First Edition: January 22, 2020

California Healthline: How Fast Can A New Internet Standard For Sharing Patient Data Catch Fire?
Medical professionals have been storing personal health information in electronic form for more than a decade, but it is cumbersome for patients to gather disparate computer and paper records scattered across doctors’ offices, hospitals and medical labs. Wouldn’t life be easier if you could view your full medical history with a few taps on your smartphone? (Rae-Dupree, 1/21)

Kaiser Health News: Listen: How Vaping Regulations Are Playing Out In The States
KHN Midwest correspondent Lauren Weber joined Wisconsin Public Radio’s Rob Ferrett on “Central Time” to discuss what’s happening on vaping in the states amid concerns about a vaping lung illness. Weber has written about how Wisconsin health officials were among the first to pinpoint the rise in lung illness cases. She has also reported on how the crackdown on vaping has politicized vapers around the nation who are fighting bans on vaping products. (1/21)

The New York Times: Supreme Court Will Not Rule Quickly On Obamacare Appeal 
The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected a request from Democratic state officials and the House of Representatives to quickly consider whether to hear an appeal of a decision with the potential to wipe out the entire Affordable Care Act. The move means the court will almost certainly not hear the case in its current term, which ends in June. Democrats consider health care a winning issue, and they wanted the court to act quickly to keep the fate of the Affordable Care Act in the public eye during the presidential election. In the meantime, the law remains almost entirely intact but faces an uncertain future. (Liptak, 1/21)

Reuters: U.S. Supreme Court Declines To Fast-Track Obamacare Appeal
The House and states including New York and California want the Supreme Court to hear their appeal of a Dec. 18 ruling by the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that the law's "individual mandate" that required people to obtain health insurance ran afoul of the Constitution. The petitions asked the Supreme Court to hear the case quickly and issue a definitive ruling by the end of June. (1/21)

The Washington Post: Supreme Court Refuses To Fast-Track A Challenge To The Affordable Care Act
President Trump’s solicitor general, Noel Francisco, replied that the 5th Circuit decision simply preserved the status quo until a lower court could look more closely at which parts of the law should survive. He said it would be premature for the high court to intervene. “The Fifth Circuit’s decision itself does not warrant immediate review because it did not definitively resolve any question of practical consequence,” Francisco wrote. (Barnes, 1/21)

The Wall Street Journal: Supreme Court Declines To Fast-Track Democratic Appeals On Affordable Care Act
The law continues to remain in effect during the litigation, which began after a GOP-controlled Congress reduced the penalty under the insurance mandate to $0. The GOP-led states argued the elimination of the tax rendered the mandate unconstitutional. The appeals court has ordered a federal judge in Texas to reconsider what parts of the sprawling health law can remain in place, but the Democratic-led states and House were seeking to have the Supreme Court go ahead and rule that the entire law remains valid. (Kendall and Armour, 1/21)

Politico: Supreme Court Won't Fast-Track Obamacare Case
The outcome means Trump will face less pressure to articulate an Obamacare replacement plan during the campaign. Republicans failed to agree on an Obamacare replacement when they had complete control of the federal government in the first two years of Trump's presidency, and they haven’t come up with a new plan since then. A health care proposal developed by Trump's Medicare chief Seema Verma was nixed last summer over her colleagues' concerns it would have actually strengthened Obamacare rather than replace it. The lawsuit's lingering threat to Obamacare exposes Trump to attacks that he is still trying to gut the law's popular protections for people with preexisting conditions. (Luthi, 1/21)

Reuters: U.S. Supreme Court Lets Flint, Michigan Residents Sue Over Water Contamination
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday let residents of Flint, Michigan pursue a civil rights lawsuit against the city and government officials that accused them of knowingly allowing the city's water supply to become contaminated with lead. The justices turned away two appeals by the city and the state and local officials of a lower court ruling that allowed the lawsuit to move forward. (Chung, 1/21)

The Associated Press: Supreme Court Case Looms Large For Rivals In Abortion Debate
Anti-abortion activists gather this week in Washington for their annual March for Life, eager to cheer on a continuing wave of federal and state abortion restrictions. However, many activists on both sides of the debate already are looking ahead to March 4, when the U.S. Supreme Court hears its first major abortion case since the addition of two justices appointed by President Donald Trump. (Crary, 1/21)

Roll Call: Abortion Policy Activism Heats Up For Roe V. Wade Anniversary
Groups pushing for the advancement of abortion rights and those looking to limit the procedure have an ambitious agenda starting this week, foreshadowing a year that could be critical for advocates on both sides of the debate. In two months, the Supreme Court will hear its first major abortion case since 2016, and both sides are revving up for a major presidential election. States are also eyeing a number of new reproductive health bills as their legislatures come back into session. (Raman, 1/22)

The Washington Post: Kaiser Family Foundation Survey Underscores Deep Ambivalence Among Americans On Abortion
President Trump wants Roe v. Wade overturned, while many of the candidates vying for the Democratic nomination would seek to codify abortion rights into law. “I believe that abortion rights are human rights,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), one such candidate. Unlike the candidates, however, the American public is not absolutist — and is even somewhat confused — on aspects of the issue, according to a poll released Wednesday. (Cha and Cuskin, 1/22)

The Associated Press: Planned Parenthood Endorses Challenger To Sen. Susan Collins
Planned Parenthood on Tuesday endorsed a Democratic challenger to Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, saying Collins “turned her back” on women and citing her vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court as well as other judicial nominees who oppose abortion. Sara Gideon, speaker of the Maine House of Representatives, welcomed the endorsement from the Planned Parenthood Action Fund. “There’s never been a more important time to stand up for reproductive rights,” she said, in the face of "systematic attacks on reproductive rights across the country. (Sharp, 1/21)

The New York Times: Wuhan Coronavirus: C.D.C. Identifies First U.S. Case In Washington State
A man in his 30s in Washington State is infected with the Wuhan coronavirus, the first confirmed case in the United States of a mysterious respiratory infection that has killed at least six people and sickened hundreds more in Asia, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced on Tuesday. (Rabin, 1/21)

The Associated Press: Washington Man Is 1st In US To Catch New Virus From China
The man, identified as a Snohomish County resident is in his 30s, was in good condition and wasn't considered a threat to medical staff or the public, health officials said. U.S. officials stressed that they believe the virus' overall risk to the American public remained low. “This is not a moment of high anxiety,” Gov. Jay Inslee said. (Johnson and Stobbe, 1/21)

The Washington Post: First U.S. Case Of Potentially Deadly Chinese Coronavirus Confirmed In Washington State
Washington state health officials said the man, a resident of Snohomish County, Wash., returned Wednesday from a trip to the region where he was visiting relatives in Wuhan, where the outbreak began. Shortly after arriving at Seattle’s international airport, he began feeling ill and reached out to his health-care provider on Sunday. Local, state and federal officials quickly collected samples and sent them to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for testing. His case was confirmed Monday as the coronavirus that has sickened close to 300 people in China and others in Thailand, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea. (Sun and Bernstein, 1/21)

Reuters: Washington State Man Who Traveled To China Is First U.S. Victim Of Coronavirus
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Washington State say the agency is preparing for more U.S. cases of the coronavirus to emerge, and the CDC raised its travel alert for Wuhan to a level 2, calling for enhanced precautions. (Steenhuysen and Whitcomb, 1/21)

The Washington Post: U.S. Airports Are Screening Travelers From China For The Coronavirus
Amid growing concerns about the spread of a new coronavirus, officials announced Tuesday that Chicago’s O’Hare and Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson will join the list of U.S. airports where passengers arriving from Wuhan, China, will be screened for the virus. (Aratani and Sun, 1/21)

The Wall Street Journal: First U.S. Case Reported Of Deadly Wuhan Virus
The CDC began screening at the end of last week at three airports that receive the majority of travelers from Wuhan: San Francisco International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport and New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. More than 1,200 passengers have been screened, but none have been referred to a hospital, said Dr. Messonnier. (McKay and Deng, 1/21)

Los Angeles Times: Chinese Coronavirus Outbreak Has Reached U.S. Shores, CDC Says
“Leave no doubt: Entry screening is just one part of a multilayered system,” said Dr. Martin Cetron, the head of the CDC’s Division of Global Migration and Quarantine. “Individuals are empowered to make good decisions if they’re informed.” Outside experts cautioned that the increased airport screenings will be expensive, and that it will take some time to get answers to basic questions like what animal was the source of this virus and what makes some people more susceptible to infection than others. “Basic epidemiology questions remain unanswered,” said Rebecca Katz, the director of the Center for Global Health Science and Security at Georgetown University. “The CDC is the best of the best, and we should have faith in their leadership.” (Baumgaertner, 1/21)

The New York Times: What We Know About The Wuhan Coronavirus
Symptoms of infection include a high fever, difficulty breathing and lung lesions. Milder cases may resemble the flu or a bad cold, making detection very difficult. The incubation period — the time from exposure to the onset of symptoms — is believed to be about two weeks. Little is known about who is most at risk. Some of the nine patients who have died also suffered other illnesses. (Zraick, 1/21)

The New York Times: The Test A Deadly Coronavirus Outbreak Poses To China’s Leadership
Facing growing pressure to contain a deadly viral outbreak that has spread halfway around the world, China’s ruling Communist Party raced on Tuesday to confront the disease, slapping restrictions on the city where it started and warning that anyone who hides infections will be “forever nailed to history’s pillar of shame.” The response by the Chinese leadership, which has come under intensifying criticism that it has been slow to acknowledge the severity of the outbreak, came as fatalities from the disease tripled to at least nine. (Hernandez, 1/21)

Reuters: China Virus Deaths Rise To Nine, Heightening Global Alarm
The death toll from a new flu-like coronavirus in China rose to nine on Wednesday with 440 confirmed cases, Chinese health officials said as authorities stepped up efforts to control the outbreak by discouraging public gatherings in Hubei province. (Cadell and Stanway, 1/22)

The Wall Street Journal: China Coronavirus Death Toll Rises To Nine, Confirmed Cases Pass 400
Nine people have died in China from the coronavirus, which causes pneumonia, Li Bin, vice minister of the National Health Commission, said Wednesday, with 440 confirmed cases as of the end of Tuesday. Authorities said they are still trying to understand the virus. But “right now, the main transmission route of the virus is the respiratory tract,” said Mr. Li. (Deng, 1/22)

The New York Times: China Warns Holiday Travel Surge Could Spread Deadly Coronavirus
Every year, Chinese travelers embark on the world’s biggest annual human migration for the Lunar New Year, a weeklong holiday. That begins on Friday, when the country says farewell to the Year of the Pig and welcomes the Year of the Rat. Dr. Li said the huge tide of travel during the holiday could worsen the spread of the virus and make it more difficult to contain. Already, though, the new virus has spread from Wuhan, a city of 11 million, across many parts of China — and abroad, including to the United States — aided by China’s vast rail network and growing numbers of international travelers. (Buckley, 1/22)

The Washington Post: China Virus: Expert Says It Can Be Spread By Human-To-Human Contact, Sparking Concerns About The Massive Holiday Travel Underway
Under the best of circumstances, the Spring Festival in China is a logistical exercise of mind-blowing proportions: hundreds of millions of people traveling via planes, trains, buses and taxis to return to their hometowns to ring in the new lunar year with their families. It’s the biggest human migration on the planet. And that’s without mentioning the bursting bags of gifts, clothing, food and liquor that travel with them. (Fifield, 1/20)

The New York Times: As New Virus Spreads From China, Scientists See Grim Reminders
Public health officials around the world are on alert because the new infection is caused by a coronavirus, from the same family that caused outbreaks of SARS and MERS, killing hundreds of people in dozens of countries. The W.H.O. has already advised governments to be prepared for the disease, to be vigilant and ready to test anyone with symptoms like cough and fever who has traveled to affected regions. Air travel is expected to surge as the Lunar New Year approaches this weekend. (Grady, 1/22)

The Washington Post: Chinese Officials Try To Contain Virus Outbreak As First Case Confirmed In U.S.
Traffic police began conducting random checks on vehicles traveling in and out of the city to ensure they were not transporting live birds or wild animals. Some airlines and travel agencies began offering refunds to people traveling out of Wuhan or people with the virus, and some hotels have allowed people to cancel their reservations without penalty. At least two airlines flying to Wuhan have stocked their planes with masks. Wuhan’s three major hospitals have 800 beds, but authorities said they would add 1,200 beds to deal with the rising number of pneumonia cases. They also said they would foot the hospital bills for those infected. (Fifield, Sun and Bernstein, 1/21)

Reuters: China Takes More Measures To Protect Healthcare Workers In Virus Outbreak
China is taking more strict measures in hospitals to protect healthcare workers in the new coronavirus outbreak, and will increase training for healthcare workers nationwide, officials from the country's health commission said on Wednesday. (1/21)

The Wall Street Journal: As Virus Spreads, Isolated Taiwan Risks Being A Loophole In War On Epidemics
Taiwan’s first reported case of a patient infected by a deadly coronavirus spreading across Asia turns a spotlight on Beijing’s attempts to exclude the self-governing island from the World Health Organization, which Taiwanese officials say hinders an effective global response to public-health crises. China, which claims Taiwan as its territory, has in recent years squeezed the island’s ability to participate in international affairs, including by blocking its representatives from United Nations agencies overseeing global health and aviation. (Cheng and Wong, 1/22)

The Associated Press: Science Says: What To Know About The Viral Outbreak In China
Health officials around the world are keeping a close watch on an outbreak of a new virus in China. In response, governments are stepping up surveillance of airline passengers arriving from the affected area to try to prevent the virus from spreading. Here's what you should know about the illnesses. (1/21)

The Associated Press: What's New Today In The China Virus Outbreak
The World Health Organization is holding an Emergency Committee meeting in Geneva to determine whether to declare the outbreak a global health crisis. Previous emergencies have been declared for the ongoing Ebola outbreak in Congo and the Zika virus in the Americas in 2016. (1/22)

NPR: How Much Should The Public Be Told About Research Into Risky Viruses?
U.S. officials are weighing the benefits and risks of proposed experiments that might make a dangerous pathogen even worse — but the details of that review, and the exact nature of the experiments, aren't being released to the public. Later this week, officials are to hold a meeting in Bethesda, Md., to debate how much information to openly share about this kind of controversial work and how much to reveal about the reasoning behind decisions to pursue or forgo it. (Greenfieldboyce, 1/21)

Stat: Pharma Is Making Some Effort To Fight Superbugs, But Progress Is 'Patchy'
Amid rising concern over a lack of antibiotics, a new analysis finds most drug makers are failing to expand their pipelines to sufficiently combat resistance, although more companies are sharing surveillance data on where resistance is occurring and are no longer overselling the medicines. Overall, the number of antibiotics being developed has increased only marginally in the past two years and just nine of these medicines are considered novel, most of which are being pursued by small and medium-sized companies with fewer resources than global drug makers. And while more clinical-stage antibiotics are supported by plans to ensure better access, most efforts remain patchy. (Silverman, 1/21)

The New York Times: This Company Says It Will Fix Your Smile. It May Shush You If It Doesn’t.
To fix some crowding in her teeth, Taylor Weakley, an environmental scientist in Denver, ordered teeth aligners two years ago from SmileDirectClub, a start-up she had seen advertised on social media. At $1,850, the products were cheaper than braces, and she did not have to visit an orthodontist to get them. (Griffith and Eavis, 1/21)

Stat: Will The FDA Give The Go-Ahead To A Prescription Video Game?
In mid-2018, the startup Akili Interactive Labs asked the Food and Drug Administration to let it do something that’s never been done before: market a video game that physicians would prescribe to kids with ADHD. A year and a half later, that green light has yet to materialize. It’s unclear whether that’s a sign of trouble — the company wouldn’t say whether the agency has asked it to make changes or run a new study — or simply a reflection of the complexity of evaluating a medical product without precedent. (Robbins, 1/21)

The New York Times: How To Fix A $6.1 Billion Budget Hole? Attack Health Care Spending
Facing the worst budgetary crisis since the early days of his decade-long tenure, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Tuesday unveiled plans to seek billions of dollars in savings from what he described as the primary culprit: runaway Medicaid spending. The state’s enormous Medicaid bill is a result of both its size — with more than six million New Yorkers enrolled — and generous array of benefits, resulting in an inexorable rise in cost. (McKinley and Ferre-Sadurni, 1/21)

The Wall Street Journal: Cuomo Trims Spending In Budget Proposal To Plug $6.1 Billion Deficit
The governor called for the creation of a Medicaid Redesign Team, similar to a panel he formed in 2011, to identify $2.5 billion in savings in the program before the current fiscal year ends on March 31. The governor is proposing a tax cut for small businesses that will eventually total $39 million, and is resisting calls from unions and progressive groups to raise income taxes. The state revised its revenue projections upward by $2 billion in the budget proposal, citing stronger-than-expected income-tax receipts. (Vielkind, 1/21)

The Associated Press: California Considers Declaring Common Pain Killer Carcinogen
A fight is coming to California over whether to list one of the world's most common over-the-counter drugs as a carcinogen, echoing recent high-profile battles over things like alcohol and coffee. The drug is acetaminophen, known outside the U.S. as paracetamol and used to treat pain and fevers. It is the basis for more than 600 prescription and over-the-counter medications for adults and children, found in well-known brands like Tylenol, Excedrin, Sudafed, Robitussin and Theraflu. (Beam, 1/21)

Colorado Sun: Colorado Public Option Opponents Accused Of Trying To “Weaponize” Doctors Against Health Insurance Proposal
A newly formed organization backed by Colorado hospitals, business leaders and Republican elected officials is encouraging doctors and other medical professionals to join the fight against a proposed public health insurance option and harness the trust people have in those professions. The new tactic comes on the heels of a pricey ad campaign — costing at least $150,000 and counting — launched last month to persuade Coloradans to contact their state lawmakers and speak out against the public option plan. (Paul, 1/21)

The Washington Post: Alleged White Supremacists Planned Deadly Violence At Richmond Gun Rally, Federal Prosecutors Say
Before being arrested by the FBI last week, three alleged members of a white supremacist group were plotting deadly attacks at Monday’s gun rights rally in Richmond, including shooting “unsuspecting civilians and police officers” in hopes of igniting what one called a “full-blown civil war,” authorities said in court filings. (Duggan, 1/21)

Los Angeles Times: Use-Of-Force Incidents Against Homeless People Are Up, LAPD Reports
More than one out of three times that a Los Angeles police officer used force in recent months involved a person experiencing homelessness, according to a new LAPD report. During the third quarter of 2019, officers used force on homeless people 217 times, a 26% increase from the same period in 2018 when that number was 172. (Miller, 1/21)

Los Angeles Times: L.A. Began More 'Sensitive' Homeless Camp Cleanups. Now It's Taking A Harder Line
Last summer, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti declared that the city was launching a new system to clean up the trash and filth around homeless encampments, calling it “an even more nimble, flexible, targeted and sensitive approach.” But the Comprehensive Cleaning and Rapid Engagement system — known as CARE — quickly spurred concerns at City Hall. Just months after Garcetti and other officials heralded its rollout, some council members lamented that streets looked worse than before. Council President Nury Martinez said that L.A. must lead with compassion, but “we also have to restore order in our streets.” (Reyes, 1/21)