First Edition: May 22, 2019
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
Kaiser Health News:
For Civilians, Finding A Therapist Skilled In PTSD Treatments Is A Tough Task
Lauren Walls has lived with panic attacks, nightmares and flashbacks for years. The 26-year-old San Antonio teacher sought help from a variety of mental health professionals — including spending five years and at least $20,000 with one therapist who used a Christian-faith-based approach, viewing her condition as part of a spiritual weakness that could be conquered — but her symptoms worsened. She hit a breaking point two years ago, when she contemplated suicide. (Covington, 5/22)
Kaiser Health News:
Did The ACA Create Preexisting Condition Protections For People In Employer Plans?
During a recent appearance on MSNBC, Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) answered questions from “Morning Joe” co-host Mika Brzezinski about the latest lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act. “The most important part of Obamacare, as you know, Mika, is the protection against preexisting condition discrimination that extended to more than 150 million Americans, folks who get their health insurance through their employer,” he said. (Rovner, 5/21)
Kaiser Health News:
‘Stonewall Generation’ Confronts Old Age, Sickness — And Discrimination
Two years ago, nursing professor Kim Acquaviva asked a group of home care nurses whether they thought she was going to hell for being a lesbian. It’s OK if you do, Acquaviva said, but is the afterlife within your scope of practice? After Acquaviva’s talk, an older nurse announced she would change how she treats LGBTQ people under her care. “I still think you’re going to hell, but I’m going to stop telling patients that,” the nurse told Acquaviva. (Aleccia and Bailey, 5/22)
Kaiser Health News:
Listen: Answering Questions About New Abortion Laws
Julie Rovner, Kaiser Health News’ chief Washington correspondent, joined WAMU’s Sasha-Ann Simons Tuesday on “1A” to answer listeners’ questions about the strict new abortion laws passed by Alabama, Missouri and other states and the future of Roe v. Wade, a 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion across the country. Also on the panel were NPR legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg and Dr. Colleen McNicholas, an obstetrician/gynecologist and an associate professor at Washington University in St. Louis who also provides abortion services in Missouri, Oklahoma and Kansas. You can listen to the hourlong discussion here. (5/21)
CQ:
Federal Judge Remains Skeptical Of Short-Term Plans Lawsuit
A federal district court judge seemed skeptical Tuesday during a hearing to determine whether a challenge to a Trump administration rule expanding short-term plans merits a full trial. U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon of the D.C. Circuit wondered if it was too premature to make a decision on stopping the rule. “Why wouldn’t it make more sense for this to play out for a year or two?” he said. (Raman, 5/21)
Modern Healthcare:
Federal Judge Signals Reluctance To Block Short-Term Plans
U.S. District Judge Richard Leon heard a second round of arguments in the lawsuit over the Trump administration's reversal of the Obama administration's cap on short-term plans. The not-for-profit Association for Community Affiliated Plans first sued to block the rule last year. It was finalized in August and went into effect in early October. In the first set of oral arguments, Leon told the plaintiffs they sought relief prematurely, before they could show proof that the Trump administration's regulation would deal them a financial blow. (Luthi, 5/21)
The Associated Press:
States Sue Over Rule Allowing Clinicians To Refuse Abortions
Two dozen states and municipalities sued the federal government Tuesday to stop a new rule that lets health care clinicians decline to provide abortions and other services that conflict with their moral or religious beliefs. A Manhattan federal court lawsuit asked a judge to declare the rule unconstitutional and say it was passed in an arbitrary and capricious manner. In a separate lawsuit in San Francisco federal court, California sued as well, saying there was no evidence that the impact on patients was considered. (Neumeister, 5/21)
The Washington Post:
Two Dozen States, Municipalities, Sue Over Trump’s ‘Conscience’ Rule
A lawsuit by a coalition of nearly two dozen states and cities, led by New York Attorney General Letitia James, alleges that the rule illegally favors the personal views of health-care workers over the needs of patients — “at a dangerous price” of hobbling the ability of state-run health-care facilities to provide effective care. A separate suit, brought by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, alleges that the rule “impedes access to basic care” and “encourages discrimination against vulnerable patients, including women and LGBTQ individuals.” (Goldstein, 5/21)
The Associated Press:
Mississippi Abortion Law 'Smacks Of Defiance,' US Judge Says
A federal judge indicated Tuesday that he is likely to block a Mississippi law that will ban most abortions once a fetal heartbeat can be detected. The new law puts a cutoff point for abortion at about six weeks, when many women may not yet know they're pregnant. U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves heard arguments about a request from the state's only abortion clinic, which wants him to block the law from taking effect July 1, as scheduled. (Wagster Pettus, 5/21)
The Washington Post:
He Already Struck Down One Abortion Ban. Now The Judge Says A New Bill ‘Smacks Of Defiance.’
Mississippi’s law, which bans abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, is part of a nationwide barrage of restrictions, pushed for by the religious right and meant to challenge the Constitution and force the Supreme Court to reconsider its ruling in Roe v. Wade. In most cases, the goal is not a law’s enaction, but the legal challenges and appeals that could pave a path to the high court and its conservative majority. (Thebault, 5/21)
The Associated Press:
Alabama House Approves 'Born Alive' Abortion Bill
Doctors would face prison sentences if they fail to treat babies "born alive" after an attempted abortion, under a bill approved Tuesday night by the Alabama House of Representatives. The measure patterned after legislation in Texas was approved after more than an hour of contentious debate. It comes a week after Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed legislation seeking to outlaw almost all abortions in the state. Representatives voted 66-18 for the bill that now moves to the Alabama Senate. (Chandler, 5/22)
The Washington Post:
#BoycottGeorgia For Its Abortion Bill? Two Major Film Productions Just Said They Would.
Two major Hollywood productions have announced that they plan to avoid filming in Georgia because of the stringent antiabortion bill the state’s Republican legislature signed into law earlier this month. The show “The Power,” a drama series for Amazon Studios that is based on a female-centric science fiction novel of the same name, decided to pull scouts who were scouring the state for potential filming locations and said that it would not be filming any of the show in the state. (Rosenberg, 5/21)
Los Angeles Times:
Georgia Abortion Law: Boycott Heats Up As TV Show And Kristen Wiig Movie Bail
“We had no problem stopping the entire process instantly,” “The Power” director Reed Morano told Time, adding that there was “no way” her project would give its production money to Georgia. Location scouts had reportedly been working in Savannah, Ga., for several months in preparation for Morano’s arrival, Time reported. “[I]t felt wrong to us to go ahead and make our show and take money/tax credit from a state that is taking this stance on the abortion issue. We just couldn’t do it,” Morano said on Instagram. (D'Zurilla, 5/21)
The Associated Press:
Louisiana: Anti-Abortion Constitutional Language Nears OK
Louisiana lawmakers took another step Tuesday in efforts to chip away at abortion rights, nearing final passage of a bill that would ask voters to rewrite the state constitution to ensure it offers no protections for the procedure. The constitutional change, which has been enacted in some other conservative states, is one of several anti-abortion measures proposed in Louisiana’s legislative session, including a bill nearing final passage that could ban the procedure as early as six weeks of pregnancy. (Deslatte, 5/21)
The Hill:
Wisconsin Governor Vows To Veto Abortion Restriction Bills Passed By State Lawmakers
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) on Tuesday vowed to veto abortion restrictions the state assembly passed last week, saying that government should allow women to make their own health care decisions. "We shouldn’t be limiting the right for women to make their own healthcare decisions," Evers said on Twitter. "That’s why I’ll veto the bills passed by the Assembly last week if they arrive on my desk. It’s time to listen to women. #StopTheBans" (Wise, 5/21)
The Associated Press:
Nevada Lawmakers Close To Repealing Tough Abortion Rules
Nevada lawmakers are bucking a national trend of restrictive abortion laws by voting to repeal requirements that physicians document a pregnant woman’s marital status and tell her about the “emotional implications” of an abortion. Democrats in the Assembly passed the bill in a largely party-line vote on Tuesday, the same day protesters across the country decried actions in other statehouses that toughen abortion laws. Nevada has the first overall female-majority Legislature in the country. (Tarinelli, 5/22)
The New York Times:
As Some States Limit Abortion, Others Move To Protect Abortion Rights
As conservatives in states like Alabama, Georgia, and Missouri race to pass some of the strictest limits on abortions in decades, a pushback is developing as well. In Democratic-held or Democratic-leaning states, abortion rights supporters who are alarmed by the new laws and by the threat represented by a more conservative Supreme Court are trying to repeal abortion restrictions or limit the government’s say over women’s reproductive decisions. (Taylor and Turkewitz, 5/21)
The New York Times:
Google Changes Abortion Ad Policy
Advertisers planning to run ads on Google referring to abortion services in the United States, Britain and Ireland must first get clearance from the search giant, the company said in an online post. After outrage over recent reports of misleading abortion-related ads, Google said it would require advertisers dealing with the topic to be certified as abortion providers or non-providers. Starting in June, abortion ads will include disclosures that identify whether or not the advertiser provides abortions. Companies and organizations can apply for certification starting now. (Hsu, 5/21)
The Hill:
2020 Democratic Presidential Candidates Rally In Support Of Abortion Rights
Democratic presidential candidates rallied on the steps of the Supreme Court Tuesday against a rash of state abortion bans they say have been encouraged by President Trump and his administration. ... A large crowd of abortion rights protestors held signs reading “abortion is a human right” and “protect safe, legal abortion" as attendees loudly cheered on Gillibrand and Cory Booker (D-N.J.). (Hellmann, 5/21)
The Hill:
Biden Says Congress Must Move To Protect Abortion Rights
Former Vice President Joe Biden believes Congress must move to enshrine abortion rights into federal law following several controversial bills passed by state legislatures around the country, his presidential campaign team confirmed to The Hill on Tuesday. "Vice President Biden firmly believes that Roe v. Wade is the law of the land and should not be overturned," a campaign spokesperson said in a statement. "Georgia, Alabama, and Missouri are passing extreme laws in order to prevent a woman to be able to have an abortion under virtually any circumstance. Roe v. Wade lays out a constitutional guarantee that a woman can, in fact, make a choice between she and her doctor. Biden believes that codifying Roe through legislation must be pursued." (Conradis, 5/21)
The Hill:
Health Care Tops List Of Americans' Top Issues In New Poll
Health care is the top issue for Americans, according to a new poll from RealClear Opinion Research. The importance of the issue crossed gender, age and party lines, results show. Forty-five percent of Democrats, 30 percent of Republicans and 31 percent of independents chose health care as their top issue from six options, including the economy, education, environment, foreign policy and immigration. Sixty-two percent of respondents ranked health care as either their top or number two issue. (Budryk, 5/21)
The Associated Press:
Harris' Bill Seeks To Address Racial Bias In Maternal Care
U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris is offering a new bill to address racial disparities in maternal health care, one of several plans by 2020 Democratic presidential candidates on the issue. Harris' bill, first introduced in 2018, would create some $150 million in grant programs to medical schools and states to fight implicit racial bias in health care for women. The legislation, co-sponsored in the House by Rep. Alma Adams, D-N.C., is aimed at improving medical care for groups of women who, research suggests, might be denied first rate care because of their race. (5/22)
CQ:
Alexander To Release Draft Health Costs Bill Thursday
Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Chairman Lamar Alexander said he expects to release a draft bill with proposals to lower health care costs on Thursday. “There could be as many as two dozen proposals in it, including surprise billing, rebates, a variety of areas that focus on transparency,” the Tennessee Republican told reporters. “If the proposals are not bipartisan, they won’t be in the draft.” (McIntire, 5/21)
CQ:
House Panel Joins Debate On Surprise Medical Bills
The Ways and Means Health Subcommittee on Tuesday was debating ways to prevent patients from receiving surprise medical bills, an issue that has picked up steam across the Capitol over the past two weeks. The hearing comes as efforts on Capitol Hill to stop patients from receiving surprise medical bills are ramping up after President Donald Trump called on lawmakers to pass legislation earlier this month. Several lawmakers have proposed different ways to prohibit so-called “surprise bills,” and more could be released in the next few weeks. (McIntire, 5/21)
The Associated Press:
US Closes Facility That Detained Migrant Who Later Died
U.S. border agents have temporarily closed their primary facility for processing migrants in South Texas one day after authorities say a 16-year-old died after being diagnosed with the flu at the facility. In a statement released late Tuesday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said it would stop detaining migrants at its processing center in McAllen, Texas. CBP says “a large number” of people in custody were found Tuesday to have high fevers. The agency says it is working to provide medical treatment to all those with fevers. (5/22)
The Washington Post:
McAllen Detainee Center Closed For Flu Outbreak After 16-Year-Old Migrant Dies In Custody
A spokesman in the Rio Grande Valley Sector did not say how many migrants were affected by the illness. The McAllen processing center, a crowded warehouse-like building where detainees are held behind fencing and sleep on mats, is among the busiest facilities along the southern border. The outbreak comes amid severe overcrowding problems at migrant detention facilities in South Texas and heightened scrutiny of the conditions within them, as five child migrants have died in U.S. custody since December. The ballooning volume of people crossing the southern border to claim asylum in recent months has overwhelmed numerous facets of the immigration system, from the border stations to the courts, and has led CBP to take drastic measures to process all of them. (Flynn, 5/22)
The Associated Press:
Research On Children's Health Risks In Doubt Over EPA Funds
Long-running research projects credited with pivotal discoveries about the harm that pesticides, air pollution and other hazards pose to children are in jeopardy or shutting down because the Environmental Protection Agency will not commit to their continued funding, researchers say. The projects being targeted make up a more than $300 million, federally funded program that over the past two decades has exposed dangers to fetuses and children. (Knickmeyer, 5/21)
The Associated Press:
Vermont Attorney General Sues Owners Of Opioid Manufacturer
Vermont Attorney General T.J. Donovan says he's filed suit against eight members of the family that owns the drug company that manufactures OxyContin, one of the drugs believed to be partly responsible for the opioid crisis. Donovan alleged Tuesday that for over two decades the Sackler family, the owners of Purdue Pharma, minimized the health risks of opioids, claiming the prescription drugs were rarely the cause of abuse, addiction or death. (5/21)
Stat:
Four Of The World’s Largest Drug Companies Are Teaming With Verily. Here Is What They Get
On Tuesday morning, Verily, Alphabet’s unit focused on life sciences, announced that it had formed alliances with Novartis, Sanofi, Otsuka, and Pfizer to work on clinical trials. What are those drug giants getting out of the deal? STAT sat down with Scarlet Shore, who leads Verily’s project Baseline, to learn about the company’s vision for the clinical trial of the future. The conversation took place at CNBC’s “Healthy Returns” conference, where the partnerships were unveiled.Clinical trials have always been an obvious target for Verily as it tries to find a way to use technology to change health care. New devices can take years to develop. But right now, the process of conducting clinical trials is pockmarked with inefficiencies, requiring pharmaceutical companies and medical researchers to work with dozens of vendors while often keeping records in efficient ways — sometimes even using that least digital of formats, pen and paper. (Herper, 5/21)
Stat:
MIT Professor Accused Of Claiming Others’ Scientific Discoveries As His Own
MIT professor Ram Sasisekharan made his name on the idea that algorithms and computer models could lead to better and more potent therapies, a promise that launched three biotech companies and attracted hundreds of millions of dollars. But two treatments purportedly discovered with Sasisekharan’s computational approach are almost identical to compounds that had previously been described by other labs, according to a new paper by outside researchers. The finding casts serious doubts on the integrity of Sasisekharan’s research, the authors claim. (Garde, 5/21)
USA Today:
Episiotomies Are Painful, Risky And Not Routinely Recommended. Dozens Of Hospitals Are Doing Too Many.
It’s a surgical cut made during childbirth that doctors have been officially warned for more than a decade does more harm to women than good. Mothers who receive episiotomies – an incision at the vaginal opening to create more room as a baby’s head appears – are more likely to suffer severe complications than if they had been allowed to tear naturally. (Young and Kelly, 5/21)
NPR:
CRISPR Used To Modify Viruses And Create New Weapon Against Superbugs
Alphonso Evans rolls his wheelchair into a weight machine in the gym at the Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center in Augusta, Ga. "I'm not so much worried about dying from a heart attack or diabetes, because I'm active. I know what to do to work against it: watch what I eat, exercise," Evans says. "But what do I do about an infection? Or fighting off a bacteria — something inside me that I don't see until it's too late?" (Stein, 5/22)
NPR:
Mitosis Model Shows Inner Workings Of Cell Division
How do we grow from a single fertilized egg into a fully grown person with trillions of cells? Our cells divide, of course! And it's no mean feat. Each time a cell divides, it must duplicate our 23 pairs of chromosomes and make sure each "daughter" cell ends up with a complete set of genes. Errors are potentially fatal to the cell. Runaway cell division, which is the hallmark of cancer, is also serious business. (Harris, 5/22)
Stat:
‘What’s My Real Identity?’: As DNA Ancestry Sites Gather More Data, The Answer For Consumers Often Changes
To the companies selling tests, the ever-evolving DNA ancestry reports are more of a feature than a bug. Each website is upfront about the fact that a given test result is only as accurate as the data behind it. With more data come more granular conclusions that almost inevitably tweak ancestry results. And because genetic datasets have long been overwhelmingly white, even an incremental update can lead to pendular shifts for customers of color. The same phenomenon holds true for genetic tests offering information on health or disease risk. (Garde, 5/22)
The New York Times:
Dog Person? It May Be In Your Genes
If you like dogs, it may be in your genes. Swedish researchers used a database of 35,035 identical and fraternal twins born between 1926 and 1996. They gathered information on their dog ownership from government and kennel club registries. Identical twins, who share 100 percent of their genes, are genetically more like each other than fraternal twins, who share only 50 percent. Twins share the same environment, so if a trait is genetic, identical twins will look more like each other in that trait than fraternal twins do. (Bakalar, 5/21)
The Wall Street Journal:
Five Innovative Ways Cities Are Improving Life For Seniors
Cities are trying to make life better for their older residents. In many ways, cities have little choice, since people over 65 are the fastest-growing age group in the U.S. By 2030, about 20% of the U.S. population will be over age 65, according to the Census Bureau, up from 15% in 2016. By 2035 older adults will outnumber children for the first time in U.S. history. (Oliver, 5/21)
NPR:
Meet The Mites That Live On Your Face
It might give you the creepy-crawlies, but you almost certainly have tiny mites living in the pores of your face right now. They're known as Demodex or eyelash mites, and just about every adult human alive has a population living on them. The mostly transparent critters are too small to see with the naked eye. At about 0.3 millimeters long, it would would take about five adult face mites laid end to end to stretch across the head of a pin. (Cassidy, 5/21)
The Associated Press:
Cholesterol Improves In US Kids Despite High Obesity Rates
Cholesterol levels in children and teens improved in the latest analysis of U.S. health surveys, yet only half of them had readings considered ideal. Overall, 7% of kids had high cholesterol in surveys from 2009 to 2016. That was down from 10% a decade earlier. In children, high levels mean 200 or above and ideal measures are below 170. The results were published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. (Tanner, 5/21)
The New York Times:
Eggs Not Tied To Higher Stroke Risk
Neither egg consumption nor dietary cholesterol are associated with an increased risk for stroke, researchers report. Their analysis, in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, used health and diet data on 1,950 Finnish men ages 42 to 60. Over 21 years of follow-up, there were 217 strokes. On average, the men ate about four and a half eggs a week and consumed 408 milligrams of cholesterol a day. (Bakalar, 5/22)
The New York Times:
A Possible Weight Loss Strategy: Skip Breakfast Before Exercise
Skipping breakfast before exercise might reduce how much we eat during the remainder of the day, according to a small but intriguing new study of fit young men. The study finds that the choice to eat or omit a meal before an early workout could affect our relationship to food for the rest of the day, in complicated and sometimes unexpected ways. (Reynolds, 5/22)
The New York Times:
They Grow The Nation’s Food, But They Can’t Drink The Water
Water is a currency in California, and the low-income farmworkers who pick the Central Valley’s crops know it better than anyone. They labor in the region’s endless orchards, made possible by sophisticated irrigation systems, but at home their faucets spew toxic water tainted by arsenic and fertilizer chemicals.“ Clean water flows toward power and money,” said Susana De Anda, a longtime water-rights organizer in the region. She is the daughter of lechugueros who worked in lettuce fields and helped make California one of the agricultural capitals of the world. “Homes, schools and clinics are supposed to be the safest places to go. But not in our world.” (del Real, 5/21)
NPR:
Doctor Shortages Leave Some Rural Americans Without Access To Health Care
Taylor Walker is wiping down tables after the lunch rush at the Bunkhouse Bar and Grill in remote Arthur, Nebraska, a tiny dot of a town ringed by cattle ranches. The 25-year-old has her young son in tow, and she is expecting another baby in August. "I was just having some terrible pain with this pregnancy and I couldn't get in with my doctor," she says. (Siegler, 5/21)
The Associated Press:
Texas House Advances School Security Bill After Shooting
Texas lawmakers are gearing up to pass new measures aimed at increasing campus security, adding more armed personnel and boosting student mental health resources a year after a mass shooting at a high school near Houston killed eight students and two substitute teachers. The move marks the first major action by state lawmakers since the May 2018 shooting at Santa Fe High School. (Silber, 5/21)
The Associated Press:
Hospital That Treated Baby Cut From Womb Investigated
The agency that licenses and inspects health care facilities in Illinois has started an investigation of a suburban Chicago hospital where doctors treated a baby brought in by a woman claiming to be his mother, a spokeswoman for the agency said Tuesday. The woman was charged weeks later with killing the actual mother and cutting the child from her womb. (Babwin, 5/21)
NPR:
New Asthma Cases Fell When LA's Smog Declined
Children who live in areas with bad air pollution are more likely to develop asthma, which is the most common chronic illness among young people. But when you clean up the air does that actually protect the health of kids? A study published Tuesday in JAMA, the journal of the American Medical Association, looked to answer that question. (Harris, 5/21)
The Associated Press:
North Carolina Day Care Closing After 5 Toddlers Escape
A North Carolina day care center is closing after five of its toddlers escaped and wandered near a major road. The Winston-Salem Journal reports that officials at Pinedale Christian Day Care have informed the state Child Development and Early Education division that it's closing in three weeks. (5/21)
The Associated Press:
Attorneys: Ohio State Needs To Reveal Who Knew About Abuse
Administrators at Ohio State University should release the names of all coaches, trainers and personnel who knew of but failed to act on complaints about a now-dead team doctor who sexually abused male students for nearly two decades, said attorneys for some of the victims. They also are calling on the university to give them a specific plan by June that shows how Ohio State will deal with future sexual abuse allegations and how it will make sure this never happens again. (Seewer, 5/21)
The Washington Post:
Frederick Doctor Arrested On 65 Sexual Offense And Assault Charges Involving Patients
A Frederick, Md., doctor, who this month was charged with raping an 18-year-old woman during an examination, was arrested Monday after a grand jury indicted him on 65 sexual offense and assault counts against 11 more victims, including many juvenile girls, Frederick police and the State’s Attorney’s Office said in a joint statement. (Williams, 5/21)
The Associated Press:
Mississippi Spent $1.5M On Weight Watchers For Teachers
Mississippi lawmakers were giving Weight Watchers $1.5 million for a program that never appeared in any education funding bills or state contracts, just one example of how state legislators have been funneling education funding to favored vendors. The Clarion Ledger reports that since 2016, top lawmakers have mandated that the Mississippi Department of Education spend up to $45 million on specific programs. Of that, nearly $10 million was earmarked not just for programs but for 13 select vendors. (5/21)
Los Angeles Times:
Beverly Hills Votes To Ban Tobacco Sales, But Exempts Schwarzenegger’s Favorite Cigar Club
The city of Beverly Hills cleared the last hurdle to enact what officials say is the most stringent tobacco ban in the country Tuesday night, eliminating the sale of virtually all recreational nicotine products — with one very Beverly Hills exception. For an elite group of aficionados, hundreds of whom swamped committee meetings and wrote the city in protest, cigars will be spared — as long as they’re smoked inside one of three dedicated lounges. (Sharp, 5/21)