Stat: U.S. Approves Second Covid-19 Booster For People 50 And Older 
The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday authorized second Covid-19 boosters for people 50 years and older for those who want them. People 50 and older are now eligible for another shot of either the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna mRNA vaccines four months after their last dose, the FDA said. Health officials cited data from Israel showing that second boosters increased antibody levels, while other studies from Israel have shown that the shots increased protection against death during the country’s Omicron wave. Much of that data is considered preliminary, and it’s only been a few months since those doses started going into arms. Pfizer and BioNTech also said they submitted data to the FDA showing some waning of effectiveness three to six months out from the first booster shots. (Joseph, 3/29)

The Wall Street Journal: Second Covid-19 Booster Shot Endorsed By FDA, CDC For Adults 50 And Older 
Under the moves, the older adults can get the shots at least four months after a first booster dose. People will be able to choose between the two vaccines regardless of whether they earlier received a shot from Moderna, Pfizer or Johnson & Johnson. In addition, the FDA cleared a second Pfizer-BioNTech booster dose for people 12 years old and up with weakened immune systems and who have received a first booster dose of any authorized Covid-19 vaccine. And the FDA also authorized a second Moderna booster for immunocompromised people 18 years old and above. (Hopkins and Armour, 3/29)

Do you need another booster? —

The Washington Post: CDC: If You Got J&J’s Vaccine And Booster, Consider An MRNA Shot Now
The nearly 17 million Americans who received the one-shot Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine are less protected against serious illness and hospitalizations than those who got the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna shots, according to federal data released Tuesday. The latest data suggest Johnson & Johnson recipients should get a booster with one of the messenger RNA vaccines, if they haven’t already done so — and even consider a second messenger RNA booster for the greatest protection. The data come from a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that analyzed the results of mix-and-match vaccine-and-booster combinations during a four-month period when the highly transmissible omicron variant was dominant. (Sun, 3/29)

The New York Times: Should You Get Another Covid Booster? 
The scientific evidence for fourth dose is incomplete, at best, and researchers do not agree on whether the shots are needed. Here are some factors to consider when making your decision. (Mandavilli, 3/29)

NPR: 2nd Booster For Over 50? Here's How To Decide If You Need One
Health officials argue that the protection provided by the COVID vaccine booster shots wanes over time. And they are concerned about people considered to be at highest risk of getting severe COVID. But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention didn't make it clear how urgently people should be lining up for second boosters. The agency says these groups are "eligible" for the shots but it stopped short of saying they should get them. And some infectious disease experts say not everyone in this age group needs another shot now. So, if you're wondering whether to get a second booster, here are a few key factors to consider. (Godoy, Aubrey and Greenhalgh, 3/30)

Axios: America's Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Vaccine Approach
The choose-your-own-adventure vibe of the pandemic response is spreading to booster shots, with Americans 50 and older now having the option to get a fourth dose — without explicitly being encouraged to do so. Many experts say yesterday's FDA authorization makes sense as a precautionary measure, but the policy could create more confusion around the long-term vaccination strategy. Authorizing another shot for those who got their last dose at least four months earlier is an added safeguard when it's still unclear how much three doses protect against severe illness over time. The three-dose approach appears to hold up well in the short term. (Owens, 3/30)

Also —

The Hill: White House: Biden Will Receive Second Booster If Doctor Recommends It
White House communications director Kate Bedingfield said on Tuesday that President Biden would receive a second booster if his doctor recommended it after the Food and Drug Administration authorized an additional booster for people aged 50 years and older. “I can speak to the president who will make this decision in consultation with his doctor. Obviously if his doctor recommends that he receive a fourth booster, then he would, but he'll make that decision in consultation with his doctor,” Bedingfield answered in response to whether the president and vice president would be receiving a fourth shot. (Vakil, 3/29)

NPR: The More Contagious BA.2 Version Of Omicron Is Now The Most Common In The U.S.
A subvariant of omicron that's even more contagious than the original is now the most common coronavirus strain in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC estimates that the BA.2 strain now accounts for more than half — 54.9% — of coronavirus infections nationwide, according to new data. It's even more prevalent in certain parts of the country. For example, over 70% of COVID-19 cases in the Northeast are BA.2, the CDC estimates. The BA.2 variant does not appear to make people any sicker than the original omicron strain of the coronavirus, and vaccines still offer protection against it. (Hernandez, 3/29)

Los Angeles Times: Omicron BA.2 Now Dominant Version Of Coronavirus In U.S. 
How big that potential upswing might prove to be remains the subject of much debate. Some experts believe California is well-armored against another significant surge — largely because the vast majority of residents have either been vaccinated or likely have some natural immunity left over from a recent infection. But BA.2 has fueled substantial increases in other countries, demonstrating how readily the super-contagious subvariant can still spread. (Money and Lin II, 3/29)

The Wall Street Journal: Omicron BA.2 Variant Is Dominant Covid-19 Strain In U.S., CDC Estimates 
The Food and Drug Administration said last Friday that providers should no longer use GlaxoSmithKline PLC’s Covid-19 antibody treatment sotrovimab in Massachusetts, New York and several other states, after finding that the drug is likely ineffective against the BA.2 variant. The agency also said it would track BA.2’s prevalence around the U.S. and might need to further limit where sotrovimab can be used. (Kamp and Abbott, 3/29)

In related news —

CNBC: CDC: Majority Of U.S. Has Covid Antibodies, What That Means For You
Some people are worried that another Covid surge is coming, powered by omicron’s highly contagious BA.2 subvariant. But experts say a significant jump in cases is unlikely, at least for now — possibly due to a recent estimate that nearly all Americans currently have some level of Covid antibodies in their systems. According to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey of blood donor samples, conducted in December and updated last month, an estimated 95% of Americans ages 16 and older have developed identifiable Covid antibodies. Those come from both vaccinations — roughly 77% of the U.S. population has received at least one Covid vaccine dose, according to the CDC — and prior Covid infections. (Scipioni, 3/29)

Stat: Covid-19 Pandemic Isn't Over For Black Americans, Report Warns 
A searing report released Tuesday by the Black Coalition Against COVID details the immense toll the Covid-19 pandemic has taken — and continues to take — on Black communities, and calls for continued vigilance and action to prevent further losses even as the rest of the nation is eager to move on. The report’s authors — physicians and public health and policy experts — note with alarm that even as case rates began to fall sharply across the country earlier this year, the Covid-19 hospitalization rate for Black people was higher than it had been at any time during the pandemic for any racial or ethnic group. For the week ending Jan. 8, 2022, the hospitalization rate for Black Americans was 64 per 100,000 — more than twice the overall rate. Rates for all Americans have since fallen, though they remain much higher for Black people. (McFarling, 3/29)

CIDRAP: Black Cancer Patients More Likely Than Whites To Have Severe COVID
A US study of 3,506 cancer patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 in 2020 shows that Black patients were significantly more likely than their White peers to have severe illness, regardless of demographic and clinical risk factors and cancer type, status, and therapy at COVID-19 diagnosis. (Van Beusekom, 3/29)

In more news about the spread of covid —

ABC News: How To Use The CDC's New COVID Quarantine And Isolation Calculator 
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released an online calculator Thursday to help people determine if they should isolate or quarantine after contracting COVID-19 or being exposed to someone with the virus. The tool can be accessed on a desktop or on a mobile device. Once a person answers a few questions, the calculator will help discern how long one should isolate or quarantine, whether they should get tested, and how long they should take precautions, such as wearing a mask around others in public. (Thomas and Kekatos, 3/29)

The Washington Post: White House Turns To Air Quality In Latest Effort To Thwart Coronavirus 
The White House is pivoting to emphasize that poorly ventilated indoor air poses the biggest risk for coronavirus infections, urging schools, businesses and homeowners to take steps to boost air quality — a move scientists say is long overdue and will help stave off future outbreaks. “Let’s Clear the Air on COVID,” a virtual event hosted Tuesday by the White House science office, came after President Biden’s coronavirus response team and other leaders have elevated warnings that airborne transmission is the primary conduit of coronavirus infections, a reversal of earlier federal guidance. (Diamond, 3/29)

The Boston Globe: How Clean Is The Air In Your School Or Workplace? Hint: Many Places Are Lacking
Two years into an airborne pandemic, many buildings around the country are still poorly ventilated and lack sufficient filtration systems to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and other infections, experts say. The White House on Tuesday renewed its push to improve indoor air quality at workplaces and schools at a time when mask mandates have been largely discontinued and another more transmissible version of the virus, known as BA.2, is widely circulating. “For decades, Americans have demanded that clean water flow from our taps and pollution limits be placed on our smokestacks and tailpipes,” Dr. Alondra Nelson, head of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, said during a White House virtual event. “Our indoor air should be clean and healthy too. It’s just as important as the food we eat and the water we drink.” (Lazar, 3/29)

AP: Into The Wild: Animals The Latest Frontier In COVID Fight
To administer this COVID test, Todd Kautz had to lay on his belly in the snow and worm his upper body into the narrow den of a hibernating black bear. Training a light on its snout, Kautz carefully slipped a long cotton swab into the bear’s nostrils five times. For postdoctoral researcher Kautz and a team of other wildlife experts, tracking the coronavirus means freezing temperatures, icy roads, trudging through deep snow and getting uncomfortably close to potentially dangerous wildlife. (Ungar, 3/30)

Bay Area News Group: Unvaccinated Tom Cruise Caught COVID Months After Yelling At Crew: Report
A new report raises questions about Tom Cruise’s presentation of himself as the safety-conscious star of “Mission: Impossible 7,” who was so vehement about protecting the production from COVID-19 that he notoriously yelled expletives at crew members who purportedly violated COVID safety protocols. Indeed, the investigative report by the Hollywood Reporter said it is believed that Cruise didn’t get the COVID-19 vaccine, at least as of June 2021. That means he remained unvaccinated after an audio recording of his infamous dressing down of crew members was leaked to the media in December 2020. (Ross, 3/29)

Also —

Fox News: Special Ultraviolet Light Prevents Indoor Transmission Of Airborne Pathogens Without Harming Humans: Study
The light at the end of the tunnel for the COVID-19 pandemic might just be overhead. A new study shows a hands-off approach using ultraviolet light, called far-UVC light, reduced transmission of indoor airborne pathogens by more than 98% in less than five minutes, according to a recent statement. "Far-UVC rapidly reduces the amount of active microbes in the indoor air to almost zero, making indoor air essentially as safe as outdoor air," said co-author Dr. David Brenner, director of the Center for Radiological Research at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. (Sudhakar, 3/29)

The Baltimore Sun: Hopkins Researchers Say They’ve Developed A Better Way To Test For COVID, Other Viruses 
Imagine being able to swab the inside of your mouth, place it in a device and quickly know whether you’re infected with COVID-19.Johns Hopkins University researchers say they have developed a simple sensor that could quickly and accurately detect the virus that causes COVID-19 in saliva. The sensor isn’t on the market yet, but soon could revolutionize testing, the researchers say. It could be stationed at the entrances of hospitals, airports and schools, and potentially be put into handheld and even wearable devices. It also can detect other viruses. (Cohn, 3/29)

KHN: Covid And Schizophrenia: Why This Deadly Mix Can Deepen Knowledge Of The Brain Disease 
Most of the time, the voices in Keris Myrick’s head don’t bother her. They stay in the background or say nice things. But sometimes they get loud and mean — like when a deadly pandemic descended on the world. “It’s when things go really, really fast and they seem overwhelmingly disastrous. That’s when it happens,” said Myrick, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia 25 years ago. “The attacking voices were calling me stupid. … I literally had a meltdown right here in my house. Just lost it.” (Dembosky, 3/30)

AP: Florida, Other States Challenge CDC Transit Mask Rule 
Twenty-one states with Republican attorneys general sued Tuesday to halt the federal government’s requirement that people wear masks on planes, trains, ferries and other public transportation amid the coronavirus pandemic. The lawsuit, announced by Florida’s Gov. Ron DeSantis and Attorney General Ashley Moody and filed in federal court in Tampa, Florida, contends that the mask mandate exceeds the authority of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The mandate in its current form may be in effect only a few weeks more. The CDC recently extended it until April 18 while also indicating it is weighing scaling back the rules for a more targeted approach. (Anderson, 3/29)

NPR: 21 States Sue The Biden Administration To End The Federal Travel Mask Mandate
"President Biden's shortsighted, heavy-handed and unlawful travel policies are frustrating travelers and causing chaos on public transportation," Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, who is leading the states' effort, said in a statement. "It's long past time to alleviate some of the pressure on travelers and those working in the travel industry by immediately ending Biden's unlawful public transportation mandates." Joining the mostly Republican-led effort are three states with Democratic governors — Kansas, Kentucky and Louisiana. (Diaz, 3/29)

In other news about covid mandates —

AP: Navy Barred From Acting Against Religious Vaccine Refusers 
A federal judge in Texas is barring the Navy from taking action for now against sailors who have objected to being vaccinated against COVID-19 on religious grounds. U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor had in January issued a preliminary injunction preventing the Navy from disciplining or discharging 35 sailors who sued over the Navy’s vaccine policy while their case played out. On Monday, O’Connor agreed the case could go forward as a class action lawsuit and issued a preliminary injunction covering the approximately 4,000 sailors who have objected on religious grounds to being vaccinated. ... While the case is still at an early stage, the U.S. Supreme Court in a brief order Friday narrowed the impact of O’Connor’s original injunction, saying that the Navy could still consider the vaccination status of the sailors who sued in making deployment, assignment and other operational decisions. (Gresko, 3/29)

San Francisco Chronicle: East Bay Legislator Pauses California Vaccine Mandate Bill For Businesses
Legislation that would have required all California businesses to vaccinate their employees and contractors against COVID-19 was put on hold Tuesday by the bill’s sponsor, Assembly Member Buffy Wicks, D-Oakland. In a statement, Wicks explained that she was holding AB1993, which she introduced in February, in order to allow for negotiations with public safety unions and others who came out in opposition to the bill. (Whiting, 3/29)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Kemp Signs Bill Letting Parents Opt Kids Out Of School Mask Mandates
Gov. Brian Kemp on Tuesday signed legislation that allows parents who don’t want their children wearing masks to opt out of any school district mandates. The new law comes more than two years into the COVID-19 pandemic. Most Georgia schools have dropped mask mandates due to declining infection rates and relaxed guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Tagami, 3/29)

WUSF Public Media: Cruise Bookings Come Roaring Back After The CDC Relaxes Pandemic Restrictions 
After nearly two years of pandemic restrictions on cruises, the industry is coming back as more travelers book trips with cruise lines. According to AAA Travel, cruise bookings during the past four weeks have nearly doubled as compared to this time last year. Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, Carnival Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Lines and Celebrity Cruises are all sailing out of Florida. The study points to several indicators for this increase in booking — including the Center for Disease Control’s recent decision to lower its cruise travel warning to a level 2. (Comber-Wilen, 3/29)

Also —

Fox News: Fauci: Americans Should Be Prepared For New COVID-19 Restrictions
White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci on Sunday warned about the potential for the reinstatement of COVID-19 restrictions in the U.S. In an interview on the BBC's "Sunday Morning," Fauci said U.S. residents "need to be prepared for the possibility" of restrictions being put back into place. Presenter Sophie Raworth asked if a new infectious COVID-19 variant could lead to future lockdowns and mask mandates. "I don't want to use the word ‘lockdowns.’ That has a charged element to it. But, I believe that we must keep our eye on the pattern of what we're seeing with infections," he said, noting that the U.S. is currently moving toward normalcy. (Musto, 3/29)

Louisville Courier Journal: Omnibus Kentucky Abortion Bill Passes House Over Shouts Of Protesters
A sweeping bill with multiple new restrictions on abortion won final passage Tuesday in the General Assembly after shouting protesters disrupted the state Senate and seven of eight Senate Democrats walked out rather than vote on House Bill 3. The Senate passed the so-called "omnibus" bill on a 29-0 vote, and a few hours later, the House gave final approval on a vote of 74-19. The bill now goes to Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat who supports abortion rights. He could veto HB 3, but Republicans hold super-majorities in both the House and Senate and have enough votes for an override. (Yetter, 3/29)

AP: Kentucky Lawmakers Pass 15-Week Abortion Ban
The proposed 15-week ban is modeled after a Mississippi law under review by the nation’s high court in a case that could dramatically limit abortion rights in the United States. ... Much of the debate Tuesday revolved around the proposed regulation of dispensing of abortion pills, requiring women to be examined in person by a doctor before receiving the medication. Opponents called the measure another intrusion into women’s medical decisions. (Schreiner, 3/30)

In abortion news from Maryland, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and elsewhere —

AP: Maryland Lawmakers Pass Bill To Expand Access To Abortion
The Maryland General Assembly passed a bill Tuesday that would expand access to abortion by ending a restriction that only physicians provide them and requiring most insurance plans to cover abortion care without cost. The Senate gave the measure final passage on a 28-15 vote. That sends the measure to Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, whose office did not immediately comment on his position on the bill. The governor has said he personally opposes abortion, though he has called the issue settled law in the state. (Witte, 3/30)

The Texas Tribune: Abortion Nonprofits Say Texas State Rep. Briscoe Cain Defamed Them In “Cease-And-Desist” Letter
A group of nonprofits that help people access abortions are threatening to sue a Texas lawmaker for defamation after he called them “criminal organizations” in letters he posted to social media. State Rep. Briscoe Cain, R-Deer Park, sent cease-and-desist letters to eight of these abortion funds earlier this month, ordering them to “immediately stop paying for abortions performed in Texas or face criminal prosecution.” Cain cites an older state law that says “whoever furnishes the means for procuring an abortion knowing the purpose intended is guilty as an accomplice,” and faces two to five years in prison. (Klibanoff, 3/29)

The 19th: Oklahoma's Texas-Inspired Abortion Ban Could Devastate Region's Access
Since their state passed its six-week abortion bill in September, Texans have headed north to Oklahoma in droves. But though it has emerged as a critical access point, Oklahoma is on the verge of passing its own strict abortion ban, and clinics in nearby states are bracing for a new surge in patients seeking care. Many worry that without Oklahoman clinics, they will be unable to account for everyone hoping to obtain an abortion. (Luthra, 3/29)

AP: GOP-Led Missouri House Votes To Defund Planned Parenthood 
The GOP-led Missouri House on Tuesday advanced a bill to defund Planned Parenthood, ban fetal tissue donations and put additional restrictions on abortion. The House gave the measure initial approval in a voice vote Tuesday. It needs another House vote to move to the Republican-led Senate. The measure also bans fetal-tissue donation and would allow family members to file wrongful death lawsuits if babies are born after an abortion and then die. (3/30)

KHN: As Red States Push Strident Abortion Bans, Other Restrictions Suddenly Look Less Extreme 
What is the ultimate goal of the anti-abortion movement? It might be surprising. To the casual observer, the obvious answer is that abortion opponents want to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion nationwide. Before Roe, states decided whether and when abortion should be legal. It’s possible opponents of abortion will see that wish granted. Based on comments made by six conservative justices during arguments, the high court this year is expected to either weaken significantly or throw out the nearly 50-year-old precedent of Roe by upholding a Mississippi law banning the procedure after 15 weeks of pregnancy. (Rovner, 3/30)

In other reproductive health news —

The 19th: Two-Thirds Of Military Families Report Challenges To Having Children
For more than two decades, Kim Hunt was constantly on the move. Alongside her husband, now a retired Navy officer, Hunt moved 16 times across the United States and Europe. The couple had two daughters — pregnancies that were planned around whether her husband was on shore duty or sea duty — but they knew many other active-duty service members who struggled to conceive at all. Now, as associate director of research and training at Blue Star Families, a nonprofit founded in 2009 by military spouses, Hunt helps create, collect and analyze the largest annual military lifestyle survey. (Padilla, 3/29)

The Washington Post: Climate Change Is Making Pollen Season Longer And More Intense Across The Country 
Across the country, pollen season is starting earlier and intensifying because of rising global temperatures and carbon dioxide concentrations. Previous research showed that pollen season lengthened by 20 days over the past three decades across North America, while pollen concentrations increased by 21 percent. The most affected places were the U.S. Southeast and Midwest. (Patel, 3/29)

In news about air pollution —

Houston Chronicle: Switch To EVs Could Mean Huge Cut In Asthma, Billions In Health Benefits For Houston, Study Finds
Electrifying every vehicle on Houston-area roads and powering them with renewable sources would avoid 3,000 premature deaths and reap billions in health benefits, a new analysis by the American Lung Association has concluded. Released late Tuesday, the report, Zeroing in on Healthy Air, advocates for more aggressive movement toward zero-emission vehicles, especially heavy trucks, public transit and delivery vans. Researchers based their estimates on all passenger vehicles sold by 2035, and all medium- and heavy-duty trucks sold by 2040, being zero emission, as well as all electricity generated by renewable means. They also factored for reductions, but not a total elimination of petrochemical refining. (Begley, 3/29)

Press Association: Dyson Unveils Zone Noise-Canceling Headphones And Air-Purifying Visor
Dyson has created headphones that include a purifying visor designed to help people avoid polluted air in cities. Called the Dyson Zone, the wearable device combines noise-cancelling over-ear headphones with a visor that sits just in front of the nose and mouth, delivering filtered air. The British technology firm said the headphones have been created in response to growing concerns about air and sound pollution in urban areas. It cited World Health Organisation (WHO) figures estimating nine in 10 people globally breathe air that exceeds its guidelines on pollutant limits, while around 100 million people in Europe are said to be exposed to long-term noise exposure above its recommended level. (Landi, 3/30)

In news about drinking water —

USA Today: Attorney Who Sued DuPont Over Tainted Water Takes His Case Nationwide
The movie “Erin Brockovich” told the real-life story of a California town whose residents went to court and won big after being exposed to a toxic chemical. While Cincinnati-based attorney Robert Bilott doesn’t have the same name recognition, he too has a movie dramatizing his courtroom battles. And now he may be on to something even bigger: a fight over a contaminated nation. In the 2000s, Bilott sued the chemical company DuPont after discovering it contaminated the drinking water of communities along the Ohio-West Virginia border with a chemical called perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). The litigation took a novel approach by creating an independent panel of scientists who studied residents there for years and found “probable links” to six health effects, including kidney and testicular cancer. (Bagenstose, 3/29)

KCUR: Missouri House Bill Would Cut Down On Poisonous Lead In School Drinking Water 
Missouri children would be better protected from lead poisoning under a state legislative bill to require schools to nearly rid their drinking water of the dangerous toxin. The bill, heard Monday by the House Conservation and Natural Resources Committee, would require schools to test drinking water, remove old coolers and filter water where lead is found. The goal is drinking water with a lead concentration of less than one part per billion. The state’s current action level for drinking water is 15 times that. (Savage and Kite, 3/29)

Stateline: Rideshare Riders Could Get Stuck With Medical Bills In A Crash
In the early hours of Sept. 12, 2020, Denver chef Brian Fritts, 32, was riding in the backseat of a Lyft car when another vehicle crashed into it and drove off, leaving him with six crushed vertebrae and a broken jaw. His life has never been the same. Nor has his pocketbook. A loophole in Colorado’s rideshare insurance laws left him with no payments to cover his medical bills and other expenses. He owed hundreds of thousands of dollars, much of which was not covered by Medicaid, his health insurance. “I can’t sit up; I can’t stand for very long,” he told the Colorado legislature this month in a House Judiciary Committee hearing. And, he said, he needs more surgery to fix his crooked jaw, a procedure he said he can’t afford. (Povich, 3/29)

In other public health news —

CNN: Avocados Reduce Risk Of Heart Attacks, Study Says 
Eating avocados reduced the risk of heart attacks in both men and women, including when eaten in place of butter, cheese or processed meats, a new study found. Cardiovascular disease is a leading killer worldwide, taking nearly 18 million lives every year, according to the World Health Organization. In the United States alone, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says heart disease takes a life every 36 seconds. Eating at least two servings of avocado a week reduced the risk of having a heart attack by 21% when compared to avoiding or rarely eating avocados. However, there was not an equivalent benefit in reducing the risk for stroke, according to the study published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Heart Association. (LaMotte, 3/30)

The New York Times: Does Moderate Drinking Protect Your Heart? A Genetic Study Offers A New Answer
Last week, two patients asked Dr. Stanley L. Hazen, a cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic, how much daily alcohol consumption would be good for their cardiac health. He gave them both well-accepted medical advice — an average of about one drink a day helps the heart. “I didn’t give it a second thought,” he said. Then he saw a paper published in JAMA Network Open whose findings upended his thinking about what to tell patients. The paper, he said, “totally changes my life. ”Its conclusion: There is no level of drinking that does not confer heart disease risk. (Kolata, 3/29)

The Wall Street Journal: Positive Drug Tests Among U.S. Workers Hit Two-Decade High 
The percentage of working Americans testing positive for drugs hit a two-decade high last year, driven by an increase in positive marijuana tests, as businesses might have loosened screening policies amid nationwide labor shortages. Of the more than six million general workforce urine tests that Quest Diagnostics Inc., one of the country’s largest drug-testing laboratories, screened for marijuana last year, 3.9% came back positive, an increase of more than 8% from 2020, according to Quest’s annual drug-testing index. That figure is up 50% since 2017. (Feuer, 3/29)

The Washington Post: Chronically Ill Face Life-Or-Death Challenges Due To Pandemic Shortages
Crystal Evans lives in constant fear that bacteria will grow inside the silicone tube that connects her windpipe to the ventilator that pumps air into her lungs. Before the pandemic, the 40-year-old with a progressive neuromuscular disease followed a fastidious routine: She carefully changed the plastic circuits that carry air from the ventilator five times each month to keep them sterile. She also swapped out the silicone tracheotomy tube several times a month. Now, though, those tasks have gotten infinitely harder. A shortage of medical-grade silicone and plastic used for the tubing means she must make do with just one new circuit each month. (Shepherd, 3/29)

KHN: Delays For Autism Diagnosis And Treatment Grew Even Longer During The Pandemic 
Wylie James Prescott, 3, had to wait more than a year after his autism diagnosis to begin behavioral therapy, even though research shows early treatment of autism can be crucial for children’s long-term development. His mother, Brandie Kurtz, said his therapy wasn’t approved through Georgia’s Medicaid program until recently, despite her continued requests. “I know insurance, so it’s even more frustrating,” said Kurtz, who works in a doctor’s office near her home in rural Wrens, Georgia. Those frustrations are all too familiar to parents who have a child with autism, a complex lifelong disorder. And the pandemic has exacerbated the already difficult process of getting services. (Miller and Gold, 3/30)

And more on the Oscars controversy —

BuzzFeed: What People With Alopecia Think About That Chris Rock Joke
For the 6.8 million people in the US with alopecia, it was Pinkett Smith’s face when the joke dropped, not the slap, that was the important part. Alopecia is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system mistakenly attacks hair follicles, triggering a spectrum of hair loss anywhere on the body. It’s unpredictable and can happen to anyone at any time, no matter their age, sex, race, ethnicity, or health status. (Camero, 3/29)

The Washington Post: Why A Single Slap Struck So Many
Psychologists and experts on violence aren’t surprised by the strong emotions generated by the incident, and their variety. “The complexity right now does center around the talks and discussions we’re having around race, gender and disability … and survivorship,” said Apryl Alexander, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Denver. “All of those things combined impacted the lens in which we saw this unfortunate event.” (Chiu, 3/29)

Modern Healthcare: UnitedHealth's Optum To Buy LHC Group For $5.4 Billion
UnitedHealth Group's Optum announced Tuesday it plans to purchase in-home healthcare provider LHC Group for an estimated $5.4 billion. The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2022, a news release said. "Working together as organizations committed to caring for the most vulnerable in society will help us more effectively and efficiently deliver high quality and increasingly value-based care in the home," LHC Group Chairman and CEO Keith Myers said in the news release. (Christ, 3/29)

The Wall Street Journal: UnitedHealth To Buy Home-Health Firm LHC Group For $5.4 Billion
The acquisition by UnitedHealth’s Optum health-services arm, which was announced Tuesday, will add one of the country’s largest home-health firms to a portfolio that already includes doctor groups, clinics and surgery centers, as well as some home-based services. Wyatt Decker, the chief executive of Optum Health, the unit that focuses on providing healthcare, said the company sees rising demand from patients and families for home-based care. “This trend has really only just begun, of how much care can truly be delivered in the home,” he said in an interview. “We can give care in the home, which is a lower-cost setting…than nursing homes or more advanced care facilities.” (Mathews, 3/29)

Stat: UnitedHealth Deal With LHC Highlights Broad Interest In Home Health
UnitedHealth Group’s proposed $5.4 billion buyout of home health and hospice provider LHC Group serves as another example of the health insurance industry’s ravenous appetite to own more parts of health care delivery, especially the care people receive in their homes. But the interest in home health — a lower-cost venue that remains highly lucrative, particularly for the Medicare population of people 65 and older — has also come from a host of other companies with money to burn, including hospitals and financial investors like private equity firms. (Herman and Bannow, 3/29)

In news about the hospice industry in California —

Los Angeles Times: Fraud Plagues California's Hospice Industry, Audit Finds
A rapid boom in the number of hospices and other factors strongly point to a large-scale organized effort to defraud federal end-of-life care programs in Los Angeles County, putting vulnerable dying patients at risk of harm, according to a long-awaited state audit released Tuesday. Auditors blamed lax oversight for the problems, noting that the California Department of Public Health became aware of possible fraud by some for-profit hospices seeking licenses yet still approved them, essentially enabling “hospice agency operators who are possibly fraudulent to continue functioning, placing patients at serious risk of not receiving appropriate care.” (Poston and Christensen, 3/29)

AP: Audit: Lax Oversight, Fraud Within California Hospice System 
The number of hospice facilities in Los Angeles County has shot up since 2010, the report said, without a proportional need in the county for end-of-life care. Some patients were discharged after receiving hospice services for long periods of time, clear indications of potential fraud, according to the audit. Auditors uncovered “excessive geographic clustering” of facilities, including a single building in the Van Nuys neighborhood of Los Angeles that had more than 150 licensed hospice and home health agencies — “a number that exceeds the structure’s apparent physical capacity,” the report said. (Weber, 3/30)

In other health care industry news —

Georgia Health News: State Hits Anthem With Whopping Fine For Insurance Violations 
The state insurance department has levied a $5 million fine against health insurer Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, the largest such penalty in the agency’s history, for violations of state law involving medical providers and consumers. Insurance Commissioner John King, at a Tuesday news conference at the State Capitol, cited numerous complaints in taking the agency action. The Georgia insurance department was “inundated with complaints about Anthem from individuals, from doctors, hospitals and others, from all corners and across Georgia,” King said. (Grapevine and Miller, 3/29)

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. “That is great because honestly there’s not a lot of Black providers, not a lot of minority owned independent health care facilities,” she said. “You know, you just got to break those generational curses.” (Rudavsky, 3/29)

North Carolina Health News: Rural Hospital Closures Cluster In Poor, Diverse Counties 
In the past decade, rural hospitals that shuttered tended to be in rural counties with lower incomes, higher levels of unemployment, and higher proportions of Black and Latino residents. That finding comes from a recent study conducted by researchers at the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at UNC Chapel Hill. The 141 rural hospitals that closed nationwide between 2010 and 2020 were also often located in counties adjacent to metropolitan areas. Federal hospital finance data show that the rural hospitals in North Carolina that had the weakest financial outlook in 2019 — the most recent year for which data are available — are in counties that share many of the characteristics of the communities that suffered closures in the last decade, according to an analysis by NC Health News. (Donnelly-DeRoven, 3/30)

USA Today: Most Stressed People In America Live In These States
Is the state you're living in stressing you out? If you live in Louisiana, Nevada or New Mexico, it might be, according to a new report. A study by personal finance website WalletHub measured all 50 states using 41 key indicators of stress. The stress data is split into major categories: stress related to work, money, family, and health and safety. The indicators include average amount of sleep and hours worked, health, job security, divorce rate, crime rate, credit score and housing. (Jiminez Moya, 3/29)

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

Health News Florida: DeSantis Signs Into Law A Measure To Create Student Epilepsy Plans
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday signed a bill that will require schools to create “individualized” action plans to care for students who have epilepsy or seizure disorders. The bill received unanimous approval from lawmakers during the legislative session that ended this month. The individualized plans will have to be formed in consultation with parents and signed by students’ doctors. The plans will be required to include details such as the students’ symptoms, emergency contact information, medications prescribed to the students and necessary accommodations for things like school trips and after-school activities. (3/29)

AP: Prosecution Rests In Trial Of Ohio Doctor Charged In Deaths
Prosecutors on Tuesday wrapped up their case in the weeks-long trial of an Ohio doctor accused in multiple hospital deaths. Dr. William Husel is accused of ordering excessive painkillers for 14 patients in the Columbus-area Mount Carmel Health System. He was indicted in cases involving at least 500 micrograms of the powerful painkiller fentanyl. (3/29)

The Boston Globe: McKee Looks To Use $4.5m In APRA Funds To Support Survivors Of Domestic Violence And Sexual Assault
Governor Dan McKee is throwing his support behind a proposal that would place much-needed investments into the state’s services that support survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. “We know COVID-19 has exacerbated domestic violence in our state. Investment is needed to support survivors, particularly with housing,” wrote McKee in a letter to state Senator Ryan Pearson, who also serves as the chairman for the Senate Committee on Finance. (Gagosz, 3/29)

Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky Budget Bill Funds Full-Day Kindergarten, Drops Tax Rebates
Full-day kindergarten is in, but the $500 rebate for most Kentuckians is out. Republican legislators unveiled their conference committee report Tuesday morning for a two-year state budget bill, hammering out differences between versions passed earlier in the session by the Kentucky House and Senate. The final version of House Bill 1 restores the funding for full-day kindergarten that was taken out of the Senate version of the budget, but no longer includes room for more than $1 billion of tax rebates, which a Senate bill had proposed to go out to taxpayers this summer. (Sonka, 3/29)

The Texas Tribune: Analysis: Texas Gets Respite On Medicaid, But Not Cure For The Uninsured 
Texas got some breathing room when the federal government decided last week to continue sending Medicaid money for health care for some of the state’s residents without private insurance. But it’s not a permanent fix, and the state still has to work out solutions for uninsured Texans, the state of rural hospitals and other issues. Texas is one of a dozen states that hasn’t expanded its Medicaid program under the federal Affordable Care Act. It’s a financially attractive federal match — the state would get roughly 90 cents for every dime invested — that has been the bane of Republicans in Texas from the moment of its inclusion in what some of them still refer to as Obamacare. (Ramsey, 3/30)

In updates on LGBTQ+ health —

Politico: DeSantis Says Disney ‘Crossed The Line’ In Calling For ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Repeal 
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday lashed out at the Walt Disney Co. and “California corporate executives” after the company said Florida’s “Parental Rights in Education bill” — dubbed “Don’t Say Gay” by opponents — should be repealed. DeSantis, a Republican who signed the bill into law on Monday, was reacting to a tweet from Disney calling on the state Legislature to repeal the law or for the courts to strike it down. (Kihara, 3/29)

NBC News: Billboards Across Florida Encourage People To 'Say Gay'
Billboards popping up in some of Florida’s largest cities are encouraging passersby to “say gay.” The massive roadside messages are a response to the state’s controversial Parental Rights in Education bill, dubbed by critics the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law Monday. The measure prohibits “classroom instruction ... on sexual orientation or gender identity” in “kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate.” (Valle, 3/29)

Oklahoman: Stitt To Sign Okla. Bill That Bans Transgender Women In Female Sports
Gov. Kevin Stitt will sign into law a bill that bans high school and college athletes from competing on a team other than the one associated with their gender assigned at birth, essentially banning transgender women from competing on women's teams. Senate Bill 2, referred to as the "Save Women's Sports Act," passed the House last year and passed the Senate last week. Stitt will sign the bill into law during a Wednesday morning ceremony at the state Capitol, according to his office. The new law will require that before each school year, the parent or guardian of a student who competes on a sports team sign an affidavit acknowledging their child's biological gender at birth. Students age 18 or older would complete the affidavit themselves. (Felder, 3/30)

The 19th News: New Report Aims To Help Evaluate Critical LGBTQ+ Health Data Collection
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, 3/29)

Voice of America: Head Of UN Food Agency Says War In Ukraine Will Lead To Worst Food Crisis Since World War II
The head of the United Nations’ food agency says Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could lead to the worst global food crisis since World War II. David Beasley, the head of the World Food Program, told the U.N. Security Council Tuesday that the month-old war has turned Ukraine “from the breadbasket of the world to breadlines.” He told the Security Council that 50% of the grain it purchases to feed 125 million people around the globe comes from Ukraine, and warned that it will have to start cutting rations in war-torn areas like Yemen, which has already had its food allotment cut in half due to rising costs of food, fuel and shipping. (3/30)

Al Jazeera: AfDB President: Ukraine War Could Trigger A Food Crisis In Africa 
In his current role as the president of the African Development Bank, the continent’s largest multilateral lender, Akinwumi Adesina is trying to avert a food crisis on a larger scale. As the war between Russia and Ukraine draws into its second month, natural gas, wheat and fertilizer prices have skyrocketed. Together Russia and Ukraine produce more than a quarter of global wheat exports, and Africa is heavily dependent on both countries. Wheat imports make up 90 percent of Africa’s $4bn trade with Russia and almost half of the continent’s $4.5bn trade with Ukraine, according to AfDB.

In global covid news —

Bloomberg: Desperation Hits Shanghai’s Chronically Ill As Infections Soar
Shanghai’s growing Covid-19 outbreak is causing desperation among residents with chronic medical conditions who depend on the increasingly overwhelmed health care system, as even getting to regular appointments becomes nearly impossible. The Chinese financial hub decision to seal off its 25 million people in two stages this week hasn’t yet slowed the conflagration as local infections jumped more than 30% to a record 5,982 on Wednesday. It’s made daily life a challenge for residents, who struggle to get fresh food and walk their dogs. For those with ongoing health needs, it can add a life-or-death hurdle to the equation. (3/30)

AP: EU Regulator Starts Reviewing Spanish COVID Vaccine Booster 
The European Union’s drug regulator said Tuesday it has begun an accelerated review process for an experimental coronavirus vaccine booster made by the Spanish company Hipra. The European Medicines Agency said in a statement that its evaluation is based on preliminary data from laboratory studies and research in adults that compared Hipra’s booster shot to the vaccine made by Pfizer-BioNTech. It said early results suggest the immune response achieved with Hipra “may be effective” against COVID-19, including the hugely infectious omicron variant. (3/29)

Also —

Crain's Cleveland Business: Cleveland Clinic Opens Its London Hospital
Cleveland Clinic has opened the doors of its new hospital in central London, the latest international location for the health system's expanding global footprint. Cleveland Clinic London offers a global network of physicians and specialists to deliver the Clinic's best practices and core values, according to a news release. Its doctor-led model of care is based on research and education. The 184-bed hospital, which opened Tuesday, March 29, is the health system's second in London, following the Cleveland Clinic Portland Place Outpatient Centre. The six-story, 28,000-square foot outpatient facility opened in September 2021 at Portland Place in the Harley Street Medical Area, where outpatient services will continue to be offered. (Coutré, 3/29)

Stat: Inflation Caused 'Unprecedented' Drops In Net Drug Prices, Analysis Finds
Amid ongoing turmoil over the cost of prescription medicines, a new analysis finds that brand-name drugmakers increased their wholesale prices by 4.4% in the last quarter of 2021, up slightly from 3.8% a year earlier. But when accounting for inflation, wholesale prices fell by 2.3%. At the same time, net prices that health plans paid for medicines — after subtracting rebates, discounts, and fees — dropped by 0.7%. But after considering inflation, net prices actually fell 5.4%. In both instances, these were the largest quarterly declines in real terms in 15 years, according to SSR Health, a research firm that tracks the pharmaceutical industry. (Silverman, 3/29)

In more news about drug pricing and drug marketing —

Stat: Key Senators Eye New, More Ambitious Legislation To Lower Insulin Prices
Key Senate lawmakers have begun writing a bipartisan bill that would cap the prices patients pay for insulin — and target the strategies drugmakers use to set prices for the medicine, too. The package, from Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), would go beyond the $35-a-month cap lawmakers have been talking about for months, Shaheen suggested in a brief interview with STAT on Tuesday. “We’re hopeful that we will have a bill that will address not just the cost cap… but the underlying cost,” she said. (Cohrs, 3/29)

Stat: HHS Seeks To Penalize Another Drugmaker Over Drug Discount Program
The U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration is seeking to penalize Boehringer Ingelheim for curtailing discounts to a federal program that provides medicines at reduced prices to hospitals and clinics serving low-income populations, the latest in a string of such notices. The notice comes amid an ongoing clash over the 340B drug discount program, which requires drug companies to offer discounts that are typically estimated to be 25% to 50% — but could be higher — on all outpatient drugs to hospitals and clinics that primarily serve lower-income patients. There are approximately 12,400 entities participating in the program, a number that has grown substantially in recent years. (Silverman, 3/29)

FiercePharma: HHS Is Investigating How Consumers Are Marketed Accelerated Approval Drugs
Hot on the heels of backlash of the accelerated approval of Biogen’s Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm, the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS') FDA is looking to rethink and redirect how these speedier approvals are marketed to consumers. Most patients probably assume the drug they’ve been prescribed has gone through a long and arduous process before getting that all-important FDA green light. Of course, that’s not the case with an accelerated approval. (Klahr Coey, 3/29)

In other pharmaceutical news —

CIDRAP: ECDC: Antibiotic Resistance To Common Foodborne Pathogens Still High
New data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) show that antibiotic resistance in Salmonella and Campylobacter bacteria—two of the most common foodborne pathogens in humans—is still high, but resistance to critically important antibiotics remains low for Escherichia coli, Salmonella, and Campylobacter in samples from both humans and food-producing animals. The findings are published in a new report of antimicrobial resistance in 2019–2020 in Salmonella, Campylobacter, and indicator E. coli isolates in poultry, pigs, and cows and subsequent human infections. (3/29)

Reuters: AstraZeneca's Imfinzi Fails Main Goal In Advanced Cervical Cancer Study 
AstraZeneca said on Thursday its drug Imfinzi, along with chemoradiotherapy, failed to achieve the main goal of improving survival in patients with locally advanced cervical cancer without the disease worsening. The late-stage study, dubbed "CALLA", tested progression-free survival of patients with the combination against chemoradiotherapy alone, the drugmaker said, and the results are seen as a setback for its efforts in a major area of focus. (3/24)

FiercePharma: ‘In The Long-Term Interests:’ FDA Oncology Chief Defends Rejection Of Lilly, Innovent Cancer Drug 
In a largely expected yet widely debated decision, the FDA declined to approve Eli Lilly and Innovent Biologics’ China-developed immunotherapy sintilimab for certain lung cancer patients. Critics blame the FDA and its oncology chief Richard Pazdur, M.D., for closing the door to meaningful price reductions in the widely used PD-1 drug class, and some suspect that the agency is playing to the growing geopolitical tension between the U.S. and China.In an interview with Fierce Pharma, Pazdur, director of the FDA’s Oncology Center of Excellence (OCE), defended the rejection. (Liu, 3/28)

Also —

FiercePharma: Bayer CEO Baumann Faces Revolt From Investor Temasek Holdings: Report
A major investment by Temasek Holdings of Singapore helped Bayer pull off a risky $63 billion purchase of Monsanto in 2018. But four years later, Temasek is blaming CEO Werner Baumann for a deal gone bad. With a shareholder meeting set for April 29, Temasek has informed Bayer chairman Norbert Winkeljohann that it wants a change in leadership, according to a report from Bloomberg News. The investor is requesting a no-confidence vote in Baumann or a vote against ratifying the performance of management. Another investor, Alatus Capital also has joined the call. "The actions of Mr. Baumann have led to significant shareholder value destruction at Bayer," wrote (PDF) Alatus in a release. "Bayer’s share price has declined by 48%, significantly underperforming market indexes and peers." (Dunleavy, 3/28)

Stat: Pharma Partnerships With Digital Therapeutics Players To Watch 
With high-minded ambitions to revolutionize health care with the help of software, digital therapeutics companies are finding themselves in cahoots with some of the industry’s largest and most-traditional players: pharmaceutical giants. Digital therapeutics developers and pharma companies would seem to be natural partners. Many digital therapeutics companies are hoping to find their way to the patient populations that pharma companies have been targeting for years. Many digital therapeutics, meanwhile, are designed to work in tandem with medication, and in some cases aim to boost adherence among patients. (Aguilar, 3/30)

Ninertimes: Contraceptives Without Prescriptions 
I initially felt relieved when I heard that birth control would be available in North Carolina without a prescription. I thought, "Great! I won't have to endure the stink eye adults give me when I sit in my OBGYN's waiting room!" While access to birth control without the need for a prescription may sound ideal, there are more caveats to this law than one might think. The law was passed by the North Carolina General Assembly with overwhelming bipartisan support and went into effect in February of this year. It states that people in North Carolina are no longer required to have a doctor's prescription to obtain hormonal birth control. North Carolina is one of over 15 states to enact a law for over-the-counter access to birth control. Contraceptive pills and patches are now available for purchase at pharmacies and drugstores following a brief assessment prepared by the CDC and administered by a qualified pharmacist. (Sylvia Sriniwass, 3/29)

BridgeMI: Michigan Must Do More To Lower The Cost Of Prescription Drugs 
Affordable, accessible health care should be a right to all, but too many Michiganders are being left out, especially when it comes to affording lifesaving prescription medications whose prices have continued to skyrocket regardless of state, national or global economic circumstances. (Winnie Brinks and Harshini Jayasuriya, 3/23)

New England Journal of Medicine: A New Way To Contain Unaffordable Medication Costs — Exercising The Government’s Existing Rights 
Strong proposed legislation permitting the U.S. government to negotiate Medicare drug prices has been weakened after pushback from the pharmaceutical industry. The government’s costs for filling prescriptions in federal programs will therefore probably continue to spiral upward. Yet the government has already paid once for a growing number of these medications by means of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which spends more than $40 billion each year to fund biomedical research. We believe that medicines discovered at public expense should be affordable. (Alfred B. Engelberg, J.D., et al, 3/24)

New England Journal of Medicine: Addressing Vaccine Inequity — Covid-19 Vaccines As A Global Public Good 
The first peer-reviewed clinical trial evidence that a Covid-19 vaccine provided robust protection against SARS-CoV-2 infection was published in the Journal in December 2020,1 less than a year after the sequence of the viral genome was reported. This unprecedentedly rapid development of vaccines was a scientific triumph. In the year since, about 62% of the world’s population has received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, and 54% have completed the primary vaccine series.2 This would appear to be a landmark success in global health mobilization. (David J. Hunter, F.Med.Sci, et al, 3/24)

Bloomberg: How Does Covid Affect Diabetes, The Brain And Long Covid? 
As we move into the post-pandemic, living-with-the-virus era, more research is surfacing about the ways even mild Covid cases leave lingering effects on health in some people. Three conditions in particular are capturing scientists’ attention due to the large number of sufferers: increased rates of diabetes, neuropsychological problems and the illness known as Long Covid. Researchers have found associations between Covid infections and each of these issues, but we don’t know enough yet to establish causality. (Therese Raphael and Sam Fazeli, 3/30)

Bloomberg: To Boost, Or Not To Boost, That Is The Complicated Question 
The Food and Drug Administration has authorized a fourth dose of Covid-19 vaccines — a second booster — for people 50 and older. But is a fourth dose really necessary, or beneficial? This is a question that health officials worldwide are scrambling to answer. European regulators have said there’s no need yet for fourth shots, but European countries are setting their own schedules for extra doses. Sweden is giving the additional shot to people over the age of 80, while Germany set the bar at 70. (Lisa Jarvis, 3/29)

The Washington Post: FDA’s Booster Decision Allows Individuals To Manage Their Own Covid-19 Risks 
The Food and Drug Administration’s decision on Tuesday to authorize a fourth coronavirus vaccine dose for Americans older than 50 heralds a new approach to the pandemic. Instead of the federal government prescribing actions that everyone should take, it is providing tools so that individuals can choose their own level of protection. (Leana S. Wen, 3/29)

Stat: No Return To Normal For Millions Of Children Orphaned By Covid
Forgotten in the calls for a “new normal” and the shuffle toward it are the millions of children around the world whose parent or guardian has died from Covid-19. Their post-pandemic lives will be anything but normal. In a study published recently in the journal Lancet Child and Adolescent Health, we and several co-authors estimated that, in the first 20 months of the pandemic, more than 5 million children have lost a parent or other caregiver living in the home, such as a grandmother or grandfather. By the two-year anniversary of the pandemic in March 2022, the Covid-19 orphanhood calculator shows this number has grown to more than 7 million children. (Seth Flaxman and Susan Hillis, 3/30)

The Washington Post: It’s Time To Rethink When We Should Reimpose Covid Restrictions 
As the pandemic worsens in Europe and elsewhere, there is already talk about when public health officials in the United States should reimpose covid-19 measures such as mask mandates. But they should be wary about setting rigid “on-ramps” back to restrictions.If the past two years have taught us anything, it’s that predetermined thresholds for public health policy don’t work well in practice and risk undermining the public’s trust. (Shira Doron, Westyn Branch-Elliman and Elissa Perkins, 3/29)

The Tennessean: Drop Of COVID-19 Cases Doesn't Take Away From Its Danger 
It is perplexing that we have transitioned so quickly from a mind-boggling killer pandemic that required masks, tests, distancing and vaccinations to a care-free society of no COVID-19 restrictions. Like others, I’m weary of shots, masks and mandates, but I also want to be safe. And I want the children around me to be safe, as well as the elders and those whose health is compromised. (Lynn Norment, 3/29)

The New York Times: Doctors Face A Stigma Against Seeking Mental Health Care 
Certain memories are seared into physicians’ psyches. The chirp of the pager. Driving home half asleep in a postcall haze. The strangest objects found in human orifices (cockroach in the ear). The most hours we continuously stayed awake. Delivering our first baby, watching our first patient die. These are all rites of passage. I’ve found it’s easy to discuss the funny memories, but the disturbing ones are harder. Even with the closest of friends, recounting the tough moments feels like passing on a burden. (Seema Jilani, 3/30)

The New York Times: Ovaries Are Prone To ‘Exhaustion’ And ‘Fatigue.’ Or Are They? 
As the traditional tale goes, the ovary is like an hourglass. Starting before birth, egg follicles begin trickling away like grains of sand. A fetus floating in the womb is bursting with as many eggs as she will ever have: 6 million to 7 million. More than three-quarters of them die off before she’s even born. By the time a girl has her first period, only 300,000 to 400,000 remain. (Rachel E. Gross, 3/29)

Newsweek: Conversion Therapy—Not Gender Affirming Care—Is Real 'Child Abuse' 
Gender-affirming care has been proven vital for the well-being of transgender youth. The standard of care is highly individualized, recommended by the leading medical organizations and ensures that treatment is aligned toward appreciating and supporting one's gender identity. The standard is conducted under the care of licensed professions after a lengthy consultation with kids and their parents, which always involves a psychological evaluation. Treatment only involves medical intervention, like puberty suppression and hormone therapy, late into one's transition process. (Kevin Eamon Muehleman, 3/29)