The New York Times: Trump Offers Tough Talk But Few Details In Unveiling Plan To Combat Opioids
President Trump made his first visit to New Hampshire since the 2016 campaign on Monday, unveiling a plan to combat the opioid epidemic that includes a push for the death penalty for drug dealers and a crackdown on illegal immigrants. Mr. Trump spoke in a state with the nation’s third-highest rate of deaths from overdoses and where opioids are a potent political issue. In a speech at a community college here, he offered up more tough talk than he did specifics about his plan, or how he would pay for it. (Haberman, Goodnough and Seelye, 3/19)

Politico: Trump Talks Up Death Penalty, Border Wall In Opioid Speech
“If we don’t get tougher on drug dealers, we are wasting our time … and that toughness includes the death penalty,” Trump said — one of six times he invoked the death penalty during remarks in New Hampshire, a state hit hard by the addiction crisis. (Diamond and Ehley, 3/19)

Reuters: As U.S. Opioid Crisis Grows, Trump Calls For Death Penalty For Dealers
Trump said that he was working with Congress to find $6 billion in new funding for 2018 and 2019 to fight the opioid crisis. The plan will also seek to cut opioid prescriptions by a third over three years by changing federal programs, he said. Addiction to opioids - mainly prescription painkillers, heroin and fentanyl - is a growing U.S. problem, especially in rural areas. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 42,000 people died from opioid overdoses in 2016. (Rampton, 3/19)

The Hill: Trump Vows Tougher Borders To Fight Opioid Epidemic 
Trump unveiled his plan to combat the epidemic in New Hampshire, a state that’s been hit hard by the epidemic and one that Trump once referred to as a “drug-infested den.” Trump spent a portion of his speech slamming sanctuary cities, promoting policies to beef up border security and blaming the lack of an extension for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program on Democrats. (Roubein, 3/19)

Bloomberg: Trump Calls For Death Penalty For Drug Dealers In Opioid Plan 
Trump has vowed since his 2016 campaign to curb drug abuse, which caused more than 64,000 overdose deaths last year, according to the Centers for Disease Control. The president has attached the effort to his call for a wall along the southern U.S. border, saying it would cut the illegal flow of drugs and people who sell them. “Eventually the Democrats will agree with us” to build the wall and “to keep the damn drugs out,” Trump said. (Sink, 3/19)

The Wall Street Journal: Trump Pledges To ‘Get Very Tough,’ Rein In Opioid Crisis
Mr. Trump’s remarks at a community college here marked the formal unveiling of the next phase of his administration’s plan to attempt to turn the tide of the opioid epidemic, now claiming the lives of more than 100 Americans a day through overdoses of prescription opioid pills, fentanyl and heroin. The plan includes a call for opioid prescriptions to be reduced by one-third within three years, in part by encouraging physicians to change their prescribing behavior. It also calls for guaranteed access to overdose-reversal drug naloxone and for the Justice Department to seek more death-penalty cases against drug traffickers. (Radnofsky, 3/19)

Los Angeles Times: Trump Talks Up Combating Opioids, Yet His Funding Shortfall And Medicaid Cuts Would Blunt His Plans
Although Trump once again spoke extensively about expanding the federal death penalty for drug dealers, his administration released a three-page list of proposals before his speech that ruled out any change to existing federal law, suggesting instead that the Justice Department would take a more aggressive stance toward those offenders already eligible to be put to death based on other capital offenses, such as drug-related murders. (Bierman and Levey, 3/19)

Modern Healthcare: Trump Calls For Death Penalty For Drug Traffickers
Advocates lauded some aspects of Trump's plan, such as establishing a national prescription-drug-monitoring program. It also seeks to boost drug abuse prevention efforts, improve opioid prescription practices and expand access to treatment. But the question of additional funding remains unanswered. (Johnson, 3/19)

Kaiser Health News: Congress Tackles The Opioid Epidemic. But How Much Will It Help?
The nation’s opioid epidemic has been called today’s version of the 1980s AIDS crisis. In a speech Monday, President Donald Trump pushed for a tougher federal response, emphasizing a tough-on-crime approach for drug dealers and more funding for treatment. And Congress is upping the ante, via a series of hearings — including one scheduled to last Wednesday through Thursday — to study legislation that might tackle the unyielding scourge, which has cost an estimated $1 trillion in premature deaths, health care costs and lost wages since 2001. (Luthra, 3/19)

The Associated Press Fact Check: Trump Exaggerates Pros Of Anti-Opioid Ideas
President Donald Trump has laid out a new plan for tackling the deadly opioid epidemic that has ravaged communities across the nation. But some of the president's proposals have proven ineffective in the past. From renewing his call for "spending a lot of money" on commercials to scare young people from experimenting with drugs, to pushing for the death penalty for certain drug dealers, Trump's ideas are sometimes driven more by his gut instincts than past success. (3/20)

The Hill: Trump Says Proposals Targeting High Drug Prices Coming Soon
The administration will unveil a slate of proposals soon to address high prescription drug costs in the U.S., President Trump announced Monday. "You'll be seeing drug prices falling very substantially in the not-so-distant future, and it's going to be beautiful," President Trump said during a press conference on opioids in New Hampshire.  (Hellmann, 3/19)

In other news on the epidemic —

Stat: DOJ Weighing 'Major Litigation' Against Opioid Makers, Trump Says
President Trump spoke Monday of using federal prosecutors to pursue “major litigation” against drug manufacturers alleged to have played a role in creating a nationwide epidemic of opioid abuse. Speaking in New Hampshire at the White House’s rollout of a national opioids strategy, the president expanded upon a Department of Justice release last month in which Attorney General Jeff Sessions pledged to “hold accountable those whose illegality has cost us billions of taxpayer dollars.” (Facher, 3/19)

New Hampshire Public Radio: Opioid Crisis is Taking A Toll on Those On the Frontlines
The drug crisis in New Hampshire has left its mark on thousands of people - those struggling with addiction, their families, friends and co-workers. But increasing attention is being paid to another group bearing a burden from the epidemic: first responders and those working in the recovery field. (Sutherland, 3/19)

Reuters: Congress Struggles to Meet Deadline For Government Funding Bill
The U.S. Congress, facing a Friday midnight deadline, toiled on Monday to finish writing a $1.2 trillion bill to fund the federal government through Sept. 30, as several thorny issues lingered, including funding President Donald Trump's border wall. (Cowan, 3/19)

The Associated Press: Abortion Impasse May Shut Down Effort To Reduce Premiums
The polarizing politics of abortion have burst into the congressional budget debate, overwhelming bipartisan efforts to help millions of consumers who buy their own health insurance policies get relief from soaring premiums. On Monday, Senate and House Republicans released their latest plan to stabilize the Affordable Care Act's insurance markets. It calls for new federal money to offset the cost of treating the sickest patients and restores insurer subsidies that President Donald Trump terminated last year. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 3/19)

The Wall Street Journal: Policy Feuds Keep Spending Bill In Flux
A bipartisan congressional effort to shore up the Affordable Care Act was likely to be excluded from the bill, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) told House Republicans Monday evening, although Senate Republicans had been pushing late Monday to get it in the legislation. Sens. Lamar Alexander (R., Tenn.) and Susan Collins (R., Maine) had hoped to include a plan from Mr. Alexander and Sen. Patty Murray (D., Wash.) to restore payments to insurers that offset their costs for providing mandatory subsidies to some low-income consumers on the ACA. Mr. Trump ended those payments last year, and many insurers raised premiums as a result. That meant people who don’t get federal assistance to help with premiums saw their costs rise. (Peterson and Armour, 3/20)

The Hill: House Leaves Out Obamacare Fix From Must-Pass Funding Bill 
ObamaCare payments aimed at lowering premiums will not be included in the House’s government funding bill, in a significant defeat for backers of the effort. Multiple GOP lawmakers leaving a conference meeting held Monday evening to discuss the ominibus funding bill said the payments are not being included, in large part because of a dispute with Democrats over abortion restrictions known as the Hyde Amendment. (Sullivan, 3/19)

The Hill: Senate Considers Vote To Add ObamaCare Fix To Spending Bill 
The Senate is considering holding a vote on adding an ObamaCare stabilization measure into a must-pass government funding bill in order to get lawmakers on record on the issue. The ObamaCare proposal is in serious jeopardy amid a dispute between the parties over abortion restrictions in the new funding aimed at lowering ObamaCare premiums. (Sullivan, 3/19)

Politico: Congress Closes In On Massive Spending Bill
A group of GOP senators and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Greg Walden met with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Monday in a last-minute push to include the Obamacare subsidies, but were not optimistic. “I’m trying to make sure we get stabilization payments because if we don’t, the insurance premiums are going to go up dramatically. And our Democratic friends are not being helpful,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said as he left McConnell’s office. (Ferris, Everett and Bade, 3/19)

The Washington Post: Congressional Negotiators Work To Finalize Massive Spending Bill
The “omnibus” spending bill spreading billions across all agencies of government was supposed to be released Monday night to allow time for passage through the House and Senate before a government shutdown deadline at midnight Friday. But as evening arrived, bipartisan congressional leaders remained locked in negotiations on several issues, and the eleventh-hour wrangling carried the potential to delay the bill’s release. “We’re trying to get to agreement,” said Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Tex.), chairman of the House Rules Committee. “And this is where it’s really good to measure three times and saw once.” (Werner and DeBonis, 3/19)

Reuters: Supreme Court Mulls California Law On Anti-Abortion Facilities
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday tackles a dispute over whether a California law requiring Christian-based facilities that counsel pregnant women against abortion to post signs disclosing the availability of state-subsidized abortions and birth control violates their right to free speech. The nine justices are set to hear an hour of arguments in an appeal by a group of non-profit facilities called crisis pregnancy centers of a lower court ruling upholding the Democratic-backed 2015 law. (Chung, 3/20)

Politico: Pregnancy 'Crisis Centers' Take Abortion Case To Supreme Court
The state of California and abortion rights supporters counter that the law in question — the Reproductive FACT Act — is straightforward and doesn’t trample anyone’s rights. It simply requires the centers to display a written notice about abortion access. They don’t have to discuss or counsel women about it. They just have to post it. Unlike other landmark abortion rights cases that have come before the court, National Institute of Family and Life Advocates (or NIFLA) v. Becerra, doesn’t address when, where or under what circumstances a woman can terminate a pregnancy. (Colliver, 3/19)

The Hill: Anti-Abortion Clinics Take First Amendment Case To Supreme Court 
The Supreme Court on Tuesday will wade into a charged debate on abortion that will test the limits of the First Amendment. Anti-abortion clinics are challenging a California law that requires them to post notices informing women how to contact the state for information about obtaining a state-funded procedure.  (Wheeler, 3/19)

WBUR: Abortion And Freedom Of Speech: A Volatile Mix Heads To The Supreme Court
On one side are self-identified "crisis pregnancy centers" that seek to prevent abortions, and on the other side is the state of California, which enacted a law to ensure that these centers do not intentionally or unintentionally mislead the women who walk through their doors. Supporters of the California law call the state's effort nothing more than seeking "truth in advertising." But anti-abortion pregnancy centers see the law as unconstitutional, compelling speech that turns them into mouthpieces for a government message they disagree with. (Totenberg, 3/20)

CORRECTION: A headline in Tuesday’s Daily edition has been updated to correct a mischaracterization of a U.S. Supreme Court  case on “Pregnancy Crisis Centers.” The court will hear arguments on whether such centers should be required to post a sign about abortion options.

The New York Times: Mississippi Bans Abortions After 15 Weeks; Opponents Swiftly Sue
Saying that he was “saving the unborn,” Gov. Phil Bryant of Mississippi signed into law on Monday a measure that would ban almost all abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Abortion rights supporters called it the earliest abortion ban in the country, and said it was an unconstitutional restriction that defied years of federal court precedent over the limits states may impose on abortion providers. The only abortion clinic in the state quickly filed a complaint in federal court to block the law. (Fausset, 3/19)

The Associated Press: Quick Court Fight As Mississippi Sets 15-Week Abortion Ban
Within six hours, the governor signed a bill banning most abortions after 15 weeks of gestation, the state’s lone abortion clinic sued, and a federal judge set a Tuesday morning hearing to consider blocking the restrictions. Abortion opponents sought the confrontation, hoping federal courts will ultimately prohibit abortions before a fetus is viable. Current federal law blocks such restrictions by states. (Amy and Mearhoff, 3/19)

Reuters: Mississippi Governor Signs Bill Banning Abortions After 15 Weeks
Republican Governor Phil Bryant said he was proud to sign the bill banning abortion after 15 weeks of gestation with some exceptions, according to a statement from spokesman Knox Graham. "I am committed to making Mississippi the safest place in America for an unborn child, and this bill will help us achieve that goal,” Bryant said. (Simpson, 3/19)

PBS NewsHour: Mississippi Governor Signs Ban On Abortions After 15 Weeks
The Senate and House both passed HB 1510, also known as the Gestation Age Act, earlier this month. An earlier version of the bill said physicians found guilty of administering the procedure could face a felony conviction and up to 10 years of jail time. The latest version Bryant signed into law do not mention those consequences, instead saying physicians’ medical licenses could be suspended or revoked. (Santhanam, 3/19)

In other abortion related news —

The Hill: Anti-Abortion Dem’s Political Career On The Line In Illinois
Progressive Democrats will try to topple anti-abortion rights Rep. Daniel Lipinski (D-Ill.) in a primary Tuesday that has highlighted divisions within the party. First-time candidate Marie Newman has landed support from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and other progressives looking to move the party leftward and end Lipinski’s career. (Hagen, 3/20)

Politico: Key GOP Senator Backs Shulkin As VA Secretary
A key Republican senator told President Donald Trump over the weekend that he had “full confidence” in Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin, as Senate Republicans fret that Shulkin’s rumored replacement would be impossible to confirm. Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee, said he made the case for keeping Shulkin during a discussion with the president about legislation on veterans care. Trump has been mulling firing Shulkin after reports that Shulkin used taxpayer money on a trip to Europe, and potentially replacing him with a Fox News personality, Pete Hegseth, according to The Washington Post. (Everett, 3/19)

In other veterans health care news —

KCUR: Hundreds Of Veterans In Missouri And Kansas Lost Out On Care At Non-VA Facilities, Report Says 
Almost 1,000 veterans in Missouri, Kansas and Illinois were denied care at non-VA facilities because their wait times were incorrectly reported, an audit released last week concludes. The report, by the Office of Inspector General for the Veterans Health Administration, found that 18 percent of appointments for new patients at VA facilities in the three states had wait times longer than 30 days. The facilities' own electronic scheduling systems, however, showed only 10 percent had wait times of more than 30 days. (Margolies, 3/19)

USA Today: Teen Suicide Is Soaring. Do Spotty Mental Health And Addiction Treatment Share Blame?
J.C. Ruf, 16, was a Cincinnati-area pitcher who died by suicide in the laundry room of his house. Tayler Schmid, 17, was an avid pilot and hiker who chose the family garage in upstate New York. Josh Anderson, 17, of Vienna, Va., was a football player who killed himself the day before a school disciplinary hearing. The young men were as different as the areas of the country where they lived. But they shared one thing in common: A despair so deep they thought suicide was the only way out. (O'Donnell and Saker, 3/19)

The Associated Press: Want To Avoid The Flu While Flying? Try A Window Seat
Worried about catching a cold or the flu on an airplane? Get a window seat, and don't leave it until the flight is over. That's what some experts have been saying for years, and it's perhaps the best advice coming out of a new attempt to determine the risks of catching germs on an airplane. (Stobbe, 3/19)

Los Angeles Times: To Avoid Germs On An Airplane, Consider Booking A Window Seat
What you really need to watch out for is a flight attendant with a cough or runny nose. A single one of them can infect 4.6 passengers during a transcontinental flight. A group that dubbed itself the FlyHealthy Research Team came to these conclusions after flying back and forth from Atlanta to the West Coast on 10 flights and paying extremely close attention to the movements in the economy-class portion of the cabin. (Kaplan, 3/19)

NPR: African-American And Latino Children Often Diagnosed With Autism Later Than Their White Peers
Sherry Alvarez says she knew there was something different about her son since he was about 9 months old. Back then Sherry says his pediatrician told her there was nothing to worry about, " 'Boys are a little slower than girls, so let's just wait until his second birthday.' " We aren't using Sherry's son's name to protect his privacy. By her son's second birthday, Sherry says she was getting desperate. She didn't know why he wasn't talking yet or showing affection like other kids. At 2 1/2, he was referred to Children's Hospital Los Angeles. (Rentz, 3/19)

Stat: Many Common Drugs, Not Just Antibiotics, May Kill Off Gut Microbes
Antibiotics, it’s widely known, can wipe out a person’s “good” microbes along with the bad — sometimes leading to nasty side effects like diarrhea or serious infections. But new research finds that antibiotics aren’t alone in their bacterial slaughter: Nearly 1 in 4 other prescription medications, from antipsychotics to antivirals, kill off gut microbes. That could mean old drugs could have new uses — or have hidden impacts on antibiotic resistance. (Sheridan, 3/19)

Stat: As Towns Lose Their Newspapers, Disease Detectives Are Left To Fly Blind
Epidemiologists rely on all kinds of data to detect the spread of disease, including reports from local and state agencies and social media. But local newspapers are critical to identifying outbreaks and forecasting their trajectories. On the map, [Maia] Majumder saw every county without a local newspaper as a community where health officials and disease researchers could be flying blind. (Branswell, 2/20)

The Associated Press: For Menopause Sex Discomfort, Gel Worked As Well As Hormone
In a study of women with menopause-related sexual discomfort, gels worked as well as prescription hormone tablets at reducing symptoms. The researchers say the results suggest low-cost, over-the-counter moisturizers might be the best option. Most women in the study reported some relief from their most bothersome symptoms — painful intercourse, vaginal dryness or itching — regardless of treatment. Still, not quite half the women experienced what researchers considered a meaningful decline in symptom severity. (3/19)

Kaiser Health News: Adults Skipping Vaccines May Miss Out On Effective New Shingles Shot
Federal officials have recommended a new vaccine that is more effective than an earlier version at protecting older adults against the painful rash called shingles. But persuading many adults to get this and other recommended vaccines continues to be an uphill battle, physicians and vaccine experts say. “I’m healthy, I’ll get that when I’m older,” is what adult patients often tell Dr. Michael Munger when he brings up an annual flu shot or a tetanus-diphtheria booster or the new shingles vaccine. Sometimes they put him off by questioning a vaccine’s effectiveness. (Andrews, 3/20)

The New York Times: Extensive Data Shows Punishing Reach Of Racism For Black Boys
Black boys raised in America, even in the wealthiest families and living in some of the most well-to-do neighborhoods, still earn less in adulthood than white boys with similar backgrounds, according to a sweeping new study that traced the lives of millions of children. (Badger, Miller, Pearce and Quealy, 3/19)

The New York Times: When the Death Of A Family Farm Leads To Suicide
Fred Morgan was already deep in debt from rebuilding his milking barn after a fire when milk prices plunged in 2015, setting off an economic drought that is now entering its fourth year — the worst in recent memory for dairy farmers in New York State. Mr. Morgan, 50, saw no way to save the dairy farm in central New York State that he took over as a teenager from his ailing father and ran with his wife, Judy, and their son, Cody. (Kilgannon, 3/19)

California Healthline: The Juul’s So Cool, Kids Smoke It In School
The students wait eagerly for their teachers to turn their backs.That’s their cue to reach quietly for a small, sleek device they can easily conceal in their palms. It resembles a flash drive, but instead of computer files, this device stores nicotine. They take a hit, sucking on the device as they would a cigarette. Then, “they blow into their backpacks … or into their sweater when the teacher isn’t looking,” said Elijah Luna, 16, a sophomore at Vista del Lago High School in Folsom, Calif., about 30 miles east of Sacramento. (Ibarra, 3/19)

The Star Tribune: MNsure Tightens Rule On 'Special' Enrollments 
People seeking health insurance via MNsure outside the standard open enrollment period will now be required to document their eligibility for "special enrollment" before they can buy a policy. MNsure said the tighter rules should help make sure people don't wait until they are sick to buy coverage, a practice that drives up costs for others. (Snowbeck, 3/19)

Texas Tribune: In New Plan, Texas Education Agency Vows Special Education Overhaul With Limited Dollars
The TEA released the 42-page draft strategic plan Monday, a couple of months after a 15-month federal investigation concluded Texas had not been providing kids with disabilities the tools and services they needed to learn, likely failing to educate thousands of students and violating federal law. Federal officials found the state was effectively incentivizing school districts to keep their special education numbers low and that many teachers fundamentally misunderstood the legal requirements around educating kids with disabilities. (Swaby, 3/19)

The Associated Press: Johns Hopkins Nurses Eye Unionizing Over Staffing, Benefits
Organizers say nurses at Johns Hopkins Hospital are overworked and underpaid compared with counterparts elsewhere and could form a union. The National Nurses United collective bargaining director for the mid-Atlantic region, Corey Lanham, tells The Baltimore Sun that nurse turnover at the hospital is high because of short staffing and declining benefits. (3/19)

Columbus Dispatch: Rise In Alzheimer's Cases Slows In Ohio, But Impact Still Daunting
The number of people living with Alzheimer’s disease in Ohio is projected to increase at a slower rate than in any other state between now and 2025. ...A 13.6 percent increase — or an additional 30,000 people age 65 and older having Alzheimer’s — is still a staggering statistic. And in other measurements, such as the disease’s mortality rate and its impact on unpaid family caregivers, Ohio still lags behind much of the United States. (Widman Neese, 3/20)

Chicago Tribune: UIC Hospital To Close Physical Rehab Unit To Make Room For More Private Hospital Beds
University of Illinois Hospital in Chicago plans to create more private patient rooms by discontinuing its physical rehabilitation division, which has seen declining use over the past few years. The hospital, in the Chicago medical district, filed an application with the state’s Health Facilities and Services Review Board to convert its 18 physical rehab beds to adult medical-surgical beds, which will allow it to repurpose some shared rooms into private rooms. (Elejalde-Ruiz, 3/19)

Arizona Republic: Governor Doug Ducey Releases Gun Control Plan In Wake Of Parkland
Citing lessons learned from the nation's deadliest school shootings, Gov. Doug Ducey released a plan Monday aimed at preventing a similar mass killings in Arizona.Democrats say the plan doesn't go far enough. It could also face hurdles with some conservative state lawmakers who generally support looser gun laws. (Gardiner and Wingett Sanchez, 3/19)

The Baltimore Sun: Mercy Opens Expanded Primary Care And Pediatric Office In Baltimore 
Mercy Medical Center has moved its pediatric and primary care physicians’ office to a larger space in hopes of increasing patient access to medical services. Health Centers of Baltimore has also changed its name to Mercy Family Care Physicians and undergone $4 million in upgrades. The center has moved to a 14,675-square-foot building at the hospital’s Tower Building on St. Paul Place. Before that it was located on Calvert Street. (McDaniels, 3/19)

Texas Tribune: Report: Texas Child Abuse And Neglect Deaths Often Tied To Alcohol Or Drugs
The number of Texas children dying from abuse and neglect decreased by 22.5 percent in fiscal year 2017, but half of the deaths occurred under caregivers using drugs or alcohol, according to a Texas Department of Family and Protective Services report released earlier this month. A similar report last year also found that half of the 222 children who died were being watched by a parent or caregiver under the influence of drugs or alcohol. (Evans, 3/20)

Sacramento Bee: Increase In Influenza B Cases And Flu Outbreaks In Calif.
A surge in influenza B cases is providing a lesson to California residents that they cannot let down their guard just because influenza A activity declines. The H3N2 strain of influenza A grabbed headlines early in the flu season, as Californians learned anew of its deadly force, but now influenza B is causing a growing number of flu outbreaks in the Golden State. (Anderson, 3/19)

Kansas City Star: Johnson County Now Has Eight Measles Cases
The number of measles patients continues to grow, with the reported cases in Johnson County now up to eight. The list of places where people may have been exposed has also grown by one location. (Marso and Horsley, 3/19)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Akron City Council To Consider Raising Age To Buy Tobacco Products, Paraphernalia To 21
Teens looking to buy cigarettes in Akron could soon leave empty-handed. Legislation introduced to Akron City Council by Mayor Dan Horrigan and At-large Councilwoman Linda Omobien would raise the legal age in Akron to purchase tobacco products and tobacco paraphernalia from 18 to 21 years old. (Conn, 3/19)

Miami Herald: Salmonella Causes Recall Of Coconut Products In 29 States
About three hours after a Monday FDA e-mail announcing the recall of International Harvest’s Go Smiles organic raw coconut in both bulk and bagged form, the recall of Natural Grocers’ store brand Coconut Smiles Organic posted to the FDA site. All Coconut Smiles Organic 10-ounce bags packed before Friday should be tossed or returned for full refund. (Neal, 3/19)

The Baltimore Sun: More Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Open In Maryland 
Just over three months since the first few medical marijuana dispensaries opened their doors amid a shortage of products and some technical difficulties, more than 30 cannabis outlets have opened in Maryland. The 34 dispensaries are maintaining regular hours and are located in all corners of the state, according to a review by The Sun. They are in a dozen counties and Baltimore City, with five more dispensaries licensed but not yet open in five jurisdictions. (Meredith, 3/20)

The Wall Street Journal: Life Support For ObamaCare
We said Republicans would pay dearly for failing to replace ObamaCare, and the bill is already coming due this week in a political extortion fight with health insurers. The GOP may pad the omnibus spending bill with enough cash to preserve the law through the 2020 election. (3/19)

USA Today: Doctors Need To Help Cure Opioid Crisis
In New Hampshire on Monday, President Trump announced his latest plan to deal with the epidemic. His call for emulating countries that execute drug dealers garnered most of the headlines. And the plan, like his declaration last fall that the crisis was a public health emergency, lacked sufficient detail and funding. But at least on the prevention side of the problem, the president was on to something when he said that "the best way to beat the drug crisis is to keep people from getting hooked on drugs to begin with." He set a goal of reducing opioid prescriptions by one-third over the next three years, and ensuring that federally reimbursed prescriptions follow best practices. Physicians, many of them well-meaning, helped fuel the crisis by handing out opioids like candy. Now they can be of enormous help in bringing it under control by preventing the creation of new addicts. (3/19)

NH Times Union: Trump's Plan: A Blueprint We Can Build On
When President Trump chose to unveil his plan for dealing with the ongoing opioid crisis, what better place to do so than the “drug-infested den” of New Hampshire? We weren’t offended by Trump’s harsh words, because, well, he had a point. We’ve been hit as hard as anywhere in the country by the deadly scourge of fentanyl, and years of good faith efforts by local, state, and federal officials are just now preventing the number of overdose deaths from rising. (3/19)

USA Today: AMA: We're Helping To End Overdose Epidemic
Physicians today are providing the leadership to help end the nation’s opioid-related overdose and death epidemic. As medical professionals, we go where the evidence leads us. (Patrice A. Harris, 3/19)

Los Angeles Times: If It Wasn't Related To Abortion, California's FACT Act Would Easily Be Upheld By The Supreme Court
The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Tuesday in the case National Institute of Family and Life Advocates vs. Becerra, which challenges a California law requiring reproductive healthcare facilities to inform women of state programs that might assist them. It should be an easy issue to decide — in favor of the California law — but it is not because it arises in the context of abortion. (3/20)

The New York Times: The Abortion Case That’s Really About the First Amendment
The law’s defenders say the notices combat incomplete or misleading information provided by the clinics. ”In certain ways, the case has played out just as one might have expected: The Conference of Catholic Bishops has lined up on one side and Planned Parenthood on the other. Most people’s opinions on abortion rights and their opinions on the correct outcome in this case are probably pretty closely linked. (Robert McNamara and Paul Sherman, 3/20)

Kansas City Star: Missouri Women Deserve Facts, Not Lies, About Health Care
This week, the Supreme Court will be hearing oral arguments in an important case, National Institute of Family and Life Advocates v Becerra. I’ll be paying close attention — and so should you. This case centers on the notion that patients should receive full, accurate, and comprehensive information about their health care. (Colleen McNicholas, 3/19)

Louisville Courier-Journal: Kentucky Abortion Battle Rages On But Providers Deserve Honor
Rather than judging those whose life circumstances lead them to get abortions, we would do better to recognize that we are not in their shoes. How can any of us know the individual, particular circumstances of another person’s life – especially a person we don’t even know? A person we will never know. How simple and manifestly unjust it is, instead, for those who will not have to live with the consequences to impose one-size-fits-all rules on the women who will. ...Which brings us to the Kentucky General Assembly. I am disappointed to say that trust and compassion for women are not the perspective of many in that body. Although Republican legislative leaders said at the beginning of the year that they did not expect abortion to be a key issue in the 2018 legislative session, we have seen no fewer than seven anti-abortion bills filed. (Kim Greene, 3/16)

WBUR: Policies To Help Americans Be Happier? Start With More Public Spending For Mental Health
The U.S. ranks 18th among the world’s countries, with an average life satisfaction of around 6.88 on a scale of 10. While that may be relatively near the top, America’s happiness figures have actually declined every year since the reports began in 2012, and this year’s are the lowest yet. The question, then, is whether the government has a role to play in improving the happiness of its citizens. (George Ward, 3/19)

Bloomberg: Arming Teachers Is A Terrible Idea, President Trump
It’s hard to know if President Donald Trump’s plan to arm teachers is a real proposal or just noise to obscure his hapless response to the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida. The idea of “firearms training for school personnel” is on a White House list of measures that patently falls short of being an actual policy to prevent shootings at schools or anywhere else. As if to confirm its pointlessness, the plan even includes that classic Washington side-step -- a blue-ribbon commission to look into it all. One can only hope that the idea does indeed come to nothing. (3/19)

USA Today: It's Teen Mental Health Week. Celebrate.
It’s Teen Health Week. Seem like there's not a lot to celebrate? Think again. Sure, suicide rates are soaring, the opioid epidemic is spreading from rural to suburban and urban areas and school shootings occurred at a rate of about one a week before the Parkland, Fla. shooting last month. Teens' stress levels are sky high. I have a 17 year old daughter who is awaiting word from all of the seemingly countless colleges she applied to.  We live in Fairfax County, Va., one of the most affluent in the country and where pressure to excel has been met with several teen suicides in the past few years. (Jayne O'Donnell, 3/19)

The Washington Post: Virginia’s Medicaid Impasse, Courtesy Of The GOP
Virginia's state Senate Republicans have dug in their heels once again to oppose a Medicaid expansion that would extend health insurance to roughly 400,000 citizens. Their stance is impervious to public opinion, which favors expansion by large margins; at odds with many of the GOP members in the House of Delegates and in some other Republican-controlled legislatures nationwide, who have switched sides in the debate; and heedless of hard-working Virginians for whom there is no health-care alternative save the emergency room. (3/19)

RealClear Health: Rural America's Health Care Crisis
Rural communities are facing a crisis that, while quiet, is threatening millions. As hospitals in these communities close and services are cut, many Americans are losing access to quality health care.Since 2010, more than 80 rural hospitals have shuttered. The National Rural Health Association, a non-profit that advocates for rural issues, estimates that there are as many as 700 more rural hospitals at risk of closing in the next 10 years. Just last month, the county commissioners of Decatur County, Tennessee, voted to close the county hospital. And even in cases where these hospitals stay afloat, critical services end up being axed. Often, obstetric services are atop the chopping block: between 2004 to 2014, 9 percent of all rural counties lost access to hospital obstetric services. (Suzanne Harrison and Kim Templeton, 3/15)

The Baltimore Sun: America’s poor families need food stamps to survive
President Donald Trump’s fiscal year 2019 budget request has me worried for the future health and well-being of our nation’s low-income communities. Under this proposal, there is to be an immediate $17 billion reduction to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps, followed by a $213.5 billion reduction over the next 10 years. (Caroline Meehan, 3/19)

Stat: Lawmakers Must Act On Reducing Antibiotic Use In Food Animals
Congress should include language in the Animal Drug User Fee Act reauthorization that limits the use of medically important antibiotics to 21 days. By doing that, we’ll give resistant bacteria less of a chance to thrive and spread. Large-scale production of food animals without misusing antibiotics is not only feasible, it’s necessary to maintain the effectiveness of these lifesaving medicines for humans and animals. (Matthew Wellington, 3/19)