First Edition: May 7, 2019

Kaiser Health News: Meth Vs. Opioids: America Has Two Drug Epidemics, But Focuses On One
Kim had been wine tasting with a friend in Sonoma, Calif. They got into an argument in the car that night and Kim thought someone was following them. She was utterly convinced. And she had to get away. “I jumped out of the car and started running, and I literally ran a mile. I went through water, went up a tree,” she said. “I was literally running for my life.” Kim was soaking wet when she walked into a woman’s house, woke her from bed and asked for help. When the woman went to call the police, Kim left and found another woman’s empty guesthouse to sleep in — Goldilocks-style. (Dembosky, 5/7)

The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Measles Cases Continue To Climb
As measles cases rose last week to a new high of 764 cases this year in 23 states, a battle is heating up in New York state over a proposal to tighten vaccination requirements for those attending schools. The new total is 60 cases more than a week ago, according to a weekly update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That is the highest case count since 1994, driven largely by two outbreaks—in New York City and nearby Rockland County. N.Y. (McKay, West and Vielkind, 5/6)

The Hill: CDC Reports 60 New Measles Cases In The Past Week
Less than two weeks ago, the country broke the record of 667 cases reported in 2014, the most confirmed since the disease was declared eliminated in 2000. The new numbers mean that a little over four months into the year, there have been almost 100 more cases than there were in all of 2014. Cases have been reported in 23 states, with Pennsylvania being the newest addition. Of the 60 new individual cases, 52 were reported in New York, where two large outbreaks are occurring in Rockland County and in New York City. (Weixel, 5/6)

Los Angeles Times: How Stricter Vaccine Laws Spared California From A Major Measles Outbreak
More than 750 people have been diagnosed with measles in the United States this year, the most cases nationwide in more than 20 years. Health officials say that more than 500 of those people had not been vaccinated. (Krishnakumar and Karlamangla, 5/6)

The Associated Press: States Seek To Cut Off Religious Exemptions For Vaccination
Connecticut’s Attorney General gave state lawmakers the legal go-ahead Monday to pursue legislation that would prevent parents from exempting their children from vaccinations for religious reasons, a move that several states are considering amid a significant measles outbreak. The non-binding ruling from William Tong, a Democrat, was released the same day public health officials in neighboring New York called on state legislators there to pass similar legislation . Most of the cases in the current outbreak have been in New York state. (Haigh, 5/6)

The Hill: Oregon House Passes Bill To Eliminate Religious, Philosophical Vaccine Exemptions
Oregon lawmakers have advanced a bill that would eliminate religious and philosophical exemptions for mandatory vaccinations, according to the Oregonian. The bill, which would allow exemptions to vaccinations solely for medical reasons, passed the Oregon state House 35-25, largely along party lines but with two Republicans voting for it, including Rep. Cheri Helt, who introduced it, and four “nay” votes from Democrats. Gov. Kate Brown (D) has indicated she will sign the bill if it passes the state Senate. (Budryk, 5/6)

The Hill: Instagram Developing 'Pop-Up' Message To Crack Down On Vaccine Misinformation 
Instagram said it is taking further steps to crack down on the spread of medically inaccurate content by developing a "pop-up" that would appear on content containing vaccine-related misinformation. An Instagram spokesperson told The Hill that the company has been working on a message that would appear when people search for vaccine misinformation, adding that the feature is still in the works.  (Birnbaum, 5/6)

CNN: This Mom Wants You To Know What Measles Did To Her Baby
Like all people who believe in facts and science, Jilly Moss is incredulous when she hears anti-vaxers say that measles is no big deal. Moss has a particularly personal perspective: Her baby ended up in the hospital last month because of the virus. Alba, who was 11 months old at the time, had a fever that soared over 107 degrees Fahrenheit. Her eyes were swollen shut for days, and doctors had to give her medicine to prevent her from going blind. She couldn't eat or drink and had so much trouble breathing, doctors had to put her on oxygen. (Cohen, 5/6)

The Hill: Republicans Troll Democrats With Proposals To Rename Upcoming Health Care Bill
Republicans on a key House committee are trolling Democrats with amendments to rename legislation aimed at blocking some of the Trump administration's moves on the Affordable Care Act. The Protecting Americans with Preexisting Conditions Act, slated for a vote later this week, would block the Trump administration's October guidance to loosen restrictions on states’ abilities to waive certain ObamaCare requirements. (Brufke, 5/6)

Politico: Bennet: Medicare For All Supporters 'Need To Level With The American People'
Sen. Michael Bennet suggested Monday that the “Medicare for All” proposals touted by many of his Democratic primary opponents may not be as popular as they seem, telling CNN that candidates should "be honest" with voters about the realities of such health care policies. “When you tell people the first thing about Medicare for All — either that it takes insurance away from 180 million Americans that have it through their employer or the taxes we would have to pay to afford that $30 trillion program — that 70 percent support falls to the mid-30s,” Bennet said on CNN's "New Day." “I think we need to level with the American people.” (Galioto, 5/6)

Politico: Here's Where The Democratic Candidates Stand On The Biggest 2020 Issues
The Democratic primary field for 2020 is largely set, but with former Vice President Joe Biden finally jumping in, the most high-profile candidate has yet to weigh in on many of the policy fights that so far have defined the battle to beat Donald Trump. Voters, donors and political organizations are grilling candidates on whether they would support paying reparations to descendents of slaves, expanding the Supreme Court or abolishing the Electoral College. Biden, who has so far avoided many of these knotty questions, is sure to face inquiries about them soon. (Jin and Oprysko, 4/25)

Politico: Cheat Sheet: How Sen. Cory Booker Would Curb Gun Violence
Sen. Cory Booker on Monday rolled out a sweeping gun-control agenda that includes requiring licenses for all gun owners, one of the most aggressive gun-related proposals from a 2020 Democrat. The 14-part plan is part of what the New Jersey Democrat said is a “personal fight” to combat a gun violence "epidemic." It's sure to meet with fierce pushback from gun-rights groups like the National Rifle Association and faces an uncertain fate in Congress. (Oprysko, 5/6)

The Wall Street Journal: A $2 Million Drug Is About To Hit The Market
A new treatment for an infant muscle-wasting disease is about to go on sale at a potential cost of $2 million, a record price tag likely to fuel the continuing scrutiny of how companies price their drugs and how insurers pay for them. Novartis AG has yet to set a price for the gene therapy called Zolgensma, but executives say the drug’s potential to cure spinal muscular atrophy, an inherited disease that typically kills babies before they turn two, justifies a seven-figure price. Gene therapies target diseases that result from a faulty gene by introducing a working version into the body. (Roland, 5/7)

Reuters: Hedge Funds Target Centene, May Oppose WellCare Deal-Sources
Hedge funds Corvex Management LP and Sachem Head Capital Management LP have built stakes in U.S. health insurer Centene Corp and are exploring challenging its planned $17.3 billion acquisition of WellCare Health Plans Inc, people familiar with the matter said on Monday. The hedge funds believe that Centene may be able to do more to find out if another company such as Humana Inc would be interested in acquiring it, the sources said. (5/6)

The New York Times: For Nurses, Trauma Can Come With The Job
In 1945, Dorothy Still, a nurse in the United States Navy, met with a Navy psychiatrist to discuss disturbing symptoms she had been experiencing. Miss Still was one of 12 Navy nurses who had been held prisoner of war by the Japanese military in the occupied Philippines during World War II. For more than three years, Miss Still and the other nurses had provided care to diseased, starving and destitute civilian inmates in a makeshift infirmary at the P.O.W. camp. In the months after liberation, Miss Still found she often cried without provocation and had trouble stopping her tears. She most likely suffered from what today we could call post-traumatic stress disorder, but the Navy psychiatrist offered no support or solutions. Instead, he called her a “fake” and a “liar.” Nurses, he claimed could not suffer the kind of shell shock from war that sailors or soldiers could. (Lucchesi, 5/7)

CNN: National Nurses Week Recognizes The Professionals Americans Trust Most
Nurses consistently rank at the top of the country's most trusted professionals. And this week, America celebrates them. National Nurses Week begins on National Nurses Day, May 6, and concludes on May 12, the birthday of Florence Nightingale. Here are some facts about the nurses that tend to you when you're sick -- and the week that celebrates them. (Novak, 5/7)

The Hill: FDA Asking Manufacturers To Study Safety Of Chemicals In Sunscreen 
Several ingredients commonly found in sunscreens may be absorbed into the bloodstream rather than remaining on the surface of the skin, suggesting the need for further study by manufacturers, according to a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) study published Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. FDA researchers found users of products with the active ingredient avobenzone, oxybenzone, octocrylene or ecamsule absorb higher levels than the amount benign enough not to require safety testing, according to the study. In some cases, the levels were up to 40 times higher than that threshold. (Budryk, 5/6)

CNN: Sunscreen Enters Bloodstream After Just One Day Of Use, Study Says
It took just one day of use for several common sunscreen ingredients to enter the bloodstream at levels high enough to trigger a government safety investigation, according to a pilot study conducted by the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, an arm of the US Food and Drug Administration. The study, published Monday in the medical journal JAMA, also found that the blood concentration of three of the ingredients continued to rise as daily use continued and then remained in the body for at least 24 hours after sunscreen use ended. (LaMotte, 5/6)

ProPublica: The Birth-Tissue Profiteers
Their shoulders and backs and knees were giving out. Pills and steroid injections hadn’t eased their pain. They were scared of surgery. So, one afternoon last October, two dozen men and women, many of them white-haired, some leaning on canes, shuffled into a meeting room at Robson Ranch, a luxury retirement community in Denton, Texas. Sipping iced tea and clutching brochures that promised a pain-free tomorrow, they checked off their ailments on a questionnaire. They were there to see a presentation by Dr. David Greene, who was introduced as a “retired orthopedic surgeon.” Atlas Medical Center, a local clinic that specializes in pain treatment, hosted the event. Greene, a short, trim man with his hair slicked up, ignored the stage and microphone and stood close to his audience. After warming up the crowd with a joke about his inept golf skills, Greene launched into his sales pitch. A tiny vial no larger than the palm of his hand, he told the group, contains roughly 10 million live stem cells, harvested from the placenta, amniotic fluid, umbilical cord or amnion, the membrane that surrounds the fetus in the womb. Injected into a joint or spine, or delivered intravenously into the bloodstream, Greene told his listeners, those cells could ease whatever ailed them. (Chen, 5/7)

Los Angeles Times: Luke Perry And John Singleton Remind Us That Strokes Can Strike Younger Adults Too
Sudden weakness on one side of the body. Slurred speech. Loss of vision. Trouble with balance. Severe headaches. These are signs of a stroke. If it happened to someone close to you, would you know what to do? After the age of 55, the risk of a stroke doubles every decade, but younger people can be at risk too. In recent weeks, both 52-year-old actor Luke Perry and 51-year-old director John Singleton died after suffering a stroke. (Miller, 5/6)

The New York Times: Is Conference Room Air Making You Dumber? 
You’re holed up with colleagues in a meeting room for two hours, hashing out a plan. Risks are weighed, decisions are made. Then, as you emerge, you realize it was much, much warmer and stuffier in there than in the rest of the office. Small rooms can build up heat and carbon dioxide from our breath — as well as other substances — to an extent that might surprise you. And as it happens, a small body of evidence suggests that when it comes to decision making, indoor air may matter more than we have realized. (Greenwood, 5/6)

CNN: Heart Failure Deaths Are On The Rise In Younger US Adults, Researchers Say
A recent decline in heart failure-related deaths in the United States has reversed, and those types of deaths are now climbing nationwide, especially among adults ages 35 to 64. The trend, which also revealed some racial disparities, was found in a research paper published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology on Monday. The paper points to an increase in the prevalence of obesity and diabetes as possibly driving a parallel rise in heart failure deaths. (Howard, 5/6)

NPR: Anesthesia Gases Add To Global Warming, But Some Much Less Than Others
It's early morning in an operating theater at Providence Hospital in Portland, Ore. A middle-aged woman lies on the operating table, wrapped in blankets. Surgeons are about to cut out a cancerous growth in her stomach. But first, anesthesiologist Brian Chesebro puts her under by placing a mask over her face. "Now I'm breathing for her with this mask," he says. "And I'm delivering sevoflurane to her through this breathing circuit." (Foden-Vencil, 5/6)

CNN: Tyson Chicken Recall: Almost 12 Million Pounds Of Chicken Strips Might Have Metal
Tyson Foods has significantly expanded a recall of its chicken strips over concerns that some might be contaminated with pieces of metal, federal food safety officials said Friday. The recall now affects more than 11.8 million pounds of frozen, ready-to-eat chicken strip products that were shipped nationwide, up from more than 69,000 pounds when the recall initially was issued in March, the US Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service said in a statement. (Hanna, 5/4)

The Washington Post: Rachel Evans Suffered From Brain Swelling Before She Died, Suggesting Encephalitis
The death of best-selling author Rachel Held Evans this past weekend came so quickly and mysteriously that it left many struggling to understand how such a young and vital person could come to her end after what seemed like such a routine diagnosis. Evans was widely admired for her willingness to wade into theological battles over the role of women, science, LGBT issues and politics, and her death has led to an outpouring of tributes and support for her family. The symptoms experienced by the 37-year-old writer do not fit into an easily explainable diagnosis, medical experts say. (Wan, 5/6)

The Associated Press: Gun Rights Activists Fill State Capitol For Gun Rights Rally
Gun rights advocates packed the rotunda of the Pennsylvania Capitol on Monday for an annual Second Amendment rally, pushing their legislative priorities and cheering a call for the Pittsburgh mayor's impeachment. Gun owners roared when the event's organizer, Republican Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, announced that he will ask fellow lawmakers to support his proposal to impeach Pittsburgh's "rogue mayor" over recently enacted gun regulations. (5/6)

Los Angeles Times: Homelessness Isn’t Huge In This Part Of L.A. — But It’s A Huge Campaign Issue
In Los Angeles, the San Fernando Valley neighborhoods of Chatsworth, Porter Ranch and Granada Hills are about as far as you can get from skid row. Fewer people live without shelter in this suburban stretch of the city than in any other L.A. City Council district, according to the last available data from the homeless count. Yet homelessness has been a simmering topic here as more than a dozen candidates vie for a seat on the City Council, exposing stark divisions over how to address the needs of the destitute and the concerns of other residents. The June election, which will probably be followed by an August runoff, could decide how homelessness is confronted in the northwest Valley. (Reyes, 5/6)

The Associated Press: Legislator Films Himself Berating Woman Abortion Protester
A Democratic Pennsylvania state lawmaker is drawing criticism for recording himself berating a woman demonstrator at length outside an abortion clinic in Philadelphia, calling her an “old white lady” and her protest “grotesque.” State Rep. Brian Sims posted an eight-minute-plus video on social media that showed him peppering the woman with questions and criticism. (5/6)

The Associated Press: Feds Announce $17M Settlement With Health Care Firm In W.Va.
U.S. Attorney Mike Stuart announced the civil settlement with Acadia on Monday, saying it’s the largest health care fraud settlement in state history. Stuart says Acadia, though its subsidiary CRC Health, billed Medicaid for $8.5 million in marked-up costs for blood and urine tests that weren’t done at its drug treatment centers and instead performed by a lab in California. (5/6)