Axios

New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a suit on Tuesday against Juul Labs for allegedly preying on and misleading teenagers with its ads, and for failing to warn consumers about potential health risks associated with using its products.

The big picture: The lawsuit filed in New York County Supreme Court came just one day after California filed a similar suit against Juul for suggesting its e-cigarettes are a safer option than traditional cigarettes. In the past year, Juul has gone from exceeding its 2018 projections and becoming a venture capital fundraising machine to being regulators' favorite punching bag.

Insured patients don't directly pay anything for flu shots, but they can be expensive — and these costs vary widely, California Healthline reports with Kaiser Health News.

Why it matters: It's well-documented that the prices of health care services vary widely by location, but the price discrepancy among flu shots — which are cheap — drives home how inconsistent and arbitrary the system can be.

New polling from the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Cook Political Report confirms that while Democratic voters like the idea of “Medicare for All,” it would be a risk in a general election.

Between the lines: This poll was conducted in the formerly “blue wall” states of Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

A new federal study said stents and bypass surgery are no more effective than drugs for treating blocked arteries, but the health care industry and its investors aren't banking on major changes to heart care as a result.

The big picture: Placing stents and performing bypasses are two of the most common operating room procedures. Science continues to say we don't need to be doing them so often, but overhauling that standard of care isn't easy — in part because hospitals and device makers make a lot of money from them.

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced on Monday that the state is suing Juul Labs Inc. for allegedly targeting teenagers with ads for its e-cigarettes and for failing to warn consumers about the potential health risks associated with using its products, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Why it matters: The lawsuit comes just days after Juul announced a $1 billion "recovery plan" that includes cuts to its marketing and government affairs branches, as the company suffers one of its worst years on record.

Hospitals immediately promised to sue the Trump administration after it released two new price transparency regulations on Friday, threatening the future of one of the president's most ambitious health policies.

Why it matters: Politically, the Trump administration could use a win: Most of its other signature health reforms either didn't come to fruition or are tied up in court.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren's two-part plan to pass a public option as a transition into Medicare for All — and then full-blown Medicare for All a few years later — has revealed the difficulty of appealing to both the pragmatic and progressive wings of the party.

The big picture: Warren's already being criticized by progressives for not being a Medicare for All purist, and because of the realities of governing, they may have a point: Passing two major health reforms in one term is unheard of.

The drug industry lobbying group PhRMA registered $460 million of revenue in 2018, a shade more than 2017, according to its latest tax returns obtained by the Center for Responsive Politics.

The bottom line: PhRMA's influence continues to touch almost every corner of state and federal politics, especially conservative groups, and is a big reason why the country's high drug prices have not changed.

President Trump has backed away from plans to ban most flavored e-cigarettes, the Washington Post first reported Sunday.

Why it matters: It's the latest "chaotic" policy reversal following a dramatic declaration by the president to the contrary, per WashPost, which notes he's made differing statements on gun control, leaving troops in Syria and replacing the Affordable Care Act.