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From Kaiser Health News:

Kaiser Health News Original Stories

2. 5 Things To Know As California Starts Screening Children For Toxic Stress

California now will pay pediatricians to screen Medi-Cal patients for traumatic events known as adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs. The program is based on research showing that children who endure chronic stress have an increased risk of developing serious health problems. Here are five things to know about the new program. (Barbara Feder Ostrov, 1/8)

3. Political Cartoon: 'Behind The Curtain?'

Kaiser Health News provides a fresh take on health policy developments with "Political Cartoon: 'Behind The Curtain?'" by Monte Wolverton.

Here's today's health policy haiku:

Fecal Bacteria In California's Waterways Increases With Homeless Crisis

Fouling our own nests,
We need long-term solutions!
Rivers are life lines.

- Micki Jackson

If you have a health policy haiku to share, please Contact Us and let us know if you want us to include your name. Keep in mind that we give extra points if you link back to a KHN original story.

Summaries Of The News:

Capitol Hill Watch

4. Group Aligned With GOP House Leadership To Pump $4M Into Fighting Pelosi's Drug Pricing Bill

The American Action Network, which received $2.5 million from PhRMA in 2018, derided House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's drug pricing plan as socialism. The group is trying to build support for the House Republicans' plan, which would not allow price negotiation but does cap out-of-pocket costs for seniors on Medicare.

The Hill: Conservative Group To Spend $4M Attacking Pelosi's Drug Pricing Plan
A conservative group plans to spend $4 million on an advertising campaign targeting Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-Calif.) drug pricing plan. The American Action Network — a group aligned with House GOP leadership — will air the ads in 28 House districts, including some where Republicans are running competitive races in 2020, including GOP Reps. David Schweikert (Ariz.), Rodney Davis (Ill.) and Scott Perry (Pa.). (Hellmann, 1/7)

Stat: Conservative Group With Pharma Ties Backs Limited Drug Pricing Reform
It's a striking show of support for the GOP bill, which party leaders rushed to introduce the same week that the House was set to vote on Pelosi's bill in December. Until now, the group has focused only on opposing the Pelosi bill — not on pushing for the Republican alternative. Republicans maintain that their bill, which would cap seniors drug costs at $3,100 a year and crack down on certain so-called bad behaviors by the drug industry, is bipartisan and could be signed into law by President Trump — unlike, they say, the Pelosi bill, which includes far more aggressive drug pricing reforms and is almost unanimously opposed by Republicans and the Trump administration. (Florko, 1/7)

Roll Call: Outside Group Attacks Maine's Susan Collins On Prescription Drug Pricing
While national Democrats are keeping up the pressure on Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins over her 2018 vote for Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh and her impending role in the Senate impeachment trial, one national issue advocacy group is keeping its anti-Collins message more local. Majority Forward, the nonprofit arm of the Senate Majority PAC, which is aligned with Senate Democratic leadership, is hitting Collins over prescription drug costs with a statewide six-figure TV and digital ad campaign beginning Tuesday. (Pathe, 1/7)

CNBC: Sen. Grassley Turns To Pelosi For Help Selling His Drug Pricing Bill
Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley is turning to Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for help selling his bipartisan bill to lower drug prices in the Senate. Grassley told CNBC on Tuesday that he wants to persuade Pelosi to abandon her drug pricing bill, passed by the House in December, and support his legislation. He argued that there's "no other bill that can get the 60 votes required" to pass the Senate. The Iowa senator said Pelosi's bill, which would allow the government to negotiate lower prices for certain drugs, does not stand a chance in the GOP-controlled upper chamber. (Lovelace, 1/7)

The Hill: New Drug Price Hikes Set Stage For 2020 Fight
Price hikes on hundreds of prescription drugs to start the year are leading to intensifying calls for action from lawmakers and advocates, putting new pressure on Washington. Drug companies kicked off the year by raising prices on a wide range of treatments by an average of about 5 percent, according to the consulting firm 3 Axis Advisors. (Sullivan, 1/7)

Prescription Drug Watch: For news on rising drug costs, check out our weekly roundup of news coverage and perspectives of the issue.

Marketplace

5. Cost Of Administrative Work Within Health Care System Drops Dramatically Within A Single-Payer System

A new study found that in Canada, a country with a single-payer system, the cost of administrative work is $551 per person, a year. In America, it's $2,497. Other news on costs looks at what states are --and aren't-- doing to keep health care affordable and more on surprise medical bills.

Los Angeles Times: U.S. Health System Costs Four Times More To Run Than Canada's
In the United States, a legion of administrative healthcare workers and health insurance employees who play no direct role in providing patient care costs every American man, woman and child an average of $2,497 per year. Across the border in Canada, where a single-payer system has been in place since 1962, the cost of administering healthcare is just $551 per person — less than a quarter as much. That spending mismatch, tallied in a study published this week in the Annals of Internal Medicine, could challenge some assumptions about the relative efficiency of public and private healthcare programs. (Healy, 1/7)

FierceHealthcare: How Can U.S. Healthcare Save More Than $600B? Switch To A Single-Payer System, Study Suggests
The study could provide ammunition to proponents who are advocating for a change to a single-payer system, such as so-called "Medicare For All," which is being touted by some Democratic presidential candidates, including senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Bernie Sanders of Vermont. The idea is controversial, and some candidates have now backed away from Medicare for All and are advocating for a public option plan that keeps the current system of private insurers and makes Medicare available to those who want it. (Finnegan, 1/7)

Modern Healthcare: Healthcare Affordability Neglected By States
States aren't doing enough to make healthcare more affordable for their residents, according to a report Tuesday from research and consulting organization Altarum. Nearly every state has expanded healthcare coverage in recent years. But many haven't made inroads on healthcare affordability, even though voters on both sides of the aisle say that it's one of their top priorities. (Brady, 1/7)

KCUR: Getting Health Care In Kansas? Your Odds May Be Worse Here That You'll Get A Surprise Bill
A Kaiser Family Foundation study put Kansas in the five worst states for how often patients ran into out-of-network providers in 2017 during emergencies or during inpatient care at their in-network hospitals. The extra bills that land in their mailboxes often come as a surprise, and pile onto in-network medical costs that already have patients' heads spinning. ...The Kansas Insurance Department doesn't oversee the nitty-gritty details of insurer-provider contracts that might shed light on Kaiser's analysis of Kansas claims. The kind of private insurance studied by Kaiser overwhelmingly falls under federal, not state, law. (Llopis-Jepsen, 1/7)

Bloomberg: Blackstone-KKR Bid To Block Surprise Medical Billing Prompts Fury
Confronted with the rare prospect of defeat on Capitol Hill, private equity titans Blackstone Group Inc. and KKR & Co. unleashed a national advertising blitz last year against legislation that threatened their investments in health-care companies valued at $16 billion. The $53.8 million campaign sought to derail a crackdown on surprise medical billing, in which patients are unexpectedly hit with exorbitant charges, often following visits to emergency rooms. Television ads depicted patients in trauma being denied care and urged viewers to contact lawmakers, dozens of whom were identified by name. (Dexheimer, 1/8)

6. Doctors Are Cashing In On Personal-Injury Suits By Treating Defendants And Hoping For Big Pay Out In End

The practice of treating a defendant with no up front cost with the promise of getting paid once the suit settles. For some, that can mean a windfall of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The Wall Street Journal: Who Wins In A Personal-Injury Lawsuit? It Can Be The Doctor
One day in 2011, Dave Pebley and his wife were in their motor home on the side of the highway with a flat tire when a big rig slammed into them. The jolt sent Mr. Pebley to the hospital with injuries to his face, neck and lower back. The California resident sued the driver and his employer. But instead of using his Kaiser health insurance to continue treatment, Mr. Pebley enlisted medical specialists who treated him for no upfront cost. Instead, they agreed to recoup their fees only once his lawsuit resolved. The arrangement paid off for Mr. Pebley, his lawyers and his doctors when a jury awarded him $3.6 million in damages, including $644,000 in past and future medical costs. The defendants challenged the verdict, arguing the medical bills were excessive. (Randazzo, 1/8)

Medicaid

7. Local Officials Across Country Push Back Against Federal Policy Barring Pre-Trial Inmates From Medicaid Benefits

"Just because you've been in jail for a short period of time, that shouldn't automatically knock you off the [Medicaid] rolls," said David Davis, the Democratic sheriff of Bibb County, Georgia. "You then have to go through enrollment all over again." The disruption in enrollment can often negatively effect an already vulnerable population of people. Other Medicaid news comes from Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Georgia, California and the South.

Stateline: In Reversal, Counties And States Help Inmates Keep Medicaid
More local and state officials are working to ensure that low-income residents stay on Medicaid when they go to jail. Federal law bars Medicaid recipients from accessing their full federal health benefits while incarcerated. But officials from both parties have pushed for two key changes to ensure little or no disruption of health benefits for pretrial detainees who have not been convicted of a crime and make up most of the 612,000 people held in America's county jails. In recent years, officials have increasingly implemented a stopgap measure to help inmates more seamlessly reactivate their Medicaid coverage upon release from jail or prison. (Blau, 1/8)

The Hill: Medicaid Expansion Improved Health In Southern States: Study
A new study finds that Medicaid expansion improved people's health in Southern states, resulting in fewer declines in people's health. The study published in Health Affairs finds that Medicaid expansion made declines in health status 1.8 percentage points less likely in states that expanded the medical coverage. (Sullivan, 1/7)

Des Moines Register: Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds Considers Legislative Action To Ensure Medicaid Providers Are Paid On Time
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said Tuesday that she wants to give the state more power to make sure the insurers working with Iowa's privatized Medicaid program pay health care providers on time. "We've got some ideas going into the next legislative session. I'm not going to talk about those today," Reynolds said. Last week, state health officials for the first time announced plans to withhold money from a private insurance company because of unresolved issues over payments to Medicaid health providers. (Rodriguez, 1/7)

KCUR: Abortion, Medicaid, Marijuana Are Among 2020 Health Care Hot Buttons In Missouri And Kansas
Kansas and Missouri remain among the shrinking minority of states that never expanded Medicaid. Pressure is mounting that could force political compromise in Topeka soon. Meanwhile, Missouri is down to one abortion clinic, fighting state efforts to strip its license. In Kansas, abortion foes are gearing up to ask Kansans to change their state's constitution after the Kansas Supreme Court ruled last year that women have the right to terminate a pregnancy. (Llopis-Jepsen, Margolies and Smith, 1/7)

Kaiser Health News: 5 Things To Know As California Starts Screening Children For Toxic Stress
Starting this year, routine pediatric visits for millions of California children could involve questions about touchy family topics, such as divorce, unstable housing or a parent who struggles with alcoholism. California now will pay doctors to screen patients for traumatic events known as adverse childhood experiences, or ACEs, if the patient is covered by Medi-Cal — the state's version of Medicaid for low-income families. (Ostrov, 1/8)

Administration News

8. FEMA Details U.S.' Vulnerability To Natural Disasters, Terrorism' In Annual Report

Advocates decried the annual National Preparedness Report because it didn't mention climate change, which experts say exacerbated the deadly wildfires and storms of recent years. Other administration news focuses on water pollution and a case against the "public benefits" immigration rule.

E&E News: Report Detailing U.S. Threats Ignores Climate Change
The Trump administration's latest National Preparedness Report, which describes the greatest threats and hazards to the country, says nothing about climate change, drought or sea-level rise. The 2019 report is the eighth annual summary of U.S. vulnerability to threats such as disasters and terrorism but the first to eschew the word "climate," except for one reference to "school climate" in a section on preventing school violence. (Frank, 1/7)

Wyoming Public Radio: Trump Administration's Latest Disaster Preparedness Report Omits Climate Change
The 60-page report, prepared by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, mentions the devastating wildfires that mostly destroyed Paradise, Calif., in 2017. It also nods at severe hurricanes and floods. But it omits the role climate change has played in exacerbating such disasters. Abigail Dennis, a spokesperson for FEMA, wrote in an email that emergency managers need to be prepared for disasters regardless of the reasons why the climate is changing. (Hegyi, 1/7)

St. Louis Public Radio: With More Flooding Possible This Year, FEMA Urges Residents To Get Flood Insurance
Since last spring, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has paid nearly $70 million to Missouri residents who filed flood insurance claims. Payments are likely to keep accumulating, as claims are still being processed and more flooding could occur this year. The National Weather Service predicts that above-average precipitation and abnormally moist ground conditions in the Upper Midwest this winter could increase the chance of major flooding in the St. Louis region in the spring. (Chen, 1/8)

NBC News: Trump's Former Pick To Lead FEMA Resigns From Agency
A top official at the Federal Emergency Management Agency resigned in December, four months after a background investigation derailed his nomination to lead the agency, according to a letter obtained Monday by NBC News. In the Dec. 20 letter, the official, Jeffrey Byard said that he "had the privilege of leading the finest workforce during the most impactful natural disaster period in our nation's history." (Strickler and Stelloh, 1/6)

The Associated Press: Last US-Wide Block On Trump Immigrant Policy Under Appeal
A federal appeals court is considering whether to lift the final nationwide temporary injunction against a Trump administration policy that would deny green cards to immigrants over their use of public benefits. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan heard arguments Tuesday over keeping or lifting the injunction issued in October by a federal district court in New York that prevented the policy from going into effect across the country while a lawsuit against it is proceeding. (1/7)

9. Earthquake Batters A Puerto Rico That Has Yet To Recover From Hurricane Maria's Bruising

Gov. Wanda Vazquez has declared a state of emergency following a 6.4 earthquake that hit Puerto Rico on Tuesday. The island has been struggling to recover since Hurricanes Irma and Maria wreaked havoc back in 2017.

The New York Times: Puerto Rico Earthquake: Emergency Declared After 6.4 Magnitude Quake
The auditorium where Lenda Torres Rodríguez and some of her neighbors sought refuge on Tuesday after the latest in a series of earthquakes convulsed Puerto Rico seemed almost as unreliable as the houses they had abandoned. Every time a new aftershock hit, the windows made ominous cracking sounds. So they huddled outside on beach chairs, or hunkered down in their cars, waiting for help from the government that by Tuesday evening had still not arrived. "This is scarier than the water Maria brought," said Ms. Torres, 44, recalling the last epic disaster that drove her from her home, Hurricane Maria in 2017. (Ayala, Mazzei, Robles and Garcia, 1/7)

Reuters: 'Everyone's Scared'-Puerto Rico Declares Emergency After Earthquakes
Puerto Rico Governor Wanda Vazquez declared a state of emergency on Tuesday after a series of earthquakes killed at least one person, toppled buildings and knocked out power to nearly the entire island of more than 3 million people. The largest of the quakes in the U.S. territory registered at magnitude 6.4, the most powerful to hit the Caribbean island in 102 years. (Ortiz, 1/8)

Opioid Crisis

10. Major Pharmacy Chains Claim Doctors, Other Providers Are Responsible For Opioid Crisis In New Lawsuit

"The pharmacist is not supposed to be second guessing the medical necessity of the doctor's prescription," said Timothy Johnson, an attorney for Discount Drug Mart. Walgreens, CVS, Rite Aid, Walmart and others who have found themselves in the cross hairs over who was responsible for curbing the opioid crisis filed their own suit against providers.

The Associated Press: Pharmacies Say Prescribers Bear Opioid Crisis Responsibility
Doctors and other healthcare practitioners who write prescriptions bear ultimate responsibility for improper distribution of opioids to patients, not pharmacists who are obliged to fill those prescriptions, a series of pharmacy chains argued in federal court. The filings, which were submitted Monday to the federal judge in Cleveland who has been overseeing the national opioid lawsuits, asked the judge to rule in the pharmacies' favor and reject claims brought by some Ohio counties. The judge has scheduled an October trial for claims against CVS, Rite Aid, Walgreens, HBC and Discount Drug Mart. (Welsh-Huggins, 1/7)

The Washington Post: Major Drugstore Chains Sue Doctors In Sprawling Federal Opioid Case
"In a misguided hunt for deep pockets, without regard to actual fault or liability, plaintiff has elected not to sue any of these other parties," attorneys for drugstore chains said in the papers. Drug manufacturers and distributors agreed or were ordered to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements and one court verdict reached in state and federal courts last year. But the big pharmacy chains have not been held liable so far. (Bernstein, 1/7)

In other news on the opioid crisis —

North Carolina Health News: Dentists Join AG In Fighting NC's Opioid Crisis
Dan Cook, an oral surgeon based in Denver, N.C., used to send patients whose wisdom teeth he had just pulled out the door with prescriptions for opioid pain medication to last four days. That added up to about 21 pills per patient, Cook told media crews gathered several weeks ago in the lobby of a south Charlotte Carolinas Center for Oral & Facial Surgery. ...Now as dentists in this state join other health care providers squaring off against the deadly opioid epidemic, they're looking for different ways to help patients manage pain after wisdom teeth extractions and other oral surgeries. (Blythe, 1/8)

Tampa Bay Times: Thousands Of Opioid Deaths Are Never Counted By Feds, USF Study Says
Drug overdose data is greatly underreported in nationwide statistics, a researcher at the University of South Florida has found. Troy Quast, an associate professor at the USF College of Public Health, found that data related to overdose deaths vary significantly from state to state, masking the size of the crisis. Overdoses are a "bigger problem" than federal statistics make them appear, he said. (Griffin, 1/8)

Politico Pro: NIDA Director: New Pain Meds Are Still Years Away
It will likely take another five to 10 years before new pain medicines that could replace today's opioids could reach the market, said Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. That's the best-case scenario, Volkow told POLITICO in a wide-ranging interview Tuesday. It assumes that medicines that drugmakers already have in phase two and three clinical trials prove to be safe and effective and get FDA approval in five to eight years. (Owermohle and Karlin-Smith, 1/7)

Public Health And Education

11. Sweeping 'Reassuring' Study Concludes There's No Strong Link Between Baby Powder And Ovarian Cancer

These kinds of observational studies cannot determine cause and effect, but a more rigorous study isn't likely to be done. "This represents the best data we have on the topic," said the study's lead author Katie O'Brien. The researchers did find hints of a potentially small increased risk for cancer for women who had never had a hysterectomy or fallopian tube-tying surgery.

The Associated Press: Big Study Finds No Strong Sign Linking Baby Powder & Cancer
U.S. government-led research found no strong evidence linking baby powder with ovarian cancer in the largest analysis to look at the question. The findings were called "overall reassuring" in an editorial published Tuesday with the study in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The analysis involving 250,000 women isn't definitive but more conclusive research probably isn't feasible because a dwindling number of women use powder for personal hygiene, the editorial said. (Tanner, 1/7)

NPR: Study Finds Talcum Powder Not Likely A Risk For Ovarian Cancer
Researchers from NIH's National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Cancer Institute conducted the largest study to date of genital powder use and ovarian cancer. The study, published Tuesday in JAMA, used data from 252,745 women who answered questions about whether they used powder on their genitals. This was a pooled analysis of four large studies gathering data about the frequency and length of time women used the powder. (Neighmond, 1/7)

Bloomberg: Does Baby Powder From J&J Lead To Cancer? New Study On Talc Use
"Overall, women can be very reassured by this," said Dana Gossett, chief of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of California, San Francisco, who co-authored an editorial accompanying the new research. "The use of genital powders is unlikely to cause a significant increase in ovarian cancer risk." (Langreth and Feeley, 1/7)

CNN: Study Finds No Statistically Significant Link Between Talc Powder And Ovarian Cancer
This observational study has limitations. The way the groups assessed exposure and frequency of use varied, so it's hard to know if there is a connection to how much a person uses the powder and ovarian cancer. The data didn't capture what types of powder women used. All four sets of data included mostly white, well-educated women, half of whom had BMI less than 25, meaning they were not overweight, so it's it's not clear if this result can be generalized to other demographics. (Christensen, 1/7)

12. Can Darwin's Theory Of Evolution Better Help Scientists Battle Ever-Mutating Cancer Cells?

The cutting-edge strategy seeks to reduce the treatable cancer cells, stop treatment, and wait for those cells to grow back before treating them again, recognizing that cancer cells are always evolving to fit their environment. In other public health news: a cancer moonshot, the emerging virus in China, how to pack for hospital stays, male infertility, processed food and obesity, dementia, and more.

The Wall Street Journal: A New Approach To Cancer Treatment Draws Lessons From Darwin
A nascent approach to cancer treatment is using lessons from Darwin's theory of evolution. Called adaptive therapy, the treatment stems from the recognition that cancerous cells, just like other forms of life, mutate and evolve in response to a changing environment. Traditional cancer treatment—continuously bombarding cancer cells with drugs—can encourage drug-resistant cells to multiply, eventually creating an untreatable tumor. Adaptive therapy doesn't try to eradicate the entire cancer. (Abbott, 1/7)

Stat: Progress In Patrick Soon-Shiong's 2020 'Cancer Moonshot' Is Hard To Find
In 2016, the biotech billionaire Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong set himself a deadline: By 2020, he would transform the fight against cancer. With the help of a coalition of big-name companies, researchers, and physicians, Soon-Shiong vowed, he would enroll 20,000 cancer patients in clinical trials and develop an effective vaccine to treat the disease. (Robbins, 1/8)

The Washington Post: China Virus: Specter Of New Illness Emerging From Wuhan Raises Alarms Across Asia
An outbreak of an unidentified and possibly new viral disease in central China is prompting officials across Asia to take heightened precautions ahead of the busy Lunar New Year travel season. Officials in Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Thailand and the Philippines said in recent days they will begin setting up quarantine zones or scanning passengers from China for signs of fever or other pneumonialike symptoms that may indicate a new disease possibly linked to a wild animal market in Wuhan. (Shih and Sun, 1/8)

The New York Times: How To Pack A Go Bag For Extended Hospital Stays
When an ambulance came to rush Amy Goyer's mother to the hospital one night in 2012, there wasn't time to pack a bag. Ms. Goyer grabbed a few essentials and tailed the emergency vehicle in her car. A previous stroke had left Ms. Goyer's mother mostly uncommunicative, and her father's dementia made it hard for him to recall important details. They were both counting on their daughter to field questions from her mother's doctors. (Witman, 1/7)

The Associated Press: Male Infertility Got No Boost From Zinc, Folic Acid In Study
A rigorous U.S. government-led study found that zinc and folic acid supplements don't boost men's fertility, despite promotional claims that they do. The mineral and the vitamin are important for sperm production and are found in many common foods. Previous studies on whether over-the-counter supplements might boost sperm health have had conflicting results. (1/7)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Study: More Processed Foods May Make U.S. Obesity More Widespread
A recent study revealed that as more U.S. residents are consuming processed foods, obesity may become more widespread. The findings were published in the journal, "Current Treatment Options in Gastroenterology." In it, researcher Leigh A. Frame, Ph.D. surveyed food trends and discovered people are putting cheaper, more convenient food first. But that food is also highly processed. (Willis, 1/7)

CNN: Lifestyle Changes May Combat A Dementia That Strikes People In Their 40s And 50s
Frontotemporal dementia strikes early, typically in the 50s, sometimes as young as age 45. Unlike Alzheimer's, it doesn't affect memory, instead attacking the parts of the brain which control thinking, reasoning and emotions. The first symptom is likely a loss of interest in life and the well-being of others. A person might ignore their spouse or children's feelings, get uncharacteristically frustrated and say or do inappropriate things -- such as laugh at a funeral. (LaMotte, 1/8)

The New York Times: How 'Muscle Confusion' Might Help Your Workouts
Here are a few questions to consider as you plan your 2020 exercise routines: Are your muscles confused? Should they be? And just how do we confuse our muscles, anyway? These concerns are at the heart of a timely new study of what happens when we add variety to our gym workouts and, in the process, "confuse" our muscles. The study finds that shifting, quicksilver workouts can yield some benefits that more rote regimens do not, but the benefits may not be the ones that most of us would expect. (Reynolds, 1/8)

NPR: 'Boys & Sex' Author Peggy Orenstein Investigates The Secret Lives Of Young Men
Author Peggy Orenstein knows that talking to your son about sex isn't easy: "I know for a lot of parents, you would rather poke yourself in the eye with a fork than speak directly to your son about sex — and probably he would rather poke himself in the eye with a fork as well," she says. But we don't have "the luxury" to continue avoiding this conversation, she says. "If we don't talk to our kids, the media is going to educate them for us, and we are not going to love the result." (Gross, 1/7)

The Washington Post: Man Had Open-Heart Surgery Because Of Popcorn Stuck Between Teeth
An Englishman underwent open-heart surgery, and it all started with a piece of popcorn firmly lodged between his teeth. Adam Martin, a 41-year-old who lives in the fishing village of Coverack, Cornwall, is still recovering from multiple surgeries, after an infection carried through his blood targeted his heart, his wife said. It began when Martin irritated his gums while trying to pry out the husk of a popcorn kernel. (Beachum, 1/7)

CNN: Allergic To Dogs? It May Only Be The Males
Love dogs but find yourself uncontrollably sneezing around some of them? There might be a solution that's easier than allergy shots. Neuter your male pup or opt for a female dog. "Up to 30% of people who are allergic to dogs are actually allergic to one specific protein that's made in the prostate of a dog," said Dr. Lakiea Wright, an allergist at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. (LaMotte, 1/7)

Women's Health

13. Authorities Charge 18-Year-Old With Throwing Lit Incendiary Device At A Planned Parenthood Facility In Delaware

Video surveillance recorded Samuel James Gulick standing on the porch of the Planned Parenthood building and spray-painting in red letters the Crusader slogan "Deus vult" (God wills it).

The New York Times: Man Charged With Throwing Lit Incendiary Device At Planned Parenthood
The authorities have charged an 18-year-old accused of lighting an incendiary device and throwing it at a Planned Parenthood building in Delaware. The teenager, Samuel James Gulick, of Middletown, Del., was charged on Monday with three counts: maliciously damaging a building used in interstate commerce through the use of fire or destructive device; intentionally damaging a facility that provides reproductive health services; and possession of an unregistered destructive device under the National Firearms Act, according to a news release from the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Delaware. (Diaz, 1/7)

BuzzFeed: Man Charged With Attacking Planned Parenthood Site
Video surveillance captured the suspect driving by the building 10 minutes before the attack. A few minutes later, Gulick approaches the facility, pulls something out of a plastic bag, and scrawls "Deus Vult" in red letters on the front wall, right beneath a blue Planned Parenthood sign that reads "Health Care Happens Here." The phrase means "God Wills It" and started as a meme among Trump supporters in 2016, referencing a holy war between Muslims and Christians.Gulick then steps off the porch and waits until a car passes before lighting an object on fire and lobbing it at the window, according to the criminal complaint. The "destructive device" explodes and begins to burn as Gulick runs away. The fire, however, self-extinguishes in about one minute. (Sacks and Broderick, 1/7)

Delaware News Journal: Middletown Man Charged After Explosive Damages Newark Planned Parenthood
Law enforcement identified a car operated by Gulick fleeing the scene through video surveillance taken from another business across the street, court documents said. Law enforcement also identified Gulick through social media postings attributed to him, including posts containing the phrase "Deus Vult" and several anti-abortion posts, court documents said. "Deus Vult" is Latin for "God wills [it]," the old battle cry of the Crusaders, which has been co-opted by the alt-right. Gulick was arrested by the FBI without incident on Saturday. (Perez, 1/6)

In other news —

Cincinnati Enquirer: Will Cincinnati's Sole Abortion Clinic Close? Maybe Not.
Ohio took the first step toward closing Cincinnati's sole abortion clinic, but the location's fate might not be known for months. Planned Parenthood's Mount Auburn Health Center is one of six remaining surgical abortion clinics in the state, a number that has dwindled amid restrictions passed by the GOP-controlled state Legislature. If the location were to close, Cincinnati would become one of the largest metropolitan areas in the country without an abortion clinic. (Balmert, 1/7)

State Watch

14. Judge 'Inclined To Accept' USC's Landmark $215M Settlement Over Allegations Against Campus Gynecologist

Under the terms of the settlement, each woman who saw Dr. George Tyndall during his time at USC would be guaranteed a $2,500 payment, whether or not she had alleged abuse. Women who allege the worst abuse and would be willing to be screened by a psychologist could be eligible for payments of up to $250,000.

The New York Times: Judge Signals Approval Of U.S.C.'s $215 Million Settlement With Ex-Gynecologist's Patients
A federal judge in Los Angeles said this week that he was inclined to give final approval to the University of Southern California's $215 million class-action settlement with former patients of Dr. George Tyndall, the campus gynecologist accused of sexual misconduct involving hundreds of patients during his decades-long tenure. The judge, Stephen V. Wilson of United States District Court, said in court on Monday that he was "inclined to accept" the settlement, which would clear the way for the university to start writing checks to more than 18,000 women who saw Dr. Tyndall during their time at the university, according to lawyers involved in the case. (Padilla, 1/7)

The Associated Press: Judge To OK $215 Million Settlement For USC Gynecologist's Patients
In a statement, USC said it was pleased with the decision, calling it a settlement that "provides respectful and confidential relief to Tyndall patients at the student health center and formalizes a broad array of campus reforms." Tyndall will not contribute to the settlement, under its terms, nor will he admit liability or wrongdoing. His attorney said Monday that her client continues to deny wrongdoing. (1/7)

Los Angeles Times: Judge Signals His Approval Of Landmark USC Settlement To Ex-Gynecologist's Patients
Finalizing the settlement closes the door to a large portion of USC's legal exposure, but it does not end the institution's mounting costs related to the Tyndall scandal. The university's handling of the student health doctor, first exposed by an investigation by The Times, sparked a Department of Education probe and prompted more than 600 plaintiffs to file state court lawsuits that are still pending. (Hamilton, 1/6)

15. State Highlights: Illinois Bills Focus On Ending Overuse Of Isolation, Restraints In Schools; Lawmakers Neglected To Improve Finances At Miss. Jails Where Deaths Occurred, Report Says

Media outlets report on news from Illinois, Mississippi, Texas, Georgia, Louisiana, Alabama, New York, Connecticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Indiana, California, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Missouri, Florida, Texas and Iowa.

ProPublica/Chicago Tribune: Educators Push To Ban Seclusion Of Students And Shift School Culture
Educators testifying before Illinois lawmakers Tuesday urged an end to the practice of secluding students inside small rooms but said it would take a cultural shift as well as a new law to end years of misuse. At the first legislative hearing on two reform bills — one in the House, one in the Senate — educators and advocates also pointed to the need for state officials to hold schools accountable and require robust training for employees. (Cohen and Richards, 1/7)

ProPublica: Lawmakers Refused To Increase An Infamous Prison's Funding. Then, Chaos Erupted.
One prisoner strangled another to death while other inmates cheered the killing. Two convicts escaped a dilapidated building by walking out an open door. Maximum-security detainees freely roamed hallways, beating and threatening others. Violence has roiled the Mississippi prison system for more than a week, with state corrections officials imposing a statewide lockdown and a county coroner declaring that gangs in the prisons have launched an all-out war against one another. (Mitchell, 1/8)

CNN: Northeast Struck By Flu As Virus Sets Tragic Record For Children Around The Country
As flu reaches high levels in New York and other parts of the Northeast, this season has set a tragic record for children. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says 27 children in the United States have died of the flu so far this season. That's the highest number of child flu deaths at this point in the season since the CDC started keeping records 17 years ago. (Cohen, 1/7)

The Associated Press: Health Center Employee Accused Of Raping Disabled Woman
A North Carolina man who worked at a behavioral health center raped a 19-year-old with disabilities, authorities said. Timothy Lynn Alford, 53, of Burlington was arrested Monday and charged with second-degree forcible rape and misdemeanor sexual battery, according to a news release from the Alamance County Sheriff's Office. The sheriff's office said it received a sexual assault complaint involving a disabled female on Aug. 21, 2018. (1/7)

Boston Globe: Weight-Loss Balloon Company Gets Another $34M In Funding
Allurion Technologies has obtained another $34 million in funding as the venture-backed Natick startup prepares to seek US approval this year for its medical device to help people lose weight. The sum includes $20 million in venture capital from investors such as New Hampshire-based Novalis LifeSciences and Boston-based Romulus Capital. (Saltzman, 1/7)

Modern Healthcare: Feds Accuse Indiana Hospital System Of Violating Stark Law
The U.S. Justice Department has intervened in a whistleblower lawsuit alleging Community Health Network broke the law by billing Medicare for services delivered by physicians who had improper financial relationships with the Indiana hospital system. Since at least 2008, Community Health Network knowingly paid employed physicians a salary above fair market value and awarded bonuses based on the referrals they made to the hospital system, in violation of the Stark law, according to the complaint-in-intervention filed Jan. 6 in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis. (Livingston, 1/7)

San Francisco Chronicle: California Will Open Vacant State Land For Homeless Shelters Under Newsom Order
California will open vacant state land to emergency shelters for homeless people under an executive order that Gov. Gavin Newsom intends to sign Wednesday. The order, which Newsom announced ahead of his annual budget plan due this week, would also create a fund to pay rent and build affordable housing for homeless people. The governor will propose to start the fund with $750 million in taxpayer money, which the Legislature would have to approve. (Koseff and Fagan, 1/8)

San Francisco Chronicle: SF's Laguna Honda Hospital Patient Files Elder Abuse Suit Following Scandal
A resident at Laguna Honda Hospital has filed the first lawsuit against the facility following the patient abuse scandal that roiled the city last year, alleging hospital staffers secretly took photographs of his anal and genital areas and disseminated them for their own entertainment. The suit, filed Monday in San Francisco County Superior Court, comes after a series of bombshell allegations of similar behavior disclosed last year by the city attorney's office and Department of Public Health. (Cassidy, 1/7)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Maricopa Assessor Paul Petersen Resigns Ahead Of Adoption Fraud Trial
Maricopa County Assessor Paul Petersen, who faces dozens of felony charges in an adoption fraud scheme, resigned from his county job Tuesday. Petersen's resignation comes after he pledged for months that he would not resign.In a statement, Petersen said he is an "innocent man, but the media and the Board of Supervisors have presumed my guilt rather than my innocence in this matter." (Boehm, 1/7)

MPR: Minn. Health Officials Concerned About Radon's Threat To Renters, Low-Income People
The Minnesota Department of Health warns renters and residents of low income neighborhoods are more likely to be exposed to radon, an odorless gas that comes from the soil around a building and can lead to lung cancer. Health officials say about 40 percent of Minnesota homes have dangerous radon levels and every home should be tested. But the health department says radon testing and remediation efforts are much less common in neighborhoods with many renters and low-income households. (Moylan, 1/7)

St. Louis Post Dispatch: Siteman Cancer Center Celebrates Opening New Facility In Metro East
Siteman Cancer Center celebrated Tuesday the opening of its newest facility with hospital officials, staff, community members and patients at Memorial Hospital East. The site in Shiloh is the fifth Siteman Cancer satellite facility in the metropolitan area. It will be open to patients Jan. 13. Siteman is based at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. (Munz, 1/7)

Health News Florida: State Moves Forward With CBD Regulations
As sales boom in retail establishments throughout Florida, state regulators are now keeping tabs on CBD products that marketers claim can ease arthritis, anxiety and sleeplessness. The items --- including gummy bears, chocolates and dog treats --- are part of a national mania for CBD, a non-euphoric compound derived from cannabis plants. (Kam, 1/7)

Texas Tribune: Texas Arrested A Man For Hauling Marijuana. Lab Tests Say It Was Hemp.
Last month, a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper arrested a driver who the agency claimed was hauling more than a ton of marijuana through the state near Amarillo. Aneudy Gonzalez was jailed for nearly a month on federal charges, and the plant material was seized. But last week, the 39-year-old was released from jail, his case was dismissed and the cargo is expected to be returned. The reason? Lab results indicate the substance was not marijuana but legal hemp. (McCullough, 1/7)

Iowa Public Radio: Iowa Law Enforcement Keeping An Eye On Recreational Pot In Illinois
As of the New Year, Iowans can go just over the Mississippi River into neighboring Illinois to buy recreational marijuana. Now that sales are legal in the Prairie State, some officials in Iowa are warning residents to be mindful of state law. Despite the law change in Illinois, it is still illegal to transport the drug across state lines or to drive impaired. (Payne, 1/7)

Prescription Drug Watch

16. The Brutal, Decade-Long Fight To Get This Small, Straightforward Drug Pricing Bill Passed

Read about the biggest pharmaceutical development and pricing stories from the past week in KHN's Prescription Drug Watch roundup.

Stat: Washington Took A Decade To Approve An Obscure Drug-Pricing Bill. That's A Bad Omen For More Ambitious Reforms
After a grueling, decadelong fight, President Trump last month signed a new law that aims to help lower drug prices — the first substantial piece of legislation on that issue that's made it to his desk. But the bill's yearslong struggle to make it to the president's desk highlights a jarring reality in Washington: Even when a drug pricing bill is relatively straightforward and bolstered by broad bipartisan support, even when hospitals, insurers, doctors and patient groups all back it, even when nearly everyone in Washington wants to lower drug prices, it takes years to get anything done. (Florko, 1/7)

The Baltimore Sun: Priceless Cure For Maryland Baby Cost $2.1 Million, But Insurer Paid — And Now She's Expected To Live
Four-month-old Ainsley Cardente smiles, enjoys "helicopter" rides from her mom and protests when lunch is late. Perfectly ordinary, all of it. And her life is expected to remain that way thanks to a $2.1 million drug recently infused into her little body by doctors from Johns Hopkins Hospital. Ainsley was born with a rare genetic disorder called spinal muscular atrophy, or SMA, that kills most babies by age 2. Rarely, there are less severe versions like the one that afflicts Ainsley that lead to a slower but still catastrophic decline. (Cohn, 1/3)

The Wall Street Journal: Deep Genomics Gathers $40 Million For AI-Based Drug Discovery
Deep Genomics Inc. has raised $40 million in venture capital to put treatments discovered through its artificial intelligence-based drug-discovery platform to the test in human studies. Several biotechnology startups aim to use artificial intelligence to speed the discovery of new medicines. They include Recursion Pharmaceuticals Inc., which secured $121 million in July 2019 to expand its machine learning-enabled drug-discovery platform and progress a pipeline of drugs. (Gormley, 1/7)

Stat: Apellis Pharmaceuticals' Drug Candidate Outperforms Alexion's Soliris In A Clinical Trial Comparing The Two
Apellis Pharmaceuticals revealed data from a late-stage clinical trial on Tuesday showing its experimental drug candidate appears to treat a rare blood condition better than a blockbuster Alexion drug. The drug candidate, known as pegcetacoplan, takes aim at a genetic disease known as paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria, or PNH. People with the condition are missing certain protective proteins on red blood cells that would otherwise prevent their immune systems from attacking the cells. About 5,000 Americans have the condition. (Sheridan, 1/7)

Health News Florida: Bill Would Allow Vending Machines For Prescription Drugs
The automated pharmacy systems would operate like vending machines for prescription drugs. The machines wouldn't have to be located at a pharmacy so they could be placed in areas where access to medications is limited. And the kiosks could operate 24-hours a day, 7 days a week, according to HB 59 sponsor, Rep. Matt Willhite, a Palm Beach Democrat. (Ochoa, 1/6)

The CT Mirror: Blumenthal Says Lilly's Lispro Is A 'Bait And Switch' Insulin For Diabetics
Last March, under political pressure to cut the price of the life-saving drug, Eli Lilly pledged to distribute a generic form of its brand name, $300-per-vial insulin drug, Humalog, at half the price. At the end of the year, Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Warren, D-Mass., found that Lispro was not available in 83% of the pharmacies surveyed and many pharmacists were unaware of, or not adequately informing their customers, about the availability of the lower-cost Lispro. (Radelat, 1/3)

Stat: 3 Drug Pricing Policy Experiments To Watch In 2020
Politicians spent the better part of 2019 bickering over the best way to lower drug prices. But in the meantime, states, advocates — even the drug and insurance industries — were devising novel strategies for solving this perplexing challenge. 2020 will be the year many of those experimental ideas are tested. If they pan out, they'll undoubtedly be models for other states or companies — and perhaps serve as inspiration for Washington, too. Below, STAT looks at three of the most interesting ideas. (Florko, 1/2)

Stat: The VA Approach To Buying Drugs Means Patients Are Less Likely To Skip Medications Due To Cost
As U.S. policy makers grapple with ways to widen access to medicines, a new study suggests that a model used by the Department of Veterans Affairs could improve patient adherence and presumably lower health care costs. To wit, patients who obtain prescription drugs from the Veterans Health Administration were less likely than other insured Americans to skip doses or medicines altogether. They were also less likely to delay filling prescriptions because they were unable to afford them. Moreover, the VA system appeared to reduce racial and economic disparities in accessing medicines. (Silverman, 1/6)

The Wall Street Journal: Drug Prices Climb By 5.8% On Average, Less Than Last Year
Pharmaceutical companies started 2020 by raising the prices of hundreds of drugs an average of 5.8%, according to a new analysis, a smaller increase than a year prior as the industry faces growing scrutiny from patients, lawmakers and health plans. Pfizer Inc. led the way, including increasing prices by over 9% on more than 40 products. The drug industry traditionally sets prices for its therapies at the start of the year and again in the middle of the year. (Hopkins, 1/2)

The Wall Street Journal: Antibiotic Makers Struggle, Hurting War On Superbugs
The world desperately needs new antibiotics to tackle the rising threat of drug-resistant superbugs, but there is little reward for doing so. Instead, the companies that have stepped up to the challenge are going bust. Makers of newly approved antibiotic drugs are struggling to generate sales because doctors prescribe the treatments sparingly. The new drugs compete with older, cheaper products, and patients typically take them for only a week or two at a time. (Roland, 1/5)

17. Perspectives: At The Dawn Of A Golden Age Of Medicine, Pharma Promises To Put Patients First

Read recent commentaries about drug-cost issues.

Stat: A New Biotech And Pharma Industry Commitment To Patients, Public
We the undersigned leaders in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, academia, and life science investors, recognize that at this pivotal moment in the history of our industry we are at the dawn of a golden age of medicine. We will soon have the ability to treat and cure diseases that have long been untreatable and incurable. Our industry is unique. We save, extend, and enhance lives by alleviating the scourge of disease. Our mission is to change the course of each individual's life for the better. To achieve this, we acknowledge that we have a moral obligation to develop the best medicines and ensure that every person who may benefit has access to them. (215 biopharma CEOs and industry leaders, 1/8)

NBC News: Prescription Drug Costs In Americans Are Sky-High. And Yes, Big Pharma Greed Is To Blame.
As debates around drug prices heat up on the presidential campaign trail, the House of Representatives voted in December to pass Speaker Nancy Pelosi's drug bill, which contains key provisions allowing the government to negotiate lower prices on at least 50 drugs each year. This would come as a welcome relief to Americans who pay more per capita for prescription drugs than our wealthy global peers. Yet many believe the Republican-controlled Senate is likely to bury the bill. Once again, lobbyists for the pharmaceutical industry are committed to blocking the way, arguing that prices must be kept high in order for firms to invest in new drugs through big research and development programs. (Lynn Stuart Parramore, 1/2)

Stat: Antibiotics Need A Special Place In The Drug Pricing Debate
Melinta Therapeutics, one of the few companies to recently bring a new antibiotic to market, filed for bankruptcy at the end of December. This news comes less than a year after another antibiotic developer, Achaogen, did the same thing. More than 90% of antibiotics in the pipeline today are being developed by small companies like these, not by the pharmaceutical giants that once dominated the field. And with antibiotic prices low and profit margins narrow, many small companies just can't stay afloat. (Allan Coukell, 1/7)

Bloomberg: Alexion Soliris $500,000 Price Challenged By Apellis Alternative
Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s Soliris may be the most successful rare-disease medicine in history. Its approval in multiple conditions and an annual price tag that can exceed $500,000 propelled the drug to more than $3 billion in sales last year. Now, for the first time, it looks like Alexion's blockbuster will face serious competition. (Max Nisen, 1/7)

The Baltimore Sun: Miracle Drugs Can't Help If They Aren't Affordable
I was very happy to read the article about how a new drug provided a much needed cure for a two-year-old Maryland child with a rare disease ("Priceless cure for Maryland baby cost $2.1 million, but insurer paid — and now she's expected to live," Jan. 3). However, unlike in other countries where people pay a lot less for drugs such as the one described in the article, which cost $2.1 million, there is no one at the United States federal level working to make sure that these lifesaving drugs are affordable for Americans. As a result, about a quarter of people in our country can't afford the drugs they need and all of us pay higher insurance premiums when our health insurance companies have to pay exorbitant prices to the drug corporations. Drugs don't work if people can't afford them. (Vincent DeMarco, 1/6)

Editorials And Opinions

18. Viewpoints: Lessons On The Importance Of Understanding Medicare's Quietly Declining Support Of Seniors; Families' Financial Stability Very Shaky Until Surprise Medical Billing Is Stopped

Opinion writers weigh in on ways to lower health care costs and other health issues.

The Washington Post: Trump Claims He Wants To Protect Seniors. He's Actually Their Worst Enemy.
One reason Donald Trump is president and Hillary Clinton is not is because of the support of seniors. He received a majority of the vote from people over the age of 65 in 2016. He presented himself as their ally, vowing to protect Social Security and Medicare. But Trump is not the best friend of senior voters. He's actually just about their worst enemy. If he's elected to a second term, older Americans — and all those who care about them — will likely learn that the hard way. (Helaine Olen, 1/7)

The Hill: Congress Must Address Surprise Medical Billing In 2020 — And Change Its Approach
Of the many problem areas that patients face as they navigate the health care system, the issue of unexpectedly high medical bills has been gaining more attention as more patients and their families are impacted. The practice of "surprise medical billing" by the health care industry can be as devastating to many American families as the injury or illness that affected them to begin with. When individuals unexpectedly visit the emergency room, for example, they tend to be under the impression that any tests, treatments, medications or doctor services will be covered by their insurance company. (Mario H. Lopez, 1/7)

Nashville Tennessean: Health Care Knowledge Critical For Patients' Market Experience
Reductions in waste represent an enormous potential for the U.S. health system. Previous estimates claim that waste in U.S. healthcare could range between $500 billion to over $1.2 trillion per year, which could represent nearly one-third of all healthcare expenditures.While reducing wasteful spending in healthcare is unlikely to receive direct pushback from special interests, it does present a potential conundrum. Healthcare providers and technology manufacturers that depend on revenues at the current rates to support their business and future innovations would be reticent to accept potential losses of one-third or more. (William V. Padula and Harold E. Ford Jr., 1/7)

USA Today: New Age And Flavor Rules On Smoking And Vaping Could Help Reduce Both
The Food and Drug Administration late last week announced its ban on the sale of mint- and fruit-flavored cartridge-based e-cigarettes, a move sure to put the FDA in the crosshairs of the vaping industry. I agree with the ban, because too many teens are using multiple flavored e-cigarette cartridges per day, and mint is the most popular Juul flavor. But menthol is becoming more popular, and the ban doesn't cover it. In fact, according to a new JAMA study based on the 2019 National Youth Tobacco Survey, both mint and menthol flavored e-cigarette use rose sharply after Juul restricted the availability of other flavors. (Marc Siegel, 1/7)

Stat: Medicare Policy On Antirejection Drugs Imperils Kidney Transplants
As Medicare law currently stands, patients' lives are at risk, donor kidneys are being neglected, and taxpayer money is being squandered. It's time for change. That's why I'm testifying before Congress Wednesday in support of lifetime Medicare coverage of immunosuppressive medications for kidney transplant recipients. As a transplant surgeon for nearly 20 years, I have witnessed firsthand the impact of this shortsighted policy. (Matthew Cooper, 1/8)

The New York Times: Before The 'Final Solution' There Was A 'Test Killing'
My first visit to the Aktion T4 killing site at Brandenburg an der Havel was in autumn. My destination, where 9,000 disabled people were murdered as part of the Nazi "euthanasia" program, is embedded in the activities of the town — trams and buses, stores, a bank, a cafe. The buildings that were once the old prison were mostly destroyed during the war. If not for dark gray letters painted on one side of the light gray building — GEDENKSTÄTTE, on one side, and its English translation, MEMORIAL, on another — the site could easily be passed unnoticed. From a distance, it looks prefab, temporary, perhaps an ad hoc extension to an overcrowded school or municipal department. (Kenny Fries, 1/8)

Washington Examiner: The Case For Pre-Abortion Ultrasound Laws
For an unborn child, there is no place more dangerous than the inside of an abortion clinic. Although abortion is sold to the mother under the guise of "choice," the child herself has no voice and no vote as to whether she will live or die .In my three decades serving women in this most vulnerable situation, I've heard countless stories of lives saved through the power of ultrasound. A true and vital "window into the womb," an ultrasound is a unique chance for a mother and her significant others, including the father of the baby, to form a lasting bond with her unborn child. This is why an ultrasound before an abortion is essential. (Anne O'Connor, 1/8)

Seattle Times: Washington's U.S. Representatives Are Wrong To Join Anti-Abortion Push
More than 200 members of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate, all but two of whom are Republicans, clearly declared in a court filing this month their zeal to end abortions outweighs their regard for judicial precedence.Disappointingly, Washington's Republican representatives have all joined the call for the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn decades of abortion rulings. U.S. Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Dan Newhouse signed the legal brief. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, who has a long history of voting and speaking out against abortion rights, said through a spokesperson that she supports the filing. (1/7)

Boston Globe: Let Nurse Practitioners Work Alone
Legislation currently pending on Beacon Hill would move Massachusetts into the mainstream by loosening the restrictions on nurse practitioners, highly trained professionals who are certified to provide primary and specialty care and could easily be treating more of those coughs and muscle cramps than they do now. (1/8)