The Associated Press: Louisiana's Democratic Governor Signs Abortion Ban Into Law
Louisiana's Democratic governor signed a ban on abortion as early as six weeks of pregnancy Thursday, a move that puts him squarely in line with the leaders of other conservative Southern states while provoking anger from members of his own party. With his signature, Gov. John Bel Edwards made Louisiana the fifth state to enact a law prohibiting abortion when a fetal heartbeat is detected, joining Mississippi, Kentucky, Ohio and Georgia. Alabama's gone further, outlawing virtually all abortions. (5/30)

The Hill: Democratic Governor Signs Louisiana Abortion Bill Into Law 
Edwards, who says he is "pro-life," is the first Democratic governor to sign a sweeping bill limiting abortion rights in the state. “In 2015, I ran for governor as a pro-life candidate after serving as a pro-life legislator for eight years,” he said. “As governor, I have been true to my word and my beliefs on this issue.” (Hellmann, 5/30)

The Washington Post: Louisiana Abortion Bill: Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards Signs Six-Week Ban
“I call on the overwhelming bipartisan majority of legislators who voted for it to join me in continuing to build a better Louisiana that cares for the least among us and provides more opportunity for everyone,” Gov. John Bel Edwards said in a statement after it was passed. He did not hold a public signing ceremony for the bill, and his office declined to comment on it further. Nationally, however, Edwards; state Sen. John Milkovich, the Democrat who sponsored the bill; and other antiabortion Democrats have become unlikely intraparty combatants in a debate that has grown increasingly partisan. (Kantor and Thebault, 5/30)

The Associated Press: Hundreds Protest Louisiana's Passage Of 'Heartbeat' Bill
Hundreds of demonstrators filed into the Louisiana State Capitol a day after lawmakers passed a strict new abortion ban that Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards has signed into law. Many on Thursday wore bright pink T-shirts reading "We Stand With Planned Parenthood" on the front and "We Won't Back Down" on the back, in protest of the so-called heartbeat bill. The measure bars abortions once there's a detectable fetal heartbeat, as early as the sixth week of pregnancy. (5/30)

The Associated Press: Judge Considering Missouri Abortion Clinic License Case
A judge is deciding whether to ensure Missouri's only abortion clinic can keep its license past Friday, the latest development in a decades-long push by abortion opponents to get states to enact strict rules on the procedure. Like many states, Missouri over the years enacted a series of regulations, ranging from waiting periods before women can receive abortions to rules on the width of clinic doors. (5/30)

KCUR: As Planned Parenthood Fights In Court To Keep Clinic Open, Activists Demand Abortion Access 
Lawyers for Planned Parenthood on Thursday told a St. Louis Circuit Court judge that Missouri health officials have delayed renewing a license to the state’s sole abortion provider by continually asking for additional information. In a hearing, Planned Parenthood’s lawyers asked Judge Michael Stelzer to issue a temporary restraining order barring the state Department of Health and Senior Services from denying to renew the license for its St. Louis clinic. That license expires at midnight Friday. (Fentem and Davis, 5/30)

St. Louis Public Radio: Tensions High As Missouri Awaits Decision On Missouri's Sole Abortion Clinic
The battle over abortion rights in Missouri spilled from the courtroom into city streets on Thursday as hundreds of people gathered near the St. Louis Arch to demand state officials stop trying to limit access to abortion. Carrying signs that read “I Stand With Planned Parenthood” and “Protect Safe, Legal Abortion,” they were there to protest he state’s efforts to limit access to abortion and the potential closing of the state’s only abortion provider. (Fentem, 5/31)

PBS NewsHour: Planned Parenthood: ‘It’s Simply Not True’ Mo. Abortion Clinic Breaks Rules
Missouri is part of a recent wave of state laws that would ban abortion almost entirely, sometimes without exceptions for rape and incest. The state is also making news on abortion for trying to deny its one remaining abortion provider, a Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Louis, its license on grounds of alleged violations. (Brangham, 5/30)

PBS NewsHour: Anti-Abortion Group Says Mo. Planned Parenthood Violated Patient Safety
The national abortion debate is raging with renewed fervor, as a series of states pass restrictive laws banning almost all instances of the procedure. Among those states is Missouri, where officials are also trying to shutter its only remaining abortion provider, a Planned Parenthood clinic in St. Louis. (Brangham, 5/30)

KCUR: How Laws And Lawsuits Are Changing Abortion Access In Missouri 
Missouri has long had some of the strictest abortion restrictions in the U.S. Now questions about Planned Parenthood’s license in St. Louis could mean Missouri losing its only abortion clinic. Below, find FAQs and answers based on our reporting. A St. Louis Circuit Court judge is expected to decide whether to stop Missouri from closing the only remaining abortion clinic in the state before its license expires Friday at midnight. (Toler, 5/30)

Politico: Even If Roe Is Upheld, Abortion Opponents Are Winning
Abortion is still legal in the United States, but for women in vast swaths of the country it’s a right in name only. Six states are down to only one abortion clinic; by the end of this week, Missouri could have zero. Some women seeking abortions have to travel long distances, and face mandatory waiting periods or examinations. On top of that, a new wave of restrictive laws, or outright bans, is rippling across GOP-led states like Alabama and Georgia. (Pradhan, Rayasam and Ravindranath, 5/30)

Los Angeles Times: Hollywood Is Rethinking Georgia, Sort Of. What Changed?
During the weeks after Georgia’s Republican Gov. Brian Kemp signed a new restrictive abortion law, it appeared the top corporate figures in Hollywood were prepared to sit on the sidelines as the court system wrangles with the matter. With its generous tax incentives, Georgia has become a filmmaking hub, hosting blockbuster films such as Marvel Studios’ “Black Panther” and shows such as Netflix’s “Stranger Things.” With so much at stake, none of the industry’s top decision-makers seemed willing to take much of a stand. That began to change this week. (Faughnder, 5/30)

NPR: Disney Doubts Production In Georgia Will Go On, If Abortion Law Takes Effect
WarnerMedia, Walt Disney Co. and NBCUniversal will consider stopping productions in Georgia should the state's new abortion law take effect, echoing a threat made this week by Netflix. WarnerMedia, which owns HBO, CNN and other channels, told NPR in a statement on Thursday, "We will watch the situation closely and if the new law holds we will reconsider Georgia as the home to any new productions." The company said it operates in many states and countries where it may not agree with leaders' stances but respects due process. (Ingber, 5/30)

KCUR: 10 Years After Dr. Tiller's Murder, Kansas' Abortion Rules Could Take Another Turn 
Exactly 10 years ago, on May 31, 2009, an anti-abortion zealot gunned down ob/gyn and reproductive rights advocate George Tiller as he was distributing literature in the foyer of his Wichita church. His murder marked the culmination of 18 years of militant anti-abortion protests that began with massive demonstrations in Wichita in June 1991. Protestors blockaded abortion clinics for weeks during the “Summer of Mercy,” police made more than 2,600 arrests and a judge ordered U.S. marshals to keep the gates of Tiller’s clinic open. (Margolies, 5/30)

The New York Times: Can An Abortion Affect Your Fertility?
The data tells us there is no link between abortion and future fertility when abortion is safe. Only abortions that are associated with complications could potentially impact future fertility. Medical complications that might lead to difficulties getting pregnant in the future include uterine injury from the procedure, infection and serious bleeding that requires surgery. (Gunter, 5/30)

Kaiser Health News: Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ The State Of The Abortion Debate — A Deep Dive
Abortion is one of the hottest political issues of 2019. With a newly configured Supreme Court, which many pundits think has the votes to roll back or overturn the landmark 1972 Roe v. Wade ruling, states are rushing either to protect abortion rights or pass laws intended to restrict or ban it.But the abortion debate is much more complicated than just pro or con. It’s entangled in partisan politics, health care, religion and more. (5/30)

The Washington Post: Hundreds Of Minors Held At U.S. Border Facilities Are There Beyond Legal Time Limits
Many of the nearly 2,000 unaccompanied migrant children being held in overcrowded U.S. Border Patrol facilities have been there beyond legally allowed time limits, including some who are 12 or younger, according to new government data obtained by The Washington Post. Federal law and court orders require that children in Border Patrol custody be transferred to more-hospitable shelters no longer than 72 hours after they are apprehended. But some unaccompanied children are spending longer than a week in Border Patrol stations and processing centers, according to two Customs and Border Protection officials and two other government officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the unreleased data. (Hauslohner and Sacchetti, 5/30)

The Hill: Civil Rights Groups Sue Over Trump Foster Care Policies
Civil rights groups are filing a lawsuit against the Trump administration and the state of South Carolina, alleging the governments are making it easier for taxpayer-funded adoption and foster care agencies to discriminate against same-sex and non-evangelical couples. Thursday’s lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Lambda Legal was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina on behalf of a married lesbian couple. Eden Rogers and Brandy Welch were turned away by Miracle Hill Ministries, South Carolina’s largest state-contracted, federally-funded foster care agency. (Weixel, 5/30)

CQ: Legal Groups Sue HHS Over Religious Waiver For Foster Care
Lambda Legal, the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of South Carolina, and South Carolina Equality Coalition are suing in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina on behalf of a married lesbian couple who were denied the ability to foster through Miracle Hill, a Christian foster care agency that uses religious criteria to place children with families. The case is being filed amid reports HHS may release a rule that would broaden the exceptions from anti-discrimination laws based on religious beliefs. Texas is currently waiting on approval of a waiver similar to South Carolina’s. Miracle Hill does not place children with families of other faiths or same-sex couples and was at risk of losing its licensing before the administration granted a waiver in January. (Raman, 5/30)

The New York Times: Measles Outbreak: Cases Reach Highest Level In More Than 25 Years
There have been more measles cases in the United States the first five months of 2019 than there were in all of 1992, when the last large outbreak occurred, federal health officials said on Thursday, in part because of the spread of misinformation about vaccines. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday that there had been 971 known cases of measles in the United States so far this year. That is eight more cases than in 1992, the previous high since vaccines became widely used, when 963 cases were reported in the United States all year. And it is a sharp jump from last year, when just 372 cases were reported, the center said. (Earlier Thursday, the C.D.C. mistakenly said that the previous high was in 1994.) (Stack, 5/30)

The Associated Press: US Measles Count Nears 1,000, Surpassing 25-Year-Old Record
"What's causing these outbreaks is lack of vaccination," said Dr. Mark Roberts, chair of health policy and management at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. Illnesses have been reported in 26 states, but the vast majority are in New York City. The city's outbreak, which began last October, is already the largest local measles outbreak in the U.S. in nearly 30 years. It started when some unvaccinated children visited Israel, where a measles outbreak is occurring, and came back to New York. (Stobbe, 5/30)

The Washington Post: U.S. Measles Cases In First Five Months Of 2019 Surpass Total For Any Year Since 1992
A country is considered to have eliminated measles when there has been an absence of continuous spread of the disease for more than a year. The United States achieved that status in 2000 through a massive sustained effort to vaccinate children. If this year ends that accomplishment, it would be an enormous public-health loss, experts said. “It means that a really very harmful infection had been eliminated, but we have now let it back into our country, and it is a threat to our babies and young children as they grow up,” said William Schaffner, an infectious-disease professor at Vanderbilt University who has taken care of measles patients. (Sun, 5/30)

The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Measles Outbreaks Hit Highest Level In More Than 25 Years
One reason for worry about the current outbreaks, Dr. Clark said, is that people are still being exposed to measles in public venues, including doctors’ waiting rooms. Those are places in which exposures are common early in outbreaks, but not this many months in, when public-health officials usually have been able to tamp down widespread transmission, Dr. Clark said. “Those things should be brought under control, and they’re worrying signs if you continue to see them,” he said. “It makes us worried that somebody has been exposed to measles you weren’t aware of.” (McKay, 5/30)

NPR: New U.S. Measles Cases Break 25-Year-Old Record, Health Officials Say
To be sure, the recent uptick in new measles cases is a far cry from the 1950s, when millions of people caught measles and hundreds died each year from the virus, CDC data show. Vaccinations against the highly contagious virus are widespread across the U.S., with some 94% of kindergartners having received vaccination coverage, according to the CDC. (Allyn, 5/30)

The Hill: US Measles Cases Grow To 971, Breaking 25-Year Record 
Between September and May 29, there have been 550 confirmed cases in New York City. As of May 28, there were 254 confirmed cases of measles in Rockland County. Those outbreaks have continued unabated for nearly seven months. If they continue through summer and fall, CDC officials said the U.S. may lose its measles elimination status. (Weixel, 5/30)

And in other news on the measles outbreaks —

The Wall Street Journal: New York City Has Issued 123 Summonses To People Defying Measles Vaccine Order
Amid the worst measles outbreak in more than two decades, New York City health officials have issued 123 civil summonses to people found to be noncompliant with an April emergency order requiring unvaccinated people in parts of Brooklyn to get the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine. Yet, the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene hasn’t collected fines on any of the summonses. (West, 5/30)

The Wall Street Journal: Facebook Pledged Crackdown On Vaccine Misinformation. Then Not Much Happened.
Ten weeks after Facebook Inc. FB 0.45% pledged to fight vaccine misinformation, such content remains widely available across its platforms as the social-media giant grapples with how aggressively to limit the spread of hoaxes and deceptions. Facebook as of this week is still running paid ads for a prominent antivaccination group that suggests unethical doctors have conspired to hide evidence of harm vaccines do to children. (Horwitz, 5/30)

The Oregonian: Vancouver-Area Measles Outbreak Spread Between Unvaccinated Children At Home, In Church
At the end of 2018, a 10-year-old girl arrived in Clark County from the Ukraine. She was taken to an urgent care clinic for a fever, cough and a skin rash that looked suspiciously like measles. Within two weeks, the girl and 12 more people tested positive for a strain of the measles virus that is currently running rampant in eastern Europe. A report from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows the Washington-Oregon outbreak was first incubated in homes and churches, where it spread quickly before dispersing into the Portland and Clark County communities. The report provides the first official insight into how the outbreak spread throughout the Vancouver area, other than an ever-growing list of potential infection locations released during the early winter. (Harbarger, 5/30)

The New York Times: A Nursing Home Chain’s Collapse Leaves The Government On The Hook
The cracks in the foundation of a Chicago nursing-home business began to appear almost immediately. The owners stopped making mortgage payments on their crown jewel, the Rosewood Care Centers, barely a year after buying it in 2013. Paperwork about the chain’s finances was never filed with the government. Some money meant for the 13 nursing homes and assisted-living facilities went to prop up another investment. (Goldstein, 5/31)

Politico: Third House Republican Blocks Massive Disaster Aid Package
Conservative House Republicans succeeded again Thursday in their campaign to derail passage of a $19.1 billion disaster aid package. Rep. John Rose (R-Tenn.) objected to passing the bill by voice vote. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who derailed the same measure earlier this week, was by Rose's side. The move means the measure will not be sent to President Donald Trump for his signature until the House returns from recess Monday and takes a roll call vote. (Scholtes, 5/30)

The Washington Post: House Republicans Block $19.1 Billion Nationwide Disaster Aid Bill For Third Time
But Rose’s objection meant the bill that would deliver assistance to states and territories hard hit by hurricanes, flooding and wildfires did not advance, just as happened twice in the past week with other conservative lawmakers stepping in to make the objection. “Our nation is $22 trillion in debt,” Rose said in brief remarks in a nearly empty House chamber. He said trying to pass nearly $20 billion in new spending was “another act of irresponsible big government.” (Werner, 5/30)

CNN: Disaster Aid Bill Blocked In The House Again After House GOP Objection
The legislation is still expected to have the votes to pass when the House returns to Washington next week, but the objection will stall the bill until a floor vote can take place. "This is absolutely without a doubt wrong," Rose said Thursday, raising concerns about the bill being brought to the floor when most members are in their home districts. (Foran and Killough, 5/30)

The Associated Press: Disaster Bill Highlights Inconsistency In Voting Records
A $19 billion disaster aid bill that’s still crawling through Congress highlights the inconsistency of lawmakers, mostly conservatives, who stood resolute against such aid six years ago but demand it now that their states are under water. (Taylor, 5/30)

Bloomberg: Too Many Medicines Simply Don’t Work 
It’s possible that the medicine you’re taking isn’t helping—even if it’s been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. That’s the upshot of a pair of studies in the latest issue of JAMA Internal Medicine. Not good. As an invited commentary in the same issue says, “Charging vulnerable patients for drugs without evidence that they actually improve patients’ survival and quality of life is unconscionable.” One study examines 93 cancer drug uses that were granted accelerated approval by the FDA between 1992 and 2017. Of those, only 19 showed improvement in overall survival. Another 39 showed improvement by a surrogate measure, such as tumor shrinkage. (Coy, 5/30)

The New York Times: Fighting The Gender Stereotypes That Warp Biomedical Research
Say you are prescribed medication for depression, anxiety or even just to sleep. Would you want to take it if you knew that the drug had only been tested on men and male animals? Rebecca Shansky, a neuroscientist at Northeastern University in Boston, thinks you might not. When she tells nonscientific audiences that researchers “for the most part don’t study female animals, people are blown away,” she said. She added: “It seems like such an obvious thing to a normal person. But when you come up in the academic and science world, it’s like, ‘Oh no, females are so complicated, so we just don’t study them.’” (Klein, 5/30)

Stat: Congress Wants A Single ALS Patient To Get A Therapy Never Tested In Humans
A family in Iowa believes the Food and Drug Administration will decide whether their only surviving daughter lives or dies, and they’ve been on a monthslong crusade to break through its bureaucracy. And they’re succeeding. Just last week, the FDA gave Jaci Hermstad, a 25-year old Iowan who is dying from a rare form of ALS, an early sign that she will receive the first dose of an experimental drug never before tested in humans. The FDA’s move, which was confirmed to STAT by Jaci’s family and doctor, is a breakthrough for the Hermstads. (Florko, 5/31)

Stat: More New Cancer Therapies Are Being Launched, But Spending Soars
As a closely watched meeting of cancer researchers gets under way in Chicago on Friday — call it Woodstock for oncologists — a new analysis finds that more cancer therapies have been launched recently than ever before, an unprecedented amount of clinical development is underway, and the spending is rising at double-digit rates. Specifically, last year saw a record 15 new oncology treatments launched for 17 tumor types, the pipeline of drugs in late-stage development expanded by 19% in 2018 alone and 63% since 2013, and the mean cost for the new medications last year exceeded $175,500. This was less than $209,400 in 2017, but above the nearly $143,600 mean from 2012 to 2018. (Silverman, 5/30)

Stat: Minn. Tries Unusual Approach To Make Drug Makers Pay For The Opioid Crisis
Seeking to recover costs attributed to the opioid crisis, Minnesota has adopted a first-of-its kind law that requires drug makers and wholesalers that market the addictive painkillers to pay various fees. The move, which is expected to raise an estimated $20 million annually over the next five years, was designed to ensure the state has the financial means to pay for various services, such as addiction prevention and treatment, as a hedge against the outcome of lawsuits that Minnesota officials filed against various opioid makers. (Silverman, 5/30)

The Hill: New Jersey Sues Sackler Family For Alleged Role In Opioid Epidemic
New Jersey is suing the family that founded Purdue Pharma, alleging "deceptive" marketing practices that fueled the opioid epidemic. Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said his office filed the lawsuit Thursday against eight members of the Sackler family. “We allege that these eight defendants, despite knowing the highly addictive nature of their product, adopted highly deceptive marketing practices, encouraged reckless prescriptions and targeted multiple patient populations,” Grewal said. (Hellmann, 5/30)

Modern Healthcare: Federal Pain Management Task Force Emphasizes Opioid Alternatives
A federal task force issued a report Thursday outlining best practices for managing acute and chronic pain with an emphasis on treatment approaches beyond opioid use. The 108-page report lays out a multidisciplinary approach to pain management that includes opioids but also behavioral and physical therapy as well as other treatments like massages and minimally invasive procedures. According to the report, "mitigating unnecessary opioid exposure" is vital. (Castellucci, 5/30)

Austin American-Statesman: Texas Lawmakers Limit Opioid Prescriptions For Acute Pain Patients
Texas lawmakers last week gave final approval to a bill that will limit opioid prescriptions for acute pain to a 10-day supply, one of several measures passed this session aimed at tackling the state’s opioid overdose crisis. House Bill 2174 will now be sent to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk to be signed into law. He has until June 16 to do so or otherwise veto it. (Huber, 5/30)

The Advocate: In 'Pill Mill' Case, Mandeville Doc Pleads Guilty To Selling Painkiller Prescriptions 
A Mandeville neurologist admitted in court Thursday that he broke federal law by prescribing painkillers to patients he didn't examine, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Orleans. Dr. Anil Prasad, 62, pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiracy to unlawfully dispense pharmaceuticals in exchange for cash as well as conspiracy to commit health care fraud. He could face prison time when sentenced during a hearing set for Sept. 4 in front of U.S. District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo, U.S. Attorney Peter Strasser’s office said. (Vargas, 5/30)

The Hill: Families List Health Care As Top Financial Problem: Poll 
Health care costs are the top financial issue facing most American families, according to a new Gallup poll released Thursday. About 17 percent of Americans said health care was their most significant financial issue, followed by 11 percent citing lack of money or low wages, 8 percent saying college expenses, 8 percent saying the cost of owning or renting a home and 8 percent saying taxes. (Axelrod, 5/30)

In other news on health care costs —

Kaiser Health News: Mired In Medical Debt? Federal Plan Would Update Overdue-Bill Collection Methods
Elham Mirshafiei was at the library cramming for final exams during her senior year at California State University-Long Beach when she grew nauseated and started vomiting. After the 10th episode in an hour, a friend took her to the nearest emergency room. Diagnosis: an intestinal bug and severe dehydration. In a few hours, she was home again, with instructions to eat a bland diet and drink plenty of fluids. That was in 2010. But the $4,000 bill for the brief emergency department visit at an out-of-network hospital has trailed her ever since. Mirshafiei, 31, has a good job now as a licensed insurance adviser in Palo Alto, Calif. (Andrews, 5/31)

Kaiser Health News: Hospitals Accused Of Paying Doctors Large Kickbacks In Quest For Patients
For a hospital that had once labored to break even, Wheeling Hospital displayed abnormally deep pockets when recruiting doctors. To lure Dr. Adam Tune, an anesthesiologist from nearby Pittsburgh who specialized in pain management, the Catholic hospital built a clinic for him to run on its campus in Wheeling, W.Va. It paid Tune as much as $1.2 million a year — well above the salaries of 90% of pain management physicians across the nation, the federal government charged in a lawsuit filed this spring. (Rau, 5/31)

Modern Healthcare: House Committee To Discuss DSH Cut Repeal Next Week
The House Energy and Commerce Committee next week will consider a full repeal of the Medicaid disproportionate share hospital cuts, a sign that hospitals are getting closer to securing the top lobbying priority for safety net providers and academic medical centers. The committee will hold a hearing next Tuesday on proposed legislation from Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), whose home state gets the single largest so-called Medicaid DSH allotment in the country. In fiscal 2018, New York received $1.8 billion of the roughly $12 billion in annual federal payments. (Luthi, 5/30)

In other CMS and Medicaid news —

Modern Healthcare: Health IT Coalition Wants Information-Blocking Rule Rescinded
The Health Innovation Alliance called on the CMS and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology to rescind their companion interoperability and information-blocking rules, arguing they would cause confusion and represent an overreach of the ONC's regulatory authority. The public comment period for the CMS' and the ONC's long-awaited proposed rules, which the agencies released in February, close Monday. The rules outline how regulators will require providers and insurers to share medical data with patients, as well as steps to discourage healthcare organizations from creating barriers that inhibit health data exchange. (Cohen, 5/30)

Georgia Health News: Children’s Enrollment In Georgia Medicaid And PeachCare Shows Drop
Georgia’s Medicaid and PeachCare programs covered 20,000 fewer children at the end of 2018 than the year before, a new report says. That 1.6 percent drop is less than an overall 2.2 percent decline in enrollment nationally, according to the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families. (Miller, 5/30)

The New York Times: Chest Binding Helps Smooth The Way For Transgender Teens, But There May Be Risks
It used to be that when a 13-year-old wanted a binder for school, it meant a trip to Staples. For today’s tweens and teens who identify as gender-nonconforming or transgender, shopping for a binder may mean a compression undergarment worn to flatten breasts. Made of thick spandex and nylon, binders resemble tight undershirts, creating a masculine profile. The American Academy of Pediatrics has estimated that 0.7 percent of 13- to 17-year-olds in the United States, about 150,000, identify as transgender. (Sohn, 5/31)

NPR: "I Am A Woman": Track Star Caster Semenya Continues Her Fight To Compete As A Female
This week, the Olympic champion runner Caster Semenya of South Africa filed an appeal in a case that hinges on her right to compete as a woman. It's the latest chapter in a fight that's gone on for years, and that raises thorny questions about fairness and ethics in sport. Semenya, 28, is a two-time gold medalist in the 800 meter event. She is asking the Swiss Federal Supreme Court to throw out a ruling issued earlier this month by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, or CAS, which is based in Lausanne. (Block, 5/31)

Stateline: Police Train To Be ‘Social Workers Of Last Resort’
Even when other states often viewed Washington as progressive in mental health training and crisis intervention, civil rights activists in the state demanded even more training. Lacking proper mental health resources, families and community members across the country all too often call police to respond to someone having a mental health crisis. Understanding this mental health role for law enforcement, states have had to respond with new training techniques in dealing with crises, hoping to avoid deadly encounters and further suffering to people with mental illness. (Vasilogambros, 5/31)

The New York Times: Stress Early In Pregnancy Tied To Lower Sperm Counts In Adult Sons
Stress early in pregnancy is associated with reduced sperm counts and lower testosterone levels in adult sons, a new study has found. The study, in Human Reproduction, included 643 men, 407 of whose mothers had been exposed to a stressful event within the first 18 weeks of pregnancy: death of a relative or friend, job loss, divorce, pregnancy concerns, marital problems, money issues or other stresses. (Bakalar, 5/30)

Stat: Thrive Strides Into Crowded Race To Develop A Blood Test To Detect Cancer
A new Cambridge, Mass.-based startup, Thrive Earlier Detection (“Thrive” for short), has raised $110 million to develop a much-watched blood test that aims to detect cancer when it is still soon enough to remove it. The company, whose existence STAT first reported on May 8, is entering a crowded field flooded with money. Grail, based in San Francisco, has raised $1.5 billion on a similar effort. According to Pitchbook, Grail is valued at $3.1 billion, and it will present data at cancer meeting this weekend. Other companies, including Guardant and Exact Sciences (one of Thrive’s investors) have expressed interest in the field of cancer detection via blood test, known as liquid biopsy. (Sheridan and Herper, 5/30)

Arizona Republic: Burnout Is Real And Individual Workers Can't Fix It Alone, Experts Say
The World Health Organization this week brought awareness to something Banner Health chief clinical officer Dr. Marjorie Bessel has known for years — that workplace burnout is real. ...In its new International Classification of Diseases, set to take effect in 2022, the WHO updated its definition of burnout, calling it a "syndrome" that results from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. (Innes, 5/30)

WBUR: Experimental Spinal Cord Treatment Helps Texas Man Regain Some Motion After Paralyzing Accident
Harkema and her colleagues found that when they used the device to stimulate the lower portions of a patient's spinal cord, it could help some people with spinal cord injuries regain voluntary motion in their lower bodies. That discovery meant it might be possible to restore some motion and physiological functions once thought to be lost forever, without actually repairing the neurological gap created by the spinal cord injury itself. (Hobson and Bentley, 5/30)

ProPublica and Anchorage Daily News: “Enough Is Enough”: Can William Barr Fix Alaska’s Rural Sexual Violence Crisis?
Alaska Native leaders called on U.S. Attorney General William P. Barr for federal aid and greater authority for tribes to prosecute certain crimes, saying Wednesday that a dangerous lack of law enforcement is growing worse in the state’s most remote communities. Barr, sitting beside U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, heard that the state and federal governments have failed to provide the resources needed to combat a crisis of rural sexual assault, violence and drug use. (Demarban and Hopkins, 5/30)

The Washington Post: State Sues E-Cigarette Maker, Says It Targets Youth Market
Massachusetts has sued a national retailer of electronic cigarette and vaping products, alleging the company violated state law by targeting minors for sales of its merchandise, Attorney General Maura Healey announced Thursday. The complaint filed in Suffolk Superior Court alleges that Clifton, New Jersey-based Eonsmoke LLC violated Massachusetts consumer laws by targeting underage consumers through its marketing and advertising, and failed to verify online buyers’ ages or ensure shipments were received by a person 21 or older, as the state requires. (Salsberg, 5/30)

Modern Healthcare: Cigna Helps Shoot Down Connecticut Public-Option Bill
Lobbying by Cigna and other insurers killed Connecticut's push to establish a cheaper public health insurance plan to compete with private insurers, according to state lawmakers. Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont, Comptroller Kevin Lembo, and leaders of the Democratic-controlled legislature announced May 23 that they'd reached agreement on a proposal to create new public plans intended to save individuals and small businesses 20% on premiums. (Meyer, 5/30)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Only A Few Firms Get A Shot At Georgia Health Care Waiver Work
For the first time, Georgia leaders are devising a program that could expand Medicaid to more poor people under the Affordable Care Act and bolster the act’s insurance exchange. Consultants will research the most effective ways to do that — a $2.6 million job funded by a special line item the Legislature inserted into the state budget this year. (Hart, 5/30)

The Washington Post: Gov. Hogan Calls On Regents To Probe U-Md.’s Handling Of Deadly Adenovirus Outbreak
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan is calling on the University System of Maryland Board of Regents to investigate the handling of an adenovirus outbreak last fall on the flagship College Park campus that killed an 18-year-old freshman and sickened more than 40 other students. Hogan, in a sharply worded letter sent Thursday morning to the university system’s governing board, said the circumstances surrounding the November death of Olivia Shea Paregol should be investigated immediately with specific attention paid to decision-making by university officials who waited 18 days to tell students about the presence of the virus. (Abelson, 5/30)

The Associated Press: Who Gets To Give Dietary Advice? Health Coach Fights Law
In California, Heather Del Castillo offered tips on natural eating as a health coach. But in Florida, the title didn't qualify her to give nutrition advice. After getting a complaint that she was working without a license, Florida officials sent a cease-and-desist order and fined her $750. Del Castillo sued, saying her free speech rights were violated. Now, a federal court is expected to rule on her lawsuit as other states weigh regulations on professional dietary advice. (5/30)

The CT Mirror: Senate Revives, Then Adopts Deal On PTSD Benefits For First Responders
A day after one bipartisan deal to expand post traumatic stress disorder benefits to first responders bogged down, Democratic and Republican senators approved a revised bill — salvaging a seven-year effort to address the issue. The latest compromise, unanimously approved Thursday afternoon by the Senate, would expand workers’ compensation benefits for police, firefighters and certain medical responders with PTSD. (Phaneuf and Carlesso, 5/30)

The Associated Press: Kansas Doctor To Pay Near $6M Settlement For False Billings
Federal prosecutors say a Wichita cardiologist has agreed to pay $5.8 million to settle claims that he and his medical group improperly billed federal health care programs for medically unnecessary cardiac stent procedures. The Justice Department said in a news release Thursday that Joseph Galichia and his medical group, Galichia Medical Group, also agreed to be banned for three years from participation in any federal health care program, such as Medicaid and Medicare. (5/30)

The Star Tribune: Thanks To New Law, Waconia Hospital Poised For Expansion 
Legislation signed into law this month is changing the way Ridgeview Medical Center in Waconia can use 20 of its licensed hospital beds, clearing the way for the hospital to treat more medical and surgical patients. Since 1984, Minnesota has placed a moratorium on adding new hospital beds due to concern that growing the supply of health care services will inevitably drive up cost. (Snowbeck, 5/30)

MPR: Olmsted Co. Hopes Crisis Center Will Fill 'Gaping Hole' In Mental Health Safety Net
Olmsted County plans to break ground this fall on a mental health crisis center that would serve all of southeastern Minnesota. Currently, the region has what Deputy County Administrator Paul Fleissner called "a gaping hole that really isn't a safety net," to help people in need of behavioral health services. (Crann, Shiely and Burks, 5/30)

Miami Herald: Miami’s UniVista Insurance Focuses On Hispanic Market
UniVista offers auto, home, life and health insurance to individuals, plus a range of commercial coverage to businesses. About 70 percent of its policies are in private auto coverage, and the rest homeowners, life and commercial policies. The company has clients from all ethnic and cultural groups, but most of its clientele is Hispanic. (Mann, 5/30)

The Associated Press: Union: LA Officer Gets Typhoid Fever, 5 Others Show Symptoms
A Los Angeles police detective has been diagnosed with typhoid fever, a rare illness typically spread through contaminated food or water, and at least five other officers who work in the same station are showing symptoms, union officials said Thursday. The six officers work in the Central Division station, where a state investigation into unsafe and unsanitary working conditions led to penalties and more than $5,000 in fines earlier this month, documents show. (5/30)

Georgia Health News: Beyond Clinical Care: Helping The Whole Cancer Patient
While the immediate focus is on treatments that combat the physical manifestations of cancer, some centers also offer services to help patients, survivors and their families deal with long-term emotional, financial and other burdens of the disease. That was the idea behind the Loran Smith Center for Cancer Support. ...Since 2000, the center has provided North Georgia residents with educational workshops, individual and group counseling and access to a library of cancer resources and information at no charge. (Gu, 5/30)

Houston Chronicle: Houston ISD Program Prepares Students For Healthcare Careers 
Houston ISD’s Jane Long Academy offers its high-poverty students much more than a specialized healthcare curriculum — it offers them a shot at breaking a cycle of poverty that plagues so many families. Roughly 915 students attend Jane Long Academy, a sixth- to 12th-grade campus in the Sharpstown area. In 2012, a high school pilot program launched to offer dual-credit courses in partnership with Houston Community College so that students could receive an associate’s degree in pharmacy tech or a medical coding certificate. The high school program earned an ‘A’ in Children at Risk’s recent ratings. (Lewis, 5/30)

KQED: Wage Theft At California Elder Care Facilities
Elder care is a growing industry as the population ages and a lot of people are opting for alternatives to traditional nursing homes. One of the options available is a board and care facility. But several issues have arisen with it, including violations of labor laws. (Nelson, 5/30)

Houston Chronicle: Former Texans Fullback Admits Stealing More Than $100,000 From Player Fund 
A former Texans fullback has admitted to stealing $105,000 from a health-reimbursement fund for NFL players, according to a news release from the Harris County District Attorney's Office. Jameel Antwon Cook, 40, pleaded guilty in the 176th District Court to securing the execution of documents by deception, a third-degree felony. He was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years of probation and 160 hours of community service. He was was also fined $1,200 and ordered to pay back the money he stole, the release said. (Gill, 5/30)

Reveal: Nellie Bly Makes The News
Elizabeth Cochran, who wrote under the pen name Nellie Bly, was one of the best-known female journalists of the Victorian era. She gained instant fame for her exposé of poor conditions at a mental asylum, which she uncovered by feigning insanity and having herself committed. ... This short film examines the porous line between reporting facts and telling stories, while creating a dynamic portrait of a woman who refused to accept the status quo. (5/30)

The New York Times: Doctors Were Alarmed: ‘Would I Have My Children Have Surgery Here?’
Tasha and Thomas Jones sat beside their 2-year-old daughter as she lay in intensive care at North Carolina Children’s Hospital. Skylar had just come out of heart surgery and should recover well, her parents were told. But that night, she flatlined. Doctors and nurses swarmed around her, performing chest compressions for nearly an hour before putting the little girl on life support. Five days later, in June 2016, the hospital’s pediatric cardiologists gathered one floor below for what became a wrenching discussion. Patients with complex conditions had been dying at higher-than-expected rates in past years, some of the doctors suspected. Now, even children like Skylar, undergoing less risky surgeries, seemed to fare poorly. (Gabler, 5/30)

Wired: Why Tracking Your Symptoms Can Make You Feel Worse
Katie Golden began a symptom diary when she was first diagnosed with chronic migraines eight years ago. She recorded her pain score, what she ate, where she went, the weather and barometric pressure—anything that would unlock the possible triggers of her recurring headaches and help ease the pain. But here’s the problem with meticulous tracking of symptoms: It can make you feel worse. Fifteen percent of adults in the US use an app regularly or occasionally to track symptoms of a disease. About as many use a sleep-tracking app to figure out whether they get enough shut-eye. (Cohen Marill, 5/30)

The Economist: Measles Is Often Spread By Adults - Never Too Old
The [measles] resurgence has been blamed on parents refusing to vaccinate their children or delaying jabs. But what has also become clear is that vaccinating only children is no longer sufficient. In 2013-17 between 33% and 63% of the annual measles cases in Europe were among people older than 14 years. In 2017 the median age for measles cases in Italy, which has frequent outbreaks, was 27 years. A paper published in Science this month shows how this pattern evolved. Using historical data and statistical modelling, the paper’s authors find that as a country gets closer to fully eliminating measles, the age range of those who are not immune to the disease widens (see chart). Catch-up jabs, in other words, need to cover older and older groups of people. (5/25)

The Guardian: What Banned Substances Might Be Hiding In Your Groceries? Find Out Now 
Food in the US, in contrast to Europe, can be made with new chemicals that haven’t passed a government safety evaluation. As a result, Americans may consume over 10,000 additives, thousands of which have been introduced without the government’s knowledge. The FDA and EPA defend the chemicals in our food as safe or safe in limited amounts. But the system also assumes that consumers have enough information to make their own decisions. Find out what additives, pesticides and antibiotics you could be buying – and how you might avoid them. (Enders and Morris, 5/29)

OneZero: Dangerous DIY Sunscreen Recipes Are Spreading On Pinterest
The study looked at how people share information about homemade or do-it-yourself sunscreen on Pinterest, and found that nearly 95% of pins about homemade sunscreen portrayed it positively, and a full 68% of the pins recommended recipes for DIY sunscreen that didn’t even work. Lara McKenzie, a principal investigator at the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and one of the study’s authors, says she and her co-authors were interested in studying Pinterest specifically because of how many parents use the platform. She says that, as a parent herself, “I understand the movement and wanting to provide the best for your kids and to not give them things that are harmful or dangerous or hazardous,” but that, in fact, relying on homemade sunscreen puts a child more at risk than whatever potential dangers people think lurk in sunscreen chemicals. (Lashbrook, 5/29)

The Marshall Project: I Spent 22 Years In Solitary Confinement. Then I Didn’t Want To Leave
After spending 22 years in solitary confinement, anything larger than my cell threw me into panic. (Frank de Palma, 5/24)

Boston Globe: If This Is The New ‘Pro-Life’ Movement, Count Me Out
Women are in charge of their reproductive health, and their efforts to reduce unwanted pregnancies are working. All of which leads many to believe that the timing and the similarities of this multi-state campaign reveal a purely political strategy to energize and motivate the religious right. That too is shameful. (Stephen F. Lynch 5/31)

USA Today: Trump Administration Neglect Shows Need For Permanent Top Women's Post
When I served as the U.S. ambassador for Global Women’s Issues during the Obama administration, foreigners often asked me why the United States does not have a Cabinet agency or ministry for women. It struck many of the diplomats I met as odd, because dozens of other countries — including leading democracies like Canada, France and the United Kingdom — have a Cabinet-level government official responsible for directing policies for women and girls. (Cathy Russell, 5/28)

The Birmingham News: I See You, I Am With You, I Am Sorry
The fact is if you are pro-life that is great, for you, but for you to place your personal values/beliefs on someone else (especially if you are a man who will never understand what it is like to be a woman and frankly do not deserve to have an opinion on the subject) is wrong. I said it. In personal experience I have found that the people who claim to be “pro-life” are also pro death penalty, pro-gun, and advocate for abstinence over thorough sex education in schools. And if we are being really honest, you aren’t so “pro-life” when that fetus is born into a family of generational poverty and crime and grows up on the “wrong side of town”. (Savannah Short, 5/29)

Bloomberg: Abortion And Trump: Hypocrisy In EPA Cut To Fetal Health Research
President Donald Trump and his administration have undermined their very vocal support of the “unborn” by canceling the primary source of funding for studies monitoring the prenatal and postnatal effects of pollution on children. From the start of his presidency, Trump has appealed to pro-life evangelicals with his tough-on-abortion Supreme Court appointments and anti-abortion rhetoric. His public stance has encouraged extreme state restrictions, such as those adopted in Alabama, which essentially outlaws abortion, and Missouri, where abortions may be unavailable as soon as this week. (Faye Flam, 5/30)

The Washington Post: We Love To Hate The Government. Then Along Come Measles.
Americans love, love, love to hate on government, for all its foibles and failures. But we conveniently forget that good government has also solved, curtailed or prevented a lot of problems over the years, including epidemics, economic ills and environmental crises. When government works, it becomes largely invisible, taken for granted, wiping out both crises and the traumatic memories of those crises. Bad government we remember and loathe and curse to our children; but good government is often a victim of its own success, the cure so effective that we forget how horrifying the ailment it eradicated was. (Catherine Rampell, 5/30)

The Hill: Ending The Opioid Crisis: What Warren's Plan Needs To Truly Win The War On Addiction
The fact that the opioid crisis is becoming a hot-button political issue is no surprise. Considering 130 Americans die every day from an opioid overdose — that’s one every 11 minutes — the situation simply cannot be ignored. In fact, Americans are now more likely to die from an overdose than they are in a car accident, and the effects of this crisis have put a tremendous strain on our first responders and emergency services. Not to mention, the epidemic of addiction takes a devastating toll on families, especially children, and communities around the country. Frustrated by the lack of real solutions, constituents are demanding their elected officials do something to help stop, or at least slow, the rate of addiction and death. Elizabeth Warren has taken a bold step with her CARE Act proposal that would provide $100 billion over the next ten years to ramp up access to treatment through a broad range of organizations, local governments, and both public and nonprofit entities. (Michael Cartwright, 5/30)

The Wall Street Journal: Public Unions Vs. Single-Payer
Progressives in New York are pushing single-payer legislation that they claim will reduce health costs and improve care, but not even their friends in the public unions are buying it. As labor leaders know all too well, government control inevitably leads to higher costs and taxes and lower quality of service.New York’s state Senate and Assembly held a hearing Tuesday to consider legislation that would put the state in charge of health benefits for its 8.6 million residents. What do you know? The loudest opponents were union officials who howled that the bill would undermine collective bargaining, raise costs and lead to rationing. (5/30)

The New York Times: When Trolls And Crybullies Rule The Earth
Over the past several years, teenage suicide rates have spiked horrifically. Depression rates are surging and America’s mental health over all is deteriorating. What’s going on? My answer starts with technology but is really about the sort of consciousness online life induces. When communication styles change, so do people. In 1982, the scholar Walter Ong described the way, centuries ago, a shift from an oral to a printed culture transformed human consciousness. Once, storytelling was a shared experience, with emphasis on proverb, parable and myth. With the onset of the printing press it become a more private experience, the content of that storytelling more realistic and linear. (David Brooks, 5/30)

Stat: How My PTSD Changed The Way I Care For Pregnant Women 
Appointments with my doctor make me nervous. That’s highly ironic, because I’m a doctor, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist who regularly deals with high-risk pregnancies. But ever since developing preeclampsia during my first pregnancy eight years ago, the thought of having my blood pressure taken triggers flashbacks and anxiety. The silver lining is that my experience has changed the way that I care for patients.Preeclampsia affects upward of 10% of pregnant women. Its main signal is high blood pressure, but it can also cause headaches and damage the kidneys. In severe cases, women can have seizures or suffer liver damage. It is also a leading cause of maternal and fetal death. (Shivani Patel, 5/31)

New England Journal of Medicine: Sodium-Intake Reduction And The Food Industry
A recent report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) on dietary sodium intake adds overwhelming weight to the already strong imperative to reduce the amount of sodium in the U.S. food supply.1 Some food companies had used the ongoing work on this report as a reason to slow sodium-reduction efforts, citing the possibility of substantial changes to existing conclusions about sodium and health. The report, however, confirms that sodium intake among adults should be reduced from an average of 3400 mg per day to 2300 mg per day and links excess sodium intake to cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and stroke — chronic conditions that have staggering direct and indirect costs in the United States. (Jane E. Henney, James A. O’Hara and Christine L. Taylor, 5/30)

JAMA: Emergence Of Hybrid Models Of Genetic Testing Beyond Direct-To-Consumer Or Traditional Labs
Historically, genetic evaluation has been dominated by a clinician-centric traditional model in which a patient’s physician had the central responsibility for testing, such as ordering the test and communicating the results. Conversely, in the direct-to-consumer (DTC) model, consumers are more empowered because they can order their own tests, obtain samples using home test kits, and receive the results directly from the laboratory or company that provides the test. The DTC market has expanded substantially, reigniting controversies over the potential implications of DTC testing for genetic health risks.cHowever, little attention has been paid to the emergence and effect of new models of genetic testing that fall in a middle ground between the DTC model and the traditional model, which is also known as the hybrid laboratory model. (Kathryn A. Phillips, Julia R. Trosman and Michael P. Douglas, 5/30)

Los Angeles Times: A Court Decision Letting Homeless People Keep All Their Belongings Helps No One
Because the city of Los Angeles does not have enough shelter beds for its outsize homeless population, homeless people have been allowed for more than a decade to sleep on the sidewalks at night. Thanks to new court settlement, they now have the right to keep a nearly unlimited amount of possessions with them on the sidewalks of skid row. This is not what progress looks like in the homelessness crisis. (5/31)