���ϳԹ���

Twannetta Weaver felt like she made the responsible choice when she enrolled in a high-deductible health insurance plan through her employer, an option that avoided high premiums and allowed her to save for retirement. Then, in 2025, she slipped a disk in her back, requiring medication and physical therapy. Suddenly, the medical bills were so overwhelming that Weaver, an adult learner working toward a leadership degree on the side, had to delay graduation by a year. (Swenson and Thomson-Deveaux, 6/18)

As a House committee debated President Donald Trump’s signature domestic policy bill last year, Republican backers repeatedly emphasized that its changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps, wouldn’t affect vulnerable people. SNAP reforms would “restore integrity” to the program and ensure it works for the “most vulnerable among us, including children,” said Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson, a Pennsylvania Republican and chair of the House Agriculture Committee. (Santa Cruz, 6/17)

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ final rule bolstering oversight of accreditors came as no surprise, and some organizations already have been making changes to their processes. CMS said Friday it finalized a rule aimed at enhancing accountability and quality among nine accrediting organizations that work with providers and suppliers participating in Medicare and Medicaid. CMS proposed the rule in 2024 due to concerns about inaccurate surveys, conflicts of interest and other issues. (Hudson, 6/17)

With affordability concerns driving the midterm elections, there is no bigger affordability hack politicians could promise than universal healthcare — but such grand pledges don’t appear to be on the menu for Democrats should they win control of Congress. Instead, most Democrats and Democratic leaders in Washington are setting expectations at easing the more than $1 trillion in healthcare cuts from President Donald Trump’s tax law and restoring enhanced tax credits for people buying coverage on the Affordable Care Act of 2010’s health insurance exchanges. (McAuliff, 6/17)

Health insurance companies that administer Medicaid benefits have been drafted into state efforts to implement work requirements next year. Medicaid managed care organizations such as CalOptima, Colorado Access and UPMC Health Plan and are devising marketing campaigns and technology strategies to support state plans to alert Medicaid policyholders about new rules limiting enrollment that take effect by Jan. 1. These insurers have their work cut out for them as they stand to lose millions of Medicaid members. (Tepper, 6/17)

A pair of new reports from the Office of Inspector General raises concerns about "ghost networks" for maternal services in Medicaid. (Minemyer, 6/17)

���ϳԹ��� News: Listen To The Latest ‘���ϳԹ��� News Minute’

Katheryn Houghton reads the week’s news: New rules that require millions of Americans to work to access Medicaid are stricter than many expected. Plus, the federal Family and Medical Leave Act protects many people’s jobs — but there’s a big catch. (6/18)

Even as the world is racing to contain the deadly Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Trump administration is moving ahead with a plan that could decimate support for programs that detect and snuff out exactly such outbreaks. The new plan, proposed by the State Department, aims to overhaul the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s work on a landmark global H.I.V. program that also helps countries manage surveillance for emerging diseases, strengthen laboratory networks and support childhood immunizations. (Mandavilli, 6/17)

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Wednesday announced a $700 million investment into behavioral health programs, indicating an emphasis on faith-based recovery organizations. Kennedy, a recovered heroin addict, announced a $96 million funding opportunity for the Trump administration’s Safety Through Recovery, Engagement, and Evidence-based Treatment and Support (STREETS) program, along with $612 million in funding opportunities for additional behavioral health programs. (Choi, 6/17)

The Trump administration on Wednesday said it was announcing $700 million in “new funding” for mental health and addiction programs, with an emphasis on combating homelessness resulting from severe, untreated mental illness. (Facher, 6/17)

The Trump administration’s Justice Department is challenging several state laws passed by Virginia Democrats targeting the work of federal immigration enforcement officers. The complaint, filed in the Eastern District of Virginia’s Richmond Division, challenges state laws that seek to ban federal law enforcement officers from wearing masks and restrict 287(g) agreements between federal immigration enforcement and state and local law enforcement agencies. The Justice Department argues the face mask ban illegally attempts to regulate the federal government and threatens federal officers with prosecution for concealing their identities. (Leayman, 6/17)

The path to becoming a scientist is long and twisting, making it difficult to assess whether programs intended to help those careers along are successful. But on Wednesday, the results of one such study are being published after 20 years of research. The paper in the journal Science Advances found that two diversity-oriented programs supported by the National Institutes of Health doubled the odds that an undergraduate student would earn a Ph.D. (Oza, 6/17)

Senate Democrats are opening an inquiry into the Trump administration’s remaking of federal vaccine policy, demanding officials produce records by next week. (Payne, 6/18)

In February at Republicans’ private Capitol Hill clubhouse, President Donald Trump’s chief pollster delivered a message about voters and their desire to hear about affordability. The briefing, attended by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., additional Cabinet members and others, didn’t focus on immunizations, as Republican strategists had concluded vaccine skepticism carried political risks. (Roubein and Sun, 6/17)

The U.S. Labor Department told all 50 states on Wednesday that they need to get serious about fighting fraud and waste in unemployment insurance, or else they won’t get more money for those programs from the federal government. It’s the latest example of President Donald Trump ’s administration scrutinizing potential theft or misuse in state programs that get funding from Washington. While the letters went to all governors, the public announcement about them focused on issues in three states where Democrats are in charge. That’s been the case for many similar announcements from the Republican administration. (Mulvihill, 6/17)

Frank Ssekamwa says the United States presented his country with an impossible choice. If it accepted the terms of a new health agreement, Uganda would have to give the U.S. access to the data of millions of his fellow citizens — a decision he worries would make their personal information more vulnerable to breaches and possible exploitation. But if it refused, the East African nation would likely lose out on more than a billion dollars to address HIV, malaria, tuberculosis and other illnesses, even as its people face ongoing threats from Ebola and other deadly infectious diseases. (Lerner and Barry-Jester, 6/17)

The FDA approved oral tebipenem pivoxil (Utebzi) as the first oral carbapenem antibiotic to treat complicated urinary tract infections (UTIs), the agency announced on Wednesday. (Rudd, 6/17)

For months, and sometimes longer, parents of kids with disabilities say they have waited for the Education Department to make progress on their complaints of bullying or other discrimination. Now that the department is offloading civil rights enforcement and special education, some parents and advocates warn a process that has largely been stalled since President Donald Trump took office will see only more chaos and roadblocks. (Hollingsworth, Ma and Balingit, 6/18)

After a White House press conference last fall promoted the use of leucovorin (folinic acid) for autism and raised concerns about acetaminophen (Tylenol) use during pregnancy, Google searches for leucovorin were nearly 380% higher than expected over the next 14 days, according to a study by Yale researchers published last week in JAMA Network Open. Searches for leucovorin together with terms indicating an intent to purchase (like “buy” or “order”) rose more than 200%, and those connecting acetaminophen with autism and pregnancy soared, increasing 1,322%. (Bergeson, 6/17) 

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) says she does “not regret” her vote to confirm conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court in 2018, but she says she is “disappointed” that he ruled with the conservative majority in 2022 to overturn the constitutional right to an abortion. Collins told News Center Maine in a televised interview that she does not rue her support for Kavanaugh’s confirmation, arguing he was qualified to serve on the Supreme Court, but she disagreed with his decision to give states the power to set their own laws restricting abortion. (Bolton, 6/17)

A cure for cancer could be on the horizon in the next decade, according to experts. During the WSJ Leadership Institute CEO Summit in London last week, Johnson & Johnson Chairman and CEO Joaquin Duato reflected on the pharmaceutical company’s projections on the future of cancer treatment. In the next 10 years, the goal is to "try to eliminate cancer," Duato shared. (Stabile, 6/17)

Johnson & Johnson has no plans to enter the booming obesity market, opting instead to focus on diseases such as cancer, Chief Executive Officer Joaquin Duato said in an interview for an upcoming episode of The David Rubenstein Show: Peer to Peer Conversations. The comments set J&J apart from many of its rivals trying to develop or acquire obesity medicines following blockbuster weight-loss drugs from Eli Lilly & Co. and Novo Nordisk A/S. (Muller, 6/17)

The modern healthcare visit typically comprises a clinician facing a computer monitor and the patient waiting to be looked at. Altamonte Springs, Fla.-based AdventHealth is hoping to reverse this trend. The health system is rolling out smart technology across 13,000 acute care rooms at 57 hospitals in nine states — the largest on record. (Bruce, 6/17)

Charlotte, N.C.-based Atrium Health has filed a certificate of need application to build a full-service hospital in New Hanover County, N.C., becoming the latest health system seeking to expand in one of the state’s fastest-growing regions. (Condon, 6/17)

Amazon One Medical reported a security event impacting a "limited number" of patients of its senior care clinics business. (Landi, 6/17)

UniQure NV shares soared after the company announced it will be able to seek US approval for its Huntington’s disease gene therapy before conducting a new study, a dramatic reversal that shows the Trump administration is relaxing its previous hard-line stance on drug reviews. The US Food and Drug Administration told the company during a recent meeting that data from its existing study would be acceptable for an expedited approval filing, UniQure said in a statement. It plans to submit an application in the third quarter of this year. (Langreth, 6/17)

AI startup Midjourney Inc. announced its first hardware project at an event in San Francisco, outlining an unexpected move into the personal health and medical industries. Chief Executive Officer David Holz revealed what he described as a “full-body ultrasound machine” called the Midjourney Scanner. “No such device has ever been built until now,” he claimed, touting the new technology as superior to MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) in numerous ways. (Welch, 6/18)

An Andreessen Horowitz-backed healthcare startup born in Latin America wants to put its AI assistant in the hands of half the region’s 1.9 million doctors by the end of 2027, a bet that technology can help bridge a shortage of medical professionals across strained health systems. Telepatia, launched in Colombia in July 2025 and now headquartered in Sao Paulo, sees the region’s overstretched hospitals and physicians as both a growth opportunity and a testing ground for technology that promises to make them more productive. (Dahl, 6/17)

Fitness wearable company Whoop announced Wednesday a partnership with health platform HealthEx that allows users to connect their medical records directly within the Whoop app, combining medical history with biometric data. (Gleeson, 6/17)

Legal experts say the speed and decisiveness of the Department of Justice’s proposed antitrust settlement with OhioHealth should put other hospitals on notice. (Bannow, 6/17)

The San Francisco AIDS Foundation, one of the largest and oldest HIV nonprofits in the country, anticipated that the Trump administration would slash its funding. But it wasn’t expecting significant cuts to come from the leaders of San Francisco, the birthplace of prevention methods that have guided the nation’s response to the AIDS epidemic for decades. The foundation’s Castro health clinic, Strut, is already staring down the loss of $1 million in federal grant dollars it doesn’t expect to be renewed under the Trump administration over the next two years. Now, the city’s proposed budget includes $1.2 million in new cuts. (DiNatale, 6/17)

Rural hospital clinically integrated networks are gaining steam and with the latest addition, there are hundreds of organizations in groups designed to boost their negotiating leverage with insurers, increase access to care and lower expenses. Seven Kansas rural hospitals have formed the Kansas High Value Network, a clinically integrated network meant to give providers the benefits of scale while remaining independent. The Kansas rural hospital coalition, announced Wednesday, follows other member-owned networks convened by rural hospital consultancy Cibolo Health in North Dakota, Minnesota, Ohio, Montana, Nebraska and Wisconsin. (Kacik, 6/17)

Last summer was the first time Missourians exposed to radioactive waste could apply for compensation. They include many St. Louis-area residents affected in the 1970s by waste left over from the Manhattan Project — a top-secret federal government program established to create the world’s first atomic bombs during World War II. While more $122 million has been approved for payouts through the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, parents whose children died after living near the waste don’t get to see that money. (Wimbley, 6/17)

Three weeks after giving birth, Christine’s face and ankles became swollen at night. The 37-year-old Black woman from Robeson County became short of breath just walking to the kitchen, and lying flat made her feel like she couldn’t breathe. She had developed postpartum cardiomyopathy. (Crawford and Fredde, 6/18)

Colorado regulators are reviewing Xcel Energy’s final plan to clean up groundwater contamination caused by decades of coal ash disposal at the Valmont Power Station. The project, which could begin construction as early as late summer, follows years of contamination that migrated beyond the company’s property and was detected in at least one nearby residential well. The proposed system would pump contaminated groundwater from beneath the site and transport it for treatment, a first-of-its-kind project in Colorado. But environmental advocates say the cleanup may fall short if a second coal ash landfill near the power plant is also contributing to the pollution. (Jaijongkit, 6/17)

Asking someone to remove jewelry for dental X-rays is routine. But those instructions become much harder to communicate when patients and providers don’t share a language. Three graduate students at Virginia Tech developed a translation tool designed to improve communication between Spanish-speaking patients and English-speaking dentists. (Schabacker, 6/18)

The Federal Trade Commission is suing the leading transgender health care group in federal court. The agency argued on Wednesday that the World Professional Association for Transgender Health made “deceptive claims” in its health care guidelines for transgender children. The group’s members include psychiatrists, surgeons, pediatricians, endocrinologists and primary care doctors who work with transgender patients. The FTC, like the Health Department, has been on a monthslong legal tear to clamp down on providers and hospitals that offer gender-affirming care. Gender-affirming care refers to medical interventions for minors experiencing distress that their bodies do not align with their gender identity. (Levien, 6/17)

A federal judge ordered the Bureau of Prisons on Wednesday to continue providing hormone medications to transgender inmates, rejecting, at least for now, the Trump administration’s decision to no longer provide such medical treatment for prisoners. Judge Royce C. Lamberth, of the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia, issued a preliminary injunction, finding that doubts the government has raised about hormone therapy were unlikely to satisfy a legal requirement that federal agencies offer a reasoned explanation for reversing existing policies. (Harmon, 6/17)

���ϳԹ��� News: Arrests Of Immigrant Parents Create Mental Health Crisis For Children

Damian Zermeño, 15, sensed something was wrong the moment he got home from school. His aunt sat at the dining table, sobbing. His father, who’d walked him to the bus stop that morning and promised to take him to dinner when he got back, wasn’t there. Saúl Zermeño, a 45-year-old single dad, had gone to a routine check-in appointment at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement office that morning, a requirement he’d complied with for years. (Boyd-Barrett, 6/18)

Deciding whether to have a child is one of the most consequential choices that someone will make. In many ways, it’s a leap of faith: Nobody can know ahead of time exactly what parenthood will look or feel like. Prospective parents often worry about problems like economic uncertainty, global crises or the difficulty of balancing parenting responsibilities with career. And for those with mental illness, there are additional considerations that can make the choice feel especially fraught. (Caron, 6/17)

— Luigi Mangione plans to assert a psychiatric defense at his state murder trial, claiming he was suffering from extreme emotional disturbance when he gunned down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, a judge said Wednesday. It wouldn’t absolve him of the Dec. 4, 2024, killing, but could free him from prison sooner. If a jury accepts that defense, the panel would convict Mangione of manslaughter and he would face up to 25 years in prison. Alternatively, the jury could reject the extreme emotional disturbance defense and convict him of murder, which carries a potential life sentence. That defense isn’t available in his federal case. (Sisak, 6/17)

Sam was 15 when a friend he’d met playing Call of Duty invited him to join a private Discord forum where girls his age were sharing nude selfies and teens were trading violent images better than any horror movie. To get in, Sam needed to prove he could find someone to carve his username on their body. His friend said he had a girl who could help. Once inside, Sam says, he discovered hundreds of girls, many of them being manipulated into posting graphic clips. (Murphy, 6/17)

Too many Americans are “under-babied,” Dr. Mehmet Oz has said. He and other Trump administration officials frame the falling fertility rate as a crisis, fueling debates about what’s causing the decline. One argument gaining traction recently is that smartphones have made people less social and therefore less likely to have sex. (Bendix, 6/18)

Ivermectin, which surged in popularity during the coronavirus pandemic amid unproven claims that it could help fight COVID-19 infections, has now found a new following among some cancer patients. Prescriptions for the antiparasitic drug among cancer patients more than doubled in the first half of 2025, following the airing of a popular podcast episode promoting the drug, according to a study published in JAMA. (Osunsami, Geho, Romero, Christie and Benadjaoud, 6/17)

The heartbeat of the artificial intelligence economy sounds like a low-frequency thrum of a neighbor’s central air-conditioning unit, an airplane flying overhead at high altitude or a truck engine idling down the road. But it feels like the vibrating, rhythmic pulse of a subwoofer from a party that will never end. Yes, the cloud has a sound, and some who live closest to data centers that emit the noise have reached their wit’s end trying to block it out. (Hassan, 6/17)

���ϳԹ��� News: Sandwiched Between Caring For Kids And Aging Parents? Reach Out For Resources

Being a family caregiver is hard work. On June 17, ���ϳԹ��� News Midwest correspondent Cara Anthony joined WAMU’s Health Hub to discuss her experience with parenting while also caring for aging parents. Listen in as she shares tips for other members of the “sandwich generation.” Are you juggling the responsibilities of raising children and having aging parents? Navigating that role can come with new responsibilities, stressors, and unexpected expenses, but claiming the caregiver identity can help. Researchers have found that people who identify as caregivers are more likely to use support services and feel a sense of community with others. (Anthony, 6/18)

Among those taking GLP-1 medications for weight loss, exercise rates are decreasing, according to new research. The study, set to be presented at ENDO 2026 (the Endocrine Society's annual meeting) in Chicago this week, found that adults with obesity who lost weight with a GLP-1, such as Ozempic or Wegovy, "significantly reduced" their physical activity. (Stabile, 6/17)

The first thing to know is that the baby is all right now. She’s coming up on her second birthday, playful and curious. She chases the family dog around the house, trying to give him kisses, and mimics her dad by wiggling her hips as he shows her how to hula hoop. (Todd, 6/18)

What makes a food irresistible, even addictive? Is it the amount of fat? (Yum.) Refined carbs and extra sugar? (Double yum.) Salt? Lots of calories packed into a single bite? My grandma’s chocolate chip-oatmeal cookie recipe has all that and more. But while I love to make and gobble them up, I don’t crave them like someone addicted to cigarettes or booze. (LaMotte, 6/17)

For the first time in World Cup history, FIFA is mandating all soccer players take hydration breaks to protect them from the threats of extreme heat. But the new rule has sparked criticism from two very different groups. Some experts have warned that this summer’s World Cup — co-hosted by the U.S., Mexico and Canada — could be the hottest in the tournament’s history. In response to concerns about extreme heat, FIFA implemented three-minute hydration breaks midway through each half regardless of temperatures. But some critics say they’re interrupting the game’s flow and give coaches a chance to shift momentum in their team’s favor, while some scientists have said the breaks are too short to make a significant impact on cooling and rehydration when conditions are sizzling. (Pineda and McDermott, 6/18)

More than 60 organizations filed a petition urging the Food and Drug Administration to withdraw approval for what they called the “unsafe” use of antibiotics for preventing disease in food-producing livestock. (Silverman, 6/17)

���ϳԹ��� News: ���ϳԹ��� News’ ‘Letters To The Editor’: Readers Curse Medical Debt And Defend Spelling Therapy

���ϳԹ��� News gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories. (6/18)

An experimental vaccine aimed at preventing fentanyl overdoses showed promise in an early-stage clinical trial, the drugmaker, ARMR Sciences, said Wednesday. It’s the first fentanyl vaccine to be tested in humans, and if it proves effective in larger trials, experts say it would mark a major breakthrough in efforts to combat the opioid epidemic in the United States. (Lovelace Jr., 6/17)

Treating opioid withdrawal with short-acting opioids showed a dose-dependent association with a reduction in early patient-directed discharge in hospitalized adults receiving medications for opioid use disorder (OUD), according to a retrospective cohort study. (Firth, 6/17)

A copper-based drug could offer a new route to tackling Alzheimer’s disease, after researchers found it reduced toxic proteins in the brain while improving memory in laboratory studies. Scientists at Monash University reported that the compound, known as Cu(ATSM), not only lowered levels of amyloid-beta—a protein strongly linked to Alzheimer’s—but also improved long-term spatial memory. (Azzurra Volpe, 6/17)

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients in the registration trials for anifrolumab (Saphnelo) who were followed for 4 years showed sustained improvement in hematologic and serologic parameters, as well as clinical symptom relief, researchers said. (Gever, 6/17)

Cefazolin was effective for the treatment of bacteremia caused by methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA), findings of an international open-label platform trial showed. (Rudd, 6/17)

Menopausal hormone therapy was associated with a reduced risk of low bone mineral density (BMD) among postmenopausal women in a retrospective cohort study. (Monaco, 6/17)

Long-COVID patients are more likely to develop cardiovascular disease (CVD), according to a recent analysis of a national survey published in the journal Clinical Medicine Insights: Cardiology. Long COVID is a chronic illness in which people experience lingering symptoms after an initial COVID-19 infection. The diagnosis is not well understood, though many patients report cardiovascular complications. (Boden, 6/17)

People diagnosed as having multiple sclerosis (MS) often worry about their symptoms intensifying or returning after receiving a live attenuated vaccine, which can cause vaccine hesitancy. But a recent study published in JAMA Network Open found that MS patients can receive live attenuated measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) and chickenpox (varicella) vaccines without an increased chance of symptom relapse. (Holohan, 6/17)

One of the world's top centers for brain science is taking a huge gamble on a tiny, transparent fish. The Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Janelia Research Campus near Washington, D.C., has announced an effort to use artificial intelligence and an unusual fish called Danionella to understand how the brain controls complex behaviors like social interaction. (Hamilton, 6/16)

A nutrient often promoted for boosting focus and brain performance may carry an unexpected downside for men’s long‑term health, according to a new study. Published in the journal Aging‑US on June 15, 2026, the research suggests that higher levels of the amino acid tyrosine in the blood could be linked to a shorter lifespan in men. (Volpe, 6/16)

For the past six years, Casey Harrell’s life has felt like a slow-motion car crash. At 42, he began to lose his voice to the neurodegenerative disease ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. His world shrank as his ability to sing to his young daughter, give a presentation for work or tell a joke eroded. Three years later, researchers at the University of California at Davis placed experimental implants in his brain. He gained something incredible: “The ability to talk from my brain,” Harrell wrote in an email. (Johnson, 6/15)

More than three decades after a diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes, Michelle Caldwell says her disease is better controlled than ever. She keeps regular appointments with her endocrinologist, primary care provider, dietician and pharmacist at MLK Community Medical Group, the outpatient arm of MLK Community Healthcare. (Purtill, 6/14)

It started in January 2024, with a call from her father’s eye doctor. Did Carole know that Andre was still driving, even though his vision was so poor? Even though it was illegal to drive with eyesight so bad? Well, no, she didn’t; she made a point not to know this sort of thing about her father. Also, she didn’t really care. (Engelhart, 6/15)

For years, doctors relied only on written memory tests, invasive spinal taps and expensive imaging to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease. Now, two Food and Drug Administration-cleared blood tests are simplifying the diagnosis. The tests, from manufacturers Fujirebio Diagnostics and Roche Holding, were cleared last year and look for different versions of tau, a protein that forms into tangles in the brain and can lead to memory loss. Fujirebio’s test also measures a protein called beta-amyloid, which can form sticky plaques that are a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease and the target of recently approved drugs for the condition. (Janin, 6/15)

I didn’t enter rehab as a part of some contrived comeback story. I went because I had nowhere else to go. My wife dropped me off at an inpatient trauma facility in Arizona. Walked in like I owned the place; shoulders square, chin up, stoic. I had mastered how to look composed even when nothing underneath was holding. (Fletcher, 6/17)

We need the will to push back against corporate interests. (Jessica Grose, 6/17)

The Congo outbreak is far from contained. (6/17)

From accelerating drug discovery to improving diagnostics, AI’s potential in health care is enormous. But AI is also creating a new and largely overlooked strain on something fundamental to health: the electricity and water systems that sustain modern life. (Sten H. Vermund and Patricia J. Kissinger, 6/18)

Whether our nation’s foreign policy is grounded in America First or American exceptionalism, improving global health should be a top policy priority of the United States. The recent hantavirus outbreak and evolving Ebola crisis serve as a reminder to Congress that the well-being of Americans is tied to the well-being of people around the globe. (Anand Parekh, Tom Daschle and Bill Frist, 6/18)

A calf cramp should not be a brush with death. Mine almost was. For five days, I had what felt like a stubborn muscle spasm in my left calf. It was tender, swollen and getting worse. I assumed it was a muscle problem and went to my chiropractor, who treated it as a muscle issue. (Gleb Tsipursky, 6/17)