First Edition: July 6, 2018

Kaiser Health News: What A U.S.-China Trade War Could Mean For The Opioid Epidemic
The American struggle to curb opioid addiction could become collateral damage in President Donald Trump’s showdown on trade. Trade tensions with allies were heightened by the White House announcement in March of tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. Now, another round specifically targeting China is set to take effect Friday. And that China focus could interrupt other trade-related issues — specifically, those targeting the flow of dangerous drugs like fentanyl into the United States. (Garcia, 7/6)

Kaiser Health News: Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ Whither Work Requirements?
A federal District Court judge in Washington, D.C., has — for now — blocked Kentucky’s proposal to add a work requirement for much of its adult Medicaid population. The decision, while far from final, is likely to prompt lawsuits from advocates in other states where the Department of Health and Human Services has approved similar proposals. Also this week, HHS released updated enrollment information about those purchasing health insurance in the individual market. Despite efforts by the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress to depress enrollment by cutting outreach and canceling federal payments to insurers, the number of people who actually paid their first month’s premium was up slightly in 2018, compared with 2017. (7/5)

The Associated Press: Dems Want To Focus High Court Fight On Abortion, Health Care
In the budding battle royale over the Supreme Court vacancy, what's the Democratic sweet spot between satisfying liberal activists' demands for an all-out fight against President Donald Trump's pick and protecting senators facing tight re-election races in deeply red states? So far, the party's formula is to cast itself as defending the right to abortion and the 2010 health care law against a president itching to use the court to snatch both away. Democrats want to make it as excruciating as possible for a pair of moderate, pivotal Republican senators to back the selection because without a GOP defection, it's game over. (Fram, 7/6)

The Washington Post: Trump Narrows List For Supreme Court Pick, With Focus On Kavanaugh And Kethledge
President Trump’s deliberations over a Supreme Court nominee now center on three candidates culled from his shortlist: federal judges Brett M. Kavanaugh, Raymond Kethledge and Amy Coney Barrett, according to White House officials and Trump advisers involved in the discussions. But Trump’s final decision on a replacement for Justice Anthony M. Kennedy remained fluid as he traveled Thursday to a political rally in Montana before heading to his golf course in New Jersey for the weekend, with the president pinballing between associates as he sought feedback and suggestions. (Costa and Kim, 7/5)

The Wall Street Journal: Trump Has Finalists For Supreme Court Pick
Speaking to reporters on Air Force One en route to Montana for a campaign appearance for a Senate candidate, Mr. Trump didn’t name the finalists. “I’ll say on the record that I am interviewing some extraordinarily talented and brilliant people and I’m very, very happy with them and we will pick somebody who will be outstanding, hopefully for many years to come,” he said. Mr. Trump is searching for a successor to Justice Anthony Kennedy, a swing vote on the court who announced last month he would be stepping down. The vacancy is the second Mr. Trump has had to fill since taking office, giving him a chance to nudge to the right a high court that has been split between conservative and liberal factions for years. (Nicholas, 7/5)

The New York Times: Brett Kavanaugh, Supreme Court Front-Runner, Once Argued Broad Grounds For Impeachment
Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh, the front-runner to replace Justice Anthony M. Kennedy on the Supreme Court, once argued that President Bill Clinton could be impeached for lying to his staff and misleading the public, a broad definition of obstruction of justice that would be damaging if applied to President Trump in the Russia investigation. Judge Kavanaugh’s arguments — expressed in the report of the independent counsel, Kenneth W. Starr, which he co-wrote nearly 20 years ago — have been cited in recent days by Republicans with reservations about him and have raised concerns among some people close to Mr. Trump. But Judge Kavanaugh has reconsidered some of his views since then, and there is no evidence that they have derailed his candidacy. (Landler and Apuzzo, 7/5)

Politico: Kethledge Gets 11th Hour Push As Potential Consensus Pick For Supreme Court
As Donald Trump moves to finalize his Supreme Court pick, Judge Raymond Kethledge is getting a behind-the-scenes push portraying him as the consensus choice of conservatives. Former aides and supporters of Kethledge, a Michigan resident who moves outside Washington circles and is considered the least known of the leading contenders, are quietly circulating positive information about the judge’s personal life, political profile and reassuring record on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit. (Cadelago, Johnson and Gerstein, 7/5)

Politico: Schumer’s Biggest Challenge Yet: Dem Unity On SCOTUS
The last time Senate Democrats stuck together through an all-consuming fight, the issue was Obamacare repeal — and they started off remarkably united against it. Now Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is aiming to replicate that performance in the imminent battle over Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, but his troops face a high risk of division right out of the gate. Under particular pressure to side with the president are the three red-state Democrats who voted for Justice Neil Gorsuch last year and face difficult reelection campaigns: Sens. Joe Manchin, Heidi Heitkamp, and Joe Donnelly. (Schor, 7/6)

Politico: McCaskill Braces For SCOTUS Onslaught
Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill is likely to oppose President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee for being too conservative. And her Republican opponent for reelection, a constitutional lawyer who once clerked for Chief Justice John Roberts, is itching to make her pay. “She’s been wrong on every single court nominee since she has been running for the Senate or in the Senate. So I’m not surprised in the least,” Josh Hawley, Missouri’s attorney general, said in an interview, sitting in a pickup truck with the AC blasting after marching in a July 4 parade. (Everett, 7/6)

The Wall Street Journal: Trump Administration Says It Is Working To Reunite Families By Court Deadline
The Trump administration, in a race to comply with a court order to reunite up to 3,000 children with adult family members who crossed the border illegally, said Thursday it is encountering significant logistical hurdles. The federal government has until Tuesday to reunite children younger than 5 years old with their parents, under a court order issued last week by U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw in San Diego. Older minors must be reconnected with their parents by July 26, the federal judge ruled. (Radnofsky and Campo-Flores, 7/5)

The Hill: HHS Working To Identify Children Separated From Families At Border
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) says it is reviewing the cases of “under 3,000” children who may have been separated from their parents or families at the U.S. border. HHS officials are trying to whittle that number down further to identify the children who were actually separated from their parents by the U.S. government — as opposed to other circumstances before they came to the U.S. — ahead of a court-imposed deadline to reunite children with their families. (Hellmann, 7/5)

The Hill: HHS: About 100 Children Under 5 To Be Reunited With Parents Next Week
About 100 children under the age of 5 will be reunited with their families next week after getting separated by authorities at the U.S. border, officials said Thursday. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) must reunite the children under 5 by Tuesday to comply with a court order handed down last month. (Hellmann, 7/5)

Politico: Sources: EPA Blocks Warnings On Cancer-Causing Chemical
The Trump administration is suppressing an Environmental Protection Agency report that warns that most Americans inhale enough formaldehyde vapor in the course of daily life to put them at risk of developing leukemia and other ailments, a current and a former agency official told POLITICO. The warnings are contained in a draft health assessment EPA scientists completed just before Donald Trump became president, according to the officials. They said top advisers to departing Administrator Scott Pruitt are delaying its release as part of a campaign to undermine the agency’s independent research into the health risks of toxic chemicals. (Snider, 7/6)

Reuters: Drugmakers Try Evasion, Tougher Negotiations To Fight New U.S. Insurer Tactic
In the escalating battle over U.S. prescription drug prices, major pharmaceutical companies are scrambling to limit the economic damage from a new U.S. insurer tactic that coaxes patients away from expensive drugs. The latest move by insurers - which effectively forces drug companies to pay more to assist patients with their copays - is causing a decline in real U.S. drug prices this year, and is expected to become more widely adopted in 2019. (Erman and Humer, 7/5)

Stat: Biogen Reports Positive Results With Alzheimer’s Drug, Reviving Trial Hopes
Biogen is declaring success with a once-failed treatment for Alzheimer’s disease, pointing to positive secondary results from a mid-stage study in hopes of saving a drug many in the field had written off entirely. The treatment, BAN2401, failed its primary goal of beating out placebo over the course of 12 months. But looking at 18 months worth of data from the Phase 2 trial, Biogen and partner Eisai said late Thursday that one dose of the treatment — the highest of five tested — had a significant effect on both cognition and the accumulation of toxic plaques in the brain. (Garde, 7/5)

The Associated Press: Unsealed Lawsuit: Opioid Firm Placed Profits Over People
A newly unsealed lawsuit by Tennessee's attorney general says the maker of the world's top-selling painkiller directed its salesforce to target the highest prescribers, many with limited or no pain management background or training. Citing the public's right to know, Attorney General Herbert Slatery said Thursday that OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma has dropped its previous efforts to shield details of the 274-page lawsuit in state court. The Tennessee Coalition for Open Government and the Knoxville News Sentinel had also requested that the lawsuit's records become public. (7/5)

Reuters: U.S. Private Citizen Cites Mystery Illness Symptoms After China Visit
A U.S. private citizen who visited China has reported symptoms like those of U.S. diplomats afflicted with a mysterious illness in Havana and Guangzhou, a U.S. State Department official said on Thursday. The person, who was not named by the department official, is the first non-official American known to have experienced the symptoms following a trip to China. Nineteen private U.S. citizens have reported similar symptoms after traveling to Cuba. (Mohammed, 7/5)

Stat: In The Age Of Mail-Order DNA, Firm Seeks To Balance Safety And Progress
Imagine being a store owner who sells machines without knowing exactly what they do. Some of your products could help farmers grow more nutritious crops while a few others could spread disease among thousands of people. Part of your inventory would do nothing at all. This is the quandary facing many biotech companies that specialize in synthesizing or printing DNA. By selling genes, they have empowered synthetic biologists seeking to genetically engineer organisms capable of fighting disease or producing industrial materials. (Chen, 7/6)

Stat: New Approach To Breast Cancer Screening May Save Lives And Money
Preventive care experts have been divided for years on how to best counsel women on when to get breast cancer screenings. But a new study suggests that women might benefit from individualized approaches to mammograms rather than from universal guidelines. The study, published Thursday in JAMA Oncology, looks at personalized screening protocols tailored to each woman’s risk of developing breast cancer. The study showed that not offering mammograms to women at low risk for breast cancer might reduce the harms associated with screening, while still maintaining the benefits. And it might even be more cost-effective. (Farber, 7/5)

Los Angeles Times: To Reduce Your Risk Of Obesity, It Helps To Have A Mom Who Follows Five Healthy Habits
Mothers lead the way for their children. And new research finds that the paths that moms walk (or the couches they sit and smoke on) make a powerful difference in their children’s propensity to become obese. A study that tracked close to 17,000 female nurses and their 24,289 kids has found that women who practiced five healthy habits — maintaining a healthy weight, exercising regularly, eating a nutritious diet, consuming no more than moderate quantities of alcohol and not smoking cigarettes — had adolescents that were 75% less likely to be very overweight than the children of moms who practiced none of those healthy habits. (Healy, 7/5)

NPR: Family Caregivers Need Support, Too, Say Alzheimer's Advocates
Vicki Bartholomew started a support group for wives who are caring for a husband with Alzheimer's Disease because she needed that sort of group herself. They meet every month in a conference room at a new memory care facility in Nashville called Abe's Garden, where Bartholomew's husband was one of the first residents — a Vietnam veteran and prominent attorney in Nashville. "My husband's still living, and now I'm in an even more difficult situation — I'm married, but I'm a widow," she says. (Farmer, 7/6)

The New York Times: Airline Crew Have Higher Cancer Rates
Working as a flight attendant may increase the risk for cancer. Flight attendants are exposed to several factors known to increase cancer risk, including disrupted sleep patterns and exposure to the increased levels of cosmic ionizing radiation at high altitudes. (Bakalar, 7/5)

The New York Times: It’s Hot Out. Here Are Some Tips To Stay Cool.
In Boston, some women are using parasols for shade. In New York City, children frolic in the spray of opened sidewalk fire hydrants. And in Lexington, Ky., people celebrating the Fourth of July clutched battery-operated hand-held fans. Americans expend as much effort improvising ways to escape the heat of summer as they do reveling in its rituals at pools, picnics and beaches, and in outdoor activities. (Hauser, 7/6)

NPR: Discovering Charles Dickens' Medical And Public Health Legacy
In London, there's a museum dedicated to Charles Dickens, housed in his old, lovingly preserved home near the King's Cross rail station. There are over 200 museums in London. This one wasn't anywhere near the top of my list. I hated the compulsory Dickens assignments in high school. To teenage me, slogging through the unremitting hopelessness of Great Expectations was absolutely agonizing. Bleak House? I couldn't get past the name. And as for the 743 pages of The Pickwick Papers? I was so traumatized by the other novels that I skipped the book and went straight to a study guide. (Silberner, 7/5)

The Associated Press: Ex-Athletes Say Ohio State Doc Groped, Ogled Men For Years
On paper, Richard Strauss was a well-regarded Ohio State University physician who examined young athletes for decades as a team doctor and sports-medicine researcher. Some former athletes recall him differently: Locker-room voyeur. Serial groper. "Dr. Jelly Paws." In interviews with The Associated Press in recent weeks, seven former athletes and a former nursing student shared detailed allegations of sexual misconduct dating back to the 1970s against the doctor, who killed himself in 2005 at age 67 and is only now under investigation. (Franko, Welsh-Huggins and Seewer, 7/6)

The Wall Street Journal: Former Ohio State Wrestlers Say Rep. Jim Jordan Knew Of Team Doctor’s Alleged Misconduct
Five former wrestlers, including former UFC world champion Mark Coleman, said this week that Rep. Jim Jordan was aware of, but didn’t respond to, allegations of sexual misconduct by an Ohio State University team doctor when the lawmaker was an assistant wrestling coach there in the 1990s. “There’s no way unless he’s got dementia or something that he’s got no recollection of what was going on at Ohio State,” Mr. Coleman, the mixed martial arts champion, said of Mr. Jordan in an interview Wednesday. Messrs. Coleman and Jordan roomed together on several wrestling trips, Mr. Coleman said. “I have nothing but respect for this man, I love this man, but he knew as far as I’m concerned.” (Kesling and Peterson, 7/5)

The Washington Post: Johns Hopkins Hospital Sites Evacuated After Possible Tuberculosis Exposure
Buildings at a Baltimore hospital were evacuated Thursday after employees were possibly exposed to tuberculosis, officials said. The Baltimore City Fire Department responded to Johns Hopkins Hospital to investigate after “a small sample of frozen tuberculosis” being used for research purposes was inadvertently released in an internal bridge between Cancer Research Building 1 and Cancer Research Building 2, Johns Hopkins Medicine spokeswoman Kim Hoppe said in a statement. (Moyer, 7/5)

The Wall Street Journal: Johns Hopkins Evacuates Two Lab Buildings After Tuberculosis Scare
The bacteria, which usually attacks the lungs and can require months of treatment, was released from a “small sample of frozen tuberculosis” in a walkway between two cancer-research buildings, said Ms. Hoppe. The sample was used for research. The release triggered a heavy emergency response outside the complex of Johns Hopkins hospital buildings, including the shutdown of the two used for cancer research. A “limited number” of workers who were in the area at the time of the release were isolated, according to Connor Scott, chief of staff in the health system’s security office. (Evans and McKay, 7/5)

The Associated Press: Health Network Denies Liability In Fertility Clinic Lawsuits
A health care network responding to lawsuits says it wasn't liable for a storage tank malfunction that destroyed more than 4,000 eggs and embryos at its fertility clinic near Cleveland. In court filings made public this week, attorneys for University Hospitals say patients were advised about risks involved with frozen specimens and signed related consent forms. The network says the problem wasn't caused by hospital negligence and suggests others might be responsible for what happened. (7/5)

The Associated Press: New York Agency To Protect Disabled Vows More Transparency
New York's agency tasked with investigating accusations of abuse and neglect against disabled people in state care is promising to improve transparency following years of complaints about conducting nearly all of its work in secret. Denise Miranda took over last year as executive director of the Justice Center for the Protection of People with Special Needs. (7/5)

The Washington Post: Mosquitoes Are At Three Times Their Normal Number In Maryland This Summer
First came the rains. Now come the mosquitoes. Populations of the itch-inducing insects have multiplied across Maryland — in many areas up to three times their normal early summer numbers — because of recent storms and flooding that have given them an abundance of water to breed in. That means the ankle-biters are even more of a nuisance than normal and, potentially, a bigger public health threat, too. (Dance, 7/5)