The Wall Street Journal: Hospitals Must Provide Abortions In Emergency Situations, Biden Administration Says
Federal health officials said doctors and hospitals must provide an abortion under federal law when a pregnant woman in emergency medical condition needs the procedure to be stabilized. The Health and Human Services Department said Monday a federal law protecting access to emergency treatment mandates performing an abortion if a doctor deems it necessary in a medical emergency even if the procedure isn’t legal under state law. (Evans, 7/11)

AP: Biden Admin: Docs Must Offer Abortion If Mom's Life At Risk 
The Department of Health and Human Services cited requirements on medical facilities in the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, or EMTALA. The law requires medical facilities to determine whether a person seeking treatment may be in labor or whether they face an emergency health situation — or one that could develop into an emergency — and to provide treatment. ... The department said emergency conditions include “ectopic pregnancy, complications of pregnancy loss, or emergent hypertensive disorders, such as preeclampsia with severe features.” Currently, even the states with the most stringent bans on abortion do allow exceptions when the health of a mother is at risk, though the threat of prosecution has created confusion for some doctors. (Miller, 7/12)

Modern Healthcare: Hospitals Should Perform Needed Emergency Abortions, CMS Says
CMS previously updated its EMTALA guidance last year, after Texas banned most abortions. But the agency has heard from physicians that they need more clarity because some fear offering treatments they believe are appropriate in emergency situations, the HHS official said. The updated guidance is an attempt to reassure providers that their patients don't have to be nearly dead before they can take action, and that physicians' clinical judgment is protected by federal law, the official added. (Goldman, 7/11)

In related news from the federal government —

Politico: Biden’s Abortion Response Curbed By Fears Of Another Supreme Court Showdown
As President Joe Biden faces calls for more drastic action on abortion, the legal team vetting his options has found itself preoccupied by a single pressing concern: That any action they could take would simply be struck down by the very court that put them in this place. Those fears have complicated and slowed the White House’s post-Roe actions, with officials worried a more aggressive response from Biden could backfire, further entrench anti-abortion restrictions and open the door to even more severe limits on his executive power. (Cancryn, 7/11)

USA Today: Senate Democrats Would Vote Against Biden's Anti-Abortion Judge Pick
Several Senate Democrats said they would vote against the confirmation of a conservative, anti-abortion federal judge nominee if President Joe Biden follows through with a purported deal with Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. (Garrison, Wells, Sonka and Wolfson, 7/11)

The Hill: House Democrats Ask Senate To Take Position On Whether Justices Lied During Confirmation Hearings
Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) are asking that Senate Democrats take a stand on whether conservative Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn the Roe v. Wade decision lied to the Senate Judiciary Committee during their confirmation hearings. (Mueller, 7/11)

AP: Judge Strikes Down Most Of Minnesota's Abortion Restrictions
A judge declared most of Minnesota’s restrictions on abortion unconstitutional on Monday, including the state’s mandatory 24-hour waiting period and a requirement that both parents be notified before a minor can get an abortion. Ramsey County District Judge Thomas Gilligan also struck down Minnesota’s requirements that only physicians can perform abortions and that abortions after the first trimester must be performed in hospitals. His order took effect immediately, meaning the limits can’t be enforced. (Karnowski, 7/11)

In other news on state reproductive rights —

Salt Lake Tribune: Utah Judge Grants Request To Keep Abortion Trigger Law On Hold
Utah’s abortion trigger law will continue to be on hold, a judge ruled Monday, and will not be enforced as a lawsuit against it continues making its way through the courts. The trigger law would have banned abortions in Utah, except for a few limited circumstances. (Jacobs, 7/11)

AP: Federal Judge Blocks Arizona's 'Personhood' Abortion Law 
A federal judge in Phoenix on Monday blocked a 2021 state “personhood” law that gives all legal rights to unborn children and that abortion rights groups said put providers at risk of prosecution for a variety of crimes. U.S. District Judge Douglas Rayes said in his written ruling that the groups that sued to block the law are right — it is “anyone’s guess,” as the state acknowledged, what criminal laws abortion providers may be breaking if they perform otherwise-legal abortions. (Christie, 7/12)

A battle plays out in Missouri —

The Kansas City Star: Appeals Court Reinstates Missouri’s Down Syndrome Abortion Ban
Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last month to strike down Roe v. Wade, a panel of federal judges on Friday ruled in favor of an appeal that allows Missouri to prohibit abortions that are based solely on whether a baby was diagnosed with Down syndrome. (Bayless, 7/11)

AP: Missouri Dems Seek Contraception, Ectopic Pregnancy Session 
Two leading Democratic Missouri lawmakers on Monday asked the state’s Republican governor to call a special session to pass legislation that would safeguard contraception and medical treatment for ectopic pregnancies after a near total ban on abortion was instituted. (Hollingsworth, 7/11)

In more abortion news from Ohio, Michigan, and Maryland —

Columbus Dispatch: Lawmaker Introduces Bill To Ban Abortion From Conception
Ohio lawmakers introduced a bill Monday that would effectively ban all abortions, except to save the life of a mother. State Rep. Gary Click, R-Vickery, introduced House Bill 704 which states that Ohio must "recognize the personhood, and protect the constitutional rights, of all unborn human individuals from the moment of conception." (Wu, 7/11)

AP: Abortion Rights Poised To Go Before Michigan Voters In Fall 
Abortion rights are poised to come before Michigan voters in November after an abortion rights campaign turned in a record-breaking number of signatures Monday for a ballot initiative to the secretary of state’s office. (Cappelletti, 7/11)

The Baltimore Sun: Baltimore County Prosecutors Won’t Help States With Abortion Bans Extradite Someone Who Travels There For Treatment, Officials Say
Baltimore County officials on Monday became the latest in Maryland to declare prosecutors would not cooperate in extraditing anyone who travels to the state for abortion care from one where it is banned. (Costello, 7/11)

Los Angeles Times: Post-Roe, Autoimmune Patients Lose Access To A Crucial Drug
Six days after the Supreme Court struck down the right to abortion, lupus patient Becky Schwarz got an unexpected message from her rheumatologist. “This is a notice to let you know that we are pausing all prescriptions and subsequent refills of methotrexate,” the message read. “This decision has been made in response to the reversal of Roe vs. Wade.” (Sharp, 7/11)

More about at-risk groups —

Roll Call: Roe Reversal Spurs Worries About Miscarriage Care 
Eighteen states have enacted laws that would punish doctors who perform abortions with jail time in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling overturning the federal right to an abortion — and doctors worry that helping to medically treat a miscarriage, too, will put them at risk of prosecution. (Cohen, 7/12)

NBC News: State Abortion Bans Could Affect Over Half Of Female Veterans And Women With Disabilities, Analysis Finds
The study published Friday by the nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy group found that abortion bans in the 26 states that are certain or likely to ban abortion could affect up to 2.8 million women with disabilities (53 percent of all such women in the U.S.) and 389,600 female veterans of reproductive age (also 53% of the U.S. total). (McShane, 7/11)

KHN: Self-Managed Abortions Gain Attention, But Helpers Risk Legal Trouble 
At a recent rally in Nashville, Tennessee, Planned Parenthood organizer Julie Edwards looked out at some of the “back-alley abortion” imagery on signs, including bloody coat hangers. Edwards reminded the crowd, driven into the streets by the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 24 decision on abortion rights, that it’s not like the old days before Roe v. Wade. Nearly a decade ago, Edwards was a teenager and got medication from older friends to end an unintended pregnancy. (Farmer, 7/12)

Also —

The Washington Post: NYPD Manual From Before Roe V. Wade Shows How Abortions Are Prosecuted 
With abortion bans in place or likely to be enacted soon in at least 20 states, many worried Americans are now wondering: What does the investigation and prosecution of an illegal abortion look like? An internal document from the country’s largest police force in the pre-Roe v. Wade era provides a pretty good answer. (Sherman, 7/11)

Politico: Biden Administration Discussing Covid Boosters For Everyone 
Top Biden administration officials are weighing a plan to let all adults get a second round of coronavirus booster shots, two people with knowledge of the matter told POLITICO. The deliberations stem from growing concerns over the potential for a summer Covid surge driven by the more transmissible Omicron subvariant BA.5, as hospitalizations rise nationwide. ... Currently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention only recommends that people over 50 and those who are immunocompromised get additional boosters. So far, fewer than 28 percent of Americans in that age group have received their second booster. (Cancryn, 7/11)

The Washington Post: Biden Officials Push To Offer Second Booster Shot To All Adults
While the booster plan still needs formal sign-off from regulators and public health officials, it has the backing of White House coronavirus coordinator Ashish Jha and Anthony S. Fauci, the government’s top infectious-disease expert, according to five officials who like others interviewed in this report spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the plan. (Diamond, McGinley and Sun, 7/11)

The New York Times: Biden Administration May Offer Second Coronavirus Boosters To All Adults 
Expanding eligibility for a fourth dose of vaccine to younger adults would require regulatory approval; more discussions with officials from the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are expected in the coming days, according to people familiar with the situation. (LaFraniere, 7/12)

In news about the new Novavax vaccine —

CIDRAP: US Buys 3.2 Million Doses Of Novavax COVID-19 Vaccine
The Biden administration announced this morning that it would buy 3.2 million doses of the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine, which is expected to soon receive authorization from the Food and Drug Administration, according to a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) news release. The protein-based vaccine would be offered as a primary series of two shots. If approved, it will be the fourth COVID-19 vaccine available to US adults. (7/11)

In other news about the vaccine rollout —

San Antonio Express News: COVID Shot Deadline Passes, 2,700 Texas Guard Troops Refuse Order
Enough soldiers in the Texas Army National Guard to almost fill a brigade have been put on notice: Get your coronavirus shots or get out of uniform. And more than a few appear headed toward the exits. The deadline for National Guard and Army Reserve soldiers to comply with the Pentagon’s coronavirus order passed June 30, with 86 percent of the Texas Army National Guard and 92 percent of the Air National Guard vaccinated. (Christenson, 7/11)

Reuters: U.S. CDC Plans To Improve International Air Contact Tracing Data Collection 
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will take steps to improve collection of international air passenger contact information to better monitor public health risks after a report found the current data system "needs substantial improvement." ... The report said the CDC's current data management system developed in the mid-2000s "was not designed for rapid assessment or aggregation of public health data" and the CDC "is unable to quickly and accurately identify the number of passengers exposed to a specific infected passenger on a flight." (Shepardson, 7/11)

Bloomberg: Biden Administration To Again Extend The Covid Public-Health Emergency 
The Department of Health and Human Services has repeatedly renewed the emergency since it was originally declared in January 2020, with the most recent extension set to expire July 15. The next extension is expected to take effect Friday, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified because the details aren’t public. (Griffin, 7/11)

In other news about the spread of covid —

ABC News: Omicron Subvariants Threaten COVID-19 Resurgence Across US
Nearly three-quarters of the U.S. population is now living in a county with a high or medium community risk level for COVID-19, as defined by the CDC, federal data shows. About one-third of those people -- 31.9%-- are living in a high-risk community, while 41.6% are living in a medium-risk county. (Mitropoulos, 7/12)

The Baltimore Sun: A New COVID-19 Foe, A Really Transmissible One, Is Emerging
If you’ve recently been infected with COVID-19 or know someone infected, and you probably do, you can probably blame BA.5, one of five subvariants of omicron and possibly the most transmissible yet. (Cohn, 7/11)

The Atlantic: Is BA.5 The ‘Reinfection Wave’?
Well, here we go again. Once more, the ever-changing coronavirus behind COVID-19 is assaulting the United States in a new guise—BA.5, an offshoot of the Omicron variant that devastated the most recent winter. The new variant is spreading quickly, likely because it snakes past some of the immune defenses acquired by vaccinated people, or those infected by earlier variants. ... (Yong, 7/11)

San Francisco Chronicle: COVID In California: First Case Of BA.2.75 Subvariant Detected In The State
Seven cases of the BA.2.75 subvariant of omicron were detected in the United States in June, according to data from GISAID, a global genomic sequencing database. COVID-19 cases tied to the subvariant have been identified in at least 12 countries, including India, where it is driving a new surge. Nationally, two cases were found in California and one each in Illinois, New York, North Carolina, Texas and Washington. The California cases were picked up in Bay Area wastewater samples from mid-June. (Vaziri, 7/11)

The Boston Globe: Coronavirus Levels In Waste Water Remain Elevated In Eastern Mass. As BA.5 Uncertainty Persists
The numbers are refusing to drop as experts worry that the arrival of new subvariants, particularly BA.5, could push up cases and, after that, hospitalizations and deaths. As of last week, the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard estimated that 60 percent of Massachusetts COVID-19 cases were caused by BA.5 and 20 percent by another subvariant, BA.4, as they elbowed out previous subvariants. (Finucane and Huddle, 7/11)

Also —

Bloomberg: Future Covid Variants Can Be Predicted By AI, Startup Claims
As pharmaceutical companies struggle to keep up with the rapidly mutating coronavirus, a startup in Cambridge, Mass., says it can help them by using artificial intelligence to predict future variants. Apriori Bio models the ways a virus might change and predicts how it will behave. The company says it’s harnessing that information to design “variant-proof” vaccines and treatments that can fight current and future strains—and provide an early warning to governments, sort of like a hurricane alert, to guide the public-health response. (Griffin, 7/11)

The Wall Street Journal: Long Covid May Be Long Tail Of Risk For Insurers
Already, Covid-19’s impact on life, disability and other insurers has extended beyond deaths. That includes things such as workers’ compensation claims. In the past, getting sick with a contagious illness such as the flu you may have caught at work might have been unusual to claim. But 20 U.S. states adopted some form of so-called coverage presumption measures during the pandemic generally for people such as front-line workers and others who needed to work in-person, according to the National Council on Compensation Insurance. Brian Schneider, senior director for insurance at Fitch Ratings, estimates that in 2020 about 10% of all workers’ comp claims were related to Covid-19. (Demos, 7/11)

CNN: Biden Says Gun Violence Has Turned America's Communities Into 'Killing Fields'
President Joe Biden on Monday said gun violence has turned everyday places in America into “killing fields” as he marked the passage of the first significant federal gun safety legislation in 30 years. Biden said the package he signed into law represents “an important start,” but more needs to be done to curb the alarming rate of shootings. (Sullivan, Carvajal, Diamond and LeBlanc, 7/11)

Politico: 'You Have To Do More': Parkland Father Interrupts Biden’s Gun Control Speech 
Manuel Oliver, the father of a victim of a mass shooting in Parkland, Fla., interrupted President Joe Biden on Monday during a White House speech marking the passage of the first major gun legislation in more than a decade. “You have to do more,” Oliver could be heard shouting from the audience during Biden’s remarks celebrating the passage of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which provides funding for crisis intervention and mandates due process procedures for states with red flag laws. (Hawkins, 7/11)

More on the gun violence epidemic —

Chicago Tribune: 8-Year-Old Boy Paralyzed After Highland Park Parade Shooting
An 8-year-old boy who was shot in the chest at the Fourth of July parade shooting in Highland Park is now paralyzed from the waist down. As the family deals with the pain, they also acknowledged the emergency medics, police, fire department and medical staff that saved Cooper’s life. “It was a true miracle,” they said. (Presa, 7/11)

The Texas Tribune: After Uvalde, America’s School Counselors Talk Trauma Of Mass Shootings 
All it took was the mere mention of Uvalde for Alma Rodriguez to start tearing up. The El Paso native was among dozens of school counselors who packed a dimly lit room at the Austin Convention Center on Monday to attend a training session on school shootings that was part of the American School Counselor Association’s annual conference. (Edison, 7/12)

The Wall Street Journal: Their Son Is Talking About School Shootings. Should They Call The Police? 
For parents faced with troubling behavior, reporting their child to police for an act they might commit is a wrenching decision. These parents fear the consequences—emotional, social and legal. Even after making the decision, they often question whether police can steer their children to the help they need. (Hobbs and Randazzo, 7/11)

The Wall Street Journal: One In Six Calls To National Suicide Prevention Lifeline End Without Reaching A Counselor
Health officials preparing to broaden the reach of a national mental-health crisis line are working to strengthen an overstretched network of call centers that didn’t connect with about one in six callers in recent years, a Wall Street Journal data review showed. (Abbott, Martinez and Tracy, 7/11)

In related news about mental health hotlines —

NPR: Many States Aren't Ready For Calls To Their Mental Health Crisis Lines
Across the state, Illinois-based call centers answered just 1 in 5 in-state calls to the lifeline in the first three months of 2022. The other 80% were redirected to other states. Illinois has the lowest in-state answer rate in the nation, lagging far behind others. The state with the second-lowest rate, Texas, answered 40% of its calls during that same time period. (Barrett, 7/11)

Politico: 988 Set For Quiet Launch In Light Of State, Federal Concerns About Crisis Call Spike 
State health officials, unsure they have the money or staff to respond to an expected flood of calls to 988 — the new mental health hotline number — are tempering expectations just days ahead of its launch. It’s a setback for the Biden administration, which had hoped the opening of the three-digit crisis line, billed as 911 for mental health care, would come with much fanfare. Instead senior officials find themselves downplaying Saturday’s launch as more of a “transition.” (Messerly and Owermohle, 7/12)

WUSF Public Media: Advocates Call For More Autism Training For Suicide Hotlines Ahead Of 988 Launch
National suicide prevention hotlines are bracing for an influx of calls when the new, shorter number – 988 – launches Saturday. Proponents are hopeful it will ease access to services, decrease unnecessary interactions with the police and save lives. But some advocates are asking whether it will be ready to serve people with autism. (Hyson, 7/11)

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Mental Health Hotline Ready To Launch In Nevada, US
“When you’re in crisis, you don’t know what to turn to,” Misty Vaughan Allen, suicide prevention coordinator for the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services, said on Monday. “Nine-eight-eight, with well-trained responders, will be such an easy access to a system of support,” she said. This system includes mobile crisis response teams, which are being expanded across the state, as well as crisis stabilization centers scheduled to open in the next year. (Hynes, 7/11)

On mental health and the homeless —

San Diego Union-Tribune: Cause Of Homelessness? Not Drugs Or Mental Illness, Study Says
Ask just about anyone for their thoughts on what causes homelessness, and you will likely hear drug addiction, mental illness, alcoholism and poverty. A pair of researchers, however, looked at those issues across the country and found they occur everywhere. What does vary greatly around the country, they found, was the availability of affordable housing. (Warth, 7/11)

San Francisco Chronicle: Grand Jury: Mental Health Failures Are Making Alameda County’s Homeless Crisis Worse
A “fragmented and unresponsive” Alameda County mental health system is fueling the area’s worsening homeless crisis, according to a grand jury report. Among the symptoms:• Sick East Bay residents sent to jail instead of psychiatric treatment.• Crisis phone lines “not staffed by a live person” during nighttime and weekend hours when mental health crises are more likely to occur. (Hepler, 7/11)

Also —

USA Today: Annual Ranking Of Fittest U.S. Cities Finds Worsening Mental Health
Even cities that provide parks and trails for people to exercise and stay fit suffered worsening mental health during the pandemic. The annual ranking of the nation's fittest cities for the first time included data on the pandemic’s toll on mental health. With social isolation, job losses and supply chain challenges stressing Americans, nearly 40% of adults in the nation's 100 largest cities reported poor mental health. (Alltucker, 7/12)

The Wall Street Journal: Medical Debt Is Being Wiped Off Credit Reports. What That Means For You 
Millions of Americans will now see a cleaner bill of health on their credit reports, making it easier for many to get an apartment or apply for a loan. Effective July 1, the three major credit reporting bureaus have removed medical debts that went into collection but were subsequently paid. In the past, these types of debts would remain on reports for as long as seven years. More changes are coming, too. (Kelce, 7/11)

Modern Healthcare: Supreme Court To Decide If Medicaid Providers, Patients Can Sue States
A federal court's ruling that a Chicago hospital can sue the state Medicaid agency for allegedly failing to ensure proper payment from private insurers sets the stage for a deluge of similar suits from providers—if the nation's highest court preserves Medicaid participants' right to sue. (Tepper, 7/11)

KHN: Hospital-Acquired Pneumonia Is Killing Patients. Yet There Is A Simple Way To Stop It
Four years ago, when Karen Giuliano went to a Boston hospital for hip replacement surgery, she was given a pale-pink bucket of toiletries issued to patients in many hospitals. Inside were tissues, bar soap, deodorant, toothpaste, and, without a doubt, the worst toothbrush she’d ever seen. “I couldn’t believe it. I got a toothbrush with no bristles,” she said. “It must have not gone through the bristle machine. It was just a stick.” To most patients, a useless hospital toothbrush would be a mild inconvenience. But to Giuliano, a nursing professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, it was a reminder of a pervasive “blind spot” in U.S. hospitals: the stunning consequences of unbrushed teeth. (Kelman, 7/12)

KHN: ‘An Arm And A Leg’: One ER Doctor Grapples With The Inequities Of American Health Care
Dr. Thomas Fisher, an emergency room physician at a hospital on Chicago’s South Side, has written “The Emergency,” an up-close chronicle of the covid-19 pandemic’s first year. It also tells the story of his journey as a doctor: how his upbringing on the South Side fueled his career choice, and how the realities and inequities of American health care limited his ability to help his community. Fisher details how the failures of the American health care system — and the racial inequities it perpetuates — leave health care workers with a profound sense of moral injury. (Weissmann, 7/12)

In health industry news from Massachusetts, Georgia, Illinois, and Michigan —

The Boston Globe: Mass General Brigham Plans Massive Expansion Of Hospital-At-Home Program
Gregg Meyer, president of MGB’s community division and executive vice president of value-based care at the system, said the expansion marks the culmination of decades of developments that have helped providers better care for patients remotely. At the same time, the health system is increasingly under pressure from state regulators to reduce spending. (Bartlett, 7/11)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Children’s Healthcare Of Atlanta’s First Therapy Dog Casper Dies
Casper, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta’s first therapy dog, recently died. He was 15. Known for his gentle disposition and uncanny intuition, Casper, a golden retriever and yellow Labrador mix, began his career at Children’s in September 2009 as the hospital’s first four-legged employee. Alongside his handler, Lisa Kinsel, volunteer services manager at Children’s Scottish Rite, Casper helped improve the lives of countless patients and employees. (Oliviero, 7/11)

Chicago Tribune: Chicago Doctor Studies Racial Disparities In Breast Cancer
Dr. Tokoya Williams wanted to be a cardiac surgeon when she began medical school. But when she was diagnosed with breast cancer during her last year of medical school — leading to chemotherapy, a double mastectomy and breast reconstruction — she was forced to put that plan on hold. (Schencker, 7/11)

Detroit Free Press: Bigham Farms Doctor David Jankowski Convicted Of Running $35M Pill Mill
A federal jury on Monday convicted a Bingham Farms doctor of running a $35 million pill mill that prosecutors say stole money from the government and private insurers and fed  America's opioid addiction - all while a greedy doctor lined his own pockets. (Baldas, 7/11)

CBS News: Weed-Killing Chemical Found In Majority Of U.S. Urine Samples
A widely used but controversial herbicide linked to cancer is showing up in people, with a government study finding glyphosate in more than 80% of urine samples from U.S. kids and adults. Part of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention program, the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey found glyphosate in 1,885 of 2,310 urine samples representative of the population at large. Nearly a third of the samples came from kids, ranging in age from six to 18. (Gibson, 7/11)

In other environmental health news —

ABC News: Long Island School District Found To Have Higher Rates Of Cancer Cases: Study
A new report found a "statistically significant" excess of cancer cases among people of all ages living within a Long Island school district compared to similar areas of the state. The report, from the New York State Department of Health, looked at cancer cases over 20 years within the Northport-East Northport School District in Suffolk County -- about 45 miles from Manhattan. (Kekatos, 7/11)

San Francisco Chronicle: Pittsburg Air Quality ‘Unhealthy And At Times Hazardous’; Residents Urged To Stay Indoors
The Marsh Fire caused “unhealthy and at times hazardous air” in Pittsburg on Monday, according to Contra Costa County health authorities, who urged residents to stay inside with their windows and doors closed. (Galbraith, 7/11)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Madison, Milwaukee Data Help Shape Heat Health Ranking Tool
Data from Madison and Milwaukee are helping shape a tool that could help communities better recognize and reduce the health risks posed by hot weather. The cities are among just six pilot programs worldwide for a ranking system that uses mortality and weather data to categorize heat waves based on their danger to human health. (Heim, 7/11)

Chicago Tribune: Farmer Whose Cows Died Mysteriously Helps Unravel PFAS Origin
If Wilbur Earl Tennant’s cows hadn’t died from a mysterious wasting disease during the 1990s, the world might have never learned about the secret history of toxic forever chemicals. (Hawthorne, 7/11)

AP: UN Projects World Population Will Reach 8 Billion On Nov. 15
The United Nations estimated Monday that the world’s population will reach 8 billion on Nov. 15 and that India will replace China as the world’s most populous nation next year. In a report released on World Population Day, the U.N. also said global population growth fell below 1% in 2020 for the first time since 1950. (Lederer, 7/12)

In other public health news —

NBC News: Big Olaf Creamery Recalls Ice Cream Products After Multistate Listeria Outbreak
The Florida Health Department said Big Olaf Creamery is recalling its products amid an investigation into a multistate listeria outbreak that has killed at least one person. On Friday, the department shared a news article saying Big Olaf, based in Sarasota, had agreed to recall its products. A department representative said Big Olaf agreed Friday to stop production and conduct a recall. (Wile, 7/11)

NBC News: Judge Rules Subway Can Be Sued Over Claims That Its Tuna Sandwiches Contain Other Fish Species Or Animal Products
The sandwich chain Subway can be sued over claims that it is misleading customers when it says its tuna products are "100% tuna," a federal judge in California said Monday. The suit, originally brought in January 2021 by Oakland-area resident Nilima Amin, claims Subway's tuna products “partially or wholly lack tuna as an ingredient” and “contain other fish species, animal products, or miscellaneous products aside from tuna.” (Wile, 7/11)

The Washington Post: Keeping Germs Away From Your Kids At The ‘Spraygrounds’ This Summer
Some splash pads use recirculated water that’s disinfected before it’s pumped upward again. But their mechanisms can make appropriate disinfection difficult, especially in an environment frequented by children in diapers. Sitting or standing on the jets — a favorite pastime of children of all ages — can wash feces, dirt and microorganisms into the water and spray them into the air … or people’s mouths. (Blakemore, 7/11)

On monkeypox —

CIDRAP: Vaccine Remains In Short Supply As US Monkeypox Cases Grow 
As cases grow, monkeypox vaccine continues to be in short supply at the local level, including in Chicago and New York, which were the first cities to receive large shipments of doses from the US government. (Soucheray, 7/11)

NPR: Monkeypox Outbreak Was Avoidable And We Ignored The Warning Signs, Expert Says
Dr. Anne Rimoin is a UCLA epidemiology professor and has spent the last two decades in the Democratic Republic of Congo working on monkeypox. She said it was only when the virus spread beyond rural Africa that it sparked a global response. "This virus has been spreading in marginalized and vulnerable populations [in Africa] for decades, and we've done nothing about it," Rimoin said. "We have known that monkeypox is a potential problem for decades." (Shapiro and Wood, 7/12)

Fox News: Pennsylvania Gov. Wolf Vetoes Transgender Sports Bill; GOP Pledges To 'Never Stop Fighting' For 'Fairness'
Pennsylvania's Democratic governor vetoed a high-profile bill that would have barred biological male athletes who are transgender from competing in women's sports, calling it discriminatory against "marginalized youth." "I have been crystal clear during my time in office that hate has no place in Pennsylvania, especially discrimination against already marginalized youth representing less-than-half of 1 percent of Pennsylvania’s population," Gov. Tom Wolf said in a statement following his veto of the "Fairness in Women's Sports Act." (Creitz, 7/11)

More news from Pennsylvania —

AP: Wolf, Nursing Homes Come To Agreement To Boost Staff 
Nursing home trade associations in Pennsylvania said Monday they have agreed to boost staffing levels as part of a deal with Gov. Tom Wolf to increase aid to an industry struggling with high turnover. With Pennsylvania awash in surplus tax collections, Wolf on Monday signed legislation authorizing nearly $300 million a year, almost 20% more annually, in additional Medicaid payments to nursing homes, which were wracked by the COVID-19 pandemic. (Levy, 7/11)

In other news from across the U.S. —

Bangor Daily News: Maine's Opioid Response Held Up As A Model Despite Worsening Crisis
Maine saw a 9 percent increase in overdose deaths in the first five months of 2022 compared with the same period last year, according to the state’s monthly overdose report, which showed three-quarters of those deaths involved fentanyl. It could foreshadow a new high after Maine saw over 600 people die from overdoses last year. U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data show Maine was in the top 10 states for drug overdoses in 2020. (Andrews, 7/11)

Dallas Morning News: Florida Woman Sues Southwest Airlines After She Was Paralyzed In Wheelchair Accident
A Florida woman is suing Dallas-based Southwest Airlines after a wheelchair accident while boarding left her paralyzed. The suit, filed in Broward County Court in Florida, said 24-year-old Gaby Assouline was “thrown” from a wheelchair while taking herself down the jet bridge to a flight at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in February, even though she asked for help. (Arnold, 7/11)

Aurora Beacon-News: Marmion Student A Winner In Apple Contest For Developing App To Help Those Battling Anxiety 
Each year, Apple Inc. sponsors a contest where kids are able to show off their technical and creative skills by creating an original app that can be used to help others. (Sharos, 7/11)

North Carolina Health News: Asheville Airport Therapy Dogs Help With Anxiety 
Luna — a 60-pound (or so) goldendoodle — is busy. She often goes to work with Leah at a boutique downtown, and she volunteers as a therapy dog: at a memory care center and, more recently, at the Asheville airport. (Donnelly-DeRoven, 7/12)

KHN: As California Welcomes Ukrainian Refugees, Counties Fall Short On Interpreters 
After the Russian invasion, Katie Nelha and her husband couldn’t safely return to their home in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, so they took their chances as refugees. Flying from Poland, where they were working, to Mexico in early April, they crossed into the U.S. at Tijuana, where they were granted a temporary visa for humanitarian reasons. Once in Sacramento, Nelha, 24, relied on a county translator to help her enroll in Medi-Cal, California’s Medicaid program, to cover the cost of visiting an optometrist. “I need glasses to pass my eye test and get a driver’s license so we can start looking for work,” Nelha said through an interpreter. She plans to find a job in one of the city’s dozens of Ukrainian and Russian restaurants. (Kreidler, 7/12)

The New York Times: What Will Post-Roe Medical Care Look Like? A Times Event 
When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, eliminating the constitutional right to abortion, medical providers were faced with a complex patchwork of state-level abortion bans and prohibitions. (7/11)

The Atlantic: The Harshest Abortion Restrictions Are Yet To Come
The Dobbs decision will forever change many people’s lives. But it also sparked a legal revolution that is just beginning. State by state, the movement that fought to overturn Roe v. Wade is now fighting for even more extreme measures. (David S. Cohen, Greer Donley and Rachel Rebouche, 7/11)

San Francisco Chronicle: I’m 17, And The Overturning Of Roe Scares Me For What The Future Holds
As a freshly minted high school graduate, I’ve been soaking in my last summer before entering adulthood. During the past few weeks, I’ve found myself reminiscing about my senior year — the sushi runs during lunch, driving our third-period teacher absolutely crazy and even some of my classes. I’ve also been imagining my future and all the exciting possibilities it carries. But after the recent decision by the Supreme Court to eliminate the constitutional right to an abortion, I am scared — for me and every other woman in this country. (Vedika Jawa, 7/10)

The New York Times: Why Overturning Roe Will Unleash A Legal Storm For The Supreme Court 
While laying waste to 50 years of abortion jurisprudence, the Supreme Court — or at least four of the five members of the new hard-right majority — took pains to reassure the country that it had executed an isolated hit on an “egregiously wrong” precedent that would not reverberate in other areas of constitutional law. (Harry Litman, 7/12)

Los Angeles Times: New COVID Variants Like BA.5 Are Dominating Us — We Can Do More To Prevent This 
It takes a lot for a COVID-19 variant to become dominant throughout most of the world. It has happened only three previous times (Alpha, Delta, Omicron) and now is occurring with the Omicron family subvariant known as BA.5. How did this occur and what are the implications for the pandemic going forward? (Eric J. Topol, 7/12)

The Boston Globe: Many Countries Have Given Us A Preview Of What’s To Come With COVID Subvariant BA.5. Prepare. 
The BA.5 Omicron subvariant is here and is the dominant COVID-19 virus in the United States. Case positivity rates have been higher than they are now only twice since the beginning of the pandemic — during the first weeks of the pandemic, and a few weeks during the January 2022 Omicron spike. (Asher Williams, 7/11)

Scientific American: Monopolies Are Getting In The Way Of MRNA Vaccines
Two and a half years into the COVID pandemic, the numbers are grim. While 80% of people living in the richest countries on earth have received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine, the corresponding figure for those in the poorest countries is 18%. The loss of life was incalculable, literally: no one is sure how many people have died from COVID. (Achal Prabhala, 7/11)

The Washington Post: The Biden Administration’s Bold Embrace Of Harm Reduction Will Save Lives
“Harm reduction” is a phrase previous administrations have used sparingly, if at all, when discussing drug policy. But the Biden administration not only uses it often regarding the escalating epidemic of overdose deaths, which claimed more than 100,000 lives last year; it has made it the centerpiece of its national drug control strategy. (Leana S. Wen, 7/12)

The Mercury News: Police Shooting Shows Need For 988 Mental Health Hotline
In June 2019, Walnut Creek resident Taun Hall made a call to police as she had done several times before, letting them know her son, Miles, was experiencing a mental health crisis and needed help. Recognizing that her son was a young Black man in an affluent White community, Taun feared for his safety and made it a priority to develop relationships with neighbors and local law enforcement so they knew he lived with a serious mental illness and wasn’t a threat. (Jennifer Wang and Tamara Hunter, 7/9)