Two stories out of Indian Country duked it out this week for most depressing. The first is about a woman who went into an IHS hospital because of a cough. Her X-ray revealed signs of cancer, but no further tests were done. Her journey with the system reveals the deep quality of care issues that have plagued the agency for years. The sad thing is, our people dont have a choice. Thats all that is there, saidHarold Frazier, the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe leader.

Meanwhile, the federal government is just catching up to the fact that indigenous women not only face chronic violence at much higher rates than other populations, but theyve also been disappearing in numbers that constitute a crisis. What does that mean, then, for the ones that are found? Families grappling with the trauma they experienced are left without resources or help to put their lives back together.

With plenty of targets for public outrage, the FDA so far has avoided much scrutiny over what role it played in the opioid epidemic. Recently unearthed documents, however, show there was lax oversight at the agency over programs designed to curb the misuse of the pain pills. And even when the deficiencies in the program became apparent through its own review system, the FDA still failed to address the flaws.

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Must-Reads Of The Week From Brianna Labuskes - Lincoln Journal Star