NBC News: Senate To Vote On Nationwide Abortion Bill Ahead Of Roe Decision
The Senate is set to vote Wednesday on advancing a Democratic-led bill that would enshrine broad protections for legal abortion nationwide, a move triggered by a leaked Supreme Court draft opinion that indicates Roe v. Wade will likely be overturned. The vote on the Women's Health Protection Act, which has passed the House, is all but certain to fail, with just 49 senators expected to support the measure, below the 60-vote requirement to defeat a Republican filibuster. (Kapur, 5/11)

The Boston Globe: Roe Vote Looks Doomed, But Democrats Press Ahead To Get Senators On The Record 
Lawmakers portrayed the vote as a way to harness the anger among some voters at Republicans who don’t support abortion rights, given polling that suggests a majority of Americans do not want the court to strike down Roe v. Wade. When pressed by a reporter on Tuesday, Democratic majority leader Chuck Schumer declined to provide a backup plan if the legislation fails to pass. (Baskar, 5/10)

AP: Democrats' Bill Would Make Roe V. Wade Law, And Expand It
The Democrats’ bill would also end certain state laws that they say have chipped away at the original Roe v. Wade decision, banning what they say are medically unnecessary restrictions that block access to safe and accessible abortions. The court has allowed states to regulate but not ban abortion before the point of viability, around 24 weeks, resulting in a variety of state laws and restrictions that abortion-rights supporters oppose. The bill would end bans earlier than 24 weeks, in addition to any restrictions that do not make exceptions for the patient’s health or life. It would also stop states from requiring providers share “medically inaccurate” information, or from requiring additional tests or waiting periods, aimed at dissuading a patient from having an abortion. (Jalonick, 5/11)

The Wall Street Journal: In Reversal, Democrat Bob Casey Backs Abortion-Access Bill 
Sen. Bob Casey, a self-described pro-life Democrat, said that he would back his party’s measure to affirm the right to terminate a pregnancy before fetal viability, citing the new uncertainty surrounding abortion access as the Supreme Court weighs overturning Roe v. Wade. Last week, Politico published a leaked draft opinion suggesting that the Supreme Court was prepared to throw out court precedent ensuring abortion access. The court confirmed the draft’s authenticity but cautioned it wasn’t final. Mr. Casey, who has a mixed record on abortion-related legislation, pointed to the possible court ruling and proposed GOP-backed state and federal legislation restricting abortion for his shift. (Hughes, 5/10)

From the Republicans —

The Hill: McConnell Tamps Down Chance Abortion Bill Could Pass GOP Senate 
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) downplayed the possibility that a Republican-controlled Senate would pass a federal abortion ban. McConnell, during a weekly press conference, sidestepped a question about if he would rule out bringing up an abortion ban but said that most of the Senate GOP believed abortion should be dealt with at the state level.  (Carney, 5/10)

The Hill: Republicans See Little Political Danger In Abortion Showdown
Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) is vowing that Republicans will have to answer to voters if they oppose enshrining Roe v. Wade protections into law. Senate Republicans appear willing to take that bet. The GOP is shrugging off a showdown over codifying the right to an abortion, taking the gamble that they won’t pay a political price in November. Schumer is poised to force a vote Wednesday on a bill supported only by Democrats in the wake of a leaked Supreme Court draft opinion penned by conservative Justice Samuel Alito that supports striking down Roe v. Wade. (Carney, 5/11)

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says abortion ruling could hurt the economy —

Politico: Yellen: Banning Abortion Would Be ‘Very Damaging’ To U.S. Economy 
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Tuesday argued that banning abortion would be “very damaging” for the economy by reducing women’s ability to balance their careers and their families. “I believe that eliminating the right of women to make decisions about when and whether to have children would have very damaging effects on the economy and would set women back decades,” she said in response to a question at a Senate Banking Committee hearing. (Guida, 5/10)

AP: Noem's Appeal Of Abortion Pills Order Put On Hold
A federal appeals court on Tuesday ordered that a case between Planned Parenthood and the state of South Dakota be put on hold until the U.S. Supreme Court issues a decision in a separate case that could overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade case that legalized abortion nationwide. The South Dakota lawsuit is over a rule pushed by Republican Gov. Kristi Noem that would require abortion-seekers to make three separate visits to a doctor to take abortion pills. Planned Parenthood, which operates the state’s only clinic that regularly provides abortions, asserted that the rule would have ended its ability to provide medicine-induced abortions. (5/10)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Missouri Senate Committee Advances Resolution To Trigger Abortion Ban When Roe Is Overturned 
A Senate committee on Tuesday advanced legislation to trigger Missouri’s near-total abortion ban if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade. With little discussion, the Senate Rules, Joint Rules, Resolutions and Ethics Committee voted 4-2 to approve the measure, sponsored by Sen. Justin Brown, R-Rolla, sending it to the Senate floor. The effort is connected to a provision contained in Missouri’s 2019 anti-abortion law. That measure would outlaw all abortions, except in medical emergencies, if the high court strikes Roe v. Wade, the 1973 case establishing a constitutional right to an abortion. (Suntrup, 5/11)

AP: NY To Send $35M To Abortion Providers Amid Worry Over Roe
New York will give abortion providers $35 million to expand services and boost security in anticipation of the U.S. Supreme Court possibly overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced Tuesday. The Democrat said the state must get ready for a potential influx of out-of-state patients seeking abortions from the roughly half of U.S. states that are expected to ban or greatly restrict abortion if Roe is overturned. (Villeneuve, 5/10)

In updates from Wisconsin —

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Group Claims Responsibility For Attack On Anti-Abortion Group In Madison, Warns Of More Violence 
An organization calling itself “Jane’s Revenge” has claimed responsibility for setting fire to the Madison headquarters of a statewide anti-abortion group and warns of more violence to come if similar organizations don’t disband nationwide. The group’s “first communiqué” was shared anonymously with an investigative reporter for the online news site Bellingcat, who posted a series of tweets describing it early Tuesday morning. “This was only a warning,” the group states. “We demand the disbanding of all anti-choice establishments, fake clinics and violent anti-choice groups within the next 30 days.” (Rickert, 5/10)

USA Today: Wisconsin Abortion Law's 'Lifesaving' Exception Vague, Doctors Say
The abortion law that would go into effect in Wisconsin if Roe v. Wade is overturned dates to 1849. It is a ban with just one exception: the procedure can be performed if a doctor decides it "is necessary, or is advised by 2 other physicians as necessary, to save the life of the mother." Some state abortion laws have historically made exceptions for broader circumstances, like pregnancies that were a result of rape or incest, but terminating a pregnancy to save a patient's life has become a last hold-over in states that have enacted increasingly restrictive rules on the procedure. (Heim, 5/10)

From Michigan and Texas —

Axios: SCOTUS Abortion Ruling Would Endanger Black Women In Michigan 
Black women in Michigan already dealing with across-the-board health care inequities would especially suffer if Roe v. Wade is struck down, health care experts say. ... "The disproportionate effect on Black women is due to their disproportionately higher risk of dying if they stay pregnant," Amanda Stevenson, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Colorado Boulder, tells Axios. (Guillen and Frank, 5/11)

KHN: 1931 State Law Makes Abortion A Felony If ‘Roe’ Falls, Warns Michigan Attorney General
When Stephanie Mejia Arciñiega drove her friend to a Planned Parenthood clinic in Ann Arbor, Michigan, they were surrounded by anti-abortion protesters as soon as they tried to park. “They come up to your car super fast,” Mejia Arciñiega said. “You don’t want to run their feet over, so we had to stop and be like, ‘OK, no thank you.’ But then they started throwing a bunch of papers and resources at us. We tried to go inside, but we couldn’t.” (Wells, 5/11)

Houston Chronicle: Hidalgo, Dem Commissioners Pass Resolution In Support Of Abortion Rights
Harris County Commissioners Court on Tuesday approved a nonbinding resolution calling on Congress to take immediate action to protection abortion rights, despite opposition from the court’s two Republican members. The measure was passed in response to a leaked draft opinion written by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito indicating Roe v Wade, the 1973 ruling that guarantees the right to abortion, is likely to be overturned. (Rice, 5/10)

The Washington Post: The Border-Town Provider Trying To Save Abortion For Texas Women
Franz Theard plies his trade in the sunniest of shadow worlds. His innocuously named Women’s Reproductive Clinic of New Mexico is hidden in plain sight, down a slope in a strip mall, neighboring a Subway and a State Farm office, in a border town of a border town. It’s less than a mile from the Texas state line, amid the sprawl of El Paso, which is itself a crossing to Ciudad Juárez in old Mexico, as folks here call it, surrounded by fireworks stores and delicious tacos and the desert beyond.Here, this 73-year-old Haitian American OB/GYN and abortion provider sits in windowless exam rooms, handing patients pills to end their pregnancies, skirting Texas law by a trick of New Mexico geography. (And, if the protesters stationed outside during all business hours are to be believed, charting his path to hell.) He is alone on the southern edge of America, at the westernmost corner of the country’s second biggest state. And if Roe v. Wade is overturned, Theard soon may be one of the only abortion providers in the western United States. (Yuan, 5/10)

How other nations are faring with abortion rights —

WLRN 91.3 FM: The U.S. Abortion Rights Movement Is Battered. What Can It Learn From Latin America's? 
With the U.S. Supreme Court apparently poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, it’s obvious abortion rights are under siege in America. In Latin America, however, abortion rights movements are scoring one victory after another. In fact, the next one may well be in a country where it was once least expected. This year, abortion rights advocates marching in Chile succeeded in getting generally legalized abortion written into the draft of the country's new constitution. Chileans will vote to ratify or reject the new charter in the fall. (Padgett, 5/10)

AP: El Salvador Gives Woman Accused Of Abortion 30 Years Prison 
A court in El Salvador has sentenced a woman who suffered an obstetric emergency that ended her pregnancy to 30 years in prison for aggravated homicide, according to a nongovernmental organization assisting in her defense. The Citizen Group for the Decriminalization of Abortion said Tuesday in a statement that a woman they identified only as “Esme” was sentenced Monday. The woman had already been in pre-trial detention for two years following her arrest when she sought medical care in a public hospital. (5/10)

The Washington Post: People Are Getting IUDs And Plan B Ahead Of A Possible Post-Roe Future
Last week, as soon as Sydney Phillip read about the leaked draft opinion suggesting the Supreme Court was poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, she booked an appointment to get an IUD. Intrauterine devices are one of the most effective forms of birth control, and getting the long-acting contraceptive had been a floating item on her medium-term to-do list. She’s been using the birth control pill, a method that has about a 7 percent failure rate for typical use. The potential consequences of that margin of error felt tolerable — until now. (Higgins, 5/10)

Houston Chronicle: Searches For 'Vasectomy' Spike In Texas After Roe V. Wade Leak
The leak of a draft Supreme Court opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade sent shock waves across the nation. It also appears to have driven interest in another topic: male birth control options. Google Trends data shows that searches for the word “vasectomy” spiked in Texas on May 3 and 4, the first two full days after Politico published an initial draft majority opinion indicating the Supreme Court was poised to overturn the landmark 1973 decision that established a constitutional right to abortion. Searches for “vasectomy” also skyrocketed elsewhere in the U.S. (MacDonald, 5/10)

Also —

Axios: Poll: Over Half Of Young Women Would Get An Abortion Even If It Was Illegal
Over half of young women aged 18-29 say they would get an abortion if they had an unwanted or unplanned pregnancy — even if it were illegal, according to a new Generation Lab flash poll first provided to Axios. Last week's news that the Supreme Court is prepared to overturn Roe v. Wade has raised questions on what access would look like without a federal right to an abortion. Even in states where they remain legal, abortions could be harder to access because those clinics could be flooded with patients from states that have cracked down. Women in their 20s accounted for the majority of abortions between 2010 and 2019. (Chen, 5/10)

The 19th: Exclusive: New Poll Captures How People With Disabilities Feel About Abortion
Disability has been used as something of a political football in the abortion debate. For decades, fetal abnormality and disability have been part of abortion-rights advocates’ argument that people need access to the procedure. Anti-abortion advocates, meanwhile, argue that disability-motivated abortion is discriminatory and devalues disabled life. But people with disabilities themselves have been largely absent from the public debate on abortion rights. Now, new poll results, shared exclusively with The 19th, shed light for the first time on how people with disabilities view the issue. (Luterman, 5/10)

USA Today: Abortion Bans Would Be Riskiest On Women In Maternity Care 'Deserts'
Women living in maternal health care “deserts” will face greater health and well-being risks if a draft opinion from the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade leads to state abortion bans, experts say. People who are pregnant or recently gave birth in areas lacking maternal health care – obstetricians, hospitals with delivery units or birth centers – already face a greater risk of death than mothers who live in areas with more robust medical access, research has shown. And experts say the risks are even greater in these areas for moms of color, who already have disproportionate maternal health outcomes. (Hassanein, 5/10)

KHN: Ripple Effects Of Abortion Restrictions Confuse Care For Miscarriages 
As the Supreme Court appears poised to return abortion regulation to the states, recent experience in Texas illustrates that medical care for miscarriages and dangerous ectopic pregnancies would also be threatened if restrictions become more widespread. One Texas law passed last year lists several medications as abortion-inducing drugs and largely bars their use for abortion after the seventh week of pregnancy. But two of those drugs, misoprostol and mifepristone, are the only drugs recommended in the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists guidelines for treating a patient after an early pregnancy loss. The other miscarriage treatment is a procedure described as surgical uterine evacuation to remove the pregnancy tissue — the same approach as for an abortion. (Huff, 5/11)

The Washington Post: Some Democrats Warn Abortion Rights Demonstrators Not To Go Overboard
While Democrats dismissed the Republican complaints as disingenuous, a person familiar with the White House’s thinking said that there is potential risk if the abortion rights demonstrations do turn violent, or if there is a marked uptick in vandalism targeting antiabortion groups and organizations. Democrats hope the draft opinion — and the expected final opinion in the coming weeks — will galvanize voters to turn out for the midterms and back their candidates. But if the passion turns violent, it could backfire, this person said. (Parker and Linskey, 5/10)

The Washington Post: Youngkin Gets Backlash Over Stance On Protests Outside Alito’s Home 
As abortion rights activists picketed outside the Alexandria home of Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. on Monday night, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin popped up on Twitter to say state police were nearby and “closely monitoring” the protests. Then came the backlash — from conservatives, who demanded that the new Republican governor order the troopers to arrest the demonstrators under a state law prohibiting picketing outside private residences — even though it’s up to local police, not state troopers, to enforce that law. (Vozzella and Schneider, 5/10)

The Washington Post: How The Rumor About Alito And An ‘Undisclosed Location’ Spread 
It has become a nugget embedded in the many reports and social media posts expressing outrage about protests at Supreme Court justices’ homes in support of Roe v. Wade: the idea that Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. was forced to vacate his residence for an “undisclosed location” out of fear for his safety. The only problem is that it doesn’t seem to be based on anything. It could turn out to be true that Alito and his family left their home — but various people spread the rumor without any actual reports substantiating it. And it provides a great case study in how a rumor gets laundered into supposed fact, making it all the way into the Twitter feeds of multiple U.S. senators. (Blake, 5/9)

In news about Supreme Court ethics and expansion —

The Hill: Democratic Support For SCOTUS Expansion Grows After Leak 
Support for a bill to expand the Supreme Court has ticked up among House Democrats in the aftermath of a leaked opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade becoming public. Since the leak, the Judiciary Act of 2021 has picked up support from five more Democrats. The one-sentence bill would expand the Supreme Court from nine members to 13.In the last week, Democratic Reps. Brendan Boyle (Pa.), Nanette Diaz Barragán (Calif.), David Cicilline (R.I.), Jimmy Gomez (Calif.), and Mark DeSaulnier (Calif.) have added their names to the legislation, bringing the total number of bill sponsors to at least 56. (Brooks, 5/10)

The Washington Post: With Supreme Court In Spotlight, Warren And Jayapal Push Judicial Ethics Overhaul 
In the wake of explosive revelations related to the Supreme Court, a group of liberal House and Senate Democrats is introducing new legislation to tighten judicial ethics laws, reflecting the rising anger on the left over the recent conduct of the high court’s conservative majority. A draft proposal from Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), shared with The Washington Post, calls for more disclosure, a binding code of conduct for the Supreme Court and a new judicial recusal process. The Supreme Court is the only court in the country that is not required to abide by a judicial code of ethics. (Alemany, 5/10)

Also —

Politico: Will Alito Crown A New ‘Great Dissenter’?
The very first Supreme Court justice mentioned in Samuel Alito’s draft opinion striking down Roe v. Wade is neither a judicial eminence from American history nor a current colleague ripe for flattery. It’s the late football star turned Rhodes Scholar Byron “Whizzer” White, who served from 1962 to 1993. Until now, White seemed destined to fade into obscurity, lacking a clear profile as a judicial thinker. But he was one of two dissenters on the landmark 1973 abortion rights decision that Alito aims to overturn, and Alito quotes him with gusto, at times with a reverential tone. (Canellos, 5/10)

AP: Pandemic Gets Tougher To Track As COVID Testing Plunges
Testing for COVID-19 has plummeted across the globe, making it much tougher for scientists to track the course of the pandemic and spot new, worrisome viral mutants as they emerge and spread. Experts say testing has dropped by 70 to 90% worldwide from the first to the second quarter of this year — the opposite of what they say should be happening with new omicron variants on the rise in places such as the United States and South Africa. (Ungar, 5/10)

Detroit Free Press: COVID-19 In Michigan Difficult To Track Right Now: Here's Why
Mutations of the omicron coronavirus variant are increasingly showing up in Michigan, state health officials say, noting at least a half dozen different subvariants had been detected as of Friday. It's almost an alphanumeric soup with names like B.1.1.529, BA.1, BA.1.1, BA.2 , BA.2.12.1, BA.3, BA.4, BA.5, and XE. Each is slightly different. "Omicron is the prevailing variant and has been since ... early December in the U.S.," said Dr. Adam Lauring, an associate professor of infectious diseases and microbiology at the University of Michigan. (Jordan Shamus, 5/10)

More on the spread of covid —

Bay Area News Group: 'We've Got A Lot Of Virus Circulating Now': Santa Clara County's Health Officer
“The pandemic is still here,” said Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody. ”It is time to break out your mask and break out your tests and just be a bit more cautious than you were a month ago.” Santa Clara County is currently experiencing a weekly average of 552 cases — just slightly higher than the number of cases during the peak of the Delta wave that hit in summer 2021. The cases are being driven by two cousins of the BA.1 omicron strain that caused a major surge during winter, which are currently dominant across the rest of the country. (Greschler, 5/10)

The Boston Globe: More COVID-19 Cases Ahead? Coronavirus Levels In Eastern Mass. Waste Water Are On The Rise Again
After dipping last month, the levels of coronavirus detected in Eastern Massachusetts waste water have resumed climbing, according to the latest data from the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, suggesting more COVID-19 case increases may be ahead. Officials say waste water virus data can be an important early warning signal, detecting COVID-19 infections before people get tested and the tests are officially reported. As more people are using at-home COVID-19 testing kits, whose results are usually not reported to state public health officials, waste water tests have become a key indicator of the virus’s prevalence. (Finucane and Prignano, 5/10)

The Washington Post: Cruises Are Smashing Records Despite Covid On Board: ‘Life Goes On’
Linda Klauschie, 68, was ready last month to take her first cruise since 2019 — but she also assumed her ship would probably have coronavirus cases on board. So Klauschie, a retired mental health counselor from Albuquerque who is vaccinated and double-boosted, took precautions: She wore a KN95 mask to fly to and from New Orleans, where her back-to-back week-long cruises on the Carnival Glory started. She skipped the buffet when lines were long, kept a distance from other passengers whenever possible, wore a mask during shows and spent a lot of time taking the stairs. (Sampson, 5/10)

On vaccine mandates and masks —

Los Angeles Times: L.A. School Board Delays Student COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate Without Any Discussion
The Los Angeles Board of Education on Tuesday unanimously approved a delay of a student vaccine mandate for COVID-19 that had been scheduled to take effect next fall, under a recommendation from Supt. Alberto Carvalho. The 8:30 p.m. vote at the conclusion of a nearly 12-hour board meeting took place without comment from either Carvalho or board members. It was a striking anticlimax after board members had determinedly adopted the vaccine requirement last year — and were resolute in defending it against lawsuits. (Blume, 5/10)

The Baltimore Sun: With COVID-19 Cases Rising Rapidly In Baltimore, The City’s Health Commissioner Advises People To Resume Masking Up Indoors 
Dr. Letitia Dzirasa, Baltimore’s health commissioner, said Tuesday that she strongly recommends everyone wear a mask indoors regardless of their vaccination status given a large rise in COVID-19 cases in the city. She stopped short of seeking a new mandate for masking because community transmission in Baltimore, as well as all of Maryland, is still considered low by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “We’ll start with a recommendation, and if the need arises and we continue to see this increase we will have a consideration of reinstating that mask order,” she said. “This is not a mandate. This is a warning.” (Cohn, 5/10)

The Washington Post: Johns Hopkins Students Ask For Online Exams After Covid Spike
A late-semester spike in coronavirus cases at Johns Hopkins University, spurred by recent social events, has some students pleading for the option to take exams online. After many months of strict health protocols at Hopkins, the campus in Baltimore has seen more than 500 cases in the past week and, according to its online dashboard, had filled all available isolation housing. (Svrluga, 5/10)

Also —

AP: Bill Gates Says He Has COVID, Experiencing Mild Symptoms
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates said Tuesday he has tested positive for COVID-19 and is experiencing mild symptoms. Via Twitter, the billionaire philanthropist said he will isolate until he is again healthy. “I’m fortunate to be vaccinated and boosted and have access to testing and great medical care,” Gates wrote. (5/11)

Fortune: Bill Gates Conspiracy: Microsoft Co-Founder Says Strangers Yell At Him Over False COVID Vaccine Theories
Bill Gates says people yell at him in the street over conspiracy theories surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. In a wide-ranging interview with the BBC on Thursday, the billionaire Microsoft co-founder said: “You almost have to laugh because it’s so crazy.” One particular conspiracy theory that has gained traction over the past two years makes false claims that Gates wants to use mass vaccination to implant microchips into people so that he can track them digitally. Gates has always denied such accusations, which have circulated widely on social media. But Gates’ denial hasn’t been enough to extinguish the theory. In May 2020, a Yahoo/YouGov poll of 1,640 U.S. adults found that almost one in three people believed the debunked microchipping conspiracy theory to be true. (Taylor, 5/5)

Politico: Dems Edge Closer To Giving GOP A Border Vote As A Price For Covid Aid 
Two Senate Democratic leaders say they are willing to give Republicans a vote on reversing President Joe Biden’s move to end pandemic-era border restrictions, provided that the GOP then agrees to move a stalled $10 billion coronavirus aid deal. It’s a notable shift in Democratic strategy, weeks after the Covid aid package was sidetracked amid Republican demands for an amendment vote on Biden’s decision to lift the public health-related border restrictions. Now that a $40 billion Ukraine aid package is moving without the Covid funding boost that they’d hoped to pair it with, Senate Democrats are warming to the idea of letting Republicans have a vote on immigration if that’s what it takes to prepare the United States for a fall coronavirus surge. (Levine and Everett, 5/10)

The Hill: Future Of COVID-19 Funds In Doubt As Ukraine Aid Advances 
Sen. Dick Durbin (Ill.), the No. 2 Senate Democrat, said he was “concerned” when asked if he was worried that COVID-19 funding might not happen. “I’m sorry that the Republicans don’t share the sense of urgency,” he added. When it comes to COVID-19 funding, Republicans are insisting on a vote to reverse the Biden administration’s move to lift a Trump-era policy at the southern border, known as Title 42, that allows for rapid expulsion of migrants in the name of public health and prevents them from seeking asylum. (Sullivan, 5/10)

In other news from Capitol Hill —

AP: Judge Won't Make Sen. Warren Retract Letter About COVID Book 
A federal judge in Seattle has declined to order Sen. Elizabeth Warren to retract statements she made criticizing a book that promotes misinformation about COVID-19 and suggesting that companies that sold it might face liability. U.S. District Judge Barbara Rothstein on Monday issued an order rejecting the request by the publisher and authors of the book “The Truth About COVID-19,” which accuses the “global elite” of using the pandemic to grab “unprecedented power.” (Johnson, 5/10)

KHN: Senate GOP Puts Up Roadblocks To Bipartisan House Bill For Veterans’ Burn Pit Care 
Thousands of military veterans who are sick after being exposed to toxic smoke and dust while on duty are facing a Senate roadblock to ambitious legislation designed to provide them care. The Senate could start work as soon as this week on a bipartisan bill, called the Honoring Our PACT Act, that passed the House of Representatives in March. It would make it much easier for veterans to get health care and benefits from the Veterans Health Administration if they get sick because of the air they breathed around massive, open-air incineration pits. The military used those pits in war zones around the globe — sometimes the size of football fields — to burn anything from human and medical waste to plastics and munitions, setting it alight with jet fuel. (McAuliff, 5/11)

The New York Times: Emergent Hid Evidence Of Covid Vaccine Problems At Plant, Report Says
Emergent BioSolutions, a longtime government contractor hired to produce hundreds of millions of coronavirus vaccine doses, hid evidence of quality control problems from Food and Drug Administration inspectors in February 2021 — six weeks before it alerted federal officials that 15 million doses had been contaminated. The disclosure came in a report released Tuesday by House Democrats, who said that all told, nearly 400 million doses of coronavirus vaccine manufactured by Emergent had to be destroyed “due to poor quality control.” Previous estimates of lost vaccine were far lower; no contaminated doses were ever released to the public. (Stolberg, Hamby and LaFraniere, 5/10)

The Baltimore Sun: 400 Million COVID-19 Vaccine Doses Dumped By Baltimore Plant, Congressional Report Finds 
The Maryland-based vaccine maker Emergent BioSolutions was forced to destroy nearly 400 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine because of potential contamination at its East Baltimore plant, far more than previously known. Further, the company sought to hide deficiencies from federal and outside inspectors at the Bayview site, built with millions of dollars of federal support, and continued to promote its manufacturing capabilities despite warnings of those deficiencies. (Cohn, 5/10)

AP: House Panel Alleges Cover-Up By Contract Vaccine Maker
The report said inexperienced staff and high turnover rates contributed to vaccine contamination. The problem-plagued Baltimore factory was shut down by the Food and Drug Administration in April 2021 due to the contamination. The company was forced to trash what was thought to be the equivalent of tens of millions of doses of vaccine it was making for Johnson & Johnson. The bulk vaccine had been contaminated with an ingredient for AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine, which was being made in the same factory. (5/10)

The Washington Post: Emergent Sought To Conceal Vaccine Production Problems, House Report Says
Emergent said Tuesday it has been fully cooperative with government agencies and its manufacturing partners. It said the committee’s estimate of 400 million doses destroyed is inaccurate, based on a poor understanding of biomedical manufacturing. “Emergent has been open and forthcoming with the FDA, Congress and our partners about the work at our Bayview site and the challenges that were encountered including providing thousands of documents, willingly participating in a congressional hearing and inviting them to visit our facilities,” Emergent spokesman Matt Hartwig said in an email. (Rowland, 5/10)

Stat: Firearm Deaths And Disparities Both Grew In Pandemic’s First Year 
Guns were the weapons wielded in more than three-quarters of homicides in the U.S. during the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic, jumping 35% from 2019 to 2020 and marking the highest level since 1994, a new CDC analysis says. The suicide rate involving guns was stable at just over half of suicides, but there were increases in some groups of people. The most striking disparity came among young people. Guns killed Black children and young adults from 10 to 24 years old at a rate 21 times as high as among their white peers. “We’re losing too many of our nation’s children and young people, specifically Black boys and young Black men,” Debra Houry, acting principal deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in an interview with STAT. “The difference between Blacks and whites in that age group for firearm homicide is just devastating.” (Cooney, 5/10)

NPR: U.S. Gun-Related Homicide Rate Jumped Nearly 35% In 2020
The rate at which Americans were killed in gun homicides leapt by nearly 35% in 2020 to the highest level in more than 25 years, according to new research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Amid the pandemic and recession that followed, gun homicide rates grew most among groups that were already at higher risk, researchers found — including people in poor areas, young men, and Black people. In 2020, the firearm homicide rate was 6.1 per 100,000 Americans — up from 4.6 a year earlier. (Sullivan and Greenfieldboyce, 5/10)

Roll Call: CDC: 2020 Saw Most Firearm Deaths Since 1994 
From 2019 to 2020, the firearm homicide rate for Black people between the ages of 10 and 24 was more than 21 times higher than for white people in the same age group. The overall firearm suicide rate remained relatively unchanged from 2019 to 2020 at 8.1 per 100,000 people, but there were increases among some groups of people, including American Indian/Alaska Native males. In total, there were 24,000 firearm suicide deaths in 2020. (Hellmann, 5/10)

The New York Times: Gun Deaths Surged During The Pandemic’s First Year, The C.D.C. Reports
“This is a historic increase, with the rate having reached the highest level in over 25 years,” Dr. Debra E. Houry, acting principal deputy director of the C.D.C. and the director of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, said at a news briefing. More than 45,000 Americans died in gun-related incidents as the pandemic spread in the United States, the highest number on record, federal data show. The gun homicide rate was the highest reported since 1994. (Rabin and Arango, 5/10)

Also —

CIDRAP: More Racial Minority Deaths From Violence, Overdose Amid COVID-19 
American Indian/Alaska Native and Black Americans died of murder, suicide, vehicle crashes, and drug overdoses at higher rates than their White and Asian/Pacific Islander peers amid the twin threats of the opioid epidemic and the COVID-19 pandemic, finds a US modeling study published yesterday in JAMA Internal Medicine. (Van Beusekom, 5/10)

Axios: FDA Says It Is "Doing Everything In Our Power" To Improve Baby Formula Supply
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said Tuesday that it is "doing everything in our power" to improve the supply of baby formula. The nation's baby formula shortage has intensified in recent weeks due to supply chain issues and a recent recall of Abbott Nutrition products. “We recognize that many consumers have been unable to access infant formula and critical medical foods they are accustomed to using and are frustrated by their inability to do so," said FDA commissioner Robert Califf in a statement. (Scribner, 5/10)

NPR: The Biden Administration Is Working To Ease The Ongoing Shortage Of Baby Formula
Stores across the U.S. are continuing to run low on baby formula, with the Biden administration saying it is working to ease the problem for American families and caregivers. During the first week of May, the average out-of-stock rate for baby formula at retailers across the country was 43%, according to data from the firm Datasembly, which collected information from more than 11,000 sellers. In late April, the rate was even higher in some states, with an out-of-stock rate over 50% in Iowa, South Dakota, North Dakota, Missouri, Texas and Tennessee. "This issue has been compounded by supply chain challenges, product recalls and historic inflation," Datasembly CEO Ben Reich said in a statement. (Hernandez, 5/10)

CNN: Formula Maker: "This Is A Crisis. We Can't Flip A Switch And Make A Lot More Formula" 
Laura Modi is fielding dozens of emails, calls, and texts daily from anxious parents asking about how they can get baby formula. Modi is CEO and cofounder of Bobbie, a San Francisco-based direct-to-consumer seller and subscription service for organic milk-based baby formula that is produced in a Vermont facility and backed by $72 million in venture capital funding. She's acutely aware of the desperation in those outreaches, which have intensified in recent weeks amid an ongoing nationwide shortage of infant formula. A message at the top of the company's website says, "We're temporarily at capacity for new customers." Other manufacturers say they're producing at full capacity and making as much formula as they can. But demand is heavily outstripping supply. (Kavilanz, 5/10)

AP: Parents Hunting For Baby Formula As Shortage Spans US
On Tuesday, the FDA said it was working with U.S. manufacturers to increase their output and streamlining paperwork to allow more imports. For now, pediatricians and health workers are urging parents who can’t find formula to contact food banks or doctor’s offices. They warn against watering down formula to stretch supplies or using online DIY recipes. (Perrone and Hollingsworth, 5/10)

The New York Times: A Baby Formula Shortage Leaves Desperate Parents Searching For Food
Maricella Marquez looked at the last can of baby formula in her kitchen on Tuesday and handed her 3-year-old daughter, who suffers from a rare allergic esophageal disorder, a smaller-than-usual portion of the special nutrition she needs to stay healthy. Ms. Marquez has been calling suppliers all over Texas, asking about any new shipments. “Right now they are out of it, completely,” she said. “I’m desperate.” (5/10)

Politico: 'I Don’t Know How My Son Will Survive': Inside The Dangerous Shortage Of Specialty Formulas
The Abbott Nutrition plant in Sturgis, Mich., was not just one of the biggest suppliers of infant formula nationally, but it was also the major supplier of several lesser-known specialty formulas that are a lifeline for thousands of people with rare medical conditions, including metabolic, allergic and gastrointestinal disorders, which can make eating regular foods impossible or even dangerous. The situation has not only rattled parents and medical professionals, but has raised questions about whether the federal government should do more to ensure critical, life-sustaining supply chains don’t break down. (Evich, 5/7)

Modern Healthcare: Oscar Health Leaves Two States Amid Regulatory, Commercial Challenges
Oscar Health will exit Colorado and Arkansas in its push toward profitability, company executives said during its first-quarter earnings call. The insurtech does not expect the move to have a "significant or even close to material effect" on its profits for the year, Chief Financial Officer Scott Blackley said during the call. Oscar Health offered individual exchange plans in Arkansas for the first time in 2022. At the end of 2021, it counted 2,865 members in Colorado, or less than 1% of its total enrollees. (Tepper, 5/10)

The Boston Globe: State Looks To Change Health Insurance Rate Setting Process For Individuals, Small Businesses
Consumer and business advocacy groups have long decried rising health insurance premiums, warning that health care has become increasingly unaffordable. The Massachusetts Division of Insurance has responded to the cries for action with draft regulations that, advocates say, could slow the growth of premiums and increase transparency into the rate setting process for hundreds of thousands of individuals and small businesses. The regulations would reduce the number of chances insurers have to file rate increases for small businesses and require insurers to provide information to the public to support their rates for individuals and small businesses. A public session would be part of the annual review process. (Bartlett, 5/10)

Modern Healthcare: Insurtech CEOs Paid Much More Than Legacy Insurer Leaders
Bright Health Group recorded a $1.1 billion net loss in 2021. The startup's valuation fell $10.6 billion over the course of the year. That was the greatest value loss among publicly traded health insurers in 2021. The company's stock price dove nearly 70%. In December, the company announced a $750 million investment from rival insurer Cigna and venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates to provide a big cash infusion. Bright Health Group's board of directors rewarded CEO Mike Mikan with a retention bonus of $7 million in restricted stock units the same month, according to a disclosure filed to the Securities and Exchange Commission. (Tepper, 5/10)

Modern Healthcare: Omnicell Discloses Ransomware Incident
Omnicell experienced a ransomware attack last week, according to forms the company filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday. Omnicell, which sells pharmacy and medication management technology to healthcare organizations, on May 4 discovered some information-technology systems had been affected by ransomware, according to an 8-K form, which companies file to notify investors and the SEC about events that could be important to shareholders. Omnicell did not respond to a request for comment on what IT systems were affected and whether they are operational. (Kim Cohen, 5/10)

Stat: Researchers Look To Deliver 'Unbiased Judgment Of AI Bias' In Medicine
After an explosion of excitement in the potential for machine learning in medicine, cracks in the foundation are emerging. More and more research is focusing on the ways that medical models can introduce algorithmic bias into health care. But in a new paper, machine learning researchers caution that such self-reflection is often ad hoc and incomplete. They argue that to get “an unbiased judgment of AI bias,” there needs to be a more routine and robust way of analyzing how well algorithms perform. Without a standardized process, researchers will only find the bias they think to look for. (Palmer, 5/11)

Also —

San Francisco Chronicle: California Medical Board To Investigate 2-Year-Old’s Death At John Muir Medical Center
The Medical Board of California has launched an investigation into whether doctors at John Muir Health failed to properly care for a 2-year-old girl with liver cancer who died on an operating table at the organization’s Walnut Creek hospital in 2019. The inquiry comes in response to a Chronicle investigation that found John Muir leaders had dismissed warnings from staff that the community hospital was not equipped to handle such a specialized operation, known as a liver resection, on a child as young as Ailee Jong. (Gafni and Dizikes, 5/10)

Chicago Tribune: Woman Guilty Of Involuntary Manslaughter In Son’s Post-Transplant Death; ‘Jason And His Donor Heart Paid The Ultimate Price For His Parents’ Complacency’ 
A Park City woman was found guilty Tuesday of involuntary manslaughter for failing to provide proper care for her son, who died five years after a heart transplant gave the boy a second chance at life. Jurors in Lake County deliberated less than two hours before finding Jennifer Stroud, 41, guilty of the manslaughter charge and endangerment of a child in the death of her son, Jason, who died at the age of 11 in September 2016. The boy was born with a congenital heart defect and received a transplant at age 6, but authorities said his parents failed to keep up with important follow-up appointments, and did not maintain the critical regimen of anti-rejection drugs Jason needed to take twice daily. (Ward, 5/10)

Colorado Sun: Colorado To Become First State With Right-To-Repair Law For Powered Wheelchairs
Julie Jennings needs a new seat cushion cover for her powered wheelchair. She can’t order the new cover directly from the manufacturer and make the fix herself. Instead, she must go through one of the company’s providers. The manufacturer treats seat cushions as durable medical equipment like walkers or canes that must go through proper FDA-approved repairs. “The technology is velcro and a zipper,” Jennings said. “I think I can handle that.” A bill on its way to Gov. Jared Polis could make it a lot easier for Jennings and other powered-wheelchair users to repair their equipment. House Bill 1031 would require manufacturers to make parts, tools, repair manuals and digital access available to powered wheelchair owners and independent repairers at reasonable prices. (Fleming, 5/10)

In other news from Colorado —

The Colorado Sun: Colorado Lawmakers Reject Effort To Ban Sale Of Flavored Tobacco, Nicotine
A heavily lobbied, bipartisan effort to ban the sale of flavored tobacco and nicotine products, including menthol cigarettes, in Colorado was rejected by a state Senate committee Tuesday morning, punting the issue back to cities and counties. The Senate Appropriations Committee voted 5-2 to reject House Bill 1064, with Democratic Sens. Robert Rodriguez and Rachel Zenzinger joining the three Republicans on the committee in voting against the measure. The legislation, which was aimed at reducing teen tobacco and nicotine use, faced slim odds of becoming law due to opposition from Democratic Gov. Jared Polis, who said that he would prefer the issue to be regulated at the local level. (Paul and Najmabadi, 5/10)

In updates on the hepatitis outbreak —

The Boston Globe: Massachusetts Confirms State’s First Two Cases Of Unexplained Hepatitis In Children
Massachusetts is investigating two cases of pediatric hepatitis of unknown origin, the state’s first such cases since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a nationwide health alert April 21 asking doctors to look out for unexplained cases of liver damage in children. States have been watching for the condition since October, when five previously healthy young children with significant liver injury were identified in Alabama. The CDC said Friday it was tracking 109 children in 25 states and territories with the condition. The World Health Organization has reported cases in at least 11 countries, including more than 100 cases in the United Kingdom and a dozen each in Spain and Israel. (Bartlett, 5/10)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Mysterious Hepatitis Found In ‘Several’ Georgia Children
The Georgia Department of Public Health said Tuesday several cases of severe hepatitis “of an unknown origin” among young children here are under investigation. They are among hundreds of unexplained hepatitis cases in children reported worldwide. During a Georgia Department of Public Health board meeting, state epidemiologist Cherie Drenzek said the cases in Georgia are among a total of 109 cases reported in 25 states. DPH did not say how many children in the state are being studied for the mysterious hepatitis or whether any have died. (Oliviero, 5/10)

CIDRAP: Unexplained Hepatitis Cases In Kids Rise To 348 In 20 Nations 
At a World Health Organization (WHO) media telebriefing today on a variety of global health issues, officials said 348 probable cases of hepatitis in children, potentially linked to adenovirus, have been reported from 20 countries across five global regions. Phillipa Easterbrook, MD, MPH, senior scientist with the WHO, said 70 more cases from 13 countries are pending confirmation. She said the cases reflect a mix of new and retrospective cases and that 6 countries have reported more than 5 cases. (Schnirring, 5/10)

In mental health news —

Chicago Tribune: Chicago Public Schools Launches Mental Health And Suicide Prevention Campaign: ‘COVID Has Only Presented An Additional Challenge’ 
Chicago Public Schools on Tuesday announced the launch of a mental health and suicide prevention campaign that encourages students in seventh through 12th grades to take a pledge to stay alive and seek help if they need it. CPS said staff members, including school counselors, will discuss the “Please Stay” campaign, self-care habits and mental health resources and screen a three-minute “Please Stay” video in classes. The district said it shared campaign materials — including a teacher/counselor’s guide, pledge cards and digital resources — with schools last week as May is Mental Health Awareness Month. (Swartz, 5/10)

Iowa Public Radio: Iowa Launches Mental Health And Suicide Prevention Campaign For Children 
Iowa officials have launched a new ad campaign targeted at child mental health and suicide prevention, as they say the state is seeing an increase of younger children in crisis. The campaign targets both adults and children and will run on social media platforms as well as more traditional media platforms, such as TV and streaming services. The ads urge kids who are struggling to seek help and adults to reach out to kids who seem down or have symptoms of depression. It directs them to the state health department's Your Life Iowa program, which has resources for mental health support. (Krebs, 5/10)

Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville MindFEST Mental Health Awareness Festival Set For May 21
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and Louisville is offering a new way to celebrate self care. The city is set to host MindFEST— a mental health festival, free of charge — on May 21 at Roots 101 African American History Museum. The festival is billed on its website as a "mind strengthening event" aimed toward reducing the stigma around mental health, with yoga, music and food vendors along with panels from community advocates, clinical experts, authors and others involved with mental health and wellness organizations. (Rocío Álvarez Bríñez, 5/10)

CIDRAP: WHO: Subvariants Fueling COVID Rises In More Than 50 Countries 
At a briefing today, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, PhD, the WHO's director-general, said the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants are driving South Africa's surge, with the BA.2 subvariant dominant across the world and COVID-19 cases rising in more than 50 nations. Relatively high population immunity from vaccination or previous infection are so far keeping hospitalizations and deaths at a lower levels than previous surges. "But this is not guaranteed for places where vaccination coverage is low." (Schnirring, 5/10)

AP: WHO Calls On Pfizer To Make Its COVID Pill More Available
The head of the World Health Organization called on Pfizer to make its COVID-19 treatment more widely available in poorer countries, saying Tuesday that the pharmaceutical company’s deal allowing generic producers to make the drug was insufficient. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said during a news briefing that Pfizer’s treatment was still too expensive. He noted that most countries in Latin America had no access to Pfizer’s drug, Paxlovid, which has been shown to cut the risk of COVID-19 hospitalization or death by up to 90%. (5/10)

AP: Norway Discards COVID-19 Vaccines As Supplies Exceed Demand
Norwegian health authorities said Tuesday that the country has a surplus of COVID-19 vaccines and has already discarded more than 137,000 doses because there is declining demand in low-income countries. The Norwegian Institute of Public Health said it plans a further disposal of doses if global demand does not change. In Norway there is high vaccine coverage while globally a demand for donations has fallen. (5/10)

In news from Ukraine —

Politico: EU Plans To Help Ukraine’s Food Exports Dodge Black Sea Blockade 
Brussels is going to propose a way for some food exports to get around Russia's Black Sea blockade, by taking the overland route. The European Commission will on Wednesday unveil a plan to significantly increase the amount of food that agricultural heavyweight Ukraine can deliver to hungry nations around the world via EU roads and railways. (Wax, 5/10)

AP: Wartime Birth Amid The Air Raid Sirens In Ukraine Hospital
It’s easy to tell the delivery room from the rest of the main maternity hospital in Ukraine’s western city of Lviv, even from the outside. Its exterior wall is piled high with sandbags. In the dim basement, where heavily pregnant women must bend low to avoid the water pipes, there is a delivery table in case the baby comes amid the air raid sirens. (Brito and Anna, 5/11)

In other global developments —

Fox News: What Mysterious Illness Resulted In The Death Of 3 Americans At The Sandals Resort In The Bahamas?
Three Americans, two men and a woman, died at the Sandals Emerald Bay resort on Great Exuma island in the Bahamas, with a fourth American woman airlifted to a Florida hospital back in the United States, Bahamian Acting Prime Minister Chester Cooper said in a press release this past Friday. "Police are investigating and the cause of death is still unknown. However, I am advised that foul play is not suspected. I have asked Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr. Michael Darville, to lead a delegation this evening to Exuma of health & wellness, environment and public works officials," Cooper said. After 9:00 a.m. this past Friday local officials were dispatched to the resort to investigate. They were first directed to one villa where they discovered an American male laying unresponsive on the ground without any signs of trauma, who was later pronounced dead by the local doctor, according to the Royal Bahamas Police Force release. (Sudhakar, 5/10)

AP: Cardinal: Pope's Wheelchair Use An Example To Older Adults 
Pope Francis’ willingness to work despite knee pain that has made walking nearly impossible shows other older adults that they have wisdom and experience to offer younger generations, a top Vatican cardinal said Tuesday. Cardinal Kevin Farrell offered the assessment as he introduced Francis’ message for World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly. In the message released Tuesday, the 85-year-old pope urged older people to consider advanced age a blessing. (Winfield, 5/10)

CIDRAP: Nanoparticle Drug For MRSA Receives FDA Go-Ahead For Human Trial
Biotechnology startup Cellics Therapeutics announced yesterday that the Food and Drug Administration has allowed the investigational new drug (IND) application for CTI-005, an experimental blood cell membrane drug that targets methicillin-resistant and methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA and MSSA). (5/5)

ScienceDaily: Combining Certain Meds With Ibuprofen Can Permanently Injure Kidneys
Anyone who is taking a diuretic and a renin-angiotensin system (RSA) inhibitor for high blood pressure should be cautious about also taking ibuprofen, according to new research. (University of Waterloo, 5/5)

New England Journal of Medicine: Efficacy And Safety Of The RBD-Dimer–Based Covid-19 Vaccine ZF2001 In Adults 
The ZF2001 vaccine, which contains a dimeric form of the receptor-binding domain of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 and aluminum hydroxide as an adjuvant, was shown to be safe, with an acceptable side-effect profile, and immunogenic in adults in phase 1 and 2 clinical trials. (Dai, Ph.D., et al, 5/4)

ScienceDaily: Daily Steroids Safe And Slows Progression Of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, Study Suggests
New research published in JAMA recommends daily steroid doses for children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), marking a significant change in how the disease is treated. University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) neurologist Robert Griggs, M.D., and Michela Guglieri, M.D., with Newcastle University in the U.K., led the study, which was conducted by a global team of researchers dedicated to improving care for this fatal disease. (University of Rochester Medical Center, 5/4)

Stat: Novartis Suspends Production Of Two Cancer Therapies Amid Concerns
Due to manufacturing issues, Novartis has voluntarily suspended production of two therapies that use nuclear medicine to target and treat cancer cells, and also halted clinical trials for one of the treatments, which was approved in the U.S. only two months ago. The company hit the pause button on Lutathera, which is used to treat neuroendocrine tumors and has been available since 2018. The other medication is Pluvicto, a prostate cancer drug that was recently endorsed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for treating a form of advanced cancer, although Novartis has high hopes it can eventually be used for combating earlier stages of the disease. (Silverman, 5/5)

CIDRAP: High Antimicrobial Use Observed In NYC Hospitals In First Pandemic Year
A study of three hospitals in New York City found that antimicrobial use in COVID-19 patients during the first year of the pandemic far exceeded the incidence of coinfections, researchers reported today in Antimicrobial Stewardship & Healthcare Epidemiology. (5/10)

Also —

AP: Pfizer To Spend $11.6B On Migraine Treatment Maker Biohaven 
Pfizer is starting to put its COVID-19 cash influx to use by spending $11.6 billion to venture deeper into a new treatment area. The New York vaccine and cancer drug maker said Tuesday it will use cash on hand to buy the remaining portion of migraine treatment developer Biohaven Pharmaceutical it does not already own. Pfizer will pay $148.50 in cash for each share of Biohaven, which makes Nurtec ODT for treating and preventing migraines and has a nasal spray under development. (Murphy, 5/10)

CIDRAP: RDSP's Schondelmeyer Named To End Drug Shortages Alliance Board 
EDSA, a collaboration of health systems and supply chain and pharmaceutical industry experts, aims to end drug shortages by boosting transparency, communication, quality, redundancy, and production. The project was spearheaded by healthcare services company Vizient. RDSP is part of the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, publisher of CIDRAP News. (Van Beusekom 5/6)

Bloomberg: Pfizer’s Biohaven Deal May Open An Era Of Smarter Pharma Acquisitions 
With biotech stocks in the dumps, investors have been hoping for deals to revive the sector, but lately merger-and-acquisition activity has been anemic. Finally on Tuesday, Pfizer announced it will buy Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding Company Ltd., a nine-year-old company that makes treatments for migraines, for $11.6 billion. The deal, which gives Pfizer an oral drug already on the market and a nasal spray for migraines that is nearing commercialization, puts some of its gargantuan store of Covid-19 cash to good use. Perhaps it also will be a harbinger of more biotech dealmaking ahead. (Lisa Jarvis, 5/10)

New England Journal of Medicine: Do We Need New Covid-19 Vaccines?
The continuing spread of SARS-CoV-2 remains a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. What physicians need to know about transmission, diagnosis, and treatment of Covid-19 is the subject of ongoing updates from infectious disease experts at the Journal. (Eric J. Rubin, M.D., Ph.D., Lindsey R. Baden M.D. and Stephen Morrissey, Ph.D., 5/5)

The Lancet: The Problem Of Antimicrobial Resistance In Chronic Liver Disease 
In 2019, an estimated 1·27 million individuals died due to bacterial antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Beyond the obvious threat to global public health, AMR also threatens global development—even the most optimistic scenario modelled by the World Bank in 2017 estimates that AMR will reduce annual global GDP by 1·1% by 2050, with the GDP shortfall exceeding $1 trillion every year after 2030. Against this backdrop, investment in the development of new antibiotics falls far short of that required. (6/1)

The Washington Post: Bill Gates’s New Pandemic Book Presents A Plea And A Plan 
In 2015, Bill Gates wrote an article in the New England Journal of Medicine detailing the threat of “the next epidemic.” He warned of an airborne pathogen that would spread through global travel routes, spark panic, overwhelm the supply of medical commodities, set off a technological race with death, drastically reduce global wealth and fill millions of graves. (Michael Gerson, 5/10)

Chicago Tribune: Pandemic Years Have Hit Teens Hard, Especially In DuPage County. But There’s Reason To Hope.
Barely has an entire population of young people suffered collectively with what is known as an adverse childhood experience, or ACE, a traumatic event with potentially lasting impacts on mental and physical health. It is safe to say the COVID-19 pandemic is the latest adverse experience shared by many people, joining such historical events as the Sept. 11 attacks, the Great Depression and both world wars. Typically, ACEs are experienced individually or within families, such as domestic violence, neglect and parents who divorce, die or abuse substances. (Sarah Breithaupt, 5/10)

The Washington Post: The U.S. Has Lost 1 Million Lives From Covid-19. Where Do We Go From Here? 
As the United States surpasses the tragic milestone of 1 million deaths from covid-19, we must decide where we go from here. The bad news is that this coronavirus is here to stay. It will continue to cause surges fueled by new and possibly even more contagious variants. The White House is projecting that as many as 100 million Americans could contract covid-19 this fall and winter. (Leana S. Wen, 5/10)

The Washington Post: One Million Died Of Covid-19. It Didn’t Have To Happen — And It Must Not Again. 
On Feb. 14, 2020, President Donald Trump spoke to a White House audience about the virus then engulfing Wuhan, China. “We have a very small number of people in the country, right now, with it,” he said. “It’s like around 12. Many of them are getting better. Some are fully recovered already. So we’re in very good shape.” But we weren’t in good shape. A little more than two years later, the United States is passing the ghastly milestone of at least 1 million deaths from the pandemic virus, and still counting. (5/9)

Stat: The Faces Of Covid 
Across the United States, more than 1 million of our family members, friends, neighbors, co-workers, and complete strangers are now gone, ripped from our lives by an unsparing pandemic that has battered us for two full years. We are justifiably exhausted. But amid the desperate sprint to move on and put the trauma of this nightmare behind us, we are also at risk of making a tragic and avoidable mistake: As a nation, we are failing to process the grief and loss that surrounds us. We have a responsibility to remember the lost. (Alex Goldstein, 5/10)

USA Today: Suicide: College Sports Can Strain Student-Athletes' Mental Health
Push through it. Tough it out. Suck it up. Shake it off. Calm down. Let’s go, let’s go! And, of course, there’s “snap out of it. ”Those last four words may have worked well for Cher and Nicolas Cage in "Moonstruck," but it’s just another troublesome phrase to high school and collegiate student-athletes when they are struggling to balance their mental health with the demands of academics, social life and excelling in competitive sports – training, conditioning, practice, travel and games. (Gary E. Fendler, 5/9)

Los Angeles Times: The Senate Could Save A Woman's Right To Control Her Own Body. But It Probably Won't 
With the Supreme Court poised to overturn Roe vs. Wade and allowing states to outlaw abortion, Senate Democrats will try on Wednesday to pass a national bill to protect a woman’s right to control her own body. (5/10)

The New York Times: The F.D.A.’s Ban Of Menthol Cigarettes Will Help Black Communities 
As regulation of the tobacco industry has grown more and more extensive in recent decades, menthol cigarettes have been an exception. They account for more than one-third of cigarette sales in the United States and are especially dangerous because the menthol enhances nicotine’s already potent addictive effects. (Keith Wailoo, 5/11)

Stat: Primary Care Shouldn't Be An Alternative For Burned-Out ER Doctors 
One of the best-known effects of the Covid-19 pandemic has been the stress and sense of being overwhelmed experienced by frontline health care workers. Often under-resourced and taking casualties within their own ranks, they have been straining under the weight of responsibility to care for a tsunami of Covid casualties. In the center of this relentless firestorm has been the emergency medicine physicians, who have been called to give more of themselves than should ever be asked of anyone. Their burnout and exhaustion is unsustainable. (Sara Pastoor, 5/11)

Scientific American: Air-Conditioning Should Be A Human Right In The Climate Crisis 
A record-breaking heat wave is sweeping South Asia, threatening hundreds of millions of people with deadly temperatures well above 100 degrees Fahrenheit. As the world heats up, billions of people need air-conditioning. This 120-year-old technology used to be considered a luxury, but in the age of climate change, it is a necessity for human survival. Understandably, this has created anxiety over the climate threat of a world overrun with ACs. But the coming boom in air-conditioning is an essential shift toward reducing the enormous gap in cooling availability that exists between rich and poor people and nations—and toward producing a more equitable world. (Rose M. Mutiso, Morgan D. Bazilian, Jacob Kincer and Brooke Bowser, 5/10)

Cincinnati Enquirer: Beleaguered Nurses Needs Support From Ky. Legislature
One of the topics most often discussed in Frankfort over the past two years has been the shortage of nurses in the Commonwealth. The long-lasting COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated what has been a dangerously growing problem in Kentucky and across the country – the lack of an adequate workforce of nurses to meet the health care needs of the population. (Donna Meador and Delanor Manson, 5/10)

Columbus Dispatch: What Can Be Done To Combat Deaths Like Ohio State Overdoses?
While we may not like to admit it, drug use is often commonplace in a college student's life. Adderall is a stimulant—other similar drugs are Ritalin and Vyvanse—and is often used to help with concentration while studying. A national study, done by The Ohio State University themselves, found that 1 in 6 college students has used a stimulant drug un-prescribed. (Avery Meyer, 5/10)