First Edition: August 21, 2019
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Kaiser Health News:
MDMA, Or Ecstasy, Shows Promise As A PTSD Treatment
The first time Lori Tipton tried MDMA, she was skeptical it would make a difference. “I really was, at the beginning, very nervous,” Tipton said. MDMA is the main ingredient in the club drug known as ecstasy or molly. But Tipton wasn’t taking pills sold on the street to get high. She was trying to treat her post-traumatic stress disorder by participating in a clinical trial. (Stone, 8/21)
Kaiser Health News:
Joe Camel Was Forced Out Of Ads. So Why Is Juul Allowed On TV?
Why does e-cigarette maker Juul advertise its product on TV when cigarette ads are banned? The short answer: Because it can. For nearly 50 years, cigarette advertising has been banned from TV and radio. But electronic cigarettes — those battery-operated devices that often resemble oversized USB flash drives with flavored nicotine “pods” that clip in on the end — aren’t addressed in the law. (Andrews, 8/21)
Kaiser Health News:
Watch: Trump-Pence Policy Shift Makes Birth Control Harder To Get
KHN correspondent Sarah Varney talks with PBS NewsHour‘s Yamiche Alcindor on Monday about how the Trump administration’s policy shift on Title X family planning funds is likely to make birth control harder to get and more expensive for low-income women. It will also shift funds from organizations like Planned Parenthood to the Obria Group, which provides women’s health care that does not include hormonal contraceptives or condoms. (8/20)
The New York Times:
N.R.A. Gets Results In One Phone Call With The President
President Trump spent at least 30 minutes on the phone Tuesday with Wayne LaPierre, the chief executive of the National Rifle Association, the latest conversation in an aggressive campaign by gun rights advocates to influence the White House in the weeks since the back-to-back mass shootings in Texas and Ohio. The call ended the way that Mr. LaPierre had hoped it would: with Mr. Trump espousing N.R.A. talking points in the Oval Office and warning of the radical steps he said Democrats wanted to take in violation of the Second Amendment. (Haberman, Karni and Hakim, 8/20)
The Atlantic:
Trump’s Phone Calls With Wayne LaPierre Reveal NRA’s Influence
“It’s going to be great, Wayne,” Trump said, according to both a former senior White House official and an NRA official briefed on the call. “They will love us.” And if they—meaning the roughly 5 million people who make up the NRA’s active membership, and some of Trump’s electoral base—didn’t, Trump reportedly assured LaPierre, “I’ll give you cover.” “Wayne’s listening to that and thinking, Uh, no, Mr. President, we give you cover,” the former senior White House official said in describing the conversation. The president reportedly asked LaPierre whether the NRA was willing to give in at all on background checks. LaPierre’s response, the sources said, was unequivocal: “No.” With that, “the Rose Garden fantasy,” as the NRA official described it to me, was scrapped as quickly as it had been dreamed up. (Plott, 8/20)
The Washington Post:
Trump Tells NRA Chief That Universal Background Checks Are Off The Table
Trump told LaPierre that the White House remained interested in proposals that would address weapons getting into the hands of the mentally ill, including the possibility of backing so-called “red flag” laws that would allow the police to temporarily confiscate guns from people who have been shown to be a danger to themselves or others. Nonetheless, the president’s conversation with LaPierre, which was first reported by the Atlantic, further reduced hopes that major new gun-safety measures will be enacted after the latest round of mass shootings. (Hamburger and Dawsey, 8/20)
The Wall Street Journal:
Trump Retreats On Background Checks, Citing ‘Slippery Slope’ To Gun Confiscation
The president said on Tuesday that his supporters are strong believers in a constitutional right to bear arms, and that he is, too. “You know they call it the slippery slope, and all of a sudden everything gets taken away,” he said. “We’re not going to let that happen.” “We have very, very strong background checks right now, but we have sort of missing areas, and areas that don’t complete the whole circle. And we’re looking at different things,” Mr. Trump said Tuesday. He didn’t elaborate on what areas he considers lacking, talking instead about looking at mental-illness issues. (Leary, 8/20)
Los Angeles Times:
Wary Of Alienating His Base, Trump Retreats On Gun Control Proposals
The about-face followed a familiar pattern for Trump, a native New Yorker who lacks a personal affinity for guns but has championed gun rights since entering politics. Before he ran for president in 2015, he supported restrictions championed by Democrats, but now he fears upsetting his hardcore Republican supporters — especially as he heads into what polls indicate will be a difficult reelection race. (Megerian, 8/20)
The Washington Post:
After Trump Blames Mental Illness For Mass Shootings, Health Agencies Ordered To Hold All Posts On Issue
When President Trump targeted mental illness as the cause of the mass shootings in El Paso and Dayton that killed 31 people, federal health officials made sure no government experts might contradict him. A Health and Human Services directive on Aug. 5 warned communication staffers not to post anything on social media related to mental health, violence and mass shootings without prior approval. That alarmed some government mental health experts who said they felt muzzled at a moment when many Americans were searching for answers to the U.S. epidemic of mass shootings, said three agency employees. (Abutaleb and Wan, 8/20)
The Hill:
Federal Health Officials Were Ordered Not To Post About Mental Health After Trump Linked It To Shootings: Report
An HHS employee told the Post he had “no doubt this was meant to prevent anybody from making any statements that might contradict the president.” “We understand we’re not supposed to contradict the president, but it’s not typical” for the administration to mandate senior officials clear social media posts, he added. (Axelrod, 8/20)
The Washington Post:
Parkland Students Unveil Sweeping Gun-Control Proposal And Hope For A Youth Voting Surge In 2020
The student activists who crashed the political arena after the mass shooting last year at their high school in Parkland, Fla., are throwing their weight behind a new and ambitious gun-control program that they hope will set the tone for the debate following the most recent mass shootings and headed into the 2020 elections. The students are speaking out for the first time since 31 people were killed in one weekend in El Paso and Dayton, Ohio. They hope their plan — unveiled Wednesday morning — will be considered by President Trump as well as his Democratic presidential rivals and will serve as a catalyst for a surge of youth voters next year. (Alemany, 8/21)
The Wall Street Journal:
Gun Sellers Are Sneaking Onto Facebook’s Booming Secondhand Marketplace
Gun sellers are using a simple trick to do business on Facebook Inc. Marketplace at a time when more mass shootings in the U.S. have renewed the debate in Washington over access to firearms. The Marketplace feature, which Facebook launched four years ago, enabled its more than two billion users to buy and sell almost any secondhand item by clicking a button on their home page. However, the private sale of many items, including guns, is specifically forbidden under Facebook policy. (Olson and Elinson, 8/20)
The New York Times:
The Flores Agreement Protected Migrant Children For Decades. It’s Under Threat.
Nearly 35 years ago, long before the current mass influx of Central American families making their way to America’s southern border, a different and more brutal migrant crisis was unfolding. In El Salvador, government death squads were stalking suspected insurgents. Farmers, human rights activists and even priests were being caught in the crossfire. The widening civil war would leave more than 75,000 people dead, and send tens of thousands of people fleeing to the United States. (Jordan, 8/20)
ProPublica:
The Administration Rushed On A Sweeping Immigration Policy. We Found Substantive, Sloppy Mistakes.
This month, the Trump White House unveiled a new policy it had aggressively pushed through the regulatory process that makes it much harder for low-income immigrants, especially those who had used public benefits, to come to or remain in the United States. The proposal — known as the “public charge” rule, since it creates a complicated test to determine whether an immigrant is “likely to be a public charge” — has the potential to dramatically restrict who’s allowed to settle in the country. And many people who work with immigrants, including social service providers and local and state governments, are worried that it will scare them away from using benefits they and their families need to thrive. (Lind and Torbati, 8/20)
The Hill:
Migrants In US Border Detention Centers Won't Receive Flu Vaccine
U.S. immigration authorities do not vaccinate migrants in custody against the flu virus, and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) does not have any plans to do so ahead of the upcoming flu season. “In general, due to the short term nature of CBP holding and the complexities of operating vaccination programs, neither CBP nor its medical contractors administer vaccinations to those in our custody,” an agency spokeswoman told The Hill in an emailed statement. (Weixel, 8/20)
Los Angeles Times:
Chicken Pox And Flu: Migrants Are Getting Sick At The U.S.-Mexico Border
On her first day out of quarantine Thursday, 6-year-old Fernanda Martinez was ecstatic. She raced a mini-green quad up and down the hall outside the dark room where she spent four weeks separated from everyone because of a severe case of chicken pox. Greeting all the other children at the Agape Misión Mundial shelter in Tijuana, Martinez decided they were all her best friends. She announced she was equally excited to see everyone. (Fry, 8/20)
The Associated Press:
New York, 2 Other States Sue Over Trump Immigration Rule
New York state, New York City, Connecticut and Vermont sued the federal government Tuesday over new Trump administration rules blocking green cards for many immigrants who use public assistance including Medicaid, food stamps and housing vouchers. The states and city join a growing list of entities suing over the change, one of the Republican administration's most aggressive moves to restrict legal immigration. (Klepper, 8/20)
The Washington Post:
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser Blocks Planned Federal Shelter For Unaccompanied Migrant Children Planned For D.C.
The administration of D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) has enacted emergency regulations that would stop a planned federal shelter for unaccompanied migrant children in Northwest Washington. The emergency rules prohibit the city’s child welfare agency from licensing facilities housing more than 15 residents. That would block a 200-bed shelter that a federal contractor is trying to open in the Takoma neighborhood, part of the Trump administration’s efforts to address a surge of minors apprehended at the southern border without a parent. (Nirappil, 8/20)
The Associated Press:
Former VA Pathologist Charged In Deaths Of 3 Patients
A pathologist fired from an Arkansas veterans hospital after officials said he had been impaired while on duty was charged Tuesday with involuntary manslaughter in the deaths of three patients who authorities say he misdiagnosed and whose records he later altered to conceal his mistakes. A grand jury indictment unsealed Tuesday charged Dr. Robert Morris Levy in the patients' deaths and on multiple charges of fraud and making false statements for his alleged attempts to conceal his substance abuse and incorrect diagnoses. (DeMillo, 8/20)
The Washington Post:
VA Doctor Charged With Three Veterans Deaths In Arkansas, Working While Impaired
During 12 years as chief pathologist here and in leadership roles on multiple oversight boards and medical committees, Levy, 53, read almost 34,000 pathology slides from aging veterans. He had their lives in his hands, prosecutors said in unsealing their indictment. But his addiction and attempts to cover it up with lies and dangerous practices — even after VA paid for a lengthy inpatient treatment program — led to multiple deaths and other life-threatening trauma for veterans, they said. (Rein, 8/20)
The New York Times:
Former V.A. Doctor Charged In Deaths Of 3 Veterans
“This indictment should remind us all that this country has a responsibility to care for those who have served us honorably,” Duane Kees, the United States attorney for the western district of Arkansas, said in a statement. “When that trust is violated through criminal conduct, those responsible must be held accountable. Our veterans deserve nothing less.” In addition to the manslaughter charges, a federal grand jury indicted Mr. Levy on 12 counts of wire fraud, 12 counts of mail fraud and four counts of making false statements. (Victor, 8/21)
Politico:
Federal Scientists Warned Of Coming Opioid Crisis In 2006
Two of the government’s top scientists detected the first signs of the emerging opioid crisis back in 2006 and tried to warn health officials and the public of the coming catastrophe, according to a confidential document obtained by POLITICO. The effort didn’t lead to any real action, and the toll of death and addiction climbed. More than 133,000 people have died from prescription opioids since then — and hundreds of thousands more from street drugs including heroin and illicit fentanyl. (Ehley, 8/21)
Reuters:
Drugmakers Endo, Allergan Agree To $15 Million In Settlements In Major Opioid Case
Endo International Plc and Allergan Plc have agreed to pay $15 million to avoid going to trial in October in a landmark case by two Ohio counties accusing various drug manufacturers and distributors of fueling the U.S. opioid epidemic. The tentative deals disclosed on Tuesday came ahead of the first trial to result from 2,000 lawsuits pending in federal court in Cleveland largely by local governments seeking to hold drug companies responsible for the deadly epidemic. (Raymond, 8/20)
Reuters:
Exclusive: Cigna Seeks Sale Of Group Benefits Insurance Business-Sources
U.S. health insurer Cigna Corp is exploring a sale of its group benefits insurance business, which could be valued at as much as $6 billion, four people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. The unit for sale offers disability insurance as well as life and accidental death and dismemberment coverage to clusters of company employees. Cigna's move to shed it underscores its decision to focus on healthcare following its $54-billion acquisition of pharmacy benefits manager Express Scripts Holding Co last year. (8/20)
The Associated Press:
Guidelines Say More Women May Need Breast Cancer Gene Test
More women may benefit from gene testing for hereditary breast or ovarian cancer, especially if they've already survived cancer once, an influential health group recommended Tuesday. At issue are genes called BRCA1 and BRCA2. When they're mutated, the body can't repair damaged DNA as well, greatly increasing the chances of breast, ovarian and certain other cancers. Gene testing allows affected women to consider steps to lower their risk, such as when actress Angelina Jolie underwent a preventive mastectomy several years ago. (Neergaard, 8/20)
The Wall Street Journal:
More Women May Need Testing For Cancer-Linked Mutated Genes
The task force, a government-backed panel of experts in prevention and medicine, said women with previous breast, ovarian, fallopian-tube or abdominal cancer diagnoses who have completed treatment should be assessed for mutations of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. Normally, BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are responsible for repairing damaged DNA, which ultimately helps lessen the chances for certain cancers developing. But when the genes undergo a rare mutation, it can result in further gene mutations that could lead to breast, ovarian and other cancers. (Ansari, 8/20)
Los Angeles Times:
Guidelines Say More Women May Need Breast Cancer Gene Test
Gene testing allows affected women to consider steps to lower their risk, such as when actress Angelina Jolie underwent a preventive mastectomy several years ago. Some specialists say too few women who could benefit from BRCA testing are getting it. Most cancer isn’t caused by BRCA mutations — they account for 5% to 10% of breast cancers and 15% of ovarian cancers — so the gene tests aren’t for everyone. But mutations cluster in families, and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has long recommended that doctors screen women who have relatives with BRCA-related cancers. Those who might benefit from gene testing should be referred to a genetic counselor to help them decide, the expert panel said. (Neergaard, 8/20)
NPR:
Is It Time To Revisit Prescribing Restrictions On Abortion Drug Mifepristone?
Mifepristone is one of a regimen of two drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration to end an early pregnancy. It's also prescribed to help reduce the severity of miscarriage symptoms. But it is heavily regulated in ways that can make it hard for women to obtain. Along with its approval in 2000, the FDA restricted its use because of safety concerns. In a perspective article published this summer in the New England Journal of Medicine, former FDA Commissioner Dr. Jane Henney and co-author Dr. Helene Gayle argue that the agency should reevaluate whether such measures are still necessary and take into consideration recent studies that show mifepristone is both effective and safe. (Torres, 8/20)
The New York Times:
How Medicine Became The Stealth Family-Friendly Profession
Britni Hebert was chief resident, on track for a career in the highly demanding field of oncology, when she found out she was having twins. “Everything kind of just tilted on its head,” she said. She couldn’t imagine 80-hour workweeks with two newborns at home, while her husband was doing an equally intensive radiology fellowship. But she didn’t leave the profession. Instead, Dr. Hebert, 37, decided to practice internal medicine and geriatrics, with more control over her hours. She has been able to change her schedule three times as her family’s needs have changed (the twins are 6, and the couple has a baby), and now works about 85 percent of full-time hours. (Miller, 8/21)
The New York Times:
Recurring Urinary Tract Infections Vex Readers
The rise of drug-resistant urinary tract infections has been particularly burdensome for the significant subset of people who suffer from them on a regular, recurrent basis. These individuals, mostly women, can wind up on a carousel of antibiotics, sometimes the wrong ones, and many experiment with homeopathic alternatives that have not been scientifically validated. (Richtel, 8/20)
The New York Times:
Touch Football, Sold As Safer, Now Requires A Helmet
On a steamy afternoon in June, Jim Poynter, the coach of the 7-on-7 touch football team at Lamar High School in Arlington, Tex., escorted one of his former players around the state tournament. In a game last spring, the player, Brett Green Jr., was knocked out after his head collided with a teammate’s shoulder as they jumped to intercept a pass. Green was airlifted to a hospital, where bleeding in his brain was discovered. He spent weeks in the hospital recovering from dizziness, headaches and blurred vision, and had eye surgery and physical therapy. He will never play football again. (Belson, 8/20)
NPR:
Scientists Develop A Sweat Patch To Test For Hydration
If you wanted to measure your heart rate or step count during exercise, you would use a fitness tracker. But what if you wanted a device to tell you when when you need to drink more water or should reach for a sports drink? Scientists from the University of California, Berkeley, designed a patch that can measure sodium in sweat and determine sweat rate directly from the skin. Their findings about the effectiveness of their invention were published Friday in the journal Science Advances. (Palca and Torres, 8/20)
The New York Times:
Exercise May Boost Mood For Women With Depression. Having A Coach May Help.
For women with serious depression, a single session of exercise can change the body and mind in ways that might help to combat depression over time, according to a new study of workouts and moods. Interestingly, though, the beneficial effects of exercise may depend to a surprising extent on whether someone exercises at her own pace or gets coaching from someone else. (Reynolds, 8/21)
ProPublica/Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting:
Some Of The Country’s Worst Prisons Have Escaped Justice Department Action
Mississippi has saved a lot of money on its prisons over the past several years. But as the experiences of next-door neighbor Alabama show, rampant violence and understaffing can eventually draw scrutiny from the U.S. Justice Department, with potentially costly consequences. In April, the Justice Department concluded that “there is reasonable cause to believe that the men’s prisons [in Alabama] fail to protect prisoners from prisoner-on-prisoner violence and prisoner-on-prisoner sexual abuse, and fail to provide prisoners with safe conditions.” It demanded that the state fix the problems or face possible litigation. (Mitchell, 8/20)