The New York Times:
White House Proposes Cutting Drug Control Office Funding By 95%
When he was running for office, Donald J. Trump promised to rid America of the scourge of drugs, vowing to crack down on dealers and invest heavily in programs to get heroin and other opioids off the streets. But on Friday, President Trump’s administration revealed plans to gut the 2018 budget of his Office of National Drug Control Policy. According to an Office of Management and Budget document obtained by The New York Times, the White House is proposing to slash the drug policy office budget by about 95 percent, to just $24 million from $388 million. (Rappeport, 5/5)
The Associated Press:
Trump Moving To Slash Budget For White House 'Drug Czar'
The eliminations involve the high-intensity drug-trafficking area program, which just received — under a catchall government-wide spending bill signed by President Donald Trump on Friday — $254 million for grants to help states and localities to fight drug trafficking, and the $100 million drug-free communities program, which helps local organizations battle drugs in their communities. The programs have widespread bipartisan support among lawmakers. (5/5)
The Washington Post:
Trump Proposes Steep Cuts To White House ‘Drug Czar’ Office Amid Opioid Crisis
“That budget wouldn’t pay the heating bill at the Pentagon,” said Barry R. McCaffrey, a retired U.S. Army general, who headed the office under President Bill Clinton between 1996 and 2001. “It sends a terrible message. Why send this bizarre political signal in the middle of what is without question a major health-care crisis in America? It’s very strange.” (Sun and Higham, 5/5)
Politico:
Trump’s New Opioids Strategy ‘Devastates’ Advocates
“These moves fly in the face of President Trump’s promise to address the nation's opioid epidemic,” said Rafael Lemaitre, who was a senior official with the drug policy office across three administrations. "This is an epidemic that steals as many lives as the Vietnam War took during the entire conflict, and Trump's moves remove some of the most effective tools." (Diamond, 5/5)
The New York Times:
Abortion Foes See Ally In Trump, But Wonder: Will He Go Far Enough?
There are few constituencies as pleased with President Trump’s three and a half months in the White House as the anti-abortion groups that rallied to his side during the 2016 campaign. He has signed legislation making it easier for states to deny funding to health centers that perform abortions. His recently confirmed Supreme Court nominee, Neil M. Gorsuch, has the unwavering backing of anti-abortion groups. And on Thursday, the House voted to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act while also eliminating most public funding for Planned Parenthood, a central campaign promise of Mr. Trump’s. (Peters, 5/5)
The Associated Press:
Iowa Supreme Court Blocks New Waiting Period For Abortions
The Iowa Supreme Court blocked an abortion restriction Friday less than two hours after Gov. Terry Branstad signed it, allowing dozens of women who had scheduled the procedure to move forward without waiting 72 hours as the new law requires. (Sanders, 5/5)
The Associated Press:
Alaska Lawmaker Under Fire After 'Free Trip' Abortion Claim
Alaska lawmakers on Friday demanded a public apology from a Republican legislator who said there are women in Alaska who try to get pregnant to get a "free trip to the city" for abortions. Pressure mounted on Rep. David Eastman, who has cited concerns with abortions being covered by state funds and Medicaid, a government program for lower-income people. (Bohrer, 5/5)
The New York Times:
A Second Drug Is Approved To Treat A.L.S.
A new drug for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, was approved on Friday by the Food and Drug Administration. The drug, called Radicava or edaravone, slowed the progression of the degenerative disease in a six-month study in Japan. It must be given by intravenous infusion and will cost $145,524 a year, according to its manufacturer, MT Pharma America, a subsidiary of the Japanese company Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation. (Grady, 5/5)
NPR:
Companies Resist Laws Requiring Paid Sick Leave
Nearly three-quarters of private sector workers receive paid sick days from their employers, though there is no federal mandate requiring it. In recent years, dozens of states, cities and counties have passed their own ordinances, which typically require employers to provide between three and seven paid sick days a year. The business community is fighting against the proliferation of these laws, saying that the landscape for paid-leave regulation is getting way too complex. (Noguchi, 5/6)
USA Today:
Kids' Inactivity Rises, Creating 'Health Care Time Bomb'
The percent of children aged six to 12 who were physically active three or more times a week had its biggest drop in five years and is now under 25%, new data show. Making matters worse, households with incomes under $50,000 have much higher rates of inactivity than families making more than $75,000 annually, an analysis by the Sports and Fitness Industry Association and PHIT America found. (O'Donnell and Mitchell, 5/6)
NPR:
Fresh Food By Prescription: This Health Care Firm Is Trimming Costs — And Waistlines
The advice to eat a healthy diet is not new. Back around 400 B.C., Hippocrates, the Greek doctor, had this missive: Let food be thy medicine. But as a society, we've got a long way to go. About one out of every two deaths from heart disease, stroke and Type 2 diabetes in the U.S. is linked to a poor diet. That's about 1,000 deaths a day. (Aubrey, 5/8)
The Washington Post:
New Type Of Baby Monitors Offers ‘Peace Of Mind’ But May Deliver Just The Opposite
One night last fall, Victoria Rodriguez, a pediatric hospitalist at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, was paged from the emergency room for a consultation on a case. An ER doctor had evaluated a 4-week-old infant, and although he couldn’t find anything wrong with the baby, he hesitated to send the anxious family home. His concern? During the night, the parents had received an alarm on their phones that the baby’s heart rate and blood-oxygen level were low. The alarm had been triggered by the baby’s high-tech sock, one of a new class of devices that continuously measure babies’ vital signs, but the ER doctor wasn’t sure how to interpret this information. (Callahan, 5/6)