First Edition: August 28, 2019

Kaiser Health News: In India’s Burgeoning Pain Market, U.S. Drugmakers Stand To Gain
Pain, like death, is a universal phenomenon. The sour grimace on the woman’s face, registering her bodily complaints to Dr. G.P. Dureja in his East Delhi office, would be recognized anywhere. Slouched shoulders, pinched forehead. She wore a willowy black kurta and cast a disapproving glance at the five pain physicians-in-training huddled behind Dureja, founder of Delhi Pain Management Centre and one of India’s pioneering pain physicians. (Varney, 8/28)

Kaiser Health News: In Rural Utah, Preventing Suicide Means Meeting Gun Owners Where They Are
A gun show might not be the first place you would expect to talk about suicide prevention — especially in a place like rural northeastern Utah, where firearms are deeply embedded in the culture. But one Friday at the Vernal Gun & Knife Show, four women stood behind a folding table for the Northeastern Counseling Center with precisely that in mind. Amid a maze of tables displaying brightly varnished rifle stocks, shotguns and the occasional AR-15 assault-style rifle, they waited, ready to talk with show attendees. (Neumann, 8/28)

NBC News: Purdue Pharma Offers $10-12 Billion To Settle Opioid Claims
The maker of OxyContin, Purdue Pharma, and its owners, the Sackler family, are offering to settle more than 2,000 lawsuits against the company for $10 billion to $12 billion. The potential deal was part of confidential conversations and discussed by Purdue's lawyers at a meeting in Cleveland last Tuesday, Aug. 20, according to two people familiar with the mediation. Brought by states, cities and counties, the lawsuits — some of which have been combined into one massive case — allege the company and the Sackler family are responsible for starting and sustaining the opioid crisis. (Strickler, 8/27)

The New York Times: Sacklers Would Give Up Ownership Of Purdue Pharma Under Settlement Proposal
The Sackler family would give up ownership of Purdue Pharma, the company blamed for much of the opioid epidemic, and pay $3 billion of their own money under terms of a settlement proposal to resolve thousands of federal and state lawsuits, according to a person familiar with the negotiations. The discussions have been going on for months as Purdue and the Sacklers have sought to prevent any new lawsuits against individual members of the family as well as their company. (Hoffman, 8/27)

Reuters: Purdue Pharma In Discussion On $10 Billion-$12 Billion Offer To Settle Opioid Lawsuits: Sources
The plan under discussion envisions Purdue restructuring into a for-profit "public benefit trust" that would last for at least a decade, one of the people familiar with the matter said. Purdue would contribute between $7 billion and $8 billion to the trust, with some of the money coming from the sales of its drugs, including those that combat opioid overdoses, the person said. Additional payments would come from the company's cash and insurance policies, the person said. Three experts would be approved by a bankruptcy judge as trustees who would select board members to run the trust, this person said. (Spector and DiNapoli, 8/28)

USA Today: OxyContin Maker Purdue Pharma Reportedly Offering Opioid Settlement Up To $12B
“While Purdue Pharma is prepared to defend itself vigorously in the opioid litigation, the company has made clear that it sees little good coming from years of wasteful litigation and appeals," the company said Tuesday in a statement. "The people and communities affected by the opioid crisis need help now. Purdue believes a constructive global resolution is the best path forward, and the company is actively working with the state attorneys general and other plaintiffs to achieve this outcome.” (Bomey, 8/27)

The Wall Street Journal: Purdue Pharma In Talks To Resolve Opioid Cases Through Bankruptcy
The company and plaintiffs’ lawyers face a Friday deadline to give an update on the talks to U.S. District Judge Dan Polster in Cleveland, who is overseeing the bulk of the opioid lawsuits and has been a strong proponent of settling the cases. State attorneys general, whose separate lawsuits aren’t in front of Judge Polster, also are involved in the discussions. (Randazzo and Hopkins, 8/27)

The Associated Press: OxyContin Maker, Government Attorneys In Settlement Talks
Paul Farrell Jr., a lead plaintiffs’ lawyer representing local governments, said all sides remain under a gag order: “All we can confirm is that we are in active settlement discussions with Purdue.”Attorneys general representing several states also confirmed the accelerated negotiations. Ohio Attorney General David Yost is “actively engaged in conversations with Purdue,” said spokeswoman Bethany McCorkle, declining further comment. (Welsh-Huggins, 8/28)

The Washington Post: OxyContin Maker Purdue Pharma, Sackler Family, Offer Up To $12B To Settle Opioid Suits
Purdue settled separately with Oklahoma for $270 million in March. In May, a North Dakota judge threw out that state’s lawsuit against the company. Purdue is widely blamed for sparking the prescription opioid crisis in the United States with the introduction of OxyContin in 1996, followed by an aggressive marketing effort that persuaded doctors to prescribe it more widely and at higher doses. (Bernstein and Higham, 8/27)

The New York Times: Johnson & Johnson’s Brand Falters Over Its Role In The Opioid Crisis
In the 1980s, Johnson & Johnson needed a reliable supply of opium for a popular product, Tylenol with codeine. So the health care conglomerate, better known for baby shampoo and Band-Aids, bought a business that grew and processed opium poppies in faraway Tasmania, off the coast of Australia. By 2015, at the height of the nation’s opioid epidemic, Johnson & Johnson was the leading supplier for the raw ingredients in painkillers in the United States. It even developed a special strain of poppy, called Norman, that produced a core painkilling agent used in OxyContin, which would become Purdue Pharma’s blockbuster drug. (Thomas and Hsu, 8/27)

The Wall Street Journal: J&J Shares Buoyed By Opioid Judgment Seen As Light
Larry Biegelsen, an analyst at Wells Fargo & Co., wrote in a note to clients after speaking with Johnson & Johnson management that the verdict is a “net positive” for the New Brunswick, N.J., company, because of how much less it was when compared with the $17.5 billion requested by the Oklahoma attorney general. Analysts at Raymond James Equity Research said they were disappointed with Judge Balkman’s decision, adding that if J&J were skilled at convincing physicians to prescribe their drug, then its market share would be higher than 1%. Both analysts rate the company “outperform.” (Hopkins, 8/27)

The Associated Press: As Opioid Settlements Grow, So Do Questions About The Money
Oklahoma's legal fight against the opioid industry has racked up settlements and judgments of nearly $1 billion, but as the numbers keep rising, so do concerns over how that money will be spent. Experts say the $572 million judgment issued Monday against consumer products giant Johnson & Johnson could pay for a year's worth of statewide drug-treatment efforts. But the company has already announced plans to appeal, which could tie up the money for years. Meanwhile, addiction counselors worry about when their clients might get more help. (Murphy, 8/27)

Stat: The J&J Opioid Case In Oklahoma Darkens The Outlook For Other Drug Companies
Now that an Oklahoma state court judge has ruled Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) must pay $572 million to the state for contributing to the opioid crisis there, Wall Street is engaged in a parlor game seeking to answer a key question: How will this decision affect the massive amount of litigation elsewhere? Sorting this out takes us in a number of directions because there are lawsuits filed against different drug makers in different states, along with a huge case consolidated in a federal court in Cleveland. There are also varying legal issues in play, increasing pressure to reach settlements, and uncertainty about the extent to which drug companies have the ability to reach any number of deals. (Silverman, 8/27)

The Associated Press: 2 Largest Settlements Yet Add $9M Over Deaths Tied To Doctor
The Ohio hospital system that found an intensive care doctor ordered excessive painkillers for about three dozen patients who died has reached settlements totaling $9 million in lawsuits over two deaths, which would be the highest known payouts so far in the related wrongful-death lawsuits. The latest cases settled by the Columbus-area Mount Carmel Health System alleged Dr. William Husel ordered drugs that caused the death of 58-year-old Donald McClung last September and hastened the death of 75-year-old Rebecca Walls in November, according to court records. (Franko, 8/27)

The New York Times: Why This Joe Biden Health Care Ad Stands Out
Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s presidential campaign on Tuesday made an extraordinarily emotional appeal for his candidacy and his health care proposal through a new ad that highlights his struggles with grief and family loss, a message that reminds voters of the good will and empathy many have for the former vice president while accentuating one of his central policy goals. In the 60-second television spot, called “Personal,” Mr. Biden tells the stories of his family tragedies that he often shares on the campaign trail as he discusses the importance of health care access. But the ad is striking for the wrenching images of Mr. Biden with his two sons who survived a car crash that killed his first wife and a daughter in 1972. One of those children, Beau Biden, would die of cancer in 2015, a development that drew widespread sympathy in Washington and around the country toward the end of Mr. Biden’s second term in the Obama administration. (Glueck, 8/27)

The Associated Press: Biden Health Plan Aims Far Beyond Legacy Of 'Obamacare'
Wrapping himself in the legacy of "Obamacare," Joe Biden is offering restless Democrats a health care proposal that goes far beyond it, calling for a government plan almost anybody can join but stopping short of a total system remake. Recent polls show softening support for the full government-run system championed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, and Biden is pitching his approach in a new ad aimed at Democrats in Iowa. His "public option" would give virtually everyone the choice of a government plan like Medicare, as an alternative to private coverage, not a substitute. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 8/27)

The Washington Post: Biden Knocks Trump, Democratic Rivals In New TV Ad Touting Affordable Care Act
Health care has emerged as a fault line in the Democratic primary debate, with Biden calling for building upon President Barack Obama’s signature achievement while other leading candidates, including Sens. Bernie Sanders (Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), advocate for a Medicare-for-all single-payer plan. In his 60-second spot, Biden highlights the importance to his family of having had health insurance at key moments as well as the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010 while he was vice president. (Wagner, 8/27)

Politico: Poll: Dems More Likely To Support Candidate Who Backs Medicare For All Over Fixing Obamacare
As the Democratic presidential field continues to grapple with plans to address health care, a significant majority of Democratic voters are more likely to back a 2020 primary candidate who supports “Medicare for All” than building on the Affordable Care Act, a new poll found. According the POLITICO/Morning Consult poll out Wednesday, 65 percent of Democratic primary voters would be more likely to support a candidate who wants to institute a single-payer health care system like Medicare for All; 13 percent said they’d be less likely to back a candidate based on that support. (Oprysko, 8/28)

The Hill: 2020 Democrats Sit For Interviews With Health Care Activist
A slate of Democrats running for president in 2020 are sitting down for interviews with activist Ady Barkan to discuss health care policies as the party’s presidential primary heats up. Barkan, who was diagnosed with ALS in 2016 and has garnered social media fame with his activism fighting for more affordable health insurance, said the current primary is not engendering substantial discussions or plans on the topic. (Axelrod, 8/27)

The New York Times: Philip Morris And Altria Are In Talks To Merge
The tobacco giants Philip Morris International and the Altria Group are in talks to reunite, the companies said on Tuesday, in a deal that would combine the most popular brands of both traditional and electronic cigarettes. The merger would be a boost for Altria’s investment in Juul, the e-cigarette juggernaut. Juul has been trying to expand overseas, but it lacks the global distribution network of Philip Morris, which has grown since it was spun off from Altria in 2008. (Kaplan, 8/27)

The Associated Press: A Decade After A Split, The Marlboro Men Seek A Reunion
Philip Morris said Tuesday that there is no guarantee of success in what would be an all-stock deal. But analysts said the merger is likely to pass muster with anti-trust regulators. Both companies have been investing in alternatives to traditional cigarettes amid declining use. The companies are already partnering on the U.S. launch of a heat-not-burn cigarette alternative, iQOS, made by Philip Morris. Separately, Altria has taken a roughly $13 billion-dollar stake in vaping giant Juul, betting on more smokers switching to electronic cigarettes. (Perrone, 8/27)

Politico: Mystery Youth Vaping Disease Reveals Gaping Holes In Regulation
A mysterious outbreak of critical lung disease in scores of teenagers and young adults is forcing federal agencies to grapple with a vast, nearly unregulated market of nicotine- and marijuana-based vaping products. At least 193 potential cases, including one death, have been reported to the federal government this summer. Yet since the first case was logged in June, agencies have released no product recalls, nor any details or broad public awareness campaigns about which specific vaping products might be causing the illness. (Owermohle, Ehley and Roubein, 8/27)

The Associated Press: Utah Investigates 21 Cases Of Lung Disease Linked To Vaping
Utah health officials say they are investigating 21 cases of a severe lung disease linked to vaping. The state Department of Health announced the new number Monday, a jump from the five cases in teenagers and young adults reported last week. The department says the cases stem from the use of a mix of nicotine and marijuana electronic cigarette products. (8/27)

The Associated Press: North Carolina Prosecutor Expands Fight Against Youth Vaping
North Carolina's top prosecutor expanded his efforts to halt e-cigarette sales to teens on Tuesday by suing eight more manufacturers and sellers of vaping products. Josh Stein, the Democratic attorney general in the traditionally tobacco-friendly state, said he's filing lawsuits against eight companies that make or sell e-cigarettes and related products in an announcement timed to grab attention during the first week of school. (Drew, 8/27)

Reuters: Missouri Ban On Abortion After Eight Weeks Temporarily Blocked By U.S. Judge
A U.S. federal judge on Tuesday blocked Missouri from enforcing a law banning abortion in the state after eight weeks of pregnancy except in cases of medical emergency, acting just a day before the law was set to take effect. U.S. District Judge Howard Sachs in Kansas City temporarily halted the law, pending litigation or a further order of the court, saying it would negatively impact the rights of hundreds of women. (8/27)

CNN: Judge Blocks Missouri 8-Week Abortion Ban
"The various sections specifying prohibitions on abortions at various weeks prior to viability cannot be allowed to go into effect on August 28, as scheduled," writes US District Judge Howard Sachs in an 11-page opinion. "However formulated, the legislation on its face conflicts with the Supreme Court ruling that neither legislative or judicial limits on abortion can be measured by specified weeks or development of a fetus; instead, 'viability' is the sole test for a State's authority to prohibit abortions where there is no maternal health issue," Sachs wrote. (Kelly, 8/27)

The Washington Post: Federal Judge Blocks Missouri’s 8-Week Abortion Ban A Day Before It Would Have Gone Into Effect
Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri sued the state, saying the law was unconstitutional and contrary to the Roe v. Wade decision. The Missouri law signed in May would ban abortions before many women know they are pregnant, with no exceptions for rape or incest, making it one of the strictest in the country. If the court doesn’t uphold the ban, the bill includes less-strict bans ranging from 14 weeks to 20 weeks, the Associated Press reported. (Horton, 8/27)

The Wall Street Journal: Missouri Judge Temporarily Blocks Eight-Week Abortion Ban
Lawyers said the eight-week ban would have a devastating effect and cause irreparable harm to clinics and patients. “What little abortion access in Missouri is left will stay in place for the time being,” Alexis McGill Johnson, Planned Parenthood’s acting president and chief executive, said in a statement Tuesday. (Calfas, 8/27)

The Associated Press: Federal Judge Blocks Missouri's 8-Week Abortion Ban
Missouri already has some of the nation's most restrictive abortion regulations. A clinic in St. Louis is the only one in the state that performs abortions. Sachs' ruling says allowing the eight-week abortion ban to be enforced would have blocked about half of reported abortions in Missouri. The judge wrote that it would amount to "significant interference with plaintiffs' service and the rights of its prospective patients." (Ballentine and Stafford, 8/27)

The Associated Press: Oregon Won't Use Federal Funds For Family Planning Clinics
Oregon's health care agency said Tuesday it will no longer use federal dollars to fund family planning clinics because of new Trump administration rules that impose additional hurdles for women seeking abortion. Patrick Allen, director of the Oregon Health Authority, said in a statement that banning taxpayer-funded clinics from making abortion referrals — as the newly implemented federal rules require — would cause Oregon to violate its own laws on reproductive care. (Flaccus, 8/27)

Reuters: U.S. FDA Grants Orphan Drug Status To AstraZeneca's Asthma Drug Fasenra
AstraZeneca said on Wednesday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted orphan drug status for its drug to treat eosinophilic esophagitis and unveiled positive results from a late-stage trial on a triple-drug therapy targeting a severe lung disease. Fasenra would treat allergic oesophagitis, an allergic inflammatory disease of the esophagus. The health regulator grants orphan status to drugs that are intended to treat and prevent rare diseases or disorders that affect fewer than 200,000 people in the U.S. (8/28)

The Wall Street Journal: Trump Administration To Divert Hurricane Relief Funds For Border Detention
The Trump administration plans to use $271 million of Department of Homeland Security funds, including some designated to help hurricane-stricken areas, to detain and remove immigrants who cross the southern U.S. border illegally. DHS plans to divert money that lawmakers had designated for other purposes at the agency to increase its capacity to handle people crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, many of whom are Central Americans seeking asylum from violence in their home countries. (Andrews and Hackman, 8/27)

The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Task Force To Recommend Wider Screening For Hepatitis C
Adults of a wide range of ages should be screened for hepatitis C, according to a new draft recommendation from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force that could greatly expand the number of people treated for the disease. The independent panel of volunteer experts, backed by the government, aims to recommend that all adults ages 18-79 undergo screening for hepatitis C, a viral infection that can damage the liver and lead to long-term and potentially fatal health problems including cirrhosis and liver cancer. (Abbott, 8/27)

The Washington Post: Heart Disease Progress Is Slowing Or Stalling, Study Says. Obesity Is Likely To Blame.
Progress in reducing the number of deaths related to cardiovascular disease has been waning in recent years, heightening concerns that the obesity epidemic in the United States is undoing improvements in heart health. A research letter published Tuesday in Journal of the American Medical Association confirms that although the death rates from heart disease, diabetes, stroke and related disorders have been decreasing for decades, the rates have recently slowed or stalled. (Bever, 8/27)

The Wall Street Journal: Mayo Clinic Uses AI To Glean Patients’ Overall Health From EKG Heart Test
Artificial intelligence could help doctors learn more than the condition of a patient’s heart from an electrocardiogram: Applying AI to the heart test data could indicate overall health status, researchers at the Mayo Clinic have discovered. (McCormick, 8/28)

The New York Times: For A Longer Life, Get Moving. Even A Little.
Men and women who move around throughout the day, even if they just stroll or clean the kitchen and do not formally exercise, are less likely to die prematurely than people who almost never leave their chairs, according to a heartening new study of physical activity and mortality. The study, the largest of its kind to date, finds that any activity, no matter how modest, can reduce mortality risks, with some of the greatest gains seen when people shift from being almost completely sedentary toward rising and ambling for even an extra hour each day. (Reynolds, 8/28)

Reuters: U.S. To States: School Lunch Changes None Of Your Business
As schools begin reopening their doors to children nationwide, the U.S. government has told a federal judge that states have no power to sue over new rules they say make school meals less healthy. In a Monday night court filing, the government said New York, five other states and Washington, D.C., could not sue based on speculation that changes to the federally funded National School Lunch Program could cause health problems for children and require more spending on treatment. (Stempel, 8/27)

The New York Times: Do You Have Low Testosterone? Many Companies Would Like You To Think So
“When I took a testosterone test, I got my score and panicked,” said Eugene, a 42-year-old film director and editor in Beverly Hills who started noticing hair and energy loss in 2016 and realized he was suffering from low testosterone. That’s when he started a two-year regimen of DHEA, a supplement that promises to boost testosterone, taking the pills daily. “Unfortunately, I didn’t notice much of a change,” he said. His doctor told him to stop taking any supplements. (Popescu, 8/28)

NPR: Researching Medical Marijuana May Soon Get Easier
Researchers hoping to study marijuana for scientific and medical purposes are one step closer to expanding their limited supply of the plant. This week, the federal government announced it would begin processing dozens of pending applications for permission to cultivate the plant for scientific research. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's decision comes after several years of delay for some applicants and a lawsuit filed against the agency by one cannabis researcher. (Stone, 8/27)

The New York Times: The Deadly Toll Of Air Pollution
Air pollution, even at modest levels, is deadly. An international team of researchers used data from 652 cities in 24 countries to correlate levels of particulate matter pollution with day-to-day mortality rates. They measured the concentrations of two microscopic particles of soot, PM 2.5 and PM 10, particles small enough to enter the lungs or the bloodstream. (Bakalar, 8/27)

NPR: The Scientific Debate Over Teens, Screens And Mental Health
More teens and young adults — particularly girls and young women — are reporting being depressed and anxious, compared with comparable numbers from the mid-2000s. Suicides are up too in that time period, most noticeably among girls ages 10 to 14. (Kamenetz, 8/27)

NPR: 'Vagina Bible' Dispels Myths And Marketing Schemes In A Guide To Women's Bodies
Hey, women: Dr. Jen Gunter wants you to understand your own vagina. The California gynecologist is on a quest to help women get the facts about their own bodies. It isn't always easy. In an era of political attacks on women's reproductive choices and at a time when Internet wellness gurus are hawking dubious pelvic treatments, getting women evidence-based information about their health can be a challenge, she says. (Gordon, 8/27)

The Associated Press: VA Investigating Patient Deaths At West Virginia Hospital
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs said Tuesday it is investigating allegations of “potential wrongdoing” resulting in multiple patient deaths at a VA hospital in West Virginia. VA Inspector General Michael J. Missal said in a statement his office has been looking with federal law enforcement into allegations at the Louis A. Johnson VA Medical Center in Clarksburg. Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, a member of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, said in a statement he “will do everything in my power to investigate these accusations and get to the bottom of what happened.” (8/27)

The Associated Press: Hampton VA Medical Center Gets New Director
A 28-year veteran of the Navy Medical Service Corps will be the new director of the Hampton Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Virginia. The Daily Press reports David Collins’ hiring was announced Tuesday by VA’s Mid-Atlantic Health Care Network, which covers veteran’s hospitals in Virginia and North Carolina. He’ll oversee care at the hospital and outpatient clinics in Virginia Beach and Elizabeth City, North Carolina. (8/28)

The Associated Press: New Jersey Court Ruling Lets Assisted Suicide Go Ahead
New Jersey can move ahead with a new law allowing terminally ill patients to seek life-ending drugs, a state appeals court ruled Tuesday, overturning a lower court's temporary hold on the law. Judges Carmen Messano and Arnold Natali ruled Tuesday that a state Superior Court "abused its discretion" in blocking the law earlier this month. (Catalini, 8/27)

The Washington Post: Appeals Court Rules Idaho Prison Must Provide Adree Edmo’s Gender Confirmation Surgery
Adree Edmo is one step closer to becoming the first inmate to receive a gender confirmation surgery in Idaho as the result of a court order. After years of struggling with her gender identity, attempting suicide and trying to castrate herself twice in an all-male Idaho prison, a court ruled that Edmo should be provided the surgery. After that, she will serve the remainder of her sentence at a women’s correctional facility. (Beachum, 8/27)

The Washington Post: Florida Nursing Home Employees Charged With Manslaughter In Deaths Of 12 In Sweltering Facility
Four employees of a South Florida nursing home where a dozen people died amid sweltering heat in September 2017 were arrested and charged with manslaughter and tampering with evidence, police said Tuesday. In announcing the charges, police officials assailed the four employees — the facility’s administrator and three nurses — and said the deaths were all avoidable and due to their behavior. (Berman, 8/27)

Los Angeles Times: Audit Finds Deep Failures At LAHSA, L.A.'s Top Homeless Agency
The homeless outreach agency that was meant to move hundreds of people from the streets into housing, shelters or treatment for mental illness and substance abuse has failed dramatically to meet the goals of its contract with the city of Los Angeles, according to an audit set to be released Wednesday by Controller Ron Galperin. The audit found that, despite having more than doubled its staff of outreach workers in the last two years, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority missed seven of nine goals during the 2017-18 fiscal year and five of eight last fiscal year. (Smith, 8/27)

Los Angeles Times: Homeless Man Burned To Death In Skid Row Area
A homeless man was burned to death on skid row on Monday night, and Los Angeles police have captured one suspect in connection with the gruesome killing, authorities said late Tuesday. The incident occurred near 6th and San Pedro streets about 11:30 p.m. Monday, according to Capt. Gisselle Espinoza, a Los Angeles Police Department spokeswoman. (Queally, 8/27)

Los Angeles Times: Amid Scandals, USC Continues Reputation Reboot With New Provost Appointment
As it navigates a raft of high-profile scandals, the University of Southern California has selected a new provost and second-in-command: Charles F. Zukoski, an accomplished chemical engineer and the current provost of the University at Buffalo. President Carol L. Folt announced her choice on Tuesday, marking her most significant appointment since taking over the helm of USC this summer and pledging to rapidly address the university’s challenges. (Hamilton, 8/27)