First Edition: June 24, 2020
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Kaiser Health News:
For A Black Social Media Manager In The George Floyd Age, Each Click Holds Trauma
Recently, as I scrolled the more than 1 million tweets connected to the hashtag #Black_Lives_Matter, this is what flashed before my eyes: the black-and-white dashcam video of Philando Castile’s girlfriend, Diamond Reynolds, in handcuffs crying, her 4-year-old daughter trying to comfort her; protesters in Berlin standing in solidarity with the BLM movement; a Now This video of a young Black girl calling herself ugly; police attacking protesters and protesters fighting back; an image of George Floyd unable to breathe. Suddenly neither could I. My chest tightened, my heart beat faster and hot tears began to bubble from my eyes. (Giles, 6/24)
Kaiser Health News:
Ghost Bill: UVA Siphons Couple’s Tax Refund To Pay 20-Year-Old Medical Debt
The notice from the Virginia tax department puzzled a Charlottesville couple last October. It said their state income tax refund had been reduced because of an outstanding medical debt to the University of Virginia Medical Center. Instead of $220, they got $110. Mystified, they contacted UVA for details about the unpaid bill. The answer astonished them. The medical center had asked the tax department to withhold the money for medical care their son received in 2001 and 2002. (Andrews, 6/24)
Kaiser Health News:
Sex In The Time Of COVID: Gay Men Begin To Embrace A ‘New Normal’
Dr. Jeffrey Klausner, a primary care physician in Los Angeles, has treated gay men for decades. Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, he said, many patients have so dramatically changed their sexual behavior that they shrug off the need for routine screenings for sexually transmitted diseases. “They say, ‘I haven’t had any contact since I saw you last, so there’s no need to do any STD tests,’” said Klausner, an adjunct professor of epidemiology and infectious diseases at UCLA. (Tuller, 6/24)
Kaiser Health News:
COVID Pandemic Jeopardizes Vote On Oklahoma Medicaid Expansion
Oklahoma residents going to the polls June 30 have the chance to override state leaders’ decadelong refusal to expand Medicaid, which would cover more than 200,000 low-income adults and bring billions of federal dollars into the state. But advocates are concerned that turnout for the summer primary election could be hampered by fears of contracting COVID-19 at voting stations and by Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt’s about-face on the issue. Since the supporters got the measure on the ballot in October, the governor has gone from opposing Medicaid expansion to announcing in January he would institute his own expansion plan beginning July 1 that included work requirements and monthly premiums for enrollees. But he turned around and surprised many in May with a veto of state funding for his own proposal. (Galewitz, 6/24)
Kaiser Health News:
Drinking Surged During The Pandemic. Do You Know The Signs Of Addiction?
Despite the lack of dine-in customers for nearly 2½ long months during the coronavirus shutdown, Darrell Loo of Waldo Thai stayed busy.Loo is the bar manager for the popular restaurant in Kansas City, Missouri, and he credits increased drinking and looser liquor laws during the pandemic for his brisk business. Alcohol also seemed to help his customers deal with all the uncertainty and fear. (Smith, 6/24)
AP:
US Virus Cases Surge To Highest Level In 2 Months
New coronavirus cases in the U.S. have surged to their highest level in two months and are now back to where they were at the peak of the outbreak.The U.S. on Tuesday reported 34,700 new cases of the virus, according to a tally compiled by Johns Hopkins University that was published Wednesday. There have been only two previous days that the U.S. has reported more cases: April 9 and April 24, when a record 36,400 cases were logged. (Perry and Moritsugu, 6/24)
AP:
Fauci: Next Few Weeks Critical To Tamping Down Virus Spikes
The next few weeks are critical to tamping down a disturbing coronavirus surge, Dr. Anthony Fauci told Congress on Tuesday — issuing a plea for people to avoid crowds and wear masks just hours before mask-shunning President Donald Trump was set to address a crowd of his young supporters in one hot spot. Fauci and other top health officials also said they have not been asked to slow down virus testing, in contrast to Trump’s claim last weekend that he had ordered fewer tests be performed because they were uncovering too many infections. Trump said earlier Tuesday that he wasn’t kidding when he made that remark. (Neergaard and Alonso-Zaldivar, 6/24)
Politico:
Fauci Says White House Told NIH To Cancel Funding For Bat Virus Study
The White House directed the National Institutes of Health to cancel funding for a project studying how coronaviruses spread from bats to people, the government's top infectious disease expert said Tuesday. “Why was it canceled? It was canceled because the NIH was told to cancel it," said Anthony Fauci, director of the NIH's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, in response to a question during a House Energy & Commerce Hearing. "I don’t know the reason, but we were told to cancel it.” (Lim and Ehley, 6/23)
The Washington Post:
Fauci, Redfield Testify On Coronavirus In Congressional Hearing
The health officials also warned of a difficult fall and winter because the U.S. health-care system will probably battle two highly contagious, respiratory viruses then: the novel coronavirus and the seasonal flu. They also said it was inevitable the country would see more cases as states continued to reopen and emphasized the importance of getting the outbreak under control to allow local health officials to isolate confirmed cases and conduct contact tracing to prevent cases from spiraling out of control. (Wagner, Sonmez, Abutaleb, Sun and McGinley, 6/23)
Politico:
Fauci Says Trump Hasn't Ordered Slowdown Of Coronavirus Testing
Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told the House Energy and Commerce Committee that the administration continues to focus on scaling up testing capacity and that, to his knowledge, none of the White House coronavirus task force members had been told to do otherwise. "It's the opposite,” Fauci said in response to a question referencing Trump's remarks. “We’re going to be doing more testing, not less." (Ehley, 6/23)
CNN:
Trump Ignores Viral Surge As Fauci Warns Of Disturbing Trend
President Donald Trump's top health advisers say that the coronavirus pandemic has driven America to its knees amid a disturbing surge in cases. But Trump is ignoring the new danger, instead using the worst domestic crisis in decades as a racist punchline. (Collinson, 6/24)
AP:
AP FACT CHECK: Sober Science Weighs In On Trump's Virus Take
The U.S. government’s top public health leaders on Tuesday shot down assertions by President Donald Trump that the coronavirus pandemic is under control and the U.S. is excelling in testing for the virus. The pandemic that Trump has said is “fading” is actually surging in many states, they said, and the need to expand testing is “critical.” Dr. Anthony Fauci and other public health authorities also refuted Trump’s statement that he told them to ease up on testing because it looks bad to bring more sickness to light. (Woodward and Yen, 6/23)
Los Angeles Times:
Trump Administration Has Considered Ending COVID Emergency
The Trump administration, eager to claim victory over the coronavirus, has been considering scaling back the national emergency declared earlier this year to control the pandemic, according to healthcare industry officials who have spoken with the administration. The prospect has stoked alarm among public health leaders, physicians, hospital officials and others who are trying to control the outbreak and fear that such a move would make it more difficult for state and local governments and health systems to keep the coronavirus in check. (Levey, 6/23)
Politico:
‘I Don’t Kid’: Trump Says He Wasn’t Joking About Slowing Coronavirus Testing
President Donald Trump on Tuesday insisted he was serious when he revealed that he had directed his administration to slow coronavirus testing in the United States, shattering the defenses of senior White House aides who argued Trump’s remarks were made in jest. “I don’t kid. Let me just tell you. Let me make it clear,” Trump told reporters, when pressed on whether his comments at a campaign event Saturday in Tulsa, Okla., were intended as a joke. (Forgey, 6/23)
Stat:
Top U.S. Officials Say They Weren't Ordered To ‘Slow Down’ Covid-19 Testing
Four key government health care officials said Tuesday that despite recent remarks from President Trump, they were never ordered to “slow down” diagnostic testing for Covid-19. Their testimony at a congressional hearing came just three days after the president, at a campaign rally, told supporters that he had ordered a deceleration of Covid-19 testing. During a rally in Tulsa, Okla., Trump misleadingly escalated his long-standing claim that the high U.S. case count is simply a result of thorough testing. (Facher, 6/23)
AP:
With Student Gathering, Trump Gets A More Boisterous Crowd
It wasn’t quite one of his signature big-stadium rallies. But President Donald Trump drew something closer to the jam-packed audience of political supporters he’s been craving as hundreds of young conservatives filled a Phoenix megachurch Tuesday to hear his call for them to get behind his reelection effort. The crowded Dream City Church for the gathering of Students for Trump offered a starkly different feel compared to Trump’s weekend rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, his first of the coronavirus era, which drew sparser attendance. (Lemire and Madhani, 6/24)
Reuters:
Trump Slams Protesters At Phoenix Rally, Visits Border Wall In Arizona
Phoenix police declared the demonstration an unlawful assembly after protesters started blocking a street. Then officers in riot gear used flash-bang grenades - military-style percussion devices for crowd control - to push protesters well away from the church, a Reuters photographer at the scene said. The city police department said it ordered demonstrators to disperse when the crowd began throwing objects at police, “blocking traffic and moving into an area protected for the presidential motorcade.” In addition to flash-bang devices, police also used “pepper balls deployed into the ground and a burst of pepper spray” against the protesters, the department statement said, adding that no arrests were made. (Holland, 6/23)
The Washington Post:
Trump Visits Border Barrier In Push Of Immigration Message Amid Pandemic And Civil Unrest
The trip — more than three hours on Air Force One to a state dealing with a record spike in virus cases — was itself controversial, as Trump and his aides continued to flout public health guidelines at the same time that top administration officials were testifying before Congress about the growing threat of covid-19, the disease caused by the virus. (Gearan, Miroff and Olorunnipa, 6/23)
The Washington Post:
Trump Again Uses Racially Insensitive Term To Describe Coronavirus
President Trump again referred to the novel coronavirus as “kung flu,” eliciting laughter and wild cheers from a young crowd in Arizona on Tuesday. Trump was listing the different names he has heard for the virus, which has killed at least 119,000 Americans, during a speech for the student Republican group Turning Point Action. (Itkowitz, 6/23)
NPR:
Trump Campaign Moves To Arizona After Tulsa Rally Fizzles
Students for Trump includes a waiver similar to the one the Trump campaign gave to attendees of the Tulsa rally, acknowledging the health risks. "By attending this convention, you and any guest voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to COVID-19 and agree not to hold Turning Point Action, their affiliates, Dream City Church, employees, agents, contractors, or volunteers liable for any illness or injury," it reads. Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden called the president's trip "reckless and irresponsible" and said it is a "distraction from Donald Trump's failed response to combat the spread of COVID-19." (Sprunt and Wise, 6/23)
AP:
Trump Rally Flop In Tulsa, But A Hit On Television
Now it’s apparent where many of President Donald Trump’s supporters who stayed away from Saturday’s campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, were instead: they were home watching it on television. Fox News Channel, which aired Trump’s speech live, had the biggest Saturday night audience in the network’s 24-year history, the Nielsen company said. During Trump’s address at 9 p.m. on Saturday, Fox had 8.2 million people watching. (Bauder, 6/23)
AP:
Trump Says 'Learn From History' Instead Of Removing Statues
As America grapples with racism in its past, President Donald Trump lined up squarely Tuesday with those who argue that the pendulum has swung too far in favor of removing statues and other symbols of that flawed history, saying mistakes will be repeated if not learned from and understood. Trump’s campaign also sees the divide over this latest cultural flash point as a way to boost the president’s standing, which has suffered during his handling of the coronavirus outbreak and the protests over racial injustice that followed George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis. (Superville, 6/24)
Reuters:
Washington State Makes Face Masks Mandatory As Some States See New Coronavirus Surge
The governor of Washington state on Tuesday ordered residents to wear face masks in public as officials across the country sought new means to control the coronavirus pandemic while easing clamp-downs on residents and reopening the economy. The move by Washington Governor Jay Inslee came as Arizona, California, Mississippi and Nevada reported record numbers of new cases of COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus. Texas set a record on Monday. (Shumaker and Bernstein, 6/23)
Reuters:
Families Separated By New Trump Visa Order Frantic For Answers
In early March, Poorva Dixit rushed to buy a ticket to India from the United States, her home for more than a decade, after she learned her 72-year-old mother had fallen from her bed and was in critical condition. She decided to leave her two young children and husband in California because of the risks of the novel coronavirus spreading around the world. Dixit and her husband are both Indian nationals while their children are U.S. citizens. (Rosenberg, 6/23)
Reuters:
Explainer: Who Is Affected By Trump’s Suspension Of Foreign Work Visas?
President Donald Trump temporarily suspended the entry into the United States of certain foreign workers on Monday despite strong opposition from business groups, including major tech companies. The ban, which the White House said was necessary to make jobs available for Americans, will go into effect on Wednesday and last until the end of 2020. (Hesson, 6/23)
NPR:
Trump And Biden Campaigns Argue Over Presidential Debates
A presidential debate scheduled for Oct. 15 will no longer be held at the University of Michigan. ... The Commission on Presidential Debates announced the debate will instead be held at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami. The venue hosted the first debates of the Democratic presidential primary last summer. (Detrow, 6/23)
Politico:
Primary Voters In New York And Kentucky Turn Out Despite Pandemic
Brooklyn resident Jean Desrosiers is undergoing dialysis, putting him at high risk from Covid-19. He was among 1.7 million New Yorkers who requested a ballot, though like many others, his never arrived. “Even if I can’t walk, I’m going to come out,” said Desrosiers, who uses a cane. (Durkin and Montellaro, 6/23)
AP:
2 Republicans Opposed By Trump Win In Kentucky, N. Carolina
Voters rebuffed President Donald Trump and nominated two Republicans he opposed to House seats from North Carolina and Kentucky on Tuesday. Calls in higher-profile races in Kentucky and New York faced days of delay as swamped officials count mountains of mail-in ballots. In western North Carolina, GOP voters picked 24-year-old investor Madison Cawthorn, who uses a wheelchair following an accident, over Trump-backed real estate agent Lynda Bennett. The runoff was for the seat vacated by GOP Rep. Mark Meadows, who resigned to become Trump’s chief of staff and joined his new boss in backing Bennett. (Cassidy, Hudspeth Blackburn and Fram, 6/24)
Reuters:
Amid Coronavirus, Kentucky, New York Report Few Voting Glitches
Voters stood in long lines in one of Kentucky’s biggest counties, and some voters in New York complained their polling stations opened late. But the two states were mostly spared the delays and confusion seen earlier this year during elections in Wisconsin and Georgia. New York and Kentucky, which were holding statewide primaries, had encouraged mail-in balloting as a safe alternative to in-person voting, resulting in record numbers of absentee ballot requests. Both also encouraged early voting and cut back on polling locations amid a shortage of poll workers. (Whitesides, 6/23)
The New York Times:
Lots Of Drama But Little Certainty In Kentucky And New York Primaries
Voters in Kentucky and New York were selecting nominees in extraordinary circumstances on Tuesday, as fears about the coronavirus reduced the number of polling places and led to a surge in absentee balloting that was almost certain to delay the results, possibly for days. Kentucky Democrats were deciding who would be their nominee against Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, in a race that was testing the power of money against the potency of the grass-roots activism that has sprung up around the Black Lives Matter movement. (Martin and McKinley, 6/22)
The Washington Post:
Voting In Kentucky, New York Primaries: Officials Contend With Mail-In Ballots, Poll Worker Cancellations
Michael G. Adams, Kentucky’s Republican secretary of state, projected that total turnout would exceed 1 million, including roughly 800,000 mailed ballots. The final figure would shatter the previous record of 922,456 primary voters set in 2008. Poll worker cancellations had forced election officials to staff fewer than 200 polling locations instead of the usual 3,700, but Adams said an avalanche of mail-in balloting and in-person early voting helped lessen demand on the polls Tuesday. (Gardner, Ye Hee Lee and Viebeck, 6/23)
Reuters:
Black Challenger Bowman Leads In Bid To Oust Veteran Congressman Engel In U.S. Primaries
Jamaal Bowman, a liberal Black middle-school principal, was ahead in early Democratic primary election results Tuesday in his bid to oust long-time U.S. Representative Eliot Engel from a congressional seat representing part of New York. The New York Times declared progressive Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez the winner in her contest against a challenger in a neighboring New York district, in races that tested the strength of the Democratic Party’s left wing after moderate Joe Biden became the presumptive presidential nominee. (Cowan and Cornwell, 6/23)
AP:
Congress Stalls On Policing Overhaul, Despite Public Outcry
The standoff threatens to turn the nationwide protests over the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others into another moment that galvanizes the nation but leaves lawmakers unable to act. Common ground is not out of reach. A new Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll shows almost all Americans support some degree of criminal justice changes. (Mascaro, 6/23)
The Washington Post:
Senate Democrats Call GOP Policing Bill ‘Not Salvageable,’ Signal They Will Block Measure
The Senate appeared on the cusp of failure Tuesday as Republicans and Democrats struggled to find consensus on how to address a national crisis over race and policing and answer the public demand to overhaul law enforcement tactics. Democrats criticized a Senate Republican plan as inadequate, arguing that it falls far short of a substantive transformation of controversial policing practices, and they laid the groundwork to stall the measure. Republicans countered that their proposal was a viable starting point for legislation and said Democratic resistance was a sign that the party was interested only in scoring political points months ahead of the elections. (Min Kim and Bailey, 6/23)
NPR:
Partisan Fight Could Derail Plans For Congress To Act On Police Reform
One week ago, with his party's leadership behind him, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, the chamber's lone Black Republican, unveiled the bill with hopes of voting on the measure ahead of the Fourth of July recess. Republicans said the plan addresses a national outcry for reform of the country's law enforcement departments and agencies. But by Tuesday, Democrats were demanding bipartisan talks before green-lighting floor debate. The move rankled Republicans, who say they already addressed Democrats' demands to quickly move a bill addressing police brutality. (Grisales and Snell, 6/24)
Politico:
Amid VP Scrutiny, Kamala Harris Leads Charge Against GOP Police Bill
Senate Democrats are preparing to torpedo Republicans’ police reform proposal. And vice-presidential frontrunner Kamala Harris is leading the way. It’s a critical moment for Harris, who has faced scrutiny over her record as a former state attorney general. But as she finds herself in the middle of a messy congressional debate over how to stop police killings of Black people, she has a national platform that others in contention for vice president simply can't match. (Everett and Cadelago, 6/23)
Politico:
House Democrats Tack To Center With Election Year Health Care Bill
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Wednesday will unveil a centrist health care plan to shore up Obamacare while taking aim at Trump administration policies that critics say undercut the health care law. The House Democratic plan is less ambitious than the platform put forward by Joe Biden and doesn't include a public insurance option that could compete with private plans. It also would not expand eligibility for Medicare or Medicaid. (Luthi and Ollstein, 6/23)
The Hill:
Trump, GOP Clash Over New Round Of Checks
Senate Republicans and President Trump are facing off over a new round of COVID-19 stimulus checks, with GOP senators warning Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Tuesday to mind the mounting federal deficit. Trump views the $1,200 “economic impact payment” checks that featured his name prominently as a political and economic winner. Many GOP senators, on the other hand, think a second round would be a huge waste of money. (Bolton, 6/23)
Politico:
WHO Sets Out Vaccines Allocation Plan
The World Health Organization has set out its proposal for the distribution of future coronavirus treatments and vaccines, with over four billion doses needed to vaccinate the world's priority populations. In a document presented to its member countries on June 18, the WHO writes that the goal of its Global Allocation Framework should be to reduce Covid-19 mortality and protect health systems. Accordingly, three groups should receive priority vaccinations: Health care workers; adults older than 65; and adults with comorbidities such as cancer, cardiovascular disease and obesity. (Furlong, 6/23)
The New York Times:
Women With Cancer Awarded Billions In Baby Powder Suit
A Missouri appeals court on Tuesday ordered Johnson & Johnson and a subsidiary to pay $2.1 billion in damages to women who blamed their ovarian cancers on the company’s talcum products, including its iconic baby powder. The decision slashed by more than half a record award of $4.69 billion in compensatory and punitive damages to the women, which was made in July 2018. (Caryn Rabin, 6/23)
The Wall Street Journal:
Missouri Court Cuts Talc-Powder Verdict Against J&J To $2.1 Billion
Mark Lanier, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said the appellate court’s decision Tuesday “carefully holds companies responsible for reprehensible conduct, while recognizing limits of jurisdiction and punitive damages.” ...The 2018 verdict, following a six-week trial in state court in St. Louis, was the biggest award of damages in a series of trials arising from lawsuits over the safety of Johnson’s Baby Powder, as well another talc-containing powder, Shower to Shower, that J&J used to sell. (Loftus, 6/23)
The Hill:
Johnson & Johnson Ordered To Pay $2.1 Billion In Baby Powder Lawsuit
Johnson & Johnson had appealed the verdict, requesting the court throw out the decision entirely, which the court declined to do, saying it had found “significant reprehensibility” in the company’s conduct. The court cited in its decision internal memorandums as far back as the 1960s indicating the company's talcum products contained asbestos, a known carcinogen. ...Last month, the company announced it would discontinue its talc-based products in the U.S. and Canada, citing decreased sales and “misinformation around the safety of the product and a constant barrage of litigation advertising.” (Coleman, 6/23)
CNN:
Hospitals Lose Bid To Keep Secret The Rates They Negotiate With Insurers
The administration hailed the decision, saying American patients deserve to be in control of their health care. "Especially when patients are seeking needed care during a public health emergency, it is more important than ever that they have ready access to the actual prices of health care services," said Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar. (Luhby, 6/23)
The Hill:
Trump Touts Court Ruling Upholding Push To Require Hospitals Disclose Secret Rates
The American Hospital Association (AHA) claimed in a lawsuit filed in December that the federal government didn't have the authority to mandate the disclosure of negotiated prices. The organization alleged that the administration requirement was "unlawful." (Wise, 6/24)
The New York Times:
Hospitals Sued To Keep Prices Secret. They Lost.
A federal judge has upheld a Trump administration policy that requires hospitals and health insurers to publish their negotiated prices for health services, numbers that are typically kept secret. The policy is part of a major push by the administration to improve transparency in health care. Insurers and health providers usually negotiate deals behind closed doors, and patients rarely know the cost of services until after the fact. (Kliff and Sanger-Katz, 6/23)
The Wall Street Journal:
Trump Administration Price-Transparency Rule Covering Hospitals Upheld
The hospital trade group had argued that the rule compelling the hospitals to publish their negotiated rates with insurers violates the First Amendment and goes beyond the statutory intent of the Affordable Care Act. President Trump welcomed the decision, tweeting Tuesday evening: “BIG VICTORY for patients – Federal court UPHOLDS hospital price transparency. Patients deserve to know the price of care BEFORE they enter the hospital. Because of my action, they will. This may very well be bigger than healthcare itself. Congratulations America!" (Armour, 6/23)
Stat:
FDA Urged To Heighten Safety Warnings On Common Type 2 Diabetes Drugs
A consumer advocacy is urging the Food and Drug Administration to heighten warnings about a widely prescribed group of diabetes drugs known as SGLT-2 inhibitors, due to hundreds of cases of a potentially fatal reaction among people with type 1 diabetes, even though the medicines are not approved for those patients. In a citizen’s petition being filed with the agency on Wednesday, Public Citizen argued that a “black box” warning, the most serious safety warning found in prescription drug labeling, should note SGLT-2 inhibitors can cause ketocacidosis. (Silverman, 6/24)
AP:
Scarce Medical Oxygen Worldwide Leaves Many Gasping For Life
Guinea’s best hope for coronavirus patients lies inside a neglected yellow shed on the grounds of its main hospital: an oxygen plant that has never been turned on. The plant was part of a hospital renovation funded by international donors responding to the Ebola crisis in West Africa a few years ago. But the foreign technicians and supplies needed to complete the job can’t get in under Guinea’s coronavirus lockdowns — even though dozens of Chinese technicians came in on a charter flight last month to work at the country’s lucrative mines. Unlike many of Guinea’s public hospitals, the mines have a steady supply of oxygen. (Hinnant, Petesch and Diallo, 6/24)
CNN:
Irritable Bowel Disease Might Mean Greater Dementia Risk
If you have inflammatory bowel disease, you may be at greater risk for developing dementia, a new study suggests. Inflammatory bowel disease, which includes ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, is a chronic inflammatory condition that affects more than 3 million US adults and millions more around the world. It intermittently triggers stomach pain, diarrhea and bloody stools. (Rogers, 6/23)
CNN:
Some Cyberbullies Show Signs Of PTSD, According To A UK Study
Cyberbullying is linked to a variety of post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, not only in victims but cyberbullies as well, according to a new study of over 2,000 UK teens. Over a quarter of cyberbullies suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms, the study, published Tuesday in the Archives of Disease in Childhood Journal, found. (Marples, 6/24)
CNN:
Should You Take A Dietary Supplement To Prevent Disease?
If you've been more concerned about your health lately, you might be wondering if taking a nutrition supplement containing vitamins, minerals or a combination is worthwhile. It's estimated that more than half of Americans take one or more dietary supplements daily or on occasion... But are you wasting your money on vitamins and minerals you don't need or possibly harming yourself by taking high doses? (Drayer, 6/24)
Stat:
Fate Of Intercept's NASH Drug Clouded By Murky FDA Review Delays
On Friday, the Food and Drug Administration is supposed to announce its decision on whether or not to approve the first treatment for the fatty liver disease known as NASH. But that plan has apparently been postponed for reasons that are still not clear. The FDA hasn’t offered an explanation, nor has Intercept Pharmaceuticals, the maker of the NASH drug under review. (Feuerstein, 6/23)
Stat:
Sana Biotechnology, A Secretive Startup, Lays (Some) Cards On The Table
After years of rumors, Sana Biotechnology is officially biotech’s newest unicorn. The company announced Tuesday that it has raised $700 million — one of the largest initial financing rounds for a biotech startup ever. The cash itself is not new — the money was actually raised in 2018 — but Tuesday’s announcement is the first time the company has disclosed any details about its financial position. (Sheridan, 6/23)
The Washington Post:
Trump Tweets D.C. Protesters Will Be Met With 'Serious Force' If Autonomous Zone Established
D.C. police lined streets around the White House on Tuesday, periodically clearing out tents, barricades and other structures built by protesters seeking to create an autonomous zone in the area that has been at the center of weeks of protests against police brutality. The action came after President Trump tweeted early Tuesday that protesters would be met with “serious force” if they tried to establish an autonomous zone and that federal officials would seek long sentences against anyone who toppled statues or vandalized monuments. (Lang, Svrluga, Heim, Kunkle and Jouvenal, 6/23)
The Washington Post:
Mourners Recall Rayshard Brooks, Say His Death ‘Much Bigger Than Him’
ATLANTA — Mourners gathered for the funeral of Rayshard Brooks on Tuesday in Ebenezer Baptist Church, a historic Atlanta sanctuary that rose after the Civil War and Reconstruction, survived decades of Jim Crow laws, and for years served as a spiritual home for civil rights leader the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. The years weighed heavily as family and friends clad in white and wearing masks amid the coronavirus pandemic filed into the red-brick church under cloudy skies, for yet another black man killed, with a white police officer accused of murder in his death. (Nirappil and Sacchetti, 6/23)
Los Angeles Times:
LAPD Coronavirus Cases Spike Following Protests
Coronavirus infections among Los Angeles police officers spiked in recent weeks, reflecting a broader increase in cases regionally and raising fresh questions about the role of protests in the spread. Police officials have said that officers were exposed on skirmish lines as they worked to disperse screaming crowds. Protesters say officers recklessly arrested people en masse without wearing masks, exposing not just themselves but others. (Rector, 6/23)
AP:
Police Officer Involved In Breonna Taylor Shooting Fired
The Louisville Metro police department has fired one of the police officers involved in the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor, more than three months after the 26-year-old Black woman was killed in her home. A termination letter sent to Officer Brett Hankison released by the city’s police department Tuesday said Hankinson violated procedures by showing “extreme indifference to the value of human life” when he “wantonly and blindly” shot 10 rounds of gunfire into Taylor’s apartment in March. The letter also said Hankison, who is white, violated the rule against using deadly force. (6/24)
Reuters:
Woman Arrested Over Torching Of Wendy's Where Rayshard Brooks Died
A woman accused of setting fire to the Wendy’s fast-food restaurant in Atlanta where police shot and killed Rayshard Brooks in the parking lot was arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of arson, authorities said. Natalie White, 29, was taken into custody by Fulton County sheriff’s deputies on the same day that Brooks, a Black man who was slain by a white officer, was buried following a funeral at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. (McKay, 6/23)
The Washington Post:
Vallejo, California Defunded Its Police Force. Fatal Police Shootings Soared.
Twelve years ago, officials in Vallejo, Calif., reluctantly took a step that activists are now urging in cities across the country: They defunded their police department. Unable to pay its bills after the 2008 financial crisis, Vallejo filed for bankruptcy and cut its police force nearly in half — to fewer than 80 officers, from a pre-recession high of more than 150. At the time, the working-class city of 122,000 north of San Francisco struggled with high rates of violent crime and simmering mistrust of its police department. It didn’t seem like things could get much worse. (Jamison, 6/23)
AP:
Cops In Misconduct Cases Stay On Force Through Arbitration
An Oregon police officer lost his job and then returned to work after fatally shooting an unarmed Black man in the back. A Florida sergeant was let go six times for using excessive force and stealing from suspects, while a Texas lieutenant was terminated five times after being accused of striking two women, making threatening calls and committing other infractions. These officers and hundreds of others across the country were fired, sometimes repeatedly, for violating policies but got their jobs back after appealing their cases to an arbitrator who overturned their discipline — an all-too-common practice that some experts in law and in policing say stands in the way of real accountability. (Bellisle, 6/24)