AP: Republicans Close In On Changes To New North Carolina Abortion Law That Could Counter A Lawsuit 
Late revisions to new North Carolina abortion restrictions scheduled to begin this weekend cleared the state Senate on Monday night, changes that if enacted could frustrate pending litigation seeking to stop the law’s enforcement. The Senate voted overwhelmingly for a measure containing what the Republican supporters have called clarifying and technical changes to a law approved last month over Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto that in part will ban starting Saturday most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy. This will replace current rules that ban nearly all abortions after 20 weeks. The new law also adds exceptions to the 12-week ban. (Robertson, 6/26)

AP: Arguments Over South Carolina Abortion Ban Returns To Newly All-Male State Supreme Court
The right to an abortion in South Carolina is back before the state’s highest court as Republicans try to restore a ban that was overturned earlier this year — this time in front of the only state Supreme Court in the nation made up entirely of men. Tuesday’s oral arguments will mark the second time since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down federal protections last summer that lawyers for the state and providers will present their arguments to the state Supreme Court. A 3-2 majority in January tossed a similar law that banned abortion once cardiac activity is detected, or at about six weeks and before most people know they are pregnant. (Pollard, 6/27)

Fox News: Tennessee Rep. Green Introduces States Choose Life Act To Stop Biden Admin's 'Retribution' On Pro-Life States 
Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn., will introduce the States Choose Life Act of 2023 on Tuesday to protect Tennessee and other pro-life states from the Biden administration and "retribution" from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Fox News has learned. In a statement to Fox News Digital, Green said his legislation would prevent the HHS from stripping Title X funding from states that do not allow abortions and do not refer residents to abortion-allowing states, as it is doing to Tennessee. (Richard, 6/27)

The CT Mirror: CT Abortion Provider Sees Sharp Increase In Out-Of-State Clients
As nearly two dozen state legislatures across the country have moved to restrict or ban abortion access since the overturning of Roe v. Wade last summer, Connecticut’s largest abortion provider has seen a 56% increase in people traveling from many of those places for care. But while the percentage of people coming from out of state has skyrocketed — namely from southern states like Tennessee and Texas — the wait times for those seeking abortions are “definitely better,” according to Nancy Stanwood, the chief medical officer at Planned Parenthood of Southern New England, who added that people of color and people with low income account for many of the individuals pursuing care. (Edison, 6/27)

Bangor Daily News: Police Investigating Anti-Abortion Messages Left Near Maine House Speaker's Home
Portland police were called to the home of Maine House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross on Saturday after anti-abortion flyers and chalk messages were left in the area on the heels of a blockbuster vote on the subject in her chamber. The incendiary messages were publicized on Monday by abortion-rights groups aligned with Talbot Ross and her fellow Democrats, who condemned them alongside a top anti-abortion group. It comes at a tense point on a Democratic bill to allow doctors perform abortions that deem necessary after the state’s current viability cutoff around 24 weeks into a pregnancy. (Shepherd, 6/26)

Also —

Axios: "It's Gotten Much More Complicated": GOP's Post-Roe Abortion Catch-22
Former President Trump and other Republican presidential hopefuls are skirting questions about what abortion policies they'd support if elected, in a sign of ambivalence over a topic that's perennially fired up the conservative base. Driving the news: Trump over the weekend said that the federal government had a "vital role" in opposing abortion, but wouldn't elaborate on what federal restrictions he'd support — a guarded stance for someone who's accustomed to defining the terms of intra-party debates. (Gonzalez, 6/27)

Bloomberg: Malaria Spreads In US For First Time In 20 Years
Malaria has spread from mosquitoes to humans inside the US for the first time in 20 years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has warned. Four cases of mosquito-transmitted Plasmodium vivax  malaria have been reported in Florida within the last two months, and a single case was also found in Texas. All patients were said to be improving after receiving treatment. The CDC said in a health advisory that Anopheles mosquitoes, which are found throughout many regions of the country, “are capable of transmitting malaria if they feed on a malaria-infected person.” However, it stressed, the risk of catching malaria in the US is “extremely low.” (Millson, 6/27)

More on mosquitoes and West Nile virus —

Rapid City Journal: First Human West Nile Virus Case Reported In South Dakota
The first West Nile virus human case in South Dakota has been reported in Sanborn County. No West Nile virus positive mosquito pools have been detected at this time. Last year, 2022, there were 35 WNV fever cases, 36 neuroinvasive cases, 27 hospitalizations, 2 deaths, and 13 positive blood donors reported in South Dakota residents. (Dodge, 6/26)

LAist: The West Nile Virus Is Back, With The Pesky Mosquitoes Carrying It
Most people who get infected never know it or recover after just a bad fever, nasty headache and other symptoms. But about 1 out of 150 people who get the virus develop serious complications. West Nile virus can affect the nervous system and can cause encephalitis or swelling of the brain. It can also cause meningitis, which refers to swelling of the fluid and membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord. Both can cause permanent paralysis and even death. (Fortier, 6/23)

The New York Times: How To Build A Scent Smorgasbord For Mosquitoes 
Although the research is in early stages, the scientists hope that learning more about “the sensory biology of how mosquitoes track and hunt humans” could lead to better mosquito lures and repellents and, ultimately, new strategies for tackling malaria, said Dr. Conor McMeniman, a vector biologist at Johns Hopkins University. (Anthes, 6/25)

On the heat wave scorching the South —

CNN: Deadly Texas Heat Is Spreading, And It Will Only Get Hotter 
Parts of Texas have been roasting for more than two weeks and flirting with the state’s record high temperature, and now, temperatures could get even hotter and expand to other areas across the South. “Many areas outside south and south-central Texas (will) experience their most significant heat of the season thus far,” the Weather Prediction Center said on Friday. More than 90 record high temperatures could be broken this week from Texas to Missouri to Florida, with the majority of those occurring Wednesday through Friday. (Gray, 6/26)

NBC News: Anthony Fauci To Join Georgetown University As Professor
Dr. Anthony Fauci is joining the faculty at Georgetown University in his first position after a decades-long government career that included a leading role during the Covid pandemic. Starting next week, Fauci will be a professor at the school of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases. He will also work in the McCourt School of Public Policy. (Lebowitz, 6/26)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Q&A With CDC Director Rochelle Walensky As She Prepares To Leave
Dr. Rochelle Walensky is preparing for life after the pandemic. She announced her plans to step down as head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on May 5, just six days before the federal government declared the end of the public health emergency. ... The Atlanta Journal-Constitution spoke with Dr. Walensky as her time leading the CDC winds down. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. (Thomas, 6/26)

In other news about the covid-19 pandemic —

The New York Times: U.S. Vaccine Program Now Flush With Cash, But Short On Key Details
Efforts to develop the next generation of Covid vaccines are running up against bureaucratic hassles and regulatory uncertainty, scientists say, obstacles that could make it harder to curb the spread of the coronavirus and arm the United States against future pandemics. The Biden administration, after months of delay, has now addressed at least a shortfall in funding, hurrying to issue the first major grants from a $5 billion program to expedite a new class of more potent and durable inoculations. (Mueller, Weiland and Zimmer, 6/26)

Reuters: COVID-19 Vaccine Scheme For Poorest Has $2.6 Billion Left To Spend As Pandemic Recedes
Several billions of dollars left in a scheme to deliver COVID-19 vaccines to the world’s poorest could be diverted to prepare for other pandemics or to support vaccine manufacturing in Africa, the scheme's partners said. The COVAX initiative, run by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), has $2.6 billion left in its coffers as the emergency phase of the pandemic draws to a close, according to documents seen by Reuters and two sources close to the scheme. (Rigby, 6/26)

KFF Health News: The DEA Relaxed Online Prescribing Rules During Covid. Now It Wants To Rein Them In. 
Federal regulators want most patients to see a health care provider in person before receiving prescriptions for potentially addictive medicines through telehealth — something that hasn’t been required in more than three years. During the covid-19 public health emergency, the Drug Enforcement Administration allowed doctors and other health care providers to prescribe controlled medicine during telehealth appointments without examining the patient in person. The emergency declaration ended May 13, and in February, the agency proposed new rules that would require providers to see patients at least once in person before prescribing many of those drugs during telehealth visits. (Zionts, 6/27)

Also —

CIDRAP: Study: Sperm Counts Decline Even After Mild COVID Infections 
Men recently infected with COVID-19 have decreased sperm counts for more than 3 months following even mild infections, and the sperm they do produce is less able to swim, according to new findings presented today at the annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) in Denmark. The findings are intriguing because men produce new sperm every 2 or 3 months, and the findings are based on semen analyses taken after 100 days, suggesting COVID does long-term damage to the male reproductive tract. (Soucheray, 6/26)

Fierce Healthcare: Ascension Facing Largest Nurse Strikes In Texas, Kansas History
About 2,000 registered nurses are slated to launch a one-day strike Tuesday morning and, upon completion, will be locked out of their Ascension hospitals for an additional three days, according to statements from their union and the major Catholic health system. The nurses are employed at Ascension Seton Medical Center in Austin, Texas, and Ascension Via Christi St. Joseph Hospital and Ascension Via Christi St. Francis Hospital, both in Wichita, Kansas. (Muoio, 6/26)

Axios: Health Workers Start To Feel Optimism About Industry, Poll Finds
Health care workers who served on the front lines of the pandemic and suffered record levels of burnout are beginning to feel more optimistic about the medical profession, according to a Morning Consult poll shared first with Axios. Why it matters: While there are still plenty of stressors, from misinformation to labor shortages, caseloads within inpatient settings have largely normalized. (Reed, 6/26)

More health care industry developments —

Modern Healthcare: Physician-Owned Hospitals Have Lower Prices: Study
Physician-owned hospital prices were about a third lower than traditional hospitals in the same market, a study found, potentially fueling debate over legislation that would remove the ban on building more physician-owned hospitals. (Kacik, 6/26)

Modern Healthcare: Dialysis Reimbursement To Increase Under CMS Proposed Rule 
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services proposed a payment boost for dialysis providers next year in a draft regulation released Monday. The agency is proposing to raise the end-stage renal disease Prospective Payment System base rate for dialysis services provided to Medicare beneficiaries by $4.42, or 1.7%, to $269.99. It projects total payments will rise 2.6% for hospital-based end-stage renal disease facilities and 1.6% for freestanding facilities. (Berryman, 6/26)

Fierce Healthcare: Hospital Consolidation Linked To Pediatric Service Closures
Recent study findings suggest that hospital consolidation is associated with a reduction of inpatient pediatric services during subsequent years—a new data point for policymakers weighing whether and how to rein in health systems’ consolidation of smaller provider facilities. Published in JAMA Pediatrics, the analysis by University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine researchers reviewed American Hospital Association annual survey reports from thousands of U.S. hospitals between 2011 and 2020. (Muoio, 6/26)

Modern Healthcare: Amedisys Accepts UnitedHealth Group’s Optum Acquisition Offer
Home health company Amedisys said Monday it has agreed to be acquired by UnitedHealth Group’s Optum in an all-cash transaction for $101 per share, or an estimated $3.3 billion. The bid is higher than Optum’s original offer in early June of $100 per share for the Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based company. (Eastabrook, 6/26)

The Washington Post: U-Penn Medicine Quits Cooperating With U.S. News Hospitals Ranking
The University of Pennsylvania Health System will no longer participate in the U.S. News & World Report’s annual ranking of hospitals, officials announced Monday. The decision by the perennially highly ranked health system, part of Penn Medicine, added to a growing revolt against the lists by prominent schools. Kevin B. Mahoney, chief executive of the University of Pennsylvania Health System, said his moment of clarity came when someone asked how a decision to save a hospital in a low-income neighborhood might affect their place in the rankings. (Svrluga, 6/26)

KFF Health News: The Hospital Bills Didn’t Find Her, But A Lawsuit Did — Plus Interest 
Bethany Birch had pain in her diaphragm on and off for eight months in 2016. She knew it was triggered by food, so she said she tried taking an antacid. That helped a little, but, eventually, she avoided eating altogether. She estimated she lost 25 pounds in that time. One night that September, the pain would not go away for hours. It was so severe she went to the emergency room at Indian Path Community Hospital in Kingsport, Tennessee, where she lives. An ultrasound revealed she needed her gallbladder removed right away. She was able to get into surgery quickly because she hadn’t eaten in over 12 hours due to her food avoidance. (Sable-Smith, 6/27)

On race and health —

Capital & Main: How Deeply Does Our Health Care System Discriminate?
Since before the country’s formation, unequal health based on race, from inferior care and treatment to shorter life spans, has been part and parcel of American history. Surveys in recent decades have enabled researchers to bring those disparities into sharper and sometimes harrowing focus. But identifying these issues hasn’t brought the country much closer to resolving them. And a new report underscores how truly intractable those problems are — because it brings race-based disparities right into the safest hospitals in the United States. (Kreidler, 6/22)

The Boston Globe: Top Healthcare Leaders Push Continued Commitment To Equity
In recent weeks, members of the Health Equity Compact, a group of more than 70 leaders of color working to advance equitable health reform, convened several of the state’s top leaders to discuss the financial toll that racial health inequities are taking on the residents of Massachusetts. Discussion has centered around the findings of a new report, commissioned by the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation in collaboration with the Compact, that found the health disparities experienced by communities of color cost the state about $5.9 billion each year, a number that researchers warn will nearly double by 2050, unless urgent action is taken. (Mohammed, 6/26)

KFF Health News: New Charleston Museum Nods To Historical Roots Of US Health Disparities 
Maude Callen, a Black nurse-midwife, delivered more than 800 infants across the South Carolina Lowcountry starting in the 1920s, when segregation made it difficult for Black people to get medical care. Although Callen isn’t commonly considered a household name, visitors passing through the new $120 million International African American Museum that opened this week will learn about her work. (Sausser, 6/27)

The Hill: Move Over, Mounjaro: New Eli Lilly Drug Lost Patients 24 Percent Of Their Weight In Trials
A new Eli Lilly experimental drug has helped patients lose 24 percent of their weight, according to new mid-stage clinical trial results. The results, released on Monday, followed 338 adults, nearly 52 percent of whom were men, who were obese or overweight and had either received Eli Lilly’s retatrutide injection or a placebo treatment. (Oshin, 6/26)

USA Today: 'The Future Is Accessibility' Pills For Weight Loss To Soon Replace Injectables Like Wegovy
The next major innovation coming to weight-loss drugs will be pills with the effectiveness of injectables at potentially far lower costs. Medications have finally been able to offer the kind of weight loss only seen before with bariatric surgery. But these drugs have several shortcomings, including the lack of long-term safety and effectiveness data, the need for weekly injections and current price tags, which top $1,000 a month and often aren't covered by insurance. (Weintraub, 6/26)

Also —

Los Angeles Times: Compressing Your Eating Day Is As Effective As Counting Calories, Study Finds
If you’re trying to lose weight and you’re sick of watching what you eat, researchers have some good news: You can watch the clock instead. In a yearlong study, people who didn’t change what they ate — but ate it all between noon and 8 p.m. — achieved significant, sustained weight loss that was comparable to people who paid close attention to their food choices in order to cut their daily calories by 25%. (Errico, 6/26)

Stat: Can Medical Device Makers Keep Up In The Race To Treat Obesity?
The makers of minimally invasive surgical devices seemed poised to capture a wide swath of the obesity treatment market. Patients needed an option that lay between the two treatment extremes: cutting open the abdomen to perform permanent bariatric surgery, or changing your diet or exercise routine. Then, a new class of weight loss medications that successfully mimic the feeling of fullness hit the market, and the landscape changed. (Lawrence, 6/27)

The Hill: New York Is Latest ‘Safe Haven’ For Gender-Affirming Care 
New York on Sunday became the latest in a growing list of states to pass legislation protecting access to gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors as more than a dozen other state governments have moved to ban treatments including puberty blockers and hormone therapy. New York’s new “safe haven” law bars state courts from enforcing the laws of other states that authorize a minor to be removed from their home if their parents or legal guardians allow them to receive gender-affirming health care. (Migdon, 6/26)

AP: Maine House Votes To Ensure Teens Can Receive Gender-Affirming Health Care 
The Maine House voted Monday in favor of a bill to ensure 16- and 17-year-olds can receive gender-affirming hormone therapy without parental consent if certain conditions are met. The bill, approved 73-60, allows those teens to undergo treatment without parental consent if they are diagnosed with gender dysphoria, are experiencing harm and have received counseling. It now goes to the Senate for further debate. (6/26)

AP: Kansas Must Undo Gender Changes For Trans People In State Records, Attorney General Says
A new Kansas law requires the state to reverse any previous gender changes in its records for trans people’s birth certificates and driver’s licenses while also preventing such changes going forward, the state’s conservative Republican attorney general declared Monday. Attorney General Kris Kobach also said public schools’ records for students must list them as being the gender they were assigned at birth, whether or not teachers and staff recognize their gender identities. (Hanna, 6/26)

CalMatters: More California Prisoners Are Requesting Gender-Affirming Health Care, Including Surgeries
The number of California prisoners requesting gender-affirming health care more than doubled last year, and the state’s corrections agency expects the trend to continue even as the overall state inmate population is projected to decline. The estimate comes from budget documents detailing the agency’s responsibilities for two groundbreaking policies the state adopted over the last seven years. (Sosa, 6/26)

The Washington Post: Delaware Lawmaker Seeks To Become First Transgender Member Of U.S. House
Sarah McBride, a Democratic state senator in Delaware, announced Monday that she is running for the state’s sole U.S. House seat, a bid that, if successful next year, would make her the first transgender person to serve in Congress. (Wagner, 6/26)

Also —

ABC News: LGBTQ Couples Push For 'Fertility Equality' In Family-Building Benefits 
For Emma Goidel and Ilana Caplan, building a family using assisted reproductive technology was never going to be easy, but the couple says they never imagined the financial costs they’d face simply because of who they are. “We looked really closely at our insurance and we saw, oh my God, Aetna covers fertility procedures. But then when we read the fine print, we saw – wait a minute, this coverage is only for people having heterosexual sex,” said Goidel, who lives in New York City. (Dwyer and See, 6/27)

New Hampshire Public Radio: NH Is Extending Medicaid Coverage For New Moms
New Hampshire will soon extend Medicaid coverage for new mothers to a full year, one of several provisions in the newly signed state budget that aim to improve maternal and child health. Currently, postpartum coverage in New Hampshire lasts only 60 days. Supporters of the new change say it will provide continued access to health care during a critical period after childbirth. (Cuno-Booth, 6/26)

North Carolina Health News: Officials Give Update On Tailored Medicaid Plans
North Carolina’s Medicaid program “transformed” in the summer of 2021, moving more than a million children, some of their parents and pregnant women off of the long-standing way of paying for every test, visit and hospital stay and moving them into managed care, where private insurance companies receive a set monthly fee for each patient and then set about keeping them healthy. But some groups of Medicaid beneficiaries remained in the traditional fee-for-service system: people with intellectual or developmental disabilities, people with substance use disorders and traumatic brain injuries, low-income seniors living in nursing homes and many people with severe mental health issues. (Baxley, 6/27)

In other health news from across the U.S. —

AP: Washington's Long-Term Care Payroll Tax Starts July 1, As Other States Explore Similar Programs
Beginning July 1, Washington will be the first state to deduct money from workers’ paychecks to finance long-term care benefits for residents who can’t live independently due to illness, injury or aging-related conditions such as dementia. (Komenda, 6/27)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: 4,000 Kids Wait For Specialized Dental Care At Children's Wisconsin
In juggling some 28,000 visits a year from patients who come from 57 counties, many parents of children with disabilities attest that Children's is virtually the only place in Wisconsin they can go. And demand is so high, that hundreds are just waiting for the next chance to get in: The waitlist to be seen by the clinics is 4,000 patients long, Children's Wisconsin officials say, in many cases for a year or longer. Like other doctors, many dentists decline to take Medicaid, because of low reimbursements. Other lack the ability to sedate or otherwise accommodate the needs of children who have disabilities. Some just don't have the right temperament. (Shastri, 6/26)

On the opioid crisis —

AP: Clock Ticking For West Virginia To Select Leadership For Opioid Money Distribution 
West Virginia is finalizing the leadership for a newly created foundation tasked with distributing the lion’s share of the more than $1 billion in opioid lawsuit-settlement money coming to the state with the nation’s highest overdose death rate. That means funding for opioid treatment and addiction services can soon begin going out to communities after years of litigation, Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said Monday in his state Capitol office in Charleston. (Willingham, 6/26)

KFF Health News: Localize This: Public Reporting Of Opioid Settlement Cash 
State and local governments will, over the next nearly two decades, receive billions of dollars from companies accused of sparking the opioid epidemic. KFF Health News is, in a yearlong series, investigating the use — and misuse — of this cash. Our stories provide a national perspective on issues ranging from the distribution formulas that determine how much money each locality receives to the lack of public reporting on how settlement dollars are spent. We’ve also compiled databases and sets of documents that we hope can help others investigate opioid settlement stories in their communities. (Pattani, 6/26)

Bloomberg: Pickleball Injuries May Cost Americans Nearly $400 Million This Year, According To UBS
Earlier this month, shares of big health insurance companies fell after UnitedHealth Group Inc. warned that healthcare utilization rates were up. At a conference the company had said that it was seeing a higher-than-expected pace of hip replacements, knee surgeries and other elective procedures. (Weisenthal, 6/26)

In other health and wellness news —

The Washington Post: Insomnia Linked To Up To 51 Percent Higher Risk Of Strokes
People suffering from insomnia may have as much as a 51 percent greater chance of having a stroke than those who do not have trouble sleeping, according to a study published in the journal Neurology. For nearly a decade, the study tracked 31,126 people, age 61 on average and with no history of stroke at the start of the study. In that time, 2,101 strokes were recorded. (Searing, 6/26)

The Washington Post: Endometriosis Is Often Dismissed As Period Pain In Teens
During her period each month, then-15-year-old Nia John would close her bedroom curtains, climb under the covers and cry. The pain, she recalled, felt like being repeatedly punched in the abdomen with metal-studded gloves. Forget going to school or dance class, she was in so much agony, she could barely walk the few steps to the bathroom. She couldn’t eat or sleep. She couldn’t use her phone, listen to music or watch TV. Her doctor dismissed it as menstrual cramps. But it wasn’t just period pain. It was endometriosis. (Bever, 6/26)

AP: 5 Takeaways From The AP's Report On Chinese Disposable E-Cigarettes Flooding The US Market
How good a job is the Food and Drug Administration doing in its crackdown on kid-friendly electronic cigarette flavors? The Associated Press sought to answer that question by looking at tightly controlled sales data. The AP obtained the data from the analytics firm IRI, which tracks barcode scanner sales from convenience stores, gas stations and other retailers. A person not authorized to share it gave access to the AP on condition of anonymity. (Perrone, 6/26)

On the gun violence epidemic —

The Washington Post: Pittsburgh Synagogue Shooter Has Mental Disabilities, Defense Says
Attorneys for the man convicted of fatally shooting 11 people and wounding seven at the Tree of Life synagogue in 2018 said in federal court Monday that their client has brain impairments, including schizophrenia and epilepsy, that make him ineligible for the death penalty. (Nakamura, 6/26)

CNN: Most Accidental Shooting Deaths Among Children Involve Guns Left Loaded And Unlocked, Study Finds
Most children in the US who die from an accidental shooting are playing around with guns at home or mistaking them for toys, according to a new study. And the research suggests that over 90% of guns used in such shooting deaths were left unlocked and loaded. The study, published Monday in the scientific journal Injury Epidemiology, looked at cases over a nearly a decade in which children under 15 accidentally killed themselves or another child with a gun. Most of the shootings happened at the victim’s home, where, in 8 out of 10 cases, the gun belonged to an older relative. (Viswanathan, 6/26)

The Wall Street Journal: ‘My Kid Can’t Sleep’: Gun Violence Drives Denver To Return Armed Police To Schools 
Students and teachers huddled in the corners of locked classrooms with the lights off. “I’m freaking out,” freshman Norah Krause texted her best friend, crouching among the cellos and basses in the orchestra storage room. “If anything happens, I love you.” Police, some in helmets and body armor, went from room to room, pointing guns and ordering students to leave with their hands up. It turned out to be a hoax. (Randazzo, Frosch and Najmabadi, 6/26)

The Hill: McConaughey Pledges Further Action To ‘Make Our Schools And Our Children Safer’ After Uvalde Shooting 
Matthew McConaughey says his work related to the last year’s school shooting in his hometown of Uvalde, Texas, isn’t done, vowing to help unveil an initiative aimed at getting schools grants to help curb gun violence. “Today marks the one-year anniversary since the bipartisan Safer Communities Act was signed into law,” the “Dallas Buyers Club” actor said in a video posted Sunday on Twitter. (Kurtz, 6/26)

The New York Times: Conditions at Guantánamo Are Cruel And Inhuman, U.N. Investigation Finds
The last 30 detainees at Guantánamo Bay, including the men accused of plotting the Sept. 11 attacks, are being held by the United States under circumstances that constitute “cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment under international law,” a United Nations human rights investigator said on Monday. Fionnuala Ni Aolain, a law professor in Minnesota serving as special rapporteur on counterterrorism and human rights, included the finding in a report drawn from a four-day visit to the prison in February. ... She specifically cited the cumulative effects of inadequate health care, solitary confinement, restraints and use of force to remove prisoners from their cells as contributing to her conclusions. She said the conditions at the prison “may also meet the legal threshold for torture.” (Rosenberg, 6/26)

Politico: U.N. Investigator At U.S. Detention Center At Guantanamo Says Detainees Face Cruel Treatment 
Ní Aoláin said her visit marked the first time a U.S. administration has allowed a U.N. investigator to visit the facility, which opened in 2002. ... Ní Aoláin said the specialist care and facilities at Guantanamo “are not adequate to meet the complex and urgent mental and physical health issues of detainees” ranging from permanent disabilities and traumatic brain injuries to chronic pain, gastrointestinal and urinary issues. (6/27)

In other recent news —

The New York Times: Guantánamo Case Nearing a Decision on the Lasting Effects of Torture
By the time the prisoner accused of plotting the U.S.S. Cole bombing boasted about his role in the attack during interrogations at Guantánamo Bay, his memories and account were unreliable because of years of isolation and torture by the C.I.A., a former military interrogator testified Friday. Prosecutors say the statements that Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, a Saudi prisoner, gave during interrogations in 2007 are crucial evidence against him. Defense lawyers consider them tainted by torture. Now the judge, Col. Lanny J. Acosta Jr., is expected to decide whether agents can testify about the confession at Mr. Nashiri’s eventual trial. (Rosenberg, 6/17)

Stat: Drug Repurposing Or Repositioning? The Language Matters
For pharmaceutical companies, universities, and research organizations to cooperate efficiently, they need to agree on definitions. And right now, there are no clear FDA guidelines on the difference between “drug repositioning” and “drug repurposing.” As a consequence, researchers struggle to find willing partners, and opportunities for collaboration proceed more slowly than necessary, if they happen at all. (Annette Bakker, 6/27)

Alabama Political Reporter: The Bungling Of The Medical Marijuana Licenses Is Hurting Desperate Alabamians
On May 17, 2021, Gov. Kay Ivey signed a bill that would legalize medical marijuana in the state of Alabama. That’s more than two years ago, just so we’re clear. A little more than one week ago, the Alabama Cannabis Commission – the government entity created by the legislature to enforce regulations and issue licenses to companies that can deliver medical marijuana to the people of Alabama – had to put a stay on the first licenses the Commission ever approved. On Friday, a Montgomery County Circuit Court judge issued his own stay on those licenses, ensuring that the process will be tied up in litigation and paperwork for months to come. And somewhere in this state, there’s a sick kid or a pain-riddled grandma who could be aided by medical marijuana but who will instead suffer on. (Josh Moon, 6/26)

San Francisco Chronicle: I Coined The Word Cisgender. Here’s What Elon Musk Gets Wrong About It
Some in the LGBTQ community have asserted that the term cisgender is disrespectful because it doesn’t represent the complicated relationships with gender that many in the community experience. It is valid that many of us in the LGBTQ community operate outside the boundaries of expected gender identity and expression associated with sex assigned at birth and are not cisgender. Having a gender identity assigned to you is never appropriate, but using a term inappropriately, while hurtful, has nothing to do with the validity of the underlying construct. (Dana Defosse, 6/26)

The Washington Post: What The Fat-Shamers Don’t Get About Lizzo
For years, Lizzo has faced backlash from people made uncomfortable by her unabashed acceptance of herself — who would rather see her concealed in oversize cardigans and potato sacks. “What about her weight?” people say. “She’s promoting obesity!” No, she isn’t. There’s a difference between endorsing obesity and practicing self-love. (Danielle Pinnock, 6/26)

Los Angeles Times: Another Finding That COVID Didn't Come From A Lab 
That sound you may have detected rising from the ether of social media this weekend was the gnashing of teeth by COVID conspiracy-mongers, outraged by a U.S. government report debunking their most cherished claims. The long-awaited report released Friday by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, or ODNI, put the lie to the theory that the Sars-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID, leaked from a virology lab in Wuhan, China, where the disease was first detected in humans. The lab-leak conspiracists were certain that the report would validate their contentions, for which there has never been any valid scientific evidence. Instead it did just the opposite. (Michael Hiltzik, 6/26)