philadelphia-based U.S. appeals court in July ruled the administration’s exemptions likely weren’t authorized under the 2010 health-care law and weren’t required by a different federal law protecting religious rights. The court also agreed to hear a related appeal by the Little Sisters of the Poor, an order of Roman Catholic nuns that operates nursing homes. In the case before the court, Pennsylvania and New Jersey sued the administration, arguing that its exemptions would unlawfully deny preventive health care to millions of women. (Kendall, 1/17)

Politico: Supreme Court Will Again Review Obamacare Birth Control Mandate
It marks the third high court review of the contraception mandate stemming from Obamacare — and the first since Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh joined the court. The provision requires employer-sponsored health plans to provide their enrollees with contraceptive coverage at no extra personal cost. Both Gorsuch and Kavanaugh considered similar cases while appellate court judges, and both showed sympathy for religious groups seeking exemptions from the requirement on moral grounds. (Luthi, 1/17)

Reuters: Supreme Court To Hear Trump Appeal In Obamacare Contraception Fight
Arguments in the case before the high court, which has a 5-4 conservative majority including two justices appointed by Trump, are likely to be in April with a ruling due by the end of June. “The Trump administration’s attempt to take away people’s insurance coverage for contraception is one of the administration’s many attacks on access to abortion and contraception, and we hope the Supreme Court will uphold the lower court’s ruling blocking this awful law,” said Brigitte Amiri, a lawyer at the American Civil Liberties Union, which opposes the rule. (Hurley, 1/17)

NPR: Supreme Court Takes Up Obamacare Birth-Control Conscience Case
Kristen Waggoner, an attorney with the religious liberty group the Alliance Defending Freedom, said the case could have far-reaching implications for other businesses and organizations that oppose providing contraception through their health plans. "They're not interfering [with employees' choices]," Waggoner said. "This is about whether a person can run their business in a way that's consistent with their beliefs." Waggoner's group is representing the anti-abortion rights group the March for Life in a related case that is also working its way through the legal system. (McCammon, 1/17)

Modern Healthcare: Supreme Court To Review Religious Exemptions To ACA Birth Control Coverage
The Supreme Court on Friday announced it will hear two cases on whether employer health plans should be allowed religious and moral exemptions from the Affordable Care Act's requirement to cover birth control. The Trump administration in November 2018 issued final rules to allow more employers to opt out of providing no-cost birth control, but federal judges have stopped the rules from taking effect. (Cohrs, 1/17)

The Associated Press: Major Doctors' Group Calls For US To Assure Coverage For All
With health care an election-year priority, a major doctors’ organization on Monday called for sweeping government action to guarantee coverage for all, reduce costs and improve the basic well-being of Americans. Declaring that the U.S. health care system "is ill and needs a bold new prescription,” the American College of Physicians endorsed either of the two general approaches being debated by Democratic presidential candidates: a government-run “single-payer” system that would cover everyone, or a new “public option” government plan that would offer comprehensive coverage to compete with private insurance. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 1/20)

The Hill: Conservative Groups Aim To Sink Bipartisan Fix To 'Surprise' Medical Bills
Conservative groups are gearing up for battle with GOP leaders over bipartisan health care legislation that lawmakers view as one of the few election-year bills that has a shot at making it to President Trump’s desk.A broad swath of free-market conservative groups is mobilizing to oppose a measure that would ban the so-called “surprise” medical bills patients sometimes receive from hospitals and providers when their services aren’t covered by insurance. The strategy, in part, is to link the bipartisan proposal to “Medicare for All,” the single-payer health care plan backed by some progressive presidential candidates like Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). (Hellmann and Easley, 1/19)

The New York Times: Health Care Costs Are Rising. Fund Returns Are Less Reliable.
Until science beats death, disease and disability, the health care industry would seem a wonderful investment. Yet in 2019, it fell a bit behind the broader stock market. Mutual funds and exchange-traded funds focused on health care returned 29 percent in 2019, according to Morningstar. That would have been laudable in most years, but it lagged the S&P 500 stock index, which returned 31.49 percent, including dividends. (Gray, 1/17)

NPR: Her Own Birth Was 'Fertility Fraud' And Now She Needs Fertility Treatment
When Heather Woock was in her late 20s, she started researching her family history. As part of the project she spit into a tube and sent it to Ancestry, a consumer DNA testing service. Then in 2017, she started getting messages about the results from people who said they could be half-siblings. "I immediately called my mom and said, 'Mom, is it possible that I have random siblings out there somewhere?'" Woock says. She remembers her mom responded, "No, why? That's ridiculous." (Bavis and Harper, 1/20)

The Associated Press: St. Louis Donations Wipe Away $13 Million In Medical Debt
Thousands of St. Louis-area families were freed from a major financial burden thanks to a charitable effort that is increasingly popular among churches and other organizations trying to help the needy — eliminating medical debt. Money raised at more than a dozen United Church of Christ congregations and a donation from the St. Louis-based Deaconess Foundation wiped away nearly $13 million in medical debt for 11,108 families in St. Louis city and county. United Church of Christ officials and civic leaders announced details Saturday. The church was also sending letters this weekend to those whose debt was wiped out. (Salter, 1/18)

Boston Globe: State Officials Seek To Rein In Rapidly Growing Urgent Care Industry
For years, the urgent care industry has grown rapidly, with walk-in clinics popping up across Massachusetts to treat patients with colds, infections, cuts, sprains, and other common ailments.Yet the industry remains largely unregulated. Urgent care has become a common term in health care — but it has no state definition in Massachusetts, making these centers difficult if not impossible to monitor, according to state officials. Now policy makers appear poised to impose new requirements on urgent care centers, but they’re facing resistance from industry executives. (Dayal McCluskey, 1/20)

Modern Healthcare: For-Profit Healthcare Companies Competing For Primary Care Patients
The horns of Stevie Wonder’s “Sir Duke” blast out of speakers. Patient art hangs on the wall. Scrabble, Boggle and other board games sit on a bookshelf. The “waiting room” of the Oak Street Health clinic in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood on the city’s South Side looks more like a community center than a doctor’s office, and that’s how patients treat it. On a recent afternoon, conversations between caregivers and patients span Mandarin, Cantonese, Spanish and English. Some are using a row of computers to stay atop their daily tasks. Others huddle around a table like friends having lunch. (Kacik, 1/18)

The New York Times: W.H.O. Warns That Pipeline For New Antibiotics Is Running Dry
With the pipeline for new antibiotics slowing to a trickle and bankruptcies driving pharmaceutical companies from the field, the World Health Organization on Friday issued a fresh warning about the global threat of drug resistant infections. Some 700,000 people die each year because medicines that once cured their conditions are no long effective. Yet the vast majority of the 60 new antimicrobial products in development worldwide are variations on existing therapies, and only a handful target the most dangerous drug-resistant infections, the agency said in a report. (Jacobs, 1/17)

NPR: Generic Version Of Pricey MS Treatment Didn't Reduce Drug Costs Much For Patients
Sometimes, the approval of a new generic drug offers more hype than hope for patients' wallets, as people with multiple sclerosis know all too well. New research shows just how little the introduction of a generic version of Copaxone — one of the most popular MS drugs — did to lower their medicine costs. MS is an autoimmune disease that gradually damages the central nervous system, disrupting communication between the brain and the rest of the body. (Lupkin, 1/20)

Stat: Former Rep. Chris Collins Sentenced To 26 Months In Prison In Biotech Insider Trading Scheme
Chris Collins, a former Republican lawmaker and longtime ally of President Trump, was sentenced Friday to 26 months in prison, according to local reporters, months after pleading guilty to insider trading for illegal dealings surrounding an Australian biotech company. Collins, who leaked confidential information about a failed drug trial to his son and other associates, resigned his seat in Congress in October after entering a guilty plea. His sentencing caps a three-year saga that also implicated his family, at least four fellow congressmen, and Trump’s onetime health secretary. All have been dogged by allegations that they acted unethically, and in some cases illegally, when they purchased or sold shares of Innate Immunotherapeutics. (Garde and Facher, 1/17)

Stat: Tweaking How CAR-T Therapy Kills Tumors Could Stop A Dangerous Side Effect, Study Finds
As every trauma surgeon knows, there are messy bullet wounds and there are neat ones, and the former cause incomparably more trouble. If a team of scientists in China is right, the same principle may explain why the genetically engineered CAR-T cells that have been so successful against some leukemias and lymphomas often cause a violent and even life-threatening immune reaction. The problem, the researchers reported on Friday, is that CAR-Ts attack and kill cancer cells in the messiest way biologists have ever seen. (Begley, 1/17)

The New York Times: Medicare’s Part D Doughnut Hole Has Closed! Mostly. Sorta.
With the new decade comes this long-awaited milestone: the Medicare Part D doughnut hole has closed. Two cheers. More than 61 million Americans are Medicare beneficiaries, and about 46 million of those are enrolled in Part D. The doughnut hole, more formally called the coverage gap, has been one of Part D’s more detested features since the drug benefit took effect in 2006. (Span, 1/17)

Modern Healthcare: MedPAC: 340B Hospitals Don't Use More Expensive Drugs
The 340B Drug Pricing Program doesn't create strong incentives for participating hospitals to use more expensive drugs, according to new federal research. Hospitals that participate in the 340B program spend about $300 more on drugs for prostate and lung cancers, but not breast, colorectal or leukemia-lymphoma cancers, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission's staff said at a meeting on Thursday. The higher spending at 340B hospitals seems to be driven by the type of cancer that people are treated for rather than 340B's financial incentives. (Brady, 1/17)

NBC News: Your Heartburn Drug Has Been Recalled. Now What?
Recent recalls of popular antacids — including Zantac and its generic version, ranitidine, as well as another drug, nizatidine — have left empty spots on pharmacy shelves. But they may remain in your medicine cabinet. Here's what you need to know. (Edwards, 1/19)

The New York Times: China Confirms New Coronavirus Spreads From Humans To Humans
The mysterious coronavirus that has killed at least four people and sickened more than 200 in China is capable of spreading from person to person, a prominent Chinese scientist said on Monday, adding to fears of a broader epidemic. The disclosure increased pressure on the Chinese government to contain a growing public health crisis, just as China enters its busiest travel season of the year. On Tuesday, the authorities confirmed a fourth death from the illness in the central Chinese city of Wuhan. (Hernandez and Ramzy, 1/20)

The Washington Post: China Virus: Coronavirus Cases Surge Ahead Of Spring Festival Travel
“The outbreak is at a critical stage, and we estimate an increasing number of infections during the 40 days of Spring Festival travel rush,” said Zhong Nanshan, the leader of a group of experts at China’s National Health Commission and the respiratory disease specialist who discovered the severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, during an outbreak in China in 2003. (Fifield, 1/20)

Bloomberg: China Virus Spreads To Health Workers; Six Patients Dead
Fifteen medical professionals have been affected, with one critically ill, according to a report from China’s state news agency Xinhua. The transmission of the virus to medical workers is considered particularly worrisome because of the heavy precautions that were taken in Wuhan to try to minimize infections among health-care staff. Several doctors and nurses across Asia died in the SARS outbreak. (Gross and Lyu, 1/20)

The Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Spreads Across China As Confirmed Cases Triple
Zhong Nanshan, one of China’s most highly regarded epidemiology experts who is leading an expert committee on the outbreak for China’s cabinet-level National Health Commission, urged heightened vigilance in a live interview on state broadcaster China Central Television Monday, citing the risk of human-to-human transmission. “Right now is the time when we should increase alert,” said Dr. Zhong, who rose to national prominence nearly two decades ago as an authoritative voice during China’s fight against severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS. In that outbreak, a similar coronavirus killed 774 people after its emergence in southern China beginning in late 2002. (Deng and Cheng, 1/20)

Reuters: China Coronavirus Claims Sixth Victim As Holiday Travel Heightens Infection Risks
The scare brought back bad memories of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), another coronavirus that broke out in China in 2002/2003, resulting in the death of nearly 800 people in global pandemic. Health authorities around the world have begun to step up screening of travellers arriving from China. Two cases have already been identified in Thailand, one in Japan and one in South Korea, while the Philippines reported on Tuesday its first suspected case. (Lee and Zhang, 1/21)

Stat: China Reports Sharp Rise In Cases Of Novel Virus Amid Growing Concerns Of Person-To-Person Transmission
Neil Ferguson, an infectious diseases epidemiologist at Imperial College London, agreed. “The latest press release from Wuhan is quite non-specific about how these people were exposed,” Ferguson said. “But one would think that if they have clear sources of exposure to markets in all of those cases, they would have said so.” (Branswell, 1/19)

CNN: Coronavirus: 6 People Dead As China Confirms Wuhan Virus Can Be Spread By Humans
There are now fears, however, that efforts to contain it are coming too late, hampered by a slow-moving Chinese bureaucracy which failed to put sufficient measures in place in time. (Griffiths and Gan, 1/21)

The New York Times: Three U.S. Airports To Check Passengers For A Deadly Chinese Coronavirus
Airports in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles will begin screening passengers arriving from Wuhan, China, for infection with a mysterious respiratory virus that has killed two people and sickened at least 45 overseas, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced on Friday. Most people with the infection are believed to have contracted it through exposure to animals at a market that sells seafood and meat in Wuhan. It is not certain that the virus spreads from person to person. (Grady, 1/17)

Stat: U.S. To Begin Screenings At Three Airports For Cases Of Novel Chinese Virus
Passengers will be asked about their health and checked for symptoms. People who show symptoms will undergo a secondary screening to determine whether they might have some other respiratory infection — a strong possibility during cold and flu season — or need to be tested for the coronavirus. Officials said that verifying a case of the novel coronavirus right now could take a day because patient samples need to be shipped to the CDC in Atlanta for testing. But they said they are working to expand their diagnostic capabilities so confirmation can happen faster. (Joseph 1/17)

The Washington Post: Travelers At 3 U.S. Airports To Be Screened For New, Potentially Deadly Chinese Virus
The announcement comes as millions of people in China are already traveling across the country and overseas for Lunar New Year, which officially starts Jan. 25. There are direct flights several times a week from Wuhan to San Francisco and JFK airports, including one scheduled to arrive Friday in New York at 10 p.m. (Sun, 1/17)

CNN: China Is Trying To Stop The Spread Of New Coronavirus At Worst Possible Time Of Year
During the Lunar holiday, people from across the country will cram themselves into homebound trains, buses and planes for family reunions. Others will take advantage of the time off to holiday overseas. Last year, close to 7 million Chinese tourists traveled abroad for Lunar New Year, according to state media. The holiday -- the most important in the Chinese calendar -- comes at the worst possible time for health authorities racing to contain the outbreak which has put the rest of Asia on alert. (Gan, 1/21)

ABC News: 3 US Airports Will Screen Passengers From Chinese City For New Virus
While there haven't been reports about a "sustained spread" of emerging virus, according to the CDC, health officials haven't ruled out that possibility. "There are indications," the agency said Friday, "that some limited person-to-person spread may have occurred." (Schumaker, 1/17)

Reuters: China Virus Sends Shiver Through Markets As Risks Mount
Global shares took a beating on Tuesday, wiping out all gains made at the start of the week as mounting concerns about a new strain of coronavirus in China sent a ripple of risk aversion through markets. Authorities in China confirmed that a new virus could be spread through human contact, reporting 15 medical staff had been infected and a fourth person had died. (1/21)

Bloomberg: China Seeks To Stop Virus Scare From Becoming Political Crisis
After three weeks of revelations about a mysterious strain of coronavirus first detected in central China, President Xi Jinping stepped in personally Monday to order “all-out prevention and control efforts.” The government convened a series of task force meetings while a social media account affiliated with the Communist Party’s top law enforcement body warned that officials who withheld information would be “nailed on the pillar of shame for eternity.” (Bloomberg News, 1/21)

Stat: WHO Calls For Emergency Meeting On New China Virus, As Cases Spread
The World Health Organization announced Monday that it would convene an expert panel to determine whether a fast-developing outbreak caused by a new virus in China should be declared a global health emergency. The news came as China reported confirmed cases in Beijing and in Guangdong province, 14 cases in health care workers — a first — and a confirmed incident involving human-to-human spread of the new virus, known provisionally as 2019-nCoV. It is a coronavirus, from the same family as the viruses that caused the 2003 SARS outbreak, which sickened more than 8,000 people globally, killing nearly 800. (Branswell, 1/20)

CNN: Vaccine For New Chinese Coronavirus In The Works
The National Institutes of Health is working on a vaccine against the new virus that has infected hundreds and killed four in Asia. "The NIH is in the process of taking the first steps towards the development of a vaccine," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Fauci said it would take a few months until the first phase of the clinical trials get underway and more than a year until a vaccine might be available. (Cohen, 1/20)

CBS News: Coronavirus In China: What Is The Mystery Illness Sweeping Through The Country?
The city of Wuhan, China, is racing to contain the potential spread of a deadly new strain of virus that has infected more than 200 people. Over the weekend, the number of cases of the "2019 novel coronavirus" or "2019-nCoV" quadrupled — and on Monday, a Chinese scientist confirmed cases of human-to-human transmission of the illness. There have been no confirmed cases of the virus outside Asia, but officials have been screening airport passengers to prevent the virus from spreading to the U.S. (Albert, 1/20)

ABC News: 201 Cases Of SARS-Like Virus Reported Throughout China, Officials Say
More than 200 cases of the new coronavirus, a SARS-like illness, have been reported throughout China. In Wuhan, where the virus began to spread, 198 cases have been reported, according to the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission. Two people have tested positive in Beijing, according to reports on Weibo, citing the Beijing Daxing Health Commission, and one person has tested positive in Shenzhen, according to the Guangdong Province Health Commission. (Theodorou and Jacobo, 1/19)

The Washington Post: Federal Judge Allows New Liver Transplant Policy To Take Effect
A federal judge has cleared the way for a new method of distributing livers to transplant patients, a plan that will shift more of the scarce organs to people in metropolitan areas where demand is highest and away from some rural regions where they are easier to obtain. In a case she called “difficult and wrenching,” U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg refused Thursday to permanently block new rules for allocating livers that were approved by the federal government in December 2018. In response to a lawsuit, she temporarily halted the plan in May while she considered a request for a permanent injunction. (Bernstein, 1/17)

Atlanta Journal Constitution: Ruling Deals Blow To Georgia Liver Transplant Hospitals, Patients
Georgia liver patients may see fewer livers and organs of lower quality available for transplant within weeks following a significant legal ruling over how the U.S. allocates donated livers. There are not enough liver donors to supply all the patients who need them, and different regions of the country fight over whether the government is fairly distributing the scarce livers available. The federal government has proposed a change to the distribution system that it says would be fairer, but the likely losers would be states including Georgia. They sued. (Hart, 1/16)

The Wall Street Journal: ‘It’s Like I Got Kicked Out Of My Family.’ Churches Struggle With Mental Health In The Ranks.
In most industries, federal laws protect workers with disabilities, including mental illness. Church is an exception. Employees including pastors are still regularly fired after disclosing mental-health problems. For eight years, Brady Herbert led a booming church in Waco, Texas. The congregation had a couple hundred members when he took over and grew to an average of more than 1,200 people on Sundays. By early 2018, he told the church’s elders he was burning out and needed a break. They gave him a paid leave. (Lovett, 1/20)

The New York Times: Fish Oil Supplements Tied To Sperm Health
Taking fish oil supplements may improve sperm quality in healthy young men, a new analysis suggests. Researchers studied 1,679 Danish men taking physical examinations for compulsory military service. Their average age was 19, and 98 of them reported taking fish oil supplements during the previous three months. (Bakalar, 1/17)

NPR: Treating Sepsis With Vitamin C And Steroid Mix Proved Ineffective In Study
Hope for an effective and inexpensive treatment for the deadly condition sepsis has dimmed following results of a major new study. Researchers had hoped that a simple treatment involving infusions of vitamin C, vitamin B1 and steroids would work against a disease that kills an estimated 270,000 people each year in the United States and 11 million globally. Sepsis, or blood poisoning, occurs when the body overreacts to infection. It leads to leaky blood vessels, which can cause multiple organ failure. (Harris, 1/17)

The Washington Post: How Can You Be An Assertive Patient Without Antagonizing Your Doctor?
Was that a grin-and-bear-it expression your doctor flashed when greeting you? In what may be a well-kept professional secret, physicians dread encounters with about 15 percent of their patients. In 1978, the New England Journal of Medicine published what has become a classic on the subject: “Taking Care of the Hateful Patient.” (Clicksman, 1/19)

The Washington Post: Chronic Inflammation Is Long Lasting, Insidious, Dangerous. And You May Not Even Know You Have It. 
Most of us think of inflammation as the redness and swelling that follow a wound, infection or injury, such as an ankle sprain, or from overdoing a sport, “tennis elbow,” for example. This is “acute” inflammation, a beneficial immune system response that encourages healing, and usually disappears once the injury improves. But chronic inflammation is less obvious and often more insidious. (Cimons, 1/20)

CNN: This Coat Design Isn't Just Saving Lives. It's Launching New Careers For Homeless People
Now, a nonprofit aimed at solving that problem has accidentally led to one of the most successful homeless employment programs as the country's homeless crisis keeps growing. "This is so much bigger than anything I could have imagined," said Veronika Scott, the 30-year-old CEO and founder of the Empowerment Plan.The plan hires homeless people and teaches them how to make coats for the destitute suffering on the streets. These are not your typical coats. They transform into storage totes and full-length sleeping bags to protect against frostbite or death. (Yan, 1/21)

Stateline: New Laws Could Protect Drivers From Highway ‘Ice Missiles’
At least four states — Delaware, New York, Pennsylvania and Vermont — have bills pending that would require drivers to clear off excessive ice and snow and would impose fines for violators, said Samantha Bloch, a policy associate at the National Conference of State Legislatures. Some states allow police to ticket motorists if their vehicle is considered a danger or the driver can’t see through an icy or snowy windshield, Bloch said. But only a handful have laws specific to ice missiles. (Bergal, 1/21)

NPR: Patients Want To Die At Home, But Home Hospice Care Can Be Tough On Families
"I'm not anti-hospice at at all," says Joy Johnston, a writer from Atlanta. "But I think people aren't prepared for all the effort that it takes to give someone a good death at home." Even though surveys show it's what most Americans say they want, dying at home is "not all it's cracked up to be," says Johnson, who relocated to New Mexico at age 40 to care for her dying mother some years ago, and ultimately wrote an essay about her frustrations with the way hospice care often works in the U.S. (Farmer, 1/21)

CNN: Your Waist Size May Be More Important Than Weight For Multiple Heart Attack Risk
Heart attack survivors who carry extra weight around their belly are at greater risk of another heart attack, new research has found, another reason why measuring your waist may be more important than stepping on the scale. It's been known for a while that having a pot belly, even if you are slim elsewhere, increases the odds of having a first heart attack, but the latest study, which published Monday in the European Journal of Preventative Cardiology, is the first time researchers have found a link between belly fat and the risk of a subsequent heart attack or stroke. (Hunt, 1/20)

CBS News: Baby Trend Strollers Sold At Target And Amazon Recalled For Fall Risk
Baby Trend is recalling some strollers sold at Target and Amazon because of a potential danger to the children riding in them.Both of the product's hinge joints can release and collapse under pressure, posing a fall hazard to children in the stroller, according to a notice posted late last week by the U.S. Consumer Product and Safety Commission. Consumers who purchased any of four models of black Tango Mini Strollers should stop using them immediately and return for a refund, the company said. (Gibson, 1/20)

The Wall Street Journal: A Placebo For Pain Relief—Even When You Know It’s Not Real
Some patients with chronic pain can get relief from a placebo even when they know it isn’t an active medication, a growing body of evidence shows. More researchers are looking at the idea of placebos—substances that have no actual pharmaceutical effect—as an alternative to traditional pain medications, which can be ineffective and carry significant side effects. Placebos might have particular potential for difficult-to-treat conditions like chronic back pain, cancer-related fatigue and symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome, researchers hope. (Reddy, 1/20)

The Washington Post: Getting Enough Vitamin D In Wintertime Is Important To Your Health
Winter is upon us and so is the risk of vitamin D deficiency and infections. Vitamin D — which is made in our skin following sunlight exposure and also found in oily fish (mackerel, tuna and sardines), mushrooms and fortified dairy and nondairy substitutes — is essential for good health. Humans need vitamin D to keep healthy and to fight infections. The irony is that in winter, when people need vitamin D the most, most of us are not getting enough. So how much should we take? Should we take supplements? How do we get more? And, who needs it most? (Cantorna, 1/19)

NPR: What Is Perimenopause And How Young Can It Start?
Sarah Edrie says she was about 33 when she started to occasionally get a sudden, hot, prickly feeling that radiated into her neck and face, leaving her flushed and breathless. "Sometimes I would sweat. And my heart would race," she says. The sensations subsided in a few moments and seemed to meet the criteria for a panic attack. But Edrie, who has no personal or family history of anxiety, was baffled. She told her doctor and her gynecologist about the episodes, along with a few other health concerns she was starting to notice: Her menstrual cycle was becoming irregular, she had trouble falling asleep and staying asleep, and she was getting night sweats. Their response: a shrug. (Vaughn and Chatterjee, 1/18)

Los Angeles Times: Closing Coal Power Plants Has Saved Thousands Of Lives, Study Says
The number of coal-fired power plants in operation across the country has plummeted in recent years, quickly changing the power mix — especially in states such as California. But what has that change meant in terms of health? Or even in the number of crops produced? (Nikolewski, 1/20)

The Oregonian: Historically Racist Housing Policies Exacerbating Climate Change Effects In Low-Income Portland Neighborhoods
As the climate warms, heat waves are predicted to increase in both frequency and intensity. But that heat, and the threats to public health that come with it, will not be distributed evenly. In cities like Portland, some areas are referred to as “heat islands,” areas where development has exacerbated the effects of high temperatures. Now, a new study from Portland State University is showing, for the first time, that areas prone to excessive heat are disproportionately populated by low-income communities and people of color due to racist housing policies that stretch back more than a century. (Williams, 1/20)

Kaiser Health News: Diagnosed With Dementia, She Documented Her Wishes. They Said No.
When she worked on the trading floor of the Chicago Board Options Exchange, long before cellphone calculators, Susan Saran could perform complex math problems in her head. Years later, as one of its top regulators, she was in charge of investigating insider trading deals. Today, she struggles to remember multiplication tables. Seven years ago, at age 57, Saran was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia, a progressive, fatal brain disease. She had started forgetting things, losing focus at the job she’d held for three decades. Then tests revealed the grim diagnosis. (Aleccia, 1/21)

The New York Times: Rural Montana Had Already Lost Too Many Native Women. Then Selena Disappeared.
Jackie Big Hair slept in her car for days, waking every few hours to fire up the engine and gaze at the frozen highway rest stop where her 16-year-old daughter had been reported missing. “I just have to be here,” Ms. Big Hair, 50, said, watching semis lumber across the plains. “I don’t know where else to go.” That was her vigil, along with searches in Billings about 30 miles away, three weeks after her youngest child, Selena Not Afraid, was reported missing from a barren stretch of Interstate 90 in a southern Montana county where 65 percent of the population is Native American. (Healy, 1/20)

In other news —

The Washington Post: A Radioactive Legacy Haunts This Navajo Village, Which Fears A Fractured Future
The village of Red Water Pond Road sits in the southeast corner of the Navajo Nation, a tiny speck in a dry valley surrounded by scrub-covered mesas. Many families have lived here for generations. The federal government wants to move them out. In what might seem a cruel echo of history, officials are relocating residents to the city of Gallup, about a half-hour away, and surrounding areas. This echo is nuanced, however. The village sits amid a Superfund site loaded with uranium mine waste. Mitigation has been delayed for decades, along with remedies for hundreds of other abandoned uranium mines across the tribe’s lands that boomed during the Cold War. (Ford, 1/18)

The Associated Press: Feds Allow Use Of Opioid Funds To Stem Meth, Cocaine Surge
Alarmed by a deadly new twist in the nation's drug addiction crisis, the government will allow states to use federal money earmarked for the opioid epidemic to help growing numbers of people struggling with meth and cocaine. The little-noticed change is buried in a massive spending bill passed by Congress late last year. Pressed by constituents and state officials, lawmakers of both parties and the Trump administration agreed to broaden the scope of a $1.5 billion grant program previously restricted to the opioid crisis. (1/21)

CNN: Benzos Might Be A 'Hidden Element' Of The US' Overdose Epidemic
Doctors have been increasingly prescribing benzodiazepines, also known as "benzos," in recent years. Looking at data from 2014 to 2016, new research found this class of central nervous system depressants was prescribed at about 65.9 million office-based doctor visits. That's a rate of 27 annual visits per 100 adults. The research, which analyzed data from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, was published on Friday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Christensen, 1/20)

Pioneer Press: Need For MN Foster Families Urgent As Opioid Crisis Displaces More Children
Statewide, parental drug abuse puts the most kids in foster care. The numbers keep rising, prompting agencies to urgently seek more families to take the children in. According to the Minnesota Department of Human Services, in 2018 there were 10,050 kids in foster care, an increase of 14 percent in just two years. Of those, 32 percent were removed from the home due to parents abusing opioids and methamphetamines, almost double what it was in 2013. (Weniger, 1/19)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: How Philly Plans To Combat The Nation’s Worst Big-City Opioid Crisis In 2020
Philadelphia is home to the worst urban opioid crisis in America. More than 3,000 people have died of drug overdoses here in the last three years, and the city health department estimates that tens of thousands of Philadelphians are addicted to opioids. As the epidemic has worsened, city officials, hospitals, and outreach workers have scrambled to address a complicated public health crisis with few easy answers. The city has spent more than a year pouring resources and initiatives into Kensington, the neighborhood at the epicenter of the crisis. Two years after fatal overdoses hit an all-time high — claiming 1,217 people in 2017 — it appears that the 2019 toll will be similar to 2018′s, when 1,116 people died. (Whelan, 1/21)

NH Union Leader: Chronic-Pain Bill Aims To Protect Providers And Patients
Advocates say proposed legislation would protect chronic pain patients — and the doctors who care for them. Senate Bill 546 calls for providers to “administer care sufficient to treat a patient’s chronic pain based on ongoing, objective evaluations of the patient without fear of reprimand or discipline.” It also states that patient care and prescribing of medication, including opioid painkillers, should not be dictated by “pre-determined” guidelines. (Wickham, 1/18)

Stat: CEO's Aim: Make Telehealth More Than ‘An Exercise In Convenience’
The year was 2007. To raucous applause, Apple CEO Steve Jobs proudly strode across the Macworld stage to reveal a device that would change history: the iPhone, the first mobile phone to be more tablet than telephone. The same year, a small digital health startup called American Well connected its first patients and doctors online. So it felt especially appropriate, in the eyes of CEO Roy Schoenberg, for the Boston-based telemedicine company to be selected last year as a key research partner for the Apple Heart Study, the iPhone maker’s most ambitious health research project to date. The study was designed to see whether the Apple Watch and its heart-rate sensor could properly spot irregularities in people’s heartbeat. American Well linked study participants who got a confirmed abnormal reading to remote clinicians with whom they could talk through their diagnosis. (Brodwin, 1/20)

The Wall Street Journal: Hospitals Give Tech Giants Access To Detailed Medical Records
Hospitals have granted Microsoft Corp., International Business Machines Corp. and Amazon.com Inc. the ability to access identifiable patient information under deals to crunch millions of health records, the latest examples of hospitals’ growing influence in the data economy. The breadth of access wasn’t always spelled out by hospitals and tech giants when the deals were struck. (Evans, 1/20)

Bloomberg: IBM Proposes Artificial Intelligence Rules To Ease Bias Concerns
IBM called for rules aimed at eliminating bias in artificial intelligence to ease concerns that the technology relies on data that bakes in past discriminatory practices and could harm women, minorities, the disabled, older Americans and others. As it seeks to define a growing debate in the U.S. and Europe over how to regulate the burgeoning industry, IBM urged industry and governments to jointly develop standards to measure and combat potential discrimination. (Brody and Carville, 1/21)

St. Louis Public Radio: Mizzou Engineers Build A Wearable Device To Keep People Cool On Hot Days
Engineers at the University of Missouri-Columbia are developing a wearable device that could provide much-needed cooling on extremely hot days. The device is a small wired patch made out of a special type of porous plastic that doesn’t require any fans, pumps or electricity to cool the wearer. The technology reflects sunlight away from the body to reduce the person’s exposure to heat. (Chen, 1/20)

The New York Times: Amid Tight Security, Virginia Gun Rally Draws Thousands Of Supporters
Some people streamed in on buses from faraway cities. Others drove cars through the night from places like Indianapolis and Fredericksburg, Texas, logging hundreds of miles and leaning on coffee and Red Bull. Still others came from only a few counties over, but carrying the same vehement message as the rest: Leave gun laws alone. Thousands of people descended on Richmond, the capital of Virginia, on Monday to show support for the rights of gun owners as a push for gun control measures by that state’s newly empowered Democrats has inserted Virginia into a nationwide debate over gun violence and the Second Amendment. (Williams, Tavernise, Kanno-Youngs, and Mervosh, 1/20)

The Associated Press: Pro-Gun Rally By Thousands In Virginia Ends Peacefully
Tens of thousands of gun-rights activists from around the country rallied peacefully at the Virginia Capitol on Monday to protest plans by the state's Democratic leadership to pass gun-control legislation — a move that has become a key flash point in the national debate over gun violence. The size of the crowd and the expected participation of white supremacists and fringe militia groups raised fears that the state could see a repeat of the violence that exploded in 2017 in Charlottesville. (Suderman and Rankin, 1/20)

The Washington Post: Weapons, Flags, No Violence: Massive Pro-Gun Rally In Virginia Capital
Intelligence from law enforcement about outside threats had put Virginia officials on edge and led to a massive police presence. The crackdown also made Northam (D) a symbol of the country’s cultural and political divide — as evidenced by harsh signs Monday depicting him as a “tyrant,” “radical Ralph” and photoshopped into a Nazi uniform. “Democrats in the state are demonstrating . . . unadulterated power without authority,” Erich Pratt, senior vice president of Gun Owners of America, thundered in Capitol Square. “No one listening to my voice should ever . . . vote for the party of gun control, the party of Nancy Pelosi, Charles Schumer,” he said, interrupted by boos at the names of the Democratic leaders. (Schneider, Vozzella, Sullivan and Miller, 1/20)

The New York Times: Kansas City Shooting Leaves 2 Dead And At Least 15 Wounded
It was supposed to be a night of celebration and local pride in Kansas City, Mo. The Chiefs had just clinched a spot in the Super Bowl, its first in a half century. Arrowhead Stadium had been full of fans, and local bars were packed. But late Sunday night, the city found itself confronting yet another episode of what the mayor called an epidemic of gun violence. (Hauser and Zraick, 1/20)

The Washington Post: Kansas City, Missouri, Shooting: 2 Dead, 15 Injured After Gunman Opens Fire Outside Of Bar
Authorities described “a chaotic scene” as hundreds fled the venue by foot and in cars, the violence shattering the city’s celebration of its football team, the Kansas City Chiefs, who had just advanced to the Super Bowl in what was “an exciting night, a euphoric night,” Mayor Quinton Lucas said. “Last night was a night many people in Kansas City have been dreaming of for 50 years,” Lucas said at the news conference. “This is very disappointing for us. It’s heartbreaking.” (Brice-Saddler and Thebault, 1/20)

Politico: Marijuana Legalization May Hit 40 States. Now What?
More than 40 U.S. states could allow some form of legal marijuana by the end of 2020, including deep red Mississippi and South Dakota — and they’re doing it with the help of some conservatives. State lawmakers are teeing up their bills as legislative sessions kick off around the country, and advocates pushing ballot measures are racing to collect and certify signatures to meet deadlines for getting their questions to voters. (Zhang, 1/20)

The Associated Press: Advocates' Hopes High As Kansas Heads For Medical Pot Debate 
Kansas lawmakers expect to have their most serious debate so far on medical marijuana this year, fueling high hopes for advocates who have been stymied by the state's prohibitionist roots and Republican-controlled Legislature. Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly has said she would sign a bill legalizing medical marijuana. A House committee has committed to reviewing the issue, with its members engaging in a brief, informal debate about it during the year's first meeting this week. (Hanna, 1/17)

Boston Globe: 2 Million People With Heart Disease Report Using Marijuana, Brigham And Women’s Doctors Find In New Study
More than 2 million people with heart disease in the United States have used or are using marijuana, researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital found in a new study that called for more research about the drug’s potential cardiovascular risks. The report analyzed the 2015-16 results of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, taking a closer look at the nearly 90 million adults who said they consume marijuana products. (Gans, 1/20)

NBC News: Marijuana Is Risky For People Taking Common Heart Medications
More than 2 million Americans with heart conditions report that they have used marijuana, but many questions remain about the drug’s effects on the heart, according to a review published Monday in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. What is known, however, is that the drug can interact with common heart medications, including statins and blood thinners, potentially putting patients at risk, the review said. (Sullivan, 1/20)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: How A Pending Jefferson Deal Could Reshape Philadelphia’s Health-Care Market
Thomas Jefferson University CEO Stephen K. Klasko likes to think big. That’s no secret. Under his leadership, the Philadelphia nonprofit has ballooned from three hospitals in 2015 to 14 now. And annual revenue has more than doubled to $5.2 billion, making Klasko’s health-care empire a big player in the Philadelphia region. But what could be Klasko’s most ambitious, and possibly the riskiest, move — for Jefferson and Philadelphia residents — is yet to come. Jefferson is trying to take control of Health Partners Plans Inc. (HPP), an insurer that covers about 245,000 adults and 11,000 children in Southeastern Pennsylvania, mostly in Philadelphia. (Brubaker, 1/19)

Albany Herald: Georgia Tax-Credit Programs Suffering Dent In Donations
Two popular state tax-credit programs that raise money for rural hospitals and private school scholarships are having more trouble attracting donors than when they were first launched, a problem supporters blame on federal tax laws. The 12-year-old private school scholarships tax credit was consistently hitting its $58 million cap on contributions so early in the year the General Assembly raised the limit to $100 million in 2018. But last year, the program didn’t reach the new cap until Dec. 2. (Williams, 1/19)

The Oregonian: Kaiser Permanente Will Donate $5.1 Million To Help Homeless People With Disabilities Find Stable Housing In 2020
Kaiser Permanente announced Monday that it plans to donate $5.1 million to finance an initiative to find permanent housing for 300 people who are homeless by the end of 2020. The Metro 300 project will work with people 50 years old and older who have disabilities. The money will go toward helping them find affordable housing, pay move-in and rental assistance costs and provide other supports to ensure they remain in permanent housing, said Debbie Karman, a Kaiser Permanente Northwest spokesperson. (Bailey Jr., 1/20)

NH Times Union: Newport Health Center Disputes Tax Bill
The Newport Health Center is disputing its $210,000 property tax bill, saying it was denied its rightful exemption as a nonprofit, according to a lawsuit filed in Sullivan Superior Court. The New London Hospital Association, which owns the $6.9 million health clinic on John Stark Highway, does not want to pay the annual property tax bill for 2018 of more than $210,000. According to the lawsuit, the town wrongfully denied the hospital’s application for a charitable property tax exemption for the tax year 2018. New London Hospital (NLH) is a registered and recognized nonprofit that operates with an agreement through Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health, also a not-for-profit corporation. The town maintains through its response that while New London Hospital is a federally registered nonprofit and it is considered a charitable trust in New Hampshire, that does not determine what it will pay in local property taxes. (Fisher, 1/20)

North Carolina Health News: Eastern North Carolina Hospital To Be Sold To Texas Firm
An Eastern North Carolina hospital in bankruptcy may soon have a new owner. The Texas-based Affinity Health Partners, a consulting firm that has been charged with managing Washington Regional Medical Center throughout the bankruptcy proceedings, said it will buy the hospital from current owner HMC/CAH at the end of January. But as of last week, Affinity has yet to prove that it has the necessary funds to do so. At a court hearing in Raleigh last week, Affinity CEO Frank Avignone said that he will have the money before the Jan. 31 deadline but said his investors declined to provide written proof of their intent to finance the sale. (Engel-Smith, 1/21)

The Washington Post: Flu-Linked Death Reported At Children’s National Hospital Here
A patient admitted last weekend to Children’s National Hospital in Washington has died and tested positive for the flu, the hospital said in a statement. The child was not a D.C. resident. So far this season, no flu-linked pediatric deaths of city residents have been reported to the D.C. Department of Health, a spokeswoman for the agency said. It was unclear where the child lived. (Weil and Williams, 1/17)

The Washington Post: Puerto Ricans Still Waiting On Disaster Funds As Hurricane Maria’s Aftermath, Earthquakes Continue To Affect Life On The Island
Nydia Camacho's ankles are swollen and puffy after days of sleeping in a compact car with her two teenagers. The single mother can’t return to her rented home because it shakes. The one she owns is a roofless jumble of wood and tin, uninhabitable since the hurricanes ravaged it. The 39-year-old is low on cash, her hours as a private security guard have been suspended because the public school she protects is closed. (Hernandez, 1/19)

The Associated Press: Appeals Court Won't Rehear Mississippi 15-Week Abortion Case
A federal appeals court said Friday that it will not reconsider its ruling that Mississippi's law banning most abortions after 15 weeks is unconstitutional. The 2018 state law remains blocked and Mississippi's only abortion clinic remains open. The owner has said the clinic d oes abortions up to 16 weeks. Mississippi is likely to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to consider the case. (1/17)

The Associated Press: LGBT Activists Say New Bills Target Transgender Youth 
At the urging of conservative advocacy groups, Republican legislators in more than a dozen states are promoting bills that focus on transgender young people. One batch of bills would bar doctors from providing them certain gender-related medical treatment; another batch would bar trans students from participating on school sports teams of the gender they identify with. (1/18)

The Associated Press: Ohio State Doctor Abuse Investigation, Suits Have Cost $9.8M
The investigation and related lawsuits about alleged sexual abuse decades ago by an Ohio State University team doctor have cost nearly $10 million so far, according to the school. The total was about $9.8 million as of December, school spokesman Benjamin Johnson said by email. (1/18)

Health News Florida: Genetic Information Bill Finds Quick Support
Incoming House Speaker Chris Sprowls had little trouble Thursday convincing members of a House health-care panel to approve legislation that would prohibit life-insurance, long-term care insurance and disability-insurance companies from using customers’ genetic information in changing, denying or canceling policies. Florida would become the first state to have such a law if Sprowls’ proposal is ultimately passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis. (Sexton, 1/17)

NBC News: 'Love, Over Everything': As West Virginia Struggles With Foster Care Crisis, Families Step Up
West Virginia officials are desperate to recruit more foster families. Today, more than 7,000 children in West Virginia are in state care, a 71 percent increase over the past decade. Experts say this is due in large part to the opioid crisis, as more children are being removed from their homes because of parental substance abuse and neglect. (Rappleye and Breslauer, 1/21)

The Washington Post: Fighting Suicides In Dairy Country Through ‘Farmer Angels’
On what would have been Leon Statz’s 59th birthday, two dozen plaid-shirted farmers sat in the basement of St. Peter’s Lutheran Church to talk about how they were coping with the forces conspiring against them — the forces that had pushed their neighbor, a third-generation dairyman, to kill himself. The gathering was therapy of the most urgent kind. Statz’s 2018 suicide was the first some of the farmers had ever experienced, and in the small community of Loganville, it was a tragic jolt. (Simmons, 1/18)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Mayfield Doctor Agrees To Cooperate With Feds In Probe Into Neurological Drug’s Marketing
A doctor in Cleveland’s eastern suburbs who admitted to a federal charge will cooperate with prosecutors in a case where they said doctors received kickbacks from drug company representatives to increase prescriptions for a neurological medication, court records show. Dr. Franklin Price, who practiced internal medicine and specialized in hematology and medical oncology, pleaded guilty Friday to a charge of wrongful disclosure of individually identifiable health information, a misdemeanor. (Heisig, 1/20)

The New York Times: A Doctor Abused Her. His Name Is On Her Child’s Birth Certificate.
To register her twin daughters for kindergarten a few years ago, Marissa Hoechstetter needed their birth certificates. It had been quite a while since she had last looked closely at them, and when she pulled the papers out, what she saw made her stomach turn, she said. There, on a document that legally and symbolically marked the start of her children’s lives, was the name of a gynecologist in New York City who she said sexually abused her, Robert A. Hadden. (Gold, 1/17)

The Associated Press: Virginia Teens Advocate For Seizure Safe School Legislation
Rowena and Thomas Gesick take turns sleeping in their daughter’s room every night so they can monitor her for seizures while she sleeps. But when Brie goes to school in the morning, the personnel are not required to know how to recognize and respond to seizures. Two families — the Gesick family from Virginia Beach and the Van Cleave family from Yorktown — want to change that, so they’re advocating for Seizure Safe School legislation in Virginia. (Nolte, 1/18)

St. Louis Public Radio: One In 3 Missouri Jail Officers Struggles With Depression, Study Reports
About 1 in 3 jail officers surveyed in Missouri showed symptoms of depression — with younger officers at a higher risk than their older colleagues. More than 745,000 people are held in county and city jails in the U.S., according to Bureau of Labor Statistics. (Farzan, 1/21)

The Baltimore Sun: A Bad Flu Year Could Be Even More Dangerous For Baltimore Kids
As the flu continues its achy, feverish march across the state and nation, U.S. health officials said the most common strain is one that can be particularly tough on kids. And many of Baltimore’s youth may not be protected. The rate of vaccination of city students during school clinics has been far lower than those in other Maryland counties, with just a small fraction of schools even offering the vaccine because there were too few takers. (Cohn, 1/21)

Texas Tribune: Texas Churches Consider Arming Volunteer Security After White Settlement
Chuck Chadwick, the founder and president of the National Organization for Church Security and Safety Management, has been in the church security business for about 18 years, encouraging parishioners and worshippers to take their safety into their own hands. He’s experienced a spike in interest in recent weeks, following the White Settlement shooting, that mirrors the same interest his business got after Sutherland Springs. (Fernandez, 1/21)

The Washington Post: Bill Marler Fought E.Coli. Now He Wants Tougher Salmonella Regulations.
Bill Marler, the Seattle lawyer who represented hundreds of victims in the Jack in the Box food poisoning case in the 1990s, was outraged by the avoidable tragedy that sickened 700 and claimed the lives of four children. He courted the media to get the E. coli bacteria on the agenda of policymakers — and played a key role in getting the U.S. Department of Agriculture to outlaw the most virulent strains of the pathogen in meat. (Kindy, 1/19)

Denver Post: In Colorado, Wealth Is A Big Indicator For Health
Colorado has one of the healthiest populations in the nation, but that doesn't mean some resolutions aren't in order for 2020, assuming they haven't been already attempted and cast aside. (Svaldi, 1/19)

Seattle Times: As Smaller Washington Cities Grapple With Homelessness, Republicans Take Up The Issue In The State Legislature
In the 2020 legislative session, a Republican lawmaker wants to authorize a local sales tax increase to pay for homelessness programs. Despite his party’s historical antipathy to new taxes, Rep. Drew Stokesbary, R-Auburn, says he’s “going to ask my caucus to compromise on that point, and I’m hoping the other side of the aisle would be willing to meet halfway.” (Brownstone, 1/20)

Captial Times: DOJ May Reopen Botched Wisconsin National Guard Assault Investigations
The Wisconsin Department of Justice will review a series of sexual assault investigations from the Wisconsin National Guard after a federal report released last month found that many were conducted improperly. At least two Guard victims whose cases were initially investigated by the Guard were notified by the National Guard Bureau last week that Wisconsin’s DOJ would review some cases, according to an email from the NGB obtained by the Cap Times. (Ferral, 1/20)

California Healthline: For 2020, California Goes Big On Health Care
California is known for progressive everything, including its health care policies, and, just a few weeks into 2020, state leaders aren’t disappointing. The politicians’ health care bills and budget initiatives are heavy on ideas and dollars — and on opposition from powerful industries. They put California, once again, at the forefront. The proposals would lower prescription drug costs, increase access to health coverage, and restrict and tax vaping. (Ibarra, 1/17)

The Oregonian: ‘Serious Violation’ Of Safe-Sleep Rules Preceded Baby’s Day Care Death, Oregon Regulators Say
Oregon child care regulators imposed first-of-their-kind restrictions Thursday on a Hillsboro day care where an infant died Jan. 6. The Office of Child Care found a “serious danger to the health and safety of children” and ordered Mrs. Williams Childcare, operated by Jeannette Williams, to stop caring for children younger than 2. Regulators also ordered the 24/7 provider to watch over children who are asleep at all times and to increase staffing beyond the baseline required by law. (Young, 1/20)

Los Angeles Times: Feds Investigate Causes Of A Norovirus Outbreak At Yosemite National Park
As of Monday, one of the West’s most majestic national parks had received reports of about 170 visitors and employees with similar symptoms and most had spent time in Yosemite Valley earlier this month. The National Park Service and other health agencies have launched an investigation into the outbreak, casting a pall over Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday, when visitors were allowed free of charge into the 1,162-square-mile Sierra Nevada landmark known for its giant sequoia trees, towering granite ridges and tumbling waterfalls. (Sahagun, 1/20)

Los Angeles Times: Orange County Jail Scandal Investigation Ends With No Answers
When former California Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris in 2015 launched a criminal investigation into corruption inside Orange County’s jails, local activists and attorneys hoped it would finally reveal the breadth of a scandal that engulfed the Sheriff’s Department and district attorney’s office — and may have affected countless court cases. Four years later — after an investigation into the misuse of informants inside the county’s jails came to an anticlimactic end in a Santa Ana courtroom with no explanation and no charges filed — those same advocates were left asking a much simpler question: What happened? (Queally and Mason, 1/20)

North Carolina Health News: N.C. Gives Away Radon Test Kits
It’s known as the silent killer for a reason. Every year, radon, a naturally occurring, invisible, odorless, radioactive gas, causes an estimated 21,000 lung cancer deaths in the United States. In North Carolina, officials with the state Department of Health and Human Services estimate that 435 residents will die from radon-related lung cancer in 2020. In an effort to make people more aware of the dangers, the state is again giving away 3,000 radon test kits as part of National Radon Action Month. (Barnes, 1/20)

North Carolina Health News: Perinatal Depression Affects 1 In 7 Women 
Less well-known than postpartum depression, perinatal depression caused by hormone and life changes affects many pregnant women. I should know: I’m one of them. I knew going into my third pregnancy that it’s not a walk in the park: around two-thirds of pregnant women experience morning sickness, almost everyone experiences fatigue from building a placenta, the immune system changes, and sleep problems arise. But I never expected that it would be this bad. ...It turns out that about one in seven childbearing women experiences perinatal depression, or depression that strikes either during pregnancy or up to a year after birth. According to a paper published this month in the North Carolina Medical Journal, 85 percent of women with perinatal depression don’t receive treatment. (Duong, 1/17)

The Hill: Abortion Laws Give Republican Politicians What They Crave — Control
Somehow, even though Roe v. Wade has been in place for 46 years, and even though the majority of Americans believe abortion should be legal, and even though the data is clear that criminalizing abortion is not an effective and safe way to reduce abortions, we are still on the brink of witnessing abortion rights in America disappear. Just last week, more than 200 mostly white male members of Congress submitted an amicus brief to the Supreme Court advocating for the reconsideration and repeal of Roe v. Wade. (Rita Bosworth, 1/18)

Cincinnati Enquirer: Roe V. Wade Anniversary: Strategy To Abolish Abortion Needs To Change
Laws prohibiting abortion based on the child’s sex, race or disability provide a window into the racist and eugenic history of abortion. Exposing the practice of live-dismemberment abortion illustrates abortionists’ callous disregard of human suffering. We will prevail, but not by seeking to “nullify” Roe. We will win by tenacious legislative efforts and persistent witness to the fact that Roe is a constitutional contradiction and a human tragedy. (Teresa Collett, 1/21)

The Wall Street Journal: New York Tries Again To Muzzle Pro-Life Groups
The National Institute of Family and Life Advocates can’t catch a break. Not two years after battling a California law all the way to the Supreme Court in Nifla v. Becerra—and winning—the Virginia-based pro-life organization is now suing New York state officials over legislation that undermines the ability of its Empire State member centers to hire workers who support their mission. The law “violates our very reason for being,” says Anne O’Connor, Nifla’s vice president of legal affairs. (Nicole Ault, 1/17)

The Washington Post: Trump’s School Lunch Assault Is The Wrong Food Fight
No one loves a food fight more than President Trump. But now, he has picked the wrong one: His administration is taking aim at children’s lunch plates. The Agriculture Department, which runs nutritional programs that feed nearly 30 million students at 99,000 schools, is proposing new rules that would allow schools to reduce the amount of vegetables and fruits required at lunch and breakfasts. (Karen Tumulty, 1/20)

The New York Times: Childhood Obesity Is A Major Problem. Research Isn’t Helping.
Childhood obesity is a major public health problem, and has been for some time. Almost 20 percent of American children are affected by obesity, as well as about 40 percent of adults. Over all, this costs the United States around $150 billion in health care spending each year. Pediatricians like me, and many other health professionals, know it’s a problem, and yet we’ve been relatively unsuccessful in tackling it. (Aaron E. Carroll, 1/20)

Stat: Is 'No More Copays, No More Deductibles' Radical Health Reform?
Lost in the shuffle of competing plans for saving health care is the radical call by Democratic presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren for “no more copays, no more deductibles” as part of their “Medicare for All” plans. (The plans are actually misnamed, since regular Medicare has 20% copays with no cap — the opposite of what they are proposing — but I’ll leave that aside.) (Christopher T. Robertson, 1/20)

Modern Healthcare: Transformation In Healthcare Is An Imperative; We Just Aren't Sure What We Want To Become
A buzzy concept in the healthcare industry for the last several years is “transformation.” Many organizations have established an office of transformation or recruited and hired a chief transformation officer. Some provider organizations have even incorporated “transformation” into their mission and vision statements and strategic plans. However, in general, as an industry we have not made much transformative progress. In short, our industry appears to be struggling with transformation. (Jonathan Manis, 1/18)

The Washington Post: Marching Around With Guns On Your Chest? That’s All About Fear. 
Y'all, it smelled like fear out here in Virginia. Scores of men — plus a handful of women — dressed up in battle rattle and draped themselves with assault weapons, long guns and handguns on Monday. They strapped hunting knives to their thighs and wore body armor and body cameras on their chests, shoulders and helmets. (Petula Dvorak, 1/20)

The Hill: Relaunching The Fight Against Medical Errors
As science invents new cures and tools to fight disease, an intractable problem continues to plague American health care: medical errors by doctors and hospitals. The issue of medical error is hardly a new one: We have just passed the 20th anniversary of the release of “To Err is Human," a landmark government report that exposed the shocking toll of medical error in the United States. It sparked widespread media attention, public hearings and action by the Clinton administration. (Pelu Tran, 1/17)

Stat: Instead Of Banning Vaping, We Need To Build Better Vaping Devices 
What’s the health care system to do when thousands of individuals, many of them between the ages of 18 and 34, arrive at hospitals across the country with serious, previously unknown breathing problems that may be related to their use of e-cigarettes and vapes? Maybe take a lesson from Hippocrates: First, do no harm. Reports of this lung problem, now being called e-cigarette or vaping product use associated lung injury (EVALI), began emerging in June 2019. (Diane Nelson, 1/20)

The New York Times: The Neighborhoods We Will Not Share
In the mid-20th century, federal, state and local governments pursued explicit racial policies to create, enforce and sustain residential segregation. The policies were so powerful that, as a result, even today blacks and whites rarely live in the same communities and have little interracial contact or friendships outside the workplace. This was not a peculiar Southern obsession, but consistent nationwide. In New York, for example, the State legislature amended its insurance code in 1938 to permit the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company to build large housing projects “for white people only” — first Parkchester in the Bronx and then Stuyvesant Town in Manhattan. (Richard Rothstein, 1/20)

The Washington Post: I Had My Son Using A Donor Egg. Should I Tell Him?
As my 8-year-old son and I drive past the cow pasture near our house, he asks, “Why do they have to have bulls in there?” “So the cows can have babies,” I say. “They need a boy and a girl, a male and a female,” I correct myself, “to have babies.” Borrowing what little I know about human anatomy and applying it to the animal kingdom, I tell him how women have eggs and men have sperm — which are like tadpoles — and that the sperm try to bust their way into the egg to fertilize it so the cow can have a baby. Humans are much the same, I say. (Chesler, 1/18)

The Hill: The American Disease And Death Bowls
The National Football League’s Super Bowl will be played on Feb. 2 and the Iowa Caucuses kick off the national Political Super Bowl on Feb. 3. Both will make you sick. During the college football bowl season, giving way to the professional football Super Bowl, American companies will spend more than $2 billion in television ads … to eventually add an estimated $200 billion to America’s annual national health care costs. (Grady Means, 1/20)

The Washington Post: The Lessons We Can Learn From Congo’s Measles Outbreak
Spreading faster than Ebola, and with a higher death toll, measles has ravaged all 26 provinces of Congo in a year. More than 6,000 people have died, and more than 311,000 have become infected. The virus has sliced through the massive country in part because so many of its people had not been protected with a vaccine, and because of other deficiencies, including poor government and serious security threats. (1/20)

Kansas City Star: Scare Tactics Skew Missouri’s Opioid Monitoring Discussion
It stands to reason that PDMPs alone would not markedly reduce overdoses. We must pursue efforts to address other opioids such as heroin and fentanyl, as well as illegal drug supplies, in our initiatives to engage patients in drug treatment programs. But a robust monitoring program — one that incorporates features that have worked to reduce overdoses in other states — would move Missouri in the right direction. (Shavonne Danner, 1/21)

The Wall Street Journal: When Social Media Is Too Much, Some Teens Tune Out
We often picture today’s teens as social-media zombies, staring at their phones 24/7 and lashing out when they can’t have their Instagram fix. But the truth is more complicated: While they depend on social media to keep up with friends, it does have a tendency to overwhelm them, and they know it. When I spoke to four students at Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, Calif., as part of my nationwide teen listening tour, they told me they make conscious choices about who they share things with on social media, how they manage their accounts and how they handle their own burnout. (Julie Jargon, 1/21)