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A mass shooting in Texas that left 7 dead prompted renewed urgency for lawmakers and President Donald Trump to offer solutions on controlling gun violence. Trump is planning on releasing a proposal that would include an expedited death penalty process for shooters but sidestep tighter background checks, an issue that's caused controversy for the president in recent weeks.
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
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Media outlets report on news from Colorado, Florida, Connecticut, New Jersey, Michigan, Massachusetts, Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Tennessee, Washington, Georgia and California.
The new round of Medicaid contracts--worth several billion dollars--was blocked by Louisiana's state procurement office on Wednesday. The dust up over the new contracts has intensified since the health department announced its new picks for the lucrative Medicaid managed care work, in early August. Other Medicaid news comes out of Virginia and Idaho.
Maine Gov. Janet Mills notified the Trump administration that the state wants to run its own marketplace instead of relying on the federal government. States with their own exchanges, such as California and Massachusetts, have used the added flexibility that comes with that control to design standardized health plans with reduced cost-sharing for high-value services.
The clusters of brain cells grown in labs might teach lessons about how brain disorders like autism are developed but researchers say there's a lot more going on in human brains than the organoids can mimic. Public health news is on infection-causing scopes, ketamine overdoses, hormone therapy dangers, rural hospital closures, and more.
“These reviews are often the best, and sometimes the only, place that members of the public can get critical data on the risks and benefits of drugs. They’re also a vital window into the FDA, as they explain why the FDA concluded that each approved drug was safe and effective,” said Christopher Morten, a fellow at New York University's School of Law. Pharmaceutical news focuses on a potential rival to Roche's MS drug, as well.
Critics have blasted the Trump administration, calling the policy a "death sentence" for the kids and other patients seeking care that would not be available to them in their home countries. “There is no national security justification for further traumatizing sick kids at their most vulnerable,” former Vice President Joe Biden said on Twitter. “Like all bullies, Trump is purposefully targeting the little guys."
States and counties have come calling for money from the Sackler family, which ran Purdue Pharma during the birth of the opioid epidemic. The Associated Press investigates how family members have already siphoned away funds to try to protect them from potential federal and court judgments. In other news on the national drug epidemic: the proposed settlement with Purdue gets pushback, a look at how money would be divided between plaintiffs and more.
A new study that examined the DNA of nearly half a million men and women claims to dispel the notion that a single "gay gene" makes a person prone to same-sex behavior. The analysis found that although genetics are involved in who people choose to have sex with, there are no specific genetic predictors. The same day the study was published, the Broad Institute took the unusual step of posting essays by researchers who raised questions about the ethics, science and social implications of the project.
The Indian Health Service has been beset with a series of problems that have tripped up its efforts to provide proper care for its patients. There were no recommendations in the new inspector general report, but it was meant as a warning that the agency needs to make major strides toward improving.
Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) said House Oversight and Reform Committee committee staff were barred from visiting 11 of the facilities only days after investigations found serious health threats to the detainees. Meanwhile, the CDC confirms that there have been nearly 900 cases of mumps at the detention facilities over the past year.
Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) on Thursday released a wide-ranging plan, which ranges from health care to employment to disaster protections and makes her the only presidential candidate to have a proposal solely addressing the needs of Americans with disabilities. Meanwhile, advocates say 2020 candidates who tout "Medicare for All" could learn some lessons from Los Angeles County's attempts to revolutionize health care.
President Donald Trump has mentioned that there should be facilities built to house mentally ill people, which he says would cut down on violent incidents like the mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton. But advocates say that plan is based on dangerous, out-dated thinking. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) is hopeful about the possibility of getting the president's support on background checks.
Surgeon General Jerome Adams and HHS Secretary Alex Azar said there might be some confusion about the health risks of marijuana as states loosen their rules against the drug. However, they warn the drug carries "more risk than ever." The government will launch a public awareness campaign, especially directed at teenagers and pregnant women.
Officials are narrowing the possible culprits to chemicals or additives in vaping products that use THC, the component in marijuana that makes users high, as well as adulterants in nicotine vaping products. In Wisconsin, nine out of 10 of the state's vaping cases involved THC. Health officials have struggled to find the cause of the illness which has now spread to at least 29 states.
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