The New York Times: F.D.A. Advisers Will Weigh In On Covid Shots By Novavax, A Latecomer In The Vaccine Race
A federal advisory committee on Tuesday will vote on whether regulators should authorize a Covid-19 vaccine made by Novavax, an early beneficiary of the government’s Operation Warp Speed program. The experts to the Food and Drug Administration, whose meeting is scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. Eastern, will base their recommendation on the company’s clinical trial data, which is strong. But before the agency could authorize the shots, the F.D.A. would also need to sign off on Novavax’s manufacturing process, which has stumbled again and again over the course of two years. (Zimmer and Robbins, 6/7)

USA Today: Novavax COVID-19 Vaccine To Be Considered By FDA Panel As 4th In US
"There's a lot of reasons that are not scientifically based for not having taken the vaccine (yet)," said Vivian Riefberg, a professor at the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia. "This may convince some people because it's traditional technology." The Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech shots, which have been given to three-quarters of the American population, are based on mRNA technology, which teaches the body to make the spike protein found on the surface of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Once the immune system recognizes the spike protein, it will attack the viral cells. (Weintraub, 6/7)

Bay Area News Group: Can New Novavax COVID Vaccine Win Over The Anti-Vaxxers?
With three COVID vaccines already authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Americans have easy access to plenty of shots. But a fourth one, under review Tuesday, is entirely different — and uses a traditional vaccine design that more people may be inclined to trust. The vaccine, made by Novavax, works just as well as the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, the company’s studies show. Its side effects seem milder. It’s easier to store. At least 41 other countries — including Australia, Canada, South Korea and the 27 members of the European Union — have approved it. And it enlists the same familiar technique as vaccines against flu, diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough. (Krieger, 6/6)

In other vaccine news —

The Boston Globe: Omicron Booster Shots Are Taking Longer Than Expected. Will The Wait Be Worth It?
Pfizer and Moderna did not grant interviews, but vaccine scientists ticked off several reasons for the delay. To start, the virus keeps changing too quickly. There’s also conflicting data on the superiority of variant-specific boosters over what’s already available, casting doubt on their value. And with the majority of Americans yet to get even their first booster shot, the companies’ financial incentive for making new ones has diminished. It took Pfizer and Moderna just over 300 days to go from the genetic sequence of SARS-CoV-2 to earning emergency authorization of their shots from the FDA — crushing Merck’s previous record of developing a mumps vaccine in four years. Some experts believe the 100-day turnaround time for updated vaccines could be possible under some circumstances. Apparently it was too ambitious in this case. (Cross, 6/6)

Kansas City Star: How Long Do COVID Booster Shots Last? Should You Get Another? 
COVID-19 hospitalizations are stagnating in Kansas City, indicating that the metro may be reaching a plateau in its latest wave of the virus. Doctors at The University of Kansas Health System noted Friday that new omicron subvariants have largely taken over in the area. This trend, along with recent CDC data showing that people who received a booster shot have been catching the virus at a higher rate than those who did not, has led to some confusion around the purpose and effectiveness of boosters. (Wallington, 6/7)

AP: NY Governor Urged To Support Bill Protecting Vaccine Privacy
Privacy advocates are urging New York Gov. Kathy Hochul to affix her signature on a bill that would protect sensitive information gathered from people being vaccinated against COVID-19. Advocates say the unfettered sharing of information could be misused by a raft of entities, including law enforcement who the New York Civil Liberties Union suggests could use that data in criminal proceedings. (Calvan, 6/4)

Also —

The Washington Post: D.C. Tries To Improve Low Compliance Rate For Routine Youth Vaccines
District officials launched a campaign Monday that will allow children to more easily get their routine vaccines this summer at recreation centers, school-based health centers, and mobile vaccination sites in neighborhoods across the city. City officials said they will use covid-19 contact-tracing teams to contact families, hoping to increase a youth vaccination compliance rate that has plummeted during the pandemic. (Stein, 6/6)

In updates on Paxlovid —

Crain's Detroit Business: Pfizer To Make COVID-19 Pill Ingredients In Michigan
Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. announced Monday it would invest $250 million into its 1,300-acre operations center in West Michigan to produce ingredients for its COVID-19 antiviral pill Paxlovid. The facility in Portage, just south of Kalamazoo, will be the company's only U.S. facility making medicinal ingredients in the pills. The investment will create 250 jobs at the plant, Pfizer said in a news release. The timeline for the investment is unclear. Paxlovid, which received an emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in December, is a prescription drug therapy designed for use in mild or moderate cases of the deadly coronavirus. (Walsh, 6/6)

Detroit Free Press: Whitmer Hails Pfizer's $120M Plan To Make Paxlovid In Michigan
Wearing a "Science Will Win" T-shirt beneath her navy blue blazer, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer hailed the announcement Monday that Pfizer is adding 250 more jobs and will invest $120 million in its Kalamazoo County manufacturing facility as "one more step in our battle to beat back COVID-19 and keep people safe and healthy." The company's Portage factory will be the only site in the U.S. to manufacture the ingredients it uses to make the COVID-19 antiviral pill Paxlovid. (Jordan Shamus, 6/6)

Tampa Bay Times: Florida’s Health Department Undercounted COVID Cases And Deaths, State Audit Says
Florida’s COVID-19 data was so inaccurate, incomplete and delayed during the first months of the pandemic that government officials and the public may not have had necessary information to determine the effectiveness of the state’s COVID-19 precautions and the best plan to fight the virus, according to a state report released Monday. Covering the state’s pandemic response from March to October 2020, the year-long analysis by the State Auditor General found missing case and death data, unreported demographic details, and incomplete contact tracing as the virus spread across the state. In addition, the report concluded that state health officials did not perform routine checks on the data to ensure accuracy and did not follow up on discrepancies. (Hodgson, 6/6)

In related news —

AP: COVID Cases Rise Again In Idaho, But Undercount Is Likely 
Coronavirus cases are again on the rise in Idaho, according to data from the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, but the numbers are likely an undercount. The statewide positivity rate was 9% on June 5, Boise television station KTVB reported. That’s above the state’s goal of 5% and is consistent with community spread of the virus, said Dr. David Pate, former CEO of St. Luke’s Health System. (6/6)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: 'We Have To Take Action': St. Louis Health Officials Urge Masking As COVID Cases Resurge 
St. Louis and St. Louis County health officials on Monday issued a renewed plea for residents to wear masks in indoor, public spaces, as hospitals reported a growing wave of virus patients. The city and county are once again seeing high levels of virus transmission. And with at-home test kits now widely used, health authorities warn that infections are significantly undercounted. (Merrilees, 6/6)

CIDRAP: Republican US Counties Saw More COVID-19 Deaths 
Majority-Republican counties experienced 73 more COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 people than their Democratic counterparts, suggests an observational study today in Health Affairs. A team led by University of Maryland researchers analyzed COVID-19 death and vaccination data and 2020 presidential election returns from 3,109 US counties from Jan 1, 2020, to Oct 31, 2021. The researchers hypothesized that partisan differences in attitudes toward the pandemic and compliance with local mask, physical distancing, and vaccine policies would lead to differences in death rates. (Van Beusekom, 6/6)

In other news about the spread of covid —

AP: COVID Hits Buttigieg, Others Who Attended Michigan Event 
At least 15 people who attended a public affairs conference last week on Michigan’s Mackinac Island have tested positive for COVID-19, including U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. The gathering is put on each year by a business group, the Detroit Regional Chamber, and attracts more than 1,000 public officials, journalists and others who discuss a variety of political and policy issues. Four Republican candidates for governor held a debate. Participants were required to show proof of a COVID-19 vaccination or a negative test. (6/6)

AP: Pennsylvania Governor Tests Positive For Coronavirus
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf tweeted that he tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday. The 73-year-old governor said in the tweet he has mild symptoms. He said he tested positive in the evening. “I’m grateful that I recently got my second vaccine booster,” Wolf said in his tweet. (6/7)

The New York Times: My Family Got Covid. So Why Did We Test Negative?
As a science journalist, I’ve read dozens of research papers about Covid-19, and I’ve interviewed so many virologists, infectious disease physicians and immunologists over the past two years that I’ve lost count. But nothing prepared me for what happened after my 7-year-old daughter tested positive for Covid-19 nearly two weeks ago. It started the way you might expect: On a Sunday evening, my daughter spiked a fever. The next morning, we got an email informing us that she’d been exposed to the coronavirus on Friday at school. I gave her a rapid antigen test, which quickly lit up positive. I resigned myself to the possibility that the whole family was, finally, going to get Covid-19. (Moyer, 6/6)

The Boston Globe: For Many People With Long COVID, A Good Night’s Sleep May Be Hard To Get, Study Says
Researchers from the Cleveland Clinic say they’ve found that a substantial number of people who have long COVID have sleep problems. Researchers looked at a group of 682 patients from the Cleveland Clinic’s Recover clinic, which helps long-COVID patients, and found that 41.3 percent reported at least moderate sleep disturbances, including 8 percent who reported severe sleep disturbances. “The prevalence of moderate to severe sleep disturbances reported by patients presenting for [long COVID] was very high,” the researchers said in an abstract published recently in an online supplement of the journal Sleep. Researchers were laying out their findings Monday and Tuesday at a meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies. (Finucane, 6/6)

The Washington Post: Long Covid Could Change The Way We Think About Disability 
Mallory Stanislawczyk was hesitant to make the call. She hadn’t spoken to her friend in years. But the friend, who gets around in a wheelchair, was the only person the 34-year-old nurse practitioner could think of who would understand her questions. About being ready to accept help. About using a wheelchair. And about the new identity her battle with long covid had thrust on her. “I think she is the first person I said to, ‘I’m disabled now,’” Stanislawczyk recalled telling the friend. “‘And I’m working on accepting that.’” (Sellers, 6/6)

Also —

Axios: NIH's Culture Needs A Harder Look, Policy Experts Say
The CDC and FDA have caught plenty of flak for bureaucratic and cultural issues that slowed America's pandemic response, but the National Institutes of Health needs a critical look, too, health policy experts write in The Atlantic. "America's research enterprise has become sclerotic, cautious, focused on doing what it has always done and withdrawing from clinical research," according to the piece co-authored by Ezekiel Emanuel, vice provost of the University of Pennsylvania who served on then-President-elect Biden's COVID-19 task force. (Reed, 6/6)

Stat: 'Testing Bottleneck' For Monkeypox Puts Control At Risk, Experts Warn 
Infectious disease specialists are growing increasingly concerned by the U.S. strategy for testing for monkeypox, warning that it’s creating a bottleneck and squandering the limited time the country may have to get the outbreak under control. Under the current system, specimens must be sent to one of 74 laboratories across the country before being sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Experts who spoke with STAT argue the United States should be testing more broadly for monkeypox, allowing more labs to become part of the process. (Branswell and Joseph, 6/7)

CNBC: CDC Raises Monkeypox Alert As Global Cases Surpass 1,000
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has stepped up its monkeypox guidance, urging travelers to take extra precautions including wearing face masks as global cases of the virus surpass 1,000. The CDC ramped up its alert to a level 2 on Monday, encouraging people to “practice enhanced precautions” to stem the outbreak, which has spread to 29 non-endemic countries in the past month. The highest level alert — level 3 — would caution against non-essential travel. (Gilchrist, 6/7)

Reuters: U.S. To Get 36,000 More Monkeypox Vaccine Doses This Week, HHS Says
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said on Monday it had instructed monkeypox vaccine manufacturer Bavarian Nordic to deliver an additional 36,000 doses this week as part of a drawdown from a U.S. vaccine stockpile. In a statement, HHS said the doses will be added to the existing 36,000 in the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile. Bavarian Nordic's vaccine, called Jynneos, is approved to treat both monkeypox and smallpox. (Steenhuysen, 6/6)

More cases reported —

Los Angeles Times: Suspected Monkeypox Cases Rise In California; Officials Expect More To Come
The number of confirmed and suspected monkeypox cases in California climbed to six on Monday as officials in L.A. County and San Francisco said they were prepared to see more cases. Officials said it was crucial that people become aware of the symptoms and healthcare providers be on alert for new cases, as the telltale rash — which has been seen in some recent cases first in the genital area — can sometimes appear similar to more common sexually transmitted infections. Health officials say they’re hoping to contain the monkeypox outbreak but say it’s possible there is already community spread of the virus. (Lin II, 6/6)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: First Suspected Case Of Monkeypox In Georgia Confirmed By CDC
The Georgia Department of Public Health on Monday confirmed a man earlier suspected of having monkeypox is positive for the virus. DPH said last week a man who lives in metro Atlanta with a history of international travel had shown symptoms, but more testing was needed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to confirm the case. The Georgia man had tested positive for orthopoxvirus, which is a family of viruses monkeypox belongs to — further tests were needed to confirm he has monkeypox. The man was ordered into isolation where public health officials are monitoring his symptoms, according to DPH. The agency is also tracing his recent contacts, but said there are no other suspected cases in the state at this time. (Oliviero and Hansen, 6/6)

AP: UK: 77 New Monkeypox Cases, Biggest Outbreak Outside Africa
British health officials reported 77 more monkeypox cases on Monday, raising the total to more than 300 across the country. To date, the U.K. has the biggest identified outbreak of the disease beyond Africa, with the vast majority of infections in gay and bisexual men. Health officials warn that anyone, regardless of their sexual orientation, is potentially at risk of catching monkeypox if they are in close contact with a patient, their clothing or their bed sheets. (Cheng, 6/6)

More on monkeypox —

Fox News: Monkeypox Cases May Have Been Spreading Undetected In US, Europe For Years
Monkeypox cases may have been spreading out of Africa undetected for years before the initial case was confirmed on May 13, according to the World Health Organization. Monkeypox is a well known virus that does not pose anything like the threat of COVID-19. Typically, Monkeypox cases are only found in those outside of Africa when an individual has recently traveled to the continent. The cases in May popped up nearly simultaneously across the globe in people who have not recently been to Africa, however. "The sudden and unexpected appearance of monkeypox simultaneously in several non-endemic countries suggests that there might have been undetected transmission for some unknown duration of time followed by recent amplifier events," the WHO wrote. (Hagstrom, 6/6)

Boston Herald: Monkeypox Outbreak: Boston Doctor On Surveillance Team That Helped ID First Cases, Says Outbreak Shows How 'Vulnerable We Are' To New Pathogens
A leading infectious diseases expert in Boston who’s on a surveillance team that helped identify the first monkeypox cases in Europe says he doesn’t expect the virus to become a “big epidemic,” but cautioned that many questions remain about the outbreak. Davidson Hamer, a Boston University School of Public Health infectious diseases specialist, also told the Herald that this novel outbreak coming after two-plus years of the COVID-19 pandemic “shows how vulnerable we are to the introduction of new pathogens.” Scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are tracking many cases of monkeypox that have been reported in several countries that don’t normally report monkeypox, including the U.S., which has 24 confirmed cases. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health reported the first case in the country. (Sobey, 6/6)

CNN: More Parents Could Have Access To Baby Formula From Abroad 
The Biden administration is making it easier for low-income families to obtain baby formula being imported from abroad to alleviate the shortage plaguing parents from coast to coast. The US Department of Agriculture announced Monday that it is offering nationwide waivers so that families with federal WIC benefits can access formula that's not normally approved for use in the program. The products are coming from other countries as part of Operation Fly Formula, which the administration launched last month in the wake of a massive recall of Abbott Nutrition baby formula in February. (6/6)

ABC11 Raleigh-Durham: More Baby Formula Options Become Available For People Who Get WIC Benefits 
More baby formula options are now available to families as they try to cope with the shortage. The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services is making 55 additional formula products temporarily available for people who get benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, commonly known as WIC. (6/7)

WLWT: Ohio Gov. DeWine Details Effort To Expand Access To Baby Formula
[Gov. Mike] DeWine talked about the national baby formula shortage during a visit to a Kroger store in downtown Cincinnati. He talked about efforts to expand access to formula for WIC participants, including a request to federal officials to remove restrictions on formula container sizes. "It can be very frustrating," DeWine said. "People come in. They see something, but it doesn't fit what their card says." Already, the USDA has approved a request to add 8 different types of formula to Ohio's WIC-approved list. "Beginning a week from today, next Monday, the WIC program will be adding 8 additional Enfamil products to the eligible list," DeWine said. (6/6)

In other updates on the baby formula shortage —

The Hill: Biden Announces Fifth Baby Formula Mission, Shipment To Come From Germany 
President Biden on Monday announced a fifth mission to bring infant formula to the U.S. from overseas, with the most recent shipment arriving from Cologne, Germany. The shipment of Nestlé infant formulas will be transported to Fort Worth, Texas, on June 9. The products will be distributed through Nestlé and Gerber distribution channels, according to the White House, with additional deliveries expected to be announced in the coming days. (Choi, 6/6)

CNN: Despite Moves To Increase Supply, Families Are Still Feeling The Pain Of The Baby Formula Shortage
Parents and caregivers continue to feel the pain of store shelves that are cleaned out of baby formula, and many are turning to hospitals and community organizations for help. "There is a lot of panic," said Jamie Lackey, founder and CEO of the nonprofit organization Helping Mamas in Norcross, Georgia, which helps low-income families find baby supplies. "We had a mom come through the distribution site the other day -- she had gone on to 15 different stores with her child in the car and could not find a single can of formula," Lackey told CNN's Christi Paul on "New Day Weekend." (Goodman, 6/6)

The New York Times: Parents Of Premature Babies Struggle Amid Formula Shortage
Cameron Stripling’s twin girls were born in February, 13 weeks before their due date, weighing a little over one pound each. Though one of her babies is still in a neonatal intensive care unit in Anchorage, Alaska — six hours from her home — Ms. Stripling, 27, considers herself “really, really lucky.” ... Yet despite her overall positivity, Ms. Stripling’s days are grueling and her thoughts are increasingly consumed by the ongoing nationwide baby formula shortage. (Pearson, 6/6)

Also —

The 19th: FEMA Clarifies Its Message On Breastfeeding Resources 
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) updated its website last week to make clear that breastfeeding resources are eligible for financial assistance for families affected by disasters – a message that’s all the more crucial as parents contend with a nationwide formula shortage. The clarification comes during the formula crisis, the beginning of the Atlantic hurricane season and as the Western United States faces historic wildfires. FEMA’s updated guidance follows a push by Illinois Democrats Rep. Lauren Underwood and Sen. Tammy Duckworth to make breastfeeding more accessible to vulnerable families. (Norwood and Kutz, 6/6)

Bloomberg: Doctors, Nurses Plead For ATF's Dettelbach Confirmation Slowed By Republicans
A coalition of doctors, hospitals and nurses called on the Senate to confirm President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, with some arguing the agency is an urgent priority following a string of horrific mass shootings. Eight medical organizations issued endorsements for the nominee, Steve Dettelbach, on Monday in letters obtained by Bloomberg News. But the ATF has long gone without a Senate-confirmed leader because of political disputes over guns between Republicans and Democrats. (Wingrove, 6/6)

Fierce Healthcare: Healthcare Access, Gun Control Top Of Mind For Doctors: Survey
U.S. physicians rank healthcare access, substance abuse and racial disparities as the leading social issues facing the country, followed closely by gun control and climate change. A strong majority, 85%, cited healthcare access as their most important concern, followed by substance/opioid abuse (66%), racial disparities (54%), gun control (53%) and climate change (51%), according to a new Medscape survey. Nearly all the doctors surveyed say they support gun background checks, and a majority are in favor of abortion access with some restrictions by trimester. (Kreimer, 6/6)

PBS NewsHour: Why Doctors Are Calling Gun Violence In The U.S. An Epidemic
Gun violence ripped through multiple communities last weekend, with dozens killed or injured in shootings nationwide. A growing number of health care providers say gun violence is a public health issue. Dr. Joseph Sakran, a trauma surgeon at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore who survived a life-threatening gunshot wound as a teenager, joins John Yang to discuss. (6/6)

KOIN6: 'Public Health Emergency:' Local Doctors, Faith Leaders Call For Gun Reform
Northwest doctors and faith leaders told KOIN 6 Monday that they view the country’s gun crisis as a “public health emergency” and are calling for action. “It is a public health emergency that needs to be addressed with public health measures,” said Mike Sinanan, the President of the Washington State Medical Association. We believe common-sense measures to reduce the availability of guns to the wrong people is a critical step in handling this public health emergency.” (Burch, 6/6)

In related news from New York —

Crain's New York Business: New York Hospitals Expand Gun Violence Prevention Efforts
New York hospitals and health systems are launching and expanding their own violence intervention programs, leveraging their role as trauma responders to not only heal gunshot wounds but use public health measures to prevent them in the first place. Public health research into gun violence has historically been limited, due to a move by Congress in the 1990s that restricted federal agencies from using funding for injury prevention and control to advocate or promote gun control. But hospitals and health systems are fighting back with efforts to reframe gun violence as a public health issue, pointing to a recent spate of mass shootings across the U.S. and new federal data that found guns were the leading cause of death in 2020 for children between the ages of 1 and 19. (Kaufman, 6/6)

WXXI News: Three Weeks After Buffalo Mass Shooting, Hochul Signs Gun Bills Into Law
Three weeks and two days after the mass shooting at a Buffalo supermarket, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed 10 gun control bills into law, including raising the age to buy a semi-automatic rifle from 18 to 21. Hochul’s hometown of Buffalo is grieving in the aftermath of the racist shooting at the Tops market that killed 10 African Americans on May 14. “I’m speaking to you today as the governor of a state in mourning,” Hochul said. “And the citizen of a nation in crisis.” The bills are aimed at closing some loopholes that allowed the alleged 18-year-old gunman to evade the state’s red flag laws and purchase a semi-automatic rifle and body armor. (DeWitt, 6/6)

On gun legislation efforts from Capitol Hill —

The Hill: Senators Say They Need More Time On Gun Talks
Senate negotiators say they are making progress toward a deal to address gun violence, but they aren’t there yet. Sen. John Cornyn (Texas), the lead Republican negotiator, on Monday said negotiators are “hovering above the target” but haven’t nailed down anything.   Cornyn said negotiators need at least another week to resolve their differences and urged Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), who has warned he will only give negotiators a short period of time to reach a deal, not to rush anything to the floor.   (Bolton, 6/6)

CBS News: Cornyn Says He's "Optimistic" There Are "60 Plus" Votes For Gun Legislation
Sen. John Cornyn said Monday he's "optimistic" there will be "60 plus" votes on gun control legislation a bipartisan group of senators has been negotiating.  That would be enough to overcome a filibuster and send a bill to the floor. The Texas Republican is part of the group trying to craft a measure in the wake of deadly shootings last month in Buffalo, New York, and Uvalde, Texas. (6/7)

The New York Times: With Cornyn In The Room, Senate Gun Talks Focus On Narrow Changes
With those discussions reaching a critical stage, [Texas Senator John] Cornyn is playing a familiar role: the conservative Republican in a room of centrists who can make or break an agreement — and has both sides guessing, to some degree, over which it will be. His presence at the talks — for which he was handpicked by Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the minority leader — means that the far-reaching gun control measures that President Biden and top Democrats are seeking are off the table from the start. (Hulse, 6/6)

The Hill: Illinois Democrat Hopes Uvalde Survivor’s Testimony Will ‘Change Hearts And Minds’ On Gun Control
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) said in a new interview that he hopes the testimony of an Uvalde fourth grade student who survived the school shooting by pretending to be dead will help sway public opinion on gun control. Miah Cerrillo, an 11-year-old student from Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, is one of nine individuals scheduled to testify before the House Oversight and Reform Committee on Wednesday, according to a Friday announcement. (Rai, 6/6)

In related news from Florida —

AP: Defense Attorneys In Florida School Shooting Try To Withdraw
The public defenders representing Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz tried to withdraw from his death penalty trial Monday after the judge ordered them to move forward with jury selection even though one member of their five-member team is sick with COVID-19. (Spencer, 6/6)

Miami Herald: U.S. Supreme Court Rules In Florida Medicaid Expense Case 
Nearly 14 years after a Lee County girl was catastrophically injured when she was hit by a truck, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday said Florida’s Medicaid program can recoup a chunk of the money it paid for her initial care. Justices, in a 7-2 opinion, sided with the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration in a case that drew attention from officials across the country. (Saunders, 6/6)

In other news about Medicaid and Medicare —

Stateline: More States Adding Medicaid Benefit For Doula Services
Faced with a crisis in maternal mortality, particularly among women of color, more states are extending Medicaid coverage to doula services. Doulas are trained professionals who provide emotional, physical and educational support to women before, during and after childbirth. According to an analysis by the Georgetown Center for Children and Families, at least 17 states are considering, planning or implementing policies to provide Medicaid reimbursement for the services of doulas. (Ollove, 6/6)

Modern Healthcare: Medicaid Enrollees Must Share Lawsuit Awards With States, Supreme Court Rules
States can seek reimbursement for future medical expenses from Medicaid beneficiaries' injury settlements, the Supreme Court decided in a 7-2 opinion issued Monday. Justice Clarence Thomas penned the majority opinion, which asserts that federal Medicaid law allows states to collect private settlement funds for medical expenses and doesn't expressly limit that to previously paid bills. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Samuel Alito, Elena Kagan, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett joined Thomas. Justices Stephen Breyer and Sonia Sotomayor dissented. (Goldman, 6/6)

Modern Healthcare: Legal Experts Expect 'More Scrutiny' Of Medicare Prior Authorization From Feds
As the federal government's attention to improper Medicare Advantage prior authorization denials intensifies, insurers should consider examining their policies if they want to avoid trouble. Hospitals have called on the Justice Department to use the False Claims Act against Medicare Advantage carriers that improperly deny coverage. Health insurance companies ought to take a closer look at their policies and how employees are trained to implement them, said Scott Stein, a partner at Sidley Austin and editor of the law firm's False Claims Act blog. (Goldman, 6/6)

And more on the health care industry —

Fox News: Telehealth Could Get More Expensive With Public Health Emergency Set To End This Year
Telehealth visits could soon get pricier for a lot of Americans. The COVID-19 pandemic showed how much can be done from the comfort of home -- doctor's visits included. But now, more doctors will have to see patients in-person, because the federal public health emergency started during the pandemic is set to end soon. The pandemic has sparked "significant" labor shortages and workforce changes, according to nurse executive Nanne Finis, who oversees and assesses how hospitals are run. (Addison, 6/6)

Modern Healthcare: Teladoc Hit With Investor Lawsuit After Share Price Sinks
Teladoc Health has been hit with a lawsuit accusing the company of violating federal securities laws and downplaying challenges it faced in its mental health and chronic care businesses. Shareholder Jeremy Schneider sued Teladoc, company CEO Jason Gorevic and chief financial officer Mala Murthy in a federal court in the Southern District of New York Monday, alleging he and others purchased company shares at "artificially inflated prices." The share price has dropped drastically in recent months after "alleged corrective disclosures," the lawsuit alleges. (Kim Cohen, 6/6)

Modern Healthcare: HCA Healthcare Hit With More Price Inflation Allegations
The city of Brevard, North Carolina, sued HCA Healthcare for allegedly inflating healthcare costs after it acquired Mission Health. Nashville, Tennessee-based hospital giant HCA controls more than an 85% of the acute care market in the Asheville, North Carolina area, and at least 70% of that market in the surrounding region, city officials claim in a complaint filed Friday in a North Carolina federal court. That leverage allegedly allowed HCA to force insurers and employers into anticompetitive contracts that included all-or-nothing provisions that required them to include all of their facilities in the health plan networks and steered patients away from competitors. (Kacik, 6/6)

KHN: They Thought They Were Buying Obamacare Plans. What They Got Wasn’t Insurance. 
Tina Passione needed health insurance in a hurry in December. The newly retired 63-year-old was relocating to suburban Atlanta with her husband to be closer to grandchildren. Their house in Pittsburgh flew off the market, and they had six weeks to move out 40 years of memories. Passione said she went online to search for the federal health insurance marketplace, clicked on a link, and entered her information. She promptly got multiple calls from insurance brokers and bought a plan for $384 a month. Later, though, when she went to a pharmacy and doctor offices in Georgia, she was told she did not have insurance. In fact, it said it right on her card: “THIS IS NOT INSURANCE.” (Sable-Smith, 6/7)

Stateline: New York Passes Legislation To Create Abortion Sanctuary
With weeks to go before the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to overturn its landmark Roe v. Wade decision ensuring the right to abortion, New York is the latest blue state to pass new laws in anticipation of an influx of patients from states poised to ban the procedure. New York lawmakers passed a package of bills, which Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul has said she will sign, that would establish the state as a haven for people who want access to abortion, whether they live in the state or not. But lawmakers stopped short of passing a proposed equal rights amendment to the state’s constitution that would guarantee a right to abortion. So far, Vermont is the only state whose legislature has passed a proposed constitutional right to abortion, which will be on the ballot in November. New York’s 2022 legislative session ended last week. (Vestal, 6/6)

The Hill: White House Criticizes Louisiana Abortion Bill As ‘Radical’ 
The White House on Monday forcefully criticized a bill moving through the Louisiana state legislature that would ban most abortions and impose criminal penalties on doctors who perform the procedure if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade.  “The Louisiana legislature has taken the latest step in a growing attack against the fundamental freedoms of Americans,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.  (Chalfant, 6/6)

KHN: Misinformation Clouds America’s Most Popular Emergency Contraception 
A brand of specialty mozzarella cheeses. A collection of natural-gas storage terminals. And America’s top-selling emergency contraception. At a moment when half of U.S. states stand poised to outlaw or sharply curtail abortion services, the last-ditch pill for women aiming to stave off an unwanted pregnancy rests in the unlikely stewardship of two private equity firms whose investment portfolios range from Italian foods to vineyard management to children’s cough medicine. (Varney, 6/7)

NPR: Abortion Rights Activists Say There's Still Work To Do After Supreme Court Leak
Abortion rights opponents are both excited and sobered at the prospect that the Supreme Court could overturn Roe v. Wade, saying they are ready to wage the next battles in both blue and red states. (Ludden, 6/7)

Abortion news from other states —

Topeka Capital-Journal: Wichita Abortion Clinic Trust Women Gets Kansas Win On Telemedicine
An appellate court decision last month in favor of a Wichita reproductive clinic could be a small step toward legalizing telemedicine abortions in Kansas. The Kansas Court of Appeals sided with Trust Women in a lawsuit seeking to block enforcement of a telemedicine abortion ban, but the case is far from over. (Tidd, 6/6)

Columbus Dispatch: Guns, Abortion, Trans Rights: How Will These Issues Affect Ohio Vote?
The abortion issue could motivate more Democrats than Republicans this November, the poll indicated. Twice as many Democrats, 34%, listed abortion as the top issue, compared to 17% of Republicans. It's not just Ohio. A leaked draft decision in May reported by Politico showed a majority of U.S. Supreme Court justices supported overturning Roe v. Wade. The draft has spurred cheers from anti-abortion groups and protests across the country from Democrats and abortion rights activists, including in front of the Supreme Court justices' homes. A ban on abortions will put many women into poverty, said Rolita Noble, 62, a Democrat from Toledo. She accused Republicans of wanting to control people's bodies. (Wartman, 6/6)

KHN: Listen: California Positions Itself As An Abortion Sanctuary State 
While half the states in the U.S. plan to ban or restrict abortion care if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, California is positioning itself to be a sanctuary of abortion access and preparing to welcome people from around the country seeking that care. The state’s Democratic-led legislature is considering 13 bills, a package designed to reduce the costs of abortion and make access to abortion easier. It includes proposals to protect people from law enforcement action if they have an abortion or help provide one. Gov. Gavin Newsom has pledged $125 million in state funds to back these efforts. (Dembosky, 6/7)

More on abortion and reproductive rights —

NPR: Abortion Was Once Common Practice In America. A Small Group Of Doctors Changed That 
Abortion wasn't always controversial. In fact, in colonial America it would have been considered a fairly common practice. But in the mid-1800s, a small group of physicians set out to change that. (Arablouei and Abdelfatah, 6/6)

Mother Jones: Medication Abortion Will Be Crucial In A Post-Roe World. But It’s Not The Magic Fix Many Think It Is. 
Ever since it became evident that Roe is likely to fall in the coming weeks, activists and folks who are generally interested in preserving abortion access have heralded medication abortion as the great solution to the end of legal abortion. And it’s true—mifespristone and misoprostol have a lot of advantages that will surely come in handy in our post-Roe future, the main one being that it’s a do-it-yourself, at-home abortion method that is safe and effective. As Kimberly Inez McGuire, executive director at URGE (Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equity), said in a media briefing, “As we look at the impact of abortion bans, particularly disproportionately impacting communities such as Black and Brown folks, young people, as well as low-income communities, and immigrants, and trans young people, it is even more important that we consider the potential of self-managed abortion as an essential tool for accessing reproductive health care and autonomy for these marginalized communities.” (Andrews, 6/7)

Protests heat up —

Reuters: Abortion Rights Protester Locks Neck To U.S. Supreme Court Fence 
An abortion rights protester on Monday chained himself to a perimeter fence set up outside the U.S. Supreme Court to protest its expected decision overturning the landmark 1973 Roe v Wade ruling that legalized the procedure nationwide. The man, who secured a heavy-duty U-shaped bicycle lock around his neck, chanted "Overturn Roe? Hell no!" as a group of anti-abortion protesters marched and shouted back at him, carrying signs with slogans including "Protection at Conception." (6/6)

New York Post: Abortion Activists Strip During Joel Osteen Church Service
Three abortion activists interrupted celebrity pastor Joel Osteen’s Sunday mass service at a Texas megachurch by stripping down to their underwear. Osteen had just finished leading a prayer and congregants began to take their seats at Lakewood Church when one woman quickly stood up, pulled off her dress and shouted “It’s my body, my f–king choice,” videos shared on Twitter show. (Griffin, 6/7)

In global abortion news —

Euronews: Outrage In Poland Over New 'Pregnancy Register' On The Back Of Near-Total Abortion Ban 
Poland's government is facing criticism over a new provision that requires doctors to record each pregnancy in the country. Opposition MPs have labelled the medical data list as a "pregnancy register" and an infringement of women's rights. Poland has placed a near-total ban on abortion and activists are concerned that women will face unprecedented surveillance from the ruling conservative party. (6/7)

CNN: Overweight People Lost 35 To 52 Pounds On Newly Approved Diabetes Drug, Study Says 
A weekly dose of a medication recently approved by the US Food and Drug Administration to treat type 2 diabetes may help adults without diabetes lose weight as well, a new study found. Tirzepatide, which is sold under the brand name Mounjaro, was studied in people without diabetes in three dosages: 5, 10 and 15 milligrams. Participants with obesity or who were overweight and took the 5-milligram dose lost an average of 35 pounds (16 killograms), those on the 10-milligram dose lost an average of 49 pounds (22 kilograms), and participants on the 15-milligram dose lost an average of 52 pounds (23.6 kilograms). (LaMotte and Langmaid, 6/6)

In other pharmaceutical developments —

Stat: Adicet Therapy Shows Complete Remissions In Early Study Of Lymphoma
Adicet Bio reported Monday that a unique, off-the-shelf therapy made from a special type of T cell induced complete remissions in patients with advanced and aggressive B-cell lymphomas, including patients with cancer who relapsed after receiving a personalized CAR-T treatment. In the early-stage study, six of eight patients achieved complete remissions after a single infusion of Adicet’s therapy, called ADI-001. Three of the patients were particularly difficult to treat because they entered the study with lymphomas that had relapsed after they received CAR-T treatments; all achieved complete remissions with ADI-001, Adicet said. (Feuerstein, 6/6)

Stat: Praxis' Novel Antidepressant Fails Make-Or-Break Trial
A novel antidepressant from Praxis Precision Medicines failed to outperform placebo in a pivotal study, the company said Monday, casting doubt on what was meant to be a nuanced approach to the brain’s natural regulatory system. The drug, a once-daily oral treatment known as PRAX-114, missed its primary and secondary goals in a study enrolling about 200 patients with major depressive disorder. After two and four weeks of treatment, patients receiving PRAX-114 did not see their symptoms significantly improve compared to placebo, the company said. Praxis did not disclose details of the trial results. (Garde, 6/6)

KHN: California Wants To Slash Insulin Prices By Becoming A Drugmaker. Can It Succeed? 
California is diving into the prescription drug business, attempting to achieve what no other state has done: produce its own brand of generic insulin and sell it at below-market prices to people with diabetes like Sabrina Caudillo. Caudillo said she feels like a “prisoner” to the three major pharmaceutical companies that control the price of insulin, which ranges from $300 to $400 per vial without insurance. The price Caudillo paid in 2017, when she was diagnosed, is etched into her memory: $274. (Hart, 6/7)

Also —

Stat: Many Black Cancer Patients Not Offered Access To Clinical Trials, Survey Finds
Nobody offered Stephanie Walker a clinical trial when she was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. Nobody talked to her about what her options might be in clinical trials. She didn’t have a nurse or patient navigator, either, who could guide her through the treatment process. “It was just me, the oncologist, and his PA,” Walker, a registered nurse and patient advocate with the Metastatic Breast Cancer Alliance, said. It frustrates her to look back on that time, especially in the context of a new study that she and other patients and patient advocates led that examines the experiences of Black women with metastatic breast cancer. According to the study results that Walker presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting on Monday, the majority of Black women with metastatic breast cancer don’t get enrolled into clinical trials. Only 40% of Black respondents said they were even offered a trial. (Chen, 6/6)

Modern Healthcare: Surescripts Names Outsider As CEO
Surescripts named an outsider, Frank Harvey, as its CEO, the e-prescription company said Monday. Harvey, who most recently led private-equity investments for healthcare technology companies at ATLS Investments, will take the helm June 27. He succeeds Tom Skelton, who in November announced plans to retire. Before ATLS Investments, Harvey served as CEO of Mirixa, a technology company focused on medication therapy management that was acquired by Cardinal Health, and as CEO of Liberty Medical Supply, a company that sells prescription drugs and other medical supplies. (Kim Cohen, 6/6)

Bloomberg: Sackler Criminal Case Sought By Connecticut AG Over Opioids
Connecticut Attorney General William Tong said he’ll ask the state’s top prosecutor to consider criminal charges against members of the billionaire Sackler family over improper marketing of the opioid painkiller OxyContin by their company, Purdue Pharma LP. While the Sacklers agreed in March with Connecticut and other states to pay as much as $6 billion to resolve all opioid lawsuits against Purdue and themselves as part of a bankruptcy case, that deal doesn’t preclude prosecutors from exploring a criminal case. (Feeley and Hill, 6/6)

AP: Group Formed To Oversee Distribution Of Opioid Settlement
Kentucky took a step Monday to turn a massive settlement into action to combat opioid addiction, as Attorney General Daniel Cameron announced members of a group overseeing the state’s share. The Bluegrass State will receive $483 million from settlements finalized this year with drugmaker Johnson & Johnson and three major distributors. It was part of $26 billion in nationwide settlements. (Schreiner, 6/6)

On treatments for overdoses —

The Herald-Times: 'Life Saver' Skin Patch To Detect, Instantly Reverse Drug Overdose In Development
Quick detection and treatment can save an overdosing person's life, but it puts the responsibility on a nearby individual to know what to do and have the resources on hand to do it. That's why two researchers from Indiana University, Feng Guo and Ken Mackie, are developing a wearable device that can both detect and treat an opioid overdose as it happens. "(The device) could be really convenient because they don't really need a kind of specialist or bystander to have the (naloxone). It could be a kind of automated system to save that person's life," Guo said. "That's why Ken and I think this could be a life saver for the opioid overdosing patient." (Smith, 6/6)

On marijuana —

AP: NC Medical Marijuana Bill Goes To House With Final Senate OK 
Legislation making it lawful to smoke marijuana or consume cannabis-infused products for medical purposes in North Carolina cleared the state Senate on Monday evening. After no debate, the measure received bipartisan support by a vote of 36-7. The margin was similar to the outcome of an initial Senate vote last week that followed floor discussion. The bill now goes to the House, where chances for passage before this year’s primary work session adjourns in a few weeks appear long. Speaker Tim Moore has said the issue may have to wait until next year. (6/6)

AP: Health Department: Mississippi Medical Marijuana Months Away
It could be the end of the year before medical marijuana is available in Mississippi because businesses need time to receive licenses and to grow, test and prepare to sell the products, state Health Department officials said Monday. The department opened the licensing application process last week for patients and caregivers interested in using medical cannabis as allowed under a new state law; for medical practitioners who will certify patients for medical cannabis use; for facilities that will grow, process and test the products; and for businesses that will transport medical cannabis and dispose of waste. (Pettus, 6/6)

AP: Fences Dramatically Cut Suicide At Tampa Bay's Skyway Bridge 
For decades, the Sunshine Skyway Bridge has been one of Tampa Bay’s most iconic landmarks. But the 190 foot-high peak has also drawn hundreds of people wanting to take their own life. Most who have jumped from the top of span have died. Each time, witnesses, first responders and loved ones are left traumatized. Now, nearly a year since fences along the top of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay were completed, suicide rates have decreased dramatically. (De Leon, 6/5)

NBC News: 988 Suicide Prevention Hotline Launches In July. How Will We Pay For It?
The mental health version of 911 is set to launch nationwide next month with hopes it will be a game changer for suicide prevention and other emergencies, but some mental health professionals worry they will not be ready to handle the anticipated flood of calls. “We have all of the technology,” said Jennifer Piver, the executive director of Mental Health America of Greenville County in South Carolina. “We do not have the funding for staff, for salaries.” The new national three-digit number — 988 — is meant to connect people in mental health crises with those who are specially trained to respond to such situations. The easy-to-remember number launches July 16. (Edwards, Siegel and Snow, 6/7)

In other health news —

CNET: Apple's Safety Check For IOS Aims To Help People Facing Abusive Relationships
Apple on Monday announced a new Safety Check feature for iOS 16 aimed at people in abusive relationships. The feature lets users review and reset who has access to location information as well as passwords, messages and other apps on an iPhone. Apple debuted the feature at its annual WWDC event. Safety Check is a response to the fact that phones can become stalking devices in abusive relationships, with features that can be convenient in some relations giving abusers dangerous information. That's especially true when people try to leave their abusers, a time that domestic violence experts say is the most dangerous point for survivors. "Many people share passwords and access to their devices with a partner," said Katie Skinner, a privacy engineering manager at Apple, at the event Monday. "However, in abusive relationships, this can threaten personal safety and make it harder for victims to get help." (Hautala, 6/6)

Side Effects Public Media: Alcohol Use Was A Problem In The Midwest. Then The Pandemic Hit 
Nancy’s ex-husband had been sober for almost a decade when the pandemic hit. Not long into lockdown, she said his behavior changed. Nancy quickly tied it to drinking. “He would basically sleep all day and be up all night,” she said. Side Effects Public Media is only using Nancy’s first name, to protect Nancy and her ex-husband's privacy. Nancy, who lives in West Des Moines, Iowa, isn’t certain what triggered his relapse, but said her ex-husband was facing a lot of pandemic-related stressors. He was no longer going to his job due to pandemic closures, and he struggled when his Alcoholics Anonymous meetings moved online. (Krebs, 6/6)

CNN: Teen Sleep Deprivation Is An Epidemic: Q&A With Lisa Lewis 
American teenagers aren't getting enough sleep these days, and author Lisa L. Lewis refuses to snooze on the issue anymore. Lewis, a mother of two, helped spark the first law in the nation requiring healthy school start times for adolescents — a law that will be put into action in California later this summer. Her forthcoming book, "The Sleep-Deprived Teen: Why Our Teenagers Are So Tired, and How Parents and Schools Can Help Them Thrive," will be released June 7 and details so many things parents and caregivers need to know about teenagers and sleep. (Villano, 6/7)

AP: Bama Company Recalls 1-Lb Crabmeat Sold In 4 Southern States
An Alabama seafood company is recalling 1-pound (0.45 kilogram) packages of crab meat because federal inspectors found listeria bacteria on cooking equipment and in the cooking room. Irvington Seafood of Irvington, Alabama, said in a notice posted Friday on the Food and Drug Administration website that it has suspended production of the packages while it and the FDA investigate. (6/5)

Chicago Tribune: Frank Schwindel: Chicago Cubs 1B's Bond With 7-Year-Old Fan
Sometimes, if you look closely, you can spot the blue band on Frank Schwindel’s wrist. For Schwindel, his Team Ryker wristband is a visual connection to the 7-year-old Chicago Cubs fan who calls the first baseman his best friend. Schwindel’s bond with Ryker Colón began in January at a meet-and-greet event through Club 400, a nonprofit founded by a Cubs fan. It spawned a link between Schwindel and the Colón family. Ryker is one of 17 children in the world with a JAG2 gene mutation. Doctors categorize his condition as a form of muscular dystrophy; however, the rare disease does not have a name. Ryker no longer can walk and uses a power wheelchair. (Montemurro, 6/6)

CNN: Judge Rules Oklahoma's Lethal Injection Method Is Constitutional Following A Legal Challenge From Dozens Of Death Row Prisoners
Oklahoma's use of a three-drug lethal injection method is constitutional, a federal judge ruled Monday following a lawsuit from nearly 30 people on death row challenging the protocol. The suit, brought on behalf of 28 death row prisoners, named officials with multiple Oklahoma corrections agencies and claimed the state's lethal injection method violates the Eighth Amendment because it causes "constitutionally impermissible pain and suffering," according to the ruling. (Wolfe, Musa and Razek, 6/7)

In other health news from across the U.S. —

Columbus Dispatch: Ohio Transgender Athlete Bill Could Require Genital Checks
As soon as House Republicans passed a bill to block transgender girls from playing on female sports teams in K-12 or college, opponents started questioning how physicians would verify a minor's biology. They claim girls of all ages could be required to undergo full pelvic exams if an opposing team's coach, player or parent questioned their sex. They're right. House Bill 151, also called the "Save Women's Sports Act," says if a participant's sex is disputed, she must verify her sex with a physician in "only" the following ways. 1. An exam of her internal and external reproductive anatomy. 2. Her normal "endogenously produced levels of testosterone." 3. An analysis of her genetic makeup. (Staver, 6/6)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: New Tracking System For Sexual Assault Kits Debuts In Wisconsin
Wisconsin’s new system for tracking sexual assault kits as they move from hospital staff to law enforcement and crime lab testing has now launched, Attorney General Josh Kaul said Monday. The tracking system was created as a result of legislation signed into law in December. It allows survivors of sexual assault to log onto a database using a barcode, and not any personally identifiable information, to view the status of the kit as it goes through the testing process. The system’s debut continues a yearslong effort by the Wisconsin Department of Justice to improve the investigations of sexual assault kits statewide. In 2014, Kaul’s predecessor, Brad Schimel, launched an effort to test thousands of untested kits held by law enforcement and hospitals. (Hughes, 6/6)

Indianapolis Star: Indiana Launches New Program To Get Rid Of Toxic Firefighting Foam
From Joel Thacker’s office window, he can see the Indiana Law Enforcement and Firefighters Memorial — a large limestone pillar dedicated to those Hoosiers who lost their lives in the line of duty. The names of eight firefighters were added to it last year, the State Fire Marshal said. Six of them were due to cancer. Heart disease and stroke used to be the leading cause of death among firefighters. But from 2002 to 2019, cancer caused 65% of firefighter line-of-duty deaths, according to the International Association of Firefighters. Research now shows that one of the tools firefighters use for taming blazes is also a main source of cancer-causing chemicals. PFAS is a huge group of toxic chemicals used in thousands of consumer products — including foams used to extinguish fires. (Bowman, 6/7)

AP: Partly Treated Sewage Found Running Into Blackstone River 
Environmental officials are urging residents to avoid a stretch of the Blackstone River after finding that sewage was leaking into the river from a wastewater treatment plant on Sunday. The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management said it’s investigating the discharge of partly treated wastewater from the Woonsocket Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility. Officials said they were made aware of the discharge Sunday morning and that it is “currently ongoing.” (6/5)

AP: Hard Rock Boss Confers With NJ Governor On Casino Smoking
The chairman of the global Hard Rock casino and entertainment company spoke recently with New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy about the “economic challenges” of banning smoking in casinos, which a bill pending in the state Legislature would do. Murphy has said he will sign a bill banning smoking in the nine Atlantic City casinos if the Legislature passes it. A spokeswoman said Monday he maintains that stance, but declined further comment. (Parry, 6/6)

NBC News: Weight-Loss App Noom Is A Diet, Which Might Be Why Its Pandemic Glow Is Fading
“Stop dieting: Get life-long results.” That claim from the Noom app — that it isn’t a diet, yet can achieve long-lasting weight loss — surely encouraged some of its 45 million downloads in the first five years since it was launched. The app saw its popularity soar during the pandemic as house-bound Americans who were rapidly gaining weight were attracted to Noom’s virtual coaching and other Covid-safe approaches to shedding pounds. But despite this enthusiasm, the company laid off 495 health and wellness coaches this spring, according to Business Insider. (Dr. Hasan Merali, 6/6)

Los Angeles Times: How We Can Prevent Heat Waves From Killing Thousands Of People Every Year
Although nearly all heat-related deaths are preventable, heat waves kill thousands of people worldwide every year. At this moment, an extreme heat wave in India and Pakistan, affecting about 1 billion people, is “testing the limits of human survivability,” warns Chandni Singh, a lead author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Sixth Assessment Report. In April, the average maximum temperature for northwestern and central India was the highest in 122 years. (Kristie L. Ebi, 6/5)

Stat: Monkeypox Is Recapitulating The Stigma Of Other Diseases 
Pathogens have a way of shining a light on the darker facets of society. SARS-CoV-2 has certainly done that with Covid-19, and the monkeypox virus is doing it again. Pathogens don’t discriminate like humans do — they have no innate capability of discerning race, sexual orientation, religion, or nationality. This isn’t to say their effects are equal across different populations. Pathogens capitalize on individual vulnerabilities, exposures, and behaviors. They also hijack structural inequities embedded within societies. (Vinay Kampalath, 6/5)

Los Angeles Times: DeSantis Bullied Special Olympics Into Betraying Athletes
Special Olympics Inc., the parent organization of the Orlando games, could have used this opportunity to reiterate why vaccination is especially important for those in the intellectual disabilities community, and why it imposed the vaccine mandate in the first place. It did not. Instead, the group handed [Gov. Ron] DeSantis a victory over good sense and sound public health policy, and DeSantis ran with it. ... Several questions need to be answered about this decision, and several lessons to be drawn from it. The latter all point to the sheer thuggishness of the DeSantis administration, but also to why the Special Olympics organization caved to DeSantis so meekly. (Michael Hiltzik, 6/6)

The Colorado Sun: Colorado Commits To Truth And Transparency For Children Of Donors
The Colorado General Assembly has taken a historic, exemplary step to protect the interests of donor-conceived persons with the near-unanimous passage of SB 22-224, which received Gov. Jared Polis’ signature. For decades, the fertility industry has existed as a global, largely unregulated multi-billion dollar market which, according to one friend who works in the equine and bovine fertility business, makes the sale and implantation of human gametes look like the Wild West. Was it coincidence or a cosmic exclamation point that the bill’s passage coincided with the release of the horrifying documentary Our Father and a $8.75 million judgment against a Grand Junction doctor for fertility fraud? (Richard Uhrlaub, 6/5)

The Washington Post: Ohio Anti-Trans Bill Hits A New Low: Forced Genital Exams For Athletes 
The latest trend in American politics is to encourage snitching. Last week in Ohio, this nasty-minded moment reached a new nadir: If a measure passed by Republican state legislators becomes law, anyone could force girls and young women to submit to invasive gender-verification tests if they want to stay on their high school and college sports teams. (Alyssa Rosenberg, 6/6)

Modern Healthcare: How Health Professionals Can Navigate A Digital World We Don't Yet Fully Understand 
Every October, I receive dozens of messages commemorating the victims of the Tree of Life massacre in Pittsburgh, where 11 of my neighbors were murdered while they worshiped at the synagogue across the street from my home. It's the synagogue where my kids went to Hebrew school, and where my wife and I were married—the spiritual lodestar to Pittsburgh's Jewish community. (Dr. Jeffery Cohen, 6/3)

Los Angeles Times: When My Life Came Apart, I Struggled To Find The Therapy I Needed
At 14 years old, I hated who and what I was. With barely one foot in adolescence, I had already marched through miles of hell. In San Diego, my hometown, I had been beaten, sexually abused and propelled into the nightmarish worlds of drug addiction and sex work. Americans are thinking a lot about mental health. Yet far too often we ignore how hard it is for racial, ethnic, gender and sexual minorities to access quality mental health services. As a gay Latino, I can see this is a recipe for America — and its marginalized communities — to come apart at the seams. (Jesse Leon, 6/5)

Modern Healthcare: Healthcare Workers Keep Going Because We Have To, But We Don’t Have To Do It Alone 
Doctors undergo rigorous training to ensure we have the mental and physical stamina required for whatever challenges come our way. Many of us develop the endurance to carry out the Hippocratic Oath during the most trying times, with the understanding that our work will be demanding. Yet while our job is to care for others, we have traditionally been discouraged from speaking openly about our own mental health. (Dr. Nigel Girgrah, 6/6)

The CT Mirror: Connecticut’s Youth Are Suffering Through Their Own Pandemic
We know that the recipe for a functioning society includes hard-working and motivated citizens. But how do you create such individuals? The answer must include youth who feel supported. You cannot have a population equally prepared to contribute to society without supporting their mental health through the process. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected the mental health of our youth. Beside COVID-19, the mental health crisis is a second pandemic that our youth now face. Lawmakers must make mental health a priority. (Anna Winchester, 6/7)

The Washington Post: A Message For Gov. Abbott: Mental Health Professionals Are Not Clairvoyant 
In a news conference last week after the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Tex., Gov. Greg Abbott (R) proclaimed that “Anybody who shoots somebody else has a mental health challenge, period. We as a government need to find a way to target that mental health challenge and to do something about it.” Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin (R) echoed Abbott’s sentiment: “Maybe we could have caught it. Maybe if we had the counselors, maybe if we had the mental health people, we could do it.” (Vivien Burt, Robin Berman and Sonya Raminsky, 6/3)

Los Angeles Times: Americans Are Living In Fear Of Gun Violence. And We Don't Have Security Like Ted Cruz
Spurred by rising violence with firearms, the nation began work to write into law “the strongest gun control measures in over 40 years.” Alas for Americans, that nation is Canada. (Jackie Calmes, 6/3)

Also —

Los Angeles Daily News: The Lockdowns Were A Failure 
An analysis of studies of the effects of lockdowns on COVID-19 mortality has just been released by a team of researchers at Johns Hopkins University, and their conclusion is depressing. “Our study finds that lockdowns had little to no effect in reducing COVID-19 mortality,” they wrote. “However, lockdowns during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic have had devastating effects.” (6/5)

The Baltimore Sun: Teens Aging Out Of Foster Care Amid COVID-19 Pandemic Need More Support 
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to devastate the United States, young adults are facing the consequences of becoming emancipated from foster care. Once a young person turns 18 years old, they are legally no longer a child and cannot be considered as a foster placement. Those who age out of foster care must adjust to living independently and facing a great deal of adversity. They are expected to move out and start their lives on their own amid an ongoing pandemic. The teens will find themselves in need of jobs, a place to liveand a means of transportation just to survive. The goal of foster care programs should be to support teens that age out of the system by making sure that they have successful transitions into self-sufficiency. (Wilkins, 6/7)