Viewpoints: When Attempted Rape Is Acceptable, Something’s Very Wrong; Gun Safety Gets Support From Unlikely Places

Miami Herald: We All Should Find Sexual Assault Abhorrent, But Not All Of Us Do
Gina Sosa is not impressed by attempted rape. “What boy hasn’t done this in high school?” she asks. “Please, I would like to know.” Since she asked so nicely, I went on Twitter, looking for men who managed to get out of school without committing attempted rape. Turned out to be pretty easy. I found lots of them. (Leonard Pitts, 9/25)

Boston Globe: This Is No Time For Betsy DeVos To Gut Sexual Assault Guidelines 
The White House’s unwavering defense of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh has reinforced an unfortunate fact — the Trump administration is not disposed to believe women who accuse men of sexual misconduct. That’s exactly why there are legitimate concerns about what changes Education Secretary Betsy DeVos will ultimately make to the Obama-era campus sexual misconduct guidelines. Revisions are welcome; a wholesale gutting is not. (9/26)

Boston Globe: Nuns Secure A Victory For Gun Safety Advocates 
Curbing gun violence can seem such a daunting task, it’s hard to know where to begin. How about with a bunch of nuns?T he Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary won a heartening victory Tuesday, when they got shareholders in American Outdoor Brands, formerly Smith & Wesson, to approve a proposal requiring the Springfield gunmaker to produce a report on gun safety. (Justin Sullivan, 9/25)

Los Angeles Times: Now 90, Songwriter Burt Bacharach Is Doing Everything He Can To Stop School Shootings
The man who wrote that song “I Say a Little Prayer” and hundreds more — songs that are part of the soundtrack of your life and the whole force of his own — that man, Burt Bacharach, is now asking for a little prayer and a little support from his fellow Americans for a cause that has moved him to tears, and to music. He and songwriter Rudy Perez composed “Live to See Another Day.” It’s a plea that the mass shootings of schoolchildren be stopped. It’s a video that’s just out, and it was crafted, compellingly, in the hallways and classrooms of an empty school. Its lyrics, like “Our lives mean something more than pain,” are performed by two teenage singers. At the video’s end, it asks people to donate to the Sandy Hook Promise Foundation, named for the school where 20 first-graders and six adults were murdered in 2012. (Patt Morrison, 9/26)

Stat: I Used Applied Psychoanalysis To Assess Trump. The Diagnosis Is Frightening
Much has been written by U.S. commentators, pundits, and even mental health professionals about Donald Trump’s mind and psyche during the 2016 campaign for the presidency and his first 20 months in office. Little of it was grounded in applied psychoanalysis, the practice of using psychoanalytical principles to understand the actions, motivations, and limitations of historical figures. (Justin A. Frank, 9/25)

Los Angeles Times: 'Screen Time' Is A Good Start To Curbing Our Smartphone Addiction, But Apple Needs To Do More
Screen Time, part of the operating system that iPhone owners began downloading last week, represents the biggest move yet by a technology company to encourage less use of a device, not more. That’s a good thing: According to data from a time-tracking app called Moment, Americans spend on average four hours a day — a quarter of our waking lives — staring at their smartphones.Screen Time, which is new with Apple’s iOS 12, automatically tracks how often you pick up your phone and how much time you spend on each app. It also allows you to set daily limits for time-sucks like social media, games, or streaming video. It’s a good start, but Apple could do more. A huge number of people need help creating better digital boundaries. (Catherine Price, 9/26)

The Hill: There's A New Drug Crisis Harming Americans
There is another drug crisis following the opioid crisis and that is the benzodiazepines with the brand names of Valium, Xanax, Klonopin and more. According to the journal Pharmacy, Xanax is among the top 25 drugs prescribed in this country.As a psychiatric nurse practitioner working in community clinics in Chicago, I have been pleaded with, cursed at, insulted and spat upon by patients who insist on getting a prescription for drugs that I consider dangerous. (Lois M. Platt, 9/25)

Stat: Urgent Action Is Needed To Stop The Epidemic Of Sexually Tranmitted Infections
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Tuesday unprecedented year-after-year rises in rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) in the United States. As physicians who care for patients with these infections and who oversee public health responses to STI outbreaks, we, like many of our colleagues, are frustrated and challenged by the anemic responses to this escalating public health epidemic. Our concerns are especially acute because the medical and public health communities know how to prevent these infections, yet as a country we have failed to implement basic public health practices that could reverse these trends. (Melanie Thompson and Matthew Zahn, 9/26)

Houston Chronicle: My Cancer Lost, But My Insurer Is Winning In Refusal To Pay For Treatment
When Blue Cross Blue Shield planted its flag in Texas, it was committed to providing quality health care. But over time, our state’s largest insurer lost its way. Last year I was diagnosed with oral cancer. That diagnosis set off a chain of events that left me stuck with a massive bill after BCBS refused to pay for my cancer treatment. So far, they have demanded that I pay back more than $60,000 and when all is said and done my final bill could reach over $100,000. I now find myself in a David versus Goliath battle with the company, fighting over the necessity of the treatment that left me cancer free and without horrible side effects. (Randy Montgomery, 9/26)

Los Angeles Times: Vote Yes On Prop. 4 For Children's Hospitals
California voters are being asked this November to authorize more than $16 billion in state bonds to fund a range of infrastructure projects, such as wastewater treatment and homeless housing. The smallest of these measures is Proposition 4, which would tee up $1.5 billion in new borrowing to add capacity, improve safety and upgrade equipment at nonprofit or public children’s hospitals around the state. Many of these hospitals serve a disproportionate share of low-income patients, leaving them dependent on the state’s help to meet their construction needs. Voters have approved two similar measures before, in 2004 and 2008, and they should pass this one as well. (9/25)

Sacramento Bee: Endorsement: Vote Yes On Prop. 4, Save A California Child’s Life
Faced with a choice of whether to provide children with access to top-notch hospitals or leave them and their families to fend for themselves, big-hearted Californians have shown time and again that they will gladly hand over their tax dollars — even in the midst of a recession. They should do so again this year by voting “yes” on Proposition 4 on the Nov. 6 ballot. (9/25)

San Jose Mercury News: Put Kidney Patient Care Above Corporate Profits
Dialysis patients have reported experiencing staffing levels so low that one technician was supposed to oversee treatment for 12 patients simultaneously, a situation that endangers patients. ...One source of the problem is that the industry is dominated by two big corporations—Fresenius and DaVita. (Megallan Handford, 9/25)

San Jose Mercury News: Initiative Would Endanger Dialysis Patients’ Lives
California physicians pay close attention to policies that negatively impact patients and decrease access to quality health care. Proposition 8 would be as bad for patients as anything we have seen in a long time. (Theodore Mazer, 9/25)