First Edition: May 31, 2019

Kaiser Health News: Hospitals Accused Of Paying Doctors Large Kickbacks In Quest For Patients
For a hospital that had once labored to break even, Wheeling Hospital displayed abnormally deep pockets when recruiting doctors. To lure Dr. Adam Tune, an anesthesiologist from nearby Pittsburgh who specialized in pain management, the Catholic hospital built a clinic for him to run on its campus in Wheeling, W.Va. It paid Tune as much as $1.2 million a year — well above the salaries of 90% of pain management physicians across the nation, the federal government charged in a lawsuit filed this spring. (Rau, 5/31)

Kaiser Health News: More Than Half Of Surgical Stapler Malfunctions Went To Hidden FDA Database
The Food and Drug Administration has acknowledged that more than 56,000 never-before-disclosed surgical stapler malfunctions were quietly reported to the agency from 2011 through 2018. The newly acknowledged reports were detailed in an executive summary for FDA advisers. The agency convened a meeting of experts this week to help it determine whether surgical staplers should be moved out of its lowest-risk category — reserved for simple devices like tongue depressors and bandages — to a higher grade that may require testing and additional oversight. Surgical staplers are used to cut and seal vessels and tissues inside the body. (Lupkin and Jewett, 5/30)

Kaiser Health News: Mired In Medical Debt? Federal Plan Would Update Overdue-Bill Collection Methods
Elham Mirshafiei was at the library cramming for final exams during her senior year at California State University-Long Beach when she grew nauseated and started vomiting. After the 10th episode in an hour, a friend took her to the nearest emergency room. Diagnosis: an intestinal bug and severe dehydration. In a few hours, she was home again, with instructions to eat a bland diet and drink plenty of fluids. That was in 2010. But the $4,000 bill for the brief emergency department visit at an out-of-network hospital has trailed her ever since. Mirshafiei, 31, has a good job now as a licensed insurance adviser in Palo Alto, Calif. (Andrews, 5/31)

Kaiser Health News: Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ The State Of The Abortion Debate — A Deep Dive
Abortion is one of the hottest political issues of 2019. With a newly configured Supreme Court, which many pundits think has the votes to roll back or overturn the landmark 1972 Roe v. Wade ruling, states are rushing either to protect abortion rights or pass laws intended to restrict or ban it.But the abortion debate is much more complicated than just pro or con. It’s entangled in partisan politics, health care, religion and more. (5/30)

The New York Times: Measles Outbreak: Cases Reach Highest Level In More Than 25 Years
There have been more measles cases in the United States the first five months of 2019 than there were in all of 1992, when the last large outbreak occurred, federal health officials said on Thursday, in part because of the spread of misinformation about vaccines. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday that there had been 971 known cases of measles in the United States so far this year. That is eight more cases than in 1992, the previous high since vaccines became widely used, when 963 cases were reported in the United States all year. And it is a sharp jump from last year, when just 372 cases were reported, the center said. (Earlier Thursday, the C.D.C. mistakenly said that the previous high was in 1994.) (Stack, 5/30)

The Associated Press: US Measles Count Nears 1,000, Surpassing 25-Year-Old Record
"What's causing these outbreaks is lack of vaccination," said Dr. Mark Roberts, chair of health policy and management at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. Illnesses have been reported in 26 states, but the vast majority are in New York City. The city's outbreak, which began last October, is already the largest local measles outbreak in the U.S. in nearly 30 years. It started when some unvaccinated children visited Israel, where a measles outbreak is occurring, and came back to New York. (Stobbe, 5/30)

The Washington Post: U.S. Measles Cases In First Five Months Of 2019 Surpass Total For Any Year Since 1992
A country is considered to have eliminated measles when there has been an absence of continuous spread of the disease for more than a year. The United States achieved that status in 2000 through a massive sustained effort to vaccinate children. If this year ends that accomplishment, it would be an enormous public-health loss, experts said. “It means that a really very harmful infection had been eliminated, but we have now let it back into our country, and it is a threat to our babies and young children as they grow up,” said William Schaffner, an infectious-disease professor at Vanderbilt University who has taken care of measles patients. (Sun, 5/30)

The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Measles Outbreaks Hit Highest Level In More Than 25 Years
One reason for worry about the current outbreaks, Dr. Clark said, is that people are still being exposed to measles in public venues, including doctors’ waiting rooms. Those are places in which exposures are common early in outbreaks, but not this many months in, when public-health officials usually have been able to tamp down widespread transmission, Dr. Clark said. “Those things should be brought under control, and they’re worrying signs if you continue to see them,” he said. “It makes us worried that somebody has been exposed to measles you weren’t aware of.” (McKay, 5/30)

NPR: New U.S. Measles Cases Break 25-Year-Old Record, Health Officials Say
To be sure, the recent uptick in new measles cases is a far cry from the 1950s, when millions of people caught measles and hundreds died each year from the virus, CDC data show. Vaccinations against the highly contagious virus are widespread across the U.S., with some 94% of kindergartners having received vaccination coverage, according to the CDC. (Allyn, 5/30)

The Wall Street Journal: New York City Has Issued 123 Summonses To People Defying Measles Vaccine Order
Amid the worst measles outbreak in more than two decades, New York City health officials have issued 123 civil summonses to people found to be noncompliant with an April emergency order requiring unvaccinated people in parts of Brooklyn to get the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine. Yet, the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene hasn’t collected fines on any of the summonses. (West, 5/30)

The Wall Street Journal: Facebook Pledged Crackdown On Vaccine Misinformation. Then Not Much Happened.
Ten weeks after Facebook Inc. FB 0.45% pledged to fight vaccine misinformation, such content remains widely available across its platforms as the social-media giant grapples with how aggressively to limit the spread of hoaxes and deceptions. Facebook as of this week is still running paid ads for a prominent antivaccination group that suggests unethical doctors have conspired to hide evidence of harm vaccines do to children. (Horwitz, 5/30)

The Associated Press: Louisiana's Democratic Governor Signs Abortion Ban Into Law
Louisiana's Democratic governor signed a ban on abortion as early as six weeks of pregnancy Thursday, a move that puts him squarely in line with the leaders of other conservative Southern states while provoking anger from members of his own party. With his signature, Gov. John Bel Edwards made Louisiana the fifth state to enact a law prohibiting abortion when a fetal heartbeat is detected, joining Mississippi, Kentucky, Ohio and Georgia. Alabama's gone further, outlawing virtually all abortions. (5/30)

The Associated Press: Hundreds Protest Louisiana's Passage Of 'Heartbeat' Bill
Hundreds of demonstrators filed into the Louisiana State Capitol a day after lawmakers passed a strict new abortion ban that Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards has signed into law. Many on Thursday wore bright pink T-shirts reading "We Stand With Planned Parenthood" on the front and "We Won't Back Down" on the back, in protest of the so-called heartbeat bill. The measure bars abortions once there's a detectable fetal heartbeat, as early as the sixth week of pregnancy. (5/30)

The Washington Post: Louisiana Abortion Bill: Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards Signs Six-Week Ban
“I call on the overwhelming bipartisan majority of legislators who voted for it to join me in continuing to build a better Louisiana that cares for the least among us and provides more opportunity for everyone,” Gov. John Bel Edwards said in a statement after it was passed. He did not hold a public signing ceremony for the bill, and his office declined to comment on it further. Nationally, however, Edwards; state Sen. John Milkovich, the Democrat who sponsored the bill; and other antiabortion Democrats have become unlikely intraparty combatants in a debate that has grown increasingly partisan. (Kantor and Thebault, 5/30)

The Associated Press: Judge Considering Missouri Abortion Clinic License Case
A judge is deciding whether to ensure Missouri's only abortion clinic can keep its license past Friday, the latest development in a decades-long push by abortion opponents to get states to enact strict rules on the procedure. Like many states, Missouri over the years enacted a series of regulations, ranging from waiting periods before women can receive abortions to rules on the width of clinic doors. (5/30)

Politico: Even If Roe Is Upheld, Abortion Opponents Are Winning
Abortion is still legal in the United States, but for women in vast swaths of the country it’s a right in name only. Six states are down to only one abortion clinic; by the end of this week, Missouri could have zero. Some women seeking abortions have to travel long distances, and face mandatory waiting periods or examinations. On top of that, a new wave of restrictive laws, or outright bans, is rippling across GOP-led states like Alabama and Georgia. (Pradhan, Rayasam and Ravindranath, 5/30)

Los Angeles Times: Hollywood Is Rethinking Georgia, Sort Of. What Changed?
During the weeks after Georgia’s Republican Gov. Brian Kemp signed a new restrictive abortion law, it appeared the top corporate figures in Hollywood were prepared to sit on the sidelines as the court system wrangles with the matter. With its generous tax incentives, Georgia has become a filmmaking hub, hosting blockbuster films such as Marvel Studios’ “Black Panther” and shows such as Netflix’s “Stranger Things.” With so much at stake, none of the industry’s top decision-makers seemed willing to take much of a stand. That began to change this week. (Faughnder, 5/30)

NPR: Disney Doubts Production In Georgia Will Go On, If Abortion Law Takes Effect
WarnerMedia, Walt Disney Co. and NBCUniversal will consider stopping productions in Georgia should the state's new abortion law take effect, echoing a threat made this week by Netflix. WarnerMedia, which owns HBO, CNN and other channels, told NPR in a statement on Thursday, "We will watch the situation closely and if the new law holds we will reconsider Georgia as the home to any new productions." The company said it operates in many states and countries where it may not agree with leaders' stances but respects due process. (Ingber, 5/30)

KCUR: As Planned Parenthood Fights In Court To Keep Clinic Open, Activists Demand Abortion Access 
Lawyers for Planned Parenthood on Thursday told a St. Louis Circuit Court judge that Missouri health officials have delayed renewing a license to the state’s sole abortion provider by continually asking for additional information. In a hearing, Planned Parenthood’s lawyers asked Judge Michael Stelzer to issue a temporary restraining order barring the state Department of Health and Senior Services from denying to renew the license for its St. Louis clinic. That license expires at midnight Friday. (Fentem and Davis, 5/30)

KCUR: 10 Years After Dr. Tiller's Murder, Kansas' Abortion Rules Could Take Another Turn 
Exactly 10 years ago, on May 31, 2009, an anti-abortion zealot gunned down ob/gyn and reproductive rights advocate George Tiller as he was distributing literature in the foyer of his Wichita church. His murder marked the culmination of 18 years of militant anti-abortion protests that began with massive demonstrations in Wichita in June 1991. Protestors blockaded abortion clinics for weeks during the “Summer of Mercy,” police made more than 2,600 arrests and a judge ordered U.S. marshals to keep the gates of Tiller’s clinic open. (Margolies, 5/30)

The New York Times: Can An Abortion Affect Your Fertility?
The data tells us there is no link between abortion and future fertility when abortion is safe. Only abortions that are associated with complications could potentially impact future fertility. Medical complications that might lead to difficulties getting pregnant in the future include uterine injury from the procedure, infection and serious bleeding that requires surgery. (Gunter, 5/30)

The New York Times: A Nursing Home Chain’s Collapse Leaves The Government On The Hook
The cracks in the foundation of a Chicago nursing-home business began to appear almost immediately. The owners stopped making mortgage payments on their crown jewel, the Rosewood Care Centers, barely a year after buying it in 2013. Paperwork about the chain’s finances was never filed with the government. Some money meant for the 13 nursing homes and assisted-living facilities went to prop up another investment. (Goldstein, 5/31)

The Washington Post: Hundreds Of Minors Held At U.S. Border Facilities Are There Beyond Legal Time Limits
Many of the nearly 2,000 unaccompanied migrant children being held in overcrowded U.S. Border Patrol facilities have been there beyond legally allowed time limits, including some who are 12 or younger, according to new government data obtained by The Washington Post. Federal law and court orders require that children in Border Patrol custody be transferred to more-hospitable shelters no longer than 72 hours after they are apprehended. But some unaccompanied children are spending longer than a week in Border Patrol stations and processing centers, according to two Customs and Border Protection officials and two other government officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the unreleased data. (Hauslohner and Sacchetti, 5/30)

The Hill: Civil Rights Groups Sue Over Trump Foster Care Policies
Civil rights groups are filing a lawsuit against the Trump administration and the state of South Carolina, alleging the governments are making it easier for taxpayer-funded adoption and foster care agencies to discriminate against same-sex and non-evangelical couples. Thursday’s lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Lambda Legal was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina on behalf of a married lesbian couple. Eden Rogers and Brandy Welch were turned away by Miracle Hill Ministries, South Carolina’s largest state-contracted, federally-funded foster care agency. (Weixel, 5/30)

Politico: Third House Republican Blocks Massive Disaster Aid Package
Conservative House Republicans succeeded again Thursday in their campaign to derail passage of a $19.1 billion disaster aid package. Rep. John Rose (R-Tenn.) objected to passing the bill by voice vote. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who derailed the same measure earlier this week, was by Rose's side. The move means the measure will not be sent to President Donald Trump for his signature until the House returns from recess Monday and takes a roll call vote. (Scholtes, 5/30)

Stat: Minn. Tries Unusual Approach To Make Drug Makers Pay For The Opioid Crisis
Seeking to recover costs attributed to the opioid crisis, Minnesota has adopted a first-of-its kind law that requires drug makers and wholesalers that market the addictive painkillers to pay various fees. The move, which is expected to raise an estimated $20 million annually over the next five years, was designed to ensure the state has the financial means to pay for various services, such as addiction prevention and treatment, as a hedge against the outcome of lawsuits that Minnesota officials filed against various opioid makers. (Silverman, 5/30)

The Hill: New Jersey Sues Sackler Family For Alleged Role In Opioid Epidemic
New Jersey is suing the family that founded Purdue Pharma, alleging "deceptive" marketing practices that fueled the opioid epidemic. Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said his office filed the lawsuit Thursday against eight members of the Sackler family. “We allege that these eight defendants, despite knowing the highly addictive nature of their product, adopted highly deceptive marketing practices, encouraged reckless prescriptions and targeted multiple patient populations,” Grewal said. (Hellmann, 5/30)

Bloomberg: Too Many Medicines Simply Don’t Work 
It’s possible that the medicine you’re taking isn’t helping—even if it’s been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. That’s the upshot of a pair of studies in the latest issue of JAMA Internal Medicine. Not good. As an invited commentary in the same issue says, “Charging vulnerable patients for drugs without evidence that they actually improve patients’ survival and quality of life is unconscionable.” One study examines 93 cancer drug uses that were granted accelerated approval by the FDA between 1992 and 2017. Of those, only 19 showed improvement in overall survival. Another 39 showed improvement by a surrogate measure, such as tumor shrinkage. (Coy, 5/30)

The New York Times: Fighting The Gender Stereotypes That Warp Biomedical Research
Say you are prescribed medication for depression, anxiety or even just to sleep. Would you want to take it if you knew that the drug had only been tested on men and male animals? Rebecca Shansky, a neuroscientist at Northeastern University in Boston, thinks you might not. When she tells nonscientific audiences that researchers “for the most part don’t study female animals, people are blown away,” she said. She added: “It seems like such an obvious thing to a normal person. But when you come up in the academic and science world, it’s like, ‘Oh no, females are so complicated, so we just don’t study them.’” (Klein, 5/30)

Stat: Congress Wants A Single ALS Patient To Get A Therapy Never Tested In Humans
A family in Iowa believes the Food and Drug Administration will decide whether their only surviving daughter lives or dies, and they’ve been on a monthslong crusade to break through its bureaucracy. And they’re succeeding. Just last week, the FDA gave Jaci Hermstad, a 25-year old Iowan who is dying from a rare form of ALS, an early sign that she will receive the first dose of an experimental drug never before tested in humans. The FDA’s move, which was confirmed to STAT by Jaci’s family and doctor, is a breakthrough for the Hermstads. (Florko, 5/31)

Stat: More New Cancer Therapies Are Being Launched, But Spending Soars
As a closely watched meeting of cancer researchers gets under way in Chicago on Friday — call it Woodstock for oncologists — a new analysis finds that more cancer therapies have been launched recently than ever before, an unprecedented amount of clinical development is underway, and the spending is rising at double-digit rates. Specifically, last year saw a record 15 new oncology treatments launched for 17 tumor types, the pipeline of drugs in late-stage development expanded by 19% in 2018 alone and 63% since 2013, and the mean cost for the new medications last year exceeded $175,500. This was less than $209,400 in 2017, but above the nearly $143,600 mean from 2012 to 2018. (Silverman, 5/30)

The New York Times: Chest Binding Helps Smooth The Way For Transgender Teens, But There May Be Risks
It used to be that when a 13-year-old wanted a binder for school, it meant a trip to Staples. For today’s tweens and teens who identify as gender-nonconforming or transgender, shopping for a binder may mean a compression undergarment worn to flatten breasts. Made of thick spandex and nylon, binders resemble tight undershirts, creating a masculine profile. The American Academy of Pediatrics has estimated that 0.7 percent of 13- to 17-year-olds in the United States, about 150,000, identify as transgender. (Sohn, 5/31)

The New York Times: Stress Early In Pregnancy Tied To Lower Sperm Counts In Adult Sons
Stress early in pregnancy is associated with reduced sperm counts and lower testosterone levels in adult sons, a new study has found. The study, in Human Reproduction, included 643 men, 407 of whose mothers had been exposed to a stressful event within the first 18 weeks of pregnancy: death of a relative or friend, job loss, divorce, pregnancy concerns, marital problems, money issues or other stresses. (Bakalar, 5/30)

NPR: "I Am A Woman": Track Star Caster Semenya Continues Her Fight To Compete As A Female
This week, the Olympic champion runner Caster Semenya of South Africa filed an appeal in a case that hinges on her right to compete as a woman. It's the latest chapter in a fight that's gone on for years, and that raises thorny questions about fairness and ethics in sport. Semenya, 28, is a two-time gold medalist in the 800 meter event. She is asking the Swiss Federal Supreme Court to throw out a ruling issued earlier this month by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, or CAS, which is based in Lausanne. (Block, 5/31)

The Washington Post: State Sues E-Cigarette Maker, Says It Targets Youth Market
Massachusetts has sued a national retailer of electronic cigarette and vaping products, alleging the company violated state law by targeting minors for sales of its merchandise, Attorney General Maura Healey announced Thursday. The complaint filed in Suffolk Superior Court alleges that Clifton, New Jersey-based Eonsmoke LLC violated Massachusetts consumer laws by targeting underage consumers through its marketing and advertising, and failed to verify online buyers’ ages or ensure shipments were received by a person 21 or older, as the state requires. (Salsberg, 5/30)

The Washington Post: Gov. Hogan Calls On Regents To Probe U-Md.’s Handling Of Deadly Adenovirus Outbreak
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan is calling on the University System of Maryland Board of Regents to investigate the handling of an adenovirus outbreak last fall on the flagship College Park campus that killed an 18-year-old freshman and sickened more than 40 other students. Hogan, in a sharply worded letter sent Thursday morning to the university system’s governing board, said the circumstances surrounding the November death of Olivia Shea Paregol should be investigated immediately with specific attention paid to decision-making by university officials who waited 18 days to tell students about the presence of the virus. (Abelson, 5/30)

The Associated Press: Who Gets To Give Dietary Advice? Health Coach Fights Law
In California, Heather Del Castillo offered tips on natural eating as a health coach. But in Florida, the title didn't qualify her to give nutrition advice. After getting a complaint that she was working without a license, Florida officials sent a cease-and-desist order and fined her $750. Del Castillo sued, saying her free speech rights were violated. Now, a federal court is expected to rule on her lawsuit as other states weigh regulations on professional dietary advice. (5/30)

The Associated Press: Kansas Doctor To Pay Near $6M Settlement For False Billings
Federal prosecutors say a Wichita cardiologist has agreed to pay $5.8 million to settle claims that he and his medical group improperly billed federal health care programs for medically unnecessary cardiac stent procedures. The Justice Department said in a news release Thursday that Joseph Galichia and his medical group, Galichia Medical Group, also agreed to be banned for three years from participation in any federal health care program, such as Medicaid and Medicare. (5/30)

The Associated Press: Union: LA Officer Gets Typhoid Fever, 5 Others Show Symptoms
A Los Angeles police detective has been diagnosed with typhoid fever, a rare illness typically spread through contaminated food or water, and at least five other officers who work in the same station are showing symptoms, union officials said Thursday. The six officers work in the Central Division station, where a state investigation into unsafe and unsanitary working conditions led to penalties and more than $5,000 in fines earlier this month, documents show. (5/30)