AP: California Reopens, Says Goodbye To Most COVID-19 Rules
California, the first state in America to put in place a coronavirus lockdown, is now turning a page on the pandemic. At the stroke of midnight, California is lifting most of its COVID-19 restrictions and ushering in what has been billed as the state’s “Grand Reopening. ”Starting Tuesday, there will be no more state rules on social distancing, and no more limits on capacity at restaurants, bars, supermarkets, gyms, stadiums or anywhere else. And masks — one of the most symbolic and fraught symbols of the pandemic — will no longer be mandated for vaccinated people in most settings, though businesses and counties can still require them. (Gecker, 6/15)

USA Today: California Lifting COVID Restrictions
The nation's largest state will reopen Tuesday, effectively ending a slew of 15-month restrictions to stem the COVID-19 pandemic. California is ranked 41st among the states where coronavirus was spreading the fastest on a per-person basis, according to a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data. With 11.87% of the country's population, California had 6.19% of the country's cases in the last week. The Golden State is in a markedly different place than it was in December when it was declared by many to be the epicenter of the pandemic. California broke records for hospitalizations and single-day case numbers multiple days in a row. Deaths topped 30,000, then 45,000 the next month, and many funeral homes in Southern California were overrun by the surge. (Aspegren, 6/15)

Bay Area News Group: California's COVID-Vaccinated Eligible To Win Dream Vacations
If chances to win cash and $50 grocery gift cards aren’t enough to tempt Californians who haven’t yet been vaccinated to get their COVID-19 shots, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a new incentive Monday — a chance to win one of a half-dozen vacation packages around the state. The announcement of what Newsom called “a series of spectacular items and packages and experiences, including culinary experiences, that really highlight the best of California” comes as California plans to reopen Tuesday, dropping physical distancing, mask-wearing, gathering and indoor capacity limits at midnight. (Woolfolk, 6/14)

AP: California Adds Vacation Incentive To Spur Vaccinations
California will offer six “dream vacation” incentives to spur more people to get coronavirus vaccinations, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday on the eve of the state awarding of $15 million in cash prizes. Aside from boosting California’s vaccination rate as it lifts most pandemic restrictions Tuesday, the latest promotion aims to jump-start the Golden State’s travel and tourism industry after more than a year in virtual hibernation because of stay-at-home orders and travel restrictions. (Thompson, 6/14)

In related news from California —

San Francisco Chronicle: UC Reverses Course, Will Require All Students, Faculty And Staff To Be Vaccinated This Fall
In an about-face, the University of California will require all students, staff and faculty to be vaccinated against the coronavirus this fall, even though the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the vaccines only for emergency use. UC President Michael Drake “does plan to move forward with the vaccine mandate,” Regent Eloy Oritz Oakley told The Chronicle on Monday. The decision reverses a proposed policy UC announced in April of requiring vaccinations only after the FDA fully approved at least one of the three vaccines now being administered to American under emergency authorization. It’s not clear when the FDA will give full approval. (Asimov, 6/14)

Los Angeles Times: Vaccinated California Workers Poised To Ditch Masks This Week
Fully vaccinated workers in California may be able to remove masks at work this week if a state safety board approves a proposal by the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health, or Cal/OSHA. The California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board is poised on Thursday to approve a plan written by Cal/OSHA that would allow most fully vaccinated workers in many workplaces to stop wearing masks and end physical distancing requirements for all workers. (The relaxed rules would not apply in places such as healthcare settings, which are regulated by tougher criteria.) (Lin II, 6/14)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Georgia Grocery Store Cashier Shot To Death After Mask Dispute, Authorities Say
A cashier at a DeKalb County supermarket was fatally shot Monday when she argued with a shopper about wearing his face mask, officials said. The shopper, identified as Victor Lee Tucker Jr., 30, of Palmetto, left the Big Bear supermarket after the argument but came back with a gun, according to the GBI. The volatile incident also resulted in injury to an off-duty sheriff’s deputy working as a security guard, who tried to intervene and was shot during an exchange of gunfire. (Simone Burns and Hollis, 6/15)

AP: Sheriff: Cashier Fatally Shot After Argument Over Face Masks
DeKalb County Sheriff Melody Maddox said the shooting occurred inside the Big Bear Supermarket in Decatur while several people were inside the business. She said a female cashier was killed when a man opened fire. “There was some confrontation, argument — I’m not sure exactly what — in reference to the wearing of masks, at which time the subject pulled out a weapon and shot the cashier,” Maddox said at a news conference. Maddox said she did not know the details of the argument. (6/15)

In other news about mask-wearing requirements —

AP: Hassan: Mask Requirement Lifted For Commercial Fishermen
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Coast Guard have updated guidance for commercial fishermen saying those who are fully vaccinated do not need to wear a mask while outside on a commercial fishing vessel, U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan said. The move comes after Hassan and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, of Alaska, advocated for the change. They had heard from fishermen in their states who said wearing a mask while they work is unsafe, Hassan said Sunday. (6/14)

Health News Florida: Man 'Stranded' In The Villages Sues To End Mask Requirement On Flights 
A Washington, D.C., man finds himself “stranded” in The Villages because he says he can’t wear a mask and the airlines won’t let him fly without one. Now Lucas Wall wants a federal judge to block the rules requiring masks on flights, claiming they are unconstitutional and conflict with several state laws. (Byrnes, 6/14)

KHN: Being Vaccinated Doesn’t Mean You Must Go Maskless. Here’s Why
For more than a year, public health officials have repeatedly told us that masks save lives. They’ve warned us to keep our distance from our neighbors, who’ve morphed into disease vectors before our eyes. Now they are telling us that if we’re vaccinated, we no longer need to wear masks or physically distance ourselves in most cases — even indoors. To many people, myself included, this seems hard to reconcile with so many long months of masking and physical distancing and sacrificing our social lives for fear of covid-19. What is an anxious, pandemic-weary (and wary) soul to do? (Wolfson, 6/15)

The Boston Globe: How A City Emerges From A 462-Day State Of Emergency
At 11:59 p.m. on May 28, in the final seconds of the indoor mask mandate in Massachusetts, dozens of patrons inside the Harp, a downtown sports bar, eyed the clock as if it were New Year’s Eve. When it struck midnight, they threw their masks into the air with the bravado of graduating seniors, letting them flutter to the ground like dystopian confetti to be trampled on en route to the dance floor. And yet, two weeks later and two miles away on the sidewalks of Cambridge, where 62 percent of the population is fully vaccinated, easily two-thirds of those in Central Square still wore masks, even as the sun sweltered and the temperature crept toward 95 degrees. (Krueger, 6/14)

In related news —

CNN: 3,000 Unruly Airplane Passengers Reported This Year, FAA Says 
Authorities have received more than 3,000 reports of unruly airplane passengers this year, and the majority of those involve face mask rules, the Federal Aviation Administration told CNN on Monday. The sharp spike in misbehaving and even violent passengers includes 2,300 reports that passengers refused to comply with the federal requirement to wear face masks on airplanes. The mandate also applies to other modes of public transportation such as buses. (Wallace, 6/14)

The Boston Globe: ‘You’re On Your Own Up There’: The Rise Of Air Rage In The Era Of COVID
It started as yet another altercation about mask-wearing. But this one was aboard an airplane flying from a state with COVID-19 mask requirements to one without them. Andrew Fahy, a member of the cabin crew, watched as the two passengers stood arguing in the aisle at the front of the plane. “I didn’t get between them, and I didn’t take sides,” said Fahy, who has been based in Boston for 34 years as a flight attendant for an airline he asked not be named. “If you take sides these days you lose. I just said, ‘These are what the rules are.’” (Marcus, 6/14)

Fox News: Delta COVID-19 Variant Doubles Risk Of Hospitalization Compared To Alpha Strain, Scottish Study Finds
A study out of Scotland has found the Delta COVID-19 variant carries double the risk of hospitalization compared to the Alpha strain, particularly in patients with five or more comorbidities. Scotland had determined that the Delta variant became the dominant strain in the country about a month ago. Using the country’s COVID-19 surveillance program, researchers on behalf of Public Health Scotland analyzed data to investigate risk of hospital admission and estimate vaccinate effectiveness at preventing hospital admissions among likely Delta variant cases. The study was published Monday in The Lancet. (Hein, 6/14)

Bloomberg: Delta Variant: Pfizer, AstraZeneca Vaccines Shown Effective Vs. Hospitalizations
Covid-19 vaccines from Pfizer Inc. and AstraZeneca Plc are highly effective after two doses at preventing hospitalization of those infected with the delta variant, underscoring the urgency in getting people fully protected, according to health authorities in England. The Pfizer and BioNTech SE shot is 96% effective against hospitalization after two doses, while the AstraZeneca and University of Oxford Covid inoculation is 92% effective, according to an analysis announced Monday by Public Health England. Those results are comparable with the protection offered against the alpha variant, which first emerged in Britain, the data show. (Gemmell and Paton, 6/14)

Fox News: Delta COVID-19 Variant 'Probably Going To Become' Dominant Strain In US, Gottlieb Says
The former head of the FDA said that while the Delta variant currently accounts for about 10% of coronavirus infections in the U.S., it’s doubling at a rate of every two weeks meaning "it’s probably going to become the dominant strain." However, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, who was appearing on CBS’s "Face the Nation," said, that doesn’t necessarily mean there will be a sharp rise in infections over the coming weeks. (Hein, 6/14)

AP: Vaccinated Hawaiian Positive For Delta Variant
Hawaii says a vaccinated Oahu resident who traveled to Nevada last month has tested positive for the delta variant of COVID-19. The delta variant was first detected in India and is a more transmissible version of the disease. The variant currently makes up 6% of all cases in the U.S. Hawaii Health Director Dr. Libby Char says this is a “very rare breakthrough” case in which a COVID-19 vaccine didn’t prevent infection. (6/15)

Burlington Free Press: Vermont Has Best COVID Vaccination Rate In The U.S. What To Know.
Vermont is lifting all of its remaining COVID-19 restrictions after becoming the first state in the U.S. to have 80% of its eligible population get one dose of the vaccine, Gov. Phil Scott announced Monday. This means any remaining restrictions about wearing masks, physical distancing, or crowd size limits have been rescinded by the state. State officials had initially planned to lift all remaining restrictions by July 4, but they later set the 80% goal in light of Vermont's high vaccination rate to potentially lift restrictions earlier. They have been counting down Vermont's progress for weeks, sharing a running total almost each day of how many people still needed to get their shot until the state reached its goal. (Murray, 6/14)

Bloomberg: New York Benefits Most, South Dakota Least From 70% Vaccination
Vaccinating more people against Covid-19 is always going to be a good thing but the benefits vary widely by state, according to a new computer simulation whose results are charted below. New York would get the biggest reduction in cases from getting 70% of its population fully vaccinated vs. 50%, followed closely by Florida and North Carolina, while South Dakota would see the smallest benefit, the simulation says. The simulation was performed by Epistemix Inc., a Pittsburgh-based company spun out of the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health that performs agent-based modeling. To track epidemics, Epistemix simulates the interactions of millions of imaginary people who are statistically similar to the actual U.S. population, taking into account their demographic characteristics and where they live, work, or go to school. (Coy, 6/15)

In other news about the vaccine rollout —

Des Moines Register: Iowa Fires Prison Nurses Who Gave COVID Vaccine Overdoses To Inmates
The Iowa Department of Corrections has fired two nurses who gave large overdoses of coronavirus vaccine to dozens of inmates at the Fort Madison prison in April, an agency official said Monday. Department spokesman Cord Overton said in an email to the Des Moines Register that the nurses had been terminated. Overton did not identify them, or cite a legal reason for keeping their names private. The incident happened April 20 at the maximum security prison for men. Authorities said at the time that 77 inmates were given up to six times the proper dose for the Pfizer version of the coronavirus vaccine. The department has never explained how the overdoses happened. (Leys, 6/14)

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Sisolak Planning To Offer ‘Exciting’ Prizes To Spur COVID Vaccinations
Gov. Steve Sisolak is expected to announce within days that Nevada will join a growing number of states in offering “exciting” prizes to get more people vaccinated against COVID-19. Nevada’s program will be “pretty innovative” and “a little different than what the other states’ have been,” the governor said last week, according to KVVU-TV, Channel 5. “And it’s exciting,” the governor added, hinting that an announcement might come “within five to seven days.” (Hynes, 6/14)

CNN: Efforts To Vaccinate The US May Continue For Years As Covid-19 Variants Circle The Globe, Expert Says
Covid-19 infections may be on the decline, but the urgency to continue vaccinating the US population is far from over, one expert said. "We are going to need to have a highly vaccinated population for years if not longer. This virus is going to be circulating in the world for a long time," said Dr. Paul Offit, a member of the US Food and Drug Administration's Vaccine Advisory Committee. (Holcombe, 6/15)

The Wall Street Journal: Companies Push Employees To Prove They Are Vaccinated For Covid-19 
Companies are stepping up the pressure on workers to get vaccinated—not necessarily with mandates but with strong nudges. For months, many employers have attempted to coax workers into receiving a Covid-19 vaccine. Companies dangled cash, time off and other prizes to encourage vaccinations. Executives made personal appeals in town-hall meetings and internal memos. (Cutter and McCaffrey, 6/14)

In related news about the spread of the coronavirus —

The Washington Post: Coronavirus Infections Dropping Where People Are Vaccinated, Rising Where They Are Not 
States with higher vaccination rates now have markedly fewer coronavirus cases, as infections are dropping in places where most residents have been immunized and are rising in many places people have not, a Washington Post analysis has found. States with lower vaccination also have significantly higher hospitalization rates, The Post found. Poorly vaccinated communities have not been reporting catastrophic conditions. Instead, they are usually seeing new infections holding steady or increasing without overwhelming local hospitals. (Keating, Ahmed, Nirappil, Stanley-Becker and Bernstein, 6/14)

AP: Kansas Governor Tries To Keep COVID State Of Emergency Alive
Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly is trying to persuade deeply skeptical Republican lawmakers to extend Kansas’ state of emergency for the coronavirus pandemic, arguing that it’s still necessary for vaccinations and some testing for COVID-19. Eight leaders of the GOP-controlled Legislature, six of them Republicans, were meeting Tuesday to consider whether to extend a state of emergency that’s been in place since early March 2020. A law enacted in late March requires the legislative leaders to sign off on an extension, and if top Republicans reject Kelly’s request, the state of emergency will expire by day’s end. (Hanna, 6/15)

ABC News: 3 COVID-19 Vaccine Doses Can Improve Immunity In Solid Organ Transplant Recipients: Study 
An extra boost of a vaccine may mean more protection for organ transplant recipients in their fight against COVID-19, a new study finds. Solid organ transplant recipients, including kidney, liver, heart and lungs, are part of a larger group of immunocompromised individuals, or those with weaker immune systems. Unlike the robust immune response and protection found in their immunocompetent counterparts, these individuals have been shown to have a blunted immune response when given COVID-19 mRNA vaccines. (Rosen, 6/15)

In other vaccine-research news —

Fox News: Novavax COVID-19 Vaccine, Flu Shot Coadministration Likely ‘Viable Strategy,’ Company Says
Maryland-based biotech company Novavax on Monday announced its experimental COVID-19 vaccine remained effective when coadministered with an approved flu shot. Researchers and drug makers are interested in studying coadministration and associated safety and efficacy, or giving multiple vaccines to a person during one visit, to ease logistics and help patients catch up on missed vaccinations, especially amid the pandemic. The news comes hours after Novavax announced on Monday that its COVID-19 vaccine was found to be over 90% effective overall, and offered 100% protection against moderate and severe disease in a Phase 3 clinical trial. The company said it intends to file for FDA authorization in the third quarter. (Rivas, 6/14)

The Washington Post: Pfizer To Study Vaccinated People Who Get Virus For Guidance On Booster Shots
A top Pfizer researcher said the company is looking at “breakthrough cases” of fully vaccinated people who later got infected by the coronavirus in an attempt to understand if, and when, booster shots need to be administered. “We’re going to be monitoring this closely and using immunological data, clinical data, and real world data to help us think about when a booster might be needed,” David Swerdlow, Pfizer’s clinical epidemiology lead, told a conference, according to Bloomberg Law. (Ang and Berger, 6/15)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Emory University Partners On COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Shots
Emory University researchers are participating in a study that many public health experts believe will be an eventual step in containing the spread of COVID-19: a booster shot. Emory, which has partnered with Moderna on other COVID-19 vaccine research, is working again with the biotechnology company and using its vaccine for this research. Participants are receiving one 100 microgram dose, the same amount in each dose of its initial two-part vaccine. The research will focus on how long the COVID-19 vaccine shot will be effective and on monitoring side effects. It’s unclear how long the effectiveness lasts, but booster shots could be needed to protect against variants of the virus. (Stirgus, 6/15)

The Baltimore Sun: Do We Need Another COVID Vaccine? Maryland Experts Say Yes, And It’s Likely On The Way
Novavax, a Gaithersburg-based pharmaceutical company, reported Monday that its coronavirus vaccine was highly effective against COVID-19 infections after testing in about 30,000 people. The trial included about 500 people followed by the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and the results from the United States and Mexico follow similar positive safety and efficacy results in Europe. (Cohn, 6/15)

ABC News: Novavax COVID-19 Vaccine: How It Works And Other Things You Should Know 
Novavax's COVID-19 vaccine is a two-shot formula that can be stored at refrigerator temperatures and utilizes different technology than the United States' three existing vaccines. ... Novavax is a protein subunit vaccine, meaning it uses a fragment of a harmless protein of the virus that's grown in a cell culture and stimulates an immune response. (Schumaker, 6/14)

In updates on monoclonal antibody treatments —

Reuters: AstraZeneca Says Antibody Treatment Failed In Preventing COVID-19 In Exposed Patients
Anglo-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca said on Tuesday a study of its monoclonal antibody treatment, AZD7442, did not meet the main goal of preventing symptomatic COVID-19 in people recently exposed to the novel coronavirus. The company said the participants in the trial were unvaccinated adults older than 18 years with confirmed exposure to a person with the coronavirus within the past eight days. (6/15)

The Washington Post: Rep. Greene Apologizes For Comparing Face Masks To Holocaust, But Stands By Comparison Of Democrats To Nazi Party 
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Monday visited the Holocaust Museum and apologized for previously comparing coronavirus face-mask policies to the Nazi practice of labeling Jews with Star of David badges. But the Georgia Republican declined to walk back other controversial statements she has made, including one in which she compared the Democratic Party to Hitler’s party, the National Socialist German Workers’ Party. (Sonmez, 6/14)

ABC News: Members Of Congress Hold Moment Of Silence For Americans Who Died Of COVID-19 
As the United States approaches the grim milestone of 600,000 coronavirus deaths, a group of bipartisan lawmakers gathered on the east front steps of the U.S. Capitol building on Monday evening to honor the lives lost. The group included Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D- Calif., Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., and other bipartisan members of Congress. (Lantry, 6/14)

Roll Call: House Chamber Mask Mandate Lifted For Vaccinated Members, Staff
When the House returns to Washington next week, vaccinated members will have the choice to go mask-free in the House chamber for the first time since mask rules were implemented last spring, in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. But unvaccinated lawmakers and staff will still be required to wear a mask in the chamber and throughout the House side of the Capitol. According to a senior Democratic aide, the Capitol complex is at a vaccination rate of 85 percent, a benchmark that led to the announcement of this change Friday. (Tully-McManus, 6/11)

In other news from Capitol Hill —

Politico: Schumer Apologizes After Using Outdated Term For Disabled Children During Housing Interview 
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer apologized on Monday for using an outmoded word to refer to developmentally disabled children during a recent podcast appearance. Appearing on the One NYCHA podcast, Schumer used the word “retarded” in making a point about the challenge of overcoming community resistance to housing initiatives meant to serve vulnerable populations. (Niedzwiadek, 6/14)

AP: To Curb Drug Prices, Democrats Still Seeking A Balance
Democrats are committed to passing legislation this year to curb prescription drug prices, but they’re still disagreeing on how to cut costs for patients and taxpayers while preserving profits that lure investors to back potentially promising treatments. It boils down to finding a balance: How big a stick should Medicare have to negotiate prices with pharmaceutical companies? (Alonso-Zaldivar, 6/12)

The New York Times: Vatican Warns U.S. Bishops: Don’t Deny Biden Communion Over Abortion 
The Vatican has warned conservative American bishops to hit the brakes on their push to deny communion to politicians supportive of abortion rights — including President Biden, a faithful churchgoer and the first Roman Catholic to occupy the Oval Office in 60 years. But despite the remarkably public stop sign from Rome, the American bishops are pressing ahead anyway and are expected to force a debate on the communion issue at a remote meeting that starts on Wednesday. (Horowitz, 6/14)

The Washington Post: Catholic Bishops-Biden Standoff Over Communion Has Roots In Abortion Politics 
President Biden has often described his spiritual need as a Catholic to attend Mass each week and receive Communion. But making that happen isn’t always simple. In recent years, an increasingly focused group of conservative Catholics has been pressing the prioritizing of opposing abortion above all else and is seeking to keep Catholic politicians who in any way support abortion access from the sacrament, considered the core rite of Catholic worship. (Boorstein, 6/14)

Politico: How The Anti-Abortion Movement Used The Progressive Playbook To Chip Away At Roe V. Wade
The Supreme Court captured its biggest headlines last month not for a decision, but for a case it agreed to review next year: Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The case turns on a 2018 Mississippi law banning abortion at 15 weeks, but its impact will likely reach well beyond one state. To uphold Mississippi’s law—which the Court’s conservative majority is expected to do—the Court will have to undo all or part of Roe v. Wade. Such a sweeping decision might seem like an opportunistic swipe at abortion rights, a conservative court suddenly reversing 50 years of precedent with a single move. But if the Court does rule that way, the story behind it will be far more complex and important to understand. The attack on Roe has been decades in the making—and its successes owe not just to the strength of the conservative anti-abortion movement, but to the progressive playbook that achieved breakthroughs on civil rights, gay marriage and even abortion. (Ziegler and Tsai, 6/13)

In other news about the federal government —

The New York Times: Scientist Opens Up About His Early Email to Fauci on Virus Origins
Among the thousands of pages of Dr. Anthony S. Fauci’s emails released recently by BuzzFeed News, a short note from Kristian Andersen, a virologist at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif., has garnered a lot of attention. Over the past year, Dr. Andersen has been one of the most outspoken proponents of the theory that the coronavirus originated from a natural spillover from an animal to humans outside of a lab. But in the email to Dr. Fauci in January 2020, Dr. Andersen hadn’t yet come to that conclusion. He told Dr. Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease expert, that some features of the virus made him wonder whether it had been engineered, and noted that he and his colleagues were planning to investigate further by analyzing the virus’s genome. (Gorman and Zimmer, 6/14)

The New York Times: Shi Zhengli, A Virologist In Wuhan, Speaks Out Against 'Lab Leak' Theory
To a growing chorus of American politicians and scientists, she is the key to whether the world will ever learn if the virus behind the devastating Covid-19 pandemic escaped from a Chinese lab. To the Chinese government and public, she is a hero of the country’s success in curbing the epidemic and a victim of malicious conspiracy theories. Shi Zhengli, a top Chinese virologist, is once again at the center of clashing narratives about her research on coronaviruses at a state lab in Wuhan, the city where the pandemic first emerged. (Qin and Buckley, 6/14)

The Washington Post: Trump’s FDA Commissioner Takes Job At Moderna Backer 
Former Food and Drug Administration commissioner Stephen Hahn is joining the venture capital firm that launched Moderna and remains closely tied to the coronavirus vaccine maker, the firm confirmed on Monday. Hahn will serve as a chief medical officer at Flagship Pioneering — which incubated Moderna more than a decade ago — as the life sciences venture firm announced its expansion into new projects like pandemic preparedness. (Diamond, 6/14)

Axios: Most Hospitals Aren't Complying With A Federal Price Transparency Rule 
Most hospitals aren't fully complying with a new federal rule requiring them to make their prices available, according to a new study in JAMA Internal Medicine. The goal of the regulation is to allow price shopping and, thus lower costs, although it's unclear whether it'd have this effect. (Owens, 6/15)

In other health industry news —

Modern Healthcare: Cano Health Acquires University Health Care For $600 Million
Senior primary care provider Cano Health has acquired medical provider University Health Care for $600 million. The bolt-on acquisition grows Miami-based Cano's projected 2021 revenue to as much as $1.5 billion. The combined company has 143,000 members, 88 medical centers and more than 1,000 staff and affiliated providers nationwide. The news comes amid a flurry of activity in the primary care space, with insurers and providers racing to capture stakes of the growing Medicare Advantage market. The purchase was funded using $540 million in cash and $60 million in common equity issued to University's shareholders. Cano expects full-year membership could reach as high as 162,000 by year's end. Combining with University added 24,000 Medicare Advantage members, 13 facilities and more than 300 providers to Cano's platform. (Bannow, 6/14)

Modern Healthcare: Humana To Acquire Home Health Provider One Homecare Solutions
Humana on Monday announced it had signed a definitive agreement to purchase One Home Healthcare Solutions from private equity affiliate Waypoint Capital Partners, according to a news release. Financial terms were not disclosed, and the sale is expected to close in the second quarter of 2021. The acquisition of the home-based service provider One Home Healthcare, which does business as onehome, will build on Humana's growing value-based home health segment, the company said. The Louisville, Ky.-based insurer recently announced its plan to fully acquire and integrate Kindred at Home. (Christ, 6/14)

Georgia Health News: Another Contract Standoff Looms Between United, Northside
Three months ago, two Northside hospitals in Gwinnett County went out of network with UnitedHealthcare, affecting thousands of the insurance company’s members. Looming now is the potential for other Northside hospitals — including the health system’s flagship facility in Atlanta — to drop off the United provider network as well, with possibly more patients affected. (Miller, 6/14)

Stat: Health Lobbyists Fund Their Own Policy Analyses, Clouding Debates 
Sen. Chuck Grassley’s voice boomed through the Senate hearing room — it sounded like the voice of God, the committee chair chuckled — as he demanded an explanation for why the hospital industry was giving him information that directly contradicted the findings of academic researchers. The hospital representative testifying had offered up an analysis paid for by the American Hospital Association showing that hospital mergers lowered the amount hospitals collect per patient. A growing body of independent research proved the opposite: that consumers’ costs rise when hospitals merge. (Cohrs, 6/15)

USA Today: US News & World Report Ranks Children's Hospitals By Region, Specialty
Ben Harder, chief of health analysis and managing editor at U.S. News & World Report, said the publication chose to include state and regional rankings this year so families could find hospitals closer to home as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact travel. “Parents are looking at a ranking of the top 50 hospitals in the country and for them, some of them are not actionable,” he said. “We wanted to give them information that would be relevant to the actions they’re trying to take.” The list also ranks the top 50 centers in 10 specialties: cancer, cardiology and heart surgery, diabetes and endocrinology, gastroenterology and GI surgery, neonatology, nephrology, neurology and neurosurgery, orthopedics, pulmonology and lung surgery, and urology. (Rodriguez, 6/15)

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette: UAMS' Covid-19 Research Gets Help
The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences has received a $1.4 million federal grant to study covid-19's disproportionate effects on minority-group populations and to improve efforts to reach those who have been underserved, the school announced Monday. The goal is to increase vaccinations and save lives. The research comes as the vaccination gaps for non-Hispanic whites, Blacks and Hispanics are beginning to narrow nationwide. "It's clear to me that we're making progress. We're not at equity yet, but we're definitely still making progress," said Dr. Cameron Webb, the White House's senior policy adviser for covid-19 equity. (Davis and Lockwood, 6/15)

Bangor Daily News: Northern Light Plans Overhauls At Half Of Its 10 Hospitals
Northern Light Health is planning or working on overhauls at half of its 10 hospitals across the state, with recent announcements for new or updated facilities following a year during which the Brewer-based hospital system lost tens of millions of dollars. The hospital system is in varying stages of updating Acadia Hospital in Bangor, its hospital in Blue Hill, Maine Coast Hospital in Ellsworth, C.A. Dean Hospital in Greenville and Mercy Hospital in Portland. (Marino Jr., 6/15)

Axios: Health Care CEO Pay Soars During Pandemic 
The CEOs of 178 health care companies collectively made $3.2 billion during the coronavirus pandemic, which was 31% more than 2019, according to an Axios analysis of financial filings. Health care executives took home more than ever because a vast majority of their pay still comes in the form of stock. So while the coronavirus ravaged people's lives, the health care system and the broader economy, the soaring stock market immunized executives' pay. (Herman, 6/14)

Stat: Meet The Unlikely Veteran-Turned-Doctor Shaping Amazon’s Health Plans
If you know the name Vin Gupta, chances are it’s because he tends to spar with politicians and others spouting anti-science rhetoric, and to as vast an audience as possible. He’s a medical commentator on NBC and MSNBC, a practicing intensive care physician, a public health researcher, a faculty member at the University of Washington — and a voracious tweeter. So it seems unlikely that someone so outward-facing has a day job at, of all places, Amazon, a notoriously tight-lipped tech behemoth that is rocketing full force into health care delivery. (Brodwin, 6/14)

CIDRAP: Health Workers Should Wear N95s In Community Surges, Researchers Say
Healthcare providers should wear N95 respirators when COVID-19 rates are high in the community, not just if they're dealing directly with COVID-19 patients, as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The commentary, published in Clinical Infectious Diseases late last week, outlines three reasons. (6/14)

AP: Floss Boss: Dental Student Gets $10k To Pursue Invention
A dental student at Virginia Commonwealth University has been awarded $10,000 by her school to develop a prototype for her invention to help those wearing braces floss between their teeth. Student Christina Gordon first developed her idea for the Proxy-Flosser when she was 10 years old and looking for a better way to complete the tedious task. (6/13)

AP: Los Angeles Dentist Charged With Sex Assaults On Patients
A Los Angeles dentist was charged Monday with sexually abusing nine women while they were undergoing procedures. Emad Fathy Moawad, 50, was charged with more than a dozen counts of sexual battery by restraint and other acts involving force. ... Prosecutors allege that between 2013 and 2018, Moawad molested women ranging from 27 to 73 years old. Moawad was sued in 2019 by a woman who alleged that while under anesthesia in 2017, Moawad molested her and that she reported the allegations to police, the Los Angeles Times reported. (6/15)

North Carolina Health News: Expanding Medication-Assisted Therapy Training 
About a decade ago, Blake Fagan vowed he would never write a prescription for Suboxone, a combination of buprenorphine and naloxone used to curb the opioid craving. The Asheville family physician had seen the ravages of the opioid crisis up close and couldn’t imagine aiding and abetting it which he believed medication-assisted therapy would do... These days, Fagan not only prescribes Suboxone (the generic name is buprenorphine), he sees that primary care doctors in residency programs in North Carolina are qualified to prescribe the drug, too. He views this as another spoke in the wheel of addiction treatment. (Newsome, 6/14)

Stat: GSK Buys Rights To TIGIT-Targeted Cancer Immunotherapy From Iteos
Iteos Therapeutics said Monday that it has sold ownership rights to an experimental anti-TIGIT cancer antibody to GlaxoSmithKline — the most recent and largest licensing deal yet for a drug in the unproven, but highly sought-after class of immunotherapy treatments. Glaxo has struggled to compete against its pharma rivals in the cancer drug business, so it had little choice but to pay up big for rights to an anti-TIGIT drug — in this case, an upfront cash payment of $625 million for rights to the drug, called EOS-448. (Feuerstein, 6/14)

Stat: Why Two Scientific Powerhouses Are Teaming Up To Tackle Rare Cancers
As a medical school student, oncologist Vinod Ravi felt like he understood what it took to treat disease. Then his brother was diagnosed with a very rare form of bone cancer, a reality check on the limitations of not only his own education, but the entire field of rare cancer research. Ravi combed through the research and treatment protocols for Ewing’s sarcoma, the cancer his brother had been diagnosed with, but found them patchy and outdated. The drugs to treat the disease fell far short, and Ravi’s brother passed away. (Lin, 6/15)

Stat: Scientists CRISPR Patients' Immune Cells In Bid To Shrink GI Tumors
Last year, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, led by immunotherapy pioneer Carl June, showed that it was safe and feasible to treat cancer patients with infusions of their own immune cells that had been edited with the technology known as CRISPR. The trial was small, and the patients weren’t cured of their cancer. The study was designed only to test safety. (Mullin, 6/15)

Axios: Mallinckrodt Pays Executives $33 Million To Steer Bankruptcy 
Last year, drug company Mallinckrodt paid its top five executives nearly $33 million, including $15 million to CEO Mark Trudeau. Last year, Mallinckrodt filed for bankruptcy, faced numerous opioid lawsuits, and shelled out $640 million in underpaid rebates to the federal government — all problems that have come under the watch of executives receiving these lavish pay packages. (Herman, 6/14)

AP: Doctors Warn Of Burns From Asphalt As Heat Wave Hits US West
Doctors who work in Arizona and Nevada burn centers are warning of injuries from contact with super-heated roadways and other surfaces as the first extreme heat wave of the year extends across the U.S. West. A high pressure system is expected to push temperatures above 115 degrees Fahrenheit (46 Celsius) this week in Las Vegas and Phoenix. Health officials advised people to be mindful of hot asphalt, sidewalks and even desert sand. (Christie, 6/15)

The Washington Post: 2020 Was The Deadliest Gun Violence Year In Decades. So Far, 2021 Is Worse
The shootings have come at a relentless pace. Gun violence this year has cut through celebrations and funerals, places of work and houses of worship. It has taken lives at a grocery store and in a fast-food drive-through lane. And most of all, it has unfolded on city streets and in family homes, away from the cameras and far from the national spotlight. By almost every measure, 2021 has already been a terrible year for gun violence. Many fear it will get worse. Last weekend alone, more than 120 people died in shootings, according to the Gun Violence Archive, with three especially dangerous incidents in Austin, Chicago and Savannah, Ga., leaving two dead and at least 30 injured. (Thebault, Fox and Tran, 6/14)

USA Today: CNN Anchor Christiane Amanpour Reveals She Has Ovarian Cancer
CNN's chief international anchor Christiane Amanpour announced she has ovarian cancer. The Emmy Award-winning journalist shared her cancer diagnosis with viewers Monday during her CNN International program "Amanpour," which she's been absent from the last four weeks while undergoing treatment. "Like millions of women around the world, I’ve been diagnosed with ovarian cancer," Amanpour, 63, said. "I’ve had successful major surgery to remove it and I’m now undergoing several months of chemotherapy for the very best possible long-term prognosis and I’m confident." (Henderson, 6/14)

The New York Times: Stephen Colbert Returns To ‘Late Show’ Stage Before Vaccinated Fans 
There was a hug for the bandleader, Jon Batiste, without any need for social distancing. There were chants of “Ste-phen! Ste-phen! Ste-phen!” And a standing ovation that lasted a minute and a half. “So how ya been?” Stephen Colbert said to a roar of laughter from a crowd of more than 420 people — all vaccinated, most of them maskless — at the Ed Sullivan Theater in Midtown Manhattan. The CBS late night host was back in his element on Monday, connecting with a capacity crowd 460 days after the coronavirus pandemic had emptied the theater where he has worked since 2015. He was reveling in the moment. (Koblin, 6/14)

LiveScience: New Discovery Could Help Take Down Drug-Resistant Bacteria
Scientists have found a new way to kill antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The new approach disarms their natural defense mechanism, making existing antibiotics more lethal. The study, conducted in lab dishes and mice, offers a promising strategy for taking down so-called superbugs without needing to make brand-new antibiotics. "You want to make the already existing antibiotics with good safety profiles more potent," and with the help of a few newfound chemicals, the research team did just that, said senior author Evgeny Nudler, a professor of biochemistry at the New York University Grossman School of Medicine and an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. (Lanese, 6/12)

In updates on the opioid trial in West Virginia —

Charleston Gazette-Mail: Distributors Attempt To Disprove Gateway Theory At Opioid Trial
Opioid distributors spent a full day of trial in Charleston with a complex and thorough cross-examination of an epidemiologist in an attempt to disprove prescription opioids being a gateway to heroin abuse. Katherine Keyes, an epidemiologist whose career at Columbia University has focused on opioid use disorder, testified last week that the supply and oversupply of prescription pain pills is directly related to heroin abuse and the opioid crisis. But McKesson attorney Timothy Hester pointed Monday to a report that said 99.8% of heroin users had a history of abusing more than just prescription opioids, the most common being tobacco and alcohol. (Hessler, 6/14)

Stat: Mississippi Sues Drug Makers And PBMs Over The Cost Of Insulin
In a first-of-its-kind move, the Mississippi attorney general last week filed a lawsuit accusing several drug makers and pharmacy benefit managers of conspiring to set prices for insulin, the life-savings diabetes treatment that has become a poster child for the high cost of prescription medicines. The lawsuit alleged that the manufacturers benefited from a scheme in which prices were “artificially” inflated to win placement on formularies, the list of medicines for which insurance is provided. And pharmacy benefit managers profited by receiving “secret” rebates from the manufacturers and also through their own mail-order pharmacy sales. (Silverman, 6/14)

Mississippi Clarion-Ledger: Mississippi Settles With Centene Over Medicaid Drug Costs
Mississippi will receive $55.5 million after Attorney General Lynn Fitch and Auditor Shad White on Monday reached an agreement with Centene, the country's largest Medicaid contractor, following a years-long investigation into whether the company overcharged Medicaid for prescription drugs. Between 2016 and 2020, the Mississippi Medicaid program paid Centene more than $1.1 billion for pharmacy services, according to a report from the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting. Centene reported $111.1 billion in revenue in 2020. The settlement is one of the largest ever in Mississippi, according to the State Auditor's Office. (Sanderlin, 6/14)

AP: Groups Ask Judge To Block Arkansas' Near-Total Abortion Ban
Abortion rights supporters asked a federal judge on Monday to prevent Arkansas’ near-total ban on the procedure from taking effect while the groups challenge its constitutionality. The American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood asked the judge to issue a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction against the ban, which is set to take effect July 28. The groups filed a lawsuit last month challenging the ban, which prohibits abortions except those to save the life of the mother. (DeMillo, 6/14)

Bloomberg: Illinois Chemical Fire Leads To Evacuations
A massive fire at a chemical plant in northern Illinois spurred the governor to deploy the National Guard to the area as local residents were evacuated. No injuries have been reported. The industrial fire broke out early Monday morning at a lubricants plant operated by Chemtool, owned by a unit of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. The blaze, burning in Rockton, Illinois, continued to send a thick plume of black smoke into the sky in the late afternoon. Residents are being evacuated within a 1-mile (1.6-kilometer) radius from the plant and asked to wear face masks within a 3-mile radius as a precaution to protect themselves from the smoke, officials said during a press conference Monday. Governor J.B. Pritzker activated the state’s National Guard on Monday afternoon and deployed emergency vehicles to support local authorities. (Chapa and Singh, 6/14)

AP: Alcohol-Involved Utah Traffic Deaths Doubled During Pandemic
Transportation officials have reported nearly twice as many people died in alcohol-involved crashes on Utah roads last year compared to the year before, despite less commuter traffic during the coronavirus pandemic. The state Department of Transportation said there were 61 fatal crashes involving alcohol last year compared to the 32 crashes in 2019, The Salt Lake Tribune reported. (6/14)

Axios: New York City To Host Ticker Tape Parade For Essential Workers 
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Monday that the city will host a ticker tape parade on July 7 to honor health care workers, first responders, and essential workers. It will be the city's first official parade since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, de Blasio said. The announcement comes as the city prepares to fully reopen on July 1. (Saric, 6/14)

Los Angeles Times: California Offers $100 Million To Aid Legal Cannabis Industry
The California Legislature on Monday approved a $100-million plan to bolster California’s legal marijuana industry, which continues to struggle to compete with the large illicit pot market nearly five years after voters approved sales for recreational use. Los Angeles will be the biggest beneficiary of the money, which was proposed by Gov. Gavin Newsom to be provided as grants to cities and counties to help cannabis businesses transition from provisional to regular licenses. (McGreevy, 6/14)

In news about clean-water initiatives —

Anchorage Daily News: New York-Based Charitable Trust Announces $20M Grant To Help Address Rural Alaska Water Issues
A New York-based charitable trust, a nonprofit and an Alaska regional health corporation on Monday announced a three-year plan to invest $20 million in improving access to clean water and sewer in parts of rural Alaska. The funds will help support a utility-assistance program in 15 rural communities in the Norton Sound region of the state and to-be-determined water and sewer projects in those communities. It will also support the installation of water system monitoring equipment in dozens of other rural communities around the state. (Berman, 6/14)

Indianapolis Star: Why Some Indianapolis Parents Fear Getting Their Homes Tested For Lead
In recent years, lead was found in the water of more than half of Marion County's schools and child care facilities. In some of these schools, the amount of lead was more than 500 times the level that federally requires corrective action. By all estimations, lead is likely also flowing through the taps and floating in the air of Indianapolis' homes. Despite the serious health impacts that can come with lead exposure, some people are reluctant to request testing from the health department, said Rev. Ivan Douglas Hicks, senior minister at First Baptist Church North Indianapolis, fearing it will open the door for other inspections in their homes that could require costly mitigation or involve Child Protective Services. At the same time, commercial testing kits can cost as much as $250. (Gibson, 6/15)

Also —

The Baltimore Sun: Man In Medical Crisis Takes Baltimore Ambulance To Drive Himself To Hospital, Police Say 
A 38-year-old man experiencing a medical crisis tried to drive himself to a hospital in a Baltimore City Fire Department ambulance from Cherry Hill early Monday, police said. The man, whose name was not released, took the ambulance, which had been left running in the 900 block of Seagull Ave., where medics had been called about 1:22 a.m., police said. (Campbell, 6/14)

Health News Florida: Orange County's New Infectious Diseases Chief Talks Contact Tracing, Next Pandemic 
Alvina Chu has been named interim director of infectious diseases for the Florida Department of Health in Orange County. Chu led the county’s COVID-19 tracing efforts during the pandemic, and in her new role she’ll focus on infectious disease prevention, testing and treatment. WMFE talked with Chu about how she’d like to improve public health in the county and whether she thinks we’re ready for the next pandemic. (Prieur, 6/14)

KHN: Violent Colorado Arrest Puts Spotlight On How Police Treat Disabled People 
Nearly a year after police officers in Loveland, Colorado, injured an elderly woman with dementia and then laughed at footage of her arrest, two of those officers are facing criminal charges while the rest of the department undergoes additional training. The fallout has drawn national attention to a problem that experts say is widespread across law enforcement agencies: Police often lack the skills to interact with people with mental and physical disabilities. Last June, a Walmart employee called police after Karen Garner, 73 at the time, tried to leave without paying for $14 worth of items. Soon after, Officer Austin Hopp’s body camera video showed, he pulled over beside her as she walked down a road and wrestled her to the ground in handcuffs after she failed to respond to his questions. Afterward, Garner’s lawyers say, she sat in jail for several hours with a dislocated and fractured shoulder as Hopp and two other officers laughed while watching the body camera video. (Paterson, 6/15)

The New York Times: England Extends Covid Restrictions A Month
With a rapid and successful vaccine campaign on track, the path seemed clear not long ago for Prime Minister Boris Johnson to scrap all of England’s coronavirus rules on June 21, ending curbs that he resisted imposing in the first place. But on Monday, Mr. Johnson postponed by four weeks the moment dubbed “freedom day” by the tabloids after a spike in cases of a highly transmissible new variant that may cause more serious disease than earlier variants. Restaurants and pubs in England, while open, will still have to observe social distancing rules indoors, limiting capacity, and nightclubs and theaters will remain firmly closed. (Castle and Mueller, 6/14)

The Washington Post: WHO Warns That G-7 Pledge To Donate One Billion Vaccine Doses Too Little, Too Late
The World Health Organization warned Monday that the G-7’s pledge to share a billion doses with low-income countries would not be enough and has not come soon enough to stave off the fast-moving coronavirus. “I welcome the announcement that G-7 countries will donate 870 million (new) vaccine doses, primarily through Covax,” World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. “This is a big help, but we need more, and we need them faster. Right now, the virus is moving faster than the global distribution of vaccines.” (Berger, 6/15)

In other global developments —

NPR: U.S. Bans Dog Imports From 113 Countries After Rise In False Rabies Records
The U.S. is banning the importation of dogs from more than 100 countries for at least a year because of a sharp increase in the number of puppies imported into the country with fraudulent rabies vaccination certificates. "We're doing this to make sure that we protect the health and safety of dogs that are imported into the United States, as well as protect the public's health," Dr. Emily Pieracci of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tells NPR. The pandemic prompted a surge of pet adoptions, including puppies, as Americans sought companionship while they hunkered down in their homes to protect themselves from COVID-19. (Stein, 6/14)

AP: Tokyo Organizers Roll Out Final Editions Of COVID Rule Books
IOC Vice President John Coates arrived in Tokyo on Tuesday, the same day that organizers and the International Olympic Committee were set to roll out the third and final edition of their so-called Playbooks. Coates is the International Olympic Committee’s official in charge of overseeing the Tokyo Games. He has been a controversial figure in Japan, saying the postponed Olympics would go ahead even if the country were under a state of emergency. (Wade, 6/15)

The New York Times: No, Christian Eriksen’s Sudden Collapse Was Not From The Covid Vaccine
The sudden collapse of the Danish soccer player Christian Eriksen during a game at Euro 2020 on Saturday has spurred a wave of unfounded speculation over his vaccination status. Mr. Eriksen, a 29-year-old midfielder who also plays for the Italian champions Inter Milan, went into cardiac arrest in the first half of Denmark’s opening game against Finland and was resuscitated. Contrary to some social media posts, his condition was not because he had received a coronavirus vaccine. (Qiu and Decker, 6/14)

The Washington Post: Huge Disparities In Vaccination Rates Are Creating Islands Of Vulnerability Across The Country 
Just as the United States fell into a patchwork of pandemic responses last year, the lifesaving vaccine drive has encountered troublesome zones of indifference and resistance. President Biden’s goal of at least partial vaccination for 70 percent of Americans by July Fourth now looks to be slipping away. Even more worrisome are persistent islands of vaccine hesitancy in some states and communities that could face renewed illness in the autumn. On Monday, Republican Gov. Phil Scott announced Vermont had become the first state to vaccinate 80 percent of those eligible with at least one dose. Vermont has given out 131,473 doses per 100,000 population. By contrast, in Mississippi only 35 percent of the overall population has received at least one dose. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention puts the Mississippi vaccination rate at less than half that of Vermont, or 61,278 administered per 100,000. (6/14)

Los Angeles Times: Why We Should Let Children Go Maskless Outdoors This Summer 
We are living in a modern dystopia when, in the name of science, adults enjoy life unmasked while young children are masked; adults freely go to restaurants and gyms while children have attended school mainly by remote learning. The U.S. pandemic policies have firmly placed us in this position. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released updated guidance for youth camps in late May that used vague wording that could be read as recommending continued outdoor masking of children. “People who are not fully vaccinated,” it said, “are encouraged to wear a mask in crowded outdoor settings or during activities that involve sustained close contact with other people who are not fully vaccinated.” Most group camp activities will require “sustained close contact.” (Mayssa Abuali and Amy Beck, 6/15)

The Baltimore Sun: Biden’s Vaccine Goal Of 70% By July 4 Could Pass Us By, And We Have No One To Blame But Ourselves 
It wasn’t that long ago that people were clamoring for COVID-19 vaccines, with some going as far as lying about their age to secure the much-in-demand, but not readily available shots, back when they were meted out by age, oldest first. Now the country is in a whole other, opposite dilemma with plenty of vaccines to go around, but not enough willing people waving their arms to get them. The concern is so great that governments, including Maryland’s, and businesses are trying to entice people with incentives such as food, cash and lottery winnings. (6/14)

USA Today: Biden COVID Response Previews The Rest Of His Term: Details And Empathy, Hold The Bravado
After an intense six-month tour of duty in the White House working on the Biden administration’s COVID-19 response, I’ve learned a lot about how President Joe Biden’s term is likely to unfold. In the way he has managed this crisis, and the contrast to details emerging now on former President Donald Trump’s pandemic approach, there are many clues to how he will handle foreign and domestic policy. The Biden team has been guided by his strong sense of personal accountability and integrity. Whatever the circumstance, we anchored ourselves to public commitments – without excuse. If we beat them, as we did with our goal of delivering 100 million shots in 100 days, we raised the goal. Even when surprise storms shut down vaccine deliveries and distribution sites, we remained publicly accountable for rapidly vaccinating the country, reporting on each delay and when it would be made up. (Andy Slavitt, 6/15)

Bloomberg: How Is Death Defined? Dangerous New Guidelines Will Revise It 
Death can’t be denied but it can be edited. In 1981, the Uniform Law Commission proposed a model law for the determination of death. It says that individuals have died when they have experienced an irreversible end to either their respiratory and circulatory functions or their brain functions. Most states have adopted this definition, and the rest adopted it in substance if not precise wording. (Ramesh Ponnuru, 6/14)

Stat: A Resilience Prescription For Covid-19 And Other Traumatic Events 
One morning almost five years ago, a disgruntled former employee tried to kill me with a shotgun as I walked out of my local deli. The buckshot pellets from the blast pierced my right shoulder and chest; blood gushed from the wound. I learned later that the shot would have killed me had it landed a few inches to the left. I had studied trauma victims for decades to understand resilience and find new treatments for mood and anxiety disorders like depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Now I was the trauma victim. (Dennis S. Charney, 6/15)

The Boston Globe: Where Mental Illness And Criminal Justice Meet 
Law enforcement agencies have historically been ill-prepared to respond effectively to emergency incidents involving behavioral health — that is, when a person suffering from a serious mental illness or substance use disorder behaves in a threatening manner, endangering themselves or the public. That’s starting to change, albeit slowly. As calls for police reform have heightened in recent years, police departments across the country have made it a priority to establish and increase funding for teams of social workers to respond safely to such incidents. (6/15)

NBC News: Race And Health Care Collide In Revealing American Medical Association Controversy
This spring brought a shake-up within medicine's old guard: the American Medical Association, or AMA, and its associated journal, the Journal of the American Medical Association, or JAMA. Established in 1847 and 1883, respectively, the association and its journal set health standards used around the world. (Dr. Esther Choo, 6/14)

The New York Times: The I.V.F. Plot In Aziz Ansari's ‘Master Of None’ Is Based On My Story
There’s a scene in the fourth episode of the new season of the Netflix series “Master of None” in which Alicia, a woman trying to have a baby as a single mother via in vitro fertilization, steps into another room, off camera. She has been told that, after an arduous and expensive process of thrice-daily injections, hormone pills and procedures to extract her eggs, none of her embryos are viable. Her weeping voice can be heard trailing off. That scene hit extremely close to home for me: My name is also Alicia. The character’s story is based upon my life. (Alicia Lombardini, 6/15)

Stat: Aducanumab Approval Highlights Value Of Brain Disease Biomarkers 
People living with Alzheimer’s dementia — the forgetfulness, the confusion, and the ultimate erasure of identity — and their families pushed hard for the Food and Drug Administration to approve aducanumab, Biogen’s drug for it. Clinicians and scientists working on Alzheimer’s were split in their opinions on its clinical benefit. The FDA’s own expert panel advised against it. (Ken Marek, 6/15)

The Baltimore Sun: New Alzheimer’s Drug Is Not The Disease Solution We Seek; Here’s Why 
In 1901, the German Psychiatrist Alois Alzheimer clinically examined a patient called Auguste Deter who was admitted to the insane asylum of Frankfurt am Main for behavior changes, including suspiciousness directed toward her husband. Over the course of her hospital stay, a decline in memory and other cognitive changes were noticed, a pattern that was considered atypical of a classical psychiatric disorder. Therefore, when she died on April 8, 1906, Alzheimer performed a post mortem examination of her brain at the request of the superintendent of the mental asylum. Under the microscope, he observed two types of protein deposits, a clump of proteins outside the brain cell, the neuron, that he called a “plaque” and twisted proteins inside the cell that were called “neurofibrillary tangles.” Since then, thousands of scientists have spent billions of dollars worldwide to better characterize these proteins biochemically and to study the underlying biology of what is commonly known as Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Plaques and tangles are presumed to be central to the underlying cause of the disease and need to be identified in post mortem tissue for a definitive diagnosis of AD. (Anand Kumar and Charles Nemeroff, 6/14)