USA Today: Education Department Issues Proposed Title IX Rule On Sports Inclusion
Schools and colleges largely could not ban nonbinary and transgender students from sports teams, the Biden administration said Thursday in a long-promised proposed rule to protect these students from discrimination. “Every student should be able to have the full experience of attending school in America, including participating in athletics, free from discrimination," U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said in a statement that included details of the rule. (Jimenez, 4/6)

The New York Times: Biden Plan Sets New Rules For Transgender Athletes And School Sports
Under the Department of Education proposal, “categorically” barring transgender athletes in that way would be a violation of Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination at educational institutions that receive federal funding. But it would give universities and K-12 schools the discretion to limit the participation of transgender students, if they conclude that including transgender athletes could undermine competitive fairness or potentially lead to sports-related injuries, a key part of the debate about transgender athletes in women’s sports. (Mervosh, Tumin and Sasani, 4/6)

In related news from the Supreme Court —

The Washington Post: Supreme Court Refuses To Reinstate West Virginia’s Transgender Athlete Ban 
The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to immediately reinstate a West Virginia law barring transgender athletes from playing on female sports teams from middle school through college, avoiding for now a stand on a controversial issue that has divided society. The 2021 law was challenged by 12-year-old Becky Pepper-Jackson, who wants to remain on her middle school’s girls track team. The law has largely been on hold since its passage, and an appeals court is reviewing its constitutionality. The law defines eligibility for certain sex-specific teams to “be based solely on the individual’s reproductive biology and genetics at birth.” (Barnes and Marimow, 4/6)

From Indiana, Kansas, and North Dakota —

Indianapolis Star: Indiana Senate Pares Down Bill Targeting Student Pronouns
The Indiana Senate stripped down a bill restricting transgender schoolchildren's ability to use preferred names and pronouns Thursday to just require parental notification rather than consent of the change. The amendment, filed by Sen. Stacey Donato, R-Logansport, to House Bill 1608 also removes a clause that had protected teachers who refuse to use the new name or pronoun. (Charron and Dwyer, 4/6)

The Hill: Kansas Lawmakers Advance Bill Allowing Parents To Bar Their Kids From LGBTQ Lessons 
Kansas lawmakers approved a bill Thursday that would allow parents to opt their children from lessons on LGBTQ topics in school. The Republican-controlled Kansas House passed the bill with a 76-46 vote, paving the way for it to be sent to Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly (D). If enacted, the bill, which was passed by the state Senate last week, would allow parents to choose an alternate activity or lesson for their children in K-12 to a lesson or activity they feel “impairs the parent’s sincerely held beliefs, values or principles.” (Sforza, 4/6)

The Washington Post: Eight Bills Targeting Transgender Rights In North Dakota On Governor’s Desk
North Dakotans are awaiting word on whether Gov. Doug Burgum (R) will sign or veto a hefty package of bills that would restrict transgender rights, which was passed by the state Senate on Tuesday. The eight pieces of legislation would have wide-ranging effects on transgender minors and adults — from school sports to health care to workplace rights. If Burgum signs the bills, medical professionals would be prohibited from providing gender-affirming care to minors, transgender girls and women wouldn’t be allowed to join girls' sports teams from kindergarten through high school and college, and another would create a new rule for gender markers on birth certificates. (Kindy, 4/7)

Kansas City Star: Kansas Lawmakers Advance Unproven Abortion Pill ‘Reversal’ Legislation To Kelly’s Desk
Kansas lawmakers approved a policy early Friday morning requiring abortion providers and pharmacists to inform patients of an unproven treatment to “reverse” mifepristone, the first drug used in a medication abortion. ... But the abortion pill reversal procedure, which involves administering a high dose of the pregnancy maintaining hormone progesterone, is unproven. The one large study that has been done on the procedure, a case review conducted by an anti-abortion doctor in California, George Delgado, has been criticized for failing to meet traditional standards for medical research. A University of California, Davis, attempt at conducting a more formal study on the treatment was stopped early after three women, two who were in the control group and did not take progesterone and one who did, went to the hospital because of hemorrhaging. (Bernard, 4/7)

More abortion news from Florida, Wisconsin, Texas, Montana, and elsewhere —

Politico: Florida Lawmakers, And DeSantis, Charge Ahead On 6-Week Abortion Ban 
Abortion rights supporters may be cheering this week’s victory in Wisconsin, but Ron DeSantis didn’t get the memo. Here in Florida, he and GOP lawmakers are still pushing — as early as next week — to approve a far-reaching ban on most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. Florida House Speaker Paul Renner is even trying to sell the legislative proposal as a “compromise” because there are some Republicans who want an all-out ban. (Fineout, 4/6)

Politico: No Wisconsin Wake-Up Call: Republicans Go Full Steam Ahead On Abortion Restrictions 
The drubbing Republicans took in Wisconsin this week revealed how harmful the issue of abortion still is to the party — and will likely remain through 2024. But following a state Supreme Court race that largely turned into a wholesale rebuke of GOP efforts to restrict abortion rights, Republicans in states across the country are plowing ahead with new restrictions anyway. (Siders, 4/6)

NPR: Abortion Clinics Face Rising Legal Battles And Threats
Thirty years ago, Blue Mountain Clinic Director Willa Craig stood in front of the sagging roof and broken windows of an abortion clinic that an arsonist had burned down early that morning in Missoula, Montana. "This morning, Missoula, Montana, learned that there is no place in America that is safe from hateful, misguided groups," she told the crowd of reporters and onlookers. (Bolton, 4/7)

NPR: Their Fetus Had A Fatal Condition, But They Couldn't Leave Texas For An Abortion
Her name was Halo, and she was born last week, on March 29, two months early and weighing 3 pounds. She lived for four hours, dying in the arms of her father, Luis Villasana. Her mother, Samantha Casiano, knew their baby wouldn't survive long because she had anencephaly – part of Halo's brain and skull never developed. Now, they can't afford to give their newborn daughter the funeral they would like to give her. (Simmons-Duffin, 4/6)

The Washington Post: Seniors On Medicaid Are Getting Evicted From Assisted-Living Homes
Shirley Holtz, 91, used a walker to get around. She had dementia and was enrolled in hospice care. Despite her age and infirmity, Holtz was evicted from the assisted-living facility she called home for four years because she relied on government health insurance for low-income seniors. Holtz was one of 15 residents told to vacate Emerald Bay Retirement Community near Green Bay, Wis., after the facility stopped accepting payment from a state-sponsored Medicaid program. And Emerald Bay is not alone. A recent spate of evictions has ousted dozens of assisted-living residents in Wisconsin who depended on Medicaid to pay their bills — an increasingly common practice, according to industry representatives. (Rowland, 4/6)

Modern Healthcare: Medicaid Determinations Present Profit Opportunity For Contractors
States are inking big contracts with contractors promising to help remove masses of people from their Medicaid rolls for the first time in two-and-a-half years. Outsourcing regulatory and administrative work is common and can reduce the burden on government agencies. For contractors such as Maximus, Public Consulting Group and Automated Health Systems, a Medicaid redeterminations process that the Health and Human Services Department projects will disenroll 15 million beneficiaries is good business. (Tepper, 4/6)

KHN: KHN's 'What The Health?': The ‘Unwinding’ Of Medicaid 
Several states have begun the herculean task of redetermining how many of an estimated 85 million Americans currently receiving health coverage through the Medicaid program are still eligible. To receive federal covid-19 relief funds, states were required to keep enrollees covered during the pandemic. As many as 15 million people could be struck from the program’s rolls — many of whom are still eligible, or are eligible for other programs and need to be steered to them. (4/6)

More on insurance coverage —

KHN: No-Cost Preventive Services Are Now In Jeopardy. Here’s What You Need To Know
When a federal judge in Texas declared unconstitutional a popular part of the Affordable Care Act that ensures no-cost preventive care for certain services, such as screening exams for conditions such as diabetes, hepatitis, and certain cancers, it left a lot of people with a lot of questions. On the face of it, the March 30 decision could affect ACA and job-based insurance plans nationwide and a host of medical services now free for patients. (Appleby, 4/7)

Detroit Free Press: Michigan Insurers Will Cover Preventive Screenings During ACA Appeals
Michigan insurance companies pledged Thursday to continue to fully cover preventive health services while legal challenges wend through the courts over a controversial ruling from a federal judge who struck down a provision of the Affordable Care Act last week that requires no-cost preventive screenings, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's administration told the Free Press. (Jordan Shamus, 4/6)

KHN: Montana May Require Insurers To Cover Monitoring Devices For Diabetes
In between sets of tumbling warmups, Adrienne Prashar crossed the gym to where she had stashed her diabetes supplies and tested her blood sugar. Prashar, who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes the day before her 13th birthday, said tumbling usually drops her blood sugar levels. Prashar, now 14, did a finger stick, saw her blood sugar was 127, and went back to the mat. For most people with diabetes, the target range is about 80-130, and up to 180 two hours after meals. Prashar doesn’t have to check her blood sugar often. She wears a continuous glucose monitor, or CGM, that gives her blood glucose readings on her phone every five minutes. When she’s feeling differently than her CGM is showing, as on that March day at the gym, she checks her level by doing a finger stick. (Larson, 4/7)

How inflation is affecting Americans' health care —

KHN: High Inflation And Housing Costs Force Many Americans To Delay Needed Care
At a health-screening event in Sarasota, Florida, people gathered in a parking lot and waited their turn for blood pressure or diabetes checks. The event was held in Sarasota’s Newtown neighborhood, a historically Black community. Local Tracy Green, 54, joined the line outside a pink-and-white bus that offered free mammograms. “It’s a blessing because some people, like me, are not fortunate, and so this is what I needed,” she said. (Colombini, 4/7)

Military.com: A New Cash Benefit Will Expand To More Military Families This Summer, Pentagon Says
More military families could soon be eligible to apply for a new monthly cash allowance meant to alleviate food insecurity as the Pentagon plans to expand the pool of those who qualify in July, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said late last month. The Basic Needs Allowance, or BNA, began this year and is currently only for service members who have dependents and whose gross household income fell below 130% of the federal poverty level for their family size and location. To qualify, their income must have fallen below the threshold in both the previous calendar year and annualized for the current year. (Miller, 4/6)

Military.com: VA Delays Rollout Of Troubled Electronic Medical Records System To More Hospitals
The Department of Veterans Affairs has put the introduction of its new electronic health records system on hold at the hospital system slated to adopt it this summer -- a pause that extends to all future rollouts, VA officials said Thursday. In a memo to staff at the VA Saginaw, Michigan, Health Care System, Veterans Integrated Services Network 10 Director Laura Ruzick said Thursday that the training scheduled to begin April 1 on the Oracle Cerner Millennium records system has been postponed. VA confirmed to Military.com the postponement applies to all planned deployments. (Kime, 4/6)

Military Times: VA Delays Rollout Of Health Records System To Next Scheduled Sites
The delay is the latest in a series of setbacks for the 10-year, $16 billion health records overhaul project, launched by President Donald Trump in 2017. Only five of the department’s 170-plus medical sites have begun using the software, and new deployments have been delayed for months amid concerns with the new system. In the last few weeks, lawmakers in the House and Senate have introduced a series of legislative proposals to delay future deployments until VA officials can verify that certain patient safety, staff training and software usability standards have been reached. (Shane III, 4/6)

Meanwhile —

Military.com: Navy Takes Another Look At Bremerton Hospital Cuts After Lawmaker Cites Miscarriage, Readiness Issues
The lawmaker whose district includes Naval Hospital Bremerton has challenged the Navy over years of downsizing and staffing cuts at the facility, saying it has not only hurt readiness but also endangered patients. "I had a service member who said that she was pregnant. ... With the closure of labor and delivery, she ended up seeking care from a local provider where she sat for eight hours in a waiting room and miscarried," Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Wash., told Military.com in an interview Thursday. (Toropin, 4/6)

In other health care industry news —

Axios: Privacy Is At Risk As HIPAA Fails To Keep Pace With Digital Health
Nearly three decades old, HIPAA appears obsolete and riddled with new technology-induced gaps. Why it matters: With regulators unable and politicians unwilling to address the shortcomings of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, private companies are offering a fix. (Brodwin and Reed, 4/6)

Fox News: AI And Heart Health: Machines Do A Better Job Of Reading Ultrasounds Than Sonographers Do, Says Study
Artificial intelligence (AI) could potentially do a better job of screening for heart health than trained sonographers. This is the finding of a study from the Smidt Heart Institute and the Division of Artificial Intelligence in Medicine at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, California. In the study, published in the journal Nature, a total of 3,495 heart echocardiograms (ultrasounds) were assessed. (Rudy, 4/6)

Modern Healthcare: Cano Health Ex-Board Members Try To Take Control As Stock Soars
Barry Sternlicht, a billionaire real estate investor who served as chairman of the board, Dr. Lewis Gold, co-founder of Sheridan Healthcare, and Elliot Cooperstone, managing partner of InTandem Capital Partners, seek to take over the Miami-based company and replace CEO Marlow Hernandez. The three resigned from the board last Friday over differences with Hernandez and executive leadership. (Turner, 4/6)

Also —

Anchorage Daily News: How Do You Get A Moose Out Of An Anchorage Medical Facility? Very Carefully
A young and hungry moose caused a stir when it strolled through the front doors of a Providence Alaska medical facility Thursday afternoon in Anchorage — apparently without an appointment. In the only-in-Alaska videos posted to social media Thursday, the juvenile moose’s ears peeked from behind a potted plant it was munching on, briefly impervious to the attention it received from bystanders at Providence Health Park. (Berman, 4/6)

The Washington Post: EPA Seeks To Restrict A Toxic Medical Device Sterilizer 
Acting in response to community health experts and environmental justice advocates, the Environmental Protection Agency is proposing tougher standards on pollution from several toxic chemicals, including ethylene oxide, widely used for sterilizing medical equipment and other purposes. But parts of the health-care and chemical industries are warning that these Biden administration rule changes could disrupt the supply of safe medical equipment, affecting hospitals and clinics nationwide. (Puko, 4/6)

In other pharmaceutical news —

The Boston Globe: State Told Physicians To Stop Using Magellan Diagnostics Lead-Testing Devices In 2017 And ′21
The problems at Magellan Diagnostics in Billerica first became public in 2017 when the Food and Drug Administration warned that the company, self-marketed as “the most trusted name in lead testing,” was having serious issues with some of its devices returning false results. Six years later, the scope of the problem with the lead tests resurfaced this week with the arrest of three former Magellan executives on wire fraud and other charges for allegedly hiding the issue from regulators and knowingly selling defective machines. (Stoico, Ellement, Freyer and Lazar, 4/6)

AP: FDA Forces Unproven Premature Birth Drug Makena Off Market 
The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday ordered the immediate market withdrawal of a drug intended to prevent premature births, which has remained available for years despite data showing it doesn’t help pregnant women. The decision follows repeated efforts by Swiss drugmaker Covis Pharma to keep Makena on the U.S. market while it conducted additional studies. The medication was the only drug approved in the U.S. to help reduce the risk of early births in women with a history of preterm deliveries. (Perrone, 4/6)

Stat: Weight Loss Drug Ads: Telehealth Wades Into A Regulatory Gray Area
They’ve swiftly caught the attention of subway goers: splashy ads plastered on train station walls and turnstiles across New York by telehealth companies promoting controversial weight loss medications like Wegovy by name. Companies including Ro and Calibrate have capitalized on the new drugs by launching telehealth services dedicated to prescribing Wegovy and Ozempic, which patients inject themselves to treat obesity. Novo Nordisk’s drug Wegovy is FDA-approved for weight loss in adults, while the company’s drug Ozempic is approved to treat diabetes but is also prescribed off-label for weight loss. (Ravindranath, 4/6)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Upcoming Drug Take Back Day Will Collect Unused Prescription Medications
Police departments across the region will be leading efforts to collect unused and expired prescription drugs during the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day later this month. The event is held on April 22 and allows people to drop off medications at participating police departments or other locations from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. (Murchison, 4/6)

Reuters: COVID Caused Brain Damage In 2 Infants Infected During Pregnancy -US Study 
Researchers at the University of Miami reported on Thursday what they believe are the first two confirmed cases in which the SARS-CoV-2 virus crossed a mother's placenta and caused brain damage in the infants they were carrying. Doctors previously had suspected this was possible, but until now, there was no direct evidence of COVID-19 in a mother's placenta or an infant's brain, the team told reporters at a news briefing. (Steenhuysen, 4/6)

CIDRAP: Two Infants Born To COVID-Infected Mothers Suffer Severe Brain Damage
The infants, born to COVID-19–positive mothers, had seizures on the day of their birth, microcephaly (small head size), and substantial developmental delays over time. Repeated magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) demonstrated severe brain damage. Both mothers were infected in the second trimester, and one was reinfected in the third trimester. While neither newborn was COVID-positive at birth, both had SARS-CoV-2 antibodies and elevated levels of blood inflammatory markers. The placentas showed abnormalities such as inadequate blood flow to the fetus and increased inflammatory markers. One infant died unexpectedly at 13 months, the brain showing evidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection. (Van Beusekom, 4/6)

More on the spread of covid —

Los Angeles Times: Masking Up In Hospitals Didn't Stop COVID Spread, U.K. Study Finds
In a world moving on from the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals and medical offices have been the last bastions of mandatory masking. But new research finds that in communities where pandemic precautions have been largely abandoned, mask mandates in healthcare settings do little to prevent coronavirus infections among patients. (Healy, 4/6)

Reuters: WHO Chief Thinks COVID-19 Emergency Will Be Lifted This Year 
The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday he expected the organization to lift the emergency status of COVID-19 sometime this year, without giving a more specific time frame. (4/6)

Reuters: China Holds The Key To Understanding COVID-19 Origins: WHO Chief
The World Health Organization chief pressed China on Thursday to share its information about the origins of COVID-19, saying that until that happened all hypotheses remained on the table, more than three years after the virus first emerged. "Without full access to the information that China has, you cannot say this or that," said Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in response to a question about the origin of the virus. (4/7)

On flu and RSV —

Bloomberg: Covid Is 60% Deadlier Than Flu, Study Of Hospital Patients Finds
Covid-19 isn’t “just a flu,” with a study of hospital patients finding that the virus was still 60% deadlier than influenza last winter. Greater immunity against the coronavirus, better treatments, and different virus variants lowered Covid’s mortality risk to about 6% among adults hospitalized in the US last winter from 17-21% in 2020, researchers at the Clinical Epidemiology Center of the Veterans Affairs St. Louis Health Care System in Missouri found. That was still much higher than the flu’s death rate of 3.7%. (Gale, 4/6)

Reuters: RSV Cases In US Show Signs Of Return To Pre-Pandemic Seasonality - CDC
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) circulation is showing signs of return to pre-pandemic seasonality in the U.S. after two years of irregular onsets and peaks, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Thursday. Typically, cases of RSV virus that can cause severe illness or death in the very young and old rose in October before waning in April. But during the two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, the circulation pattern changed. (4/6)

Politico: Biden Condemns Tennessee House Vote To Expel Dems Over Gun Protests
President Joe Biden on Thursday condemned as “shocking” and “undemocratic” moves by Republicans in Tennessee to expel Democrats from the state Legislature for their roles in gun control protests. ... The president on Thursday repeated his pleas for Congress to re-implement an assault weapons ban. He also called for legislators to eliminate gun manufacturers’ immunity from liability and to implement universal background checks. “A strong majority of Americans want lawmakers to act on commonsense gun safety reforms that we know will save lives,” Biden said. “But instead, we’ve continued to see Republican officials across America double down on dangerous bills that make our schools, places of worship, and communities less safe. Our kids continue to pay the price.” (Ward, 4/6)

The New York Times: Tennessee House Expels 2 Democrats Over Gun Control Protest 
The Tennessee House voted on Thursday to expel two Democrats one week after they interrupted debate by leading protesters in a call for stricter gun laws in the wake of a shooting that left six dead at a Christian school. The extraordinary punitive action against the Democrats — Representatives Justin Jones and Justin J. Pearson — for an act of protest marks just the third time since the Civil War era that the Tennessee House has expelled a lawmaker from its ranks and threatens to further inflame the partisan rancor within a bitterly divided state. (Cochrane and Fawcett, 4/6)

Politico: Tennessee House Votes To Expel 2 Of 3 Dems, Both Black, Over Gun Protest 
Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson were expelled in a vote largely along party lines, an effort to oust them led by the GOP supermajority. Rep. Gloria Johnson escaped removal from office because Republicans failed to gather the necessary two-thirds-majority support. When asked by reporters why Johnson was the only lawmaker to evade expulsion, she answered: “it might have to do with the color of our skin.” Their offense was joining protesters who gathered in Nashville last week to call for gun safety reform in the aftermath of a deadly school shooting that left seven dead, including the shooter. The members approached the lectern without being called on by House GOP leadership and toted a bullhorn to lead chants on the House floor, a stunt that temporarily suspended legislative business. House Speaker Cameron Sexton later likened their behavior to “an insurrection.” (Crampton, 4/6)

In related news about students protesting gun violence —

ABC News: Uvalde Students Walkout To Protest Gun Violence: 'I'm Scared Of Dying Every Day'
Students of the Uvalde Independent Consolidated School District staged a walkout on Wednesday to protest gun violence, acknowledging the 19 elementary school children and two teachers who were killed after the massacre at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, last May. Students said they took inspiration from students in Nashville, Tennessee, who conducted a massive walkout on Monday related to The Covenant School shooting, which left three children and three faculty members dead. (Holland, 4/5)

The Intercept: Tasked With Stopping Terror, Colorado's Intel Agency Monitors Students Protesting Gun Violence 
Students protesting gun violence in Colorado are on the radar of the state’s intelligence command center, which issued a bulletin yesterday notifying authorities of “a planned nationwide school walkout … in protest of gun violence,” according to a copy of the document obtained by The Intercept. Thousands of Colorado students were expected to protest inaction by state lawmakers by walking out of their classes Wednesday. “The Students Demand Action (SDA) has coordinated a nationwide school walkout amongst students throughout the country with similar trends to those seen in Colorado,” stated the situational awareness bulletin dated April 4, which was issued by the Colorado Information Analysis Center. CIAC’s mission is “preventing acts of terrorism, taking an all-crimes/all-threats approach,” according to the agency’s website. It’s not clear how the student walkouts relate to this mission. Experts have long criticized fusion centers like CIAC for operating with broad authorities and little oversight. (Klippenstein, 4/5)

More on the gun violence epidemic —

MPR News: How Reframing Mass Shootings As Suicide Could Help Prevent Them
As the nation grapples with another school shooting and media rushes to put it into context, there's a good chance you've heard a statistic compiled right here in Minnesota. The Violence Project in St. Paul is the nonprofit, nonpartisan research center behind what's believed to be the largest, most comprehensive database of mass shooters. And in 2021, its co-founders came out with a book called “How to Stop a Mass Shooting Epidemic.” (Crann and Burks, 4/6)

Colorado Sun: How Gun Violence In Colorado Hit A 40-Year High
In the spring of 2019, as the state mourned the shooting at STEM School Highlands Ranch and lawmakers began eyeing a raft of new firearms-related legislation, The Colorado Sun analyzed 38 years of state data on gun deaths. At the time, The Sun found that 20,669 people died from firearm-related injuries between 1980 and 2018, and the death rate, after dipping in the early 2000s, was on the rise. (Ingold, 4/6)

Axios: Gun Violence Settlements Prevail As Reform Stalls
Families of gun violence victims can't get the gun control they've been fighting for. But they are winning in court. Driving the news: Victims of the 2017 Sutherland Springs, Texas shooting settled with the Department of Justice for $144.5 million on Wednesday. That's the latest multimillion-dollar settlement awarded to families as mass shootings are an increasingly prevalent part of life in the U.S. (Habeshian, 4/6)

The Texas Tribune: Texas Launches $10 Million Effort To Combat Fentanyl Crisis
To combat the growing number of fentanyl overdose deaths in Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday announced a $10 million fentanyl awareness campaign and plan to distribute doses of Narcan to every county in the state. Abbott said the state’s “One Pill Kills” multimedia campaign is designed to warn Texans about the unlawful use of fentanyl, the synthetic opioid that is 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. In addition, the governor said the Texas Division of Emergency Management will be delivering a total of 20,000 doses of the overdose-reversing medication, naloxone, more commonly known as Narcan, to all 254 counties in Texas. (Simpson, 4/6)

AP: Alabama Lawmakers Approve Harsher Penalties For Fentanyl
Alabama lawmakers on Thursday approved harsher penalties for trafficking fentanyl — with punishments of up to life imprisonment — as lawmakers try to respond to the deadly overdose crisis. (Chandler, 4/6)

KQED: San Francisco Has Doubled Participants Of This Opioid Treatment. Here's Why 
The first time Alyssa Ibarra tried to get suboxone, a medication proven to treat opioid use disorder, she bought it from someone off the street. After an ankle injury in 2014, she started using Vicodin and Percocet recreationally and later developed an addiction to opioids after experiencing postpartum depression. “When I tried to stop, I remember just feeling really hopeless,” Ibarra said. “I didn't even think, ‘I'm having withdrawals.’ I just thought it was the postpartum.” (Johnson, 4/4)

Dallas Morning News: How Mexican Criminal Groups Use Technology, Social Media To Dominate Fentanyl Market
Two rival criminal groups that have cornered the deadly fentanyl market have done so largely with ingenuity and the latest technology, say current and former Mexican and U.S. law enforcement authorities. The Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels have evolved into high-tech geeks, relying on savvy business skills, encrypted communication gadgets and social media to recruit dealers to peddle their drugs across the border and into North Texas. (Corchado and Krause, 4/7)

Also —

Los Angeles Times: Coolio's Primary Cause Of Death Revealed: Fentanyl
Rapper Coolio died in September due to the effects of fentanyl, heroin and methamphetamine, the Los Angeles medical examiner determined Thursday. The Grammy-winning “Gangsta’s Paradise” rapper, whose real name was Artis Leon Ivey Jr., died Sept. 28, 2022. He was 59. (Del Rosario, 4/6)

In news about alcohol use —

AP: Bottle Battle: Boston Talks Of Banning Tiny Bottles Of Booze 
Boston City Councilor Ricardo Arroyo has proposed banning city liquor stores from selling the bottles that hold from 50 to 100 milliliters (1.7 to 3.4 fluid ounces), which he says would address both alcohol abuse and excessive litter. “The fact that this handled even one of these two issues would have been enough for me,” Arroyo said at city hall hearing on the issue on Monday. ... Other Massachusetts communities that have banned the sale of the tiny bottles have seen benefits, Arroyo said. (Pratt, 4/6)

The Mercury News: ‘Confusing’: Jennifer Lopez Launches Alcohol Brand As She, Ben Affleck Tout Sobriety
It’s hard to imagine why Jennifer Lopez thought she’d be the perfect celebrity to launch a brand of bottled cocktails, given that she’s long claimed she eschews alcohol for health and beauty purposes, and her husband, Ben Affleck, has long battled addiction to alcohol and been to rehab multiple times. Lopez’s fans and others have gone on her Instagram to let her know they aren’t thrilled about her attaching her name to a new product, Delola, which features three ready-to-drink spritzes made with vodka, tequila and amaro, People reported. The brightly colored, fruit- and rose-infused spritzes retail for $23 for a 750-milliliter bottle and will arrive in grocery stores, restaurants and bars this month. (Ross, 4/6)

NBC News: Starbucks Customers Are Complaining About Stomach Issues From New Olive Oil-Infused Coffee
Starbucks customers have taken to social media to share their experiences with the coffee chain’s new slate of olive oil-infused drinks, and apparently, for some, the picture is not so pretty. On March 16, a post titled “Olive oil drinks...” was added to the subreddit r/starbucks by a Redditor who claims to be a current Starbucks barista. In it, they share an experience their coworkers allegedly had after trying the new roster of Oleato drinks. (Lamour, 4/6)

In other health and wellness news —

Fox News: Can Heart Failure Risk Show Up On A Smartwatch? It's Possible, Study Says
Today’s smartwatches go far beyond checking time and texts. They can track an array of health information, including calories burned, step counts, sleep quality and even heart rate. Now, a new study from University College London suggests that a smartwatch’s heart rate tracker could potentially predict when someone has a higher risk of heart failure. (Rudy, 4/6)

NBC News: Sleep Apnea Caused Cognitive Problems Even In Healthy Men, Research Finds
Most people with untreated sleep apnea develop heart disease, and researchers have assumed that's why they also have cognitive problems. But a small new study finds that obstructive sleep apnea itself is harming the brain, giving new urgency to recognizing and treating the disorder. (Carroll, 4/6)

NBC News: Brain Scans Reveal How Obesity Factors Differ Between Men And Women
Changes in the way peoples’ brains are wired could explain some of the differences in obesity between men and women, new research published Thursday finds. In women with obesity, changes in the brain tended to be centered on regions related to emotions, while in men with obesity, the changes tended to be found in regions that play a role in gut sensations, such as how hungry or full a person feels, the study found. (Sullivan, 4/6)

On preventing mosquito-borne illnesses —

St. Louis Public Radio: Mosquito Alert STL Wants Your Insect Photos This Summer
With warmer weather comes certain pests — including the mosquito, which is a vector for several diseases that end up killing about 725,000 people every year. For Jean Ponzi, whose relative came down with a bad case of West Nile virus after being bitten by a mosquito, the issue is personal. Her family member ended up with long-lasting symptoms “similar to the kinds of things that we've heard about long COVID — not terminally debilitating, but serious,” she said. (Woodbury, 4/6)

The Washington Post: An Orangutan Struggled To Nurse Her Baby. A Human New Mom Taught Her How
Mothers sometimes struggle to breastfeed, and Zoe, a 14-year-old orangutan, was no exception. Zoe had troubles breastfeeding and nurturing her first baby, Taavi, when he was born two years ago, leading keepers to hand-raise him. So, when Zoe gave birth in December 2022 to her second baby, the zoo’s veterinarian had an idea: ask a zookeeper who was a new mom to breastfeed her own baby in front of Zoe, as a live demonstration. (Hedgpeth, 4/1)

The Washington Post: Why Gorillas' Viruses Are Of Interest To Human Scientists 
African mountain gorillas are picky eaters. They strip off the most delicious bits of plants and spit out the rest, leaving a trail of partially chewed leaves drenched in saliva. It turns out these slimy specimens can tell scientists a lot about not only the health of gorillas but also diseases that may afflict humans as well — and the interaction between the two. (Cimons, 3/25)

The Atavist Magazine: Sins Of The Father: When Lesley Hu Wanted To Vaccinate Her Young Son, Her Conspiracy-Obsessed Ex-Husband When To Unimaginable Lengths To Stop Her
Over the course of their marriage, [Lesley] Hu had watched as her now ex-husband, Stephen O’Loughlin, became obsessed with pseudoscience, self-help gurus, and conspiracy theories, spending long nights watching videos online, then sharing the details of fantastical plots with Hu, their friends, and people he barely knew. The COVID-19 pandemic had only made things worse. O’Loughlin huddled for hours at his computer streaming YouTube clips and poring over right-wing websites—what he called “doing research.” (Pape, 4/1)

CNN: One Iguana's Taste For Cake Leaves A Young Girl With A Mysterious Malady 
The bump on a young California girl’s hand was mysterious – and growing. It wasn’t until she had seen two doctors and undergone a biopsy that her family realized the cause: The child had gotten in the way of a hungry iguana with a sweet tooth, resulting in what may be the first documented infection of a rare bacterial infection in a human from an iguana bite. (Christensen, 4/2)

The New York Times: A Psychedelics Pioneer Takes The Ultimate Trip
As the founding director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research, Dr. Roland Griffiths has been a pioneer in investigating the ways in which psychedelics can help treat depression, addiction and, in patients with a life-threatening cancer diagnosis, psychological distress. ... Now he is learning to die. Griffiths, who is 76, has been diagnosed with Stage 4 metastatic colon cancer. (Marcese, 4/2)

The Washington Post: California Man In HIV Remission Opens Up About His Rare Medical Journey 
Paul Edmonds was diagnosed with HIV in 1988 and didn’t expect to survive. Now in full remission, he's telling his story of a medical breakthrough to offer hope. (Johnson, 4/3)

The Conversation: Gender-Affirming Care Has A Long History In The U.S. — And Not Just For Transgender People
In 1976, a woman from Roanoke, Virginia, named Rhoda received a prescription for two drugs: estrogen and progestin. Twelve months later, a local reporter noted Rhoda’s surprisingly soft skin and visible breasts. He wrote that the drugs had made her “so completely female.” (Rosenthal, 4/4)

The Washington Post: The World’s Most Premature Twins Just Had Their First Birthday
When Shakina Rajendram’s micro preemie twins were born last year, they were so tiny they fit in the palm of her hand. Her daughter weighed about 11 ounces, less than a soda can, and her son weighed about 14 ounces. (Free, 4/3)

Also —

The New York Times: What Age Should You Retire? What Health Experts Say
One way to answer this question is to look at changes not in life span but in health-span — the number of years people are healthy and disability-free. (Smith, 4/3)

The New York Times: Telehealth Prescription Rules May Change Soon. Here’s What To Know
During the pandemic, the expansion of telemedicine proved transformative for many people, especially those in rural areas. It allowed patients to receive medical care and prescriptions virtually, without the need to meet a provider in person. On May 11, however, the pandemic public health emergency is set to expire, and the Biden administration has proposed new rules for prescribing certain medications online once it ends. If and when these proposals go into effect, doctors will need to follow different, more restrictive guidelines when writing online prescriptions for controlled medications. (Caron, 4/5)

Harvard Public Health: The W.H.O. At 75: Much To Celebrate, But Plenty Left To Do
The W.H.O.'s director-general lays out his five key global health priorities as the organization celebrates its diamond anniversary. (Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, 4/5)

Scientific American: Bird Flu Is Surging. Dialing Back Its Pandemic Risk Starts With Prevention
The last two years have witnessed an unprecedented global expansion of avian influenza. Moving along migratory bird flyways into Europe and the Americas, a new strain of H5N1 influenza has established itself in wild birds and domestic poultry, leading to a record 58.6 million birds culled in the U.S. and new outbreaks across Latin America and the Caribbean. This strain’s spread in birds, along with infections of mammals and sporadic human cases—one fatal—raises pandemic influenza concerns. (Daniel Schar, Erik Karlsson and Filip Claes, 4/6)

Bloomberg: More Male Nurses Will Help Ease The US Nursing Shortage 
In less than two years, the US could face a shortage of up to 450,000 nurses. The health-care system won’t be able to fill this gap with half the potential workforce on the sidelines: More must be done to recruit men into nursing. (4/6)

The New York Times: It’s Not ‘Deaths Of Despair.’ It’s Deaths Of Children
How long a person can expect to live is one of the most fundamentally revealing facts about a country, and here, in the richest country in the world, the answer is not just bleak but increasingly so. Americans are now dying younger on average than they used to, breaking from all global and historical patterns of predictable improvement. (David Wallace-Wells, 4/6)

The Washington Post: With Exercise, Don’t Let Perfect Be The Enemy Of The Good
Imagine a medical therapy that reduces your risk of stroke and heart disease by 27 percent. It cuts your chance of developing cancer by 12 percent. And it decreases your overall risk of premature death by 31 percent. (Leana S. Wen, 4/6)

The Boston Globe: Ending ACA’s Free Preventive Services Will Make America Sicker
The decision by a federal judge in Texas to strike down a provision in the Affordable Care Act requiring free access to preventive health care for millions of Americans is a shocking act of health vandalism. It takes the nation in the wrong direction at the wrong time. (Noubar Afeyan, 4/7)

The Baltimore Sun: A Path To Health Equity: Why Immigrants In Maryland Need Access To Care Now
There are just days left for Maryland to make history by passing a bill that offers health care to immigrant Marylanders. Over the past decade, Maryland has been a leader in reducing the state’s uninsured rate, thanks to bold policies that prioritize health equity. (Gustavo Torres, Willie Flowers and Jaime Contreras, 4/6)

Stat: Publishing Genetic Code Of Viruses Could Cause Disaster
As scientists gain increasing dexterity in manipulating the basic elements of life, they are designing not only other synthetic vaccines, but also therapies for cancer, benign alternatives to fossil fuels, and even novel approaches to protecting endangered species. Some of these efforts will succeed, and some surely will fail. But it is hardly hype to call what is happening in labs around the world a revolution in biology. (Michael Specter, 4/6)