The Associated Press: Congress OKs Letting Terminal Patients Try Unapproved Drugs
A bill helping people with deadly diseases try experimental treatments sailed through Congress on Tuesday, a victory for President Donald Trump and foes of regulation and a defeat for patients' groups and Democrats who argued the measure was dangerous and dangled false hope. After an emotional debate, the House gave the legislation final congressional approval by a largely party-line vote of 250-169, nine months after it passed the Senate. (Fram, 5/22)

The New York Times: Congress Approves Bill Giving Patients A ‘Right To Try’ Experimental Drugs
The bill would, in effect, allow dying patients to bypass the Food and Drug Administration and obtain an “investigational drug” with the approval of their doctors, if the drug manufacturer agrees to supply it. On at least three occasions in the past four months, Mr. Trump has urged Congress to pass the bill.“Patients with terminal conditions, and terminal illness, should have access to experimental treatment immediately” and “should not have to go from country to country to seek a cure,” he said in January in his State of the Union address. (Pear, 5/22)

The Washington Post: ‘Right To Try’ Legislation Heads To The White House
The Senate passed the bill in August, and the House approved its own version in March. That version was less objectionable to the medical groups, but then the legislation got bogged down. With the White House demanding action, House leaders in recent days decided to short-circuit the process by taking up the Senate-passed bill. The vote was 250 to 169. The measure, championed by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), is designed to give patients an alternative way to obtain drugs not approved by the FDA. Currently, there are two options for patients seeking experimental medications: enrolling in clinical trials if they are eligible or participating in the FDA’s “expanded access” program. The agency has said that it approves almost all such requests to that program. (McGinley, 5/22)

The Wall Street Journal: House Approves Giving Terminally Ill Quicker Access To Experimental Drugs
Most patients already get access to unproven medicines under a compassionate-use program overseen by the Food and Drug Administration, agency officials say. But the bill would essentially skirt the FDA’s normal approval process to get trial medicines more rapidly to patients with life-threatening illnesses. Republicans pushed for the change, which Mr. Trump supported in his State of the Union address, saying it would give patients access to non-FDA-approved drugs before it is too late. Some Democrats and patient groups have argued it would usurp the FDA and leave patients vulnerable to dangerous and possibly sham treatments. (Armour, 5/22)

Politico: House Passes Trump-Backed Drug Bill, Letting Sick Patients Bypass FDA
Trump heard from Pence — who had passed a similar bill while governor of Indiana — many anecdotes about terminally ill people and their families who wanted access to new drugs, according to an administration source. The legislation took a winding path through Congress. The vote Tuesday was the third time the House attempted to pass a right-to-try measure, having failed once to get enough votes to fast-track the bill. The effort also got caught up in a standoff between the House and Senate, which had competing versions of the bill. Patient advocacy groups that opposed the bill’s passage this week didn’t raise much opposition when the bill quietly passed the Senate unanimously last year. A last-ditch effort to get a new version through the Senate in recent days failed. (Haberkorn, 5/22)

NPR: Right-To-Try Bill Heads To President Trump For Signature
FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said on Twitter that he's "comfortable" with the bill and later that he is prepared to implement the law "in a way that achieves Congress' intent to promote access and protect patients." (Kodjak, 5/22)

The Hill: House Approves 'Right To Try,' Sends Bill To Trump's Desk 
Twenty-two Democrats broke ranks to join Republicans in supporting the bill which lets patients bypass the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) when they request access to drugs the agency hasn’t yet approved. (Roubein, 5/22)

Stat: Congress Passes ‘Right-To-Try’ Measure, Sending Bill To Trump’s Desk
The bill’s passage is a win for conservative and libertarian groups like the Koch-brothers-backed Americans for Prosperity and the Goldwater Institute. It is also the conclusion of a surprisingly and increasingly political saga that pitted those groups against many House Democrats, some drug makers, patient groups, and medical ethicists. Key House Republicans and former FDA commissioners have all raised concerns with the legislation, as has current FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, though he remains supportive of the bill. (Mershon, 5/22)

The Wall Street Journal: Trump Administration To Advance Plan To Restrict Funding For Abortion Providers
The Trump administration will move ahead with restrictions on funding access for family planning providers that offer abortion services, the Department of Health and Human Services said Tuesday. The announcement came shortly before President Donald Trump was addressed the annual gala of the Susan B. Anthony List, a group that supports antiabortion candidates for federal office. There, Mr. Trump said his administration had made a “historic announcement” and “kept another promise.” (Radnofsky, 5/22)

The New York Times: Trump Rule Would Bar Some Abortion Advice At Federally Funded Clinics
The proposed rule submitted last week, a copy of which was posted on the Department of Health and Human Services website, would bar clinics or programs that receive federal family planning funds from providing abortions or referring women to places that do, imposing what it calls a “bright line” of separation. It takes direct aim at Planned Parenthood and reproductive health organizations like it, which provide a range of women’s health services, including abortions. Mr. Trump hailed the new proposal — a top priority of social conservatives who have been among his staunchest supporters — at a gala on Tuesday night for the Susan B. Anthony List, a leading anti-abortion organization. “For decades, American taxpayers have been wrongly forced to subsidize the abortion industry,” Mr. Trump said, describing the new policy to sustained applause from the audience of activists and Republican lawmakers. (Davis and Shear, 5/22)

The Hill: Trump Admin Moves To Ban Federally Funded Clinics From Giving Abortion Referrals 
NARAL Pro-Choice America President Ilyse Hogue said the new rule took a "scorched earth" approach to banning abortion that would limit access to other critical healthcare services. “With this rule, this administration is trying to instruct doctors about what they can or cannot say to their patients. That should alarm anyone who ever wanted to know the facts about their own healthcare or feel the doctor-patient relationship is sacred and should be protected," she said. (Hellmann 5/22)

The Hill: Trump Urges Anti-Abortion Advocates To Rally In November
President Trump on Tuesday encouraged anti-abortion advocates to turn out to the polls in November to help get more of his priorities through Congress, like a ban on abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy. “If we work hard between now and November, every one of these states can be flipped to a senator who shares our values and votes our agenda,” Trump said at an annual gala held by the Susan B. Anthony List, an anti-abortion group based in Washington. (Hellmann, 5/22)

CQ HealthBeat: Trump Touts Anti-Abortion Goals
President Donald Trump called on anti-abortion advocates Tuesday night to help him elect more Republicans this fall, saying it would allow him to sign more bills limiting abortion. Trump addressed guests at the annual gala in Washington of Susan B. Anthony List, one of the nation’s most powerful and politically connected anti-abortion groups. Vice President Mike Pence served as last year’s keynote speaker. (Raman, 5/22)

Politico: How Anti-Abortion Forces Learned To Love Trump
President Donald Trump on Tuesday night was feted by a leading anti-abortion group that called him the most "pro-life president" ever. It's the exact same group that just two years ago begged Iowa caucus voters to nominate “anyone” but Trump. “I’m totally eating my words,” said Susan B. Anthony List President Marjorie Dannenfelser, who praised Trump at the group's annual gala in Washington. “It’s the happiest wrong I’ve ever been." (Haberkorn and Cadelago, 5/22)

The Star Tribune: Planned Parenthood Consolidates To Cover Minnesota, Dakotas, Nebraska And Iowa
The Planned Parenthood affiliate in Minnesota and the Dakotas is consolidating with the affiliate in Nebraska and Iowa, giving the new St. Paul-based organization stronger financial backing and regional political influence. The decision brings with it the challenge of providing abortions and advocating for the right to the procedure in two conservative states. The newly named Planned Parenthood North Central States will operate 29 clinics serving 114,000 patients in the five-state region. While the consolidation has been planned for months, Planned Parenthood leaders said it comes at a pivotal time, following President Donald Trump's announced plans to strip federal family planning dollars from clinics that perform or provide referrals for abortion. (Olson, 5/22)

Modern Healthcare: Beyond Talking Points: Is Congress Moving Past The ACA? 
The policy work on the individual market has shifted to states while Congress has largely moved on to the Trump administration's priority list, such as drug pricing, broader transparency issues and rural healthcare access, but lawmakers on both sides of the aisle still pay lip service to their positions on Obamacare. With the individual mandate effectively gone and the Trump administration pushing short-term plans, Democrats are blasting Republicans for this year's wave of rate hikes. Polling is in their favor: 50% approve of the ACA compared to 43% disapproving, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation poll this month. (Luthi, 5/22)

Los Angeles Times: Tax Bill And Obamacare Repeal Are Potent Issues In California Congressional Races, Poll Shows
With Democrats angling to win back control of the U.S. House, the new tax law and the failed attempt to repeal Obamacare may prove to be important campaign flashpoints against California Republicans, according to a new USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll. Sixty percent of registered voters statewide approved of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. The support was highest among Democrats and people who disapprove of President Trump, and concentrated in urban and coastal areas — which happen to be regions where there are several competitive congressional races. (Mai-Duc, 5/23)

Des Moines Register: Democrat Andy McGuire Highlights Health Care In Gubernatorial Run
[Andy] McGuire said Democrats have a responsibility to say that health care is a right, not a privilege. She said as governor, she would reverse the privatization of Medicaid. "Six-hundred-thousand of our citizens are having their health care put at risk,” she said at a late April forum hosted by the Dallas County Democrats, referencing the 600,000 poor and disabled Iowans who use Medicaid. "That’s not right. We’ve got to bring this back into the state. I know how to do that. We’ve got to make sure patients are taken care of and they’re at the center. We’ve got to make sure that providers are being paid, which they’re not right now. And we have to make sure we’re fiscally responsible." (Pfannenstiel, 5/22)

The Associated Press: Maryland Candidates To Endorse ACA Down Payment Plan
Democratic candidates for governor of Maryland are scheduled to endorse a plan to help protect the Affordable Care Act in Maryland. The Maryland Health Care for All Coalition is announcing the candidates who support the plan on Wednesday at a news conference in Baltimore. The plan would create an individual health care mandate at the state level. The proposal differs from the federal mandate that is set to expire, because the Maryland plan would give people the option of putting a down payment on health insurance, instead of paying a penalty if they don’t have it. (5/23)

The New York Times: 200 Professors Call For Ouster Of U.S.C. President, Citing Lack Of ‘Moral Authority’
Two hundred professors at the University of Southern California have demanded the resignation of the school’s president, C.L. Max Nikias, saying that he no longer had the “moral authority to lead” and had failed to protect students and staff from “repeated and pervasive sexual harassment and misconduct.” The letter was addressed to the board of trustees of the private university and signed by senior faculty members, who said they wanted to “express our outrage and disappointment” over how Mr. Nikias had handled reports that a gynecologist at the campus health center had mistreated students for decades. (Medina and Arango, 5/22)

The Associated Press: USC President Urged To Resign Over Response To Complaints
Dr. George Tyndall routinely made crude comments, took inappropriate photographs and forced plaintiffs to strip naked and groped them under the guise of medical treatment for his "sexual gratification," according to civil lawsuits filed this week. The latest complaint announced by attorney Gloria Allred was filed Tuesday on behalf of Daniella Mohazab, a USC student seeking a master's degree in communications management. Mohazab said Tyndall saw her at the clinic in 2016 for an STD test. Tyndall made comments about her Filipina heritage, including telling her that "Filipinas are good in bed," according to court documents. (5/22)

The Washington Post: Pressure Mounts On USC President To Resign After Scandals
The chairman of the school’s board of trustees expressed strong support for the school’s president Tuesday. The trustees’ executive committee has full confidence in the “leadership, ethics and values” of USC President C.L. Max Nikias, the board’s chairman John Mork said in a statement, “and is certain that he will successfully guide our community forward.” Nikias released an action plan Tuesday to change the campus culture. (Svrluga, 5/22)

Los Angeles Times: 200 USC Professors Demand Nikias Step Down; Trustees Express 'Full Confidence' In President
Nikias sent the campus community a 20-page "action plan" Tuesday that he said was prepared at the request of trustees. It called for a wide rethinking of university ethics that will include a rewrite of USC's Code of Ethics and a new presidential commission on improving campus culture. In a statement, Nikias said he understood "the faculty's anger and disappointment." "I am committed to working with them as we implement this wide-reaching plan and to rebuilding their trust," he said. (Ryan, Parvini and Hamilton, 5/22)

Meanwhile, in Ohio —

The Associated Press: Ohio State President Seeks Info About Alleged Misconduct
The president of Ohio State University has asked alumni for help with an investigation into reports of alleged sexual misconduct by a former university doctor. At issue are allegations against Richard Strauss, who died in 2005. To date, the university has received confidential reports alleging sexual misconduct from male athletes in eight sports. (5/22)

CQ: Senate Expected To Greenlight Veterans Health Care Overhaul
The Senate this week is expected to clear a bill revamping the nation’s health care system for veterans as the clock runs out on a crucial program allowing them to access private doctors. The bill (S 2372) would infuse the Department of Veterans Affairs Choice Program with an additional $5.2 billion ahead of an expected funding shortfall on May 31. The program, created in the wake of the VA wait list scandal in 2014, allows veterans to see private providers if they have to wait more than 30 days for an appointment or live more than 40 miles from a VA facility. (Clason, 5/23)

WBUR: VA Says It's Trying To Improve Caregiver Program's Appeals Process
The VA's caregiver program provides a stipend to family members of disabled vets to provide home health care. NPR revealed numerous VA centers were ejecting hundreds of people from the program. (Lawrence, 5/21)

The Associated Press: In The Addiction Battle, Is Forced Rehab The Solution?
The last thing Lizabeth Loud, a month from giving birth, wanted was to be forced into treatment for her heroin and prescription painkiller addiction. But her mother saw no other choice, and sought a judge's order to have her committed against her will. Three years later, Loud said her month in state prison, where Massachusetts sent civilly committed women until recent reforms, was the wake-up call she needed. (Marcelo, 5/23)

The Associated Press: Portrait Of Despair: Opioids Land More Women Behind Bars
On opposite sides of the county jail, a mother and her son chat about school, girls, birthday gifts — and their future together. They aren't allowed to see each other face-to-face, so the inmate and the fifth-grader connect by video. "Hi, Mommy," 10-year-old Robby says to Krystle Sweat, clutching a phone in the visiting room as he looks at his mother on a screen, sitting in her cell. (Cohen, 5/21)

WBUR: Opioid Death Rate Declined In Mass. In 2017 — Except For Blacks
The recent decline in opioid overdose deaths in Massachusetts appears to have continued into this year. Preliminary numbers out Tuesday from the state Department of Public Health (DPH) show 5 percent fewer deaths in the first three months of 2018, as compared with the same period in 2017. (Bebinger, 5/22)

The New York Times: Overdoses From ‘Dangerous Batch’ Of K2 Grows To 56 In Brooklyn
The small, shiny packets that claim to hold only scented potpourri look harmless. One, a bubble gum variety of Scooby Doo Snax, bears a classically goofy image of the clue-sniffing dog. Another, Barely Legal, hints at naughtiness with a cartoon rendering of a woman’s torso. But the police and city health officials say that the contents, drugs known loosely as synthetic marijuana, or K2, is wholly illegal and dangerous. A particularly toxic batch was responsible for a mass overdose in Brooklyn over the weekend, sickening at least 56 people and leading to at least 15 arrests since Saturday. (Southall and Piccoli, 5/22)

Minnesota Public Radio: Advocates Blame Lobbying For Killing Opioid Fees On Pharma
Supporters of legislation that would have charged pharmaceutical companies a fee to address opioid abuse condemned Tuesday what they described as a backroom lobbying campaign to kill the legislation. The bill that included the fee passed the state Senate 60-6, and would have raised $20 million in licensing fees from pharmaceutical companies every year. (Collins, 5/22)

The Associated Press: Alabama Doctor Acquitted In Rock Guitarist's Overdose Death
Jurors acquitted an Alabama physician accused of prescribing drugs that killed a former guitarist for rock band 3 Doors Down. The not guilty verdict was returned Monday in the case of Dr. Richard Snellgrove, court documents show. Snellgrove had been indicted on 13 counts of unlawful distribution of drugs and health care fraud tied to the 2016 death of Matthew Roberts. (5/22)

The Associated Press: Many Cancer Patients Juggle Care Along With Financial Pain
Josephine Rizo survived chemotherapy, surgery and radiation, but breast cancer treatment wrecked her finances. Money was already tight when doctors told the Phoenix resident she had an aggressive form of the disease. Then she took a pay cut after going on disability leave, and eventually lost her job and insurance coverage. During treatment, Rizo got swamped with more than $50,000 in medical bills. "My concern was, 'Am I going to die?'" she said. "I had to kind of focus 100 percent on my health to make sure I was around for my kids." (Murphy, 5/22)

Meanwhile —

Los Angeles Times: The Death Rate From Cancer Is Falling For American Men, Women And Children Of All Backgrounds
Cancer is the No. 2 cause of death in the U.S., but a comprehensive new report says that it is affecting — and killing — fewer Americans with every passing year. The gains have been seen in men, women and children, as well as across racial and ethnic groups. However, depending on the type of cancer involved, some Americans benefited more than others. There are also some cancers that are becoming more common in the U.S., even as the overall incidence is declining. (Kaplan, 5/22)

Los Angeles Times: New 'Unified Theory' Of Childhood Leukemia Raises Possibility Of Preventing The Disease
Kids who develop acute lymphoblastic leukemia may be the victims of a triple-whammy stroke of bad luck, according to a provocative new theory from a respected British cancer researcher. If the explanation turns out to be correct, it would be good news for the most common type of childhood cancer: Doctors could prevent cases of acute lymphoblastic leukemia with the strategic introduction of something the world has plenty of: filth and pestilence. (Healy, 5/23)

The Washington Post: New Ebola Vaccine Faces Major Test In Congo Outbreak
Authorities in Congo began an ambitious campaign this week to use a pioneering Ebola vaccine to help stem a growing outbreak of the deadly virus. It’s the first widespread use of the therapeutic since a devastating 2014 epidemic in West Africa and represents a major strategic shift for public health. World Health Organization officials, criticized for their slow response four years ago, began vaccinating health workers in affected areas Monday and plan to vaccinate about 1,000 people in the next week. More than 7,500 doses have been sent to the Democratic Republic of Congo, and an additional 8,000 doses will be available in the coming days, according to WHO. (Sun, 5/22)

Stat: Excitement Over Use Of Ebola Vaccine Tempered By Real-World Challenges
The start of a vaccination program this week in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a first in an Ebola outbreak, was a cause for a mini celebration in research and outbreak response circles. But there are challenges ahead in the real-world use of the vaccine, warned the head of the global health organization that is funding the vaccination effort. Successful use of the vaccine requires response planners and vaccination teams to hit the right notes on several challenging communications messages, said Dr. Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, a public-private partnership that assists developing countries with immunization programs. (Branswell, 5/23)

The Associated Press: WHO Says 9 Nations Mobilize To Prevent Possible Ebola Spread
The World Health Organization’s regional director for Africa says the agency is accelerating efforts with nine countries neighboring Congo to try to prevent the spread of the current Ebola outbreak beyond its borders. Matshidiso Moeti says teams are being deployed to assess preparedness and “immediate next steps” include boosting capacity-building, training and resource mobilization. The top two priority countries are Central African Republic and the Republic of Congo, near the epicenter of the outbreak. In the Republic of Congo, for example, WHO is working with government officials “to stop functioning” an active market on its side of the Congo River. (Keaten, 5/23)

The Hill: US To Contribute Up To $7 Million To Fight Ebola Outbreak
The U.S. will contribute up to $7 million to fight an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar announced Tuesday. Azar made the announcement in Switzerland at the World Health Assembly, the decisionmaking body of the World Health Organization (WHO), while urging other member states to contribute to "ensure we defeat this outbreak."  (Hellmann, 5/22)

USA Today: Natural Sunscreen Pills, Capsules Don't Protect Skin, FDA Warning
Federal regulators warned natural sunscreen companies Tuesday that they're illegally marketing pills and capsules that claim to protect against the sun. The Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said the companies are "misleading consumers, and putting people at risk." "There’s no pill or capsule that can replace your sunscreen," said Gottlieb. (O'Donnell, 5/22)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Best, Safest Sunscreen 2018: Study Finds 67 Percent Worrisome
According to the nonprofit Environmental Working Group’s 12th annual sunscreen guide, 67 percent of products tested don’t work well or contain potentially harmful ingredients. ...For the EWG report released Tuesday, researchers evaluated more than 1,000 sunscreens, moisturizers and lip balms that advertise sun protection. (Pirani, 5/22)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Legal Drugs More Harmful Than Illegal Drugs, Study Finds
Legal drugs, such as tobacco and alcohol, cause significantly more harm to people globally than illegal ones, a new international study suggests. But researchers say that’s not surprising, considering the varying prevalence of each. (Lemon, 5/22)

WBUR: New Studies Confirm A Surge In Coal Miners' Disease
More coal miners in central Appalachia have suffered the advanced stages of the deadly disease black lung than previous government research has found, and more miners working in the region today have earlier stages of the disease. Those are two of the findings in a bundle of studies released Tuesday and expected to be released soon, which focus on the epidemic of black lung disease first reported by NPR in 2016. (Berkes, 5/22)

Boston Globe: Partnership Based At BU Gets $50M To Help Fight Drug-Resistant Superbugs
A major global partnership based at Boston University will receive more than $50 million to expand its fight against drug-resistant superbugs by developing new antibiotics, vaccines, and diagnostic tools. The partnership, CARB-X, will receive $25 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and $26.8 million from the UK government to come up with life-saving products, particularly for “vulnerable populations” in poor and middle-income countries. (Saltzman, 5/22)

The New York Times: Air Pollution Near Power Plants Tied To Premature Births
Closing coal- and oil-fired power plants is associated with a reduction in preterm births in the surrounding region, researchers report. Scientists counted the number of preterm babies born in regions surrounding eight power plants before and after their closings from 2001 to 2011. The study is in the American Journal of Epidemiology. Based on the mother’s home address, the researchers looked at preterm birthrates within three, six and 12 miles of each plant in the year before and the year after closing. (Bakalar, 5/22)

Modern Healthcare: NYC Health & Hospitals Seeks $11.5M From UnitedHealthcare In Denied Medical Claims 
NYC Health & Hospitals and UnitedHealthcare are heading to arbitration over $11.5 million in denied inpatient medical claims, the nation's largest public health system said Tuesday. The majority of the denied claims submitted between July 1, 2014, and Dec. 31, 2017, were for emergency department visits involving patients covered by UnitedHealthcare's Medicaid program and Medicare plan, a spokeswoman for the health system said. None of the denials stemmed from behavioral health, ambulatory care or other services, she said. (Livingston, 5/22)

The Baltimore Sun: LifeBridge Data Breach Exposes Personal Information Of 500,000 Patients
LifeBridge Health has notified 500,000 patients that their personal information may have been exposed in a cyber attack recently discovered by the health system. Indication of an attack was first detected in March and an investigation by a national forsenic firm hired by the hospital determined that the data breach took place Sept. 27, 2016. The health system notified patients by letter last week. (McDaniels, 5/22)

Iowa Public Radio: Sheriff Hopes New Mental Health Access Centers Help Ease Burden On Law Enforcement
Sherriff’s deputies in Iowa are increasingly spending time on mental health cases. They are tracking down people who are court-ordered to enter mental health treatment and transporting patients between hospitals and commitment hearings. (Moon, Nebbe and Sostaric, 5/22)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: 7 Pa. Patients Infected After Use Of No-Rinse Foam
Seven patients in Pennsylvania hospitals and one in New Jersey have contracted potentially serious infections after the use of a cleansing foam, U.S. government officials said. ...The infection, which also was identified in seven California patients, was caused by bacteria called Burkholderia cepacia. This microbe poses little risk to healthy people but can cause serious respiratory infections in those with weakened immune systems or chronic lung disease, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. (Avril, 5/22)

The Star Tribune: Union Workers Settle Contract Dispute At Mayo's Albert Lea Hospital 
The Mayo Clinic Health System and its union workers in Albert Lea have reached a new labor agreement after a protracted and contentious labor battle. SEIU Healthcare Minnesota, which represents nearly 80 employees at the hospital, said the agreement provides for raises over the next three years that will range between 7.25 and 10 percent. Union members approved the new contract on Monday. (Howatt, 5/22)

The Associated Press: Texas Governor's School Safety Talks To Tackle Gun Control
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's meetings on school violence and safety promised to wade into the thorny issue of gun control with the next round, even though the Republican has been a staunch supporter of gun rights and worked to expand them in the state in recent years. Abbott called for a series of high-level policy meetings after a high school near Houston became the latest to have a mass shooting. Eight students and two teachers were killed last week at Santa Fe High School and more than a dozen wounded. (5/23)

Miami Herald: Suicide Rate Up For Florida Women, Other Health Data Improves
Death rates for heart disease and lung cancer have dipped among Florida women, but suicide rates and measurements of poor mental health have gone up, according to a report released Tuesday on health disparities among women in the state. The report, released by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, found the suicide rate among Florida women rose during a 14-year period to a level above the national average, and that experiences of poor mental health have also become more prevalent among women. (Koh, 5/22)

Dallas Morning News: Dallas ISD Trustee's Baby Girl Undergoes Successful Heart Transplant Surgery 
Olivia Solis has never left the hospital. Born with a critical congenital heart defect, the first child of Dallas ISD trustee Miguel Solis and wife Jacqueline Nortman has spent nearly all her young life in intensive care. But the gift she received on her three-month birthday gives her a ray of hope that things will change for the better. Olivia received a new heart, successfully undergoing a heart transplant procedure at Children's Medical Center Dallas that went from Monday evening into the early hours of Tuesday morning. (Smith, 5/23)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: WEA Trust Buys Health Plan From Mayo Clinic Health System
WEA Trust has bought the Health Tradition Health Plan from Mayo Clinic Health System in what will be WEA Trust’s first entry into the market for health insurance sold to private employers. Health Tradition, which insures about 7,000 people in southwestern and western Wisconsin, had planned to close. (Boulton, 5/22)

NPR: Unnecessary C-Sections Targeted By Covered California
Covered California, the state's health insurance marketplace under the Affordable Care Act, has devised what could be a powerful new way to hold hospitals accountable for the quality of their care. Starting in less than two years, if the hospitals haven't met certain designated targets for safety and quality, they'll risk being excluded from the "in-network" designation of health plans sold on the state's insurance exchange. "We're saying 'time's up,'" says Dr. Lance Lang, the chief medical officer for Covered California. "We've told health plans that by the end of 2019, we want networks to only include hospitals that have achieved that target." (Dembosky, 5/23)

The Associated Press: Woman Who Shot Kansas Abortion Doctor Moved To Halfway House
An anti-abortion activist who shot and wounded a Kansas abortion doctor and firebombed clinics in Oregon and other states in the 1990s was released Tuesday from federal prison to a halfway house to finish her sentence, sparking fears for the safety of abortion clinic workers. The Federal Correctional Institution in Waseca, Minnesota confirmed Rachelle "Shelley" Shannon has been released, and sent to a halfway house where she will finish a 20-year sentence related to two Oregon cases of arson and other crimes targeting abortion clinics. Her final release date is Nov. 7. (5/22)

California Healthline: California Hospitals Urge Moms To Favor Breast Milk Over Formula
Wendy Wan, 31, said American infant formula is advertised in her native China as the most nutritious food for a newborn.“It sounds like it’s premium,” said Wan, who gave birth in early May at Beverly Hospital here. Wan said she was skeptical of the ads and had planned to feed her baby son only breast milk. But when her milk failed to come in quickly, she didn’t hesitate to supplement it with formula. “I prefer breastfeeding, but I think it’s almost the same,” she said from her hospital bed the day after her son was born. (Gorman, 5/22)

The Associated Press: Mother: 15-Year-Old Son Killed Himself After Being Bullied
A Minnesota woman says her 15-year-old son killed himself after months of being bullied and assaulted, and that school staff didn't do enough to support the boy, who had mental health issues and learning disabilities. Faith Elsharkawy says she can't be certain that her son Jacob LeTourneau-Elsharkawy, who was a freshman at Chisago Lakes High School, was bullied because her family is Muslim. But she says the bullying began when he was in 8th grade, after she started wearing a hijab. (5/22)

The Washington Post: Court Sides With Transgender Va. Student In His Fight To Use The Boys’ Bathroom
A federal judge in Virginia sided Tuesday with a transgender teenager who spent most of his high school years fighting to use the boys’ bathroom, ruling that school officials violated his constitutional rights. Gavin Grimm sued the Gloucester County School Board after it barred him from the boys’ bathroom. The case made Grimm, now a 19-year-old activist in Berkeley, Calif., the face of a national fight for transgender student rights and ascended to the Supreme Court. (Balingit, 5/22)

Bloomberg: Drug Prices Drive Many Americans To Black Market For Medicines
During graduate school, Lacy Mason got insulin from elderly friends who had extra. When a friend’s mother died and left behind a stockpile, she took that, too. Her mother-in-law, a nurse, salvaged samples and half-used vials from her hospital. Mason used expired doses and stretched them longer than intended. Sometimes, she bought insulin from strangers online, in secretive Facebook groups where people sell or give away spare supplies. As the Trump administration pledges to bring down America’s high-and-rising drug prices, people like Mason live with the burden of costly medications. Trump officials have proposed ways to increase competition, press middlemen for transparency, and limit patients’ costs in Medicare pharmacy plans. (Tozzi and Ockerman, 5/18)

The Hill: GOP Chairman In Talks With 'Big Pharma' On Moving Drug Pricing Bill
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said Monday he is in talks with drug companies about a possible deal to pass a drug-pricing bill in exchange for separate action that the companies want. Grassley, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he is hoping the Senate will soon pass a bill known as the Creates Act, which cracks down on the tactics drug companies use to delay the introduction of cheaper generics. (Sullivan, 5/21)

The New York Times: Requiring Prices In Drug Ads: Would It Do Any Good? Is It Even Legal?
If President Trump has his way, television viewers who see commercials for the drug Keytruda will learn not only that it can help lung cancer patients, but also that it carries a price tag of $13,500 a month, or $162,000 a year. Viewers who see advertisements for Neulasta, a drug that reduces the risk of infections after chemotherapy, would learn that the list price for each injection is $6,200. And magazine readers would see a new bit of information in ads for Humira, the world’s best-selling drug, prescribed for rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases: its list price, which has been widely reported as approximately $50,000 a year. (Pear, 5/19)

Columbus Dispatch: Powerful, Secretive Middlemen Affect Drug Prices
The East Side pharmacist is ready to shout out the names of his customers before they walk through the door of his spotless and brightly lit pharmacy. Typically, the medication is on the counter before the customers make their way to the register. For an independent pharmacist, those close relationships are vital to staying in business.But what the pharmacist can’t share with customers is the rationale behind the prices they pay for their prescription drugs. (Sullivan, 5/19)

Bloomberg: Gene Therapies That Could Transform Diseases Get Easier FDA Path
New therapies that may cure diseases caused by defective genes will get a faster path to approval by U.S. regulators, part of an effort by the Food and Drug Administration to keep pace with one of biotechnology’s fastest-growing fields. Unlike traditional drugs, gene therapies are intended to be given once, transform the inner workings of the body and last for a lifetime. For regulators, the challenge is to find ways to get the new therapies to desperate patients while balancing the need to monitor their long-term safety for years after approval, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said Tuesday. (Cortez, 5/22)

PBS/The Open Mind: The Real Drug Crisis
Investigative reporter Katherine Eban [talks about] the dangers of generic pharmaceutical manufacturing and a looming shortage. (Heffner, 5/19)

FiercePharma: Senators To Big Pharma: Better Step Up With Drug Prices In DTC Ads, Or We'll Make You
In the immediate aftermath of President Donald Trump's big drug pricing speech, industry watchers noted a relatively unique proposal: forcing drugmakers to slap sticker prices into consumer advertising. Now, five senators are taking the next step. It's a small one, granted. They're asking top drugmakers to voluntarily add pricing information in their TV commercials and print ads. In letters to executives at Pfizer, AbbVie, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, Janssen, Merck & Co., GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis, five Democratic and independent senators asked the drugmakers to immediately add drug prices to their direct-to-consumer promos. (Saganowsky, 5/21)

CBS News: A Tricky Wrinkle In Trump's Medicare Rx 'Blueprint'
The Trump administration's "Blueprint" to lower drug prices and reduce patient costs made one thing clear: The government will not directly negotiate with drug companies to secure lower prescription prices. But that doesn't mean it isn't proposing changes that would dramatically alter the way Medicare pays for some of the most expensive drugs, and in the process, potentially raise out-of-pocket costs for some of the country's sickest patients. A cornerstone of the Trump plan calls for all Medicare drug payments to be consolidated under Medicare Part D, the prescription drug plan for Medicare enrollees administered by private insurers. Under Part D, insurers and middlemen known as pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) negotiate with drug companies for discounted prices in exchange for the drug companies' products being included in the PBMs' list of covered drugs. (Konrad, 5/22)

CNBC: Investors Have Shrugged Off Trump Drug Price Plan, But It Could Be Early
The biopharma and drug supply chain sectors outperformed the market last week, even as Trump administration officials pressed the president's blueprint to lower drug prices, with tough rhetoric for drugmakers and public shaming of pharmaceutical firms for supposedly blocking competition. "Drug companies have insisted we can have new cures or affordable prices, but not both," said Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said in a speech Monday. "I've been a drug company executive — I know the tired talking points: the idea that if one penny disappears from pharma profit margins, American innovation will grind to a halt. I'm not interested in hearing those talking points anymore, and neither is the president." (Coombs, 5/21)

Stat: After Trump's Drug Speech, Investors Poured Big Money Into Biotech Funds
Investors deposited $819 million into health care and biotech funds this week — the largest weekly infusion of money into the sector since last July, according to a new report. The timing of the big biotech inflow is also significant, coming in the same week that President Trump rolled out a series of proposals to lower prescription drug prices. Despite some sharp rhetoric, the snap judgment from Wall Street was that Trump’s plan would have limited impact on biotech and pharmaceuticals companies. Now, the $819 million of net inflows is an early but tangible sign that biotech stocks could be in the early stages of a rally. (Feuerstein, 5/18)

Kaiser Health News: Drugmakers Blamed For Blocking Generics Have Jacked Up Prices And Cost U.S. Billions
Makers of brand-name drugs called out by the Trump administration for potentially stalling generic competition have hiked their prices by double-digit percentages since 2012 and cost Medicare and Medicaid nearly $12 billion in 2016, a Kaiser Health News analysis has found. As part of President Donald Trump’s promise to curb high drug prices, the Food and Drug Administration posted a list of pharmaceutical companies that makers of generics allege refused to let them buy the drug samples needed to develop their products. For approval, the FDA requires so-called bioequivalence testing using samples to demonstrate that generics are the same as their branded counterparts. (Lupkin, 5/23)

Stat: Most Emergency Docs Report Shortages Of Critical Medicines
As medicine shortages worsen around the country, nine out of 10 emergency doctors say they have lacked a critical treatment this month, and 69 percent reported that shortages have increased “a lot” over the past year, according to a new survey. At the same time, 43 percent said that anywhere from six to 10 medicines were in short supply recently and nearly every doctor — 97 percent — was forced to use an alternative because of shortages. Still worse, 36 percent of the physicians reported patient outcomes were worse, including instances of harm. (Silverman, 5/22)

Bloomberg: Make Drugs Cheaper By Encouraging Generics
FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb says he’s not looking to shame brand-name drug companies into providing generic drugmakers with the samples they need to create copies. It’s hard to see what else he has in mind by publishing a list of companies that generics makers say aren’t playing ball. If pushing the big pharmaceutical companies to allow more competition from generics is indeed his goal, it’s a good one. Getting generic medicines to market faster could go a long way toward lowering exorbitant drug prices in the U.S. But whether Gottlieb’s effort to shine daylight on the companies’ “shenanigans,” as he puts it, will work is an open question. (5/22)

The Washington Post: Trump’s Plan Won’t Lower Prescription Drug Prices. Ours Would.
The drug price reforms that President Trump recently proposed are as potent as a placebo, but not as harmless. Trump once blustered that drug firms were “getting away with murder,” but his real-life plan caused pharmaceutical stocks to surge as investors foresaw even higher prices and profits ahead. The president stepped away from his earlier promises to allow Medicare to negotiate prices, while vowing to fight for higher drug prices abroad — a gold mine for the industry that would do nothing to reduce drug prices at home. (Adam Gaffney, 5/23)

Stat: For Cancer Patients, Trump's Drug Pricing Proposal Falls Short
President Trump’s long-awaited plan to reduce the costs of prescription drugs calls for a comprehensive set of reforms, including redesigning the patent system to prevent drug monopolies, uncloaking the role of pharmacy benefit managers, and charging foreign governments more for brand name drugs. He also proposed bringing more negotiation tactics into Medicare Part D and Part B, which cover most cancer therapies.In the abstract, these approaches seem to make sense. But as oncologists, we see how they play out in the clinic and how they affect patients. While we support an effort to bring value across the health care ecosystem, the president’s plan needs to go further to help people with cancer. (Steven Kalkanis and Jonathan Trent, 5/22)

Stat: Paying The Price For Insulin
he debate about drug costs can be hard to follow because it is both broad and deep. Between patients not being able to afford their medication, the role of “middlemen” (pharmacy benefit managers), and lawyers filing class-action lawsuits, the topic is complex and can be emotional for many. I’d like to put it into perspective with insulin, a lifesaving drug used by most of my patients — and millions of Americans — that is a perfect case study of the drug pricing issue. (Irl Hirsch, 5/17)

Valley News: Vermont’s Long-Shot Drug Price Plan
Vermont has pipe-dreamed for years about combating sky-high prescription drug prices by importing pharmaceuticals from Canada, but perhaps never has the effort seemed more quixotic than at present. Nonetheless, the Legislature passed and Gov. Phil Scott signed into law last week a bill that would create a wholesale drug importation scheme with the state’s neighbor to the north, a first-in-the-nation program. “I’m in favor of doing whatever we can do to reduce cost for Vermonters,” Scott said. (5/22)

The Economist: Why Trump’s Plan Will Not Cut Drug Prices
Populists often put their finger on problems that irk their countrymen. They also tend to come up with inadequate solutions to them. So it is with President Donald Trump’s plan, unveiled on May 11th, to lower the price of prescription drugs. Drugs are more expensive in America than anywhere else. A month’s supply of Harvoni, which cures hepatitis C, costs $32,114 in America and $16,861 in Switzerland. Some cancer drugs can cost more than $150,000 a year. Mr Trump campaigned on a promise to reduce prices. He suggested that he would make it easier to import drugs from abroad and would force drug companies to lower prices for Americans, using the state’s bargaining power to save $300bn a year—preposterous, given that this is almost the entire sum the government spends on drugs. Nevertheless, his promises may have helped Mr Trump win the support of the majority of older voters. (5/19)

Bloomberg: How A Migraine Drug Is Easing The Headache Of High Prices
Drug prices in the U.S. will continue to be the highest in the world for some time to come, President Trump’s plan notwithstanding. But an unexpected move from Amgen Inc. suggests some progress is being made at the source on bringing down costs.  The company’s new migraine drug Aimovig, which will be sold in collaboration with Novartis AG, was approved Thursday evening by the FDA. The drug, which can substantially cut headache frequency and severity, will cost $6,900 a year rather than $10,000 or more as some predicted. (Max Nisen, 5/18)

The Washington Post: Bloomberg Reporter Pulls Out Of Interview With PhRMA Boss At Atlantic Event
What self-respecting health-care reporter wouldn’t want a one-on-one interview with Stephen Ubl, president and chief executive of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America? PhRMA is among the top 10 D.C. lobbies, having spent some $350 million since the late 1990s, according to OpenSecrets.org. It laid out a record amount in recent months fighting drug-price legislation in Congress. So Bloomberg News reporter Cynthia Koons said yes to the opportunity to corner Ubl at the Wednesday conference “The State of Care: Patient Access & Affordability,” organized by the prolific-as-heck events team at the Atlantic. “When journalists have the opportunity to sit down with our CEO, they certainly will ask the tough questions,” says Holly Campbell, PhRMA’s deputy vice president for public affairs. Not in this case: Koons recently withdrew from the event. (Erik Wemple, 5/22)

Forbes: CVS-Aetna, Cigna-Express Scripts Deals Will Consolidate Control Of Medicare Drug Benefits
The control of administering drug benefits for the elderly who buy Medicare Part D plans is rapidly dwindling to just a few health firms as consolidation sweeps the health insurance and drug benefit management industry.If the health insurer Cigna successfully completes its acquisition of the PBM Express Scripts and CVS Health pulls off its purchase of Aetna, nearly three in four seniors will have drug benefits controlled by just four companies , a new report from the Kaiser Family Foundation shows. (Bruce Japsen, 5/22)

Boston Globe: Let’s Purge The GOP’s Rote Excuses For Mass Shootings
This year, more people have died from gun violence in schools than have been killed while serving in the US military. Most of them have been students, as was the tragic case again last week at a high school in Santa Fe, Texas, where a gunman murdered eight students and two teachers. Focused on schools, that depressing statistic doesn’t include other victims of more than 100 mass shootings in 2018, including in a Nashville Waffle House and a Detroit gas station. With each attack, Republicans dust off their “thoughts and prayers” tweets and channel preposterous NRA talking points. Before the next mass shooting — and in America, there is always a next time — let’s purge all of the GOP’s rote excuses and half-baked solutions. (Renée Graham, 5/22)

Miami Herald: At Stoneman High, I Saw How The Mental Problems Of A Fellow Student Turned Him Into A Killing Monster 
The task we, as Americans, have before us today is: “How to accurately profile and identify school shooters in a way that doesn’t provide the student body with another avenue for social ostracization if an error is made in the screening process of one individual.” However, this task, if we were to undertake it today, would be all but impossible because we don’t have the mental health resources in schools to promote proper behavior amongst developing students, or to accurately intervene in cases of suspicion. ...Ultimately, the only thing that will allow us to find success in endeavors such as these is the implementation of a diverse mental health care curriculum that teaches students how to deal with stress, anger, tragedy, disappointment, and the scourge of ostracization. (Kai Koerber, 5/23)

Houston Chronicle: Protect Our Kids
Perhaps we as Texans can find ways to put aside our differences and figure out how to address our own failures as parents and as taxpayers. We must do more to detect early signs of mental illness, provide adequate treatment and support, share signs of trouble in our children with authorities and adequately fund school counseling and proven school-based programs. And we must secure our guns. (5/23)

The Wall Street Journal: A Right To Try Arrives
The House on Tuesday passed a bill that would allow some patients to seek medical treatments still in clinical trials, and this is a welcome end to some messy sausage-making. But it isn’t a GOP license to forget about the more fundamental bureaucratic obstacles to drug approvals. The House passed 250-169 a bill sponsored by Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin that passed the Senate by unanimous consent last year. The bill is named for patients such as Wisconsin mother of three Trickett Wendler, who died in 2015 after a battle with ALS. Another is Jordan McLinn, a young boy in Indiana who has Duchenne muscular dystrophy. (5/22)

The Washington Post: The White House Signals That Bioterrorism And Disease Don’t Matter — Again
Has our national security leadership forgotten that, in 2001, anthrax-laced letters killed five and sickened 17 others in multiple states? Or that in 2014, 11 people were treated for Ebola in the United States, resulting in two deaths and widespread panic that nearly shut down the city of Dallas? Or that smallpox killed more people in the 20th century than all the wars of that century combined? Apparently so. In eliminating the Office of Global Health Security at the National Security Council, it seems these events have slipped the mind of newly installed national security adviser John Bolton. (Kenneth W. Bernard, 5/22)

The New York Times: Ebola, Amnesia And Donald Trump
On Monday, a team led by the World Health Organization began inoculating people in the Democratic Republic of Congo against the Ebola virus with an experimental vaccine in an attempt to quell an outbreak of the disease that began in early May. If the effort succeeds, and maybe even if it doesn’t, it will go down in history as the first time Ebola was met with more than just the crude tools of quarantine and hospice care. (5/22)

The Washington Post: Democrats’ Complaints About CHIP Funding Are Hypocrisy In Its Purest Form
Just last month, Democratic Minority Whip Steny H. Hoyer stated on the House floor, “I wouldn’t irrationally oppose a rescission which said we’ve had money lying in an account that has not been spent for one, two, three years; we shouldn’t just have it sitting in that account.” About that same time, Hoyer (Md.) — along with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (N.Y.) — voted to rescind (or, in layman’s terms, to claw back) $6.8 billion worth of funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Plan. (Mick Mulvaney, 5/22)

The Hill: Planned Parenthood's Tax Dollar Gravy Train Just Got Derailed
Americans owe a debt of gratitude to President Trump and the good people in his administration. After nearly 50 years, the law marking a bright line between “family planning” and abortion will finally be respected. In 1970 Congress passed Title X of the Public Health Service Act to provide tax-supported family planning services for low-income Americans. (Cathy Ruse, 5/22)

Richmond Times-Dispatch: Taking Aim At Planned Parenthood
The Trump administration’s proposed new rules on federal family-planning funds are more than just another step in the dubious effort to make an end-run around Roe v. Wade. ...Advocates of widening that role rarely stop to think about the consequences down the road, when politicians of a different political stripe take office and weaponize the power of the purse strings they have been given. (5/23)

Bloomberg: What It Will Take To Finally Defeat Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis has been around since before recorded history, yet humanity is still struggling to get the upper hand. In recent decades, some strains have developed resistance to the strongest antibiotics known to medicine. While the number of deaths worldwide has been falling somewhat, TB killed 33 million people from 2000 to 2015, and still infects almost one-quarter of the human population. So when world leaders say they want to end the epidemic by 2030, they are setting a tight deadline. Meeting it will require a global effort to uproot the disease from its most fertile breeding grounds, and get effective treatments and diagnostic tools to medical workers who need them. (5/21)

The Washington Post: The Recession Is Long Gone. Where Are The Babies?
We may be running a bit low on babies. Last week, the National Center for Health Statistics reported that U.S. fertility had fallen to a record low — for the second straight year. The fertility rate declined to 60.2 births per 1,000 women of childbearing age, down 3 percent from 2016. The number of births in the United States fell 2 percent to 3.85 million, the lowest in 30 years. In fact, the only group for whom birthrates have risen this year is women over 40. (Christine Emba, 5/22)

New England Journal of Medicine: Leadership Development In Medicine
Health care suffers from a persistent disconnect between the capacity of the physician-leadership workforce and the needs of our increasingly complex health systems. Closing this gap will require leadership skills that are not acquired during traditional medical training. (Caryn Lerman and J. Larry Jameson, 5/17)

Sacramento Bee: California Could Afford To Lead On Alzheimer's Research
According to current projections, AD will overwhelm the national healthcare system by 2050, affecting 16 million Americans and costing Medicare and Medicaid $1.1 trillion. In the wake of numerous failed clinical trials over the past decade, several large pharmaceutical companies have shuttered their AD research programs, creating a sense of hopelessness. (Kenneth Kosik and Andrew Lo, 5/22)

Los Angeles Times: I Was A Patient Of USC Gynecologist George Tyndall. The Pelvic Exam He Gave Me Was Anything But Normal
How many pelvic exams does a woman have in her lifetime? Why should one in particular stand out?Even at the time it didn't feel right, back when I was a 25-year-old theater student at USC. Today, 16 years later, I'm a women's health nurse practitioner who has performed thousands of pelvic exams. I'm a person who knows in great detail what is and is not a typical part of an exam. And I know that what happened to me was not normal. (Cate Guggino, 5/23)

Sacramento Bee: Keep State's Drug Discount Program
The Brown administration argues that more money could be brought to the state general fund if 340B were eliminated. ...If Brown’s proposal is approved by the Legislature, it would reduce our workforce and eliminate necessary supportive services. (Britta Guerrero, 5/22)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: A Healthier Food Stamp Program Should Be On The Menu
Trying to push more people to work for food stamps by adding harsh provisions to the farm bill has sharply divided Congress, even though the high-stakes bill failed to pass the U.S. House Friday, mostly over unrelated issues. Congress can take the food stamp work-requirement dispute off the table entirely. Instead of punitive, ill-considered measures likely to hurt hungry children, Congress should instead take aim at the unhealthy foods that are contributing to the obesity epidemic among our young people. (5/22)