First Edition: March 25, 2022

KHN: Bill Of The Month: The Case Of The $489,000 Air Ambulance Ride 
Sean Deines and his wife, Rebekah, were road-tripping after he lost his job as a bartender when the pandemic hit. But while visiting his grandfather in a remote part of Wyoming, Sean started to feel very ill. Rebekah insisted he go to an urgent care center in Laramie. “‘Your white blood count is through the roof. You need to get to an ER right now,’” Deines, 32, recalls a staffer saying. The North Carolina couple initially drove to a hospital in Casper but were quickly airlifted to the University of Colorado Hospital near Denver, where he was admitted on Nov. 28, 2020. There, specialists confirmed his diagnosis: acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a fast-growing blood cancer. (Appleby, 3/25)

KHN: Senators Ask GAO To Examine Medicaid’s Low Covid Vaccination Rates 
Two prominent Democratic senators have requested a Government Accountability Office study of why covid vaccination rates remain far lower among Medicaid enrollees than the general population and what barriers are impeding state efforts to increase immunizations among program beneficiaries, low-income people who have been disproportionately affected by the virus. Sens. Robert Casey Jr. of Pennsylvania and Ron Wyden of Oregon asked for the inquiry, citing recent stories by KHN and Roll Call that have highlighted the problem and states’ ongoing struggle to raise vaccination rates, according to a letter to the GAO that was provided to KHN. A KHN article published in February reported data from several states — Utah, Washington, Virginia, and California — which showed that vaccination rates of the Medicaid population were well below overall state rates. For example, in California, 54% of Medicaid enrollees 5 and older had been at least partly vaccinated, compared with 81% of state residents in that age group. (Galewitz, 3/25)

KHN: Montana Is Sending Troubled Kids To Out-Of-State Programs That Have Been Accused Of Abuse
The high demand for treatment for children with behavioral and substance abuse problems has led Montana health officials to spend Medicaid funds to send kids, including those who are foster children and wards of the state, to residential programs in other states with less stringent oversight. Some of those children have been sent to out-of-state programs that have been accused of abuse and mistreatment, according to documents from state agencies and media reports. (Evans, 3/25)

KHN: Watch: Omicron Subvariant Is Nothing To Sneeze At, Explains KHN’s Public Health Expert 
Dr. Céline Gounder, KHN editor-at-large for public health, discusses that new omicron subvariant, how to know if your runny nose is spring allergies or covid-19 (that’s hard!), and the debate over whether Americans will need a fourth vaccination. (Zuraw, 3/25)

KHN: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: The ACA Turns 12
The Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, turned 12 this week, in spite of efforts to repeal it through both legislation and court action over much of its lifetime. But key decisions facing federal and state lawmakers and the Biden administration in the coming year will say a lot about how many Americans the law ultimately benefits, and how much it will benefit them. (3/24)

The Washington Post: Ketanji Brown Jackson Appears ‘On Track’ For Confirmation, Senators Say
After a combined 36 hours of hearings on Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson — during which Republicans accused her of coddling vile criminals while Democrats hailed her qualifications and her historic distinction as the first Black woman to be nominated — she appeared to remain on track for confirmation early next month, according to interviews with key senators Thursday. Jackson’s confirmation will not be overwhelmingly bipartisan, and the top Senate Republican vote-counter, Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.), predicted no more than three GOP votes in her favor. (DeBonis, 3/24)

Politico: The 9 Potential Senate Swing Votes On Ketanji Brown Jackson's Confirmation
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is on a relatively smooth path to becoming the first Black woman on the Supreme Court after three days of Senate confirmation hearings that have run the gamut in tone, from tense to rowdy to emotionally supportive. ... Some Republicans recently suggested that they’re torn between supporting Jackson’s historic nomination and voting no based on opposition to her judicial philosophy. A few in that group are retiring this year, freeing them from the potential political risks of backing her nomination, although a vote to confirm Jackson would roil the GOP primaries currently underway to replace them. (Levine and Everett, 3/24)

The Hill: GOP Shoots Down Supreme Court Boycott 
Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee are shooting down the idea of boycotting the panel’s vote on Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson. “There’s not going to be any boycott. There’s zero, not one iota chance that we would boycott,” said Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), a member of the committee. The idea of a committee boycott, which has floated around Capitol Hill for weeks, was spun up after 10 Republicans sent Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the committee chairman, a request that he suspend the hearing until they could get pre-sentencing reports tied to child pornography cases that Jackson presided over as a district judge. (Carney, 3/24)

The Hill: McConnell To Vote Against Jackson's Supreme Court Nomination
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on Thursday that he will oppose Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's Supreme Court nomination. McConnell's decision isn't surprising — he voted against her last year for her appeals court spot and has signaled concerns through the week. But it underscores hardening GOP opposition to Jackson's nomination and comes after McConnell held off in announcing how he would vote until after the hearing. (Carney, 3/24)

The Washington Post: Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Striking Non-Endorsement Of ‘Super Precedents’ 
When Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation hearings haven’t devolved into tense battles over her rather unremarkable sentencing decisions in child pornography cases, they’ve actually included some pretty interesting exchanges on her judicial philosophy. And subtly high on that list: How much she undercut the left’s effort to establish certain cases as “super precedents.” (Blake, 3/24)

The Hill: Supreme Court Silent On Thomas Health Status 
The Supreme Court on Thursday did not respond to inquiries about the health status of Justice Clarence Thomas and whether he remained hospitalized after being admitted late last week. ... Thomas’s close friend Armstrong Williams on Thursday told The Hill that Thomas is “resting and he’s going to be just fine” but declined to elaborate further on the justice’s health. Pressed on whether Thomas was still in the hospital, Williams declined to answer. (Kruzel, 3/24)

AP: Arizona Legislature Approves 15-Week Abortion Ban 
The Arizona Legislature on Thursday joined the growing list of Republican-led states to pass aggressive anti-abortion legislation as the conservative U.S. Supreme Court is considering ratcheting back abortion rights that have been in place for nearly 50 years. The House voted on party lines to outlaw abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy, mirroring a Mississippi law now being considered by the nation’s high court. (Christie, 3/24)

Bloomberg: U.S. Employers Add Abortion Travel Benefits As States Limit Access
The roar of anti-abortion laws sweeping through U.S. state houses is echoing loudly in human resources offices. Companies that have offered to help cover travel costs for employees who have to go out of state for abortions are trying to figure out how to go about it. Large corporations like Citigroup Inc., Apple Inc., Bumble Inc., Levi Strauss & Co. and Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. are now offering such benefits for reproductive-care services not available in an employee’s home state. (Butler, 3/24)

The 19th: Senate Approves Bill To Ban The Sale Of Baby Crib Bumpers
The U.S. Senate on Wednesday approved a bipartisan measure to ban the sale of crib bumpers, which have been linked to dozens of deaths of infants and more than 100 serious injuries since 1985. “Parents will have one less thing to worry about” when it becomes law, Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois said. The House of Representatives approved a related bill last year but will need to vote on the Senate’s Safe Cribs Act before it can head to President Joe Biden’s desk. “Crib bumper pads are an unnecessary deadly risk for sleeping infants, and so this would basically ban their sale,” Duckworth told The 19th in an interview ahead of the vote. (Becker, 3/24)

The Washington Post: FDA Permits Another E-Cigarette, Pledges Decisions Soon On Big Brands 
In announcing the decision on Logic, FDA Commissioner Robert M. Califf said in a statement that the agency’s career scientists balanced the risks and benefits of the e-cigarettes. He said he was confident the FDA staff was using “the best available evidence with the most robust methods to ensure that products that continue to be marketed are appropriate for the protection of the public health.” (McGinley. 3/24)

CIDRAP: White House Diverges From CDC, Focuses On Aerosol COVID Spread 
Yesterday the White House published a blog post titled "Let's Clear the Air on COVID," describing the virus as primarily transmitted through aerosols—small, tiny airborne particles. Though some experts around the world have been arguing that point for years, and subsequently advocating for respirator use and enhanced ventilation systems, this is the first time the White House has formally acknowledged that aerosol transmission has been the primary driver of the COVID-19 pandemic. In doing so, it has turned away from the language used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (Soucheray, 3/24)

Politico: CDC Updates Covid-19 Guidance To Allow Patients Wear N95s 
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday updated its guidance so that people visiting health care facilities are allowed to wear highly protective masks such as N95s. The change comes after a POLITICO report last week found that hospitals around the country routinely ask patients and visitors to wear a surgical mask instead of their own N95. (Levy, 3/24)

Philadelphia Inquirer: CDC Chief Rochelle Walensky On What's Next For The COVID-19 Pandemic
As COVID-19 cases were reported to be on the rise in nine states, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention emphasized Thursday in a visit to Princeton University that the pandemic is not yet over. “We’re not at a steady state of disease that I can be happy with,” Rochelle Walensky said. “We still have 900 deaths a day in this country. I still think we have a lot of work to do to make sure that we’re in a place that is safe for this country and for the American people.” (Laughlin, 3/24)

AP: Experts Worry About How US Will See Next COVID Surge Coming 
As coronavirus infections rise in some parts of the world, experts are watching for a potential new COVID-19 surge in the U.S. — and wondering how long it will take to detect. Despite disease monitoring improvements over the last two years, they say, some recent developments don’t bode well: As more people take rapid COVID-19 tests at home, fewer people are getting the gold-standard tests that the government relies on for case counts. And the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will soon use fewer labs to look for new variants. (Stobbe, 3/25)

The Atlantic: A Stress Test For America's New COVID Plan Is Coming
Outbreaks have erupted across Asia. Massive swaths of Europe, including the United Kingdom—America’s best pandemic bellwether for much of 2021—are firmly in the grip of a more transmissible Omicron subvariant called BA.2 that’s been simmering stateside for months. Already, scattered spots throughout the U.S. look a shade foreboding. Several states’ wastewater-surveillance sites are witnessing a rise in viral particles, which, in previous waves, has preceded increases in documented infections by several days. Many states’ case rates have now hit a plateau, and a handful are even beginning a slow march back up. The other COVID shoe seems poised to drop in the U.S. at some point, perhaps quite soon. (Wu, 3/23)

ABC News: Cornell University Reports Indications Of 'Substantial Prevalence' Of COVID-19 On Campus
After a significant viral outbreak before winter break in December, COVID-19 infection levels at Cornell University had markedly declined, as the omicron surge receded, and students returned to campus for the spring semester. However, as new case totals begin to tick up in the state of New York, the campus is once again reporting a viral resurgence. This week, Cornell elevated its COVID-19 alert system to "yellow," indicating that transmission is rising, and prevalence of the virus is above predicted levels. (Mitropoulos, 3/24)

AP: Contagious Omicron Subvariant In Oregon
An extra-contagious version of the omicron variant that is fueling COVID-19 surges in parts of Europe and Asia has been found in the wastewater of some Oregon communities. The Oregonian/OregonLive reports that Oregon State University collected samples from more than 40 wastewater plants statewide, providing officials with measures of how much virus is in a community and the particular variants of the virus. Based on the collection in early March the omicron subvariant has been found in at least four communities. (3/24)

USA Today: Navajo Nation's Response To COVID-19 Makes Them A Model, Officials Say
Two years after the first cases of COVID-19 were detected on the Navajo Nation, the tribal government still requires masks in public, even as many cities and states elsewhere have relaxed the rule. It's part of a strategy put in place after the coronavirus swept through the Navajo Nation in the early weeks and months of 2020, leaving hundreds of people sick and dying. Officials say the response ultimately made Navajo a model for fighting a pandemic. Navajo officials have reported 1,659 COVID-19-related deaths since the first case was reported. Though numbers may be on the decline, Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez said the pandemic isn’t over. (Becenti, 3/24)

NPR: Vaccines Show Promise In Reducing Long COVID
The chance of even a mild case of COVID-19 turning into a long-term, debilitating medical condition is one of the greatest fears of Americans trying to navigate the pandemic, which is again taking a turn as new data shows the BA.2 subvariant is taking hold in the U.S. Unfortunately, the only sure way to avoid long COVID is not to catch the virus in the first place. But there is now a growing body of research that's offering at least some reassurance for those who do end up getting infected — being fully vaccinated seems to substantially cut the risk of later developing the persistent symptoms that characterize long COVID. (Stone, 3/24)

NBC News: Almost 2 In 5 Covid-19 Researchers Have Faced Harassment, Survey Finds
Nearly 2 in 5 Covid-19 researchers reported they had been harassed since the pandemic began, according to a new survey published Thursday in Science. The survey included responses from 510 researchers who have published about Covid-19 and was conducted by the news team of the journal Science. (Bush, 3/24)

CIDRAP: NFL Games Didn't Contribute To County COVID-19 Spread, Study Suggests
National Football League (NFL) games played with fans in the 2020 season, with mask mandates and physical distancing in place, had no effect on COVID-19 infections in the surrounding county, suggests a new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Led by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers, the study estimated the effects of games played from September 2020 to early January 2021, well before the emergence of the highly transmissible Delta and Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variants. Of 29 stadiums, 13 were closed throughout the season, and 16 opened with reduced capacity, mask requirements, distanced seating, mobile ticketing, and enhanced cleaning.(3/24)

CIDRAP: Aspirin May Cut In-Hospital COVID Death But Not Need For Organ Support
A pair of new studies detail the role of aspirin in the treatment of COVID-19, one estimating lower rates of in-hospital death and pulmonary embolism in moderately ill patients, and the other showing that blood thinners didn't decrease the need for organ support in critically ill patients. (Van Beusekom, 3/24)

CIDRAP: Prone Position Might Not Work For Awake COVID-19 Patients
Proning—lying on the stomach—has been useful for treating intubated, sedated COVID-19 patients, but a new study designed to tease out possible benefits for awake patients found that the method is difficult to use. (Schnirring, 3/24)

The Washington Post: Small Lab That Got $187 Million For Covid Testing Put Patients In ‘Jeopardy’
The drive-through coronavirus testing site, a metal shipping container in the parking lot of an Indianapolis shopping mall, gave Bridgette Alexander pause. The man administering tests at the site, run by a company called O’Hare Clinical Lab Services, was wearing jeans and a leather jacket, not medical scrubs or a gown. He moved among the cars without changing gloves, she said. He asked for her driver’s license but not her insurance card. (Boburg and Bellware, 3/24)

Southern California News Group: Fogging Company Used Mislabeled Pesticides In California City Purportedly To Kill Coronavirus
A company executive has agreed to plead guilty to federal charges alleging his fogging disinfection business applied pesticides inconsistent with their intended use to purportedly kill the coronavirus in Culver City. Prosecutors have recommended that David Earl Gillies, managing partner of Utah-based Mountain Fog, receive two years probation and be ordered to pay a $10,000 fine for two misdemeanor counts of using a pesticide in a manner inconsistent with its labeling. Gillies, reached by phone at his home Wednesday, March 23, said he does not agree with how his case was handled. (Schwebke, 3/24)

CBS News: Americans Face Triple Whammy As Rent, Gas And Electric Bills Surge 
The median rent around the U.S. reached a record high $1,792 last month, according to Realtor.com — a 17% jump from the previous year and the 10th month in a row rents had increased by double-digits. In 14 U.S. cities, the typical rent is no longer affordable, far surpassing the 30% of income that personal-finance experts recommend as a maximum. (Ivanova, 3/24)

The Hill: Biden Warns Of 'Real' Food Shortage Risk Over Russia's Invasion Into Ukraine 
President Biden warned Thursday that there could be global food shortages resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine and announced steps to prevent a potential crisis. “We did talk about food shortages. And it's going to be real. The price of these sanctions is not just imposed upon Russia, it’s imposed upon an awful lot of countries as well, including European countries and our country as well,” Biden said at a press conference from Brussels, where he is meeting with NATO leaders. Both Russia and Ukraine, for example, are providers of wheat, Biden noted, though he pointed out that the U.S. and Canada are both major wheat producers, too. (Gangitano, 3/24)

ABC News: School Cafeterias, Already On The Brink Of Collapse, Brace For End Of COVID-Era Free Meals 
The UBR -- or, Ultimate Breakfast Round -- is a food product that is ubiquitous in school cafeterias and offers USDA-approved nutritional value, as well as staff-approved convenient pre-packaging, Bock told ABC News. But after a February 2021 ice storm wiped-out a Rich's factory in Texas, the UBR disappeared. For months, Bock said, they couldn't get the product -- forcing a frenzied, and more expensive, pivot that left red ink all over menus that had been planned months prior. Over a year later, they can't get even remotely the same quantities they used to, Bock said. (Cahan, 3/24)

CBS News: Stimulus Checks For Inflation: Here Are The States Planning To Send Money To Residents
Roughly a dozen states are proposing sending tax rebate checks to their residents to offset the highest inflation in four decades, with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle pointing to high gas and food prices as prompting their actions. ... These checks represent one-time tax rebates that will put money back into consumers' wallets. But some other states are considering or already planning to cut income taxes, providing an ongoing tax break for their residents. (Picchi, 3/24)

AP: Hawaii Governor Extends COVID-19 Food Assistance Spending
Hawaii Gov. David Ige has signed an emergency proclamation allowing federal funds to continue to flow to food assistance recipients during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic national public health emergency, his office said Thursday. The proclamation allows $18 million in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP benefits to go to recipients each month. (3/24)

AP: High Court To Weigh End Of $300 Weekly Unemployment Payment
The Ohio Supreme Court will hear arguments in May on whether Gov. Mike DeWine had the legal ability to end the state’s participation in a federal pandemic unemployment aid program last year ahead of a government deadline for stopping the payments. At issue before the court is a weekly $300 federal payment for Ohioans to offset the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The federal government ended that program Sept. 6 but DeWine stopped the payments June 26, saying the need for the payments had ended. (Welsh-Huggins, 3/24)

Modern Healthcare: Medicare Advantage Groups Back UnitedHealthcare's Bid To End Overpayment Rule
Payers, providers and technology firms threw their support behind UnitedHealthcare's effort to have the U. S Supreme Court to eliminate a rule that leaves Medicare Advantage plans liable for False Claims Act violations if they do not return the billions they received in overpayments. Overpayments occur when diagnostic codes sent to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for payment are not documented in a patient's medical chart. Medicare Advantage plans must return overpayments to the federal government within 60 days of identifying them or they would be considered in violation of federal law and potentially subject to civil lawsuits, damages and penalties. (Tepper, 3/24)

Modern Healthcare: Google Teaming CVS, Scheduling Vendors To Display Appointment Availability
Google will soon enable patients to view appointment availability for participating healthcare providers directly from its search page, the technology giant announced Thursday. The new feature, unveiled at Google's annual The Check Up health event,  adds appointment availability to business profile boxes that display when users search for a physician or healthcare facility. Patients will be able to click on an appointment slot, which redirects them to the third-party partner's website and means they're not booking a visit through Google itself. (Kim Cohen, 3/24)

Stat: Hospital Group AHA Makes An Unlikely Pivot Into Venture Capital
The American Hospital Association is a lobbying powerhouse, championing the interests of its thousands of member hospitals before Congress. Now, though, the trade group is dipping its toes into a decidedly different arena: venture capital investing. It’s rare for trade groups to dabble in venture capital — where investors fund startups in exchange for stakes in those emerging companies — because it’s so different from their typical bread and butter. But the not-for-profit AHA says it’s well-positioned to get health care startups off the ground because it can offer up their technologies to its almost 5,000 hospital and health system members. (Bannow, 3/24)

AP: Defense Rests In Trial Of Ex-Nurse Who Made Medication Error 
The defense rested Thursday in the trial of a former Tennessee nurse who killed a patient by accidentally injecting her with a paralyzing drug. RaDonda Vaught, 37, is facing a charge of reckless homicide for administering vecuronium to 75-year-old Charlene Murphey instead of the sedative Versed on Dec. 26, 2017. Prosecutors argued that Vaught disregarded the standard of care expected of nurses as well as her own training when she made multiple errors leading to the fatal injection. Vaught’s attorney argued that the nurse was not acting outside of the norm and that systemic problems at Vanderbilt University Medical Center were at least partly to blame for the error. (Loller, 3/24)

The Boston Globe: US Attorney’s Office Reaches Agreement With Trial Court Over Disability Discrimination Allegations
US Attorney Rachael Rollins announced Thursday that an agreement has been reached with the Massachusetts Trial Court resolving allegations that its drug court violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by discriminating against people with Opioid Use Disorder. A complaint to the US Attorney’s Office claimed the Trial Court discriminated against people taking medication for Opioid Use Disorder when they were ordered to stop taking their medication without medical assessment, the office said in a statement. The drug court personnel also required or pressured participants to take Vivitrol as a treatment. (Mercado, 3/24)

AP: Pressured By Patients, FDA Reviews ALS Drug With Modest Data
When patients are battling a terminal illness and want access to an experimental drug, how much evidence that it works should regulators require before approval? That’s the question behind many of the Food and Drug Administration’s toughest decisions, including last year’s controversial approval of Aduhelm. Many experts — including the agency’s own outside advisers — say that Alzheimer’s drug is unlikely to help patients. (Perrone, 3/24)

Stat: Despite Competition, U.S. Cancer Drug Prices Rose Even As They Fell In Germany And Switzerland 
Even as prices rose substantially in the U.S. over a recent 12-year period, a new analysis found that prices for the same cancer drugs either decreased or did not exceed inflation in Germany or Switzerland, where governments negotiate pricing with manufacturers. After examining price changes for medicines approved to combat a dozen different forms of cancer between 2009 and 2020, researchers found that — with one exception — the median price for all of the drugs rose 6% in the U.S. two years after product launches. And prices climbed 15% by four years after a medication became available, despite a growing number of competitive treatments. (Silverman, 3/24)

Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Health Insurance: Poor Still Struggle Despite Obamacare
Emily Bender still gets medical bills she can’t afford to pay. They arrive every few months. Some are for the miscarriage she suffered more than a decade ago, others for emergency care related to her high blood pressure. All told, she owes as much as $5,000 for medical treatment she received years ago. For Bender, who lived without health insurance for years as a young mom in East Price Hill, those costs remain a burden even as she approaches middle age. The weight of them affects her most basic decisions, from the money she spends on food to the clothes she buys her children to the apartment she rents. (Horn, 3/24)

AP: Michigan Legislature Votes To Speed Health Care Approvals 
Michigan insurers that require health providers to get pre-approval to cover treatment would have to promptly respond to doctors’ requests or those requests would be automatically granted under a bill headed to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for her expected signature. The legislation received final, unanimous Senate approval on Thursday. (Eggert, 3/24)

AP: Jury Awards More Than $97M To Family Of Boy Injured At Birth
The family of a boy whose brain was severely injured during birth at an Iowa City hospital has been awarded $97.4 million — believed to be the largest medical malpractice verdict in Iowa’s history. A Johnson County handed down the award on Monday following a 14-day trial, the Des Moines Register reported. It came in a lawsuit filed by Kathleen and Andrew Kromphardt against Mercy Hospital Iowa City and an obstetrician. (3/24)

AP: Seven Children Hospitalized After Taking Prescription Pills
Authorities in Virginia on Thursday were still trying to piece together what happened and whether any adults will face criminal charges after seven children took prescription medicine and ended up in the hospital. Police in Hopewell, a small city about 25 miles (40 kilometers) southeast of Richmond, said they were called to a home late Wednesday afternoon, where they found four small children unresponsive. Three more children found in another part of the house were awake, but lethargic. The children ranged between the ages of 1 and 7. Lt. Cheyenne Casale said police believe a 7-year-old boy took medication he had been prescribed for anxiety, then gave some to the other children. (3/24)

The Washington Post: It’s Pride Week In Austin Schools. The Texas AG Says That’s Illegal
Students in the Austin Independent School District can collect Pride flags and pronoun buttons this week as they celebrate LGBTQ students and work toward creating an inclusive environment. It’s the eighth year the district has held Pride Week, which includes lessons on diversity and acceptance. But on Tuesday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) sent a letter to the school district saying the celebrations constituted “sex education.” Without consent from parents, the district’s Pride Week is “breaking state law,” he said. (Mark, 3/24)

CBS News: Teachers Speak Out Against Florida's "Parental Rights In Education" Bill 
Some of America's most highly regarded teachers are speaking out against Florida's "Parental Rights in Education" bill, and a growing number of LGBTQ teachers and allies across the country are worried about the impact this and similar legislation could have on students. ... Kentucky's 2022 Teacher of the Year, Willie Carver, drafted an open letter, signed by more than 200 teachers who've been honored by their state as a current or former Teacher of the Year, condemning policies that place "politics, misconceptions, teacher comfort, and other concepts above the needs of students." The signatories represent about 50 states and territories. (Jones II, 3/24)

Press Association: Artificial Sweeteners Linked To Breast And Obesity Cancers In New Study
Some artificial sweeteners may not be a good alternative to sugar and could push up the risk of cancer, scientists have suggested. Experts from the French National Institute for Health and Medical Research, and Sorbonne Paris Nord University, analysed data and suggested a potential increased risk for breast cancer and obesity-related cancers. Previous large-scale studies on humans have found no such association and UK experts said no causal link had been found. If true, the finding would relate to about three more cancer cases per 10,000 people over eight years, according to one analysis of the findings. (Kirby, 3/24)

The Washington Post: Burger King And Chick-Fil-A Commit To Removing "Forever Chemicals" From Food Packaging 
Some of America’s favorite restaurants have just committed to taking something off consumers’ plates. Restaurant Brands International, which owns Burger King, Tim Hortons and Popeyes, announced plans late Wednesday to phase out these chemicals in its food packaging worldwide by 2025. Chick-fil-A announced a similar commitment Wednesday evening on Twitter to phase out these chemicals in packaging by the end of this summer. (Reiley, 3/24)

Bloomberg: Is It Possible To Avoid Microplastics? Particles Found In Human For First Time
Microplastics were detected in human blood for the first time, according to a study that may indicate the potential for particles to travel to organs. Scientists found 17 out of the 22 healthy people they took samples from had quantifiable amounts of plastic particles in their blood. Researchers said further study is needed to determine the health risks of the materials. (Matsuyama, 3/25)

NPR: Former TikTok Moderators Sue Over Emotional Toll Of 'Extremely Disturbing' Videos
When Ashley Velez accepted a job last year reviewing videos for TikTok, "we were told we would be the front line of defense from protecting children from seeing violence," she said. But the Las Vegas mother of two boys, ages 8 and 17, said she was stunned when she discovered what the position entailed. "We would see death and graphic, graphic pornography. I would see nude underage children every day," Velez said in an interview. "I would see people get shot in the face, and another video of a kid getting beaten made me cry for two hours straight." (Allyn, 3/24)

Columbus Dispatch: More Than Half Of Preschoolers Tested Failed Language, Hearing Tests
With much of their lives spent in the COVID-19 pandemic, families and health experts in Greater Columbus and across the United States have noticed a sharp increase in very young children with speech and hearing issues. In 12 central Ohio neighborhoods, 52% of children ages 3 to 5 who were tested by the group nonprofit Columbus Speech and Hearing failed their speech-language screenings, and 40% failed their hearing tests in 2021. Before the pandemic, 27% of children overall tested failed their speech-language assessments and 21% failed their hearing screenings in 2019. (Wright, 3/25)