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In its alarming new report on America’s fast-rising suicide rate, the Centers for Disease Control cites many pressures that might lead people to take their own lives: problems with relationships or work, substance abuse, money troubles, or housing insecurity. No doubt all such stresses can drive some people to the brink. The report also offers several strategies to prevent suicide. States can promote employment and tackle housing shortages, for example, and health-care providers can offer treatment online and by phone. Employers, schools and communities can help people feel supported and unashamed to seek help. And everyone can become alert to warning signs. All such changes would reduce the suffering that leads to suicide. But there’s another prevention strategy, and the CDC ignores it: stronger gun laws. (6/7)

Suicide, no matter how well we know a person, usually comes as a shock, even a violation, putting the lie to our conviction that existence is to be cherished. ...But there is no starker reminder of that truth than suicide. Serious depression, which almost always precedes suicide, retains not only the stigma of mental illness and is thus often undisclosed even to one’s nearest, but is also a fairly disguisable illness. Most often, it leaves no track marks. It comes without benefit of casts or bandages. It can be covered up with a smile and denied even by the one enduring it. (Daphne Merkin, 6/7)

“An interesting concept.” That was the wry observation by Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.) to the disclosure that the federal commission on school safety established in response to the Parkland, Fla., high school massacre will study gun violence without actually looking at guns. Other words come to mind. Daft. Misguided. Irresponsible. And — given this administration’s cowardly deference to the national gun lobby — unsurprising. (6/7)

With the start of the 2018 hurricane season comes renewed concern about the potential spread of mosquito-borne infectious disease, including the Zika virus. Last year’s hurricane season was one of the most active on record, resulting in conditions that created a breeding ground for mosquitoes. (Antonio Crespo, 6/7)

Lynnel Beauchesne’s dental office hugs a rural crossroads near Tunnelton, W.Va., population 336. Acres of empty farmland surround the weathered one-story white building; a couple of houses and a few barns are the only neighbors. But the parking lot is full. Some people have driven hours to see Beauchesne, the sole dentist within 30 miles. She estimates that she has as many as 8,000 patients. Before the office closes at 7 p.m., she and her two hygienists will see up to 50 of them, not counting emergencies. (Anne Kim, 6/7)

When you cover a story for years, it is easy to think you know everything about it. Then you discover how much you didn’t know when last you reported on it. In 2001, I started to look into Purdue Pharma and OxyContin, a company and a drug that have since become emblematic of the opioid epidemic. Back then, I had never heard of the powerful painkiller, of Purdue Pharma or of the company’s owner, the Sacklers, one of the wealthiest families in the United States. (Barry Meier, 6/8)

A federal judge in Montana recently handed down a sentence to Canada Drugs, an online pharmacy that has been selling fake medicines, counterfeit, misbranded and unapproved, to unsuspecting Americans. Overseen by its pharmacist founder, the company engaged in this illegal activity for more than 17 years and likely contributed to the deaths of highly-vulnerable patients. The judge’s sentence? Canada Drugs will pay a nominal fine, promise to stop selling drugs in the U.S., and return some of its ill-gotten proceeds. No jail time for the company’s founder either. As policymakers and industry leaders search for solutions to address our nation’s opioid crisis, we are overlooking one of the greatest tools at our disposal: imposing the strong deterrents necessary to thwart criminal operations. (Thomas T. Kubic, 6/7)

The Legislature should reject a troubling proposal by the governor to end a state prison's janitorial contract with PRIDE Industries in favor of hiring unionized state employees. A failure to do so will result in a loss for taxpayers, for a vital part of the state's prison health care system and, most importantly, for hard-working people with disabilities. (Patricia Bataes and Jesús Andrade, 6/6)