CNN: Medicare For All Hearing Turns Into A Defense Of Obamacare
Progressive Democrats cheered when House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal agreed to hold a hearing on universal health care coverage. But Neal opened the historic hearing Wednesday by praising the Affordable Care Act -- and also raised concerns about sweeping overhaul proposals such as "Medicare for All." Medicare for All and other bills to broaden the government's role in health care are enjoying unprecedented attention as progressive Democrats flex their new influence in the House and on the presidential campaign trail. Wednesday's hearing was the third -- but so far, the most consequential -- on the topic. The rules and budget committees, which do not have jurisdiction over health care, also held hearings in recent months. (Luhby, 6/12)

The Hill: First Major 'Medicare For All' Hearing Sharpens Attacks On Both Sides
Supporters of “Medicare for All” notched a victory Wednesday when one of Congress’s most powerful committees debated the progressive proposal, but the venue also gave Republicans an opportunity to paint proponents as socialists. Democrats and Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee were at odds with each other, and at times with the lively audience of Medicare for All advocates, over how to pay for a program that’s estimated to cost in the tens of trillions of dollars. (Hellmann, 6/12)

Modern Healthcare: House Panel Explores Insurance Coverage Expansion Plans
A House committee hearing on paths to universal health coverage on Wednesday devolved into a fiery rhetorical battle between Democrats seeking an expanded public payer role and Republicans denouncing such moves as one-size-fits-all socialized medicine. Both Democrats and Republicans on the House Ways and Means Committee agreed that the current $3.5 trillion system features unsustainable spending increases, imposes excessive administrative burdens for providers and patients, and leaves too many Americans without quality coverage and access to care. (Meyer, 6/12)

Modern Healthcare: Arbitration For Surprise Medical Bills Splits House Panel
Lawmakers of the House Energy and Commerce health subcommittee appeared split on Wednesday over whether they should give physicians and hospitals a chance to appeal to an arbiter in a balance billing dispute. The divisions over how to handle balance billing didn't fall along party lines and peeled both Democratic and GOP representatives from the committee leaders' bipartisan proposal to set a benchmark price according to the patient's in-network rate. Committee Chair Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), who produced a draft policy with ranking member Greg Walden (R-Ore.), put his stake in the ground for transparency and price concerns. (Luthi, 6/12)

KTVZ: Walden Bill Targets Surprise Medical Bills
During an Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on Walden's draft version of the No Surprises Act, Walden recalled horror stories of patients who follow the rules and yet "to no fault of their own, following an emergency situation or surgery receive a six-digit bill in the mail weeks later, which they have no way of paying. It is not fair, it should not happen." [Rep. Greg] Walden (R-Ore.) drafted the bipartisan No Surprises Act alongside Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), both vocal advocates for the critical need to put an end to surprise medical billing. (6/12)

In other news on health care costs —

The New York Times: Florida Company Sued Over Sales Of Skimpy Health Plans
One Ohio resident paid $240 a month for health insurance that she later learned didn’t cover her knee replacement. Saddled with $48,000 in medical bills, she decided not to get the other knee replaced. “It’s been devastating to me,” said Elizabeth Belin, who lives in Columbus. The bills totaled more than her annual salary. A Kansas resident paid premiums on a policy for two years, then found out his insurance would not cover surgery for a newly diagnosed cancer. (Abelson, 6/12)

NPR: NPR Rural Health Poll Finds Financial Insecurity Plagues Many Who Have A Disability
Carol Burgos is worried her neighbors think she is bringing the neighborhood down. She lives in a mobile home park in a woodsy part of Columbia County, N.Y, just off a two-lane highway. The homes have neat yards and American flags. On a spring Saturday, some neighbors are out holding yard sales, with knickknacks spread out on folding tables. Others are out doing yardwork. (Simmons-Duffin, 6/12)

Reuters: House Panel Approves Permanent Sept. 11 Victims' Compensation
A U.S. congressional committee on Wednesday unanimously approved legislation to extend the fund compensating first responders to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center for the next 70 years, a move that would avoid steep benefit reductions over a lack of money. The House Judiciary Committee acted one day after television personality and comedian Jon Stewart castigated lawmakers at a hearing for their slow response to helping New York City firefighters, police officers and other emergency personnel who rushed to the scene of the attacks that left two of Manhattan's most well-known skyscrapers in rubble. (6/12)

The Hill: Schumer Calls For Senate Vote On 9/11 Victim Fund
Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Wednesday that he is "begging" and "pleading" with Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to hold a vote on legislation to extend the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund. "The House Judiciary Committee just passed the fix to the Victims Compensation Fund. The full House will follow suit soon. As soon as the House passes this bill, it should be on the floor of the Senate immediately — as a stand-alone bill," Schumer said from the Senate floor. (Carney, 6/12)

The New York Times: How Jon Stewart Became A Fierce Advocate For 9/11 Responders
Jon Stewart, speaking on Capitol Hill about the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, was not the cool, detached comedian that television viewers are accustomed to. Instead, faced with empty seats as he spoke on Tuesday to a House Judiciary subcommittee about a bill to secure funding for ailing Sept. 11 victims, the former host of “The Daily Show” was outraged, at times pounding his fist on the table, shouting at lawmakers and choking up as he came close to tears. (Gold, 6/12)

The Hill: Pelosi To Change Drug-Pricing Plan After Progressive Complaints
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is making changes to her drug pricing plan after complaints from the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC). Pelosi told lawmakers, including the heads of the Progressive Caucus, during a private meeting Wednesday night that she had heard their complaints. (Sullivan, 6/12)

Stat: House Progressives Invite Six Drug Makers Back To Capitol Hill
House progressives on Wednesday called for executives from six drug companies to appear on Capitol Hill next week to justify what the lawmakers termed unjustifiable price increases — the latest public display of displeasure from the Democratic Party’s left flank regarding House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s approach to lowering pharmaceutical costs. (Facher, 6/12)

And in the upper chamber —

The Hill: Senate Judiciary Committee Plans Markup Of Drug Pricing Bill This Month
The Senate Judiciary Committee is planning a markup of legislation to lower drug prices this month, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), the panel’s chairman, told The Hill on Wednesday. The action from the Judiciary Committee is a sign of the movement on the issue of drug pricing in both parties, which could provide Congress with a rare bipartisan achievement this year. The Senate Finance Committee is also moving forward with drug pricing legislation this month or next. (Sullivan, 6/12)

The Hill: House Panel Launches Investigation Into Juul
A powerful House committee is launching an investigation into e-cigarette manufacturer Juul, seeking a host of information about whether the company has actively marketed its product to American children. Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), chairman of the House Oversight Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy, sent a letter to Juul asking for all documents related to the company’s marketing strategy, the product’s impact on minors, information on the health effects of the product and details about its business arrangements with potential investors, among other information. (Weixel, 6/12)

Politico Pro: Exclusive: Federal Ban On Vaping In Schools Pushed By Romney, Udall
Legislation that would impose a federal ban on the use of e-cigarettes in schools will be unveiled Thursday by the bipartisan duo of Sens. Mitt Romney and Tom Udall, POLITICO has learned.The so-called Smoke Free Schools Act will be reintroduced by Udall (D-NM) and Romney (R-Utah) as students increasingly use the devices, sometimes in bathrooms and even in class. Udall introduced a version of the bill last Congress with Utah’s former GOP senator, Orrin Hatch, who retired. (Gaudiano, 6/13)

And in other news from Capitol Hill —

Politico: Dems Scramble To Break Impasse Over Funding Migrant Crisis
House Democrats are still haggling over the details of a contentious bill to deliver billions of dollars for the humanitarian crisis at the border, with chances of a vote before the Fourth of July diminishing by the day. Top Democrats left a closed-door meeting Wednesday still aiming to bring legislation to the floor within the next two weeks. But Democrats have yet to reach a final agreement, with a vocal group of progressives still refusing to back the proposal to send money to the Trump administration. (Ferris and Caygle, 6/12)

Stat: Senators Want To Know If HHS Money Went To Chinese Genomics Firms
Two Republican senators are asking whether the Department of Health and Human Services might have compromised national security by indirectly doing business with genomics companies tied to China, the latest escalation in Washington’s efforts to limit overseas access to American intellectual property. In a letter to the HHS inspector general, Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) name-checked WuXi Nextcode and BGI, two Chinese-founded genomics companies that have relationships with U.S. companies that have received payments from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (Garde, 6/12)

The Hill: Cruz Pitches Ocasio-Cortez On Bill To Make Birth Control Available Over The Counter
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is looking to join forces with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on legislation that would make over-the-counter birth control legal. The GOP Texas senator on Wednesday offered to team up with her to create a "simple, clean bill making birth control available over the counter," a move that comes just weeks after he offered to take up lobbyist reform with her. (Wise, 6/12)

The New York Times: Planned Parenthood To Host Women’s Health Forum For 2020 Democrats
Planned Parenthood Action Fund is set to host a forum on reproductive rights for the Democratic primary field this month, as the issue of abortion emerges as a central topic in the 2020 presidential race. The forum, hosted by Planned Parenthood’s political arm, is the first event in recent presidential campaigns singularly focused on women’s health. The candidates will be individually questioned for 15 minutes about their positions and records on issues like abortion rights, access to health care and contraception. (Lerer, 6/12)

The Hill: 16 Democrats To Attend 2020 Abortion Forum Hosted By Planned Parenthood
Among the candidates to be confirmed already by the group is Joe Biden, whose positions on reproductive rights made headlines last week. Biden's campaign initially said the former vice president still supported the Hyde Amendment, which bars federal money from being used for abortion. After significant backlash arguing that the rule disproportionately hits poor and minority women, Biden announced he would now oppose the amendment. (Rodrigo, 6/12)

The New York Times: What Abortion Access Looks Like In Mississippi: One Woman At A Time
When Brandy found out she was pregnant for the fifth time, she was 25 and single and had given birth to her third child two months earlier. Soon after that, she lost her retail management job of six years. It was midwinter 2013, and she could barely pay her heating bill. “I knew I wasn’t going to keep it if I could do anything about it,” she says now of the pregnancy. A month later, once she could afford the cab fare, she called a taxi to drive her 20 minutes to Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the only abortion clinic in Mississippi. (Beery, 6/13)

The Washington Post: Five Men Outlaw Abortion In A Texas Town, Declaring A ‘Sanctuary City For The Unborn’
Five men this week declared a small town in East Texas a “sanctuary city for the unborn,” commandeering the language of the movement for immigrant rights to counter the reproductive freedom of women. There are no abortion clinics in Waskom, Tex., a city of about 2,200, which lies on the border with Louisiana. But the all-male, all-white city council decided unanimously on Tuesday that prohibiting abortion was necessary as a preventive measure. (Stanley-Becker, 6/13)

The Associated Press: Illinois Governor Signs Law Expanding Access To Abortion
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed sweeping abortion protections into law on Wednesday, establishing women's access to the procedure as a "fundamental right" and putting Illinois at odds with Republican-led states that have been embracing steep abortion restrictions. The new Illinois law voids decades-old abortion regulations that were on the books but had never taken effect because of court orders, including restrictions on late-term abortions and criminal penalties for doctors who perform abortions. (6/12)

The New York Times: N.I.H. Head Calls For End To All-Male Panels Of Scientists
The word “scientist” does not specify a gender. And yet, for eons — well, ever since conferences and symposiums emerged from the primordial academic soup — the majority of prominent scientific speakers and panelists have been men. This phenomenon has been documented in studies and spawned many mocking monikers: “manference,” “himposium,” “manel.” People have tried to understand why the Y chromosome so dominates the dais and explain that there really should be more X. (Belluck, 6/12)

The Hill: NIH Director Will No Longer Participate In All-Male Panels
The director of the National Institutes of Health will no longer participate in all-male panels, he announced Wednesday. Francis Collins said in a statement that "it is time to end the tradition in science of all-male speaking panels." The decision comes in response to a report by the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine which identified a key role for scientific leaders to play in combatting gender harassment and disparities in women's visibility in science. (Rodrigo, 6/12)

The Washington Post: NIH Director Will No Longer Speak On All-Male Science Panels
Collins speaks about 125 times annually, according to the NIH, often as a keynote speaker but sometimes as part of a panel. His announcement is more important as a signal that one of the world’s top scientists is addressing the issue, according to an activist working for women in science. (Bernstein, 6/12)

Stat: Catalyst Sues FDA Over Rivals' Drug Approval, Warning It Undermines Incentives For Rare Disease Meds
The next chapter in an unusual saga involving a high-priced, rare disease drug will play out in a federal court, where Catalyst Pharmaceuticals (CPRX) has accused the Food and Drug Administration of violating the law when it recently approved a similar medicine made by a small, family-run company. And the battle is being closely watched for clues that incentives for developing such drugs may be jeopardized. (Silverman, 6/12)

Stat: GSK Partners With CRISPR Pioneer Doudna To Find New Drugs
The drug maker GlaxoSmithKline announced Thursday that it would team up with some of the nation’s most prominent CRISPR researchers to use the gene-editing technology in a search for new medicines, establishing a new lab in San Francisco and spending up to $67 million over five years. Jennifer Doudna, the University of California, Berkeley, researcher who co-invented the CRISPR enzyme technology, will help lead the effort, along with Jonathan Weissman, a UC San Francisco researcher who has been using CRISPR to understand the function of individual human genes and how they work together. Both are Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigators. (Herper, 6/13)

Stat: Amazon's PillPack Is Accused Of Violating Patient Privacy
As Amazon ventures further into health care, the online giant may have to work harder to gain consumer trust in a market characterized by a heavy emphasis on patient privacy, at least based on recent actions allegedly taken by its PillPack subsidiary. Over the past year, PillPack has been accused in different lawsuits of violating federal law by calling or texting consumers to solicit business, a practice that has prompted regulators to take a tougher stand against unwanted marketing. And in one suit, PillPack is attempting to force a consumer to settle her claim in arbitration, a stance that is unlikely to be seen as friendly toward potential customers. Both claim privacy was invaded. (Silverman, 6/12)

Health News Florida: Drug Importation Plan Signed As Questions Remain
Gov. Ron DeSantis, acting on one of his top priorities during his first year in office, signed into law Tuesday a measure that gives the state the go-ahead to pursue approval to import prescription drugs from Canada and other countries. But the Republican governor acknowledged at a bill-signing ceremony that the program won’t be up and running any time soon because of a requirement that it receive approval from federal authorities, including U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar. (Sexton, 6/12)

The New York Times: Inside The Elementary School Where Drug Addiction Sets The Curriculum
Inside an elementary school classroom decorated with colorful floor mats, art supplies and building blocks, a little boy named Riley talked quietly with a teacher about how he had watched his mother take “knockout pills” and had seen his father shoot up “a thousand times.” Riley, who is 9 years old, described how he had often been left alone to care for his baby brother while his parents were somewhere else getting high. (Levin, 6/12)

The Associated Press: Nebraska's AG Is Lone Holdout In Pursuing Opioid Cases
Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson has fought prescription opioid abuse through public education campaigns, worked with lawmakers to tighten prescribing practices and even demanded documents from the maker of OxyContin. He has said the overdose crisis is ravaging families. What Peterson hasn't done is pursued a lawsuit seeking to hold any opioid manufacturer, distributor or pharmaceutical company accountable. That leaves him standing alone among state attorneys general. (6/12)

And in other news on the crisis —

Kaiser Health News: Drug Users Armed With Naloxone Double As Medics On Streets Of San Francisco
The man was out of his wheelchair and lay flat on his back just off San Francisco’s Market Street, waiting for the hypodermic needle to pierce his skin and that familiar euphoric feeling to wash over him. The old-timer, who appeared to be in his 60s, could not find a viable vein, so a 38-year-old man named Daniel Hogan helped him. Hogan, a longtime drug user originally from St. Louis, leaned over the older man, eyeing his neck as he readied a syringe loaded with the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl. (Rinker, 6/13)

The Associated Press: Man Pleads Guilty To Filing 90 Plus Fake Prescriptions In N.H.
A man has pleaded guilty in New Hampshire to filling more than 90 fake prescriptions at pharmacies and using numerous aliases to get them. Federal court documents say 32-year-old Theodoros Bahtsevanos, of Haverhill, Massachusetts, passed false prescriptions for Adderall at pharmacies in Nashua and Derry last year. They contained falsified signatures, but actual DEA registration numbers for doctors. (6/12)

USA Today: Opioid Overdoses, Alcohol Deaths, Suicide Hit Millenials The Most
Young adults were more likely than any other age group to die from drugs, alcohol and suicide over the past decade, underscoring the despair Millennials face and the pressure on the health care system to respond to a crisis that shows little sign of abating. Drug-related deaths among people 18 to 34 soared 108% between 2007 and 2017, while alcohol deaths were up 69% and suicides increased 35%, according to an analysis out Thursday of the latest federal data by the non-profit Trust for America's Health and Well Being Trust. (O'Donnell, 6/13)

Medscape: Record Deaths From Suicide, Drugs, In Youth A 'National Tragedy'
The authors note that millennials have a number of risk factors that increase their vulnerability to alcohol, drugs, and suicide: impulse control centers in the brain are not fully developed until the mid- to late-20s; young adults often take more risks in sexual and drug-use behaviors compared to older adults; and they make up the highest percentage of the US military, which can be a stressful profession. Millennials also face high costs of postsecondary education and mounting student loan debt as well as a housing market that's largely out of reach. (Anderson, 6/13)

NBC News: U.S. Death Rates From Suicides, Alcohol And Drug Overdoses Reach All-Time High
The report examined data in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., taking an in-depth look at 47 factors that have an impact on health outcomes, including insurance coverage, access to doctors, obesity, smoking, even tooth loss, and ultimately assigning each state a score. The data are from 2017. Although the rates of the so-called deaths of despair are up nationally, the report's investigators were particularly struck by regional differences in the rates. (Edwards, 6/12)

The Daily Beast: Opioid Epidemic: Death Rates From Suicides, Alcohol, And Overdoses Hit All-Time High, Report Finds
“When we look at what’s going on in Mid-Atlantic states—West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania—those are the states that have the highest rates of drug-overdose deaths in the country,” said David Radley from the group. Drug-overdose rates in West Virginia rose more than fourfold between 2005 and 2017, according to the report, mainly due to opioid abuse. After West Virginia, the District of Columbia, Kentucky, Delaware, and New Hampshire had the next highest drug-overdose death rates in the country, the report found. (Ross, 6/12)

The New York Times: ‘If We Do This Right’ Maybe H.I.V. Will Be Forgotten
If the 50 years since Stonewall has ultimately been about social and legal progress for L.G.B.T.Q. people, it has also been about one of the most devastating and, at first, mysterious medical events of modern times: The AIDS epidemic. While history now tells us that H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS, probably made its move to humans from chimpanzees in central Africa in the early 1900s, its arrival in the United States in the 1980s brought to the public consciousness a disease that has so far killed more than 35 million people worldwide. (Dubin, 6/12)

The New York Times: The Latest Reason To Breast-Feed: Milk Is Alive
In the earliest days after birth, millions of bacteria make their home in a baby’s body — in the skin, mouth and especially the gut. These immigrants come from the birth canal and the mother’s feces (during a vaginal birth), the mother’s skin and mouth as she holds and nuzzles the baby and perhaps even from the placenta, although that source is still debated. The colonizing microbiome can have a far-reaching impact on the baby’s health. (Mandavilli, 6/12)

CNN: Facebook's Blood Donation Tool Makes US Debut
Facebook is no longer just a place to connect with former high school buddies; the social media giant now wants to make it easier for you to connect with blood banks, too. On Wednesday, Facebook launched a blood donation feature in the United States to help users find places to donate blood in their area and be notified when a nearby blood donation center may be in need. The feature allows users to sign up to be blood donors in the "about" section of their profiles and then receive notifications from blood donation centers. (Howard, 6/12)

The Associated Press: New Gene Tests For Germs Quickly Reveal Source Of Infections
Brian Jetter was on life support, a healthy 40-year-old suddenly battling pneumonia and sepsis, and a slew of tests had failed to find the cause. Mystery illnesses like this kill thousands of people each year when germs can't be identified fast enough to reveal the right treatment. Now genetic tests are helping to solve these cases. (6/12)

The New York Times: How To Protect Your DNA Data Before And After Taking An At-Home Test
Consumer DNA testing kits like those from 23andMe, Ancestry.com and MyHeritage promise a road map to your genealogy and, in some cases, information about what diseases you’re most susceptible to. They also ask for a lot of trust with your DNA information — trust that, in some ways, may not be earned. Here’s how to protect and delete your data if you use any of these services. (Ravenscraft, 6/12)

The Associated Press: O.J. Simpson Case Helped Bring Spousal Abuse Out Of Shadows
In a letter that surfaced after her 1994 murder, Nicole Brown Simpson detailed the fear and violence that framed her marriage to O.J. Simpson, the charismatic football star who became a TV pitchman. Simpson gave her "disgusted" looks with each pound she gained in her first pregnancy in 1988 and "beat the holy hell" out of her a year later, when the couple told an X-ray lab she fell off a bike, she wrote. (6/12)

CNN: Eating More Red Meat Linked With Higher Mortality Risk
Mounting evidence continues to suggest that eating too much red meat -- such as bacon and hot dogs -- is linked with health problems. A new study finds that changes in your red-meat-eating habits can be tied to your risk of early death. An increase in red meat consumption of at least half a serving per day was linked with a 10% higher risk of early death in the study, published in the medical journal BMJ on Wednesday. Replacing red meat with other protein sources may help you live longer, the study found. (Howard, 6/12)

Kaiser Health News: Why So Many Older Americans Rate Their Health As Good Or Even Excellent
A common myth about aging is that older adults are burdened by illness and feel lousy much of the time. In fact, the opposite is usually true. Most seniors report feeling distinctly positive about their health. Consider data from the 2017 National Health Interview Survey (the most recent available), administered by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. When asked to rate their overall health, 82% of adults ages 65 to 74 described it as excellent (18%), very good (32%) or good (32%) — on the positive side of the ledger. By contrast, 18% of this age group had a negative perspective, describing their health as fair (14%) or poor (4%). (Graham, 6/13)

The New York Times: A Fractured Ankle Turned Me Into My Father
I have become my father. I don’t mean I’m short-tempered, overly particular about petty things or obsessed with finding cheap gasoline, although these are all traits he passed on to me. I mean I can’t walk. Unlike my father, my condition is temporary — I fractured my ankle on an ill-advised descent down an icy hill on cross-country skis, landing me with a space-age boot and crutches. (Palm, 6/13)

NPR: More Wildfires Bring Focus On How All That Smoke May Harm Firefighters
When Timothy Ingalsbee thinks back on his days in the 1980s and '90s fighting wildfires in the Pacific Northwest, he remembers the adventure of jumping out of a helicopter into the wilderness, and the camaraderie of being on a fire crew. "We just slept in a heap," he says, "on the ground under the stars, or smoke-filled skies." But Ingalsbee, who went on to found the Eugene, Ore.-based Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics and Ecology, doesn't like to remember all that smoke. (Burns, 6/12)

The New York Times: Bats, Not Dogs, Are The Most Common Source Of Rabies
Bats are the main cause of human rabies in the United States and have been for several years, responsible for infecting seven of every 10 people who develop the disease, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Wednesday. Even though the actual number of rabies cases is very small, the C.D.C. made its announcement to raise awareness that bats carry rabies, said Dr. Emily Pieracci, a veterinarian with the agency. (Gorman, 6/12)

The New York Times: Scientists Find Ancient Humans Used Weed 2,500 Years Ago, Too
An association between weed and the dead turns out to have been established long before the 1960s and far beyond a certain ur-band’s stomping grounds in San Francisco. Researchers have identified strains of cannabis burned in mortuary rituals as early as 500 B.C., deep in the Pamir mountains in western China, according to a new study published Wednesday. (Hoffman, 6/12)

Los Angeles Times: Ancient Drug Paraphernalia Reveals That People Smoked Pot In China 2,500 Years Ago
Humans have long had a complex relationship with cannabis, in part because cannabis is not just one plant with one set of properties. Strains of Cannabis sativa have been used for millennia to produce rope and textiles from the stalks and oil from the seeds. And because wild cannabis typically has very low levels of tetrahydrocannabinol, the plant’s powerful psychoactive compound better known as THC, it’s unclear exactly when and how humans might have started inhaling smoke or ingesting plant matter for mind-altering purposes. (Khan, 6/12)

In a bit more recent news on marijuana —

The Associated Press: California Court: Prison Pot Is OK - If Inmates Don't Inhale
A California appeals court says it's legal to have small amounts of marijuana in prison — so long as inmates don't inhale. The 3rd District Court of Appeal ruled that California voters legalized recreational possession of less than an ounce (28 grams) of cannabis in 2016, with no exception even for those behind bars. But the court says state law does prohibit smoking weed in prison. Prison officials can also still punish pot possession as a rules violation. (6/12)

NH Times Union: Rochester's Crackdown Comes As CBD Craze Grows In New Hampshire
As the city of Rochester continues to crack down on sales of cannabidiol-infused foods and drinks, businesses in other parts of the state are profiting from the current CBD craze. On Route 125 in neighboring Barrington, Martin Burby is selling Vera Roasting Company’s Wellness Blend bags and K-cups at 125 Maintenance & Fence Company. Each 12-ounce bag contains 120 mg of CBD.Vera Roasting is known for its heart-healthy coffee infused with resveratrol. The coffee was created by University of New Hampshire chemistry professor Glen Miller. (Haas, 6/9)

Cincinnati Enquirer: Man With Marijuana Grow Farm Gave Pot Away To Sick People.
Paul Koren got caught with a basement full of marijuana, which he used occasionally himself, but mostly gave away to sick and dying people who needed it for their pain.At age 70, the Miami Township man didn't see himself as a drug dealer. But when a trio of men broke into his house mistakenly thinking there would be guns and money, they got caught. And so did Koren.He was facing prison Wednesday on drug charges, but Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge Patrick Dinkelacker spared him time behind bars and ordered two years of probation after Koren pleaded guilty to a charge of trafficking in marijuana. (Coolidge, 6/12)

Modern Healthcare: Revenue Overtakes Cost-Cutting As Hospitals' Top Priority
Hospital and health system CEOs are prioritizing revenue growth in 2019, according to a new survey. Revenue growth overtook cost control as executives' top priority, Advisory Board Co.'s survey of 90 C-level executives found. While administrators still aim to develop nuanced strategies to cut costs, their focus is now on improving ambulatory access, minimizing clinical variation, boosting primary-care alignment and adapting to population health. (Kacik, 6/12)

In other news on hospitals —

Modern Healthcare: Overriding Hospital Contracts With Out-Of-Network Docs Is One Senate Option
The Senate's health committee has proposed three options to ban surprise medical bills. But one of them—the technically named "in-network matching guarantee" policy—has raised especial rancor from specialty physician groups and some hospitals for how it could shake up industry practices that have taken root over years. The intensity of the criticism shows how high the stakes have gotten. Under the in-network matching guarantee—as outlined in the 165-page draft legislation from Sens. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Patty Murray (D-Wash.)—any doctor or clinician who treats a patient in an in-network hospital would have to accept the patient's in-network rate. (Luthi, 6/12)

The Baltimore Sun: Maryland Gov. Hogan Names 11 New Members To UMMS Board Plagued By Contracting Scandal
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan named Wednesday his initial batch of new appointees to the troubled board of directors at the University of Maryland Medical System, the first step toward reorganizing the board following a scandal over board members having lucrative contracts with the 13-hospital system. The volunteer board came under fire in March when The Baltimore Sun reported a third of its 30 members or their companies had deals with the hospital system, some of which were not competitively bid. (Wood, 6/12)

The Baltimore Sun: Former UMMS Board Member Had Multiple Undisclosed Hospital Deals; Employees Felt 'Pressured' To Push Software
Amid growing scrutiny in early April around lucrative contracts between the University of Maryland Medical System and nine of its volunteer board members, officials privately cut back two undisclosed deals with a tenth, according to a new report. Both involved Dr. Scott Rifkin, who resigned from the board in early May even though he said a deal to supply software to the hospital system paid his company nothing. (Rector, 6/12)

The Baltimore Sun: Review Of Maryland Hospital Network Finds More No-Bid Contracting, Faults Former CEO For 'Healthy Holly' Deal
A review of contracts the University of Maryland Medical System had with members of its board of directors and their companies revealed more no-bid and self-dealing practices — including that executives pressured staff to use board members’ products — and blamed former CEO Robert Chrencik and other system leaders. “Many of these contracts were not competitively bid, were not declared to be necessary by the board or senior leaders, and, if vetted, were without full transparency to the entire board,” concluded the review by Nygren Consulting, which was hired and paid by the 13-hospital network. (Broadwater, 6/12)

The Baltimore Sun: 5 Takeaways From University Of Maryland Medical System Review Of 'self-Dealing' Practices
The system commissioned and paid for the 41-page report from Nygren Consulting in response to revelations published in The Baltimore Sun, starting in March, about the network’s practices that enriched board members, including former Democratic Mayor Catherine Pugh of Baltimore. Since the scandal broke, Pugh has resigned as mayor and UMMS CEO Robert Chrencik and four other top system officials stepped down. Also, the Democrat-controlled Maryland General Assembly passed emergency legislation this spring to reform the board and Republican Gov. Larry Hogan signed it into law. (Broadwater, 6/13)

The Hill: Maine Legalizes Medically Assisted Suicide
Maine became the eighth state to legalize medically assisted suicide Wednesday. Gov. Janet Mills (D) signed the Maine Death with Dignity Act, which lays out several steps a patient and physician must take before the procedure. The bill requires the patient to undergo two waiting periods and one written and two oral requests and obtain opinions from at least two physicians that a medically assisted suicide is appropriate. (Axelrod, 6/12)

The Associated Press: Maine Becomes 8th State To Legalize Assisted Suicide
Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, who had previously said she was unsure about the bill, signed it in her office. “It is my hope that this law, while respecting the right to personal liberty, will be used sparingly,” said Mills. Oregon was the first state to legalize such assistance, in 1997, and it took over a decade for the next state, Washington, to follow suit. While still controversial, assisted suicide legislation is winning increasing acceptance in the United States, and this year at least 18 states considered such measures. (Villeneuve, 6/12)

The New York Times: Bastion Of Anti-Vaccine Fervor: Progressive Waldorf Schools
The mother of an unvaccinated child here in the New York suburbs says eating papaya helps to combat measles. The father of another child who has not been immunized believes that big pharmaceutical companies are paying millions of dollars to doctors, government officials and even judges to bury the truth about vaccine complications. Another mother says the souls of her children are on a journey that vaccines would impede. “As a parent, for me, a lot of my job is to just not put extra obstacles in that soul’s way,” she said. (Freytas-Tamura, 6/13)

The Associated Press: GOP Leaders: Economy Helped Remove Kids From TennCare Rolls
Top Republican elected officials in Tennessee say their state's improved economy is partly why at least 128,000 children were cut from its low-income health insurance programs over the past two years — but Democrats and some health care advocates dispute that contention. (6/12)

The New York Times: Former U.C.L.A. Gynecologist Charged With Sexual Battery
A gynecological oncologist who worked at a University of California, Los Angeles, student health center has been charged with two counts of sexual battery, according to his lawyer. The doctor, James Heaps, was employed at the clinic from about 1983 to 2010 and was hired by U.C.L.A. Health in 2014, the school said in a statement on Monday. The university said it was made aware of the accusations of sexual misconduct last year and began an investigation. Dr. Heaps has pleaded not guilty to both charges, his lawyer, Tracy Green, said. (Garcia, 6/12)

CNN: She Was Sent To Rikers Island Because She Couldn't Pay $500 Bail. Now, She's Dead And Her Family Wants Answers
Layleen Cubilette-Polanco was arrested in April and sent to New York's Rikers Island jail because she could not afford the $500 bail, her family said. Nearly two months later, the 27-year-old transgender woman was found unresponsive in her cell and later pronounced dead, according to the Department of Corrections. Civil rights groups say Polanco's death represents a web of factors that can trap people of color in the justice system -- especially transgender women of color -- with devastating outcomes. (Grinberg, Haider and Romine, 6/12)

Miami Herald: Panhandle Officials Warn Of Post-Storm Mental Health Crisis
Hundreds of students have been evaluated for symptoms of mental distress and referred for further care as officials have started more closely tracking students’ mental health needs. According to a survey done through the school district in the spring, more than a third of the district’s roughly 30,000 students and staff likely have clinical symptoms of depression, anxiety or PTSD. (Koh, 6/13)

Sacramento Bee: Sacramento Lawsuit Alleges Sutter Shares Patient Information
In a class-action complaint filed this week in Sacramento Superior Court, two plaintiffs allege that Sutter Health is secretly sharing their medical information with Facebook, Google, Twitter and other third parties, impinging on their privacy and opening them up to targeted internet advertising. Sutter “commandeers the web-browsers of patients and other users and causes personally identifiable data to be sent to third-partis, as well as the exact contents of communications exchanged” between Sutter and its patients, according to the court filing by two plaintiffs identified only as Jane Doe I and Jane Doe II. (Anderson, 6/13)

Cincinnati Enquirer: The Truth About Money: The Less You Have, The More, Percentage-Wise, You Pay
All families make decisions about money. How much to spend. How much to save. What to do when there’s not enough. Having less has always made those decisions harder. But today, for many of Greater Cincinnati’s poor and middle class, the choices are becoming starker. They are about basic needs. About survival. School supplies or the electric bill? Medicine or groceries? (6/12)

Arizona Republic: Arizona Prisons Deny Some Applicants Who Are Intersex, Transgender
After passing the department's physical-fitness, psychological and departmental-policy tests, Smith said she was denied on the basis of her April medical exam. The medical notes regarding her gender, which essentially said she did not fit neatly into one gender category, apparently violated Rule 20 of the Department of Corrections' physical requirements for the job. (Polletta, 6/12)

Nashville Tennessean: Nashville Schools Lawyers: Sharing Explicit Videos Of Girls Isn't Sexual Harassment
Lawyers for Metro Nashville Public Schools are arguing that the circulation of videos of unwelcome sexual encounters — taken without the permission or knowledge of the high school girls depicted in them — does not rise to the level of sexual harassment. The arguments were filed during an ongoing, multi-million dollar lawsuit against MNPS by four girls and their parents. (Wadhwani, 6/13)

The Associated Press: Judge Rules Federal Prison Must Treat Inmate’s Breast Cancer
A judge has ordered the federal prison system to make sure a North Carolina woman gets timely treatment for breast cancer while she is incarcerated in Alabama. The Winston-Salem Journal reports that a judge admonished federal officials for what she called a ‘longstanding failure’ to make sure 47-year-old Angela Beck gets the cancer treatments she needs. The Monday order would require prison officials to coordinate with medical providers to get tests and treatment for Beck, who is serving almost 14 years for drug and firearms offenses. (6/12)

The Associated Press: Health Executive Says He Bribed Arkansas Governor's Nephew
A former health care executive admitted Wednesday to taking part in a conspiracy to bribe a former Arkansas lawmaker who is also the governor's nephew, in a widening corruption probe that's ensnared several legislators and lobbyists. (6/12)

Commonwealth Fund: 2019 Scorecard On State Health System Performance: Deaths From Suicide, Alcohol, Drugs On The Rise; Progress Expanding Health Care Coverage Stalls; Health Costs Are A Growing Burden
The Commonwealth Fund’s 2019 Scorecard on State Health System Performance reveals that most states are losing ground on key measures related to life expectancy as premature deaths from suicide, alcohol, and drug overdose continue to increase. Several states that most recently expanded eligibility for their Medicaid programs saw meaningful gains in access to health care; in other states prior gains eroded between 2016 and 2017. Finally, the Scorecard found that health care costs are placing an increasing financial burden on families across the nation. (Radley, Collins and Hayes, 6/12)

Health Affairs: Including Family Caregivers In Seriously Ill Veterans’ Care: A Mixed-Methods Study
Family caregivers often serve as unpaid members of the home and community-based care workforce for people with serious illness; as key partners in the home-clinic continuum, they should be included in health care teams. The Campaign for Inclusive Care is an initiative within the Veterans Affairs health care system to improve provider practices for including caregivers of military members in treatment planning and decisions. We defined inclusive care using a literature review, provider interviews, and a caregiver survey. We found that inclusive care involves clear definition of the caregiver role, system policies for inclusion, assessment of caregivers’ capacity, explicit involvement of caregivers, and mutuality in caregiver-provider communication. (Sperber et al, 6/3)

JAMA Internal Medicine: Association Of Exposure To Artificial Light At Night While Sleeping With Risk Of Obesity In Women
In this cohort study of 43 722 women, artificial light at night while sleeping was significantly associated with increased risk of weight gain and obesity, especially in women who had a light or a television on in the room while sleeping. Associations do not appear to be explained by sleep duration and quality or other factors influenced by poor sleep. (Park et al, 6/10)

Pediatrics: Proposition 8 And Homophobic Bullying In California
Bias-based bullying is associated with negative outcomes for youth, but its contextual predictors are largely unknown. Voter referenda that target lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender groups may be 1 contextual factor contributing to homophobic bullying. (Hatzenbuehler et al, 6/3)

The Hill: Rural Health Could Be A Powerful Issue In The 2020 Election 
As former senators from rural states, we’ve seen firsthand the importance of providing affordable, quality care to those living in rural areas. The isolation that exists in some parts of South Dakota and Maine means residents have limited access to care. Many patients must travel great distances to even reach a hospital. Yet more and more rural hospitals are closing around the country. In fact, 106 of them have shut down since 2010. It is staggering to think of these challenges when, compared to people living in urban and suburban areas, rural Americans are generally older and poorer, more uninsured or underinsured, and therefore less healthy. (Former Sens. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), 6/12)

The Washington Post: How Red-Baiting In Medicine Did Lasting Harm To Americans’ Health Care
The battle for universal health care has come a long way. Today, the House Ways and Means Committee is holding a hearing on Medicare-for-all, and the plan has recently gained support from high-ranking Democrats, including several presidential contenders. It’s traction that would have been unimaginable even a decade ago. Even so, the fight for Medicare-for-all will be a war. (Merlin Chowkwanyun, 6/12)

The New York Times: ‘We Either Buy Insulin Or We Die’
Insulin has become so unaffordable that Type 1 diabetics are pushed to take risks, like rationing and buying from strangers online. The video Op-Ed above reveals the lengths to which they go to get a nearly century-old drug and how Americans are dying from a perfectly manageable autoimmune disease. Patent laws and existing regulations allow the top three manufacturers to continuously increase prices without consequences. (Robin Cressman, Nicole Smith-Holt, Laura Pavlakovich, Paulius Podziunas and Laura Juncadella, 6/13)

Stat: We Need The CARE Act To Stop The Opioid Pandemic
Last month, the White House stated that it was time to “start talking about solutions.” I disagree: The time to start doing that was years ago. Fentanyl, which has become a major player in overdoses since Trump took office, is our nation’s deadliest killer, yet little has been done to combat it. ... Getting our national overdose rate to zero will require comprehensive policy reform. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) are attempting to do just that with the Comprehensive Addiction Resources Emergency (CARE) Act (S. 2700), which would begin treating the opioid crisis like the public health emergency it is. (Ryan Hampton, 6/13)

The Hill: There Is A Huge Disparity In Diagnosing Alzheimer's In Black Americans
The occurrence of Alzheimer's disease in African Americans is 64 percent higher than in whites. It is also the 4th leading cause of death among African Americans. This could be attributed to the fact that African Americans are more likely to have the presence of risk factors often associated with increased vulnerability to the disease. These include high cholesterol, high blood pressure, stroke and type 2 diabetes mellitus. (Ishan C. Williams, 6/12)

The New York Times: Donald Trump’s Medical Malice 
That this medical rumormongering has begun so early in the race may be a sign of Republican desperation. My fellow pundits are already turning to a favorite phrase and calling this a “dog whistle,” but that’s not fair to dogs or whistles. It’s too generous an assessment, suggesting that Trump’s meaning will go over many voters’ heads. No, it will go straight into their brains, making them wonder if Biden suffers from some medical condition that Trump and other Washington insiders know about but that they don’t. (Frank Bruni, 6/11)

The Hill: Clarifying Some Of The Mixed Messages Surrounding Cannabis And Opioids 
The belief that expanding cannabis access plays a role in mitigating opioid use and abuse came under fire this week after a newly published paper in the journal PLoS ONE failed to replicate observational findings initially documenting this trend. ... But before jumping to any conclusions based upon the findings of any single paper, it is important to acknowledge that dozens of additional peer-reviewed studies exist on this topic. Most, but not all, of this literature supports the cannabis substitution theory. (Paul Armentano, 6/12)

JAMA: HIV Screening And Preexposure Prophylaxis Guidelines: Following The Evidence
The 2 new USPSTF Recommendation Statements underscore the remarkable progress in preventing and treating HIV infection. Together, the health gains in HIV treatment, the resulting reduction in transmission, and PrEP provide the necessary tools to end the HIV epidemic. Success in the next chapter in confronting this epidemic demands that these tools be widely accessible and used. The USPSTF Recommendation Statements should help make this happen. (Paul A. Volberding, 6/13)

The New York Times: The World’s Malnourished Kids Don’t Need A $295 Burger
Raúl is a happy preschooler, tumbling around among 4- and 5-year-olds, but something is off. It’s not his behavior, for it’s the same as that of the other little kids. Rather, it’s his face. The baby fat is gone, and although he’s only 3 feet 5 inches tall, the height of an average 5-year-old, an older face seems grafted on. Sure enough, Raúl turns out to be 9. Malnutrition has left his body and mind badly stunted. (Nicholas Kristof, 6/12)

The Wall Street Journal: An Abortion Red Herring In Alabama
When the University of Alabama decided to return a $21.5 million donation to investor Hugh F. Culverhouse Jr. and remove his name from its law school, Mr. Culverhouse claimed it was retaliation for his speaking out against Alabama’s new abortion law. But the university’s decision had nothing to do with abortion. Mr. Culverhouse made the gift last September, but it ended up being conditional. (Steven J. Arango, 6/12)