Politico: HHS Submits Updated Plan For Reuniting Migrant Children With Parents
U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw scolded the Health and Human Services Department Friday, saying it was using safety concerns as "cover" to avoid meeting his July 26 deadline to reunite with their parents all 2551 children aged 5 to 17 who were detained at the border. Sabraw previously ordered HHS to return to their parents by July 10 all 102 children under 5 who were detained at the border. In response, HHS reunited all but 46, saying these children were ineligible for reunificaiton because verification wasn’t complete or because of safety concerns. (Kullgren, 7/15)

The New York Times: Judge Criticizes Trump Administration For Response To Family Reunification Order
The Health and Human Services Department outlined a new, more accelerated plan to return nearly 3,000 migrant children to their parents by a July 26 deadline. But it also said that doing so required faster vetting procedures and would probably place the children in abusive environments or with adults falsely claiming to be their parents. In a court filing that included the new plan, Chris Meekins, the deputy assistant secretary of preparedness and response, said, “While I am fully committed to complying with this court’s order, I do not believe that the placing of children into such situations is consistent with the mission of H.H.S. or my core values.” The judge, Dana M. Sabraw of Federal District Court in San Diego, was not moved. (Dickerson, 7/14)

Bloomberg: U.S. Judge Demands Update On Reuniting Migrant Kids With Parents
Looking to meet the judge’s deadline, the government has laid out a plan in which Immigration and Customs Enforcement will identify six to eight locations where as many as 200 children a day will be reunited with their parents. The focus now is on children ages 5 to 17, after the government reported last week that it had complied with an earlier order to first concentrate on kids under 5. Catholic Charities of San Antonio spent the weekend on alert for families to arrive at its modern headquarters on a leafy street just north of downtown in the Texas city. ICE said to prepare for anywhere between 100 and 400 people to be brought to the building during the next two weeks ahead of Sabraw’s deadline, said J. Antonio Fernandez, the group’s president. (Mehrotra, Epstein and Niquette, 7/16)

The Hill: Dems Launch Pressure Campaign Over Migrant Families
Democratic lawmakers are trying to keep up the pressure on the Trump administration over its struggles to reunite families separated at the southern border under the "zero tolerance" immigration policy. Members of the House and Senate are using every hearing and markup of health-related legislation to push for amendments aimed at holding the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) accountable. (Weixel, 7/13)

Bloomberg: Reunited Immigrant Families Face Difficult Choice To Split Again
Escaping gruesome violence at the hands of police and gangs in Honduras, a mother and her daughter arrived in the U.S. on June 8 near McAllen, Texas, and turned themselves in to federal agents. They were then separated and held in custody 1,555 miles apart, according to court filings. The 12-year-old daughter is now among a couple thousand migrant children that the U.S. is working to reunite with parents over the next two weeks following a federal judge’s order last month. (Mehrotra, 7/14)

The Wall Street Journal: After Immigrant Families Are Reunited, Scars Of Separation Remain
In the days after Ever Reyes Mejía was reunited with his 3-year-old son last Tuesday, the young father tried to make their lives seem normal again. The two kicked around a soccer ball and played with toy cars while staying at a volunteer’s home in Detroit. Mr. Reyes Mejía wrapped his son in tight embraces, promising he would never be alone again. Father and son were separated three months ago at a Texas migrant-detention center; the boy was sent to an agency in Michigan while Mr. Reyes Mejía was sent to another Texas facility. (Campo-Flores and West, 7/15)

Los Angeles Times: 'I'm Here. I’m Here.' Father Reunited With Son Amid Tears, Relief And Fear Of What's Next
Hermelindo Che Coc learned his son was coming home and immediately began to prepare for his arrival. Nearly two months had passed since he’d seen his 6-year-old boy after they were separated at the border while traveling from Guatemala to seek asylum. On Saturday, the father mopped floors and washed bed sheets at the home in the L.A. area where he was staying. He cooked a big pot of chicken soup, his son’s favorite. (Bermudez, 7/15)

Arizona Republic: Border Separations, Bad Experiences Traumatize Children, Studies Say
Reuniting families can reduce the harm caused by forced separations, but the harmful effects can be long-lasting to both child and parent, an advocacy group warns in a report released Wednesday. Pivoting off work to reunify families separated at the U.S. border because of the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy, the Center for American Progress cautioned that keeping families together, but in detention, is not a healthy alternative. (Pitzi, 7/13)

The Associated Press: HHS Watchdog Slams Former Secretary Tom Price On Costly Travel
The government wasted at least $341,000 on travel by ousted Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, including booking charter flights without considering cheaper scheduled airlines, an agency watchdog said Friday. The HHS inspector general’s long-awaited report chastised the department for flouting federal travel rules, which require officials to book trips in the most cost-efficient way for taxpayers. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 7/13)

The Hill: Price ‘Improperly Used Federal Funds’ In 20 Out Of 21 Trips: IG
The HHS Inspector General report finds that Price violated federal regulations in taking the trips and “improperly used federal funds.” Of 21 trips reviewed by the IG, the report finds that 20 did not comply with federal regulations. For example, HHS did not compare the cost of flying on commercial airlines before using private aircraft, the report finds. (Sullivan, 7/13)

The New York Times: Ex-Health Secretary Tom Price Wasted $341,000 On Improper Travel, Inquiry Finds
The total cost of the 21 trips was $1.2 million, the report said. The most expensive trips were an eight-day visit to Asia on military aircraft, which cost $432,400; a weeklong visit to Africa and Europe on military planes, which cost $234,400; and a charter flight from Seattle to Washington, D.C., which cost $121,500. Mr. Price took chartered aircraft to many cities in the United States when lower-cost commercial flights were available, Mr. Levinson said. He found that Mr. Price had spent $14,955 on a round-trip charter flight between Washington and Philadelphia. (Pear, 7/13)

WBUR: HHS: All But One Of Tom Price's Plane Trips Reviewed Broke Federal Rules
In one three-day trip from Washington, D.C., that included stops in San Diego, Salt Lake City and Aspen, Colo., the HHS overpaid by $36,313 — even though Price's itinerary included a total of less than four hours of official engagements. Price announced last fall that he would reimburse U.S. taxpayers for chartering private planes for official travel, as NPR reported. (Chappell, 7/13)

The Wall Street Journal: HHS Watchdog Pushes To Recoup $341,000 Wasted By Ex-Secretary Price On Travel
Justifications for using charter flights were sometimes flimsy, the report concluded. In one case, Mr. Price’s office cited the possibility of a meeting at the White House on the morning of a scheduled trip to Nashville. Two days before the event, it was clear the meeting wouldn’t take place. The office chartered the flight anyway, at a cost of $17,760, the report said. For other trips, Dr. Price’s staff cited schedule constraints that could have been adjusted to enable him to fly commercial, the inspector general concluded. (Armour and Radnofsky, 7/13)

The Washington Post: Former HHS Secretary Tom Price’s Air Travel Wasted $341,000 In Government Funds, Watchdog Says
A spokesman for Price released a statement Friday noting that the former secretary was not interviewed by the inspector general’s office and highlighted Hargan’s remark that none of the travel was “unauthorized.” “Media coverage inaccurately states the report takes issue with Dr. Price’s actions,” the statement said. “In fact, the report addresses overall functions of Department staff charged with administering travel.” Price is among numerous current or former members of President Trump’s administration who have been the focus of complaints and investigations centered on their use of government funds and other behaviors in office. (Berman and Goldstein, 7/13)

In more personnel news from the agency —

Politico: Officials Depart HHS After Incendiary Social Media Posts
Two HHS political appointees who worked on President Donald Trump’s campaign were forced out this week in response to a series of inflammatory tweets and other behavior detailed in a recent POLITICO report. Tim Clark, the agency's White House liaison, is resigning and will depart the agency in the coming weeks, according to an internal email sent to staff and shared with POLITICO. He has been replaced by Trent Morse, who joined HHS from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. (Diamond, 7/13)

Stat: Novartis, Michael Cohen Contacts More Extensive Than Disclosed Earlier
The relationship between President Trump’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen, and Novartis was more extensive than the drug maker previously disclosed, and the company issued misleading statements about the relationship, according to a report issued by Senate Democrats on Friday. Dozens of emails and other documents revealed that the agreement between Cohen and Novartis was longer and more detailed than had been previously stated. Moreover, Novartis explicitly sought to hire Cohen to gain access to “key policymakers” and provided him with ideas for lowering drug costs, which later appeared in the Trump administration blueprint that was developed to address the issue. (Silverman, 7/13)

The Wall Street Journal: Novartis Played Down Ties To Trump Lawyer Michael Cohen, Report Says
The report also reveals Mr. Cohen’s advocacy for another pharmaceutical company, one the report says has ties to an investment firm associated with Viktor Vekselberg, a wealthy Russian businessman now under U.S. sanctions. The $1.2 million consulting deal with Novartis came to light in May. Then the Switzerland-based drug company said it hired Mr. Cohen for insight into how “the Trump administration might approach U.S. health-care policy matters,” but that executives realized from their first meeting with him in March 2017 that he wouldn’t be helpful and stopped engaging with him. (Palazzolo and Rothfeld, 7/13)

Politico Pro: Drugmaker's Ties With Michael Cohen More Extensive Than Detailed, Report Says
Dozens of emails and other documents obtained by the Democrats showed that Cohen worked with Novartis for six months longer than the company said in May, a period during which he pitched executives on investing in a pharmaceutical company backed by investment firm Columbus Nova. The firm is linked to Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg, who was sanctioned last month over Russia's meddling in the U.S. election. (Cancryn and Karlin-Smith, 7/13)

Stat: Novartis Needed A Consultant. The CEO's Friend Called Trump's Lawyer
Shortly after the 2016 election, Novartis chief executive Joe Jimenez was looking for a consultant to help understand how the Trump administration would approach health policy. So, when a friend suggested Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, Jimenez took the call, and personally suggested following up, according to a letter Novartis sent to senators in June and publicly released Friday. (Swetlitz, 7/13)

The Hill: Ex-Novartis CEO Sent Drug Pricing Proposal To Cohen
In an email dated June 5, 2017, ex-Novartis CEO Joe Jimenez sent Cohen an email with a document attached called "drug pricing initiatives." "Based on our conversation last week, I am forwarding you some ideas to lower drug costs in the US," Jimenez wrote. Cohen responded a few hours later: "Received and I will forward to you their suggestions." (Hellmann, 7/13)

Bloomberg: The Artful Dodge That Saved Kavanaugh From Supreme Court Doom
In 2011, Judge Brett Kavanaugh was selected at random to rule on whether President Barack Obama’s signature legislative achievement, the Affordable Care Act, was constitutional. It was a career-defining moment for the aspiring Supreme Court justice, who was 46 at the time. The case promised to be a political bomb splitting two powerful forces. On one side was the Republican Party, which made Kavanaugh a judge and wanted to see the law invalidated under a limited vision of federal authority to regulate interstate commerce. On the other were millions of Americans poised to gain access to health insurance -- in some cases for the first time ever -- backed by scholars who said axing the law would be a grave error of judicial activism and taint the courts. Kavanaugh ducked the issue. (Kapur, 7/16)

Meanwhile —

The Associated Press: As Supreme Court Battle Roils DC, Suburban Voters Shrug
It stands to shift the direction of the nation's highest court for decades, but President Donald Trump's move to fill a Supreme Court vacancy has barely cracked the consciousness of some voters in the nation's top political battlegrounds. Even among this year's most prized voting bloc — educated suburban women — there's no evidence that a groundswell of opposition to a conservative transformation of the judicial branch, which could lead to the erosion or reversal of Roe v. Wade, will significantly alter the trajectory of the midterms, particularly in the House. (Beaumont and Peoples, 7/14)

Politico: State Abortion Ballots Prepare For Post-Roe World
Anti-abortion initiatives on the ballot in West Virginia and Alabama this November could lay the foundation for the states to ban or sharply limit legal abortion as change comes to the Supreme Court. Both ballot measures were in the works before President Donald Trump nominated conservative Judge Brett Kavanaugh to replace the more moderate Justice Anthony Kennedy on the high court. But they take on greater import — and will likely draw far more national attention — given the shifting ideological balance on the court. (Haberkorn and Pradhan, 7/15)

In other news on abortion —

San Francisco Chronicle: California Dems Trying To Flip The House Aren’t Running On Abortion Rights
Democratic Party leaders and progressive groups portray Judge Brett Kavanaugh as a threat to abortion rights, and they hope the fight over President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee will energize voters in California races that could decide who controls the House next year. Those races, however, are playing out in districts where support for abortion rights isn’t the given that it is in the bluest parts of California, such as the Bay Area. (Garofoli, 7/15)

Texas Tribune: Texas Fetal Remains Burial Trial Gets Underway
State and reproductive rights attorneys are going head to head again in federal court on Monday to argue whether Texas should require health providers to cremate or bury fetal remains. ...The law at the center of the case is Senate Bill 8, passed in 2017, which requires the burial or cremation of fetal remains. (Evans, 7/16)

Modern Healthcare: Doctors Worry CMS Proposals Will Slow The Move To Value-Based Pay
An avalanche of new pay proposals from the CMS seeks to reduce provider burden, so much so that it could undermine efforts to shift Medicare to a value-based system, doctors warned. The agency released a 1,400-page proposed rule July 12 that for the first time combined the annual physician fee schedule and the Medicare Quality Payment Program rules, which implements sections of MACRA each year. (Dickson, 7/14)

: Docs Don't Drain Hospital Finances, Systems Say

Bloomberg: New York Health Officials See Marijuana As An Alternative To Opioids
New York should legalize recreational marijuana to temper the harm of opioid addiction, end racial disparity in enforcement and boost tax revenue, state health officials said. “The positive effects of regulating an adult (21 and over) marijuana market in New York state outweigh the potential negative impacts,” the Health Department said in a report released Friday. (Goldman, 7/13)

NPR: Drug Users Watch Each Other's Backs At Vancouver's Supervised Injection Sites
People who use injection drugs in Vancouver, British Columbia, can do so, if they choose, under the watchful eyes of someone trained to help them if they overdose. This is the idea behind supervised injection sites, and it's an approach that over a dozen U.S. cities or states are considering to prevent drug overdose deaths and the spread of disease. (Spitzer, 7/13)

NPR: Colorado's Meth Use Complicates Recovery From Opioid Addiction
Huddled at a computer screen at the Denver Recovery Group, counselor Melissa McConnell looks at the latest urinalysis results for her client, Sara Florence. Last fall, it lit up like a Christmas tree. Now it's all clean. Florence says she stopped using heroin five months ago; she stopped using methamphetamine not long after that."Shooting it, smoking it, snorting it," Florence says. "It's horrible, just made me feel like crap, you know. But I'd still did it. Just makes no sense, you know. It's just really addicting." (Daley, 7/14)

NH Times Union: Beyond The Stigma: New Hampshire To Apply For Millions In Fight Against Opioid Addiction
New Hampshire is in line for millions in federal funds to fight the opioid crisis, and the state is looking for public input on how to spend the money. The Department of Health and Human Services on Tuesday issued an appeal for public input on its application to the federal government for the State Opioid Response Grant approved by Congress. New Hampshire is eligible for nearly $23 million to increase access to medication-assisted treatment and reduce opioid overdose deaths by providing prevention, treatment and recovery activities. (7/10)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Dutch Cut Overdose Deaths By Dispensing Pure Heroin
On a quiet alley in east Amsterdam, a security guard stands watch outside a brick office building, which 75 men and women visit twice a day to smoke or shoot up government-funded heroin. Public-health experts in the Netherlands say free distribution is one reason that drug-related deaths are far less common than in the United States. (Glaser, 7/15)

Kaiser Health News: Facebook Live: The Marketing Plan That Fueled An Addiction Epidemic
KHN senior correspondent Fred Schulte talks about a cache of files detailing Purdue Pharma’s early OxyContin marketing plan. These documents, which are more than 15 years old but still relevant now, offer insights into how these strategies contributed to the nation’s current opioid addiction epidemic. (7/13)

The New York Times: Drug To Treat Smallpox Approved By F.D.A., A Move Against Bioterrorism
The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved the first drug intended to treat smallpox — a move that could halt a lethal pandemic if the virus were to be released as a terrorist bioweapon or through a laboratory accident. The antiviral pill, tecovirimat, also known as Tpoxx, has never been tested in humans with smallpox because the disease was declared eradicated in 1980, three years after the last known case. (McNeil, 7/13)

The Associated Press: FDA OKs 1st Drug To Treat Smallpox, In Case Of Terror Attack
Smallpox, which is highly contagious, was eradicated worldwide by 1980 after a huge vaccination campaign. But people born since then haven't been vaccinated, and small samples of the smallpox virus were saved for research purposes, leaving the possibility it could be used as a biological weapon. (Johnson, 7/13)

In other news from the FDA —

CNN: FDA Joins 22 Countries' Recall Of Common Heart Drug
A common drug used to control blood pressure and help prevent heart failure was announced by the US Food and Drug Administration on Friday, a week after 22 other countries recalled it because the drug contains a chemical that poses a potential cancer risk. Valsartan is off patent and is used as a component of other generic medicines, but not all medicines containing the ingredient are involved, according to the FDA. The US recall includes the the versions of valsartan that are made by Major Pharmaceuticals, Solco Healthcare and Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd. as well as valsartan/hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) sold by Solco Healthcare and Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd. (Christensen, 7/13)

The Washington Post: What You Need To Know About Food Contamination And Recalls
Eggs, Honey Smacks, pre-cut melon: The food products recalled during the past few weeks could make shoppers queasy with worry about whether what they’ve just picked up from the grocery store is riddled with pathogens. This year, salmonella has been the headliner, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reporting eight food-related outbreaks since January. (Remember raw sprouts, frozen shredded coconut and chicken salad?) The CDC has reported 70 cases in seven states of salmonella infections tied to pre-cut melons, with 34 hospitalizations. (Shropshire, 7/15)

The New York Times: McDonald’s Removes Salads Linked To Intestinal Parasite Outbreak In Midwest
McDonald’s pulled salads from 3,000 restaurants in the Midwest after health experts announced that more than 100 people had been infected by an intestinal parasite in recent weeks. Public health officials in Illinois and Iowa have reported a surge in cases of cyclosporiasis, with at least 15 infections in Iowa and 90 others in Illinois. Everyone who became ill in Iowa and about a quarter of those who became sick in Illinois said they had eaten McDonald’s salads in the days before symptoms appeared, according to the states’ health departments. (Haag, 7/13)

The Washington Post: McDonald's Salads Pulled Amid Multi-State Cyclospora Outbreak
Officials with the fast-food restaurant chain said in a statement Friday that the salads have been removed from “impacted restaurants,” mainly in the Midwest, “out of an abundance of caution” until it can find a new supplier. The announcement comes after public health authorities in Illinois and Iowa warned that a number of recent cyclospora infections in those states appear to be linked to the salads. (Bever, 7/13)

The Wall Street Journal: McDonald’s Pulls Salads From 3,000 Restaurants Amid Cyclospora Illnesses
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said late Friday that 61 people in seven states, including Iowa and Illinois, have become ill from cyclosporiasis linked to McDonald’s salads, with two hospitalizations. There have been no deaths. The Food and Drug Administration said it is working with McDonald’s to identify the common ingredients in the salads eaten by those who became sick and to trace those ingredients through the supply chain. (Jargon and Newman, 7/13)

The New York Times: Breast-Feeding Or Formula? For Americans, It’s Complicated
For as long as there have been babies, there have been debates over how to feed them. Wet nursing, which began as early as 2000 B.C., was once a widely accepted option for mothers who could not or did not want to breast-feed, but it faced criticism during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The profession eventually declined with the introduction of the infant feeding bottle in the 19th century. (Caron, 7/14)

Stateline: Mobile Food Banks Roll To Isolated, Rural Poor
On a recent sultry summer afternoon, 81-year-old widow Nellie Allen sat on the porch of her one-story brick home, one in a strip of government-subsidized houses surrounded by fields and country roads. Allen makes do on $900 a month from Social Security. She raised four kids and never worked outside the home. She doesn’t drive, so she can’t get to the nearest grocery store, which is several miles away. Even if she did, she wouldn’t be able to afford to buy what she needs. The big truck heading her way pulls to the side of a one-lane road to let oncoming cars pass by before it can reach her. (Povich, 7/16)

NPR: Mining Electronic Medical Records To Enhance Use Of Approved Drugs
When you go to your doctor's office, sometimes it seems the caregivers spend more time gathering data about you than treating you as a patient. Electronic medical records are everywhere – annoying to doctors and intrusive to patients. But now researchers are looking to see if they can plow through the vast amount of data that's gathered in those records, along with insurance billing information, to tease out the bits that could be useful in refining treatments and identifying new uses for drugs. (Harris, 7/15)

NPR: Summer Heat Waves Can Slow Our Thinking
Can't cool off this summer? Heat waves can slow us down in ways we may not realize. New research suggests heat stress can muddle our thinking, making simple math a little harder to do. "There's evidence that our brains are susceptible to temperature abnormalities," says Joe Allen, co-director of the Center for Climate, Health and the Global Environment at Harvard University. And as the climate changes, temperatures spike and heat waves are more frequent. (Aubrey, 7/16)

PBS NewsHour: Disability Rights Groups Voice Issues With Starbucks’ Plastic Straw Ban As Company Responds
An official from Starbucks reached out to disability rights activists on Saturday, the day before a planned protest against its recent ban on plastic straws, in what several disability rights groups said was the start of a direct conversation about the ban. After Starbucks announced on July 9 it would phase out plastic straws from its stores by 2020, disability rights activists were concerned the policy would exclude some people with disabilities. (Enking, 7/15)

Stat: Sonic Hedgehog, Beethoven: An Oral History Of How Genes Got Their Names
Scientists are systematic and meticulous when it comes to naming genes.They use computer programs to identify new ones and follow standardized guidelines to give them names like TP53, APOE, BRCA1. That, however, has not always been the case. During the late 1970s to 1990s, the heyday for newly identified genes, scientists selected names based on emotion and free association. The results were public displays of scientific wit, whimsy, and irreverence. (Chen, 7/16)

NPR: Keeping Blood Pressure Down Can Help Lower Dementia Risk
Every day, Dr. Walter Koroshetz, 65, takes a pill as part of his effort to help keep his brain healthy and sharp. The pill is his blood pressure medication. And Koroshetz, who directs the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, says controlling high blood pressure helps him reduce his risk of dementia. He also keeps his blood pressure down by exercising, and paying attention to his weight and diet. "I'm a believer," he says. (Hamilton, 7/16)

The New York Times: When To Get Your Bone Density Tested
Newly updated guidelines can help women decide when to have their bone density tested to determine their risk of fracture and perhaps get treatment that can lessen it. But the new guidelines may further discourage already reluctant men from doing the same. The guidelines, issued by the United States Preventive Services Task Force, suggest that all women 65 and older undergo bone density screening, a brief, noninvasive, safe and inexpensive test covered by Medicare. It is called a DEXA scan. For women past menopause who are younger than 65, the guidelines say a scan may be appropriate depending on their risk factors for osteoporosis. (Brody, 7/16)

Arizona Republic: How Do You Talk To A Parent About Going To An Assisted-Living Home?
Talking to a parent or spouse about assisted-living and senior-housing options can be fraught for all involved. The prospect turned deadly in a recent incident in Fountain Hills. The case begged the question: How might adult children discuss moving aging parents into a care facility or assisted-living community, and when should that happen? (Mo, 7/13)

Stat: If You're Neuroscientist Brenda Milner, This Is How You Turn 100
On Sunday, neuroscientist Brenda Milner turns 100, and she plans to celebrate in two ways: the World Cup finals, followed by a party. “I tipped France from the beginning of the tournament to win, but I must say that Croatia has really impressed me,” she told STAT recently. (Sheridan, 7/16)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: These Healers Want To Ensure Trauma Victims Aren't Treated Like 'Just Another Black Kid In A Hospital'
The nine men sat in a Drexel University conference room, soon-to-be-graduates of a program that teaches young black men, all victims of trauma, to work through their own experience and to treat it in others. (Newall, 7/13)

CNN: Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever: The Deadliest Tick-Borne Disease
An uncommon but potentially deadly disease is on the rise in the United States. Rocky Mountain spotted fever is the deadliest tick-borne illness in the world, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, though access to antibiotics has lowered fatality rates from 28% in 1944 to less than 0.5% today. (Bender, 7/13)

The New York Times: ‘Totally Preventable’: How A Sick Woman Lost Electricity, And Her Life
Linda Daniels had fallen behind on her electricity bills, her meter run up by medical equipment going around the clock and increasingly hot weather. But on July 3, her family said, they pulled together $500 to pay down her debts, believing it would maintain her service. Two days later, her electricity was shut off. It was a sweltering day and temperatures in Newark soared into the 90s. Ms. Daniels’s house was stifling, the air so stuffy that her daughter said it was difficult to breathe. Even more serious: Ms. Daniels relied on an oxygen machine, and it required electricity. (Rojas, 7/13)

PBS NewsHour: In Oregon, Adult Foster Care Offers Support For The Elderly
In a bid to meet the demand for long-term care in the U.S., which is expected to grow in the coming years, some states are turning to adult foster care to offer aging adults physical assistance and emotional support. NewsHour Weekend Special Correspondent Joanne Elgart Jennings reports from Oregon, where adult foster care has existed for more than 40 years, as part of an ongoing series of reports called “Chasing the Dream,” which reports on poverty and opportunity in America. (Elgart Jennings, 7/15)

Stat: Menendez Sets Up Phony Health News Website To Attack Bob Hugin
It has headlines and bylines, an original story 834 words long, and links to 10 articles from other outlets concerning health policy and drug pricing in New Jersey. But readers expecting journalism from the upstart HealthNewsNJ.com may be in for a surprise: It’s fake news. In reality, it’s a campaign site run by Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), who is facing a re-election challenge from Bob Hugin, the former CEO of the pharmaceutical company Celgene. (Facher, 7/13)

The New York Times: Cuomo Moves Closer To Marijuana Legalization In New York
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo took a step closer to voicing full-throated support for legal marijuana on Friday, embracing elements of a state Health Department report that favored legalization. Mr. Cuomo, addressing reporters after an unrelated speech in Brooklyn, said New York would no longer have the option of trying to simply prevent the flow of the drug into the state now that its neighbors in Massachusetts and New Jersey are moving forward with plans to legalize the drug. (Goodman, 7/13)

NH Times Union: 'Buried In Treasures' Takes On Hoarding
The eldest child of parents who lived through the Great Depression, Rhonda absorbed values of thrift — along with habits that inevitably led to her stockpiling a pirate’s bounty of clutter, including buttons, zippers, old clothes, scraps of fabric, catalogs, greeting cards, college papers and anything that could be repaired or re-used. “‘Waste not, want not. Take care of what you have, and you’ll never do without. Don’t throw things away because you never know when you’ll need them,’” Rhonda says. “It’s what I learned growing up.” (Baker, 7/15)

NH Times Union: Assistance For Hoarders Is Available But It Can Be Costly
Tim Dow, cleanup operations manager for ServPro in Manchester, is frequently called by city health and safety agencies and insurance companies to clean up catastrophic clutter in the city and surrounding towns. He says hoarding seems to be especially common in seniors who live alone, and whose families seldom check on them. (Baker, 7/15)

Kansas City Star: Hospitals Fear Parson Budget Cut Could Endanger Patients
Gov. Mike Parson had vetoed money to pay the three staff members of the Time Critical Diagnosis program, or TCD, a statewide system that seeks to ensure that critically ill patients suffering from trauma, stroke and certain types of heart attack get to hospitals that have the capacity to treat them most effectively. The veto amounted to less than $154,000 out of the state’s $28 billion budget. (Hancock, 7/13)

The Associated Press: Nurses At Vermont Hospital Back At Work After 2-Day Strike
Nurses at Vermont’s largest hospital are back on the job after a two-day strike.The strike of 1,800 nurses from the University of Vermont Medical Center ended at 7 a.m. Saturday after 48 hours. Hospital administrators brought in outside nurses during the strike and say most hospital operations were unaffected by it. The union is seeking about a 22 percent pay increase over three years. The Medical Center offered about a 14 percent pay increase over three years. (7/14)

North Carolina Health News: Future Uncertain For Thousands Of NC Children In Group Homes
A sweeping overhaul of the nation’s foster care system has North Carolina caregivers, social workers and advocates scrambling to figure out how the new laws will affect thousands of children currently living in group homes. The Family First Prevention Services Act, which Congress and the president enacted in February as part of the Bipartisan Budget Act, includes extensive reforms to the way the federal government funds state-level foster care programs. (Gebelein, 7/13)

Columbus Dispatch: 'Smart' Hospitals In High-Tech Trend To Improve Treatment, Lower Costs
Emerging technologies are being used to improve the quality and efficiency of everything these days, including patient care. And central Ohio health organizations OhioHealth and Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center are among those applying the latest technology to help make patients healthier and health care professionals more efficient and skillful. (Feran, 7/15)

Los Angeles Times: Workers Claim Injuries All Over Their Bodies For Big Payouts — But Continue Their Active Lives
After nearly two decades on the force, former LAPD Officer Jonathan Hall ended his career the way many veteran officers do these days, claiming job-related injuries across most of his body. With the help of a boutique Van Nuys law firm that specializes in workers’ compensation cases for cops and firefighters, Hall filed claims saying he’d injured his knees, hips, heart (high blood pressure), back, right shoulder — even his right middle finger. (Dolan, Menezes and Garcia-Roberts, 7/15)

The Baltimore Sun: A Visionary Volunteer Steps Away From Leading Harford's Hospitals
As the relatively young chief of surgery at the old Fallston General Hospital more than a quarter of a century ago, Dr. Roger Schneider wasn’t bashful about complaining about the poor condition of the building, or the need for more better trained physicians. He recalled a meeting with Frederick Mitchell, who was then chairman of Upper Chesapeake Medical Systems, owner of Fallston General and Harford Memorial hospitals, “who told me it was time to put up or shut up,” and offered him a seat on the Harford County nonprofit’s board of directors. (Vought, 7/13)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Cleveland Not Yet Enforcing Lead Cleanup, Legal Action Gets Results Elsewhere
Now that hundreds of Cleveland property owners and tenants have received orders to vacate homes deemed dangerous due to unaddressed lead hazards, many are asking: What happens next? It's a question city officials are still working through, too. (Zeltner, 7/15)

The Associated Press: CVS Apologizes After Managers Call Cops On Black Customer
CVS Health is apologizing after a black customer says white store managers in Chicago accused her of trying to use a phony coupon. Camilla Hudson posted cellphone video of one of the managers appearing nervous. Morry Matson's left hand shakes as he calls police around 11:30 p.m. Friday. The 53-year-old Hudson says another manager directly challenged her when she tried to use a manufacturer's coupon for a free product. She tells The Associated Press that he was "hostile." (7/15)

The Associated Press: Pennsylvania Reveals Cyber Intrusion In Birth, Death Records
Pennsylvania officials disclosed on Friday that they recently had to shut down the state's online system for requesting birth and death records for about a week after someone with apparent inside knowledge made unauthorized changes. State officials told The Associated Press the changes were "cosmetic modifications" but the intrusion triggered an extensive cyber investigation. (7/13)

Georgia Health News: New Law On ‘Virtual Credit Cards’ Preserves Pay Options For Providers
The term “virtual credit cards’’ sounds like some futuristic version of the typical plastic. But to many doctors, dentists, hospitals and other medical providers, it’s very much a part of their present day. And not always desirable. (Miller, 7/13)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Youth Smoking Trends In Philadelphia Are Changing. Now The City's Lost A Major Tool To Stop That.
Philadelphia teens are increasingly ditching cigarettes in favor of flavored cigarillos, cigars about the size of a cigarette. Data from the city’s health department shows cigarette use decreased nearly 3 percent from 2011 to 2015. Yet cigar use (including cigarillos) doubled overall, and nearly tripled among black teens, a city survey showed. (Pattani, 7/16)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Town Of Waukesha-Based Connoils Moving To Big Bend
A company that manufactures and distributes nutritional ingredients for use in a wide range of products is moving from the town of Waukesha to a much larger, yet-to-be-built facility in Big Bend, where it also plans to grow hemp on-site. Connoils, currently housed in a 7,300-square-foot facility on Pine Hollow Court in the town of Waukesha, plans to build a 24,000-square-foot production, warehouse and office building on 9.2 acres at the south end of Guthrie School Road, north of Interstate 43 in the village of Big Bend. (Dohr, 7/13)

Fresno Bee: Redwood Springs Nursing Home In Visalia Fined For Patient Death
The California Department of Public Health has fined Redwood Springs Healthcare Center, a skilled nursing home in Visalia, $100,000 for a patient death. The 176-bed nursing home on East Houston Avenue received the most severe penalty possible under state law from the California Department of Public Health. (Anderson, 7/12)

Nashville Tennessean: Distracted Driving: Fletcher Cleaves Warns Tennessee Teens Of Dangers
Fletcher Cleaves and his roommate decided to stop at Buffalo Wild Wings and pick up some chicken before watching the Titans game that frightening September night nearly a decade ago. Both freshman football players at Lambuth University, they had just finished practice, running plays with the starters for the first time. (Bliss, 7/16)

Georgia Health News: Clean Linens Are Safe Linens, And Hospitals Don’t Take Them For Granted
Rules and regulations on clean linen for health care facilities are set forth by an accrediting agency, the Healthcare Laundry Accreditation Council (HLAC). Many health facilities do not process their own linens, but instead use accredited services. (Kanne, 7/15)

WBUR: Not Just An Apple A Day: California Doctors Start Prescribing Medically Tailored Meals
In California, doctors are prescribing food as medicine to treat low-income patients with congestive heart failure. The program delivers medically tailored meals to 1,000 patients in eight counties across the state. (Young, 7/13)

San Jose Mercury News: Cannabis Delivery, Edibles And Ads Could Change Under New, Permanent California Regulations
Cannabis retailers soon may be able to deliver marijuana anywhere in California, no matter what city or county rules say. Also, it’s likely that medical marijuana patients will be allowed to buy edibles infused with cannabis more potent than currently permitted under state law. (Staggs, 7/14)

The Associated Press: Thousands Expected At Free Health Clinic In Virginia
Thousands of people are expected to attend a free health clinic later this week in Southwest Virginia. The Remote Area Medical and Health Wagon will stage the event at the Wise County Fairgrounds from July 20 through July 22. This is 19th year the event will be held at the fairgrounds. Patients will receive provide dental, medical and vision care. (7/16)

The Bakersfield Californian: Number Of Unclaimed Bodies In Kern County On Pace To Far Surpass Last Year's Number
Every year, dozens of bodies go unclaimed at the Kern County Coroner's Office. And this year, that number is on pace to far surpass the amount of unclaimed bodies from the year before.  According to officials at Historic Union Cemetery, the cemetery has received the cremated remains of 96 people from the coroner's office as of June 9, a number that includes both remains that went unclaimed by families and remains for which no surviving family member could be found. (7/12)

Boston Globe: Women Share Their Abortion Stories And Stand Up For Their Rights 
It’s rich when you think about it. The ethically challenged misogynist in chief hopes to make millions of women guilty of a crime. President Trump, who vowed to appoint judges to overturn Roe v. Wade, has nominated conservative Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. Striking down Roe would criminalize abortion, a procedure one in four American women has by age 45. Most are already mothers. (Margery Eagan, 7/16)

The Hill: The Terror Of A Future Without Roe 
Hardline conservatives and anti-choice extremists cheered this week when President Trump announced his nominee to the Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh. And for good reason: Kavanaugh is almost certain to act as the decisive fifth vote on an already conservative court, giving the right-wing the Supreme Court they need to vacate the landmark abortion rights case, Roe v. Wade. Any moderate lawmakers doubting whether Kavanaugh will rule against women and their right to bodily autonomy need look no further than his opinion in the case of Jane Doe, the undocumented immigrant, pregnant teenager that the Trump administration sought to bar from getting an abortion. (Julie Burkhart, 7/14)

Chicago Tribune: The Rise Of The Pro-Choice Cheerleaders 
Is abortion a sad and unfortunate reality — regrettable, as we are sometimes told, but often necessary — or is it a breezy nothingburger, completely normal, and something to be giddily celebrated like a last-minute NFL touchdown? For a long time, the pro-choice lobby has had difficulty deciding. This summer, it seems that Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh — and the rising feverish chatter surrounding the possible demise of Roe v. Wade — might just push the pro-choice movement over the edge. ...This ramped-up rhetoric and bizarre abortion cheerleading, in other words, reflects a calculated attempt to avoid difficult truths. One thing is certain: In the end, it certainly won’t help women. Dishonesty never does, no matter how many times you repeat it. (Heather Wilhelm, 7/16)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: I Fought To Preserve Abortion Rights In 1992. Here's Why I'm Terrified About The Supreme Court Now
In recent days, after President Trump’s nomination of D.C. Circuit Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court, pundits on the right have been trying to reassure Americans that Roe v. Wade is not in jeopardy and that the high court will not overrule this seminal decision. Their arguments are fallacious, fully intended to blunt political opposition to Judge Kavanaugh, enabling conservatives to quickly claim control of the high court for at least a generation. (Kathryn Kolbert, 7/13)

The New York Times: Benefits, Work, And Poverty
Paul Ryan declared that the War on Poverty had failed, so it was time to slash spending on anti-poverty programs. Last week the Trump Council of Economic Advisers declared not only that the War on Poverty has in fact substantially reduced poverty – which is what progressives have been saying all along – but that poverty is “largely over”. (Do these people ever visit the real world?) And because poverty is over, they say, we should impose lots of work requirements on Medicaid and food stamps, which would have the effect of slashing spending on these programs. Somehow a completely opposite reading of the facts leads to the same policy conclusion. Funny how that works. (Paul Krugman, 7/14)

Richmond Times-Dispatch: Extreme Poverty Is Nearly Nonexistent In U.S.
According to a recent United Nations report on extreme poverty, things are pretty bad here in the U.S. The report, created by Australian Philip Alston, a U.N. special rapporteur, claims that “18.5 million Americans live in extreme poverty and 5.3 million live in Third World conditions of absolute poverty.” ... As VerBruggen points out, “the authors were unable to identify a single family with children that was extremely poor in their data.” (7/15)

The Washington Post: Trump’s Latest Move On Obamacare Is Incompetent — Or Sabotage
As with so many curiously unwise decisions the Trump administration makes, this month’s announcement that it would abruptly halt important Obamacare payments leaves only two likely explanations: incompetence or sabotage. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) stunned the health-care world on July 7, revealing that it would stop collecting and paying out money under the Affordable Care Act’s risk-adjustment program. The program helps level out costs among insurers participating in Obamacare marketplaces. Those with inordinately healthy — and inexpensive — customers pay to compensate those with unusually sick — and costly — customers. Without such a program, insurance companies would compete to attract only healthy customers by narrowing benefits and finding other ways to discriminate against people who need care. Insurers who were unsuccessful in deterring sick people from signing up would have to raise premiums, leading to the loss of healthier customers and a downward financial spiral. With the program in place, on the other hand, the insurers in a given market are part of a big, effective insurance pool whose risks are spread across all. (7/14)

Richmond Times-Dispatch: Repealing Obamacare Didn't Work. So Republicans Are Trying Sabotage.
Undermining Obamacare can be nearly as effective as repealing Obamacare, after all. And relative to a big, splashy legislative vote, boring-sounding administrative actions are much more likely to fly under the radar. (Catherine Rampell, 7/12)

The New York Times: Is Baby Powder Dangerous? Does Industry Even Care?
A St. Louis jury this week ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $4.69 billion, one of the largest amounts ever awarded in a product liability case, to 22 women and their families who say the company failed to warn people that its talcum-based baby powder contained dangerous levels of asbestos. The plaintiffs argued that years of daily use caused the women to develop ovarian cancer; six of them have died from the disease. (7/13)

Kansas City Star: Talcum Powder Cancer Case: Johnson & Johnson Should Pay Women 
A St. Louis jury sent a powerful message Thursday by awarding nearly $5 billion in damages over claims from women who alleged that Johnson & Johnson’s talcum powder caused ovarian cancer. The company, which has vowed to appeal, instead should take a hard look at pulling its baby powder from shelves or should, at a minimum, warn consumers of its dangers. Educating the public about possible links between talc use and cancer is paramount. (7/14)

The Wall Street Journal: You Can’t Put A Price On A Hip Replacement, And That’s A Problem 
How much does a new hip cost in New York? The answer isn’t at all clear, despite Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s efforts to improve price transparency. Confusing insurance deductibles and balance billing mean that the actual amount patients pay can vary widely and unexpectedly, often with a painful shock. (Steve Cohen, 7/13)

The Washington Post: Trump’s Dangerous Remarks About Breast-Feeding 
Breast milk substitutes can be convenient and useful for mothers who can’t nurse their children. But research shows unequivocally that breast-feeding helps ward off infectious disease and is the best way to avoid deaths in children under 5 years old. This is why the World Health Organization has been striving for nearly four decades to promote breast-feeding for young children. The rationale is strong, but practices are still in flux. President Trump stepped into this health issue recently, and not for the better. (7/15)

The New York Times: FEMA Admits It Failed Puerto Rico. Can It Do Any Better?
A report by the Federal Emergency Management Agency has now confirmed, in brutal detail, what has long been evident: Its response to the killer hurricanes that struck Puerto Rico last fall was chaotic and tragically inadequate. (7/13)

Stat: Hospitals Can Save Money On Drugs Without Washington's Help
Hospitals could make great strides in reducing the cost of delivering health care — particularly when it comes to drug costs — through a tight focus on their processes, especially the instructions that are often detailed in electronic health record systems. At many hospitals, drug costs are an expense second only to salaries. A 2016 survey of 712 hospitals by the American Hospital Association and the Federation of American Hospitals showed that inpatient drug spending rose 23 percent a year between 2013 and 2015, and by 39 percent on a per-admission basis. For 90 percent of the hospitals surveyed, these increases had a moderate or severe effect on the ability to manage the overall cost of patient care. (Patrick Yoder, 7/16)

The Hill: Right-To-Try Is Just What The Doctor Ordered
Shaun Downs was diagnosed with a rare form of pancreatic cancer and was given a year to live.  With no known cure, Shaun quickly exhausted all available treatment options. His situation is bleak. Stories like Shaun’s are tragically common.  According to the Pew Research Center, as of 2006, nearly 42% of Americans have a friend or relative with a terminal illness or who is in a coma. Among the most common terminal illnesses is cancer, which accounted for over 600,000 deaths in 2017. Fortunately for Shaun and others in similar situations, new legislation offers hope. (Raymond March, 7/13)

The New York Times: Hidden From View: The Astonishingly High Administrative Costs Of U.S. Health Care
It takes only a glance at a hospital bill or at the myriad choices you may have for health care coverage to get a sense of the bewildering complexity of health care financing in the United States. That complexity doesn’t just exact a cognitive cost. It also comes with administrative costs that are largely hidden from view but that we all pay. Because they’re not directly related to patient care, we rarely think about administrative costs. They’re high. (Austin Frakt, 7/16)

The Hill: Forcing Faith-Based Agencies Out Of The System Is A Disservice To Women
The House Appropriations Committee marked-up the fiscal 19 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies appropriations bill. Rep. Robert Aderholt’s (R-Ala.) amendment to protect faith-based child welfare providers from government discrimination passed 29-23. (Mary Beth Waddell, 7/15)

San Jose Mercury News: Don't Let Children Be Undercounted In 2020 Census
The 2020 Census will have a tremendous impact on federal funding that states and localities receive for the next decade. And that means our kids are in jeopardy of being shortchanged on funding for programs that help them thrive. (Moira Kenney, John Dobard and Ted Lempert, 7/13)

The New York Times: Get Yourself A Giant Dog
When I got a puppy, I didn’t put her photo on social media for weeks because I was afraid she’d die or I’d have to give her back. I told hardly anybody I got a dog. I just cleared my schedule — already quite sparse if I’m being honest — and focused on taking care of this 12-week-old Great Pyrenees-Border collie mix with huge white paws that I’d picked up from a shelter in New Jersey just six days after I first thought, “Maybe I should get a dog.” Shadow turned 1 this month, the same week that Senator Elizabeth Warren got a new puppy. (Maeve Higgins, 7/14)