The Associated Press: Senate Report Reveals Nearly 400 Troubled Nursing Homes
The federal government for years has kept under wraps the names of hundreds of nursing homes around the country found by inspectors to have serious ongoing health, safety or sanitary problems. Nearly 400 facilities nationwide had a "persistent record of poor care" as of April, but they were not included along with a shorter list of homes that get increased federal scrutiny and do have warning labels, according to a Senate report released Monday. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 6/3)

USA Today: Nursing Homes: Senate Report IDs Facilities With 'Poor Care' History
Among the facilities on a list the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services provided is a Texas nursing home whose management allegedly failed to fix a waste system backup. Staff continued to serve food from the kitchen, the report says, despite a foul-smelling black substance coming through the drains and "seeping into the kitchen floor."  “When a family makes the hard decision to seek nursing home services for a loved one, they deserve to know if a facility under consideration suffers from systemic shortcomings,” said Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., who along with Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., issued the report  (Lam, 6/3)

PennLive: Sens. Casey, Toomey Release Government List Of Some Of The Nation’s Worst Nursing Homes
Sixteen Pennsylvania nursing homes are among a previously-undisclosed federal list of some of the worst nursing homes in the nation. The national list of 395 homes was released Monday by Pa. Senators Bob Casey Jr. and Pat Toomey as part of an investigation by the senators into aspects of federal oversight of nursing homes. Their investigation follows years of media reports of poor care in America’s nursing homes, including a 2016 PennLive series on chronic problems in Pennsylvania facilities and a follow-up 2018 investigation. (Simmons-Ritchie, 6/3)

KITV Channel 4: Hawaii's Worst Performing Nursing Homes Revealed
A half dozen Hawaii care centers have made the list of worst performing nursing homes in the state. The federal government recently released a list of facilities with a documented pattern of poor care, which is why six Hawaii nursing homes are now getting extra scrutiny. Many of Hawaii's aging population are being cared for at dozens of nursing facilities around the state. Each is regularly inspected by the Department of Health, but the news is not always good. (Drewes, 6/3)

14 News: 2 Tri-State Facilities Land On Troubled Nursing Homes List
After looking through the list, we found both Twin River Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Owensboro, and Signature Healthcare of Newburgh on the list. Federal data shows Twin Rivers had 15 health citations during their last health inspection in September and Signature Healthcare had 34 during their last inspection, which was in April of 2018. The average number of health citations nationwide is 7.9 according to medicare.gov.Federal officials say they’re evaluating if they can legally release the list. (DeVault, 6/3)

The Hill: Outside Group Knocks McConnell Over Health Care In TV Ad 
A left-leaning outside group on Monday is launching a TV ad knocking Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) over his efforts to repeal ObamaCare. The Ditch Mitch Fund, a group focused on trying to unseat McConnell in 2020, is running the five-figure TV ad in Louisville, Ky., and Lexington, Ky., as well as going up with a statewide digital buy in the Bluegrass State. (Carney, 6/3)

The Hill: Democrats Make Medicaid Center Of Kentucky Governor Fight
Kentucky Democrats want to make the state’s 2019 gubernatorial race ground zero in the battle over Medicaid expansion and work requirements. Democratic challenger Andy Beshear’s campaign is looking to take a page from his party’s 2018 midterm win, highlighting health care to upset the Republican incumbent Gov. Matt Bevin, who recently polled as the most unpopular governor in the country. (Weixel, 6/4)

The Washington Post Fact Checker: The Surprisingly True Comparison Between Infant Mortality In Ohio And Iran
[Rep. Tim] Ryan, who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, came up with a surprising way to illustrate racial inequality in the United States. When measuring infant mortality for all races combined, Youngstown has a lower rate than Iran. But when isolating the data for African Americans, the infant mortality rate in Youngstown exceeds the rate in Iran. The disproportionately high mortality rate for African American infants and mothers has raised public-health concerns for decades in the United States, not just in Youngstown or in Ohio. (Rizzo, 6/4)

Politico: Obamacare Rate Hikes Appear Modest For 2020
The era of annual eye-popping Obamacare rate hikes appears to be over. Premium increases in the law’s marketplaces are on track to be relatively modest for the second straight year, according to the first batch of 2020 rates proposed by insurers. The rate filings are an early indication that this year’s small rate hikes weren’t a fluke and that other Trump administration policies — including support for a lawsuit that could torch the Affordable Care Act — have proven less disruptive than some experts feared. (Demko, 6/3)

The Wichita Eagle: No 2020 Health Coverage Rate Hikes For Kansas State Workers
Thousands of Kansas state employees won’t pay more for health insurance in 2020 for the first time in years after rounds of rate increases ratcheted up financial pressure on families. Employee contribution rates for health coverage will drop or remain flat next year, following a vote Monday by a key state commission. More than 39,600 people are enrolled in the plans.Some state government employees are contributing about double what they did just four years ago. Kansas shrank how much funding it provided for health coverage amid budget turmoil, but tax revenues are again climbing. (Shorman, 6/3)

Seattle Times: Washington State Health Insurers Propose Lowest Rate Increase In Affordable Care Act Era 
Health insurers have proposed an average rate increase of less than 1% for the individual market after three years of double-digit rate increases in premiums. The proposed lowering of average rates to 0.96% is attributed to the stability of Washington’s individual market and should help people buying health insurance through the Washington Health Benefit Exchange, said Pam MacEwan, CEO of the Exchange. (Blethen, 6/3)

California Healthline: Newsom Proposes Penalty To Fund Health Insurance Subsidies
Claire Haas and her husband are at a health insurance crossroads. If they were single, each would qualify for a federal tax credit to help reduce the cost of their health insurance premiums. As a married couple, they get zip. “We talk about getting divorced every time we get our health care bills,” said Haas, 34, of Oakland. She has been married to her husband, Andrew Snyder, 33, for two years. “We kind of feel like we messed up. We shouldn’t have gotten married.” (Young and Ibarra, 6/3)

The Star Tribune: Minnesota Extends 'Reinsurance' Program
Lawmakers have agreed to continue a state program for “reinsurance” that’s been credited with helping keep a lid on premiums in the state’s market where individuals buy health insurance.The program extension won’t require additional money, state officials said, since the initial $542 million appropriation hasn’t yet been exhausted. Called the Minnesota Premium Security Plan, reinsurance provides a financial backstop for health insurers that happen to attract enrollees with unusually expensive health conditions by covering a large chunk of those medical bills. (Snowbeck, 6/3)

Atlanta Journal Constitution: Kemp’s Office Selects Consultant To Craft Health Care "Waiver"
Gov. Brian Kemp’s administration selected consulting giant Deloitte on Monday to craft a plan that state leaders hope will ease health care coverage for more poor and middle-class Georgians under the Affordable Care Act. The governor’s office said Deloitte won the contract with a bid of $1.92 million, less than the $2.6 million the state budgeted for the process this year. (Bluestein, 6/3)

Georgia Health News: State Picks Deloitte To Craft Waiver Plan On Health Coverage
The state said Monday that it has picked Deloitte Consulting as the winner of an almost $2 million consulting contract to develop health care ‘’waivers’’ for Georgia’s Medicaid program and the private insurance market. Deloitte won over five other firms contacted by state officials to solicit proposals. Its bid of $1.92 million was less than the $2.6 million that the Georgia General Assembly authorized for the contract. (Miller, 6/3)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Tony Evers Continues To Push Medicaid Expansion Despite GOP Opposition
Gov. Tony Evers continues to push for the pillars of his state budget proposal despite a promise from Republican lawmakers to block them — this time, to expand Medicaid using federal funds. Evers and top members of his administration held a news conference on the steps of the state Capitol on Monday to announce a program aimed at boosting enrollment in health insurance plans. (Beck, 6/3)

And a new poll finds that even as the marketplaces stabilize, Americans still are struggling to afford care —

The Hill: Poll: 1 In 4 Americans Say Cost Led To Skipping Medical Care 
More than 1 in 4 Americans say they or a family member went without needed health care in the past two years because they felt they could not afford it, according to a new poll. The survey from Monmouth University released Monday finds that 27 percent of adults say they or a member of their household have avoided necessary medical care in the past two years because of cost. That figure is down slightly from 2017, when 31 percent said they had skipped care. (Sullivan, 6/3)

The New York Times: F.D.A. Can Act Against Stem Cell Clinic, Judge Rules
A federal judge on Monday struck a blow against the rapidly growing stem cell industry, ruling for the Food and Drug Administration in its efforts to halt treatments by U.S. Stem Cell, a clinic in Sunrise, Fla., that blinded three patients by injecting a fat extract into their eyes. The decision does not shut down the clinic but states that the F.D.A. has the authority to regulate it and is entitled to an injunction against it. The judge, Ursula Ungaro of United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, is expected to issue a further ruling shortly that will specify what action can be taken against the clinic. (Grady, 6/3)

The Washington Post: FDA Wins Groundbreaking Case Against For-Profit Stem Cell Company
Judge Ursula Ungaro agreed that the FDA has the authority to regulate a procedure that has become widespread in the burgeoning industry — using patients’ fat to create a stem cell treatment. The judge ruled that the FDA is entitled to an injunction ordering U.S. Stem Cell to halt the procedure. The judgment represents a major victory for the government, which has increasingly tried to constrain the industry even as it has rapidly expanded in recent years. (Wan and McGinley, 6/3)

In other news from the FDA —

The Associated Press: FDA: Sampling Finds Toxic Nonstick Compounds In Some Food
The Food and Drug Administration found substantial levels of a worrisome class of nonstick, stain-resistant industrial compounds in some grocery store meats and seafood and in off-the-shelf chocolate cake, according to FDA researchers. The FDA's food-test results are likely to heighten complaints by states and public health groups that President Donald Trump's administration is not acting fast enough or firmly enough to start regulating the manmade compounds. (Knickmeyer, Flesher and Casey, 6/3)

The Washington Post: FDA To Make It Easier For Doctors To Get Unapproved Cancer Drugs For Patients
The Food and Drug Administration plans to provide “concierge service” to doctors seeking access to unapproved drugs for cancer patients who have no other treatment options, the agency announced Monday. The goal is to remove any “perceived hurdles” for physicians who want to use the agency’s “expanded access” program, said Richard Pazdur, director of the agency’s Oncology Center for Excellence. The pilot program will include Project Facilitate, a new call center run by the agency’s oncology staff to provide a single point of contact for doctors submitting requests to the program. (McGinley, 6/3)

The Associated Press: US Aims To Help More Cancer Patients Try Experimental Drugs
Sally Atwater's doctor spent two months on calls, messages and paperwork to get her an experimental drug he thinks can fight the lung cancer that has spread to her brain and spine. Nancy Goodman begged eight companies to let her young son try experimental medicines for a brain tumor that ultimately killed him, and "only three of the companies even gave me a reason why they declined," she said. (Marchione, 6/3)

In other news —

Stat: Amgen’s Drug — Targeting An ‘Undruggable’ Cancer Protein — Shrank Tumors In Half Of Patients
For years, scientists said creating a drug around the KRAS protein was impossible. On Monday, Amgen showed it had developed a medicine that shrank tumors in 50% of lung cancer patients. These lung cancer patients — just 10 of them because this is an early-stage clinical trial — all had tumors that tested positive for a particular mutation in KRAS, a cell-signaling protein. The 50% response rate to AMG 510 is an improvement over the 30% response rate first reported by Amgen last month. It also exceeds investor expectations. (Feuerstein, 6/3)

The Associated Press: Missouri Subpoenas Abortion Clinic Doctors Amid Legal Battle
A St. Louis judge on Tuesday is set to weigh whether physicians from the state's only abortion clinic can be forced to testify amid a legal fight over the facility's license. The state issued subpoenas to staffers, contractors and former medical residents who worked at Planned Parenthood's St. Louis facility, according to court documents filed by Planned Parenthood. (Ballentine, 6/4)

Reuters: Fate Of Missouri's Only Abortion Clinic At Stake As St. Louis Judge Holds Hearing
Planned Parenthood sued Missouri last week after state health officials refused to renew the license of Reproductive Health Services of Planned Parenthood in St. Louis because, they said, they were unable to interview seven of its physicians over “potential deficient practices,” according to court documents. Abortion is one of the most socially divisive issues in U.S. politics, with opponents often citing religious beliefs to call it immoral. Abortion-rights advocates say the bans amount to state control of women’s bodies. (6/4)

KCUR: Missouri Abortion Ban Opponents Could Face Referendum Snag 
After Gov. Mike Parson signed an eight-week abortion ban into law, opponents vowed to put the measure up for a statewide vote — similar to a successful effort in 2018 to repeal Missouri’s right-to-work law. But there could be an obstacle: A clause making one part of the proposal go into effect right away. Missouri’s Constitution sets up a process to put any piece of legislation signed into law up for a statewide referendum. (Rosenbaum, 6/3)

The Associated Press: Abrams To Go To Hollywood As Fears Grow Over GA Abortion Ban
After Georgia's Republican Gov. Brian Kemp postponed a trip to Hollywood amid fallout over the abortion ban he signed into law, his Democratic rival Stacey Abrams is planning to go instead. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Abrams will meet with Hollywood figures June 11 alongside the president of an abortion rights group. An invitation obtained by the newspaper says they'll address the "reality that employees in the state may not have full access to healthcare." (6/3)

The Associated Press: Judge Questions Reasons For Indiana Abortion Procedure Ban
A federal judge grilled an attorney for the state of Indiana on Monday over whether the Legislature had legitimate reasons for approving a law that would largely ban a second-trimester abortion procedure. The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana is seeking a preliminary injunction blocking the restrictions on dilation and evacuation abortions, which the legislation calls "dismemberment abortion." (Davies, 6/3)

The Hill: Haley To Target Abortion-Rights Advocates Who 'Demand Conformity': 'That Is Not Real Feminism' 
Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley on Monday is expected to lambast abortion-rights activists who she says are demanding “conformity.” Axios reports that the former South Carolina governor and U.N. ambassador under President Trump will criticize abortion-rights advocates in her keynote address at the Susan B. Anthony List's 12th annual Campaign for Life Gala on Monday evening. (Daugherty, 6/3)

The Hill: Head Of Anti-Abortion Group Promises To Spend $41M During 2020 Election Cycle
The president of the nation’s largest anti-abortion advocacy group said Monday night it would spend $41 million in the 2020 cycle to re-elect President Trump and “pro-life” members of Congress while advocating for more abortion restrictions at the state level. The goal, said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, is to eventually overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision that established a woman’s right to abortion. (Hellmann, 6/3)

The Wall Street Journal: House Passes $19.1 Billion Disaster-Aid Package
The House passed a $19.1 billion disaster-aid package with a bipartisan majority, sending the legislation to the president’s desk after months of wrangling delayed the typically uncontroversial funding. Lawmakers voted 354-58 to approve the measure, exceeding the two-thirds threshold required under a fast-track procedure. Those who opposed the measure were all Republicans. (Duehren, 6/3)

NPR: House Approves $19 Billion Disaster Relief Bill, Sending It To Trump
President Trump has said he backed the measure, even though it did not include border money he urged Congress to add. He said he would continue pressing for that as part of separate legislation. With Trump's signature, the legislation would help speed relief funds to communities hit by tornadoes, wildfires, volcanoes, drought, flooding and other disasters. It also includes money for Puerto Rico, which is still rebuilding after 2017 hurricanes devastated significant portions of the island. (Snell, 6/3)

The New York Times: Congress Gives Final Approval To Long-Delayed Disaster Aid
Across both chambers, there was widespread relief that the House had finally passed the measure, capping off one of the most laborious approval processes for emergency relief in recent memory. The package, which was left off legislation that ended the country’s longest shutdown earlier this year, was stymied for months as lawmakers squabbled over how much money to allocate to Puerto Rico’s hurricane recovery over the president’s opposition. Democrats in both chambers were adamant that the commonwealth, which does not have voting representation in Congress, needed more money. (Cochrane, 6/3)

CNN: House Passes Disaster Relief Bill, Sending It To White House For Trump's Signature
Democrats and Republicans argued back and forth for weeks over how much aid to allocate to Puerto Rico. As negotiations dragged on, Democrats argued that Republicans were short-changing the US territory, which is still rebuilding from Hurricane Maria. Trump, meanwhile, accused Democrats of blocking the bill from moving forward over aid to Puerto Rico and argued publicly that the territory had mishandled relief funds. Negotiations were further complicated over the question of whether to include funding to address the humanitarian crisis at the US-Mexico border. (Foran, 6/3)

In other news from Capitol Hill —

Politico Pro: Grassley, Wyden Aim For Bipartisan Drug Cost Package This Month
The Senate Finance Committee could unveil bipartisan legislation aimed at lowering drug prices as soon as mid-June, Chairman Chuck Grassley told reporters this afternoon. The proposal, which Grassley is negotiating with ranking member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), has not been finalized but is likely to include reforms affecting Medicare Parts B and D, as well as Medicaid, according to committee aides. (Cancryn, 6/3)

Politico Pro: Patient Advocates Warn Draft Bill Would Promote Harmful Gene Patenting
The ACLU and other advocacy groups warned today that a draft patent reform bill will allow patenting of genes and genetic tests, hampering research and adding to the expense and difficulty of developing new treatments. The bicameral, bipartisan draft was published last month and will be discussed at three Senate hearings this week and next. It aims to broadly revise federal patent law and was written partly in response to inventors who are threatened by restrictive U.S. patent laws and are threatening to take their intellectual property to other countries, a congressional staffer told POLITICO. (Ravindranath, 6/3)

Modern Healthcare: Medicare DSH Changes Rejected By Supreme Court
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday ruled that HHS improperly changed its Medicare disproportionate-share hospital payments when it made billions of dollars in cuts. In a 7-1 decision, the justices said HHS needed a notice-and-comment period for the Medicare DSH calculation change. Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote in the decision that HHS' position for not following the procedure was "ambiguous at best." (Luthi, 6/3)

The Hill: Supreme Court Rules Against Obama-Era Provision On Medicare Reimbursements
The highly technical ruling and dispute involves billions of dollars in Medicare payments to hospitals. The court ruled for hospitals that had sued over the 2014 policy, which reduced their payments for serving low-income patients because of a change to the payment formula.“In 2014, the government revealed a new policy on its website that dramatically—and retroactively—reduced payments to hospitals serving low-income patients,” Gorsuch wrote. (Thomsen and Sullivan, 6/3)

In other news from the Supreme Court —

The Star Tribune: Supreme Court Rules In Favor Of Allina In Suit Over Medicare Pay 
Minneapolis-based Allina Health prevailed in a U.S. Supreme Court decision that reverses a move by federal Medicare authorities to cut billions of dollars in payments supporting hospital care for low-income patients. Three Allina hospitals were among a group of nine that challenged the change, which decreased their federal payments by about $49 million a year. But the ruling, issued Monday, affects all U.S. hospitals that serve high numbers of low-income patients. (Howatt, 6/3)

The Washington Post: Quest Diagnostics Discloses Breach Of 11.9 Million Patient Records
Quest Diagnostics, the medical testing company, said a data breach has affected about 11.9 million patients after an “unauthorized user’’ gained access to financial data, Social Security numbers and medical data but not laboratory test results. American Medical Collection Agency notified Quest about a potential intrusion on May 14 and then reported on the scope of the breach Friday. (Rowland, 6/3)

Bloomberg: Quest Says Millions Of Patient Records Exposed In Data Hack
Quest said in a securities filing that it had been informed of the breach by American Medical Collection Agency, an Elmsford, New York-based collections firm. For eight months, an unauthorized user had access to personal information including credit card numbers and bank accounts, medical information, and personal information such as Social Security numbers. Quest, which operates medical testing centers around the U.S., said it has suspended sending collections requests to AMCA and is working with law enforcement and with UnitedHealth on the effects of the breach. Quest said it was informed of the incident on May 14. (Langreth, 6/3)

Modern Healthcare: Quest Diagnostics: 12 Million Patients' Data Exposed In Breach
Quest has since suspended sending collection requests to AMCA. Quest said AMCA has provided neither Quest nor Optum360 with "detailed or complete information about the AMCA data security incident, including which information of which individuals may have been affected." Quest also said it has not been able to verify the accuracy of the information AMCA has sent about the incident to date. Quest and Optum360 are working with forensic experts to further investigate the incident. (Cohen, 6/3)

In other health technology news —

Stat: Apple Watch Updates Will Track Menstrual Period, Protect Hearing 
Apple CEO Tim Cook earlier this year vowed that the tech giant’s greatest contribution to humanity would ultimately be in the realm of health. You might not have guessed it from the company’s keynote presentation at its big annual developers conference on Monday, where new health and fitness tools took a bit of a backseat to Apple’s more traditional tech-focused product updates. (Robbins, 6/3)

Bloomberg: Apple Unveils App Store For Its Watch; Adds Health Features 
Apple Inc. showed off a big upgrade to the software that powers its Watch, adding an App Store, new health-tracking features, and a series of new watch faces. The company previewed the new operating system, watchOS 6, at its annual developer conference in San Jose, California, on Monday. For the first time, the App Store will be usable from the Watch itself, a change from needing to download apps to the device via a connected iPhone. It also added new Watch apps like a calculator, Apple Books for listening to audio books and a voice recorder. (Gurman, 6/3)

The Associated Press: Humana Takes Rare Step Of Squashing Centene Deal Talk
Centene shares are tumbling after Humana took the rare step of publicly refuting reports that it's interested in buying the company. Centene Corp., based in St. Louis, is in the midst of a $15 billion takeover of WellCare, another insurer specializing in government funded health coverage. Humana said in a prepared statement Monday that it will not make a bid for Centene, which specializes in running state-based Medicaid coverage programs. Humana is one of the nation's largest providers of privately run Medicare Advantage plans. (6/3)

The Wall Street Journal: Humana Says It Won’t Do Deal With Centene
The unusual announcement suggests Centene’s agreement in March to buy WellCare for $15.3 billion will move ahead, though some activist investors had pushed for the St. Louis-based health insurer to sell itself. Humana, of Louisville, Ky., said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission Monday that “in light of the significant investor speculation and persistent market rumors,” it was making a one-time statement to “confirm that the company will not make a proposal to combine with Centene as an alternative to Centene’s proposed transaction with WellCare Health Plans Inc.” Humana said it planned no further comment. (Wilde Mathews, 6/3)

Bloomberg: Centene Falls As Humana Won't Seek To Break Up WellCare Deal
WellCare is still trading at a steep discount to Centene’s cash-and-stock offer, which is worth about $300 a share. On Monday morning, WellCare shares were up 2.2 percent to $282.25. The gap can be interpreted as a sign of investor doubts that the deal will close. (Pfanner, 6/3)

The Associated Press: Mutation That Protects Against HIV Raises Death Rate
People with a DNA mutation that reduces their chance of HIV infection may die sooner, according to a study that suggests tinkering with a gene to try to fix one problem may cause others. The study authors cited the case of the Chinese researcher who tried to produce this mutation in twin girls before their birth, to reduce their risk for HIV.  His work, which produced the first gene-edited babies, was widely condemned as unethical and risky, and the new paper illustrates one reason for concern. (6/3)

NPR: Chinese CRISPR Experiment May Increase Twins' Risk Of Early Death, Study Finds
The Chinese scientist, He Jiankui, announced last fall that he had created twin girls from an embryo whose DNA he edited in his lab using the powerful gene-editing tool CRISPR. He said he modified a gene known as CCR5 to protect the girls from the AIDS virus. But there's also evidence the CCR5 variation has other effects, such as making people more vulnerable to the West Nile and influenza viruses. "We know it has many different effects. The question is: Is it overall beneficial or detrimental to have this mutation?" Nielsen says. "That was not known." (Stein, 6/3)

Meanwhile —

Stat: Congress Weighs Dropping Ban On Altering DNA Of Human Embryos 
A congressional committee is expected to vote on Tuesday to drop a ban on altering the genomes of human embryos intended for pregnancies, which could open the door to creating babies with genetic material from three people or with genomes that have been modified in a way that would be inherited by their descendants, as China’s “CRISPR babies” were. The prohibition on modifying the DNA of embryos for reproduction (as opposed to doing so in basic research that stops short of pregnancies) has been attached to bills that fund the Food and Drug Administration since December 2015. (Begley and Joseph, 6/4)

The Washington Post: Virginia’s Top Democrats To Call For Stricter Gun Laws After Virginia Beach; One GOP Leader Willing To Talk
All three of Virginia’s statewide elected officials plan to stand together Tuesday to call for tighter gun safety policies in the wake of Friday’s mass shooting in Virginia Beach. Gov. Ralph Northam, Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax and Attorney General Mark R. Herring, all Democrats, expressed frustration over the weekend that Republicans who control the General Assembly have repeatedly stifled efforts to consider any form of gun control. (Schneider, 6/3)

Reuters: Factbox: Virginia Beach Massacre Among Deadliest U.S. Workplace Shootings
The massacre on Friday of 12 people at a Virginia Beach, Virginia, municipal building was the work a veteran employee who had sent in his resignation hours before opening fire, according to police. The attack stands as the second-deadliest U.S. workplace shooting since 2000. Here are some of the others. (Goldberg, 6/3)

The Washington Post: Virginia Beach Mass Shooter Reveals Little In Resignation Note Sent Day Of Massacre
DeWayne Craddock submitted a short and courteous resignation letter Friday, telling a Virginia Beach official it had been a “pleasure” to work for the city. Hours later, he fatally shot 12 people, almost all of whom were colleagues. The striking disconnect in the email released Monday by Virginia Beach officials deepened the mystery around what prompted the nation’s worst mass shooting this year. Investigators continue to probe Craddock’s personal and professional life, looking for a motive. (Miller, Shapira and Zauzmer, 6/3)

Stat: Measles Outbreaks Put U.S. At Risk Of Losing Prized 'Elimination' Status
With two large and still growing outbreaks in New York pushing the country’s measles count to a quarter-century high, public health officials are starting to grapple with an unpleasant prospect. The Rockland County and Brooklyn outbreaks have dragged on for eight months. If transmission from either of those outbreaks continues until late September, the United States will likely lose a hard-fought and prized status — that of a country deemed to have “eliminated” measles. (Branswell, 6/4)

Reuters: U.S. Health Officials Report 41 New Cases Of Measles Last Week
The United States recorded 41 new measles cases last week, bringing the year's total number of cases to 981 in the worst outbreak of the disease since 1992, federal health officials said on Monday. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the number of cases of the highly contagious and sometimes deadly disease rose 4% in the week ended May 31 from the prior week. The 2019 outbreak, which has spread to 26 states, is the worst since 1992, when 2,126 cases were recorded. (6/3)

State House News Service: Religious Exemption Targeted In Mass. Amid Measles Outbreak
A week after this year’s second case of measles in Massachusetts was diagnosed, a state lawmaker from Haverhill filed a bill that would remove the religious exemption for vaccinating schoolchildren. State law requires children who are entering school to be immunized against diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, measles and poliomyelitis, unless a physician certifies that a vaccine would endanger the child’s health or unless the parent or guardian offers a written statement that vaccination or immunization conflicts with their “sincere religious beliefs.” (Lannan, 6/3)

The New York Times: Their Children Were Conceived With Donated Sperm. It Was The Wrong Sperm.
Seventeen years ago, when she was in her thirties, Cindy and her female partner decided they wanted to have children. The couple spent hours pouring over sperm donor profiles, finally settling on an anonymous man with a clean medical record and few health issues in his family. He was an anonymous donor, and they knew him only by his identifying number. Cindy gave birth to a healthy baby boy. Eventually the couple used the same donor to conceive again — and soon enough they were raising two boys. (Mroz, 6/3)

The New York Times: Protecting Sleep In The Hospital, For Both Patients And Doctors
It was 11 p.m. and my 5-year-old patient was sleeping peacefully in her hospital bed, snuggled up with her mother and several stuffed animals. Her breathing was quiet and soft. Her bedside heart rate monitor, which glowed a faint yellow in the dark hospital room, was turned to “silent.” “Sorry, I have to take a listen to her heart,” I whispered to her mother, tapping her shoulder lightly. Her mother and I had a good relationship: I had served as an advocate for her daughter several times during her seven-week stay in the ward. She had a rare disease that had been a medical mystery for many months, but she would be transferred to a more specialized center soon. (Kalaichandran, 6/4)

The Washington Post: Gen Z Kids Are The Stars Of Their Parents’ Social Media — And They Have Opinions About That
Alison Santighian flicks her finger over her smartphone screen, and her Facebook profile scrolls past in a blur. She is looking for a particular photo from a few days ago, a picture her 9-year-old son, Arsen, didn’t want her to take. “Found it!” she says. Arsen, sitting beside her on the family’s patio at their Bethesda, Md., home, peers over her shoulder. “He looked very handsome that day,” Alison explains, and Arsen rolls his eyes. He was dressed in a dapper white suit for a piano performance, and when Alison asked him to pose for a picture that she could share with her Facebook followers, Arsen said he’d rather not. (Gibson, 6/3)

The Wall Street Journal: Safe Space Or Police State: How Far Should You Go In Monitoring Your Kids Online?
School is almost out and parents know what that means: no homework, later bedtimes and kids who want to bend the rules on screen time. During those long summer days, parents worry about how to make sure kids aren’t getting into trouble online. There are tools available that can monitor every picture, email and text message a kid sends or receives—even every Google doc a child creates—and alert parents at any sign of mischief. But at what point do you cross the line from parental duty to police state? (Jargon, 6/4)

The Oregonian: Dentists Overprescribe Antibiotics Before Surgery 80 Percent Of Time, OSU Study Says 
Dentists could be overprescribing antibiotics more than 80 percent of the time, according to an Oregon State University study. Dentists often write prescriptions ahead of procedures so that patients will have them on hand in case the antibiotics are needed. The study, published last week in an open access publication of the Journal of the American Medical Association, says that only 21 percent of the 170,000 prescriptions reviewed between 2011 and 2015 were called for under widely accepted medical guidelines. (Harbarger, 6/3)

Stat: National Academy Of Sciences Approves New Way To Expel Harassers
The National Academy of Sciences has voted to allow members to be expelled for breaches of conduct — including sexual harassment. Under the new amendment announced Monday, NAS will allow people to present evidence that a member of the prestigious scientific organization has violated its code of conduct, which prohibits discrimination, harassment, and scientific misconduct. The 17-person governing council will then vote on whether to expel that member. Up until now, there hasn’t been a way to revoke lifetime membership. (Thielking, 6/3)

The New York Times: Sweden Finds A Simple Way To Improve New Mothers’ Health. It Involves Fathers.
The weeks after a mother gives birth are a universally vulnerable period. She is recovering physically and mentally, while dealing with sleep deprivation, round-the-clock caregiving and possibly breast-feeding. Yet after a few days in the hospital, she often doesn’t see a doctor for six weeks. A new study suggests a way to make a significant difference in mothers’ postpartum health: Give the other parent paid leave, and the flexibility to use it on days the mother needs extra support, even if it just means a couple of days at home. (Miller, 6/4)

NPR: Octopuses' Big Brains And Unique Behavior Spur Basic Research
At the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass., there's a room filled with burbling aquariums. A lot of them have lids weighed down with big rocks. "Octopuses are notorious for being able to, kind of, escape out of their enclosures," says Bret Grasse, whose official title at MBL is "manager of cephalopod operations" — cephalopods being squid, cuttlefish and octopuses. He's part of a team that's trying to figure out the best ways to raise these sea creatures in captivity, so that scientists can investigate their genes and learn the secrets of their strange, almost alien ways. (Greenfieldboyce, 6/3)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: PTSD In Nurses Is Common, How Nurses Can Overcome PTSD
In 2014, the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, the American Nurses Foundation and Little Bird Games created a post-traumatic stress disorder toolkit for nurses working with patients experiencing the mental health condition. But nurses, too, are at risk. In fact, according to a recent article in the New York Times, as many as one in four nurses experience PTSD at some point in their careers. (Pirani, 6/3)

The Associated Press: More States Sue Opioid Maker Alleging Deceptive Marketing
California, Hawaii, Maine and the District of Columbia filed lawsuits Monday against the maker of OxyContin and the company's former president, alleging the firm falsely promoted the drug by downplaying the risk of addiction while it emerged as one of the most widely abused opioids in the U.S. The lawsuits were the latest by states and local governments against drugmaker Purdue Pharma as the country grapples with an opioid epidemic. (Oxford, 6/3)

In other news on the drug epidemic —

The Associated Press: Researchers Pose As Heroin Users To Find Treatment Gaps
Researchers posing as heroin users seeking help contacted hundreds of treatment clinics in U.S. states with the highest overdose death rates. The study found the "secret shoppers" were denied appointments much of the time, especially if they said they were insured through Medicaid. Scientists wanted to understand why more people aren't treated with an effective anti-addiction drug available in doctor's offices. (Johnson, 6/3)

WBUR: Patients Who Want To Use Suboxone For Addiction Can Have Trouble Getting It, Study Finds
The medication Suboxone can help patients addicted to opioids stop using the drugs. But a study from the Harvard Chan School of Public Health shows how hard it can be to find a doctor or nurse in this state to prescribe it. (Brody and Bebinger, 6/3)

NH Times Union: NH Physician Assistant Gets Four Years In Federal Prison For Fentanyl Kickback Scheme 
A former physician assistant from Dover was sentenced Monday to four years in federal prison for his role in a kickback scheme involving fentanyl, federal officials said. Christopher Clough, 45, of Dover was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Concord for participating in a scheme where he received kickbacks in exchange for prescribing a powerful fentanyl spray to patients in violation of federal law, U.S. Atty. Scott Murray announced. According to court filings and statements made in court, Clough worked as a physician assistant in New Hampshire. After being approached by a representative of a drug manufacturer in June of 2013, he became a frequent prescriber of a fentanyl spray that had been approved by the Food and Drug Administration to treat breakthrough cancer pain. (Feely, 6/3)

The Associated Press: Perk Up: California Says Coffee Cancer Risk Insignificant
California officially gave its blessing to coffee Monday, declaring the beverage does not pose a "significant" cancer risk. The rule, proposed a year ago by regulators, means coffee won't have to carry ominous warnings that the beverage may be bad for you. The state took the rare move after a Los Angeles judge found Starbucks Corp. and other companies failed to show that benefits from drinking coffee outweighed risks from a byproduct of the roasting process. (6/3)

The Wall Street Journal: Coffee Doesn’t Warrant A Cancer Warning In California, Agency Says
The safety of coffee has been in dispute in California since a state court judge ruled last spring that coffee must carry a cancer warning because of the presence of acrylamide, a potentially carcinogenic chemical created during the roasting process. A branch of the World Health Organization came out with a conflicting decision in June 2018, finding inadequate evidence that drinking coffee causes cancer, based on a review of more than 1,000 studies. (Randazzo, 6/3)

ProPublica: One Cardiac Arrest. Four 911 Callers. And A Tragic Outcome.
When Rena Fleury collapsed in the stands during her son’s high school football game last August, there was reason to be hopeful. At 45, she was on the young side for a cardiac arrest, which improved her odds of surviving. And she was in a public place, which, studies show, also increased her chances. Plus, she was in Cumberland, a “heart safe” community where emergency medical personnel are among the most highly trained in the state. (Arditi, 6/4)

The Associated Press: Maine Could Allow Terminally Ill To Get Life-Ending Meds
Maine would allow doctors to prescribe terminally ill people a fatal dose of medication under a bill that faces final legislative action in the state Senate. The Democratic-led Maine House voted 73-72 to enact the bill Monday as lawmakers recounted the last days of their own loved ones. Democratic Rep. Michele Meyer said no one knows how precious life is like a dying patient seeking a peaceful end. (6/3)

The Associated Press: San Francisco Eyes Forced Treatment For Mentally Ill Addicts
San Francisco supervisors were expected to consider a proposal Tuesday that could force drug addicts with serious mental illnesses into treatment. Mayor London Breed and other supporters of the proposal say the move — known as conservatorship — is necessary to help addicts who are often homeless and suffering from a mental illness, making them a danger to themselves. They say the number of people who could be forced into treatment is small, likely fewer than 50. (6/4)

San Francisco Chronicle: SF Supervisors Strike Deal To Expand Forced Treatment Of Mentally Ill
San Francisco supervisors struck a deal Monday to support a controversial law that would expand the city’s ability to force seriously mentally ill people into care — but the plan will likely help only about five people. The Board of Supervisors is expected to approve the legislation on Tuesday, following months of debate over how the city should deal with severely mentally ill people on the streets. (Thadani, 6/3)

North Carolina Health News: No Timeline For State Investigation Into NC Children’s Hospital 
It’s unclear how long a state health department team will take to investigate questions raised in The New York Times about pediatric heart surgeries performed at the North Carolina Children’s Hospital in Chapel Hill. State regulators were at the UNC Medical Center on Monday as part of an inquiry launched last week by Mandy Cohen, secretary of the state Department of Health and Human Services. (Blythe, 6/4)

The CT Mirror: On Page 547 Of The Budget, A Favor To Cigna
The budget provision extends until 2024 an expiring deadline to claim tax credits promised under the previous administration’s big-ticket economic development program, First Five. The new deadline applies to any First Five recipient — as long as their deal was executed on Dec. 22, 2011. And that limits the benefit to one company: Cigna. (Pazniokas, 6/3)

Texas Tribune: Texas Legislature Passes Bills Reining In Freestanding Emergency Rooms
Oliverson said his bill, House Bill 2041, requires a freestanding emergency rooms to give patients a printed-out disclosure in English and Spanish that lists the in-network health plans and the average price a patient may be charged for a procedure, including facility fees. Patients can choose whether to sign it. Under the bill, freestanding emergency rooms will also be barred from advertising that it "takes" or "accepts" certain insurers or health plans if the facility is not an in-network provider. (Byrne, 6/3)

KQED: A California Democratic Convention Brought To You By ... Juul?
A vaping company whose products could soon be banned in San Francisco featured prominently in last weekend's California Democratic Party State Convention in the city. But not all party members welcomed the company. (Klivans, 6/3)

The Washington Post: Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever: Kentucky 2-Year-Old Jackson Oblisk Survives Rare Tick-Borne Illness
For days, Jackson Oblisk had been running a high fever, and the toddler’s small body was covered in tiny red spots. His pediatrician had suspected it was a viral rash and had sent him home to recover, his mother said. But the toddler was not getting better; he was getting worse, she said. When his mother, Kayla Oblisk, offered him his favorite food, a peanut butter sandwich, he just held it in his hand. When she turned on his favorite movie, “The Greatest Showman,” he slept through it. (Bever, 6/3)

KCUR: CVS Caremark To Pay $15M In Overtime Case At Lee's Summit And Other Call Centers 
CVS Caremark has agreed to pay $15.25 million to settle a lawsuit alleging it denied overtime pay to customer service agents at its call centers, including one in Lee's Summit, Missouri. U.S. District Judge Steven Bough on Friday gave preliminary approval to the settlement, which will cover about 17,000 employees. The lawsuit, filed in 2014 in federal court in Kansas City, alleged that CVS failed to pay the agents for pre-shift work that required them to be “call ready” for their phone calls and log in to system programs. (Margolies, 6/3)

Arizona Republic: Complaint Vs. Hacienda HealthCare Doctor Disappears From Board Agenda
A complaint case against a doctor who worked at Hacienda HealthCare when an incapacitated patient there gave birth was removed from Monday's Arizona Medical Board agenda. Dr. Thanh Nguyen had been on the June 3 Arizona Medical Board agenda for a case, initiated by a complaint, that was set for dismissal. (Innes, 6/3)

The Advocate: West Baton Rouge Council Making Moves To Take Over State-Run Health Unit In Port Allen 
West Baton Rouge Parish officials have been quietly planning to take control of the state-run health unit in Port Allen, but they've yet to speak to the Louisiana Department of Health about the plan. Parish President Riley “Pee Wee” Berthelot approached the Parish Council recently seeking the legislative branch's support for the move. It followed months of background work that included meeting with former employees, researching funding sources and meeting with surrounding parishes that have done the same. (Kennedy, 6/3)

Sacramento Bee: Sacramento City Unified, Teachers Union At Odds On Health Care
The Sacramento City Unified School District wants to shave millions in health care spending to ease pressure on its budget, a move that will likely lead to further conflict and pushback from its most powerful employee group: the teachers union. If that sounds familiar, it’s because district leaders have broached the topic with union officials many times before. (Finch II and Morrar, 6/4)

Columbus Dispatch: Franklin County Has Highest Number Of Legionella Bacteria Cases In Ohio, Stats Show
Franklin County had the highest number of Legionella bacteria cases in Ohio last year at 208, according to Ohio Department of Health statistics. One patient died Sunday after an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease at the new $361 million Mount Carmel Grove City Hospital. Six other patients have confirmed cases of Legionnaires’ disease, state health officials said. (Palatella and Henry, 6/3)

Pioneer Press: Family Sues Over 19-Year-Old Woman's Death In Moorhead MN Jail
Abby Rudolph died in 2016 at the age of 19 when she was an inmate in the Clay County Jail. The circumstances of the Fargo, N.D., woman’s death are the subject of a civil lawsuit that’s making its way through U.S. District Court. The lawsuit asserts that after nearly four days in jail Rudolph died on Nov. 3, 2016, from a lack of medical care that surpassed “mere negligence” to something that shocks “the conscience.” (Olson, 6/3)

Kansas City Star: Missouri Medical Marijuana Clinics Come To Kansas City
Missouri is preparing to release application forms on Tuesday for patients hoping to use medical marijuana under the state’s new law enacted by voters in November. But because patients need doctors to certify those forms, clinics like Cook’s are popping up here, much as they have in other states that legalized medical marijuana.The clinics carry some controversy, as physician groups worry that they may reflect poorly on the profession. (Marso, 6/4)

Bloomberg: Are E-Cigs A Public Health Crisis? It's Risky To Call Them Unsafe
Whether they’re warning us about the risks of fat, salt, alcohol or electronic cigarettes, public health authorities tend to mislead – with the best of intentions! – by presenting a black-or-white oversimplification. They equate big risks, small risks and hypothetical risks under one umbrella as “unsafe.” In the case of electronic cigarettes, recently declared an “epidemic” and a “public health crisis,” the misleadingly dire message deprives people of information we need to balance potential risks against potential benefits. (Faye Flam, 6/3)

The New York Times: Why Two Ex-Surgeons General Support The ‘Juliana 21’ Climate Lawsuit
As former surgeons general of the United States, we were responsible for providing Americans with the best scientific information on how to improve their health and protect against illness and injury. Because climate change represents a profound threat to the public’s well-being, we support the Juliana 21, named after the lead plaintiff, and believe their case should go to trial. (Former U.S. Surgeon Generals Richard Carmona and David Satcher, 6/3)

Stat: Pregnant Women With Substance Use Disorders Need Treatment, Not Prison
More than 210,000 women spent Mother’s Day 2019 in America’s prisons and jails. Two-thirds of them are mothers of young children; an unknown number are pregnant. Many of them have substance use disorders with a significant history of trauma and mental health problems. Some have been incarcerated solely for the alleged crime of substance use during pregnancy, and many have lost custody of their children because there aren’t enough treatment centers for women and their kids. (Marty Jessup, 6/4)

Boston Globe: The Only Way To Break The Pattern Of Mass Shootings
Many Americans looked on in admiration when New Zealand reacted to a mass shooting by promptly enacting new gun restrictions. It seems impossible to imagine such a response here. But the only way to break the pattern in the United States is to keep pushing: At the least, the Senate should take up and vote on the House legislation.The victims in Virginia Beach were black and white, old and young. Mass killings happen at schools, workplaces, churches. And this awful story will keep repeating itself — until Americans demand a different ending. (6/3)

The Washington Post: Why The Virginia Beach Shooting Sets An Ominous Precedent
The Virginia Beach shooting on Friday, when an employee of the city government killed 12 people — 11 of whom were his co-workers — is notable only for its familiarity. Another mass shooting. In fact, it was the worst mass-casualty event anyone can remember since … November 2018, at the Borderline Bar and Grill in Thousand Oaks, Calif.But details of the rampage include one fact unique to the growing list of active-shooter cases: the assailant used a .45-caliber handgun with extended magazines and a barrel suppressor. This small detail — that the loaded gun was fitted with simple, and lawful, “silencing” equipment — threatens to upend how we understand and train for active-shooter cases in the future. (Juliette Kayyem, 6/1)

The Washington Post: From Virginia Tech To Virginia Beach, Gun Control Should Be The Priority. It Isn’t.
Virginia is for (gun)lovers. There’s no other way to explain it. Because 12 years after the Virginia Tech massacre — the worst mass shooting on a campus in American history — gun control remains on the back burner in a state that is now reeling from another tragedy. On Friday, 12 people were killed by a co-worker turned mass shooter at the Virginia Beach municipal complex. The city engineer was armed with two legally purchased .45-caliber pistols. At least one of them was outfitted with a sound suppressor and extended magazine. (Petula Dvorak, 6/3)

The New York Times: Is Burnout Real?
Burnout is everywhere. Students, workers, parents — nearly everyone seems to have suffered from it. Last week, the World Health Organization upgraded burnout from a “state” of exhaustion to “a syndrome” resulting from “chronic workplace stress” in its International Disease Classification, the official compendium of diseases. (Richard A. Friedman, 6/3)

Philadelphia Inquirer: Summer Means Hunger For Nearly 1 In 4 Philadelphia Kids. Health Care Providers Can Help.
As the school year comes to a close, I can’t help but think of the fact that nearly one in four kids in Philadelphia don’t get the food that they need to lead a healthy, active life. How is it that in a country of wealth and excess, many of children’s basic life needs are not being met? Medical visits for hunger-related complaints have two major peaks: in the depth of winter and when school is out of session. (Danielle Cullen, 6/3)