AP: Key Medicaid Provision In Trump Tax Bill Found To Violate Senate Rules
The Senate parliamentarian has advised that a Medicaid provider tax overhaul central to President Donald Trump’s tax cut and spending bill does not adhere to the chamber’s procedural rules, delivering a crucial blow as Republicans rush to finish the package this week. Guidance from the parliamentarian is rarely ignored and Republican leaders are now forced to consider difficult options. Republicans were counting on big cuts to Medicaid and other programs to offset trillions of dollars in Trump tax breaks, their top priority. Additionally, the parliamentarian, who is the Senate’s chief arbiter of its often complicated rules, advised against various GOP provisions barring certain immigrants from health care programs. (Mascaro, 6/26)

The Hill: How Medicaid Ruling Could Blow Up Senate GOP's Plans On Trump 'Big, Beautiful Bill'
Much of the savings in the bill come from Medicaid cuts, and the ruling impacts several of the largest and most controversial ones, including a plan to slash states’ use of health care provider taxes as well as several measures related to health care for immigrants.That provider tax proposal would have generated hundreds of billions of dollars in savings to offset the cost of the legislation, and MacDonough’s decision is sending Republicans back to the drawing board.  (Swanson, 6/26)

The Hill: John Thune Says He Won't Overrule Senate Parliamentarian On Medicaid Cuts In Trump Bill
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) on Thursday said he will not overrule the parliamentarian after she rejected key Medicaid provisions in the GOP’s tax and spending megabill, dealing a blow to Republicans’ plan to pay for tax cuts in the package. “No. That would not be a good outcome for getting a bill done,” Thune told reporters at the Capitol. Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough rejected a plan that would cap states’ ability to collect more federal Medicaid funding via healthcare care provider taxes. (Weaver, 6/26)

KFF Health News: Thune Says Health Care Often ‘Comes With A Job.’ The Reality’s Not Simple Or Straightforward
Millions of people are expected to lose access to Medicaid and Affordable Care Act marketplace health insurance plans if federal lawmakers approve the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, President Donald Trump’s domestic policy package, which is now moving through the Senate. Senate Majority Leader John Thune discussed health care and the pending legislation in an interview with KOTA, a South Dakota TV station. But he focused on a different kind of health insurance — employer-sponsored insurance. (Zionts, 6/27)

Medicaid news from the states —

North Carolina Health News: ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ Could Unravel N.C.’s Medicaid Expansion 
More than 670,000 North Carolinians have enrolled in Medicaid since the state expanded access to the government-funded health insurance program in December 2023. Medicaid expansion, which passed with bipartisan support after years of resistance from most Republicans in the N.C. General Assembly, raised the state’s strict income threshold for Medicaid. That opened up the program to many working adults with lower incomes who previously made too much money to qualify. (Baxley, 6/27)

The Colorado Sun: Judge Rules In Favor Of UCHealth In Fight With Colorado Over Hospital Fees
UCHealth, Colorado’s largest health care provider, has prevailed for now in an exceptionally complicated fight with the state Medicaid agency over hospital provider fee money — a dispute that could see as much as $50 million a year shift away from public hospitals and move to private hospitals, according to state officials. (Ingold, 6/27)

Modern Healthcare: Nest Health, Imagine Pediatrics Court Medicaid Insurers
Home-based primary care companies promise to do for kids what others are doing for older adults: keep them healthy and out of hospital emergency rooms. Start-up companies such as Nest Health, Imagine Pediatrics and Bluebird Kids Health are partnering with Medicaid managed care organizations to provide a variety of primary care services to low-income kids where they live. Easy access to care could help prevent more costly interventions down the road and save money as states face hundreds of billions of dollars in potential federal funding cuts to their Medicaid programs. (Eastabrook, 6/26)

KFF Health News: Too Sick To Work, Some Americans Worry Trump’s Bill Will Strip Their Health Insurance
Stephanie Ivory counts on Medicaid to get treated for gastrointestinal conditions and a bulging disc that makes standing or sitting for long periods painful. Her disabilities keep her from working, she said. Ivory, 58, of Columbus, Ohio, believes she would be exempt from a requirement that adult Medicaid recipients work, but she worries about the reporting process. “It’s hard enough just renewing Medicaid coverage every six months with the phone calls and paperwork,” she said. (Galewitz and Armour, 6/27)

In Trump administration news —

MedPage Today: Experts Have Questions About FDA's New Priority Review Program
While there's little disagreement that speeding drug approvals would be a good thing, there are more questions than answers about the FDA's new national priority voucher program, experts told MedPage Today. Earlier this month, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, MD, MPH, announced the creation of the Commissioner's National Priority Voucher (CNPV) program .Essentially, companies that meet criteria for aligning with a set of national health priorities will receive a voucher that entitles them to a speedier review -- one that's been advertised as taking 1 to 2 months instead of 10 to 12 months. (Fiore, 6/26)

Stat: NIH Research Funding Gap Grew, Though Grant Reviews Resumed
At his confirmation hearing in March, National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya assured the Senate health committee that he would restart grant reviews, after a months-long suspension by the Trump administration, and get all of the agency’s congressionally appropriated money out the door. When the key committees resumed meeting the next month, it appeared to be a positive step toward restoring the flow of billions of dollars in biomedical research funding to universities and medical schools. (Molteni and Parker, 6/27)

The Washington Post: $10.6B Medicare Scheme Is One Of The Largest Such Busts In U.S. History
Federal prosecutors on Thursday unveiled charges against 11 Eastern Europeans they accused of running a sophisticated, $10.6 billion Medicare fraud scheme in what appears to be one of the largest such busts in government history. According to an indictment unsealed in federal court in New York, the group based in Russia and elsewhere submitted billions of dollars in false health care claims using personal information stolen from more than 1 million Americans in all 50 states. (Roebuck and Diamond, 6/26)

KFF Health News’ ‘What The Health?’ Podcast: Live From Aspen — Governors And An HHS Secretary Sound Off
It’s not exactly news that our nation’s health care system is only a “system” in the most generous sense of the word and that no one entity is really in charge of it. Notwithstanding, there are some specific responsibilities that belong to the federal government, others that belong to the states, and still others that are shared between them. And sometimes people and programs fall through the cracks. (Rovner, 6/26)

Also —

AP: Gun Control Crusader And Former US Rep. Carolyn McCarthy Dead At 81
Former U.S. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, who successfully ran for Congress in 1996 as a crusader for gun control after a mass shooting on a New York commuter train left her husband dead and her son severely wounded, has died. She was 81. News of her death was shared Thursday by several elected officials on her native Long Island and by Jay Jacobs, chair of the New York State Democratic Committee. Details about her death were not immediately available. (Eltman, 6/26)

Stat: RFK Jr.'s Handpicked Panel Advises Ban On Thimerosal In Flu Vaccine 
A federal vaccine advisory panel, which health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently stacked with handpicked members, recommended on Thursday that Americans should not receive flu vaccines containing the preservative thimerosal. (Branswell, 6/26)

The Washington Post: What Is Thimerosal, The Flu Vaccine Ingredient Targeted By RFK Jr.?
Federal vaccine advisers installed by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. voted Thursday to stop recommending influenza vaccines containing thimerosal, a preservative that has been long criticized by anti-vaccine activists. Scientists and public health authorities have deemed thimerosal safe, and the vast majority of flu shots don’t have it. But the removal would probably make flu vaccines more expensive and harder to receive for some Americans, public health experts said. (Weber, 6/26)

Bloomberg: RFK Jr. Advisers Back Merck’s RSV Shot For Babies
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s vaccine advisory committee recommended Merck & Co.’s shot to prevent newborns from getting RSV, alleviating some concerns that the new Department of Health and Human Services secretary’s longstanding criticism of immunizations would interfere with its rollout. Members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted five to two in favor of Enflonsia, a one-time shot that protects against a virus that’s the most common cause of hospitalization in infants. (Garde, 6/26)

About the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices —

Stat: The ACIP, Empowered By RFK Jr., Is Just Getting Started On Vaccines 
The meeting began with an airing of pandemic-era grievances and closed with a move to cement a decades-old, long-dismissed anti-vaccine talking point into U.S. national policy. (Mast, 6/26)

Politico: Kennedy’s Vaccine Panel Met For The First Time. Here’s What To Know
The first meeting of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s handpicked vaccine advisers concluded Thursday — setting the stage to change the childhood vaccine schedule and voting to stop recommending flu shots with an additive that has long been a target of the anti-vaccine movement. The meeting offered a glimpse into how the new Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices will operate — and how federal vaccine policy is beginning to reflect Kennedy’s personal views. (Gardner and Gardner, 6/26)

The Wall Street Journal: Under RFK Jr., The Vaccine Committee’s New Approach Is To Question Everything
Retsef Levi wasn’t convinced. Data for a new drug showed it can help keep babies out of the hospital with respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV. Scientists of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention presented the evidence in a long series of slides to the federal vaccine panel recently remade by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Outside experts considered recommending the drug an obvious choice for the committee. (Essley White, 6/26)

KFF Health News: Kennedy’s Vaccine Advisers Sow Doubts As Scientists Protest US Pivot On Shots
As fired and retired scientists rallied outside in the Atlanta heat, an advisory panel that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. handpicked to replace experts he’d fired earlier met inside the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s headquarters to plan a more skeptical vaccine future. The new members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices began their tenure Wednesday by shifting the posture of the 60-year-old panel from support for vaccine advancement to doubt about the safety and efficacy of well-established and widely administered inoculations. (Allen and Whitehead, 6/27)

RFK Jr. and MAHA —

Bloomberg: RFK Jr. Cuts US Vaccine Funding For Poor Nations, Gavi Warns Of Crisis
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the US will cut funding to the organization responsible for vaccinating children in poor countries, a move experts warned will result in unnecessary deaths. The US will no longer fund Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, due to concerns over its approach to vaccine safety, Kennedy said in pre-recorded remarks to the agency’s meeting in Brussels on Wednesday. (Furlong, 6/26)

AP: Duncan Hines Parent Conagra Brands Says It Will Phase Out Artificial Colors
Conagra Brands, the parent company of Duncan Hines, Slim Jim and other brands, is the latest big food company to say it’s discontinuing the use of artificial dyes. In a statement released Wednesday – the same day as a similar statement from Nestle – Chicago-based Conagra said it will remove artificial colors from its frozen foods by the end of this year. Conagra’s frozen brands include Marie Callender’s, Healthy Choice and Birds Eye. (Durbin, 6/26)

CNN: Food Dyes: Removing Them Doesn’t Make Products Healthy 
In the crusade to reduce chronic disease and neurobehavioral issues in the United States, synthetic food dyes are a hot target. California began paving the way for legislation against petroleum-based synthetic dyes a few years ago, based on health concerns including a potentially increased risk of cancer and neurobehavioral issues in children and animals. (Rogers, 6/26)

Politico: Supreme Court Clears Way For States To Kick Planned Parenthood Out Of Medicaid
The Supreme Court on Thursday cleared the way for states to exclude Planned Parenthood from their Medicaid programs. In a 6-3 decision divided along ideological lines, the court’s majority concluded that federal law doesn’t allow health care providers or patients to sue if a state violates a provision of federal law guaranteeing that Medicaid patients can visit their preferred provider. (Ollstein, Gerstein and Gardner, 6/26)

The 19th: Supreme Court Planned Parenthood Ruling Could Undercut Care For Thousands
South Carolina can block Planned Parenthood clinics from receiving Medicaid funds, the Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 decision on Thursday — a major step toward the longtime conservative goal of “defunding” the nation’s largest family planning provider. Medicaid is the largest source of insurance for pregnant people in the country, and most people who get health care at Planned Parenthood clinics also rely on it. (Luthra, 6/26)

The Hill: Reproductive Rights Groups Fear SCOTUS Ruling Will Inspire Anti-Abortion Politicians 
Reproductive rights advocates are reeling from Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling in favor of South Carolina in a legal case to block Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood, which they fear will give other states the green light to do the same. “Today’s decision is a grave injustice that strikes at the very bedrock of American freedom and promises to send South Carolina deeper into a health care crises,” said Paige Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood South Atlantic. (O’Connell-Domenech, 6/26)

In other court news —

AP: Michigan Wins Appeal In Legal Challenge To How It Handles Extra Blood Samples From Newborns
A yearslong effort to challenge Michigan’s practice of storing millions of dried blood samples from newborn babies has been turned upside down by a federal appeals court, which threw out key decisions in favor of parents who said the policy violated their rights. In a 3-0 opinion, the court found nothing unconstitutional about how the state Department of Health and Human Services handles leftover samples, which are called blood spots. (White, 6/26)

CBS News: Climate Movement Strikes Back With First-Of-Its-Kind Class Action Lawsuit Against EPA
When Donald Trump won reelection, Jennifer Hadayia knew she'd need a good lawyer. As the executive director of Air Alliance Houston, an environmental nonprofit advocacy organization that works to reduce the risks of air pollution on public health, she had fought the first Trump administration in court already on a variety of issues. (Wholf, 6/26)

CBS News: How A Magic New Treatment For Scoliosis Is Helping Kids In Delaware
Doctors at Nemours Children's Hospital in Delaware are treating a common spine condition with something called "magic rods." For one little girl with scoliosis, the rods are making a big difference. ... Sadie's spine is being treated with a technology called MAGnetic Expansion Control — or MAGEC rods. After the rods are surgically implanted, they can be slowly expanded with internal and external magnets, Dr. Suken Shah with Nemours Children's Hospital said. (Stahl and Nau, 6/26)

CIDRAP: Trial Of Jynneos Mpox Vaccine Begins In Infants, Toddlers, Pregnant Women
Bavarian Nordic said today that the first of two clinical trials of the use of its Jynneos (MVA-BN) mpox/smallpox vaccine has begun in vulnerable populations: infants and children 2 years old and younger, and pregnant or breastfeeding women. The first participants have been vaccinated in a study to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of Jynneos in 344 infants aged 4 to 24 months. (Wappes, 6/26)

MedPage Today: SAVR With Root Enlargement Crucial For Women With Small Annuli
Women with severe native aortic stenosis (AS) gained significantly better results from surgery with aortic annular enlargement (AAE) than transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), researchers found. (Lou, 6/26)

Studies show —

Stat: Addiction Medication Access Lags For Black, Hispanic Patients 
Black and Hispanic people are “significantly less likely” to receive two medications used to treat opioid addiction, according to a new study. (Facher, 6/26)

MedPage Today: RSV Vaccine Tied To Lower Dementia Risk
Two AS01-adjuvanted vaccines for different pathogens -- the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine (Arexvy) and the recombinant shingles vaccine (Shingrix) -- were tied to a lower dementia risk, an analysis of over 400,000 U.S. older adults showed. Compared with the flu vaccine, the AS01-adjuvanted RSV vaccine was associated with a 29% increase in time without a dementia diagnosis, with a restricted mean time lost [RMTL] ratio of 0.71 (95% CI 0.61-0.83) over 18 months, reported Paul Harrison, BMBCh, DM, of the University of Oxford in England, and colleagues. (George, 6/26)

CIDRAP: Analysis Shows 2023-24 COVID Vaccine Offered Strong Protection Against Critical Illness
A new study shows good 2023-24 COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness in adults against medically attended COVID-19, especially against critical illness. The study, published yesterday in JAMA Network Open, is based on outcomes seen among US patients in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's VISION Network during the XBB and JN.1 Omicron subvariant waves. (Soucheray, 6/26)

CIDRAP: Antibiotics Used In Food-Animal Production Linked To Resistance In People
New research suggests that a class of antibiotics commonly used in poultry and other food-producing animals, but not in people, could contribute to antibiotic-resistant infections in humans. The antibiotic class in question is ionophores, which are used to treat the parasitic infection coccidiosis in poultry and to promote growth and prevent disease in pigs and cattle. ... Regulated less strictly than medically important antibiotics, ionophore use accounts for 37% of antibiotics used in food-producing animals on the United States. (Dall, 6/26)

Fox News: Study: Heart Attack Deaths Plummet As Heart Failure Rates Increase
Heart attack deaths have plummeted in recent years — but other types of cardiovascular disease still pose a major threat. A new study by the American Heart Association (AHA) found that overall heart disease-related death rates have declined by 66%, and heart attack deaths have dropped by almost 90%. While heart attacks are no longer the most fatal form of heart disease, there have been increases in other types — heart failure, arrhythmias (irregular heartbeats) and hypertensive heart disease (long-term high blood pressure). (Rudy, 6/26)

WFSU: DeSantis Signs Mental Health Bills, Including One To Create Programs For Florida Prisoners
A new law in Florida aims to divert people experiencing mental health problems from the criminal justice system to get treatment instead. The legislation (SB 168), called the Tristin Murphy act, was signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis at a media event in Tampa on Wednesday. The bill’s namesake died by suicide in 2021 at a state prison work program while experiencing a mental health episode. (Wood, 6/26)

AP: Idaho Doctor And Patients Fight New Law Cutting HIV Medication Access For Immigrants
An Idaho doctor and four residents are challenging a new state law that halts some of the few public benefits available to people living in the U.S. unlawfully, including a program that provides access to life-saving HIV and AIDS medication for low income patients. The ACLU of Idaho filed the federal lawsuit Thursday night on behalf of Dr. Abby Davids and four people with HIV who are not named because they are immigrants without lawful permanent residency. (Boone, 6/27)

AP: Ohio’s $60B Budget Bill: What It Means For Taxes, The Browns, And LGBTQ+ Rights
Echoing the approach of Trump’s DOGE as one of that program’s architects runs for governor with Trump’s support, lawmakers boasted of the legislation’s 3% to 4% cuts to administrative agency budgets. Beyond that, it defunds, defangs, reassigns or abolishes bodies that punish election law violations, craft public school policy, monitor rare diseases, field complaints about Ohio’s state prisons and oversee state spending on Medicaid — the largest and most foundational portion of the state budget. (Carr Smyth, 6/26)

AP: Oklahoma Seeks To Exclude Soda, Candy From Food Stamp Purchases
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt said Thursday the state is seeking federal permission to exclude soft drinks and candy from the list of items that can be purchased under the benefit for low-income Americans long known as food stamps. Stitt made the announcement during an event at the Capitol with U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as part of the “Make America Healthy Again” initiative. (Murphy, 6/26)

Chicago Tribune: As Texas Wrestles With Intoxicating Hemp, Illinois Is MIA
In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott has vetoed legislation that would have banned intoxicating hemp products in the nation’s second-largest state. We note the hemp news more than 1,000 miles away from here because Illinois (and Chicago) began this year with Gov. JB Pritzker pushing hard for an effective ban on intoxicating hemp products, only to be stymied by Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch, who refused to call the bill in his chamber due to objections from some in his Democratic caucus as well as Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson. (6/26)

From Maryland, Iowa, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania —

CBS News: Maryland LGBTQ+ Advocates Vow To Bolster Resources With 988 Lifeline Set To End
Maryland LGBTQ+ organizations are stepping up for youth as a national resource is set to end in less than a month. The Trump administration announced that the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline will end its lifeline dedicated to LGBTQ+ youth by July 17. The lifeline has also been known as the Press 3 Option. Advocates are making sure the youth who rely on this service continue getting the help they need. (Valera, 6/26)

CBS News: Maryland Launches Effort To Reduce Gun Violence, Track Firearm Data
The Maryland Department of Health shared a detailed plan Thursday to reduce gun violence in the state and track firearm data. The effort comes as Maryland ranked 17th lowest among U.S. states for a five-year firearm fatality rate between 2019 and 2023, according to data from the department. (Lockman, 6/26)

Iowa Public Radio: Many Worry Iowa's High Cancer Rates Are Tied To Agriculture. But Proving That Is Hard
Reg Morton’s home in rural Franklin County in north central Iowa is filled with treasured memories. “We made our own park in the grove. We cut little trees, drilled three holes and made a double swing,” he said. Morton and his wife Jane raised their three daughters in an old house on 5 acres of land surrounded by cornfields. For him, it’s paradise. (Krebs, 6/26)

CBS News: Unvaccinated Students Not Allowed To Attend Newton Public Schools Starting This Fall
Students who are not up to date on their vaccinations will not be allowed back inside of Newton classrooms this fall, according to Anna Nolin, the superintendent of public schools. In a memo sent to the Newton School Committee last week, Nolin says the district's decision to reinforce state vaccination requirements comes after a recent chickenpox outbreak in the district. (Chaney, 6/26)

AP: Philadelphia Schools Accused Of Failing To Properly Inspect Asbestos
Federal prosecutors on Thursday charged Philadelphia’s public schools with failing to properly inspect eight schools for damaged asbestos. The district agreed to have the criminal case deferred while a court keeps tabs on its response. Prosecutors said it was the first time a school district in the U.S. has faced such environmental criminal allegations. The district is charged with eight counts of violating the federal Toxic Substances Control Act for allegedly failing to perform inspections in a timely manner during a recent five-year period. (6/27)

Regarding measles and West Nile —

AP: A New Mexico County Detention Facility Has A Measles Outbreak
Five people who are incarcerated at a New Mexico county detention facility have measles, the state health department said Thursday. The Luna County Detention Center, located in the southwest New Mexico city of Deming, houses about 400 incarcerated people and has 100 staff members. State health officials say they are determining the vaccination status of people being held at the facility and are providing testing kits and equipment. As of Friday, the U.S. has 1,227 measles cases nationwide as of Tuesday, including active outbreaks in 12 states. (Shastri, 6/26)

CIDRAP: Measles Cases Confirmed In Washington, Virginia
More measles cases have been reported in Washington state. Officials in Seattle-King County yesterday reported two measles infections in the same household, a child and an adult who were likely exposed while hosting an international traveler. (Soucheray, 6/26)

CBS News: Mosquitos In Northern Colorado County Test Positive For West Nile Virus
This week, a sample of the mosquito population in Larimer County in Northern Colorado tested positive for West Nile virus. County health officials say this marks the beginning of heightened risk for residents, as warmer weather and rain lead to more mosquito activity. About 1 in 5 people infected may develop flu-like symptoms, including fever, headaches, body aches, fatigue, vomiting, diarrhea, and rash. About 1 in 150 people who are infected develop more severe illness, which includes symptoms of high fever, headache, tremors, muscle weakness, vision loss and paralysis. (Mason, 6/26)

Bloomberg: Wegovy-WeightWatchers Deal Added After Novo Drops Hims & Hers Partnership
Novo Nordisk A/S struck a deal with WeightWatchers to boost access to its Wegovy obesity drug, just days after axing a collaboration with telehealth company Hims & Hers Health Inc. WeightWatchers subscribers will be able to access Wegovy via CenterWell Pharmacy from July 1, Novo said Thursday. The drugmaker is also offering a $299 introductory price for self-pay patients who start on Wegovy, as well as for people who redeemed an earlier $199 offer and need a refill. (Kresge and Muller, 6/26)

Bloomberg: New UnitedHealth CEO Shakes Up Management At Optum Division
The leader of UnitedHealth Group Inc.’s Optum Health care delivery unit has left the role, an early indication of management changes under Stephen Hemsley, UnitedHealth’s new chief executive officer. The division will now be led by Patrick Conway, who was recently promoted to CEO of the broader Optum division that includes Optum Health. Conway will add the title of Optum Health CEO, according to a company memo reviewed by Bloomberg News. (Tozzi, 6/26)

Manchester Ink Link: Major NH Recovery Center Ending In-Patient Treatment 
Maureen Beauregard described this as a “sad day” at Farnum Center. As CEO and President of EasterSealsNH, the parent organization of the recovery center, it has been difficult to share the news that they are ending in-patient treatment for those seeking help after years of being a major provider in the state of New Hampshire. (Robidoux, 6/26)

CBS News: Dozens Protest Children's Hospital LA Decision To End Gender-Affirming Care
Dozens of people protested outside Children's Hospital Los Angeles and demanded that the medical center reverse its decision to shut down its gender-affirming programs. ... In an internal email shared with CBS News Los Angeles, the CHLA administration stated that it had to close its Center for Transyouth Health and Development and terminate its gender-affirming surgical program in July due to the "increasingly severe impacts of federal administrative actions and proposed policies." (Pozen, 6/26)

Modern Healthcare: Carlsmed Files For $100M IPO
Carlsmed, an artificial intelligence-enabled spine surgery solutions company, filed plans Thursday to raise as much as $100 million in an initial public offering. The company has applied to list its common stock on Nasdaq under the “CARL” ticker. The filing did not specify a price range or the number of shares for the proposed IPO. (Dubinsky, 6/26)

AP: Crash Survivor Pushes To Modernize US Car Safety Tests With A More Accurate Female Dummy 
Although women face the threat of more injury risks in vehicle crashes, the crash test dummies used in U.S. safety tests are designed almost entirely around the body of a man. (McMurray, 6/23)

ProPublica: His Kidney Failed. He’ll Never Know if a Transplant Drug From a Banned Factory Was to Blame.
When Joe DeMayo’s donated kidney started to fail earlier than expected, he didn’t know that the drug he was taking could’ve left him vulnerable — and that one of the most formidable drug regulators in the world may have failed to protect him. (Cenziper and Rose, 6/23)

AP: Team Physicians In College Sports Wary Of Greater Liability Risk With Athletes Now Making Big Money
The professionalization of college sports has prompted concern among team physicians that they will be exposed to a greater risk of being sued by athletes who claim a poor outcome from treatment caused them to lose future earnings. Before July 2021, when college athletes were cleared to be compensated by third parties for the use of their name, image and likeness, such lawsuits would have been virtually unwinnable. (Olson, 6/24)

The New York Times: The MTV Reality Star In Trump’s Cabinet Who Wants You To Have More Kids 
Sean Duffy, once the resident playboy on “The Real World,” is now a father of nine who presents his family as an example for America. (Kitchener, 6/23)

The Washington Post: Ozempic Is Forcing Wellness Retreats For The Elite To Change 
Attendees might be looking to wean off weight-loss drugs or mitigate side effects such as digestive discomfort and muscle loss. (Benjamin, 6/20)

The Washington Post: Wind Phone In California Desert Helps People Ease Their Grief 
The ‘wind phone’ was installed by Colin Campbell and Gail Lerner, whose children, Ruby and Hart Campbell, were killed by a drunk driver in 2019. (Page, 6/26)

The Boston Globe: The Hideous Legacy Of The Conservative Supreme Court Decision That Overturned Row v. Wade
In 2019, Republican Governor Brian Kemp of Georgia signed the Living Infants Fairness and Equality Act, the law that mandated that Smith’s body should be kept viable because she was pregnant. It was ruled unconstitutional by a federal court in 2020. “By banning pre-viability abortions, [Georgia‘s law] violates the constitutional right to privacy, which, in turn, inflicts per se irreparable harm on Plaintiffs,” Judge Steve Jones wrote in his opinion. (Renee Graham, 6/26)

The Washington Post: The Woman Who Could Impede RFK Jr.'s Anti-Vaccine Agenda
Susan Monarez might end up being one of the most important people in President Donald Trump’s administration. As acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the nominee to hold the position permanently, she has the power to frustrate the anti-vaccine agenda of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (6/26)

Stat: The U.S. Government Is Creating Mass Confusion About Vaccines 
Let us introduce ourselves. We are the doctors you trust with your health and the health of your family across every stage of life, from the first checkups in infancy and childhood, to health care during pregnancy and adulthood, through management of chronic illness and aging. We are family physicians, pediatricians, internal medicine physicians, OB-GYNs, and infectious disease experts. Our commitment is not to politics, but to the absolute well-being of our patients and populations, and to providing them with best evidence-based health care. (Jen Brull, Susan J. Kressley, Jason Goldman, Steven J. Fleischman and Tina Q. Tan, 6/26)

The Washington Post: I Co-Wrote The Anonymous HHS Report On Pediatric Gender Medicine
In May, the Department of Health and Human Services published a comprehensive review of treatments for gender dysphoria in minors that was swiftly criticized, in part because the names of its authors were withheld. I am one of the authors. (Alex Byrne, 6/26)

The CT Mirror: Why I Travel To D.C. Each Year To Fight For Families Like Mine
Every year, I travel from my home in Connecticut to Washington, D.C. – not for vacation, not for business, but for something deeply personal: to fight for families affected by Alzheimer’s disease. (Erin Mahoney, 6/26)

Stat: How To Ensure The President Is Physically And Mentally Healthy 
One year ago on Friday, the course of U.S. history changed. In his debate with now-President Trump, then-President Biden’s performance left many voters concerned that he was no longer up for the job. (M. Sara Rosenthal, 6/27)

The Baltimore Sun: Healthy Sleep Is A Community Issue 
Healthy sleep is often viewed as a matter of personal responsibility — setting a consistent bedtime, avoiding caffeine and limiting screen time before bed. While these individual habits are important, new research led by researchers at RAND and the University of Pittsburgh suggests that the neighborhoods we live in play a significant role in shaping sleep health. The study addresses the emerging concept of “sleep deserts” which highlights how socioeconomic factors can make restorative sleep harder to achieve, particularly in underserved communities. (Wendy Troxel, 6/26)