Viewpoints: Roundup’s Dangers Are Known. Why Isn’t The FDA Listening?; California Governor Adds To Nonsense About Vaccine Safety

Editorial pages focus on these health care topics and others.

Bloomberg: Roundup Cancer Risk Is Only One Danger To Humans, Animals

Chemicals giant Bayer AG is reeling after a jury awarded $2 billion in damages to people who say they contracted cancer after years of using Roundup, a popular weed killer manufactured by Bayer subsidiary Monsanto Co. Bayer probably won't pay out the full $2 billion. But more than 10,000 further cases are pending, worrying Bayer investors as well as farmers who rely on the product as a cheap, effective herbicide. Cancer may only be part of the story. Studies over the past decade suggest that glyphosate — the active ingredient in Roundup — pollutes water sources, hangs around in soil far longer than previously suspected, and routinely taints human food supplies. (Mark Buchanan, 6/4)

Los Angeles Times: Gov. Newsom Stepped Into A Vaccine Debate We Shouldn’t Be Having. Big Mistake

Over the weekend, a reporter asked Gov. Newsom his opinion of a Senate bill to tighten the regulations concerning medical exemptions for child vaccinations. His answer was a huge blunder. Newsom’s response fed into the anti-vaccination fever swamp. He undermined a necessary effort to place oversight on the distribution of medical exemptions, which have soared sharply enough in the last two years to raise suspicions about whether some are not legitimate. (Michael Hiltzik, 6/4)

Bloomberg: CVS Makes Its Pitch For The Future Of Health Care

Shares of CVS Health Inc. have been battered in recent months along with other health-care companies amid stepped-up scrutiny of the industry’s pricing practices and calls from lawmakers and the Trump administration to overhaul the current complicated and costly U.S. health system. CVS also has had the added task of integrating Aetna Inc., the insurer it bought for $69 billion in November as part of an ambitious plan to transform itself from a pharmacy giant into a more complete provider of health-care services. It was against this backdrop, and with CVS’s shares down 31% since completing the Aetna deal, that the company held its much-anticipated investor day Tuesday. It marked the first comprehensive update of CVS post-merger, and was a chance for management to convince shareholders that the combined company was up to the challenges ahead and moving in the right direction. Based on the stock’s initial positive reaction, investors seem to have liked what they heard. That upbeat vibe isn’t misplaced. (Max Nisen, 6/4)

The Wall Street Journal: Debating Abortion In 2019

If the pro-choice and pro-life camps share anything in common, it’s an inability to see any merit in the other’s case. Pro-choice advocates, however, have benefited from a trend toward gender equality around the world. Pro-lifers believe feminism changes nothing about the issue—for them, a life is at stake—but they’ve had to respond to charges that women have been underrepresented in the public debate. The right to terminate a pregnancy, after all, is one that only women are in position to claim. On both sides, rising female empowerment is newly centering women in the abortion debate. (6/5)

Stat: Creating Egg And Sperm Cells From Stem Cells Raises Ethical Issues

Until recently, the only way to make eggs or sperm was the old-fashioned way: in the ovaries and testes. In the not-too-distant future, it may be possible to use cells from almost any part of the body to create these germ cells, also known as gametes.This process, called in vitro gametogenesis (IVG), raises the possibility that babies could be made using muscle or liver or blood cells. While not yet ready for prospective human parents — so far it has only been accomplished successfully in mice — it raises major ethical and legal questions that we should start thinking and talking about now. (I. Glenn Cohen and Alex Pearlman, 6/5)

Austin American-Statesman: Why We Need Housing-Focused Shelter For City's Homeless

It is time to act effectively and quickly to confront homelessness and provide shelter for people who are living outside. This Thursday, the Austin City Council can take concrete steps to make this a reality by approving a Housing-Focused Shelter project. (Ann Kitchen, 6/4)

Los Angeles Times: Homelessness In L.A. Is A Catastrophe In Motion, And Our Leaders Are Largely To Blame

Some of them are flat broke, some are sick, some work, some have given up hope. They are homeless in Los Angeles, where mega-mansions and shantytowns share the same ZIP code, and where the dark underbelly of a colossal social breakdown is on full display. In L.A. city and county, you taxed yourselves to do something about it, and last year alone $619 million was poured into housing and services. (Steve Lopez, 6/4)

Los Angeles Times: Housing The Homeless Hits NIMBY Wall In ‘Progressive’ Venice

The blue couch appeared one evening at the dumpster across the alley behind my house. Over the course of the next two days, the couch was moved around a bit. By the third day, someone had dragged the couch to the side of my house, a not particularly private space. (Robin Abcarian, 6/4)

Cleveland Plain Dealer: Build More Nutrition Funding For Older Ohioans Into State Budget As Hunger Rises Sharply

While we recognize the many contributions of seniors in our community, we are also faced with the fact that, nationally, hunger among those 60 and older has been steadily increasing, growing by 45 percent between 2001 and 2017. Of the more than 300,000 individuals served by the Greater Cleveland Food Bank and our nearly 1,000 partners each year, 24 percent are seniors. Despite the economic recovery, food insecurity remains prevalent on our front lines, especially among children, working poor families and an increasing number of older adults. (Kristin S. Warzocha, 6/4)

Sacramento Bee: Many Californians Don’t Have Clean, Safe Water. That’s Not OK

Water is a basic necessity of life, but over one million Californians lack access to clean, safe and affordable drinking water, says Gov. Gavin Newsom. Six million Californians receive their water from operators who have been fined for violating the state’s clean water laws in recent years, according to a 2018 investigation by McClatchy. (6/4)

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