NPR: Cheap, Short-Term Health Policies May Leave Gaps In Coverage
If you're looking for cheaper health insurance, a whole host of new options will hit the market starting Tuesday. But buyer beware! If you get sick, the new plans – known as short-term, limited duration insurance — may not pay for the medical care you need. (Kodjak, 10/1)

Politico Pro: Short-Term Plans Look To Shake Up Individual Market
Health insurers and brokers are gearing up for the first open enrollment period under the Trump administration's revamp of the individual market, creating new plans and expanding marketing efforts to take advantage of laxer restrictions on skinny short-term coverage. But the relatively tiny market for short-term plans remains limited, even as the Trump administration’s new rules boosting the coverage option take effect Tuesday. (Demko, 10/1)

In other health law news —

The Baltimore Sun: Report: Millions In Maryland Could Lose Coverage Or Pay More Because Of Feds' Obamacare Stance
Roughly 3.5 million Marylanders could lose their health insurance or face higher premiums due to their age, gender or a pre-existing condition because the Trump administration has decided not to enforce provisions of the federal law known as Obamacare, a new congressional report has found. The decision by the U.S. Justice Department not to defend pillars of the Affordable Care Act against lawsuits fulfills a Republican promise to take steps to dismantle the law. (McDaniels, 10/2)

The Hill: GOP Senate Candidate Hawley: No Regrets On Backing Anti-ObamaCare Lawsuit 
Missouri GOP Senate candidate Josh Hawley said Monday that he has no regrets about supporting a lawsuit seeking to overturn ObamaCare as he comes under attack over threats to protections for people with pre-existing conditions. Asked on a press call Monday whether he has regrets about supporting the lawsuit brought by 20 GOP-led states that would overturn ObamaCare, including its pre-existing condition protections, Hawley said, “No.” (Sullivan, 10/1)

Kansas City Star: KanCare 2019 Open Enrollment Begins Amid Amerigroup Lawsuit
Kansans who receive Medicaid services through Amerigroup can begin choosing a new plan for 2019 this month, even as a court challenge about the group’s contract is still pending. Amerigroup sued the state this year after it wasn’t awarded one of the new contracts for Kansas’ privatized Medicaid program, KanCare. (Marso, 10/1)

The Washington Post: Trump’s Family Separation Policy Was Flawed From The Start, Watchdog Review Says
The Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” crackdown at the border this spring was troubled from the outset by planning shortfalls, widespread communication failures and administrative indifference to the separation of small children from their parents, according to an unpublished report by the Department of Homeland Security’s internal watchdog. The report, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post, is the government’s first attempt to autopsy the chaos produced between May 5 and June 20, when President Trump abruptly halted the separations under mounting pressure from his party and members of his family. (Miroff, Sacchetti and Kim, 10/1)

The New York Times: The Government Is Moving Migrant Children To A Texas Tent City. Here’s What’s Behind It.
More than 1,600 migrant children have been sent with little notice on late-night voyages to their new home: a barren tent city in West Texas, where they do not receive schooling and have limited access to legal representation. The Trump administration opened the facility because shelters that house migrant children have been overflowing. Here’s a look at what’s happening. (Dickerson, 10/1)

The New York Times: For Private Prisons, Detaining Immigrants Is Big Business
Thomas W. Beasley had something for sale, and figured he could market it the same as any other merchandise. “You just sell it like you were selling cars or real estate or hamburgers,” he told an interviewer. That was three decades ago. Only Mr. Beasley wasn’t hawking new wheels, beachfront property or beef patties. His stock in trade was prison bars. As a co-founder of Corrections Corporation of America in 1983, and with a get-tough-on-crime spirit ascendant in the country, he sold lockup space to federal and state governments that were jailing people faster than they could find room in their own institutions. (Haberman, 10/1)

Texas Tribune: Southwest Key Hires Child Welfare Organization To Review Processes
The nation’s largest operator of migrant youth shelters, Southwest Key Programs, has asked a child welfare organization to review its training and hiring practices, as allegations of sexual misconduct and lax vetting procedures have threatened to bar the nonprofit from working in Arizona. (Najmabadi, 10/1)

The Hill: Top Trump Immigration Official Downplays Impact Of 'Public Charge' Proposal
The Trump administration’s top immigration official downplayed the attempted impact of a new proposal that would restrict green cards and visas for immigrants who use public benefits. Francis Cissna, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, said the proposed “public charge” rule is very specific in the scope of benefits it targets, and the number of immigrants who are eligible for those benefits, or who could become eligible for those benefits, is limited. (Weixel, 10/1)

The Star Tribune: Trump Proposal Stokes Anxiety Among Minnesota Immigrants 
The rule would greatly broaden a long-standing “public charge” policy, which was designed to stop immigration by people likely to become dependent on cash welfare. It would expand the rule to include a wide range of noncash benefits, including Medicaid, federal nutrition programs, housing vouchers and low-income prescription drug subsidies under Medicare. Use of any of those programs could disqualify an immigrant from obtaining a green card or extending a visa. Administration officials say the rule would ensure that people who emigrate to the United States can support themselves and will not become a drain on public resources. Advocates fear that, as an unintended consequence, it will prevent immigrant families from seeking preventive medical care, getting checkups for their children, finding safe housing or buying nutritious food. (Serres, 10/1)

Kaiser Health News: Immigrants’ Health Premiums Far Exceed What Plans Pay For Their Care
President Donald Trump has repeatedly condemned U.S. immigration policy, arguing that many immigrants pose a threat to the nation and drain U.S. resources. But a study released Monday about health insurance challenges the president’s portrayal. The study in the journal Health Affairs found that immigrants covered by private health insurance and their employers contributed nearly $25 billion more in premiums in 2014 than was spent on their care. Those in the country without legal status contributed nearly $8 billion toward the surplus. (Heredia Rodriguez, 10/1)

NPR/ProPublica: Health Insurance Industry Insider To Employers: Learn To Negotiate
Marilyn Bartlett took a deep breath, drew herself up to her full 5 feet and a smidge, and told the assembled handful of Montana officials that she had a radical strategy to bail out the state's foundering benefit plan for its 30,000 employees and their families. The officials were listening. Their health plan was going broke, with losses that could top $50 million in just a few years. It needed a savior, but none of the applicants to be its new administrator had wowed them.Now here was a self-described pushy 64-year-old grandmother interviewing for the job. (Allen, 10/2)

In other news on health care costs —

Boston Globe: At Elegant McLean Psychiatric Outpost, $2,150 A Day, And Insurance Is Not Welcome
McLean’s steady expansion into the realm of private-pay care, which now accounts for 40 percent of its residential beds and several outpatient programs, exposes a tension in mental health care: Options for the upper middle class and wealthy are growing at a time when many other patients say they can’t get their insurers to pay for adequate treatment. The phenomenon threatens to create a two-tier system “where high-quality care is only accessible to those with enough resources to afford care out of their own pocket,’’ said Brian Rosman, policy director at Health Care for All, a Boston-based patient advocacy group. (Kowalczyk, 9/30)

USA Today: ‘I Knew Something Was Not Right’: Mass Cancellations Of Diagnostic Test Orders At VA Hospitals Draw Scrutiny
Radiology technologist Jeff Dettbarn said he knew something was wrong at the Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in Iowa City, Iowa, when a patient arrived in February 2017 for a CT scan, but the doctor’s order for it had been cancelled. “To have a patient show up for a scan and not have an order – you’re like, ‘What the heck is going on?’” he told USA TODAY in an interview. ... Cancellations of more than 250,000 radiology orders at VA hospitals across the country since 2016 have raised questions about whether – in a rush to clear out outdated and duplicate diagnostic orders – some facilities failed to follow correct procedures. At issue is a concern over whether some medically necessary orders for CT scans and other imaging tests were canceled improperly. (Slack, 10/1)

In other veterans' health care news —

MPR: Marine Corps Veteran's Family Wants VA To Learn From His Suicide
The suicide of Marine Corps veteran Justin Miller earlier this year prompted a federal review of the Minneapolis VA system. The final report released last week criticizes a communications breakdown at the VA. Meanwhile, Miller's family is still wondering what happened to him, and why he didn't get the help he needed. (Enger, 10/2)

ProPublica: A Surgeon So Bad It Was Criminal
The pain from the pinched nerve in the back of Jeff Glidewell’s neck had become unbearable. Every time he’d turn his head a certain way, or drive over bumps in the road, he felt as if jolts of electricity were running through his body. Glidewell, now 54, had been living on disability because of an accident a decade earlier. As the pain grew worse, it became clear his only choice was neurosurgery. He searched Google to find a doctor near his home in suburban Dallas who would accept his Medicare Advantage insurance. (Beil, 10/2)

In other news —

Bloomberg: Thousands Of Insurance Appeals Went To Doctor Feds Say Is Fraud
For years, Spyros Panos seemed like a successful orthopedic surgeon, seeing dozens of patients a day and bringing in millions of dollars in fees for his suburban New York medical group. In fact, he was inflating charges and billing for surgeries he didn’t perform, perpetrating a years-long fraud that culminated in a guilty plea on a single count in federal court in 2013. ... Over the past five months, thousands of patients have received notices from several insurance companies that Panos had posed as another doctor in order to review their medical records in coverage disputes. At least 2,500 people nationwide were affected, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, but the full reach of the alleged fraud hasn’t been made public. (Tozzi, 10/2)

Los Angeles Times: Prominent Gynecologist At Huntington Hospital Again Accused Of Sexual Misconduct By Medical Board
A prominent Pasadena obstetrician is facing the possible loss or suspension of his medical license following an accusation by state regulators that he made inappropriate comments about a patient’s appearance and sex life. The allegation lodged last week by the Medical Board of California marks the fifth time Dr. Patrick Sutton has been accused of sexual misconduct, according to a review by The Times of court records and medical board files. (Ryan and Hamilton, 10/1)

CQ: Congress Seeks New Approaches On Opioids And Marijuana
Congress is nudging the Drug Enforcement Administration to continue reducing the number of addictive prescription opioids that can be legally manufactured, even as lawmakers push to expand production of marijuana. The different approaches demonstrate changing attitudes about the dangers posed by the two drugs as opioid-related deaths soar.  Legislation to address opioid abuse (HR 6), which the Senate is poised to clear and send to President Donald Trump, would give the DEA more flexibility in setting annual quotas on the production of drugs. Some patients and doctors worry that reducing the opioid quota will deny pain relief to patients with legitimate needs. (Siddons, 10/2)

The Associated Press: Northam Forms Advisory Commission On Opioids
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam has asked a group of experts to advise him on how to fight the state’s opioid epidemic. Northam signed an executive order Friday establishing an advisory commission on opioids and addiction. The governor, who is a pediatric neurologist, said the commission will review the state’s current approach at curbing opioid abuse and offer feedback on ways to improve. (10/1)

Stat: California Governor Vetoes Bill That Would Have Allowed Safe Injection Sites 
California Gov. Jerry Brown has vetoed a bill that would have allowed San Francisco to run safe injection sites under a pilot program, warning that the initiative could lead to the federal prosecution of local officials and clinicians. In his veto message Sunday, Brown, a Democrat who is in his last few months of office, also said he doubted that “enabling illegal drug use in government sponsored injection centers — with no corresponding requirement that the user undergo treatment — will reduce drug addiction.” (Joseph, 10/1)

Cincinnati Enquirer: Ohio Could Soon Ban Kratom Products
Kratom, a plant-based supplement that consumers say alleviates chronic pain and opioid addiction, could soon be banned in Ohio. The Ohio Board of Pharmacy voted Monday to classify kratom a Schedule I controlled substance alongside heroin, LSD and other dangerous illegal drugs. (Borchardt, 10/1)

The New York Times: Breakthrough Leukemia Treatment Backfires In A Rare Case
A highly unusual death has exposed a weak spot in a groundbreaking cancer treatment: One rogue cell, genetically altered by the therapy, can spiral out of control in a patient and cause a fatal relapse. The treatment, a form of immunotherapy, genetically engineers a patient’s own white blood cells to fight cancer. Sometimes described as a “living drug,” it has brought lasting remissions to leukemia patients who were on the brink of death. Among them is Emily Whitehead, the first child to receive the treatment, in 2012 when she was 6. (Grady, 10/1)

Stat: Crucial Contributors To Cancer Immunotherapy Were Excluded From The Nobel 
The Nobel committee’s account of discoveries critical to harnessing the immune system to treat cancer lists just under 100 papers authored by hundreds of scientists. But the message that “it takes a village” to move a discovery in basic science out of the lab and into the lives of patients — as 2018 medicine laureates James Allison of MD Anderson Cancer Center and Tasuku Honjo of Kyoto University did in work that led to drugs that sic the body’s immune cells on cancer — is outweighed by one simple number: three. (Begley, 10/1)

In other news related to the field of oncology —

The Associated Press: Serena Williams Sings, Goes Topless For Breast Cancer Video
Tennis great Serena Williams goes topless and sings "I Touch Myself" in a video to promote breast cancer awareness month. With her hands covering her breasts, Williams writes in the Instagram post that the video took her out of her "comfort zone." But she said she wanted to do it because early detection saves so many lives. (10/1)

ProPublica/The New York Times: Cancer Center’s Board Chairman Faults Top Doctor Over ‘Crossed Lines’
The chairman of the board of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center bluntly disparaged the hospital’s former chief medical officer on Monday, telling the hospital’s staff that the medical chief had “crossed lines” and had gone “off the reservation” in his outside dealings with health and drug companies. The remarks by Douglas A. Warner III, the chairman of the center’s board of managers and overseers, as well as Dr. Craig B. Thompson, the chief executive, went beyond previous hospital statements about the former chief medical officer, Dr. José Baselga. Until Monday, the hospital had said Dr. Baselga followed internal policies and had mainly just failed to disclose his industry affiliations in some medical journal articles. (Ornstein and Thomas, 10/1)

The New York Times: Detailed New National Maps Show How Neighborhoods Shape Children For Life
The part of this city east of Northgate Mall looks like many of the neighborhoods that surround it, with its modest midcentury homes beneath dogwood and Douglas fir trees. Whatever distinguishes this place is invisible from the street. But it appears that poor children who grow up here — to a greater degree than children living even a mile away — have good odds of escaping poverty over the course of their lives. (Badger and Bui, 10/1)

The New York Times: Suicides Get Taxi Drivers Talking: ‘I’m Going To Be One Of Them’
Both men were longtime taxi drivers from Romania. Both were worried about paying their bills as Uber decimated their industry. They were best friends. And both had struggled with depression. Nicanor Ochisor’s wife dragged him to a doctor in March to get help. Two days later, he hanged himself in his garage. “I didn’t know he was so depressed,” his friend, Nicolae Hent, said. (Fitzsimmons, 10/2)

The New York Times: These Cholesterol-Reducers May Save Lives. So Why Aren’t Heart Patients Getting Them?
Heart disease runs in Mackenzie Ames’s family. Her grandfather had a fatal heart attack at age 30 while dancing with her grandmother at the Elks Lodge in Bath, N.Y. Her mother had a quadruple bypass when she was 42. When Ms. Ames was just 9 years old, her LDL cholesterol level (the bad kind) was 400 mg/dL, about four times higher than it should have been. (Kolata, 10/2)

The Washington Post: ‘Sammies’ Honor Government’s Best And Most Innovative Employees
Peggy Honein vividly remembers the day in 2016 when an obscure virus went from a curiosity to a major public health threat. There were disturbing reports out of Brazil of newborns with tiny heads, and the scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were trying to determine why that was happening. “One of the most important moments was when the CDC’s lab first found evidence in some samples that Zika was destroying the brain tissue of newborns,” Honein recalled in an interview. (Bernstein, 10/2)

Stat: African-Americans Are Overrepresented In Studies That Don't Require Consent 
African-Americans are enrolled in clinical trials that do not require patients to give individual consent at a disproportionately high level, according to a study published Monday. Scientists are allowed to conduct these experiments without obtaining consent from each individual participant because they are testing emergency medical procedures, and often the patients physically can’t respond. For example, scientists might be comparing two different methods of CPR, or examining the effect of different drug cocktails to treat a heart attack. So, the Food and Drug Administration allows researchers to test out the treatment anyway, as long as they meet certain conditions beforehand. (Swetlitz, 10/1)

The New York Times: Everyone Should Have A Postpartum Doula
New parenthood — during which ordinary people find themselves abruptly responsible for a brand-new and sometimes famished, inconsolable being — is famously harrowing. It’s good to have supportive family and friends during this time. But increasingly, parents are turning to postpartum doulas, as well. Unlike birth doulas, who assist mothers during pregnancy and childbirth, postpartum doulas step in when the baby is already born, and throughout the first six weeks after birth. (Greenberg, 10/2)

WBUR: When Patients Can't Be Cured: Mass. Med Schools Teaching More End-Of-Life Care
Last year, all four medical schools in Massachusetts agreed to work together to improve the way they teach students to care for seriously ill patients, especially near the end of life. This fall, the schools are gathering data on what students are currently learning about end-of-life care, and some are beginning to change the way they teach. (Burge, 10/1)

The Washington Post: ‘It Seemed To Last Forever.’ One Year Later, Mystery Of Las Vegas Massacre Remains
When the first bullets cracked through the air over a country music festival on the Las Vegas Strip last year, many concertgoers thought they were hearing fireworks. It took a moment to realize it was gunfire, a barrage of bullets that seemed endless, they recalled afterward. “I remember my husband saying, ‘Get down — get down,’” a 33-year-old woman from California who came to Las Vegas to attend the festival would later tell police. She was then hit in the upper left thigh: “It was within a few seconds of being on the floor I got shot instantly.” (Berman, 10/1)

Los Angeles Times: One Year Later: Las Vegas Dims The Neon And Pauses To Reflect On Its Darkest Hour
Mynda Smith’s sleep was restless. Normally, she would have had a protein shake for breakfast, but on Monday all she could do was sip water. A year ago her sister was killed. Neysa Tonks, 46, was one of 58 people gunned down at the Route 91 Harvest country music festival on the Las Vegas Strip — the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history. The tragedy was big and public, but within Tonks’ family, the loss was also private and constant. (Montero, 10/1)

The New York Times: Ivy League Football Saw Large Reduction In Concussions After New Kickoff Rules
A simple rule change in Ivy League football games has led to a significant drop in concussions, a study released this week found. After the Ivy League changed its kickoff rules in 2016, adjusting the kickoff and touchback lines by just five yards, the rate of concussions per 1,000 kickoff plays fell to two from 11, according to the study, which was published Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. (Mervosh, 10/2)

The Associated Press: Concussions Drop In Ivy League Football With Kickoff Change
The NCAA approved the changes on an experimental basis for the eight private universities in the Ivy League. Other NCAA teams have kickoffs at the 35. ...The aim of the 5-yard move was to have more kickoffs land in the end zone and reduce returns. That play is one of the only times “where players on both teams have the space to get up to full speed” rushing at each other and potentially risking a head-on tackle, said University of Pennsylvania researcher Douglas Wiebe, the lead author. The 2016 change came at the recommendation of league coaches after data from the previous year showed kickoffs accounted for 6 percent of all plays but 21 percent of concussions. (Tanner, 10/1)

Los Angeles Times: After A Small Change In Kickoff Rules, Ivy League Football Players Saw A Big Drop In Concussions
The study authors cautioned that their results might not apply to other Division 1 teams in the National Collegiate Athletic Assn., let alone professional teams in the National Football League. But as the NCAA contemplates a nationwide adjustment to kickoff rules, these findings demonstrate that “targeted policy changes can reduce sport-related concussion,” the researchers concluded. (Kaplan, 10/1)

The Associated Press: Study Suggests More Older Women May Benefit From Bone Drugs
A bone-strengthening drug given by IV every 18 months greatly lowered the risk of fracture in certain older women, a large study found. The results suggest these medicines might help more people than those who get them now and can be used less often, too. (10/1)

NPR: Zoledronate Cuts Bone Fracture Risk In Elderly Women
"This is an extremely important paper," says Dr. Ethel Siris, a Columbia University medical professor who specializes in thinning bones and wasn't involved in the study. "We now know that we have a therapy that has been shown to be highly effective." The findings were published Monday in the New England Journal of Medicine and presented at a meeting of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research in Montreal. (Stein, 10/1)

The Associated Press: Studies In Healthy Older People Aim To Prevent Alzheimer's
It may be too late to stop Alzheimer's in people who already have some mental decline. But what if a treatment could target the very earliest brain changes while memory and thinking skills are still intact, in hope of preventing the disease? Two big studies are going all out to try. Clinics throughout the United States and some other countries are signing up participants — the only studies of this type enrolling healthy older people. (10/2)

The Wall Street Journal: Texas Hospital Giants Baylor Scott & White And Memorial Hermann Plan To Merge
Two Texas hospital giants announced they plan to merge, which would combine dominant hospital systems in two of the nation’s largest metropolitan markets, one of the latest signs of the consolidation reshaping the health-care industry. Baylor Scott & White Health, a nonprofit based in Dallas, and Memorial Hermann Health System, based in Houston and also a nonprofit, announced a letter of intent to create a 68-hospital system spanning from the Gulf of Mexico to the Oklahoma border. (Evans, 10/1)

Modern Healthcare: Baylor Scott & White, Memorial Hermann Sign Letter Of Intent To Merge 
The combined not-for-profit entity would have 68 hospitals, two health plans and around $14.4 billion in revenue. Its footprint would include more than 1,100 care delivery sites, about 73,000 employees and nearly 14,000 employed, independent and academic physicians. "As the whole field is in the midst of a transformation related to a combination of cost issues and technology disruption, our boards got together and talked about how to come together in a more structural way rather than just sharing best practices," said Jim Hinton, CEO of Baylor Scott & White. (Kacik, 10/1)

Dallas Morning News: Largest Not-For-Profit Hospital Chains In Dallas, Houston Plan To Merge 
Most changes at the combined system wouldn't be obvious to patients of Baylor Scott & White or Memorial Hermann in the short term, officials said. "There should be no impact to the delivery of patient care for either one of our systems," Chuck Stokes, president and CEO of Memorial Hermann said. The merger comes at a time when there's great uncertainty about the health insurance marketplace. (Mosier, 10/1)

The Associated Press: Texas Surf Resort Tested After 'Brain-Eating Amoeba' Death
Test results are expected later this week after a man who visited a landlocked surf resort in Central Texas died from a rare "brain-eating amoeba," local health officials said Monday. Fabrizio Stabile, a 29-year-old from New Jersey, died on Sept. 21 after falling ill with Naegleria fowleri, a rare but deadly amoeba that can cause a brain infection. People are usually infected when contaminated water enters the body through the nose, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (10/1)

The New York Times: A Man Died After Being Infected With Brain-Eating Amoeba. Here’s What You Should Know.
The amoeba is a single-celled organism that can cause a rare infection of the brain called primary amoebic meningoencephalitis, also known as PAM, which is usually fatal. It thrives in warm temperatures and is commonly found in warm bodies of fresh water, such as lakes, rivers and hot springs, the C.D.C. said, though it can also be present in soil. ...Infection typically occurs when people go swimming in lakes and rivers, according to the C.D.C. (Hauser, 10/1)

Sacramento Bee: UC Nurses Approve Five-Year Contract With 15 Percent Wage Increases
The California Nurses Association reported Monday that registered nurses at the University of California have voted overwhelmingly to ratify a five-year contract that includes pay increases totaling 15 percent over the life of the deal. The new contract becomes effective immediately, union officials said, and besides wages, includes clauses that ensured nurses would not be assigned to areas requiring specialty expertise without proper training, granted greater protections for nurses working on a daily contractual basis and required UC facilities to have a comprehensive plan to manage workplace violence. (Anderson, 10/1)

The Associated Press: Police In Florida Fatally Shoot Man During ER Lockdown
Police officers in Florida on Monday fatally shot an unarmed patient they say told hospital emergency room workers that he had a gun and that "it was going to end right here today. "Orlando Police Chief John Mina said during a news conference that the man was taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center for a medical condition. After arriving at the hospital, Mina said the man told staff there he would "shoot anyone who came near him." Police were called and the emergency room was placed on lock down. (10/1)

Iowa Public Radio: Children's Mental Health Board Asks For Public Input
The group tasked with developing recommendations for creating a children’s mental health system in Iowa is hosting a series of meetings starting this week to get public input. The first meeting is Tuesday in LeMars, followed by eight more meetings throughout the state. (Sostaric, 10/1)

Dallas Morning News: Parents Fighting To Save Girl Declared Brain-Dead At Fort Worth Hospital Get 14 More Days
A North Texas family whose daughter was declared brain-dead after cardiac arrest is fighting to keep the 9-year-old on life support. Payton Summons went into cardiac arrest Tuesday and was taken to Cook Children's Medical Center in Fort Worth. Emergency room personnel restored her heartbeat, but she had to be put on a ventilator to breathe, the hospital said Sunday in a written statement.   (Cardona, 10/1)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: LSU Health Wants To Train More Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners
LSU Health New Orleans School of Nursing has received a $1.3 million grant to increase access to certified sexual assault nurse examiners (SANE) for victims in southeast Louisiana who have been sexually assaulted. The grant will be used to create a program aimed at training more nurses equipped to work with victims of sexual assault to collect forensic evidence that can then be used to apprehend and prosecute violent perpetrators, according to a press release. (Clark, 10/1)

Austin American-Statesman: Texas Health Agency Cancels Contract Procurements After Problems Identified
Texas Health and Human Services Commission officials announced Monday that they have canceled three bids for vendors due to problems in the procurement process. Monday’s revelation is the latest in a series of contract woes that have beset the agency, which has led to a series of high-profile departures from its leadership this year. (Chang, 10/1)

San Francisco Chronicle: Hospital Probes Whether Staff Followed Guidelines In Case Of Man Who Allegedly Decapitated Grandmother
Believing he was possessed by a demon, Luke had repeatedly slammed his head against a wall on Sept. 24, causing a gash that had to be stapled closed, prosecutors said. Despite his mental breakdown, Luke was sent home, where hours later, he allegedly killed 82-year-old Chii-Chyu Horng. On Monday, officials at San Francisco General Hospital said they are investigating whether staff followed proper protocol for people experiencing crises when they released Luke, 30, shortly after treating the wound. (Sernoffsky, 10/1)

Health News Florida: Insurers Shun State Health-Care Website
Members of a statewide advisory panel were told this week that the Agency for Health Care Administration is “in the process of working with” insurance giant Florida Blue on getting claims data to use for the long-promised website that is supposed to help consumers compare health-care prices. But the State Consumer Health Information and Advisory Panel wasn't told that other companies aren’t supplying the claims data that the site will rely on. (Sexton, 10/1)

Georgia Health News: Many Georgia Kids Face Barriers To Health Insurance, Medical Care
More than 80 percent of uninsured Georgia children were eligible for coverage in government health insurance programs in 2016, but were not enrolled, a new report says. Several barriers to enrollment and medical services can prevent kids from getting the care they need, said the report, from the advocacy group Voices for Georgia’s Children. (Miller, 10/1)

KCUR: Bed Bugs Are On The Rise In Kansas City 
Bed bugs are back, and they’ve become a problem in Kansas City.The Shawnee branch of the Johnson County Library has been closed since Friday after librarians discovered bed bugs inside the pages of a returned book. Since then, library officials have been working to deep clean the branch of bed bugs, including using bug-sniffing dogs, working with a fumigator, and baking the infested materials. (Calacal, 10/1)

California Healthline: California’s Newly Minted Health Care Laws: Doctor Misconduct, Drug Prices, Kids’ Meals And More
California Gov. Jerry Brown, who faced the final bill-signing deadline of his gubernatorial career on Sunday, approved a variety of health care measures that will directly affect consumers — right down to the drinks in their children’s kiddie meals. Some of these laws broke ground nationally, such as one that will require doctors to notify patients if they’ve been placed on probation for serious misconduct. Others exemplify California’s ongoing resistance to Trump administration policies. (Ibarra, 10/1)

Wyoming Public Radio: Claims Of Sexual Abuse Continue To Haunt LDS Church
This week The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints meets in Salt Lake City for its bi-annual conference. Meanwhile a report in the Salt Lake Tribune says a new lawsuit claims the Church turned a blind eye to the sexual abuse of children in one of its programs. (Neumann, 10/1)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Ascension Columbia St. Mary's Plans New Neurosurgery Program
Ascension Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital Milwaukee plans to invest $2 million in its new neurosurgery program as it moves to provide more complex care. The hospital hired two neurosurgeons in May and began offering neurosurgery this past summer. (Boulton, 10/1)

St. Louis Public Radio: No One Knows Where Nearly 1,200 Sex Offenders Live In Missouri, Audit Finds
Police in Missouri do not know the whereabouts of nearly 1,200 sex offenders who are required by law to register with law enforcement — or nearly 8 percent of the total population who are supposed to be tracked. An audit released Monday by state Auditor Nicole Galloway found that nearly 800 of those individuals have committed the most serious crimes, such as rape or child molestation in the first degree. (Lippmann, 10/1)

The Washington Post: Hundreds Of Children Are Still Separated From Their Parents. When Will This End?
Like an electrocardiogram or a stock ticker, filings in a California federal court case known as Ms. L. vs. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement provide a real-time and precise gauge — in this case, of the residual but ongoing cruelty visited upon children by the Trump administration’s family separation policy. In its fully realized form, that policy lasted just six weeks, but its remnants — in trauma inflicted, lives upended and tears — live to this day. More than three months after President Trump signed an order ending family separations, hundreds of children separated from their parents by U.S. officials remain apart. In the case of more than two-thirds of them, their parents were deported — often without knowing how or whether they might be reunified with their children. (10/1)

The New York Times: Hundreds Of Children Rot In The Desert. End Trump’s Draconian Policies.
It doesn’t take a psychologist to understand that ripping children from their beds in the middle of the night, tearing them from anyone they’ve forged a connection with, and thrusting them into uncertainty could damage them. Yet the crisis that has led federal immigration authorities to bus nearly 2,000 unaccompanied children (so far) from shelters around the country to a “tent city” in the desert town of Tornillo, Tex., is almost entirely of the American government’s own making. (10/1)

The Washington Post: I Voted Against An Assault Weapons Ban. Here’s Why I Changed My Mind.
Though I remain convinced that strengthening our background-check system is critical, I also believe we must do more to end mass shootings. So today I am signing on as a sponsor of the assault weapons ban. I do this as a gun owner and a proud supporter of the Second Amendment. Before coming to the Senate, I served as governor of Virginia, a state with a long tradition of gun ownership. During my time in office, I signed into law a number of reasonable bipartisan bills solidifying the rights of law-abiding gun owners to purchase and carry firearms for sport and self-defense. (Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, 10/1)

The Hill: Suicide Rates Are Rising Across The US And The Numbers Are Not Subtle
Suicide rates are rising across the United States and the numbers are not subtle. According to a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), between 1999 and 2016 suicide rates increased in almost all states, with a greater than 30 percent increase in 25 states. And before you blame depression alone for this or a faltering economy earlier in the century, consider that in 27 states in 2015, for example, 54 percent of those who committed suicide were found not to have prior mental health conditions at all.And since 2005, at a time of two wars and plenty of societal strife and stress that might indirectly increase your risk for heart disease or even cancer, suicide is literally the only leading cause of death in the U.S. that is on the rise. Deaths from heart disease, cancer and stroke are all on the way down, thanks to an increased emphasis on prevention and early intervention.So why suicide? The answer is a combination of factors. (Marc Siegel, 10/1)

Charlotte Observer: Kavanaugh Accuser A Criminal? NC Republican Drives More Women To Stay Quiet About Sexual Assault 
The head of the North Carolina Republican Party calls one of Brett Kavanaugh’s accusers “a criminal” who “should go to prison.” And we wonder why women are hesitant to report sexual assault? Dallas Woodhouse, the executive director of the North Carolina GOP, said of Julie Swetnick’s claims: “These things not only did not happen, they are impossible. So she needs to be prosecuted…”How many women decide to remain in hiding when they hear comments like that? Republicans, from President Trump on down, have questioned why Kavanaugh’s accusers stayed quiet about the Supreme Court nominee for so long. But with his tweets about Swetnick on Sunday, Woodhouse himself becomes the living embodiment of why a woman might keep her secret hell to herself. (10/1)

The Baltimore Sun: Md. Officials Must Ensure Health Care For All, Regardless Of Income 
The health care delivery system in Maryland is among the best in the country, with nationally ranked hospitals and an abundance of highly trained health professionals across the state. As such, most Marylanders have access to great health care. However, for some Marylanders our health care system does not work well and access to health care is challenging. (Darrell J. Gaskin, Roland J. Thorpe Jr. and Jamar Slocum, 10/1)

Portland Press Herald: In-Prison Drug-Treatment Deal Could Save Lives
An Aroostook County man facing nine months in prison got some good news in court last week. It won’t reduce his sentence, but it could save his life. Zachary Smith of Caribou, who is in treatment for opioid use disorder, sued the Maine Department of Corrections in August, challenging the state’s policy of denying prisoners access to addiction medication. In a humane and farsighted settlement, Smith agreed to drop his lawsuit, and the state agreed to maintain his doctor-prescribed medicine while he is an inmate at the Maine Correctional Center in Windham. The agreement reflects the best thinking on how to fight the overdose epidemic and help people turn their lives around. (10/1)

Cincinnati Enquirer: Issue 1 Is Pushback Against Failed War On Drugs
Issue 1 is a much-needed and long-overdue pushback against the thoroughly failed, decades-long War on Drugs. In other words, it is an indictment against our state legislators and elected officials, who still subscribe, in bipartisan fashion, to the notion that locking up everyone in sight solves drug problems. (Gary Daniels, 10/1)

Cincinnati Enquirer: Issue 1 Gives Drug Dealers More Freedom
Issue 1 will enshrine weaker laws for possession of illegal drugs in Ohio’s constitution. According to Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine and Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor, this proposed amendment would allow an individual carrying enough fentanyl to kill 10,000 people to escape felony drug charges. (Ken Blackwell, 10/1)