The Opioid Epidemic: Death toll still rising, but more slowly
A tentative light at the end of the most deadly drug overdose epidemic in the United States appeared on Tuesday when Health Secretary Alex Azar suggested that opioid death rates are leveling off. National, bipartisan efforts to fight opioid death may be paying off as funding is used for medical treatment in tandem with counseling and continued support for those struggling with addiction. 
Though the number of opioid deaths may be increasing more slowly, death rates from drugs such as cocaine, fentanyl, and methamphetamine are still sharply on the rise. We aren’t out of the woods just yet.
Adenovirus kills seven children
At the Wanaque Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation in Haskell, New Jersey, the outbreak of adenovirus has killed seven children. 
Eleven are still suffering from the virus. The Center treats people who have immunodeficiencies and other illnesses which increase the severity of the virus’ effects. The consequences of the virus run a spectrum — it can cause anything from cold-like symptoms to neurological issues. Further, the polio-like illness acute flaccid myelitis can follow the adenovirus and there may be a connection between the two. Health officials are doing all they can to stem the spread of the virus.
Redfield calls out stigma, and covertly, Trump
Following the release of Trump’s proposal on sex and transgender identity, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Robert Redfield warned against the heightened stigma it would incur against transgender individuals. 
Though he declined to comment on the specific policy, he addressed the stigmatization of mental health issues and differences as “not in the interest of public health,” particularly because of the barriers to treatment that stigma can cause. Physical diseases like cancer are not cloaked in stigma, he said, so mental health issues shouldn’t be either.
Under the Flatirons 2018 