Azar Blames ‘Broken Immigration System’ As HHS Struggles To Meet Court-Ordered Deadline For Reuniting Families
HHS Secretary Alex Azar says there have been obstacles to meeting the deadline on returning young children to their parents, but the agency is using DNA to help match the families.
The Wall Street Journal:
Trump Administration Says It Is Working To Reunite Families By Court Deadline
The Trump administration, in a race to comply with a court order to reunite up to 3,000 children with adult family members who crossed the border illegally, said Thursday it is encountering significant logistical hurdles. The federal government has until Tuesday to reunite children younger than 5 years old with their parents, under a court order issued last week by U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw in San Diego. Older minors must be reconnected with their parents by July 26, the federal judge ruled. (Radnofsky and Campo-Flores, 7/5)
The Hill:
HHS: About 100 Children Under 5 To Be Reunited With Parents Next Week
About 100 children under the age of 5 will be reunited with their families next week after getting separated by authorities at the U.S. border, officials said Thursday. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) must reunite the children under 5 by Tuesday to comply with a court order handed down last month. (Hellmann, 7/5)
The Hill:
HHS Working To Identify Children Separated From Families At Border
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) says it is reviewing the cases of “under 3,000” children who may have been separated from their parents or families at the U.S. border. HHS officials are trying to whittle that number down further to identify the children who were actually separated from their parents by the U.S. government — as opposed to other circumstances before they came to the U.S. — ahead of a court-imposed deadline to reunite children with their families. (Hellmann, 7/5)
In other national health care news —
The Associated Press:
Unsealed Lawsuit: Opioid Firm Placed Profits Over People
A newly unsealed lawsuit by Tennessee's attorney general says the maker of the world's top-selling painkiller directed its salesforce to target the highest prescribers, many with limited or no pain management background or training. Citing the public's right to know, Attorney General Herbert Slatery said Thursday that OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma has dropped its previous efforts to shield details of the 274-page lawsuit in state court. The Tennessee Coalition for Open Government and the Knoxville News Sentinel had also requested that the lawsuit's records become public. (7/5)
Politico:
Sources: EPA Blocks Warnings On Cancer-Causing Chemical
The Trump administration is suppressing an Environmental Protection Agency report that warns that most Americans inhale enough formaldehyde vapor in the course of daily life to put them at risk of developing leukemia and other ailments, a current and a former agency official told POLITICO. The warnings are contained in a draft health assessment EPA scientists completed just before Donald Trump became president, according to the officials. They said top advisers to departing Administrator Scott Pruitt are delaying its release as part of a campaign to undermine the agency’s independent research into the health risks of toxic chemicals. (Snider, 7/6)
Stat:
In The Age Of Mail-Order DNA, Firm Seeks To Balance Safety And Progress
Imagine being a store owner who sells machines without knowing exactly what they do. Some of your products could help farmers grow more nutritious crops while a few others could spread disease among thousands of people. Part of your inventory would do nothing at all. This is the quandary facing many biotech companies that specialize in synthesizing or printing DNA. By selling genes, they have empowered synthetic biologists seeking to genetically engineer organisms capable of fighting disease or producing industrial materials. (Chen, 7/6)
The New York Times:
Airline Crew Have Higher Cancer Rates
Working as a flight attendant may increase the risk for cancer. Flight attendants are exposed to several factors known to increase cancer risk, including disrupted sleep patterns and exposure to the increased levels of cosmic ionizing radiation at high altitudes. (Bakalar, 7/5)
San Jose Mercury News:
North Bay Shelter Is Home For Unaccompanied Minors, Not Children Separated At Border
A Bay Area organization took it upon itself to show up at an immigration shelter in Fairfield to deliver toys for who they believed were immigrant children separated from their parents at the US border. The shelter run by BCFS Health and Human Services does provide services for immigrant children and has, in that location on Pennsylvania Avenue, since 2009. (Murphy, 7/6)