USA Today: Vape Maker Juul Under Fire For Safety, Teen Marketing Messages
Federal health officials warned electronic cigarette maker Juul Monday to stop saying vaping is safer than smoking because it hasn't complied with regulations that call on companies to prove that's true. The Food and Drug Administration also sent a letter to the company "expressing concern, and requesting more information" about the its outreach and marketing practices, especially to students, tribes, health insurers and employers, following congressional testimony this summer that included reported safety claims. (O'Donnell, 9/9)

The Wall Street Journal: FDA Warns Juul About Marketing Products As Safer Than Cigarettes
The FDA Monday said Juul hadn’t been forthcoming in producing the documents the agency had requested, noting that the company had turned over records to a congressional subcommittee that it hadn’t provided to the FDA. “We are reviewing the letters and will fully cooperate,” a Juul spokesman said. The House Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy, in a July hearing, heard testimony from two teenagers who said that a Juul representative had given a presentation in their high school and told them that Juul’s e-cigarettes were “99% safer than cigarettes.” (Maloney, 9/9)

CNN: E-Cigarettes: Juul Warned By FDA About Its Marketing Practices
"We will continue to scrutinize tobacco product marketing and take action as appropriate to ensure that the public is not misled into believing a certain product has been proven less risky or less harmful," he said. "We've also put the industry on notice: If the disturbing rise in youth e-cigarette use continues, especially through the use of flavors that appeal to kids, we'll take even more aggressive action." (Gumbrecht and Howard, 9/9)

The Associated Press: Juul Warned Over Claims E-Cigarette Safer Than Smoking
The Food and Drug Administration also upped its scrutiny of a number of key aspects of Juul's business, telling the company to turn over documents about its marketing, educational programs and nicotine formula. The FDA action increases the pressure on the nation's best-selling vaping company, which has been besieged by scrutiny from state and federal officials since a recent surge in underage vaping. Federal law bans sales to those under 18. The FDA has been investigating Juul for months but had not previously taken action against the company. (Perrone, 9/9)

Reuters: Juul Warned By FDA Over Marketing Practices
Juul has already come under scrutiny for its marketing initiatives, including its use of social media influencers to promote its vaping devices, with the Federal Trade Commission launching an investigation last month. "The law is clear that, before marketing tobacco products for reduced risk, companies must demonstrate with scientific evidence that their specific product does in fact pose less risk or is less harmful," acting FDA Commissioner Ned Sharpless said in a statement. (9/9)

The New York Times: Juul Illegally Marketed E-Cigarettes, F.D.A. Says
In a second letter to Juul on Monday, the F.D.A. sought further documents about the company’s practices, details about some of its products, including nicotine-salt e-liquids, and any scientific evidence it has amassed to prove its claims. The agency singled out Juul’s ad campaign, “Make the Switch,” saying it may convey that its devices are less harmful than tobacco cigarettes and may also violate limits on health claims. The company’s switching campaign has also drawn fire from lawmakers and public health experts, who contend that the message implies that Juul’s products are a smoking cessation option. (Kaplan and Richtel, 9/9)

The Washington Post: FDA Warns Juul, Says It Marketed Vapes As Less Harmful Than Regular Cigarettes Without Agency Authorization
The FDA, in the letter to Burns, also said that in April 2018 it had asked the company for documents relating to marketing practices and research into marketing, effects of product design, public health impact and adverse experiences. But it said the company apparently provided Congress more documents than it gave the FDA. (McGinley, 9/9)

Politico: FDA Warns Juul For Marketing With Unproven Safety Claims
The agency has been under pressure to tighten restrictions on the e-cigarette industry. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) has called on Sharpless to take such actions or resign. FDA inspected Juul offices late last year and seized documents tied to an earlier ad campaign. FTC has also launched a probe into Juul marketing practices, as has the House Oversight and Reform subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy. (Owermohle, 9/9)

Bloomberg: Is Juul Safe? FDA Warns Over Claims On Vaping Devices 
Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, an Illinois Democrat, wrote Sharpless last week urging the agency to look into the claims Juul has made, including some before his House Oversight and Reform subcommittee. During a subcommittee hearing in July, Krishnamoorthi’s staff revealed that a Juul representative had told students that the company’s device “was much safer than cigarettes” and called the products “totally safe.” The FDA highlighted those statements Monday.(Edney, 9/9)

CNBC: Juul Illegally Marketed E-Cigarettes, FDA Says In Warning Letter
Juul spokesman Ted Kwong said the company was “reviewing the letters and will fully cooperate.” (LaVito, 9/9)

Reuters: U.S. Doctors' Group Says Just Stop Vaping As Deaths, Illnesses Rise
The American Medical Association on Monday urged Americans to stop using electronic cigarettes of any sort until scientists have a better handle on the cause of 450 lung illnesses and at least five deaths related to the use of the products. The AMA, one of the nation's most influential physician groups, also called on doctors to inform patients about the dangers of e-cigarettes, including toxins and carcinogens, and swiftly report any suspected cases of lung illness associated with e-cigarette use to their state or local health department. (Steenhuysen, 9/9)

The Washington Post: Bloomberg To Spend $160 Million To Ban Flavored E-Cigarettes
Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire businessman and philanthropist who has financed efforts to combat tobacco use around the world for years, has a new target: e-cigarettes in the United States. Bloomberg Philanthropies announced Tuesday it would spend $160 million over three years to try to ban flavored e-cigarettes, which, it said, are specifically designed to entice kids to vape. (McGinley, 9/10)

CNBC: Scott Gottlieb: 'Federal Reckoning' Needed After Vaping-Linked Deaths
Former FDA Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNBC on Monday the government needs to regulate cannabis products, after reports of 450 possible cases and five deaths from a mysterious lung disease linked to vaping. Most of the patients reported vaping both nicotine and THC, the marijuana compound that creates a high, though some reported only using nicotine. (Bursztynsky, 9/9)

Kaiser Health News: Listen: Health Officials Warn People To Stop Vaping
As the number of patients combating mysterious lung illnesses grows, state and federal public health officials are warning people to stay away from e-cigarettes and vape pens, especially those obtained off the streets. As of Friday, public health officials were investigating more than 450 possible cases of severe pulmonary disease related to vaping, including five deaths, in 33 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Investigators are looking into 60 possible cases in California, including one death. (9/9)

Meanwhile, in Delaware, Alabama, Colorado and New York —

The Associated Press: Delaware Probes 3 Possible Cases Of Vape-Related Lung Issues
Delaware health officials are investigating three possible cases of severe lung disease related to the use of electronic cigarettes and vaping. News outlets report the state health department is urging residents to stop vaping as cases of lung disease possibly linked to e-cigarettes pop up across the country. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there have been 450 possible cases of lung disease related to vaping reported in 33 states. As many as five cases have ended in death. (9/10)

The Associated Press: Alabama Investigates 5 Cases Of Lung Disease Tied To Vaping
The Alabama Department of Public Health says it's investigating five reports of potentially severe lung disease associated with electronic cigarettes or vaping. The department told news outlets that it's evaluating the reports and will release information as it becomes available. A department statement says the group is joining other state health departments in requesting information from health care providers on any cases of suspected respiratory illness among patients who vape. (9/10)

CBS News: Vaping Illness: Colorado Parents Say Vaping Nearly Took Their Daughter's Life
Ruby and Tim Johnson say instead of dropping their daughter, Piper, off for her freshman year of college, they were watching her fight for her life in the ICU. "She feels lucky to be alive," Ruby said. Piper had had a fever and a rapid heart rate. "Every doctor that she saw asked her, are you a smoker? She said no. And then they said, what about e-cigarettes? And she said yes," Ruby said.Piper was diagnosed with Colorado's first case of a vaping-related illness that has now sickened hundreds of people nationwide. The college freshman had been vaping for more than two years. (9/9)

Reuters: New York Governor Proposes Ban On Flavored E-Cigarettes
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed legislation on Monday to ban flavored e-cigarettes statewide in an effort to protect young people from the unknown consequences of vaping. "Common sense says if you don’t know what you’re smoking, don’t smoke it," Cuomo told reporters at a news conference. "And right now, we don’t know what you’re smoking in a lot of these vaping substances," he said. (9/9)

The Washington Post: Firms Selling Vitamin E Acetate For Vaping Products Face New York Subpoenas
The companies are marketing and selling “thickening agents” that can be used in black market vaping products that contain THC, the active ingredient in marijuana that produces the high. Dealers have been using thickening agents to dilute THC oil in street and illicit products, industry experts said. These thickeners are being marketed and readily available on the Internet “as a cheaper, safer alternative that does not negatively impact flavoring or odor of existing products and can be used to cut vape products to any level of THC,” the governor’s office said in a news release. (Sun, 9/9)

Bloomberg: Cuomo Signals N.Y. Crackdown On Vaping Products After Illnesses
Austin Finan, a spokesman for Juul Labs Inc., the largest manufacturer of vaporizing e-cigarette devices, emphasized that his company doesn’t market products including cannabis or its chemical derivatives, or vitamin E compounds such as those suspected of causing the respiratory illness. The company exists, “to help adult smokers switch off of combustible cigarettes,” and supported the 21 minimum wage for tobacco sales in New York, he said. (Goldman, 9/9)

Stat: Frontrunner To Lead FDA, Dogged By Controversies, Has Developed Knack For Confronting Them
Before he interviewed with President Trump last week to become Food and Drug Administration commissioner, Dr. Stephen Hahn had only been here once in a formal capacity: to apologize to Congress. The veteran cancer researcher came to Capitol Hill in 2009 to take responsibility for years of botched care by a doctor under his supervision. Ninety-two U.S. military veterans had been implanted with radioactive “seeds,” meant to fight prostate cancer, at the wrong dose — or in the wrong organ entirely. (Facher and Florko, 9/10)

Meanwhile, other news from the Trump administration comes from NIH, HHS and the EPA —

The Washington Post: NIH Opens Inquiry Into Management, Workplace Issues At Troubled Pharmacy
The National Institutes of Health has temporarily removed four senior officials at the pharmacy that serves its world-renowned hospital and launched an inquiry into management and personnel issues in the often-troubled department. Unlike a leadership shake-up at the 200-bed Clinical Center that followed reports of contaminated drugs in 2015, this investigation does not appear to involve patient safety problems in the pharmacy, which prepares drugs for patients treated at the hospital. Rather, it focuses on complaints against managers and a difficult workplace culture. (Bernstein, 9/9)

Modern Healthcare: Senate Appropriators Demand Scrutiny Of New Liver Distribution System
Senate appropriators want HHS to analyze the controversial new system for liver transplants and report to Congress on what costs patients and transplant programs may face. According to the legislative text up for a HHS Senate appropriations panel vote on Tuesday, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) would also have to project any potential effect the policy could have on people who are poor or live in remote areas. (Luthi, 9/9)

NPR: Federal Watchdog Warns EPA Is Failing To Enforce Lead Paint Abatement Rules
Lead-based paint was extremely popular in the early and mid-20th century — used in an estimated 38 million homes across the U.S. before it was banned for residential use in 1978. The risk didn't stop with the ban. Today, when older homes are renovated or repaired, contractors are required to take special precautions to avoid exposing residents to lead-laden dust and paint chips that are dangerous, especially to children and pregnant women. It's part of a broader set of environmental regulations meant to protect young people from lead exposure. (Hersher, 9/9)

The Washington Post: Pelosi Bill Aims To Negotiate Medicare Prices On Top 250 Drugs, Penalize Manufacturers That Don’t Comply
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is expected to release an ambitious drug-pricing bill as early as this week that would allow the federal government to negotiate drug prices on hundreds of drugs in Medicare that do not have competitors and would offer those prices to all consumers, according to a summary of the bill obtained by The Washington Post. The House bill is a political marker for Democrats eager to show ahead of the 2020 presidential and congressional elections that they are willing to take significant measures to lower skyrocketing drug prices, which consistently poll as a top voter concern. (Abutaleb, 9/9)

Stat: Pelosi’s Drug Pricing Plan Is More Aggressive Than Expected
The plan is sure to please House progressives who have agitated for bold policy on drug prices but, at least as drafted, has almost no chance of winning conservative support. The plan allows the federal government to negotiate the price of 250 medicines and forces drug makers to offer those prices commercially. It appears to abandon a controversial proposal to use third-party arbitration for negotiating leverage. It would also dramatically alter the way Medicare divides responsibility for drug costs between pharmaceutical companies, insurers, and taxpayers. (Florko and Facher, 9/9)

CQ: House Drug Price Negotiation Plan Could Apply Beyond Medicare
Under the Democrats’ plan, the Health and Human Services secretary would identify at least 250 drugs that lack competition and pose the greatest costs to both Medicare and the broader health care system. At the start of negotiations, the upper limit on those drugs' cost would be 1.2 times the average price in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom. Drugmakers that refuse to negotiate would face an excise tax equal to 75 percent of the particular drug’s sales in the previous year. (Siddons, 9/9)

In other pharmaceutical news —

Stat: Reeling From Scandal, Novartis Vows To Voluntarily Release Info On Manipulated Data In The Future
Seeking to appease angry regulators, Novartis (NVS) committed to notifying the Food and Drug Administration within five business days of learning of any “credible allegation” in which manipulated data may affect a pending marketing application before the agency or regulators in other countries. The company publicly disclosed the vow at an investor meeting on Monday, although the commitment was made to the FDA last month as part of a formal response to an Aug. 2 inspection report of a facility. (Silverman, 9/9)

Stat: Biotech Veteran Tony Coles To Become CEO Of Pfizer Neuroscience Spinout Cerevel
Tony Coles, remembered by many investors for engineering a $10 billion biotech deal in 2013, will become chief executive of Cerevel, the Pfizer (PFE) neuroscience spinout to which Bain Capital has pledged up to $350 million in funding, the company announced Monday. “From my perspective, the area of neuroscience drug discovery is the next frontier for life sciences,” Coles said in an interview. “It’s essentially what HIV AIDS and cancer were two decades ago.” (Herper, 9/9)

The New York Times: Bernie Sanders Went To Canada, And A Dream Of ‘Medicare For All’ Flourished
In July 1987, Bernie Sanders, then the mayor of Burlington, Vt., arrived in Ottawa convinced he was about to see the future of health care. Years earlier, as his mother’s health declined and his family struggled to pay for medical treatment, he was spending more time attending to her than in classes at Brooklyn College, suffering through what his brother called “a wrecked year’’ leading to her death. Over time, he had come to believe that the American health care system was flawed and inherently unfair. In Canada, he wanted to observe firsthand the government-backed, universal model that he strongly suspected was better. (Ember, 9/9)

Reuters: Where The Top Democratic U.S. Presidential Candidates Stand On 'Medicare For All'
All of the Democratic presidential candidates debating on Thursday say universal healthcare is a top priority. They disagree, however, on the best path to achieve it. U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders has championed the ambitious goal known as “Medicare for All,” which would replace the current patchwork healthcare structure with a single-payer system. The plan would provide government coverage to everyone based on the existing federal Medicare program for Americans 65 and older and would effectively eliminate private insurance. (Ax, 9/10)

CNN: Medicare For All Vs. Medicare: What The Sanders Plan Would Mean For 60 Million Americans
Many Democrats running for the 2020 presidential nomination want to get more people insured by broadening Medicare to cover all Americans. But if Sen. Bernie Sanders' sweeping "Medicare for All" plan were enacted, it would mean big changes for the more than 60 million people already enrolled in Medicare, the federal health program for the elderly and disabled. (Luhby, 9/8)

And in North Carolina —

North Carolina Health News: We Know What You Did This Summer 
Summer is a traditional time for lawmakers to leave Congress behind, and get in touch with constituents. Many hold town halls, tour public works and companies and meet with professional societies. NC Health News reporters dropped in on a handful of events, such as Rep. Alma Adams’ “Health Care for All” panel discussion on Aug. 13, held at a Charlotte retirement community. The two-hour event included an hour of discussions between Adams and local health administrators and doctors, followed by a dozen constituent questions about actions in Congress. (Duong, 9/10)

The New York Times: Stores Could Just Ban Guns, But Open-Carry Foes Back Requests As A Step
David Amad, a gun rights activist and the vice president of Open Carry Texas, is not especially bothered by Walmart’s recent announcement that it is “respectfully requesting” that customers not openly carry guns into its stores. Mr. Amad said many of his group’s 38,000 members had carried their guns openly into Walmart stores since the retailer made the policy public last Tuesday. None have been asked to leave. “They are ducking the issue,” Mr. Amad said of Walmart. “They are trying to get the gun haters to leave them alone, while at the same time leave us alone when we carry in their stores.” (Corkery, 9/9)

The Washington Post: White House Weighs Controversial Plan On Mental Illness And Mass Shootings
The White House is considering a controversial proposal to study whether mass shootings could be prevented by monitoring mentally ill people for small changes that might foretell violence. Former NBC chairman Bob Wright, a longtime friend and associate of President Trump’s, has briefed top officials, including the president, the vice president and Ivanka Trump, on a proposal to create a new research arm called the Health Advanced Research Projects Agency (HARPA) to come up with out-of-the-box ways to tackle health problems, much like the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) does for the military, according to several people who have been briefed. (Wan, 9/9)

The New York Times: Republicans Want Stricter Gun Laws. Republican Voters, That Is.
Vast majorities of Americans — Democrats and Republicans, men and women — support stricter gun laws, the polls found. They’re even open to the kinds of programs once considered dead on arrival in political circles, including banning sales of military-style assault weapons and creating a mandatory federal buyback program for those weapons. Perhaps most significantly, the issue is starting to scare people. (Lerer, 9/9)

And in other news —

Reuters: Democrats Press For Stricter U.S. Gun-Sale Checks, Trump Non-Committal
Democrats in the U.S. Congress pledged on Monday to intensify pressure for stricter gun-sale background check legislation, citing strong public backing for the measure, but received no sign of support yet from President Donald Trump. With Congress returning from a long summer recess, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi again urged the Republican-controlled Senate to promptly approve a bill clamping down on unregulated gun sales through the internet and at gun shows. (9/9)

CNN: Texas Shooting Highlights Dangers Of Guns Sold Without Background Checks
The recent shooting in and around Odessa, Texas, is shining new light on an old problem: In some states, a person barred from owning a gun under the law can still buy one in a private sale, without a background check. The West Texas shooter, Seth Ator, 36, failed a background check when he tried to purchase a gun in 2014, because he had been deemed "a mental defective" by a judge, according to law enforcement sources. He was later able to buy a gun from a private seller. He killed seven people and wounded 25 others on August 31 before being apprehended and killed by the police in a shootout. The person who sold Ator his gun is being investigated as an unlicensed dealer, according to a law enforcement source. (Griffin and Katz, 9/9)

The Associated Press: NRA Sues San Francisco Over Terrorist Declaration
The National Rifle Association sued San Francisco on Monday over the city's recent declaration that the gun-rights lobby is a "domestic terrorist organization." The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, accuses city officials of violating the gun lobby's free speech rights for political reasons and says the city is seeking to blacklist anyone associated with the NRA. It asks the court to step in "to instruct elected officials that freedom of speech means you cannot silence or punish those with whom you disagree." (Pane, 9/9)

The Associated Press: Texas Shows Possible Future If Abortion Bans Take Effect
After seven states passed sweeping abortion bans this year, speculation soon arose about the potentially onerous travel burdens the laws could someday impose on women seeking to end unwanted pregnancies. Across a huge swath of West Texas and the Panhandle, there's no need for speculation. The nearest abortion clinics are more than 250 miles away, despite the region having several midsize cities and a population of more than 1 million people. (Crary, 9/9)

The Hill: Two Planned Parenthood Clinics To Close In Ohio After Funding Cuts 
Planned Parenthood on Monday announced that two of its clinics in Ohio will close later this month after losing state and federal funding. The organization blamed the closures on politicians who moved to "defund" Planned Parenthood for performing abortions. Neither of the two clinics performed the procedure, Planned Parenthood said. (Hellmann, 9/9)

Cincinnati Enquirer: Planned Parenthood To Close Two Greater Cincinnati Clinics
In a news release, the organization blamed federal and state policy changes for the centers' demise. The Trump administration in August began enforcing a "gag rule" preventing entities receiving Title X dollars from recommending or advocating abortion. Instead of complying, Planned Parenthood decided it would stop accepting funding through Title X, which was created in 1970 to provide family planning help to primarily low-income women and families. The organization receives about $60 million a year. (Borchardt and Knight, 9/9)

Columbus Dispatch: Planned Parenthood To Close Two Cincinnati-Area Clinics
Kersha Deibel, president and CEO of the Planned Parenthood Southwest Ohio region, blamed the closures on regulations imposed by state and federal officials. A funding cutoff by the state took effect earlier this year. “This is the world they want to see: one where women lose access to birth control, where information about how to access abortion is held hostage, and where, if you don’t have money, it’s almost impossible to access an STI (sexually transmitted infection) test or a cancer screening,” Deibel said. (Candisky, 9/9)

In other news —

Bloomberg: States Target Trump Rule Allowing Health-Care Religious Refusals 
President Donald Trump’s plan to let doctors and hospitals refuse services based on their religious beliefs or moral convictions should be scrapped without a trial or put on hold until litigation over the policy is resolved, a federal judge was told by states and cities that sued. Evidence produced since the lawsuit was filed in May shows that the administration, in seeking to justify the rule, vastly inflated the number of complaints filed by religious health-care providers who claimed they were discriminated against or forced to provide services that violate their personal beliefs, the almost two dozen states and cities said Thursday in a court filing. (Larson, 9/6)

Stat: FDA Rejects Bid For Moratorium On Opioid Approvals
As public health officials struggle to address the ongoing opioid crisis, the Food and Drug Administration has rejected a petition filed by a consumer advocacy group calling for the agency to impose a moratorium on the approval of any new or reformulated opioids. In arguing for the moratorium, Public Citizen maintained last March that the FDA displayed “dangerously deficient oversight” and that none of more than two dozen opioids approved between 2009 and 2015 provided benefits that outweighed the risks. As noted at the time the petition was filed, two drugs — Opana ER and Dsuvia — were singled out as examples. (Silverman, 9/9)

Reuters: U.S. Judge Allows Public Nuisance Claim In Opioid Trial
The U.S. judge overseeing nationwide litigation concerning the opioid epidemic on Monday rejected Purdue Pharma LP's effort to dismiss claims that its activities caused a public nuisance. U.S. District Judge Dan Polster in Cleveland ruled six weeks before the first scheduled federal trial over the epidemic, in a case brought by Cuyahoga and Summit counties in Ohio. (9/9)

Modern Healthcare: AMA Urges States To Improve Opioid Abuse Treatment Access
The American Medical Association and Manatt Health urged states on Monday to step up their game to ensure residents have adequate access to opioid use disorder treatments. In a new report, the two organizations zeroed in on the efforts of four states that have particularly innovative strategies: Colorado, Mississippi, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. The report focused on reducing access barriers in Medicaid and state-regulated commercial health plans. (Bannow, 9/9)

NPR: Spravato May Ease Depression In Suicidal Patients
The depression drug esketamine, marketed as Spravato, appears to offer quick relief to people who are actively considering suicide. Esketamine, a chemical cousin of the anesthetic and party drug ketamine, reduced depression symptoms within hours in two large studies of suicidal patients, the drug's maker announced Monday. (Hamilton, 9/9)

Reuters: Suicide Kills One Person Every 40 Seconds, Says WHO
Across the world, one person takes their own life every 40 seconds, and more people die by suicide every year than in war, the World Health Organization said on Monday. Hanging, poisoning and shooting are the most common suicide methods, the WHO said as it urged governments to adopt suicide prevention plans to help people cope with stress and to reduce access to suicide means. (9/9)

NPR: Telemedicine Aids Recruiting Of Psychiatrists And Access To Care
It used to take at least nine months for a patient to schedule an initial appointment with a psychiatrist at Meridian Health Services in Indiana. Now, it takes days, thanks to a program that allows doctors to connect over the Internet with patients, reaching those even in remotest corners of the state. That has also helped with recruitment. Over the last several years, Meridian's staff of psychiatric specialists, including nurse practitioners, tripled from four to 12. (Noguchi, 9/9)

NPR: Positive Relationships In Childhood Can Prevent Depression Later In Life
Plenty of research shows that adverse childhood experiences can lead to depression and other health problems later in life. But researcher Christina Bethell wondered whether positive experiences in childhood could counter that. Her research comes from a personal place. In the 1970s, in a low-income housing complex in Los Angeles, Bethell had a tough childhood. Sometimes she didn't have money for lunch. (Simmons-Duffin, 9/9)

The Washington Post: New Survey Shows Heavy Psychological Toll For Virginia’s First Responders
A first-of-its-kind mental health survey of police, firefighters and 911 call dispatchers in Virginia finds that they experience suicidal thoughts at a rate of more than double the general population and that nearly a quarter suffer from work-related depression. The survey of nearly 4,900 first responders also found that nearly half couldn’t stop looking for threats even in their own homes, a common symptom for those who have been exposed to trauma. (Jouvenal, 9/10)

The New York Times: Who’s Missing From Breast Cancer Trials? Men, Says The F.D.A.
In recent years, health officials have pushed aggressively to include more women in clinical trials of new drugs. Gone is the ban that once excluded women of childbearing age from participating in studies. Even scientists who work with animals are now encouraged to include mice and rats of both sexes. But when it comes to breast cancer, it is men who get short shrift. They are often excluded from clinical trials of new treatments. (Rabin, 9/9)

The New York Times: Seeking An Obesity Cure, Researchers Turn To The Gut Microbiome
Dr. Elaine Yu, an endocrinologist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, was inundated with volunteers when she put out a call a few years ago for overweight people who were willing to take part in a study of obesity and the microbiome. People as far away as Alaska and Hawaii were eager to enroll. But the most surprising part was what they were willing to do. The study required them to swallow capsules containing stool to test whether gut bacteria from lean donors could improve their metabolic health. (O'Connor, 9/10)

Reuters: Malaria Can Be Eradicated By 2050, Say Global Experts
Malaria can be eradicated within a generation, global health experts have said. In a major report on Sunday, 41 specialists said a future free of malaria - one of the world's oldest and deadliest diseases - can be achieved as early as 2050. (9/9)

The Associated Press: Americans Love Snacks. What Does That Mean For Their Health?
Americans are addicted to snacks, and food experts are paying closer attention to what that might mean for health and obesity. Eating habits in the U.S. have changed significantly in recent decades, and packaged bars, chips and sweets have spread into every corner of life. In the late 1970s, about 40 percent of American adults said they didn't have any snacks during the day. By 2007, that figure was just 10 percent. (9/9)

Georgia Health News: Sick Kids’ Siblings Need Help And Comfort, Too
When a child is diagnosed with cancer or another major disease, it can be devastating to the entire family. “It has been very difficult,’’ says Alivia’s mom, Denise Linnekin of Dallas, a northwestern suburb of Atlanta. Older sister Carly has visited Alivia during the child’s hospitalizations. During one of those stays, Carly, 11, took part in a specially designed program called SibZonely, which focuses on the siblings of hospitalized children. (Miller, 9/9)

MPR: Summer Rains Drive Rare Fungal Disease In Northern Minnesota
Reported cases of a rare fungal infection are on the rise in northern Minnesota. So far this year, more than 45 people and 150 animals have been diagnosed with blastomycosis. By this time last year there were only 31 human cases and fewer than 100 animal infections. (Enger, 9/9)

The Associated Press: California Governor Signs Vaccine Bills He Demanded
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed bills Monday to crack down on doctors who write fraudulent medical exemptions for school children's vaccinations. The Democratic governor quietly acted less than an hour after lawmakers sent him changes he demanded as a condition of approving the bills, even as protesters outside his office chanted for him to veto the measures. (Thompson, 9/9)

Sacramento Bee: Anti-Vaccine Activists Arrested At CA Capitol Over Law
California families, doctors and schools will soon have to follow new rules restricting medical exemptions for vaccines under two new laws passed by lawmakers and signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday. Newsom approved the bills after a day of raucous protests at the Capitol, where opponents of the legislation shut down both chambers of the Legislature and blocked entrances to the building, prompting at least seven arrests. (Bollag and Anderson, 9/9)

San Francisco Chronicle: California Limits Vaccine Medical Exemptions As Protests Disrupt Legislature
Protesters flooded the Capitol, linking arms to block entrance to the building and repeatedly shutting down the state Senate and Assembly, in a last-ditch attempt to stop the measure. “This legislation provides new tools to better protect public health, and does so in a way that ensures parents, doctors, public health officials and school administrators all know the rules of the road moving forward,” Newsom said in a statement. (Koseff, 9/9)

KQED: Anti-Vaccine Activists Swarm Capitol As Lawmakers Pass Bill Limiting Medical Exemptions
"It is my hope that parents whose vulnerable children could die from vaccine-preventable diseases will be reassured that we are protecting those communities that have been left vulnerable because a few unscrupulous doctors are undermining community immunity by selling inappropriate medical exemptions,” said state Sen. Richard Pan, D-Sacramento, a pediatrician, who introduced both bills. (Orr, 9/10)

Meanwhile, in Connecticut —

The CT Mirror: Lawyer For Bristol Couple Fights To Keep School Vaccination Data Private
A lawyer for a Bristol couple that has sued to block the release of school-level immunization data told a judge Monday that, if publicized, the information would be used as “a scare tactic to try to bully people into vaccinating.” Cara Pavalock-D’Amato, a Republican lawmaker who is representing Kristen and Brian Festa, also asked Judge Susan Quinn Cobb not to toss out the lawsuit brought by her clients. (Carlesso, 9/9)

CNN: A Florida Judge Denies Parents Custody Of 4-Year-Old Son With Leukemia In Ongoing Medical Custody Battle
A Florida judge ruled Monday that the parents of a 4-year-old boy with leukemia lost their bid Monday to regain custody after their struggle with the state over giving him chemotherapy. Noah McAdams was removed from his parents' custody in April when they skipped a chemotherapy session and left the state in pursuit of alternative treatments. (Del Valle, 9/10)

Tampa Bay Times: Judge Rules 4-Year-Old Boy With Leukemia Will Stay With Grandparents To Ensure His Health
Joshua McAdams and Taylor Bland-Ball will be required to undergo a psychological evaluation with a parenting index after which point they may be able to be reunified with their child. If they don’t comply, the out-of-home placement could become permanent. They have 30 days to appeal the judge’s decision. (Kumar, 9/9)

The New York Times: Ex-USC Doctor Charged With Sex Abuse Surrenders License
George Tyndall, a former University of Southern California gynecologist charged with sexually assaulting patients, has surrendered his medical license, the state medical board announced Monday. Tyndall surrendered the license effective last Thursday, the board announced. His license would have expired next Jan. 31. (9/9)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: State Investigators Subpoena Cuyahoga County Jail Emails In Criminal Case Of Former Jail Director
State investigators subpoenaed Cuyahoga County for jail-related emails exchanged among top county and MetroHealth officials over four years. The subpoena was issued in the ongoing criminal case against former jail director Ken Mills and requires Cuyahoga County to provide the emails by Sept. 30 to state prosecutors and Mills’ defense attorney, Kevin Spellacy. (Astolfi, 9/9)

Kansas City Star: Rock Bottom Win Rates For Disability Benefit Appeals Concern Legal Aid
In 2017, 54 percent of the more than 1,145 people were successful in reversing a denial or re-evaluation of benefits by the Missouri Department of Social Services (DSS), according to data supplied to Legal Aid by DSS. In 2018, the percentage of those who won dipped to 42 percent.In the first four months of this year, the number dropped to less than 20 percent. (Thomas, 9/10)

KCUR: Sexually Transmitted Diseases Rise In Kansas, Especially In Rural Counties 
But while immigrants and refugees that man the region’s beefpacking plants often come from places that lack modern health care, it’s far from the only contributing factor. There’s drug abuse, sex trafficking, gaps in sex education classes for teens and a laundry list of cultural taboos all leading to an environment where gonorrhea, syphilis, chlamydia and, now, HIV spread quickly. ...Since 2015, sexually transmitted diseases have climbed in Kansas along with national rates. A 2017 study from the Centers for Disease Control noted a rise of syphilis, including among the newborns of infected mothers. (Boyer, 9/9)

San Francisco Chronicle: Family Files Claim Against Fremont, Alameda County In Death Of Man In Custody
The family of a 20-year-old man claims that law-enforcement officers with the city of Fremont and Alameda County ignored their son’s mental health needs and instead beat and left him unaccompanied in a restraint device, resulting in his death several days after being taken into custody. Christian Madrigal died on June 15, after his family sought medical assistance from the Fremont Police Department six days earlier, when he was suffering from a mental health crisis, according to a complaint the family’s attorneys filed Monday with the county and Fremont. (Ravani, 9/9)

Sacramento Bee: ACLU Again Takes On Mercy San Juan Over Transgender Rights
The American Civil Liberties Union will square off once again against Mercy San Juan Medical Center in a San Francisco courtroom on Tuesday, asking that an appeals court overturn a lower-court ruling allowing the Carmichael-based hospital to deny hysterectomies to transgender patients. (Anderson, 9/9)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Mother Charged In Death Of Disabled, 42-Pound Teen
A woman has been charged in the death of her severely disabled and malnourished teenage son, according to a criminal complaint released Monday. Hector J. Pizarro, 16, weighed only 42 pounds when his mother, Iraida M. Pizarro-Osorio, brought him to the Sixteenth Street Community Health Center, 1032 S. Cesar E. Chavez Drive, on Wednesday, according to the complaint and the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office. The boy's skeletal structure was visible through his skin and there was a pressure sore on the right side of his body. (Garza, 9/9)

San Francisco Chronicle: SF Mayor, Supes Announce Plan To Help Save Residential Treatment Homes For City’s Vulnerable
As San Francisco’s residential care facilities rapidly disappear, Mayor London Breed and three supervisors announced a plan Monday that they hope will stem the closures. The plan comes amid increasing political pressure for elected officials to deal with the skyrocketing numbers of homeless people — many suffering from mental illness and addiction — on the city’s streets. (Thadani, 9/9)

Arizona Republic: Arizona's Longest Running Organization For HIV/AIDS Patients To Close
Arizona's longest-running AIDS service organization is closing, officials announced Monday. The board of directors for the nonprofit Phoenix Shanti Group made the decision on Friday. The organization has 13 staff members, approximately 100 clients and will gradually wind down over the next nine months, leaders with the group said. (Innes, 9/9)

Modern Healthcare: Video Doctor Network CEO Pleads Guilty In Medicare Fraud
The owner of telemedicine company Video Doctor Network on Friday pleaded guilty for his role in what the Justice Department is calling one of the largest healthcare fraud schemes prosecuted to date in the U.S. Lester Stockett, 52, a resident of Colombia, agreed to pay $200 million in restitution to the U.S. as part of his plea agreement. The Justice Department in April brought charges against 24 defendants including Stockett for their role in a $424 million conspiracy to defraud Medicare and receive illegal kickbacks. (Cohen, 9/9)

Houston Chronicle: Harris Health Declares Systemwide Internal Disaster Following Water Pipe Burst At Ben Taub 
Harris Health System officials declared a systemwide internal disaster Monday as a result of a water pipe break overnight at Ben Taub Hospital. The break and resulting leakage forced the immediate relocation of nearly 100 patients, which has significantly affected patient capacity at not just Ben Taub but also Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital, according to a Harris Health statement. LBJ is Harris Health's second major hospital. (Gil and Ackerman, 9/9)

Arizona Republic: Measure To Legalize Marijuana In Arizona Will Change After Review
The backers of a measure to legalize marijuana in Arizona will make several "minor" changes following a legal review of the proposal by staff members of the state Legislature. The 16-page "Smart and Safe Arizona Act" proposal was filed with the state in early August, and the backers opted for a review by the Legislative Council, a legislative committee that assists with the drafting of bills. The council responded with their review Friday. (Randazzo, 9/9)

Kaiser Health News: Hospital Giant Sutter Health Faces Legal Reckoning Over Medical Pricing
Economists and researchers long have blamed the high cost of health care in Northern California on the giant medical systems that have gobbled up hospitals and physician practices — most notably Sutter Health, a nonprofit chain with 24 hospitals, 34 surgery centers and 5,000 physicians across the region. Now, those arguments will have their day in court: A long-awaited class-action lawsuit against Sutter is set to open Sept. 23 in San Francisco Superior Court. (Gold, 9/10)

Boston Globe: State Regulators Suspend Six Licenses From Marijuana Company As One Of Its Owners Faces Drug Charge
Massachusetts marijuana regulators have suspended six licenses from a cannabis company after one of its owners was arrested last month for his alleged involvement in an illegal marijuana-growing operation. Nova Farms LLC, which has multiple licenses in Attleboro and Sheffield, was notified by the Cannabis Control Commission on Friday that all six of its licenses had been suspended — and all its cannabis operations halted — as regulators investigate the arrest of one of its owners, Mark Rioux. (Gans, 9/9)

The Washington Post: No, Sens. McConnell And Blunt. You’re The Ones Who Need To Step Up.
“The president needs to step up here and set some guidelines for what he would do,” Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” The subject was gun control, and the choice of words was a bit ironic — if not pathetic. Everyone knows by now that President Trump will never step up on this issue — or that, if he steps up one day, he will step down the next. Hiding behind his failure is a way for Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), Mr. Blunt and other Republican senators to abdicate their legislative authority and their responsibility to the country. (9/9)

USA Today: Odessa Mass Shooting Debunks Argument Against Background Checks
Whenever a terrible mass shooting occurs, the pro-gun lobby — and politicians pledging fealty to it — argue that any particular gun reform proposal would have done nothing to prevent this particular crime. President Donald Trump, who received $30 million in campaign contributions from the National Rifle Association in 2016, echoed this argument recently, telling reporters that so far as mass shootings "going back, even five or six or seven years, for the most part, as strong as you make your background checks, they would not have stopped any of it." (9/9)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: It’s Just Common Sense To Require Background Checks For All Gun Buyers
For all those who work to reduce gun violence in Ohio, our governor’s recent call to close background check loopholes is a welcome step in the right direction. There are many ways that better laws can make Ohio safer. Common sense background checks are the right place to start.There are no simple answers to gun violence in Ohio. But background checks that cover all gun sales and transfers (with limited exceptions) have a proven record of making a difference. (David Eggert, 9/8)

Dallas Morning News: Texas Leaders Take Steps In The Right Direction On Mass Murders, But It’ll Take Action To Save Lives 
Texas, where 29 people were massacred last month in two separate shootings, can no longer afford to sit idly by and do nothing. There were encouraging signs over the past week that state leaders want to do something — that they care about the many families that have been ruined by these killings. They’re starting to put forth some commonsense solutions to try to curb them. (9/9)

The New York Times: Ban Flavored E-Cigarettes To Protect Our Children
Any adult knows that if you want to get a child’s attention, there is no enticement like candy. This currency of youth has become the weapon of choice for tobacco companies. They are making huge investments in nicotine-loaded e-cigarettes and selling them in a rainbow of sweet and fruity flavors like cotton candy, gummy bear, mango and mint. They’re turning millions of young people into addicted customers, all the while insisting that they aren’t targeting kids at all. (Bloomberg and Myers, 9/10)

The Washington Post: Everyone Should Be Alarmed By The Vaping Crisis
A public health crisis underscores the urgency of coming to grips with the dangers and benefits of vaping. There are still more questions than answers about the electronic devices that vaporize fluids in an alternative to the known hazards of burning tobacco, but both the immediate crisis and the longer-term regulatory and health issues suggest much more scrutiny needs to be given to vaping, and especially to the health risks for young people. (9/9)

Stat: Refugee Camps In Rwanda Offer Lessons For U.S. Border Camps
In 1994, at the tail end of the genocide in Rwanda, I headed to the border of the country to work as a physician at a sprawling camp of 170,000 refugees. The camp aimed to meet refugees’ basic needs: water, food, shelter, and medical care. As refugees arrived, I examined them and triaged them to one of many tents depending on their health needs, where they were treated for cholera, malaria, meningitis, and other health issues needing immediate attention. (Laszlo Madaras, 9/10)

Boston Globe: The Human Consequences Of Our Immigration Policies
Security and sovereignty are part of the reality of immigration, but they are not all of it. Sovereignty has moral content, but it is not an absolute value. The immigration policy of states should combine security with a generous spirit of welcome for those in danger and in need.That necessary combination of values is seriously lacking in the United States today. (Sean P. O'Malley, 9/9)

Axios: Health Tech Has A Long Way To Go
Tech companies trying to disrupt the health care system still have a long way to go. Why it matters: Splashy health tech announcements are everywhere, but many are more hype than reality, according to a poll conducted for this column. By the numbers: 70% of the people we surveyed say they’ve used the internet to research symptoms or learn more about health conditions. And 51% use apps or other tech tools to track their sleep, fitness or diet. (Drew Altman, 9/10)

The New York Times: The G.O.P.’s War On Women’s Health Gets Results
The Trump administration’s recent efforts to undermine the nation’s Title X family planning program are already having their intended effect, making it harder for women’s health clinics to stay afloat and for patients to afford birth control and other services. Three weeks after Planned Parenthood was effectively forced out of the Title X program, the group has announced that two of its clinics in the Cincinnati area will close this month — a fate that Planned Parenthood officials say was accelerated by the administration’s changes to Title X. Those changes include barring clinics that perform or even refer patients for abortions from receiving federal family planning dollars unless they jump through a near-impossible series of hoops. (9/9)

Stat: Same-Sex Sexual Behavior And Genes: A Complicated Connection
As a scientist, I am fascinated by the new international study that found thousands of genetic variants associated with same-sex sexual behavior, and not a mythical “gay gene.” The findings offer an intriguing glimpse into the complexity of sexual behavior. It reveals some differences in the genetics of same-sex sexual behavior between men and women, for instance. It also illustrates that human sexuality is more nuanced than many believe. (Emily Drabant Conley, 9/9)

Bloomberg: Newark Water Crisis Shows Lead Danger, Need For New Service Lines
Once more an American city faces a lead crisis, with thousands of residents unable to drink from their taps. Lines for bottled water have stretched into the hundreds. Politicians are scrambling to overhaul the water system — and fast. This time it’s happening in New Jersey’s largest city, Newark.Like the fiasco in Flint, Michigan, the Newark lead crisis had its own unique causes, including mismanagement and political infighting. But the two debacles have one crucial thing in common: pipes. Specifically the lead pipes installed decades ago, by the millions all over the country, to connect mains to houses and businesses. Pipes that can shed invisible molecules of metal when water passes through. (9/9)

The CT Mirror: Drug Discounts Should Be Shared With Seniors
As lawmakers consider policies aimed at lowering the cost of medicine for older patients, one way of providing relief would be requiring that the savings bio-pharmaceutical companies negotiate with insurers and pharmacy benefit managers be shared directly with seniors at the pharmacy counter. ...This idea has support from policymakers on both sides of the aisle, including more than 86% of AARP members, yet AARP continues to oppose it. (Tiffany Haverly, 9/10)

Lexington Herald Leader: How To Protect Patients From Surprise Medical Bills 
In a recent opinion editorial regarding surprise medical billing, the author is correct in stating that too many Kentucky patients are impacted by surprise medical billing. This is a situation when patients unknowingly or without a choice (emergency care) receive care from an out-of-network physician or other provider. Both physician and insurer agree that patients should not be caught in the crossfire in disputes between the health insurance company and physician. Other than their in-network cost-sharing obligation, patients should be protected from other costs. Similarly, a physician often does not know which networks the patient has joined; but, legally and ethically, the physician is compelled to provide services regardless of the patient’s coverage. And that’s about where our agreement on the issue ends. (Tuyen T. Tran, 9/6)