First Edition: March 31, 2022

Today’s early morning highlights from the foremost information organizations.

KHN:
‘The Danger Is Still There’ ― As Omicron Lurks, Native Americans Are Wary Of Boosters 
When covid-19 vaccines first grew to become obtainable, Native Americans acted swiftly and with dedication to get their photographs — as if that they had all the things to lose. Covid hospitalization and loss of life charges for American Indians and Alaska Natives had skyrocketed previous these of non-Hispanic whites. Leveraging established methods just like the Indian Health Service and tribal organizations, Native Americans urgently administered vaccines. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed they achieved the best vaccination charges of any race or ethnicity. (Pradhan, 3/31)

KHN:
Tennessee Offers To Expand Dental Schools As Medicaid Coverage Stretches Need 
More than 600,000 extra Medicaid sufferers in Tennessee might quickly be coated with complete dental advantages underneath a proposal by Republican Gov. Bill Lee. But the state, one of many final to increase dental protection to adults, can be attempting to ensure these Medicaid enrollees can discover dentists prepared to deal with them. Along with $75 million to increase Medicaid dental advantages to adults, Tennessee is contemplating $94 million to assist its two dental colleges develop. About a 3rd of the cash would assist repay the coed loans of graduates who comply with work in high-need areas, with the concept that they’d deal with extra Medicaid sufferers. (Farmer, 3/31)

KHN:
Despite Doctors’ Concerns, Pharmacists Get More Leeway To Offer Treatment With Testing
When Reyna or Justin Ansley or one in every of their three children feels sick and must be examined for strep throat or flu, there’s an excellent likelihood they’ll head to their native pharmacy in Hemingford or Alliance, Nebraska. Dave Randolph, the proprietor of each areas of Dave’s Pharmacy, can do a speedy take a look at, give them drugs in the event that they want it, and ship them on their method. “I’m a cattle rancher,” mentioned Reyna Ansley, whose household lives about 15 miles exterior Hemingford. “You don’t essentially have the time to drive to the physician and sit within the ready room. It’s actually faster by Dave.” (Andrews, 3/31)

KHN:
Pandemic Funding Is Running Out For Community Health Workers 
As a group well being employee, 46-year-old Christina Scott is knowledgeable red-tape cutter, hand-holder, shoulder to cry on, and private security web, all wrapped into one. She works in an workplace within the shadow of the metal mill that employed her grandfather on this shrinking metropolis within the Greater St. Louis space. Gone with lots of the metal jobs is a few of the space’s stability — nearly a fifth of Granite City’s residents reside in poverty, far larger than the nationwide common. (Weber, 3/31)

CIDRAP:
White House Launches ‘One-Stop’ Website For COVID-19 Needs 
President Joe Biden immediately introduced the launch of covid.gov, a brand new one-stop store for locating COVID-19 vaccines, masks, exams, and coverings by county on an easy-to-use web site. “We are in a brand new second on this pandemic, it doesn’t imply it is over, it means it not controls our lives,” Biden mentioned, earlier than asserting he was getting his second booster dose of vaccine later this afternoon. “Thanks to the inspiration we’ve got laid, America has the instruments to combat the virus.” (Soucheray, 3/30)

NPR:
New Federal COVID Website Shows Where You Can Get Paxlovid Pills
The seek for COVID vaccines, exams and coverings may get simpler Wednesday with the White House launch of COVID.gov, an internet site meant to be a one-stop store for all the things from free top quality masks to antiviral capsules. “We couldn’t have finished this six or eight months in the past as a result of we did not have all of the instruments we’ve got now,” mentioned White House COVID response coordinator Jeff Zients in an interview with NPR. With the web site launch, the White House is following by on a promise President Biden made in his State of the Union tackle. In that speech he introduced a test-to-treat program “so individuals can get examined at a pharmacy, and in the event that they’re optimistic, obtain antiviral capsules on the spot without charge.” (Keith, 3/30)

USA Today:
Biden Gets Second COVID Booster, Urges Congress To OK Emergency Funds
President Joe Biden rolled up his shirt sleeve and bought his second COVID-19 booster shot Wednesday after launching a web based one-stop heart to assist Americans discover up-to-date details about COVID remedies and vaccines of their space. “It did not harm a bit,” Biden mentioned after receiving his second booster of the Pfizer vaccine. Biden’s determination to get the shot got here simply sooner or later after the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention mentioned individuals age 50 and older are eligible for a second booster dose of the vaccine a minimum of 4 months after their first. (Collins, 3/30)

NBC News:
Many People Eligible For Second Booster Shot Don’t Need To Race, Experts Say
The Food and Drug Administration has licensed a second Covid-19 booster shot for individuals ages 50 and older, however a number of public well being specialists mentioned youthful, more healthy members of that group do not essentially want a fourth shot as quickly as they grow to be eligible. “This is a kind of the place I don’t suppose anybody must race,” Dr. Richard Besser, former appearing director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, informed NBC’s “TODAY” present on Wednesday. “This is a kind of issues the place individuals ought to suppose thoughtfully.” (Li, 3/30)

CNBC:
Biden Warns U.S. Won’t Have Enough Covid Vaccine Shots Without Aid From Congress
President Joe Biden warned Wednesday that the U.S. is not going to have sufficient Covid vaccine photographs this fall to make sure free and quick access for all Americans if Congress fails to go the $22.5 billion in extra funding the administration has requested. Biden mentioned the U.S. has sufficient provide to make sure individuals eligible for fourth photographs have entry to them. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week advisable an extra Pfizer or Moderna dose for individuals ages 50 and older, in addition to sure youthful people who’ve compromised immune methods. Biden, 79, obtained his fourth dose on reside tv after his remarks. (Kimball, 3/30)

The Hill:
Senators Shrinking Size Of COVID Deal Amid Disagreements
A bunch of senators negotiating a possible deal for brand new coronavirus aid is getting ready to reduce the general dimension of the bundle amid a disagreement over learn how to pay for it, sources informed The Hill.  The bipartisan group has been negotiating for days over learn how to revive the $15.6 billion in coronavirus assist that bought stripped out of a authorities funding invoice earlier this month, with senators indicating earlier Wednesday that they agreed on the scale of a possible deal. (Carney, 3/30)

The Hill:
Senators Trade Offers In Scramble For Coronavirus Deal 
Senators are swapping gives as they scramble to attempt to get a deal on coronavirus aid earlier than they depart for a two-week break in a matter of days. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) met Wednesday with Sens. Mitt Romney (Utah), Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Richard Burr (N.C.) and Roy Blunt (Mo.), who’re negotiating for Republicans. He then met for a second time with members of the group and Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.), the chairwoman of the Senate Health Committee, on Wednesday evening. (Carney, 3/31)

Politico:
The Next Phase Of Covid Depends On The Senate 
Here’s a scary thought: America’s skill to face the pandemic’s subsequent part might rely upon a handful of senators. The talks between Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) entered their most pressing stage but on Wednesday, as the 2 spearhead an effort to allocate $15.6 billion to combat the pandemic. The Democratic chief and Republican centrist convened a bigger group on Wednesday afternoon to see if there’s a actual likelihood at a bipartisan invoice earlier than the April 9 congressional recess; the assembly broke with out a deal however a vow to maintain speaking. (Everett and Levine, 3/30)

Politico:
Private Concerns Mount About Biden’s New Covid Czar 
When President Joe Biden tapped Ashish Jha as the brand new chief of his coronavirus response, he hailed the well-known public well being professional because the “excellent individual” to steer the nation by the following part of the pandemic. Not everyone seems to be as satisfied as Biden. In the weeks since Jha’s announcement, administration officers’ shock over the choice has given solution to skepticism, with some privately questioning how an instructional well-known for his tv commentary will handle a posh operation that touches each a part of the federal paperwork. (Cancryn, 3/30)

CNN:
Biden Administration Plans To End Pandemic Border Restrictions In May, Sources Say 
The Biden administration is planning to finish Trump-era pandemic restrictions on the US-Mexico border by May 23 which have largely blocked migrants from coming into the US, in line with three US officers. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is finalizing its evaluation of the general public well being authority, referred to as Title 42, in line with CDC spokeswoman Kathleen Conley, and is anticipated to announce a choice this week on whether or not to repeal, modify or prolong the authority. The Biden administration has been underneath mounting strain from Democrats and immigrant advocates to finish the general public well being authority, which critics say was by no means justified by science and places migrants in hurt’s method. (Alvarez, Collins, Liptak and Goodman, 3/30)

NPR:
CDC Drops Risk Advisory For Cruise Ship Travel, 2 Years Into The COVID Pandemic
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has lifted its threat advisory for cruise ship journey Wednesday following two years of issuing warnings to vacationers about the potential for contracting COVID-19 onboard a cruise. In an replace posted on-line, the company eliminated its “Cruise Ship Travel Health Notice,” a discover that advisable people in opposition to touring onboard cruise ships. Three months in the past, the CDC elevated its journey warnings for cruises to Level 4 — the best stage — following investigations of ships that had COVID outbreaks. While the CDC has lifted its journey well being discover, officers say it is as much as the passengers to find out their very own well being dangers earlier than going onboard a cruise ship. (Franklin, 3/30)

The New York Times:
Ivermectin Does Not Reduce Risk Of Covid Hospitalization, Large Study Finds 
The anti-parasitic drug ivermectin, which has surged in recognition as a substitute therapy for Covid-19 regardless of an absence of robust analysis to again it up, confirmed no signal of assuaging the illness, in line with outcomes of a big medical trial revealed on Wednesday. The examine, which in contrast greater than 1,300 individuals contaminated with the coronavirus in Brazil who obtained both ivermectin or a placebo, successfully dominated out the drug as a therapy for Covid, the examine’s authors mentioned. “There’s actually no signal of any profit,” mentioned Dr. David Boulware, an infectious-disease professional on the University of Minnesota. (Zimmer, 3/30)

Bloomberg:
Ivermectin Failed To Cut Covid Hospitalizations In Large Study
A big examine on the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin, which has gained recognition as a substitute remedy for Covid-19, discovered that the medication didn’t assist preserve sufferers out of the hospital. Scientists in Brazil who adopted greater than 1,300 sufferers assigned to take both the drug or a placebo for 3 days additionally discovered that ivermectin therapy didn’t assist with plenty of different well being measures similar to viral clearance after every week, velocity of restoration or threat of loss of life. The examine outcomes had been revealed within the New England Journal of Medicine. (Fourcade, 3/31)

The New York Times:
Covid Vaccines Did Not Protect Adolescents As Effectively During The Omicron Surge 
In yet one more twist to the controversy over how greatest to guard youngsters in opposition to the coronavirus, researchers reported on Wednesday that Covid vaccines conferred diminished safety in opposition to hospitalization amongst youngsters 12 and older in the course of the newest Omicron surge. Vaccine effectiveness in opposition to hospitalization held regular in youngsters aged 5 to 11 years, nevertheless, and amongst adolescents ages 12 to 18 years, two doses of the vaccine remained extremely protecting in opposition to important sickness requiring life help. (Mandavilli, 3/30)

Bloomberg:
Omicron More Severe For Unvaccinated Children Than Other Strains
The omicron variant of Covid-19 has been linked to extra hospitalizations, extreme issues and deaths of younger youngsters than earlier waves of the virus, suggesting the extremely contagious pressure might not be as gentle as initially thought, in line with a Hong Kong-based examine. Researchers from the University of Hong Kong and Princess Margaret Hospital reviewed youngster hospitalizations throughout totally different phases of the pandemic. They discovered that instances had been much more extreme within the omicron wave that continues to brush by town in its worst outbreak of the pandemic. (Lew, 3/31)

Houston Chronicle:
Houston Sees Rise In BA.2, COVID Omicron Subvariant Expected To Become Dominant Here
Houston is seeing an uptick within the variety of BA.2 instances, with genome sequencing and wastewater testing selecting up larger ranges this week in comparison with final week. The extra contagious omicron subvariant was recognized in 24 p.c of sufferers who had been sequenced at Houston Methodist, a leap from the 1 to three p.c beforehand reported. BA.2 was additionally detected at six wastewater therapy crops on March 21 — the latest day for which knowledge is offered — after the Houston Health Department final week mentioned it had not been detected at any crops. (Gill, 3/30)

Des Moines Register:
COVID-19 In Iowa: Hospitalizations Tick Back Up As Cases Fall Again
The variety of individuals hospitalized in Iowa with COVID-19 rose for the primary time in ten weeks, however remained low, in line with knowledge launched Wednesday by the Iowa Department of Public Health and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Last week, the variety of individuals hospitalized with COVID-19 fell under 100 for simply the second time for the reason that pandemic ramped up in 2020. It remained under 100 this week, however elevated barely, from 67 to 74. The variety of individuals requiring intensive look after COVID-19 issues additionally rose this week, from 11 to fifteen. Both numbers are a lot decrease than they have been for many of the pandemic. (Webber, 3/30)

Bangor Daily News:
A More Contagious Version Of Omicron Is Rising Quickly In Maine
A extra contagious pressure of the omicron variant is rising extra prevalent in Maine after enhancements within the state’s case and hospitalization numbers have largely stalled out. The BA.2 variant — typically referred to as “stealth omicron” — was first recognized in Maine in late February. It is estimated to be roughly 30 p.c extra contagious than the unique omicron variant that emerged final fall, and has been cited as a significant contributor to rising virus charges in a lot of Europe. (Piper, 3/31)

Modern Healthcare:
Hospital COVID-19 Mortality Rates Double For Native Americans
American Indian and Alaska Native populations skilled in-hospital COVID-19 mortality charges two to 3 instances larger than all different races, in addition to a few of the high COVID-19 hospitalization and mortality charges within the U.S. general, a brand new examine discovered. Despite having proportionally decrease comorbidity threat scores than Black and white sufferers, American Indian and Alaska Native sufferers had been extra prone to die within the hospital resulting from COVID-19 than Black or white sufferers at each stage of comorbidity threat, in line with a JAMA Network Open report on Wednesday. (Devereaux, 3/30)

AP:
Missouri Governor Declares `The COVID-19 Crisis Is Over’ 
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson on Wednesday declared “the COVID-19 disaster is over,” asserting that the state will quickly start dealing with the coronavirus like influenza and different ongoing ailments that often flare up. Parson mentioned the state will formally begin treating the coronavirus as an endemic on Friday. One result’s that the general public will obtain much less frequent updates concerning the variety of deaths, hospitalizations and instances attributed to COVID-19.“The COVID-19 disaster is over within the state of Missouri, and we’re shifting on,” the Republican governor mentioned at a Capitol information convention, slightly over two years for the reason that World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic on March 11, 2020. (Lieb, 3/30)

AP:
Arizona Governor Ends 2-Year-Old Virus State Of Emergency 
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey on Wednesday ended the state of emergency he declared initially of the coronavirus pandemic greater than two years in the past. The formal finish of the statewide emergency got here as COVID-19 instances and hospitalizations dip to ranges not seen since summer time 2020. But deaths are falling at a slower tempo. (Christie, 3/30)

AP:
Indiana Dropping County COVID-19 Risk Map From Website 
Indiana well being officers are dropping the state’s color-coded map that rated every county’s threat of COVID-19 unfold in favor of counting on a special federal ranking system. That is among the important adjustments that the Indiana Department of Health introduced Wednesday for its on-line dashboard monitoring COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations and deaths throughout the state. The company has been updating the dashboard every weekday however will change to Monday, Wednesday and Friday updates. (3/30)

AP:
Los Angeles Ends Its Business Vaccine Verification Mandate 
The Los Angeles City Council voted Wednesday to finish its mandate for a lot of indoor companies and operators of enormous out of doors occasions to confirm that prospects have been vaccinated in opposition to COVID-19, becoming a member of a wave of massive U.S. cities which have relaxed the restriction. The measure by council President Nury Martinez obtained sufficient votes to go as an pressing measure so it could actually take impact shortly after it receives the mayor’s signature and is revealed by town clerk. (Antczak, 3/30)

AP:
Kansas Won’t Enforce Vaccine Rule For Nursing Home Workers
Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s says Kansas gained’t implement a federal mandate that nursing residence staff get vaccinated in opposition to COVID-19, acknowledging Wednesday that it conflicts with an anti-mandate state regulation she signed 4 months in the past. Nursing residence staff should nonetheless get vaccines, however the federal authorities will cost Kansas practically $349,000 a yr to have federal groups survey nursing properties for compliance. (Hanna, 3/31)

The Wall Street Journal:
Boston Will Limit Protesting Near Officials’ Homes After Picketing Over Covid Rules 
The Boston City Council voted to restrict picketing at non-public residences after officers confronted protests at properties over pandemic-related guidelines. The council, whose members are all Democrats, voted 9 to 4 in favor of an ordinance banning focused residential picketing from 9 p.m. to 9 a.m. It was filed by Mayor Michelle Wu, who has had loud early-morning protesters exterior her duplex since early January, when she introduced a vaccine mandate for metropolis workers. (Levitz, 3/30)

AP:
End Of COVID May Bring Major Turbulence For US Health Care 
When the top of the COVID-19 pandemic comes, it may create main disruptions for a cumbersome U.S. well being care system made extra beneficiant, versatile and up-to-date technologically by a raft of short-term emergency measures. Winding down these insurance policies may start as early because the summer time. That may power an estimated 15 million Medicaid recipients to seek out new sources of protection, require congressional motion to protect broad telehealth entry for Medicare enrollees, and scramble particular COVID-19 guidelines and cost insurance policies for hospitals, docs and insurers. There are additionally questions on how emergency use approvals for COVID-19 remedies shall be dealt with. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 3/31)

AP:
FDA Panel Narrowly Sides Against Experimental ALS Drug 
Federal well being advisers on Wednesday narrowly dominated in opposition to an experimental drug for the debilitating sickness referred to as Lou Gehrig’s illness, a possible setback for affected person teams who’ve lobbied for the remedy’s approval. Advisers to the Food and Drug Administration voted 6-4 {that a} single examine from Amylyx Pharmaceuticals failed to ascertain the drug’s effectiveness in treating the lethal neurodegenerative illness ALS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. (Perrone, 3/30)

The Boston Globe:
FDA Advisory Vote Casts Pall Over The Future Of Amylyx’s Experimental ALS Drug
An impartial panel of neurologists that advises the US Food and Drug Administration voted 6 to 4 Wednesday in opposition to recommending the company approve a Cambridge firm’s experimental remedy for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, additionally referred to as Lou Gehrig’s illness. The drug, produced by Amylyx Pharmaceuticals, slowed development of the illness by 25 p.c and improved survival a median of 4.8 months in contrast with placebo, in accordance the the corporate. In what many described a tough determination, a slim majority of panel members weren’t satisfied that Amylyx’s small medical trial, which concerned 137 ALS sufferers, proved the drug’s effectiveness. (Cross, 3/30)

San Francisco Chronicle:
San Francisco’s Laguna Honda Hospital Faces Potential Closure After Patient Overdoses Trigger State Review
Federal regulators have threatened to drag important funding from San Francisco’s Laguna Honda Hospital after two sufferers overdosed on the facility final yr, a dramatic measure that would power the hospital to close down. Officials with San Francisco’s well being division, which runs Laguna Honda, mentioned Wednesday that the hospital had fallen out of regulatory compliance, placing its funding from Medicare and Medicaid in jeopardy. Laguna Honda, one of many largest expert nursing amenities within the nation, is run by town and cares for greater than 700 sufferers, together with individuals with dementia, drug dependancy and different complicated medical wants, who reside on the hospital’s campus. (Swan, 3/30)

Des Moines Register:
University Of Iowa’s Delayed OT For Health Care Workers Ruled Illegal
The University of Iowa owes damages to as many as 11,000 present and former well being care staff for delays in paying extra time and different compensation, a federal decide dominated Tuesday. It’s not clear how a lot the college will owe the employees, a few of them extremely paid, however an lawyer representing them mentioned the quantity could possibly be substantial. Representatives of the Iowa Board of Regents and University of Iowa Health Care declined to touch upon the choice. (Morris, 3/30)

Modern Healthcare:
Hospitals Hike Prices For Evaluation And Management Services
Hospital expenses for companies like emergency division visits and preliminary hospital care proceed to develop sooner than different sorts of care, in line with a brand new examine. Hospitals boosted their median expenses for analysis and administration companies by 7% and associated negotiated charges rose 5%, in line with FAIR Health’s evaluation of November 2020 to November 2021 high-frequency claims from their database of greater than 36 billion claims. Hospital E/M expenses and negotiated charges—excluding facility charges—elevated probably the most over that span out of the six classes FAIR Health studied: workplace E/M companies; non-E/M companies like psychiatric care, dialysis and immunizations; radiology; surgical procedure; and pathology and laboratory. (Kacik, 3/30)

Modern Healthcare:
Anthem Fined $5M By Georgia Insurance Commissioner
The Georgia insurance coverage commissioner is hitting Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield with a $5 million nice—the most important in company historical past— over claims processing errors. Anthem did not adjust to state legal guidelines on plenty of events between 2015 and 2021, insurance coverage commissioner John King (R) introduced Tuesday. Those included improper claims settlement practices, violations of the state Prompt Payment Act, an absence of well timed responses to client complaints, inaccurate supplier directories and supplier contract loading delays, in line with the regulator. (Devereaux, 3/30)

AP:
Nurses: Guilty Verdict For Dosing Mistake Could Cost Lives 
The second nurse RaDonda Vaught realized she had given a affected person the flawed remedy, she rushed to the docs working to revive 75-year-old Charlene Murphey and informed them what she had finished. Within hours, she made a full report of her mistake to the Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Murphey died the following day, on Dec. 27, 2017. On Friday, a jury discovered Vaught responsible of criminally negligent murder and gross neglect. (Loller, 3/30)

CNN:
Abortion Providers Ask Idaho Supreme Court To Block State’s New 6-Week Ban 
Abortion suppliers are asking the Idaho Supreme Court to strike down the state’s new six-week abortion ban which mimics a controversial Texas regulation. The suppliers mentioned in a lawsuit filed Wednesday that the Idaho regulation violates a number of provisions of the state structure. They’re asking the state Supreme Court to intervene earlier than April 22, when the regulation goes into impact. The regulation poses a “large legal responsibility menace” to suppliers that’s “so important that the few remaining abortion suppliers in Idaho must stop nearly all of abortions,” Rebecca Gibron, the interim CEO of the Planned Parenthood affiliate bringing the lawsuit, informed reporters Wednesday. (Sneed, 3/30)

NBC News:
Planned Parenthood Sues To Block Idaho’s Six-Week Abortion Ban
In the petition, well being care suppliers urged the state Supreme Court to dam the coverage from taking impact, calling it an “unprecedented energy seize by the Idaho Legislature” that might wreak “havoc on this State’s constitutional norms and the lives of its residents.” The regulation bans abortion as soon as cardiac exercise is detected — often round six weeks of being pregnant — besides in instances of rape and incest. It additionally permits members of the family of fetuses to sue docs for no less than $20,000 inside 4 years of abortions. The invoice, which was signed into regulation final week, is scheduled to take impact April 22. (Atkins, 3/30)

AP:
Arizona Governor Signs Bills Limiting Abortion, Trans Rights
Arizona’s Republican governor signed a collection of payments Wednesday concentrating on abortion and transgender rights, becoming a member of a rising record of GOP-led states pursuing a conservative social agenda. The measures signed by Gov. Doug Ducey will outlaw abortion after 15 weeks if the U.S. Supreme Court permits it, prohibit gender affirmation surgical procedure for minors and ban transgender ladies from enjoying on women and girls’s sports activities groups. (Christie and Cooper, 3/30)

The Boston Globe:
Amid National Erosion Of Access, Abortion Rights Group Endorses Healey In Mass. Governor’s Race 
National abortion-rights group NARAL Pro-Choice America endorsed Maura Healey for governor Wednesday, citing her report championing reproductive freedoms in Massachusetts and throughout the nation, and her management as cochair of the Democratic Attorneys General Association. The high-profile endorsement comes because the US Supreme Court is poised to determine a case that immediately challenges Roe v. Wade, setting the nation up for a possible undoing of the landmark abortion regulation by the conservative-majority bench, a key cause why NARAL is endorsing candidates months forward of main elections. (Gross, 3/30)

AP:
Feds: 9 Charged With Blocking DC Reproductive Health Clinic 
Nine individuals had been charged with federal civil rights offenses after they traveled to the nation’s capital after which blocked entry to a reproductive well being heart and streamed it on Facebook, federal prosecutors mentioned Wednesday. The expenses embody violations of a federal regulation referred to as the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, or the FACE Act, which prohibits bodily obstructing or utilizing the specter of power to intimidate or intervene with an individual searching for reproductive well being companies. The regulation additionally prohibits damaging property at abortion clinics and different reproductive well being facilities. (Balsamo, 3/30)

AP:
Insurance Deal Spurs Georgia Mental Health Bill To Passage 
Georgia lawmakers handed sweeping adjustments to the state’s flagging psychological well being care system Wednesday after reaching Senate-House settlement on language aimed toward forcing well being insurers to pay for psychological well being and substance abuse therapy. House Bill 1013 flew to remaining passage with a 54-0 vote within the Senate and a 166-0 vote within the House, then was headed to Gov. Brian Kemp’s desk for his signature or veto. (Amy, 3/30)

AP:
Walz Signs ALS Bill By Senator With The Disease 
Gov. Tim Walz signed a $25 million invoice to fund analysis into ALS that was authored by a veteran state senator from the Iron Range who has the neurological illness. Sen. David Tomassoni, 69, of Chisholm, took up the trigger after disclosing final yr that he had ALS, often known as Lou Gehrig’s illness. His case has progressed quickly, forcing him to take part in most Senate enterprise remotely this session. Tomassoni mentioned by a computerized speech synthesizer that the Democratic governor and legislative leaders from each events informed him after his prognosis that they’d help no matter he wished for funding. (Karnowski, 3/30)

AP:
WVa Governor Vetoes Health Department Split, Seeks Review
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice vetoed a invoice Wednesday that might have break up the huge Department of Health and Human Resources into separate companies, saying he first needs a evaluate of its “points, bottlenecks, and inefficiencies.” “I’m dedicated to creating the DHHR higher, however we can’t afford to play politics when individuals’s lives hold within the stability,” Justice mentioned in a press release. “We have to be sure earlier than we act.” (Raby, 3/30)

AP:
West Virginia Reaches $26M Settlement With Opioid Maker Endo
West Virginia will obtain $26 million in a settlement with the opioid maker Endo Health Solutions for the corporate’s position in perpetuating the state’s drug epidemic, the lawyer basic’s workplace mentioned Wednesday. The announcement comes lower than every week earlier than the state is about to go to trial on Monday in opposition to three opioid producers: Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc., Teva Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Allergan. (Willingham, 3/30)

Stat:
CVS, Teva, And Allergan Reach Deal With Florida Over The Opioid Crisis 
On the eve of a trial, the state of Florida has reached a settlement with a significant pharmacy chain and two drug producers over their roles in fomenting the opioid disaster that has gripped the United States for greater than 20 years. CVS Health can pay $484 million, and Allergan —a unit of AbbVie — agreed to pay $134 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the state. In addition, Teva Pharmaceuticals can pay $195 million, and likewise present $84 million price of its generic model of Narcan, a nasal spray that’s used to deal with opioid overdoses in emergencies. (Silverman, 3/30)

AP:
Patient Assault Draws New Probe Of Montana Psych Hospital 
Federal investigators visited Montana’s state psychiatric hospital for an inspection following an assault that reportedly left a affected person with extreme accidents. The inspection by officers from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services was reported by the Montana State News Bureau. It comes amid staffing shortages and different issues that resulted in affected person deaths and have put the hospital in Warm Springs in jeopardy of dropping its federal reimbursement. The feminine sufferer of final week’s assault by one other affected person was life-flighted to a Missoula hospital, the information outlet reported. (3/30)

USA Today:
Bruce Willis: What Is Aphasia? What Causes It, And What Are The Types?
Bruce Willis’ household on Wednesday introduced he shall be stepping away from his appearing profession after being identified with aphasia. “[O]ur beloved Bruce has been experiencing some well being points and has lately been identified with aphasia, which is impacting his cognitive talents,” Rumer Willis wrote on Instagram in a joint assertion from Bruce Willis’ household. “As a results of this and with a lot consideration Bruce is stepping away from the profession that has meant a lot to him,” she added. (Pitofsky, 3/30)

The Washington Post:
Bruce Willis Stepping Away From Acting After Aphasia Diagnosis 
Aphasia is assessed as an “acquired neurogenic language dysfunction” that always happens after a stroke or a mind harm, in line with the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, affecting the comprehension and expression of written and spoken language. While speech and language remedy can assist these affected by aphasia get well their language expertise, it’s “often a comparatively sluggish course of,” and though “most individuals make important progress, few individuals regain full pre-injury communication ranges. ”It is unclear what introduced on Willis’s aphasia or whether or not the “Die Hard” actor is affected by every other impairments. (Andrews, 3/30)

Los Angeles Times:
Concerns About Bruce Willis’ Declining Cognitive State Swirled Around Sets In Recent Years
Just days earlier than Bruce Willis was scheduled to show up on the set of one in every of his newest motion movies, the director of the venture despatched out an pressing request: Make the film star’s half smaller. “It seems like we have to knock down Bruce’s web page rely by about 5 pages,” Mike Burns, the director of “Out of Death,” wrote in a June 2020 e mail to the movie’s screenwriter. “We additionally must abbreviate his dialogue a bit in order that there are not any monologues, and so forth.” (James and Kaufman, 3/30)

San Francisco Chronicle:
Bong Smoke Is Worse Than Secondhand Tobacco Smoke, UC Berkeley Study Finds
Turns out that the lasting stink of bong water spilled onto the carpet is just not the one hazard to smoking marijuana by a tall tube cooled by water at its base. A examine performed on the UC Berkeley School of Public Health and revealed by the journal JAMA Network Open on Wednesday declared that secondhand hashish smoke launched throughout bong hits incorporates nice particulate matter at a focus dangerously larger than that launched by secondhand tobacco smoke. (Whiting, 3/30)

Stat:
Obesity Can Turn Helpful Drug Into Harmful One, Mouse Study Shows 
Researchers have lengthy identified that weight problems rewires the immune system. Now a brand new examine suggests these results will be so profound they might flip a drug meant to deal with a typical inflammatory illness into one which makes issues worse. Scientists found that mice with atopic dermatitis, a painful and itchy pores and skin rash usually triggered by an allergic response, had been worse off in the event that they had been overweight. A more in-depth take a look at their immune responses led to a shock discovering: Different immune cell sorts drove the illness in overweight versus lean mice. That induced an ordinary therapy to exacerbate signs in heavier animals, however including one other drug that made the immune response of the overweight mice resemble these of lean animals made the therapy routine work once more. (Wosen, 3/30)

AP:
WHO: COVID Deaths Jump By 40%, But Cases Falling Globally 
The variety of individuals killed by the coronavirus surged by greater than 40% final week, probably resulting from adjustments in how COVID-19 deaths had been reported throughout the Americas and by newly adjusted figures from India, in line with a World Health Organization report launched Wednesday. In its newest weekly report on the pandemic, the U.N. well being company mentioned the variety of new coronavirus instances fell in every single place, together with in WHO’s Western Pacific area, the place that they had been rising since December. (3/30)

AP:
St. Jude Accepts 2nd Group Of Ukrainian Cancer Patients
A second group of Ukrainian youngsters with most cancers has arrived for therapy at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Tennessee after they fled with their households from the struggle of their residence nation, the hospital mentioned. Four youngsters ages 6 to 17 and their 11 members of the family arrived on the Memphis hospital Monday after a flight on a chartered medical transport airplane departing from Poland, St. Jude mentioned in a information launch late Tuesday. (Sainz, 3/30)

AP:
UN Report: Nearly Half Of All Pregnancies Are Unintended 
The U.N. Population Fund says new analysis reveals that just about half of all pregnancies worldwide — 121 million yearly — are unintended, which it calls “a uncared for disaster.” In its annual State of World Population Report 2022 launched Wednesday, the fund mentioned over 60% of unintended pregnancies finish in abortion and an estimated 45% of abortions are unsafe, inflicting 5% to 13% of maternal deaths. (Lederer, 3/31)

AP:
UK Maternity Scandal Review Finds 200 Avoidable Baby Deaths 
A evaluate right into a scandal-hit British hospital group concluded Wednesday that persistent failures in maternity care contributed to the avoidable deaths of greater than 200 infants over 20 years. The evaluate started in 2018 after two households that had misplaced their infants within the care of Shrewsbury and Telford NHS Trust in western England campaigned for an inquiry. (Lawless, 3/30)

AP:
The Wanted Singer Tom Parker Dies Of Brain Tumor At 33 
Tom Parker, a member of British-Irish boy band The Wanted, has died after being identified with an inoperable mind tumor. He was 33. The band introduced that Parker died Wednesday, “surrounded by his household and his band mates.” Parker introduced his prognosis in October 2020, and underwent chemotherapy and radiotherapy. (3/30)

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https://khn.org/morning-breakout/first-edition-march-31-2022/

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