The Washington Post: Oklahoma Must Allow Abortion If Mother’s Life Is Threatened, Court Rules
The Oklahoma Supreme Court overturned part of the state’s near-total abortion ban, ruling in a 5-to-4 decision that the procedure would be lawful if there is a reasonable chance that a pregnancy could threaten a pregnant person’s life. Oklahoma’s constitution protects the right to an abortion if “the woman’s physician has determined to a reasonable degree of medical certainty” that continuing “the pregnancy will endanger the woman’s life,” the court’s justices said in Tuesday’s ruling. “Absolute certainty” that the pregnancy will be life-threatening isn’t required, but “mere possibility or speculation” is insufficient, they added. (Jeong, 3/22)

Slate: Another Red-State Supreme Court Finds a Constitutional Right to Lifesaving Abortions
The scope of this standard is not entirely clear, but it suggests that a patient can undergo an abortion if the doctor determines there will be a threat to her life at some future point “during the pregnancy.” This standard is different from that in Texas, where doctors are waiting until pregnant patients are on death’s door rather than terminating when conditions emerge that could be fatal later in the pregnancy. As the majority noted, “absolute certainty” that the condition would kill a patient if untreated “is not required,” though “mere possibility or speculation is insufficient.” In a long concurrence, Justice Yvonne Kauger, joined by Justices James Edmondson and Doug Combs, tried to clarify the new rule. A physician, she wrote, need not “wait until their patient has a seizure, a stroke, experiences multiple organ failure, goes septic, or goes into a coma” before terminating a dangerous pregnancy. The reasonable likelihood of life-threatening conditions justifies an immediate abortion. (Stern, 3/21)

In abortion updates from Wyoming and Wisconsin —

AP: Judge To Consider Allowing Abortions To Resume In Wyoming
A judge will hear arguments Wednesday over whether abortions will be allowed in Wyoming while a sweeping new ban gets challenged in her court. The ban took effect Sunday, making abortion illegal in Wyoming despite earlier rulings by Teton County District Court Judge Melissa Owens that blocked an earlier ban hours after it took effect last summer. (Gruver, 3/22)

AP: Evers Pushes To Repeal Abortion Ban Ahead Of Court Election
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers and his fellow Democrats worked Tuesday to keep the spotlight on abortion ahead of next month’s state Supreme Court election, resurrecting a bill that would repeal the state’s 1849 ban on the practice. (Richmond, 3/21)

The 19th: Wisconsin Supreme Court Election: Abortion Takes Center Stage In Debate
The two candidates in a pivotal race for Wisconsin Supreme Court sparred on abortion access and judicial independence in their only one-on-one debate, held Tuesday afternoon. The election between liberal Janet Protasiewicz and conservative Dan Kelly will decide the balance of the court and likely the fate of abortion in the state, where it has been inaccessible since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June. (Panetta, 3/21)

From Alabama, Florida, Kansas, Nevada, and Utah —

WUSF Public Media: A Florida Senate Panel Advances A Measure To Ban Most Abortions At 6 Weeks
A Florida bill that would limit most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy began moving forward in the state Senate on Monday. The bill (SB 300) cleared the Senate's Republican-controlled Committee on Health Policy while several amendments brought by the panel's three Democratic members failed. Under proposal, moving to a six-week limit would be contingent on the Florida Supreme Court effectively upholding the 15-week law. A decision may not come until the legislative session ends in May. (Carter, 3/21)

AP: Kansas Could Soon Approve 'Born Alive' Abortion Bill
A Kansas proposal based on the disputed idea that providers leave newborns to die after unsuccessful abortions is nearing legislative approval, as Republicans pursue limited anti-abortion measures following a decisive statewide vote last year protecting abortion rights. (Hanna, 3/22)

Politico: Abortion Pill Access Threatened In Nevada Amid Legal Uncertainty 
Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) is condemning one of the nation’s biggest pharmaceutical wholesalers — AmerisourceBergen — over what she said is its refusal to distribute abortion pills to retail pharmacies in her state. The state’s senior U.S. senator said the company’s government affairs and legal teams informed her staff on Friday that Nevada is one of 29 states where it will not supply pharmacies with the Mifeprex, the brand name of the FDA-approved abortion drug mifepristone. The company will, however, continue to supply the drug directly to physicians. (Ollstein, 3/21)

The Guardian: She Was One Of Alabama’s Last Abortion Doctors. Then They Came For Everything She Had
Torres has long been in the public eye. As a proud, loud abortion provider who is well known on social media, she has made many enemies. But since the state of Alabama took her medical license away, dragging her through a $115,000 legal battle that put her out of work for seven months, fear follows her around, like a stranger ready to snatch her in the night. (Noor, 3/22)

The 19th: Only 1 Percent Of Utah's Abortions Are Performed In Hospitals
Exclusive research provided to The 19th shows that almost all of the abortions in Utah were done in clinics, which will soon no longer be able to perform the procedure. Last week, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox signed a law banning abortions from being provided in specialized clinics. Under the law, Utah will stop renewing or issuing licenses to abortion clinics starting May 2. As of January 2024, licenses will be outlawed in the state. (Gerson, 3/21)

The New York Times: Wuhan Market Samples Contained Covid and Animal Mixtures, Report Says
On Jan. 12, 2020, Chinese investigators combing a market for clues about the outbreak of a mysterious new illness in the city of Wuhan swabbed a cart. It was the kind typically used for transporting animal cages, and it came back positive for the coronavirus. Three years later, a team of international experts has sifted through the genetic contents of that swab, which were quietly uploaded to an international database and made public only this year. In a report released on Monday night, the scientists described in detail for the first time evidence from the swab that they say strengthens the case that illegally traded wild animals ignited the coronavirus pandemic. (Mueller, 3/21)

The Guardian: Newly Released Chinese Covid Data Points To Infected Animals In Wuhan
What is significant about the new research is that it identifies high levels of DNA from several species that were not identified as having been tested during the original sampling. That includes racoon dogs, which it is speculated may have been present at the market before it was cleared early in the outbreak as part of the Chinese health authorities’ immediate intervention. Although some of the material was leaked last week, the new report adds more detail about other animals present at the market, as well as showing that some of the Sars-CoV-2 positive environmental samples had more animal than human genetic material in them, which the researchers said was consistent with the animals being infected. (Beaumont, 3/21)

CIDRAP: Report Describes SARS-CoV-2 Market Sequences, Biden Signs Intel Declassification Bill
Authors of the report, posted on a preprint server, examined genetic sequences collected at the Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan, China, that appeared earlier this month on GISAID before access to them was restricted. Chinese researchers had described their initial findings based on sequencing in a 2022 preprint but plan on publishing a fuller report in Nature. ... The earlier preprint from Chinese researchers suggested that the market may have amplified an already established epidemic. However, the international group said it found evidence of multiple animal species where positive SARS-CoV-2 environmental samples were found, including some that weren't included on an earlier list of live or dead animals tested at the market. (Schnirring, 3/21)

The Atlantic: The Missing Data That Could Help Turn The COVID Origins Debate
But what might otherwise have been a straightforward story on new evidence has rapidly morphed into a mystery centered on the origins debate’s data gaps. Within a day or so of nabbing the sequences off a database called GISAID, the researchers told me, they reached out to the Chinese scientists who had uploaded the data to share some preliminary results. The next day, public access to the sequences was locked—according to GISAID, at the request of the Chinese researchers, who had previously analyzed the data and drawn distinctly different conclusions about what they contained. (Wu, 3/21)

CDC workers describe the early days of the pandemic —

The New York Times: ‘We Were Helpless’: Despair At The CDC As The Covid Pandemic Erupted 
In early March 2020, as the nation succumbed to a pandemic, a group of young scientists walked out of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. They left quietly, one or two at a time, through the building’s front doors, flashing their badges at guards, instead of through side exits where their departures would be recorded. Gathering in a small park across the street, they stood with their coffees in hand and agonized over some shocking developments. (Mandavilli, 3/21)

In related news from China —

The New York Times: China Approves An MRNA Covid Vaccine, Its First 
China has for the first time approved a Covid-19 vaccine based on mRNA technology, greenlighting a homegrown shot months after the ruling Communist Party eliminated its strict pandemic restrictions. China has long refused to use the foreign-made mRNA shots that were crucial in easing the pandemic in many parts of the world and that the United States first authorized for emergency use in December 2020. Beijing chose instead to promote its own pharmaceutical firms, first in rolling out a more traditional but less effective Covid vaccine, and later, in the pursuit of a homegrown mRNA, or messenger RNA, vaccine. (Hong and Stevenson, 3/22)

The Wall Street Journal: FDA May Authorize Additional Covid-19 Booster Shots
Federal health regulators are nearing a decision on whether to authorize a second round of the Omicron-targeted booster shots for the elderly and other people at high-risk of severe Covid-19, people familiar with the agency’s deliberations said. Food and Drug Administration officials could make the decision within a few weeks, the people said. (Armour and Whyte, 3/21)

CNN: Health Officials Consider Another Round Of Bivalent Boosters For The Most Vulnerable Americans
US officials are weighing whether to offer people who are at high risk of severe Covid-19 the chance to get another bivalent booster, according to a source familiar with the deliberations, who asked not to be named because they were not authorized to share the details of ongoing discussions. (Goodman, 3/21)

On fading immunity —

CNBC: If You Had Covid Before You Were Vaccinated, You Might Have Less Immunity Than You Think, Study Says
People who caught Covid-19 before they were vaccinated had a weaker immune response to the shots than those who never had the virus, potentially leaving them less protected against reinfection, new research shows. Co-funded by the National Institutes of Health, the study released Monday challenges older research that suggested a prior Covid infection enhanced a vaccinated individual’s immune response — a phenomenon known as hybrid immunity, which some scientists believe provides the best protection against reinfection. (Constantino, 3/21)

Missouri and North Carolina advance anti-vax measures —

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Missouri House Advances Measure Limiting Vaccines
The Missouri House approved an anti-vaccination measure Tuesday that could tie the hands of health professionals to address future pandemics. The proposal, sponsored by Republican Rep. Bill Hardwick of Waynesville, would bar governments from being able to mandate a COVID-19 vaccine or future potential medical technologies like microchips placed under someone’s skin. (Erickson, 3/21)

AP: North Carolina House Advances Ban On COVID Vaccine Mandates
North Carolina’s public schools, colleges and universities would be prohibited from requiring a student to prove they have been vaccinated against COVID-19 under a bill that advanced Tuesday in the state House. (Schoenbaum, 3/21)

Also —

Axios: Republicans' Vaccine Oversight Risks Spreading Misinformation
Republicans itching to probe the pandemic response are already struggling to separate vaccine-related questions that could yield lessons learned from ones that echo theories experts say are debunked by reams of data. (Owens, 3/22)

Vanity Fair: Inside Ron DeSantis’s Plan To Ride Anti-Vaxxism To The White House 
While Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s strategy may be rooted in politics, it is likely to have far-reaching public health repercussions, says Dr. Jonathan Howard, an associate professor of neurology and psychiatry at NYU Langone Health. “You’re going to continue to see Republicans dying [from COVID-19] at a higher rate, and a return of measles and whooping cough and God knows what else,” says Howard, who has studied the anti-vax movement for a decade. (Eban, 3/21)

KHN: End Of Covid Emergency Will Usher In Changes Across The US Health System
The Biden administration’s decision to end the covid-19 public health emergency in May will institute sweeping changes across the health care system that go far beyond many people having to pay more for covid tests. In response to the pandemic, the federal government in 2020 suspended many of its rules on how care is delivered. That transformed essentially every corner of American health care — from hospitals and nursing homes to public health and treatment for people recovering from addiction. (Pradhan, 3/22)

The Washington Post: Troubled U.S. Organ Transplant System Targeted For Overhaul
The government will announce plans Wednesday to overhaul the troubled U.S. organ transplant system, including breaking up the monopoly power of the nonprofit organization that has run it for the past 37 years. If successful, the proposal would leave little unaffected in the sprawling, multibillion-dollar network that sends kidneys, livers and other organs from deceased donors to severely ill recipients. That system has long been criticized as inadequate: Nearly 104,000 people are on waiting lists for organs, most of them kidneys; 22 people die each day awaiting transplants, with poor and minority patients generally faring worse than affluent and White people. (Bernstein, 3/22)

The Washington Post: New Liver Transplant Rules Yield Winners, Losers As Wasted Organs Reach Record High
New rules requiring donated livers to be offered for transplant hundreds of miles away have benefited patients in New York, California and more than a dozen other states at the expense of patients in mostly poorer states with higher death rates from liver disease, a data analysis by The Washington Post and the Markup has found. The shift was implemented in 2020 to prioritize the sickest patients on waitlists no matter where they live. While it has succeeded in that goal, it also has borne out the fears of critics who warned the change would reduce the number of surgeries and increase deaths in areas that already lagged behind the nation overall in health-care access. (Carollo and Tanen, 3/21)

On drug shortages —

FiercePharma: Ozempic And Mounjaro Are Mostly Back On Tap In The US: FDA
Ozempic, which has been in short supply for some six months, is once again available in two common, lower doses, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s drug shortage database. A third higher dose will maintain limited availability through the end of the month. Novo Nordisk confirmed the restocking in an emailed statement. A company spokesperson credited continued constraints on the higher 2 mg Ozempic dose to “the combination of incredible demand coupled with overall global supply constraints.” (Kansteiner, 3/20)

NBC News: Drug Shortages Are Rising And Pose A National Security Risk, New Report Warns
Children's medication, antibiotics and treatment for ADHD are among a number of drugs that have been in short supply in recent months — and these shortages of critical medications are only rising, according to a new report set to be released on Wednesday. From 2021 to 2022, new drug shortages increased by nearly 30%, according to the report prepared by Democrats on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. (Shabad and Tsirkin, 3/22)

In other pharmaceutical and research news —

Stat: Steroid Drug Reduces Death Rate In Severe Pneumonia, Study Shows
Giving doses of the steroid hydrocortisone to patients with severe pneumonia cut the risk of death by about half, according to a study released Tuesday. (Herper, 3/21)

Stat: Scientist Who Sequenced Genome In Record Time On What's Next
Stanford cardiologist Euan Ashley and his research team received a Guinness World Record last year for sequencing a full human genome in just over five hours. He says that’s just the beginning. Ashley is at the forefront of a push by researchers to make more genetic information available to patients facing major health care decisions. Faster sequencing for patients with rare and deadly diseases can help their doctors decide which treatments and surgical procedures to try and which ones to avoid in life-or-death situations. (Wosen, 3/22)

The Boston Globe: Boston Scientists Say They’re A Step Closer To Growing Human Eggs In The Lab
George Church is known for pushing the boundaries of biology. The Harvard University geneticist played a key role in developing technologies to read and edit genes and has made waves with his proposal to resurrect the extinct woolly mammoth. Now one of his latest projects could have enormous implications for how humans reproduce. (Cross, 3/21)

Stat: Small Rise In Breast Cancer Risk Seen With Most Hormonal Birth Control
Pills, patches, implants, and injections — the various forms of hormonal birth control have different formulations and doses of estrogen, progestin, or both. One might think, then, that they may have an unequal influence on breast cancer risk, but a new study in PLOS Medicine on Tuesday suggests that’s not so. The analysis found that most forms of hormonal birth control, regardless of their formulation, seem to confer roughly the same, small increase to breast cancer risk. (Chen, 3/21)

In recall news —

ABC News: Gerber Powdered Infant Formula Voluntarily Recalled Due To Possible Bacteria Exposure
Some of Gerber's powdered infant formula products that were manufactured at a facility in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, have been voluntarily recalled due to possible bacterial contamination. The infant formulas are "being recalled out of an abundance of caution due to potential presence of cronobacter sakazakii," Perrigo Company, which makes the recalled formulas, announced Friday. (Yu, 3/21)

CBS News: Eye Drop Recalls: Death Toll Climbs In People Affected By Pseudomonas Aeruginosa
The death toll has now climbed in the outbreak of extensively drug-resistant bacteria that was linked to recalled eye drops, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Tuesday, confirming two more deaths in people infected by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Eight people have lost their vision and four have had their eyeballs removed, according to the CDC's latest update, out of 68 patients identified across 16 states with the bacteria. One death had previously been reported in a Washington state man. (Tin, 3/21)

On HIV/AIDS —

Los Angeles Blade: National AIDS Policy Office: Congress Must Increase Funding
Harold Phillips, director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy (ONAP), said Monday that Congress must increase funding to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic, including for programs designed around the lives and needs of Americans who are living with the disease. “We have the support of the Biden Harris administration, and we have the support at HHS, but without Congressional funding we can’t get there,” said Phillips, who delivered his remarks during the AIDS United annual AIDSWatch conference in Washington, D.C. (Kane, 3/20)

The Pink News: HIV Drug PrEP’s Popularity Soars – But Only Among White Men
PrEP has become extremely popular in the US with gay and bisexual men – but only among those who are white, according to new findings. ... The research has also found that although long-acting injectable forms of PrEP are now available, few are actually receiving it. This is despite injectable forms of the anti-HIV drug being massively more effective compared to its oral counterpart. (Ali, 3/19)

NBC News: Grindr Joins Major Public Health Push To Distribute Free At-Home HIV Tests
The world’s most popular gay dating app, Grindr, is participating in a nationwide effort to distribute free at-home HIV testing kits to populations most affected by the virus. “If you’ve got a way that you are testing, and it’s really working for you, then that’s great, and you should stick with that,” Jack Harrison-Quintana, director of the app’s social justice division, Grindr for Equality, told NBC News. “If you don’t, this is an additional way for you to get tested in a way that’s just about as easy as doing an at-home Covid test.” (Valle, 3/21)

In other health and wellness news —

The Washington Post: Rise Of Deadly Fungus Spotlights Hospital Infection Control Challenges
A deadly fungus spreading at an alarming rate in U.S. health facilities has exposed the broader problem of how patient safety is jeopardized by underfunded and understaffed infection-prevention efforts, experts say. On any given day, 1 in 31 hospital patients and 1 in 43 nursing home residents has an infection acquired while seeking medical care, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Nirappil and Keating, 3/21)

The Wall Street Journal: Nestlé Says Less Than Half Of Its Main Portfolio Is Ranked As Healthy
Less than half of Nestlé’s main food-and-drink portfolio is considered healthy, according to the results of an international nutrient profiling system that the Swiss food company published for the first time. Nestlé started using it last year with the aim of boosting transparency about the nutritional value of its products. In its 2022 annual report, published Tuesday, the maker of KitKat chocolate bars and Nescafe coffee said 54% of its net sales came from products rated at the lower end of the health ratings scale. This doesn’t include pet food or other specialized products, such as vitamins, and excludes some recent acquisitions, Nestlé said. (Kirby, 3/21)

KHN: Listen To The Latest ‘KHN Health Minute’ 
This week on the KHN Health Minute, toxic substances in common beauty care products and what might be next after the government lowers the barriers to gold-standard addiction treatment. (3/21)

Bloomberg: More Than A Third Of US Military Veterans Worry About Health Bills
More than a third of US military veterans under age 65 have concerns about their ability to pay medical bills, whether they get their coverage from private or government programs, according to a survey. About 13% of veterans had problems paying medical bills and over 8% had forgone medical care altogether, according to the report from the National Center for Health Statistics. (Peng and Meghjani, 3/22)

Chicago Tribune: Medical Debt In Illinois Disproportionately Affects Black And Latino Communities, Advocates Say 
In May 2022, Alma survived a car accident that left her with several chronic injuries. But after being released from a hospital near Little Village, the trauma continued with constant calls from debt collectors seeking payment for more than $10,000 in medical bills she accrued from the nearly yearlong treatment she’s received for her injuries. (Presa, 3/22)

Axios: Brain Imaging Costs Vary Widely By Hospital Type, Location
Nonprofit and public hospitals charged commercially insured patients up to 25% more for brain scans with an MRI for-profit facilities, a new JAMA analysis found. It's one of the first comparisons using data from a Trump-era hospital price transparency law to show variations in what facilities negotiate with insurers for common services. (Dreher, 3/22)

In news about health care workers —

Detroit Free Press: Michigan Has A Shortage Of Primary Care Doctors. What's Being Done?
As many as 20% of Michigan adults and 8% of children don’t have a primary care physician — a situation expected to worsen in the years ahead as a doctor shortage intensifies, according to a new report from the Milbank Memorial Fund, a nonpartisan foundation that centers its work on health policy. (Jordan Shamus, 3/21)

MiBiz: Michigan Family Physicians Seek Funding To Halt Rural Staffing Crisis
The group representing 4,300 primary care doctors in Michigan is calling for more public funding to stem a worsening shortage of family physicians, especially in rural markets. (Sanchez, 3/21)

Modern Healthcare: How Health Workers Are Getting Mental Health Help From Employers
Healthcare providers such as Advocate Health, Ochsner Health and Inspira Health are turning their focus to long-term, creative and cost-effective investments to support employee mental health. The COVID-19 pandemic heightened existing challenges surrounding labor shortages and employee burnout. Scrambling to accommodate healthcare workers suffering through the crisis taught employers key lessons that inform new approaches to employee well-being and mental health, executives said. (Berryman, 3/21)

Stat: Chicago ER Doctor Struggles Against Violence Around Him 
Abdullah Hassan Pratt is giving a tour of a sheep heart that sits, heavy and sodden, in his hand. Dressed all in black, with his Jordans and easy manner, Pratt doesn’t look all that different from his audience: dozens of teenagers from this city’s roughest and poorest neighborhoods. One student raises a tentative hand, utterly confused by how blood travels through the heart. The grayish organs lying limp on tables in front of the students look nothing like the crisp diagram marked with bright red and blue arrows projected on a screen behind Pratt in the high-tech simulation center at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. (McFarling, 3/22)

More health care industry updates —

Reuters: US Drops Appeal Of UnitedHealth Acquisition Of Change Healthcare
The U.S. Justice Department has dismissed its own appeal challenging UnitedHealth Group's nearly $8 billion acquisition last year of Change Healthcare, a court filing showed. The healthcare deal was seen as a blow to the Biden administration's tougher enforcement of antitrust issues. (3/21)

Stat: Cerebral, Telehealth Startups Face Privacy Pushback Over Ad Models
A potential class-action lawsuit against troubled digital prescribing startup Cerebral raises crucial questions about whether standard online marketing methods violate legal and ethical standards — an issue with important implications for dozens of other telehealth companies doing largely the same thing, experts tell STAT. (Ravindranath and Ross, 3/22)

Stat: Medicare Ruling Could Give VR Companies Easier Path To Payment
The path to payment for virtual reality companies working in health care just became slightly smoother. AppliedVR, a company targeting chronic pain, has become the first digital therapeutic to find an easy way to secure reimbursement from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (Lawrence, 3/21)

AP: Georgia Bill Restricting Vaping In Public Gets Final Passage
Georgia lawmakers gave final passage Tuesday to a bill that would restrict vaping in public spaces. The state House voted 152-14 to pass Senate Bill 47, which would regulate vaping in the same way the state already regulates smoking. The bill goes to Gov. Brian Kemp for his signature or veto. (3/21)

AP: Georgia Senators Send Gender Care Restrictions To Governor
A bill banning most gender-affirming surgeries and hormone replacement therapies in Georgia for transgender people under 18 is headed to Gov. Brian Kemp’s desk after senators gave it final passage on Tuesday. Senators voted 31-21 along party lines with Republicans pushing through Senate Bill 140, despite impassioned pleas from Democrats and LGBTQ advocates against what has become the most fiercely contested bill of Georgia’s 2023 legislative session. (Amy, 3/21)

More news about transgender health care in Missouri, Iowa, and Nevada —

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Missouri Senate Votes To Limit Transgender Care For Minors, Allow Current Patients To Keep Treatment
Legislation to limit transgender athletes and restrict gender-related health care for minors won initial approval Tuesday morning in the Missouri Senate over Democratic opposition. After returning from behind closed doors at about 7:15 a.m., lawmakers quickly approved the bills and adjourned. They’ll need one more affirmative vote each before heading to the House. (Suntrup and Erickson, 3/21)

AP: Doctors Question Aspects Of Missouri Transgender Care Limits
Missouri’s attorney general has said he will issue an emergency regulation that at least temporarily puts strict limits on transgender medical treatment for youth. The planned rule comes as legislators in that state and many others seek bans or other restrictions on the treatment. Doctors and advocates for the transgender community contend the planned rule contains misleading or incorrect information straight from the playbook of anti-trans activists. Here’s a look at what the rule does and what’s behind some of its assertions. (Tanner, 3/22)

Des Moines Register: Kim Reynolds Says Iowa Should 'Pause' Gender-Affirming Care To Trans Kids
Gov. Kim Reynolds said a bill that would ban gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth is about protecting kids from potential long-term effects. Iowa lawmakers have passed a bill, Senate File 538, that would prohibit Iowa doctors from providing puberty blockers, hormone therapy or gender-affirming surgeries to a transgender person younger than 18. Reynolds has thanked the Legislature for passing that bill, indicating she intends to sign it. (Gruber-Miller, 3/21)

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Nevada Prisons May Be Required To Create Transgender Policies
The Department of Corrections may soon be required to develop standards for the supervision and care of transgender inmates under a bill heard by lawmakers Tuesday. Senate Bill 153, sponsored by Sen. Melanie Scheible, D-Las Vegas, would require the director of the corrections department to create standards for the “supervision, custody, care, security, housing and medical and mental health treatment” of transgender and gender non-conforming offenders. (Avery, 3/21)

Other news from New Hampshire, California, and Florida —

New Hampshire Public Radio: Five Cases Of Legionnaires’ Disease Linked To Campgrounds In Meredith
At least five guests of a Meredith campground facility were sickened with Legionnaires' disease in the past two years, according to New Hampshire public health officials. Meredith Woods and Clearwater Campground advertise an indoor pool and hot tub. Testing by the state confirmed the presence of the bacteria that causes Legionnaires’ at several locations within the campgrounds’ water systems. (Bookman, 3/21)

San Francisco Chronicle: Bill Would Pressure Newsom To Speed Work On Single-Payer Health Care
Gov. Gavin Newsom would face new deadlines on his administration’s work to revamp the state’s health care system under a bill unveiled Tuesday in the state Legislature. Newsom, a Democrat, has said for years that he supports creating a government-run health system in California, including while campaigning for governor, but since taking office has not endorsed specific legislation to do so. (Bollag, 3/21)

KHN: Prescription For Housing? California Wants Medicaid To Cover 6 Months Of Rent 
Gov. Gavin Newsom, whose administration is struggling to contain a worsening homelessness crisis despite record spending, is trying something bold: tapping federal health care funding to cover rent for homeless people and those at risk of losing their housing. States are barred from using federal Medicaid dollars to pay directly for rent, but California’s governor is asking the administration of President Joe Biden, a fellow Democrat, to authorize a new program called “transitional rent,” which would provide up to six months of rent or temporary housing for low-income enrollees who rely on the state’s health care safety net — a new initiative in his arsenal of programs to fight and prevent homelessness. (Hart, 3/22)

KHN and Tampa Bay Times: A Lot Of Thought, Little Action: Proposals About Mental Health Go Unheeded 
Thousands of people struggle to access mental health services in Florida. The treatment system is disjointed and complex. Some residents bounce between providers and are prescribed different medications with clinicians unaware of what happened. Jails and prisons have become de facto homes for many who need care. These problems and more were identified in a scathing report released earlier this year by the Commission on Mental Health and Substance Abuse, a 19-person panel that Florida lawmakers created in 2021 to push for reforms of the state’s patchwork of behavioral health services for uninsured people and low-income families. (Ogozalek, 3/22)

CIDRAP: Study Suggests Colistin Still Being Widely Used In Animal Feed
A study published this week in The Lancet Microbe shows that, despite global concerns about resistance, the last-resort antibiotic colistin is still being traded and widely used for growth promotion and disease prevention in food-producing animals in some low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). (Dall, 3/17)

FiercePharma: PhRMA Lobbies For Manufacturing Tax Breaks From US Government
The business-friendly tax reform enacted in 2017, under the watch of former President Donald Trump, allowed some of the pharma industry’s top companies to slash much of their tax burden. (Dunleavy, 3/21)

Reuters: US Declines To Force Lower Price On Cancer Drug Xtandi
The U.S. government will not force Pfizer Inc and Astellas Pharma Inc to lower the price of their prostate cancer drug Xtandi using its emergency "march-in" authority, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) said on Tuesday. (3/21)

FiercePharma: As Approvals Roll In, Takeda Details Dengue Vaccine Pricing And Launch Strategy
Six months after Takeda’s dengue vaccine Qdenga scored its first approval in Indonesia, another large dengue-affected country has signed off on the shot. And with a Brazilian approval in hand, the company has unveiled its pricing and access approach to the key launch. (Becker, 3/21)

New England Journal of Medicine: Expectant Management Or Early Ibuprofen For Patent Ductus Arteriosus 
Cyclooxygenase inhibitors are commonly used in infants with patent ductus arteriosus (PDA), but the benefit of these drugs is uncertain. (Hundscheid, M.D., et al, 3/16)

Bloomberg: Schizophrenia Drug From Karuna Therapeutics May Offer Much-Needed Progress 
Next year, doctors might finally have something new to offer people who suffer from schizophrenia: a much-needed drug that can better improve their symptoms without the side effects that too often cause them to stop taking their medications. (Lisa Jarvis, 3/21)

USA Today: Insulin Price Drop Is Good News. But People With Diabetes Need More
Novo Nordisk and Sanofi announced last week that they will lower prices on some of their insulin products by up to 78% effective January 2024. That follows Eli Lilly’s recent announcement that it will lower some of its insulin prices by 70% later this year. (Kimberly M. Baker, 3/20)

Dallas Morning News: Schools Are Stocking Up On Narcan, But Can Teachers Use It?
Narcan can be purchased in Texas without a prescription and is already saving teens at school. Earlier this month, staff at R.L. Turner High School in Carrollton administered the drug to a 15-year-old girl who was found unconscious in the bathroom by other students, KXAS-TV (NBC5) reported. (3/22)

Bloomberg: Insulin Price Cuts Could Lift Profits For Eli Lilly And Novo Nordisk 
Earlier this month, President Joe Biden gave Eli Lilly & Co. a shoutout on Twitter for its decision to slash insulin prices on the heels of his administration’s cap on insulin costs for Medicare recipients. He ended with a call to action: “Let’s keep it going.” (Lisa Jarvis, 3/16)

San Francisco Chronicle: How A New Kind Of Drug Crisis Is Descending On The Bay Area
Two decades ago, Tom Rudderow underwent spinal fusion surgery. At first, it appeared all had gone well. As he healed, however, his pain persisted. His surgeon eventually diagnosed him with arachnoiditis, an incurable disorder that, he was told, would cause him a lifetime of suffering. (Nuala Bishari, 3/21)

New England Journal of Medicine: Medicare Part D Coverage Of Antiobesity Medications — Challenges And Uncertainty Ahead
Medicare could soon be compelled to cover antiobesity medications, which intensifies the need to address questions of effectiveness and cost among its beneficiaries. (Khrysta Baid, M.S.P.H., et al, 3/16)

Newsweek: Protecting America's Medical Supplies Is A Bipartisan National Security Priority 
As of now, active pharmaceutical ingredients imported from China comprise approximately 90 percent of the American supply of life-saving antibiotics like penicillin, azithromycin and cephalosporins. It should also be noted that in 2019, China was responsible for 95 percent of the United States' imports of ibuprofen, 91 percent of hydrocortisone, 70 percent of acetaminophen, 40–45 percent of penicillin, and 40 percent of heparin. (Rep. Juan Vargas and Rep. Diana Harshbarger, 3/19)

The Boston Globe: Not So Fast On COVID Vaccine Price Hike 
Some of the most important drugs on the market — from Sovaldi (sofosbuvir) for hepatitis C infection to Truvada (emtricitabine-tenofovir) for HIV preexposure prophylaxis to Xalatan (latanoprost) for glaucoma and Xtandi (enzalutamide) for prostate cancer —were discovered with substantial support from the National Institutes of Health, the largest funder of biomedical research in the world. Despite this, patients faced affordability challenges for many years. (Hussain S. Lalani, Sarosh Nagar, Jerry Avorn and Aaron S. Kesselheim, 3/21)

New York Daily News: The U.S.' Shocking Levels Of Maternal Death
In 2023, in the richest and most powerful nation on Earth, it shouldn't be life-threatening to carry a child and give birth. Yet for years, mothers in these United States — Black mothers especially — have suffered from elevated mortality rates, rates that were only driven higher during COVID-19, as women of all ethnic backgrounds saw the sharpest-ever annual fatality spike. (3/21)

The Washington Post: What Parents Can Do To Protect Teens' Mental Health From Social Media 
If we are serious about addressing the alarming worsening of teens’ mental health, we must reduce their social media use. (Leana S. Wen, 3/21)

Houston Chronicle: Don't Let Lawmakers Set Texas' Vaccine Schedule 
While the overall vaccination rates for students remain relatively high in Texas, the number of parents seeking non-medical exemptions for religious and philosophical reasons has skyrocketed. In 2003-2004 school year, 2,314 non-medical exemptions were recorded. In the past school year, it was 85,726. (3/22)

Stat: Quality-Adjusted Life Year Is Useful, Not Discriminatory
Health policy circles have erupted in debate over a wonky administrative tool: the quality-adjusted life year (QALY) and similar metrics to value and price drugs and other health interventions. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) has warned of the potential for these approaches to discriminate, arguing that “All lives are worth living. It’s unconscionable that a health care bureaucracy would so callously determine that someone’s life is worth less,” suggesting that use of QALYs discriminates against individuals with greater disease burden. (Joshua T. Cohen, Peter J. Neumann and Daniel A. Ollendorf, 3/22)

Stat: Living Organ Donors Deserve Priority Status For Transplants 
Five years ago, I donated my “spare” kidney at the Mayo Clinic to a woman I read about in the newspaper. Though living with only one kidney has risks, I was not particularly concerned about my own health. The clinic’s medical evaluation was extremely thorough, and I knew their highly conscientious selection committee would not approve me to be a living donor if they were even the slightest bit concerned the procedure would cause me long-term health problems. (Martha Gershun, 3/22)