The Wall Street Journal: Walmart Stops Selling Cigarettes In Some Stores 
Walmart Inc. is ending cigarette sales in some U.S. stores after years of debate within the retail company’s leadership ranks about the sale of tobacco products, according to people familiar with the matter. Cigarettes are being removed in various markets, including some stores in California, Florida, Arkansas and New Mexico, according to the people and store visits. In some of these stores, Walmart has rolled out a design with more self-checkout registers, as well as other items such as grab-and-go food or candy sold near the front of stores in place of Marlboro, Newport and other tobacco products. (Nassauer and Maloney, 3/28)

AP: Walmart To End Cigarette Sales In Some Stores 
Walmart is not the first national retail chain to cut off cigarette sales even on a trial basis, but it is the largest. Target ended cigarette sales in 1996 and the drugstore chain CVS Health did the same in 2014. CVS Health sales in areas outside the pharmacy fell for a few quarters after it pulled tobacco products, and the company had predicted that missing tobacco products would hurt annual earnings by 7 to 8 cents per share. (D'Innocenzio, 3/28)

Bloomberg: Tobacco Stocks Slip On Report Walmart Removing Cigarettes
Walmart’s decision to stop selling cigarettes in some U.S. stores won’t hurt tobacco manufacturers, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analyst Bonnie Herzog. The Bentonville, Arkansas-based company represents less than 5% of cigarette industry volume, she estimated. “Smokers will still purchase cigarettes, and they will simply go to other retailers such as convenience stores, dollar stores and tobacco shops,” she said in a note to clients. (Mulier and Case, 3/28)

In other news about cigarette smoking and the tobacco industry —

Medscape: High-Intensity Exercise Helps Patients With Anxiety Quit Smoking
High-intensity exercise may help patients with anxiety quit smoking, new research shows. Results from a randomized study of 150 participants reporting symptoms of anxiety showed that among daily smokers who received a personalized, high-intensity aerobic intervention, rates of smoking abstinence were nearly twice as great as for those who received a lower-intensity exercise intervention. (Melville, 3/28)

The Washington Post: World Health Organization Poised To Reject Canadian Vaccine Over Philip Morris Ties 
Health Canada gave the green light to domestic use of Medicago’s plant-based Covifenz vaccine last month. But its use around the world is in jeopardy: The World Health Organization is balking at the vaccine because of the manufacturer’s ties to tobacco giant Philip Morris International, which owns a roughly one-third equity stake in Medicago. (Coletta, 3/25)

In news about vaping —

Scary Mommy: Vaping Has Erased A 20-Year Decline In A Key Teen Nicotine Statistic
E-cigarettes and vaping have been a welcomed invention for many adult smokers who wish to curb their tobacco use or take a step toward harm reduction or quitting. But since their introduction around 2007, they’ve been an utter disaster when it comes to our efforts to curb teen nicotine use and addiction. Now, a new study shows that e-cigarettes don’t just make smoking easier and more enticing for teens — they also make it harder for them to quit. (Aswell, 3/28)

U.S. News & World Report: Could Vaping Put You On A Path To Diabetes? 
People who vape may be setting themselves up for developing diabetes, even if they don't smoke traditional cigarettes, a new study suggests. Among more than 600,000 U.S. adults, researchers found that those who used electronic cigarettes were more likely to have prediabetes than people who'd never vaped or smoked. The link was seen even among e-cigarette users who said they had never smoked traditional cigarettes. (3/7)

Modern Healthcare: Biden Proposes Nearly 27% Funding Increase For HHS
The Health and Human Services Department would get a 26.8% spending boost in fiscal 2023 under a budget proposal the White House issued Monday. The budget plan outlines President Joe Biden's health priorities, which include improving public health infrastructure, advancing mental healthcare and making maternal health more equitable. Biden is asking Congress to authorize $127.3 billion in discretionary funding for HHS, or $26.9 billion more than the department's allotment for fiscal 2021. The White House compared its budget proposals to fiscal 2021 because Congress only passed fiscal 2022 appropriations earlier this month. (Goldman, 3/28)

The New York Times: Biden’s Budget Proposal Pushes For More Pandemic Preparedness And Local Public Health Spending
President Biden’s proposed budget for the Department of Health and Human Services emphasizes pandemic preparedness, signaling the administration’s concern about future pathogens that could complicate progress against the coronavirus or threaten a different pandemic altogether. Swaths of the proposed spending would build on funding passed by Congress earlier this month as part of a major annual spending bill. The budget proposes an increase of nearly 27 percent in discretionary funding for H.H.S. over spending in 2021. (Weiland, Sanger-Katz and Patil, 3/29)

In news about ARPA-H —

Stat: Lawmakers, Pelosi Aide Turn Lobbyist To Push For ARPA-H’s Independence
Health secretary Xavier Becerra is suddenly the target of a frenzied lobbying campaign aimed at ensuring the independence of ARPA-H, the new high-stakes research agency that President Biden has said will “end cancer as we know it.” But in a strange turn, many of the lobbyists are actually lawmakers. In recent days, Becerra has met with members of Congress, and a top aide to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — a far more powerful set than the cohort of patient advocates or pharma and hospital representatives who usually seek meetings at the Humphrey building. By and large, their message has been identical: That for the new agency to succeed, it must exist independently of the National Institutes of Health. (Facher, 3/29)

In other news from the Biden administration —

Politico: A Google Billionaire's Fingerprints Are All Over Biden's Science Office
As President Joe Biden granted his science office unprecedented access and power, one outside adviser to that office has attained what staffers describe as an unusual level of influence. A foundation controlled by Eric Schmidt, the multi-billionaire former CEO of Google, has played an extraordinary, albeit private, role in shaping the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy over the past year. (Thompson, 3/28)

AP: Fauci Named Keynote Speaker At Roger Williams U Commencement 
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the face of the federal response to the coronavirus pandemic, will deliver the keynote address at Roger Williams University’s commencement ceremony, the Rhode Island school announced Monday. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, will also receive an honorary degree at the May 20 exercise, the school said. (3/28)

In updates from the Supreme Court —

AP: Justice Thomas Joins Arguments Remotely After Hospital Stay 
Justice Clarence Thomas participated in arguments at the Supreme Court via telephone rather than in person on Monday following a hospital stay of nearly a week. Chief Justice John Roberts said at the beginning of arguments that the 73-year-old Thomas would be “participating remotely this morning,” but did not say why. (3/28)

NPR: As Federal COVID Funding Runs Out, Support For Uninsured Suffers
The first real-world consequences of dwindling federal COVID-19 funds have started to be felt in recent days. Coronavirus tests for uninsured patients are no longer free in some places. That's because the program that reimbursed clinics and hospitals for the testing, as well as for treating uninsured patients with COVID-19, stopped accepting claims last week "due to lack of sufficient funds." Some clinics have already started to turn away people without insurance who come to get tested and can't afford to pay for it. (Simmons-Duffin, 3/29)

Bloomberg: U.S. Covid Response Showing Cracks As Congress Delays Funds
Personic Health Care has been providing free Covid testing for uninsured families in Philadelphia and northern Virginia throughout the pandemic, thanks in part to federal support. But earlier this month when the White House said that the U.S. doesn’t have the funds to cover those costs, it put Personic, a mid-sized patient-monitoring and telehealth company, in a precarious spot. The company wants to continue offering the free tests, but that’s not sustainable through another surge of infections, said Azmat Husain, its founder and chief medical officer. (Rutherford, 3/28)

The Washington Post: Clinics, Hospitals Brace For End Of Cushion For Uninsured Covid Care 
Christina Paz was typing up notes about a patient she’d just seen at Centro San Vicente, El Paso’s largest community health center, when an email from Washington showed up. “Lord,” she thought as she read it at the clinic’s nursing station. “Oh, my God.” The brief email told Paz, a nurse practitioner who is the clinic’s chief executive officer, that at 11:59 p.m. on March 22 the federal COVID-19 Uninsured Program would stop accepting claims for testing and treating for the deadly virus on patients who had no way to pay their medical bills. (Goldstein, 3/28)

The Philadelphia Tribune: How Pharmacies And Labs Are Scrambling To Manage Loss Of Federal COVID Funds
Elissa Devenny is at a crossroads. When the federal program she’s been using to cover her costs for vaccinating uninsured patients dries up on April 6, her small pharmacy in West Philadelphia will have to do one of two things: Find a way to pay for those vaccinations, or stop vaccinating altogether. “We don’t have an exact plan yet,” said Devenny, who is the pharmacy manager at a SunRay Drugs location. “It’s definitely going to make a huge impact.” (Feldman and Yu, 3/28)

CIDRAP: Contact Tracing May Have Averted 1.4 Million US COVID Cases In 2 Months
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) modeling study used data from 59 US case investigation and contact tracing (CICT) programs to estimate that the programs prevented 1.11 to 1.36 million COVID-19 cases, and 27,000 to 34,000 hospitalizations over 60 days in winter 2020-21, well before the Delta and Omicron variant surges. The researchers collected data from Nov 25, 2020, to Jan 23, 2021, for analysis from July to September 2021. (3/28)

And more on the spread of covid —

The New York Times: U.S. Virus Deaths Drop To Lowest Point Since Summer 
Fewer than 800 coronavirus deaths are being reported each day in the United States, the lowest daily average since before the Omicron variant took hold late last fall. The last time the rate was this low was in mid-August, according to a New York Times database. Trends in deaths lag behind cases and hospitalizations by weeks because of the time it takes for people to become seriously ill, and the time needed to complete and file death records. (Hassan and Cahalan, 3/29)

The Texas Tribune: Texas Pandemic Deaths Push Past 85,000 
At 16, Sha’Niyah McGee could see her future clearly. She wanted to go to college to become a pediatrician and own a nail salon and somehow, some way, she wanted her younger siblings to come to a university with her. “She’s that kind of person,” her grandmother, Laurena Ellis, said. “She didn’t have a bad bone in her body.” But unfortunately, none of this will come to pass. On Sept. 28 — the day Sha’Niyah emerged from her bedroom where she spent days recovering from COVID-19 to return to school — she collapsed in her Dallas home and died, becoming one of over 100 Texas coronavirus fatalities under the age of 19. (Park and Martinez, 3/29)

Houston Chronicle: Don’t Be Alarmed. Houston-Area Spike In COVID-19 Cases Is Related To A Reporting Lag, Not Infections
Officials with the Texas Department of State Health Services said a Houston-area lab last week reported more than 9,000 old cases dating back to Jan. 1. That led to an outsized number of cases reported March 22 to March 25, which caused other Texas Medical Center metrics, like the rate of community spread, to surge. Among the new data released Monday, the medical center reported a testing positivity rate of 2.1 percent, the lowest percentage in more than a year. “The positivity rate has been rock-solid stable,” said Dr. James McDeavitt, senior vice president and dean of clinical affairs at Baylor College of Medicine. “That’s a sign there’s not more disease in the community.” (Gill, 3/28)

AP: Speaker: Alaska House Dealing With COVID-19 Outbreak
Alaska House Speaker Louise Stutes said masks will be required in the House chambers until further notice, citing COVID-19 cases. Stutes, in a statement, said the House is dealing with an “active outbreak of COVID-19, with several members testing positive over the last few days.” (3/29)

Salt Lake Tribune: Utah To Shut Down Many COVID-19 Test Sites As Daily Case Counts Remain Low
Utah is shutting down some state COVID-19 testing sites and turning others over to private companies, the state health department announced Monday. The move was announced as the state transitions to a more “long-term, sustainable response” to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a news release from the Utah Department of Health. The health department on Monday also reported a total of 255 new COVID-19 cases over the weekend — 65 on Friday; 87 on Saturday; and 112 on Sunday. There have been fewer than 200 new cases reported in Utah each day for the past 20 days in a row. (Pierce, 3/28)

AP: Minnesota Makes Free At-Home COVID-19 Tests Available Online
Minnesota is launching a new online program to provide free at-home rapid COVID-19 tests. Beginning Tuesday, Minnesotans can order two test kits per home for a total of four tests via mn.gov/covid19. (3/28)

In related news about the flu —

CIDRAP: CDC: Influenza Activity Increasing Across US
Late last week, the CDC Fluview update showed that rates of flu activity in the Unites States are increasing in a second wave of activity, though numbers are still below baselines for the 2021-22 flu season. Influenza A (H3N2) accounts for almost all influenza case detections, and 7.7% of submitted clinical lab samples were positive for flu in the past week. States in the Midwest and Southwest saw the highest levels of influenza positivity. (3/28)

CIDRAP: COVID-19, Flu An Especially Dangerous Pair
Adult COVID-19 patients also infected with the flu are four times more likely to require mechanical ventilation and 2.4 times more likely to die than if they had COVID-19 alone, finds a UK study published late last week in The Lancet. (Van Beusekom, 3/28)

The Wall Street Journal: Biden Administration Begins Vaccinating Asylum Seekers At Southern Border
The Biden administration has started vaccinating migrants claiming asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border for Covid-19, the Department of Homeland Security said Monday. The decision comes after months of debate within the Biden administration, in which time nonprofit organizations along the border including Catholic Charities started administering Covid-19 vaccines to those migrants released to nonprofit shelters so they could apply for asylum. (Hackman, 3/28)

The New York Times: Biden Administration Will Vaccinate Migrants At Border 
According to directions given to senior homeland security officials on Sunday, if single adults refuse to be vaccinated, they will be detained and put into deportation proceedings. If they request asylum and cannot remain in detention, they will be released with a monitoring device “with stringent conditions.” If migrant families refuse vaccination, they will also be given monitoring devices with the same conditions. The White House has said little about whether it will soon lift the public health order, which the Trump administration put in place at the start of the pandemic. (Sullivan, 3/28)

The Texas Tribune: Border Bus Brigade Vaccinating Mexican Citizens With Unused COVID-19 Shots 
The COVID-19 vaccine shot that went into Nohemi Lima Eusebio’s arm as she sat on a dusty yellow school bus at the U.S. border checkpoint in Laredo was just days away from going in the trash in Dallas. The dose had been in a batch earmarked for Texas residents, but it was about to expire at a clinic nearly 500 miles away because nobody used it. Instead, it turned out to be a potential lifesaver for Lima Eusebio, a 44-year-old single mom whose job in the close quarters of a factory across the border in Nuevo Laredo put her at risk for the virus and made her fear for the safety of her loved ones. (Harper, 3/29)

In other news about the vaccine rollout —

NBC News: WHO Examining Covid Vaccines Linked To Potential Hearing Problems
The World Health Organization is examining rare reports of hearing loss and other auditory issues following Covid-19 vaccinations. In a newsletter posted on its website, the international public health agency said that it has been made aware of sudden hearing problems, particularly tinnitus, or ringing of the ears, that may be associated with Covid vaccines. (Edwards, 3/28)

Los Angeles Times: Only 30% Of L.A. County Kids Are Vaccinated, Months After COVID Shots Became Available
As kids were spilling out of the gates at Helen Keller Elementary School in Lynwood, outreach worker Alma Aracen tried to talk to the parents crowded outside. “We’re offering COVID vaccines,” Aracen said in Spanish to one mother, gesturing to the mobile clinic and tables set up by St. John’s Community Health near the school. The woman, glancing over, replied in English, “Her daddy doesn’t want her to have it.” In Los Angeles County, some parents jumped at the chance to get kids vaccinated when the shots first became available for them. But here and across the country, new immunizations for kids fell after an initial rush. (Alpert Reyes and Do, 3/28)

Also —

FiercePharma: Pfizer And BioNTech Go To Hollywood With Splashy Oscars Sponsorship 
Oscar-winning actor Will Smith slapping comedian Chris Rock made the biggest headlines out of the Oscars Sunday night. But the sponsorship from Pfizer and COVID shot partner BioNTech was for the pharma marketing world a bigger moment. The vaccine-making pair, which teamed up two years ago and produced the world’s biggest-selling product last year in Comirnaty, their COVID-19 shot, joined forces again to sponsor the biggest night in Hollywood. (Adams, 3/28)

Axios: New Normal For Health Care Spending
U.S. health care spending is likely to grow at about the rate of inflation over the rest of the decade after the pandemic fueled a nearly 10% jump between 2019 and 2020, federal experts said Monday. The CMS actuaries' projections in Health Affairs came with plenty of caveats. But if trends hold, out-of-pocket spending is going up, as is spending on private coverage, Medicare and Medicaid. "This outlook is contingent on a virus that has evolved and surprised at every turn — and could do so again," the authors wrote. (Reed, 3/29)

The Wall Street Journal: U.S. Healthcare Spending Growth Slowed In 2021 After Covid-19 Surge 
U.S. healthcare spending growth is expected to have slowed last year after reaching a nearly two-decade high driven by the pandemic, according to a new report by federal regulators. National health spending is projected to have grown 4.2% to $4.3 trillion in 2021, compared with a growth surge of 9.7% in 2020, according to the report from actuaries at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The slowdown came from a decline in the use of healthcare services and federal financial stimulus as Covid-19 cases fell amid a pandemic that has led to nearly 975,000 deaths and almost 80 million cases in the U.S. (Armour, 3/28)

In related news —

Modern Healthcare: Hospitals Remain At An Operating Loss Following Omicron Surge
Hospitals saw a median operating margin decline of 11.8% between January and February, as healthcare providers dealt with lower inpatient and outpatient volumes, higher resource costs and the omicron surge's effects. COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations subsided in February, and hospitals experienced fewer, but more costly expenses due to the nationwide labor shortage and supply chain challenges, according to healthcare consultancy Kaufman Hall, which reports monthly on the finances of more than 900 mostly not-for-profit hospitals. (Devereaux, 3/28)

Modern Healthcare: CMS: Healthcare Prices Projected To Rise 3.6% In 2022
Healthcare prices are expected to rise this year, driving up out-of-pocket expenses, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' Office of the Actuary said Monday. Price growth will fuel healthcare spending inflation in 2022, stemming from providers' higher labor and supplies costs, according to a report in Health Affairs released Monday. Prices are expected to rise by 3.6% in 2022 and boost overall healthcare spending growth 4.6% to $4.5 trillion. Prices grew 2.7% in 2021, 3.1% in 2020 and 1.1% in 2019. As a result, out-of-pocket costs are projected to climb 6.1% in 2022 and an average of 4.6% from 2021 to 2030. (Kacik, 3/28)

In other health care industry news —

Axios: Health Workforce Shortages Begin To Weigh On Patient Safety
The COVID-19 pandemic and the strain it has put on healthcare workforces is threatening patient care. Years of progress reducing medical errors and preventable hospital-acquired infections were reversed in medical centers and skilled nursing facilities during the pandemic. But ongoing health care workforce disruptions — including early retirements, nurses shifting to travel positions and increased workloads for those who remain — threaten hospitals' ability to get back on track. (Reed, 3/28)

Modern Healthcare: Feds Join Lawsuit Against EHR Vendor ModMed
The federal government will intervene in a False Claims Act lawsuit against electronic health records vendor Modernizing Medicine and its co-founders that became public Friday. The lawsuit alleges the company falsely attested to complying with certification requirements for its EHR products, provided illegal kickbacks to doctors and upcoded diagnoses entered into its EHRs. The Justice Department notified the U.S. District Court for the District of Vermont that it will partially intervene in the case and intends to file its own complaint within 90 days. (Goldman, 3/25)

Indianapolis Star: 2 Black-Owned Health Care Centers Open In Indianapolis
TaQuita Taylor did not set out to break any barriers when she decided to open a pediatric urgent care clinic. The family nurse practitioner has a business planning spa parties, or sparties, for young girls but then had another idea that called to her — opening a pediatric urgent care clinic. And her conviction that she made the right decision in opening Children Express Care Clinic, grew even stronger when she learned that northeast side clinic is the first Black-owned urgent care site in the state. (Rudavsky, 3/29)

AP: Convoy Protesting COVID Mandates Rolling On To California 
A group of truck drivers protesting COVID-19 mandates on roads and highways around the Washington, D.C., area in recent weeks will head to California next, an organizer announced Sunday night. During a livestream of the People’s Convoy nightly rally Sunday, organizer Mike Landis read a list of measures aimed at controlling COVID-19 in California, The Herald-Mail reported. (3/28)

In other news about covid mandates —

AP: Idaho Gov Vetoes Bill Banning Business Vaccine Requirements
Idaho Gov. Brad Little has vetoed legislation that would make it illegal for most businesses to require the coronavirus vaccine. “I am vetoing this legislation because I am a lifelong advocate of limited government,” Little wrote in his transmittal letter on Monday, saying the bill “significantly expands government overreach into the private sector.” (Boone, 3/28)

New Hampshire Public Radio: Federal Court Rejects Emergency Relief In Democrats' ADA Lawsuit Against Speaker Packard 
A federal court has upheld an earlier court decision to block medically frail lawmakers from participating remotely in sessions of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, while their lawsuit against House Speaker Sherman Packard continues. This latest ruling, from the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals, comes more than a year after six Democrats -- including former House Minority Leader Renny Cushing, who died this month from cancer -- sued Packard under the the Americans with Disabilities Act. (3/28)

Bay Area News Group: COVID-19: Sharks And Warriors Drop Vax, Test Requirements For Fans
Responding to updated health guidelines from the state, Sharks Sports & Entertainment announced Monday that starting this weekend, fans attending hockey games at SAP Center will no longer be required to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test for entry. The change is in line with the Chase Center’s modification announced last week. California’s Department of Public Health on March 17 stated that instead of requiring proof of full vaccination or evidence of recent negative COVID-19 test for entry into indoor mega-events, it would move to a “strong recommendation” to the public to use those measures for limiting the spread of the virus. (Pashelka and Kenney, 3/28)

ABC News: US Capitol Resumes Limited Tours 2 Years After Pandemic Began
The U.S. Capitol finally reopened its doors Monday after being closed for nearly two years due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. It will be a limited reopening that will involve member-led and staff-led tours of up to 15 people as well as school groups that have registered in advance, according to a statement from Maj. Gen. William Walker, the House sergeant-at-arms, and Dr. Brian Monahan, the Capitol’s attending physician. (Gelpi, 3/28)

AP: FDA Skeptical Of Benefits From Experimental ALS Drug 
Federal health regulators issued a negative review Monday of a closely watched experimental drug for the debilitating illness known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, after months of lobbying by patient advocates urging approval. The drug from Amylyx Pharmaceuticals has become a rallying cause for patients with the deadly neurodegenerative disease ALS, their families and members of Congress who’ve joined in pushing the Food and Drug Administration to greenlight the drug. (Perrone, 3/28)

Stat: FDA Is Critical Of Data On Amylyx ALS Drug, But Cites 'Regulatory Flexibility'
Results from a single clinical trial of an experimental drug for ALS developed by Amylyx Pharmaceuticals “may not be sufficiently persuasive” to support approval, according to a review of the drug posted Monday by officials with the Food and Drug Administration. Reviewers in the FDA’s Office of Neuroscience criticized the data, which showed the drug demonstrated a modest slowing of disease progression but no survival benefit, as well as the conduct of the study. But the agency, in its review, noted that it can exercise “regulatory flexibility” to approve drugs for serious diseases with unmet medical needs. (Feuerstein, 3/28)

In other pharmaceutical news —

CNN: Men's Use Of Diabetes Drug Just Before Conception Is Linked To A 40% Increase In Birth Defects, Study Finds
Metformin use by men in the three-month period before they conceived a child was linked to a 40% higher risk of birth defects in the offspring, according to a study published Monday in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine. Metformin is a first-line drug in the treatment of type 2 diabetes. The research, which was done out of Denmark, used national registries to follow over 1 million births between 1997 and 2016 and compared the risk of major birth defects in babies based on paternal exposures to diabetes medications. The study observed only children who were born to women under 35 and men under 40. Babies born to women with diabetes were excluded. The researchers considered men exposed to metformin if they filled a prescription for it in the three months before conception, which is how long it takes the fertilizing sperm to fully mature. (Ahmed, 3/28)

Modern Healthcare: Fragmented Regulations Exacerbate Saline Shortage
Different regulations for pharmaceuticals and medical devices are complicating the sodium chloride shortage. Hospitals have been dealing with intermittent shortages of sodium chloride and its related components since late last year, as manufacturers and distributors have been focused on COVID-19 vaccine production, some suppliers have pulled out of the market and those that remain have experienced production delays. About 60% of hospitals' requests for sodium chloride were not being filled as of Thursday, according to the group purchasing and consulting organization Premier. In normal times, less than 10% of hospital requests go unfulfilled. (Kacik, 3/28)

Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky Pharmacists Back Effort To Curb Prescription Drug Middlemen
A bill Kentucky pharmacists are seeking to curb the powers of prescription drug insurance middlemen appears stalled in the Senate after it sailed through the House March 21 on a vote of 88-3. House Bill 457, aimed at for-profit entities known as pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, has been consigned to the Senate Appropriations and Revenue Committee — often a dead-end for legislation. It follows a law the legislature enacted in 2020 cutting PBMs out of the state's $1.7 billion-a-year Medicaid prescription drug program amid complaints from pharmacists that PBMs were profiting at their expense. (Yetter, 3/28)

San Francisco Chronicle: Surprising Study Reveals Greater Risks For Moms With Female, Vs. Male, Partners
A surprising, first-of-its kind study from Stanford University reveals that women have a greater risk of complications during and after childbirth — including induced labor, postpartum hemorrhaging, and even having twins or triplets — if their partner is female instead of male. “The disparities faced by people who were mothers in partnership with a mother were striking,” said Stephanie Leonard, a Stanford instructor and lead author of the study being published Monday in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. (Asimov, 3/28)

In other reproductive health news —

Side Effects Public Media: As Home Births Increase In Popularity, Some Midwives Operate In A Legal Gray Area 
Mandy King laid back on a large, brown couch at Shiphrah Birth Services in Vinton, Iowa, as soft piano music streamed from a TV in the background. Her three young children — ages 3, 5 and 7 — played next to her as her midwife, Bethany Gates, examined her pregnant belly, applying pressure with her hands on different parts to identify the baby's position. On this early spring day, King was 38 weeks pregnant. “Her head's not really moving a lot,” Gates said. “She's kind of settling into the pelvis a little bit, but that's good. That's what we want her to do.” King is planning her first home birth. As a self-described homebody, King said she disliked giving birth at a hospital, away from the comfort of her home and children. (Krebs, 3/28)

ABC News: Baby Born At 25 Weeks Goes Home After 460 Days In NICU 
For the first time in his life, 15-month-old Kendall Jurnakins is home. The baby boy spent the first year of his life in the neonatal intensive care unit at Ascension St. Vincent Women's Hospital in Indianapolis before being cleared for discharge on March 16. (Yu, 3/28)

In abortion updates —

The Washington Post: Inside The Plan To Create An Abortion Refuge For A Post-Roe Era
When the woman called Planned Parenthood to schedule her abortion, Alexandria Ball picked up the phone and explained exactly what would happen next. Ball and her colleagues would book her bus ticket to Illinois. They would put her up in a hotel. They would help find funding for her abortion. And they would pay for her 15-year-old son to come along. “Is this a dream?” asked the pregnant mother from western Missouri. Attached to an abortion clinic on the Missouri-Illinois border, this first-of-its-kind call center offers a window into the splintered future of abortion care in the United States if the Supreme Court decides this summer to roll back Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision that established a constitutional right to abortion. (Kitchener, 3/28)

KHN: Colorado Doubles Down On Abortion Rights As Other States — And The High Court — Reconsider
With the Supreme Court expected to overturn or severely weaken its landmark Roe v. Wade decision, clinics in Colorado are preparing for an increase in the number of out-of-state residents seeking abortions, and lawmakers are cementing abortion access protections in state law. Colorado is one of the few states without any restrictions on when in pregnancy an abortion can occur and is one of the few states in the region without a mandatory waiting period of up to 72 hours after required abortion counseling. (Bichell, 3/29)

The Washington Post: Tracking Major Abortion Restrictions And Protections Across The U.S. 
While a lot of the bills this year look similar to bills we’ve seen before, the stakes are completely different. In recent years, the most restrictive bans were blocked by the courts, ruled unconstitutional because they violated Supreme Court precedent established in Roe v. Wade, which has protected the constitutional right to abortion for nearly 50 years. (Kitchener, Schaul and Santamarina, 3/26)

NBC News: Oscars Feud Was A ‘Missed Opportunity’ To Educate Public, Say Women With Alopecia
Dia DiRosa was about 6 years old when fistfuls of her hair started coming out as her mom washed it. She began waking up to clumps of hair on her pillow. Diagnosed with alopecia areata, DiRosa was the subject of stares, snickers and rumors. The medical condition results in loss of hair, which sometimes grows back and sometimes does not, left DiRosa completely bald for many years. (Chuck and Bellamy, 3/28)

The Baltimore Sun: Oscar Controversy Shines Light On Baltimore Native Jada Pinkett Smith’s Hair Loss With Alopecia 
After an eventful Oscars on Sunday night, a disease that causes hair loss is dominating conversations. And the woman at the forefront of the conversation is Baltimore native Jada Pinkett Smith. Her husband, Will Smith, slapped Chris Rock on stage during the 94th Academy Awards after he made a joke about her hair loss... Pinkett Smith, who grew up in West Baltimore’s Park Heights neighborhood, recently shaved her head because she was “struggling with alopecia,” as she explained in an Instagram video in December. (Oxenden, 3/29)

AP: What Is Alopecia? Oscars Spat Centers On Hair Loss Condition 
The National Alopecia Areata Foundation says the condition affects about 2% of the population, or as many as almost 7 million Americans. It can occur at any age, but most often during the teen years or young adulthood. Jada Pinkett Smith is 50.Other public figures with the condition include Ayanna Pressley, a Democratic congresswoman from Massachusetts, British actor and comedian Matt Lucas and bluegrass musician Molly Tuttle. Alopecia tends to run in families. Total hair loss affecting the entire body can happen, but is rare. The condition can also cause dents and ridges in fingernails and toenails, but affected people are otherwise healthy. (Tanner, 3/28)

In other public health news —

The Washington Post: Early Puberty Cases In Girls Are Surging In Pandemic, Doctors Say
Before the pandemic, Vaishakhi Rustagi, a Delhi-based pediatric endocrinologist, found that cases of early puberty were pretty uncommon, but not unheard of: In a typical year, she would see about 20 such patients. Then the pandemic hit, and the cases started to pile up. Since June 2020, Rustagi has seen more than 300 girls experiencing early puberty, she said. (Changoiwala, 3/28)

The New York Times: Cancer Patients Are At High Risk Of Depression And Suicide, Studies Find 
One day years ago, during her training in neurology, Dr. Corinna Seliger-Behme met a man with end-stage bladder cancer. Before the diagnosis, the man had a stable family and job, and no history of mental health problems, Dr. Seliger-Behme recalled. But, soon after learning of his terminal disease, he tried to kill himself with a knife in the bathtub. He spent the last week of his life in the psychiatric ward. That patient’s situation was extreme, but the psychological distress brought on by cancer is significant for many patients. Two studies published on Monday quantify the psychological burden of cancer in fine detail, pulling from much larger data sets than previous research. The findings make a compelling case for oncologists to have more discussions with their patients about mental health struggles. (Wapner, 3/28)

The New York Times: Does Social Media Make Teens Unhappy? It May Depend On Their Age
The study found that during early adolescence, heavy use of social media predicted lower life-satisfaction ratings one year later. For girls, this sensitive period was between ages 11 and 13, whereas for boys it was 14 and 15. Dr. Amy Orben, an experimental psychologist at Cambridge University, who led the study, said that this sex difference could simply be because girls tend to hit puberty earlier than boys do. (Hughes, 3/28)

The Boston Globe: More People Need Mental Health Care. But Those Who Want To Help Them Pay Dearly
A few years ago, Yorlady Corredor-Purcifull had a job coordinating home-therapy services for young children, mostly in Latino neighborhoods. Her mission was to serve infants and toddlers, but she quickly realized that the parents needed help, too. “I saw how the families were left behind,” she recalled. “I thought, ‘Oh my goodness, there’s a need for social workers.’ ” But when Corredor-Purcifull set out to help fill that need, which is especially acute among communities of color and people with limited English proficiency, she faced an uphill climb. (Freyer, 3/28)

CNN: Prediabetes More Than Doubled Among American Kids. How To Reduce Risk 
Prediabetes in America's youth is following a concerning trend: Rates among children have more than doubled in about 20 years, according to a new study. The increase was seen over almost all subpopulations of young Americans, regardless of income, ethnicity and education, said study author Junxiu Liu, assistant professor of population health science and policy at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. The study, published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, included children from 12 to 19 years old and looked at data in the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 1999 to 2018. Over that time, the rate of prediabetes in adolescents went from 11.6% to 28.2%, rising fairly steadily in that time frame. (Holcombe, 3/28)

ABC News: How Meals On Wheels Serves Record Numbers Of Elderly Amid Inflation, Other Pandemic Hurdles 
As many Americans resume some sense of normalcy in daily life, a large sector of the population hit hard by the pandemic requires more assistance than ever and nonprofit groups are working tirelessly to deliver essential help for the increasing number of seniors in need. Hundreds of thousands of older adults across the country struggled with hunger and isolation before COVID-19, and Meals on Wheels said it has doubled down its efforts to meet growing demand even as compounding issues of inflation, food costs and gas prices rock its channels of support and funds. (McCarthy, 3/28)

AP: Oregon Ends Residency Rule For Medically Assisted Suicide
Oregon will no longer require people to be residents of the state to use its law allowing terminally ill people to receive lethal medication, after a lawsuit challenged the requirement as unconstitutional. In a settlement filed in U.S. District Court in Portland on Monday, the Oregon Health Authority and the Oregon Medical Board agreed to stop enforcing the residency requirement and to ask the Legislature to remove it from the law. (Johnson, 3/29)

And more news from Oregon —

AP: Portland Expands Unarmed Emergency Response Program 
People across Portland, Oregon, looking to help someone experiencing a mental health crisis have a new option: They can call 911 and ask for the Portland Street Response. The unarmed emergency response program began serving people citywide on Monday, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported. (3/28)

In other health news from across the U.S. —

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: After Weeks Of Debate, Mental Health Bill Clears Georgia Senate Panel
After two weeks of emotional hearings, a Senate panel on Monday passed its version of legislation that aims to expand the way mental health is covered in Georgia. The new version of House Bill 1013 would require most insurance companies to cover mental health care the same way physical health is covered, forgive student loans for mental health providers who work in underserved areas of the state and take other steps to improve care. The bill passed the Senate Health and Human Services Committee unanimously. (Prabhu, 3/28)

AP: Lawmakers Hear Calls To Improve State Psychiatric Hospital 
Five years after a patient abuse scandal, Connecticut’s only maximum-security psychiatric hospital still needs significant improvements to its treatment programs, staff behaviors and oversight, members of a state task force told lawmakers Monday. Members of the panel also told the Public Health Committee that Whiting Forensic Hospital in Middletown needs to be moved into an entirely new building because the current hospital is inadequately designed for psychiatric care and is in disrepair. (Collins, 3/28)

North Carolina Health News: Access To HIV Care Varies Across NC Jails, Study Finds 
People with HIV have a high rate of ending up behind bars, but even though the diagnosis is common among people in county jails, it’s hard to know the kind of care these patients receive while they’re detained due to a lack of research. A recent study from researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill attempted to glimpse through the curtain at what HIV treatment looks like for people living with HIV who cycled through 21 out of the state’s 95 jails. The researchers interviewed 23 people, who reported more than 300 jail incarcerations across North Carolina in the time since they had been diagnosed with HIV. What they found is indicative of medical care across jails in the state: that care varies depending on the jail. (Thompson, 3/29)

Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Schools To Build 2 New Health Centers For Students, Families
Columbus City Schools announced Monday it has partnered with Nationwide Children's Hospital and PrimaryOne Health to build two new school-based health centers. The health centers will be based in two high schools — Columbus North International and Fort Hayes — and will be funded through grants and other funding from the two health care systems. "School-based healthcare centers mean less time out of the classroom for many students, which directly aligns with our district's strategic priority of Whole-Child Focus that allows the students to reach their full potential," said Columbus Schools Superintendent Talisa Dixon in a news release. (Lee, 3/28)

KHN: At A Tennessee Crossroads, Two Pharmacies, A Monkey, And Millions Of Pills 
It was about 1 a.m. on April 19, 2016, when a burglary alarm sounded at Dale Hollow Pharmacy in Celina, a tiny town in the rolling, wooded hills near the Kentucky border. Two cops responded. As their flashlights bobbed in the darkness, shining through the pharmacy windows, they spotted a sign of a break-in: pill bottles scattered on the floor. (Kelman, 3/29)

KHN: ‘American Diagnosis’: ‘Water Warriors’ Tap Diné Resilience To Increase Access On Navajo Land 
Over decades, federal and state policies have left many tribal communities without access to clean, running water. This episode explores what separates some Diné and other Native people in the western United States from this critical resource. (3/29)

USA Today: 'Don't Say Gay': Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Signs Schools Bill Into Law
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law Monday new restrictions on discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity in Florida schools, derided by opponents as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. The measure drew criticism from the LGBTQ community nationwide, Hollywood and the White House, and even drew walkouts in schools across the state from students concerned about its potential impact. The legislation was ridiculed by hosts Wanda Sykes, Amy Schumer and Regina Hall during their opening comments at Sunday night’s 94th Academy Awards. (Kennedy, 3/28)

Miami Herald: Read For Yourself: Language Of ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bill, What Supporters Like, What Opponents Fear 
When Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the “Parental Rights in Education” bill Monday, which opponents deride as the “don’t say gay” bill, he repeated what he has been saying since the controversial bill first emerged in Florida: “Leftist politicians, activists and corporate media” are getting the intent of the bill all wrong. The text of the seven-page bill never mentions the word “gay.” Its vague provisions offer few details for how the ban on teacher-led instruction of gender and sexuality will be implemented in Florida’s public schools and yet both sides say they understand precisely what the intent is. (Klas, 3/29)

CNBC: Disney Vows To Help Repeal 'Don't Say Gay' Law
After Gov. Ron DeSantis signed Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill into law on Monday, the Walt Disney Company condemned the legislation and vowed to help have it repealed. “Florida’s HB 1557, also known as the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill, should never have passed and should never have been signed into law,” the company said in a statement. “Our goal as a company is for this law to be repealed by the legislature or struck down in the courts, and we remain committed to supporting the national and state organizations working to achieve that.” (Whitten, 3/28)

In other news about LGBTQ+ health care —

Dallas Morning News: Dallas Hospitals Receive Lowest Scores In Texas In Latest Health Care Equality Scoring System
The Human Rights Campaign, a national LGBTQ rights organization, significantly lowered the ranking of two Dallas hospitals in its scoring system for health care inclusivity after the facilities halted medical treatment for new adolescent transgender patients. Children’s Health and UT Southwestern Medical Center are now the two lowest scoring hospitals in Texas in the biennial Healthcare Equality Index 2022, published Monday. HRC said it applied the “responsible citizenship criteria” penalties because the hospitals stopped providing “necessary and medically approved care” to transgender youth while continuing the same care for cisgender patients. Genecis — which stood for Gender Education and Care, Interdisciplinary Support — was an acclaimed 7-year-old program created by the hospitals to provide comprehensive care to trans and gender-diverse youth. It was the only such program in the state of Texas before it stopped providing gender-affirming medical care for new patients in November 2021. (Wolf, 3/28)

Dallas Morning News: Doctors, Parents Petition North Texas Hospitals To Reopen Genecis Program For Transgender Youth
The petition says changes at the program, known as Genecis, violate doctors’ promise to promote “health and a healthy society” as health professionals. Its signatories also raise concerns that there was outside pressure to stop taking new patients into the program, which the petition says could hurt trans youth who rely on treatments like puberty blockers and hormone therapy. “In the same way that gender-affirming care saves lives, a lack of access or undue barriers to gender-affirming care causes real harm,” the petition reads, according to a copy obtained by The Dallas Morning News. The signatories came from dozens of specialties, with about 200 working with children in the pediatric fields. (McGaughy and Wolf, 3/28)

Detroit Free Press: Ferndale LGBTQ+ Center Brings Back In-Person Support Groups
With COVID-19 numbers continuing to drop, Ferndale’s Affirmations LGBTQ+ Community Center, 290 W. Nine Mile Road, is rebuilding its roster of in-person support groups. The group recently announced the return of its bisexual+ group, as well as a new harm reduction group for community members dealing with addiction. “A lot of people have been asking for the return of our bisexual support group,” said Affirmations community relations manager Kyle Taylor. “It starts on April 4 and is held every Monday at 6:30 p.m., and is for bisexual, pansexual, omnisexual, queer, polysexual or anyone who experiences attraction to more than one gender. It’s all about bringing in conversation around that, and also doing different outings. (Beddingfield, 3/28)

The 19th: New Report Gives NIH Guidance On Gathering Data On Gender And Sexuality
A groundbreaking report by the National Academy of Sciences on how to best gather information on gender and sexuality says gender identity, not biological sex, should be the default data collected and reported. The report, released this month, provides recommendations to the National Institutes of Health for how to measure gender and sexuality throughout different health contexts, including in research, surveys, health care administration and clinical practice. Made up of 27 different branches, the NIH is the nation’s agency for medical research, as well as the largest funder of biomedical research in the world. Its global influence puts it in a unique position to model meaningful data collection on gender and sexual minority populations. (Mithani, 3/28)

Mint: Sputnik V Become First COVID Vaccine With Proven Efficacy On HIV Patients
Sputnik V became world’s first COVID vaccine with proven efficacy for people living with HIV, a new study showed. The study has been published by The Lancet.  The data presented are the first scientific results on the preventive efficacy of a COVID vaccine to protect against infection in people living with HIV (PLWH). Based on data from more than 24,000 HIV+ patients in Moscow on antiretroviral therapy (ART), Sputnik V’s efficacy was 79%. (3/28)

The Washington Post: Ukraine Invasion Could Spell End To Russian Hopes For Sputnik Vaccine
It is still not clear what impact the sanctions are having on the supply and demand of Sputnik V. There is an exemption for coronavirus-related supplies in the U.S. sanctions on Russia. But even during a pandemic, sanctions are often a messy business — as Iran and Cuba found out earlier during the health emergency. And Andrea Taylor, a researcher at Duke University who tracks global vaccine supply, said that even before the sanctions, data about Sputnik V was spotty and unreliable. (Taylor, 3/29)

More on the war in Ukraine —

Fox News: Ukraine War: Kyiv Transforms Surgical Hospital Into Battleground Medical Facility
Russia’s bloody invasion of Ukraine has forced the staff to transform Kyiv’s largest hospital, Clinical Hospital #8, into a battleground medical facility, according to a recent Wall Street Journal report. Dermatologists and cardiologists now assist with triaging wounded patients arriving from artillery and rocket barrages as the hospital sits within 10 miles of the battleground, the paper noted. The staff are numb to the air raid sirens because they are so frequent to take seriously anymore, and don’t wear face masks because of the constant background noise of fighting as they try to talk to communicate, per the Journal. (Sudhakar, 3/28)

Fox News: Russian Oligarch, Ukraine Peacekeepers Suffer Suspected Poisoning After Kyiv Meeting: Report
Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich and at least two senior Ukrainian peacekeepers suffered symptoms from a suspected poisoning attack but have since recovered, according to a report published Monday. Following a meeting in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv earlier this month, Abramovich and the two senior members of the Ukrainian peacekeeping team, including Crimean Tatar lawmaker Rustem Umerov and a second unnamed individual, began experiencing symptoms that included red eyes, constant and painful tearing, and peeling skin on their faces and hands, The Wall Street Journal reported. (Wallace, 3/28)

In other global covid news —

Bloomberg: Moderna’s Covid Booster Shot Will Be Offered to South African Health Workers
Moderna Inc.’s coronavirus vaccine will be offered as a booster to some South African health workers, who received either one or two shots of Johnson & Johnson’s inoculation as part of a vaccine trial involving almost half a million people. The Moderna shot will be offered to 10,000 health workers in a trial known as Sherpa that is likely to start in the second half of April, Glenda Gray, the co-lead of J&J’s vaccine trials in South Africa and president of the South African Medical Research Council. (Sguazzin, 3/28)

Bloomberg: Covid Vaccines: World Moves From Shortages To Possible Glut Of Shots
After racing to build capacity and meet once seemingly insatiable orders for Covid-19 shots, the global vaccine industry is facing waning demand as many late-to-market producers fight over a slowing market. The trend is poised to rein in the blockbuster sales that global pharmaceutical giants from Pfizer Inc. to AstraZeneca Plc saw at the peak of the pandemic. It also stands to create new problems for local manufacturers from India to Indonesia that built mammoth capacity to make shots but are now grappling with excess supply. (Kay and Kaur Makol, 3/28)

AP: Hong Kong's COVID Toll Leads Some To Eco-Friendlier Coffins
Hong Kong’s deadliest coronavirus outbreak has cost about 6,000 lives this year – and the city is now running out of coffins. ... To answer the shortage of them due to the COVID-19 toll, some companies are offering alternatives such as an environmentally friendly cardboard coffin. LifeArt Asia has cardboard coffins made of recycled wood fiber that can be customized with designs on the exterior. In its factory in Aberdeen, a southern district of Hong Kong, up to 50 coffins can be produced a day. (Fung and Lo, 3/29)

In updates on Afghan refugees —

Stat: Afghan Refugees, Grappling With Trauma, Face Barriers To Mental Health Care
For 17-year-old Salek Haseer, video games are an escape. They’re a way, however fleeting, to put a pause on his thoughts — about fleeing Afghanistan last August, about leaving his father behind and about his new home. “It’s not like I like to play the games,” Haseer said. “I play to remove my feelings.” Since resettling in Virginia with his three siblings and mother, Haseer has struggled with the overwhelming emotional toll the past year has taken. Grieving separation from his father — who was unable to leave with his family — he started seeing a psychologist at his school. (Deng and Huh, 3/29)

The New York Times: America’s Covid Response Needs More Congressional Funding 
Over the last two years, the United States has made extraordinary progress in the fight against Covid-19. That progress is now threatened by Congress’s failure to fund the continuing Covid-19 response effort. The federal government is running out of funds to provide Americans, especially those who are uninsured, with Covid-19 vaccines, tests and treatments. Our efforts to sustain other critical elements of the public health response, from Covid-19 surveillance to the global vaccination campaign, are also now at risk. (Vivek H. Murthy and Davide A. Kessler, 3/29)

Chicago Tribune: There Is Much We Still Don’t Know About Giving 5- To 11-Year-Olds A COVID-19 Vaccine 
Should children ages 5 to 11 receive the COVID-19 vaccine? This is a difficult question without an easy answer, something you wouldn’t know from the strident opinions of politicians and health experts. On one side are the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Academy of Pediatrics and Pfizer, which makes the only approved vaccine for children. They have all recommended vaccination for children ages 5 and older. (Cory Franklin and Robert A. Weinstein, 3/28)

Miami Herald: COVID Pandemic Exacerbated US Workers’ Mental Health Challenges 
The pandemic has taken a significant toll on everyone’s mental health — and the research proves it. The majority of employees say their job is the main source of their mental-health challenges, and 65.9% reported higher levels of stress since the outbreak. Let that sink in. More than half of your colleagues or employees could be struggling with significant mental health issues as you read this. (Pat Geraghty, 3/28)

The Washington Post: The Health-Care System Is As Vulnerable To Covid As It Has Ever Been 
We might be facing another surge of covid because of the omicron subvariant. Or we might be months away from another wave hitting. No matter the timing, our health-care system is not built to withstand continued bouts of covid hospitalizations. After five surges, and with vaccines and treatments widely available, it’s human nature to want to believe the job is done. In reality, our health-care system is in no better shape today than it was two years ago — and, in fact, it might be in worse condition. (Megan Ranney, 3/28)

Bloomberg: Shanghai Took A Gentler But Likely Wrong Approach To Covid-Zero Than Shenzhen
Shanghai is China’s most important financial hub as well as the regional headquarters of global brands such as Apple Inc., Tesla Inc. and LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE. Until recently, it also executed China’s “dynamic clearing” Covid policy better than the country’s other municipalities. With a staff of over 3,000 conducting contact tracing in the city of 25 million, Shanghai never had to undergo mass testing or district lockdowns. For two years, life was pretty much normal. It is thus a shock when Shanghai announced a lockdown to conduct mass testing over eight days. This is a sharp U-turn from an official stance that had ruled out such drastic measures. What went wrong? (Shuli Ren, 3/28)

Stat: How To Fix The Two-Tier U.S. Health Payment System 
How the U.S. pays for health care is neither efficient nor fair. Despite spending an astounding 20% of its economic output on health care, the U.S. ranks poorly among high-income countries in national health system performance. To make matters worse, the payment system for this care has ingrained systematic health inequities for historically marginalized groups like people of color and low-income Americans. Many individuals in these groups and their families are covered by public health insurance programs like Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program. These often pay doctors and hospitals only a fraction of what private insurers pay for the same care. Together with structural racism, this payment disparity creates what is effectively a two-tier system for the haves and the have-nots. (Amol Navathe, Risa Lavizzo-Mourey and Joshua Liao, 3/29)

The CT Mirror: The Case For Mental Health Support For Black Women
It is time for America to take healthcare more seriously – especially mental healthcare for Black women. In January, a beauty queen took her own life. She plunged from the 29th floor of the apartment building where she lived. The world gasped and people mourned. Days later, another Black beauty queen died tragically in a similar manner. Sadly, more deaths have occurred since then, which highlights a growing trend seen more in the wake of a global pandemic. According to a study done by the American Academy of Pediatrics, there is a higher incidence of young Black girls attempting suicide, which increased by 15% in almost three decades, than by their white counterparts. How did we get here? (Weruche George, 3/28)

CT News Junkie: Bracing For The End Of The Roe Era 
Last week, March for Life held its first-ever rally in Connecticut on the north side of the State Capitol. A sizable, energized crowd showed up, as Connecticut’s anti-abortion movement senses that the Supreme Court may be about to hand them a resounding victory in their decades-long quest to overturn Roe v. Wade. Meanwhile, Democrats inside the building have been working to protect women who get abortions in Connecticut, with bills that would expand who can perform abortions and shield providers from out-of-state lawsuits. There’s also been some movement on a proposal to amend the state constitution to protect abortion rights. (Susan Bigelow, 3/29)