First Edition: May 20, 2015

The New York Times: Lawmakers Back Broader Access To Contraceptives For Women In The Military
Both houses of Congress are moving to guarantee greater access to contraceptives for women in the military, actions that lawmakers say are prompted in part by concern about unplanned pregnancies in the armed forces. The annual defense policy bill, passed on Friday by the House, says military clinics and hospitals must be able to dispense any method of contraception approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Women have complained that they are sometimes unable to obtain contraceptives prescribed by their doctors, especially when they are deployed overseas. (Pear, 5/19)

The Wall Street Journal: Appeals Court Denies Notre Dame’s Challenge To Health Law’s Contraception Mandate
A federal court again denied the University of Notre Dame’s challenge to the health law’s contraception provision, saying a compromise arrangement offered by the Obama administration appears adequate to meet the Catholic institution’s religious objections to covering birth control for students and staff. Notre Dame has been fighting the Affordable Care Act’s requirement that most employers include contraception in health plans with no out-of-pocket costs, arguing that the federal government is forcing it to violate its beliefs. (Radnofsky and Kendall, 5/19)

The New York Times: High Cost Of Hepatitis C Drug Prompts A Call To Void Its Patents
Activists in several countries are seeking to void patents on the blockbuster hepatitis C drug Sovaldi, saying that the price being sought by the manufacturer, Gilead Sciences, was prohibitive. ... The actions are a sign that the controversy over Sovaldi is spreading beyond the United States, where the $84,000 charge for a course of treatment has strained Medicaid budgets, to middle-income countries. (Pollack, 5/19)

The Washington Post: Cancer Charities Bilked Donors Out Of $187 Million, Government Says
A group of four cancer philanthropies bilked donors across the country out of $187 million, the Federal Trade Commission charged Tuesday in what the agency called one of the largest government actions against charity fraud. The four groups named in the civil complaint are the Cancer Fund of America, Cancer Support Services, the Children’s Cancer Fund of America and the Breast Cancer Society. Their operations from 2008 to 2012, which were called a “sham” by the FTC, relied on emotional appeals to help women and children with cancer. (Whoriskey, Dennis and Cha, 5/19)

The New York Times: 4 Cancer Charities Are Accused Of Fraud
There were subscriptions to dating websites, meals at Hooters and purchases at Victoria’s Secret — not to mention jet ski joy rides and couples’ cruises to the Caribbean. All of it was paid for with the nearly $200 million donated to cancer charities, and was enjoyed by the healthy friends and family members of those running the groups, in what government officials said Tuesday was one of the largest charity fraud cases ever. (Ruiz, 5/19)

The Wall Street Journal: Cancer Charities Called $187 Million ‘Sham’
A group of family members whose charities claimed to be raising millions of dollars for cancer victims bilked donors to the tune of $187 million over five years, spending some of that money on fancy cars and trips for themselves and their friends, according to a civil suit. The alleged fraud, which would be one of the largest-ever involving a charity, was detailed in a complaint filed by the Federal Trade Commission, all 50 states and the District of Columbia. (McWhirter, 5/19)

The Washington Post: To Fight Superbugs, FDA Seeks Detailed Data On Animal Antimicrobials
The U.S Food and Drug Administration said it is asking drugmakers for data on antimicrobials sold for use in each food animal, such as cows and chickens, as part of efforts to combat antibiotic­resistant bacteria. ... Details on the use of medically important antimicrobials — a group of drugs that includes antibiotics, antifungals and antivirals — will help the agency discern patterns of resistance and identify disease trends, the FDA said in a statement Tuesday. (5/19)

The Tennessean: 48-Hour Abortion Waiting Period Signed Into Tennessee Law
Women seeking an abortion in Tennessee will now have to make two trips to a clinic, waiting 48 hours after getting in-person counseling from a doctor before being able to return for the procedure, under a new measure signed into law by Gov. Bill Haslam on Monday. Physicians who do not follow new rules on what to tell their patients during the in-person counseling could face either misdemeanor or felony charges, or risk having their medical licenses revoked. (Wadhwani, 5/19)

The Tennessean: Battle Over Right To Die Headed To Nashville Courts
A civil rights activist who pledged to make right-to-die legislation his final fight filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging state law that prohibits assisted suicide. Attorney, businessman and political candidate John Jay Hooker, who is facing his own terminal diagnosis, is undeterred by the Tennessee General Assembly's choice to send the issue to summer study and is now asking a Davidson County Chancery Court judge to weigh the issue. He says the state law, which makes it a felony for a doctor or another person to assist in someone's death, violates the state constitution. (Barchenger, 5/19)

The Associated Press: Expert Panel Criticizes Medical Care At Illinois Prisons
A scathing new report by court-approved researchers paints a bleak picture of medical care in Illinois prisons, describing treatment delays, haphazard follow-up care, chaotic record keeping and a litany of other problems that may have cut short the lives of some inmates. The 405-page report, which the Illinois Department of Corrections immediately disputed, was filed late Tuesday night in U.S. District Court in Chicago in a class-action suit against the agency, which oversees 49,000 inmates statewide. (Tarm, 5/20)

NPR: Clinical Psychologist To Head Chicago's Cook County Jail
Now a sign of just how entwined the criminal justice system is with mental illness. Next week, a clinical psychologist will take over as head of one of the country's largest jails - Cook County Jail in Chicago. On any given day, it houses some 9,000 inmates. Prison officials estimate that a third of them are mentally ill. (Block, 5/19)

NPR: Dense Breasts Are Just One Part Of The Cancer Risk Calculus
Almost half the states now require doctors to tell women if they have dense breasts because they're at higher risk of breast cancer, and those cancers are harder to find. But not all women with dense breasts have the same risks, a study says. Those differences need to be taken into account when figuring out each woman's risk of breast cancer, the study says, and also weighed against other factors, including family history, age and ethnicity. (Shute, 5/19)

NPR: Many Native American Communities Struggle With Effects Of Heroin Use
[Akimel O'odham tribe member Shannon] Rivers is a former addict. He says the reasons why Native Americans have such high rates of incarceration and substance abuse are complex. ... And there's a new problem: a recent FBI report shows the Mexican drug cartels are specifically targeting Indian Country. High unemployment on the reservations means many turn to trafficking and dealing. The cartels know the tribes lack law enforcement resources. (Morales, 5/20)

The Associated Press: Small Business Is Key In Presidential Campaign Playbook
Small businesses aren't in the dire straits they were four years ago, but presidential candidates aren't letting go of an issue they think will get them votes. Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton has made small business one of the top items on her campaign agenda. Republican Ted Cruz says the primary problems hurting small companies are the health care law, taxes and government regulations. Republican Rand Paul says the tax law is burdening small business and slowing the economy. (5/20)

The Associated Press: GOP Primary For Governor In Kentucky Too Close To Call
Kentucky's volatile Republican primary for governor ended in a virtual tie Tuesday night as less than 100 votes separated Matt Bevin and James Comer. ... Bevin and Comer agree on most major policy issues, including passing laws to ban companies from forcing its employees to join a labor union and vowing to dismantle the state-run health insurance exchange authorized by the federal Affordable Care Act. (5/20)

The Wall Street Journal: Major Donations Bolster Hospital, Medical Research
A stretch of the Upper East Side of Manhattan will be transformed into even more of an international hub for hospitals and medical research with a total of $250 million in separate donations from the industrialist David H. Koch and the financier Henry R. Kravis and his wife, Marie-Josée Kravis. (Grayce West, 5/20)

The New York Times: Many Probiotics Taken For Celiac Disease Contain Gluten
More than half of the top-selling probiotic supplements they analyzed contained gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley and rye that is harmful to people with celiac disease. The authors of the study found gluten in probiotic supplements that carried “gluten-free” claims on their labels, and they discovered that the most expensive supplements were just as likely to contain gluten as the cheapest products. ... The new findings are a symptom of what experts say is a larger problem in the $33-billion-a-year supplement industry. Several large studies and law enforcement investigations in the last two years have suggested that supplements often do not contain what their labels claim. The industry is loosely regulated, and the Food and Drug Administration has said that two thirds of companies do not comply with a basic set of good manufacturing practices. (O'Connor, 5/19)