The Associated Press: Senate GOP Leader Would Raise Age For Buying Tobacco To 21
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, whose home state of Kentucky was long one of the nation's leading tobacco producers, introduced bipartisan legislation Monday to raise the minimum age for buying any tobacco products from 18 to 21. The chamber's top Republican, who said he was making enactment of the bill "one of my highest priorities," issued his proposal at a time when the use of e-cigarettes is growing and underage vaping has soared, raising concerns by health expert s. The measure would apply to all tobacco products, e-cigarettes and vapor products and was co-sponsored by Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., whose state has also been a major tobacco producer. (Fram, 5/20)

CQ: McConnell Releases Bill To Boost Age To Buy Tobacco Products
“I recognize that I might seem like an unusual candidate to lead this charge,” he said. But he argued that Kentucky farmers had the same interest as anyone else in making sure their children don’t become addicted to nicotine. “Youth vaping is a public health crisis,” he said. The logic behind increasing the smoking age to 21 is that high school students are likely to know someone who is 18 who can legally purchase tobacco, but they are less likely to have friends who are 21. (Siddons, 5/20)

Bloomberg: Mitch McConnell Proposes Raising US Tobacco Purchase Age To 21 
McConnell’s legislation would cover all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes. It would require retailers, like under the current system, to verify that a tobacco purchaser is old enough to buy the product. While most states set 18 as the minimum age of purchase, 14 states and a number of cities, including New York City, have enacted laws raising the age to 21, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. (Litvan, 5/20)

The Wall Street Journal: McConnell Pushes To Raise Age For Tobacco Purchases
The bill’s prospects in the House are unclear. House Democratic aides said they are still reviewing it, though they pointed to more expansive legislation introduced in the House that would also restrict flavored e-cigarettes and regulate marketing to young people, among other measures, in addition to raising the age for purchasing tobacco. Legislation that takes similar measures—but doesn’t raise the purchasing age—has received bipartisan support in the Senate. Many e-cigarette companies, including market leader Juul Labs Inc., sell cartridges of nicotine liquids with flavors such as mango and cucumber. The FDA last year announced plans to restrict the sale of flavored nicotine products in an effort to curb use among young people. (Duehren, 5/20)

Politico: McConnell And Kaine Unveil Bill To Raise Tobacco Age To 21
Several leading public health groups, including the American Lung Association, the American Cancer Society, and the American Academy of Pediatrics came out in cautious support, applauding the McConnell measure but urging lawmakers not to add carve-outs or special provisions for the industry. The Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids said it was still evaluating the proposal. Most of the anti-tobacco groups favor raising the age, but want other steps to curb tobacco use, particularly among youth. (Owermohle, 5/20)

The Hill: McConnell, Kaine Introduce Bill To Raise Tobacco Purchasing Age From 18 To 21 
The FDA in March issued a proposal requiring that stores only sell flavored e-cigarettes in areas that are off limits to anyone under 18, but public health groups want to see more. Legislation sponsored by Reps. Donna Shalala (D-Fla.) and Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.), would do just that, and is supported by public health groups but opposed by tobacco companies. (Hellmann, 5/20)

The Associated Press: 'Medicare For All's' Rich Benefits 'Leapfrog' Other Nations
Generous benefits. No copays. No need for private policies. The "Medicare for All" plan advocated by leading 2020 Democrats appears more lavish than what's offered in other advanced countries, compounding the cost but also potentially broadening its popular appeal. While other countries do provide coverage for all, benefits vary.But the Medicare for All plan from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders would charge no copays or deductibles for medical care, allowing only limited cost-sharing for certain prescription drugs. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 5/21)

In other news from Capitol Hill —

The Hill: Pro-ObamaCare Group Launches Ad Campaign To Protect 20 House Dems 
A pro-ObamaCare group on Monday announced it is launching a seven-figure advertising campaign aimed at protecting 20 House Democrats who could face tough reelections. The ad campaign by Protect Our Care will highlight the Democrats’ work on health care and argue that Democratic lawmakers are protecting people with pre-existing conditions, an issue that helped the party win back the House in the 2018 midterm elections. (Sullivan, 5/20)

Politico: Disaster Relief Package On Fast Track After Shelby Relents
Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby is caving on his demand to add a key parochial provision to a long-stalled disaster aid bill, potentially clearing the way for its passage later this week. The Alabama Republican agreed to drop the fight — which had held up a deal for weeks and even begun to rattle members of his own party — after a meeting with President Donald Trump on Monday yielded a commitment to address harbor maintenance provisions outside the disaster relief package. (Levine, Ferris and Bresnahan, 5/20)

Bloomberg: U.S. Supreme Court Again Defers Action On Abortion Cases
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday deferred acting on state efforts to put more restrictions on abortion, issuing a list of orders without mentioning two pending Indiana appeals. The appeals were on a list of cases the justices could have discussed at their private conference last week. In one, the state is seeking to bar abortions motivated by the risk of a genetic disorder and require clinics to bury or cremate fetal remains. In the other, Indiana aims to reinstate a requirement that an ultrasound be performed at least 18 hours before an abortion. The Supreme Court maneuvering comes amid an explosion in abortion debate. (Stohr, 5/20)

The Associated Press: US Judge To Consider Blocking New Mississippi Abortion Law
Inside Mississippi's only abortion clinic, administrator Shannon Brewer has been fielding phone calls from women who want to know whether they can still terminate a pregnancy if they think they might be more than a few weeks along. The confusion comes from a Mississippi law that's set to ban abortions after a fetus's heartbeat is detected: about six weeks into a pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant. The clinic has sued to block it, and a judge was scheduled to hear arguments on the request Tuesday. (Pettus, 5/20)

The Washington Post: Court Case Seeking To Overturn Abortion Restrictions Opens In Virginia
A federal trial opened Monday with activists challenging four state laws that restrict abortion, including requirements that clinics meet stringent licensing standards, that patients get an ultrasound at least 24 hours before an abortion and that only doctors perform the procedure in the first trimester. Abortion is a relatively safe procedure for the woman, carrying less risk than a colonoscopy, plastic surgery or tonsillectomy, an expert witness testified for activists bringing the suit. Even some dental procedures pose greater danger. (Vozzella, 5/20)

The Associated Press: Abortion Clinic Asks Full Appeals Court To Rehear Case
A Kentucky abortion clinic is asking a federal appeals court to rehear an appeal in the case of a state law that requires doctors to perform ultrasounds and show fetal images to patients prior to abortions. A divided panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last month that the 2017 law is constitutional, reversing a lower court judge. Attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union, representing the Louisville abortion clinic, filed a petition Monday asking that the full appeals court hear the case. The petition cites a First Amendment issue of “exceptional importance.” (5/20)

The Associated Press: Gov: Abortion Ban Shows Alabama Values 'Sanctity Of Life'
Alabama's governor said Monday the new abortion ban she recently signed into law reflects the high value residents place on the "sanctity of life," adding she doesn't expect any fallout from the controversial measure on tourism or business recruitment. Gov. Kay Ivey last week approved the most stringent abortion law in the nation— making performing an abortion a felony in nearly all cases unless necessary for the mother's health. The law provides no exception for rape and incest. (Chandler, 5/20)

The Wall Street Journal: State Abortion Curbs Reverberate In Presidential Race
In the days since this state’s Republican-controlled Legislature approved a near-total ban on abortion, the debate over abortion rights has taken a central role in the 2020 presidential race. Several Democratic presidential hopefuls have made abortion a central issue in the past week on the campaign trail, in policy platforms, cable television interviews, targeted digital ads, fundraising and outreach to supporters in a way that appears to be energizing the Democratic primary base. (Parti, 5/20)

The Wall Street Journal: Planned Parenthood Head Says Abortion Is Still Legal Despite Restrictive Laws
Some women living in states that passed laws restricting or banning abortion are acting as though the procedure is already illegal, the president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America said on Monday, despite the fact the new laws haven’t yet gone into effect. “Patients are deeply worried,” said Leana Wen, speaking at The Wall Street Journal’s Future of Everything Festival on Monday. She said some women were afraid of attending appointments and others had tried to move them up. “They are worried that abortion is already illegal and they have to take measures into their own hands,” added Dr. Wen, a doctor who became president of the organization in November. (Ramey, 5/20)

The Philadelphia Inquirer/Philly.com: Abortion Debate Revives Question: Are The Unborn Being Favored Over Children Born Into Poverty?
Abortion-rights advocates ask why many Republicans who talk about saving fetuses also advocate cuts to safety-net programs that help low-income children and their families. For their part, many antiabortion advocates say that their stance of protecting life at all costs outweighs any other considerations. (Lubrano, 5/20)

Politico: Faith-Based Clinics Sue HHS Over Family Planning Program Rules
A California chain of faith-based clinics is suing HHS, claiming it can't administer more than $5 million in federal family planning funds because current program rules infringe on its First Amendment rights. The complaint in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, Calif., states the Obria Group has been put in an untenable situation because courts temporarily stayed new Trump administration rules for the Title X program that would have, among other things, barred providers in the program from offering or referring patients for abortions. Instead, Obria has to comply with existing standards that require recipients to offer contraception and counseling that includes discussing abortion. (Colliver, 5/20)

Stat: Supreme Court Gives Merck A Break, Orders Fosamax Suits Review 
In a boost for Merck (MRK), the U.S. Supreme Court tossed a lower-court ruling that had revived more than 500 lawsuits accusing the drug maker of failing to properly warn patients about thigh-bone fractures traced to its widely used Fosamax treatment for osteoporosis. The justices want a federal appeals court to reconsider its 2018 ruling that allowed the lawsuits to proceed. Merck has argued that it tried to update warnings on the product labeling, but that the Food and Drug Administration rejected its efforts over disagreements with proposed wording about fracture risks. Last summer, the U.S. Solicitor General had urged the Supreme Court to review the case. (Silverman, 5/20)

Kaiser Health News: Supreme Court Declines To Hear Military Medical Malpractice Case
The family of a young Navy nurse who died after military doctors allegedly failed to halt massive bleeding following childbirth won’t get a hearing in the nation’s highest court. The Supreme Court on Monday denied a petition that sought to change what’s known as the Feres doctrine, a long-standing rule that bars active-duty military members from suing the federal government for injuries, including medical malpractice. (Aleccia, 5/20)

And in news from lower courts —

Stat: Generic Drug Price-Fixing Suit Is Akin To Earlier Case, But ‘On Steroids,’ Conn. Prosecutor Says 
Earlier this month, 44 states filed a sweeping lawsuit that accused 20 generic drug makers, including large players such as Teva Pharmaceutical, and 15 current and former executives of a widespread price-fixing conspiracy. This was the second such lawsuit over the past three years that alleged schemes in which one company would decide to raise prices on a particular medicine and others would follow suit. ...We spoke with Joseph Nielsen, an assistant attorney general in Connecticut, which has taken the lead on these cases, about some of the details and what to expect next. (Silverman, 5/20)

Stat: Judge Rules Parents Of Deceased Cadet Can Take Control Of His Sperm
The parents of a West Point cadet who died after a skiing accident earlier this year can take control of his sperm and, if they wish, use it to pursue a pregnancy using an egg donor and surrogate, a New York judge has ruled. The judge, state Supreme Court Justice John Colangelo, in March ordered that a hospital retrieve the sperm from 21-year-old Peter Zhu before he was taken off life support, following a request from his parents. Colangelo said his decision then was based on recovering the sperm while it was still viable, but that he needed more time to address how it could ultimately be used. (Joseph, 5/20)

The Associated Press: 5th Migrant Child Dies After Detention By US Border Agents
A 16-year-old Guatemala migrant who died Monday in U.S. custody had been held by immigration authorities for six days — twice as long as federal law generally permits — then transferred him to another holding facility even after he was diagnosed with the flu. The teenager, identified by U.S. Customs and Border Protection as Carlos Gregorio Hernandez Vasquez, was the fifth minor from Guatemala to die after being apprehended by U.S. border agents since December. (Merchant, 5/20)

The Wall Street Journal: Guatemalan Boy Dies In U.S. Border Patrol Custody
The CBP official said Monday that Carlos was diagnosed with the flu on Sunday and prescribed Tamiflu before being transferred from a processing center in McAllen to the station in nearby Weslaco on Sunday. The official said Carlos was set to be transferred to a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement shelter in Brownsville. Under federal law, unaccompanied immigrant children can generally be held in Border Patrol facilities for up to 72 hours. The official said the agency relies on Health and Human Services to determine when and where unaccompanied immigrant children are transferred. (Caldwell, 5/20)

USA Today: Guatemalan Migrant Is The Latest Minor To Die In U.S. Custody
A collection of law enforcement agencies will investigate Hernandez Vasquez' death, looking into medical records while he's in custody and interviewing any other minors who may have been with him in the holding cell, CBP said. The FBI is among the agencies, the CBP official said. Hernandez Vasquez is the the fifth minor to die in the United States after being apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border. All five minors have been from Guatemala. (Carranza, 5/20)

Texas Tribune: Guatemalan Migrant Dies After Being Apprehended At The Texas-Mexico Border
Texas’ Rio Grande Valley is in the midst of an ongoing surge of unauthorized migration, mainly of people escaping violence and poverty in Central America. Last week, the U.S. Border Patrol announced it was constructing four additional temporary tents in the Valley to house some of the thousands of migrants who continue to cross into the country from Mexico. That’s in addition to a 500-person facility recently completed in Donna.(Aguilar, 5/20)

The Wall Street Journal: California Democrats Face Off Over Health Care For Illegal Immigrants
California lawmakers are headed for a showdown over how many illegal immigrants should qualify for government-subsidized health care. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed allowing unauthorized immigrants under 26 to enroll in Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program. Some members of the legislature, which is dominated by Democrats, have proposed that low-income people of all ages be eligible, regardless of their immigration status. Both would be first-in-the-nation expansions and represent another step by California to enact economic and social policies in defiance of the Trump administration, including support for those in the country illegally. (Lazo, 5/21)

The Associated Press: California Eyes Health Care For Immigrants In US Illegally
Lilian Serrano's mother-in-law had lots of stomach problems, but she always blamed food. Doctors at a San Diego-area clinic suspected Genoveva Angeles might have cancer, but they could not say for sure because they did not have the equipment to test for it and Angeles, who had been in the country illegally for 20 years, could not afford to see a specialist and did not qualify for state assistance because of her immigration status. (5/20)

Meanwhile —

California Healthline: A Medical Sanctuary For Migrant Farmworkers
On the 15-mile drive between his two Central Valley medical clinics, Dr. J. Luis Bautista often passes armies of farmworkers stooped over in the fields, picking onions, melons and tomatoes. Most of the 30,000 annual office visits to his small staff of doctors and nurses in downtown Fresno and the nearby rural town of Sanger are by these farmworkers. Many of them are undocumented. (Glionna, 5/20)

NPR: Day-To-Day Financial Insecurity A Burden For People In Rural Communities
Polling by NPR finds that while rural Americans are mostly satisfied with life, there is a strong undercurrent of financial insecurity that can create very serious problems for many people living in rural communities. The findings come from two surveys NPR has done with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health on day-to-day life and health in rural America. (Neel and Neighmond, 5/21)

In other news on health care costs —

Modern Healthcare: Private Plans Pay California Hospitals More Than Double The Medicare Rate
Private insurers paid California hospitals more than two times as much as Medicare for similar services in 2015 and 2016, according to a study published Monday by West Health Policy Center. The study found that private insurers paid hospitals an average 209% of Medicare, though there was wide variation across hospitals. Private insurers paid the costliest hospitals 364% of Medicare on average, while they paid the least expensive hospitals an average 89% of Medicare. The most expensive hospitals tended to be private not-for-profit hospitals, while the least costly were public hospitals. (Livingston, 5/20)

The Associated Press: Louisiana House Seeking To Cover More Children In Medicaid
House lawmakers are proposing to expand Louisiana's Medicaid program to include more children with disabilities whose parents make too much money to qualify under current eligibility rules. Legislation by Republican Rep. Dodie Horton would require Louisiana's health department to seek federal approval for the expansion. The expansion would give the children access to home- and community-based services. (5/20)

The Advocate: 'Technical Glitch' That Paid Out $10M In Medicaid Claims In Louisiana Is Fixed, Officials Say 
The companies that manage care for Louisiana’s Medicaid recipients say they have fixed an issue that state auditors found resulted in the payment of $10 million in claims that didn’t adhere to a new state law requiring certain tracking numbers. Legislative Auditor Daryl Purpera wrote in a recent report the state paid out the $10 million in behavioral health services claims despite the fact the claims did not include a National Provider Identification number for the individual providing the service. (Karlin, 5/20)

New Hampshire Public Radio: Sununu Calls For Change To Federal Medicaid Rules On Disability Services
Governor Chris Sununu wants New Hampshire's congressional delegation to change a Medicaid rule that covers how services for people with developmental disabilities are provided.The rule is designed to eliminate conflicts of interest. It requires that agencies which provide case management and direct services for people with developmental disabilities cannot provide both to the same people under Medicaid. (Moon, 5/20)

The CT Mirror: Lamont Backs Nursing Home Rate Increases
Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration took a key step Monday to stave off a nursing home strike, endorsing three rates hikes for the industry to be phased in between this July and January 2021. Nursing homes that serve Medicaid patients would receive a 2 percent rate increase in July 2019, a 1 percent hike in October 2020 and a final 1 percent bump in January 2021. (Phaneuf and Carlesso, 5/20)

Stateline: Rapid Opioid Cutoff Is Risky Too, Feds Warn 
To stem the opioid epidemic, U.S. doctors cut prescriptions of medications such as OxyContin, Vicodin and Percocet by at least a quarter over the last five years. But the reduction in prescriptions came at a cost to some pain patients. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration last month warned prescribers that abruptly cutting off high-dose patients or tapering their doses too rapidly could cause withdrawal and even suicide. (Vestal, 5/21)

Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee Doctor, Accused Of Drug Dealing, Ordered To Stop Seeing Patients
A Middle Tennessee doctor who stands accused of drug dealing at a pill mill that once overflowed with patients has been ordered by a Nashville judge to stop practicing medicine altogether. Dr. Samson Orusa, who owns a clinic in Clarksville, is now forbidden from seeing patients, writing prescriptions or supervising any nurse practitioners or other medical professionals, according to a court order from Davidson County Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle. (Kelman, 5/20)

Minnesota Public Radio: Opioid Deal Puts Drugmakers On Hook For Problems
That money — included in a bill passed with overwhelming support before the Legislature adjourned Monday night — will come from substantially higher licensing fees on companies in the prescription painkiller business. Some big manufacturers will have to pay $305,000 annually to operate in Minnesota. The fees are expected to generate $20 million each year, which will go into a dedicated fund that can be used solely for opioid-related response programs. (Bakst, 5/20)

The New York Times: A.I. Took A Test To Detect Lung Cancer. It Got An A.
Computers were as good or better than doctors at detecting tiny lung cancers on CT scans, in a study by researchers from Google and several medical centers. The technology is a work in progress, not ready for widespread use, but the new report, published Monday in the journal Nature Medicine, offers a glimpse of the future of artificial intelligence in medicine. One of the most promising areas is recognizing patterns and interpreting images — the same skills that humans use to read microscope slides, X-rays, M.R.I.s and other medical scans. (Grady, 5/20)

Stat: Google's AI Boosts Accuracy Of Lung Cancer Diagnosis, Study Shows 
A study published in Nature Medicine reported that the algorithm, trained on 42,000 patient CT scans taken during a National Institutes of Health clinical trial, outperformed six radiologists in determining whether patients had cancer. It detected 5% more cancers and cut false positives — when cancer is suspected though a nodule is harmless — by 11% from reviewing a single scan. It performed on par with the radiologists when prior images of patients were also included in the evaluation. (Ross, 5/20)

NPR: The Other Reasons Kids Aren't Getting Vaccinations: Poverty And Health Care Access
The toddler looking up at Dr. Melanie Seifman in her Washington, D.C., exam room seems a little dazed. It could be because she just woke up from a nap at daycare. It could be that she remembers the shots she got last time, and she knows what's coming. The little girl is catching up on some vaccines she's behind on: missing doses of the DTaP and polio vaccines. She's over two years old — both of those shots are supposed to happen at a baby's six-month check up. (Simmons-Duffin, 5/20)

The Washington Post: Anti-Vaxxers Target Communities Battling Measles
In a suburban shopping center an hour north of New York City, hundreds of mostly ultra-Orthodox Jews gathered in a sex-partitioned ballroom to hear leaders of the national anti-vaccine movement. Sustained applause greeted Del Bigtree, a former television-producer-turned-activist who often wears a yellow star , similar to those required of Jews in Nazi Germany, to show solidarity with parents ordered to keep unvaccinated children at home. Bigtree described the purported dangers of childhood vaccines in phrases that also conjured the Nazis. (Sun and Guarino, 5/20)

The New York Times: Measles Outbreak Now At 880 Cases, With Fastest Growth Still In New York
There have now been 880 measles cases reported in this year’s outbreak, already the largest since 1994, federal health officials said on Monday. An additional 41 cases were reported last week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of those, 30 were in New York State, which is having the country’s most intense outbreak, largely in Orthodox Jewish communities. Most of those new cases were in New York City, and nine were in suburban Rockland County. (McNeil, 5/20)

The Wall Street Journal: Measles Outbreaks In U.S. Tick Up
That is 41 more cases than a week ago, and included one additional state, Oklahoma, where a person contracted the measles after traveling domestically and internationally. By contrast, the number of confirmed cases had increased by 75 the previous week. This year is the worst for measles in the U.S. in 25 years, and the additional cases of the highly contagious disease brings the count closer to the 963 cases reported in 1994. (Abbott, 5/20)

The Hill: Measles Outbreak Spreads To 24 States
The total number of cases is inching closer to the record 963 cases reported across the U.S. in 1994. The current outbreak is still the largest since the disease was declared eliminated in 2000. (Weixel, 5/20)

NH Times Union: State Official Says Measles Vaccine Is A Success 
Despite news this week that a child in Keene is confirmed to have measles, the state’s epidemiologist says the vaccine for the potentially deadly illness is very effective. “That’s one of the reasons why we haven’t seen large outbreaks,” said State Epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Chan. New Hampshire’s vaccination rate for measles, typically taken in the form of the MMR vaccine that also protects from mumps and rubella, is in the mid to high 90% range for children and adolescents, Chan said. This has kept the disease from spreading, despite some rare confirmed cases, he said. (Fisher, 5/20)

USA Today: Teen Suicide And Mental Health: America's Deadly, Costly Problems That Have No End In Sight
The nation's medical system falls far short of meeting the demand for teen mental health services because cases of suicide and psychiatric disorders are skyrocketing, underscoring a public health crisis that is already costing Americans billions to combat. Research from federal regulators and medical groups shows the suicide rate for young people ages 10 to 19 rose by 56% from 2007 to 2016, the latest year for which figures are available. Only 40% of young people with major depression got treatment, according to the National Institute for Mental Health. (O'Donnell, 5/20)

Modern Healthcare: Behavioral Health Cases Doubled Over A Decade
Behavioral health diagnoses ballooned over the past decade as more youths cope with mental health and substance abuse issues, according to a new analysis of private health insurance claims. Behavioral health cases increased 108% from 2007 to 2017, rising from 1.3% to 2.7% of all medical claim lines, the not-for-profit Fair Health's analysis of 28 billion claims found. The share of claims for those age 22 or younger with major depressive disorder, the most common diagnosis, increased from 15% to 23% over that span. (Kacik, 5/20)

Stat: ‘People Are Just Doing It’: Gottlieb Says Evidence Of CBD Supplements’ Medicinal Value Is Lacking, Despite Popularity
Former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb is skeptical of the hype around CBD dietary supplements, at least until some hard science is published. “There’s no science to demonstrate that putting it in the food supply has any medicinal value, let alone [to] support that it’s safe,” he told STAT in a phone interview. “People are just doing it. People are putting it in pet food because they think it calms their dogs. Point to a single credible study that demonstrates that. It’s being promoted for everything right now.” (Florko, 5/21)

The New York Times: Why High-Class People Get Away With Incompetence
In season four of NBC’s “Parks and Recreation,” Paul Rudd plays a wealthy businessman named Bobby Newport who runs for city council because he’s looking for something “easy” to do. He is asked during a debate how he’d fix the town. His answer: “I have no idea.” Still, the audience goes wild, much to the frustration of his rival, Leslie Knope. It’s funny because it’s relatable. Sooner or later, we all may encounter a Bobby Newport. What is it about an elite upbringing that seems to make people feel qualified for tasks where they have little experience? This is one of the questions that inspired a study published Monday in The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. (Murphy, 5/20)

NPR: Not Just For Soldiers: Civilians With PTSD Struggle To Find Effective Therapy
Lauren Walls had lived with panic attacks, nightmares and flashbacks for years. The 26-year-old San Antonio teacher sought help from a variety of mental health professionals — including spending five years and at least $20,000 with one therapist who used a Christian-faith-based approach, viewing her condition as part of a spiritual weakness that could be conquered — but her symptoms worsened. She hit a breaking point two years ago, when she contemplated suicide. In her search for help, Walls encountered a psychiatrist who diagnosed her with post-traumatic stress disorder. As a result, she sought out a therapist who specialized in trauma treatment, and that's when she finally experienced relief. "It was just like a world of difference," Walls says. (Covington, 5/20)

Miami Herald: Obesity, Diabetes And Hepatitis Behind High Liver Cancer Rates
Liver cancer was the sixth-leading cause of cancer death in 2016, up from ninth in 2000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Between 2000 and 2016, U.S. liver cancer death rates jumped 43 percent for men and 40 percent for women, according to the CDC.Those facing the biggest risk? (Horton, 5/21)

Kaiser Health News: Hidden Reports Masked The Scope Of Widespread Harm From Faulty Heart Device
Faced with the possibility that a bout of abnormal heartbeats could end his life, in 2006, Dr. Marc Sicklick had a small device implanted in his chest that would shock it back into rhythm. Soon he would struggle with another life-or-death choice: whether to remove the Sprint Fidelis, which was deemed dangerous and recalled in 2007 after it had been implanted in hundreds of thousands of patients. The Sprint Fidelis was prone to giving patients random electrical jolts — and sometimes failed to fire in genuine cardiac emergencies, according to manufacturer Medtronic’s letter to doctors. (Jewett, 5/21)

The New York Times: Turmeric Takes A Star Turn In Cocktails
If cocktails look golden to you lately, it’s probably not because spring is here and the sun is out. Turmeric, the bright yellow-orange spice long used in South Asian and Middle Eastern cooking, is the latest ingredient to make the leap from the kitchen to the cocktail glass. Every upscale bar menu these days seems to have at least one drink containing the spice. There is no single reason for this. And the two most significant ones sit on opposite ends of the serious-to-superficial spectrum. (Simonson, 5/20)

The Associated Press: Oregon Joins Effort To Solve Crimes Against Native Women
Native American women have gone missing or been killed at alarming rates, federal and private studies show, and there is growing concern that confusion by law enforcement over who has jurisdiction can lead to lax pursuit of cases and insufficient data. Oregon, home to nine federally recognized tribes or confederations of tribes, has now joined a movement to account for and solve more of the crimes. (5/20)

The New York Times: Tuesday Could Be The Beginning Of The End Of Philadelphia’s Soda Tax
Jeff Foster, 58, a retired security guard with an abiding sweet tooth and a generous paunch, scowled as he considered the cornucopia of refrigerated soft drinks at his local convenience store. “It’s just not right,” he said, complaining that prices on his favorite brands had nearly doubled since a tax on sweetened beverages went into effect here two years ago. (Jacobs, 5/20)

Reveal: California Regulators Aren’t Taking Action Against Care Homes That Ignore Wage Theft Judgments
Across California, at least 20 companies providing care for the elderly, disabled and mentally ill continue to operate illegally after being cited for failing to pay their workers more than $1.4 million in back wages and penalties. ... But the state Department of Social Services’ Community Care Licensing Division, which is in charge of licensing facilities for the elderly and disabled, has not acted, Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting found. (Gollan, 5/20)

The New Orleans Advocate: New Orleans EMS Names Liaison To LGBTQ Communities, The Latest In A Series Of Outreach Steps 
New Orleans’ Emergency Medical Services on Monday named an agency liaison with members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer communities, whose members can sometimes be reluctant to seek help from first responders when they need it, according to city officials. In his liaison role, emergency medical technician Tracy “TJ” Boyd Jr.’s duties will include training first responders on health care conditions that frequently affect LGBTQ people, as well as “respectful practices when caring for these individuals” before many of them are turned over to hospital staffs, EMS said in a statement. (Vargas, 5/20)

The CT Mirror: Students With "Emotional Disturbances" Face High Rate Of Suspensions
Tucker’s school experience as a student with an emotional disturbance is a symptom of a system-wide problem. An analysis of state data by Connecticut Public Radio shows that students with emotional disturbances are four times more likely to be thrown out of class than the average student. (Skahill and Desroches, 5/20)

Austin American-Statesman: Texas To Get New Tools To Crack Down On Unsafe Day Care Centers
The Texas Health and Human Services Commission will soon have more tools to crack down on unsafe day cares thanks to a bill approved Monday night by the Texas House. Senate Bill 568 by Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, increases fines the state can levy on child care centers and homes that violate safety rules. (Collins Walsh, 5/20)

KQED: Asbestos In Your Makeup? Legislature Rejects Proposal To Ban Toxics From Cosmetics
California’s Legislature considered banning the sale of of cosmetics containing any of at least 15 toxic chemicals and minerals — including formaldehyde, asbestos and mercury. But after major pushback from powerful players such as the California Chamber of Commerce, which put the bill on its annual list of “job killers,” Assembly Bill 495 failed to survive its first committee hearing. (Castillo, 5/20)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Abele Signs Resolution Declaring Racism Public Health Crisis
Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele signed a resolution Monday declaring racism a public health crisis, saying this was "about action." ... The resolution is about making a public commitment to taking action, he said. Every decision across the county should be framed in terms of how to make a difference in these disparities, he said. (Dirr, 5/20)

The Associated Press: Governor Orders Probe Of Medical Board In Ohio State Abuse
Gov. Mike DeWine declared the late Ohio State University team doctor Richard Strauss a monster Monday as he ordered a review of the state medical board's handling of his case decades ago and called for lawmakers to lift the statute of limitations on rape charges. The Republican governor signed an executive order at a Statehouse news conference creating a group to review a complete, unredacted version of an investigative report released last week to see what the board knew about Strauss, who took his life in 2005, and when. Portions of the report involving the board's actions had been blacked out. (Carr Smyth, 5/20)

Miami Herald: Florida Has Second-Highest Rate Of Deadly Skin Cancer
More Americans are diagnosed with skin cancer annually than all other cancers combined, and one in five will develop skin cancer by the age of 70, according to the American Cancer Society.Last year, about 8,000 Floridians were diagnosed with melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer. The Sunshine State had the second highest number of melanoma cases in the nation, after California. (Dahlberg, 5/21)

Arizona Republic: Prison Problems: Miscarriages, A Baby Born In A Cell, Inadequate Services For Disabilities
Women miscarrying due to a lack of proper health care, a woman giving birth alone in a cell, and deaf inmates not getting interpretation services during doctor visits. These instances and numerous others were detailed in more than 200 letters lawyers sent to Arizona Department of Corrections officials over the past four months. (Castle, 5/20)

North Carolina Health News: Zero New HIV Cases: The Goal For Mecklenburg County 
An estimated 6,682 Charlotteans live with HIV today, according to AIDSvu, a website which tracks HIV and AIDS in the U.S. If those patients effectively take antiretroviral drugs for long enough, then they can no longer transmit HIV to sexual partners. That fact is the basis for Treatment as Prevention, another pillar of the Getting to Zero Plan. Once someone is diagnosed with HIV, they need to begin treatment quickly in order to prevent new cases. (Duong, 5/21)

The Star Tribune: Park Nicollet Spending $13.5 Million To Replace Lakeville Clinic 
Park Nicollet broke ground earlier this month on a $13.5 million clinic in Lakeville that will replace a nearby facility and is the health system's second project to launch in Dakota County within the past year. Construction started in 2018 to expand a Burnsville facility to offer specialty care from Park Nicollet, which is part of the Bloomington-based HealthPartners network of clinics and hospitals. (Snowbeck, 5/20)

The New York Times: Anti-Abortion And Pro-Trump Are Two Sides Of The Same Coin
Two weeks ago, Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia signed a “fetal heartbeat” bill that bans abortions after six weeks. It is effectively a total ban, since most people who are pregnant won’t know it until sometime between the fourth and seventh weeks. Last week, Gov. Kay Ivey of Alabama signed the strictest abortion bill in the country, which bans the procedure except in circumstances where the pregnant person’s life is at risk. Missouri’s legislature followed suit, with an eight-week ban with no exceptions for rape or incest that’s now awaiting the governor’s signature. (Jamelle Bouie, 5/20)

The Washington Post: Trump Paved The Way For Alabama’s Abortion Law
Trump put Alabama on course to do what it has done. He rewarded pro-life advocates for their support with two new justices, vetted by the conservative Federalist Society, and likely an antiabortion majority on the high court. Now, pro-lifers are predictably testing to see how far they can go in reversing Roe v Wade. Why wouldn’t they? Trump’s chance to influence this has passed. (Dana Milbank, 5/20)

USA Today: Missouri, Alabama Anti-Abortion Laws: Doctors Deserve Choices Too
There came a time in medical school when I first witnessed an abortion, a dilation and curettage, where the cervix was dilated and the tiny fetus sucked out by vacuum. The first time I saw the body parts was the first time I knew I would never perform one of these procedures. I was defining my role as a doctor in terms of relieving suffering and extending life, not ending it. Dr. Ben Carson, consummate pediatric neurosurgeon and current secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, has come out vehemently against abortion. In an interview in 2015 when he was running for president, he told me, "I've spent many, many a day and many a night operating on premature babies and then seeing them as adults, as productive adults. There is no way that anybody's going to convince me that that's a meaningless mass of cells." (Dr. Marc Siegel, 5/19)

The New York Times: Medical School Doesn’t Teach The ‘Woman’s Life Is In Danger’ Curriculum
Over the past few weeks, Georgia, Alabama and several other states have passed restrictive, medically illiterate abortion laws that allow the procedure if the mother’s life is at risk.I am an obstetrician and gynecologist trained to do abortions. I do not know how to translate these laws into clinical practice because often the language is preposterously vague and they include terms with no medical meaning. In Alabama, for example, a doctor can “deliver the unborn child prematurely to avoid a serious health risk to the unborn child’s mother.” (Jen Gunter, 5/20)

CNN: Male Politicians Who Oppose Abortion Rights Are Going To Face Some Uncomfortable Questions
Last week, Alabama passed the most restrictive abortion law in the country. In addition to banning nearly all abortions except in cases where the pregnancy poses a serious health risk to the mother, doctors who perform the procedure can be convicted of a felony and jailed for life. The law has yet to go into effect, and politicians have explicitly stated their desire for legal challenges to make it up to the Supreme Court as part of a long-standing effort to overturn Roe v. Wade. And given the bench's conservative slant after Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh's confirmations under President Donald Trump, that may be a real possibility. (Joe Lockhart, 5/20)

The Hill: Institutional Racism In Health Care
Research shows that institutional racism is a root cause of poor health outcomes. In addition, data generated since 2004 have consistently shown the ethnic diversity the health-care workforce is directly linked to health outcomes for people of color and that lack of workforce diversity is a root cause of institutional racism. Institutional racism is not about whether an individual health-care provider behaves in a racism manner. Rather institutional racism is about how the system is structured and how the stereotypes health-care providers bring to the job become institutionalized in the system. Presence of people of color in the workforce alters the dynamics that allow racist structures to persist. (Linda Phillips, 5/20)

Bloomberg: A Test For The ‘Fat Gene’? Results Are Worse Than Worthless
Like many genetic tests, a new one that uses several million genes to “predict” obesity is unlikely to do anyone’s health any good, and might do harm. The news of the finding, published in the journal Cell, looked like a good piece of science, with the potential to improve scientists’ understanding of why people exposed to the same or similar diets end up at very different weights. There’s also an important message to society – that obesity isn’t a failure of willpower. Some people have to struggle much harder than others to maintain a healthy weight. (Faye Flam, 5/21)

The New York Times: What Superbug Hunters Know That We Don’t
Antibiotic-resistant superbugs are everywhere. If your hospital claims it doesn’t have them, it isn’t looking hard enough. Hospitals are losing an important public relations battle over the expanding threat of superbugs, including the deadly fungus Candida auris. Though states are tasked with conducting outbreak investigations, they aren't required to disclose their findings to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (and in many cases they haven’t). Grieving families are pushing for more transparency, while patient advocates smell a cover-up, likening the scenario to a restaurant failing to report an outbreak of food poisoning. In the midst of all this mistrust, hospital spokesmen are declining to comment. This is a mistake. (Dr. Matt McCarthy, 5/20)

Stat: Ignoring Evidence Begot Medicare's Harmful Readmissions Penalty
Federal programs designed to cut costs and improve health by penalizing doctors and hospitals are failing at an alarming rate. Some of them actually harm patients, and many don’t cut costs. One in particular, the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP), may have caused thousands of deaths instead of preventing them, and probably hasn’t saved money during its seven years in operation. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services began reviewing the safety of this program on Jan. 19. It shouldn’t take CMS nearly four months to err on the side of caution and pull the plug on it. (Stephen Soumerai and Kip Sullivan, 5/21)

USA Today/Tallahassee Democrat: Florida Guardian Program Arming Teachers: More Guns Is Not A Solution
Fred Guttenberg recently made a grim prediction on Twitter. “The next school shooter may be a teacher,” the Parkland dad wrote. It was May 8, the day Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill allowing trained teachers to carry guns in Florida classrooms. Guttenberg called it "a terrible idea." (Eve Samples, 5/18)

The Washington Post: The Justice Department Boosts Lethal Injection In A Big Way
The Office of Legal Counsel offered more cause for concern last week that politics is playing an undue role at the Justice Department. The office, which is charged with providing the executive branch neutral legal advice, issued an opinion that the Food and Drug Administration has no authority to regulate drugs used in lethal injection. The OLC opinion was clearly designed to break through the legal logjam that has prevented states from using lethal injection drugs in executions — and it uses Evel Kneivel-style logical leaps to get there. (Harry Litman, 5/20)

RealClearPolitics: GOP Needs A Health Care Plan, Not An Immigration Plan
Trump isn’t wrong to highlight immigration. A broad-based restructuring of our immigration system is a laudable goal, and we do have a crisis on our southern border – as some Democrats now begrudgingly admit. So immigration, legal and illegal, is an important issue, particularly to the president’s political base. The problem is that it’s not the most important issue for a most Americans, including many Republicans. It’s not even close. On the issue that is considered the most important – health care –Trump and the Republican Party have no plan at all. (Tom Bevan, 5/20)

The Hill: We Can Curb Potential Pandemics By Investing In Prevention Tactics
Along with the Ebola outbreak that’s already infected more than 1,600 people, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is fighting another battle: An epidemic of fear and mistrust. Community members are afraid to seek treatment, including a promising experimental vaccine. The murder of an epidemiologist on assignment from the World Health Organization on April 18, on top of attacks on several health centers, makes an already complex situation far more dire. Internal conflict is exacerbating the chaos, with aid organizations calling for a cease-fire until the disease is contained. (Ashley Arabasadi, 5/20)

Nashville Tennessean: How To Ensure Children's Mental Health
May 9 was National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Day. At Tennessee Voices for Children, we believe that access to health care services can be the difference between life and death for a child with mental health needs.  Rates of youth suicide are rising, and 80% of children who need help will not get it.  Sources say that one in three children on TennCare has a mental health condition, a higher than average prevalence rate. (Rikki Harris, 5/19)

USA Today: Georgia Foster Reform: Kinship Preference Limits Are Good For Children
Earlier this month, Georgia’s governor Brian Kemp signed a groundbreaking piece of foster care legislation. While the local media has described it as a bill that would keep more children with extended family instead of putting them into foster care with nonrelatives — by requiring caseworkers to report on their efforts to find kin at each custody hearing — the revolutionary aspect of the law is that it would actually put some limits on what’s commonly referred to as kinship preference. (Naomi Schaefer Riley, 5/20)