The New York Times: Supreme Court Revives Transgender Ban For Military Service
The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted the Trump administration’s request to allow it to bar most transgender people from serving in the military while cases challenging the policy make their way to the court. The administration’s policy reversed a 2016 decision by the Obama administration to open the military to transgender service members. It generally prohibits transgender people from military service but makes exceptions for those already serving openly and those willing to serve “in their biological sex.” (Liptak, 1/22)

Reuters: Trump Transgender Troop Limits Can Take Effect, Top Court Decides
The decision, with the court's five conservative justices prevailing over its four liberals, granted the Trump administration's request to put on hold injunctions issued by federal judges against enforcement of the policy while a challenge to its legality continues in lower courts. The court did not resolve the underlying question of the legality of the Republican president's plan, which reversed the landmark 2016 policy of his Democratic predecessor Barack Obama to let transgender people for the first time serve openly in the armed forces and receive medical care to transition genders. (Chung, 1/22)

The Washington Post: Supreme Court Allows Trump Restrictions On Transgender Troops In Military To Go Into Effect As Legal Battle Continues
The courts were considering a policy developed by then-Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, who issued a plan to bar from the military those who identify with a gender different from their birth gender and are seeking to transition. Mattis’s plan makes exceptions for about 900 transgender individuals who are already serving openly and for others who say they will serve in accordance with their birth gender. (Barnes and Lamothe, 1/22)

NPR: Supreme Court Revives Trump's Ban On Transgender Military Personnel, For Now
The transgender ban is being revived more than a year after a federal court in Washington, D.C., first blocked it in October 2017. U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ruled that trans members of the military had "a strong case that the president's ban would violate their Fifth Amendment rights," as NPR reported. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit lifted Kollar-Kotelly's injunction earlier this month, concluding that the ban had been substantially revised by the time it was instituted by former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis in March 2018. But other federal courts had also ruled against the ban — and until Tuesday, those other injunctions remained in place. (Welna and Chappell, 1/22)

The Associated Press: Q&A: Impact Of Supreme Court Decision On Transgender Troops
Some questions and answers about what the high court did. (1/23)

And Ruth Bader Ginsburg's recent surgery prompts this history of Supreme Court justices' health —

NPR: From Cover-Ups To Secret Plots: The Murky History Of Supreme Justices' Health
For the first time in her 25-year career on the Supreme Court, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was not on the bench to start the new year. After the 85-year-old justice was operated on for lung cancer, she decided to work from home rather than return to the court two weeks after surgery. She's expected to make a full recovery and be back at the court soon. A fair amount is known about Ginsburg's cancers and surgery, but the history of Supreme Court justices and their health is murkier. (Totenberg, 1/23)

The Associated Press: Poll: Support For 'Medicare-For-All' Fluctuates With Details
"Medicare-for-all" makes a good first impression, but support plunges when people are asked if they'd pay higher taxes or put up with treatment delays to get it. The survey, released Wednesday by the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation, comes as Democratic presidential hopefuls embrace the idea of a government-run health care system, considered outside the mainstream of their party until Vermont independent Sen. Bernie Sanders made it the cornerstone of his 2016 campaign. President Donald Trump is opposed, saying "Medicare-for-all" would "eviscerate" the current program for seniors. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 1/23)

The Hill: Poll: 56 Percent Of Public Supports Medicare For All
Progressives are pushing the new Democratic House majority to move forward on the idea, and many Democratic presidential hopefuls have signed onto the idea as well. More centrist Democratic lawmakers remain opposed to the proposal, however. The poll finds that there are wide swings in support and opposition to the idea depending on how the question is asked. (Sullivan, 1/23)

Bloomberg: Poll Shows Majority Support For Medicare-For-All As 2020 Revs Up 
Still, the term Medicare-for-all may mean different things to different candidates. The Kaiser poll showed greater support for proposals that expand the U.S. health-care program for older people without eliminating private insurance. For instance, 74 percent favor creating a government-run plan like Medicare that’s open to everyone while also allowing Americans to keep the coverage they have, according to the poll. At the same time, 77 percent support the idea of allowing people between the ages of 50 and 64 to buy into Medicare, and 75 percent favor letting people who don’t get coverage through an employer buy health insurance through Medicaid, the survey found. The age of eligibility for Medicare is usually 65. (Kapur, 1/23)

The Washington Post: Democrats And Their Voters Have Shifted Left As 2020 Nears. They’re Betting The Rest Of The Country Follows.
The last time Democrats scouted for a presidential nominee who could strip the White House from Republicans, the party supported additional fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border. Same-sex marriage was illegal in 49 states, and few Democratic candidates were pushing to change that. And only one long-shot presidential hopeful talked about “Medicare-for-all.” A dozen years later, Democratic candidates and potential ones now argue that more barricades are not what is needed at the border. Candidates who once dodged questions about same-sex marriage now support it and are calling for greater protection of transgender individuals. “Medicare-for-all” — or something like it — has become standard, along with promises to combat racism, sexism and global climate change. (Weigel and Johnson, 1/22)

Modern Healthcare: Government Shutdown Threatens Loans To Rural Hospitals 
The partial government shutdown, now on its 32nd day, has dried up a key cash flow for at least one rural hospital: a $3.2 million low-interest rural development loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In the case of the small not-for-profit medical center in Pecos, N.M., the shutdown's freeze of USDA funding also halted financing of a costly construction project when the official in charge of the loan went on furlough. The project, a 9,000-square-foot expansion to bring all its treatments into one building, is slated for an August completion. (Luthi, 1/22)

CQ: Food Safety Faces Risks During Shutdown, Say Experts
The monthlong partial government shutdown is exposing the pressure points of an already vulnerable food safety system and risks hindering responses to illness outbreaks that might arise, warn safety experts. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb tweeted this week that about 350 inspectors out of 550 total are furloughed. He said Tuesday that the continuing food safety work included inspections of facilities producing foods with higher-risk of outbreaks like fish, cheese and raw produce. High-risk facilities make up around one-third of the 160 inspections that the FDA normally conducts when fully funded. (Siddons, 1/22)

Politico Pro: Patient, Doctor Groups Warn Of Shutdown Impact On FDA
A coalition of more than 40 patient and health provider groups are warning about the effects of the government shutdown on the FDA, marking the first time advocacy organizations have weighed in on the more-than-monthlong lapse in appropriations. (Karlin-Smith, 1/22)

Chicago Tribune: Furloughed Federal Workers Offered Free Mental Health Counseling
Concerned about the mental well-being of federal workers affected by the longest government shutdown in history, a local health system is offering free counseling. Sinai Health System’s behavioral health department is accepting walk-ins and appointments for adult patients at Mount Sinai and Holy Cross hospitals. Workers who show their government IDs can get services for free if they’ve been furloughed or have been going without pay. (Schencker, 1/22)

The Hill: HHS Chief Refuses To Testify On Child Separation Policy
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is refusing to have secretary Alex Azar testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee about the administration’s child separation policy, according to the panel’s chairman. “[Azar’s] denial to appear before the Committee in the coming weeks on the family separation policy is unacceptable, and we are going to get him here at some point one way or another,” Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.) said in a statement. (Weixel, 1/22)

Politico: Trump's Health Secretary Refuses Democrats' Request To Testify On Separated Kids
House Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), who announced earlier this month plans to hold a hearing on the administration's separation policy, had personally asked Azar to testify, a committee spokesperson told POLITICO. Azar's office declined the request Tuesday afternoon, the spokesperson said. "It has been eight months since this cruel policy came to light, and Secretary Azar has yet to appear before Congress at a hearing specifically on this policy," Pallone said in a statement, calling Azar's refusal "unacceptable." (Diamond, 1/22)

Bloomberg: Azar Refusal To Testify On Family Separation Sets Up Showdown 
HHS has participated in briefings with congressional staff to update them on the children and has coordinated more than 100 visits for members of Congress to facilities where the children are housed, Stauffer said. Azar has largely avoided talking about the policy publicly. “The secretary is fully committed to providing committees with the best subject matter experts available at the department to answer any questions about our programs,” she said. (Edney, 1/22)

The Associated Press: Lawyers: Immigrant Kids' Detention Is Prolonged, Unexplained
Immigrant advocates said Tuesday they are suing the U.S. government, claiming it is detaining immigrant children too long and improperly refusing to release them to relatives. A federal lawsuit filed last year in Alexandria, Virginia, was expanded on Friday to propose including the cases of more than 10,000 children. (1/22)

Politico: Dems To Push Bill Raising Minimum Age To Buy Assault-Style Weapons
Democrats are introducing a bill that would raise the minimum age to buy assault-style weapons, the latest in a multipronged effort to address a string of recent mass shootings and stifle the gun lobby’s sway since taking back the House majority. The bipartisan bill, expected to be introduced by Rep. Anthony Brown (D-Md.) Wednesday, would prohibit anyone younger than 21 from buying semi-automatic rifles, with exceptions for active duty military personnel and some police officers. In most states, anyone 18 or older can buy what’s known as an assault-style weapon, even though the federal purchasing age for handguns is 21. (Caygle and Ferris, 1/23)

NPR: Supreme Court To Take Up First Gun Case In Nearly A Decade
With the Supreme Court now having five justices who are less likely to approve of gun regulations and laws, it granted a major gun case Tuesday for the first time in nearly a decade. The court granted a right-to-carry case out of New York that that pits the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association against the City of New York. New York bans transporting permitted handguns outside city lines, even if the gun is not loaded and is locked in a container. The guns currently can only be taken to the handful of shooting ranges within city limits. (Montanaro and Totenberg, 1/22)

Reuters: Walgreens Pays $269.2 Million To Settle U.S. Civil Fraud Lawsuits
Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc will pay $269.2 million to settle two whistleblower lawsuits accusing it of civil fraud for overbilling federal healthcare programs over a decade, the U.S. Department of Justice said on Tuesday. The pharmacy chain will pay $209.2 million to resolve claims it improperly billed Medicare, Medicaid and other federal programs from 2006 to 2017 for hundreds of thousands of insulin pens it dispensed to patients it knew did not need them. (Stempel, 1/22)

The Wall Street Journal: Walgreens To Pay $269 Million On Claims It Overcharged Federal Programs
In the first settlement, Walgreens agreed to pay $209.2 million to the U.S. and several state governments for improperly billing Medicare, Medicaid and other federal health-care programs for hundreds of thousands of insulin pens it dispensed to program beneficiaries who didn’t need them, according to U.S. officials. Federal prosecutors said Walgreens configured its electronic pharmacy management system to prevent its pharmacists from dispensing less than a full box of five insulin pens, even when patients didn’t need that much. (Thomas, 1/22)

Bloomberg: Walgreens Agrees To Pay $269 Million To U.S. In Fraud Accord 
The accords come as scrutiny of health-care costs increases across the country. The Trump administration has been focused on trying to drive down prescription-drug costs, and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have introduced bills aimed at capping pharmaceutical prices. States including California have also floated plans to try to rein in spending on prescription drugs. Walgreens is also confronting an increasingly competitive retail and pharmacy landscape after rival CVS Health Corp. agreed to acquire health insurer Aetna Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. bought online pharmacy PillPack. (Dolmetsch and Langreth, 1/22)

The Associated Press: Johnson & Johnson Puts Up Strong Profit And Revenue In 4Q
A big jump in prescription drug sales, particularly overseas, helped Johnson & Johnson swing to a large fourth-quarter profit after posting a huge loss a year ago, when it took a $13.6 billion charge related to the late-2017 U.S. tax overhaul. The world’s biggest maker of health care products also benefited from an effective tax rate of just 2.6 percent for the latest quarter, along with reduced spending on research and development. It topped Wall Street profit and revenue expectations. (Johnson, 1/22)

The Wall Street Journal: Johnson & Johnson Expects Sales Growth To Slow
Johnson & Johnson said it expects its sales growth to slow in 2019, citing pricing pressures and generic-drug competition for its pharmaceutical division. The health-products company, whose financial results are considered a bellwether for many health sectors, said Tuesday it expects full-year sales of $80.4 billion to $81.2 billion. For 2018, J&J said its sales rose 6.7% to $81.6 billion. (Loftus and Chin, 1/22)

Bloomberg: J&J Predicts Slower Growth In 2019 In Warning To Health Sector 
While the company often tops the targets it sets for itself, the 2019 goal pales in comparison to its projections a year ago for sales growth of almost 2 percent. “We still have more work to do and we are committed to continuing to build upon this momentum and return to above-market growth in 2020,” Chief Executive Officer Alex Gorsky said during a conference call with analysts. J&J has consumer, medical-device and pharmaceutical units that would be large health-care companies in their own right. It’s the first of the major medical-device and drug companies to report earnings, and offers investors a hint about how the rest of the industry may fare. (Griffin, 1/22)

Bloomberg: J&J Pays $120 Million To Resolve State Suits Over Hip Marketing
Johnson & Johnson agreed to pay $120 million to resolve state attorneys generals’ claims of deceptive marketing in metal-on-metal hip implants some consumers said were defective. The settlement resolves claims J&J and its DePuy unit misled artificial-hip recipients about how long the devices would last and requires the companies to change the way they market the implants, according to New York Attorney General Letitia James. The state attorneys general alleged DePuy officials wrongly marketed the devices as having a five-year survival rate of more than 90 percent, when European health regulars found the rates were around 5 percent, according to James. (Feeley, 1/22)

In other health industry news —

The Associated Press: Pass It On: Cigna CEO Says Leadership Evolves As You Advance
David Cordani became CEO of one of the nation's largest health insurers at age 43 and remembers clearly that no one gave him a textbook explaining the role. The now 52-year-old executive has helped his company, Cigna Corp., grow and diversify as the health care sector grapples with perpetually rising costs. Revenue at Cigna has more than doubled since Cordani took over in late 2009, and the company recently closed a $52-billion acquisition of the pharmacy benefits manager Express Scripts. (Murphy, 1/22)

The Associated Press: Insider Q&A: Cigna CEO Seeks Deeper Push Into Patient Health
Call Cigna a health insurer, and CEO David Cordani will try to correct you. He doesn't consider the company a pharmacy benefit manager either, even though Cigna just spent roughly $52 billion on one of the country's biggest prescription processors, Express Scripts. (Murphy, 1/22)

Modern Healthcare: Ascension Splits Job Of President And CEO, Patricia Maryland Departing 
Ascension is splitting the title of president and CEO of the organization and unifying its two-pronged structure, resulting in the departure of three top executives including Patricia Maryland, according to an internal memo obtained exclusively by Modern Healthcare. Joe Impicciche will serve in the new role of Ascension president, leaving Anthony Tersigni with only the CEO title. Dividing the organization limited collaboration and created "unintended hierarchy and silos," Tersigni wrote in the memo. (Kacik, 1/22)

The Associated Press: Judge Declares Iowa Fetal Heartbeat Law Unconstitutional
A state judge on Tuesday struck down Iowa's restrictive "fetal heartbeat" abortion law, which would have been the most restrictive anti-abortion law in the nation. Judge Michael Huppert found the law unconstitutional, concluding that the Iowa Supreme Court's earlier decisions that affirm a woman's fundamental right to an abortion would include the new law passed last year. (Pitt, 1/22)

Reuters: Iowa's 'Fetal Heartbeat' Abortion Ban Ruled Unconstitutional
In the ruling, posted online, District Court Judge Michael Huppert wrote, "It is undisputed that such cardiac activity is detectable well in advance of the fetus becoming viable." A fetus that is viable outside the womb, usually at 24 weeks, is widely considered the threshold in the United States to prohibit an abortion. (1/23)

Iowa Public Radio: Judge Strikes Down Iowa's 'Fetal Heartbeat' Abortion Law
“We are extremely grateful that the district court here in Polk County has reaffirmed that abortion is a fundamental, constitutionally-protected right and has struck down the blatantly unconstitutional ban on abortion,” said Erin Davison-Rippey, state executive director for Planned Parenthood. (Sostaric, 1/22)

The Wall Street Journal: New York Passes Abortion-Rights Bill On Roe V. Wade Anniversary
New York legislators passed a bill on Tuesday granting women the affirmative right to abortions under the state’s public-health law, a move that symbolically falls on the 46th anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade decision. The push comes partly as a reaction to the confirmation last October of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. Abortion opponents want Justice Kavanaugh at some point to provide the decisive vote striking down Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that established a constitutional right to early-term abortions. (Vielkind, 1/22)

The Hill: New York Passes Bill Expanding Abortion Access
The legislation had previously been blocked for years by Republicans but was easily approved by Democrats, who now control both chambers of the state legislature. The bill allows women to get abortions after 24 weeks if their life or health is threatened by the pregnancy in addition to permitting women to have an abortion at any time if the fetus is not viable, according to syracuse.com. (Burke, 1/22)

And in California —

KQED: Should UC And CSU Campuses Be Required To Provide Abortion Pills? Lawmakers Revisit Issue
Public university health centers in California do not perform abortions, but lawmakers will soon begin debate on a bill — SB 24 — that would require health centers at all 34 University of California and California State University campuses to provide medication abortions. It's the second attempt at this bill, after then-Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a previous version last fall. (Dembosky, 1/22)

The New York Times: V.A. Wait Times Now Shorter Than For Private Doctors
Wait times for an appointment at Veterans Affairs hospitals have decreased since 2014 and are now, on average, shorter than those in the private sector, a new study shows. Researchers used V.A. data to calculate wait times for about 17 million appointments. The public sector data came from a survey conducted by a physicians’ search firm in nearly 2,000 medical offices in 30 major and midsize metropolitan areas. (Bakalar, 1/22)

Kansas City Star: VA Denies Info To Missouri’s Blunt, McCaskill On Vet’s Death
The Kansas City VA Medical Center has declined for months to provide The Star documents, audio and video related to the death of a veteran following an altercation with a VA police officer in May. Now the VA headquarters is denying Congress the information. (Marso, 1/22)

The New York Times: To Fight Fatty Liver, Avoid Sugary Foods And Drinks
Overweight children with fatty liver disease sharply reduced the amount of fat and inflammation in their livers by cutting soft drinks, fruit juices and foods with added sugars from their diets, a rigorous new study found. The new research, published in JAMA on Tuesday, suggests that limiting sugary foods and drinks may be a promising lifestyle strategy to help alleviate a devastating condition linked to the obesity crisis that is spreading rapidly in adults and children. An estimated 80 million to 100 million Americans have nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, which causes the liver to swell with dangerous levels of fat. Roughly seven million of those are adolescents and teenagers. (O'Connor, 1/22)

Kaiser Health News: Alcohol-Linked Disease Overtakes Hep C As Top Reason For Liver Transplant
An estimated 17,000 Americans are on the waiting list for a liver transplant, and there’s a strong chance that many of them have alcohol-associated liver disease. ALD now edges out hepatitis C as the No. 1 reason for liver transplants in the United States, according to research published Tuesday in JAMA Internal Medicine. One reason for the shift, researchers said, is that hepatitis C, which used to be the leading cause of liver transplants, has become easier to treat with drugs. (Bluth, 1/22)

The New York Times: What Is Toxic Masculinity?
For decades, we used terms like “macho,” “red-blooded” or “machismo” to describe the kind of hulking masculinity that men were, on some level, expected to aspire to. Now we have “toxic masculinity” — an expression once relegated to women’s studies classrooms that suddenly seems to be everywhere. (Salam, 1/22)

NPR: Multiple Sclerosis: A Misguided Immune Attack On Myelin
As the story goes, nearly 80 years ago on the Faroe Islands — a stark North Atlantic archipelago 200 miles off the coast of Scotland — a neurologic epidemic may have washed, or rather convoyed, ashore. Before 1940 the incidence of multiple sclerosis on the Faroes was near, if not actually, zero, according to the tantalizing lore I recall from medical school. Yet in the years following British occupation of the islands during World War II, the rate of MS rose dramatically, leading many researchers to assume the outbreak was caused by some unknown germ transmitted by the foreign soldiers. (Stetka, 1/21)

PBS NewsHour: Coal Miners Have Been Inhaling Deadly Silica Dust For Decades. Now They’re Dying
For decades, coal miners have been inhaling silica dust on the job. The extremely fine particles, generated when the quartz-rich limestone surrounding coal seams is cut, lodge in the lungs, obstructing respiration. According to a Frontline/NPR report, both the industry and the government understood the hazard for decades but did little to contain it. (Berkes, 1/22)

The New York Times: Even A 20-Second Exercise ‘Snack’ Can Improve Fitness
As little as 20 seconds of brisk stair climbing, done several times a day, might be enough exercise to improve fitness, according to a pragmatic new study of interval-style training. The study finds that people can complete a meaningful series of insta-workouts without leaving their office building or even changing out of their dress shoes, offering hope — and eliminating excuses — for those of us convinced that we have inadequate time, expertise, income or footwear to exercise. (Reynolds, 1/23)

WBUR: Medical Students Push For More LGBT Health Training To Address Disparities
According to a number of studies, medical schools do a poor job of preparing future doctors to understand the LGBT population's unique needs and health risks. And, a 2017 survey of students at Boston University School of Medicine found their knowledge of transgender and intersex health to be lesser than that of LGBT health. (Cohen, 1/20)

Miami Herald: Dengue Immunity May Protect Against Zika
As scientists continue to study the relatively novel Zika virus, researchers have found that children with a history of prior dengue infection had a significantly lower risk of being symptomatic when infected by Zika, according to a study in Nicaragua of more than 3,000 children. Experts had worried that prior dengue infection could worsen Zika disease, but the new findings published Tuesday in the journal PLOS Medicine suggest that prior dengue immunity in children may protect against symptomatic Zika, which can cause fever, rash, joint pain and red eyes. (Chang, 1/22)

Stat: With Human Drugs, A Startup Hopes To Deliver Precision Medicine To Dogs
When pet dogs are diagnosed with cancer, they typically get surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation — that is, of course, if their owner opts to treat it. Now, a Silicon Valley startup wants to offer precision medicine instead — by recommending targeted therapies that are normally used to treat humans. For a price tag in the low four figures, depending on the veterinary clinic, the One Health Company will sequence a dog’s tumor and generate a report with recommendations. (Robbins, 1/23)

Stat: Pain Therapy Of Last Resort Getting New Life Amid Opioid Crisis 
Spurred by the opioid crisis, a once marginalized therapy that relies on electrical stimulation to treat chronic pain is undergoing a renaissance as device makers race to upgrade their products for a wider population of patients. The companies believe the therapy, known as neuromodulation, can reduce reliance on opioid painkillers, which laid the foundation for a spike in overdose deaths and led to a fierce debate over how best to treat patients with chronic pain. It is also seen as a significant business opportunity, with one research firm predicting that the market for neuromodulation will grow by 15 percent a year, to more than $16 billion by 2024. (Ross, 1/23)

WBUR: 2 Mass. Mayors Describe 'Eye-Opening' Visits To Canadian Clinics That Supervise Drug Use
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh toured clinics in Montreal and Toronto where people who use drugs are given clean needles, monitored while they consume and revived if they overdose. Cambridge Mayor Marc McGovern was also in Montreal, meeting with the city's mayor and chief of police. Both explained their surprising findings to WBUR's Bob Oakes. (Oaks and Bebinger, 1/23)

Austin American-Statesman: Texas Health Officials Unveil Website Aimed At Curbing Prescription Opioid Misuse
State health officials on Tuesday unveiled a new website they hope will help educate people about prescription opioid misuse and encourage patients to safely dispose of their unused medications so they don’t end up in the wrong hands, the latest in an effort by the state attorney general’s office to combat Texas’ growing opioid crisis. (Huber, 1/22)

Cincinnati Enquirer: Boost Access To Syringe Exchange To Curb Cincy HIV Spike, CDC Says
Federal health officials want their Cincinnati region counterparts to offer better access to syringe exchanges and other steps to close "missed opportunities" to bring a local surge in HIV cases linked to drug use under control. The increases in HIV, started in 2017 and were first brought to the public's attention in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky in January 2018. (DeMio, 1/22)

California Healthline: Doctors Call California’s Probe Of Opioid Deaths A ‘Witch Hunt’
The Medical Board of California has launched investigations into doctors who prescribed opioids to patients who, perhaps months or years later, fatally overdosed. The effort, dubbed “the Death Certificate Project,” has sparked a conflict with physicians in California and beyond, in part because the doctors being investigated did not necessarily write the prescriptions leading to a death. The project is one of a kind nationally, although a much more limited program is operated by North Carolina’s board. (Clark, 1/22)

The Wall Street Journal: Mayor De Blasio Drafts City Workers To Push Health Care Programs
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has given the city’s more than 344,000 workers a second job: Signing up residents for low-cost and affordable health insurance. Mr. de Blasio, a Democrat, signed an executive order on Tuesday to formalize a push by his administration to enroll uninsured New Yorkers in health plans. Under the order, on-duty employees at all city agencies will be required to educate residents they meet about city-run health plans and other resources. (Honan, 1/22)

The Washington Post: Portland-Area County Declares Emergency Over Measles Outbreak In Anti-Vaccination 'Hotspot'
A quickly escalating measles outbreak around Portland, Ore., has led health officials in nearby Clark County, Wash., to declare a public health emergency as they warn that people infected with the highly contagious virus since the beginning of the year have visited schools and churches, a dentist’s office, an Amazon locker pickup station, a Costco, and an Ikea. Someone with measles was at Concourse D of the Portland International Airport on Jan. 7, the county’s public health department advised. An infected person attended a Portland Trail Blazers home game on Jan. 11. (Stanley-Becker, 1/23)

The Oregonian: 23rd Measles Patient Is Another Unvaccinated Child In Vancouver Area 
Another unvaccinated child under 11 years old is the 23rd person to have measles in a Clark County outbreak. The county public health department said Tuesday that two more people are suspected of having measles and identified four more locations where people might have been exposed to the disease. (Harbarger, 1/22)

Minnesota Public Radio: Rural Hospitals Retreat From Delivering Babies; Small Towns Pay The Price
Living deep in the Minnesota woods near the Canadian border, Tamer and Yvette Ibrahim took pride in being ready for whatever the wilderness could throw at them. Then came baby Zein, a blizzard and a white-knuckle ride to the hospital. Yvette Ibrahim's complicated pregnancy created unexpected challenges, including five-hour drives to Duluth and back each month for checkups. It was mostly manageable until the December 2016 night when her water broke. Heavy snow blew across the Arrowhead darkness, but Zein wouldn't wait. (Richert, 1/22)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin Legislature: Pre-Existing Conditions Bill Passes Assembly
Assembly Republicans passed a bill Tuesday that would require health insurers to cover pre-existing health conditions and would ban insurers from dropping coverage for those who exceed caps on lifetime or annual coverage amounts. The bill would take effect if the Affordable Care Act is overturned through a federal lawsuit, which Republicans support. It does not address how premiums would be kept from soaring without the federal law's subsidies, drawing opposition from some Democrats. (Beck, 1/22)

Boston Globe: Mass. General Hospital Plans Large Addition
Massachusetts General Hospital, the busiest medical center in the state, plans to spend more than $1 billion to build a large addition to its crowded campus to keep up with the demand for high-end medical care and compete for patients from around the globe. The project is likely the largest ever proposed by a hospital in the state, and promises to reshape a busy stretch of downtown Boston between Government Center and the Longfellow Bridge. (Dayal McCluskey, 1/22)

Los Angeles Times: LAUSD Teachers' Strike Ends. Teachers To Return To Classrooms Wednesday
The Los Angeles teachers union ended its strike Tuesday night, based on overwhelming support for a contract agreement with the school district, union leaders said. Teachers, nurses, counselors and librarians will be back in their classrooms Wednesday, said Alex Caputo-Pearl, president of United Teachers Los Angeles. “A vast supermajority are voting yes for the agreement that we made,” said Caputo-Pearl, who also acknowledged that many votes still were being tallied. (Blume and Kohli, 1/22)

The Associated Press: Psychotherapist Challenges Maryland’s Conversion Therapy Ban
A Virginia-based psychotherapist is suing to overturn Maryland’s ban on conversion therapy for minors, saying it prevents him from taking clients with an “unwanted same-sex attraction.” The Baltimore Sun reports Christopher Doyle filed a federal lawsuit Friday, arguing the ban adopted last year violates his rights, as well as clients’ rights “to prioritize their religious and moral values.” The American Psychological Association opposes therapy seeking to change sexual orientation, saying it doesn’t work and can cause harm. (1/22)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Cleveland Coalition Says City Will Be ‘Lead Safe’ Within The Next Decade
Cleveland officials and members of local philanthropic, healthcare, environmental and educational organizations said Tuesday they will work together to create a “lead safe” Cleveland by drastically reducing the number of children exposed to the toxin. The newly-announced coalition did not commit to a specific timeline for its work, what its measure of success might be, how much it will cost or who will pay for it. (Dissel and Zeltner, 1/22)

The Baltimore Sun: So, You Want To Be A Doctor? Northern Baltimore County Program Teaches Children About Medicine, Health
Introduced to the Baltimore area this year by Hereford native Marion Beck, a seasoned nurse and business executive, the Little Medical School of Baltimore — already in six locations within just months of its launch here — is proving to be a popular addition to more traditional school enrichment programs. ...Now, in addition to traditional after-school and summer camp programs like sports and STEM-related robotics and coding activities, area students can explore the field of medicine and its close cousin, veterinary medicine, via the Little Medical School. Already, an estimated 125 area students have experienced the six-week program, which costs between $150 and $180, depending on the venue and the supplies required. (Heubeck, 1/23)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Cuyahoga County Jail Nurses Speak Out About Proposed MetroHealth Contract At County Council Meeting
Several Cuyahoga County Jail nurses voiced concerns to Cuyahoga County Council Tuesday about the administration of health care at the jail and whether they will lose their jobs when the MetroHealth System takes over inmate health operations. One nurse told council members that he and his fellow nurses have not been told whether they will keep their jobs once MetroHealth takes over nursing at the jail, which is currently administrated by the county. (Astolfi, 1/22)

Georgia Health News: Kemp Budget Adds Funds To Help Ailing Georgians Remain In Their Homes 
Potential good news for those on the waiting list came last week. Gov. Brian Kemp unveiled a budget proposal for fiscal 2020 that includes an extra $1.8 million for these home and community-based services, which help people remain in their homes instead of moving to nursing homes or other institutions. (Miller, 1/22)

Nashville Tennessean: PainMD Clinics Accused Of Injecting Patients For Profit
[Lenny] Quintavalla was one of about 4,500 patients of PainMD, a pain management company with clinics in Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia that federal and state officials have accused of pressuring patients into unnecessary injections so it could defraud the government out of more than $10 million. According to lawsuits filed by the federal government and the state of Tennessee, PainMD would require patients to receive multiple pain-relieving injections into their back at every visit, then intentionally mislabel the injections during billing so it could maximize profits from Medicare, Medicaid and Tricare. (Kelman, 1/22)

New Hampshire Public Radio: N.H. Lawmakers Hear Bills On Boosting Mental Health, Child Protection Services
Bills to boost mental health services at local hospitals and hire staff at the state's child protection agency went before state senate committees Tuesday. Democrats are prioritizing the bills, which spend about $13 million in state money. (Rogers, 1/22)

San Francisco Chronicle: UCSF Scientists Decry Beverage Industry’s Preemption Of Soda Taxes
Doctors at UCSF have taken aim at the sugar-sweetened beverage industry, warning that a political tactic it has employed in California and three other states could have a devastating impact on public health. The country’s first voter-approved soda tax was passed in Berkeley in 2014. Yet California is also one of four states that has since banned cities and localities from imposing new taxes on sugary beverages, because of pressure from the soda industry. (Duggan, 1/22)

NH Times Union: Hospitals Applaud $6M Plan To Expand Psychiatric Treatment 
Hoping to heal what he called “a festering wound in our state,” Sen. Tom Sherman, D-Rye, introduced sweeping legislation to address the crisis of mental health patients held in hospital emergency rooms across New Hampshire. Twelve Senate Democrats signed on with Sherman to co-sponsor legislation that would divert $6 million from the state budget surplus to encourage the construction and staffing of mental health units at various hospitals. (Solomon, 1/22)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: MetroHealth Invention Will Help Neurological Patients Breathe Easier
A new device, invented at MetroHealth System, combines breathing and cough assist devices into one apparatus. It could improve the quality of life for patients with neurological disorders like Jack Wolf. The combination device, currently in the pre-prototype stage, will be small, portable and battery-powered. (Washington, 1/22)

The Wall Street Journal: One Family’s Struggle To Get Their Daughter Lifesaving Medication
Six-year-old Zahra Dehghanipour suffers from a genetic disease that causes her muscles to atrophy. She wears a painful chest brace to stay upright, and has to be carried up and down the stairs in her family’s two-story home. Her condition, spinal muscular atrophy, has a drug treatment. But her family faces many hurdles in accessing it. Cost is one: The drug, called Spinraza and made by Cambridge, Mass.-based Biogen , costs $750,000 for the first year, and $375,000 annually after that. (Reddy and Eqbali, 1/20)

Stat: Lawmakers Want To End Tax Break For Drug Ads — Again. Will It Work?
Once again, lawmakers have introduced legislation to end the tax breaks that drug makers can take for advertising their medicines to consumers, a move that effectively becomes part of a wider package of bills  Democrats are devising rein in the pharmaceutical industry. The latest attempt comes from Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), who argues that drug makers are spending too much to market high-priced medicines at a time of growing anger over the cost of prescription drugs. Their legislation, called the End Taxpayer Subsidies for Drug Ads Act, would amend the Internal Revenue Code to disallow deductions for such ads. (Silverman, 1/17)

Modern Healthcare: Civica Rx Aims To Stabilize Fragile Pharmaceutical Supply Chain
Saline, a sterile version of saltwater used to rehydrate patients, the anesthetic propofol and the anticoagulant heparin—which are used in almost every admission—have consistently been in shortage ... One potential solution—a provider-owned drug company—has garnered the support of around 750 hospitals and nearly two dozen founding members. Civica Rx is backed by a group of health systems and philanthropic organizations that aim to bring some stability to the pharmaceutical supply chain by producing generic drugs used in nearly every hospital. (Kacik, 1/19)

Stat: How Celgene Leaves A Legacy Of Chutzpah In Science And Drug Pricing
When the company launched thalidomide as a treatment for leprosy in 1998, it cost $6 a pill. As it became clear that it was also an effective cancer drug, Celgene slowly raised the price, quadrupling it by the time it received approval for an improved molecule, Revlimid. Then, it slowly increased the price of Revlimid by a total of 145 percent, according to Sector & Sovereign LLC, a pharmaceutical consultancy. Revlimid now costs $693 a pill. In 2017, Revlimid and another thalidomide-derived cancer drug represented 76 percent of Celgene’s $12.9 billion in annual sales. (Herper, 1/22)

CNN: Trump's Drug Ad Price Transparency Contains Huge Loophole, Researchers Identify
The Trump administration's proposal to require pharmaceutical companies to list drug prices in television ads would have a profound impact on the way consumers think about expensive drugs and whether they would ask their doctor about them, according to a study published Tuesday. But the study found that the effect was mitigated when the advertisements included modifiers, such as saying the medication might not cost anything due to insurance coverage or other discounts. Pharmaceutical companies have been pushing for such modifiers to be allowed in the ads. (Drash, 1/22)

CBS News: Rx Drug Prices Continue To Rise — Here's What You Can Do
The price you pay at the pharmacy is going up — again. Prices increased on more than 250 drugs in the beginning of the year, with an average jump of 6.3 percent, according to data from Rx Saving Solutions, a consultant to health plans and employers. That's down from the 400 drugs that saw price jumps last year, but prescription drugs still remain one of the highest out-of-pocket medical costs for many consumers. (Konrad, 1/22)

The Wall Street Journal: Eli Lilly’s Sarcoma Drug Combo Proves Ineffective In Trials
Eli Lilly & Co. said Friday it would stop promoting a relatively new cancer drug after a follow-up study found it failed to significantly prolong the lives of patients. Analysts said regulators in the U.S. and Europe could withdraw their approvals of the drug, named Lartruvo, based on the new results. The company also said it would take a charge to its first-quarter earnings. Lilly shares fell 3% on the news. (Loftus and Chin, 1/18)

Stat: Supreme Court Upholds Language In Patent Law, A Win For Generic Drug Makers
n a unanimous ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld disputed language in patent law that could lead to patents being canceled more easily, unless small drug makers and biotech companies more carefully construct deals involving their intellectual property. At issue was the intent of the America Invents Act, which in 2011 made several changes to U.S. patent law, and prohibits a company from patenting an invention if it was “on sale” for more than a year before filing a patent application. (Silverman, 1/22)

Stat: How Eli Lilly Arranged For A Surprise Purchase Of Loxo Oncology
Loxo Oncology (LOXO) chief executive Dr. Joshua Bilenker negotiated the $8 billion sale of his company to Eli Lilly (LLY) in little more than two weeks, and did not approach any other suitors or engage in a bidding war. According to a new filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Loxo believed that its most valuable asset was not its approved medicine, Vitrakvi, but an experimental one, the RET inhibitor LOXO-292. (Herper, 1/17)

Stat: The U.S. Should Calculate The Economic Value Of Drugs On Its Own
One reason why prescription drugs are often priced lower overseas is that many countries perform detailed assessments of the economic value of drugs and their benefits. These assessments result in hard bargaining with drug companies before the medicines are allowed into national health plans. ...Rather than outsource the assessment of drug values, the U.S. should do it for itself. An independent, government-funded entity — let’s call it the Institute for Health Technology Assessment for the moment — would be the right vehicle for making recommendations to Medicare for drug prices that encapsulate U.S. values. (William V. Padula, 1/17)

Bloomberg: U.S. Drug Prices Could Fall If Bipartisan Measures Succeed
So far, the Trump administration hasn’t made much headway against drug prices, but a new Congress is poised to help. It’s not just that Democrats have retaken control of the House of Representatives; it’s also that many Republicans have decided to act. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he’ll allow the issue on to the Senate agenda this year, and Republican Senator Chuck Grassley, the new chairman of the Finance Committee, has endorsed specific measures to increase competition. This favorable political landscape can yield real progress against America’s extraordinary drug prices, if lawmakers and the White House look for common ground on common-sense strategies. (1/17)

Stat: Biosimilars And Interchangeability: FDA's Approach Makes Sense
The old adage “haste makes waste” usually makes sense. The Food and Drug Administration is following that adage in its thorough and thoughtful approach to building the ground rules for a successful biosimilars market in the United States. Some in the pharmaceutical industry are calling for a faster solution to bringing biosimilars into the market. (Richard Markus, 1/23)

Beckers Hospital Review: Mount Sinai CEO Dr. Kenneth Davis: 5 Ways To Lower Drug Prices
High drug prices are one of the most pressing issues facing patients today, and the U.S. government must take action to help relieve the significant burden these prices present. Here are five areas the American government should address in order to lower drug costs. (Kenneth L. Davis, 1/22)

Forbes: FDA's Banner Year For Approvals: Will Market Access To New Drugs Follow Suit?
It's not hyperbolic to say that 2018 was a sensational year for Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approvals of new drugs and biologics. And this occurred on the heels of a highly successful 2017, with the largest number of approvals in more than two decades. Once again in 2018, orphan and cancer drug approvals led the pack. Of the 59 new drugs approved in 2018 by the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, 34 were drugs targeting rare diseases, 19 were first-in-class agents, and seven were biosimilars. Also, 43 (73%) went through the priority review process, 24 (41%) were fast-tracked, and 14 (24%) were designated as breakthrough therapies. (Joshua Cohen, 1/21)

Record Online: Albany And Washington Focusing On Drug Costs
As the first topic for the state Senate investigations committee he now heads, James Skoufis, D-Woodbury, could not have chosen a more important and nonpolitical target. The committee plans to look into allegations that those who wield power over the prices of prescription drugs are undercutting pharmacies on reimbursements and to explore the relationship between them and regulators in the state Department of Health. (1/22)

Los Angeles Times: Gov. Newsom’s Healthcare Initiatives Will Test What A Single State Can Achieve On Its Own 
Gov. Gavin Newsom set down a marker for his administration’s approach to healthcare policy on its very first day, when he unveiled a strikingly comprehensive package of reform proposals aimed at improving access to care and lowering its costs. ... Newsom’s proposals thrilled healthcare advocates inside and outside the state, as they should. (Michael Hiltzik, 1/18)

Washington Times: New York City Leads The Way Down On Health Care 
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced earlier this month that he plans to provide government-funded health care to an estimated 600,000 uninsured New Yorkers. Unsurprisingly for a mayor who’s known to prioritize ideology over reality, he’s once again jumped the gun on a fairy tale policy without understanding the costs — or the consequences. (Richard Berman, 1/21)

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Transparency And Holding Down Health Care Costs 
Despite the new regulations, the Review-Journal’s Jessie Bekker reported this week that local hospitals aren’t making things easier for discerning Southern Nevada patients. The majority of Las Vegas- area facilities have published price information that is rife with insurance industry jargon and indecipherable to the layperson. (1/22)

Columbus Dispatch: More Medical Care Choices For Military Vets
A new plan from the Trump administration will apply both resources and pressure by making it easier for veterans to get treatment from private doctors and hospitals, with the government paying. It would replace the popular Veterans Choice program, which has attracted 1 million veterans happy to obtain care in the private sector. (1/23)

Austin American-Statesman: Listen To Texans And Expand Medicaid Coverage
We don’t expect Texas officials who have long opposed Medicaid expansion to change their tune overnight. But they should listen to their constituents: A Kaiser Family Foundation-Episcopal Health Foundation poll last summer showed 64 percent of Texans supported Medicaid expansion. (1/18)

The Hill: Equity, Not Equality, Will Advance Cancer Care
Cancer care research is plagued by inequity. And this process starts early: at the time of enrollment of patients for clinical trials in. When new cancer therapies are tested, or being developed, the process is far from being inclusive. Medical literature is brimmed with evidence on how minority patients and women are constantly under-represented in clinical trials. When cancer therapies, or treatment regimens, are developed for a demographic that does not represent the larger society, one should not be surprised to learn of weakening disparities in cancer care. (Junaid Nabi, 1/22)

WBUR: The Shutdown Is Causing A Man-Made Hunger Crisis
The health and well-being of 42 million individuals who rely on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits — and hundreds of thousands more furloughed employees now struggling to live without a paycheck — are at unnecessary risk. Unless a compromise is reached to re-open the federal government, 769,912 Massachusetts residents who rely on federal food assistance to make ends meet will not have enough food to eat. We are careening towards a man-made food crisis — a real national emergency. (Erin McAleer, 1/21)

The Hill: Breast Cancer Is Not A Partisan Issue — We Need To Work Together To Address It
The first step would be to strengthen our commitment to ensuring people get screened for breast cancer. Many people who are uninsured or underinsured rely on the local screening clinics funded by the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program. In addition to continuing to support this vital program, it is time to modernize the state programs to expand eligibility so fewer women fall through the cracks. And if a woman’s screening results raise concerns, we need to ensure she has access to free or low-cost diagnostic services. (Paula Schneider, 1/22)

The New York Times: The Abortion Wars Have Become A Fight Over Science
It was perhaps, at first glance, an unusual feature of the 2019 March for Life that it downplayed what many have come to think of as the central claim of the anti-abortion movement: that the unborn have a constitutional right to life. Instead, march organizers focused on proclaiming that science was on their side. They circulated material on “when human life begins,” whether abortions are ever medically necessary and when fetal life becomes viable. They praised legal restrictions based on what science supposedly says about fetal pain. (Mary Ziegler, 1/22)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Drop In Drug Overdose Deaths In Cuyahoga County, Elsewhere In Ohio, Reflects Policy Successes, But Too Many Are Still Dying
Preliminary data for 2018 drug-overdose deaths in Cuyahoga County and a number of other counties in Ohio appear to confirm a trend first seen more than a year ago: The tidal wave of opiate-related overdose deaths that washed over the state, sweeping more than 700 to their early deaths just in Cuyahoga County in 2017, is abating. But drug deaths remain high and other threats loom, including a trend to different drug cocktails. (1/23)

WBUR: Volunteers Step Up To Care For Furloughed Federal Workers
Government employees are often the targets of jokes and wisecracks. But a lot of Americans have now stepped up to help furloughed government workers get through these weeks of enforced idleness or compulsory work for no pay. Chef Jose Andres, who has provided so much food aid to victims of hurricanes and wildfires, opened a kitchen right on Pennsylvania Avenue — yes, not far from the Trump Hotel — to give free meals to furloughed federal workers, and food to bring home for their families. (Scott Simon, 1/19)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: For New Gov. Mike DeWine, The Most Urgent Priorities Include Education Funding, Lake Erie Protections And Third Frontier Funding
Guarding the future for today's children -- a key DeWine plank -- is also why the new administration must muster additional aid to combat lead poisoning in cities with older, deteriorated housing. Sobering research in Cleveland suggests children exposed to toxic levels of lead at a young age are so handicapped by that exposure that they fail to catch up by the time they enter kindergarten, even with high-quality preschool interventions. (1/22)

The Hill: 'War On Drugs' Doesn't Tackle The Drug Problem 
It’s not news that the overdose crisis continues to destroy lives, families and whole communities across the country. Nor is it news that the so-called “war on drugs” waged by the federal government has proven an absolute, abject failure. What is news is that cities can, must and are taking the lead in stopping the damage done both by drug use and by the drug war itself. As the Mayors of Ithaca, N.Y. and Santa Fe, N.M, we are doing just that: developing and implementing data-driven, evidence-based compassionate drug policies. (Svante Myrick and Alan Webber, 1/22)

Columbus Dispatch: Preventing Harm To Patients Must Be Hospitals' Primary Focus
The lesson of the long-ago IOM report was that hospital boards can no longer afford to make the bottom line their top priority, and physicians are not infallible beings whose work can never be questioned. Only a comprehensive top-down commitment to patient safety can ensure hospitals are the healing spaces we all want them to be. (1/20)

Chicago Tribune: Chicago Has A Mental Health Crisis. Reopening 6 Clinics Isn't Enough.
For those seeking mental health services, the city of Chicago is one large waiting room. We need help. Desperately. But reopening six clinics, a plan the City Council is expected to vote on Wednesday, is a Band-Aid when we need intensive care. The state of our mental health as a community has deteriorated considerably for a host of reasons since those clinics were closed in 2012, and we need to think much bigger if we want to truly help a city experiencing a mental health crisis. (Alexa James, 1/22)

Sacramento Bee: Making Connections Helps Healing Process For Homeless
Housing is essential to solving homelessness. That’s obvious. But a lasting solution starts with creating connections. Perhaps this isn’t so surprising when we understand that most homeless situations start a downward spiral precisely because of disconnections. (David Silveira, 1/22)