The Wall Street Journal: American Voters Have A Simple Health-Care Message For 2020: Just Fix It!
Nine years after Democrats passed the Affordable Care Act and more than a year after Republicans failed in their effort to repeal it, health care promises once again to be a major issue in the 2020 elections. Drug costs are rising, as are insurance premiums. Rural hospitals are closing. Even as an estimated 20 million people have gained coverage under the ACA, widely known as Obamacare, nearly 30 million people remain uninsured. Surveys consistently find that Americans see the health-care system as broken. (Armour, 6/2)

The Wall Street Journal: Arizona Suburbs Show The Opportunities, Risks Of Health Care As Political Issue
April Gould helps run a thriving business where customers take yoga classes alongside dozens of baby goats, but she said she can’t afford health insurance. “Health care in this country is a mess,” said Ms. Gould, 41 years old, who says she leans Republican. “We should get rid of the insurance game and make it one cost for everyone. “Like Canada,” she says, before adding, “But that’s expensive.” Arizona reflects the challenge that will confront both parties in the 2020 election. Health care looms so large that many independent and suburban voters in swing states may back candidates based on plans to fix the system, rather than based on their usual party affiliation. (Armour, 6/2)

The Washington Post Fact Checker: Would Bernie Sanders’s Medicare-For-All Save Americans Money?
During a town hall on Fox News, 2020 presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders said his Medicare-for-all plan would save most Americans money by reducing the cost of health care. According to Sanders, any tax increase as a result of his plan would be less than what an average family currently pays in premiums, co-payments and deductibles for health insurance. (Mirza, 6/3)

The Associated Press: 2020 Hopeful Gillibrand Unveils Plan To Protect LGBTQ Rights
Democratic presidential candidate Kirsten Gillibrand has unveiled a comprehensive plan to protect the rights of LGBTQ people to mark the start of Pride Month. If elected, the New York senator says she'd direct the Justice Department to consider gender identity and sexual orientation a protected class. She would also ban discrimination against transgender members of the military and federally recognize a third gender in identification documents, denoted by an "X'' on ID cards. (6/1)

The Washington Post: Trump, Who Cast Himself As Pro-LGBT, Is Now Under Fire From Democrats For Rolling Back Protections
President Trump, who appeared to break with Republican orthodoxy in 2016 by pledging to be a “real friend” of gay, lesbian and transgender Americans, is facing fresh attacks from Democrats and advocates who say his administration has instead become their worst enemy. Trump and his aides have issued a wave of regulations, executive orders, legal briefs and personnel appointments aimed at reversing large parts of the Obama administration’s civil rights agenda, winning plaudits from religious conservatives who form the bedrock of Trump’s political support. (Olorunnipa, 5/31)

In other news —

The Oregonian: Oregon Transgender Prisoner Must Have Transgender Cellmate Or Be Housed Alone, Judge Says 
A judge this week ordered the state to house a transgender female inmate in a cell separate from male inmates and to protect her from harassment. The decision for inmate Brandy Hall is believed to be a first in Oregon at a men’s prison, both state officials and Hall’s attorney said. It paves the way for other transgender inmates to make the same request unless the Oregon Department of Corrections creates an overarching housing policy for transgender and intersex prisoners, said attorney Tara Herivel. (Bailey, 5/31)

The Associated Press: Judge Says Missouri Clinic Can Keep Providing Abortions
A judge issued an order Friday to keep Missouri's only abortion clinic operating over the objections of state health officials, delivering abortion-rights advocates a courtroom victory after a string of setbacks in legislatures around the U.S. St. Louis Circuit Judge Michael Stelzer said Planned Parenthood's St. Louis clinic can continue providing abortions despite the Missouri health department's refusal to renew its license over a variety of patient safety concerns. He said the temporary restraining order was necessary to "prevent irreparable injury" to Planned Parenthood. (Salter and Lieb, 5/31)

The Wall Street Journal: Missouri Judge Rules State’s Only Abortion Clinic Can Keep Operating For Now
The judge granted Planned Parenthood a temporary restraining order, saying the group demonstrated immediate harm would occur if its license was allowed to expire. A hearing for a temporary injunction is set for June 4. “We are glad that the governor has been prevented from putting women’s health and lives in danger—for now—and call on him to stop this egregious politicalization of public health in an attempt to ban all safe, legal abortion care in the state,” said Dr. Leana Wen, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, in a statement after the ruling. (Raice, 6/1)

The Associated Press: Q&A: Possible Closure Of Missouri's Lone Abortion Clinic
Missouri law requires an annual inspection of abortion clinics. The inspection in St. Louis was in March. The health department cited several deficiencies, including "at least one incident in which patient safety was gravely compromised." It also cited what it called "failed surgical abortions in which women remained pregnant," and an alleged failure to obtain "informed consent." At a hearing before Judge Michael Stelzer on Thursday, Planned Parenthood attorney Jamie Boyer said the seven deficiencies have been "remedied," but the license is threatened unless the non-staff physicians agree to be interviewed. Boyer said Planned Parenthood can't force people who aren't on staff to cooperate. (Salter, 6/1)

Kansas City Star: Judge Blocks Closure Of Missouri’s Last Abortion Clinic
Planned Parenthood said that only two of the seven physicians in question are actually employees. They were interviewed by regulators this week. The other five, who work for a teaching hospital or a medical school, are under contract to Planned Parenthood and can’t be compelled to speak with the state, according to an attorney for the organization. Of those five, two are medical residents who have since finished their rotations and are no longer working at the clinic. (Hancock and Thomas, 5/31)

KCUR: Judge's Order Keeps Missouri's Sole Abortion Clinic Open — For Now 
The clinic’s medical director, David Eisenberg, said that while the decision is temporary, it sent a clear message to Gov. Mike Parson that abortion is legal and access necessary. "Your Department of Health and Senior Services is supposed to promote and protect the health of Missourians," Eisenberg said. "Forcing them to leave the state for routine care is the exact opposite of that mission." (Fentem, 6/1)

Kansas City Star: Missouri Women Look To Out-Of-State Providers For Abortions
Twenty-seven abortions were scheduled last Thursday at the Hope Clinic, and the license plates on cars parked in front of the low-rise building with bulletproof doors tell the story: Missouri. Missouri. Illinois. Illinois. Missouri. The 45-year-old Granite City, Ill. clinic, located 10 minutes from downtown St. Louis, draws about half of its patients from Missouri. (Thomas, 6/2)

The New York Times: For Millions Of American Women, Abortion Access Is Out Of Reach
After the closing of dozens of abortion clinics around the country in recent years, more than 11 million women in the United States live more than an hour’s drive from an abortion facility, according to an analysis of population data and drive times. The last remaining abortion provider in Missouri was set to see its license expire Friday amid a standoff with state officials, but a judge gave the parties more time to resolve the dispute. If the clinic were to stop providing abortion services, about 25,000 more women would be pushed outside the range that experts consider to be accessible for care. (Lai and Patel, 5/31)

Meanwhile, some states take steps to protect abortion rights while others move to further restrict the procedures —

CNN: Illinois And Nevada Approve Abortion Rights Bills That Remove Long-Standing Criminal Penalties
While a wave of Republican-led states have recently pushed laws restricting abortion, Illinois and Nevada moved legislation forward Friday aimed at protecting access to the procedure. The Illinois Legislature has sent Senate Bill 25, also called the Reproductive Health Act, to the governor's desk that would protect the "fundamental rights of individuals to make autonomous decisions about one's own reproductive health." The measure passed the Illinois Democratic-led Senate late Friday with a 34-20 vote. Only one Democrat voted against the bill, and Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker has said he will sign the legislation. (Stracqualursi and Boyette, 6/1)

The Associated Press: Sisolak Signs Nevada Bill Repealing Abortion Crime Statute
Physicians will no longer be required to tell a pregnant woman about the “emotional implications” of an abortion under a law signed by Nevada’s Democratic governor. Gov. Steve Sisolak signed the measure on Friday. The legislation also repeals a requirement that physicians document a pregnant woman’s marital status and removes a criminal penalty for anyone who supplies a woman with medication to induce an abortion without the advice of a physician. (5/31)

KQED: 'We Believe That A Woman Has A Right To Choose': Pelosi, Harris, Klobuchar Rally California Women
California Democratic women gave House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris and San Francisco Mayor London Breed a warm, hometown welcome Saturday morning as the state party kicked off its convention in San Francisco. The high profile politicians were among a number of women who addressed a packed, boisterous room of hundreds for the Women's Caucus meeting, where Caucus Chair Christine Pelosi — the speaker's daughter — made women's reproductive health the theme. (Lagos, 6/1)

The Associated Press: Judge To Hear Bid To Block Indiana Abortion Procedure Ban
A federal judge is set to take up the American Civil Liberties Union’s bid to block a new Indiana law that would ban a second-trimester abortion procedure. A judge in Indianapolis was scheduled to hear arguments Monday from the state’s attorneys and the ALCU of Indiana. The group is seeking a preliminary injunction to prevent the ban on dilation and evacuation abortions from taking effect July 1. (6/3)

The Associated Press: Louisiana Lawmakers Add New Regulations For Abortion Clinics
After passing one of the nation’s strictest abortion bans, Louisiana lawmakers also have passed new abortion clinic regulations that critics said would create additional hurdles to access. One measure will lengthen the time that clinics must retain patient records, with detailed requirements and hefty penalties for violations. The other will require women seeking an abortion to receive lengthy background information about the doctor who will perform the procedure. (DeSlatte, 6/1)

Boston Globe: 7 Arrested At Anti-Abortion Rally On Boston Common
Anti-abortion activists rallying on Boston Common clashed with counterprotesters Sunday afternoon, resulting in seven arrests. Chanting and carrying signs opposing new restrictive abortion laws in several states, about 100 counterprotesters booed and jeered at the more than 100 anti-abortion activists as they gathered. At the Parkman Bandstand, anti-abortion activists played music, including Christian rock and church hymns, to drown out the opposition and held signs asking people to “pray to end abortion.” Some dropped to their knees, eyes closed, to pray. (Ortiz, 6/2)

The Associated Press: Study: More Blacks Got Timely Cancer Care After 'Obamacare'
New research suggests that states that expanded Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act eliminated racial differences in being able to quickly start on treatment after a diagnosis of advanced cancer. The law that is often called "Obamacare" let states expand Medicaid eligibility and offer subsidies to help people buy health insurance. (6/2)

The Washington Post: ACA Linked To Reduced Racial Disparities, Earlier Diagnosis And Treatment In Cancer Care
The findings, coming as health care emerges as an increasingly important issue in the 2020 presidential campaign, were released Sunday as abstracts at the annual meeting in Chicago of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. The conference attracts some 40,000 cancer specialists to one of the world’s largest oncology meetings. According to researchers involved in the racial-disparity study, before the ACA went into effect, African Americans with advanced cancer were 4.8 percentage points less likely to start treatment for their disease within 30 days of being given a diagnosis. But today, black adults in states that expanded Medicaid under the law have almost entirely caught up with white patients in getting timely treatment, researchers said. (McGinley, 6/2)

The Wall Street Journal: Health Law Improved Access To Cancer Treatment, Studies Show
The new studies suggest that “patients who have better health-care coverage have better access to care, get diagnosed sooner, get started on treatment sooner,” Dr. Monica Bertagnolli, an oncologist and president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, or ASCO, said in an interview. The medical society is featuring the studies prominently at its annual meeting in Chicago this weekend, with thousands of cancer doctors in attendance. Typically, ASCO spotlights results of new clinical studies of cancer treatments, but it is increasingly turning its attention to whether those treatments are out of reach for patients because of high costs and insurance status. (Loftus, 6/2)

Stat: Affordable Care Act Erased A Racial Disparity In Cancer Care, Study Says
The new findings are striking. The study compared 18,678 patients who were treated for cancer either before states expanded the number of people who could receive Medicaid benefits under the ACA, or in states that chose not to expand Medicaid, to 11,708 patients who were treated in states that did expand Medicaid. Without Medicaid expansion, white patients received chemotherapy within a month of their cancer diagnosis 48.3% of the time. But African-American patients received chemotherapy within a month 43.5% of the time, 4.8-point difference. (Herper, 6/2)

In other news on the health law —

CQ: Former CBO Director: GOP Blew Health Care Law Repeal, Not Us
Outgoing Congressional Budget Office Director Keith Hall held his fire when the agency was under attack in 2017 for estimating that a repeal of the 2010 health care law would throw millions of people off health insurance. Now that he is leaving the agency, he can speak more freely. In an interview in his office last week, Hall said if anyone is to blame for Republicans’ failure to repeal the health care law, it's Republicans themselves. (Krawzak, 6/3)

ProPublica: Over 200 Allegations Of Abuse Of Migrant Children; 1 Case Of Homeland Security Disciplining Someone
From 2009 to 2014, at least 214 complaints were filed against federal agents for abusing or mistreating migrant children. According to the Department of Homeland Security’s records, only one employee was disciplined as a result of a complaint. The department’s records, which have alarmed advocates for migrants given the more aggressive approach to the treatment of minors at the border under the current administration, emerged as part of a federal lawsuit seeking the release of the names of the accused agents. (Thompson, 5/31)

In other news —

The Associated Press: Advocates Decry Delays In Release Of Migrant Kids
Immigrant advocates say the U.S. government is allowing migrant children at a Florida facility to languish in "prison-like conditions" after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border instead of releasing them promptly to family as required by federal rules. A court filing Friday revealed conditions inside the Homestead, Florida, facility that has become the nation's biggest location for detaining immigrant children. A decades-old settlement governing the care of detained immigrant children calls for them to be released to family members, sponsors or other locations within 20 days, but the court filing accuses the government of keeping kids there for months in some cases. (Gomez Licon and Taxin, 5/31)

The Associated Press: As Trump Threatens Tariffs, Migrant Families Keep Coming
On Wednesday, Border Patrol agents near downtown El Paso encountered a group of 1,036 migrants who had entered the country illegally — the biggest cluster the agency has ever seen. At one point in May, a holding cell designed for 35 migrants was crammed with 155. Six children have died in U.S. custody since September, three in the past month. U.S. authorities are overstretched and overwhelmed by an unprecedented surge of Central American families arriving at the southern border. (Attanasio and Spagat, 5/31)

The New York Times: Cannabis Companies Push F.D.A. To Ease Rules On CBD Products
It was Hempy Pet CBD Soft Chews, Mile High Labs and Women Grow, among countless others, squaring off against the likes of the Marijuana Victims Alliance, concerned primary care doctors and a lawyer who admitted he couldn’t wait to sue — all jammed into an overflowing auditorium for hours Friday on the Food and Drug Administration campus. F.D.A. hearings are usually tedious affairs. But this one — called to begin the process of figuring out which products in the burgeoning cannabis industry can be legally sold in the United States — was the hottest ticket in the capital. (Kaplan, 5/31)

The Associated Press: US Holds CBD Hearing As Fans, Sellers Await Legal Clarity
No decisions are expected immediately, but the hearing is seen as an important step toward clarifying regulations around the ingredient." There is mass confusion in the marketplace," said Peter Matz of the Food Marketing Institute, one of dozens of speakers who addressed the FDA panel. (5/31)

The Washington Post: Many Unanswered Questions, Concerns About CBD Products, Says FDA Acting Chief At First Public Hearing
Even though FDA’s regulations make adding CBD to food and supplements illegal, the CBD industry has exploded in recent years with thousands of unproven products flooding the market. Companies have trumpeted the compound’s alleged health benefits — claiming it can reduce anxiety, pain and insomnia and treat conditions from Parkinson’s disease to cancer. But almost all such claims lack rigorous scientific proof, prompting concern among health officials and scientists about safety and deceptive marketing. (Wan, 5/31)

Politico: States Seeking Clarity In Booming Hemp Oil Market
Confusion about the status of CBD dates back to December, when Congress’s farm bill threw a curve ball at regulators and state officials. It legalized hemp production nationwide, and with it the plant’s most profitable byproduct, the non-intoxicating drug cannibidiol, or CBD. The chemical also is found in marijuana, which is still banned under federal law, though plentiful in 33 states that have legalized it for either medical or recreational use. (Owermohle and Rayasam, 5/31)

Stat: Advocates And FDA Try To Blaze Trail To Regulatory Compromise On CBD
There were mothers claiming marijuana drove their children to suicide, millennial entrepreneurs who struggled for a good answer when regulators asked what effect CBD has in cosmetics, and high-paid industry lawyers pitching well-vetted regulatory frameworks. More than 60 more people were still scheduled to speak. The wide range of participants, from former FDA officials to CBD retailers, didn’t seem to agree on much, except for one point: The status quo wasn’t working, and the FDA had to act fast. (Florko, 5/31)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Confusion Continues Over The Legality Of CBD Products
Georgia sheriffs are concerned that hemp farming in Georgia, along with another bill that permits cultivation of medical marijuana, will lead to crime and drug abuse, Norris said.What constitutes CBD oil isn’t defined in Georgia law, and the state Department of Agriculture is responsible for creating rules and regulations for hemp production by mid-July, said Carla Rieffel Bozeman, a spokeswoman for the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia. (Niesse and Oliviero, 5/31)

In other news from the FDA —

ProPublica: Citing “Safety Concerns,” FDA Cautions National Marketer Of Unproven Stem Cell Treatments
The FDA wrote to R3 Stem Cell following a report this month by ProPublica and The New Yorker that the company’s chief executive officer, Dr. David Greene, was touting products made from birth tissue as therapies for a wide range of ailments despite a lack of scientific evidence. Similarly, the FDA’s review found that the Scottsdale, Arizona, company, which markets stem cells through a network of more than 50 clinics nationwide, encourages patients to use the unproven treatment for dementia, Parkinson’s disease, lyme disease, kidney failure, rheumatoid arthritis and other conditions. (Chen, 5/31)

The New York Times: ‘Become My Mom Again’: What It’s Like To Grow Up Amid The Opioid Crisis
Layla Kegg’s mother, back home after three weeks who knows where, says she’s done with heroin, ready for rehab and wants to be part of her daughter’s life. But Layla has heard all of this before and doesn’t believe a single word. Layla’s trust was broken long ago, after years of watching her mother cycle in and out of addiction and rehab. And now this latest discovery: “I found a needle in your purse the other day,” says Layla, seated at her grandmother’s kitchen table, her arms crossed. “And Mamaw found two more in the dryer.” (Levin, 5/31)

The Wall Street Journal: The Push For Fewer Opioids For New Mothers
Three times Ada Williams delivered children by caesarean section. Three times doctors prescribed her opioid painkillers. When she was preparing to deliver her fourth child by C-section, her doctor told her that Cleveland Clinic’s Fairview Hospital was moving away from that. “I said, ‘No! You’ve gotta give me the narcotics because it’s a C-section, it’s painful,’ ” the 37-year-old says. (Reddy, 6/3)

WBUR: Johnson & Johnson, Under Fire, Has Track Record Of Weathering Trouble
In the health care industry, there are few brands more well known than Johnson & Johnson. The maker of consumer staples ranging from Band-Aids to baby shampoo has faced a number of controversies in its 133-year history. Now it is contesting charges that it contributed to the nation's opioid epidemic. (Horsley, 6/3)

NH Times Union: As Opioid Lawsuits Loom, NH Ponders Settlement Terms
As the first of hundreds of lawsuits against the companies that made, marketed and distributed opioids went to trial in Oklahoma last week, state and local officials here are beginning to consider just what a settlement with Big Pharma might look like. James Boffetti, associate attorney general, is director of the division of legal counsel in the Attorney General’s office, which has filed civil lawsuits in Merrimack County Superior Court against two opioid manufacturers and two distributors. This Friday, there’s a hearing in the state's case against Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, to set a trial date, Boffetti said. “We want to do it much earlier than the defendants do,” he said. (Wickham, 6/1)

The CT Mirror: Pharmaceutical Distributors Push Back At Possible State Opioid Tax
Plans to include a new tax on opioids in the Connecticut state budget drew renewed opposition Saturday from the pharmaceutical industry, a potential complication for the budget debate scheduled Monday for the General Assembly. A national coalition of pharmaceutical distributors warned the tax ultimately would be paid by patients, many of whom need prescription-opioid drugs to manage severe pain. (Phaneuf, 6/1)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Opioid Overdose Emergency Room Visits Up In Georgia
Emergency room visits and hospitalizations for opioid-related overdoses in Georgia jumped 14 percent between 2017 and 2018, rising from 4,934 to 5,621, according to preliminary Georgia Department of Public Health figures released to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. During the same time frame, deaths from such overdoses dropped statewide by nearly 12 percent, falling from 1,043 to 920. Atlanta area’s four largest counties — Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett — each saw fewer such deaths. (Redmon, 5/31)

The New York Times: Virginia Beach Gunman Said He Was Quitting, Then Went On A Shooting Rampage
The resignation email arrived in the morning, and the gunfire started in the afternoon. DeWayne Craddock, an engineer who had worked for the City of Virginia Beach for about 15 years, notified his superiors on Friday that he intended to quit. Then at around 4 p.m., he embarked on a rampage in Building No. 2 of the Virginia Beach Municipal Center, turning its offices and corridors into a battleground. When it was over, 12 people lay dead and Mr. Craddock was fatally wounded. (Thrush and Blinder, 6/2)

The Washington Post: Virginia Shooting Gunman De Wayne Craddock Resigned Hours Before Mass Shooting, Officials Say
Investigators, Craddock’s former co-workers and residents of this stricken oceanside community on Sunday continued to grasp for clues to what precipitated the deadliest mass shooting in the United States since November. Armed with two .45-caliber pistols, at least one of them equipped with a sound suppressor and extended magazine, Craddock killed 12 people before dying in a gun battle with police. (Miller, Jamison and Weiner, 6/2)

The Wall Street Journal: Virginia Beach Shooting Suspect Had Just Resigned
Mr. Hansen said the suspect sent an email to his supervisors on Friday morning to say he was resigning from the public utilities department, where he had worked as an engineer for about 15 years. “To my knowledge, the perpetrator’s performance was satisfactory, and he was in good standing within his department and there were no issues of discipline ongoing,” Mr. Hansen said. (Vielkind, 6/2)

The Washington Post: Virginia Beach Shooting Victims: Eleven Were City Employees, And One Was A Contractor
One victim worked for the Virginia Beach municipal government for 41 years. Another, for just 11 months. A third was a contractor who was filing a permit at the worst time possible. And one died checking to make sure his co-workers were safe. Most of the 12 people killed Friday by the gunman — himself a longtime municipal employee — had the kind of job titles common for government servants. They were engineers, right of way agents, account clerks or administrative assistants. (6/1)

The Wall Street Journal: Virginia Beach Grieves Deaths Of 12 Shooting Victims
A grieving Virginia Beach, Va., woke up Saturday to learn the names of the 12 people gunned down by a longtime city employee who authorities say turned a municipal building into a sea of carnage. Eleven of the victims were city employees, with tenures ranging from 11 months to more than 40 years. Many worked in the Public Utilities Department, the same department where suspected shooter DeWayne Craddock had worked as an engineer for about 15 years, according to police. (Calvert, 6/1)

The Washington Post: In January, Virginia GOP Killed Bill To Ban Sales Of Large-Capacity Magazines
A Virginia bill designed to ban sales of large-capacity magazines similar to those used by the Virginia Beach gunman died in committee in January on a party-line vote. The fate of the legislation, SB1748, was so widely expected that the outcome drew virtually no public attention. For more than 20 years, Republicans and a few rural Democrats in the General Assembly have killed almost every measure aimed at restricting gun ownership. The GOP blocked a major push for gun control after the 2007 Virginia Tech shootings, where 33 people died. They chose instead to respond to that shooting by joining Democrats to enact mental-health reforms. (McCartney, 6/1)

Politico: Michael Bennet After Shooting: McConnell Must Act
Following a deadly shooting in Virginia Beach, Sen. Michael Bennet renewed calls for national background checks — but expressed doubt Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell would allow such legislation to go anywhere in the Senate. "We should pass those background checks," the Colorado Democrat said on ABC‘s “This Week” on Sunday. "Ninety percent of the American people support it. But we know what's going to happen, which is the House has passed it, Mitch McConnell will not allow it to come to a vote in the Senate, and we will not have national background checks." (Choi, 6/2)

The Wall Street Journal: Government Buildings Prepare, Practice For Shootings
In Washington, D.C., the city is rolling out a panic-button mobile app, which will enable nearly all of the 35,000 employees of the District of Columbia government to contact law enforcement with the tap of a button. At Boston’s City Hall, a system that detects gunfire is embedded in the walls and ceilings. Government buildings in Rhode Island and Georgia use the same system. (Cutter and Lovett, 6/2)

The Wall Street Journal: Active Shootings In The U.S.
Active-shooter incidents around the U.S. fell slightly last year, but they remained at the second highest level since 2000, according to new data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Deadly incidents in 2018 included the shooting at a Parkland, Fla., high school, the shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh and the Borderline Bar and Grill shooting in Thousand Oaks, Calif. In total, there were 27 incidents around the country last year, leaving 85 people dead and 128 wounded. That compares with 30 shootings in 2017, the deadliest year in the FBI’s records. (Wang, 6/12)

The Associated Press: Mass Shootings Transform How America Talks, Prays, Prepares
Pardeep Singh Kaleka has surveyed the landscape of an America scarred by mass shootings. Seven years ago, a white supremacist invaded a Sikh temple in Wisconsin and killed six worshippers — among them Kaleka's father, who died clutching a butter knife he'd grabbed in a desperate attempt to stop the shooter. Now, whenever another gunman bloodies another town, Kaleka posts a supportive message on social media. Then later, either by invitation or on his own initiative, he'll journey to the community to shore up others who share his pain. (Cohen and Tanner, 6/2)

And in other news on gun violence —

The Washington Post: Dick's Sporting Goods CEO Took A Stand On Gun Control, Even Though It Hurt The Company
It had been one month since 17 people were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, and the grief in the room was palpable. Facing one another were the parents whose children died in the massacre and the head of a sporting goods store who had come to Parkland, Fla., after his company sold the shooter a shotgun. Ed Stack, the chief executive and chairman of Dick’s Sporting Goods, had made the rounds through talk shows and news networks, announcing that his company would stop selling assault-style weapons and take other steps to limit firearms sales. The backlash was swift from gun-toting customers, pro-gun lawmakers and the National Rifle Association. (Siegel, 5/31)

The Associated Press: Kids Have Long Road To Heal After Oklahoma Police Shooting
Asia Jacobs, affectionately known as "Mama's little helper," struggles to fill that role since police officers opened fire on her mother's pickup truck outside an Oklahoma food bank and wounded the girl and two of her siblings. A bullet pierced the left frontal lobe of 4-year-old Asia's brain. She no longer helps her mother keep her younger brother and sister in line because she has a hard time sitting still herself. The shooting has left her anxious. Doctor visits and seizure medicine fill her days — a life upended through no fault of her own. (Kealoha Causey and Bleiberg, 6/2)

The New York Times: When Social Media Is Really Problematic For Adolescents
There has been a lot of worry about adolescents and social media over the past couple of weeks, with new studies and reports raising questions about mental health and vulnerability, sleep and suicide. I recently wrote about the question of whether the word “addiction” is helpful in understanding our worries about adolescents and their relationships to the devices that connect them to their friends and their world. In mid-May, a report in JAMA looked at suicide rates among those aged 10 to 19 over the period from 1975 to 2016; boys have traditionally had higher suicide rates, but the gap has narrowed as rates rose among adolescent girls, with the largest percentage increases among girls aged 10 to 14. (Klass, 6/3)

The New York Times: ‘Screen Time’ Is Over
The debate over screen time is typically accompanied by a good deal of finger-wagging: The digital experience is a ruinous habit, akin to binge-eating curly fries, gambling on cock fights or drinking whiskey with breakfast. Meanwhile, social scientists who are trying to study the actual psychological effects of screen time are left in a bind. For one thing, good luck finding a “control group” of people living the nondigital life or anything close to it. (Carey, 5/31)

The New York Times: On YouTube’s Digital Playground, An Open Gate For Pedophiles
Christiane C. didn’t think anything of it when her 10-year-old daughter and a friend uploaded a video of themselves playing in a backyard pool. “The video is innocent, it’s not a big deal,” said Christiane, who lives in a Rio de Janeiro suburb. A few days later, her daughter shared exciting news: The video had thousands of views. Before long, it had ticked up to 400,000 — a staggering number for a video of a child in a two-piece bathing suit with her friend. (Fisher and Taub, 6/3)

The Associated Press: Drugs Make Headway Against Lung, Breast, Prostate Cancers
Newer drugs are substantially improving the chances of survival for some people with hard-to-treat forms of lung, breast and prostate cancer, doctors reported at the world's largest cancer conference. Among those who have benefited is Roszell Mack Jr., who at age 87 is still able to work at a Lexington, Kentucky, horse farm, nine years after being diagnosed with lung cancer that had spread to his bones and lymph nodes. (6/2)

The New York Times: A Drug Prolonged Life In Younger Women With Advanced Breast Cancer
A drug that can slow the progression of advanced breast cancer has been shown for the first time to lengthen survival in women whose disease started before or during menopause, researchers reported on Saturday. In patients who took the drug along with a standard treatment, 70 percent were still alive three and a half years later, compared with only 46 percent of those given the standard treatment alone. (Grady, 6/1)

Stat: Grail, The Liquid Biopsy Startup, Shows 'Impressive,' If Early, Results
Could a blood test detect cancer in healthy people? Grail, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based company, has raised $1.6 billion in venture capital to prove the answer is yes. And at the world’s largest meeting of cancer doctors, the company is unveiling data that seem designed to assuage the concerns and fears of its doubters and critics. But outside experts emphasize there is still a long way to go. The data, from a pilot study that Grail is using to develop its diagnostic before running it through the gantlet of two much larger clinical trials, are being presented Saturday in several poster sessions at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. (Herper, 5/31)

Arizona Republic: Are Vaccines Safe? What You Need To Know About Mercury And Other Toxins
Alleging that vaccines are "toxic" is an effective way to create confusion and uncertainty in parents who want to protect their children. We hear about toxins and poisoning in the news all the time, and it can be difficult to know what to be concerned about and what to ignore. (Anne-Michelle Ruha, 6/2)

The Washington Post: Why Are So Many Doctors Burning Out? Tons Of Real And Electronic Paperwork.
Last year, a friend took her dream oncology job in a big academic medical center on the East Coast. After a decade of medical school, residency and specialized fellowship training, she was treating and conducting high-level research on rare and complex adrenal cancers. She was living in her perfect city and loved her patients and the other physicians in the department. But when I called recently, she told me she was quitting in two weeks. She’d decided to start over in a different practice halfway across the country. (Marchalik, 6/1)

The New York Times: Why Gulping Down A Cold Drink Feels So Rewarding
After a long hike on a hot day, few things are more rewarding than a tall, frosty glass of water. The rush of pleasure that comes with a drink might feel like a sign from your body that you’ve done the right thing, a reward for remedying your dehydration. But that pleasing sensation isn’t actually linked to your real need for a drink. In a study published Wednesday in the journal Neuron, a group of scientists who have studied how thirst works in the bodies of mammals report that the neural systems related to the feeling of reward work independently of those involved in monitoring water intake. (Greenwood, 5/31)

The New York Times: A Pioneering Treatment For Uncontrollable Hunger
When a child is born with a rare disorder that few doctors recognize or know how to manage, it can pay big dividends for parents to be proactive, learn everything they can about the condition, and with expert medical guidance, come up with the best way to treat it. That is the approach Lara C. Pullen of Chicago adopted when her son, Kian Tan, was born 15 years ago last month at 7½ pounds, seemingly well-formed and healthy. But within 24 hours, Dr. Pullen, who already had two daughters, said Kian had stopped moving, wouldn’t nurse and felt as floppy as a rag doll. (Brody, 6/3)

The New York Times: Blueberries May Promote Heart Health
Blueberries may be good for the heart. Researchers conducted a randomized, double-blinded trial with 115 overweight and obese adults aged 50 to 75 who were at high risk for cardiovascular disease. One third of the group ate a cup of freeze-dried blueberries a day, another third a half-cup, and the final third a similar-looking placebo. The study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, lasted six months. (Bakalar, 6/3)

The Washington Post: Nontoxic Methods To Protect Yourself Against Mosquitoes And Ticks
Mosquitoes and ticks can spoil a beautiful day and make people sick. Beyond buzzing, biting, sucking and stinging, they can carry serious diseases. Tiny blacklegged ticks carry Lyme disease. Nighttime biting Culex mosquitoes can transmit West Nile virus and Japanese encephalitis. And the aggressive Aedes mosquitoes — happy to bite any time — can cause Zika, dengue fever and chikungunya. And that’s just a sampling of the troubles they bring. (Sass, 6/2)

The Washington Post: Appendicitis Cure Took Years In My Case
The pain first hit when I was a teenager: an unrelenting grinding in my lower abdomen, as if my internal gears were gummed up. A fleeting thought crossed my mind — could it be my appendix? — but I dismissed it, since I felt fine the next day. Throughout my young adulthood, the grinding pain recurred every few weeks or so. When it hit, I’d clench my jaw and curl up in the fetal position, but within a few hours, the attack would pass. I wasn’t concerned enough to have a doctor check me out since things receded quickly. (Svoboda, 6/1)

The New York Times: In China, Public Talk Of Sex Is Rare. Could A ‘Pleasure Community’ Change That?
In a room with soft lighting, decorated with fuzzy blankets and turquoise balloons, a group of 30 or so strangers gathered on a recent afternoon in Beijing to discuss a subject that is largely taboo in China: how to satisfy a woman sexually. Such a workshop would hardly be out of place in New York or San Francisco. But in China, public discussion of sex is mostly nonexistent. Sex education is typically glossed over in Chinese classrooms and usually limited to one or two “physical hygiene in puberty” lessons in biology class. Parents often avoid discussing the subject with their children altogether. (Qin, 6/2)

CQ: CMS Leader Outlines Future Of Medicaid Flexibility
The Trump administration official who oversees the Medicaid and Medicare programs outlined during a wide-ranging interview with CQ Roll Call how potential ways to increase state flexibility could play out. Seema Verma, who serves as administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, has guided the agency since 2017 after spending years in the private sector consulting for state Medicaid programs and helping reshape Indiana’s Medicaid program. (Raman, 5/31)

Modern Healthcare: Utah Proposes Capping Medicaid Spending
As part of an unprecedented waiver request, Utah has asked the CMS to cap the growth rate of federal Medicaid payments to cover its limited expansion population at the rate of medical inflation, rather than at the much lower rate of consumer price inflation. The Section 1115 demonstration request issued Friday asked the CMS to pay the Affordable Care Act's enhanced, 90% matching rate for the state's partial expansion of Medicaid coverage to adults with incomes up to 100% of the federal poverty level. (Meyer, 5/31)

Chicago Tribune: Illinois Lawmakers Pass Bill To Help Medicaid Patients Keep Coverage, Ensure Hospitals Get Paid Faster 
After years of criticism from patients and hospitals, Illinois lawmakers have passed a bill aimed at fixing a slew of problems within the state’s Medicaid system. Illinois residents on Medicaid — a state and federally funded health insurance program that serves the poor and disabled — have complained of trouble enrolling and staying in the program. The state has long had a backlog of applications, and many Medicaid members say they wrongly lost coverage when they had to renew it. (Schencker, 5/31)

The Associated Press: Iowa Sued Over Prohibition On Medicaid For Gender Surgery
The American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa filed a lawsuit Friday challenging a new state law that prohibits the use of Medicaid funding for gender reassignment surgery. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a bill on May 3 that included language amending the state's Civil Rights Act so that government officials are not required to pay for gender reassignment surgery. (Pitt, 5/31)

Des Moines Register: Transition Surgeries For Transgender Iowans On Medicaid In Limbo — Again
The ACLU of Iowa lodged another challenge in the yearslong battle over transgender Iowans’ right to use Medicaid funds for transition-related care by suing Friday to block an Iowa law that specifically denies that coverage. The suit is in response to legislation passed in the waning days of the session that allows government entities to opt out of using public insurance dollars, including Medicaid, to pay for transition-related surgeries. It was filed on behalf of two transgender Iowans — Mika Covington of central Iowa and Aiden Vasquez of southeast Iowa — and LGBTQ advocacy group One Iowa. (Crowder, 5/31)

The New York Times: Congress Weighs Whether To Allow Guantanamo Prisoners To Travel To The U.S. For Medical Care
With the military putting a new focus on the health care needs of aging detainees at the Guantánamo Bay prison, Congress is considering again whether to allow the Pentagon to move wartime prisoners temporarily to the United States for emergency or complicated medical care not available at the base in Cuba. The Senate Armed Services Committee has approved a provision in a larger military authorization bill that would allow temporary medical transfers to the United States. The panel in the Republican-controlled Senate has pushed the provision for seven years, only to see it stripped from final legislation over still-strong objections from both parties to bringing foreign terrorist suspects to American territory for treatment. (Rosenberg, 6/1)

Modern Healthcare: States Giving Public Option Health Plans A Hard Look
Shelley and Dale Kaup are the type of people governors and lawmakers in states across the country have in mind as they push to establish a public health plan option to compete with private insurers. The Kaups, who are in their 50s and run a small engineering business, live in Glenwood Springs, Colo. That’s in the rural, western part of the state, which has some of the nation’s highest individual-market premiums due to lack of competition among insurers and providers. (Meyer, 6/1)

Modern Healthcare: Colorado, Connecticut, New Mexico Consider Public-Option Plans
While Washington state prepares to roll out public plans run by private insurers, at least three other states are on the way to developing their own, distinctive public-option models. Colorado is considering a wide range of possible vehicles for a public plan. Connecticut is eyeing creation next year of a new “Connecticut Option” plan for individuals and small businesses. New Mexico seeks to let people who don’t qualify for Affordable Care Act subsidies buy into Medicaid. (Meyer, 6/1)

Stat: Is $2.1M Too Much For A Drug? For Affected Parents, There Is No Debate
A decision by the drug maker Novartis to put a $2.1 million price tag on its latest product, a one-time treatment for a rare and fatal childhood disease, has sparked a national debate about just how much society should pay for the medicines it needs. ...Novartis has argued that its therapy, approved last month as Zolgensma, is cost-effective even at $2.1 million. SMA is a progressive disease that gradually erodes muscular function. (Garde, 6/3)

Stat: BIO Conference Shines A Brighter Spotlight On Digital Health
This year’s conference will offer panels with titles like “Bitcoin your data!” and “How could AI help cure cancer in the next five years?” On Wednesday alone, three separate panels have the words “artificial intelligence” in their titles. A form of the word “disrupt” appears twice, for those counting. Representatives from 23andMe and Flatiron Health will speak, along with key digital health officials at big pharma companies like Roche and Novartis. (Sheridan, 6/3)

Stat: An Infamous Biotech Party Is Reincarnated, Despite Last Year’s Outcry
The infamous Party at BIO Not Associated with BIO is back — though not by the same name. The PABNAB moniker isn’t attached to the event’s online presence as it was in year’s past, but one of the same organizers, Martina Molsbergen Tamaro, is throwing a “Gladiators and Goddesses” themed bash at a venue near this year’s BIO International Conference, which begins Monday in Philadelphia. (SHeridan, 6/3)

CQ: Delays Raise Questions On Trump Drug Price Agenda
The Trump administration is still deliberating two key drug-pricing policies several months after first announcing them, fueling speculation the administration could deviate from its original plans on a top presidential priority. The head of the Medicare and Medicaid programs told CQ Roll Call it was “hard to tell” whether one still-unseen proposal — a controversial idea to peg some Medicare drug reimbursements to prices in other wealthy countries that use price controls — could still be implemented in 2020. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma noted the administration would still have to gauge public feedback once the demonstration is unveiled. (Clason and Siddons, 6/3)

The Wall Street Journal: CVS Mounts Defense Of Aetna Deal On Two Fronts
CVS Health Corp. is expected to defend its acquisition of insurer Aetna Inc. in two high-profile settings Tuesday, seeking to sell skeptical investors and a federal judge on the nearly $70 billion deal. CVS lawyers are slated to be in a Washington, D.C., federal court for the start of an unusual three-day proceeding in which U.S. District Judge Richard Leon is considering whether the Justice Department adequately protected competition when it approved the deal last year. (Kendall and Wilde Mathews, 6/2)

Stat: AstraZeneca’s Dynamic Duo Wants To Dominate In Cancer Drugs 
The news: If pancreatic tumors have mutations in the same BRCA gene that can increase women’s chance of ovarian or breast tumors, patients go an extra 3.6 months — twice as long — without dying or having their tumors grow by more than 30%. That such a benefit can matter emphasizes what a grim diagnosis pancreatic cancer is, and only a twentieth of pancreatic cancers are related to BRCA mutations. But for [José] Baselga and his new boss, Pascal Soriot, who talked to STAT at AstraZeneca’s spaceship-like booth at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the data symbolize the vast potential of targeted cancer drugs. (Herper, 6/2)

Stat: Heritage Pharma Pleads Guilty To Price Fixing In Generic Drug Probe 
As a result of a wide-ranging probe into generic drug price fixing, Heritage Pharmaceuticals pleaded guilty to conspiring to set prices for a diabetes medicine and will pay more than $7 million to settle civil and criminal charges. The drug maker worked with several other companies and individuals between April 2014 and December 2015 to fix prices, rig bids, and allocate customers for the glyburide treatment, according to court documents. More than a half dozen other generic drug makers — including Aurobindo and Teva Pharmaceutical (TEVA) — sell a version of glyburide. (Silverman, 5/31)

Sacramento Bee: Newsom: Doctors, Not Bureaucrats, Should Make Vaccine Calls
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Saturday he’s concerned about having government officials sign off on vaccine exemptions, arguing those decisions should be made between patients and doctors without government involvement. (Wiley and Bollag, 6/1)

The CT Mirror: Tobacco 21 Wins Passage In Senate, Heads To Governor For Signing
Connecticut is poised to raise the legal age to purchase tobacco products from 18 to 21 with an overwhelming vote Friday in the state Senate endorsing the bill. The measure won passage in the House earlier this month and now heads to Gov. Ned Lamont, who has pledged to sign it. The law would take effect in October. (Carlesso and Moore, 5/31)

The CT Mirror: Lawmakers Hope To Adopt Budget Monday That Avoids Another Income Tax Hike
Legislators will open the session’s final week Monday expected to pass a new state budget that keeps income tax rates flat, expands the sales tax and raises levies on prepared foods, e-cigarettes, plastic bags, alcoholic beverages and the sale of expensive houses. The tentative agreement between Gov. Ned Lamont and leaders of the Democratic majority boosts funding for education grants and nursing homes, expands Medicaid eligibility for working poor adults with children and settles a longstanding funding dispute with Connecticut’s hospitals. (Phaneuf, 6/2)

Texas Tribune: Texas Legislature Passes Bills Reining In Freestanding Emergency Rooms
Oliverson said his bill, House Bill 2041, requires a freestanding emergency rooms to give patients a printed-out disclosure in English and Spanish that lists the in-network health plans and the average price a patient may be charged for a procedure, including facility fees. Patients can choose whether to sign it. Under the bill, freestanding emergency rooms will also be barred from advertising that it "takes" or "accepts" certain insurers or health plans if the facility is not an in-network provider. (Byrne, 6/3)

Health News Florida: Medical Records Debate Re-Emerges
Nearly 15 years after Florida voters approved a constitutional amendment about access to records in medical-malpractice cases, a Jacksonville hospital has launched a federal lawsuit arguing it should be shielded from being required to turn over documents to a patient. The lawsuit, filed this month in federal court in Jacksonville, is the latest in a series of legal disputes about whether hospitals need to disclose records about patient care as part of malpractice litigation under the 2004 constitutional amendment. (Saunders, 5/31)

Sacramento Bee: 250,000 CalPERS Members At Risk Of “Surprise” Medical Bills
About 250,000 people with CalPERS health insurance are at risk of receiving “surprise” medical bills that many other policyholders are shielded from. Their PPO plans leave them subject to an insurance company practice known as balance billing, which is the subject of a state proposal meant to protect consumers that passed the Assembly this week. (Venteicher, 5/31)

The New York Times: North Carolina To Investigate After Concerns Raised At Children’s Hospital
North Carolina’s secretary of health on Friday called for an investigation into a hospital where doctors had suspected children with complex heart conditions had been dying at higher than expected rates after undergoing heart surgery. Dr. Mandy Cohen, the secretary, said in a statement that a team from the state’s division of health service regulation would work with federal regulators to conduct a “thorough investigation” into events that occurred in 2016 and 2017 at North Carolina Children’s Hospital, part of the University of North Carolina medical center in Chapel Hill. (Gabler, 5/31)

Politico: Rebuilding Paradise: Finding Health Care After Total Destruction
This Northern California town, decimated by wildfires, is trying to rebuild a health care system in a place that no longer exists for a future that’s impossible to predict. Paradise is little more than a large charred debris removal site — and it lost its hospital, several clinics, its nursing homes, its doctors in the fire last year. Without health care, Paradise, a remote town 90 miles from Sacramento nestled into the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, has no chance of coming back. (Colliver, 6/2)

The Associated Press: Michigan Doctor Faces Trial Over Misdiagnosing Epilepsy
Mariah Martinez was 9 years old when she got bad news about her chronic headaches: A doctor said she had epilepsy. Over the next four years, the suburban Detroit girl took anti-seizure medicine that made her feel sluggish and was occasionally hooked to a machine that recorded her brain waves. She was told to avoid activities that would rouse her heart, making her the target of teasing by other kids at school. (6/2)

Pioneer Press: Minnesota Settles Lawsuit With Medical Information Company That Exposed Private Data Of 8,000 Patients 
Attorney General Keith Ellison announced Thursday that Medical Informatics Engineering Inc., or MIE, had settled a lawsuit brought by Minnesota and 15 other states for failing to protect patients’ private data. It was the first multiple-state lawsuit under the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, or HIPAA law, according to Ellison. ...The data breach dates to between May 7 and May 26 of 2015, Ellison said. Information including names, telephone numbers, addresses, birth dates, Social Security numbers, lab results, insurance information, medical conditions, and other data were stolen during the breach. (Magan, 5/31)

Modern Healthcare: CommonSpirit Reports $100 Million Operating Loss
Two months into the merger that formed CommonSpirit Health, rising expenses and slumping revenue led to a $100 million operating loss in the quarter that ended March 31. The Chicago-based health system created through the Feb. 1 merger of Catholic Health Initiatives and Dignity Health reported the loss in the third quarter of its fiscal 2019. It represented a noteworthy swing from the system's operating gain of $144 million in the prior-year period. The earlier period was derived by combining the results of the two separate systems. CommonSpirit's operating margin fell from 2% to -1.4% in that time as expense growth far outpaced a slight decline in revenue. (Bannow, 5/31)

The Star Tribune: Minnesota's Largest Public Health Care Firms See Another Record Growth Year
Minnesota’s biggest health care companies got even bigger last year as the sector’s never-ending growth story continues. UnitedHealth Group bolstered its position as Minnesota’s largest company in 2018 by growing its health insurance and health care services businesses, while also adding to operations in South America. Reported revenue grew by 12.5% to a whopping $226.2 billion. (Snowbeck, 6/1)

The Associated Press: 7 Patients At New Ohio Hospital Diagnosed With Legionnaires'
Ohio’s health authority on Friday ordered a newly opened hospital outside Columbus to immediately flush and disinfect its water lines and take other steps to protect the public’s health after seven patients were diagnosed with potentially fatal Legionnaires’ disease. The Ohio Department of Health said in a statement that the first Mount Carmel Grove City patient diagnosed with Legionnaires’, a severe form of pneumonia, was admitted to the 200-bed hospital April 29, the day after it opened. The statement described state Health Director Amy Acton’s adjudication order as a rare event. (6/1)

Arizona Republic: Arizona Doctor's Plea: Don't Destroy Bankrupt Hospitals' Medical Records
The former chief medical officer of two bankrupt Arizona hospitals is begging a judge not to allow thousands of patient records to be destroyed soon. Dr. Timothy Johns is the latest to question why patients had to wait months after Florence Hospital at Anthem and Gilbert Hospital closed to receive their medical records and why other patients will be out of luck if they don't request copies by June 23. (Sanders, 6/1)

Detroit Free Press: Michigan AG 'Looking Into' Macomb County Guardianship Dispute
After a contentious Macomb County case raised concerns about the state's adult guardianship system, the Michigan Attorney General's Office says it is "looking into" the matter, and two Michigan chief judges say they'll be working with the attorney general's Elder Abuse Task Force. In a joint statement, Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Bridget M. McCormack and Macomb Circuit and Probate Courts Chief Judge James M. Biernat Jr. said that after a guardianship ruling made by Macomb Probate Judge Kathryn George was called into question, the Michigan Supreme Court will be working with Attorney General Dana Nessel.  (Siacon, 5/31)

KCUR: Missouri Food Coalitions Digging Up Deep Roots Of Food Insecurity 
If every American followed the USDA's dietary recommendations—two and a half cups of vegetables and two cups of fruit—demand would far exceed supply. "It's difficult to grow fruits and vegetables, which are considered specialty crops under federal law, and which receive far fewer supports," says Beth Low-Smith, vice president of policy for KC Healthy Kids and director of the Greater KC Food Policy Coalition. Beth Low-Smith, vice president of policy for KC Healthy Kids and director of the Greater KC Food Policy Coalition. A federal farm bill that's renewed every five years encourages production of commodity crops like corn and soy. (Kniggendorg, 6/1)

Arizona Republic: 2 Cases Of Hepatitis A Confirmed At Arizona Prisons
Two inmates at Arizona state prisons have been diagnosed with highly contagious hepatitis A, officials said. Shortly after the two inmates' arrival in early May, Arizona Department of Corrections was notified by the Department of Health Services that the inmates tested positive for hepatitis A after lab work that was taken during the ADC intake process, ADC spokesman Andrew Wilder said. (Carpenter and Castle, 5/31)

Arizona Republic: ASU Youth Experiences Study Gives Insight On Sex, Labor Exploitation
One in every three. That's the stark reality an Arizona State University study suggests about the scope of sex and labor trafficking among homeless young adults in Arizona. For the past five years, the ASU Office of Sex Trafficking Intervention Research has conducted the Youth Experiences Survey, or YES, to gather data about human exploitation among homeless and runaway young adults ages 18 to 25. (Oldham, 6/1)

North Carolina Health News: Dental Therapy Might Not Be What You Think, But Is It For North Carolina?
Dental therapists are all about settling more people into dentist chairs, and they do it by providing some of the same care as dentists, especially in rural areas with oral health care provider shortages. ...In 2009, Minnesota became the first state to authorize licenses for dental therapy. The first licenses were issued in 2011. As of April, 10 states allow dental therapists. In Minnesota, where there are just over 3,400 dentists and 93 dental therapists, the dental therapy program grew from concerns about care shortages in some areas and an effort to send mid-level providers to those places. (Blythe, 6/3)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: 95,000 Pounds Of Johnsonville Sausages Are Recalled
Johnsonville Sausage is recalling 95,393 pounds of ready-to-eat sausages that may be contaminated with hard green plastic, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service announced Friday. The recall is for 14-ounce packages of Johnsonville Jalapeño Cheddar Smoked Sausage with a best by date of June 9, 2019. (Langhorne, 5/31)

USA Today: High Health Care Costs: Insurance Is No Protection From Bankruptcy
Many Americans assume that if they have a good job, they'll have a good health care plan. And if they have insurance, they assume that they are immune from the health care debate. In reality, many of us are just one major illness away from financial devastation. I know, I've been there. (Sophia A. Nelson, 6/2)

Axios: Even Voters Who Say Health Care Is Important Are Tuning Out The Debates 
There's a big disconnect between the health care debates that dominate Washington, the campaigns and the politically active — where all of the talk is about sweeping changes like Medicare for All or health care block grants — and what the voters are actually thinking about.The big picture: In our focus groups with independent, Republican, and Democratic voters in several swing states and districts, the voters were only dimly aware of candidates’ and elected officials’ health proposals. They did not see them as relevant to their own struggles paying their medical bills or navigating the health system. (Drew Altman, 6/3)

The Hill: Government Health Insurance Systems Pose Serious Risks To Americans
As proponents of Medicare for All struggle to defend their plan to repeal the foundations of American health care — including employer-provided coverage, Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) – and replace it all with a costly, one-size-fits-all, government-run, health-care system, many are claiming that a majority of Americans support their scheme. For example, in a recent opinion piece published by The Hill, George Goehl writes that “across party lines, a majority of Americans are in favor of Medicare for All.”This claim is misleading at best, as polling makes clear that many Americans are not aware of what “Medicare for All” actually is, and when they are informed of what it means for them, a majority oppose it. (Lauren Crawford Shaver, 6/1)

Tampa Bay Times: Women, Minorities Pay For Florida’s Failure To Expand Medicaid
The practical consequences of the Florida Legislature’s partisan opposition to expanding Medicaid are coming into sharper focus, and women of child-bearing age and minority residents are suffering the most. It’s a stubborn Republican position that is not family friendly and does not reflect Florida’s diversity, and voters should demand better. (5/31)

Los Angeles Times: The Cigarette Tax Has Saved Millions Of Lives. A Soda Tax Could Too.
You might want to think twice before downing that 12-ounce can of Coke. Since sugary drinks can cause a host of health problems, drinking one sugar-filled soda ends up imposing about 10 cents of health costs on others because the resulting medical bills are paid through Medicare, Medicaid or private insurers. We came to this conclusion while studying what economics says about the benefits of “soda taxes,” which have been embraced by seven cities across the country. (Hunt Allcott, Benjamin B. Lockwood and Dmitry Taubinsky, 6/3)

The New York Times: When Defending Vaccines Gets Ugly 
Peter Hotez is no stranger to vitriol. An outspoken proponent of vaccines in a state with one of the most vocal anti-vaccine lobbies in the country, Dr. Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine in Texas, has been harassed at lectures, threatened online and blamed for his daughter’s autism. In early May, he took to Twitter to lament a report from the Texas health department showing a 14 percent increase in the number of parents seeking vaccine exemptions in the state. In response, State Representative Jonathan Stickland accused Dr. Hotez of being in the drug industry’s pocket and referred to his science as self-serving “sorcery.” (Jeneen Interlandi, 6/2)

The Washington Post: George Tiller Was Murdered 10 Years Ago. We Need To Fight For His Legacy.
Ten years ago today, George Tiller, a Kansas abortion provider, was handing out the bulletin in his longtime church when he was shot and killed. On May 31, 2009, he became the eighth abortion provider to be murdered by antiabortion terrorists. A decade later, his legacy is under dire and escalating threat. But those of us inspired by his motto, “Trust women,” aren’t going anywhere. We should take the anniversary of Tiller’s death as a reminder of what we’re up against, and his life as a source of courage to continue his work. (Lauren Rankin, 5/31)

The Washington Post: The Fact That Missouri Only Had One Abortion Clinic Left Was Already A Scandal
For several days last week, it looked as though Missouri might become the only state in which there was no operating abortion clinic — until a St. Louis judge issued a last-minute temporary restraining order Friday, preventing the state from revoking the license of a Planned Parenthood facility operating in the city. The dispute that led to the near-closure is a scandal — but so is the fact that there was only one remaining clinic in all of Missouri, a function of a state government determined to end access to legal abortion. (6/2)

The Washington Post: The Virginia Beach Shooting Confirms That Gun Violence Is A National Emergency
The twelve victims killed in the Virginia Beach massacre were the people who knit the sinews of a society together, who plot the course of overhead wires and underground pipes, who set the course of roadways and sidewalks. They were municipal engineers and administrators, account clerks and agents, all of them making sure in some way or another that the essential connections and pathways everyone relies on would keep functioning. One of the victims had come simply to follow the rules, and file for a permit. That they were murdered in cold blood at their workplace on Friday afternoon is another sign that our society is not functioning properly in the face of an awful scourge. (6/1)

The New York Times: A Gun Killed My Son. So Why Do I Want To Own One?
To be clear, there was nothing I could’ve done to save him. It’s just a fantasy that has been circling my brain in a holding pattern for decades — that somehow I could have intervened. On the evening of Dec. 14, 1992, a student armed with a semiautomatic rifle fired into the guard shack at the entrance to Bard College at Simon’s Rock in Great Barrington, Mass., seriously wounding the guard stationed there. Moments later a car pulled up to the guard shack and the killer shot point-blank into the car’s side window. The driver died instantly and the car ran off the road. Someone heard the noise and rushed into the college library to report the accident. My son Galen, a sophomore at the college, rushed out the door to help. The shooter was waiting there, at the end of the sidewalk. Galen was hit twice; the chest shot was fatal. He staggered back into the library and died. (Gregory Gibson, 6/1)

The Wall Street Journal: Are You Getting Too Much Salt In Your Diet? Probably Not
Dietary guidelines often change, but “restrict your salt intake” has resisted the advances of science. The National Academy of Medicine recently reiterated its advice to limit daily sodium intake to 2,300 milligrams (a little over a teaspoon of salt), or 1,500 milligrams for those at risk of cardiovascular disease. An article last week in the New England Journal of Medicine endorsed that view and called for the Food and Drug Administration to impose voluntary sodium limits on 150 food categories. (Michael H. Alderman and David A. McCarron, 6/2)

The New York Times: How Much Does Your Education Level Affect Your Health?
Education is associated with better health outcomes, but trying to figure out whether it actually causes better health is tricky. People with at least some college education have mortality rates (deaths per 1,000 individuals per year) less than half of those without any college education, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.In addition, people who are more educated exhibit less anxiety and depression, have fewer functional limitations, and are less likely to have a serious health condition like diabetes, cardiovascular disease or asthma. (Austin Frakt, 6/3)

Stat: The Shortage Of Haloperidol, An 'Old' Drug, Haunts Me
Much as I don’t want to, I must face the fact that I might run out of haloperidol before it comes back on the market. I am confident I won’t experience the kind of eruption of my subconscious that happened in college. There may be a bumpy road ahead of me, filled with aggravating side effects and unknown outcomes, that I will have to somehow take in stride. I’ll also miss the haloperidol. It’s become something of a trusted companion, the reassuring friend you want to hold onto forever. (Maya Gottfried, 6/2)

Austin American-Statesman: Texas' Health Needs Suffer As Planned Parenthood Battle Rages On
Senate Bill 22, which the governor is expected to sign, cuts off government support for existing sources of health care — clinics that provide cancer screenings, birth control and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, or outreach efforts to reduce teen pregnancies — if those services are affiliated with an abortion provider, such as Planned Parenthood. ...Supporters of SB 22 made Planned Parenthood’s East Austin clinic the poster child of the debate, not realizing it’s likely safe from the impact of this bill for at least two decades. (5/31)