The New York Times: Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy Will Retire
Justice Anthony M. Kennedy announced on Wednesday that he would retire this summer, setting in motion a furious fight over the future of the Supreme Court and giving President Trump the chance to put a conservative stamp on the American legal system for generations. (Shear, 6/27)

The New York Times: Departure Of Kennedy, ‘Firewall For Abortion Rights,’ Imperils Roe V. Wade
Justice Anthony M. Kennedy’s decision to retire, giving President Trump another opportunity to carry out his vow to select Supreme Court nominees who would “automatically” overturn Roe v. Wade, threatens to imperil the 1973 decision that established the constitutional right to have an abortion. The move also promised to reshuffle the landscape for reproductive rights in the United States, setting the stage for a bitter political and legal struggle that could affect generations of women. (Hirschfeld Davis, 6/27)

The Hill: Anti-Abortion Groups See Opening To Overturn Roe V. Wade With Kennedy Retirement 
Anti-abortion groups see the retirement of Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kenned, announced Wednesday, as their best shot in decades to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision that legalized abortion nationwide. “Justice Kennedy’s retirement from the Supreme Court marks a pivotal moment for the fight to ensure every unborn child is welcomed and protected under the law,” said Susan B. Anthony List president Marjorie Dannenfelser. (Hellmann, 6/27)

Modern Healthcare: Justice Kennedy Retires, Laying Ground For Supreme Court Shakeup
Anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List), whose grassroots effort to drive the anti-abortion vote is seeking to bring out 2 million votes in key Senate races of vulnerable Democratic incumbents, has made an anti-abortion majority court one of its highest priorities. "Justice Kennedy's retirement from the Supreme Court marks a pivotal moment for the fight to ensure every unborn child is welcomed and protected under the law," SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser said. "The most important commitment that President Trump has made to the pro-life movement has been his promise to nominate only pro-life judges to the Supreme Court, a commitment he honored by swiftly nominating Judge Neil Gorsuch. SBA List was proud to take the lead in rallying pro-life grassroots support for Gorsuch, and we were thrilled to see those efforts come to fruition as Justice Gorsuch took his place on the Supreme Court." (Luthi, 6/27)

Los Angeles Times: Both Sides Mobilize For A Senate 'Battle Of The Ages' Focused On One Issue — Abortion
For decades Republicans succeeded where Democrats have failed, in making court nominations a motivating force at election time — turning out religious conservatives with the promise that Republican candidates would support Supreme Court justices opposed to Roe vs. Wade, the decision that guaranteed a nationwide right to abortion. Now, with Trump poised to tip the Supreme Court’s balance decidedly rightward, Democrats’ hope lies in shaking their own voters’ complacency about that 45-year-old ruling. Democratic strategists hope that the pressure to oppose Trump’s nominee over that issue will not only keep the Democratic senators facing reelection in pro-Trump states in the party fold, but also could persuade the two Republican senators who favor abortion rights, Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. (Calmes, 6/27)

Bloomberg: Kennedy’s Retirement Puts Abortion Ruling In Striking Distance For Conservatives
Republicans, who hold a 51-49 advantage in the Senate, could confirm Trump’s nominee without any Democratic votes. A potentially pivotal lawmaker, Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine, said Wednesday she views Roe as "settled law." “It’s clearly precedent, and I always look for judges who respect precedent,” Collins said.Another moderate Republican, Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, told reporters that Roe "is one of those factors that I will weigh, just as I weighed it with the other nominations that came before us." (Stohr, 6/28)

Politico: It’s Not Just Abortion: 5 Issues Likely To Be Affected By Kennedy’s Exit
If the court picks up a new vote hostile to abortion rights, Roe probably won’t be overturned right away, but the court could be given an opportunity to consider a reversal within years. Kennedy’s exit also seems certain to accelerate the erosion of access to abortion by blessing a series of state laws limiting when and where women can terminate a pregnancy. Major changes could also be coming in other areas where Kennedy, an appointee of President Ronald Reagan, has been counted as a crucial vote on the court, including affirmative action, gay rights, voting rights and the application of the death penalty to minors and the intellectually disabled. (Gerstein and Haberkorn, 6/27)

Sacramento Bee: Abortion, Gay Rights Threatened By Anthony Kennedy Loss
Reaction from groups supporting abortion rights and gay rights was swift following the announcement that Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy is stepping down, giving President Donald Trump a chance to name his replacement. We compiled their responses. (Chen and Cadei, 6/27)

The New York Times: Kennedy Retirement Injects An Inflammatory New Issue Into Midterms
With the Republican majority already on a 51-49 knife’s edge, senators and strategists from both parties said the clash over the balance of the Supreme Court would immediately overwhelm a campaign that to date had largely revolved around President Trump’s conduct and issues surrounding the economy, immigration and health care. The summer and fall will be consumed by the fight over Mr. Trump’s proposed replacement, and inject a new set of high-stakes issues into the campaign, primarily the prospect of overturning Roe v. Wade, as well as gay rights, voting rights and the rights of workers. (Martin, Peters and Dias, 6/27)

The Associated Press: Battle Lines Already Being Drawn On Kennedy's Successor
All sides quickly mobilized Wednesday after Kennedy — a singular voice on the court whose votes have decided issues on abortion, affirmative action, gay rights, guns, campaign finance and voting rights — sent shockwaves through Washington by announcing his retirement plans. Trump said he would start the effort to replace Kennedy "immediately" and would pick from a list of 25 names that he updated last year. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell declared that the Senate "will vote to confirm Justice Kennedy's successor this fall." (Lucey and Mascaro, 6/28)

The Washington Post: Republicans Plan To Confirm Trump’s Supreme Court Pick Before The November Elections
Trump praised Kennedy as having been a “great justice” and added, “Hopefully we will pick someone who is just as outstanding.” The president said he would select a nominee from a list he released during the campaign to assuage the concerns of conservatives skeptical over whom he would pick for the court. “We have to pick a great one. We have to pick one that’s going to be there for 40 years, 45 years,” Trump said at a campaign rally Wednesday night in Fargo, N.D. “We need intellect. We need so many things.” (Kim and Dawsey, 6/27)

Politico: Who's On Trump's Short List To Replace Supreme Court Justice Kennedy?
Here is a look at the 25 people Trump has said he will choose from. (Nussbaum and Gerstein, 6/27)

Reuters: Schumer Urges Senate To Reject Supreme Court Nominee Who Opposes Roe V. Wade
U.S. Senate Democratic leader Charles Schumer said on Wednesday the Senate should reject any Supreme Court nominee put forth by President Donald Trump who would vote to overturn the Roe v. Wade abortion decision or "undermine" healthcare protections. (Cowan, 6/27)

The Washington Post: ‘A Shot Of Adrenaline’: Both Parties Use Supreme Court Vacancy As A Rallying Cry
The fight over President Trump’s intention to replace retiring Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, the Supreme Court’s crucial swing vote, with a reliable conservative immediately became a rallying cry for base voters of both political parties ahead of this fall’s midterm elections. The already-ferocious nomination battle is likely to clarify the choices for voters in Senate races across the country, strategists said, and affect other contests down the ballot. And even if Republicans install a replacement for Kennedy before the November election, the debate is still likely to thrust to the forefront issues that have been largely overlooked on the campaign trail until now. (Rucker and Gearan, 6/27)

The Associated Press: Kennedy Retirement Guaranteed To Ratchet Up Midterm Rhetoric
It was a dramatic shift for Democrats who had been optimistic about seizing the House majority, if not the Senate. Some of the most dejected responded on social media with obscenities. Others teased a political strategy by warning of severe consequences for health care and abortion rights should Trump have his way. But for Republicans who have feared a massive enthusiasm advantage for Democrats, the sudden vacancy that could shape the court's direction for a generation was nothing short of a gift from the political gods. In addition to a massive dose of energy, the Supreme Court fight is expected to trigger a flood of new campaign cash that will strengthen the GOP's midterm efforts. (Peoples and Barrow, 6/28)

The Wall Street Journal: Justice Kennedy’s Biggest Moments
He was often a sought-after vote for both liberal and conservative sides and played a pivotal role in some of the court’s most closely watched cases. Here are a few of Justice Kennedy’s blockbusters. ... The court reaffirmed the central holding of Roe v. Wade granting women the constitutional right to abortions. Justice Kennedy co-authored the court’s opinion along with Justices Sandra Day O’Connor and David Souter. “Abortion is a unique act. It is an act fraught with consequences for others: for the woman who must live with the implications of her decision; for the persons who perform and assist in the procedure; for the spouse, family, and society which must confront the knowledge that these procedures exist, procedures some deem nothing short of an act of violence against innocent human life; and, depending on one’s beliefs, for the life or potential life that is aborted. Though abortion is conduct, it does not follow that the State is entitled to proscribe it in all instances. That is because the liberty of the woman is at stake in a sense unique to the human condition, and so, unique to the law.” (Palazzolo, 6/28)

Modern Healthcare: Supreme Court Ruling On Union Fees Could Shift Healthcare Politics
American political dynamics around healthcare and other issues could be changed by a U.S. Supreme Court decision Wednesday that significantly weakens public-sector labor unions. In a ruling with major ramifications for healthcare organizations, a bitterly split high court ruled that public-sector unions cannot collect mandatory service fees from members for representing them in contract negotiations. (Meyer, 6/27)

The Wall Street Journal: Supreme Court Deals Blow To Public-Sector Unions
The 5-4 vote, along conservative-liberal lines, on Wednesday overruled a 1977 precedent that had fueled the growth of public-sector unionization even as representation has withered in private industry. More than one-third of public employees are unionized, compared with just 6.5% of those in the private sector, according to a January report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The impact of the ruling is likely to stretch far beyond the workplace, sapping resources from unions such as the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the National Education Association that have provided funds, resources and activists largely in support of Democratic candidates. (Bravin, 6/27)

The New York Times: Labor Unions Will Be Smaller After Supreme Court Decision, But Maybe Not Weaker
The court’s decision is the latest evidence that moves to weaken unions are exacting a major toll. Beyond the dropout campaigns aimed at members, conservatives are bringing lawsuits to retroactively recover fees collected by unions from nonmembers. (Scheiber, 6/27)

Los Angeles Times: California's Politically Powerful Labor Unions Have Been Preparing For This Supreme Court Ruling For A Long Time
California’s public employee unions, for decades some of the state’s towering political giants, knew this day was coming. Now, after a majority of justices on the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the legality of the fees charged to nonmember workers — sometimes totaling hundreds of dollars a year — union leaders are relying on plans they’ve been carefully crafting for more than five years. “No one is trying to pretend that it’s not a hit,” said Alma Hernandez, the executive director of the Service Employees International Union’s California state council. “But I think that the work that our locals have done across the state will help us maintain a majority of our members in the union.” (Myers, 6/27)

And in other Supreme Court news —

The Associated Press: Abortion-Rights Bloc To Fight After Pregnancy Center Ruling
In effectively knocking down a California law aimed at regulating anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered a blow to abortion-rights supporters who saw the law as a crucial step toward beating back the national movement against the procedure. Democratic-led California became the first state in 2016 to require the centers to provide information about access to birth control and abortion, and it came as Republican-led states ramped up their efforts to thwart abortion rights. (Ronayne, 6/27)

The Associated Press: Trump's Pick To Head VA: Time To 'Shake Up' Department
President Donald Trump's pick to lead Veterans Affairs promised Wednesday to "shake up complacency" at the struggling department by expanding private care to better meet the growing health needs of veterans, but he rejected a wholesale dismantling of VA. Robert Wilkie, currently serving as a Pentagon undersecretary, stressed the VA must work faster and better to address a rapidly growing population of veterans. He said he will not tolerate continued problems of long waits and bureaucratic delays and will strive to quickly implement a newly signed law to ease access to private health care providers. (6/27)

The Washington Post: ‘Failure Is Not An Option’: VA Nominee Robert Wilkie Told To Fix The Agency’s Morale Crisis
Senate lawmakers told Robert Wilkie on Wednesday that he will face a workforce beset by poor morale if he is confirmed to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs, and that he must fix the problem if he is to stabilize the troubled agency. “Of all the challenges we have at VA, morale may be the biggest problem,” Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) told Wilkie during the 90-minute confirmation hearing, where the senior Pentagon official pledged to “shake up complacency” at the second-largest federal department and implement a health-care overhaul that would expand private care for veterans. (Rein, 6/27)

The Wall Street Journal: Trump’s VA Pick Stresses ‘Customer Service’
Robert Wilkie, who previously has been confirmed by the Senate for other posts, is considered likely to win approval following a largely courteous hearing, where he stressed the need to improve the way the VA treats veterans. “The prime directive is customer service,” he said. “When an American veteran comes to the VA it is not up to him to employ a team of lawyers to get VA to say, ‘Yes.’” Mr. Wilkie talked about his past, including his father, who he said was wounded as a military service member in Vietnam, instilling in Mr. Wilkie a respect for wounded veterans and the VA. (Kesling, 6/27)

The Hill: VA Nominee Pledges To Oppose Privatization
President Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs on Wednesday said he doesn't believe in privatizing the agency and pledged to oppose privatization efforts. "My commitment to you is I will oppose efforts to privatize," even if it runs counter to the White House agenda, Robert Wilkie told a Senate panel. Under questioning from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Wilkie said he would keep the VA "central" to the care of veterans, but indicated there can be a balance. (Weixel, 6/27)

CQ: Wilkie Pledges To Overhaul VA, But Stresses Change Takes Time
Wilkie said that reducing wait times for veterans, which often extend beyond 30 days, would be among his top priorities. But he said it could be several years before the department’s appointment system can be overhauled. “The 30 days is unacceptable,” Wilkie said at his confirmation hearing before the Veterans' Affairs Committee. (Kelley, 6/27)

In other veterans health care news —

CQ HealthBeat: House VA Subcommittee Advances Slate Of Health Care Bills
The House Veterans Affairs Health Subcommittee advanced seven bills Wednesday aimed at increasing the Department of Veterans Affairs workforce and improving VA patient care.The subcommittee approved all seven bills by voice vote. They now head to the full committee. The measures were debated at a subcommittee hearing earlier this month, where many ran into opposition from the VA and veterans service organizations over technical provisions, or because they viewed them as unnecessary. Committee members modified the bills based on that feedback. (Clason, 6/27)

Columbus Dispatch: VA Clinic Looking For Source Of Two Cases Of Legionnaires' Disease
The water fountains and ice makers have been shut off at the Chalmers P. Wylie VA Ambulatory Care Center in Whitehall until tests results show whether the water there was the source of the Legionnaires’ disease contracted by two veterans. Both veterans visited the clinic’s primary-care area sometime since May 28, VA spokesman Carl Higginbotham said Wednesday. (Zachariah, 6/27)

Politico: Federal Officials Launch Two Reviews Into Trump’s Handling Of Migrant Children
The GAO and the Health and Human Services inspector general both launched reviews Wednesday into the Trump administration's handling of thousands of migrant children separated from their families at the border. The GAO told Rep. Frank Pallone (N.J.) that it will audit the systems and processes used to track families as they were separated, including how the HHS Office of Refugee Resettlement monitored each minor in its care, according to a letter obtained by POLITICO. (Diamond, 6/27)

The Hill: HHS Watchdog Launches Probe Into Conditions At Child Detention Centers 
The probe will only focus on safety and health concerns, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) said Wednesday. "Specifically, this review will focus on a variety of safety- and health-related issues such as employee background screening, employees' clinical skills and training, identification and response to incidents of harm, and facility security," the OIG said. (Weixel and Bowden, 6/27)

The Associated Press: Science Says: How Family Separation May Affect Kids' Brains
Doctors have long known that separating families and other traumatic events can damage children's well-being. More recent research has shed light on how that may happen. Severe early adversity may cause brain changes and "toxic stress." Persistent elevated stress hormones and inflammation may result in lasting health problems. (Tanner, 6/28)

Los Angeles Times: Judge's Ruling On Migrant Children In Custody Gives Families Few Answers
Activists went without food near the border in Texas, protesters banged pots outside an immigration agency office in Washington, and Congress prepared to go on break after rejecting a potential fix as the saga of migrant children in federal custody dragged on Wednesday for another day without resolution. A day after a federal judge in San Diego ordered the Trump administration to reunite 2,042 migrant children taken from their parents and put into detention facilities at the border, no plan for bringing the families back together had emerged and the administration still had a chance to appeal the ruling. (Ulloa, Wire and Fawcett, 6/27)

The Wall Street Journal: Separations Of Migrant Families Stopped A Week Ago, But Reunifications Have Barely Begun
A week after President Donald Trump halted the separation of families who crossed into the U.S. illegally, the process of reuniting the more than 2,000 children in custody with their parents has proved challenging. The Department of Health and Human Services has the whereabouts of all the children in its care, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement has the information about the parents, but the two government departments are still trying to link the two, according to Jonathan White, from the office of the assistant secretary for preparedness and response at HHS. (Campo-Flores and Radnofsky, 6/27)

The Associated Press: Officials: DHS Requests 12,000 Beds To Detain Families
The Department of Homeland Security has formally requested space for up to 12,000 beds at a military base to detain families caught crossing the border illegally, the Defense Department said Wednesday. The request seeks 2,000 beds to be up and running in the next 45 days, and the remaining space to be available on an as-needed basis, the Defense Department said in a statement. (Long, 6/27)

Kaiser Health News: Defendants In Diapers? Immigrant Toddlers Ordered To Appear In Court Alone
As the White House faces court orders to reunite families separated at the border, immigrant children as young as 3 are being ordered into court for their own deportation proceedings, according to attorneys in Texas, California and Washington, D.C. Requiring unaccompanied minors to go through deportation alone is not a new practice. But in the wake of the Trump administration’s controversial family separation policy, more young children — including toddlers — are being affected than in the past. (Jewett and Luthra, 6/27)

ProPublica: How Family Separation Strains Employees At A Texas Child Detention Center
ProPublica spent the past several days interviewing seven current and former employees from Southwest Key facilities in Texas and Arizona who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “We have too many kids and not enough staff,” one employee said. Their observations, coupled with court, police and regulatory records, provide a window into what it’s like to work in a system pushed into overdrive, straining to serve an increasing number of traumatized kids amid the uncertainty of America’s immigration system. (Surana and Faturechi, 6/28)

Reveal: Before Family Separations, Trump Quietly Removed Protections For Migrant Kids
Thousands of children separated from their parents after crossing the U.S. border eventually may be reunited, but children’s chances for asylum are slimmer than ever, thanks to a series of recent policy changes under the Trump administration. Many of the changes happened quietly over the last 18 months, short-circuiting opportunities for children to get help and prove whether they are entitled to refugee status or asylum. (Spivack, 6/27)

ProPublica/NPR: Opioid Marketing Payments To Doctors Fall, ProPublica Reports
The past two years have been a time of reckoning for pharmaceutical manufacturers over their role in promoting opioid drugs that have fed a national epidemic. Lawsuits and media reports have accused Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, of aggressively marketing the powerful narcotic even after it knew the drug was being misused. Prosecutors have charged the founder of Insys Therapeutics and several of the company's sales representatives and executives for their roles in an alleged conspiracy to bribe doctors to use its fentanyl spray for unapproved uses. State and local governments have sued a host of drug makers, alleging they deceptively marketed opioids and seeking to recoup what it costs to treat people addicted to the drugs. (Ornstein and Grochowski Jones, 6/28)

The Wall Street Journal: FDA Presses Internet Companies On Illegal Online Opioid Sales
Federal regulators are dialing up pressure on big internet companies to do more to prevent online sales of opioids as industry leaders met with government officials at a summit meeting Wednesday. Food and Drug Administration chief Scott Gottlieb said the “easy availability of opioids online” has become “a major public health concern.” “As all of us here know well, illegal online pharmacies, drug dealers, and others are increasingly using the internet to further their illicit distribution of opioids, where their risk of detection and the likelihood of repercussions are seen as significantly reduced,” Dr. Gottlieb said. (McKinnon, 6/27)

And in other news on the crisis —

The Associated Press: US Hospitals Grapple With Prolonged Injected Opioid Shortage
There is another opioid crisis happening in the U.S., and it has nothing to do with the overdose epidemic: Hospitals are frequently running out of widely used injected painkillers. Manufacturing shortages are forcing many doctors and pharmacists to sometimes ration injected opioids, reserving them for the patients suffering most. Other patients get slower-acting or less effective pain pills, alternatives with more side effects or even sedation. (Johnson, 6/27)

The Oregonian: Oregon Department Of Justice Moves Toward Suing Opioid Manufacturer Purdue Again 
Oregon is prepared to sue the maker of OxyContin a second time, over what the attorney general's office says are 10 years of violations to a state settlement. A notice that gave Purdue Pharma 30 days to comply with the terms of a 2007 judgment expires Thursday, leaving Oregon free to take the pharmaceutical giant to court. The settlement called for Purdue Pharma to end certain marketing practices tied to OxyContin, one of the most commonly prescribed opioids in the U.S., and pay $19.5 million under a multistate judgment.  (Harbarger, 6/27)

Reveal: This Walgreens Gets 5 Times US Average Of Oxycodone. The DEA Is Asking Why
A Northern California branch of one of America’s biggest pharmacies has come under Drug Enforcement Administration scrutiny for ordering unusually large amounts of the highly addictive opioids hydrocodone and oxycodone, according to court documents obtained by Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting. An affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in California on March 2 shows that a Walgreens in Chico has over the course of three years purchased around twice the amount of both drugs as the next-largest buyer in its area. (Duncan, 6/27)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Ever Been Depressed? Had Cancer? Preexisting Conditions Can Define Your Future
People insured through Affordable Care Act marketplaces, rather than a large employer, may be most nervous about a lawsuit brought by 20 Republican attorneys general that would let insurers return to the days when they could just say no to people like (Robin Shine) Maddox. But doing away with that protection could affect even more Americans. (Gantz, 6/28)

The Fiscal Times: The High Toll Of High-Deductible Health Care Plans
Nearly 40 percent of large employers offer only high-deductible plans, up from 7 percent in 2009, according to a survey by the National Business Group on Health cited by Bloomberg. And half of all covered workers now have a deductible of at least $1,000 for an individual, up from 34 percent in 2012 and 22 percent in 2009, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. (Rosenberg, 6/27)

The Washington Post: White House Wants To Cut This Public Health Service Corps By Nearly 40 Percent
The White House is proposing to reduce by nearly 40 percent the uniformed public health professionals who deploy during disasters and disease outbreaks, monitor drug safety and provide health care in some of the nation’s most remote and disadvantaged areas. The proposal is part of a plan announced last week by the Office of Management and Budget to overhaul the federal government. It would cut the size of the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps from its current 6,500 officers to “no more than 4,000 officers.” Administration officials, who have said the officers are “more expensive” than equivalent civilians, want “a leaner and more efficient organization” better prepared to respond to public health emergencies. They have not offered projections on how much might be saved. (Sun, 6/27)

The New York Times: Genealogists Turn To Cousins’ DNA And Family Trees To Crack Five More Cold Cases
When the Golden State Killer case was cracked in April with the help of a genealogist and an open-source ancestry site, many wondered if this was the new frontier of criminal investigations. This week all signs point to yes. In the last seven days, genealogical sleuthing techniques that are old to a handful of genealogists but new to most law enforcement have led to arrests in Washington State and Pennsylvania and unearthed a lead in a 37-year-old murder in Texas. All three cases were only revived when crime scene DNA was uploaded to GEDMatch, the same open-source ancestry site used in the Golden State killer case. (Murphy, 6/27)

NPR: Cancer Lessons From A Network Of Exceptional Responders
Carol Martin is 67 and has advanced, inoperable pancreatic cancer. "I have a particularly virulent form of that disease," she said. "I have squamous carcinoma, which means, according to my doctors, ordinarily the diagnosis to death is usually two months. "This June is two years out from my diagnosis." (Goldberg, 6/27)

The Associated Press: Migrating Birds Create Flu Bonanza For Scientists To Study
Huge flocks of famished birds scour the sands of Delaware Bay for the tiny greenish eggs an army of horseshoe crabs lays every spring. It's a marvel of ecology as shorebirds migrating from South America to the Arctic time a stop critical to their survival to this mass crab spawning. It's also one of the world's hot spots for bird flu — a bonanza for scientists seeking clues about how influenza evolves so they just might better protect people. (6/28)

The New York Times: Midlife Fitness May Protect Against Later Depression
Physical fitness in middle age is tied to a lower risk of later-life depression and death from cardiovascular disease, a new study reports. Both depression and cardiovascular disease are common in older people, and rates of depression are high in the presence of cardiovascular illness, especially stroke. Moreover, depression is a risk factor for adverse outcomes in cardiovascular disease patients. (Bakalar, 6/27)

Kaiser Health News: Geriatric Assessments Could Fine-Tune Cancer Care For Older Adults
In a move to improve cancer care for older adults, the American Society of Clinical Oncology is recommending that all patients age 65 and older receive a geriatric assessment when considering or undergoing chemotherapy. The goal is to better identify which patients can tolerate intensive chemotherapy, and which patients may need modified treatment regimens because of underlying conditions, such as cognitive impairment, that often go undetected by oncologists. (Graham, 6/28)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: The Era Of Circadian Lighting In Health Care Is Dawning
It puts CHOP at the forefront of a new trend — circadian lighting — that is picking up steam in health-care settings and, to a lesser degree so far, schools, high-tech workplaces, and warehouses. The idea is to tune indoor lights to mimic the brightness and color spectrum of the sun as it changes during the day. (Burling, 6/27)

The New York Times: California Banning Soda Taxes? A New Industry Strategy Is Stunning Some Lawmakers
For years, the soda industry had an ironclad strategy when a city wanted to enact a soda tax: Spend a lot of money, rally local businesses, and shoot it down. That strategy worked again and again, until it didn’t. In 2014, Berkeley, Calif., passed the nation’s first tax on sugary drinks, which have been linked to heart disease, obesity and tooth decay. Two years later, six communities, including three more cities in California, enacted similar bills. (O'Connor and Sanger-Katz, 6/27)

The CT Mirror: Connecticut Launches Campaign To End New HIV Infections
The new Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH) campaign, dubbed ‘Getting to Zero,’ will attempt to dissipate new HIV infections, AIDS-related deaths, and stigma and discrimination surrounding HIV/AIDS. Public health officials announced the campaign at the state Capitol before a room of advocates and people diagnosed with the virus, some clad in red shirts bearing the ‘0-0-0’ slogan. (Silber, 6/27)

The Associated Press: US: Care Lacking At Troubled Washington Psychiatric Hospital
A patient at Washington state's largest psychiatric hospital received a new feeding tube but wasn't monitored for pain medications, vital signs or wound care. Another didn't receive doctor-ordered treatment for head, eye and toe injuries, while a patient prescribed an oxygen test every half-hour after an asthma attack was only checked a few times. (6/27)

The CT Mirror: Malloy Will Release Long-Delayed Hospital Payments This Week
With preliminary federal approval for a new state taxing arrangement with hospitals already secured, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s administration announced Wednesday it would release the funds before the fiscal year ends on Saturday. Though Connecticut could wait until all federal approvals are secured, “I believe it is in the best interest of both the state and the hospitals” to release funds now, state Office of Policy and Management Secretary Ben Barnes, Malloy’s budget director, wrote to the Connecticut Hospital Association. (Phaneuf, 6/27)

The Star Tribune: UnitedHealthcare And Aetna-Allina Are Pushing For Health Care Business In Minnesota 
Two big national health insurers are moving forward with plans to become more competitive in the state's insurance markets for employer groups and individuals who qualify for Medicare. A new joint-venture company launched last year by Minneapolis-based Allina Health System and Aetna, the Connecticut-based health insurance giant, announced details Wednesday about the insurer's executive leadership team, which includes three people with experience at other local health plans. (Snowbeck, 6/28)

The Associated Press: Wisconsin High Court Caps Some Malpractice Damages At $750K
The Wisconsin Supreme Court upheld the state's cap on noneconomic medical malpractice damages on Wednesday, reversing an appellate ruling that awarded $15 million to a woman who had all four limbs amputated after a mishandled infection. The court ruled 5-2 in a long-running case closely watched by doctors, hospitals and the insurance industry. Chief Justice Patience Roggensack wrote that the cap doesn't run afoul of equal protection guarantees and that the Legislature had a rational basis for setting it at $750,000. She noted that lawmakers argued the cap would keep health care affordable and provide reasonable compensation for injuries. (6/27)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Sherrod Brown Nabs Endorsement From Ohio Doctors Group
The Ohio State Medical Association, a professional group representing Ohio doctors, has endorsed U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown for re-election. The group announced its endorsement Wednesday morning, citing Brown's support for the expansion of Medicaid eligibility, his support for reversing cuts to Medicare payments and his advocacy in Congress in fighting the opioid crisis. (Tobias, 6/28)

The Baltimore Sun: CareFirst Patient Care Program Saves More Than $1 Billion In Health Care Costs
A CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield program that better coordinates patient care has saved nearly $1.2 billion since it launched eight years ago, officials with the insurer said Wednesday. Last year, the savings on the cost of care for the insurer’s members was $223 million. The initiative, which CareFirst calls the Patient-Centered Medical Home program, gives incentives to primary care physicians to better coordinate the care of their patients once they leave their office. That can mean making sure they take their medication and get refills on prescriptions and come to follow-up appointments. The doctors work with nurses to achieve this. (McDaniels, 6/27)

Chicago Sun Times: Federal Oversight Of Cermak Health Services Dissolved
Cermak Health Services is free from an eight-year-old consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice, a U.S. District court decided Tuesday. The county-operated hospital, located at Cook County Jail, was found to have “systematically violated inmates’ constitutional rights by the use of excessive force by staff.” In a statement from the Department of Justice when the decree went into effect in 2010, officials also cited “the failure to protect inmates from harm by fellow inmates, inadequate medical and mental health care, and a lack of adequate fire safety and sanitation” as a reason for the decree. (Hinton, 6/27)

Arizona Republic: Protesters Rally Outside Walgreens That Denied Woman Miscarriage Medicine
A group of protesters assembled Wednesday outside a Peoria Walgreens where a pharmacist refused to fulfill a woman's prescription miscarriage medicine on moral grounds. Around 20 people groups including Indivisible Arizona CD 6, a progressive organization founded following President Donald Trump's election, Planned Parenthood and #Fight4Her, a campaign to end the "global gag" rule, stood and waved signs at the intersection of Peoria Avenue and 91st Avenue. (Mo, 6/27)

Texas Tribune: After Santa Fe Shooting, Student Gun Control Activists Emerge In Texas
American teenagers, some of them survivors of recent mass school shootings, have increasingly mobilized to combat the continuing deaths this year. ...Now after tragedy hit home in Texas, students from Santa Fe High School are turning into gun control activists themselves. (Greene, 6/28)

The Star Tribune: Health Care Startup Bind Raises $70 Million
Bind, the Minneapolis-based startup pushing what it calls "on-demand" health insurance, said it has raised $70 million to fund national expansion plans. Backers include Ascension Ventures, a St. Louis-based fund connected to several large nonprofit hospital systems, and UnitedHealthcare, the Minnetonka-based health insurance giant. Funding also comes from Lemhi Ventures, where Bind's founder Tony Miller is managing partner. (Snowbeck, 6/28)

The Baltimore Sun: Government Sues Towson Home Care Franchise Alleging ADA Violation 
A federal agency is suing a Towson home-care franchise, saying it violated a woman’s civil rights when it terminated a job offer after her tuberculosis test came back positive. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s lawsuit alleges Towson-based Home Instead Senior Care violated the Americans with Disabilities Act when it rescinded the job applicant’s offer in March. (Solomon, 6/28)

KCUR: Nurses At Research Medical Center Protest Staffing Amid Contract Negotiations
Nurses at Research Medical Center are protesting what they say are high turnover rates and inadequate staffing at the hospital. The nurses say Research has too few nurses dealing with too many patients. They complain the hospital is often out of compliance with its own staffing requirements and, as a result, nurses are leaving the hospital in droves. In 2017, Research hired 188 registered nurses but 169 quit at the same time , according to National Nurses United, which represents nurses at both Research and another HCA Midwest Health-owned hospital, Menorah Medical Center. (Tulp, 6/27)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Chapman Family Cancer Wellness Centers Help Atlanta Cancer Patients
Thomas F. Chapman Family Cancer Wellness Centers provide comprehensive cancer services and programs to those affected by cancer at any phase in their journey. Cancer treatment involves more than medical care, and the four Chapman centers across the Piedmont health care system — in Atlanta, Fayette County, Newnan and Henry County — offer integrative services from licensed, certified professionals that address nutrition, peace of mind, creativity, physical movement and other health and wellness issues. (Figueras, 6/27)

California Healthline: Should ‘Gender-Affirming Health Care’ Be On The Radar For California’s Foster Kids?
As a 12-year-old girl, Phoenix Moncada was petrified and confused by the physical changes of puberty — and resorted to cutting, or self-mutilation, over and over again. At the time, a social worker, foster parents and therapist pigeonholed the child, known then as Christina, as a troubled, pubescent girl who acted out for attention. But Moncada, now 21, says the behavior reflected more than adolescent insecurities. (Young, 6/27)

Kaiser Health News: Squeezing Water From Air: Mysterious Machine Is A Lifeline On Caribbean Island 
The machine pulls clean water out of thin air — literally. Sitting atop metal stilts in front of this island’s condemned hospital, an imposing, hunter-green shipping container serves as a lifeline for local residents in need of drinking water. Nine months ago, Hurricane Maria slammed Puerto Rico and damaged the system that feeds drinking water from the main island to Vieques. Moses West, 59, a retired Army officer from Texas, brought in the machine made by his company to help fill the void. (Heredia Rodriguez, 6/28)

New Hampshire Public Radio: Neighboring States Have Loosened Their Pot Laws, But Marijuana Is Still Illegal In N.H.
It’s the summer of weed for neighboring states that have legalized recreational marijuana. The road to New Hampshire, though, remains one big “pot” hole. Pot is still illegal here. (Tuohy, 6/27)

Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati A Test Site For Weed Drug That FDA Has Just Approved
A lifelong researcher on the mystery of brain seizures, Privitera was running a clinical study on a medical-marijuana drug and epilepsy. Under unusual government scrutiny, the study turned in such astonishing results that on Monday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the drug, Epidiolex, the first time the government has signed off on a disease treatment made from the marijuana plant. (Saker, 6/27)

WBUR: Cannabis Businesses Hope To Shed Stoner Stereotype By 'Professionalizing Industry'
Recreational marijuana sales are legal in Massachusetts starting Sunday (though, there aren't any stores actually licensed and open to make sales). But most of the state's cities and towns have either a ban or a moratorium on retail sales. That leads to the question: Have our attitudes on marijuana changed since the 2016 ballot question, when a little more than 53 percent of the state voted to legalize recreational marijuana? (Oakes and Amer, 6/28)

Chicago Tribune: With Anthony Kennedy Retiring, The Fate Of Abortion Rights Lies With John Roberts 
If you think a woman’s reproductive freedom includes the right to abortion, here is the stark reality: The survival of the constitutional protection recognized in the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision lies with Chief Justice John Roberts. Overturning it has been the fervent hope of conservatives for decades. It was a primary justification for them to support Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election. (Steve Chapman, 6/27)

The Hill: When The Highest Court Sides With The Most Powerful, Women's Rights Are At Risk
Today, Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement, and the question facing our country is clear: Will his replacement ensure that the Supreme Court does its most basic job and ensure that the rights of individuals are not trampled by the political agenda of the powerful? Among the freedoms currently in imminent danger is the right to control your own body and make decisions about your future. For more than 40 years, the right to safe and legal abortion has been the law of the land. Roe v. Wade has been upheld repeatedly by the court, most recently two years ago in the Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt decision, in which Justice Kennedy’s was the deciding vote. (Dana Singiser, 6/28)

The Wall Street Journal: The Court After Kennedy
A Republican nominee also offers the best chance to sustain Justice Kennedy’s legacy, despite the fear and loathing you hear on the left. Democrats are already predicting the demise of abortion rights, the end of gay marriage, and no doubt we’ll be hearing about the revival of Dred Scott before the confirmation hearings on Justice Kennedy’s replacement are over. But that overlooks the entirety of Justice Kennedy’s jurisprudence, which is far richer than the cultural cases like Planned Parenthood v. Casey and Obergefell v. Hodges for which he is celebrated on the left. (6/27)

Reuters: Kennedy’s Supreme Court Departure A Death Knell For Roe V. Wade
The Supreme Court’s headline-grabbing ruling to uphold President Trump’s travel ban on citizens of several Muslim-majority countries in the face of overwhelming evidence that it was motivated by religious prejudice has overshadowed another Supreme Court decision that also deserves attention – especially now that Justice Anthony Kennedy is retiring from the bench. Kennedy is often the pivotal vote on a nine-member court that already is fundamentally hostile to the abortion rights guaranteed in the landmark case of Roe v. Wade. His departure will enable Trump to nominate a conservative replacement, skewing the court to the right for decades as the remaining justices serve out their lifetime tenures. (6/27)

The New York Times: Trump Remakes America 
The most lasting consequence is in the Supreme Court, which has lifetime appointments. So now, if you are a woman, a minority, an immigrant, a person who is L.G.B.T., the rights you have acquired could be in jeopardy.I f you are just a decent person who believes in expanding equality, respecting choice and identity and civil rights, your vision of America is in jeopardy. (Charles Blow, 6/27)

Los Angeles Times: In Replacing Justice Kennedy, Trump Should Rein In His Partisan, Populist Tendencies
The retirement of Justice Anthony M. Kennedy after three decades on the Supreme Court presents President Trump with a fateful choice. He can nominate an extreme ideological conservative likely to receive only or mostly Republican votes in the U.S. Senate, pleasing his base but perpetuating the hyper-politicization of the court that reached its low point with the Republican Senate’s refusal in 2016 even to consider Merrick Garland, former President Obama’s third nominee to the court. Such a nominee would no doubt seek, if confirmed, to roll back Roe vs. Wade or to ease reasonable restrictions on guns or to weaken even further the nation’s campaign finance laws. (6/27)

Bloomberg: The Next Supreme Court Won’t Reflect Public Opinion
With Kennedy’s departure, civil rights won’t be the only issue on which the new court will be far from the mainstream. It’s quite possible that the radical “constitution in exile” group may start winning many cases, which could endanger programs such as  Medicare and Social Security, as well as basic New Deal economic regulation. Will public opinion constrain them? (Jonathan Bernstein, 6/27)

The New York Times: We’re About To Find Out How Bad It Will Get Without Justice Kennedy
For more than a dozen years, Justice Anthony Kennedy stood at the center of the Supreme Court. He moved the court to the right, but while he often provided a crucial fifth vote to the court’s conservative wing, Justice Kennedy sometimes voted against it. And he picked a few causes that liberals cherish, making him their occasional, if fickle, guardian angel. Among other things, Justice Kennedy was the bulwark against legal assaults against abortion, perhaps the one issue, more than any other, where the court’s influence and public attention so clearly intersect. (Emily Bazelon, 6/27)

USA Today: Justice Anthony Kennedy Has An Open Mind. So Should His Successor.
The nation’s culture wars are already at a boiling point, and the retirement announced Wednesday by Justice Anthony Kennedy just turned the burners up higher.The departure of the justice who has often been the pivotal vote on issues from civil rights to abortion will set off a monumental fight over his successor on the Supreme Court, the likes of which this country has seldom seen. (6/27)

Boston Globe: The Supreme Court Is Poised To Take A Hard Turn To The Right
The US Supreme Court, which just completed its most conservative term in recent memory, is about to move much further to the right with Justice Anthony Kennedy announcing that he is retiring. Since the retirement of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, in 2006, Kennedy has been the “swing justice,” frequently determining the outcome of cases. ...Reproductive freedom. I believe that there are four votes to overrule Roe v. Wade and allow states to prohibit all abortions, or at least to allow virtually every restriction on abortion. Kennedy famously was the fifth vote to reaffirm Roe v. Wade in 1992, and as recently as two years ago he was the fifth vote to strike down a Texas law restricting access to abortion. Roberts, by contrast, dissented and never has voted to strike down any restriction on abortion. (Erwin Chemerinsky, 6/27)

New England Journal of Medicine: The Suffering Of Children
Every pediatrician has his or her own tips for putting young patients at ease in the exam room. Mine include referring to even the tiniest Spanish-speaking patients as usted rather than tú, as a sign of respect, and sitting at or below their level to avoid looming over them. Most important, I examine children in a parent’s lap whenever possible. I will even vaccinate them in that position if the parent feels comfortable holding the child. For most children, there is no safer, more comforting place in the world than a parent’s embrace. That is why the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the American Medical Association, along with hundreds of other national organizations, have decried the U.S. government’s recent policy of tearing undocumented immigrant children from the arms of the people who would carry them to safety. (Fiona Danaher, 6/27)

Miami Herald: Child Sexual Abuse In Immigration Custody Is An Inevitable Risk
I suspect that the great majority of men and women caring for immigrant children are decent and honorable people. This is true whether federal employees, nonprofit staffers or government contractors. But I also know that 1. A single, serial child predator can do immeasurable damage to dozens of children, having accessed the right environment; and 2) Current circumstances provide an unprecedented opportunity for them. Given the reality of child sexual abuse and exploitation, there are without a doubt predatory adults looking to infiltrate the now-burgeoning system of childcare taking place along the U.S.-Mexico border. The reason is simple: Predatory people looking to sexually abuse children follow the same elementary paths of all things that hunt — those of least resistance and greatest security. (Roger Canaff, 6/27)

Des Moines Register: Congress, Nonprofits And American People Can Slow Opioid Epidemic
Some issues permeate society without regard to who you are or where you come from. Opioid addiction is one of those issues. Chances are that you or someone close to you is personally affected by this epidemic. Opioid addiction is bringing unlikely allies together in the fight against it. With continued cooperation in Congress and help from nonprofit organizations and the American people, we can limit its impact and significantly slow its progression. (Sen. Chuck Grassley, 6/27)

New England Journal of Medicine: Firearm Injuries And Violence Prevention — The Potential Power Of A Surgeon General’s Report
In the aftermath of the mass shooting at a social services center in San Bernardino, California, in 2015, President Barack Obama suggested that the relationship between firearm ownership and gun injuries might be as strong as the connection between cigarette smoking and lung cancer. The full extent of the burden of firearm injuries is incompletely understood because of historical restrictions on federal funding for research on firearm violence by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). But recent increases in the frequency and lethality of mass shootings in the United States — and the approximately 90 gun deaths that occur each day — argue for efforts to reframe the national debate about firearms as a public health issue. (John Maa and Ara Darzi, 6/27)

Houston Chronicle: How Can Trauma Surgeons Prevent Gun Violence?
When Roger arrived at Ben Taub Hospital’s Trauma Center, he had been shot — twice. One bullet had torn through his lung and narrowly missed his heart. Another ripped holes in his intestines before exiting through his back. Tragically, he was only 1 of 5 victims of violence my surgical team operated on that night. And we would repeat the ritual the next night and the next in what seems a never-ending stream of tragedies. Was Roger’s injury that night inevitable? Could it have been prevented? He was only 20 years old. Will he be one of the many repeat patients we see with barely healed scars from past gunshot wounds, until one day we won’t be able to save him? We don’t know the answers to those questions because research into the causes and prevention of gun violence is hard to come by. (R. Mario Vera, 6/28)

The New York Times: America Is Guilty Of Neglecting Kids: Our Own
It’s not just the kids at the border. America systematically shortchanges tens of millions of children, including homegrown kids. The upshot is that American kids are more likely to be poor, to drop out of high school and even to die young than in other advanced countries. (Nicholas Kristof, 6/27)