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Perhaps no one knows the devastating wounds inflicted by assault-style rifles better than the trauma surgeons who struggle to repair them. The doctors say they are haunted by their experiences confronting injuries so dire they struggle to find words to describe them. At a high school in Parkland, Fla., 17 people were recently killed with just such a weapon — a semiautomatic AR-15. It was legal there for Nikolas Cruz, 19, the suspect in the shooting, to buy a civilian version of the military’s standard rifle, while he would have had to be 21 to buy a less powerful and accurate handgun. (Kolata and Chivers, 3/4)

As President Donald Trump calls for more help for those with mental health issues in the wake of the Parkland high school shooting, Congress is considering a bill that would create a three-digit suicide and mental health hotline. Introducing the legislation on the Senate floor in May, Sen. Orrin Hatch said constituents have told him that friends and family who've struggled with suicidal thoughts don't always know where to turn. (Christensen, 3/5)

A Florida bill to assist first responders suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder has found new life in the aftermath of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting. (Aboraya, 3/2)

The Florida Senate rejected a proposal to ban assault weapons, and voted for a measure to arm some teachers, weeks after 17 people were killed in the deadliest high school shooting in U.S. history. An amendment that would have banned assault weapons attached to a wider bill failed on Saturday in a largely party-line vote, in response to the Feb. 14 killing of 14 students and three faculty at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in the Fort Lauderdale suburb of Parkland. (Woodall, 3/4)

In gun-friendly Tennessee, President Donald Trump's ideas to ban bump stocks and bar people under 21 from buying semi-automatic guns have put the leading GOP candidates for governor in a tough spot. In response, they have mostly avoided taking firm stances. Trump has added further uncertainty with his ongoing, unpredictable evolution on gun control. On Wednesday he suggested he would support requiring a review of firearm purchases online and at gun shows, ideas the powerful National Rifle Association opposes. (Mattise, 3/2)

A fiery speech about gun rights brought the Virginia House of Delegates to a halt on Friday, with many Democrats walking out of the chamber and then calling for a recess to try to calm their anger. Del. Nick Freitas (R-Culpeper) set off the reaction with remarks that began by defending Republican resistance to gun-control measures in the wake of the Florida school shooting, but wound up blaming “the abortion industry” for fostering a broken society and castigating the Democratic Party for segregation and the Japanese internment camps of World War II. (Schneider, 3/2)

The number of counselors in the Baltimore City school system has steeply declined, even as national attention focuses on student mental health in the wake of school shootings. The Baltimore Sun reports the district has seen a 30 percent drop since three years ago, with a current count of 84 counselors. The American School Counselor Association recommends a student-to-counselor ratio of 250 to 1; Baltimore’s is 900 to 1. (3/2)

It is the Holy Grail of influenza science: a universal flu vaccine that could provide protection against virtually all strains instead of a select few. A burst of recent headlines have suggested that we might get one soon. Just last week, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases released a strategic plan for the development of a universal flu vaccine, prompting the White House science office to proclaim on Twitter that the goal is “closer than ever.” (Branswell, 3/5)

When their daughter was diagnosed with severe autism, Heather and Brandon Murray realized they’d have to protect her in ways they hadn’t with their other two children. They never left her alone. They raised the locks in their house beyond her reach, so she couldn’t get outside and hurt herself. They stuck a sign onto the back of their car: “In an emergency situation, please be aware child may . . . have no awareness of danger.” But it was the family who was unaware of the danger posed this winter, as the worst flu season in a decade hospitalized at least 23,000 people, killed thousands — including at least 114 children — and by the time it passes, probably will have hit poor families like the Murrays the hardest. (McCoy, 3/2)

The worst of the nation’s flu season may be over, according to new data from federal officials. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday said the 2017–2018 flu season peaked in early February and is now on the decline. While 45 states plus Puerto Rico continued to report widespread flu activity, that number is down compared to past weeks, the CDC said Friday. (Weixel, 3/2)

The worst of the flu season is over, but increasing numbers of people are being infected by a secondary strain of the respiratory virus that could lead to a late-season bump, according to a federal health report released Friday. Public health officials have said this flu season is likely to continue until mid-April, and the intensity of illness has made it the worst since the swine flu pandemic of 2009-2010. An additional 17 child deaths were reported across the country for the week ending Feb. 24. That brings the total of child deaths to at least 114 for the 2017-2018 season. (Sun, 3/2)

The disease is "widespread" in 45 states and Puerto Rico. But health officials in Oregon, Minnesota, Texas, New Hampshire, Hawaii and the District of Columbia report that they're seeing only regional or local flu activity. "That's a very good sign that activity is decreasing. There still is a lot of flu out there," says Dr. Alicia Fry who works in the influenza division at the CDC. (Harris, 3/2)

After two brutal months, state officials delivered good news Friday: the flu season has peaked. The determination was made in a new Texas Department of Health report that shows flu activity declined for the fourth consecutive week as of Feb. 24. The percentage of doctor visits for flu-like symptoms as of the last full week in February was 8.5, down from nearly 15  percent five weeks ago. (Ackerman, 3/2)

The number of children admitted to hospitals for opioid overdose has nearly doubled since 2004, according to a new study. The study, which published Monday in the journal Pediatrics, looked at children between ages 1 and 17 who were admitted to hospitals and pediatric intensive care units with opioid-related diagnoses from 2004 to 2015. Researchers found that the number of children admitted to hospitals for opioid overdose nearly doubled to 1,504 patients between 2012 and 2015, from 797 patients between 2004 and 2007. (Lieber, 3/5)

When patients arrive in the emergency room, nearly all but those with the most minor complaints get an IV. To draw blood, give medications or administer fluids, the IV is the way doctors and nurses gain access to the body. Putting one in is quick and simple, and it's no more painful than a mild bee sting. (Dalton, 3/3)

The federal government may join Nashville and several Tennessee counties in a major lawsuit against drug manufacturers and distributors. The unprecedented move follows announcements by the Department of Justice and President Donald Trump earlier this week about cracking down on those responsible for fueling the nation's opioid crisis. (Sauber, 3/2)

Last week, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and state officials unveiled the “Change the Script” campaign — another initiative aimed at fighting the opioid epidemic through the use of information and education. A few days later, James Gill, the chief medical examiner, announced that 1,038 state residents had died in 2017 from accidental drug overdoses. That figure has nearly tripled in the last six years, from 357 in 2012. (Rigg, 3/4)

Fentanyl continued to drive the state’s drug epidemic to new deadly heights in 2017. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner recorded more than 1,000 accidental overdose deaths for the first time in the last six years. (Kara and Rigg, 3/4)

An average of fourteen people die every day from opioid related abuse. That’s according to Stuart Republican Representative Gayle Harrell. She’s glad to see a measure moving through the legislature that aims to curb opioid abuse. The House version ensures doctors and pharmacies use the PDMP or Prescription Drug Monitoring Program database before prescribing or dispensing an opioid. It also allows Florida to share its information across state lines to help cut down on so called doctor shopping. Rep. Jim Boyd (R-Bradenton) says another provision limits the number of pills a doctor can prescribe.(McCarthy, 3/2)

Kaiser Health News: While Talk About Opioids Continues In DC, Addiction Treatment Is In Peril In States

Opioids were on the White House agenda Thursday — President Trump convened a summit with members of his administration about the crisis. And Congress authorized funds for the opioid crisis in its recent budget deal — but those dollars aren’t flowing yet, and states say they are struggling to meet the need for treatment. The Oklahoma agency in charge of substance abuse has been told by the state’s legislature to cut more than $2 million from this fiscal year’s budget. (Daley and Fortier, 3/5)

Just weeks after the organization announced plans to shutter all but one of its offices because it was running out of money, Hope for New Hampshire recovery is in line for a new influx of cash from the state – pending a vote from the Executive Council. (McDermott, 3/2)

The man was living alone with his two dogs, in a remote area outside San Antonio, when someone called the Texas state hotline to report that a supposed friend was financially exploiting him. So the state adult protective services agency sent a caseworker to the man’s home. She found an 86-year-old Vietnam veteran in a dirty, cluttered house full of empty liquor bottles. His legs swollen by chronic cellulitis, he could barely walk, so he used a scooter. (Span, 3/2)

If you’re reading this story from the back seat of car, there’s a good chance you’re not wearing a seat belt. A recent survey by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, or IIHS, found that 28 percent of respondents don’t always click a seat belt when they’re in the back of a car. The most common reason for not buckling up in the back, according to the 1,172 survey respondents, is that there is no need, because the rear seat is safer than the front. But that’s not always true. “Adults have gotten the message that it’s safer for kids to ride in the back seat properly restrained, but when it comes to their own safety, there is a common misperception that buckling up is optional,” said Jessica Jermakian, a senior research engineer at IIHS. (Kritz, 3/3)

haring sexually explicit photos, videos or messages — or sexting — seems to be increasingly common among teens today. About 27 percent of teens say they’ve received such an electronic message, or sext, according to a study in the journal JAMA Pediatrics that included more than 110,000 teens. Nearly 15 percent admitted to having sent a sext. About 12 percent also said they had forwarded a sext without permission. (Searing, 3/3)

When people talk about harmful stress — the kind that can affect health — they usually point to big, life-changing events, such as the death of a loved one. A growing body of research suggests that minor, everyday stress — caused by flight delays, traffic jams, cellphones that run out of battery during an important call, etc. — can harm health, too, and even shorten life spans. One traffic jam a week isn’t going to kill you, of course. Psychologists say it’s the nonstop strains of everyday life that can add up. “These hassles can have a big impact on physical health and well-being, particularly when they accumulate and we don’t have time to recover from one problem before another hits us,” says California-based psychologist Melanie Greenberg, author of “The Stress-Proof Brain.” (Wallace, 3/3)

[Keith] White is one of the tens of millions of African-Americans disproportionately affected by chronic kidney disease. African-Americans are three times more likely than whites to have the disease. While they make up 13.2 percent of the U.S. population, they account for more than 35 percent of those on dialysis for kidney failure. Earlier this week, Bill Cosby’s daughter Ensa Cosby died from renal disease, the last stage of chronic kidney disease, when the kidneys stop filtering waste and excess fluid from the blood. Dangerous levels of electrolytes and waste then build up in the body. (McDaniels, 3/5)

A Texas woman who learned as a teen that she would be unable to bear children has given birth to a healthy baby girl, thanks to an experimental procedure at Baylor University Medical Center. The woman is the second Baylor patient to give birth after receiving a uterine transplant from a living donor. She is the first to share her story publicly. (Kuchment, 3/4)

California's individual health insurance market will probably see a sharp drop in enrollment but should remain stable after Congress eliminated the requirement for individuals to carry coverage, a Harvard-led study published Thursday found. The federal tax reform act in December removed the individual mandate and the financial penalties that consumers faced under the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, starting in 2019. (Cosgrove, 3/1)

One in five equates to roughly 378,000 state residents, said Dr. John Hsu, an associate professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical School, and perhaps not surprisingly, many in that group were people expected to use the health care system least because of their good health. The problem is that no one has a crystal ball, said Peter V. Lee, the executive director of Covered California, the state health insurance marketplace created under the Affordable Care Act. That act also provided that many taxpayers would receive a credit if they signed up for insurance or a penalty if they did not. (Anderson, 3/2)

Eight years after the Affordable Care Act became law, Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel joined his Texas counterpart last week in filing yet another lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the law. (Boulton, 3/2)

Things got ugly for Cpl. Tyson Manker in Iraq. During a firefight in the confusion of the 2003 invasion, the 21-year-old Marine shot up a bus full of civilians. Later, during a chase, he dropped an Iraqi in a flowing white robe with a shot to the torso, only to discover afterward that he had hit a teenage girl. His squad beat detainees, and accidentally shot several other civilians. After his deployment, Corporal Manker was kicked out of the Marine Corps with an other-than-honorable discharge — not for anything that happened in combat, but for smoking marijuana to try to quiet his nerves when he got home. (Philipps, 3/2)

Navy and Marine Corps veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan with post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health problems have accused the Navy of offering them less-than-honorable discharges that prevent them from getting Veterans Affairs benefits. The lawsuit filed Friday in federal court in Connecticut seeks class-action status for thousands of Navy and Marine Corps veterans. The veterans are represented by students from Yale Law School's Veterans Legal Services Clinic, which filed a similar lawsuit against the Army last year.Navy officials did not immediately return a message seeking comment Friday. (Collins, 3/2)

At least eight military veterans who were tested for HIV at the Miami VA Medical Center received a different result when they were screened for a second time by an outside lab — a discrepancy discovered only after an employee at the Miami facility complained to outside agencies and the White House that local managers were ignoring his concerns, according to an independent federal investigator. (Chang 3/3)

The promise of AI to do just that—by augmenting human activities, not replacing them—is real. It may one day help physicians with diagnoses, guiding them rather than dictating. “We are not looking for robots to do work for us,” said Manu Tandon, chief information officer of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. “We are looking to make better decisions by benefiting from machine learning and AI.”How quickly and successfully AI gets there depends on clinical knowledge. It also depends on funding and on the risks that health systems are willing to take to try out services that haven’t been validated by the market. (Arndt, 3/2)

Improving 30-day readmission rates, flagging patients at risk, shortening hospital stays and mitigating disease risk are just some of issues AI is helping hospitals currently address, said Brian Kalis, managing director of digital health and innovation for consulting firm Accenture.But the technology could also help providers improve patient engagement.AI can help patients self-manage their conditions at home and skip in-office doctor visits. (Johnson, 3/2)

With sensors that can collect data on body movements, heart rate, blood pressure and other metrics, the list of health trackers that go beyond activity trackers like Fitbits gets longer each year. "There's definitely an explosion of these things," says Dr. Joseph Kvedar, the vice president for connected health at Partners HealthCare in Boston, and an associate professor of dermatology at Harvard Medical School. (Chen, 3/5)

“No means no” began to give way to “yes means yes” as the credo of sexual consent decades ago, but the shift has been swiftly propelled in recent years by legislation and, most recently, by the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements. The concept of affirmative consent — the act of giving verbal permission clearly and often during intimate encounters — was pioneered at Antioch College, where an affirmative sexual consent policy was instituted in 1990. It was widely mocked then, but similar policies have since spread to campuses nationwide, and today, the concept is acknowledged well beyond university grounds. (Salam, 3/2)

Planned Parenthood's political arm will target eight states in its largest-ever midterm election campaign, the organization announced Thursday.  The campaign, called "March. Vote. Win.," will focus on competitive Senate and governor's races with an initial cost of $20 million. (Hellmann and Kamisar, 3/1)

The Washington state Legislature on Saturday voted in favor of a measure requiring the state’s insurers to cover abortions and birth control. The Senate voted to pass the measure by a 27-22 vote, according to The Associated Press, after concurring on changes made in the House. The Senate passed an earlier version of the bill in January. (Anapol, 3/3)

On a rare rainy night in Albuquerque, two dozen students are learning the proper way to care for older people. Teacher Liliana Reyes is reviewing the systems of the body — circulatory, respiratory and so on — to prepare them for an upcoming exam. These students are seeking to join a workforce of about 3 million people who help older adults remain in their homes. They assist these clients with things like bathing, dressing, and taking medication on time. (Jaffe, 3/5)

Citing mysterious "health attacks" in Havana, the United States said Friday it is making permanent its withdrawal of 60 percent of its diplomats from Cuba, extending an action that has hurt the island nation's economy and cramped Cubans' ability to visit the U.S. Last October, the State Department ordered non-essential embassy personnel and the families of all staff to leave Havana, arguing the U.S. could not protect them from unexplained illnesses that have harmed at least 24 Americans. But by law, the department can only order diplomats to leave for six months before either sending them back or making the reductions permanent. (3/2)

President Trump is reportedly cutting back on junk food as part of a new diet. The president, who frequently drinks Diet Coke and eats cheeseburgers, is taking recent doctor recommendations seriously, three people familiar with Trump's diet told Bloomberg News on Friday. Navy Rear Adm. Dr. Ronny Jackson said in January after Trump's first physical exam as president that Trump was in overall "excellent" health. But the doctor's report also revealed that the 239-pound president is one pound away from being considered obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's body mass index calculator.  (Delk, 3/2)

On a November day in 1991, a 62-year-old mother, Ernestine Davis, and her daughter, Thandi Zwana, entered the imposing New York City brick fortress known simply by its street address — 1 Police Plaza — and sat down to a grisly task. Their search for Ms. Davis’s missing son, Kevin Germany, had brought them here, facing a book of photographs. The photos were of the corpses of unidentified black men. The police showed the pictures to families of missing people in hopes of matching a name to a body. (Wilson, 3/4)

Iowa’s long-term care ombudsman is drawing fire for her inaction as an advocate for the state’s 543,000 elderly residents. Ombudsman Cynthia Pederson hasn’t lobbied state lawmakers on any bills this year and plans to introduce no legislation of her own. Her staff is dramatically smaller than it was a few years ago, and she has no plans to have her remaining workers resume on-site visits to Iowa nursing homes. (Kauffman, 3/2)

Recovery has been slow in Puerto Rico since Hurricane Maria struck the U.S. territory Sept. 20, particularly in the island's southeast region, where Ryder Memorial Hospital is located. For Ryder Memorial, the area's largest healthcare provider, addressing patients' health needs has been a daunting task because of how severely the hospital was damaged. Only about half of Humacao's 50,000 residents have electricity, while in the neighboring town of Yabucoa, as many as 80% of residents remain without power. (Johnson, 3/3)

The dust has settled on a major legislative deadline. Yet much uncertainty surrounds the many health care bills that still have a shot at passage in the Georgia General Assembly this year. (Miller, 3/4)

At first, Raul Reyes, 26, thought it was a blister from an injury at work. Then a yellowish mass spread across his right foot. The Houston day-care teacher is now coming to terms with the ravages of a flesh-eating infection that burrowed into his appendage. “He woke up the next day and the blister was covering his entire foot, so he went to the clinic, where they told him to get to the emergency room immediately,” his wife, Joseline, told the Houston Chronicle. He was admitted Feb. 23 at Ben Taub Hospital in Houston. (Horton, 3/4)

A beloved Houston daycare teacher is readjusting to a new life after his foot was amputated due to a flesh-eating bacteria. Raul Reyes, 26, went to a clinic for a blister on his foot where he learned it was actually a flesh-eating bacteria. He was then hospitalized on Feb. 23. Reye's wife, Joseline Reyes, told Chron.com that due to the nature of the infection, doctors had no choice but to amputate his foot to stop it from spreading through his bloodstream and potentially killing him. (Sternitzky-Di Napoli, 3/3)

Two of the area’s biggest corporations, operating from vastly different corners of the business world, have found common ground in a new joint venture. BayCare Health System and Publix Super Markets are pairing up in the fast-changing area of telemedicine. Their product: convenience, as in going to the doctor while you shop for groceries. (Griffin, 3/5)

Accompanying the routine payments and price forecasts sent to some Northeast dairy farmers last month were a list of mental health services and the number of a suicide prevention hotline. The Agri-Mark dairy cooperative got the resources out to its 1,000 farmers in New England and New York following the suicide of a member farmer in January, and one the year before. “I know there’s a number of farmers out there that are under such tremendous stress that we’re worried about that same thing happening,” said Bob Wellington, an economist for Agri-Mar Inc., which owns Cabot Creamery. (Rathke, 3/3)

Maryland’s rural areas don’t have enough doctors, forcing residents to travel elsewhere for some medical treatment. Transportation is also a problem in rural areas, with many residents living far from towns and cities, making it hard for some people to get to the doctor. Others living in rural areas can’t afford co-pays and high deductibles, so they sometimes skip getting treated. (McDaniels, 3/2)

Tying itself even more closely to the University of Kentucky, St. Elizabeth Healthcare announced Friday that has affiliated with the university’s Markey Cancer Center to bring more cancer treatment to Northern Kentucky. (Saker, 3/2)

Johnny B. Delashaw Jr., former head of the Swedish Neuroscience Institute, says he received a batch of records anonymously that show other doctors conspired with each other and with The Seattle Times to oust him, according to records in a state medical hearing. But the document Delashaw’s lawyers call “the smoking gun,” a purported email exchange between two doctors, was fabricated, according to the two doctors and a forensic analyst hired by one of them. Delashaw has cited these records in his bid to appeal the state’s suspension of his medical license. (Gilbert, 3/2)

Closed because of damage from the Thomas Fire, Vista del Mar psychiatric hospital could reopen as soon as May, officials said Thursday. The private facility’s 87 beds closed on Dec. 5, the day after the fire spread to Ventura’s hillsides and destroyed two of five buildings. The staff and 67 patients evacuated in a last-minute, late-night convoy of vans and other vehicles as palm trees surrounding the campus burst into flames. (Kisken, 3/1)

The second-largest U.S. nursing home operator, HCR ManorCare, will file for Chapter 11 protection in the coming days and transfer ownership to its landlord, Quality Care Properties Inc, the latest sign of distress in the senior housing industry. Quality Care, a real estate investment trust, announced the agreement on Friday, saying it would become the full owner of Toledo, Ohio-based ManorCare's skilled nursing, assisted living, hospice and homecare businesses across the United States. (Rucinski and Roumeliotis, 3/2)

Hennepin County Medical Center has marked a new era in medicine: One in which 3-D printers are used not just for anatomical models and surgical practice, but to create real implants in real patients. And it came just in time for construction worker Justin Siltala, who was injured last fall when a shovel handle snapped, driving a long wooden shard through his eye socket and into his brain. (Olson, 3/3)

President Trump deserves credit for ringing the alarm bell on the crisis of opioid abuse. In 2016, more Americans died of opioid overdoses than were killed in the Vietnam War. This appalling statistic is a key factor in the recent, shocking decline in U.S. life expectancy. I would quibble, however, with Trump’s decision to launch a global trade war on the same day he convened a White House summit to highlight the opioid emergency. That’s not what folks normally mean by “highlight.” Where is the laser focus and message discipline that allowed a younger Trump to leverage his 1990 garden-variety divorce into a New York tabloid sensation? These days, we’re lucky if he can stay on topic for an hour. (David Von Drehle, 3/2)

The numbers are shocking. It’s estimated that more than 1,000 men and women are treated in emergency rooms daily for misusing prescription painkillers. As a nation, we’re spending more than $500 billion annually in health and social costs to combat this epidemic. While it’s true there is no magic-wand to address  this issue, we must recognize that if we’re going to achieve an addiction free nation, it will depend on smart science and a regulatory environment that promotes pain management alternatives. (Fred Upton and Debbie Dingell, 3/2)

Drugs and workplaces don’t mix. That’s common sense, but now employers have more reasons to take a hard line against employee drug use. The workplace impact of Ohio’s opioid epidemic is starting to be quantified, and the looming availability of legalized marijuana use for medical purposes is forcing Ohio employers’ hands on whether they will tolerate employees’ medical use of the drug regardless of its change in legal status. Getting a handle on just how many employees are impaired by opioid addictions has been elusive. Now a new report examining opioid use in the construction industry has called out Ohio as far worse than six neighboring Midwest states studied. Of 1,000 construction workers dying of opioid overdoses in 2015, 380 were in Ohio — more than twice the totals in Illinois and Michigan, the next highest states. (3/2)

The latest assault on women in Missouri is an effort to criminalize drug addiction in pregnant women. Rep. Jered Taylor, R-Nixa, is sponsoring House Bill 1875, which would make it a felony for a pregnant woman to take narcotics or controlled substances without a prescription. The threat of jail is not the motivation women struggling with drug dependency need. Groups that might otherwise be on Taylor’s side, such as the anti-abortion group Campaign Life Missouri, have raised alarms about this misguided measure. (3/4)

Scientific data is growing nearly by the day in support of the notion that legalized cannabis can mitigate opioid use and abuse. For instance, among states where medical cannabis access is permitted, patients routinely lessen their opioid intake. According to data published this week by the Minnesota Department of Health, among those patients known to be taking opiate painkillers upon their enrollment into the program, 63 percent “were able to reduce or eliminate opioid usage after six months.” (Paul Armentano, 3/4)

Republicans in Washington are so far proving they can’t be taken seriously to improve the nation’s health or health care system. After first submitting a budget that aims to force austerity on Medicaid and Medicare recipients to pay for last year’s tax cuts that are going largely to corporations and the wealthy, the Trump administration has now followed up with a new plan to allow insurance companies to sell junk health insurance. (Andy Slavitt, 3/5)

The mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., has drawn attention to the nation’s mental-health system. In a televised speech, President Trump said his administration wants to “tackle the difficult issue of mental health.” At a town hall hosted by CNN, Dana Loesch, a spokeswoman for the National Rifle Association, announced, “None of us support people who are crazy, who are a danger to themselves, who are a danger to others getting their hands on a firearm.” (Nathaniel Morris, 3/2)

When I was twelve years old, My dad bought me a rifle from a pawnshop. It was a .22-caliber Mossberg bolt-action rifle. It was his way of reaching out to a sullen and withdrawn kid on the verge of adolescence. He believed that it would give us an interest in common. He also thought that being able to shoot, like knowing how to box, were skills any well-rounded man should master.  ...One day when I was home alone I took out my rifle and, without a moment of reflection on what the consequences might be, fired it out the window of our house in the general direction of the house across the street. Whether it was just dumb luck or divine providence, the bullet embedded itself the bough of a big sycamore tree. A few inches higher and it would gone through the window of the master bedroom of my neighbor. (Ross K. Baker, 3/5)

Prominent liberal think tank Center for American Progress (CAP)’s Medicare Extra for All proposal lays out a blueprint for achieving universal health care coverage. It blended the branding of Medicare for All plans and the blueprint proudly asserts “health care is a right.” As an architect of several state and federal Medicare for All plans, I’m thrilled to see CAP join this fight. The problem? CAP’s proposal doesn’t fix the big, underlying issues. (Gerald Friedman, 3/4)

I am mentally ill. I won’t bore you with the details, but I’m one of hundreds of thousands of Americans with a tough-to-treat, life-affecting neurosis known as obsessive compulsive disorder. Since I happen to live near a leading psychiatric hospital, I’m one of the lucky ones. I was diagnosed as a young man. I visit my psychiatrist regularly and take a medication at the beginning of every day. I’m in the “functional” category. I have a family and work for a living, though I don’t earn much. I even own a home. ...As it happens, I have no interest in owning a gun. But what if I did? Should society stop me? (Peter Mandell, 3/4)

Bay Area Rep. Mark DeSaulnier should have been present for Wednesday’s televised meeting on gun violence at the White House. (3/3)

Kids in Detroit are exposed to lead at higher rates than children in other parts of the state. Detroit babies are more likely to be born prematurely — and to die before their first birthdays — than infants in most of the developed world. And the simple act of breathing can lead to disastrous health outcomes for Detroit kids, who are hospitalized for asthma at three times the rate of their peers throughout Michigan. There's no shortage of programs intended to repair or prevent the serious damage posed by all of the risks Detroit's kids face. What is there a shortage of? Money. (Nancy Kaffer, 3/4)

Not unlike both the 111th Congress that passed the Affordable Care Act and the 115th Congress that recently amended it with the new federal tax bill, we are often in the dark about our own health care and health insurance systems. Whether you think this is a matter of being in good company or a national embarrassment, I can think of no problem greater among our citizenry than health insurance illiteracy in general, and about Medicare and Medicaid, in particular. (Ann Marie Marciarille, 3/4)

When I was accepted to UC Berkeley, I was excited about what it meant for my future. (Adiba Khan, 3/2)

Tiffany Carlton gouged out her left eye. The Cedar Rapids woman said a voice told her to do it while she was detained in Linn County jail 21 months ago. Using her fingers, she dug the eye out of its socket and flushed it down the toilet. Her next memory is being taken on a gurney to the hospital. As Iowa’s elected officials consider ways to strengthen mental health services in this state, they should know Carlton’s story. It underscores just how severe and complex mental illness can be and how it intersects with the criminal justice system. The Legislature should pass bills to expand mental health services. Iowa needs short-term crisis intervention and psychiatric beds. And law enforcement agencies need adequate resources and training to keep mentally ill people safe. (3/2)