Reuters: Democrat Warren Outlines Three-Year Path To 'Medicare For All'
White House hopeful Elizabeth Warren on Friday outlined how she would implement "Medicare for All" during her first term in office, including by passing new legislation in her first 100 days that would give all Americans the option of choosing the government health insurance plan. Warren's timeline envisions a progression that would initially retain many aspects of the current system, including employer-based private insurance, while slowly transferring Americans to the government's Medicare health insurance plan that covers individuals 65 and older. (Becker and Ax, 11/15)

The New York Times: Elizabeth Warren Vows To Expand Health Coverage In First 100 Days
The initial bill she would seek to pass if elected would be a step short of the broader Medicare for all plan she has championed. But it would substantially expand the reach and generosity of public health insurance, creating a government plan that would offer free coverage to all American children and people earning less than double the federal poverty rate, or about $50,000 for a family of four, and that could be purchased by other Americans who want it. Ms. Warren has long endorsed a Medicare for all bill sponsored by one of her rivals for the Democratic nomination, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. But until now, she has not specified how quickly she would move to enact a health care plan. Friday’s proposal amounts to a detailed road map for eventually establishing Medicare for all, a single government-run health insurance program under which private coverage would be eliminated. (Goodnough, Kaplan and Sanger-Katz, 11/15)

Politico Pro: Warren Details How She'd Transition Country To 'Medicare For All'
Warren vowed that by her third year in office she will push Congress to pass a bill fully implementing Medicare for All, an approach that seems designed to blunt attacks from Republicans and some Democrats that she would quickly strip people of their private health coverage. By the time the country moves to single-payer, she argues, tens of millions of people will have already had a taste of it. (Thompson and Ollstein, 11/15)

The Wall Street Journal: Warren Gives Timeline For Move To ‘Medicare-For-All’ System
The transition plan resembles buy-in proposals backed by other Democratic presidential contenders such as former Vice President Joe Biden and South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg. Like Mr. Biden, Ms. Warren, of Massachusetts, would also focus on shoring up and expanding the Affordable Care Act. It is also similar to the transition proposal outlined by Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, another rival for the presidential nomination. His plan requires passing Medicare for All legislation that also includes a gradual shift into the program by reducing the age of eligibility for Medicare and covers children at no cost. (Armour, 11/15)

Boston Globe: Elizabeth Warren Lays Out Ambitious Four-Year Timeline To Transition To Medicare For All
The first step alone would require Warren to spend a significant amount of political capital on health care early in her term, even though she has outlined other issues, including ending the Senate filibuster, passing an anticorruption plan, and enacting a wealth tax as her initial priorities. (Bidgood, 11/15)

The Washington Post: Warren Tries To Sell Her Medicare-For-All Shift To Iowa Voters
Her new pitch also seems designed to assuage voters worried that her earlier approach would force 150 million people off their private insurance. Her ability to sell this new plan — and refocus her campaign on her larger message of reform — will be a key test for her candidacy. The toll on her campaign is particularly apparent here in Iowa, where a new poll by the Des Moines Register and CNN released Saturday night showed Warren in a three-way tie for second place with former vice president Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), while South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg surged ahead of the pack. The poll shows Buttigieg with 25 percent support and Warren, Biden and Sanders all with about 15 percent support. (Linskey, 11/16)

The Hill: Warren 'Fully Committed' To 'Medicare For All' 
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a 2020 White House hopeful, reportedly said Saturday that she remains “fully committed” to "Medicare for All" after her implementation plan drew criticism. “My commitment to Medicare for All is all the way,” Warren told reporters in Iowa, according to The Associated Press. She also defended provisions of her plan that call for building on existing health care programs before implementing Medicare for All because “people need help right now.” (Budryk, 11/17)

The New York Times: Elizabeth Warren’s Backup Backup Health Plan
The Democratic presidential candidates have been fighting over whether they should try to replace the health insurance system with a single government-run plan or create a government-run plan that Americans could choose to join. But hidden outside this big debate is a harsh reality: If Democrats fail to retake control of the Senate, neither plan has much of a chance to become law. ... So what would Warren do? Her regulatory agenda can be divided into a few broad categories. But over all, she views executive authority in the same broad way that Trump does. Several of her proposals are likely to end up in court — as several of his have. (Sanger-Katz, 11/16)

The Associated Press: Warren Pushes Back On Critics Of Her Health Care Plan
Elizabeth Warren pushed back against critics of her newly released plan to phase in implementation of a single-payer health care system, insisting Saturday that she is “fully committed” to Medicare for All and that she plans to first build on existing health care programs because “people need help right now.” “My commitment to Medicare for All is all the way,” Warren told reporters, responding to critics who’ve questioned the timing behind the release of her implementation plan. (Jaffe, 11/16)

The New York Times: How Elizabeth Warren Got To ‘Yes’ On Medicare For All
Two days before Senator Elizabeth Warren rolled out a fundamental reimagining of America’s health care and tax system — a $20.5 trillion package that would dwarf all her previous plans combined — she was working the phones to personally preview her proposal and sell it to a select group of political influencers. One was Paul Krugman, the Nobel Prize-winning economist and New York Times columnist, who had written skeptically days earlier that her plan to pay for “Medicare for all” was a “make-or-break moment” for her, if not the whole 2020 race. Another call was to Representative Pramila Jayapal, the lead sponsor of Medicare for all legislation in the House and a leading liberal as the co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. “Pramila,” Ms. Warren told her, “we’re gonna do this.” (Goldmacher, Kliff and Kaplan, 11/17)

The Washington Post: Obama Tells Democratic Candidates To Ease Off Talk Of Revolution
Former president Barack Obama on Friday urged Democrats running for the White House not to lurch too far left in their pursuit of the nomination, while at the same time seeking to quell concerns in the party about its 2020 hopefuls and the messy primary season to come. The comments — made in Washington at a meeting of the Democracy Alliance, a powerful network of liberal donors — marked some of Obama’s most pointed words yet about a fluid primary in which he is not picking sides. They echoed previous comments in which he warned about the dangers of pursuing purity and rigidity in politics. (Sullivan, 11/15)

Meanwhile, in other news on elections —

The Associated Press: Democrats Hold On To Louisiana Governor’s Seat Despite Trump
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards has stunned Republicans again, narrowly winning a second term Saturday as the Deep South’s only Democratic governor and handing Donald Trump another gubernatorial loss this year. In the heart of Trump country, the moderate Edwards cobbled together enough cross-party support with his focus on bipartisan, state-specific issues to defeat Republican businessman Eddie Rispone, getting about 51% of the vote. ... Edwards expanded Louisiana's Medicaid program, lowering the state's uninsured rate below the national average. (Deslatte, 11/16)

CNN: Booker And Sanders Propose A New Federal Agency To Set Drug Prices
Sens. Cory Booker and Bernie Sanders are pushing for the creation of a new federal agency aimed at controlling the rising cost of prescription drugs. The pair, who are both vying for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, proposed a bill Friday that would create a Bureau of Prescription Drug Affordability and Access, which would be responsible for determining the list prices of medications. The big stick: If a drug maker didn't comply, the government would void its exclusivity protections and allow other companies to produce generic versions of the medicine. (Luhby, 11/15)

The Hill: Booker, Sanders Propose New Federal Agency To Control Drug Prices
The 2020 Democratic hopefuls were joined by fellow White House contender Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) as sponsors of the legislation. One of the main tenants of the proposal is that if a drug company did not comply with the regulations, it would void exclusivity protections, allowing other companies to produce generic copies of a drug. The senators noted the legislation is one of the few bills to directly address a drug's list price, which is the cost before any discounts or rebates and is usually only paid by the uninsured. (Johnson, 11/15)

Nj.Com: Booker And Sanders Team Up Again To Lower Drug Prices
“In a country as wealthy as ours, it’s downright shameful that people have to choose between taking their medicine or paying for other basic necessities,” said Booker, D-N.J. “Every day, millions of Americans struggle to afford their lifesaving medication while the manufacturers of these drugs profit hand over fist with limited to no oversight. "Canada has a similar board that determines whether a drug is overpriced by comparing prices with other countries. (Salant, 11/15)

The New York Times: To Lower Costs, Trump To Force Hospitals To Reveal Price Of Care
The Trump administration on Friday announced it would begin forcing hospitals to publicly disclose the discounted prices they negotiate with insurance companies, a potentially bold move to help people shop for better deals on a range of medical services, from hip replacements to brain scans. “For decades, hospitals, insurance companies, lobbyists and special interests have hidden prices from consumers, so they could drive up costs for you, and you had no idea what was happening,” President Trump said Friday afternoon in the White House’s Roosevelt Room. “You’d get bills that were unbelievable and you’d have no idea why.” (Abelson, 11/15)

The Washington Post: New Trump Rule To Make More Health Care Rates Public
In a new twist, the administration is also proposing to require most health plans that Americans get through their jobs to disclose the rates they negotiate with hospitals and doctors in their insurance networks, as well as the amounts they pay to doctors out-of-network. Taken together, the pair of actions — one a final rule, the other in draft form — is part of President Trump’s 2020 electoral strategy to capi­tal­ize on polls that show health care ranks among Americans’ top domestic concerns. Public opinion surveys consistently show that consumers are looking to government especially to ease the burden of escalating out-of-pocket costs. (Goldstein, 11/15)

NPR: Trump Seeks Health Care Price Transparency From Insurers And Hospitals
"Our goal is to give patients the knowledge they need about the real price of health care services," said Trump. "They'll be able to check them, compare them, go to different locations, so they can shop for the highest-quality care at the lowest cost." Administration officials heralded both rules as historic and transformative to the health care system. (Simmons-Duffin, 11/15)

Kaiser Health News: White House Unveils Finalized Health Care Price Transparency Rule
The hospital rule is slated to go into effect in January 2021. It is part of an effort by the Trump administration to increase price transparency in hopes of lowering health care costs on everything from hospital services to prescription drugs. But it is controversial and likely to face court challenges.(Appleby, 11/15)

Axios: Trump To Introduce Price Transparency Rules For Hospitals And Insurers
Why it matters: Advocates of requiring hospitals and insurers to disclose negotiated rates say that it'll help patients shop for health care, which could in turn lower prices through enhanced competition. The other side: Hospitals and insurers hate the proposal and say it could lead to higher costs, as providers receiving lower payments from insurers would then demand higher rates once they find out what their competitors are making. (Owens, 11/15)

Modern Healthcare: Healthcare Price Transparency Rules Unveiled By Trump Administration
Hospitals are already gearing up for a legal fight in hopes of striking down the rule. The American Hospital Association, Association of American Medical Colleges, Children's Hospital Association and Federation of American Hospitals said in a joint statement Friday that they will sue the federal government alleging the rule exceeds the CMS' authority. Hospitals have argued that making them disclose negotiated prices will increase healthcare costs by allowing insurers to collude to fix prices, a claim that many economists dispute. (Brady, 11/15)

Bloomberg: Trump Advances Health-Care Price Rules To Boost Transparency 
Insurance-industry groups were also critical. The rules won’t help consumers better understand their out-of-pocket costs and “may have negative, unintended consequences -- including price increases,” Scott Serota, CEO of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, said in a news release. “Transparency should be achieved in a way that encourages -- not undermines -- competitive negotiations to lower patients’ and consumers’ costs and premiums,” Matt Eyles, CEO of America’s Health Insurance Plans, said in a news release. (Tozzi and Stein, 11/15)

Boston Business Journal: Trump's New Health Care Transparency Rule Originated In Massachusetts
The advocacy work of a Newton nonprofit paid off when the Trump administration and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services implemented a new pricing transparency rule for health care services. (11/18)

The New York Times: Trump Retreats From Flavor Ban For E-Cigarettes
It was a swift and bold reaction to a growing public health crisis affecting teenagers. Seated in the Oval Office in September, President Trump said he was moving to ban the sale of most flavored e-cigarettes as vaping among young people continued to rise. “We can’t have our kids be so affected,” Mr. Trump said. The first lady, Melania Trump, who rarely involves herself publicly with policy announcements in the White House, was there, too. “She’s got a son,” Mr. Trump noted, referring to their teenager, Barron. “She feels very strongly about it.” (Karni, Haberman and Kaplan, 11/17)

The Washington Post: Trump Reverses Course On Flavored Vape Ban, Leaving It Unclear Whether The Government Will Act
One last thing was needed: Trump’s sign-off. But on Nov. 4, the night before a planned morning news conference, the president balked. Briefed on a flight to a Lexington, Ky., campaign rally, he refused to sign the one-page “decision memo,” saying he didn’t want to move forward with a ban he had once backed, primarily at his wife’s and daughter’s urging, because he feared it would lead to job losses, said a Trump adviser who spoke on the condition of anonymity to reveal internal deliberations. As he had done so many times before, Trump reversed course — this time on a plan to address a major public health problem because of worries that apoplectic vape shop owners and their customers might hurt his reelection prospects, said White House and campaign officials. (Dawsey and McGinley, 11/17)

The Wall Street Journal: Trump Delays Decision On Possible E-Cigarette Restrictions
A policy is still expected to emerge, but the president is less adamant than he had been when he said in September that he would seek to bar sales of sweet, fruit-flavored e-cigarettes aimed at young people. Already, the administration has softened its original stance to make an exception for menthol flavors. Mr. Trump has also said he favors raising the minimum purchase age for e-cigarettes nationwide to 21 years old from 18, a position that has been pushed by the vaping industry and is supported by e-cigarette powerhouse Juul Labs Inc. (Leary, 11/18)

Bloomberg: Trump’s Vaping Ban Is Stalled After An Industry Lobbying Push 
“President Trump and this administration are committed to responsibly protecting the health of children,” White House spokesman Judd Deere said in an e-mail. “At this time, we are in an ongoing rulemaking process, and I will not speculate on the final outcome.” Opponents of strict regulation have made a public health argument of their own: that vaping is far less harmful than cigarette smoking and has enabled many former smokers to wean themselves off of tobacco products. Industry advocates have warned that a wide-ranging ban would close stores, put thousands of people out of work and drive adult vapers back to cigarettes. (Wingrove and Porter, 11/15)

The Hill: Trump Reversed Course On Flavored E-Cigarette Ban Over Fear Of Job Losses: Report 
E-cigarette manufacturers have come under scrutiny in recent months due to a rise of lung illnesses in teens and young adults thought to be related to vaping amid explosive popularity of the devices among younger Americans. (Bowden, 11/17)

In other vaping news —

The New York Times: Apple To Ban Vaping Apps From Its Store
Apple removed 181 vaping apps from its online store on Friday, following the lead of federal, state and local regulators, which in recent months have cracked down on e-cigarette products. The prohibition affects apps that help people find vape stores or flavors, allow them to control their vape pens, or gain access to games, news or social networks that promote vaping. Apple’s vaping app ban is the second significant step the iPhone maker has taken to distance itself from e-cigarettes. (Nicas and Tsang, 11/15)

Columbus Dispatch: Vaping Isn't Healthier Than Smoking, Health-Care Professionals Warn, But Some Not Quick To Condemn 
In Ohio, the state Department of Health is spending $4.1 million over two years to increase education about e-cigarettes and provide communities with resources to help reduce use, and in October, Gov. Mike DeWine called on the state legislature to ban the sale of flavored liquids that are so appealing to youth. In July, he signed a budget that included a new tax on vaping products and raised the age for the legal sale of tobacco and vaping products from 18 to 21. Elected officials elsewhere took similar measures. (Dispatch, 11/15)

WBUR: How Vaping Snuck Up On Regulators
When President Obama signed the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act in 2009, it gave government regulators an important new weapon in its battle against Big Tobacco. For the first time, the Food and Drug Administration had the power to regulate the manufacturing, distribution and marketing of tobacco products, including the new and then-largely unknown practice of vaping. Ten years later, e-cigarettes have become dramatically more popular, yet government officials have still not begun regulating the hundreds of vaping products now on the market. (Zarroll, 11/15)

Kaiser Health News: Listen: How A Wisconsin Senator Is Trying To Prevent A Vape Flavor Ban
Kaiser Health News Midwest Correspondent Lauren Weber joined host Kealey Bultena on Wisconsin Public Radio’s news magazine “Central Time” to discuss Republican Sen. Ron Johnson’s role in the politics of vaping. Weber and fellow KHN reporter Rachel Bluth had reported on how the recent crackdowns on vaping amid a surge of mysterious lung injuries are politicizing vapers. Johnson, who in 2016 thanked vapers for helping him win his reelection bid, has publicly urged President Donald Trump to back away from banning flavored e-cigarette products. (11/15)

The New York Times: Trump Went For A Medical Checkup That Was Not On His Public Schedule
President Trump underwent a two-hour doctor’s examination on Saturday at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, which the White House said was part of a routine annual physical and included lab work. The appointment was not on the president’s schedule, in contrast to a previous physical that Mr. Trump had in February, also at Walter Reed outside Washington. (Vigdor, 11/17)

Reuters: Trump Touts His 'Very' Good Health After Unscheduled Medical Check
"Anticipating a very busy 2020, the President is taking advantage of a free weekend here in Washington, D.C., to begin portions of his routine annual physical exam at Walter Reed," White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham said in a statement. Asked on Sunday about rumours the president was visiting for reasons other than a routine checkup, Grisham said: "Absolutely not. He is healthy as can be." (11/17)

The Washington Post: Trump Is ‘Healthy As Can Be,’ White House Press Secretary Says After Doctor Visit
Trump mentioned his visit to Walter Reed in a tweet on Saturday. “Visited a great family of a young man under major surgery at the amazing Walter Reed Medical Center,” he said. “Those are truly some of the best doctors anywhere in the world. Also began phase one of my yearly physical. Everything very good (great!). Will complete next year.” (Sonmez and Bernstein, 11/17)

Bloomberg: Trump Gets Early Start On Annual Checkup With Saturday Tests 
After his most recent physical exam, Sean Conley, the physician to the president, determined that Trump was in “very good health.” Trump was found in February to weigh 243 pounds -- a four-pound gain from 2018 -- putting his body mass index at 30.4 and making him clinically obese. His dose of rosuvastatin, a medication for treating high cholesterol, was increased, according to a statement at the time from Conley. (Dlouhy and Phillips, 11/16)

Politico: Trump Visits Walter Reed To Begin Annual Physical Examination, White House Says
In 2018, then-White House physician Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson praised Trump’s health during a White House briefing, saying he was in “excellent health” and could “live to be 200 years old.” Jackson also said he wanted Trump, who was then 6 feet, 3 inches tall and weighed 239 pounds, to lose “10 to 15 pounds.” (Semones, 11/16)

The Associated Press: Drug Cost Legislation Gets A Push From White House
The White House is ramping up its push to get a bill through Congress that curbs prescription drug costs, feeling a new urgency as the impeachment investigation advances amid the 2020 election campaign. The effort has progressed beyond anything seen in years, says President Donald Trump’s top domestic policy adviser. “This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to confront these issues in a nonideological fashion,” adviser Joe Grogan said in a recent session with reporters. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 11/17)

Reuters: Trump Says U.S. States Will Be Able To Buy Prescription Drugs Abroad
President Donald Trump said on Friday he would be giving U.S. states the right to buy prescription drugs from other countries, as part of a bid to boost consumer access to cheaper medicines. "I'm going to be giving governors the right very shortly to buy ... their prescription drugs from other countries," Trump said at a White House event accompanied by Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar, among other officials. (11/15)

Meanwhile —

Stat: Biotech Venture Capitalists Speak Out Against Pelosi’s Drug Pricing Bill
A group of top biotech venture capitalists are issuing a stark warning to Congress: They won’t be able to pour money into biotech research if Democrats’ signature drug pricing bill becomes law. “If policies such as those included within H.R. 3, the Lower Drug Costs Now Act, are passed, our ability to continue to invest in future biomedical innovation will be severely constrained, thus crushing the hopes of millions of patient waiting for the next breakthroughs,” the letter states. (Florko, 11/18)

Bloomberg: Viral ‘Smart Bombs’ Are Becoming Weapons Against Superbugs 
At the University of California at San Diego and elsewhere around the world, researchers and drugmakers are betting that so-called phage therapy can help close the growing gaps in medical treatment created by the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and other superbugs. They say phages are the ultimate biodegradable “smart bomb” because they can be programmed to destroy a single harmful bacterium without blowing up other, helpful strains that occur naturally in a person’s body, as antibiotics do. (Gale, 11/18)

Reuters: Novartis Sickle-Cell Drug Gets U.S. FDA Approval
Novartis AG on Friday won U.S. approval for its experimental sickle cell disease drug, Adakveo, making it the first of several proposed new therapies designed to offer lasting relief for patients with the debilitating blood disease to get U.S. regulatory clearance. The drug will be priced between $84,852 and $113,136 per year for most patients, who will typically infuse themselves with between three and four vials each month, Novartis said. (11/15)

The Associated Press: US Approves New Drug To Manage Sickle Cell Disease
Sickle cell disease is one of the most common inherited blood disorders, affecting about 100,000 Americans, most of them black, and about 300 million people worldwide. Its hallmark is periodic episodes in which red blood cells stick together, blocking blood from reaching organs and small blood vessels. That causes intense pain and cumulative organ damage that shortens the lives of people with the disease. (Johnson, 11/15)

Reuters: Gunman Opens Fire At California Backyard Party, Four Killed: Police
Police in the California city of Fresno were investigating a mass shooting at a football game party on Sunday in which at least 10 people were shot, killing four, with five others left in critical condition and another wounded, police said. Three men died at the scene and another died at a hospital, Fresno Deputy Police Chief Michael Reed said in a late night news conference. Six more were hospitalized, he said. (McKay, 11/18)

The New York Times: Fresno Mass Shooting Kills 4 And Wounds 6, Police Say
About 35 friends and family at the home were watching a football game in the backyard when an unknown number of gunmen opened fire into the crowd, said Michael Reed, a deputy chief of the Fresno Police Department. The gunmen fled the scene. The authorities received reports of the shooting around 8 p.m. local time. Mr. Reed said all 10 of the victims were Asian men between 25 and 30 years old, but several children were at the party. “Thank God that no kids were hurt,” he said. (Zaveri, 11/18)

Los Angeles Times: Shooting At Fresno Backyard Party Kills Four, Wounds Six Others, Police Say
Fresno Police Deputy Chief Michael Reid said in a televised interview that three men were found dead in the backyard in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, and a fourth man died at the hospital. All of those shot were men 25 to 30 years old. Six others are expected to survive and are recovering at the hospital, police said. (Newberry, 11/17)

CNN: Fresno Shooting: At Least 10 People Shot At A Football Watch Party In California
No suspect information or suspect vehicle descriptions were available, Fresno Police Lt. Bill Dooley said at an earlier briefing. Police are going door-to-door looking for surveillance footage that could help the investigation and witnesses who may have information on the suspect, according to Dooley. (Silverman and Spells, 11/18)

Fresno Bee: 4 Dead, 6 Wounded In 'Mass Casualty' Shooting In Fresno, CA
Choua Vang said Sunday’s shooting wasn’t the first one in the neighborhood. His next door neighbor’s house was shot at last week. “It makes me feel unsafe to be outside when the sun’s down,” he said.Vang often works on his car in his driveway, but now he said he’s nervous to do that and even suspicious of joggers in the neighborhood. He said he worries about his family members who work graveyard shifts and come home late at night. (Tehee, Calix and Valenzuela, 11/17)

In other gun violence news —

The New York Times: Fearing A Mass Shooting, Police Took His Guns. A Judge Gave Them Back.
The authorities in the Seattle area came across an alarming photo on social media at the beginning of October. It showed a man holding two AK-47-style rifles. The caption above read: “one ticket for joker please.” With only a couple of days left before the opening of the “Joker” movie, law enforcement agencies scrambled to assess the threat level of the message. As detectives waded through the man’s online history, they encountered additional troubling posts: Charels Donnelly, 23, talked about threatening his mother with a gun and described fantasies about hurting women. (Baker, 11/18)

The Associated Press: Sandy Hook Lawsuit Could Force Remington To Open Books
A recent ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court has upended a longstanding legal roadblock that has given the gun industry far-reaching immunity from lawsuits in the aftermath of mass killings. ... Remington is widely expected to win the case, but critics of the gun industry are eyeing what they see as a significant outcome even in the face of defeat: getting the gunmaker to open its books about how it markets firearms. (Pane, 11/16)

KQED: Some California Police Departments Don’t Review Deadly Uses Of Force
A new state transparency law, Senate Bill 1421, that’s opened internal investigation documents for the first time in decades, is providing a key insight into the long-hidden world of California policing: Not all agencies review how their officers acted — and whether they violated department policies — when they kill or badly injure someone. (Lewis and Peele, 11/17)

The New York Times: Whoops. Judge Reduces J&J Opioid Fine After Mistaking Thousands For Millions
In a mortifying mistake destined to be cited by gleeful math teachers everywhere, an Oklahoma judge acknowledged that he was three decimal places off — mistaking thousands for millions — when he originally calculated the amount Johnson & Johnson should pay for its role in the state’s opioids crisis. As a result, Judge Thad Balkman announced on Friday a new fine, reduced by about $107 million. The total is now $465 million, down from the $572 million he assessed in August. (Hoffman, 11/15)

The Wall Street Journal: Johnson & Johnson’s Oklahoma Opioid Penalty Reduced To $465 Million
State court Judge Thad Balkman said on Friday that Johnson & Johnson must pay $465 million to help alleviate the damage caused by opioid addiction in Oklahoma. Judge Balkman in August had ordered the drug company to pay $572 million after finding it contributed to an opioid-addiction crisis that has killed more than 6,000 Oklahomans since 2000. In his ruling, the judge said the updated amount, which reflects a mathematical error he previously said he made, is an estimate of one year’s worth of treatment and other programs. He rejected a request from Oklahoma to allocate money for 20 years or more of treatment. (Randazzo, 11/15)

The Washington Post: Oklahoma Judge Lowers Johnson & Johnson Payment In Opioid Verdict
Balkman’s order appears to close, for now, the first state trial of the opioid era. Johnson & Johnson has appealed the verdict, reached in a nonjury trial. The company issued a statement saying it is “moving forward with our appeal of this judgment because it is neither supported by the facts nor the law. We recognize the opioid crisis is a tremendously complex public health issue and have deep sympathy for everyone affected. We do not believe litigation is the answer and are continuing to work with partners to find solutions.” (Bernstein, 11/15)

In other news on Johnson & Johnson —

The Wall Street Journal: J&J Rapidly Tested Its Baby Powder After Asbestos Finding—And The Results Were Complicated
Johnson & Johnson rushed to test its famous baby powder last month after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration found asbestos in a bottle and triggered a recall. The company announced 11 days later that independent testing had found no trace of the contaminant. But J&J’s push for a rapid turnaround contributed to results that were more complicated, a review of lab reports released by the company shows. (Loftus, 11/17)

The Associated Press: Planned Parenthood Awarded $2.3 Million For Secret Videos
A federal jury found Friday that an anti-abortion activist illegally secretly recorded workers at Planned Parenthood clinics and is liable for violating federal and state laws. The jury ordered him, the Center for Medical Progress and other parties to pay nearly $2.3 million in damages. The jury awarded $1 million in damages, but offenses under the federal Racketeer and Corrupt Organizations Act are considered acts of organized crime and penalties awarded for them are automatically tripled. (Williams, 11/15)

Newsweek: Planned Parenthood Wins Lawsuit Against Anti-Abortion Activists Alleging Fraud And Illegal Recording
Planned Parenthood says that clandestinely recorded video footage was manipulated and edited to make it appear as though they were attempting to profit off of fetal tissue donations, something they deny has ever taken place. The videos were taken between 2013 and 2015, and apparently feature Daleiden and co-defendant Sandra Merritt pretending to be representatives of a fake company called "BioMax." (Slisco, 11/15)

The New York Times: Planned Parenthood Awarded $2 Million In Lawsuit Over Secret Videos
The ruling was an important victory for Planned Parenthood, which had been buffeted by the political fallout from the videos, whose release in the summer of 2015 incited widespread outrage. The videos gave new strength to the conservative drive to defund Planned Parenthood. Missouri called a special legislative session to do so after their release. The organization was forced to apologize for the casual tone that one of its officials had used in a video to discuss a possible transfer of fetal tissue to what she believed was a legitimate medical company. Planned Parenthood said the fees being discussed were to cover costs and were legal. Abortion opponents claimed that the videos revealed that Planned Parenthood was engaged in the illegal sale of body parts. (Tavernise, 11/15)

Fox News: Jury Awards Planned Parenthood Nearly $1M Over Secret Videos By Pro-Life Group
During the six-week trial, U.S. District Judge William Orrick III ruled the jury could not consider any information Daleiden had discovered as a result of his video project. At least three congressional committees and law enforcement officials in 13 states launched investigations into Planned Parenthood after Daleiden’s group released the footage in 2015. None of the probes confirmed any wrongdoing by Planned Parenthood. (Phillips, 11/16)

Politico Pro: Jury Awards Planned Parenthood Over $2M In Suit Against Anti-Abortion Activists
The anti-abortion defendants claimed they were legally protected by engaging in citizen journalism to expose Planned Parenthood’s alleged wrongdoing. Lawyers for Planned Parenthood, which has been cleared of wrongdoing in multiple investigations, during the trial depicted the organization as a victim of smear campaign by anti-abortion activists bent on destroying it. (Colliver, 11/15)

The Hill: Planned Parenthood Awarded $2M In Lawsuit Against Hidden Camera Activists
“David Daleiden and the Center for Medical Progress intentionally waged a multi-year illegal effort to manufacture a malicious campaign against Planned Parenthood,” said Alexis McGill Johnson, the acting president and CEO of Planned Parenthood. “The jury recognized today that those behind the campaign broke the law in order to advance their goals of banning safe, legal abortion in this country, and to prevent Planned Parenthood from serving the patients who depend on us.” (Hellmann, 11/15)

In other news on abortion —

Kaiser Health News: Despite Supreme Court Win, Texas Abortion Clinics Still Shuttered
Over the past few years, abortion providers in Texas have struggled to reopen clinics that had closed because of restrictive state laws. There were more than 40 clinics providing abortion in Texas on July 12, 2013 — the day lawmakers approved tough new restrictions and rules for clinics. Even though abortion providers fought those restrictions all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, and managed to get the restrictions overturned in 2016, most of the affected clinics remain closed. (Lopez, 11/18)

Seattle Times: Seattle-Based Planned Parenthood Affiliate Ventures Into Indiana And Kentucky, Giving A Blue-State Boost To Red-State Clinics
In mid-September, Chris Charbonneau flew to Fort Wayne, Indiana — triumphant. The CEO of the Seattle-based Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest and the Hawaiian Islands had just pulled off a stealth operation. Last year, Fort Wayne’s only Planned Parenthood clinic closed. The landlord didn’t renew the lease. A nurse practitioner left after a group called Created Equal distributed flyers with her name and photo. It was an attempt to pressure her to “stop doing evil,” said the organization’s vice president, Seth Drayer. (Shapiro, 11/17)

The Washington Post: The Most Remote Emergency Room: Life And Death In Rural America
A flashing red light summoned Dr. Brian Skow to his third emergency of the afternoon, and he hurried to a desk in a suburban office building. He sat in front of an oversize computer monitor, which showed a live video feed from inside a hospital room in eastern Montana. Two nurses were leaning over a patient on a stretcher, checking for a pulse, and squeezing oxygen out of a bag and into the patient’s lungs. “I’m Doctor Skow,” he said, waving into a camera attached to his computer, introducing himself as the presiding emergency physician even though he was seated more than 700 miles away. “How can we help you today?” (Saslow, 11/16)

In other rural health news —

Modern Healthcare: Ballad Health Is Now Sole Owner Of Rural Virginia Hospital
Ballad Health has worked feverishly to consolidate services across its rural Southwest Virginia hospitals, with Norton Community Hospital emerging as the remaining inpatient hospital in its town. Now, the not-for-profit health system has bought out a minority owner's 49.9% stake in that hospital. The change means all of the hospital's revenue now flows to Johnson City, Tenn.-based Ballad, up from about half before the deal. (Bannow, 11/15)

The Wall Street Journal: New Stanford Hospital Takes Holistic Approach To Technology
The new Stanford Hospital that opens Sunday borrows ideas about user experience from its neighbor down the road, Apple Inc. The goal is to use technology in a way that makes the hospital more hospitable. The $2.1 billion facility, more than 10 years in the making, is incorporated into Stanford Health Care’s hospital campus in Palo Alto, Calif. Ron Johnson, a former senior vice president of retail operations at Apple, based in nearby Cupertino, advised on the project. (Rosenbush, 11/16)

Stat: Stanford’s New Hospital Is Packed With Futuristic Tech. Will It Drive Up Costs?
What does the hospital of the future look like? One vision of it is the shiny new Stanford Hospital, which wheeled in its first patients on Sunday morning after $2 billion in spending and a decade in planning and construction. It counts 368 patient rooms, occupies the square footage of 14.3 football fields, and towers 180 feet over Silicon Valley. ...Many health-care experts worry that pricey technology in hospitals and clinics will accelerate the rise of costs over time, resulting in higher prices for payers that can get passed down to patients in the form of higher premiums and out-of-pocket costs. (Robbins, 11/18)

The Wall Street Journal: Hospital System Uses AI To Boost Surgery Outcomes, Cut Costs
A homegrown artificial-intelligence system has helped Utah-based Intermountain Healthcare significantly improve the results of its surgeries, while also eliminating more than $90 million in costs over the past four years. The AI system was created in response to a cost-cutting effort that began in 2011, when Intermountain embraced value-based pricing. The network of 22 hospitals and 180 clinics in Utah and Idaho has switched to a system where it is longer compensated for each procedure performed, but instead gets paid for achieving certain measurable outcomes. (Kass, 11/18)

Stat: Hospitals Differ Sharply In What Patient Data They Give Google
In deals struck across the U.S., hospital systems appear to be adopting starkly different protocols for sharing personal health information with Google (GOOGL), fueling broad concerns about the ability of patients to control the use of their data. In a controversial collaboration with the hospital chain Ascension, Google gained access to millions of patient records, including names and birthdates, so it could use its artificial intelligence tools to analyze the information. The arrangement has triggered a fact-finding review by federal regulators. (Ross, 11/15)

The Washington Post: The Trump Administration’s Immigration Jails Are Packed, But Deportations Are Lower Than In Obama Era
It has been nearly 700 days since Bakhodir Madjitov was taken to prison in the United States. He has never been charged with a crime. Madjitov, a 38-year-old Uzbek national and father of three U.S. citizens, received a final deportation order after his applications to legally immigrate failed. He is one of the approximately 50,000 people jailed on any given day in the past year under the authority of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the most foreigners held in immigration detention in U.S. history. (Hauslohner, 11/17)

NPR: Mentally Ill And Undocumented: At Higher Risk Of Deportation
When José moved his family to the United States from Mexico nearly two decades ago, he had hopes of giving his children a better life. But now he worries about the future of his 21-year-old-son, who has lived in central Illinois since he was a toddler. José's son has a criminal record, which could make him a target for deportation officials. We're not using the son's name because of those risks, and are using the father's middle name, José, because both men are in the U.S. without permission. (Herman, 11/17)

The Associated Press: Big Study Casts Doubt On Need For Many Heart Procedures
People with severe but stable heart disease from clogged arteries may have less chest pain if they get a procedure to improve blood flow rather than just giving medicines a chance to help, but it won’t cut their risk of having a heart attack or dying over the following few years, a big federally funded study found. The results challenge medical dogma and call into question some of the most common practices in heart care. They are the strongest evidence yet that tens of thousands of costly stent procedures and bypass operations each year are unnecessary or premature for people with stable disease. (Marchione, 11/16)

The New York Times: Surgery For Blocked Arteries Is Often Unwarranted, Researchers Find
The findings of a large federal study on bypass surgeries and stents call into question the medical care provided to tens of thousands of heart disease patients with blocked coronary arteries, scientists reported at the annual meeting of the American Heart Association on Saturday. The new study found that patients who received drug therapy alone did not experience more heart attacks or die more often than those who also received bypass surgery or stents, tiny wire cages used to open narrowed arteries. (Kolata, 11/16)

The Washington Post: Drugs Are As Effective As Stents For Stable Heart Disease, ISCHEMIA Trial Finds
The $100 million trial, presented Saturday at the annual meeting of the American Heart Association ahead of publication in a peer-reviewed journal, is the latest entry into a long and contentious argument over how to treat artery blockages, one that has pitted powerful factions of American heart specialists against each other. It echoes a similar study 12 years ago that was critiqued by interventional cardiologists, the doctors performing the invasive procedures. “This is a milestone study that people will talk about and write about for years to come,” said Elliott Antman, a cardiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital who was not involved in the study and praised it for the wealth of information gathered and the rigor and sophistication of the analyses. (Johnson, 11/16)

The Wall Street Journal: Study Finds Limited Benefits Of Stent Use For Millions With Heart Disease
“You won’t prolong life,” said Judith Hochman, chair of the study and senior associate dean for clinical sciences at the New York University Grossman School of Medicine. But stents or bypass surgery work better than medicine and lifestyle changes alone in relieving symptoms for people who have frequent angina, or chest pain, the researchers found. (McKay, 11/16)

Bloomberg: Surgery Isn’t Any Better Than Drugs For Heart Disease: Study 
“Based on our results, we recommend that all patients take medications proven to reduce the risk of a heart attack, be physically active, eat a healthy diet, and quit smoking,” said co-chair David Maron, director of Preventive Cardiology and the Stanford Prevention Research Center at Stanford University.(Waller, 11/16)

The New York Times: A Small Town Gave Up Tackle Football. It Came Storming Back.
One evening last spring, a retired doctor named James Harris carried a pickle jar filled with bright red Jell-O to Marshall’s school board meeting. He shook it up so the Jell-O sloshed against the glass, a representation, he told the school board members, of what happens to the brain during a hard hit in football and what can happen to those who are allowed to play the sport at a young age. “The brain is like this Jell-O in the bottle,” he told them. “When the head hits the ground, it hits front and back, and swishes, twists, sloshes and stretches inside the skull.” (Belson, 11/16)

The Washington Post: Study Finds Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s World Mercury Project And Larry Cook’s Stop Mandatory Vaccinations Bought 54 Percent Of The Ads
The majority of Facebook advertisements spreading misinformation about vaccines were funded by two anti-vaccine groups, including one led by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., according to a study published this week. The World Mercury Project, headed by Kennedy, and a California-based organization called Stop Mandatory Vaccination bought 54 percent of the anti-vaccine ads on Facebook, the study found. (Sun, 11/15)

The New York Times: Prison’s Tips For Inmates In Solitary: ‘Plant A Tree’ Or ‘Go On A Picnic’
As Joey Pedersen made his way to solitary confinement last month, Washington State prison officers handed him a roll of toilet paper, a bar of soap and a pack of documents including a flier titled “101 Ways to Relieve Stress.” He reviewed the suggestions in his new cell, where he would spend 23 hours a day alone. “Plant a tree.” “Go on a picnic.” “Put air freshener in your car.” “Avoid negative people.” “Relax,” the document concluded, “you have the rest of your life.” (Baker, 11/16)

The Washington Post: When Undergoing Chemo Or Radiation, Cancer Patients Need To Avoid Diseases. CDC Provides Vital Tips.
About 650,000 cancer patients receive outpatient chemotherapy every year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Although chemo and radiation can extend cancer patients’ lives and help stamp out the disease, the treatments can put their lives at risk. Chemo and radiation kill cancer cells, but they can also wipe out patients’ immunity. As a result, even seemingly benign infections can become threats to people being treated for cancer. (Blakemore, 11/16)

Stat: A Controversial New Treatment Promises To Make Little People Taller
Scientists have come up with a drug, injected once a day, that appears to make children’s bones grow. To many, it’s a wondrous invention that could improve the lives of thousands of people with dwarfism. To others, it’s a profit-driven solution in search of a problem, one that could unravel decades of hard-won respect for an entire community. In the middle are families, doctors, and a pharmaceutical company, all dealing with a philosophically fraught question: Is it ethical to make a little person taller? (Garde, 11/18)

The Wall Street Journal: What Science Tells Us About Preventing Dementia
When it comes to battling dementia, the unfortunate news is this: Medications have proven ineffective at curing or stopping the disease and its most common form, Alzheimer’s disease. But that isn’t the end of the story. According to a recent wave of scientific studies, we have more control over our cognitive health than is commonly known. We just have to take certain steps—ideally, early and often—to live a healthier lifestyle. (Tergesen, 11/17)

The Washington Post: Bittersweet Photos Of How Dementia Tests An Elderly Couple's Bond
Sofie Mathiassen’s grandparents — Poul and Else — always kept a journal, jotting down in a sentence or two — sometimes more — the small joys of each of their days together. Eight years ago, Poul was diagnosed with dementia and Parkinson’s disease, and, for the past four years, their granddaughter has been photographing their daily lives in Denmark, creating a record of Poul’s last moments on earth. The work has won the Bob and Diane Fund grant, a cash prize dedicated to raising awareness through photography of the medical crisis around Alzheimer’s and dementia. (Laurent and Mathiassen, 11/17)

The Wall Street Journal: Urinary Incontinence Is Common, Often Treatable—But Hard To Discuss
If the many health issues that come with aging, one of the most vexing is also among the hardest to talk about, even with a doctor: a troublesome bladder. Now, researchers and doctors are mounting new efforts to erase the stigma, inform patients about the best treatment options—and prevent problems from starting in the first place by promoting better bladder health. (Landro, 11/17)

The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Struggles To Stem Chinese Efforts To Recruit Scientists
National security officials say universities are at the leading edge of a plan by Beijing to illicitly gain scientific expertise and leapfrog the technology gap with the West, but prosecutors face challenges proving wrongdoing in court, as new allegations in a criminal case in Kansas underscore. The Chinese government pays thousands of scientists around the world to moonlight at Chinese institutions through arrangements where they often spend months in China without disclosing the work to their primary employers, officials say. (Viswanatha and O'Keeffe, 11/17)

Reveal: Development Arrested
A mom gets word that her seventh-grade son has gotten into trouble, but she doesn’t know what kind. By the time she shows up, police already have questioned him and sent him to the county jail. Her 13-year-old is being charged as an adult. (Bragg, 11/16)

The Washington Post: Suffering From Bad Knees, Some Look For Alternatives To Surgery
The burning in his kneecaps was what Richard Bedard noticed first. Then came the tenderness and pain. Sitting for 10 hours a day as a financial editor in Hong Kong was agonizing. So was walking short distances or just standing in the elevator. Neither doctors nor physical therapists could offer any lasting relief. Surgery loomed. But Bedard tried a different approach: a personal experiment to try to repair the cartilage in his knees with special exercises. It wasn’t easy and it took more than a year to accomplish, but he sidestepped a knee operation. (Squires, 11/17)

The Washington Post: Doctor Implicit Bias Can Lead To Misdiagnoses
Doctors, like the rest of us, make mistakes. Every year, upward of 12 million Americans see a physician and come away with a wrong diagnosis. The top cause? Bad judgment, says David Newman-Toker, director of the Johns Hopkins Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality’s Center for Diagnostic Excellence. Newman-Toker found that judgment errors accounted for 86 percent of 55,377 medical malpractice claims he evaluated where misdiagnosis led to death or disability. (Glicksman, 11/17)

The Associated Press: Same As It Ever Was: Worker Health Benefit Costs Rise Again
In the ever-shifting world of company-provided health insurance, here’s a constant: It keeps getting more expensive. Workers may learn that their doctor will no longer be covered or they might have to pay a higher deductible before most coverage begins. Meanwhile, the employer paying most of the insurance bill faces the same big concern every year: The cost will probably rise higher than wages and inflation. (Murphy, 11/17)

Modern Healthcare: Blues Association Launching National Provider Network
Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Illinois is teaming up with other Blue plans to help large employers control rising medical costs and improve care for employees. Known as the Blue high-performance network, the program aims to direct patients toward healthcare providers that consistently offer high-quality care at a lower cost. It's the first program in 25 years to be driven by the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association—a federation of 36 independent Blue companies—rather than the plans themselves, said Jennifer Atkins, vice president of network solutions for the association . (Golderg, 11/15)

Modern Healthcare: Beaumont Settles With Feds Over Alleged ADA Violations
Beaumont Health, an eight-hospital health system based in Southfield, Mich., has reached an agreement with the U.S. attorney's office in Detroit to settle allegations that it violated the Americans with Disabilities Act related to providing communication for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. The complaint alleged that William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich., failed to provide sign language interpreters to deaf patients despite repeated requests for help with medical appointments and procedures, U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider said in a statement. (Greene, 11/14)

Modern Healthcare: Physician Practices Spend One Staff Day Per Week On Directory Upkeep
Maintaining provider directories is an expensive, time-consuming task that takes up the equivalent of one staff day per week for physician practices, a new Council for Affordable Quality Healthcare survey finds. CAQH, a not-for-profit health plan alliance who members include top health insurers like Cigna, Aetna and Humana, conducted the survey on 1,240 physician practices in September. It found directory maintenance costs practices nationwide $2.76 billion annually, or $999 per practice per month. (Bannow, 11/14)

Sacramento Bee: Sutter Agrees To Pay $15 Million More In Federal Kickback Probe
One day after officials announced a $30.5 million settlement with Sutter Health over kickback allegations, prosecutors in Sacramento revealed the health care giant had agreed to pay an additional $15 million over claims submitted to the federal Medicare program. U.S. Attorney McGregor Scott announced Friday in Sacramento that Sutter had agreed to pay $15,117,516 “to resolve conduct concerning violations of the Physician Self-Referral Law, commonly known as the Stark Law, as well as double-billing for certain services.” (Stanton and Anderson, 11/15)

Miami Herald: Three South Floridians Plead Guilty To Bilking Aetna, Other Insurers
Three former operators of South Florida substance-abuse treatment centers have admitted they ripped off millions from health insurers by submitting false bills for patients who lived in “sober homes” and didn’t need the services, according to their plea agreements. (Weaver, 11/15)

The Wall Street Journal: California Faces Risk Of More Blackouts And Fires This Week
The National Weather Service issued high-level fire warnings for Southern California on Sunday, while PG&E Corp. warned of more power outages in Northern California where high winds and dry conditions also posed a fire risk. PG&E, California’s largest power company, said it might cut electricity starting Wednesday for roughly 180,000 homes and businesses around San Jose, Santa Rosa, and in the Sierra Foothills. All have already experienced preventive blackouts intended to reduce the danger of winds damaging power lines and igniting fires. (McWhirter and Carlton, 11/17)

Connecticut Public Radio: Funding Cliff For Community Health Centers Puts Staffing, Patients At Risk
Federal funding for community health centers is nearing expiration this year. And both health professionals and politicians are warning, that may have some impacts on Connecticut centers and patients. Laying people off of work isn’t something that CEO Nichelle Mullins wants to do just before the holidays. But if federal funding for Charter Oak Health Center in Hartford stops coming, she may have to. (Leonard, 11/17)

Modern Healthcare: 2,200 University Of Chicago Nurses Vote To Strike
About 2,200 University of Chicago Medical Center nurses represented by National Nurses United have voted to walk out on Nov. 26. The nurses, who went on strike Sept. 20, continue to protest alleged chronic understaffing that has impeded patient care. The University of Chicago claimed UCMC's staffing levels are the best in the state. UCMC's alleged proposal to eliminate 24 patient care support nurses fueled the latest strike threats, the union said. (Kacik, 11/15)

Columbus Dispatch: Over A 4-Year Period, 57% Of Pregnancy Deaths In Ohio Could Have Been Prevented, Report Says
More than half of all pregnancy-related deaths in Ohio from 2012 to 2016 could have been prevented, a new statewide study found. Over the four years, 57% of the state’s 89 pregnancy-related deaths were deemed preventable, according to the study released Friday by the Ohio Department of Health. That means nearly 51 deaths could have been avoided. (Filby, 11/15)

NH Times Union: In A Single Year, 14,000 Kids Were Affected By NH's Opioids Disaster
One year of the opioid epidemic touched the lives of 14,000 New Hampshire children, according to a report published this month by the United Hospital Fund. ...The report estimated 10,500 New Hampshire children were living with a parent who had an opioid use disorder in 2017. That year, 800 children were removed from their parents’ care because of opioids, and 1,500 children’s parents died or were imprisoned. That year, about 800 children and teenagers either accidentally ingested opioids, or struggled with an addiction of their own. (Albertson-Grove, 11/16)

New Hampshire Union Leader: NH Residents Stuck With Huge Health Care Bills From Suspended 'Insurance' Companies 
Keith Meehan is on the hook for more than $230,000 in medical bills after his insurer denied his claims from back surgery earlier this year. After going without medical coverage for two years, the 49-year-old Rochester man signed up for a health care sharing ministry, an arrangement in which people with common ethical or religious beliefs share medical expenses, according to the federal government. Meehan thought the procedure, done in March in hopes of reducing his debilitating pain, was covered. But his providers, Aliera Healthcare and Trinity HealthShare, denied claims for the surgery and post-op treatments. The reason? A preexisting condition. (Phelps, 11/16)

The Associated Press: Football Brings Some Peace To Sioux Family After Suicide
Teenagers Jashawn and Jayton Pease embraced in the end zone while celebrating the 74-39 victory that made their Crow Creek Chieftains the champions of South Dakota’s tribal school league. But as they hugged, tears streamed down their faces. Jashawn, 15, pounded his fist against his chest and pointed toward the sky. “I’m playing for my brother because he left for the spirit world,” he said. (11/16)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Philadelphia Medical Schools Try Alternative Therapies To Help Students Cope With Stressful Profession
For dozens of first-year students at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine, an afternoon of stretching recently was a welcome break from their studies. The students, dressed in athletic shorts, leggings and T-shirts, unrolled yoga mats in front of a window showcasing the Philadelphia skyline and prepared for Yoganatomy, a yoga class that reinforces what they’re learning in anatomy. (Ao, 11/18)

Sacramento Bee: Hundreds Say Farewell To Kaiser CEO Bernard Tyson In Oakland
Nabrissa Valovage followed Kaiser Permanente CEO Bernard Tyson’s post on LinkedIn as a graduate student in public health, and so much of it resonated with her that she applied for and landed a job with the health care giant a few months ago. Tyson, 60, died unexpectedly Nov. 10. His family will say farewell in an invitation-only memorial service Monday, but on Sunday, they hosted a public visitation at the Rotunda in Oakland. (Anderson, 11/17)

Modern Healthcare: Feds Charge Three Former Outcome Health Staffers
Three former Outcome Health employees were criminally charged in connection with allegations of fraud by the healthcare-advertising company that was once one of the most-watched startups in Chicago. The U.S. attorney's office in Chicago charged Ashik Desai, a former vice president, with wire fraud; former analysts Kathryn Choi and Oliver Han were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with a scheme to defraud advertisers and investors in the company. (Pletz, 11/15)

Los Angeles Times: New Satellite Measurements Show How Dirty Los Angeles’ Air Really Is
Scientists who scanned the skies above dozens of U.S. cities have made a surprising discovery about the smog that’s suspended over Los Angeles: one of its key ingredients isn’t disappearing as fast as it once did. The finding may help explain why the once-steady improvements in air quality have come close to stalling out here even though nitrogen oxide emissions have continued to decline. It also suggests that the particular chemistry of L.A.'s air may complicate future cleanup efforts. (Khan, 11/15)

St. Louis Public Radio: As Missouri Aligns Education And Job Training, St. Louis Community College Homes In On Health Care
Everything around Painter looks exactly as it would in a hospital, but this is a simulation room at St. Louis Community College’s new health care facility on the Forest Park campus. It’s designed to prepare first-year respiratory care students like Painter for clinicals, which start in the spring. By the end of the two-year program, students will clock 1,000 hours of work in hospitals around the region. (Ruff, 11/18)

The Washington Post: One Homeless Man’s Death Possibly Tied To Severe Cold Weather; D.C. Officials Fear More Cold-Related Deaths May Come This Winter
The death of a homeless man whose body was found this week at Freedom Plaza in downtown Washington may be linked to the recent cold snap and temperatures that have dropped below freezing on some nights, according to authorities. D.C. police said the man was 77 years old. His body was found early Wednesday in the 1300 block of Pennsylvania Avenue NW, across the street from the John A. Wilson Building, the seat of District government. (Hedgpeth and Hermann, 11/15)

Georgia Health News: 3 More Measles Cases Confirmed In Cobb, Increasing State Toll To 11
Public health officials said Friday that three more cases of measles have been confirmed in Cobb County. The Department of Public Health confirmed a separate case in Cobb over the weekend. (Miller, 11/15)

The Baltimore Sun: Baltimore Is Bringing Subsidized Lyft Rides To People Who Live In ‘Food Deserts’
Through a new partnership with Lyft, Baltimore officials are hoping to make it easier and cheaper to connect people in low-income neighborhoods with healthy food. Starting Monday, people in areas of South and West Baltimore can register online with the ride-share company and get subsidized trips to participating grocery stores. Up to 200 people can participate in the pilot program, which will provide one-way rides for $2.50 each. Each rider can take up to eight such trips per month through April. (Richman, 11/18)

KQED: From Working In Tech To Homelessness: The Challenges Facing A Senior Veteran
A University of Pennsylvania study estimates the aging homeless population will triple by 2030. In 1990, only 11% of the nation’s homeless population was over the age of 50, today more than 50% are.A UC San Francisco study shows homeless people in their 50s face more geriatric conditions than those living in homes who are decades older. According to the study, nearly half of the growing population of unhoused seniors became homeless after they turned 50-years-old. (Hossaini, 11/17)

Texas Tribune: Homeless Shelters Near Me And How To Help
Gov. Greg Abbott has waged a social media war this year with Austin officials over homelessness in the state capital. He then tapped state resources to clean up encampments under highway overpasses and provide land where people experiencing homelessness can camp. The ongoing feud and government responses to homelessness have brought the issue to the forefront of public discussion. (Woodard, 11/18)

Stat: President Trump: Follow Through On Banning Flavored E-Cigarettes
Optimism among public health advocates regarding the Trump administration's pending action on flavored e-cigarettes, which have put millions of our kids at risk of nicotine addiction and worse, has turned to alarm. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump echoed the concerns of millions of parents in September when they first addressed the skyrocketing rise of e-cigarette use among youths. At the time, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said the administration intends to “clear the market” of all flavored e-cigarettes to address the skyrocketing rates of e-cigarette use by youths and adolescents. (Nancy Brown, 11/18)

The Washington Post: The Trump Administration Appears To Be Second-Guessing Its Flavored Vaping Ban. Good. 
Who could have guessed? Unilaterally banning a product that millions of adults use isn’t exactly an easy task. As The Post reported Thursday, the Trump administration appears to be second-guessing the details of its proposal to ban flavored vaping products. The final rule was expected to have been made public in the last few days, given that the White House had signed off on the policy more than a week ago. (Robert Gebelhoff, 11/15)

Los Angeles Times: Hollywood Strains To Deal With Homelessness Crisis
One day on Carlos Avenue in Hollywood last month, just south of the 101 Freeway, I met a woman who goes by the name Raven. She said she was 29, had been homeless since she was 17, and headed west in June from her home in Ohio. Why L.A.? Why not? (Steve Lopez, 11/17)

Los Angeles Times: One L.A. Cop Tries To Make A Difference On Homelessness
LAPD Det. Shannon Geaney reports daily to what looks like anarchy, bedlam, madness. She works Hollywood, and her beat is homelessness. On a recent morning, her first call of the day sent her to a small park near Selma Avenue Elementary School, where a man known as Papa Smurf had overdosed on opioids. A nurse from the nearby LGBT Center was summoned before Geaney, and she had administered two shots of naloxone, but Papa Smurf wasn’t responding. (Steve Lopez, 11/17)

Los Angeles Times: Hollywood Residents Cope With Homeless Camps
The trash, the fights, the drugs, the blaring music. For months, it was relentless. “It was intolerable,” said Greg, who lives in a Hollywood neighborhood surrounded by homeless encampments, including one that until recently was just a few feet from the windows of his apartment. He wore headphones and turned up the AC to drown out the cacophony. Nothing worked. “You have no idea the hell I was living.” (Steve Lopez, 11/17)

The Hill: Why Democrats Are Winning On Health Care
The elections last week confirmed what we know to be true — health care is the number one issue for voters. Just as health care propelled House Democrats to win the majority in 2018, it once again delivered for Democrats in 2019 and is poised to be the issue that helps Democrats win elections in 2020.Democratic candidates won in Kentucky and Virginia because they made health care a centerpiece of their campaigns. Voters trusted the Democrats who vowed to expand and fully fund Medicaid, strengthen protections for pre-existing conditions and hold drug companies accountable for skyrocketing prices. (Brad Woodhouse, 11/16)

St. Louis Post Dispatch: Democratic Wins Show That Affordable Health Care Still Drives Election Results.
Among the takeaways from Democratic election victories in Kentucky and Virginia this month is that support for the Affordable Care Act (known as Obamacare) continues to earn support for Democrats, as it did in the 2018 midterms. As the Democratic presidential candidates rightly debate what health care should look like going forward, the party should continue reminding voters that the Obamacare model, while far from perfect, can work in the meantime if properly supported. It is a model that the Republican Party, from top to bottom, is still trying to destroy. (11/17)

The Washington Post: Mitch McConnell Needs To Stop Sitting On His Hands And Do Something About Gun Violence
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) took to the Senate floor Thursday morning to try to force a vote on gun-control legislation. He argued, “We can’t go 24 hours without news of another mass shooting somewhere in America.” Indeed, as he was speaking, a mass shooting was unfolding in a high school in Santa Clarita, Calif. Two students were killed and three others were wounded as their classmates hid behind locked doors or fled in terror. (11/17)

The Washington Post: Action On Gun Violence Depends On Trump: Be Very Afraid
Sometimes coincidences can be horrific. On Thursday, as the gun violence prevention organization Brady was set to mark the 1993 passage of the Brady handgun bill, a student at Saugus High School in Santa Clarita, Calif., shot and killed two of his classmates and wounded three others with a semiautomatic handgun in a 16-second spasm of violence. (Jonathan Capehart, 11/16)

The Washington Post: Big Boys And Girls DO Cry: How Teachers And Parents Should Talk To Children About Traumatic Events
Adults sometimes decide not to tell children about traumatic events, hoping to spare them anxiety and worry — at least for a while. But the “don’t tell the kids” strategy doesn’t work as well today, when those events are public and spread instantaneously across the world on social media. All it takes is for one child in a classroom to know about a tragedy for the entire class to know. (Valerie Strauss, 11/16)

The Wall Street Journal: Unfriendly Skies For Medical Innovation
Airlines are engaged in systematic and potentially deadly discrimination—against animals. The Transportation Department should seize the opportunity to right this wrong. Under pressure from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, most major U.S.-based commercial airlines, including United, American and Delta, have stopped transporting animals for use in medical research. So have many international passenger airlines ( British Airways, China Southern Airlines, Qatar Airways) and most major airfreight carriers (DHL, UPS, FedEx ). The same airlines, however, transport pets, zoo animals and other creatures for nonresearch purposes. (Richard T. Born, 11/17)

The New York Times: The End Of Babies
In the fall of 2015, a rash of posters appeared around Copenhagen. One, in pink letters laid over an image of chicken eggs, asked, “Have you counted your eggs today?” A second — a blue-tinted close-up of human sperm — inquired, “Do they swim too slow?” The posters, part of a campaign funded by the city to remind young Danes of the quiet ticking of their biological clocks, were not universally appreciated. They drew criticism for equating women with breeding farm animals. The timing, too, was clumsy: For some, encouraging Danes to make more babies while television news programs showed Syrian refugees trudging through Europe carried an inadvertent whiff of ugly nativism. (Anna Louie Sussman, 11/16)

Stat: Data Sharing From Clinical Trials: Lessons From The YODA Project
Sharing data after a clinical trial has been completed seems like it should be a slam dunk, a win for many stakeholders, including the general public. Instead, such data sharing is still something of a hot-button issue, with critics questioning the capabilities and motives of those requesting the data, doubting the utility of replication analyses, and speculating that spurious safety findings would receive unwarranted attention and disrupt patient care. This week, the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine are convening the workshop “Sharing Clinical Trial Data: Challenges and a Way Forward” just shy of five years after the Institute of Medicine released its seminal report, “Sharing Clinical Trial Data: Maximizing Benefits, Minimizing Risk. (Joseph S. Ross, Joanne Waldstreicher and Harlan M. Krumhols, 11/18)

The New York Times: I Changed My Body For My Sport. No Girl Should.
Over the past week, the athletic world has been embroiled in a reckoning following high school phenom Mary Cain’s story of suffering from an eating disorder and suicidal thoughts in pursuit of athletic success. Stories like hers are not new. What’s new, and what I think has triggered such outrage, is that she has audaciously put the blame where it belongs: on a sports system built by and for men. That system is long overdue for reform. (Lauren Fleshman, 11/16)

Miami Herald: Despite 2,776 Deaths, Florida Lawmakers Won’t Expand Medicaid
Florida’s refusal to expand Medicaid coverage is costing lives, according to data from the nonpartisan National Bureau of Economic Research. The study found that states that broadened coverage for low-income residents between 2014 and 2017 saw significant reductions in death rates among adults ages 55 to 64 — enough, essentially, to save an estimated 19,200 people nationwide. (11/17)