The New York Times: Government Watchdog Finds Squalid Conditions In Border Centers
Overcrowded, squalid conditions are more widespread at migrant centers along the southern border than initially revealed, the Department of Homeland Security’s independent watchdog said Tuesday. Its report describes standing-room-only cells, children without showers and hot meals, and detainees clamoring desperately for release. The findings by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General were released as House Democrats detailed their own findings at migrant holding centers and pressed the agency to answer for the mistreatment not only of migrants but also of their own colleagues, who have been threatened on social media. (Kanno-Youngs, 7/2)

NPR: DHS Watchdog Describes Crammed Detention Centers, A Ticking Time Bomb
Inspectors from DHS's Office of Inspector General in June visited Border Patrol facilities and ports of entry across the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, the busiest sector in the country for illegal border crossings. "We are concerned that overcrowding and prolonged detention represent an immediate risk to the health and safety of DHS agents and officers, and to those detained," they wrote. In its response to the report, the Department of Homeland Security says the surge of migrants crossing the Southern border has led to an "acute and worsening crisis." (Rose and Burnett, 7/2)

The Associated Press: Government Photos Show Detained Migrants Pleading For Help
As public outrage grows over the conditions in which thousands of people — some no more than a few months old — are being held by the U.S. government, the report offered new cause for alarm. It quotes one senior government manager as calling the situation "a ticking time bomb." "Specifically, when detainees observed us, they banged on the cell windows, shouted, pressed notes to the window with their time in custody, and gestured to evidence of their time in custody," the report says. BuzzFeed first reported on a draft version of the report, which blurs most faces in the photos. (7/2)

Reuters: 'Help, 40 Days Here': Photos Show Migrants Crammed Into U.S. Border Facilities
Security incidents among men at RGV facilities included detainees clogging toilets in order to be released from cells, migrants refusing to return to cells, and special operations teams brought in to show that Border Patrol was prepared to use force, the report on Tuesday said. Migrants banged on cell windows and shouted when investigators visited. Most single adults had not had a shower despite several being held as long as a month. One photo showed a man in a cell with 88 men, that was built to hold 41, holding a message reading: "Help 40 Day(s) Here." (7/2)

CNN: Watchdog Finds Extreme Overcrowding In Border Patrol Facilities In Unannounced Inspections
The watchdog found additional violations of detention policy, such as a lack of hot meals, inadequate access to showers and limited access to a change of clothes. For example, children at three of the five Border Patrol facilities did not have access to showers, despite a policy requiring that "reasonable efforts" be made to provide showers to children who are in detention for 48 hours. And many single adults were found to have been receiving only bologna sandwiches to eat, causing some on the diet to become constipated and require medical attention. (Sands, 7/2)

CBS News: DHS Inspector General Report Reveals Squalid Conditions At Migrant Detention Centers
According to the inspector general, three of the five facilities were not providing detained children access to showers or clean clothes. In two facilities, minors had not been given a hot meal until the inspectors arrived. (Montoya-Galvez, 7/2)

USA Today: Images Of Border Patrol Migrant Overcrowding Released
This image released in a report on July 2, 2019, by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Inspector General Office (OIG) shows 88 adult males in a cell for a maximum capacity of 41 overcrowding a Border Patrol facility on June 12, 2019, in Fort Brown, Texas. (7/2)

Houston Chronicle: Joaquin Castro Sneaks Camera Into Border Patrol Facility, Shares Photos Of Migrants Who 'Need Help'
When Democratic lawmakers toured Border Patrol facilities Monday, officials asked them to surrender their phones. But one Texas congressman was able to sneak a device in, capturing the conditions and the migrants being held there. (Sabawi, 7/2)

KCUR: Mumps Case Confirmed In Kansas ICE Detention Facility, 22 Others Exposed 
A detainee at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Chase County, Kansas, has tested positive for mumps, and 22 other migrants may have been exposed. ICE discovered the detainee with the mumps on June 18, then identified the others who came into contact with that person, said Shawn A. Neudauer, an ICE public affairs officer. (Lowe, 7/2)

Reuters: House Panel To Hold Hearing On Treatment Of Migrant Children
The House Oversight Committee has scheduled a hearing next week on the separation and treatment of immigrant children and has launched an investigation into reports of offensive Facebook posts by border patrol officers, the panel said on Tuesday. Representative Elijah Cummings, the committee’s Democratic chairman, said the panel had invited Acting Secretary Kevin McAleenan from the Department of Homeland Security and Acting Commissioner Mark Morgan from U.S. Customs and Border Protection to testify on July 12. (7/2)

The New York Times: Top Border Officials Condemn ‘Highly Inappropriate’ Secret Facebook Group
Top officials in the agency overseeing border security condemned a secret Facebook group for current and former Border Patrol agents that featured jokes about migrant deaths, obscene images of Hispanic lawmakers and threats to members of Congress as the lawmakers themselves on Tuesday amplified their criticism of the agency. (Kanno-Youngs, 7/2)

The Associated Press: AP Explains: How Facebook Handles Speech In 'Secret' Groups
U.S. Border Patrol agents are under fire for posting offensive messages in a "secret" Facebook group that included sexually explicit posts about U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and dismissive references to the deaths of migrants in U.S. custody. The existence of that group was reported Monday by ProPublica. Prior to that, few people outside the group had ever heard of it. Facebook enforces complex guidelines against hate speech, abuse and other categories when it comes to users' posts to their friends or to the public. (7/3)

ProPublica: Civil Rights Groups Have Been Warning Facebook About Hate Speech In Secret Groups For Years
Facebook says its standards apply just as much in private groups as public posts, prohibiting most slurs and threats based on national origin, sex, race and immigration status. But dozens of hateful posts in a secret Facebook group for current and former Border Patrol agents raise questions about how well if at all the company is policing disturbing postings and comments made outside of public view. (Tobin, 7/2)

Arizona Republic: Sen. Martha McSally Condemns Arizona Border Patrol Officers' Posts
Antolin Rolando Lopez-Aguilar was running. He had just crossed the border illegally near the Mariposa Port of Entry in Nogales, and the sound of a Border Patrol F-150 was close behind him. He reached back and touched the hood of the moving vehicle, trying to push off from the truck that was chasing him. The truck accelerated again, knocking Lopez-Aguilar to the ground before grinding to a halt. Court documents filed in a federal case against the truck’s driver, Border Patrol Agent Matthew Bowen, allege the vehicle was inches from running Lopez-Aguilar over when it stopped. (Hinkle, 7/2)

In other news on the crisis —

The Associated Press: 'And Now We Are Alone': Extended Family Separated At Border
A 12-year-old boy entered the U.S. from Mexico with his brother and uncle, fleeing violence in Guatemala, but is now without them in a packed Texas border facility. Honduran sisters, 8 and 6, were taken from their grandmother when they arrived. An 8-year-old Guatemalan boy was separated from his aunt and cousin. (7/2)

The Washington Post: Toddler Who Died After Being Taken Into Custody At The Mexican Border Suffered Multiple Diseases
A Guatemalan toddler who spent several days in Border Patrol custody this spring died of complications related to “multiple intestinal and respiratory infectious diseases,” according to an El Paso County medical examiner’s office report issued Tuesday. Wilmer Josue Ramirez Vasquez, who was 2½ , died May 14 after several weeks in an El Paso hospital. (Moore and Sacchetti, 7/2)

CBS News: Del Rio, Texas: Border Patrol Searches For Missing 2-Year-Old Girl In Rio Grade Today
Divers are searching for a 2-year-old girl believed to have gone missing in the Rio Grande River near Del Rio, Texas, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced Tuesday. Agents from the Del Rio Border Patrol Station said a woman from Haiti told them Monday that she had lost her daughter, a national of Brazil, while crossing the river. (Linton, 7/2)

The Associated Press: Show Of Hands On Immigrant Health Care Belies A Thorny Issue
In one unanimous show of hands, Democratic presidential candidates moved to the mainstream the idea of full health insurance for people who don't have legal permission to be in the United States. But turning that debate-night moment into reality would mean reversing longstanding federal policies that have only gotten stricter. The idea is so new that independent experts say they don't have a reliable cost estimate. Politically, it wouldn't happen without a pitched battle. (7/3)

The Hill: GOP Sees Potent Trump Attack Line: Health Care For Immigrants
Democrats running for president handed Donald Trump a potent attack line last week when they promised that their government health insurance plans would cover undocumented immigrants. It merged two of President Trump’s favorite campaign issues — health care and immigration — and could help him in battleground states where white, middle-class voters are worried about both. (Hellmann, 7/2)

The Associated Press: Trump Transforms 2020 Immigration Debate-For Democrats
The intensity of President Donald Trump's hardline approach to immigration hasn't just pushed the Republican Party rightward — it's also moving Democrats in ways that are profoundly transforming the immigration debate. Gone are hopes for a big, bipartisan immigration overhaul once envisioned in Congress. With dire conditions taking hold at the border, and deportations stoking fear in immigrant communities, groups on the left are no longer willing to engage in the trade-offs that had long been cornerstones to any deal. (7/2)

The Washington Post: At Border, Grim Realities Of Crisis Collide With 2020 Campaign Politics
Homeland Security officials thought they finally were getting a handle on the crisis at the Mexican border, after warning for months that agents and holding cells were beyond “the breaking point.” The record surge of Central American families has started to abate. The Mexican government has launched a broad crackdown after a deal with President Trump. And in a rare example of bipartisan action, lawmakers last week approved $4.6 billion in supplemental funding, most of it to improve care for minors who arrive without parents. (Miroff, Linskey and Dawsey, 7/2)

The New York Times: Cory Booker Proposes Drastic Changes To Immigration Detention System
Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey on Tuesday announced a plan to drastically alter the nation’s immigration detention system through an executive order on his first day in office if he is elected president. In an effort to draw stark contrast to the immigration detention policies of the Trump administration, Mr. Booker’s platform simultaneously establishes a new, stronger set of civil detention standards for facilities operated by the Department of Homeland Security, and directs the department to phase out any contracts with private prison facilities and county or local prisons over three years. (Corasaniti, 7/2)

The Associated Press: States' Delay Request For Arguments In 'Obamacare' Lawsuit
A federal appeals court Tuesday rejected a request to delay next week's hearing on the constitutionality of President Barack Obama's health care law. Eighteen Republican-dominated states opposed to the law said they needed more time to prepare answers to complex issues the appeals court raised in a recent filing as they prepared for the hearing. States supporting "Obamacare" had opposed the delay, saying it would contribute to uncertainty for insurance companies, regulators and people who need health care coverage. (McGill, 7/2)

Modern Healthcare: Federal Appeals Court Refuses To Postpone Obamacare Appeal
The Republican states said they need more time to file a supplemental brief on whether the U.S. House of Representatives and the Democratic states that are defending the landmark healthcare law have standing to intervene in the case and if not, what that means for the appeal. The Republican attorneys general asked to extend the July 3 deadline to file the brief by 20 days and reschedule oral arguments for after that date. (Livingston, 7/2)

Austin American-Statesman: Court Denies Texas Bid To Delay Affordable Care Act Arguments
“Allowing this appeal to proceed on its current schedule will provide some measure of certainty about the ACA’s future to states, the health care system — including providers and insurers — and ordinary Americans, and allow them to structure their affairs accordingly,” the Democratic lawyers told the court. (Lindell, 7/2)

The Washington Post Fact Checker: Would Medicare-For-All Mean Hospitals For None?
In a crowded stage featuring many candidates who support Medicare-for-all, Delaney stood out with a doomsday prediction that it would force all hospitals to close. Shifting the U.S. health-care industry to a single-payer system such as Medicare-for-all would be a huge endeavor, and it’s impossible to foresee every potential consequence. But we couldn’t find any expert or research study supporting the former Maryland congressman’s claim that Medicare-for-all would cause widespread hospital closures. (Rizzo, 7/3)

Previous KHN coverage: Delaney’s Debate Claim That ‘Medicare For All’ Will Shutter Hospitals Goes Overboard

The Hill: Poll: Most Favor Medicare For All If They Can Keep Their Doctors 
A majority of voters support "Medicare for all" if they can keep their doctors, even if that means a diminished role for private insurance, a new poll finds. The Morning Consult/Politico survey reports that 55 percent of voters support a Medicare for all system when told it would diminish the role of private insurers but that people could keep their doctors.  (Sullivan, 7/2)

The New York Times: Elizabeth Warren Calls On Former F.D.A. Chief To Quit Pfizer Board
Senator Elizabeth Warren on Tuesday called on Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, to resign from the board of Pfizer, saying his decision to join one of the country’s leading pharmaceutical companies “smacks of corruption.” Ms. Warren, who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination, said in a public letter to Dr. Gottlieb that the revolving door between government and industry “makes the American people rightly cynical and distrustful about whether high-level Trump administration officials are working for them, or for their future corporate employers.” (Kaplan, 7/2)

CNBC: Sen. Warren Calls On Ex-FDA Chief Gottlieb To Resign From Pfizer Board
“You should rectify your mistake and immediately resign from your position as a Pfizer board member,” said Warren, who is running for the Democratic nomination for president in 2020. “Doing so would send a strong and necessary message to the American people about the importance of government ethics and the integrity of current and former federal officials.” (LaVito, 7/2)

Reuters: Senator Warren Asks Former FDA Chief Gottlieb To Resign From Pfizer Board
Gottlieb, who won bipartisan support for his efforts to curb use of flavored e-cigarettes by youths, stepped down from the FDA in April, a role he had held since May 2017. He was named to Pfizer's board last Thursday and was added to the board's regulatory and compliance as well as the science and technology committees. (7/2)

Bloomberg: Elizabeth Warren To Ex-FDA Chief Scott Gottlieb: Quit Pfizer 
“Revolving door influence-peddling smacks of corruption, and makes the American people rightly cynical and distrustful about whether high-level Trump administration officials are working for them, or for their future corporate employers,” Warren said in a statement. (Edney, 7/2)

Stat: Warren Blasts Former FDA Commissioner For Joining Pfizer’s Board
Gottlieb announced last week that he would join Pfizer’s board beginning June 27, sparking immediate criticism that the company would have unmatched sway with the agency that regulates it. The move also allowed critics of the Trump administration to pounce on the perceived hypocrisy of an official who touted his work to lower drug costs accepting a leadership position with the world’s largest pharmaceutical manufacturer. (Facher, 7/2)

The Hill: Warren Calls On Ex-FDA Chief To Resign From Pfizer Board 
Gottlieb did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but said on Twitter that he would respond to Warren privately. “While I was at FDA, I had a productive relationship with Senator Warren, working together to advance shared public health goals. I respect the Senator, and I will respond to her letter that I received today from reporters promptly, directly, and privately,” Gottlieb tweeted. (Weixel, 7/2)

The New York Times: Trump Expresses Shock At Homelessness, ‘A Phenomenon That Started Two Years Ago’
For decades before moving into the White House, President Trump lived in the heart of Manhattan but apparently never noticed that his hometown had a homelessness problem. Until now. In a puzzling series of comments during an interview over the weekend, Mr. Trump professed his concern about people living on the streets in America’s biggest cities, declaring that it is “a phenomenon that started two years ago.” (Shear, 7/2)

USA Today: Trump On Tucker Carlson: Feds May 'Intercede' On City 'Filth'
Although Trump never explicitly used the term "homeless" or "homelessness" in the interview, that appeared to be the issue he was addressing, saying "some of them have mental problems where they don't even know they're living that way" and "perhaps they like living that way." (Cummings, 7/2)

San Francisco Chronicle: Twitter Reacts To Trump's Comments On 'Filth' In San Francisco, Other U.S. Cities
He pointed a finger at the "liberal establishment" and specifically called out San Francisco. "San Francisco, I own property in San Francisco, so I don't care except it was so beautiful," he said. "And now areas that you used to think as being, you know, really something very special, you take a look at what's going on with San Francisco, it's terrible." Social media users were quick to question Trump's timeline for the start of the "filth" on the streets and took his comments to mean homelessness started only two years ago. (Graff, 7/2)

CNN: Fact Check: No Evidence Trump Did Anything That 'Ended' Washington Homelessness
"You know, I had a situation when I first became president, we had certain areas of Washington, DC, where that was starting to happen, and I ended it very quickly. I said, 'You can't do that.' When we have leaders of the world coming in to see the President of the United States and they're riding down a highway, they can't be looking at that. I really believe that it hurts our country. They can't be looking at scenes like you see in Los Angeles and San Francisco." This is a difficult claim to fact check, since it's unclear what precisely Trump was referencing and since the White House has not responded to CNN's request for clarification. So we can't definitively say that Trump is wrong. (Dale, 7/2)

Politico: Newsom On Trump Homeless Threat: 'I Don’t Know That He Knows What It Means'
California Gov. Gavin Newsom turned Donald Trump’s threat to “intercede” on homelessness back on the president Tuesday, welcoming federal help but faulting Trump for floating budget cuts to safety net programs. “It sounds like the president of the United States recognizes he has work to do on this issue,” Newsom said, spinning the president’s comments as “encouraging” — while rebuking Trump for proposals that would mean “decreasing the social safety net to address the reasons people are out on the streets and sidewalks in the first place,” questioning if Trump was “familiar with the tenets or details of his budget.” (White, 7/2)

The Associated Press: LA Mayor To Trump: Let’s Fix Homeless Crisis
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti proposed forming a politically unlikely partnership Tuesday to take on the city’s homeless crisis: with President Donald Trump. The Democratic mayor whose downtown streets have become home to filthy, drug-infested encampments for thousands of people issued a public invitation for the president to walk the streets with him and see firsthand the suffering and desperation. The growing homeless crisis in L.A. and across the nation “is not his fault, nor is it my fault, it is something that has been decades in the making,” the mayor said, noting that both Democratic and Republican cities have too many people on the streets. (Blood, 7/2)

Sacramento Bee: Trump Says ‘We May Do Something’ About California Homeless
The idea that homelessness is a new phenomenon is incorrect. California as a whole has grappled with homelessness for years. According to U.S. Housing and Urban Development data, in January 2010, there were estimated to be more than 123,000 homeless people in the state, while the situation was actually worse in January 2017, when there were estimated to be more than 134,000 homeless. In Sacramento County, homelessness is up 19 percent this year, with 5,570 people counted this year, up more than 1,900 from 2017. (Sheeler, 7/2)

The Washington Post: Trump Tries To Cast U.S. Cities As Filthy And Crime-Ridden In Attempt To Sway 2020 Voters
For Trump, a native New Yorker who has one of the most urban biographies of any U.S. president, the anti-city rhetoric offers an especially stark contrast between his personal history and the kind of voters he is banking on to win reelection. (Olorunnipa, 7/2)

And in other news —

The Associated Press: Hospitals Commit $2M To Baltimore Anti-Homelessness Effort
Ten hospitals in the Baltimore area have committed $2 million to help homeless families and individuals get permanent housing and supportive services. Mayor Bernard “Jack” Young announced on Tuesday the effort expected to benefit up to 400 people. Terry Hickey, director of the Mayor’s Office of Human Services, says the pilot program is meant to show housing can result in savings in health care costs. (7/2)

The Baltimore Sun: City, Baltimore Hospitals Partner On Plan To House, Care For 200 Homeless People 
The city of Baltimore and 10 local hospitals, including Johns Hopkins Hospital and University of Maryland Medical Center, are partnering to provide housing and services for 200 people and families, a program they hope will be a model for ending homelessness. The aim of the two-year pilot effort is to show that its “wraparound” treatment keeps people healthy, productive and in permanent homes. Leaders also hope to show the program is sustainable because they believe it will reduce health care spending over time. (Cohn, 7/2)

The Wall Street Journal: New Rule To Test Union Membership, Finances
Two of the nation’s most powerful unions face a potential loss of members and millions of dollars when a Trump administration rule takes effect Friday in the latest big test for organized labor. The rule will prohibit states from automatically collecting dues from home-care workers’ paychecks. About eight states currently allow the unionization of people who provide in-home care to the disabled and elderly and whose pay is subsidized by the government. The Service Employees International Union and American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees represent the vast majority of unionized home-care workers. (Maher, 7/3)

In other administration news —

The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Indian Health Service Revamps Rules For Sexual-Abuse Reporting At Substance-Abuse Facility
The U.S. Indian Health Service has overhauled sex-abuse reporting practices at a troubled North Carolina substance-abuse treatment center the agency runs after allegations its managers mishandled a 2016 incident. In June, The Wall Street Journal reported that leaders at the Cherokee, N.C. facility and the regional office overseeing it botched the response to allegations that a maintenance worker may have engaged in sexual misconduct with a teenage patient, which the maintenance worker denied. (Weaver, 7/2)

The New York Times: Buttigieg Proposes National Service Programs For Climate Change And Mental Health
Pete Buttigieg, who is running for the Democratic presidential nomination in part on his experience with national service as a Navy Reserve officer who deployed to Afghanistan, on Wednesday proposed a major expansion of voluntary public service programs that aims to attract 250,000 Americans in the near term and potentially grow to one million a year by 2026. His plan calls for expanding existing national service organizations like AmeriCorps and the Peace Corps and also adding new ones focused on combating climate change, treating mental health and addiction, and providing caregiving for elderly people. The new programs would prioritize bringing volunteers into predominantly minority communities and rural areas. (Ismay, 7/3)

The Associated Press: 2020 Hopeful Buttigieg Pitches Plan To Fight Systemic Racism
Looking to improve his standing with black voters, Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg pitched a plan Tuesday to tackle "systemic racism" he said exists in housing, health care, education, policing and other aspects of American life. The 37-year-old mayor of South Bend, Indiana, told a predominantly black audience at a Chicago meeting of Rainbow PUSH, the Rev. Jesse Jackson's civil rights organization, that his plan includes providing more opportunity for minority businesses, strengthening voting rights and reforming the criminal justice system. (7/2)

Chicago Tribune: 'This Is An American Problem’: Presidential Hopeful Pete Buttigieg Addresses Systemic Racism In Chicago Speech
Buttigieg said the nation’s policing, health care, housing and school systems all are “burdened by racism," a condition he said threatens to undermine the nation’s future. “All of American life takes place under these shadows, not some distant historical artifact but as burning present reality that hurts everyone and everything it touches. If we do not tackle the problem of racial inequality in my lifetime, I am convinced it will upend the American project in my lifetime,” Buttigieg said. “It brought our country to its knees once, and if we do not act, it could again. I believe this is not only a matter of justice, but a matter of national survival.” (Ruthhart, 7/2)

NPR: Pete Buttigieg Tries To Woo Black Voters Amid South Bend Shooting Controversy
At the Rainbow PUSH event on Tuesday, Buttigieg proposed a 50% reduction in incarceration rates in the country by legalizing marijuana and eliminating incarceration for certain petty drug crimes; to hold police accountable to professionalization standards with an empowered civil rights division of the Department of Justice; and increased support for minority-owned businesses, including pledging 25% of federal contracts to go to minority- and women-owned firms. (Montanaro, 7/2)

Reuters: Facebook To Tackle Content With Misleading Health Claims
Facebook Inc said on Tuesday it was taking steps to reduce promotion of products based on misleading health-related claims. In a blog post, the social media company said it had made two updates last month to reduce posts with exaggerated or sensational health claims. (7/2)

The Washington Post: Facebook Wants To Limit The Reach Of Bogus Medical ‘Cures’ By Treating Them Like Spam
Facebook will “down-rank” posts that it believes contain health misinformation, meaning those posts will appear in the news feeds of fewer users, and less prominently. The down-ranking will also apply to some posts from Facebook groups devoted to natural treatments, which will show up less often in the news feeds of group members. (Ohlheiser, 7/2)

The Wall Street Journal: Facebook, YouTube Overrun With Bogus Cancer-Treatment Claims
Alphabet Inc.’s YouTube has been cutting off advertising for bogus cancer-treatment channels, a spokesman said. It is working with medical doctors to identify content promoting unproven claims and medical conspiracy theories and has tweaked its algorithms to reduce the number of times these dubious videos are presented to users. Facebook and YouTube detailed their recent actions on cancer-related content after the Journal presented them with its findings. Widespread misinformation sometimes appeared alongside ads, videos or pages for proven treatments, the Journal found. (Hernandez and McMillan, 7/2)

The Hill: Facebook Seeks To Limit Circulation Of Debunked Medical Claims 
Facebook's update does not explicitly mention what it is doing about groups dedicating to promoting "exaggerated or sensational health claims." Most of the announcement focuses on down-ranking posts in the News Feed and predicts some pages will be affected. (Birnbaum, 7/2)

Bloomberg: Facebook (FB) Is Taking Steps To Curb Sensational Health Claims 
Tech companies are increasingly trying to battle a proliferation of dubious health-related content on their sites, and are also aggressively trying to weed out hate speech and political misinformation. (Schuetz, 7/2)

In other health and technology news —

Stat: 5 Names To Know In Digital Therapeutics 
No one really knew what digital therapeutics were 10 years ago. Today, there’s still no good definition. At its simplest, the field includes apps intended to be used like medicine or even with medicine — think of the ovulation-tracking app that was cleared by the Food and Drug Administration for contraception, or the apps that work with sensors stuck on pills or in blood glucose readers. The field also includes video games and apps designed to replicate well-established mental health therapies. (Sheridan, 7/3)

The Washington Post: A North Dakota Abortion Law Requires Doctors To Misinform Women. The American Medical Association Is Suing.
One of America’s leading medical organizations has filed a lawsuit to block a North Dakota abortion law requiring doctors to tell women that a medication-induced abortion can be “reversed,” an assertion medical experts say is scientifically unsound. The American Medical Association has joined the Red River Women’s Clinic, the last abortion facility in the state, and its medical director, Kathryn Eggleston, to argue that the law violates doctors’ constitutional right to free speech by forcing them to lie to patients. (Epstein, 7/2)

Previous KHN coverage: AMA Abortion Lawsuit Puts Doctors In The Thick Of Debate

Concord (N.H.) Monitor: Planned Parenthood, Other Organizations, Face Funding Crunch After Budget Veto
Gov. Chris Sununu’s veto of the Democratically passed budget puts the fate of several long-term initiatives in the air – from education funding to mental health care. But for Planned Parenthood and other state reproductive health centers, it also sets up an immediate funding crunch. A $1.6 million appropriation proposed in the budget was meant to act as a state-funded counterweight against stringent new funding conditions imposed by President Donald Trump. Now, with the state budget at a standstill, abortion-providing health centers say they’ll have to cut back on non-abortion-related health services to absorb the new cuts. (DeWitt, 7/2)

Kansas City Star: Missouri Planned Parenthood License Renewal Case Pushed Back
Attorneys for Planned Parenthood of St. Louis and the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) asked a state administrative hearing commissioner Tuesday to postpone a scheduled Aug. 1 hearing on the state’s decision to deny a new license to the clinic. Attorneys said they would not have enough time to prepare. (Thomas, 7/2)

Vice: A Decade Ago Missouri Had 5 Abortion Clinics. Now It Has One. Here's What Happened.
Eleven years ago, Missouri had five abortion clinics. Today, the state has just one — and it may close in a month. On Friday, Planned Parenthood of St. Louis won a last-minute reprieve that will allow it to keep offering the procedure until August. But the clinic is still facing the prospect of losing its abortion license altogether, which would leave Missouri the first state in decades without an abortion provider. (Sherman, 7/2)

Kaiser Health News: Newly Blue Maine Expands Access To Abortion
While abortion bans in Republican-led states dominated headlines in recent weeks, a handful of other states have expanded abortion access. Maine joined those ranks in June with two new laws ― one requires all insurance and Medicaid to cover the procedure and the other allows physician assistants and nurses with advanced training to perform it. With these laws, Maine joins New York, Illinois, Rhode Island and Vermont as states that are trying to shore up the right to abortion in advance of an expected U.S. Supreme Court challenge. What sets Maine apart is how recently Democrats have taken power in the state. (Wight, 7/3)

USA Today: Researchers Cure HIV In Mice For First Time, Breakthrough Study Shows
Researchers say they've successfully eliminated HIV from the DNA of infected mice for the first time, bringing them one step closer to curing the virus in humans. Scientists from Temple University and the University of Nebraska Medical Center were able to eliminate the virus using a combination of gene-editing technology and a slow-release antiviral drug, according to a study published Tuesday in Nature Communications. (Yancey-Bragg, 7/2)

CNBC: Researchers Used CRISPR Technology To Cure HIV In Living Mice
“We think this study is a major breakthrough because it for the first time demonstrates after 40 years of the AIDS epidemic that the HIV disease is a curable disease,” said study co-author Dr. Kamel Khalili, chair of the department of neuroscience and director of the Center for Neurovirology and the Comprehensive NeuroAIDS Center at Temple University. (Turner, 7/2)

PBS NewsHour: CRISPR Gene-Editing ‘Eliminates’ HIV In Some Mice. What Does It Mean For Humans?
For the millions of people infected with HIV, the best way to manage the disease is antiretroviral therapy, which can lower the amount of HIV replicating in the body to undetectable levels. But antiretroviral therapy (ART) can only manage HIV, never eliminate it — leading people to rely on the expensive drugs for decades. Plus if ART is halted by these patients, HIV bounces back and its levels rise in a matter of weeks. In 2017 the World Health Organization reported that of 36.9 million people living with HIV, 21.7 million were taking ART. (McCoy, 7/2)

The New York Times: The Zika Virus Is Still A Threat. Here’s What Experts Know.
With measles and Ebola grabbing headlines, it is easy to forget the health panic of 2016, when Zika was linked to severe birth defects in thousands of Brazilian newborns whose mothers were infected while pregnant, striking fear across the country and much of the Americas. As health officials struggled to halt its spread, the virus galloped through Latin America and the Caribbean that spring and summer and eventually reached the United States, sickening more than 200 people in Florida and Texas and prompting countless travelers to cancel vacations in the tropics. (Jacobs, 7/2)

Stat: Real-World Evidence Trial Generates Real-World Criticism, Too
It’s one of the most seductive ideas in medicine: that “real-world evidence,” including data from electronic health record systems and even records of insurance payouts, could replace the far more expensive and time-consuming studies currently considered the gold standard. The Food and Drug Administration is required, under the 21st Century Cures Act, to explore this idea. And late last month, New York private health care company Aetion published the findings of a study in which real-world evidence was used to try to replicate the results of a specific randomized, controlled clinical trial. (Herper, 7/3)

The Washington Post: Medicare Weighs Whether To Pay For Acupuncture
Seeking ways to address chronic pain without narcotics, Medicare is exploring whether to pay for acupuncture, a move that would thrust the government health insurance program into the long-standing controversy over whether the therapy is any better than placebo. Coverage would be for chronic low-back pain only, a malady that afflicts millions of people. Low-back pain, acute and chronic, ranks as the third-greatest cause of poor health or mortality in the United States, behind only heart disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, according to the National Institutes of Health. (Bernstein, 7/2)

The Wall Street Journal: To Improve Care, Veterans Affairs Asks Patients Their Life Stories
Thor Ringler’s bouncing step, red-framed eyeglasses and flowered-print shirts brighten the colorless hallway at the Madison VA Medical Center where he works. When he bursts into patients’ rooms, he makes sure they feel like individuals in a system that can too often feel impersonal. Mr. Ringler is at the forefront of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ effort to use what is known as “narrative medicine”—in which a patient is asked to tell their life story, and that story is included in their medical record. The goal is to tell doctors, nurses and other medical providers who their patient is beyond blood pressure, heart rate and other statistics on a chart. (Kesling, 7/3)

Previous KHN coverage: Mini-Biographies Help Clinicians Connect With Patients

The New York Times: Why So Many Of Us Don’t Lose Weight When We Exercise
People hoping to lose weight with exercise often wind up being their own worst enemies, according to the latest, large-scale study of workouts, weight loss and their frustrating interaction. The study, which carefully tracked how much people ate and moved after starting to exercise, found that many of them failed to lose or even gained weight while exercising, because they also reflexively changed their lives in other, subtle ways. But a few people in the study did drop pounds, and their success could have lessons for the rest of us. (Reynolds, 7/3)

Los Angeles Times: As Ebola Outbreak Rages, The World Just Watches. Some Call It 'Malignant Neglect'
The Ebola outbreak raging through Congo has sickened thousands of people and killed more than 1,500 — even as the number of new victims continues to climb. The situation is dire, but it's hardly unprecedented. Less than five years ago, an epidemic in West Africa killed more than 11,000 people, shattering communities, destroying economies and leaving a generation of orphans behind. When it was over, world leaders took a solemn vow: Never again. Health officials studied the failures of their sluggish and haphazard response so they would recognize the warning signs of a crisis not to be ignored. (Baumgaertner, 7/2)

The Associated Press: To Boost Milk, Dairy Groups Support High School Coffee Bars
Coffee bars selling $3 iced lattes are popping up in high schools, helped along by dairy groups scrambling for new ways to get people to drink milk. It's one small way the dairy industry is fighting to slow the persistent decline in U.S. milk consumption as eating habits change and rival drinks keep popping up on supermarket shelves. (7/2)

CNN: Seattle Children's Hospital Operating Rooms Shut Down After A Patient Dies Of Mold Infection
A patient at Seattle Children's Hospital has died from a mold infection. The patient was one of six to develop an infection from 2018-2019, according to Alyse Bernal, public relations manager for the hospital. The infections follow several operating rooms being shut down in May by the detection of Aspergillus mold in the air. The hospital said that the risk to patients was low, but that it was contacting those who might have been exposed. (Holcombe and Boyette, 7/3)

KCUR: At Kansas City's Children's Mercy Hospital, Doctors Work With Psychologists To Treat Belly Pain 
Nearly 20% of school-aged kids and teens have chronic abdominal pain, but adults don’t always take their pain seriously. ....And that’s where Amanda Deacy comes in. Deacy is a pediatric psychologist who sees patients with Colombo. She said many of their patients have been told there isn’t anything wrong with them.But chronic pain can actually change hormone levels, further stressing the body. (Moxley, 7/3)

The Associated Press: Black Hospital Patient Attached To IV Arrested In Illinois
Police are investigating why a black man being treated for double pneumonia at a northern Illinois hospital was arrested after a hospital security officer confronted him when he walked outside pushing an IV stand he was connected to. Shaquille Dukes, 24, posted on Facebook that an "overzealous, racist, security officer," confronted him outside Freeport Health Network while he still was wearing a gown issued from the hospital. Dukes said doctors had suggested he go for a walk and a hospital security officer accused him of trying to steal the IV stand to sell it on eBay. (7/2)

Meanwhile, in other hospital news —

Modern Healthcare: Hospital Admissions Show Glimmers Of Stability Amid Long-Term Decline
Although inpatient admissions have ticked up over the last few months, they remain on a long-term downward trend, which has dented U.S. hospitals' profitability. Adjusted patient days were up 3.6% in May compared with the prior-year period, which helped boost operating margins 9.2% along with ongoing cost-cutting efforts, according to Kaufman Hall's National Hospital Flash Report, which is based on data from more than 600 not-for-profit and for-profit hospitals. (Kacik, 7/2)

Stateline: Fighting Fertility Fraud: New State Laws Go After Misuse Of Sperm
Now, new instances of fertility fraud in Indiana — and Texas — can be prosecuted under laws recently signed by the governors of both states. But they are the only states that make fertility fraud specifically illegal. Experts expect other states to follow suit. ...The Indiana law makes it a crime to misrepresent a medical procedure, device or drug, and specifically covers human reproductive material. Violations are a felony, and courts may award damages to a plaintiff. Gov. Eric Holcomb, a Republican, signed the bill in May. It took effect July 1. (Povich, 7/3)

The Oregonian: New Oregon Law Ensures Medical Decisions Can Be Made For Adults With Developmental Disabilities 
A new law unanimously approved during Oregon’s combative 2019 legislation session will keep in place the state’s process for delegating medical decisions for hundreds of adults with developmental disabilities. The legislation came in response to an investigation by The Oregonian/OregonLive that revealed deep flaws within the state’s system for appointing medical decision-makers, including the case of a man diagnosed with a tumor who didn’t immediately see a cancer specialist. (Schmidt, 7/2)

North Carolina Health News: Some Managed Care Groups Wanted To Get A Piece Of N.C.'s Medicaid Pie, But A Judge Is Saying 'No' 
A North Carolina administrative law judge shot down requests last week from a trio of organizations that wanted to hit the pause button on the state’s ongoing transition of its Medicaid system to a managed care system. Judge Tenisha Jacobs recently ruled in favor of the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services to deny preliminary injunction requests from Aetna Better Health, a commercial health care company; Optima, a health care group connected to Virginia’s Sentara health care system; and My Health by Health Providers, a provider-led coalition of a dozen hospitals around the state. (Ovaska-Few, 7/3)

Arizona Republic: Hacienda HealthCare Struggling To Fill Vacancies On Board Of Directors
Three people remain on the board of directors at embattled Hacienda HealthCare, and the nonprofit is struggling to fill vacancies. The board previously had as many as eight members, the company confirmed Monday. The current three remaining members are Phoenix-area business professionals Gary Orman, Thom Niemiec and Mike Wade. (Innes, 7/2)

Arizona Republic: Outpatient Clinics Operated By Hacienda HealthCare Lacked Licenses
Hacienda HealthCare confirmed this week that it unknowingly operated seasonal vaccine clinics for infants without the required state licensing. Two of Hacienda's five Los Niños Synagis Clinics have since licensed as outpatient clinics, and the remaining three clinics are scheduled to be surveyed in July and would be licensed upon completion of a successful survey, Chris Minnick, an Arizona Department of Health Services spokesman, wrote in an email. (Innes, 7/2)

The Associated Press: Republican Who Voted For Medicaid Expansion Concedes
A Virginia Republican lawmaker who voted to expand Medicaid is conceding a heated nomination battle to a conservative challenger. GOP Del. Chris Peace announced Monday that he would not try and litigate a dispute over who should be the Republican nominee for a Richmond-area House of Delegates seat. Peace previously claimed he was the nominee after winning a modified primary. But challenger Scott Wyatt said his victory in a local party convention made him the GOP’s pick. (7/2)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Cigna To Cut Ties To Doctor Group May Lead To More Surprise Bills
A contract rift between a major health insurance company and independent doctors has put thousands of Georgia patients in danger of big surprise bills from hospital visits, starting Sept. 1. Many doctors who work in hospitals are independent contractors, but patients often don’t know that. (Hart, 7/2)

KQED: Meth Is Making A Comeback In California – And It’s Hitting The San Joaquin Valley Hard
Domestic meth production has dropped in recent years, and most trafficked in the U.S. is manufactured in Mexico and smuggled across the southern border. From there, Interstate 5 and State Route 99 are two of the most common corridors used to distribute the drug to the rest of the country. Although Drug Enforcement Agency data shows the purity of meth has been rising in recent years, an increase in production has brought street prices down considerably. (Klein, 7/2)

The Star Tribune: UnitedHealth Group Helps Launch Data Science Program At Black Colleges In Atlanta
UnitedHealth Group is helping a group of historically black colleges and universities in Atlanta expand the teaching of data science, one of the fastest-growing segments of technology study and employment. The Minnetonka-based company will spend about $1.6 million annually over the next five years for a data-science initiative that will be offered to students at Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College, Morehouse School of Medicine and Spelman College. (Ramstad, 7/2)

Modern Healthcare: HCA Buys Two Dozen Urgent-Care Centers From Fresenius
HCA Healthcare purchased 24 MedSpring urgent-care centers from Fresenius Medical Care, the investor-owned hospital chain announced Tuesday. The urgent-care centers will operate under HCA's Medical City Healthcare division and be rebranded as CareNow Urgent Care. The acquisition adds eight centers to CareNow's 37 North Texas locations. In 2018, CareNow and Medical City Children's Urgent Care clinics served about 10% of the Dallas-Fort Worth population, with more than 770,000 patient visits, HCA said. (Kacik, 7/2)

Cincinnati Enquirer: Ohio Bill: Porn Is A Public Health Crisis
Republican lawmakers in Ohio say a public health crisis must be declared to warn residents about the dangers of pornography. House Resolution 180, introduced by Rep. Jena Powell, R-Arcanum in Darke County, would declare that pornography is a public health hazard "leading to a broad spectrum of individual and societal harms." (Balmert, 7/2)

Arizona Republic: 17 Kids Have Died In Hot Cars Nationwide In 2019; 2 Were From Arizona
Of the 17 children who have died in hot cars so far during 2019, two have been from Arizona, according to a national nonprofit. In Arizona this year, an 18-month-old girl died on April 22 in Glendale, and an infant girl died May 11 in Lake Havasu City, according to data from KidsAndCars.org. (Cruz, 7/2)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee Nonprofit Discloses False Billing To Medicare, Medicaid
Wisconsin Community Services will reimburse federal and state funding sources after voluntarily disclosing overbilling practices by one of its pharmacists. The Milwaukee-based nonprofit social service agency will pay $537,904.33 to resolve false claims for prescription medications submitted to Medicare and Medicaid, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. (Garza, 7/2)

NPR: 'I Don't Feel Safe': Puerto Rico Preps For Next Storm Without Enough Government Help
Before Maria, people had to travel an hour or more for healthcare, even for minor issues. The storm made healthcare even more critical but Noelia Rivera, a 27 yr-old nurse, says it took weeks for outside help to arrive. (Allen and Peñaloza, 7/3)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Ga. State Patrol: 25K Distracted Driving Tickets In Law's First Year
Georgia’s newest distracted driving law – which prohibits motorists from handling their phones while driving – celebrated its first birthday Monday. So on Monday the Georgia State Patrol provided The Atlanta Journal-Constitution a report showing the number of distracted-driving tickets it wrote from July 1, 2018, through June 30, 2019. The final total: 24,862. (Wickert, 7/2)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Detainee Describes Horrid Conditions For Women At Georgia Jail
For months, the 39-year-old woman with bipolar disorder sat alone staring at the four walls of her cell at the south Fulton County jail that houses mentally ill female inmates. From May 2018 to September 2018, the woman lived in isolation 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with few exceptions. (Rankin, 7/2)

Tampa Bay Times: Flesh-Eating Bacteria In Florida Waters: Three Things You Need To Know.
After two more cases of flesh-eating bacteria infections were reported from Florida waters recently, Tampa Bay area physicians are warning residents and visitors to be careful swimming in brackish water or eating uncooked seafood. A 77-year-old woman from Ellenton was infected by flesh-eating bacteria and died nearly two weeks after she fell and scraped her leg while walking on Anna Maria Island. The case came just weeks after the mother of a 12-year-old Indiana girl wrote on Facebook that she believes her daughter contracted the same infection during a trip to Destin in early June. (Griffin, 7/2)

The CT Mirror: One Year After DOC Took Over Inmate Health Care, Troubles Persist
A year has passed since lofty promises were made to repair the financially struggling and volatile health care system that serves inmates at Connecticut’s 14 prisons, but Department of Correction staff say little has improved. Records show medical employees are working shifts that have stretched as long as 24 hours. State lawmakers recently pumped an extra $22 million into the system. And DOC leaders can’t say how services compare to the care offered in the private sector. (Carlesso and Lyons, 7/2)

The Associated Press: Medical Marijuana May Be More Accessible In New Jersey
New Jersey expanded its medical marijuana program, including increasing the number of illnesses eligible for cannabis use, boosting the amount that can be dispensed and raising the number of cultivator permits, under a broad new law. Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, signed the Jake Honig Compassionate Use Medical Cannabis Act on Tuesday at a tavern in Freehold known for holding charitable fundraisers. (7/2)

WBUR: Bill Filed To Legalize CBD Products Made From Hemp In Mass.
Some Massachusetts lawmakers want to legalize food and other products made with hemp-derived cannabidiol, more commonly known as CBD. The bill was filed in the Massachusetts House of Representatives late last week, after state regulators banned the sale of some hemp products — including CBD-infused foods and dietary supplements. (Enwemeka, 7/3)

The Washington Post: Trump Advisers Battle Over How To Lower Drug Prices
President Trump was apoplectic about drug prices once again. A Wall Street Journal story in early January, picked up by Fox News, reported that prices on hundreds of drugs were going up — a slap in the face to a president who had campaigned on lowering costs and accused the pharmaceutical industry of “getting away with murder.” At a Jan. 6 Camp David meeting, Trump fumed about Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, whom he had charged with lowering drug prices, according to three people with knowledge of the conversation. (Abutaleb, Dawsey and McGinley, 7/2)

Stat: Novo Nordisk's CEO: If It Was Easy To Correct Pricing, We'd Do It
Until the rising national anger over the cost of medicines, Novo Nordisk (NVO) retained a relatively low profile among drug makers. But as one of the three large purveyors of insulin, the Danish company has more recently occupied an uncomfortable spot in the limelight. Along with Sanofi (SNY) and Eli Lilly (LLY), the company has been accused of price gouging, collusion, and indifference to people with diabetes, some of whom are now driving from the U.S. to Canada to buy insulin. The events prompted Novo chief executive Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen to go on a “listening tour” in late June to sort out the problem. We met with him at the outset of his excursion and this is an edited version of our conversation. (Silverman, 7/2)

The Hill: Million-Dollar Drugs Pose New Challenge For Congress 
A new drug approved for the first time in May offers hope to children born with a rare genetic disease who previously often did not live past early childhood. The drug, Zolgensma, injected through the veins, provides a crucial functioning gene for people with spinal muscular atrophy who otherwise would have their muscles break down. (Sullivan, 6/26)

North Carolina Health News: New Funds For Hepatitis C Prevention Available Until The End Of July 
North Carolina organizations providing harm reduction education and services can now apply for grants ranging from $25,000 to $150,000 with the national Harm Reduction Coalition through the end of July. As infection rates for hepatitis C continue to rise across the nation largely due to injection drug use, the pharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences — a major producer of hepatitis C treatment drugs — gave the Harm Reduction Coalition about $11 million to be doled out in grants to five Appalachian states with some of the highest infection rates. (Knopf, 7/1)

Stat: With A New HIV PrEP Patent, Will HHS Seek Royalties From Gilead?
For the past several months, the U.S. government has been lambasted by AIDS activists for ostensibly failing to seek royalties from Gilead Sciences (GILD) for an expensive HIV prevention pill sold by the company and therefore not using the funds to help thwart the virus. ...On Tuesday, the Department of Health and Human Services was awarded a new patent that broadly covers medicines derived from tenofovir and used to prevent HIV. Tenofovir is the basis for both an older Gilead drug called Truvada and its newer Descovy pill. (Silverman, 7/2)

CBS News: Inside The Insulin Caravan Battling Diabetes And High Drug Prices In The U.S.
The high price of insulin across the country is forcing some families with type 1 diabetes to go north to buy the medication. From 2012 to 2016, the price of insulin nearly doubled in the U.S. — and last weekend, about a dozen people took a bus 817 miles from Minneapolis, Minnesota, to London, Ontario, to buy the life-saving drug. "For us, insulin is like air — it's like oxygen, we need it," said Deb Souther, who has lived with Type 1 diabetes for 46 years. (7/2)

WBUR: Massachusetts, The Innovation Hub, Debates Aggressive Drug Price Controls
This back-and-forth between the pharmaceutical industry and advocates pushing to lower drug costs provides a glimpse of the contentious debate unfolding in public and behind closed doors on Beacon Hill. The opening chapter will close any day now because plans to tackle rising drug costs within MassHealth, the state's Medicaid program, are included in a new state budget that would take effect July 1. (Bebinger, 6/28)

Modern Healthcare: Premier's ProvideGx To Launch Intravenous Nutrition Drug
Premier subsidiary ProvideGx is now supplying cysteine hydrochloride injections to its member providers, the generic-drug division of the group purchasing and consulting organization announced Tuesday. ProvideGx teamed up with the manufacturer Exela Pharma Sciences to deliver the only Food and Drug Administration-approved version of the drug. The injection used for pediatric and adult patients who need intravenous nutrition has been in short supply since 2015. (Kacik, 7/2)

Stat: Draper Is Carving Out A Role In Drug Development 
Draper Laboratory has a team working with NASA on a 2024 moon landing. Another is working with the U.S. Navy on hypersonic missiles. And then, increasingly, there are its biotech partnerships. The secretive nonprofit, which is far better known for creating the guidance systems that helped send Apollo astronauts to the moon, is working with Pfizer and six other major pharmaceutical companies. Thursday, it added Bristol-Myers Squibb to the roster; it will work with the pharma giant on technology to help make it easier and cheaper to screen for drug toxicity before clinical trials. (Sheridan, 6/28)

The Wall Street Journal: Dementia Discovery Fund Adds Biotech Investor Behr As Partner
Dementia Discovery Fund, which last year raised a $350 million venture fund, said it has added to its investment team by hiring biotechnology-focused venture capitalist Jonathan Behr as a partner. With offices in London and Boston, Dementia Discovery Fund invests in companies and research groups developing treatments for dementia. (Gormley, 7/2)

Public News Service: CT Senator Spearheads Bill Targeting High Drug Prices
Lawmakers in Congress are reaching across the aisle to address the high cost of life-saving drugs. The bipartisan Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Act targets what critics see as the pharmaceutical industry's anti-competitive behaviors that restrict access to cheaper generic drugs. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., is one of the bill's authors. He held a meeting Monday in Hartford to discuss the legislation, where he was joined by patients who are struggling with surges in the price of insulin. (7/2)

Conway Daily Sun: Shaheen Gets Earful On Prescription Drug Prices
U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) said Tuesday at a roundtable in North Conway that skyrocketing prescription drug prices can return to earth if there are bipartisan agreement to pass needed reforms. The hourlong meeting was held at the Gibson Center for Senior Services. Panelists included Memorial Hospital President Arthur R. Mathisen, former state Rep. Karen Umberger (R-Conway, and representatives from Carroll County Coalition for Public Health, Service Link, Tamworth Community Nurse Association and White Mountain Community Health Center. (Steer, 7/2)

The Baltimore Sun: Md.'s Prescription Drug Affordability Board An Example For America
Lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle universally agree the system for pricing drugs in America is broken, and while there is some bipartisan momentum to address the problem, Washington has yet to pass any legislation that will have a meaningful impact on bringing down prices and giving consumers relief at the pharmacy counter. Meanwhile, states are bearing the burden and are growing frustrated with drug corporations doubling and tripling prices for no reason. Some states — including Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Maine and Oregon — are trying to take control of their own fate with an innovative way to make drugs more affordable and accessible: by treating pharmaceuticals as a utility. (DeMarco, 7/1)

Stat: Germany Offers Lessons In Negotiating Drug Prices 
In the ongoing conversation about high drug prices in the United States, some loud voices argue that the solution is to allow Medicare to negotiate prices directly with manufacturers. The Congressional Budget Office and others say this would lead to the exclusion of some drugs from coverage, require physicians to obtain prior authorization more often than they already do, and impose more cost sharing on patients — strategies that would keep patients from accessing medications they can benefit from.That doesn’t have to be the case. Germany’s approach to negotiating drug prices shows that it can be done successfully without limiting access. (James C. Robinson, Dimitra Panteli and Patricia Ex, 6/27)

Bloomberg: AbbVie, Big Pharma Have To Bet Big On M&A. Stock Investors Don’t 
AbbVie Inc.’s  $63 billion purchase of Botox maker Allergan Inc. is the third super-sized drug deal announced in the past 14 months, and the second just this year after Bristol-Myers’s Squibb Co.’s even bigger $74 billion purchase of Celgene Corp. These huge combinations are no fluke: In the last decade, the biopharmaceutical industry has pursued more $40 billion-plus transactions than any other sector, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. These big deals happen for a reason. Drug development is difficult, unpredictable and time consuming; even when the billions pharmaceutical companies spend on R&D or strategic purchases and partnerships bear fruit with top-sellers, those blockbusters still face the prospect of expiring patents and an eventual decline in sales. That pressures drugmakers into bigger acquisitions, in spite of their mixed track record and inherently risky and complicated nature. In AbbVie's case, the company needs to find a replacement for its $19 billion-a-year arthritis drug Humira, while Bristol-Myers is too dependent on two key drugs. (Max Nisen, 6/26)

Des Moines Register: AARP Responds: Big Pharma Is The Root Cause Of High Drug Prices
AARP is fighting to lower prescription drug costs – for everyone.  We have pursued new laws that would get generic drugs to market faster, allow the safe importation of medicines from Canada, and permit Medicare to negotiate drug prices for seniors.  We also are advocating for an out-of-pocket cap to improve the Medicare Part D drug benefit we helped pass in 2003. (Brad Anderson, 7/2)

Los Angeles Times: Democrats And Republicans Both Want To End Surprise ER Bills. Good Luck With That 
Lawmakers from both parties and President Trump have talked about their shared desire to end surprise medical bills and rein in rising prescription drug prices. But their ongoing feud over the Affordable Care Act may stop them from any meaningful legislative action on those problems.At issue are a set of proposals that would tweak the U.S. healthcare system, not overhaul it. The more ballyhooed and ambitious offerings that lawmakers have been touting — the single-payer Medicare for All model advanced by liberal Democrats and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and the block-grant-based alternative to Obamacare pushed by some Republicans — haven’t drawn any serious action. (Jon Healey, 7/1)

The Birmingham News: The Long History Of Southern Women ‘Taking To Bed’
The American past—and the American present—prove it’s hard to resist evil. In some ways, we’re going backwards: In 2019 the states of Louisiana, Georgia, Ohio, Missouri and Kentucky banned abortion past 6-8 weeks, as soon as a “fetal heartbeat” can be detected, though there’s no “heart” in the fetus, no cardiovascular system, just a gradually developing group of cells displaying electrical activity. Alabama, of course, has banned abortions altogether, telling women that even if they’re raped, their lives as fully formed humans take second place to the rapist’s embryo–they’re mere hosts for a more important life. These retrograde attempts to control women’s bodies are enough to make you take to the bed and refuse to get up. (Diane Roberts, 7/2)

Stat: Cancer Doctors Are Guardedly Optimistic About Artificial Intelligence
Over the course of my 25-year career as an oncologist, I’ve witnessed a lot of great ideas that improved the quality of cancer care delivery along with many more that didn’t materialize or were promises unfulfilled. I keep wondering which of those camps artificial intelligence will fall into. Hardly a day goes by when I don’t read of some new AI-based tool in development to advance the diagnosis or treatment of disease. Will AI be just another flash in the pan or will it drive real improvements in the quality and cost of care? And how are health care providers viewing this technological development in light of previous disappointments? (Bruce Feinberg, 7/3)

Bloomberg: Big Data Is Still Bad At Medical Diagnoses Based On Facebook
The news that researchers could use Facebook feeds to “predict” whether you suffer from any of 21 medical conditions came across as impressive, but also unnerving. The conditions included some potentially embarrassing ones, such as sexually transmitted diseases, several that might put people at risk of discrimination, such as depression and psychosis, and pregnancy, which some people might feel should be their news to tell. But don’t worry. Big Brother doesn’t really know about that infection. (Faye Flam, 7/1)

Lexington Herald Leader: State Sen. Alvarado, A Medical Doctor, Wrong To Say Vaccinations Shouldn’t Be Mandatory
Last week, state Sen. Ralph Alvarado, who’s now Matt Bevin’s running mate as lieutenant governor, was at a rally when someone asked him about all the people dying from vaccines.According to an audiotape from the event, Alvarado, who is a medical doctor, didn’t contradict a possible voter on a patently false statement; he instead noted that was a matter of debate. He went on to say: “I think it’s good health policy to administer vaccines but if people don’t want them, we shouldn’t force people to take them.”Later on, he admitted it’s a fine balance, noting that “a lot of theses diseases can be fatal.” (Linda Blackford, 7/2)

The Washington Post: Why I’ve Asked My District To Consider Tearing Down Columbine High School
Two thousand four hundred and one. That is the number of “unauthorized individuals” who came to Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., between June 2018 and May 2019. Even now, 20 years after the horrific murders of 13 people at the school in April 1999, the site continues to attract the interest of outsiders. Most mean no harm — they are tourists or others who are curious about the site. They roll up into the parking lot and start taking photos or selfies. The occasional tour bus comes to the school and attempts to unload sightseers. (Jason Glass, 7/2)

Los Angeles Times: Smog Is Making A Comeback In Southern California. That's Beyond Unacceptable
For years, California has celebrated what is undoubtedly a great environmental achievement: the dramatic reduction of the lung-searing, eye-burning pollution that used to blanket Southern California and that made this region the smog capital of the United States.But smog is making a comeback. The worst effects are being felt in San Bernardino, Riverside and other inland communities, which have seen an uptick in unhealthful air days over the last few years, The Times reported. (7/3)