Politico: Harris Dives Into 'Medicare For All' Minefield
Medicare for All has become a litmus test for 2020 Democrats, but the party is struggling to balance the grassroots enthusiasm for the cause with the political challenges of making it a reality. Kamala Harris was the latest candidate to come under fire from the left, right and center. In a widely watched CNN town hall, the California senator quickly embraced “Medicare for All” and said she was ready to see the private health insurance industry killed off. But quickly, she and her staff offered a more nuanced story: Harris also backs many incremental, go-slow plans that aren’t as radical, and add up to something more like “Medicare for More” or a strengthened version of Obamacare. (Ollstein, 1/31)

The Hill: ‘Medicare For All’ Opens Up Dem Divide 
The embrace of “Medicare for all” legislation by top 2020 Democratic presidential candidates has opened up a rift in the party. Democrats highlighted health care in the 2018 midterm elections and reclaimed the House majority by picking up 40 seats. But their message was focused on protecting ObamaCare, not implementing a single-payer system — which is favored by progressives. Some on the left maintain that backing Medicare for all legislation is a must for anyone who wants to secure the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020.  (Weixel and Hellmann, 1/30)

NPR: 'Medicare-For-All' Endorsed By Some Democrats Considering A Run For President
"Medicare-for-all," once widely considered a fringe proposal for providing health care in the U.S., is getting more popular. Several Democratic presidential hopefuls are getting behind the idea. Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., endorsed the approach Monday in a CNN town hall-style event, saying her aim would be to eliminate all private insurance. "Who of us has not had that situation, where you've got to wait for approval and the doctor says, well, 'I don't know if your insurance company is going to cover this,' " Harris said. "Let's eliminate all of that. Let's move on." (Kodjak, 1/30)

The New York Times: Veterans Will Have More Access To Private Health Care Under New V.A. Rules
Veterans who live as little as a 30-minute drive from a Veterans Affairs health care facility will instead be able to choose private care, the most significant change in rules released Wednesday as part of the Trump administration’s effort to fix years-old problems with the health system. Veterans who can prove they must drive for at least 30 minutes to a Department of Veterans Affairs facility will be allowed to seek primary care and mental health services outside the department’s system. Current law lets veterans use a private health care provider if they must travel 40 miles or more to a V.A. clinic. (Steinhauer, 1/30)

The Wall Street Journal: VA Issues New Rules Expanding Access To Private Care
The new rules, announced by VA Secretary Robert Wilkie, make it far easier for many veterans to turn to private clinics and hospitals. For instance, the rules slash the time a veteran is required to wait before opting out of the VA hospital system to use the private sector for an appointment, and would cut the maximum distance a veteran must travel to obtain care. Those changes are among the first tangible effects of a sweeping law passed last year that aimed to improve the way health care is delivered to veterans. (Kesling, 1/30)

USA Today: Veterans Get More Choices For Private Health Care In Proposed VA Rules
That would be a considerable expansion of eligibility standards, in which private options kick in for vets who have to wait 30 days or live 40 miles from a VA facility. The new rules would allow veterans who need urgent care to go to a private doctor without pre-authorization. If they go into effect, the rules would deliver on a presidential campaign promise made by Donald Trump to expand choices for veterans seeking health care outside the VA. (Slack, 1/30)

CQ: VA Proposes Standards For New Private Care Program
The Choice program currently allows veterans to see private providers if drive times exceed 40 miles or wait times exceed 30 days. Carlos Fuentes, legislative director for Veterans of Foreign Wars, has deja vu when thinking about the new proposal. “It’s unfortunate that the secretary did not incorporate our feedback, or incorporate us in any sense in the decision-making process,” he said. “And frankly, that means — and the result is — that the VA is repeating previous mistakes.” Fuentes' group would prefer standards tailored toward individualized regions or services rather than uniform drive and wait time standards. (Clason, 1/30)

The Hill: VA Unveils Proposal To Expand Private Health Care For Veterans
“Most Americans can already choose the health care providers that they trust, and President Trump promised that veterans would be able to do the same,” VA Secretary Robert Wilkie said in a statement Wednesday. “With VA’s new access standards, the future of the VA health care system will lie in the hands of veterans — exactly where it should be.” (Kheel, 1/30)

In other military and veterans' news —

WBUR: Benefits For Navy Victims Of Agent Orange – Just 50 Years Later
Navy veterans long denied VA benefits are declaring victory after a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The court sided with the plaintiff, a Vietnam vet with cancer who sued the Department of Veterans Affairs, demanding it recognize that his health conditions were caused by Agent Orange. It took the government decades to acknowledge that the defoliant Agent Orange - widely used during the Vietnam War - was causing cancer and other ailments in veterans. (Lawrence, 1/30)

Reuters: Senate Hearings To Probe Unsafe Housing Of U.S. Military Families
Troubled by widespread health and safety hazards uncovered by a Reuters investigation into U.S. military housing, Congress will hold hearings next month to ensure that “what we’re seeing now can never happen again,” said Michigan Democrat Gary Peters, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. During the hearings, tentatively scheduled for Feb. 13, lawmakers will question the Department of Defense and private contractors who house thousands of U.S. military families on bases across the country, according to Senate staff familiar with the plans. (Schneyer and Pell, 1/30)

The New York Times: A Merciless Cold Lingers In The Midwest
A merciless cold crippled the Midwest on Wednesday, halting planes and trains, shuttering schools and prompting officials in Detroit, Minneapolis and Chicago to open emergency warming centers for the homeless and vulnerable. The bitter weather was believed to be tied to the deaths of at least eight people, including a man thought to have collapsed after shoveling snow and frozen to death in his Milwaukee garage. Hospitals saw a steady stream of patients reporting symptoms of frostbite. (Bosman and Davey, 1/30)

The Washington Post: With Frigid Weather, Concern Heightens For The City’s Homeless
On the eve of winter’s coldest punch of the season so far, with temperatures due to plunge to low single digits, two of the thousands of homeless people in the nation’s capital, James Bernard and June Lewis, sat huddled in the shallow doorway of a stone building Wednesday and predicted they’d survive, because they always have. “We’re going to make it unless we die” was how Bernard, 46, put it. Lewis, 64, said, “If we die, we die.” (Duggan and Jamison, 1/30)

The Washington Post: Polar Vortex: As Many As Six Deaths, USPS Delivery Suspended, School Canceled Across Midwest
For the region’s most vulnerable — even those hardened to the Upper Midwest’s long winters — this polar vortex has been especially perilous. Karen Andro, director of Hope’s Home Ministries at the First United Methodist Church in Madison, has spent much of the past few days coordinating with other nonprofits and government agencies to arrange transportation, hot meals and warming centers for the city’s homeless residents. She reflected on past winters, when one person froze to death on the steps of a local church and another had a heart attack walking between shelters, and said that services here have improved. (Mettler, Horton, Wang and Fritz, 1/30)

NPR: How To Stay Safe In Extreme Cold
Parts of the Dakotas and Minnesota dove to -27 degrees F or lower this week, according to the National Weather Service. That's not just uncomfortable — that kind of cold can be dangerous and even deadly, especially if you don't take precautions in how long you're out and how you dress. "I've seen patients develop frostbite within approximately 10 to 15 minutes after being exposed to these extreme temperatures," Dr. Jeff Schaider tells NPRs Ari Shapiro on All Things Considered. Schaider is chief of emergency medicine at the John H. Stroger Jr. Hospital in Chicago and the head of emergency medicine at Cook County Health. (Neighmond, 1/30)

ProPublica and Stat: OxyContin Maker Explored Expansion Into “Attractive” Anti-Addiction Market
Not content with billions of dollars in profits from the potent painkiller OxyContin, its maker explored expanding into an “attractive market” fueled by the drug’s popularity — treatment of opioid addiction, according to previously secret passages in a court document filed by the state of Massachusetts. In internal correspondence beginning in 2014, Purdue Pharma executives discussed how the sale of opioids and the treatment of opioid addiction are “naturally linked” and that the company should expand across “the pain and addiction spectrum,” according to redacted sections of the lawsuit by the Massachusetts attorney general. (Armstrong, 1/30)

The Wall Street Journal: Family Behind OxyContin Maker Made Billions, Say Court Papers
The controlling family behind the maker of opioid painkiller OxyContin took home billions of dollars over the past decade, even as sales of the drug waned, newly revealed parts of court documents show. More than $4 billion was paid out between 2008 and 2016 to members of the Sackler family, owners of drugmaker Purdue Pharma LP, according to redacted portions of a civil complaint brought by Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey against Purdue for allegedly contributing to the state’s opioid crisis. (Hopkins and Randazzo, 1/30)

CNN: Opioid Maker Purdue Pharma Fights To Prevent Documents Involving Sackler Family From Going Public
Purdue Pharma filed a motion Wednesday to stay a Massachusetts judge's order that could expose details about one of America's richest families and their connection to the nation's opioid crisis. The Sacklers and some employees of their company, Purdue Pharma, have been named in a lawsuit that accuses them of profiting from the opioid epidemic by aggressively marketing the painkiller OxyContin, claims denied by attorneys for the family and Purdue. (1/30)

Boston Globe: Ex-Insys Sales Rep Details Bribery Of Doctors To Sell Fentanyl Spray
As a sales representative for Arizona-based Insys Therapeutics, Szymanski was setting up paid speaker programs for a doctor who had written dozens of prescriptions for Subsys, a fentanyl spray that cost about $19,000 for a month’s dose. Often, no one showed up for the programs, but the company would still pay the doctor as a reward, Szymanski said in US District Court in Boston on Wednesday. (Cramer, 1/30)

The New York Times: Opioid Lawsuits Are Headed To Trial. Here's Why The Stakes Are Getting Uglier.
Just over a year ago, opioid lawsuits against makers and distributors of the painkillers were proliferating so rapidly that a judicial panel bundled all the federal cases under the stewardship of a single judge. On a January morning, Judge Dan Aaron Polster of the Northern District of Ohio made his opening remarks to lawyers for nearly 200 municipal governments gathered in his Cleveland courtroom. He wanted the national opioid crisis resolved with a meaningful settlement within a year, proclaiming, “We don’t need briefs and we don’t need trials.” That year is up. (Hoffman, 1/30)

And in other news on the crisis —

Stat: Drug Makers Looking To Replace Opioids Try To Keep Some Pain In The Picture
Tim LaBranche and his colleagues at the drug maker Pfizer had operated on a group of lab rodents to replicate the effects of osteoarthritic joint damage. They had also given some of them a new pain drug, called an NGF inhibitor, while others got a placebo. The researchers wanted to know if the drug would not only blunt the rats’ chronic pain, but also some useful pain, the kind that reminds humans to steer clear of a hot stove — or to stop walking on a damaged knee. The idea was to see whether the inky footprints of rats that had been treated were thicker than those of the control group, evidence that they were overburdening an injured leg. (Garde, 1/31)

The Wall Street Journal: New Details On Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, JPMorgan Health Venture Emerge In Court Battle
Health giant UnitedHealth Group Inc. went to court Wednesday to try to stop a former executive from working for a company it sees as a competitor, the health-care venture launched last year by Amazon.com Inc., Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. The scope of the still-unnamed venture remains hazy beyond stated goals to improve health care and rein in costs for employees. But filings related to the case and court testimony offer some fresh clues about the closely watched effort, including that it may build its own solutions if what it needs isn’t available elsewhere. (Kamp and Wilde Mathews, 1/30)

Stat: In Court, Gawande's New Company, Optum Fight To Keep Their Own Secrets
The executive in the middle of an intense legal fight between UnitedHealth Group and the new health venture helmed by Dr. Atul Gawande testified Wednesday that he did not attempt to steal trade secrets from the United subsidiary, Optum, and was taken aback by the ferocity of the legal allegations against him. “I was fairly surprised by, frankly, all of this,” David Smith said in U.S. District Court in Boston, where Optum was seeking a temporary restraining order to prevent him from starting work for Gawande’s company, which was formed by Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase. (Sheridan and Ross, 1/30)

Meanwhile —

Modern Healthcare: UnitedHealth Pulling Out Of HCCI May Mean No New Data After 2017 
UnitedHealthcare's decision to stop providing claims data to the Health Care Cost Institute for research is forcing the not-for-profit research institute to evaluate whether it will be able to continue to share data beyond its existing trove that runs through calendar year 2017. HCCI still has de-identified claims data from all four of its carrier partners—including United, Aetna, Humana and Kaiser Permanente—through calendar year 2017 that can be used through 2022, but the loss of UnitedHealthcare's 2018 data and beyond presents the challenge of how and even whether the organization will be able to use the data it would continue to receive from its other partners. (Bannow, 1/30)

San Francisco Chronicle: Covered California Sees Largest Decline Of New Signups In Six-Year History
The number of Californians signing up for health insurance for 2019 through Covered California — the state agency created by the Affordable Care Act to sell health plans to people who don’t get coverage through their employer — held steady at 1.5 million. But there was a significant drop-off in one key group that the health law has long aimed to get insured. (Ho, 1/30)

Sacramento Bee: Covered California Enrollment Holds Steady For 2019
Despite the elimination of a tax penalty for those who forgo health insurance, enrollment in Covered California’s health plans remained at almost the same level as last year, with more than 1.5 million people signing up. That may sound like good news, but Covered California executive director Peter V. Lee is concerned that his agency saw a 23.7 percent drop in the number of new consumers seeking coverage. (Anderson, 1/30)

California Healthline: New Covered California Sign-Ups Plummet
The number of new enrollees in Covered California health plans plunged by nearly a quarter this year, largely because of the elimination of the federal tax penalty for people without insurance, officials announced Wednesday. The decrease was steeper than expected — and larger than the drop in new enrollment in the federal marketplace, healthcare.gov. It occurred even as Covered California, the state health insurance exchange, spent millions on advertising to entice people to sign up for coverage during the open-enrollment period that ended Jan. 15. (Ibarra, 1/30)

The Star Tribune: University Of Minnesota Study Finds ACA Didn't Shrink Employer Health Coverage 
The prevalence of employer-based health insurance has been slowly shrinking for many years, but new research from the University of Minnesota shows new coverage options under the federal Affordable Care Act did not hasten the decline. In a study published this month, U researchers looked at federal data before and after major health law changes kicked in during 2014, including an expansion of the Medicaid program in many states, and found the provision of health insurance among employers was largely unaffected. (Snowbeck, 1/30)

Kaiser Health News: Ads For Short-Term Plans Lacking ACA Protections Swamped Consumers’ Online Searches
Consumers shopping for insurance online last fall — using search terms such as “Obamacare plans,” “ACA enroll” and “cheap health insurance” — were most often directed to websites that promote individual health plans that didn’t meet consumer protections of the Affordable Care Act, according to a new study. They also failed to get adequate information about those plans’ limitations, according to the analysis by researchers at Georgetown University’s Center on Health Insurance Reforms. (Findlay, 1/31)

Arizona Republic: Gallego, Kirkpatrick Call For 'Health Care Congress' To Fight For ACA
The partisan battle over health care continued Tuesday as the liberal group "Protect Our Care Arizona" demanded that Congress keep fighting for the Affordable Care Act amid ongoing attacks by President Donald Trump's administration. Joined by Reps. Ruben Gallego and Ann Kirkpatrick, the Democratic coalition known for defending former President Barack Obama's signature health-care-reform law — which critics on the right dubbed "Obamacare" — called for the new 116th Congress to right the wrongs they say Republicans have done in the health-care realm. (Egeland, 1/30)

Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee's Economy Is Improving, So TennCare Gets More Expensive
State officials expect to spend tens of millions more on TennCare in coming years as Tennessee’s improving economy leads to incremental decreases in federal funding for the state Medicaid program, according to budget numbers made public this week. Currently, TennCare is Tennessee’s most expensive government agency, but the federal government pays for more than 65 percent of the costs. That funding is based on the average income throughout the state, so as Tennessee’s booming economy boosts salaries, the feds will pay for a smaller and smaller share TennCare costs. (Kelman, 1/30)

Stat: Many Doctors Uncertain About FDA Approvals — And Dislike Off-Label Marketing 
In the wake of debate over regulatory approval standards for medicines, a new survey finds that most physicians favorably view the approaches taken by the Food and Drug Administration, but a key “disconnect” also exists between their perceptions and the reality of the approval process. Of nearly 700 respondents, 80 percent agreed that the FDA process helps “protect the public from ineffective or dangerous drugs.” And 65 percent reported they were satisfied with the standards used by the FDA to approve medicines, while only 24 percent indicated approval standards are too high, according to a research letter in JAMA Internal Medicine. (Silverman, 1/30)

In other news on the FDA —

The Associated Press: FDA OKs 1st Generic Version Of Popular Advair Asthma Inhaler
The first generic version of the popular Advair asthma inhaler has been approved by U.S. regulators. The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved Mylan's version in three strengths for ages 4 and up. The inhalers are used twice daily to keep airways open and prevent flare-ups of wheezing, shortness of breath and other symptoms of asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. About 42 million Americans have those conditions. (Johnson, 1/30)

The Associated Press: E-Cigs Outperform Patches And Gums In Quit-Smoking Study
A major new study provides the strongest evidence yet that vaping can help smokers quit cigarettes, with e-cigarettes proving nearly twice as effective as nicotine gums and patches. The British research, published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, could influence what doctors tell their patients and shape the debate in the U.S., where the Food and Drug Administration has come under pressure to more tightly regulate the burgeoning industry amid a surge in teenage vaping. (1/30)

NPR: Vaping Edged Out Nicotine Gum And Patches In Smoking-Cessation Study
People who use vaping to quit smoking have milder cravings, he says. They also get pleasure from the act of vaping, which may contribute to its success as a tobacco-quitting aid. And over time, many people gradually reduce the dose of nicotine they are receiving through these devices, Hajek says, so that makes it easier for people who want to quit vaping. (Harris, 1/30)

The New York Times: E-Cigarettes Are Effective At Helping Smokers Quit, A Study Says
The success rate was still low — 18 percent among the e-cigarette group, compared to 9.9 percent among those using traditional nicotine replacement therapy — but many researchers who study tobacco and nicotine said it gave them the clear evidence they had been looking for. “This is a seminal study,” said Dr. Neal L. Benowitz, chief of clinical pharmacology at the University of California, San Francisco, an expert in nicotine absorption and tobacco-related illnesses, who was not involved in the project. “It is so important to the field.” (Hoffman, 1/30)

The Washington Post: E-Cigarettes More Effective Than Nicotine Replacement To Help Smokers Quit, Study Finds
But two editorials in the same publication threw some cold water on the trial’s results. One editorial, by Boston University researchers, said e-cigarettes should be used only when Food and Drug Administration-approved treatments do not work. Those approved therapies, as well as drugs such as bupropion, have higher effectiveness rates than the new study suggested, and much more is known about their side effects, said Belinda Borrelli, a Boston University researcher who co-wrote the editorial. She noted e-cigarettes pose some serious risks, including potential harm to the lungs caused by flavorings — as well as the possibility that some people will end up using both regular cigarettes and the electronic versions. (McGinley, 1/30)

NPR: Stroke Risk Higher Among E-Cigarette Users, Study Finds
The use of e-cigarettes is associated with an increased risk of heart attack, heart disease and stroke, according to research that is scheduled to be presented Feb. 6 at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference in Honolulu. Concern around the health effects of e-cigarette use has grown in recent years, fueled by a surge in their popularity and a belief that they're safe alternatives to normal cigarettes. (Lambert, 1/30)

In other news —

The Wall Street Journal: New York City Council Weighs Ban On Flavored E-Cigarettes, Menthols
In November, the Food and Drug Administration announced it would seek a nationwide ban on menthol cigarettes, and placed restrictions on the sale of e-flavored cigarettes. Also in November, the administration of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said it would seek to ban the sale of flavored e-cigarettes. The rate of youth cigarette use in New York City dropped from 18% in 2001 to 5% in 2017, according to Oxiris Barbot, commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. (West, 1/30)

The Hill: FDA Is Failing To Stop Underage Teens From Using E-Cigarettes, Report Finds
The federal government is failing to protect children from the dangers of electronic cigarettes, according to an American Lung Association report card published Wednesday. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) received an “F” from the group's 17th annual State of Tobacco Control. The FDA has taken some initial steps, but “continued to avoid meaningful action” on vaping products, the association said. (Weixel, 1/30)

The New York Times: 120,000 Pounds, Recalled: What’s Happening To America’s Chicken Nuggets?
Tyson Foods, one of the United States’ largest meat producers, recalled more than 36,000 pounds of chicken nuggets on Tuesday after pieces of rubber were found in the food. A day earlier, another large meat supplier, Perdue, recalled more than 16,000 pounds of chicken nuggets because of misbranding and undeclared allergens. The nuggets contain milk — a common allergen — but it was not clearly specified on the packaging, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. (Garcia, 1/30)

The Washington Post: Tyson Nuggets Recall: 36,000 Pounds May Have Been Contaminated With Rubber
Tyson Foods said consumers contacted the company after they found small pieces of soft, blue rubber in the nuggets. The company said that rubber was found in a “very small number” of packages but that it decided to recall 36,420 pounds of product “out of an abundance of caution.” (Phillips, 1/30)

The New York Times: Was C.T.E. Stealing His Mind? A Gunshot Provided The Answer
The blast from upstairs shattered the quiet of a small-town weeknight. It was all so sudden. Or had it been coming for years? Jason Hairston had just been downstairs with his young son and daughter, who could not understand why their father was acting so strange. His wife, on the phone from across the country, was desperately trying to get her husband to say something, anything. (Branch, 1/31)

Stat: U.S. Scientist Played Instrumental Role In ‘CRISPR Babies’ Project 
An American scientist at Rice University was far more involved in the widely condemned “CRISPR babies” experiment than has previously been disclosed. Most notably, STAT has learned that Rice biophysicist Michael Deem was named as the senior author on a paper about the work that was submitted to Nature in late November. Deem’s prominent authorship indicates that a respected American researcher played an instrumental role in the controversial project, which sparked a worldwide furor. His involvement could have encouraged volunteers to join the experiment and lent credibility to He Jiankui, the Chinese scientist who led the work. (Qui, 1/31)

The New York Times: Rotavirus Vaccine May Protect Against Type 1 Diabetes
The vaccine that prevents rotavirus, which can cause severe gastric problems in children, may have another benefit: lowering the risk for Type 1 diabetes in toddlers. Rotavirus can leave children badly dehydrated and is sometimes fatal. Fortunately, there are two vaccines for the disease, easily administered by putting drops in the child’s mouth at ages 2 months, 4 months and (for one version of the vaccine) 6 months. Both vaccines are more than 90 percent effective. (Bakalar, 1/30)

The New York Times: Searching For The Genetic Underpinnings Of Morning Persons And Night Owls
Early to bed and early to rise is a maxim that’s easy to follow for some people, and devilishly hard for others. Now, in a study published Tuesday in Nature Communications, researchers curious about the genetic underpinnings of chronotype — whether you are a morning person, a night owl or somewhere in between — looked at about 700,000 people’s genomes. They identified 351 variations that may be connected to when people go to bed. While these variants are just the beginning of exploring the differences in chronotypes, the study goes on to suggest tantalizing links between chronotype and mental health. (Greenwood, 1/30)

The Associated Press: Nearly Half Of US Adults Have Heart Or Blood Vessel Disease
A new report estimates that nearly half of all U.S. adults have some form of heart or blood vessel disease, a medical milestone that's mostly due to recent guidelines that expanded how many people have high blood pressure. The American Heart Association says that more than 121 million adults had cardiovascular disease in 2016. Taking out those with only high blood pressure leaves 24 million, or 9 percent of adults, who have other forms of disease such as heart failure or clogged arteries. (1/31)

Kaiser Health News: Frail Seniors Find Ways To Live Independently
Pauline Jeffery had let things slide since her husband died. Her bedroom was a mess. Her bathroom was disorganized. She often tripped over rugs in her living and dining room. “I was depressed and doing nothing but feeling sorry for myself,” said the 85-year-old Denver resident. But Jeffery’s inertia faded when she joined a program for frail low-income seniors: Community Aging in Place — Advancing Better Living for Elders (CAPABLE). (Graham, 1/31)

Marketplace: Wanted: Elder Transportation Solutions
As the U.S. population ages, transportation challenges for seniors, their caregivers and communities are growing. Every day about 10,000 baby boomers turn 65, according to the AARP. And among those aged 65 and older, one in five don’t drive, either for health or economic reasons. (Hartman, 1/30)

The New York Times: He Swallowed A Toothpick. It Could Have Killed Him.
A young man nearly lost his life to a toothpick he didn’t even know he had swallowed, according to a harrowing report published Wednesday in The New England Journal of Medicine. The three-inch wood pick, from a sandwich, traveled through most of his digestive tract without doing any harm. But then it poked through the intestinal wall and pierced an artery, creating a conduit for bacteria to invade his bloodstream and damaging the artery enough to cause serious bleeding. (Grady, 1/30)

Miami Herald: More Ibuprofen Baby Drops Sold At Walmart And CVS Recalled
Three more lots of pain and fever baby drops sold at CVS and Walmart have been recalled for having elevated ibuprofen concentration. Tri Pharma, the manufacturer, added these three lots to the three lots it recalled in November of ibuprofen baby drops sold at CVS, Walmart and Family Dollar. The drops are for kids from 6 months to 23 months. (Neal, 1/30)

The New York Times: This Is Your Brain Off Facebook
The world’s most common digital habit is not easy to break, even in a fit of moral outrage over the privacy risks and political divisions Facebook has created, or amid concerns about how the habit might affect emotional health. Although four in 10 Facebook users say they have taken long breaks from it, the digital platform keeps growing. A recent study found that the average user would have to be paid $1,000 to $2,000 to be pried away for a year. (Carey, 1/30)

The Associated Press: Virginia Abortion Feud Erupts; Governor Blasted For Comments
A push by Virginia Democrats to loosen restrictions on late-term abortions is erupting into a fierce partisan clash because of a viral video in which a lawmaker acknowledges her legislation would allow abortions up until moments before birth. Gov. Ralph Northam added gas to the fire Wednesday by describing a hypothetical situation in a radio interview where an infant who is severely deformed or unable to survive after birth could be left to die. That prompted accusations from prominent Republicans that he supports infanticide. (1/30)

The Washington Post: Failed Abortion Bill Draws GOP Outrage Against Va. Gov. Northam, Democratic Legislators
Northam, whose spokeswoman said his words were being taken out of context by Republicans, called the notion that he would approve of killing infants “disgusting.” “I have devoted my life to caring for children, and any insinuation otherwise is shameful and disgusting,” he said. (Schneider and Vozzella, 1/30)

The Hill: Dem Bill In Virginia Would Loosen Restrictions On Late-Term Abortions 
Tran, who deleted her Twitter account soon after the criticism began, released a statement Wednesday about the bill urging lawmakers to "trust women to make their own healthcare decisions." "These decisions are personal and private, and they are made in consultation with doctors who are using their best medical judgement," she said, according to the Richmond Times Dispatch. "I regret that these partisan games have taken the focus away from where it should be: on the Virginian women who have asked for this bill to get politicians out of their private medical decisions." (Rodrigo, 1/30)

Wyoming Public Radio: Wyoming Senate Cuts Funding For Breast And Cervical Cancer Program
The Wyoming Senate has cut all the funding for the state's breast and cervical cancer program. The cut came during a debate over the state budget. Sheridan Senator Dave Kinskey added that the program is not just for poor people, so people without insurance can access those funds. (Beck, 1/30)

Politico Pro: Texas Lawmakers Dial Back Abortion Agenda
After enacting some of the country’s most restrictive abortion measures in recent years, Texas lawmakers aren’t planning a major push for new limits during this legislative session despite changes at the Supreme Court. Influential anti-abortion groups in the state are setting their sights on more limited anti-abortion legislation, following the November election in which key anti-abortion lawmakers lost seats to Democrats. (Rayasam, 1/30)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Attorneys Dispute If A Doctor Would Know About A Down Syndrome Diagnosis Before Abortion
A doctor is not required to ask a pregnant patient if a Down syndrome diagnosis is the reason she wants an abortion, a state attorney told federal appeals judges Wednesday. Benjamin Flowers, the Ohio deputy solicitor general, told a three-judge panel on the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals that a doctor “has no obligation to inquire” about a woman’s reason for an abortion. (Hancock, 1/30)

And in more women's health news —

The New York Times: Hopeful Would-Be Parents Shop Jobs For I.V.F. Coverage
A little over a year ago, Haley Burns, 29, was trying to get pregnant and was also becoming restless in her job. An information technology specialist for Sharp HealthCare in San Diego, she began searching for another position (while trying to get pregnant), and checking out the benefits of Sharp’s competitors (while also trying to get pregnant). The last time she had been on the job market, Ms. Burns said, “I wanted the ability to work remotely, and of course I wanted the biggest paycheck I could get.” Now she had a different priority: fertility coverage. (Grigoriadis, 1/30)

Dallas Morning News: Lawmakers Have A Proposal To Prevent More Texas Moms From Dying After Childbirth
Lawmakers are hoping a bipartisan effort will emerge in the Legislature to address the dozens of Texas women who die every year from pregnancy-related complications. More than half of births in Texas are funded by Medicaid, but coverage expires 60 days postpartum for most women. To combat maternal mortality and morbidity, several Democrats and at least one Republican have proposed extending Medicaid coverage to one year after a woman gives birth or has an involuntary miscarriage. (Stone, 1/30)

USA Today/Naples Daily News: Miami Doctor's Plastic Surgery Empire Becomes Florida's Deadliest Clinics
Just after dawn, the women arrive. They come in taxis and rental cars, to a strip mall clinic tucked between a barber shop and a discount shoe store. They fly in from across the country for deals they can’t get back home – thousands of dollars off cosmetic surgeries, available, if they like, on payment plans. Inside, the lobby looks like any other surgery center: polished white floors, sleek, modern furniture, a large flat screen flashing images of beautiful bodies. (Sallah and Perez, 1/31)

The Associated Press: Nurse Indicted On Charges Of Raping Incapacitated Woman
A nurse suspected of raping an incapacitated woman who later gave birth at a long-term care facility in Phoenix has been indicted on charges of sexual assault and abuse of a vulnerable adult. The document filed Tuesday mirrors charges that prosecutors filed last week against 36-year-old Nathan Dorceus Sutherland. Sutherland is expected to enter a plea to the charges at an arraignment hearing next Tuesday.His attorney, David Gregan, didn’t immediately return a call Wednesday seeking comment. (1/30)

Arizona Republic: Benchmark Human Services Takes Over Hacienda HealthCare Where Patient Was Raped
For-profit Benchmark Human Services of Fort Wayne, Indiana, was selected by Hacienda HealthCare after two state agencies ordered the facility to hire an independent manager. Benchmark officials said Wednesday they will begin immediately assessing operations. (Innes and Anglen, 1/30)

The Associated Press: Patients In Northwest Measles Outbreak Traveled To Hawaii
A measles outbreak in the Pacific Northwest became more worrisome Wednesday with word that people infected with the extremely contagious viral illness traveled to Hawaii and central Oregon after being exposed. The revelation prompted public health officials in Oregon's Deschutes County and in Hawaii to issue alerts, although no cases were confirmed in either location. (1/30)

The Oregonian: Bend Measles Case Officially Linked To Vancouver-Area Outbreak
A suspected measles case in Bend has been confirmed, tied to the Clark County outbreak. That case helped bump the total number of people with measles up to 38 on Wednesday. The number of suspected cases also continues to grow with 13 people who have the symptoms of measles awaiting the result of blood work. The new cases are children, as the vast majority of all the people infected since Jan. 1 are. (Harbarger, 1/30)

The Associated Press: ICE Force-Feeding Detainees On Hunger Strike
Federal immigration officials are force-feeding six immigrants through plastic nasal tubes during a hunger strike that's gone on for a month inside a Texas detention facility, The Associated Press has learned. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says 11 detainees at the El Paso Processing Center have been refusing food, some for more than 30 days. Detainees who reached the AP, along with a relative and an attorney representing hunger strikers, said nearly 30 detainees from India and Cuba have been refusing to eat, and some are now so weak they cannot stand up or talk. (1/30)

Los Angeles Times: A Bill Would End A $5 Co-Pay That Has Some California Inmates Choosing Between Buying Soap Or Seeing A Doctor
Thousands of California inmates like Watson struggle to cover their healthcare costs in prison every year, and Assemblyman Mark Stone (D-Scotts Valley) says the state should ease some of the burden. He has introduced a bill that would prevent the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation from charging a co-pay for self-initiated medical and dental visits that has some inmates choosing between buying soap or visiting the doctor. (Ulloa, 1/29)

Los Angeles Times: California Lawmakers Grill Top Utilities Regulator Over Wildfire Prevention
Under intense questioning from state lawmakers, California’s top utilities regulator said the state is ill-equipped to deal with a new reality of destructive and deadly wildfires brought on by climate change. “I don’t think we are prepared for, in any way here in the state of California, for the enormity that we’re seeing,” said Michael Picker, president of the California Public Utilities Commission. “We need more. We need more thinking. We need more ideas.” Picker made the comments in testimony Wednesday during the agency’s annual oversight hearing in the state Assembly. (Luna, 1/30)

The Oregonian: Oregon Lawmaker Seeks $2 Million For Mental Health Centers
State Rep. Cedric Hayden, R-Roseburg, introduced legislation Wednesday that would establish three small around-the-clock support centers for Oregonians experiencing mental health crises. Opening such facilities would help “close one of the gaps in our mental health system where the choices right now seem to be either expensive hospitalizations or people in need of treatment languishing in our justice system with no care,” said Hayden, a dentist who is vice chairman of the House Committee on Health Care. (Friedman, 1/30)

California Healthline: Nonprofit Dental Insurer Under Scrutiny For ‘Flagrant’ Spending 
Dental insurance giant Delta Dental of California is facing mounting criticism for paying its CEO exorbitantly, flying board members and their companions to Barbados for a meeting, and spending a small fraction of its revenue on charitable work — all while receiving significant state and federal tax breaks because of its nonprofit status. Now, the company — which has 36.5 million enrollees in 15 states and the District of Columbia — is hoping to pay $155 million to acquire a 49.5 percent stake in for-profit medical and dental insurer Moda Health. (Barry-Jester, 1/30)

Sacramento Bee: Becerra Settles Aetna Lawsuit Over HIV Status Exposure
Attorney General Xavier Becerra has settled a lawsuit against healthcare provider Aetna, which was in hot water after sending out letters to almost 2,000 Californians that revealed their HIV status through a window on the envelope, according to Becerra’s office. The $935,000 settlement was announced Wednesday, and court documents detail the 2017 breach of patient confidentiality that led to the lawsuit and a multimillion-dollar class action settlement. (Darden, 1/30)

San Jose Mercury News: Fake Walgreens Pharmacist Handled Over 700,000 Prescriptions, State Says
For more than a decade, Walgreens stores in Fremont, Milpitas and San Jose allowed Kim Thien Le to perform pharmacist duties — including reviewing patient drug use — for 745,355 prescriptions dispensed from a total of 395 Walgreens pharmacies, according to a California State Board of Pharmacy investigation. If the allegations prove true, each store faces a range of penalties from receiving a formal reprimand to having its pharmacy license revoked, said Bob Dávila, a spokesman with the pharmacy board. (Geha, 1/30)

The Baltimore Sun: University Of Maryland School Of Nursing Offers Dual Admission With 12th Community College 
Students pursuing an associate degree in nursing from Wor-Wic Community College in Salisbury can now enroll simultaneously in the University of Maryland School of Nursing’s bachelor of science degree program under a dual admission agreement, the schools announced Wednesday. The Eastern Shore community college becomes the 12th such college to join with Maryland in training future nurses, who are in short supply particularly in rural areas of the state and country. (Cohn, 1/30)

Houston Chronicle: Medistar Planning 48-Story Tower In Med Center
Construction is scheduled to start in the third quarter on a 48-story mixed-use tower slated for Main Street in the Texas Medical Center. Houston-based Medistar plans to develop the building in two phases, the first including 476,500 square feet of medical and life science office space with 35,000-square-foot floorplates atop a 1,700-car parking garage. A retail component will be included as well. (Sarnoff, 1/30)

San Jose Mercury News: Bay Area Homeless Count: Volunteers Take Stock Of Crisis
The signs were everywhere: a pile of clothing next to a brimming shopping cart, a cluster of tents tucked beneath an overpass, a parked car with fabric covering every window like curtains. In the pre-dawn darkness Wednesday, hundreds of volunteers deployed throughout the Bay Area, hunting for those clues, and hoping to shed light on what each one represents: a person who spent the night outside. (Kendall, Sciacca and Vo, 1/30)

11alive: Super Bowl Sex Trafficking Sting: 33 Arrested In Metro Atlanta
With Super Bowl LIII just days away, federal officials have been keeping a fixed eye on concerns of sex trafficking in the metro Atlanta area. On Wednesday, authorities with Homeland Security said that 33 people have been arrested for sex trafficking during the last four days of active investigation in the Atlanta area. Four people have been recovered to date. (Padgett, 1/30)

Sacramento Bee: CA Housing Crisis Bill Aims To Help Homeless College Students
California’s housing crisis has left hundreds of thousands of community college students either homeless or facing the threat of being homeless. A new California State Assembly bill offers a potential remedy — letting students sleep in their vehicles in campus parking lots and structures. (Sheeler, 1/31)

Denver Post: Colorado Sex Education Bill Advances After Hours-Long Debate Stretching To Midnight
After more than 10 hours of debate and the testimony (both written and spoken) of more than 300 people, Democrats on a Colorado House committee approved a controversial bill addressing sexual education in public schools shortly before midnight Wednesday. If it passes, the bill would amend a 2013 law by removing a waiver for public charter schools that lets them pick other sex ed criteria, fund a grant program for schools that lack the resources to teach human sexuality and expand upon the LGBT relationship portion of the curriculum requirements. (Staver, 1/30)

Cincinnati Enquirer: Greater Cincinnati Hospitals Confront Medical Marijuana
With sales of medical marijuana having just started Jan. 16, Ohio's hospitals are figuring out how to handle patients who want to use the drug and doctors who want to recommend it to treat illness. Mostly, the answer is: No. The Christ Hospital Health Network, however, is taking a pioneering stand, saying it will allow hospitalized patients to use certain forms of medical marijuana. (Saker, 1/30)

Health News Florida: DeSantis Weighs Marijuana Regulations
Gov. Ron DeSantis still wants to eliminate Florida’s ban on smoking medical marijuana, but he’s walked back his opposition to a state system that resulted in what the new governor this month called a cannabis “cartel.” Speaking to reporters following Tuesday’s state Cabinet meeting, DeSantis reiterated his insistence that the Legislature do away with the smoking prohibition, saying it “ran afoul” of a 2016 voter-approved constitutional amendment that broadly legalized medical marijuana. (Kam, 1/30)

Commonwealth Fund: Are Older Americans Getting Long-Term Services Supports They Need? 
Older adults’ needs have evolved and are no longer met by the Medicare program. With the recent passage of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (BBA), Medicare Advantage (MA) plans can now provide beneficiaries with nonmedical benefits, such as long-term services and supports (LTSS), which Medicare does not cover. (Willink, 1/24)

JAMA Internal Medicine: Quality And Experience Of Outpatient Care In The United States For Adults With Or Without Primary Care.
In this nationally representative survey study of 49 286 adults with and 21 133 adults without primary care, Americans with primary care received significantly more high-value care (4 of 5 composites), received slightly more low-value care (3 of 4 composites), and reported significantly better health care access and experience. These differences were stable from 2002 to 2014. (Levine et al, 1/28)

The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation: Medicare Part D Enrollees With Serious Health Conditions Can Face Thousands Of Dollars In Out-Of-Pocket Costs Annually For Specialty Drugs
Despite Medicare’s protections, Part D enrollees with serious health conditions can face thousands of dollars in annual out-of-pocket costs for expensive specialty drugs, a new KFF anaylsis finds. The analysis draws on data from Medicare’s Plan Finder website to calculate expected annual 2019 costs for more than two dozen specialty tier drugs used to treat four health conditions — cancer, hepatitis C, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis – based on coverage and costs in national and near-national stand-alone drug plans, using a pharmacy in Baltimore, MD. It found that expected median out-of-pocket costs for Part D enrollees not receiving low-income subsidies would range from $2,622 for Zepatier (for hepatitis C) to $16,551 for Idhifa (for leukemia) in 2019. (1/29)

JAMA Cardiology: Association Of All-Cause And Cardiovascular Mortality With High Levels Of Physical Activity And Concurrent Coronary Artery Calcification.
In this observational study of 21 758 men with varying levels of physical activity, the presence of elevated levels of coronary artery calcification (≥100 Agatston units) was more prevalent among highly active men. However, no increase in all-cause or cardiovascular disease mortality was evident in this group when compared with men who were less active. (DeFina et al, 1/30)

The Wall Street Journal: ‘Medicare For All’ Will Terrify Voters
Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris made her party’s left-wing base happy this week. But in doing so, she might have made Democrats less attractive to general-election voters. In a CNN town hall Monday, Ms. Harris endorsed “Medicare for all.” Pressed about whether the proposal would abolish private health insurance, the California senator breezily declared, “Let’s eliminate all of that. Let’s move on.” After Republicans jumped on her for this policy’s radicalism, a Harris adviser said the attacks were “good trouble” for her. (Karl Rove, 1/30)

The New York Times: The Medicare-For-All Trap
A couple of weeks ago, one of the country’s most respected health care pollsters — Kaiser Family Foundation — conducted a survey on “Medicare for All.” And the top-line results looked great for advocates of the idea, like Bernie Sanders and Kamala Harris. Some 56 percent of respondents said they favored “a national plan called Medicare for All in which all Americans would get their insurance through a single government plan.” A large majority of Democrats backed the idea. Almost a quarter of Republicans did, too. (David Leonhardt, 1/30)

The Washington Post: What Voters Need To Hear From Democratic Contenders On Healthcare
In her CNN town hall, Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.) emphatically declared she was for “Medicare-for-all” and wanted to get rid of private insurance. A spokesperson pointed out, “Medicare-for-all is the plan that she believes will solve the problem and get all Americans covered. Period. She has co-sponsored other pieces of legislation that she sees as a path to getting us there, but this is the plan she is running on.” A walk-back! Inconsistency! Conflict in the Democratic Party! Let’s get real; actually, let’s have a real debate rather than a bumper-sticker battle. (Jennifer Rubin, 1/30)

Axios: The Quiet, Steady Rise Of Employer Health Coverage 
After many years of steady decline, the proportion of people under 65 with employer health coverage has started to increase. About seven million more people gained employer coverage between 2013 and 2017 — nearly as many as the 10 million people who were covered through the Affordable Care Act's marketplace last year. Why it matters: Since people with employer coverage are the largest insured group in the country, the next wave of health reform will be more politically successful if it resonates with their concerns. That's why Kamala Harris' comment this week about doing away with private health insurance, as part of a Medicare for All plan, exposes the danger for Democrats if they don't convince people who like their private coverage that they have something better to offer. (Drew Altman, 1/31)

Chicago Tribune: The Dangerous Allure Of 'Medicare For All' 
(Kamala) Harris’ intention to get rid of private insurance will feed this fear. Americans rightly didn’t believe Barack Obama when he said, “If you like your health care plan, you can keep it.” When Harris says that people who like their health care plans will not be able to keep them, voters will believe her, to her detriment. Democrats can promise that “Medicare for All,” however it is defined, would be an improvement over the status quo, but millions of people with private coverage will figure they are about to get the shaft. (Steve Chapman, 1/30)

The Washington Post: The Media Is Badly Botching The Medicare-For-All Debate
The 2020 presidential campaign will surely wind up being horrifying in many ways. But the good news is that at the moment, it’s featuring a genuine debate about a profoundly consequential policy question. The bad news is that the media are already screwing it up, no less than when they cheered for the Iraq War in 2003 or gave minimal attention to Donald Trump’s spectacular history of personal corruption in 2016. (Paul Waldman, 1/30)

The New York Times: A.I. Could Worsen Health Disparities
There are many questions about whether A.I. actually works in medicine, and where it works: can it pick up pneumonia, detect cancer, predict death? But those questions focus on the technical, not the ethical. And in a health system riddled with inequity, we have to ask: Could the use of A.I. in medicine worsen health disparities? There are at least three reasons to believe it might. (Dhruv Khullar, 1/31)

New England Journal of Medicine: #ThisIsOurLane — Firearm Safety As Health Care’s Highway
On November 6, 2018, in response to a position paper on firearm injuries and death from the American College of Physicians, the National Rifle Association (NRA) fired off a tweet admonishing “self-important anti-gun doctors to stay in their lane.” Physicians — many of whom are also gun owners — quickly responded that the topics of gun violence and firearm-injury prevention are squarely within our lane. Then, less than 12 hours after the NRA tweet, another mass shooting took place, in Thousand Oaks, California. On November 7 and 8, the Twitter hashtag #ThisIsOurLane went viral. (Megan L. Ranney, Marian E. Betz, and Cedric Dark, 1/31)

Stat: NIH Needs To Make Clinical Research More Inclusive 
A quiet but revolutionary new national health policy goes into effect this week, ushering in changes that could lead to important medical discoveries that benefit most Americans. There’s just one problem. Implementing the change will require that our country’s health researchers make some fundamental changes in how they do business. Under the National Institutes of Health’s new Inclusion Across the Lifespan policy, federally supported medical research must include patients of all relevant ages or explain their exclusion. Since most studies already include adults, and a mandate to include children has existed since 1998, the novelty in this policy is the stipulation that clinical research include people age 65 and older. (Louise Aronson, 1/31)

USA Today: Transgender Bathroom Debate: My LGBTQ Son Isn't Hurting Other Students
I’m grateful that two courts have recognized the right of transgender students like Aidan to use the bathrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity. But now the other students have asked the Supreme Court to review the case. We are working with the American Civil Liberties Union to discourage the Supreme Court from taking up the case. It might seem like this is just about a bathroom — but in fact it’s a powerful institution saying to a child, you have no right to be who you say you are. Schools form the center of kids’ social lives, and they are where kids develop a sense of themselves. Had the school excluded Aidan from the same facilities as other boys, it would have negated, instead of affirmed, his new and shining confidence and ease in the world. (Melissa DeStefano, 1/30)

Los Angeles Times: Once And For All: Hormone Replacement Is Good For Women 
We don’t suggest that all women should take hormones, or will benefit if they do. We are well aware that every medication carries risks. Neither of us has financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry. We simply are persuaded that the minor risks of HRT for some women are far outweighed by the major benefits for most women. (Avrum Bluming and Carol Tavris, 1/31)

New England Journal of Medicine: Taking Aim At Contraceptive Coverage — The Trump Administration’s Attacks On Reproductive Rights
On January 14, Trump administration rules that would broadly allow employers to deny contraceptive coverage to their employees on the basis of religious or moral objections were temporarily blocked by a federal court. But the legal battle is likely to continue. (Cynthia H. Chuang and Carol S. Weisman, 1/31)

The Hill: Benzo Prescriptions Have Increased Substantially — It's A Major Public Health Problem 
A new study indicates a steep climb in benzodiazepine prescriptions in the U.S. Between 2003 and 2015, primary care physicians’ prescribing of benzodiazepines doubled. As a psychologist, who was funded a decade ago by the National Institute of Mental Health to study benzodiazepine prescriptions, I don’t find these new statistics surprising. Our health care system has some serious cracks, but solutions exist.Benzodiazepines (sometimes called “benzos”) work to calm or sedate a person. Common benzodiazepines include Valium, Xanax and Klonopin, among others. Without a doubt, these medications are effective. They work, which is partly why physicians keep prescribing them and patients keep taking them. But, the potential negative side effects and toxicity of benzodiazepines are well-established. (Joan Cook, 1/30)

New England Journal of Medicine: Rehabbed To Death
For a substantial minority of older adults, a stay in a post-acute care facility is the gateway into a cycle between the hospital and the nursing home that spans the final months of life. Certain Medicare and Medicaid policies perpetuate this cycle. (Lynn A. Flint, Daniel J. David, and Alexander K. Smith, 1/31)

Boston Globe: Governor Baker’s Proposal On Drug-Pricing Will Hurt Biotech — And Consumers
Baker proposes to experiment with the state’s Medicaid program, which serves our most vulnerable residents, by attempting to use strong-arm tactics to compel so-called voluntary reductions from drug manufacturers, not unlike what President Trump has touted. This is a dangerous game, with Massachusetts’s neediest residents as the potential big losers. (Robert K. Coughlin, 1/30)

Chicago Sun Times: Chicago's Building Boom Puts Kids' Health At Risk
A recent analysis by the Natural Resources Defense Council, Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, Southeast Environmental Task Force and other community groups examined the cumulative impact of environmental health hazards facing different Chicago neighborhoods. It looked at things like toxic air pollution (think diesel emissions), lead exposure and locations of hazardous waste sites. It also evaluated factors that make places more vulnerable to harm, such as the number of very young people, poverty and race. The study found that Chicago has uneven and inequitable exposure to pollution and toxins across its neighborhoods. As a map shows, Chicago has concentrated industry in low-income communities of color. Given the city’s racial history, this fact isn’t shocking. What’s distressing is that the city is still doing so. (Elizabeth Cisar, 1/30)