Reuters: New U.S. Food Label Rules To Require Added Sugars To Be Detailed
The United States plans a major overhaul of the way packaged foods are labeled, the Food and Drug Administration announced on Friday. Serving sizes will be adjusted to reflect how much people actually eat, and for the first time labels will list added sugars. These are the first significant changes since the Nutrition Facts label was introduced more than 20 years ago. They come as an increasing number of Americans battle obesity, diabetes and heart disease and will affect roughly 800,000 products from Coca-Cola and ice-cream to soup and spaghetti sauce. (Baertlein, 5/20)

The Wall Street Journal: FDA Approves New Nutrition Panel That Highlights Sugar Levels
The FDA’s decision to break out added sugar from the total sugar count already on packaging comes amid a yearslong campaign by the Obama administration to curb obesity, diabetes and other ailments. The new sugar rules have faced opposition from food and beverage companies, which say there is no difference between naturally present sugars and added sugars. While foods with naturally occurring sugar like in fruit also have nutrients such as fiber and vitamin C, health officials say, sugars added by manufacturers offer no nutritional value. But they boost caloric intake, helping fuel obesity and diabetes. (Gasparro and Esterl, 5/20)

USA Today: New Nutrition Facts Panel Has Line For Added Sugar
The FDA says the rules better correspond with updated dietary guidelines and health research — for example, "calories from fat" will be eliminated because research shows the type of fat we're eating, such as trans fat or saturated fat, is more important than how many calories come from fat. (Malcolm, 5/20)

The Associated Press: Makeover Coming For Food Nutrition Labels
A new look is coming to Nutrition Facts labels on food packages, with more attention to calorie counts and added sugars. And no longer will a small bag of chips count as two or three servings. Michelle Obama said parents will be the beneficiaries. “You will no longer need a microscope, a calculator, or a degree in nutrition to figure out whether the food you’re buying is actually good for our kids,” the first lady said Friday, announcing the new rules. (Jalonick and Superville, 5/20)

Politico: Michelle Obama Gets Her Way On Nutrition Labels
The impact of the rule is difficult to overstate — labels on products from candy bars and sodas to crackers and cereal, at every point of sale across America, must be overhauled at an estimated cost of $2 billion. And those labels will remind Americans every time they open a package of how much added sugar they are consuming. (Bottemiller Evich, 5/20)

The Washington Post: A First Look At The FDA’s New Nutrition Label — And 10 Reasons It’s Different From The Old One
The new label still retains the minimalist black-and-white, two-column look that designers have praised over the years, and it highlights many of the same categories, such as cholesterol and sodium. But this is where it might get confusing: Even though it doesn’t look all that different, some categories are now emphasized more than others, and the way some numbers are calculated has changed. (Cha, 5/20)

The Washington Post: Why The Sugar Industry Hates The FDA’s New Nutrition Facts Label
In early 2014, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that it was going to consider making a few changes to the nutrition facts label found on just about every food item sitting on grocery store shelves around the nation. And the food industry freaked out. For more than two decades, the label had gone unchanged, which, for the most part, food manufacturers seemed to like. Specifically, the industry was content that the label did not reveal the amount of "added sugars" in a product -- the sugar content not present before the food was produced and packaged -- or how much of these added sugars people should consume daily. (Ferdman, 5/20)

Reuters: Major Change In U.S. Food Labels Is Likely To Help Healthiest The Most
The biggest overhaul of U.S. food nutrition labels in more than two decades is likely to help improve the diets of the most health-conscious consumers, but others may need more convincing. Public health advocates welcomed the new rules but said some of the groups most at risk for obesity and diet-related illness may not change habits without other measures to discourage sugar consumption, such as taxes on sugar and food advertising warning labels. (Baertlein and Prentice, 5/20)

In other news, a new label for steaks will help consumers determine how careful they have to be when cooking the meat —

Kaiser Health News: A Tender Steak Could Be A Little Dangerous
A new label on some of the steaks in your grocery store highlights a production process you may have never heard of: mechanical tenderizing. This means the beef has been punctured with blades or needles to break down the muscle fibers and make it easier to chew. But it also means the meat has a greater chance of being contaminated and making you sick. The labels are a requirement from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. (Zuraw, 5/23)

Reuters: U.S. Reports 279 Zika Cases In Pregnant Women, Obama Pushes Congress On Funds
Health officials said 279 pregnant women in the United States and U.S. territories have tested positive for Zika infection, prompting a new call from President Barack Obama for more funding to fight the outbreak spreading through the Americas. Obama wants the U.S. Congress to provide close to $1.9 billion for vaccine development, faster diagnostic tests, and new tools for killing the mosquitoes that carry the virus, which can cause a rare birth defect in newborns and neurological disorders in adults. (Pierson, Berkrot and Rampton, 5/20)

Politico: CDC: Nearly 300 Zika Cases In Pregnant Women In U.S. And Territories
All of the U.S. infections occurred in women who had traveled abroad or, in rare cases, contracted the virus by infected sexual partners who returned from areas where the Zika is prevalent. In Puerto Rico, the virus is being transmitted by mosquitoes. The CDC is tracking the outcomes of these pregnancies, but reported no data today. At least one infected woman in Puerto Rico miscarried and another in Washington, D.C., had an abortion after imaging revealed the fetus had a misshapen head and brain. (Allen, 5/20)

The Associated Press: Pregnant Women In US With Zika Spikes To 157 On New Counting Method
The number of pregnant women in the United States infected with Zika virus is suddenly tripling, due to a change in how the government is reporting cases. Previously, officials had reported how many pregnant women had both Zika symptoms and positive blood tests. In a change announced Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's count will include all women who tested positive, regardless of symptoms. (Stobbe, 5/20)

PBS Newshour: How Many U.S. Pregnancies Affected By Zika? Almost 300, CDC Says
The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention has tracked close to 300 pregnant women with Zika virus in the U.S. and its territories. These figures come as part of the health agency’s decision to release a weekly update on the numbers of pregnant women dealing with the mosquito-borne disease. “As of today, national reporting of the number of U.S. pregnant women affected by Zika virus will change,” said Dr. Denise Jamieson, co-leader of the CDC’s pregnancy and birth defects team for the Zika response. These cases will be compiled in a new Zika pregnancy registry that will be updated every Thursday. (Akpan, 5/20)

The Hill: Pressure Builds On Zika Funding
Republicans are facing growing pressure from the White House and congressional Democrats to get a bill funding the United States's Zika virus relief efforts to President Obama's desk. Obama said Friday that Congress should not leave for recess without getting him a bill. (Sullivan, 5/23)

Politico: How A Deadly Tropical Virus Became Another Washington Mess
Even pregnant women have become fodder for partisan Washington funding fights. With nearly 300 pregnant women in the United States already infected with the Zika virus and the summer mosquito season looming after a soggy spring, Congress has yet to approve the Obama administration’s 3-month-old, $1.9 billion request for emergency funding. The bipartisan response to previous public health crises, such as the 2014 Ebola outbreak and the H1N1 flu pandemic in 2009, is not evident in the months-long congressional debates about Zika, despite its huge human costs. The virus in pregnant women has been closely linked to severe brain abnormalities in fetuses. (Haberkorn, 5/20)

The Associated Press: Trying To Get Jump On Zika Preparations With Money In Limbo
Beg, borrow and steal: Zika preparation involves a bit of all three as federal, state and local health officials try to get a jump on the mosquito-borne virus while Congress haggles over how much money they really need. With that financing in limbo, health officials are shifting resources and setting priorities — and not just in states where mosquitoes are starting to buzz. All but six states so far have seen travel-associated cases of Zika. (Neergaard, 5/23)

Reuters: U.S. States On Zika's Frontline See Big Gaps In Funding, Expertise
Because they are funded by local taxpayer dollars, U.S. mosquito control programs reflect deep economic disparities between communities, leaving some at-risk locations badly unprepared for the virus that is spreading through the Americas. (Steenhuysen, 5/23)

New Hampshire Union Leader: No Uptick In Mosquito Spraying In NH Despite Zika Threat
Fear of the Zika virus has prompted increased interest in professional mosquito control among private property owners in New Hampshire, but not among cities and towns. As of Wednesday, 37 municipalities applied for and received spraying permits for 2016, compared to 39 municipalities last year, according to David Rousseau, director of the Pesticide Control Division at the state Department of Agriculture. (Solomon, 5/21)

In other Zika news —

The Baltimore Sun: Mothers And Mothers-To-Be Assess The Risk From Zika, Take Precautions
After marrying six months ago in Aruba, Laura and Rob Cancelliere planned to return for their first anniversary, but the Severna Park couple canceled the trip and even put thoughts of a baby on hold after learning about the emerging threat of the Zika virus. (Cohn, 5/22)

NPR: Today's Tools For Combating Zika Mosquitoes Hark Back To 1945
"It's up to you," said a 1945 public service announced aimed at Americans. Find "one of man's worst enemies" and "destroy their foxholes." The video came from the Office of Malaria Control in War Areas (now known as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). And it was talking about a particular species of mosquito, Aedes aegypti — the very same mosquito in the news now. Back then, public health officials were mostly worried about dengue and yellow fevers. (Bichell, 5/21)

Meanwhile, the Ebola czar warns about taking money from one outbreak to fight another —

The Hill: Fauci: 'We Can't Take Our Eye Off The Ball With Ebola'
The head of infectious disease research at the National Institutes of Health said on Sunday the U.S. still needs to focus on the battle against the Ebola virus, criticizing those who have said the money left over from the fight against Ebola could be put toward the Zika virus. "We can't take our eye off the ball with Ebola," Dr. Anthony Fauci said on ABC's "This Week." (Savransky, 5/22)

CBS News: Why Obamacare's "Cadillac Tax" Is So Contentious
President Obama's signature health care law is called the Affordable Care Act, but just how affordable remains an open question even this long after its enactment. One of its provisions that aimed at chipping away health care's high costs is a tax that attempts to remove a hidden subsidy for the most expensive employer-paid health insurance plans. (Thoma, 5/23)

The Richmond Times-Dispatch: Escaping The Medicaid Gap
There may be a gaping health insurance coverage gap in Virginia, but at least it’s escapable. Open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act marketplace ended Jan. 31, but Virginia residents who have a change in circumstances that qualifies them for subsidized health insurance, such as marriage or a new job, do not have to wait until next year to get insurance — they might qualify for a special enrollment period. (Demeria, 5/22)

The Washington Post: McAuliffe Vetoes Budget Language Meant To Block Medicaid Expansion
Gov. Terry McAuliffe on Friday vetoed language that the Republican-controlled legislature inserted in the state budget earlier this year to prevent him from expanding Medicaid without its permission. A spokesman for McAuliffe said the governor had no imminent plan to expand the federal health care program for the poor on his own .... But spokesman Brian Coy also indicated that the governor was once again exploring the possibility of circumventing a General Assembly that is deeply opposed to expansion, which was McAuliffe’s marquee campaign promise when he was elected in 2013. (Vozzella, 5/20)

The Richmond Times-Dispatch: McAuliffe Budget Veto Could Open Door For Medicaid Expansion
Gov. Terry McAuliffe is seeking to reopen the door to expanding Virginia’s Medicaid program by vetoing a provision of the state budget that he said unconstitutionally ties all spending in the $105 billion document to a bar against accepting federal funding to expand health coverage of uninsured Virginians. (Martz, 5/20)

Meanwhile, Modern Healthcare examines efforts to get Medicaid coverage for people leaving jail and prison —

Modern Healthcare: Helping Ex-Inmates Get Medicaid
Nationally, 42% of state prison inmates report both mental health and substance-abuse disorders, research shows. Other studies have found that providing good services to released inmates charged with minor crimes can reduce re-arrest and re-incarceration rates by 90%. Nevertheless, thousands of people eligible for Medicaid are leaving jails and prisons without being signed up for coverage, increasing the chances of poor health outcomes and a return to incarceration, experts say. (Meyer, 5/21)

Modern Healthcare: Here's What CEOs Think Of Candidates' Healthcare Ideas
The nation's top healthcare leaders overwhelmingly back the Affordable Care Act and support its goal of pushing providers away from fee-for-service medicine and toward delivering value-based care, according to Modern Healthcare's second-quarter CEO Power Panel poll. While the Republican Party and its presumptive nominee, businessman Donald Trump, continue to stand by their “repeal and replace” slogan, the sector's CEOs overwhelmingly reject that idea, in large part because they are unimpressed with the GOP's attempts to articulate what it would replace it with. (Muchmore, 5/21)

The New York Times: Oklahoma Governor Vetoes Bill That Would Charge Abortion Doctors
Gov. Mary Fallin of Oklahoma vetoed a bill on Friday that would impose felony charges on doctors who perform abortions, calling the measure vague and unconstitutional. Ms. Fallin is a conservative Republican with a strong record of supporting restrictions on abortion, which she emphasized in a statement announcing her decision a day after the Legislature had passed the bill. But she acknowledged the virtual certainty that the bill would be struck down by the courts and said that the way to overturn Roe v. Wade was “the appointment of a conservative, pro-life justice to the United States Supreme Court.” (Eckholm, 5/20)

The Associated Press: Oklahoma Senator Weighing Options After Abortion Ban Veto
The Oklahoma Republican state senator who authored the bill that would effectively outlaw abortion in the state said Saturday that he hasn't decided whether he'll try to override the governor's veto. "I have not made a decision," Sen. Nathan Dahm, of Broken Arrow, told The Associated Press. "That's what we're pursuing, what we'd like to see accomplished." (5/21)

The Associated Press: Vetoed Oklahoma Abortion Bill Follows Other Failed Attempts
The Oklahoma abortion bill vetoed Friday by the governor followed at least seven other attempts by state lawmakers to restrict abortions. All of them were shot down by the courts over the last five years. The latest bill would have made it a felony for a doctor to perform an abortion. But Republican Mary Fallin, who has signed every anti-abortion bill that's made it to her desk, said the legislation was vague and would not withstand a legal challenge. A look at the other failed laws. (5/20)

The Washington Post: Oklahoma Isn’t The Only State Taking Big Steps To Limit Abortions
Before Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin (R) vetoed a bill Thursday that would have made performing abortions a felony, five other states this month quietly advanced their own measures to curb access to the procedure. Lawmakers in Arizona, Missouri, Kansas, Mississippi and Louisiana have pushed actions to halt funding to women’s health clinics and expand waiting periods for women seeking abortions. (Paquette, 5/20)

The Wall Street Journal: Anthem, Cigna Privately Bicker As They Seek Merger Approval
Quarrels have broken out behind the scenes of Anthem Inc.’s $48 billion proposed acquisition of Cigna Corp. as the health insurers seek regulatory approval for their landmark deal, according to a series of letters reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. People on both sides say the squabbles could delay or derail antitrust approvals, which are typically harder to obtain if both parties aren’t in sync. While neither company has sought to terminate the merger, the people say—and it doesn’t appear in danger of imminent collapse—Anthem and Cigna are bickering on several fronts. (Hoffman and Wilde Mathews, 5/22)

The (Minneapolis) Star Tribune: UnitedHealth Group Has Shown Outsized Growth In A Supersized Sector
There’s a lot of money in health care, and it shows in the growth at UnitedHealth Group. In 1992, when the Star Tribune published its first list of the largest publicly traded firms in Minnesota, the roster included 100 companies that collectively generated $102.4 billion in sales. Last year, UnitedHealth Group handily beat the tally on its own, with $157.1 billion in revenue. (Snowbeck, 5/21)

The Wall Street Journal: How Should Companies Handle Data From Employees’ Wearable Devices?
Wearable electronics, like the Fitbits and Apple Watches sported by runners and early adopters, are fast becoming on-the-job gear. These devices offer employers new ways to measure productivity and safety, and allow insurers to track workers’ health indicators and habits. For employers, the prospect of tracking people’s whereabouts and productivity can be welcome. But collecting data on employees’ health—and putting that data to work—can trigger a host of privacy issues. (Haggin, 5/22)

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: My Coverage Plan, A Madison Technology Start-Up, Receives NIH Grant
My Coverage Plan Inc., a for-profit subsidiary of public interest law firm ABC for Health, has received a five-year grant of up to $1.6 million from the National Institutes of Health to develop software to help train staff at hospitals and other organizations in determining eligibility for public health programs. (Boulton, 5/20)

The Washington Post: The Days Of Freely Prescribed Painkillers Are Ending. Here’s What’s Next.
For more than a decade, doctors, dentists and nurse practitioners liberally prescribed opioid painkillers even as evidence mounted that people were becoming addicted and overdosing on the powerful and addictive pain medications. Now, in the face of a prescription drug overdose epidemic that killed more than 14,000 people in 2014, a handful of states are insisting that health professionals do a little research before they write prescriptions for such highly addictive drugs as Percocet, Vicodin and OxyContin. (Vestal, 5/20)

PBS NewsHour: Prescriptions For Opioids Decline Amid Epidemic
Nearly 30,000 deaths a year can be attributed to the abuse of heroin and prescription painkillers - opioids like oxycontin, vicodin, percocet, and methadone. But a new report indicates that opioid prescriptions in the last three years have declined. New York Times science correspondent Sabrina Tavernise joins Alison Stewart to discuss. (5/21)

In other news about the epidemic —

The Associated Press: States Ban Kratom Supplement Over Abuse Worries
A little-known plant-based substance often sold as an herbal supplement to address chronic pain is raising alarm bells in states concerned that it could be as addictive as heroin. The controversy around kratom — a plant originating in Southeast Asia — has led Alabama to become the sixth U.S. state to ban it. Kratom is now a Schedule 1 drug in Alabama, the same classification as heroin and ecstasy. (Brown, 5/20)

The Columbus Dispatch: Franklin County Jail Lacks Medications To Ease Withdrawal
Earlier this month, the county issued felony arrest warrants for 38 people who tried to pass drugs, including the anti-withdrawal drug Suboxone, to inmates in books, magazines and undergarments. (Ronan, 5/22)

The Washington Post: Donated Organs Kept ‘Alive’ May Ease The Transplant Shortage
Lloyd Matsumoto awoke from his liver transplant last month to find his surgeon more than pleased with the results. The new organ had begun producing bile almost immediately, a welcome signal that it had quickly started to function well. That may be partly because of the way Matsumoto’s liver traveled from Tufts Medical Center across Boston to Massachusetts General Hospital. Instead of being packed in ice for the 4½ hours it was outside the abdomens of donor and recipient, the liver was essentially kept alive in a device that maintains its temperature, perfuses it with oxygenated blood and monitors its critical activity. (Bernstein, 5/22)

The Associated Press: Bone Cement Company Accused Of Experimenting On Humans
Reba Golden hurt her back after falling two floors while building an addition to her house in Honduras. But when she returned to Seattle for a routine spinal surgery, she suffered blood clots, severe bleeding and died in 2007 on the operating table. Joan Bryant’s back had bothered her since a 1990 car accident, so in 2009 she sought help from a Seattle spinal surgeon, but she bled out on the operating table and could not be revived. Like at least three spinal-surgery patients before them, Golden and Bryant died after their doctor injected bone cement into their spine and some of the material leaked into their blood stream, causing clotting. The patients were never told Norian bone cement wasn’t approved by the Food and Drug Administration. (Bellisle, 5/21)

NPR: Penicillin Shortage Could Be A Problem For People With Syphilis
Since it came onto the scene in 1943, penicillin has made syphilis a thing of the past – almost. Now, the sexually transmitted disease is making a comeback in the U.S. and there's a shortage of the medication used to treat it. Pfizer, the company that supplies it, says it's experiencing "an unanticipated manufacturing delay," and in a letter to consumers wrote that it would be providing just one third of the usual monthly demand until July. The medication, called Bicillin L-A, is the recommended treatment for people with syphilis. It's also the only one available for pregnant women who are infected with or exposed to syphilis, which is caused by the bacterium Treponema pallidum. But the antibiotic can be used against other bacteria, like the one that causes strep throat. (Bichell, 5/23)

NPR: Do Women Need Periods?
Six years of your life. Or 2,190 days. That's about how long the average woman will spend having her periods. For some women, that's too many days, too many periods. More women in their 20s and 30s are choosing contraception that may suppress their menstrual cycles, says Dr. Elizabeth Micks, who runs an OB-GYN clinic at the University of Washington in Seattle. "In general, I think views are changing really rapidly," Micks says. "That need to have regular periods is not just in our society anymore." (Doucleff, 5/23)

The Baltimore Sun: Nerve Damage Found In Prediabetics
The pain shot across the tops of Michael Jackson's feet as if someone was pounding him with a sledgehammer, sometimes becoming so unbearable he couldn't sleep. ... Jackson suffered from significant nerve damage stemming from prediabetes — a condition in which people have high blood glucose levels but not enough to be classified as diabetes. Doctors have known for a while that those with prediabetes can experience mild weakness, numbness and pain from nerve damage, but a new Johns Hopkins study suggests that so-called neuropathy is much more significant than once thought. (McDaniels, 5/22)

The New York Times: Where Dentists Are Scarce, American Indians Forge A Path To Better Care
Going to the dentist evokes a special anxiety for Verne McLeod. He grew up on the Swinomish Indian reservation here in northwest Washington State in the 1950s and vividly remembers the dentist who visited periodically. The doctor worked from a trailer, and did not bother with painkillers. “They just strapped us down and drilled,” said Mr. McLeod, 70. Poor oral health is a scourge on tribal lands across the nation. Indian preschool-aged children had four times the rate of untreated tooth decay as white children in a recent study. Poverty, diet and a decades-long lack of access to good care on remote reservations compound the problem. (Johnson, 5/22)

The Associated Press: Hospital Sues Health Agency Over Hepatitis C Outbreak
Exeter Hospital has filed another lawsuit in hopes of getting others to pay for settlements it reached after a traveling medical technician infected patients with hepatitis C. David Kwiatkowski is serving 39 years in prison for stealing painkillers and replacing them with saline-filled syringes tainted with his blood. Despite being fired numerous times over drug allegations, he had worked as a cardiac technologist in seven states before being hired in New Hampshire in 2011. Since his arrest in 2012, 46 people in four states have been diagnosed with the same strain of the hepatitis C virus he carries. (5/21)

The Texas Tribune: High Court Rules For Hospital In Missing Heart Case
A Houston-area widow cannot recover damages from a Texas hospital where her husband died under unusual circumstances because his autopsy — the widow's only realistic hope of determining why he died — falls under a sweeping law that protects health care providers from malpractice lawsuits, the Texas Supreme Court has ruled. (Walters, 5/20)

The Boston Globe: Salem Hospital To End Heart Surgeries
Partners HealthCare plans to stop heart surgeries at its community hospital in Salem this summer and send patients instead to Massachusetts General, saying there aren’t enough cardiac patients to justify keeping the unit open. (Dayal McCluskey, 5/23)

The Mississippi Press: Singing River Health System Demonstrates Surgical Robot
On May 9 at Singing River Health System, the hospital gave onlookers a demonstration of the Da Vinci robotic surgical system, showing how the evolution of technology can lead to advancements within the medical field. Urologist Dr. David L. Spencer of South Mississippi Urology pointed out the capabilities of the surgical system. (Carter, 5/23)

New Hampshire Union Leader: Elliot CEO Leaving In July
Elliot Health System CEO Jim Woodward is leaving his post in mid-July, the move coming at a time when officials are weighing Elliot Hospital’s future. Woodward is taking a job as CEO of a Pennsylvania hospital closer to family, a statement from Elliot confirmed Thursday. (5/19)

The Associated Press: Gov. Snyder Tasks Board With Eliminating Child Lead Exposure
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder created a new board on Friday to eliminate children's exposure to lead statewide, saying the state needs to do more than just reduce exposure to the harmful chemical in the wake of the lead-tainted water crisis in Flint. The Republican governor, whose administration has been deemed primarily responsible for the public health emergency, formed the board with an executive order and tasked it with recommending a strategy to protect children from all sources of lead poisoning. Flint's crisis stems from old pipes contaminating the water after the city switched from Detroit's water system to improperly treated Flint River water in 2014. (5/20)

Chicago Tribune: Chicago To Test All Public Schools For Lead After 1 Shows High Levels
Officials said Friday that water will be tested for lead at all public schools in Chicago after a pilot testing program uncovered elevated levels of the toxic metal in three water fountains at a South Side elementary school. Water coolers were brought in to Tanner Elementary in the city's Park Manor neighborhood, one of 32 schools where officials said water was tested for lead as part of the pilot program. (Perez Jr. and Eltagouri, 5/21)

The Wall Street Journal: Connecticut Cuts Stir Worries On Mental-Health Funding
Mental-health advocates say state budget cuts may impede the improvements Connecticut has made in outreach and care after the deadly 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The state started several new mental-health programs after the killings at the Newtown school, where a disturbed 20-year-old man shot and killed 20 children and six adults. One such effort, based in schools, helps children who show symptoms of trauma and depression. (de Avila, 5/22)

The Associated Press: Arizona Prisons Ordered To Improve Health Care For Inmates
A judge in a class-action lawsuit that protests the quality of health care in Arizona’s prisons has ordered the state to improve medical and mental health services for inmates after attorneys who won a settlement in the case complained that officials were dragging their feet in making required changes. (5/21)

Georgia Health News: A Lifesaving Message For Georgia Babies
Every week, three infants in Georgia die due to sleep-related causes, many of which are preventable, health officials say. “We must educate parents about creating a safe sleeping environment for their babies,’’ Sandra Deal, wife of Gov. Nathan Deal, said in a statement. “It is vital that babies sleep alone, on their backs, and in a crib. By promoting these ABCs of safe sleep, we hope to spread awareness and provide the tools necessary to protect babies across the state.” (Miller, 5/20)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Making End-Of-Life Care More Scientific
Two Penn Medicine patients are part of a clinical trial that is analyzing how the wording of advance directives changes patient choices and outcomes. It is among the portfolio of studies overseen by the 4-year-old FIELDS (Fostering Improvement in End-of-life Decision Science) program, an effort to look at how we die in a more scientific way. (Burling, 5/20)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Doctors Test New Device For Uterine Fibroids
When Kelly Hidleburg's confounding case of anemia was traced to heavy bleeding due to uterine fibroids, she faced the same tough choice that confronts thousands of American women every year. She could have her uterus or just the fibroids surgically removed, or she could try one of several newer procedures aimed at shrinking the usually benign but troublesome tumors. ...But then her gynecologist, Minda Green, suggested another option: a new tool that requires no incision and uses heat to damage the fibroids, which then shrink. (Kadaba, 5/20)

The Wall Street Journal: Will Health Insurance Premium Increases Related To Obamacare Sway Voters?
As candidates in both parties focus on the general election campaign, some Republicans wonder if large premium increases related to the Affordable Care Act could be an “October surprise” that helps propel them to victory in November. The causes of the approaching premium increases vary, but some are rooted in a 2013 Obama administration proposal. In reporting on premium increases by one Iowa insurer, the Des Moines Register noted that individuals who bought new plans that complied with Affordable Care Act regulations could face premium increases of 38% to 43% next year. “Another 90,000 Wellmark customers who hold older individual insurance plans are expected to face smaller increases, which will be announced in June,” the paper said. (Chris Jacobs, 5/22)

The Charlotte Observer: An Insurer’s Obamacare Grade: Passing, But Barely
Last month in this space, we suggested that Obamacare is working, at least with regards to its goals of slowing health care costs and bringing insurance coverage to millions more Americans. Our readers, however, were quick to point out that insurance providers are not nearly as enthusiastic. That’s true. One of the nation’s larger insurers, UnitedHealth, announced last month that it would pull out of several Obamacare markets, including North Carolina. Another N.C. provider, Blue Cross Blue Shield, might stop selling ACA policies in 2017, CEO Brad Wilson said in February. (5/22)

The Washington Post: Zika Is Coming, But We’re Far From Ready
The good news is that both the House and Senate have finally passed bills that would provide some funding to combat the Zika virus. The bad news is that this action comes more than three months after President Obama requested the aid. Moreover, the House bill provides only one-third of the response needed; pays for this limited, ineffective response by diverting money allocated to fight other infectious diseases; and necessitates a conference committee to resolve differences with the Senate bill, meaning we still do not know when any money will finally get through Congress to fund the response. (Ronald A. Klain, 5/22)

The Wall Street Journal: A Medicare Experiment With A Grim Prognosis
Federal bureaucrats announced earlier this year that they plan to upend the way Medicare Part B pays for drugs. The goal? To save money by getting doctors to alter their treatment choices. That’s bad medicine, flawed economics and destructive public policy—and Congress should pass legislation to stop this ill-conceived experiment. Medicare plays a crucial role in the lives of more than 55 million Americans. It is the only way some seniors can get access to the drugs that keep them alive. The new policy from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will jeopardize this access by inserting the government between doctors and patients in an unprecedented way. (Jeffrey L. Vacirca, 5/22)

Bloomberg: Doctors Have The Right To Perform Abortions
On Friday, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin vetoed a bill that would have effectively banned abortion in the state. The bill, which would have made performing the procedure a felony, was certainly unconstitutional. But it was unlawful in a very interesting way, because it raised the question of whether the right to abortion belongs to a woman or to her doctor. As it turns out, that question has been an important one ever since Roe v. Wade, a decision that actually emphasizes the rights of the physician. (Noah Feldman, 5/22)

Modern Healthcare: What's A New Cancer Drug Worth?
The latest cancer drugs emerging from drug and biotechnology company labs come with hefty price tags. Last week, the Food and Drug Administration approved Roche/Genentech's application for a new bladder cancer drug—the fourth in the hot new class of immunotherapy drugs. Its cost will be $12,500 a month, despite clinicians and patients not knowing how well Tecentriq (generic name atezolizumab) works. The clinical trial showed the drug shrank tumors in only 14.8% of the 310 patients in the trial. That's a 1-in-7 response rate, which lasted from two to 14 months, according to the FDA analysis. (Merrill Goozner, 5/21)

Houston Chronicle: Replacing Social Security Numbers On Medicare Cards
Everyone cautions people not to carry their Social Security cards with them, yet Medicare cards prominently display a beneficiary’s Social Security number. ... In April of last year, President Barack Obama signed MACRA, Section 501 of which prohibits the inclusion of Social Security account numbers on Medicare cards. MACRA stands for the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015. The CMS Social Security Number Removal Initiative is now underway. (Julie Jason, 5/23)

Miami Herald: Money Doesn’t Buy As Long A Life As It Used To
Here’s some excellent news on inequality: Measured from birth, the gap in life expectancy between rich and poor in the U.S. has been rapidly narrowing. It appears that a variety of policy initiatives, including those designed to promote children’s health and cut smoking, are actually working. These findings run counter to the widespread view that the economic gap increasingly means that the rich live longer while the poor don’t. That view has some solid research behind it: By some measures, rich people are indeed showing longevity gains, but in many parts of the country, poor people aren’t. (Cass Sunstein, 5/21)

Los Angeles Times: 'The Patient Is Code 3 Critical. Her Frail, 90-Year-Old Body Is Failing. How Much Should I Do To Save Her Life?'
"This … is the end … of my life.” These would be my patient’s only words — an economy of phrasing made necessary by an all-consuming air hunger. She had just arrived in the emergency room, Code 3 critical, after a lights-and-sirens ambulance transport from her nursing home. Awake, alert and intensely focused, every effort of her frail, 90-year-old body was concentrated on the simple act of breathing. Her weak heart and failed kidneys had caused her lungs to fill with fluid, every breath becoming a mixture of water and air. The analogy to drowning is inevitable. As her physician, I was going to have to make some big decisions quickly, including this one: How much should I do to save her life? (Eric Snoey, 5/22)

Bloomberg: Another Cry Of Wolf On Autism
The road to medical understanding is pitted with confounding news headlines. Take one last week warning that women exposed to too much of the ubiquitous vitamins folate and B-12 during pregnancy face an increased risk of having an autistic child. The research, out of Johns Hopkins University, is part of a quest to unravel the causes of autism. The provocative folate finding is a valuable clue, but the way the university publicized it was not useful and potentially dangerous. (Faye Flam, 5/20)

The Tennessean: Health Care Consumers Put More 'Skin In The Game'
New proposals are being considered in Tennessee and neighboring states to reform Medicaid programs using cost-sharing. These ideas may be novel to legislators, but they mirror years-long commercial insurance trends. ... The big question for these proposals, whether they apply to Medicaid recipients, marketplace consumers or those with job-based health coverage, is if they are effective in slowing spending, and at what cost to consumers. (Alex Tolbert, 5/20)

St. Louis Post Dispatch: Fighting The Growing Epidemic Of Overdoses
Over the past seven years, more than 2,700 residents of St. Louis County have died as a result of heroin or opioid overdose. A sad, stark truth, but deaths related to heroin and prescription drug overdoses have surpassed car accidents as the number one cause of injury-related deaths nationwide. Between 2004 and 2015, hospital utilization for opioid abuse increased 137 percent in Missouri, with the highest rates reported in St. Louis. (Rep. Ann Wagner, 5/23)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Ohio Has Opportunity To Remove Barrier To Addiction Treatment
Ohio Governor John Kasich has said frequently that among those Ohioans benefiting most from Medicaid expansion in Ohio were those with a severe and persistent mental illness and or an addiction. During a Republican presidential debate last October, he told Fox News' Megyn Kelly, "I had the opportunity to bring resources back to Ohio. To do what? To treat the mentally ill." (John Corlett, 5/22)