The New York Times: Senate Confirms Robert Wilkie As Veterans Affairs Secretary
The United States Senate on Monday overwhelmingly voted to approve President Trump’s latest pick to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs, confirming Robert Wilkie as the next secretary 86 to 9. Mr. Wilkie, 55, will lead the second-largest department in the federal government, overseeing about 360,000 employees and the vast veterans health care system. He is taking over a department in turmoil. Veterans Affairs, which has struggled for years to provide timely and efficient care, has been without permanent leadership since the previous secretary, David J. Shulkin, was fired in March. The department is also dealing with thousands of job vacancies and staff turnover at the highest levels. (Mervosh, 7/23)

The Associated Press: Senate Confirms Robert Wilkie For Veterans Affairs Secretary
Wilkie is Trump's third pick for the job in 18 months. The longtime public official says he will "shake up complacency" at VA, which has struggled with long waits in providing medical treatment to millions of veterans. In a statement released by the White House, Trump applauded the confirmation vote and said he looked forward to Wilkie's leadership. "I have no doubt that the Department of Veterans Affairs will continue to make strides in honoring and protecting the heroic men and women who have served our nation with distinction," he said. (Rogin, 7/23)

The Washington Post: Senate Confirms Pentagon Official Robert Wilkie To Lead VA
Wilkie’s confirmation had been all but assured since his May nomination to succeed David Shulkin, a hospital executive and holdover from the Obama administration who clashed with the White House and the team of political appointees at VA. Trump had initially chosen White House physician Ronny L. Jackson for the job, but that candidacy imploded in a torrent of misconduct allegations. Wilkie, 55, now head of military personnel at the Defense Department, was welcomed on Capitol Hill as an experienced official who could address the agency’s many challenges. (Rein, 7/23)

The Wall Street Journal: Senate Confirms Robert Wilkie As Secretary Of Veterans Affairs
Mr. Wilkie has worked for decades at the Pentagon and in the defense industry, becoming known for his organizational acumen and ability to work within complex bureaucracies, according to those who know him. He takes over the VA as it is implementing a sweeping new law that changes the way the department outsources care in the private sector. The VA is also replacing its elaborate and outdated electronic health-records system. The VA still has gaps in top positions important to implement these changes, and is currently without a permanent leader of the department’s health care arm and a chief information officer. But Mr. O’Rourke said recently that the process is under way to find a head for health care and that a CIO has been identified and is currently being vetted by the White House. (Kesling, 7/23)

CQ HealthBeat: Senate Confirms Wilkie To Lead VA
Wilkie's first order of business will be to reduce wait times, which often extend beyond 30 days, for veterans seeking medical appointments. Wilkie called the long wait times "unacceptable" during his June confirmation hearing. Wilkie also noted that it will take time to improve the VA, a massive bureaucracy and the largest health care system in the United States.The department has more than 300,000 employees serving more than 9 million veterans at 1,240 facilities. (Kelley, 7/23)

The Hill: Senate Confirms Trump's VA Pick Despite Opposition From Some Dems 
The nine "no" votes make Wilkie the first VA secretary to have senators vote against their nomination since the post was elevated to a Cabinet-level position in 1989. (Carney, 7/23)

And in other veterans health care news —

Arizona Republic: Lawmaker To Introduce Bill That Would Report Veteran Suicides Statewide
Rep. Jay Lawrence, R-Scottsdale, said Monday he plans to introduce a bill during the next legislative session that would require the state to compile an annual report on veteran suicides and require anyone filling out a death certificate to indicate whether the decedent served in the U.S. Armed Forces. According to an Arizona State University study, veterans die by suicide at a rate of 55 per 100,000 in 2016, while nonveterans did so at a rate of 14 per 100,000. (Mo, 7/23)

The Wall Street Journal: Record 71% Of Voters Oppose Overturning Roe V. Wade
As the Senate nears debate on a new Supreme Court nominee who could give the panel a conservative edge, a majority of voters say they are increasingly opposed to undermining a woman’s right to have an abortion and are becoming more likely to say they support abortion-rights candidates, a new poll shows.According to a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, Mr. Trump’s latest pick for the High Court, Brett Kavanaugh, enters confirmation proceedings with support from 32% of voters, compared with 26% opposed. Another 41% said they don’t have enough information yet. (Bender, 7/23)

Meanwhile, the upcoming vote is causing headaches for some lawmakers —

The New York Times: A Supreme Court Vote Is Just One Of Heidi Heitkamp’s Headaches
Before Senator Heidi Heitkamp spoke to constituents in this tiny rural town, population 175, Mary Ann Dunbar confessed that she had reservations about Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, President Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court. But Ms. Dunbar, a 67-year-old social worker, was not about to press her Democratic senator to take a stand against the judge, as she fretted that a vote against a Trump nominee could jeopardize Ms. Heitkamp’s already difficult bid for a second Senate term in a state where the president is popular. It wouldn’t be worth it. (Kaplan, 7/23)

The Associated Press: Administration Reports Nearly 1,200 Family Reunifications
Nearly 1,200 children 5 and older have been reunited with their families after being separated at the U.S.-Mexico border, leaving hundreds to go before this week's court-imposed deadline, according to a Justice Department court filing on Monday that raised the possibility that many parents have been deported. (Spagat, 7/23)

The Hill: Liberal Group Launches Ads Targeting Azar Over Child Separations
A reproductive rights group is launching an ad campaign targeting Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar for his role in enforcing the Trump administration’s policy of family separations at the country’s southern border. Equity Forward said it spent more than $1 million on a television ad in the Washington, D.C., metro area, encouraging people to call Congress and tell lawmakers to hold Azar and the administration accountable for the separation policy. (Weixel, 7/23)

Texas Tribune: Hundreds Of Migrants Describe Experience In Federal Custody
In more than 1,000 pages of new court declarations from children and adults in federal custody, several hundred migrants who crossed the border seeking asylum describe long waits for medical care, outbreaks of chicken pox and untreated diaper rashes. The documents detail minimal access to legal services, with obstacles like language barriers and migrants' confusion about their own rights. (Platoff, 7/24)

And —

Politico: 'That Was Not The Deal': McCarthy, Ryan Renege On Immigration Vow
House GOP leaders are reneging on a vow to hold an immigration vote before the August recess, a move that puts House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy in a particularly awkward spot as he seeks to become the next speaker. In June, McCarthy (R-Calif.) personally promised several rank-and-file members a vote on a new guest-worker program for farmers, an offer backed by Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.). The assurance was critical at the time: It persuaded Reps. Dennis Ross (R-Fla.) and Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) not to sign on to an effort — which Republican leaders were desperately trying to stop — to force a vote on legislation creating a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, the immigrants brought to the country illegally as children. The so-called discharge petition ultimately fell two signatures short. (Bade, 7/24)

The Associated Press: Health Care Industry Branches Into Fresh Meals, Rides To Gym
That hot lunch delivered to your door? Your health insurer might pick up the tab. The cleaning crew that fixed up your apartment while you recovered from a stroke? The hospital staff helped set that up. Health care is shifting in a fundamental way for millions of Americans. Some insurers are paying for rides to fitness centers and checking in with customers to help ward off loneliness. Hospital networks are hiring more workers to visit people at home and learn about their lives, not just their illnesses. (7/23)

Kaiser Health News: Profiles For Sale: How Bits Of Captured Data Paint A Valuable Picture Of Your Health 
Here’s a fun activity. Let’s look at my credit card statement from last month. Among other things, I paid for a pair of athletic leggings, four movie tickets, and two beers and a plate of nachos at a nearby restaurant. (Maybe I should not have put the latter two on my credit card — see below.) So, would you hire me? Would you offer me a high-interest loan? Can you tell if I’m sick? What if I told you my pants size or how many hours a week I watch Netflix? (Bluth, 7/24)

And in other health industry news —

Bloomberg: Hospitals Rally With Investors Pinning Hopes On Private Equity Buyers 
The potential of private capital coming in and rescuing hospitals is driving a rally in shares. The Bloomberg Intelligence Hospitals index jumped as much as 8.1 percent, the most since August 11, after Apollo Global Management LLC shelled out $5.6 billion to buy rural hospital chain LifePoint Health Inc., including its debt and minority interest. While hospital stocks have staged a comeback this year, they’re still down 40 percent since their peak in mid-2015. (Darie, 7/23)

Bloomberg: As Health-Care IPO Boom Continues, Wall Street Tells Investors To Buy
Health-care companies are going public at a startling rate and analysts are as bullish as ever as they kick off initiations of five companies today. The companies range from one developing so-called “off the shelf” immunotherapies to a commercial-stage medical device maker with a non-invasive treatment for depression. Even as two of the five companies have slid from their initial valuations, only one company has so far earned anything less than a buy from the analysts who underwrote the deals. (Flanagan, 7/23)

Modern Healthcare: LifePoint Assets Could Go Into REIT Following Merger 
LifePoint Health's plan to merge with RCCH HealthCare Partners was a rising tide that lifted the boats of other for-profit hospital chains on Monday, serving as a reminder of private equity's interest in hospitals. For-profit rural hospital operators LifePoint and RCCH, both based in Brentwood, Tenn., would have combined $8 billion in revenue, 84 hospitals, physician practices, outpatient centers and post-acute providers in 30 states. The two companies signed a definitive agreement to merge and plan to close the deal, which would entail LifePoint transforming from a public company into a private one, within several months. (Bannow, 7/23)

Bloomberg: ‘Turnaround Kid’ Is Tapped To Lead OxyContin Maker's Board
Purdue Pharma LP is bringing in a famous figure in corporate restructuring as the Oxycontin maker tries to overhaul its business and distance itself from the U.S. opioid crisis. Steve Miller, 76, will become chairman of the company’s board effective Tuesday. Miller, author of a 2008 memoir titled “The Turnaround Kid: What I Learned Rescuing America’s Most Troubled Companies,” helped lead auto-parts maker Delphi Corp. through bankruptcy and served as chairman of American International Group Inc. as the insurer worked to repay its federal bailout after the financial crisis. (Hopkins and Bsak, 7/23)

In other news on the crisis —

Politico Pro: Timetable For Senate Opioid Bill May Slip
The Senate is increasingly unlikely to vote on sweeping opioid legislation by Labor Day, potentially depriving Democrats in some hard-hit states of a vote on a bill before going home to voters. The looming fight over the nomination of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh combined with negotiations over what gets into the bill are threatening to delay a vote on the bipartisan response to the crisis, which Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said was among his priorities after scrapping August recess. (Haberkorn and Ehley, 7/23)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: How Cobb Doctors Do Their Part To Reduce Opioid Addiction
More than 2 million Americans, they say, depend on or abuse street drugs and prescription painkillers like morphine, oxycodone, or hydrocodone prescribed by doctors. Every day since his brother’s death in 2006, Scott Rose is reminded of this and the responsibility he has to his patients. (Bonds Stables, 7/24)

The New York Times: For Scientists Racing To Cure Alzheimer’s, The Math Is Getting Ugly
The task facing Eli Lilly, the giant pharmaceutical company, sounds simple enough: Find 375 people with early Alzheimer’s disease for a bold new clinical trial aiming to slow or stop memory loss. There are 5.4 million Alzheimer’s patients in the United States. You’d think it would be easy to find that many participants for a trial like this one. But it’s not. And the problem has enormous implications for treatment of a disease that terrifies older Americans and has strained families in numbers too great to count. (Kolata, 7/23)

Los Angeles Times: How Pregnancy And Childbirth May Protect Some Women From Developing Dementia
Women make up some 60% of Alzheimer’s disease patients in the United States, and over her lifetime, a woman is almost twice as likely than a man to develop the memory-robbing condition. New research offers tantalizing clues as to why that might be, suggesting that either hormonal influences or pregnancy-related changes in the immune system – or both -- may nudge a woman’s risk for dementia in one direction or the other. (Healy, 7/23)

NPR: Estrogen Might Have A Role In Alzheimer's Prevention After All, Scientists Say
Women are less likely to develop dementia later in life if they begin to menstruate earlier, go through menopause later, and have more than one child, researchers reported Monday at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Chicago. And recent studies offer hints that hormone replacement therapy, which fell out of favor more than a decade ago, might offer a way to protect a woman's brain if it is given at the right time, the researchers said. The findings could help explain why women make up nearly two-thirds of people in the U.S. with Alzheimer's, says Maria Carrillo, the association's chief scientific officer. (Hamilton, 7/23)

The New York Times: For The First Time, A Female Ebola Survivor Infects Others
For the first time, scientists have found evidence that a woman can harbor the Ebola virus for more than a year and then infect others. The discovery involved transmission within a Liberian family in the closing days of the West African epidemic that lasted from December 2014 to mid-2016. More than 28,600 people were infected and 11,325 died. (McNeil, 7/23)

The Washington Post: Ebola In Survivor’s Family Shows Deadly Virus’s Lasting Effects
The study, in the Lancet Infectious Diseases journal, is the first indication of transmission from a female Ebola survivor, highlighting the continued risk for a resurgence of cases and the potential for large-scale outbreaks long after there is no longer active disease spread. The epidemic in West Africa sickened more than 28,000 people, including more than 11,000 who died across Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. A few cases have been reported of sexual transmission from the semen of male survivors; there has also been one report suggesting that the virus spread through a survivor’s breast milk. (Sun, 7/23)

Stat: Antibiotic-Resistant Infections Began After Surgery. Were They Transmitted By Leeches?
When doctors saw blood pooling in the new graft, threatening to kill this one, too, they had the perfect treatment. Down in a hospital lab was a tank rippling with leeches. They fished some out and placed them on the man’s face. Things got better for Christmas. For New Year’s, they got worse. The wound had started oozing pus, which smelled like a sewer and baffled the physicians. Leech guts, like ours, are crawling with bacteria, so the team had pumped the patient full of ciprofloxacin before allowing his blood to be sucked. That should have stopped any infections before they started. Then lab tests confirmed their suspicions: These bugs, called Aeromonas, were cipro-resistant. (Boodman, 7/24)

Stat: Employees With Depression Miss Fewer Days When Bosses Support Them, Study Finds
A new study makes the case that a supportive manager might help employees with depression miss fewer days on the job. The research, published Monday in BMJ Open, found that workplaces where managers support and help employees with depression have lower rates of missed days on the job due to depression. That support can come in the form of a formal policy, a referral system for care, or transitional support to help employees take time off work for mental health reasons and then return to their roles. (Thielking, 7/24)

Chicago Tribune: 'It’s Not Just A Girl Problem': When Offering HPV Vaccine, Doctors Advised To Focus On Cancer Prevention
As HPV vaccination rates continue to lag behind other, less controversial immunizations, medical experts are urging pediatricians to stress the importance of the vaccine just as strongly as they do other shots and to tout the link to cancer prevention. As part of the effort, the American Cancer Society is rolling out a public campaign this summer, pledging to eventually eradicate cancers related to HPV, a sexually transmitted disease, through use of the vaccine for adolescents, as well as screenings for adults who came of age before it became available in 2006. (Thayer, 7/23)

The New York Times: Alternative Cancer Treatments May Be Bad For Your Health
Herbs, acupuncture and other so-called complementary treatments for cancer may not be completely innocuous. A new study has found that many cancer patients treat these nostrums not as a supplement to conventional treatment, but as an alternative. This, the researchers say, can be dangerous. (Bakalar, 7/23)

PBS NewsHour: Fetal Alcohol Disorders Are More Common Than You Think
Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, a possible result from mothers drinking during pregnancy, has flown under the radar for decades. Now new conservative estimates published in The Journal of the American Medical Association show that anywhere from 1.1 to 5 percent of the U.S. population is affected, meaning it could be more common than autism. (Nawaz, 7/23)

The New York Times: When We Eat, Or Don’t Eat, May Be Critical For Health
Nutrition scientists have long debated the best diet for optimal health. But now some experts believe that it’s not just what we eat that’s critical for good health, but when we eat it. A growing body of research suggests that our bodies function optimally when we align our eating patterns with our circadian rhythms, the innate 24-hour cycles that tell our bodies when to wake up, when to eat and when to fall asleep. Studies show that chronically disrupting this rhythm — by eating late meals or nibbling on midnight snacks, for example — could be a recipe for weight gain and metabolic trouble. (O'Connor, 7/24)

Kaiser Health News: Hospitals Gear Up For New Diagnosis: Human Trafficking
The woman arrived at the emergency department at Huntington Hospital on New York’s Long Island after she was hit by her boyfriend during an argument. Her situation raised concerns among the medical staff, which had recently been trained to be on the lookout for signs of sex trafficking. An undocumented immigrant from El Salvador, she worked at a local “cantina” frequented by immigrants. Her job was to get patrons drinks and to dance with them, but many workers in those jobs are expected to offer sex, too. Her boyfriend didn’t want her to work there, and that led to the fight, one doctor recalled. (Andrews, 7/24)

The Washington Post: Some Police Departments Have Psychiatrists To Help Them Deal With People Suffering From Mental Illness
Police departments have become a de facto arm of the American mental-health system. Research suggests that about 2 million people with serious mental illness are booked into jails in the United States each year. A 2016 review of studies estimated that 1 in 4 people with mental illness has a history of police arrest. The Treatment Advocacy Center, a nonprofit that studies topics related to mental health, has calculated that the odds of being killed during a police encounter are 16 times as high for individuals with untreated serious mental illness as they are for people in the broader population. (Morris, 7/23)

The Associated Press: 4 Types Of Goldfish Crackers Recalled, Salmonella Fears
Pepperidge Farm is voluntarily recalling four varieties of Goldfish Crackers because of fears they could potentially have salmonella. The company on Monday took the action after one of its ingredient suppliers notified it that whey powder used in a seasoning may be contaminated. The products were distributed in the United States and no illnesses have been reported. (7/24)

The New York Times: Ritz Cracker Products Recalled After Potential Salmonella Risk Identified
The snack food company Mondelez International recalled some of its Ritz cracker products on Saturday after a whey powder supplier identified a potential salmonella risk. As of Monday afternoon, there had been no reports of illnesses connected to the products, a Mondelez spokeswoman said. The recall was limited to the United States, including Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, according to a news release on Saturday. It was “being conducted with the knowledge of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration,” the release said. (Victor, 7/23)

Boston Globe: Pot Is Legal, But Is It Safe? Here’s What We Know
Although marijuana has been studied in many ways over many years, the studies vary in quality and often reach conflicting conclusions, according to experts on the issue. ... Amid the uncertainty, discussions tend toward pro-or-con polarization, said Dr. Kevin P. Hill, director of addiction psychiatry at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. (Freyer, 7/23)

Boston Globe: Baker Challenges Trump Proposal On Abortion
Governor Charlie Baker is speaking out against a proposed federal rule that would force family planning groups like Planned Parenthood to either stop offering abortions and referring women to abortion providers — or lose a key stream of federal money. ...The proposed rule would end the requirement that pregnant women be offered the opportunity to get information about abortion when they get family planning advice from an organization that gets federal Title X family planning grants. (Miller, 7/23)

The Baltimore Sun: Baltimore Officials Denounce Proposed Cuts To Reproductive Health Centers Under Federal Rule
Baltimore’s congressional delegation joined city officials Monday in denouncing potential federal cuts to reproductive health services. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has proposed creating a rule that would prevent funding from the Title X Family Planning Program from going to health centers that perform abortions or are affiliated with those who do. (McDaniels, 7/23)

The New York Times: ‘I Didn’t Know How To Stop Him’: Ohio State Abuse Scandal Widens
Investigators working on behalf of Ohio State University are digging through decades of records to piece together what might have happened decades ago, when Dr. Richard H. Strauss was a team doctor and, according to recent accounts, engaged in some form of sexual misconduct with more than 100 former students. That misconduct occurred from 1979 to 1997, those former students have said. But Ohio State’s sex abuse crisis and its apparent failure to provide abused athletes with an adequate support system may have extended to more-recent years. (Macur, 7/24)

And in California —

The Associated Press: More Sue USC Over Handling Of Sex Harassment Allegations
More than 50 former and current students of the University of Southern California said Monday in a new lawsuit that the school mishandled complaints that a longtime gynecologist engaged in inappropriate behavior during pelvic exams. The number of people suing USC and Dr. George Tyndall now tops a hundred, following the new court filing by the firm D. Miller and Associates. California’s state Department of Education said last month it was investigating USC’s response to allegations that Tyndall groped female students during campus office visits and improperly photographed and made comments about the women’s bodies. (7/23)

The Washington Post: Jealous Campaign Disputes Claims In Hogan Attack Ad On Single-Payer Health Care
An attack ad by Gov. Larry Hogan (R) paints the health-care plan proposed by his Democratic opponent, Ben Jealous, as irresponsible and unaffordable. But the dramatic number it relies on — $24 billion — was gleaned from state analysts who based their work on a study suggesting such plans could save money overall. The ad says Jealous’s “risky plan for health care will cost at least $24 billion a year. Every year.” (Thompson, 7/23)

The CT Mirror: Report: 'Sin' Taxes Pose Fiscal — Not Health — Risks For States
Connecticut and most other states need to be cautious about their rapidly increasing reliance on cigarette and other volatile “sin” taxes, according to a new report from Pew Charitable Trusts. The report offers a similar caution about legalizing and taxing recreational marijuana, warning revenue-hungry states from assuming big cash returns right away. (Phaneuf, 7/23)

The Associated Press: Transgender Student Seeks Injunction In Bathrooms Lawsuit
A federal judge is weighing whether to grant a preliminary injunction to allow a transgender student to use male bathrooms in a southwestern Indiana school district. U.S. District Judge William Lawrence heard the injunction request Friday in Evansville. The request was made by the 17-year-old student who is suing Evansville Vanderburgh School Corp. over student bathroom availability, the Evansville Courier & Press reported. (7/23)

The Star Tribune: UnitedHealth Plans To Bet Bigger In Texas 
UnitedHealth Group's urgent-care division is opening a dozen new centers in the state of Texas. The Minnetonka-based company's MedExpress business announced this month the opening of two new urgent-care centers in Texas, plus plans for a third additional center in the state by October. The openings would bring the statewide total to 14 urgent-care clinics, up from two in Texas as of December 2017. (Snowbeck, 7/23)

Health News Florida: Judge Extends FEMA Maria Emergency Aid And Sets A Hearing
A judge has again ordered an extension of FEMA’s temporary shelter program for displaced Puerto Ricans. The judge is giving families until midnight August 6 to stay in hotels. That means checkout would be on August 7. (Chavez, 7/23)

Des Moines Register: Fines, Penalties But Five Star Rating At Iowa Nursing Home Cited For Abuse
The Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals recently proposed a $29,750 fine for the Timely Mission Nursing Home in Buffalo Center due to the Feb. 27 death of Virginia Olthoff. However, the state has not imposed that fine to allow the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to take over the case. To date, no state or federal fine has been imposed. Despite having been fined last year for the physical abuse of residents, Timely Mission currently has CMS’ highest possible ranking for quality of resident care — five stars — but the lowest possible ranking in terms of government-inspection results. It has an overall rating of two stars, which CMS labels "below average." Some of the agency's ratings have come under fire recently because they are based in part on unverified, self-reported data. (Kauffman, 7/23)

Concord (N.H.) Monitor: Concord Mom Worries Weakening Federal Health Care Law Will Threaten Life Of Her Son
The mother of a 4-year-old boy in Concord who suffers from a rare neuromuscular disease said she’s deeply worried about her son’s ability to survive if the national health care law continues to be weakened. ... New Hampshire’s two Democratic senators blamed President Donald Trump and his administration for “sabotaging” the Affordable Care Act – better known as Obamacare. The ongoing efforts to erode the law has resulted in rising prescription drug prices, skyrocketing health insurance premiums and weakened protections for pre-existing conditions. (Steinhauser, 7/23)

KQED: California Will Pay You To Get High For Driving Study
To address the problem, the California legislature is funding a UC San Diego study that will determine how pot affects driving performance and how soon after smoking pot is it safe to drive. Researchers are recruiting 180 people for the study, which will consist of having participants smoke varying amounts of marijuana or a placebo and then participate in driving simulations and cognitive tests. (Ahmed, 7/23)

St. Louis Public Radio: Nuanced Challenges, Disparities Face Black Doctors And Other Medical Professionals Of Color
Race, gender, work and inequality form the core of sociologist Adia Harvey Winfield’s research – and her latest study focuses on the intersection of those topics within the medical field. On Monday’s St. Louis on the Air, in conversation with St. Louis Public Radio contributor John Larson, the Washington University professor of sociology discussed her recent observations of the experiences of black workers in health care. (Hemphill, 7/23)

San Jose Mercury News: Bay Area Hospitals May Be On Block Again
Santa Clara County is hoping to buy a pair of struggling hospitals that have long served as a safety net for the poor, less than three years after they were sold to a New York hedge fund in a state-approved deal to ensure they remained open. County Executive Jeff Smith said the county sees a renewed opportunity to acquire O’Connor Hospital in San Jose and St. Louise Regional Hospital in Gilroy as public hospitals to extend its reach and help relieve overcrowding at the county-run Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose. (Woolfolk, 7/23)

Arizona Republic: Arizona Corrections To Appeal Contempt Ruling Over Prison Health Care
Attorneys for the Arizona Department of Corrections filed notice over the weekend they will appeal a finding of contempt of court to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. In June, U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge David Duncan found the department, its director, Charles Ryan, and its medical director, Richard Pratt, in civil contempt of court for repeatedly failing to meet the conditions of a 2014 court settlement with the American Civil Liberties Union over health care in state prisons. (Kiefer, 7/23)

The Baltimore Sun: Bon Secours Health System, Mercy Health To Complete Merger In The Fall 
Marriottsville-based Bon Secours Health System and Mercy Health of Ohio expect to complete their merger in the fall, officials with both said Monday. Mercy Health President and CEO John M. Starcher Jr. will head the new health system, while Bon Secours board chairman Chris Allen will lead the new board. The new entity, which will be the fifth-largest Catholic health system in the country, is to be named Bon Secours Mercy Health, officials said. They described it as a merger of equals that will aim to maintain the identities of both partners. (McDaniels, 7/23)

Nashville Tennessean: LifePoint Health To Be Combined With RCCH HealthCare After Apollo Buy
Private equity firm Apollo Global Management will spend about $5.6 billion to buy the rural hospital chain LifePoint and combine it with health system operator RCCH HealthCare Partners. Both companies are based in Brentwood. LifePoint shareholders will receive $65 in cash for each share in a deal that's worth about $2.7 billion not counting net debt and minority interest, the companies said. (McGee, 7/23)

Stat: Are Embryos People? The Answer Will Determine The Future Of Reproductive Medicine
The announcement that Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy will retire at the end of the month and President Trump’s nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to take his place has spurred concern over the future of women’s reproductive options. Not only is the legal status of abortion at stake, but the concept of embryos as “persons” could be decided by the next Supreme Court. Despite the explosion of genetic technology that has revolutionized reproductive medicine over the past decade, I fear that an answer to the question of personhood based on faith rather than science could hinder our ability to improve the chance of having a healthy child. ...Eleven states have introduced “personhood” bills (none have passed) and more than a dozen court cases have been brought on this issue. The outcome of these cases could significantly limit the ability to practice reproductive medicine techniques such as IVF with preimplantation genetic testing. (Eric J. Forman, 7/24)

The Hill: A Move To Undermine Women’s Reproductive Health
The Department of Health and Human Services has proposed a binding rule that would stop health providers in clinics that receive federal public family planning money from providing patients with full and accurate reproductive health information and services. Requiring doctors to withhold information is terrible policy, and it will harm people living in poverty the most. (Kelly Flannery, 7/23)

The Washington Post: The Supreme Court’s War On Women Is Also A War On Workers
We are witnessing the willful destruction of the institutions and infrastructure that are key to the health and well-being of women and families and also to that of our economy and our democracy. This is what the war on women — which is also a war on workers — looks like. If Trump and the GOP have their way and seat Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court, it will hasten a dramatic landscape shift that will make the United States an increasingly hostile place for women and their children. (Andrea Flynn, 7/23)

The New York Times: Restrictions On Abortion: It’s Not Just The South
“What It Takes to Get an Abortion in the Most Restrictive State in the U.S.” (New York Times news graphic, July 23) poignantly demonstrates just how hard it is to get an abortion in Mississippi. But it’s not just Mississippi (or Texas or Arkansas): Six states are down to only one abortion clinic, under constant threat of closing by ideologically motivated politicians. (Jennifer Dalven, 7/23)

WBUR: Mass. Should Make It Easier For Moms To Get IUDs Right After Giving Birth
Long-acting reversible contraceptives — an intrauterine device, or IUD, and a rod-shaped implant in the arm — are the clearest way to reduce such pregnancies. ...Despite their clear benefits, such contraceptives are not often placed at the most obvious time -- in the minutes following delivery — even though that has been shown to be a safe and effective strategy for averting unwanted pregnancies. (Raj Reddy, 7/23)

Bloomberg: California’s Ban On Soda Taxes Should Not Stand
The small but growing parade of cities battling obesity by imposing taxes on sugary drinks ran into a wall last month, when California outlawed the practice. But that wall, meant to stand until 2031, is already looking flimsy. Public health advocates are moving to bring it down in two years by persuading voters to pass a hefty statewide tax on soda. (7/23)

The Wall Street Journal: TrumpCare Beats ObamaCare 
By prioritizing economic growth and reducing the tax and regulatory burdens on U.S. business, Mr. Trump has helped to create an economy with more job openings than ever before. As if by magic, the invisible hand of a freer marketplace is now generating new benefits as employers compete to fill all those open positions. ...Imagine that—an expansion of insurance coverage without a new federal program. It seems that in order to persuade workers to supply enough labor to meet business demand, companies are increasing overall compensation via expanded benefits. Amazing! Some readers will no doubt view this as the most beautiful reform of all, because it doesn’t cost the Treasury a nickel. (James Freeman, 7/23)

The Hill: Congress And The President Must Take The Lead In Fixing ObamaCare
Members of Congress have famously failed to fulfill campaign promises to repair or replace the Affordable Care Act. Those unfulfilled promises have left states looking for new ways to fix their broken health-care systems. As Congress hems and haws on health care reform, states have been lining up to ask the Trump administration for administrative relief under the ACA’s innovation and Medicaid 1115 waivers. Too often, executive branch offices have denied or unduly delayed those requests. And now the federal judiciary has joined Congress and the administration in blocking states from enacting commonsense health care reforms. (Rea Hederman and Lindsey Boyd Killen, 7/23)

Dallas Morning News: U.S. Must Avoid A Single-Payer Health Care System That Stresses Doctors To The Breaking Point
Washington policymakers increasingly face a crossroad in American health policy between two broad and vastly different directions. One leads toward a market-based system, based on consumer choice and competition; the other, toward a government-controlled, single-payer system, like that of United Kingdom, where health care financing and delivery is implemented through the British National Health Service.Whatever direction lawmakers choose, the consequences will be profound for both doctors and patients. Champions of a single-payer system often claim that a government-controlled health system, run by Washington officials, would provide an efficient practicing environment for physicians. The British NHS experience, however, suggests otherwise. (Kevin Pham and Robert E. Moffit, 7/24)

Los Angeles Times: Let's See How Many People Were Shot In America While I Was On Vacation
Today is my first day back at work after more than two weeks of vacation — my time off started July 4, fittingly enough (a few weeks of independence beginning on Independence Day). The news, of course, doesn’t go on holiday when we do (nor, evidently, do President Trump’s efforts to destabilize everything he comes in contact with). Now that I’m back, I thought I’d check in with the Gun Violence Archive to see whether gun violence took a holiday too. It didn’t, of course. Our fellow Americans continued to kill themselves and others with abandon, from toddlers shooting siblings to violent criminals killing police officers. In fact, from July 4 through Sunday night, the Gun Violence Archive recorded at least 1,930 shooting incidents in which at least 730 people died and 1,731 people were wounded. That’s an average of at least 38 people killed and 91 wounded per day. And it doesn’t include most firearm suicides, which rarely get mentioned publicly and so are aren’t picked up by the Gun Violence Archive from daily reports. (Scott Martelle, 7/23)

The Hill: Veterans Affairs’ Inability To Manage Its Workforce Suggests Benefits Of Managed Care
This week, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Veterans’ Affairs celebrated the one-year anniversary of the VA Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act, with a hearing on implementation of the law since its enactment. Unfortunately, like the law itself, the hearing was a missed opportunity in terms of meaningful VA reform. One of the statements that acting VA Secretary Peter O’Rourke made throughout the hearing was that it’s impossible to fully gauge the success of the program after only one year; after all, the VA is a large bureaucracy and it is slow to change. (Rory E. Riley-Topping, 7/23)

PBS NewsHour: How A Hotel Convention Became Ground Zero For This Deadly Bacteria
From July 21 to July 24, 1976, more than 2,000 members of the Pennsylvania chapters of the American Legion attended their annual state convention at the Bellevue Stratford Hotel on Philadelphia’s Broad Street. In the days that followed, Dr. Sidney Franklin, a physician at the Philadelphia V.A. Hospital, began treating several retired servicemen for odd, or atypical, forms of pneumonia. (Howard Markel, 7/23_

The Washington Post: Why Companies May Be Sharing More About A CEO’s Health
Fiat Chrysler’s announcement that its hard-charging CEO was being replaced following “unexpected complications" after a surgery did not offer many details: the kind of surgery. Details about the complications — or their severity. But corporate governance experts say that as CEO disclosures go, the announcement about Sergio Marchionne offered more than companies are required to share. It also reflects the dilemma that boards of directors face when balancing CEO privacy, the needs of shareholders for information and a growing ethos of transparency about the health of high-profile executives. (Jena McGregor, 7/23)

Des Moines Register: Iowa Legislature Keeps Failing, Ignoring Older Iowans
Earlier this year, I challenged those who control what happens — Republican leaders of the Iowa House and Senate, and a Republican governor and her appointees that head state agencies — to craft an older Iowans agenda, publicize it, commit to it, and get to work on it. They didn’t do it. Once again, our leaders were content to talk about some of the issues and then find an excuse (“we have no money,” “now is not a good time,” “let’s deal with this next year,” etc.) to avoid action. (John Hale, 7/23)

Sacramento Bee: California: Stop Bogus Medical Exemptions To Vaccine Rules
Few pieces of legislation have made more of a difference to more Californians more quickly than the bill two years ago to tighten school vaccination laws. ...The new law has worked like a champ, raising dangerously low levels of immunity in California back up to the public health minimum, 95 percent of the population. But that’s a statewide number, and outbreaks, when they happen, do so locally. (7/23)