Reuters: OxyContin Maker Purdue Pharma Files For Bankruptcy Protection
OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP filed for bankruptcy protection Sunday night, succumbing to pressure from more than 2,600 lawsuits alleging the company helped fuel the deadly U.S. opioid epidemic. Purdue's board met Sunday evening to approve the long-expected bankruptcy filing, which the company is pursuing to restructure under terms of a proposal to settle the widespread litigation. (Spector, 9/16)

The Associated Press: After Bankruptcy Filing, Purdue Pharma May Not Be Off Hook
"Like families across America, we have deep compassion for the victims of the opioid crisis," Sackler family members said in the statement, which called the settlement plan a "historic step towards providing critical resources that address a tragic public health situation." But the filing may not get either the drugmaker or the Sacklers off the legal hook. (Mulvihill, 9/16)

The New York Times: Purdue Pharma Files For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
The terms of the filing, which include a proposed resolution of most of those cases, are expected to be fiercely contested by a group of 26 states that have refused to settle with Purdue and are intent on pursuing the company’s owners, the Sacklers, considered one of the wealthiest families in the United States. A showdown in bankruptcy court in White Plains could come as early as this week. Restructuring the company through bankruptcy was at the heart of a tentative settlement agreement reached last week between the company and thousands of cities and counties that have sued it in federal court for its role in the opioid epidemic. Twenty-four states and five United States territories have also accepted the agreement. (Hoffman and Walsh, 9/15)

The Washington Post: Purdue Pharma, Maker Of OxyContin, Files For Bankruptcy
The bankruptcy also will raise the stakes on legal sparring over how much of the personal fortunes of the billionaire Sackler family, which owns Purdue, will be available to compensate plaintiffs. Multiple states that have rejected the proposed settlement have accused the family of improperly stripping billions of dollars out of the company’s coffers in the past decade to protect the cash from expected court judgments. “The controversial piece is going to be about how much the Sacklers need to kick in for the deal to work,’’ said Adam J. Levitin, a professor specializing in bankruptcy at Georgetown Law. (Rowland, 9/15)

The Wall Street Journal: OxyContin Maker Purdue Pharma Files For Bankruptcy Protection
The company and the Sacklers have broadly denied the accusations and said they are committed to helping curb opioid addiction. “My objective here is to put this company on a course to be a major positive contributor to our society,” said Steve Miller, a longtime restructuring specialist who joined Purdue’s board as chairman last year. Other drugmakers and distributors are also battling opioid lawsuits, including Johnson & Johnson , McKesson Corp. and Cardinal Health Inc. (Randazzo and Hopkins, 9/16)

Stat: Purdue Pharma, Maker Of OxyContin And Other Drugs, Files For Bankruptcy
“This unique framework for a comprehensive resolution will dedicate all of the assets and resources of Purdue for the benefit of the American public,” Steve Miller, chairman of the company’s board of directors, said in a statement. “This settlement framework avoids wasting hundreds of millions of dollars and years on protracted litigation, and instead will provide billions of dollars and critical resources to communities across the country trying to cope with the opioid crisis.” (Joseph, 9/16)

Bloomberg: Purdue Pharma Files For Bankruptcy To Wipe Out OxyContin Lawsuits
The court that will oversee Purdue’s case has the thorny task of trying to figure out how to apportion monies generated by the plan among thousands of states, cities and counties seeking reimbursement for tax dollars spent on the crisis. That allocation “will be one of the main tasks in the case,” Miller said Sunday. Lawyers for cities and counties have created computer programs that calculate how much a municipality could get under the deal based on the amount of opioids circulated in the area. (Feeley and Church, 9/15)

NPR: Purdue Pharma, Accused Of Fueling Opioid Crisis, Files For Bankruptcy
The drug maker said the value of the settlement is around $10 billion, but 26 states opposed to the deal have contested that estimate, vowing to take the Sackler family to state courts in an attempt to tap into the family's fortune. (Allyn, 9/16)

CNN: Purdue Pharma Files For Bankruptcy Following Proposed Agreement To Settle Opioid Lawsuits
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said Wednesday that the case was "far from over." "This apparent settlement is a slap in the face to everyone who has had to bury a loved one due to this family's destruction and greed. It allows the Sackler family to walk away billionaires and admit no wrongdoing," Shapiro said in a statement obtained by CNN. (Joseph, 9/16)

CNBC: OxyContin Maker Purdue Pharma Files For Bankruptcy Protection
In March, Purdue and the Sacklers agreed to pay $270 million to Oklahoma to settle a lawsuit accusing the drugmaker of ruthlessly marketing and misleading the public about OxyContin. As a part of that agreement, Purdue agreed to contribute $102.5 million to fund the creation of a National Center for Addiction Studies at Oklahoma State University. (Lovelace, 9/15)

The New York Times: New York Uncovers $1 Billion In Sackler Family Wire Transfers
The New York attorney general’s office said on Friday that it had tracked about $1 billion in wire transfers by the Sackler family, including through Swiss bank accounts, suggesting that the family tried to shield wealth as it faced a raft of litigation over its role in the opioid crisis. Earlier this week, thousands of municipal governments and nearly two dozen states tentatively reached a settlement with the Sackler family and the company it owns, Purdue Pharma, maker of OxyContin. It was unclear if the new disclosure would change the thinking of any of the parties that agreed to the settlement. (Hakim, 9/13)

NPR: Sacklers Accused Of Shielding $1 Billion As Hedge Against Litigation
"While the Sacklers continue to lowball victims and skirt a responsible settlement, we refuse to allow the family to misuse the courts in an effort to shield their financial misconduct," James said in a statement. "Records from one financial institution alone have shown approximately $1 billion in wire transfers between the Sacklers, entities they control, and different financial institutions, including those that have funneled funds into Swiss bank accounts," she added. (Gonzales, 9/13)

The New York Times: Opioid Defendants Seek To Disqualify Judge Overseeing 2,300 Cases
Scarcely five weeks before a landmark federal civil trial in the opioid epidemic, the giant retail pharmacy chains and drug distributors that are defendants in the bellwether Ohio case are seeking to disqualify the judge from overseeing it and nearly 2,300 other opioid-related lawsuits before him. In a brief filed in federal court at 1:24 a.m. on Saturday, the defendants’ lawyers claimed that over the past 21 months, Judge Dan A. Polster has shown his bias against the defendants by making extensive comments about his intention to settle the sprawling case and bring relief as quickly as possible to local governments and individuals hit hard by crisis. (Hoffman, 9/14)

The Associated Press: Drug Company Attorneys Seek To Disqualify Federal Judge
Attorneys for eight drug distributors, pharmacies and retailers facing trial next month for their roles in the opioid crisis want to disqualify the federal judge overseeing their cases, saying he has shown bias in his effort to obtain a multibillion-dollar global settlement. According to the motion filed late Friday in U.S. District Court in Cleveland, where Judge Dan Polster presides over most of the 2,000 lawsuits filed by state, local and tribal governments, the judicial code requires judges to recuse themselves when there is an appearance of prejudice or bias. (Gillispie, 9/14)

The Washington Post: Judge At The Center Of Landmark Opioid Trial Under Attack 
In seeking to remove Polster, the defendants pointed to comments he made in early 2018, before any of the parties had begun producing evidence or marshaling their arguments. Polster said, for example, “150 Americans are going to die today, just today, while we’re meeting.” He also argued that everyone “shares some of the responsibility” for the epidemic, and that he hoped to “do something meaningful to abate this crisis,” including reducing the number of opioids being manufactured and distributed, according to the companies. (Achenbach and Bernstein, 9/15)

The Hill: Drug Companies Back Effort To Remove Judge From Federal Lawsuit
Lead attorneys for the plaintiffs on Saturday slammed the defense memorandum in a statement obtained by The Hill while defending Polster's tenure as a federal judge. Polster "has been held in the highest regard for decades on the Federal bench as a judge with great integrity, intelligence, and impartiality," attorneys Paul Hanly Jr., Paul Farrell Jr. and Joe Rice said in the statement. (Frazin, 9/14)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Attorneys For Drug Companies Want Federal Judge In Cleveland Booted From Massive Opioid Litigation
The motion comes at a pivotal time in the more than 2,000 federal lawsuits being heard by Polster in Cleveland. A trial for lawsuits filed by Cuyahoga and Summit counties is set to begin next month. The judge recently denied attempts by drug companies to dismiss the lawsuits, ruling a jury should decide whether they are culpable. (Heisig, 9/14)

The Associated Press: Amid Settlement Talks, Opioids Keep Taking A Grim Toll
As the nation’s attorneys general debate a legal settlement with Purdue Pharma, the opioid epidemic associated with its blockbuster painkiller OxyContin rages on in state after state, community after community, killing tens of thousands of people each year with no end in sight. In Pennsylvania’s York County, the coroner investigated eight suspected overdose deaths in a single week of August — four in 24 hours. “This is a battle that’s not going to end easily, and it will be something we are fighting for a while,” Coroner Pam Gay said. “It’s going to take a while to see a significant decline.” (Rubinkam, 9/16)

In other news on the crisis —

USA Today: When Opioid Treatment Isn't Enough: Man Still Injected Cocaine To 'Feel Something'
More than eight years into his opioid-addiction treatment, Paul Moore was shooting cocaine into his arms and legs up to 20 times a day so he could “feel something. ”The buprenorphine he took to quell cravings for opioids couldn’t satisfy his need to get high. Moore said he treated himself like a "garbage can," ingesting any drug and drink he could get, but soon enough, alcohol and weed had almost no effect unless he vaped the highest-THC medical marijuana available. (O'Donnell and DeMio, 9/15)

The Baltimore Sun: Annual Cocaine Overdose Deaths On Rise In Maryland
Cocaine hasn’t received as much attention in recent years, but it is increasingly playing a role in the opioid epidemic, state data show. Despite some good news from the first quarter of this year, cocaine-related deaths have skyrocketed annually in Maryland since 2015, with nearly half of those occurring in Baltimore. The vast majority of those deaths — 82%, according to the Maryland Department of Health — involved fentanyl, a powerful and dangerous synthetic opioid. (Round, 9/15)

Modern Healthcare: Trump, Congress Face Tough Healthcare Sprint
A leaked draft of a Democratic plan for the government to negotiate drug prices, curbing surprise billing, and billions of healthcare funds ready to expire: Congress returned from an extended summer break with high stakes for its legislative sprint to the end of the year. For the first time since President Donald Trump took office, both parties are mostly united in wanting to attack the practice of surprise billing and drug prices. And they are doing so against healthcare industry headwinds. But can they deliver? (Luthi, 9/13)

Politico: Health Groups Backed Dark Money Campaign To Sink 'Surprise' Billing Fix
A group calling itself Doctor Patient Unity has spent nearly $30 million on a campaign designed to kill the leading congressional legislation that would make it harder for hospitals and doctors to spring massive, unexpected bills on patients. Its funding source has been secret thanks to the rules surrounding this “dark money” group, but multiple sources tell POLITICO that doctor staffing firms Envision Healthcare and TeamHealth are significant sponsors — showing just how powerful corporate medicine has become in trying to derail changes to a system that has put thousands of Americans in debt. (Roubein, 9/13)

The New York Times: Mystery Solved: Private-Equity-Backed Firms Are Behind Ad Blitz On ‘Surprise Billing’
Early this summer, Congress appeared on its way to eradicating the large medical bills that have shocked many patients after emergency care. The legislation to end out-of-network charges was popular and had support from both sides of the aisle. President Trump promised his support. Then, in late July, a mysterious group called Doctor Patient Unity showed up. It poured vast sums of money — now more than $28 million — into ads opposing the legislation, without disclosing its staff or its funders. (Sanger-Katz, Creswell and Abelson, 9/13)

Previous KHN coverage: Investors’ Deep-Pocket Push To Defend Surprise Medical Bills

Meanwhile —

The Hill: Senators Struggle To Get Spending Bills Off Ground As Shutdown Looms
Senate government funding talks are off to a rough start with 10 working days to go until the shutdown deadline. The impasse is throwing into question if senators will be able to get any of the fiscal year 2020 bills through the chamber this month, a setback for Republicans who wanted to clear a major package before October. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) said he still wants to bring bills to the Senate floor for a vote but warned that lawmakers need to “negotiate the terrain.” (Carney, 9/16)

The Associated Press: Sanders Accuses Biden Of Distorting 'Medicare For All' Plan
Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders accused former Vice President Joe Biden on Friday of distorting his proposal to provide single-payer, universal health care through "Medicare for All." Campaigning in the early caucus state of Nevada, the 78-year-old Vermont senator said one of the things that disturbed him about Thursday's debate was that he was hoping "to have a serious discussion about the health care crisis in America." (Sonner, 9/13)

The Hill: Sanders Rips Biden For Praising Drug Companies At Fundraiser
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) criticized fellow Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden for praising drug companies at a fundraiser. Sanders asserted that he disagreed with Biden, saying the companies are "greedy, corrupt and engaged in price fixing," in a statement obtained by The Hill. (Coleman, 9/15)

And in other election news —

The Associated Press: Biden Shrugs Off Age Chatter, Pledges Medical Disclosures
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden is shrugging off thinly veiled criticism from younger rivals that he is too old for the Oval Office. The 76-year-old former vice president told reporters Friday that he'll prove his fitness through the campaign, even asking one questioner jokingly: "You wanna wrestle?" (Barrow, 9/13)

The Wall Street Journal: Democratic Rivals Differ On Whether It’s Fair To Attack Biden’s Fitness For Office
Mr. Castro defended his comments and said they weren’t related to Mr. Biden’s age or mental sharpness. “You know, this is what the media does,” he said. “This was not a conversation about personalities. This was a conversation about health-care policy.” Mr. Castro added: “When we get on the stage in October 2020 against Donald Trump, does anybody think that he’s going to be the nicest guy in the world?” (Jamerson, 9/13)

The New York Times: Schumer And Pelosi, Talking To Trump On Guns, Try To Sweeten The Deal
The top two Democrats in Congress, seeking to ramp up pressure on Republicans to pass legislation extending background checks to all gun buyers, told President Trump on Sunday that they would join him at the White House for a “historic signing ceremony at the Rose Garden” if he agreed to the measure. The offer, made by Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, during an 11-minute phone conversation with Mr. Trump, comes as the president is considering a package of measures to respond to the mass shootings that have terrorized the nation in recent months. (Stolberg, 9/15)

Reuters: Top Democrats Tell Trump Gun Bill Must Include Universal Background Checks
Pelosi and Schumer said in a joint statement after the phone call with Trump: “This morning, we made it clear to the President that any proposal he endorses that does not include the House-passed universal background checks legislation will not get the job done, as dangerous loopholes will still exist and people who shouldn’t have guns will still have access." The two leaders said they promised to join Trump “for a historic signing ceremony at the Rose Garden” if the president would endorse the legislation and lean on McConnell to pass it “to save as many lives as possible.” (9/15)

The Washington Post: In Call With Trump, Pelosi And Schumer Say Any Gun Bill That Doesn’t Include Background Checks ‘Will Not Get The Job Done’
Trump, Deere said, “made no commitments” on the measure “but instead indicated his interest in working to find a bipartisan legislative solution on appropriate responses to the issue of mass gun violence.” “The president reiterated his commitment for his administration to continue work on these issues,” Deere said in a statement. According to an official familiar with the negotiations, who was not authorized to speak publicly, Trump told Pelosi and Schumer he was having a “big meeting” Monday on the issue and would be doing something “this week.” (Sonmez, 9/15)

The Wall Street Journal: Democrats Press Trump To Back House Bill On Background Checks
A person close to the White House efforts on gun policy said the president has ruled out supporting the House-backed bill, though he would like to see new gun restrictions on people with mental-health issues or a criminal record. White House aides and the president have been talking with lawmakers from both parties, including Sen. Joe Manchin (D., W.Va.) and Sen. Pat Toomey (R., Pa.), who have long urged legislation expanding background checks for gun sales. Currently, federal law requires background checks only for sales by federally licensed dealers, though some states have added their own requirements. (Lucey, 9/15)

In other news, Beto O'Rourke shook up the gun debate when he talked about mandatory buy-backs at last week's debate —

Politico: Beto O'Rourke Wants Action On Guns, Regardless Of Political Cost
Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke on Sunday dismissed criticisms that his recent rhetoric on gun control is playing into the hands of the National Rifle Association. During the third Democratic debate on Thursday, O'Rourke said he planned to take assault rifles from civilians as part of a nationwide buy-back program in response to the spate of mass shootings afflicting the country in recent years. The emphatic comments raised concerns among his fellow Democrats that they would offer fuel for attack ads by the NRA, feeding into the idea that Democrats were out to destroy the Second Amendment. (Choi, 9/15)

The Associated Press: Coming For Your AR-15? O'Rourke Scrambles Dems' Gun Message
Beto O'Rourke's "hell yes" moment at the Democrats' presidential debate is scrambling his party's message on guns. The Democrats have long contended their support of gun control laws does not mean they want to take away law-abiding citizens' firearms. But on Friday, they struggled to square that message with their presidential contender's full-throated call on national TV for confiscating assault rifles. (9/13)

The Wall Street Journal: Trump Administration Blames Increase In Uninsured Americans On Obamacare
A senior Trump administration health official blamed the first increase in uninsured Americans in a decade on the Affordable Care Act, pushing back against Democrats’ claims in Thursday night’s debate that the president is hurting the law. The uptick is due to higher premiums under the law that have priced people without subsidies out of the market, Seema Verma, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said in a blog post on Friday, in a response to data released Monday by the Census Bureau. (Armour, 9/13)

The Associated Press: Rise In Health Uninsured May Be Linked To Immigrants' Fears
When the Census Bureau reported an increase in the number of people without health insurance in America, it sent political partisans reaching for talking points on the Obama-era health law and its travails. But the new numbers suggest that fears of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown may be a more significant factor in the slippage. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 9/15)

In other health law news —

Stateline: States Flubbed The Rollout Of Their Health Insurance Exchanges. Now They’re Ready To Try Again.
The launch of President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act was marred by the performance of the newly created state health insurance marketplaces. With generous federal financial support, many states created these markets, also called exchanges, based on soaring promises: Individuals and small businesses could compare policies. They could get federal subsidies. It would be easy to sign up. And if people’s income declined, they could enroll in their state’s Medicaid plan. (Ollove, 9/13)

The CT Mirror: Insurance Department Approves Smaller Premium Hikes For Anthem, ConnectiCare
State officials said Friday that they have approved smaller rate hikes than those originally sought by carriers for policies on Connecticut’s health insurance exchange. Anthem Health Plans asked for a 15.2% average increase on individual plans that cover about 27,300 people. The state insurance department approved a 6.5% hike for those policies next year, it said Friday. (Carlesso, 9/13)

The New York Times: Trump Inspires California Lawmakers To Go On Offense
When President Trump flies into San Francisco next week for his first visit to the Bay Area as president he will set down in a state that has never fully welcomed him. Harmeet K. Dhillon, a member of the Republican National Committee and a host of a fund-raising luncheon on Tuesday where seats for a couple at the president’s table go for $100,000, likened his visit to a trip “behind enemy lines.” Behind those lines, Mr. Trump’s detractors have been remarkably active, as Democrats have been energized by anger against the president to enact a sweeping liberal agenda that in almost every way offers a counternarrative to the deregulation, anti-immigrant stance and conservative policies of the Trump administration. (Arango, Fuller and Del Real, 9/14)

The New York Times: ‘People Actively Hate Us’: Inside The Border Patrol’s Morale Crisis
One Border Patrol agent in Tucson said he had been called a “sellout” and a “kid killer.” In El Paso, an agent said he and his colleagues in uniform had avoided eating lunch together except at certain “BP friendly” restaurants because “there’s always the possibility of them spitting in your food.” An agent in Arizona quit last year out of frustration. “Caging people for a nonviolent activity,” he said, “started to eat away at me.” For decades, the Border Patrol was a largely invisible security force. (Fernandez, Jordan, Kanno-Youngs and Dickerson, 9/15)

Arizona Republic: Phoenix Town Hall, In Spanish, To Focus On 'Public Charge' Rule Change
Some fearful Arizona families, regardless of whether they will be affected, may be avoiding health care for themselves and their children because of new barriers to immigration that take effect next month. The Trump administration's "public charge" final rule takes effect Oct. 15. It broadens the government's ability to penalize immigrants who seek green cards if they use taxpayer-funded programs like housing assistance, food stamps and Medicaid. (Innes, 9/13)

Politico Pro: HHS Wants To Give You Your Health Data — Do You Want It?
Encouraging patients to access and share detailed health records is one of the Trump administration’s major health care policy goals. So far, though, patients aren’t really responding. HHS may soon begin to understand why as it pursues plans to force insurers and providers to adopt new data standards that, in theory at least, should allow more people shift their health information to their smart phones and laptops. (Ravindranath, 9/16)

The New York Times: For Children With Peanut Allergies, F.D.A. Experts Recommend A New Treatment
A Food and Drug Administration panel on Friday recommended approval of the first-ever drug to treat life-threatening peanut allergies in children, a condition that confounds and frightens families across the country. The recommendation all but assures the agency will approve the drug, called Palforzia and made by Aimmune Therapeutics. The F.D.A. typically follows the advice of its expert advisory committees. (Rabin, 9/13)

The Washington Post: Aimmune Therapeutics’s Peanut Allergy Pill, Palforzia, Is Not A Cure
The company is seeking approval for administering the drug to children ages 4 to 17. “For a family with high anxiety and a significant burden of anxiety and fear from living with [a] peanut allergy, this might give that extra buffer of safety,” said Marcus Shaker, a pediatric allergist at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine, who was not involved with the trial. “They’re still going to need to strictly avoid peanuts, but [this will help] to let go of some of the fear they may have.” (Johnson, 9/13)

The Associated Press: Health Experts Back Treatment For Kids With Peanut Allergy
The treatment is daily capsules of peanut powder that gradually help children build up a tolerance. The outside panel of advisers to the Food and Drug Administration voted overwhelmingly in favor of the treatment from Aimmune Therapeutics. The nonbinding vote amounts to an endorsement for approval. The FDA is expected to make its final decision by January. (9/13)

Stat: Updates From An FDA Panel's Review Of Aimmune's Peanut Allergy Therapy
By an 8-1 margin, the experts agreed that the the FDA should require 1) Documentation that any patient prescribed Palforzia has a valid prescription for injectable epinephrine; 2) caregivers/patients must attest to carrying injectable epinephrine while on Palforzia; and 3 ) initial dose escalation and the first dose of each up-dosing level must be administered in a certified facility capable of treating systemic allergic reactions. (Feuerstein, 9/13)

NPR: Peanut Allergy Treatment Palforzia Gets Greenlight From FDA Committee
The recommendation came despite concerns raised in some testimony that the treatment could actually lead to more allergic reactions, in some cases. "I also want my patients to have a lower risk of having reactions, but I think from the data that we have had presented to us that neither the safety nor efficacy have been demonstrated," said Dr. John Kelso, an allergy specialist at Scripps Clinic in San Diego. (Smith, 9/13)

Reuters: First Peanut Allergy Therapy Gets Backing From U.S. Regulators' Expert Advisers
Peanut allergies are the leading cause of death from food-induced allergic reactions in the United States but a lack of approved preventive treatments has left patients and caregivers desperate for options. Palforzia, previously known as AR101, is an oral immunotherapy consisting of fixed doses of powdered peanut that is sprinkled over food daily. (Mathias and Joseph, 9/13)

The Wall Street Journal: Peanut Allergy Drug Supported By FDA Advisory Panel
Research in recent years has raised hopes for a preventive treatment. Studies have shown that gradually introducing small amounts of foods containing peanuts to children could prevent or limit the severity of allergic reactions. That approach is known as oral immunotherapy. The drug developed by Aimmune, of Brisbane, Calif., builds on that concept. A study released last year found that the treatment helped reduce the incidence and severity of allergic reactions when children ingested a small amount of peanuts, compared with a placebo. (Loftus, 9/13)

CNN: First Peanut Allergy Treatment Moves Closer To FDA Approval
The company said the most common adverse effects were abdominal discomfort or pain, coughing, hives, itching, nausea, throat irritation and vomiting. However, about 9% of children dosed with Palforzia during the trial had to stop the treatment because their allergic reactions were so severe. (Kounang and Almasy, 9/13)

The Associated Press: US Finds Contaminant In Popular Heartburn Drug 
U.S. health officials said Friday they are investigating low levels of a potentially dangerous contaminant in the popular heartburn medication Zantac and related generic drugs. For now, the Food and Drug Administration said patients can continue taking their medications. (Perrone, 9/13)

The New York Times: Zantac Has Low Levels Of A Cancer-Causing Chemical, The F.D.A. Says 
It was advising patients who take over-the-counter versions to consider switching to a different medication. But no recalls have been initiated, and the agency said patients who take prescription versions of the drug, known as ranitidine, should consult with their doctors before stopping. The European Medicines Agency is also looking into the issue. Zantac, the brand-name version of the drug, is sold by Sanofi, but generic versions are widely sold. (Thomas and Kaplan, 9/13)

Stat: FDA, EMA Probing Carcinogen In Zantac And Other Heartburn Meds
“The agency is examining levels of NDMA in ranitidine and evaluating any possible risk to patients,” the FDA said in its statement. The agency is not telling consumers to stop taking ranitidine medications, “at this time,” but did say consumers “could consider using other OTC medicines approved for their condition. There are multiple drugs on the market that are approved for the same or similar uses as ranitidine.” (Silverman, 9/13)

CNN: FDA Finds Low Levels Of Cancer-Linked Impurity In Common Heartburn Drugs
"At this time there are no company recalls and FDA is not urging companies to recall. So far, NDMA has been found in ranitidine in low levels and we are not calling for consumers and patients to stop taking ranitidine at this time," he said. "We do not have any information to share on how many companies' products could be affected. The FDA will share more information with the public and industry as we learn more throughout the investigation." (Howard and Gumbrecht, 9/14)

Kaiser Health News: Purveyors Of Black-Market Pharmaceuticals Target Immigrants
The bootleg medications were smuggled across the border and sold to mostly Latino immigrants in public spaces throughout Los Angeles — at swap meets, parks, beauty salons and makeshift stands outside mom-and-pop grocery stores. The drugs were cheap, and the customers — mostly from Mexico and Central America — did not need prescriptions to buy them. Some of the products featured brand names and colorful packaging that immigrants knew well from their home countries — including Ciprofloxacina, a potent antibiotic, and Dolo Nervi Doce — translated as “Pain Nerve 12” — an injectable B-complex vitamin taken for fatigue. (Glionna, 9/16)

Stat: Consumer Groups, Unions Urge FTC To Block AbbVie And Allergan Merger
A coalition of consumer groups and unions have asked the Federal Trade Commission to block AbbVie (ABBV) from proceeding with its proposed $63 billion acquisition of Allergan (AGN) in order “to prevent further harm to consumers.” In arguing their case, the groups contend pharmaceutical industry has become increasingly concentrated, which has often caused higher prices and reduced choices. (Silverman, 9/13)

The New York Times: Vaping Bad: Were 2 Wisconsin Brothers The Walter Whites Of THC Oils?
The drug bust shattered the early-morning stillness of this manicured subdivision in southeastern Wisconsin. The police pulled up outside a white-shuttered brick condo, jolting neighbors out of their beds with the thud of heavy banging on a door. What they found inside was not crystal meth or cocaine or fentanyl but slim boxes of vaping cartridges labeled with flavors like strawberry and peaches and cream. An additional 98,000 cartridges lay empty. Fifty-seven Mason jars nearby contained a substance that resembled dark honey: THC-laced liquid used for vaping, a practice that is now at the heart of a major public health scare sweeping the country. (Bosman and Richtel, 9/15)

The Associated Press: Vapes Spiked With Illegal Drugs Show Dark Side Of CBD Craze
Jay Jenkins says he hesitated when a buddy suggested they vape CBD. "It'll relax you," the friend assured. The vapor that Jenkins inhaled didn't relax him. After two puffs, he ended up in a coma. That's because what he was vaping didn't have any CBD, the suddenly popular compound extracted from the cannabis plant that marketers say can treat a range of ailments without getting users high. Instead, the oil was spiked with a powerful street drug. (9/16)

The Associated Press: AP Investigation Finds Spiked CBD Being Sold In Maryland
An Associated Press investigation shows a dark side to booming sales of the cannabis extract CBD. Some people are substituting cheap and dangerous street drugs for the real thing. For the investigation, a reporter in Towson purchased three vape pods that were advertised as delivering inhalable CBD. Lab testing showed one contained synthetic marijuana. The store’s co-owner then pulled the brand from shelves. (9/16)

The Hill: Trump Defends Push To Ban Flavored E-Cigarettes: Let's 'Keep Young Children From Vaping!'
President Trump defended his push to ban flavored e-cigarettes, saying the products could be harmful to children despite them being an alternative for some to smoking. “While I like the Vaping alternative to Cigarettes, we need to make sure this alternative is SAFE for ALL! Let’s get counterfeits off the market, and keep young children from Vaping!” he tweeted Friday evening. (Axelrod, 9/13)

The Hill: Trump Move On Flavored E-Cigarettes May Hit Adults Trying To Quit
The Trump administration argues flavors such as cherry and mint are fueling a youth vaping "epidemic" and must be removed from the market. But experts say flavored vapes have also helped some adults wean themselves off of cigarettes, one of the leading causes of death in the U.S. (Hellmann, 9/14)

San Francisco Chronicle: What New Federal Action On E-Cigarettes Means For Juul
A federal regulation banning the sale of flavored e-cigarettes, which could come in a few weeks, would force Juul to stop selling mint and menthol flavor nicotine cartridges or “pods” in the United States — on top of the other flavors, like mango and creme, which Juul stopped selling at retail stores in November. Flavored pods represent an estimated 80% of Juul’s U.S. sales, and a federal prohibition could cost it hundreds of millions of dollars. (Ho, 9/14)

Reuters: Explainer: One Possible Culprit In Vaping Lung Illnesses-'Dank Vapes'
As U.S health officials scramble to identify the root cause of hundreds of severe lung illnesses tied to vaping, one possible culprit identified so far is a line of illicit marijuana vape products sold under the brand names "Dank Vapes" and "Chronic Carts." A study published last week in the New England Journal of Medicine found that more than half of patients with the lung illness - 24 of 41 - who were extensively interviewed in Wisconsin and Illinois reported having used the "Dank Vapes" brand. (9/13)

Politico: State Lawmakers See Momentum For Vaping Crackdown After Trump Ban
From Utah to New Jersey, long-stalled state plans to curb teen vaping got a huge boost from President Donald Trump’s plan to remove flavored e-cigarettes from the market. And some states want to go further than the White House. State lawmakers believe the surprise ban Trump announced this week, amid an outbreak of a mysterious vaping-related illness that’s sickened hundreds and killed at least six, provides much-needed momentum to legislation cracking down on the young but rapidly growing e-cigarette industry. (Goldberg, 9/15)

Reuters: New York To Ban Flavored E-Cigarettes After Illnesses, Deaths
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Sunday announced a ban on all flavored e-cigarettes besides tobacco and menthol in response to a recent nationwide spate of sometimes deadly lung illnesses that U.S. health officials have linked to vaping. Cuomo said vaping was dangerous and that he was concerned fruit- and candy-flavored e-cigarettes were leading young people to get hooked on nicotine. (9/15)

The New York Times: New York Moves To Ban Flavored E-Cigarettes By Emergency Order
The governor’s action comes days after President Trump announced an effort to ban similar vaping products at the federal level. If New York does outlaw flavored e-cigarettes, it would become the second state to move toward such a ban, following Michigan, which announced earlier this month that it would prohibit such products. Speaking from his office in Midtown Manhattan, Mr. Cuomo described a growing health crisis, likening it to illnesses related to traditional tobacco products. (McKinley and Goldbaum, 9/15)

The Wall Street Journal: In New York, Gov. Cuomo Moves To Ban Flavored E-Cigarettes
The ban would affect traditional retail stores and New York-based companies selling the product, but it doesn’t address all online sales. Banning all online sales with regulatory action by a state agency is legally complicated and would require legislation, a spokesman for the governor said. The governor intends to pursue permanent legislation that would ban all sales of flavored e-cigarettes, but federal action would also be necessary to be effective, the spokesman said. (Morris, 9/15)

The Associated Press: Illinois Lawsuit Filed Against Top E-Cigarette Maker
An Illinois teenager who fell ill with a lung disease after vaping for over a year sued a leading e-cigarette maker on Friday, accusing it of deliberately marketing to young people and sending the message that vaping is cool. Attorneys filed a lawsuit in Lake County Circuit Court on behalf of 18-year-old Adam Hergenreder, who was hospitalized at the end of August for about a week after complaining of nausea and labored breathing. (9/13)

KQED: San Jose Looks To Join Bay Area Cities In Banning E-Cigs, Flavored Tobacco
A San Jose official is pushing for a local ban on some vaping and flavored tobacco products. The recommendations from San Jose city councilmember Magdalena Carrasco come shortly after the Trump administration and the Federal Drug Administration announced plans for an upcoming policy that would enable the removal of many flavored non-tobacco e-cigarettes from the market. (Mostafa, 9/14)

CNN: Vaping: 10 College Students On Their Addictions
The CDC, FDA, White House and a who's who of officials in suits want young people to stop using e-cigarettes amid a mysterious outbreak of hundreds of vaping-related lung illnesses. But what do actual vapers think? (Levenson, 9/15)

Stat: Five Big Questions About The Outbreak Of Vaping-Related Illnesses
Health officials across the country are still hunting for a cause, running tests on samples from products patients used and scouring for common threads between cases. Here are five key questions about the outbreak. (Theilking and Branswell, 9/16)

The New York Times: She Begged Them To Take Away His Police Revolver. Then It Happened.
As soon as Eileen Echeverria saw detectives walking up to her home in a quiet Long Island hamlet, she said she knew why they had come. For more than two months, Ms. Echeverria, the sister of a New York Police Department officer, pleaded with department supervisors for them to take away her older brother’s service weapon. She believed he was dangerously unraveling under emotional problems and crippling debt. Her fears were realized: When they got to the house, the detectives confirmed that her brother, Robert Echeverria, 56, had shot himself in his home in Laurelton, Queens, and had died at a nearby hospital. (Sandoval, 9/16)

NPR: 3-Digit Suicide Hotline Could Make It Easier To Call For Help
The Federal Communications Commission is proposing to launch a new three-digit hotline for people who are feeling suicidal or are going through any other mental health crisis. It recommends making 988 the new national number to call for help, replacing the current 10-digit number. The agency presented the idea to Congress in a report earlier this month and is expected to release more information and seek public comment about the proposal in the coming months. (Chatterjee, 9/13)

The Associated Press: Virginia Jails Struggle To Screen Inmates, Prevent Suicide
Benjamin Wash had a long history of drug addiction and had tried to kill himself at least once before he was booked into the Riverside Regional Jail in Virginia on Nov. 28, 2017. But somehow, he was able to hang himself with a bedsheet two days after he was detained. Wash was one of 51 inmates who killed themselves in Virginia jails over the past five years. (9/15)

Boston Globe: Harvard Student’s Suicide Prompts Concern About Mental Health Care On College Campuses
Between 2007 and 2017, at least nine Harvard undergraduates in Massachusetts took their own lives, according to an investigation by the New England Center for Investigative Reporting. Six of them, including Tang, were of Asian descent. Asian-Americans make up about 20 percent of Harvard’s undergraduate student body. (McKim, 9/16)

The Washington Post: The Children Of Donor H898
Danielle Rizzo’s son is screaming. He is planted in the middle of the lobby of his elementary school, clinging to rainbow-colored blocks as she gently explains that she is here — off schedule, in the middle of the day — to take him to a doctor’s appointment. But the first-grader is not listening. “Happy Meal,” he repeats over and over again. “Happy Meal!” His little brother, who is also going to the appointment, is nearby, not moving. Rizzo is relieved that the two of them are not melting down at the same time, which happens all too often, and firmly guides them out the door. (Cha, 9/14)

Stat: Could Using CRISPR To Edit Embryos Save People Who Are Already Alive?
Amid last year’s backlash against the birth of the world’s first genetically edited babies, some experts preached prudence: Editing the genomes of embryos, they argued, could one day “cure” people of diseases before they’re even born. But there is another, less-discussed potential application of editing an embryo: tweaking its DNA to help save someone who is already alive. (Joseph, 9/16)

The New York Times: For Older Patients, An ‘Afterworld’ Of Hospital Care
The Hospital for Special Care in New Britain, Conn., had 10 patients in its close observation unit on a recent afternoon. Visitors could hear the steady ping of pulse monitors and the hum of ventilators. The hospital carefully designed these curtained cubicles to include windows, so that patients can distinguish day from night. It also placed soothing artwork — ocean scenes and landscapes — on the ceilings for those who can’t turn over and look outside. (Span, 9/13)

Boston Globe: Rates Of Maternal Mistreatment In The US Are High Across The Board — Especially For Women Of Color
The culture of obstetrics as it has traditionally been practiced doesn’t help: women on their backs, legs spread, while physicians use tools on their bodies.Given these conditions, it may come as no surprise that a new survey of 2,700 US women published in June found that nearly 1 in 6 pregnant, laboring, and postpartum women experienced mistreatment by medical providers. For women who delivered in a hospital, as opposed to a freestanding birth center or at home, that figure climbed to nearly 1 in 3. (Somerstein, 9/13)

The Associated Press: Lead Pipes That Tainted Newark's Water Are Found Across US
A drinking water crisis in New Jersey's biggest city is bringing new attention to an old problem: Millions of homes across the U.S. get their water through pipes made of toxic lead, which can leach out and poison children if the water isn't treated with the right mix of chemicals. Replacing those lead pipes is a daunting task for cities and public water systems because of the expense involved — and the difficulty of even finding out where all those pipes are. (Porter and Catalini, 9/13)

Stat: Lasker Recipient Retracted Some Work — A Sign Of Strength, Not Sloppiness
Axel Ullrich, who directs the department of molecular biology at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry, shared a stake in this year’s $250,000 Lasker Award for his work on Herceptin, a treatment for breast cancer. Ullrich’s Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award, announced last week, will join a slew of coveted honors in biomedicine that already sit on his mantel, including the King Faisal Prize, the Warren Alpert Foundation Prize, the Wolf Prize and others. The Lasker is sometimes a harbinger of an even bigger prize, the Nobel. But Ullrich is in select company for another reason as well — he’s one of several world-class scientists who’ve won major awards, including the Nobel, but also have had to retract some of their work. (Oransky and Marcus, 9/16)

WBUR: Key Women's Heart Attack Symptoms Not So Different From Men's, AI Study Finds
Men's symptoms tend to center on crushing chest pain, traditional thinking goes — that's long been known as "typical angina" — while women are more likely to have other or additional symptoms: fatigue, nausea, sweating, pain in the arm, shoulder or back -- that's known as "atypical angina." But new Boston-based research used artificial intelligence to analyze how hundreds of patients described their symptoms in their own words, and it challenges that dogma. (Goldberg, 9/13)

The Wall Street Journal: Cures For Hearing Loss May Be Found In New Drugs
Scientists are pursuing the first medicines to treat hearing loss. Today’s principal treatments—hearing aids and electronic devices called cochlear implants—help many people who have suffered damage to their ears caused by aging, noise, genetics or drugs. But neither of those treatments cures or counters the biological causes of hearing loss. By contrast, several experimental new drugs aim to do just that. (Gormley, 9/15)

NPR: How Hearing Loss Worsens Loneliness Among The Elderly
When Anne Madison could no longer hear her microwave beep, she assumed that her appliance needed repair. In fact, the machine worked well, but her confusion foreshadowed a frustrating struggle: a long and lonely battle with hearing loss. Madison didn't bother going to a doctor after the microwave incident. She knew that hearing aids were so expensive that she could never afford them. So she decided to deal with the hassles of hearing impairment on her own and "just kind of pulled up my socks." (Sharpe, 9/12)

NPR: Pregnant Women's Risk Of Preeclampsia Drops With Daily Baby Aspirin
Bridget Desmukes was surprised when her OB-GYN recommended low-dose aspirin at her first prenatal appointment this past spring. She knew about daily low-dose aspirin being prescribed to people recovering from a heart attack or stroke. But for pregnant women? In a past pregnancy, Desmukes had developed preeclampsia, a potentially serious complication that involves high blood pressure. A small amount of daily aspirin, it turns out, can significantly cut the risk of developing preeclampsia in pregnancy. (Simmons-Duffin, 9/16)

The Wall Street Journal: Skin Protection May Offer Surprising Benefits For Overall Health
A growing body of research suggests that skin may play a bigger role in fueling chronic disease and age-related illness than previously understood. A recent study in animals found that skin, when attacked, produces enough of an inflammatory substance called cytokines to affect not only the skin but the rest of the body, as well. And body-wide inflammation, when it persists, is thought to contribute to and accelerate chronic conditions such as heart disease and lupus. (Wang, 9/15)

The New York Times: The Temporary Memory Lapse Of Transient Global Amnesia
Late one morning in June, L.J.’s husband got a distressed call from one of his wife’s colleagues. “You’d better come here right away. Your wife is acting weird,” the colleague said. Ms. J., who had just returned from a doctor visit during which she underwent a minor painful procedure, kept asking her colleague for a password despite being told each time that there was none. (Brody, 9/16)

Los Angeles Times: Scientists Taught These Adorable Rats To Play Hide And Seek
Ready or not, here they come: Scientists who played hide and seek with rats found that their furry subjects seemed to love the game — and they were remarkably good at it. The unconventional experiment, described in Friday’s edition of the journal Science, sheds light on the sophisticated sense of play in these tiny rodents and the complex mechanisms at work in their brains. It also hints at the evolutionary usefulness of this type of play. (Khan, 9/13)

The New York Times: Planned Parenthood And Fired Former Chief Mired In Escalating Dispute
Leana Wen, the recently fired former president of Planned Parenthood, appears headed toward an increasingly contentious exit, after accusing the organization’s leadership of trying to “buy my silence” in a dispute that threatens to prolong and magnify an acrimonious transition at the top of the nation’s best known women’s health care and reproductive rights group. Dr. Wen has been engaged in two months of fraught negotiations over her severance package since she was fired in July. (Goldmacher, 9/14)

The New York Times: In First, California Would Require Public Universities To Provide Abortion Pills
At a time when conservative states are sharply limiting abortion access, California signaled a new frontier in abortion-rights on Friday with the passage of legislation that would require all public universities in the state to provide medication abortion on campus. The bill, which would use money raised from private donors to equip and train campus health centers, grew out of a student-led movement at the University of California, Berkeley, and it has sparked the introduction of a similar bill in Massachusetts. (Belluck, 9/14)

The Associated Press: Over 2,000 Fetal Remains Found At Ex-Abortion Doctor's Home
More than 2,000 medically preserved fetal remains have been found at the Illinois home of a former Indiana abortion clinic doctor who died last week, authorities said. The Will County Sheriff's Office said in a news release late Friday that an attorney for Dr. Ulrich Klopfer's family contacted the coroner's office Thursday about possible fetal remains being found at the home in an unincorporated part of Will County in northeastern Illinois. (9/14)

The Associated Press: Whole Foods To Cut Health Care For Part-Time Workers
Whole Foods, the grocery chain owned by Amazon, is cutting health care benefits for its part-time workers, a move that could leave about 1,900 of its employees without medical coverage. Starting next year, Whole Foods employees have to work at least 30 hours a week to qualify for its health care benefits, up from the 20 hours a week it currently requires. (9/13)

USA Today: Amazon's Whole Foods To Cut Health Benefits For Part-Time Workers
In 2017, Amazon closed its acquisition of Whole Foods for $13.7 billion in what was considered a game-changing deal in the grocery business. Since then, the chain has introduced several price cuts on items in an effort to shed its reputation as being less affordable compared with other grocery retailers. (Molina, 9/14)

In other news on health care costs —

The Washington Post: Medical Debt Is Soaring But Author Says It Can Be Fixed
For many Americans, questions about the cost of health care in the United States start when they open their mail to see an unexpected bill or pick up their phone to answer a call from a medical debt collector. Medical debt is all too common: According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 1 in 5 working-age Americans with health insurance has had problems paying medical bills within the past year, and the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau finds that nearly 1 in 5 credit reports include medical collections. (Blakemore, 9/14)

Kaiser Health News: Air Ambulances Woo Rural Consumers With Memberships That May Leave Them Hanging
On a hot June day as the Good Ol’ Days festival was in full swing, 7-year-old Kaidence Anderson sat in the shade with her family, waiting for a medevac helicopter to land. A crowd had gathered to see the display prearranged by staff at the town’s historic fort. “It’s going to show us how it’s going to help other people because we don’t have the hospital anymore,” the redheaded girl explained. (Tribble, 9/16)

Modern Healthcare: GAO Report On High-Cost Medicaid Beneficiaries
States have mixed results when coordinating patient care and addressing the social determinants of health to manage healthcare costs for high-cost Medicaid beneficiaries, according to a new Government Accountability Office report released Thursday. The GAO found that all the states surveyed offered care management assistance to providers to better manage physical and mental health conditions for fee-for-service beneficiaries. (Brady, 9/13)

Boise State Public Radio: Idaho Republicans: Counties, Savings Should Pay For Medicaid Expansion
Counties could end up paying for a significant part of Idaho’s voter-approved Medicaid expansion after it’s rolled out next year. A legislative committee is almost done drafting its recommendation to lawmakers on how to pay for the state’s estimated $41 million share of the expansion in fiscal year 2021. Republicans want almost a quarter of that bill to be covered by counties, noting that they shouldn't have to pay as much for indigent healthcare. But Democrats, like Sen. Marianne Jordan (D-Boise), say voters who helped pass Medicaid expansion, wanted the state to pay for those costs. (Dawson, 9/16)

Omaha.Com: Nebraska Families Say Change To Medicaid Waivers Removes Kids With Disabilities From Needed Coverage
Claire Aschoff took her first steps at age 3. That was in late December, the result of months of intensive physical and occupational therapy paid for through a special Medicaid waiver program covering disabled children and adults. A few weeks later, the Blair child could manage barely seven independent steps, her mother, Bridget, told a panel of state lawmakers Friday. (Stoddard, 9/14)

ProPublica: Justice Department Will Fund More Prosecutors, Jails And Cops In Rural Alaska
The U.S. Department of Justice is adding federal prosecutors to pursue cases in remote Alaska towns and villages where U.S. Attorney General William P. Barr recently declared a public safety emergency. After visiting Alaska and meeting with Alaska Native leaders, Barr declared the problem to be a national emergency, promising $10.5 million in immediate relief. On Thursday, U.S. Attorney Bryan Schroder in Anchorage announced new details on how the money will be spent, as well as related efforts by federal agencies and the state of Alaska. (Hopkins, 9/13)

New Hampshire Public Radio: Held For 20 Days: How N.H.'s Shortage Of Mental Health Beds Erodes Patients' Rights
Imagine you are forced to go to a hospital to receive psychiatric treatment that you don’t think you need. What rights would you have?That’s the question at the heart of a court battle between the state of New Hampshire, the ACLU, and nearly two-dozen hospitals. A ruling in the case could have profound impacts on how New Hampshire treats people who are in a mental health crisis. (Moon, 9/16)

The Washington Post: California Vaccine Bill: Feminine Hygiene Device And Misused Photo At Anti-Vaxxer Rally
Anti-vaccine activists in California heatedly protested new limits on medical exemptions to vaccine requirements days after the bill was finalized amid a nationwide crisis of confidence in vaccinations. First, protesters blocked the entrance to the state capitol Monday and repeatedly shut down the legislature with their demonstrations as Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed the bill, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. (Iati, 9/14)

North Carolina Health News: As NC Inmate Needs Persist, A $6 Million Long-Term Care Facility Sits Empty
Clanking security doors, pristine cells, wide halls and private spaces for medical visits all stand ready at the new long-term care facility at Central Prison in Raleigh. The combined assisted-living and skilled nursing facility take up five floors and 32,930 square feet of former mental health care space, recently converted at a cost of $6 million. One of a kind in the state corrections system, renovations on the facility ended March 12.   (Goldsmith, 9/16)

San Francisco Chronicle: California Lawmakers Vote For 8:30 A.M. Starting Time For High Schools
A proposal to push back school start times was one of scores of bills passed on the extraordinary final night of the legislative session, which stretched into the wee hours of Saturday morning after a protest by an opponent of mandatory vaccinations who dropped blood from the gallery temporarily shut down the state Senate. SB328, by Sen. Anthony Portatino, D-La Cañada Flintridge (Los Angeles County), would require most secondary schools in the state to adopt the new schedule by July 1, 2022, though rural districts would be exempted. (Koseff and Gardiner, 9/14)

Boston Globe: 8th Human Case Of EEE Confirmed In Mass.
Officials announced Friday an eighth human case of Eastern equine encephalitis has been confirmed in Massachusetts this year, a man in his 50s from northeastern Bristol County. ...EEE is a rare but potentially fatal disease that can cause brain inflammation and is transmitted to humans bitten by infected mosquitoes, according to federal authorities. About one-third of infected individuals who develop the disease will die, officials have said, and those who recover often live with severe and devastating neurological complications. There is no treatment for EEE. (McDonald, 9/13)

Kaiser Health News: UVA Will Cut Back On Lawsuits Against Patients In Wake Of KHN Investigation
UVA Health System, which sues thousands of patients each year, seizing wages and home equity to collect on overdue medical bills, said Friday it would increase financial assistance, give bigger discounts to the uninsured and “reduce our reliance on the legal system.” “This will have a huge impact on patients to the good,” Doug Lischke, the health system’s chief financial officer, said in an interview. The changes will “positively, drastically reduce the legal process” of lawsuits, garnishments and property liens. (Hancock and Lucas, 9/13)

Boston Globe: The Inmate Population In Mass. Keeps Falling, But The Number Of People Put In Solitary Stays High
About one in five inmates was placed in solitary confinement during 2018, alarming prisoner rights advocates and legislators who have criticized the practice as Draconian and called on corrections officials to reduce its prevalence. Last year, at least 2,100 male and female prisoners were placed in isolation at least once, according to biannual reports provided by the Massachusetts Department of Correction. (Cramer, 9/15)

MPR: ER Doc: Stay Off Electric Scooters
Over his 33-year career as an emergency doctor, Dr. Stephen W. Smith has seen a lot. But the electric-scooter-related injuries he’s seen this summer at Hennepin Healthcare are new. ... Smith estimates at least five people are treated in the ER each day for e-scooter-related injuries. That adds up to several hundred ER visits this summer. Unlike [Tonie] Pereira, the wounded are usually e-scooter riders. (Williams, 9/16)

Modern Healthcare: United Behavioral Health Sued Over $5 Million In Denied Claims
Three addiction and mental health treatment centers sued United Behavioral Health, the insurance giant's mental health subsidiary, alleging it denied more than $5 million of medically necessary treatment. In their complaint seeking class action status, the centers asked the U.S. District Court of Northern California to have a neutral third party re-process claims they believe were wrongfully denied. Collectively, they allege more than 2,000 claims filed on behalf of 157 patients were rejected. (Luthi, 9/13)

The Washington Post: Francesann Ford Accused Of Giving Phony Botox To Plastic Surgery Patients Who Purchased On Groupon
They say the doctor had already been warned. Officials suspect Florida doctor Francesann Ford injected her plastic surgery patients with fake Botox from China even after the Food and Drug Administration told her to stop, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported. Authorities raided Ford’s Coral Springs office earlier this week as part of a year-long investigation into her practices, local news reports say. (Knowles, 9/13)

The CT Mirror: Fasano Tries To Keep Nursing Home Issue In Play
Senate Minority Leader Len Fasano, R-North Haven, volleyed back Friday at Gov. Ned Lamont’s offer of temporary relief to nine nursing homes rather than accepting Fasano’s call for a special session to make revisions to the budget crafted by the Democratic majority. In a letter sent Friday to Lamont, Fasano wrote: “We need our governor, as leader of the state, to take strong action and to have the courage to stand up, admit a wrong, and fix it.” (Phaneuf, 9/13)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Report Recommends Against Moving Inmate Medical Services In-House
A new report recommends against Milwaukee County workers taking over medical services for inmates at the County Jail and the House of Correction, services currently provided by contractor Wellpath. ...That model is conservatively expected to cost an additional $7.8 million to $10.3 million total over the next two years and an additional $2.4 million to $4.5 million each year after, the report states. Overtime and transition costs if the current contract needs to be extended were not included in the estimate. (Dirr, 9/13)

Boston Globe: State Investigation Of Hinton Drug Lab Didn’t Include Work Of Chemist Later Convicted Of Stealing Evidence At Another Lab
In a revelation raising new questions about the scope and thoroughness of the state’s response to the Hinton drug lab scandal, the inspector general’s office has acknowledged it never investigated the work of a drug-abusing chemist who processed even more lab tests than her prolific disgraced co-worker, Annie Dookhan. ... The new revelation was included in a Sept. 5 filing with the Supreme Judicial Court in a pending heroin possession case when Special Assistant Attorney General Julia Bell Andrus, who is representing Cunha’s office in the case, said the agency “did not conduct an in-depth investigation specifically into the actions of Farak or any other individual” at Hinton. (Mulvill and Ford, 9/15)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Adult Obesity Rate In Georgia Rose To 32.5% In 2018, Says CDC
The adult obesity rate in Georgia keeps inching higher, according a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The estimated rate in 2018 was 32.5%, up from 31.6% the year before. It has ticked upward every year since 2011, when it was 28%, based on the data, which relies on self-reporting. (Oliviero, 9/13)

Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Diocese Creates Task Force To Review Handling Of Priest-Sex Abuse Allegations
In the six months since the Roman Catholic Diocese of Columbus released a list of priests whom it deemed had been “credibly accused” of sexually abusing minors, it has added 14 more names and started a task force to study its policies and make recommendations to the bishop. The task force, which was formed in May and still is being established, will have 12 to 15 members, including a parish priest and people in the fields of law enforcement, civil law, canon law and mental health. It will review all diocesan policies and procedures related to the sexual abuse of minors, Bishop Robert Brennan said. (King, 9/15)

St. Louis Public Radio: Missouri Attorney General To Refer Dozen Clergy Sex-Abuse Cases To Prosecutors
Attorney General Eric Schmitt will refer 12 cases of Catholic Church sexual abuse allegations to local prosecutors after reviewing 2,300 personnel records of priests, deacons, seminarians and nuns provided by Missouri’s four Catholic dioceses over the past year. Overall, Schmitt said his office found 163 priests and other clergy members had been accused of sexual misconduct involving minors in Missouri since 1945. In some cases, they were accused of abuse multiple times and by multiple people. (O'Donoghue, 9/13)

The Baltimore Sun: Q&A: Peer Recovery Support Specialist Stacia Smith On Her Unique Perspective, Helping And Providing Hope For Others
The Carroll County Board of Commissioners proclaimed September to be Recovery Month, and one of those in the Health Department helping people try to escape substance abuse is certified peer recovery support specialist Stacia Smith. Smith began her own recovery years ago, and now she’s helping others through the process, specifically within the homeless population. (Keller, 9/16)

USA Today: Health Care: 48% Of Tax Dollars Spent On Medical-Industrial Complex
As presidential hopefuls debate how much more money to pour into our broken system, they should consider how much we already spend. In a new report out Monday, my Johns Hopkins colleagues and I found that nearly half of our federal tax dollars are being spent on health care. Bear with me because I know these are a lot of numbers. But let’s add it up. Start with the 27% of federal spending that goes to Medicare, which covers seniors and the disabled, and Medicaid, which covers low-income Americans. (Marty Makary, 9/16)

Fox News: Sorry, Bernie Sanders, American Health Care Is Not 'Barbaric' (And Canada's System Isn't Perfect)
The New York Times has detailed how Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., came to be fixated on Canada's health care system. That fixation manifested itself again during the Democratic presidential debate in Houston. It started with an illness that befell his mother while Sanders was in high school. His family struggled to pay for her care, until she died in 1960, in her mid-40s. That experience "instilled in him the desire to ensure everyone had access to medical care," as the Times put it. (Sally Pipes, 9/15)

Charlotte Observer: Why A Medicare For All Public Option Won’t Work
The big, solvable issue in our healthcare system is the 30 percent of every healthcare dollar that is squandered on administrative overhead — paperwork, the pre-approvals, denials, and appeals that are an integral part of myriad for-profit private insurance companies. That’s around $1 trillion every year. Only a single-payer system like Medicare for All can cut that trillion dollars in half, by eliminating that bureaucratic waste. That half — $500 billion — can be redirected to providing comprehensive healthcare to all Americans. It’s not free. We’ll all pay for it in taxes, which for most of us will be less than what we’re currently spending on premiums, co-pays, deductibles, and other healthcare expenses. (George Bohmfalk, 9/12)

Washington Post: Trump’s Plan To Monitor The Mentally Ill To Curb Gun Violence Is Messy And Flawed 
“MULTI-MODALITY solution.” “Real-time data analytics.” “Breakthrough technologies with high specificity and sensitivity.” These empty buzzwords take on an eerie edge when you hear their aim: “early diagnosis of neuropsychiatric violence.” The White House is considering a plan to study whether monitoring the mentally ill could prevent mass shootings. The proposal is at once a distraction and too dangerous to ignore. (9/14)

Los Angeles Times: Dianne Feinstein To Republicans: Ban High-Capacity Ammunition Magazines Right Now
In the early morning hours of Aug. 4, outside a crowded bar in Dayton, Ohio, a gunman fired at least 41 rounds in 32 seconds, striking 26 people. Nine of those victims died in the shooting.The gunman was able to fire so many rounds so quickly because he used a 100-round magazine. That meant he didn’t have to stop firing to reload. If police hadn’t already been on the scene and able to return fire so quickly, many more almost certainly would have lost their lives. (U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, 9/14)

The Washington Post: A Report Documents The Systematic Abuse Inflicted On Migrant Children
The Trump administration's “zero tolerance” policy, which triggered the automatic separation of thousands of toddlers, tweens and teenagers from their families last year, was an act of systematic child abuse orchestrated by a White House bent on prosecuting a war on undocumented migrants. The misery caused by that callous policy was glimpsed at the time — through photographs of sobbing children and accounts from devastated parents — by Americans whose revulsion prompted Mr. Trump to reverse course. Only now has the children’s suffering been methodically documented by a government agency. (9/15)

The Hill: Biden's Debate Performance Renews Questions Of Health
Former Vice President Joe Biden had a big night at Thursday’s Democratic presidential candidate debate in Houston. A lot was at stake, and I was not alone in focusing on the cogency of his answers.  Regarding Biden’s health care plans, former U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary and rival candidate Julián Castro accused him of confusing the details, "Are you forgetting what you said two minutes ago? (Marc Siegel, 9/15)

Tampa Bay Times: Why Are Teens Vaping? And Why Aren’t We Stopping Them?
As a rising number of e-cigarette users are hospitalized with severe respiratory illnesses, the consequences of vaping are clear and potentially fatal. The Trump administration took a prudent step by proposing a ban on the sale of flavored e-cigarettes. In Florida, State Rep. Jackie Toledo, R-Tampa, has filed legislation to raise the legal age to 21 to purchase vaping and tobacco products. Getting e-cigarettes off the market for teenagers and young adults is the right move, and a broader public education campaign is needed to spread the word about the health risks of vaping. (9/13)

Stat: Fight Financial Toxicity By Turbocharging Electronic Medical Records
When I walked into the exam room, Jack started waving a bill at me. “You cost me $1,500!” he almost shouted. “Why didn’t you warn me about the price of that visit?” When Jack called a few weeks earlier, I hadn’t been able to tell over the phone if he had pneumonia, the flu, or bronchitis, so I asked Jack, a retired medical colleague of mine, to come in to the office. As our health system’s finance office later explained to me, Jack’s new coverage was a high-deductible plan, and he had never before received a bill. My apologies and explanations were feckless. Jack observed ruefully, “I recovered from the bronchitis, but not from that bill.” (Walter J. O'Donnell, 9/16)

The Wall Street Journal: Corrupting Medical Education
Stanley Goldfarb knew what he was talking about. Last week the former associate dean of curriculum at the University of Pennsylvania medical school wrote in these pages that climate change, gun control and “other progressive causes only tangentially related to treating illness” were beginning to corrupt medical training. His piece spurred a social-media eruption that immediately proved his point. Left-wing medical Twitter —yes, there is such a thing—piled on with virtue signaling that distorted Dr. Goldfarb’s argument. He didn’t write that doctors shouldn’t have opinions about political issues. He wrote that those issues shouldn’t interfere with the scientific and clinical training essential to producing doctors who can serve patients. (9/15)

Sacramento Bee: Anti-Vaxxer Movement Represents A Problematic Mindset
The anti-vaccination effort is kindled by people who feel overwhelmed, disempowered and ignored. More importantly, they have lost confidence in our social institutions and believe those institutions are actively trying to harm them and their families. To take it a step further, this is a symptom of a greater problem, like the Tea Party movement, the Occupy protests, the rise of populist politicians like Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump, Brexit, etc. (Mike Madrid, 9/14)