First Edition: June 6, 2019
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Kaiser Health News:
On Campaign Trail, Joe Biden Highlights Nation’s Lack Of School Psychologists
Outlining his education platform on May 28, former vice president and 2020 Democratic presidential contender Joe Biden put the spotlight on an often-ignored mental health problem: kids’ access to mental health care. In a policy paper released at a town hall in Houston, Biden said, “The current school psychologist to student ratio in this country is roughly 1,400 to 1, while experts say it should be at most 700 to 1.” That matters because children’s mental health care issues are often detected in school settings. (Luthra, 6/5)
California Healthline:
Keeping Kids Healthy And Sane In A Digital World
Smartphones, tablets and video consoles can be addictive. They interfere with sleep. They draw kids into an alternate universe, often distracting them from more productive — and healthier — real-world activities. And they are linked to anxiety and depression, learning disabilities and obesity. That’s according to a growing body of research emphasizing the physical and psychological dangers of heavy screen use.“Nobody should spend eight or nine hours doing anything except sleeping and working,” says Dr. Sina Safahieh, medical director of ASPIRE, the teen mental health program run by Hoag Hospital in Orange County, Calif. (Wolfson, 6/5)
The New York Times:
Trump Administration Sharply Curtails Fetal Tissue Medical Research
The Trump administration announced Wednesday that the federal government would sharply curtail federal spending on medical research that uses tissue from aborted fetuses, mainly by ending fetal-tissue research within the National Institutes of Health. The move goes a long way toward fulfilling a top goal of anti-abortion groups that have lobbied hard for it; it is just the latest in a string of decisions that have pleased such groups. But scientists say the tissue is crucial for studies that benefit millions of patients. (Goodnough, 6/5)
Reuters:
Trump Administration Moves To End U.S. Research Using Fetal Tissue From Abortions
There are 200 external government-funded projects that use fetal tissue that will not be affected by the decision, an HHS spokeswoman said. The new policy affects three of NIH's 3,000 internal projects, she said, adding that they will be allowed to continue until fetal tissue material runs out. (Abutaleb, 6/5)
The Washington Post:
New Restriction On Fetal Tissue Research ‘Was The President’s Decision’
The determination to tighten federal support for an ideologically polarizing aspect of medical research was made by President Trump himself, a White House spokesman confirmed. “This was the president’s decision,” said spokesman Judd Deere, calling it “another important policy . . . to protect the dignity of human life.” The change represents a victory for antiabortion advocates, who immediately lauded the change, and a major disappointment to scientists who say the tissue collected from elective abortions has been instrumental to unlocking the secrets of diseases that range from AIDS to cancers to Zika, as well as to developing vaccines and treatments for illnesses such as Parkinson’s disease. (Goldstein, 6/5)
Politico:
Pushed By Anti-Abortion Groups, HHS Restricts Fetal Tissue Research
The new restrictions had been closely guarded and fiercely debated within the Trump administration. Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney and domestic policy chief Joe Grogan had pushed for the outright ban on NIH using fetal tissue obtained from abortion, said the two officials with knowledge of those conversations. HHS Secretary Alex Azar had argued for a less restrictive policy that would have allowed ongoing research on tissue acquired from research institutions, those officials told POLITICO. (Johnson and Diamond, 6/5)
The Wall Street Journal:
Trump Administration Puts New Limits On Fetal Tissue Research
Critics said the administration was caving to conservative religious groups at the expense of science. “Ideologues should not be allowed to stand in for real doctors and scientists when the government is making decisions about lifesaving medicine,” said Megan Donovan, senior policy manager at the Guttmacher Institute, a policy group that supports abortion rights. (Armour, 6/5)
The New York Times:
Joe Biden Still Backs Hyde Amendment, Which Bans Federal Funds For Abortions
Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., who has shunned today’s Democratic Party orthodoxy on issues from crime to compromising with Republicans, again broke with his party’s base and many of his campaign rivals on Wednesday when his campaign confirmed that he still backs the Hyde Amendment, a measure that prohibits the use of federal funds for abortion with exceptions for cases involving rape, incest and when the life of the mother is in danger. (Glueck, 6/5)
Los Angeles Times:
Joe Biden’s Opposition To Federal Funds For Abortion Brings First Big Fight Of His Campaign
The campaign statement came one month after Biden suggested in a conversation with a South Carolina voter that he had dropped his past support for the policy. “Biden misheard the woman on the rope line,” the campaign statement explained. “He has not at this point changed his position on the Hyde Amendment.” The statement added that he would be “open to repeal” if women lost access to abortion in the future — presumably because of a Supreme Court decision or other change in law. (Hook and Haberkorn, 6/5)
The Washington Post:
Abortion Rights Advocates Criticize Biden Over Support For Hyde Amendment
Biden, who is currently leading in early polls for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, would back repealing the amendment “if abortion avenues currently protected under Roe were threatened,” his campaign told NBC News. In a statement Wednesday, Ilyse Hogue, president of the abortion rights group NARAL, said there is “no political or ideological excuse” for Biden’s support for the amendment, which she said “translates into discrimination against poor women and women of color plain and simple.” “His position further endangers women and families already facing enormous hurdles and creates two classes of rights for people in this country, which is inherently undemocratic,” Hogue said. Stephanie Schriock, the president of Emily’s List, a political action committee that works to elect Democratic women who support abortion rights, also issued a statement calling it “unacceptable” for a major Democratic White House contender to support the Hyde Amendment. (Sonmez, 6/5)
The Hill:
Planned Parenthood Slams Biden Over Support For 'Discriminatory' Abortion Policy
Planned Parenthood's lobbying arm slammed former Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday for his support of the Hyde Amendment, which prevents federal money from being used to cover some abortion costs. The Planned Parenthood Action Fund (PPAF), the reproductive health organization's advocacy group, called the policy "discriminatory" and "strongly encouraged" Biden to rethink his position. (Frazin, 6/5)
The Wall Street Journal:
Biden’s Views On Abortion Draw Fresh Criticism And Expose Rift With Fellow Democrats
The criticism from abortion-rights organizations, a key Democratic constituency and a connection to women voters in the party, is the latest example of the former vice president’s lengthy political history complicating his pitch to members of his own party. Mr. Biden leads in early polling but has faced complaints from primary voters about some of his moderate views, stances that might damp turnout among rank-and-file Democrats in a general election matchup against President Trump. (Armour and Thomas, 6/5)
The Associated Press:
Dem Rivals Rebuke Biden For Not Backing Abortion Rule Repeal
The hedging prompted intraparty outcry, with top Democrats reaffirming their commitment to abortion rights and scrapping the Hyde Amendment. The pushback marked the first significant instance in which virtually the entire crowded 2020 field united to critique Biden, who has emerged as an early Democratic front-runner. (Weissert, Barrow and Schor, 6/5)
The New York Times:
Elizabeth Warren, On MSNBC, Calls Hyde Amendment An Assault On The ‘Most Vulnerable’ Women
Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, slowly gaining ground in the crowded Democratic presidential primary, appeared on MSNBC on Wednesday for a friendly town-hall event, which gave her ample opportunity to describe her signature policies and deliver some of her most reliable applause lines. But first came a question about the political news of the day: that former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. still supports the Hyde Amendment, which has banned federal funding for abortions since 1976. Several Democratic candidates, including Ms. Warren, had previously called for repealing the amendment, and Mr. Biden’s announcement brought more of them forward on Wednesday. When asked directly on air if Mr. Biden was wrong, Ms. Warren said yes. (Astor, 6/5)
The Hill:
2020 Democrats Distance Themselves From Biden Over Hyde Amendment
“There is #NoMiddleGround on women’s rights. Abortion is a constitutional right. Under my Medicare for All plan, we will repeal the Hyde Amendment,” Sanders, who has consistently finished second to Biden in polling, tweeted. "No woman's access to reproductive health care should be based on how much money she has. We must repeal the Hyde Amendment," Harris said. (Axelrod, 6/5)
Politico:
Biden Sets Off Storm For Supporting Abortion Funding Ban
Prominent liberals in Congress such as Progressive Caucus Co-Chairwoman Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) were visibly taken aback when asked about Biden's stand, though they held off criticizing Biden directly. "This is a constitutional right for women to be able to access abortions and be able to make decisions about their own bodies, and the things that get in the way of that — particularly for low-income women, for rural women, for women who live in states where those rights have been trampled on — is a serious issue for the entire country," Jayapal said. "I hope our presidential candidate will be bold about recognizing that.” (Ollstein, 6/5)
The Washington Post:
Feud Over Abortion Adds To Questions About Joe Biden’s Vulnerabilities
Biden’s stance that he supports a law sharply limiting the use of federal funds for abortions created one of the clearest indications yet of a growing division among Democrats and a feistiness in the field, which on Wednesday displayed newfound willingness to criticize the front-runner. Recent days have laid bare potential vulnerabilities for Biden, whose greatest strength has been the perception that he is the most electable candidate, and the extent to which he is testing the leftward Democratic Party thrust that is embraced by many of his opponents. (Viser, Lee and Johnson, 6/5)
The Associated Press:
North Carolina GOP Fails To Override 'Born Alive' Bill Veto
North Carolina Republicans failed on Wednesday to override Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper's veto of legislation that would have created a new crime against doctors and nurses who fail to care for an infant delivered during an unsuccessful abortion. Enough Democrats sided with Cooper to block the override, which required 72 votes of support. The vote was 67-53 in favor of the override. The Senate had voted to override in April. (Robertson, 6/5)
The New York Times:
North Carolina Legislature Fails To Overturn Governor’s Veto Of Anti-Abortion Bill
Doctors are already held to a 2002 federal law that protects fetuses that survive abortions. In a statement on Wednesday, Mr. Cooper reiterated his position that the bill, the so-called Born-Alive Survivors Protection Act, was redundant. “It’s important to protect the lives of all children, and laws already exist to protect newborn babies,” Mr. Cooper said. “Instead of passing unnecessary legislation for political purposes, we need to move on from divisive social issues and focus on the needs of North Carolina families: education, health care and good-paying jobs.” (Fausset, 6/5)
The Associated Press:
Wisconsin Legislature Sends Abortion Bills To Governor
Wisconsin's Republican-controlled Senate on Wednesday sent four abortion bills to Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who has promised to veto all of them. One measure addresses the extremely rare occurrence in which a baby is born alive during an abortion attempt. It would impose criminal penalties on doctors who fail to give medical care to such babies. Organizations representing obstetricians and gynecologists, along with Democratic opponents, say existing laws already provide protections to every healthy newborn, whether born during a failed abortion or under other circumstances. (Bauer and Richmond, 6/5)
The Associated Press:
AMC To Rethink Georgia Filming If Abortion Law Takes Effect
The network behind a show that's become part of Georgia's pop-culture fiber says it will "reevaluate" its activity in the state if a new abortion law goes into effect. "The Walking Dead" is an economic powerhouse and brings streams of tourists to the Georgia towns where it has been filmed. AMC Networks calls the abortion legislation "highly restrictive" and says in a statement it will be closely watching what's likely to be "a long and complicated fight" over the law. (Martin, 6/5)
NPR:
Early Abortion Bans: Which States Have Passed Them?
This year has brought an unprecedented wave of new state laws that only allow abortions to be performed early in pregnancy — if at all. Most of the new laws — known as early abortion bans — explicitly outlaw abortion when performed after a certain point early in the pregnancy. The laws vary, with some forbidding abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, and some after eight weeks. Alabama's law is the most extreme: It aims to outlaw abortion at any point, except if the woman's health is at serious risk. (Gordon and Hurt, 6/5)
The Associated Press:
2020 Hopeful Gillibrand Unveils Plan To Legalize Marijuana
Democratic presidential candidate Kirsten Gillibrand (KEER’-sten JIHL’-uh-brand) has a plan to legalize marijuana and expunge all nonviolent criminal charges associated with it. The New York senator says in a Medium post on Wednesday she’d work with Congress to decriminalize recreational marijuana use and tax nonprescription marijuana products. Gillibrand says she wants to use the proceeds to support job training and other programs for communities “disproportionately harmed by marijuana laws,” especially helping small businesses owned by women and minorities. (6/5)
The New York Times:
V.A. Prepares For Major Shift In Veterans’ Health Care
The Department of Veterans Affairs on Thursday will begin allowing a broad section of its nine million enrollees to seek medical care outside of traditional V.A. hospitals, the biggest shift in the American health care system since the passage of the Affordable Care Act nearly a decade ago. While department officials say they are ready, veterans groups and lawmakers on Capitol Hill have expressed concerns about the V.A., which has been dogged for years by problems with its computer systems. (Steinhauer, 6/5)
Modern Healthcare:
VA Finalizes Community Care Rule As Stakeholders Watch Warily
The Veterans Affairs Department finalized a rule spelling out which veterans are eligible for the new, expanded Community Care program mandated by Congress last year. It also issued a final rule granting veterans coverage for urgent care outside VA facilities, without prior VA approval but with a copayment. Under the Community Care rule issued Tuesday, veterans must be enrolled in the VA healthcare system and meet at least one of six conditions to be eligible for VA-paid care outside the VA system. There were no significant changes from the proposed rule issued in February. (Meyer, 6/5)
Reuters:
Trump Administration Suspends U.S. Educational Programs For Migrant Children
The Trump administration is suspending educational, legal and recreational programs for migrant children in its custody, saying an influx of children crossing the border without a parent or legal guardian was putting a "tremendous strain" on the resources of the agency tasked with housing them. The agency that houses migrant children - the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) - asked Congress for an additional $2.88 billion to increase shelter capacity, HHS spokeswoman Evelyn Stauffer said on Wednesday. ORR is part of the Department of Health and Human Services. (6/5)
The New York Times:
Migrant Children May Lose School, Sports And Legal Aid As Shelters Swell
The government’s plans were swiftly rebuked by civil rights lawyers representing unaccompanied children, who have been crossing the border in ever-larger numbers this year to flee poverty and violence in their home countries, mainly in Central America. And the chief of at least one large shelter operator said he would continue to offer education and sports at his network’s facilities. Some 13,200 migrant children, including adolescents who crossed the border alone and young children who were separated from their parents, are currently housed in more than 100 shelters across the country. (Jordan, 6/5)
Politico:
Liberals Fight Their Own Party Over Drug Prices
House Democratic leaders are facing deep skepticism from their progressive wing over a plan empowering the government to limit prices for some expensive prescription drugs — a rift that could hurt the party on an issue that has also been embraced by President Donald Trump. Liberal lawmakers and like-minded advocacy groups say the preliminary drug pricing plan pitched by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is far too timid a response to spiraling U.S. drug costs, and could fail to leverage the government’s massive purchasing power in demanding cheaper medicines. (Cancryn, 6/6)
The Hill:
House Democrats Plan Event To Scrutinize Trump's Mental Health
House Democrats plan to hold an event intended to highlight what they say is President Trump’s deteriorating mental health. House Budget Committee Chairman John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) said he and Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) will host Dr. Bandy Lee, a Yale School of Medicine psychiatrist who edited the best-selling book “The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump: Psychiatrists and Mental Health Experts Assess a President.” (Weixel, 6/5)
The New York Times:
Insys, The Opioid Drug Maker, To Pay $225 Million To Settle Fraud Charges
The opioid manufacturer Insys Therapeutics agreed to pay $225 million to settle federal criminal and civil charges that it illegally marketed a highly addictive fentanyl painkiller to doctors, federal prosecutors said on Wednesday. As part of the deal, a subsidiary of Insys will plead guilty to five counts of mail fraud and the company will pay a $2 million fine and $28 million in forfeiture, according to a statement from the United States attorney’s office in Massachusetts. The company will also pay $195 million to settle allegations that it violated the federal False Claims Act, which involves defrauding the federal government through drug sales to health care programs like Medicare. (Thomas, 6/5)
The Associated Press:
Opioid Maker Agrees To Pay $225M To Settle Federal Probes
The settlement stems from criminal and civil probes into Insys Therapeutics Inc.'s scheme to pay doctors in exchange for prescriptions of the drug meant for cancer patients with severe pain. It comes a month after Insys Founder John Kapoor and four other former executives of the Chandler, Arizona-based company were convicted of bribing doctors across the country to prescribe the drug known as Susbys. (Balsamo and Durkin Richer, 6/5)
The Washington Post:
Maker Of Addictive Fentanyl Spray Agrees To Pay $225 Million For Prescriptions-For-Cash Scheme
The release noted the story of a physician assistant who worked at a pain clinic in New Hampshire. The PA, who was not named, joined Insys’s program the second year the drug was on the market — he hadn’t written a prescription the first year it was — and wrote 672 prescriptions for Subsys, for which he received $44,000 in kickbacks, the release said. (Rosenberg, 6/5)
Reuters:
Ohio Doctor Charged With 25 Counts Of Murder For Giving Fatal Opioid Doses
An Ohio doctor was charged with 25 counts of murder for administering high and sometimes fatal doses of opioid painkillers to dozens of very sick patients, prosecutors said on Wednesday. The doctor, William Husel, turned himself in to Columbus police following a six-month long investigation into what Mount Carmel Hospital called his administration of "inappropriate" doses of fentanyl to patients, Franklin County prosecutor Ron O'Brien said at a news conference. (6/5)
The Associated Press:
Government To Start Posting List Of Troubled Nursing Homes
In a turnabout, the government said Wednesday it will start posting a list of some 400 troubled nursing homes , days after senators released the "secret" document along with a report questioning oversight of poor-quality facilities. Dr. Kate Goodrich, chief medical officer with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said the agency soon will post the list and update it regularly. She didn't set a date. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 6/5)
The Associated Press:
Medicaid Bought Sex Offenders' Erectile Dysfunction Drugs
Federal rules bar Medicaid coverage of sexual treatments for all recipients, not just sex offenders. Yet state Medicaid officials approved $930,000 in improper payments for the drugs between 2012 and 2018, according to the audit released by state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli and first reported by The Associated Press. (Klepper, 6/5)
North Carolina Health News:
Medicaid By The Numbers, 2019
Medicaid – the $14.6 billion health care program managed by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services – is one of the state’s biggest expenditures and funded with a mix of federal and state dollars. With size, however, comes complexity, and the particulars of the Medicaid program and how it affects the low-income seniors, disabled persons and children and their families can often become lost among the figures about growth and cost. (Ovaska-Few, 6/6)
Reuters:
U.S. Records 1,000th Case Of Measles, Officials Blame Misinformation For Outbreak
The United States has recorded 1,001 measles cases so far this year in the worst outbreak of the highly contagious disease in more than a quarter-century, federal health officials said on Wednesday as they issued a new plea for parents to vaccinate their children. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 61 new cases have been reported since May 27 of the sometimes deadly disease. It is the highest number of cases since 1992, when the CDC recorded 2,126 cases. (6/5)
The Washington Post:
New York Anti-Vaccine Event Attracts Pro-Vaccine Protests Amid Measles Outbreak
Anti-vaccine activists held their second rally here in several weeks Tuesday night, questioning vaccine safety in a community battling its worst measles outbreak in nearly 30 years, amid protests by health officials and pro-vaccine parents. The event, which barred reporters, featured conspiracy theorist Rabbi Hillel Handler and Del Bigtree, head of one of the nation’s most active anti-vaccine groups and producer of a film alleging the government suppressed a link between the measles vaccine and autism (studies involving hundreds of thousands of children have repeatedly disproved such a link). (Guarino and Sun, 6/5)
The Wall Street Journal:
Bill Ending Religious Exemptions On Vaccines Stalls In Albany
As the rate of new measles cases in New York City has slowed, so too has the momentum behind a legislative bill in Albany that would repeal the religious exemption to New York’s school vaccination requirements. The bill, which would repeal an exception to school vaccination requirements for parents’ “genuine and sincere religious beliefs,” has stalled in the health committee of the state Assembly with just two weeks left before the legislature breaks for the summer. (West, 6/5)
Los Angeles Times:
Hitting Paris Climate Goals Would Save 759 Lives In L.A. During Huge Heat Wave, Study Finds
For decades, climate scientists have been designing models to predict global warming’s long-term ecological effects: sea level rise, coral bleaching, extinctions of entire species. Researchers have now taken a step that hits closer to home, characterizing for the first time how various climate scenarios outlined in the Paris agreement could affect heat-related deaths in humans. (Baumgaertner, 6/5)
The New York Times:
Putting The Glam In Mammogram
When Shawna Peters, a cybersecurity recruiter in St. Paul, Minn., heard about a V.I.P. night including chair massages and goody bags with mints, lip balms and pedicure accessories, she signed right up. Nevermind that she’d have to get a mammogram to earn those perks. Mammograms are such a literal pain — unless you are the kind of person who likes having her breast smashed against squeezing plates — that Ms. Peters, 44, said she always puts off getting one. (Clifford, 6/6)
The Associated Press:
Alabama Bill: Chemical Castration For Some Sex Offenders
Some sex offenders in Alabama could be chemically castrated before being released on parole, under a bill approved by state lawmakers. Lawmakers gave final approval to the bill last week and sent it to Gov. Kay Ivey. Chemical castration involves taking medication that blocks testosterone production in order to decrease the person's sex drive. At least eight states allow the procedure — including California, Florida and Texas— but it is unclear how often it is used. (6/5)
The Washington Post:
Alabama Considers Chemical Castration For Child Sex Offenders
“Chemical castration” is a misnomer, as the process leaves the testes intact, can be reversed and does not prevent a man from reproducing. It does not guarantee a man’s sexual urge will be eliminated. (There’s no consensus on whether chemical castration would be effective for women.) Experts warn the treatment is not a panacea and should be used with caution. And there are few studies that attempt to determine the success rate of the treatment. A review of several of these studies shows that some found success in offenders who show sexual desire toward children. Others found no significant effect. (Iati, 6/5)
The Associated Press:
Top GOP Lawmakers Hold Up Nearly $10M For Kansas Prisons
Top Republican legislators on Wednesday blocked nearly $10 million that Kansas corrections officials argue they need to deal with prison overcrowding and said lawmakers might reject Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly's choice to be the prison system's next leader. The actions by Republican legislative leaders decrease the number of male inmates that the Department of Corrections can transfer for now to private prisons out of state and halt the agency's plans to move female inmates into empty space at a juvenile detention center in Topeka. (6/5)