The Associated Press: Justice Department Move On Health Law Has Risks For GOP
The Trump administration's decision to stop defending in court the Obama health law's popular protections for consumers with pre-existing conditions could prove risky for Republicans in the midterm elections — and nudge premiums even higher. The Justice Department said in a court filing late Thursday that it will no longer defend key parts of the Affordable Care Act, beginning with the unpopular requirement that people carry health insurance, but also including widely-supported provisions that guarantee access for people with medical problems and limit what insurers can charge older, sicker adults. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 6/9)

The New York Times: Trump’s New Plan To Dismantle Obamacare Comes With Political Risks
Democrats swiftly portrayed the surprise move by the Justice Department, outlined Thursday in a brief supporting a court case filed by Texas and 19 other states, as a harsh blow to Americans with fragile health and their families. Already, Democratic candidates in the midterm elections had been playing up their party’s role in blocking last year’s repeal efforts and their recent success in pushing for the expansion of Medicaid in two more states. Now they have a new talking point, and they lost no time testing it. Republicans are divided between conservatives who had vowed to eliminate the law and moderates, some in tough races, who want to preserve the popular protections for people who are sick. (Goodnough, Pear and Savage, 6/8)

The Wall Street Journal: Focus On Health Care Jolts GOP Ahead Of Midterms
Moderate GOP lawmakers said the Justice Department’s brief, which supports much of the states’ position, has created an unwelcome emphasis on health care ahead of the midterms elections. Some said they disagree with the administration’s stance, and most said they would rather talk about tax cuts and other issues on the campaign trail. Republicans in competitive districts, including GOP Reps. Leonard Lance of New Jersey, John Faso of New York and Carlos Curbelo of Florida, stressed on Friday their support for guaranteeing coverage for pre-existing conditions. (Armour and Peterson, 6/8)

Politico: Trump’s Latest Health Care Move Squeezes Republicans
Few congressional Republicans rushed to defend the administration's move Friday, instead emphasizing their support for preserving pre-existing condition protections. “I’m not going to have to defend anything I don’t agree with — regardless of who says it,” said Rep. Phil Roe of Tennessee when asked if he would defend the administration’s request on the campaign trail this fall. He added that rising premiums for Obamacare coverage will force lawmakers to address health care policy next year. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine — one of three GOP senators who blocked the Obamacare repeal effort last year — also pushed back, warning the administration's new bid “exacerbates our current challenges” and could undermine key patient protections. (Haberkorn and Cancryn, 6/8)

Kaiser Health News: Administration Challenges ACA’s Preexisting Conditions Protection In Court
The Trump administration is refusing to defend key parts of the Affordable Care Act, essentially arguing that federal courts should find the health law’s protection for people with preexisting conditions unconstitutional. The federal lawsuit hinges on the ACA’s individual mandate, or the requirement to get health coverage or pay a penalty. The mandate has long been a sticking point for conservatives, who argue that the government should not be telling individuals what coverage they must have. (Rovner and Appleby, 6/8)

Reuters: Insurer Lobby Group Weighs In On Obamacare Individual Mandate Case
Removing certain provisions tied to the Affordable Care Act, former U.S. President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law, could strike out important consumer protections and potentially harm millions of Americans, a trade association that represents U.S. health insurers said on Friday. The comments from America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) come a day after the U.S. Justice Department called Obamacare's individual mandate - which requires individuals to have health insurance or pay a penalty - unconstitutional. (Mathias, 6/8)

The Washington Post: ACA Lawsuit Could Jeopardize 52 Million Americans’ Access To Health Care
An obscure district court lawsuit over the Affordable Care Act became a potent threat to one of the law's most popular provisions late Thursday, when the Justice Department filed a brief arguing that as of Jan. 1, 2019, the protections for people with preexisting conditions should be invalidated. The Justice Department argued the judge should strike down the section of the law that protects people buying insurance from being charged higher premiums  because of their health history. (Johnson, 6/8)

The Wall Street Journal: What Latest Health-Law Case Means For Insurance Markets
In the short term, some health-insurance markets could see fewer options if companies react to renewed uncertainty by leaving the marketplace, said Sabrina Corlette, a research professor at the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute. “Are some insurers going to cry uncle?” she asked. “Maybe there are some companies that say, ‘Enough already.’” The marketplace experienced similar tumult about a year ago, as insurers were setting rates for the coming year amid questions about whether the White House would end some ACA subsidies—a step the administration in October announced it was taking. (Evans, 6/10)

CQ: Industry, Lawmakers React To DOJ's Refusal To Defend Health Law
Democrats are eager to turn the administration’s decision not to defend the 2010 health care law into their latest midterm weapon. The Department of Justice on Thursday said it would not defend the law (PL 111-148, PL 111-152) against a legal challenge filed by Texas and 19 other states.  (McIntire, 6/8)

Bloomberg: Obamacare Legal Attack Seen As Gift From Trump To Democrats 
Many Democrats said health care is the GOP’s greatest political vulnerability in the November congressional elections and by siding with Texas in the court case Thursday night, President Donald Trump’s Justice Department poured gasoline on already burning fire. “With 130 million people who have a preexisting condition, there are a lot of people in swing districts waking up to the news today that Republicans are suing to try to let insurance companies discriminate against people with preexisting conditions,” said Jesse Ferguson, former deputy director of the House Democrats’ campaign arm. Dozens of Democratic candidates challenging incumbent House Republicans have already made Obamacare, and the GOP’s efforts to repeal it, a central part of their campaigns.(Kapur and Wasson, 6/8)

California Healthline: California’s Attorney General Vows National Fight To Defend The ACA
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra pledged Friday to redouble his efforts as the Affordable Care Act’s leading defender, saying attacks by the Trump Administration threaten health care for millions of Americans. Becerra’s pledge came in response to an announcement from the administration Thursday that it would not defend key parts of the Affordable Care Act in court. The administration instead called on federal courts to scuttle the health law’s protection for people with preexisting medical conditions and its requirement that people buy health coverage. (Bartolone, 6/11)

The CT Mirror: Connecticut Fighting Texas In Legal Battle Over Obamacare
Connecticut supporters of the Affordable Care Act and the nation’s health insurers on Friday condemned the Trump administration’s decision against defending the health law from a lawsuit filed by Texas and a coalition of Republican states. ...The red state lawsuit argues that after Congress eliminated the penalty for the individual mandate last year, effective in 2019, it destabilized other sections of the law. (Radelat, 6/9)

The New York Times: How Suicide Quietly Morphed Into A Public Health Crisis
The deaths of the designer Kate Spade and the chef Anthony Bourdain, both of whom committed suicide this week, were not simply pop culture tragedies. They were the latest markers of an intractable public health crisis that has been unfolding in slow motion for a generation. Treatment for chronic depression and anxiety — often the precursors to suicide — has never been more available and more widespread. Yet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week reported a steady, stubborn rise in the national suicide rate, up 25 percent since 1999. (Carey, 6/8)

The New York Times: Can One Suicide Lead To Others?
The death of famed chef Anthony Bourdain, who apparently killed himself in a hotel room in France, caps a week of unnerving news about suicide. Rates are climbing across the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Thursday — in some states, by as much as 30 percent since 1999. Prevention remains an elusive goal. Just days earlier, Americans were stunned to learn the designer Kate Spade had hanged herself in her New York apartment. (Carey, 6/8)

The New York Times: 5 Takeaways On America’s Increasing Suicide Rate
In a week when two celebrities, first the designer Kate Spade and then the chef and television host Anthony Bourdain, took their own lives, new federal data was released showing that suicide rates have been increasing for years in almost every state and across demographic lines. The escalating crisis has affected nearly every group and place, but the study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that some parts of the country have been hit especially hard. Here’s a closer look at the study and the stories behind some of the data. (Smith, 6/9)

Reuters: Rise In U.S. Suicides Highlights Need For New Depression Drugs
A spike in suicide rates in the United States has cast fresh light on the need for more effective treatments for major depression, with researchers saying it is a tricky development area that has largely been abandoned by big pharmaceutical companies. U.S. health authorities said on Thursday that there had been a sharp rise in suicide rates across the country since the beginning of the century and called for a comprehensive approach to addressing depression. The report was issued the same week as the high-profile suicides of celebrities Anthony Bourdain and Kate Spade. (Steenhuysen, 6/9)

The Associated Press: Celebrity Suicides Highlight Troubling Trend In Midlife
The deaths of celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain and fashion designer Kate Spade highlight a troubling trend — rising suicides among middle-aged Americans. Mental health problems, often undiagnosed, are usually involved and experts say knowing warning signs and who is at risk can help stop a crisis from becoming a tragedy. (Tanner, 6/8)

The Wall Street Journal: After Celebrity Deaths, Suicide Hotline Calls Jump 25%
As the world learned the news Friday that renowned chef and food writer Anthony Bourdain had died by apparent suicide, the same phone number flooded the internet. The number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline—1-800-273-8255—was pinned to the bottom of memorial Instagram posts, shared in tweets and ran alongside news obituaries. Whenever a notable person commits suicide, calls to the hotline spike, said Director John Draper. Just days before Mr. Bourdain’s death, news of another famous person had spread: handbag designer Kate Spade, whose apparent cause of death was also suicide. Calls jumped 25% in the two days after her death, compared with the same period the previous week, Mr. Draper said. (Korte, 6/10)

The Hill: Bourdain, Spade Deaths Shine Spotlight On Growing Number Of Suicides 
The suicide deaths of fashion designer Kate Spade and celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain this week have heightened public awareness of what experts describe as a growing, and often overlooked, public health issue in the U.S. The news Friday of Bourdain’s death prompted tributes from President Trump and former President Obama, and cries of grief and surprise on social media. (Hellmann, 6/9)

Chicago Sun Times: For Women, The Stigma Of Depression, Anxiety Can Become Too Much To Bear 
The stunning death by suicide of designer Kate Spade, followed just days later by the death of celebrity chef and author Anthony Bourdain, highlights the lingering stigma of anxiety, despair and depression, even among the seemingly most upbeat and successful among us. Chicago experts say the tragedy also points to women’s and middle-age people’s increasing rates of suicides. Suicide rates for U.S. adults ages 45-64 had the largest absolute rate increase (to 19.2 per 100,000 people in 2016 from 13.2 per 100,000 in 1999), and the greatest number of suicides (232,108) during the same period, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data released Thursday. (Guy, 6/8)

Minnesota Public Radio News: Farmers Already At Higher Risk Of Suicide Face Pressure From Tariffs
Research shows that people in rural areas are much more likely to take their own lives. And a study of suicide in 17 states found people whose occupation involved farming, fishing or forestry were over five times more likely to take their own lives than people in all occupations combined. (Moini, 6/8)

The New York Times: Anheuser-Busch To Pull Funding From Major Alcohol Study
Brewing giant Anheuser-Busch InBev, one of five alcohol companies underwriting a $100 million federal trial on the health benefits of a daily drink, is pulling its funding from the project, saying controversy about the sponsorship threatens to undermine the study’s credibility, the company announced Friday. The company announced its decision in a letter to Maria C. Freire, president and executive director of the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, a nongovernmental entity that is authorized to raise money from the private sector for N.I.H. initiatives and manages the institutes’ public-private partnerships. (Rabin, 6/8)

In other government research news —

CQ HealthBeat: House Does Not Plan To Provide Gun Research Funding
The House Republican who oversees spending for the Health and Human Services Department said the fiscal 2019 spending bill will not include specific funding for research into gun violence, setting up a bitter flashpoint as the Appropriations Committee considers the measure soon. The House Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee will likely mark up its fiscal 2019 measure the week of June 11, with the full committee markup the following week. (Siddons, 6/8)

The Associated Press: Flu Season Was One Of The Deadliest For US Children
The past flu season was the deadliest for U.S. children in nearly a decade, health officials said Friday. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials said they had received reports of 172 pediatric flu deaths since October. That surpasses the 2012-2013 flu season, when there were 171. An average season sees about 110. There were more deaths in 2009-2010, but that was when a rare flu pandemic occurred involving a new strain. More than 300 children died that season. (Stobbe, 6/8)

The Washington Post: Flu Killed 172 Children This Season, The Highest Death Toll In Nearly A Decade
About half of this season’s deaths were in otherwise healthy children. They ranged in age from 8 weeks to 17 years. Of those for whom a flu shot is recommended, less than one-fourth of the children who died had been fully vaccinated. That was about the same proportion as in past winter flu seasons. The number of pediatric flu deaths “is a record number since we’ve been keeping track, outside of the pandemic,” said Daniel Jernigan, who heads the CDC’s influenza division. And the number is considered an undercount because it includes only lab-confirmed cases that are listed on death certificates and then reported to the CDC. It could go even higher because of reporting delays. (Sun, 6/8)

The New York Times: Scientists Can Design ‘Better’ Babies. Should They?
For nine frustrating years, Lesley and John Brown tried to conceive a child but failed because of her blocked fallopian tubes. Then in late 1977, this English couple put their hopes in the hands of two men of science. Thus began their leap into the unknown, and into history. On July 25, 1978, the Browns got what they had long wished for with the arrival of a daughter, Louise, a baby like no other the world had seen. She came into being through a process of in vitro fertilization developed by Robert G. Edwards and Patrick Steptoe. Her father’s sperm was mixed with her mother’s egg in a petri dish, and the resulting embryo was then implanted into the womb for normal development. (Haberman, 6/10)

The Washington Post: Rapid Sequencing Of Babies’ Genes May Save Lives
The story of Maverick Coltrin’s medical mystery is gripping: Last October, he was just 6 days old when he stopped eating. Then the seizures came. His tiny arms and legs would stiffen for a few seconds as many as 30 times per hour. Doctors at Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego tried multiple tests and medications, but nothing revealed what was wrong. When Maverick turned dusty blue, his parents asked, “Do you think he’s going to survive?” The answer: “We’re doing everything we can.” (Richards, 6/10)

The Washington Post: Human Movement, Sweat, Breath May One Day Replace Batteries In Implantable And Wearable Medical Devices.
In “I Sing the Body Electric,” poet Walt Whitman waxed lyrically about the “action and power” of “beautiful, curious, breathing, laughing flesh.” More than 150 years later, MIT materials scientist and engineer Canan Dagdeviren and colleagues are giving new meaning to Whitman’s poem with a device that can generate electricity from the way it distorts in response to the beating of the heart. Despite tremendous technological advances, a key drawback of most wearable and implantable devices is their batteries, whose limited capacities restrict their long-term use. The last thing you want to do when a pacemaker runs out of power is to open up a patient just for battery replacement. (Choi, 6/9)

The Washington Post: The American Medical Association Has Long Opposed Assisted Suicide. Is That About To Change?
During his three decades as an emergency-room doctor, Bob Uslander had never written a prescription for a lethal dose of medication. But then he shifted to geriatric and palliative care, and in 2016, a patient suffering from the neurodegenerative disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) wanted to use California's new physician-assisted death law. Uslander was apprehensive. Until then, he had always viewed death as a failure. (Bever, 6/10)

Stat: Testing Ebola Treatments Is Important, But Plagued With Challenges
The Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo may end without the available experimental drugs having been tested, given the way transmission appears to have slowed. And some experts who have watched with frustration the snail’s pace progress of the efforts to study Ebola drugs during outbreaks are beginning to wonder if, with the advent of Ebola vaccines, the window for doing this kind of research may be closing for good. (Branswell 6/11)

NPR: How To Dial Back Stress For High-Achieving Kids
On New Year's Eve, back in 2012, Savannah Eason retreated into her bedroom and picked up a pair of scissors. "I was holding them up to my palm as if to cut myself," she says. "Clearly what was happening was I needed someone to do something." Her dad managed to wrestle the scissors from her hands, but that night it had become clear she needed help. "It was really scary," she recalls. "I was sobbing the whole time." (Aubrey and Greenhalgh, 6/11)

The Washington Post: Heart Valve Treatment Has Come A Long Way Since Surgeons Used Only Their Hands
During the 1940s, heart surgeons tried to treat valve disease by sticking a gloved finger into a beating heart to widen the valve. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t. Treating valve disease has come a long way since its rudimentary beginnings, especially after the introduction in the 1950s of the heart-lung machine, which enables surgeons to stop the heart while they work on it. In the years that followed, surgeons, engineers and other scientists began creating novel valves to replace diseased ones. On March 11, 1960, at the National Institutes of Health, Nina Starr Braunwald performed the first successful mitral valve replacement with an artificial one of her own design, a polyurethane valve with woven Teflon laces she had hand-sewn herself. (Cimons, 6/10)

San Francisco Chronicle: Concussion Study By UCSF Professor Identifies ‘Public Health Crisis’
Many health care professionals believe that concussion patients don’t need or cannot benefit from subsequent visits and treatment. ... About 4 million Americans suffer traumatic brain injuries per year. Of the patients in Manley’s study, only 2 in 5 saw a doctor or other medical provider within three months of being injured. (Rubenstein and Ma, 6/9)

The Washington Post: Using Virtual Reality To Distract People From Pain Gains Traction In Hospitals.
Despite being in and out of hospitals since the age of 16, one of Harmon Clarke’s biggest fears is having an intravenous line inserted into his arm. The 34-year-old resident of Los Angeles has had more than 30 surgeries related to his Crohn’s disease, but getting stuck with an IV needle has never gotten less stressful. “Because of my Crohn’s I get really dehydrated, which makes it really challenging to get an IV in,” Clarke said. “One time, literally eight different IV nurses had come into my room trying to get a line in, and I’m in tears. I can’t do my procedure or surgery until we get this done, and it was just like a nightmare.” (Kim, 6/9)

The Star Tribune: Blue Cross Executive Cain Hayes Makes The Case For Diversity In Health Care Firms
In April, a report funded by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota documented a disproportionate prevalence of preventable disease and death within racial and ethnic minority communities in the state. It is one reason why Cain Hayes, the chief operating officer at Eagan-based Blue Cross, believes health insurers need to tackle the ongoing problem of racial and ethnic health disparities in the United States. (Snowbeck, 6/9)

The Washington Post: EMS Workers Get Their Own Virtual Museum
It’s hard to imagine a world without emergency medical services — the first responders, surgeons and other professionals who can mean the difference between life and death for the people they help. But not that long ago, the field didn’t exist. Such things as ambulances, emergency defibrillators and walkie-talkies are all relatively new creations. Even CPR, one of the most well-known techniques, didn’t exist until 1960. So how did the idea of emergency medical services get its start? The National EMS Museum answers that question. (Blakemore, 6/10)

St. Louis Public Radio: Poor Diet Associated With Increased Childhood Bullying, Say SLU Researchers
Children who eat poor diets are more likely to be bullies at school, according to research from Saint Louis University. The study, which used data from a World Health Organization survey of 150,000 children across 40 countries in Europe and North America, examined the relationship between diet and bullying behavior. (Farzan, 6/9)

The Washington Post: About 16,600 People Go To Hospital Emergency Rooms Each Year Due To Grilling Accidents
That quintessential summer get-together — a barbecue with friends and family — generally generates good-time feelings, but not always. About 16,600 people go to an emergency room each year because of an accident tied to grilling, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. About half of those injuries are thermal burns, caused by fire or contact with something ultrahot. Of the contact injuries, a third are to children younger than 5, hurt when they bump, touch or fall on some part of the grill or hot coals. Each year, fire departments respond to an average of 9,600 fires related to home grilling, reports the National Fire Protection Association. With gas grills, which account for about 80 percent of such fires, a leak or break is most often to blame. Whether gas- or charcoal-fed, grills that are not cleaned often trigger fires because of a buildup of grease and fat from previous cookings. When cleaning a grill, though, be careful with wire-bristle brushes: A bristle left lingering on the grilling surface could stick to a piece of food and be swallowed. (Searing, 6/9)

The Wall Street Journal: Pulitzer Prize-Winning Columnist Charles Krauthammer Says He Has Weeks To Live
Charles Krauthammer, the Pulitzer Prize-winning conservative columnist whose incisive critiques made him an influential voice in Washington for decades, said Friday he is battling an aggressive form of cancer and his doctors have told him he has weeks to live. “This is the final verdict. My fight is over,” the 68-year-old wrote in a farewell note to his readers.” He added, “I am grateful to have played a small role in the conversations that have helped guide this extraordinary nation’s destiny.” (Alpert, 6/8)

Kaiser Health News: Poison Ivy, A ‘Familiar Stranger’ That Could Ruin Your Summer
It was a close encounter in 2012 that made microbiologist John Jelesko take an interest in poison ivy. The Virginia Tech associate professor was cutting up a downed tree with an electric chainsaw. What he didn’t realize was that his power cable had been dragging through poison ivy. So, at the end of the day, as he coiled the cord around his palm and elbow, he inadvertently launched a career-bending science experiment. (Farmer, 6/11)

The New York Times: Salmonella Outbreak That Sickened 60 Is Linked To Pre-Cut Melons
A salmonella outbreak that sickened dozens of people last month has been linked to pre-cut melons from a food distributor in Indianapolis, spurring a recall of products in eight states. Packages of fresh-cut watermelon, honeydew melon, cantaloupe and mixed fruit have been recalled in Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio. An investigation is underway to see if other products or states were affected. (Fortin, 6/9)

The Washington Post: Salmonella Outbreak: Pre-Cut Melons At Krogers, Others Tainted, CDC Says
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention traced the outbreak to a Caito Foods facility in Indiana. The company has since issued a recall notice in Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina and Ohio — removing clear plastic containers of watermelon, honeydew, cantaloupe and mixed melons from the shelves. The recall affected at least 10 large grocery chains, including Whole Foods, which is a subsidiary of Amazon.com, whose chief executive, Jeffrey P. Bezos, owns The Washington Post. “The investigation is ongoing to determine if products went to additional stores or states,” the CDC wrote Friday. (Selk, 6/9)

ProPublica/WMFE: Five First Responders To The Pulse Massacre. One Diagnosis: PTSD.
Pulse was one of the nation’s largest mass shootings, where 49 people died and at least 53 others were wounded. The invisible injuries to first responders represent another toll of the catastrophe. (Aboraya, 6/11)

In other news —

WFTV: Florida Agency Didn't Run Mental Health Checks On Concealed Weapon App
A report with the Office of Inspector General found that the state of Florida failed to run mental health background checks for concealed weapon permit applicants for more than a year. The reported negligence affected running background checks for what the state calls non-criminal disqualifying conditions, meaning background checks into issues including whether people have been committed to mental institutions. (Manning, 6/9)

The Washington Post: Controversy Surrounds Research On State Department Employees Sickened In ‘Attacks'
Something mysterious and disturbing has happened to State Department personnel, first in Cuba and now in China. Strange high-pitched sounds — “buzzing,” “piercing squeals,” “grinding metal,” as the Cuba staffers later told doctors — preceded an eruption of health problems, including headaches, dizziness, confusion, ear pain, hearing loss, insomnia and fatigue. Last year, then-Secretary of State Rex Tillerson referred to what happened in Havana as “attacks.” Numerous news stories and opinion columns speculated about “sonic attacks” using some kind of unknown acoustic weapon. The mystery spread this spring to China: A staffer in Guangzhou experienced “subtle and vague, but abnormal sensations of sound and pressure,” in the words of the State Department. (Achenbach, 6/8)

Reuters: Cuba Says Cause Of Illness In U.S. Diplomats Remains Mystery
Cuba said on Sunday it remained baffled by health issues affecting U.S. diplomats, after the U.S. State Department reported two Cuba-based functionaries had symptoms similar to previous cases that began in late 2016. The State Department said on Friday the cases were similar to those of 24 diplomats and family members taken ill through 2017, leading to a drawdown of personnel in Havana to a skeleton staff and the expulsion of 17 Cuban diplomats from Washington. (Frank, 6/10)

The Associated Press: Cuba Releases Details Of Incident Involving US Official
Cuba released details Sunday on the latest mysterious health incident involving a U.S. diplomat in the country, saying that Cuban officials learned of the episode late last month when the U.S. said that an embassy official felt ill after hearing "undefined sounds" in her home in Havana. Cuba said in a statement released by its Foreign Ministry that U.S. officials reported on May 29 that a female embassy official had reported experiencing "health symptoms" after hearing the sounds in her home two days earlier. (Weissenstein, 6/10)

The Associated Press: US Pulls 2 More From Cuba Amid New Potential Health Cases
The United States has pulled out two more of its workers from its embassy in Cuba and is testing them for possible brain injury, three U.S. officials told The Associated Press on Friday, amid concerns they may have been affected by mysterious health incidents harming U.S. diplomats in Cuba and China. (Lederman and Lee, 6/8)

Modern Healthcare: Rethinking Rural Healthcare: How To Improve Healthcare In Rural Areas
More than 80 rural hospitals have shuttered since 2010 and hundreds more are in danger. Millions of patients are at risk of being without a community hospital and providers in metropolitan areas could see an influx of patients with significant, untreated conditions.

In other hospital news —

The Wall Street Journal: Hospitals Address Widespread Doctor Burnout
Doctors who feel stressed or burned out are getting some urgent care. To address what experts view as a national epidemic of physician discontent, hospitals are expanding their c-suites with the new position of chief wellness officer. In recent years hospitals have tried a variety of wellness programs, but there is a sense this approach didn’t treat the causes of physician angst and alienation. (Lagnado, 6/9)

New Orleans Times-Picayune: The Helicopter Transport Team At Children's Hospital Is Looking To Help More Kids 
One major change the transport team has undertaken this year has been to create a dedicated team of eight full-time flight nurses and flight respiratory therapists who are on-call whenever a transport patient needs to be airlifted. The transport team also is involved with patient transports in ambulances and fixed-wing aircraft, flown to pick up patients across the region and state. (Clark, 6/10)

KCUR: University Of Kansas Health System's Newest Hospital Opens Monday In Overland Park 
It’s been a busy few months for The University of Kansas Health System, formerly known as The University of Kansas Hospital. Its new $100 million hospital at 107th Street and Nall Avenue in Overland Park opens Monday following two years of construction. That comes on the heels of its acquisition of the Environmental Protection Agency building in downtown Kansas City, Kansas. (Margolies, 6/8)

Bloomberg: Private-Equity Backed Air Ambulances Leave Behind Massive Bills
The U.S. air-ambulance fleet has doubled in size in the past 15 years to nearly 900 helicopters making 300,000 flights annually, according to data compiled by Ira Blumen, a professor of emergency medicine and director of University of Chicago Aeromedical Network. ...The air-ambulance industry says reimbursements from U.S. government health programs, including Medicare and Medicaid, don’t cover their expenses. Operators say they thus must ask others to pay more—and when health plans balk, patients get stuck with the tab. (Tozzi, 6/11)

Chicago Tribune: Midwest Has Fewest Abortion Clinics Per Woman Than Any Other Region, Study Says 
The Midwest has fewer abortion clinics than any other region in the United States based on the population of women of child-bearing age, according to recent research from the University of California, San Francisco. Nationwide, the number of clinics varied drastically by region, including within the Midwest, according to the study, published in May in the Journal of Medical Internet Research. (Lourgos, 6/11)

In other news on women's reproductive rights —

The Associated Press: Judge Asked To Again Halt Arkansas Abortion Pills Law
Planned Parenthood asked a federal judge on Friday to again block an Arkansas law that restricts how abortion pills are administered, saying the restriction makes the state the first in the U.S. to effectively ban that form of abortion. Attorneys for Planned Parenthood and the state appeared before U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker, a little more than a week after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the state to enforce the restriction. The law says doctors who provide abortion pills must hold a contract with a physician with admitting privileges at a hospital that agrees to treat any complications. (DeMillo, 6/8)

San Francisco Chronicle: California Orders Opioid Overdose Antidote Naloxone Available Without Prescription
The California Department of Public Health on Thursday issued a statewide standing order for naloxone, the emergency antidote that reverses the effects of an opioid overdose. The order, issued by agency Director Dr. Karen Smith, functions as a standing prescription that enables all California organizations that work to reduce or manage drug addiction — such as sober living facilities, needle exchange programs and residential treatment centers — to distribute naloxone to patients and members of the community. The facilities would no longer have to get a prescription from an individual doctor. (Ho, 6/8)

Kansas City Star: Opioid-Addicted Babies Spurs KC Perinatal Recovery Group
The KC Perinatal Recovery Collaborative was formed because of data that shows the number of babies at risk of painful withdrawal symptoms in the first year of life has grown every year since 2011, going from 461 that year to 2,112 in 2016. A change in the way such symptoms are diagnosed caused some of the spike, but federal official Kimberly Nelson said the overall trend is real and opioids are likely to blame. (Marso, 6/9)

Minnesota Public Radio: Minnesota County Trying New Strategies To Prevent Opioid Abuse
The St. Louis County Public Health and Human Services Department has launched a new, tiered opioid abuse prevention project, with support from the Minnesota Department of Health. (Moen, 6/10)

The Associated Press: New Hampshire's Transgender Anti-Discrimination Bill Signed
Gov. Chris Sununu, a Republican, signed bills Friday to protect transgender people from discrimination and ban therapies that seek to change the sexual orientation of minors. The anti-discrimination law, which takes effect July 8, bans discrimination based on gender identity in housing, employment and public accommodations, in addition to the protections that already exist based on race, sex, religion and sexual orientation. (6/8)

The Hill: GOP New Hampshire Governor Signs Law Banning Gay Conversion Therapy 
New Hampshire’s Republican Gov. Chris Sununu signed into law on Friday a ban on gay conversion therapy for minors. Medical and mental health professionals — including the American Medical Association — say attempting to change a minor's sexual orientation or gender identity is proven to be ineffective and can cause psychological harm to LGBTQ youth.  (Gstalter, 6/8)

In other news —

Marketplace: While Challenges Remain For Transgender Jobseekers, More Businesses Are Reaching Out To The Trans Community
While looking for a job can be difficult for anyone, it can be especially tough for transgender people. According to a 2016 report by the National Center for Transgender Equality, roughly 30 percent of trans people surveyed said they’ve been denied a job, a promotion, or fired because of their gender identity. But there are signs that an increasing number of businesses are reaching out to the trans community. (Ma, 6/8)

The Hill: GOP Embraces Single-Payer Healthcare Attack In California 
Republicans are seizing on Democratic demands for a single-payer health system as an attack line in California, arguing that candidates backing the issue spearheaded by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) are out of step with their districts. “My opponent wants socialized medicine and government-run healthcare,” Rep. Mimi Walters (Calif.), a GOP incumbent and top Democratic target, told The Hill. “The district does not support it.” (Sullivan and Hagen, 6/10)

Reveal: Rep. Lewis Calls For End To ‘Unjust’ Immigrant Detention System
[John] Lewis wrote Congress must “safeguard living and working conditions for detained immigrants,” citing reports about conditions in immigration detention centers in Georgia. Reveal and WABE obtained federal records showing that the Stewart Detention Center in south Georgia has struggled with staffing shortages and an influx of drugs in the nearly 2,000-bed prison, operated by the private corrections company CoreCivic. (Yu, 6/8)

Boston Globe: Physical Therapists Vs. Acupuncturists: Who’s Sticking It To Whom?
In Massachusetts and across the country, acupuncturists and physical therapists are fighting over who has the right to stick slender filiform needles into patients. ...As the use of alternative therapies grows, big money is at stake, and acupuncturists are trying to protect their turf. (Teitell, 6/9)

San Francisco Chronicle: California Workers’ Comp Insurer Cuts Way Back On Opioid Spending
The State Compensation Insurance Fund, one of the largest providers of workers’ compensation insurance in California, has cut its spending on prescription opioids by 74 percent amid a broader push by insurers and doctors to reduce the long-term use of addictive prescription painkillers. (Ho, 6/8)

Sacramento Bee: Jerry Brown, CA Legislature Strike $200 Billion Budget Deal
Gov. Jerry Brown and Democratic legislative leaders struck a $200 billion budget deal on Friday that rejected two proposals that would have expanded access to health care and tax breaks to undocumented Californians. The budget sets aside enough money in reserves to fill the so-called Rainy Day Fund with a sum equivalent to 10 percent of general fund spending, almost $14 billion. (Ashton, 6/8)

San Francisco Chronicle: Homeless Programs Get An Extra $600 Million In California Budget Deal
Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative leaders compromised on plans to put millions more toward homeless programs and agreed to pump more money into higher education under a $139 billion general fund budget deal announced Friday. (Gutierrez, 6/8)

Richmond Times-Dispatch: A Place To Sleep: Many Of Virginia's Mentally Ill Caught In Cycle Of Housing Instability
For some of those people, lacking a safe place to call home means intermittent care at best. But most likely, it means months or years without adequate mental health treatment, and the ramifications can be far-reaching. (O'Connor, 6/10)

The Star Tribune: UnitedHealth Buying Medicare Plan In Louisiana
Minnetonka-based United­Health Group is acquiring a large Medicare Advantage health plan in Louisiana, a state that’s one of the few where the company’s UnitedHealthcare insurance business in 2017 wasn’t already one of the largest in the Medicare market. UnitedHealthcare, which is the nation’s largest health insurer, said Friday that it’s acquiring Peoples Health, an HMO with about 63,000 enrollees in Medicare health plans that posted $768.3 million in revenue last year, according to a regulatory filing. (Snowbeck, 6/8)

Des Moines Register: TPI Composites: Iowa OSHA Fines Newton Wind Blade Maker $150,000
In 40 pages of documents, Iowa's Occupational Safety and Health Administration alleged an array of safety issues including fire hazards, airborne contaminants, faulty record keeping, fall hazards and a lack of employee training on using personal protective equipment. Most notably, the citations support the complaints of dozens of former workers who claimed that TPI did not properly protect them from dangerous chemicals that caused them severe skin injuries. (Hardy, 6/8)

Wyoming Public Radio: Mary Jane To The School Nurse's Office
This month, Colorado became the first state in the nation to allow school nurses to administer medical marijuana to students. But not all nurses may be on board. (Budner, 6/8)

Bloomberg: Health Warning: Obamacare Is In Legal Peril Once Again
Could key portions of the Affordable Care Act be declared unconstitutional – years after the Supreme Court upheld them? The Trump administration’s Department of Justice has just filed a brief saying so in a suit by several states that aims to take down the whole program. Most mainstream legal commentators think the government’s arguments are unconvincing. But it’s crucial to remember that this was exactly the reaction of the same set of people in 2010, when the original argument was made against the individual mandate by libertarian law professor Randy Burnett. Just two years later, five justices of the Supreme Court embraced Barnett’s argument. (Noah Feldman 6/10)

The Washington Post: The Justice Department Abandons The ACA — And With It, The Law
A continuing challenge of covering the three-ring circus that is the Trump administration is not letting the outrageous antics and statements of the president and his allies distract attention from the outrageous policies being implemented on his watch. One example, unfolding right now in the midst of the president’s various rhetorical wars — with our Group of Seven partners, with the special counsel, with his own attorney general — is the administration’s remarkable move not to defend the constitutionality of key parts of the Affordable Care Act. This is a huge deal. First, if the administration’s position prevails, millions of Americans will lose the protections they thought they had against being denied coverage if they suffer from preexisting conditions. Second, and perhaps even scarier, the administration’s behavior sets a dangerous precedent about the obligation of this and future presidents to follow their constitutional duty to faithfully execute the laws enacted by Congress. (Ruth Marcus, 6/9)

Axios: Donald Trump Gives Democrats A Big Opening With Affordable Care Act Lawsuit 
Most of the discussion of the Trump administration's decision not to defend the Affordable Care Act — and to urge the courts to throw out its protections for people with pre-existing medical conditions — has focused on what happens to the individual insurance market. But the political impact may be even greater. Why it matters: Protections for people with pre-existing conditions are hugely popular, and the administration may have handed Democrats their strongest health care weapon yet — because now they can make the case that the administration has gone to court to take away protections for people with pre-existing medical conditions. (Drew Altman, 6/11)

The Washington Post: Republicans Embrace A Hideously Unpopular Position Just Before The Elections
Back when Republicans were trying to come up with a way to repeal the Affordable Care Act, they quickly realized that while most Americans had only a vague sense of what was in the law, there were parts of it that were extraordinarily popular. That included the expansion of Medicaid, allowing young people to stay on their parents’ insurance up to age 26, and forbidding insurance companies from denying anyone coverage or charging them more because of pre-existing conditions, which just about all of us either already have or will one day have. (Paul Waldman, 6/8)

The Washington Post: A Wake-Up Call For New Approaches To Suicide Prevention
Days after the suicide of renowned fashion designer Kate Spade, chef and world-traveling TV storyteller Anthony Bourdain was found dead in a hotel room in France, another apparent suicide. Ms. Spade was 55, Mr. Bourdain was 61, and the tragedy of their lives cut short by their own hands was difficult for many of their admirers to accept or comprehend. But their deaths should serve to highlight suicide as a serious and growing public-health problem that demands attention and action. (6/10)

USA Today: Suicide Risk Jumps With Psychiatric Problems And Substance Abuse
How can it be that people as accomplished, famous, wealthy, and popular as Anthony Bourdain and Kate Spade would take their own lives? This was the question on many minds as the country was rocked by the two celebrity suicides and a devastating report by the Centers for Disease Control that suicide rates are up yet again. Some of the puzzlement has to do with a misunderstanding about what leads to suicide.  Most people think of suicide as a catastrophic reaction to a stressful event. Whether it is a marital, financial, legal or academic problem, the lore goes, the person cannot deal with it and takes their own life. But that is far from accurate. After all, most of us are beset by stressors. Often. And while suicide rates continue to climb at an alarming pace, the vast majority of people do not turn to suicide when faced with a problem, no matter how devastating or overwhelming. (Maria A. Oquendo, 6/10)

Boston Globe: Sobering News On Spiking Suicide Rates Reveal A Public Health Crisis That Cannot Be Ignored 
In Massachusetts, middle-aged men from 35 to 65 account for the largest number of suicide deaths, in part because they’re less likely to seek help. State health officials have set up massmen.org and stocked it with tools allowing “working-age men” to share stories and take a self-assessment test. The breakdown by race highlighted by the CDC also cries out for further study. By far the highest rate of self-inflicted deaths per capita occurs among non-Hispanic whites. At the same time, the rate for Hispanics and non-Hispanic blacks also rose in 2015 and 2016.These numbers should serve as a warning for states, which administer public health programs, and for the federal government, which funds them. Precision medicine has transformed cancer research. A precision approach to mental and behavioral health, which matches people at risk with treatment targeted to their needs, is a necessary next step in suicide prevention. (6/8)

The Wichita Eagle: Suicide Prevention Needs Country’s Attention
A bipartisan, apolitical task force should start looking more deeply into ways in which our country can better support those who are suffering from depression. In January, President Trump issued an executive order directing the VA, Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security to collaborate to provide access to mental health care and suicide prevention resources for Veterans, particularly during the first year after separation from service.This will assist one important segment of our population in battling the ill effects of depression, but the rest of the country needs assistance as well. Voids in health insurance policies continue to prevent people from obtaining the specific mental health treatment they need. (Blake Shuart, 6/11)

The Hill: Congress Needs A Broader Approach To Address Opioid Epidemic
When it comes to addressing the opioid crisis, the United States is falling far short. Only 10 to 26 percent of those with an opioid use disorder are getting care. And among that group, only a bit more than a third are getting the most effective care, with one of the three FDA-approved medications — buprenorphine, methadone and naltrexone, known collectively as Medication Assisted Treatment, or MAT. (Michael Botticelli and Richard Frank, 6/10)

Stat: How Early Retail Health Clinics Set The Stage For Today's Mega-Mergers
Looking back, the retail health clinics touched everything we hold dear in health care today. They helped launch the era of patient-centric care; brought price transparency to the industry; made care for most — if not care for all — a possibility by introducing prices that were affordable and accessible; and spotlighted the value of right provider, right place, and right time. Not long after the emergence of retail clinics, the health care industry saw the rise of concierge medicine, urgent care centers, and telemedicine.Now the media spotlight is on some of health care’s giants as they jockey for position around the themes that retail clinics set in motion — CVS and Aetna, Walmart and Humana, Cigna and Express Scripts, as Walgreens sits in the catbird seat with various options available to it. (Hal Rosenbluth and Peter Miller, 6/11)

USA Today: FEMA Policies Hurt Victims Asking For Relief
The month of June marks the opening of hurricane season in the Atlantic. Residents of the Southeastern US and Caribbean are bracing for the possibility of a catastrophic storm and the life-changing devastation that follows. For homeowners who cannot afford insurance to cover hurricane damage, the Federal Emergency Management Agency  may be their only source of aid. However, FEMA regulations trample local laws and practices to the detriment of America’s poorest families. Rather than help, FEMA’s Individuals and Houses Program blows victims into a no-man’s-land full of bureaucratic doublespeak but devoid of aid.  (Parker Abt, 6/11)

Boston Globe: Another Trump Casualty: The Presidential AIDS Council
In a scathing letter, six members of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS resigned. “The Trump Administration has no strategy to address the ongoing HIV/AIDS epidemic, seeks zero input from experts to formulate HIV policy, and — most concerning — pushes legislation that will harm people living with HIV and halt or reverse important gains made in the fight against this disease,” wrote Scott A. Schoettes, a former council member. That was a year ago this month. Since then, the remaining members have been fired. None have been replaced, nor is there a director for the Office of National AIDS Policy. (Dr. Amy Lansky, who served during the Obama administration, resigned in January 2017.) This means there is no federal effort to develop policies for HIV and AIDS. (6/11)

The Hill: Lower-Income Families Are Excluded From Getting Specialized Medical Care
Many kids who rely on our public education system for the opportunity to participate in sports never get that chance. They miss out on the various health benefits that physical activity confers. Admittedly, this concept is not novel. But kids who rely on public programs for health care get a second hit that we don’t talk about as frequently: public health insurance closes doors. Say, for example, that a child with public insurance does participate in sports. What happens if that kid gets injured? Research tells us that kids with publicly-funded insurance who require specialized care for musculoskeletal injuries like fractures or ACL tears are regularly turned away. (Cordelia W. Carter, 6/10)

WBUR: The Number Of Kids With Autism Keeps Growing. Why Aren't We Helping Them More?
Access to life-changing medical care and support services shouldn’t depend on which state you live in, your socioeconomic situation or your race and ethnicity. Our government has the opportunity to allocate more resources towards scientific research and supportive services for all people with autism. (Ilyse Levine-Kanji, 6/11)

Sacramento Bee: Why Should California Tax Drinking Water?
Most Californians agree that clean drinking water is a human right, and that it is a fundamental function of state government to ensure access to safe drinking water. However, there is disagreement in the Legislature on how to pay for it. Some members believe that a new water tax should be passed to fund this effort, as supported by the Bee’s editorial board (“This is California. We should be able to drink the water. Lawmakers, fix this disgrace,” sacbee.com, June 4). (Jay Obernolte, 6/7)

Columbus Dispatch: State Should Stand Up For Consumers Against Abuse By PBMs
Months of work by Dispatch reporters have shown readers that pharmacy benefit managers operate as the worst sort of middlemen, siphoning billions in profit from prescription-drug transactions without adding much, if anything, of value. But last Sunday’s article by Dispatch reporters Marty Schladen and Catherine Candisky showed something worse: The PBMs’ disregard for consumers and drive to maximize profits are so great that they’re willing to make cancer patients wait days, even weeks, for lifesaving drugs. (6/10)

Kansas City Star: Why Missouri And Kansas Are Lousy Places To Live If You're Poor
Missouri’s Medicaid income cutoff of 22 percent of the federal poverty line (Kansas sets it at 38 percent) was deemed “ridiculous.” That’s even lower than the cutoffs in the three worst states for the poor, the study found. (6/8)

San Antonio Press-Express: Title X Changes Are Not A Gag Rule On Abortions At Clinics
This editorial states that the new Protect Life Rule proposed by the Trump administration will cut funding to clinics that “perform, support or refer to abortion as a method of family planning.” This is a misstatement, as the proposal actually states clinics may not “perform, promote or refer for abortion.” "(Ingrid Skop, 6/10)