First Edition: February 3, 2020

Kaiser Health News: Why Home Health Care Is Suddenly Harder To Come By For Medicare Patients
The decision came out of the blue. “Your husband isn’t going to get any better, so we can’t continue services,” an occupational therapist told Deloise “Del” Holloway in early November. “Medicare isn’t going to pay for it.” The therapist handed Del a notice explaining why the home health agency she represented was terminating care within 48 hours. “All teaching complete,” it concluded. “No further hands on skilled care. Wife states she knows how to perform exercises.” (Graham, 2/3)

Kaiser Health News: As VA Tests Keto Diet To Help Diabetic Patients, Skeptics Raise Red Flags
A partnership between the Department of Veterans Affairs and Silicon Valley startup Virta Health Corp. is focusing attention on the company’s claim that it provides treatment “clinically-proven to safely and sustainably reverse type 2 diabetes” without medication or surgery. The assertion is at the heart of an ongoing debate about the keto diet’s effect on diabetes. Some diabetes experts are skeptical of Virta’s promise and are expressing concerns that the company’s partnership with the federal government is giving the diet too much credence. (Craven, 2/3)

California Healthline: Public Health Officials Offer Scant Details On U.S. Coronavirus Patients
Disclosure this week of an eighth case in the United States of a new viral infection emerging from China — in addition to the first confirmed case of the virus passing from person to person in this country — is fueling public concerns about how easily the deadly virus can spread. It is also raising pointed questions about why authorities aren’t disclosing more information about the risk of exposure. (Barry-Jester and Almendrala, 1/31)

The New York Times: Trump Defends Closing Borders To Travelers To Fight Coronavirus
President Trump defended a decision that would bar foreign nationals who had recently visited China from entering the United States as his administration continued to assess the growing threat of a coronavirus outbreak. Sitting with the Fox News personality Sean Hannity, Mr. Trump used a roughly nine-minute interview taped on Saturday evening at Mar-a-Lago, his private club in Florida, and broadcast on Sunday as an opportunity to condense his usual rally-speak into Super Bowl pregame chatter. The topics included the virus, his impeachment and quick-paced insults of his potential 2020 rivals. (Rogers, 2/2)

Reuters: U.S. Declares Coronavirus A Public Health Emergency
The Trump administration on Friday declared a public health emergency over the coronavirus outbreak and said it would bar entry to the United States starting on Sunday of foreign nationals who have traveled to China. U.S. citizens who have traveled to China's Hubei Province within the last 14 days will be subject to a mandatory 14-day quarantine, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar told a media briefing at the White House on Friday. (2/1)

The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Imposes Entry Restrictions Over Coronavirus
At the same time, Mr. Azar sought to minimize fears about the virus spreading further in the U.S. “I hope that people will see that their government is taking responsible steps to protect them,” he said at a White House briefing. “The risk is low…but our job is to keep that risk low.” There are seven confirmed cases in the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said, while 191 other people are being checked for possible infection, HHS officials said. The number of people infected in China approached 12,000 as the death toll from the pneumonia-causing virus rose to 259 as of late Friday, according to China’s National Health Commission. (Leary and Abbott, 1/31)

The Washington Post: State Department Tells Citizens ‘Do Not Travel’ To China; World Health Organization Declares Coronavirus Outbreak A Global Health Emergency
The State Department heightened its travel advisory for China on Thursday, urging citizens not to travel there due to the rapid spread of coronavirus. The announcement came hours after the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a “public health emergency,” setting in motion a plan for global coordination to stem the spread of the virus, which originated last month in Wuhan, China. (Denyer, Sun, Berger, Taylor and Iati, 1/30)

NPR: Trump Declares Coronavirus A Public Health Emergency And Restricts Travel From China
In their Friday remarks, federal health officials pointed to the fast global spread of the virus as justification for the move. The World Health Organization declared a global health emergency on Thursday. U.S. officials also tried to explain their reasoning for an intense focus on this outbreak, which so far has not led to any deaths in the U.S., though it has led to more than 250 in China. (Aubrey, 1/31)

Politico: White House Seeks To Calm U.S. Fears Over Wuhan Coronavirus
White House national security adviser Robert O’Brien on Sunday sought to quell fears over the Wuhan coronavirus, saying the outbreak poses “low risk” now in the United States. “Right now there's no reason for Americans to panic. This is something that is a low risk, we think in the U.S,” O’Brien said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” (Cammarata, 2/2)

The Washington Post: More Than 11,800 People In China Have Been Diagnosed With Coronavirus, The Country’s Health Experts Confirm; U.S. To Deny Entry To Foreign Nationals Who Recently Visited China And Quarantine Returning Americans
Following a quarantine order issued Friday, which government officials said was last used in the 1960s, evacuees held at a base in California will have their movements tightly controlled for 14 days after they left China because health experts are still uncertain about how readily the virus spreads. (Mahtani, Sun, Berger, Taylor and Iati, 1/31)

NPR: Coronavirus: CDC Puts Americans Who Left Wuhan Into 'Unprecedented' 14-Day Quarantine
"This is the first time in over 50 years that CDC has issued a quarantine order," said Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the CDC. "While we understand this action may seem drastic, our goal today, tomorrow and always continues to be the safety of the American public." (Chappell, 1/31)

The Washington Post: Dulles Is Among Airports At Which All China Flights Will Arrive, DHS Says
Virginia’s Dulles International Airport was named by the federal government Sunday as one of the 11 airports through which all flights from China and passengers who have been in China recently will be routed. The measure is part of what the Department of Homeland Security said is a plan to protect Americans against the coronavirus that originated in China. (Weil, 2/3)

Reuters: China Says Coronavirus Death Toll Rises To 361, Confirmed Cases 17,205
The total number of deaths from a coronavirus epidemic in China rose to 361 as of Sunday, up 57 from the previous day, the National Health Commission said. It said 56 of the new deaths were in Hubei province, and one in the municipality of Chongqing. (2/3)

The Associated Press: DHS: New Screening To Begin Amid Coronavirus Concerns
As the U.S. steps up its response to the coronavirus outbreak, the Department of Homeland Security is warning airline passengers that their flights may wind up rerouted if officials discover mid-flight that someone onboard has been in China in the last 14 days. And Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said a “handful” of flights will be heading to China to bring Americans back home from Hubei Province, which is at the heart of the outbreak. (2/2)

Stat: To Fight Coronavirus Spread, U.S. May Expand 'Social Distancing' Measures
Canceling large public gatherings. Asking students to stay home from school. Closing down borders. Many places around the world have already implemented such drastic steps in response to the new coronavirus outbreak that originated in China and has spread to at least 27 territories outside mainland China. If the U.S., which has 11 cases so far, begins to see sustained human-to-human transmission, health officials may also have to rapidly step up their own use of “social distancing” measures to prevent further spread. (Chakradhar, 2/3)

Reuters: Biden Slams Trump For Cutting Health Programs Before Coronavirus Outbreak
Democratic presidential contender Joe Biden on Friday criticized President Donald Trump for reducing U.S. oversight of global health issues before the coronavirus outbreak in China, which has spread rapidly to several countries including the United States. "We have, right now, a crisis with the coronavirus," said Biden, who is in Iowa campaigning before the Midwestern farm state holds Democrats' first nominating contest on Monday. (Hunnicutt, 2/1)

The Washington Post: Get A Grippe, America. The Flu Is A Much Bigger Threat Than Coronavirus, For Now.
The rapidly spreading virus has closed schools in Knoxville, Tenn., cut blood donations to dangerous levels in Cleveland and prompted limits on hospital visitors in Wilson, N.C. More ominously, it has infected as many as 26 million people in the United States in just four months, killing up to 25,000 so far. In other words, a difficult but not extraordinary flu season in the United States, the kind most people shrug off each winter or handle with rest, fluids and pain relievers if they contract the illness. But this year, a new coronavirus from China has focused attention on diseases that can sweep through an entire population, rattling the public despite the current magnitude of the threat. (Bernstein, 2/1)

The New York Times: ‘Scared And Panicked’: Travelers Rush To Avoid Virus Quarantine
Amid canceled flights, tightening global travel restrictions and looming plans to quarantine Americans returning from China, the tension at a handful of airports still receiving flights from the country mounted on Sunday as travelers described a scramble for the few remaining tickets out of China and federal officials readied military bases to house hundreds of people potentially exposed to the deadly coronavirus. “It feels like trying to leave Paris in 1940 or something — there’s a bit of panic settling in,” said Jeffrey Phillips, 41, who was unsure when his wife, Sue, would be able to return to the United States after a trip to visit her family in China. (Lin, Fuller and Fausset, 2/1)

The Wall Street Journal: Experts Race To Figure Out How Contagious The Coronavirus Is
Public-health experts around the world have been crunching numbers about the advance of China’s dangerous new coronavirus to estimate how far and fast it could spread. Studies published in recent days say the new virus appears to be more contagious than seasonal flu and on par with the similar pathogen behind an outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome in 2002 and 2003. The new virus’ mortality rate, however, is far below that of SARS. (Deng and Page, 2/2)

The Associated Press: Medical Professionals Battle Virus Misinformation Online
Dr. Rose Marie Leslie, a family physician at the University of Minnesota, is fighting misleading and false information around a virus outbreak with the very tool used to spread much of it: social media. Leslie turned to TikTok, a platform popular with teens, to share her videos offering facts about the respiratory virus originating in China, which has so far sickened nearly 10,000 people. As of Friday, the videos had raked in more than 3 million views. (Dupuy, 1/31)

Los Angeles Times: Coronavirus Fears Prompt Hoaxes And Misinformation
Residents of an off-campus housing complex near USC got a scare Monday night in the form of an email. The message from the manager of the Lorenzo apartments stated that a tenant had contracted the new strain of coronavirus that’s caused 304 deaths in China. A unit on the seventh floor of the building was cordoned off with caution tape, and someone was loaded into an ambulance outside, said Frank Zhu, 20, a USC sophomore who lives at the complex. (Wigglesworth, 2/2)

The Washington Post: Kimchi, Cow Poop And Other Spurious Coronavirus Remedies
The new coronavirus has killed more than 300 people in China and infected thousands more. As the virus spreads and with no cure in sight, some people are looking to alternative remedies to protect them from infection or cure themselves if they’ve already contracted it. Here are some of the theories floating around. Some of these have been proposed by medical doctors, and some of them are just common sense. Others, not so much. As the ads say: If your symptoms persist or get worse, see your physician. (Fifield, 2/2)

NPR: No, You Won't Catch The New Coronavirus Via Packages Or Mail From China
In an era of online shopping and global shipping, some NPR listeners have written to us with this question: Am I at risk of catching the new coronavirus from a package I receive from China? Almost certainly no, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Aubrey, 2/3)

Los Angeles Times: Three New Coronavirus Patients Confirmed In Northern California, Bringing Total To Six Statewide
Health officials in Northern California announced Sunday that three more people have been infected with the new strain of coronavirus, bringing the number of confirmed cases in the nation to 11, with more than half of those in the state. In San Benito County, health officials said that the two patients there were a married couple and that the husband had recently returned from Wuhan, China — the epicenter of the outbreak that has killed more than 350 people in the country. (Elmahrek and Hamilton, 2/2)

The Associated Press: Coronavirus Preparation Underway At Maryland’s Johns Hopkins
Behind the passcode-protected doors of the Biocontainment Unit on the eighth floor of Johns Hopkins Hospital, the hallway and rooms are empty except for three nurses holding protective gear they just removed according to a strict protocol. Medical staff has been training here nonstop since the unit was created in response to the 2014 Ebola outbreak and are ready to care for seriously ill patients from the coronavirus. (Cohn and Bowie, 2/1)

The Wall Street Journal: New York City Investigating Three Possible Cases Of Coronavirus
New York City officials are awaiting test results on three suspected cases of coronavirus and preparing for the possibility of quarantining visitors traveling from China and arriving at John F. Kennedy International Airport. Health officials said Saturday they were investigating the first possible case of the deadly virus in the city. (West, 2/2)

The New York Times: Wuhan Coronavirus Looks Increasingly Like A Pandemic, Experts Say
The Wuhan coronavirus spreading from China is now likely to become a pandemic that circles the globe, according to many of the world’s leading infectious disease experts. The prospect is daunting. A pandemic — an ongoing epidemic on two or more continents — may well have global consequences, despite the extraordinary travel restrictions and quarantines now imposed by China and other countries, including the United States. Scientists do not yet know how lethal the new coronavirus is, however, so there is uncertainty about how much damage a pandemic might cause. (McNeil, 2/2)

Stat: Top WHO Official Says It's Not Too Late To Stop Coronavirus Outbreak
There is still reason to believe the growing coronavirus outbreak in China can be contained, a top World Health Organization official said Saturday, pointing to some evidence that the disease may not be spreading as rapidly as is feared. He also downplayed reports that people infected with the virus may be contagious before they show symptoms — a feature that, if true, would make it much harder to control. “Until [containment] is impossible, we should keep trying,” Dr. Mike Ryan, head of the WHO’s Emergencies Program, said in an interview with STAT. The WHO declared the outbreak a global health emergency on Thursday. (Branswell, 2/1)

The Washington Post: China’s Reopened Stock Markets Plunge As Coronavirus Outbreak Set To Become Pandemic
Coronavirus cases continue to surge in China while new infections are being reported around the world. Stock markets in China, reopening after the Lunar New Year holiday, recorded their sharpest falls in more than four years on Monday, reflecting increasing concern about the damage the outbreak is inflicting on the local economy. (Denyer, 2/3)

The Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Kills Its First Victim Outside China As Toll Grows
The newly identified coronavirus claimed its first life outside China, as the number of U.S. cases ticked up to eight and the Pentagon said it was setting up quarantine centers for travelers who screened positive for the illness. A 44-year-old man in the Philippines from the Chinese city of Wuhan, where the outbreak began in December, died on Saturday, the Philippine Department of Health said on Sunday. The man was one of two confirmed cases in the Philippines, the other being his 38-year-old female companion. (Yang, Solomon and Lubold, 2/2)

The New York Times: SARS Stung The Global Economy. The Coronavirus Is A Greater Menace.
In 2002, when a lethal, pneumonialike virus known as SARS emerged in China, the country’s factories were mostly churning out low-cost goods like T-shirts and sneakers for customers around the world. Seventeen years later, another deadly virus is spreading rapidly through the world’s most populous country. But China has evolved into a principal element of the global economy, making the epidemic a substantially more potent threat to fortunes. International companies that rely on Chinese factories to make their products and depend on Chinese consumers for sales are already warning of costly problems. (Goodman, 2/3)

The New York Times: As New Coronavirus Spread, China’s Old Habits Delayed Fight
A mysterious illness had stricken seven patients at a hospital, and a doctor tried to warn his medical school classmates. “Quarantined in the emergency department,” the doctor, Li Wenliang, wrote in an online chat group on Dec. 30, referring to patients. “So frightening,” one recipient replied, before asking about the epidemic that began in China in 2002 and ultimately killed nearly 800 people. “Is SARS coming again?” (Buckley and Myers, 2/1)

The Washington Post: Early Missteps And State Secrecy In China Probably Allowed The Coronavirus To Spread Farther And Faster
It was almost the Lunar New Year and Pan Chuntao was feeling festive. He knew there were reports of a virus in his city, Wuhan. But local officials urged calmness. There was no evidence it was transmitted person to person, they said. They had not reported a new case in days. On Jan. 16, the 76-year-old left his two-bedroom apartment to attend a government-organized fair. “We told him not to go because we saw some rumors on WeChat of doctors getting infected,” said Pan’s son-in-law, Zhang Siqiang. “But he insisted on going. He said, ‘The government says it’s not a problem, there are no cases anymore.’ ” (Shih, Rauhala and Sun, 2/1)

The Associated Press: Built In 10 Days, China's Virus Hospital Takes 1st Patients
The first patients arrived Monday at a 1,000-bed hospital built in 10 days as part of China's sweeping efforts to fight a new virus that is causing global alarm. Huoshenshan Hospital and a second 1,500-bed facility due to open this week were built by construction crews who are working around the clock in Wuhan, the central city where the outbreak was first detected in December. Some 50 million people are barred from leaving Wuhan and surrounding cities. (McDonald, 2/2)

The Wall Street Journal: New Coronavirus Hospital Is Completed As Cases, Deaths Keep Climbing
The hospital, built in 10 days, is one of two going up to treat virus patients in the stricken central Chinese city of Wuhan. A video on the website of state-controlled news agency Xinhua, which reported the completion, showed a crowd of construction workers—all wearing face masks—applauding during the inauguration ceremony. Roughly 1,400 military medical workers will staff the 1,000-bed Huoshenshan (“Fire God Mountain”) hospital, Xinhua said. (Li, 2/3)

The New York Times: Coronavirus Pummels Wuhan, A City Short Of Supplies And Overwhelmed
Weak with fever, An Jianhua waited in line for seven hours outside the hospital in the cold, hoping to get tested for the new coronavirus, which doctors suspected she had contracted. Ms. An, 67, needed an official diagnosis from a hospital to qualify for treatment, but the one she and her son raced to last week had no space, even to test her. The next hospital they were referred to here in Wuhan, the city of 11 million people at the center of the outbreak, was full, too, they said. They finally got an intravenous drip for Ms. An’s fever, but that was all. (Qin, 2/2)

The Wall Street Journal: Avian Influenza In China Adds To Economic Concerns Amid Coronavirus Spread
Chinese authorities announced Saturday a recurrence of avian influenza in chickens in central China, adding fresh economic concerns for a country reeling from an outbreak of coronavirus that has sickened nearly 12,000 people since it emerged in December. In a sign of the pressure already on China, Australia and Vietnam joined the U.S. and others in distancing their citizens from the country over the coronavirus, while Apple Inc. shut its stores on the Chinese mainland and Beijing pledged more support for embattled businesses. (Mendell and Cheng, 2/1)

Reuters: Gilead Working With China To Test Ebola Drug As New Coronavirus Treatment
Gilead Sciences Inc said on Friday it provided its experimental Ebola therapy for use in a small number of patients with the coronavirus that has killed over 200 so far in China and is working with the country's authorities to set up a study. The announcement comes a day after the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus epidemic a public health emergency of international concern. (2/1)

The Wall Street Journal: Gilead Sciences Offers Experimental Drug For Coronavirus Treatments, Testing
Health authorities have been searching for a treatment for China coronavirus infections, which lack an approved drug or vaccine. Several drugmakers have said they are trying to develop a vaccine, which could prevent but not treat infections. Researchers had been hoping to study whether Gilead’s remdesivir and other antivirals could work as treatments. (Walker, 1/31)

The New York Times: Would Your Wages Rise Under ‘Medicare For All’?
Hidden in the larger debate over “Medicare for all” is a fundamental economic question: Who pays for work-based health insurance? For the 157 million Americans who get health insurance through their work — or through the job of a spouse or parent — the answer may seem obvious, evident right on pay stubs. Employers pay most of it, and workers pay some. Last year, work-based coverage per person cost $7,188, with employees directly contributing 18 percent on average. Family coverage cost $20,576, of which employees paid 30 percent. (Frakt, 2/3)

Reuters: Where Democratic Presidential Candidates Stand On 'Medicare For All'
Perhaps no issue has divided the field of Democratic 2020 presidential hopefuls more than "Medicare for All." Liberal candidates favor the sweeping proposal, which would replace private health insurance with a single government-run plan. Moderate candidates have embraced less drastic measures they say would achieve broader healthcare coverage while allowing individuals to choose their plan. Here is where the top eight contenders stand on Medicare for All. (2/1)

The Wall Street Journal: Health-Care Stocks Won’t Feel The Bern For Long
Politics pose a significant risk to U.S. health-care stocks. Investors should look past it. Sen. Bernie Sanders has gained ground in the Democratic presidential race and is now tied with former Vice President Joe Biden among the party’s primary voters nationally, according to a recent Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll.  Sen. Elizabeth Warren is in third place. Sen. Sanders has proposed a dramatic overhaul of the U.S. health-care system known as Medicare for All. He could possibly gather more steam with a strong showing in Monday’s Iowa caucus. (Grant, 2/2)

The Associated Press: FDA Approves First Treatment For Kids With Peanut Allergy
The first treatment for peanut allergies is about to hit the market, a big step toward better care for all kinds of food allergies -- but still a long way from a cure. Friday’s approval by the Food and Drug Administration promises to bring some relief to families who’ve lived in fear of an accidental bite of peanuts at birthday parties and play dates, school cafeterias and restaurants. Named Palforzia, it was developed by Aimmune Therapeutics. (Neergaard, 1/31)

The Washington Post: Peanut Allergy Drug Palforzia Is The First To Be FDA Approved
The therapy, Palforzia, isn’t a cure and comes with significant risks of triggering the very reactions it is supposed to quell. But for families and children who have re-engineered their routines to minimize potential exposures — changing how and whether they travel, eat out, socialize and feel safe in their daily lives — it could offer an important layer of protection and relief. Palforzia is seen as an important test case for a new generation of therapies expected to transform how food allergies are treated. Doctors who have had few tools other than counseling their patients to assiduously avoid peanuts expect that other drugs will follow — additional drugs for the peanut allergy, as well as egg and tree nut allergies. Aimmune Therapeutics, which makes Palforzia, has several other food allergy treatments in its pipeline. (Johnson, 1/31)

The Wall Street Journal: FDA Approves First Drug For Peanut Allergy
To build up their resistance, children ages 4 to 17 years who are prescribed the new therapy start with escalating doses of Palforzia mixed with apple sauce or other food each day, and after reaching a certain dose continue on that dose indefinitely. Aimmune said the list price for Palforzia will be $890 a month, or about $10,680 a year. Roth Capital Research analyst Zegbeh Jallah estimates the drug could generate annual sales of $1 billion by 2026. (Loftus, 1/31)

Stat: Commercial Success Of First Peanut Allergy Treatment Is Not Assured 
Children and teenagers with severe, sometimes life-threatening peanut allergies can reduce their risk from accidental exposure with a new treatment approved Friday by the Food and Drug Administration. But administering the new treatment, called Palforzia and made by Aimmune Therapeutics (AIMT), is cumbersome and carries its own safety risks, which may deter families and allergists from using it. Palforzia’s approval was widely expected given the endorsement last September from an FDA advisory panel. The success of the product’s commercial launch is more uncertain but will be closely followed throughout 2020. (Feuerstein, 2/3)

Politico: Trump’s Ag Dept. Seeks To Cut Programs Without Knowing How Many People Get Hurt
In a rare bipartisan move last June, Republicans and Democrats teamed up to scuttle an Agriculture Department proposal that would have shuttered job training centers for at-risk youth across the country — an idea that blindsided lawmakers and seemed to lack much explanation or underlying data. Rep. Dan Newhouse blasted Secretary Sonny Perdue’s plan, which he said would close some of the highest-performing facilities in the popular program, contrary to USDA’s claims. “It appears the administration’s rollout of this proposal was done carelessly — and without the data or the statistics to point to any rhyme or reason as to how the decisions were made,” the Washington Republican said at a committee hearing. (McCrimmon, 2/3)

The Wall Street Journal: Trump Strengthens Efforts Against Human Trafficking, Amid Criticism From Victims’ Advocates
President Trump on Friday signed an executive order aimed at combating human trafficking and online exploitation, the White House said. The order establishes a new position on the White House Domestic Policy Council focused on combating human trafficking. That official will coordinate with the National Security Council and the office of Ivanka Trump, a senior White House adviser and the president’s daughter. The White House doesn’t yet have a candidate for the job, a senior administration official said. (Ballhaus, 1/31)

Modern Healthcare: Medicaid Expansion Linked To Employment Rate Growth In Michigan
Medicaid expansion enrollees in Michigan increased their rate of employment or student status at a significantly higher rate than the rest of the state's population in 2017, the latest evidence on the benefits of expansion under the Affordable Care Act. The percentage of expansion enrollees who had jobs or were enrolled in school rose six percentage points in one year, while the rate for other state residents remained flat, according to a new study published in JAMA Network Open. (Meyer, 1/31)

Stat: Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Aims To Build A Model For Tackling Rare Diseases
The 30 recipients, all focused on advancing research in a rare disease, will each receive $450,000 from the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative, along with those additional resources, over two years. In a phone interview with STAT, Chan, a pediatrician, said that her own experiences in the clinic have shaped her views about the importance of elevating the perspective of patients. She described feeling stuck and embarrassed when families would come in with a child with a rare condition that she couldn’t even identify using the usual means — until she started asking the families to lead the way. (Robbins, 2/3)

ProPublica: Dating Apps Can Be Dangerous. Congress Is Investigating.
A House subcommittee chair announced on Thursday a broad investigation of the safety of online dating apps in the wake of “extremely troubling reports.” Among those cited in letters sent by the subcommittee to dating app companies is a lengthy recent investigation by Columbia Journalism Investigations and ProPublica. Launched by Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Ill., chairman of the Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, the inquiry will focus on the use of dating sites among underage users, the sale or dissemination of users’ personal information and the presence of registered sex offenders on free dating sites. (Cousins, 1/31)

The New York Times: Doctors On TikTok Try To Go Viral
For decades, sex education in the classroom could be pretty cringey. For some adolescents, it meant a pitch for abstinence; others watched their teachers put condoms on bananas and attempt sketches of fallopian tubes that looked more like modern art. On TikTok, sex ed is being flipped on its head. Teenagers who load the app might find guidance set to the pulsing beat of “Sex Talk” by Megan Thee Stallion. (Goldberg, 1/31)

The Wall Street Journal: Booze Ads On Social Media Stir Controversy
Health concerns are sparking restrictions on advertising alcohol on billboards and television, but on social media—which transcends national borders—lax age controls and the use of influencers make booze marketing hard to police. While regulators from New York City to Ireland to Ethiopia have cracked down on outdoor and broadcast ads for beer, wine and spirits in the past year, only a handful have targeted online ads. (Chaudhuri, 2/2)

The Associated Press: Mississippi Inmate Tries To Hang Self In Cell, Attorney Says
An inmate tried to hang himself at a troubled Mississippi prison and was taken down by a state trooper, an attorney said in court papers filed Saturday. Casey L. Austin is one of the attorneys representing inmates in a federal lawsuit against Mississippi over conditions in the state's prisons. The lawsuit over prison conditions is funded by Team Roc, a philanthropic group connected to entertainment mogul Jay-Z's company, Roc Nation. (2/1)

The Associated Press: Trump Administration Rejects California’s Health Care Tax
The Trump administration says it will not allow California to collect a key health care tax on managed care organizations, a decision that could cost the state nearly $2 billion a year for low-income benefits. The news does not immediately affect California’s budget because the state did not plan to receive that money this year or the budget year that begins July 1. But it could cost California $1.2 billion in the fiscal year that begins July 1, 2021, California Department of Finance spokesman H.D. Palmer said. That number increases to $1.9 billion after that. (Beam, 1/31)

The Associated Press: Planned Parenthood To Resume Abortions At Kentucky Clinic
A Planned Parenthood clinic in Louisville is resuming abortions later this year after the procedure was halted in 2016. Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky announced on Friday that its Louisville center received a provisional license from Kentucky officials, making it the second abortion provider in Kentucky. The group says the license allows for a full range of reproductive care, including abortions, beginning in March. (1/31)