AP: FDA Clears Extra COVID Booster For Some High-Risk Americans 
U.S. regulators on Tuesday cleared another booster dose of the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccines for older Americans and people with weak immune systems. The Food and Drug Administration also took steps to make coronavirus vaccinations simpler for everyone, saying that anyone getting a Pfizer or Moderna dose — whether it’s a booster or their first-ever vaccination — will get the newest formula, not the original shots. (Neergaard, 4/18)

NBC News: FDA Authorizes 2nd Dose Of Updated Covid Booster For Older Adults
The FDA’s decision will now be handed off to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which has scheduled a meeting with its panel of outside advisers for Wednesday. If the panel votes in favor of the additional boosters, and Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, signs off, immunizations could begin immediately. (Lovelace Jr., 4/18)

Stat: FDA Allows New Booster Dose Of Covid Vaccine For Older Adults
The new booster guidance was part of a basket of changes the FDA announced to Covid vaccine policy, the aim of which is to simplify the extraordinarily complex existing Covid vaccine recommendations. People 65 and older should only get another shot if at least four months have elapsed since their most recent booster, according to the recommendation. For people who are immunocompromised, the suggested interval between shots is two months. The agency said immunocompromised people could get additional doses after that “at the discretion of, and at intervals determined by, their health care provider.” (Branswell, 4/18)

Politico: Biden Administration Developing Plan To Get Covid Vaccines To The Uninsured 
The Biden administration plans to roll out a new initiative this week guaranteeing free Covid vaccines, treatments and tests for the uninsured into 2024, two people briefed on the matter told POLITICO. The program comes as the White House prepares to wind down its pandemic response operation. It also represents an effort to ensure vulnerable Americans can still access shots and treatments once the government shifts broader responsibility for Covid care to the private sector. (Cancryn, 4/18)

More on the vaccine rollout —

Reuters: Employer COVID-19 Vax Mandates: Still Legal, But For How Long? 
While the clamor for vaccine mandates has subsided, many employers remain committed to having their employees fully up to date with their COVID-19 boosters. But will they be able to enforce such a policy? The answer is: It depends. (Samuel and Shimada, 4/18)

AP: Judge: Mississippi Must Give Religious Exemption On Vaccines
Mississippi must join most other states in allowing religious exemptions from vaccinations that children are required to receive so they can attend school, a federal judge has ruled. U.S. District Judge Sul Ozerden handed down the decision Monday in a lawsuit filed last year by several parents who say their religious beliefs have led them to keep their children unvaccinated and out of Mississippi schools. According to the lawsuit, some of the plaintiffs are homeschooling their children, while others have family or work connections in Mississippi but live in other states that allow religious exemptions for childhood vaccinations. (Pettus, 4/18)

Reuters: COVID-19 Vaccine Claims Yield Small Payouts From U.S. Government 
Of more than 8,000 people who filed claims with the federal government alleging injuries from COVID-19 vaccines, three have now received cash payouts, new government data shows. Their combined compensation? Less than $5,000. (Greene, 4/18)

More on the spread of covid —

Reuters: AstraZeneca Confident New COVID Antibody Protects Against Known Variants 
AstraZeneca is confident that its new version of COVID-19 antibody treatment could protect immunocompromised patients against all known virus variants, its vaccines head said. Laboratory studies show the antibody, called AZD3152, neutralizes all known variants of COVID-19 and AstraZeneca has support from regulators to make the treatment available by the end of this year, Iskra Reic said in an interview on Tuesday. (Fick, 4/18)

The New York Times: Covid May Increase The Risk Of Type 2 Diabetes, Researchers Find 
People infected with the coronavirus were significantly more likely to be diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes within a year of their infection, compared with those who had not been exposed to the virus, researchers in Canada reported on Tuesday. Men were more likely to develop diabetes than women, the scientists found. People who were so sick that they were hospitalized were more than twice as likely to go on to a diabetes diagnosis, compared with those who were not infected. (Rabin, 4/18)

Politico: ‘The Justices Were Kidding Themselves’: Supreme Court Takes Up Abortion After Saying Lawmakers Should Decide
Abortion is back before the Supreme Court just 10 months after conservative justices said they were washing their hands of the issue. The court is expected to rule by Wednesday on whether to allow an earlier decision from the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals to take effect, sharply limiting access to a commonly used abortion pill nationwide. The lower court ruling, which the Biden administration wants paused while the legal battle plays out, would prohibit telemedicine prescriptions, mail delivery and retail pharmacy dispensing of the drug. (Ollstein, 4/18)

Roll Call: Supreme Court Could Soon Rule On Abortion Drug
Alliance Defending Freedom, a legal advocacy group representing the medical groups, submitted its brief Tuesday ahead of a noon court deadline, opening the door for the Supreme Court to weigh in on the abortion drug less than a year after the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision overturned the national right to an abortion. (Macagnone and Raman, 4/18)

Also —

San Francisco Chronicle: One California Republican Signed Onto A Brief Supporting Abortion Pill
Republicans may be trying to downplay abortion as an election year wedge issue, but more than half of House Republicans are asking the Supreme Court to allow a lower court ruling banning an abortion pill used by millions of patients to stand. That included only one California House member: Republican Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Richvale (Butte County). House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a Bakersfield Republican, did not sign the brief. (Garofoli, 4/18)

NPR: Rep. Nancy Mace Says Her Party's Stance On Abortion Has Gotten Too 'Extreme'
Rep. Nancy Mace isn't convinced about some of the stances her party is taking. And she's already facing blowback for it. (López Restrepo, 4/18)

NPR: Anti-Abortion Groups Are Looking To A 19th-Century 'Vice Reformer'
A federal case challenging access to a common abortion pill is reviving discussions about a 150-year-old anti-obscenity law. In 1873, what's known as the Comstock Act banned multiple items related to sex and reproductive health that many people see as quite ordinary today. Until recently, that law had been largely forgotten or ignored. But it's being cited in the federal case out of Texas that could curb access to the widely used abortion pill mifepristone. (McCammon, 4/18)

What will happen to the FDA? —

The Washington Post: Abortion Pill Rulings Threaten FDA, Drug Companies Tell Supreme Court 
Pharmaceutical companies, among the most powerful interests in Washington, have mobilized against a pair of lower-court rulings restricting access to abortion pills that they contend go far beyond issues of reproductive health and pose a threat to the regulatory foundations of the U.S. drug industry. The warnings — contained in friend-of-the-court advisory briefs filed Friday with the U.S. Supreme Court — are harshly critical of rulings this month by a U.S. District Court judge in Texas and a three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. (Rowland, 4/18)

Modern Healthcare: AAMC: Number Of OB-GYN Residency Applicants Plummets
Far fewer medical school graduates are pursuing obstetrics-gynecology residencies as the battle over reproductive healthcare and abortion rages, making an existing shortage of specialists in the field worse. There was a 5.2% decrease in senior OB-GYN residency applicants this year, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. The drop in applicants more than doubled in 13 states with abortion bans. (Devereaux and Berryman, 4/18)

Axios: New Doctors Avoid Residencies In States With Abortion Bans
New doctors applying to medical residency programs were likelier to avoid practicing in states with the most stringent abortion restrictions, an analysis from the Association of American Medical Colleges found. Why it matters: The drop in applications, particularly for OB-GYN residencies, could exacerbate the lack of maternal health care in those states, which already have the highest maternal mortality rates in the U.S. (Dreher and González, 4/18)

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

The New York Times: Insurers Are Starting To Cover Telehealth Abortion 
The legal effort to ban mail-order abortion pills came along just as the fledgling telehealth industry became a more accepted and entrenched part of abortion care. This week, Hey Jane, one of more than a dozen virtual abortion providers that have no physical locations, began contracting with the insurers Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield of Connecticut, Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield of New York and Sana, which provides health plans for small businesses nationwide. Hey Jane also already accepted Aetna in eight of the nine states in which it operates. (Miller and Sanger-Katz, 4/18)

AP: Tenn. Lawmakers Cut Proposed Amount To Anti-Abortion Centers 
Tennessee budget writers on Tuesday said they will funnel $20 million of taxpayer dollars to help fund anti-abortion centers, marking a dramatic reduction from the original $100 million proposed by Gov. Bill Lee several months prior. “After a considerable conversation, both negotiating teams agreed that we would leave $20 million in the budget for crisis pregnancy centers,” said state Sen. Bo Watson, chairman of the Senate Finance, Ways and Means Committee. “We would also like to have further discussions on exactly who these crisis pregnancy centers are and what they do.” (Kruesi, 4/18)

AP: Harris Applauds Nevada Abortion Rights Effort At Reno Forum 
Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday applauded efforts under way in Nevada to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution, saying the move stands in stark contrast to other states where such rights are under assault. “What you are doing at the statewide level is so important,” she said during a forum on the University of Nevada, Reno, campus. Harris said she met Tuesday with several state lawmakers who supported a resolution in the state Senate this week to amend Nevada’s constitution to include abortion rights up to 24 weeks. (Sonner and Stern, 4/19)

Reuters: Biden, Facing Roadblocks In Congress, Signs Executive Order On Childcare, Eldercare 
U.S. President Joe Biden, facing congressional resistance to his "care economy" proposals, on Tuesday signed an executive order aimed at advancing free preschool and expanding affordable care for children, older Americans and those with disabilities. Biden signed the order, which includes over 50 specific actions, in the White House Rose Garden, flanked by family caregivers, people with disabilities, older adults and early childhood and long-term care workers. (Bose and Shalal, 4/18)

CNN: Biden Signs Executive Order Aimed At Expanding Access To Long-Term Care And Child Care 
Additional steps outlined in the executive order would seek to improve working conditions for early educators, long-term care workers and child care workers, with the order instructing the department of Health and Human Services to increase pay and benefits for Head Start employees, issue regulations to ensure Medicaid funding for long-term and home care workers caring for Medicaid enrollees and testing a new dementia care model that would include support for respite care under Medicare. (Judd, 4/18)

Also —

NBC News: DACA Recipients Await New Biden Rule Expanding Health Coverage
When Paloma Bouhid began working as a concierge at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida seven years ago, it was the first time she received health care insurance. But the lifeline she found through her job unexpectedly slipped away in 2020, when at 26 she lost her job during a round of mass layoffs. (Acevedo and Flores, 4/19)

In other news from the Biden administration —

Reuters: US Government Watchdog: Health Chief Becerra Violated Hatch Act
Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra violated the Hatch Act by expressing support for Democratic Senator Alex Padilla's re-election at a public event last year, a U.S. government watchdog said on Tuesday. The U.S. Office of Special Counsel report cited Becerra's comments that he intended to vote for Padilla while speaking at a Congressional Hispanic Caucus dinner in September in his official capacity as having "mixed his personal electoral preference with official remarks." (4/18)

Axios: New Alzheimer's Drug Doesn't Show Net Benefit, Report Finds
Eisai and Biogen's new Alzheimer's drug lecanemab doesn't show a net health benefit over current treatment options and, at its current price, represents low long-term value for the money, the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review said in a report on Monday. Why it matters: The findings cast doubts on the first treatment shown to delay cognitive decline from Alzheimer's — which affects over six million people in the U.S. (Bettelheim, 4/18)

In other pharmaceutical and biotech news —

Stat: Mark Cuban's Drug Company Sets Up A Pharmacy Network
In its latest bid to upend the pharmaceutical supply chain, the Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company has enlisted three dozen pharmacies around the U.S. that will accept a card that consumers can use to purchase prescription medicines at lower prices. (Silverman, 4/18)

Axios: Biobot Analytics Expands Into Norovirus Wastewater Analysis
Leading wastewater surveillance firm Biobot Analytics is now able to monitor for norovirus, Axios is first to report. Why it matters: Norovirus — which typically causes gastrointestinal symptoms such as diarrhea and vomiting — is a little-understood yet highly communicable (and sometimes fatal) disease. (Fitzpatrick, 4/19)

Fox News: AI Health Care Platform Predicts Diabetes With High Accuracy But 'Won't Replace Patient Care'
With 37.3 million people in the U.S. living with diabetes — 8.5 million of whom are undiagnosed, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — the disease is one of the deadliest and most expensive in the country. Cedar Gate Technologies, a medical tech development company in Greenwich, Connecticut, announced on Tuesday a new AI-based solution that aims to reduce the burden of diabetes for both patients and providers. (Rudy, 4/19)

Bloomberg: AI Therapy Becomes New Use Case For ChatGPT 
Milo Van Slyck missed an appointment with his therapist in early April, so he decided to try something new: telling ChatGPT about his problems. (Metz, 4/18)

Reuters: J&J Talc Unit Asks Judge To Halt Cancer Lawsuits As It Pursues $8.9 Bln Settlement
A Johnson & Johnson subsidiary is again asking a U.S. judge to pause tens of thousands of lawsuits alleging the company's baby powder and other talc products cause cancer, as it seeks to resolve the litigation in bankruptcy after a federal appeals court found its first attempt improper. (Knauth, 4/18)

On obesity drugs —

Reuters: Teladoc Expands Telehealth Services To Capture Obesity Drug Market
Teladoc Health Inc is expanding its telehealth services to include prescribing obesity drugs such as Novo Nordisk's Wegovy, in the latest sign of growing interest in a multi-billion dollar market. Shares of the company jumped 11% after Teladoc announced its foray into the weight-loss drugs market, which is globally expected to grow to $50 billion in sales by 2030. (Sunny, 4/18)

Bloomberg: Blackstone Slashes Its Ozempic Costs With AI Diabetes Program
Blackstone Inc. is trying to curb rising employee health costs with an AI-powered individualized approach to diabetes to reduce people’s reliance on costly new drugs. Early results are promising. (Tozzi, 4/17)

The Wall Street Journal: Unexpected Ozempic Side Effect? Weird Dreams 
Ozempic and other similar medications are doing more than helping people tighten belts and fit into old outfits. Many users are reporting bizarre, vivid and eerily realistic night visions that bear no resemblance to their past dreams. (Loftus, 4/18)

Modern Healthcare: MedPAC Asks Congress To Adopt Site-Neutral Post-Acute Payments 
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission will recommend Congress lower the payments to all post-acute care settings except long-term care hospitals and look to adopt smaller, site-neutral policies that should be phased out if and when a unified payment system is implemented. Industry associations, despite generally agreeing with a post-acute care prospective payment system, cautioned against taking such action before factoring in the impact of the current updates and the pandemic. (Turner, 4/18)

On the use of AI in health care —

Fox News: AI Health Care Platform Predicts Diabetes With High Accuracy But 'Won't Replace Patient Care'
With 37.3 million people in the U.S. living with diabetes — 8.5 million of whom are undiagnosed, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — the disease is one of the deadliest and most expensive in the country. Cedar Gate Technologies, a medical tech development company in Greenwich, Connecticut, announced on Tuesday a new AI-based solution that aims to reduce the burden of diabetes for both patients and providers. (Rudy, 4/19)

Bloomberg: AI Therapy Becomes New Use Case For ChatGPT 
Milo Van Slyck missed an appointment with his therapist in early April, so he decided to try something new: telling ChatGPT about his problems. (Metz, 4/18)

Modern Healthcare: HIMSS 2023: Epic, Microsoft Bring OpenAI's GPT-4 To EHRs
Epic Systems is working with Microsoft to integrate generative AI technology into its electronic health record software for the first time, the companies said Monday. The announcement was made in conjunction with the first day of the HIMSS conference, which is being held in Chicago this week. (Turner, 4/17)

In other health care industry news —

Modern Healthcare: Cleveland Clinic, Verizon To deploy 5G Network At New ‘Smart Hospital’
Verizon Business is deploying a private 5G network at Cleveland Clinic's new 'smart' hospital, the companies said Tuesday at the Healthcare Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS) conference in Chicago. (Devereaux, 4/18)

Modern Healthcare: John Hopkins Health, Sibley Memorial Settle Stark Act Violation
Johns Hopkins Health System and Sibley Memorial Hospital have settled improper payment allegations for $5 million. Sibley Memorial, in Washington, D.C., allegedly violated the Stark Law from 2008 to 2011 by billing Medicare for services referred by 10 cardiologists with whom the hospital had a financial relationship, the Justice Department said Monday. (Berryman, 4/18)

Modern Healthcare: Meharry Medical College Fined For Violating False Claims Act
Meharry Medical College has agreed to pay more than $100,000 to settle federal allegations that the medical school submitted fraudulent claims to Medicare for services provided by unsupervised, non-physician residents. (Berryman, 4/18)

NBC News: Up To 1 In 4 Students Misuse ADHD Drugs, Study Finds
More students from middle school to high school are misusing ADHD prescription drugs, amid an increasing number of children being diagnosed with the condition in the United States, a study published Tuesday finds. At some schools, as many as 1 in 4 students reported misusing drugs for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in the previous year — meaning they used the medications without a doctor’s prescription or for nonmedical reasons, according to the study in JAMA Network Open. (Lovelace Jr., 4/18)

On air pollution —

CNN: A Quarter Of Americans Live With Polluted Air, With People Of Color And Those In Western States Disproportionately Affected, Report Says
About 1 in 4 people in the United States – more than 119 million residents – live with air pollution that can hurt their health and shorten their lives, according to a new report from the American Lung Association. People of color are disproportionately affected, as are residents of Western cities. (Christensen, 4/19)

NBC News: California Sees Air Pollution Spike As National Levels Improve
Fewer people in the U.S. are breathing unhealthy air now than a few years ago, but California and other Western states are seeing more dramatic short-term spikes in air pollution, according to a report the American Lung Association released Wednesday. (Bendix, 4/19)

In other health and wellness news —

The Washington Post: An Extra 10 Minutes At Dinner May Help Kids Eat More Healthy Foods 
Parents, if you are worried about your children eating enough fruit and vegetables, try spending an extra 10 minutes with them at the dinner table. When families took about 10 minutes longer to eat dinner, children ate “significantly” more fruits and vegetables, amounting to an additional seven pieces of fruits and vegetables — one extra portion — a new study by German scientists shows. (Cimons, 4/18)

Cincinnati Enquirer: Even With Lower BMI, South Asians Face Elevated Risk Of Heart Disease
Usha Kaushik was in good health and good spirits. She exercised regularly. Maintained a healthy diet. Placed a strong emphasis on her own wellness and was thriving in her career. But days before Thanksgiving in 2021, she began to feel chest pains. She went to the emergency room and was stunned to learn from her doctor that she had suffered two separate heart attacks. She was even more stunned when she learned what had caused them. (Sutherland, 4/19)

The Washington Post: Damar Hamlin Plans To Return To NFL, Shares Commotio Cordis Diagnosis 
Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin said Tuesday he intends to resume his NFL career after receiving clearance from medical experts. Hamlin, 25, made his announcement less than four months after he suffered cardiac arrest on the field during a Jan. 2 game in Cincinnati and was resuscitated by medical personnel. He said doctors had diagnosed that his cardiac arrest was caused by commotio cordis, a rare condition in which an impact to the chest results in an abnormal heart rhythm. (Maske, 4/18)

KFF Health News: The CDC Lacks A Rural Focus. Researchers Hope A Newly Funded Office Will Help
In 2017, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published multiple reports analyzing health disparities between rural and urban populations. That effort pleased researchers and advocates for improving rural health because the dozen or so examinations of rural health data provided important details about the 46 million Americans who live away from the nation’s population centers. It began to fill a gap in the information used by those who study and address the issues that affect people in rural communities. (Saint Louis, 4/19)

KFF Health News: Listen To The Latest ‘KFF Health News Minute’ 
This week, the KFF Health News Minute looks at why state lawmakers are worried about yoga pants and how rising inflation is keeping people away from the doctor. (4/18)

Houston Chronicle: Dementia Burden: Texas Leads US In Mortality, Cognitive Decline, More
Texas has the greatest dementia burden score in the country, highlighting a lack of support received by loved ones of dementia patients, according to a report published by Seniorly Resource Center. According to the report, Texas averaged 41.9 deaths from Alzheimer’s per 100,000 people in 2021, with numbers expected to rise by 22.5 percent by 2025. (Holmes-Brown, 4/18)

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

AP: States Restrict 'Tranq,' Animal Sedative Linked To Overdoses 
States are increasingly looking to restrict access to a powerful animal tranquilizer showing up in supplies of illicit drugs and contributing to a growing number of human overdose deaths. Pennsylvania’s governor said Tuesday that his administration will add xylazine to the state’s list of controlled substances, tightening regulations on the drug and allowing authorities to charge people who violate those rules. (Levy, 4/18)

AP: Planning A Trip? Oregon's Magic Mushroom Experiment Advances
Oregon’s pioneering experiment with legalized magic mushrooms took a step closer to reality as the first “facilitators” who will accompany clients as they experience the drug received their state licenses, authorities said Tuesday. Voters approved the regulated use of psilocybin in a 2020 ballot measure, and anticipation has been building over the past 2 1/2 years for the day — expected to come later this year — when people can gain access to the drug that studies indicate has therapeutic value. (Selsky, 4/18)

Billings Gazette: Senate, House Both Sign Off On Gov's Amendments To Ban On Some Care For Trans Minors
On Tuesday the House joined the Senate in approving Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte's amendatory veto to a bill that would ban some gender-affirming care for transgender minors in Montana. The legislation is Senate Bill 99, from Sen. John Fuller, a Whitefish Republican. It passed through the House and Senate largely along party lines, with all its support coming from Republicans. A few GOP legislators, along with all Democrats, have opposed it. It's now heading back to Gianforte. (Michels, 4/18)

Des Moines Register: Groups Plead With Kim Reynolds To Veto Public Assistance Restrictions
A coalition of anti-hunger groups are urging Gov. Kim Reynolds to veto a bill that would subject Iowans to a new asset test to receive food benefits. Matt Unger, CEO of the Des Moines Area Religious Council, said his network of food pantries is already providing Iowans with record assistance. He believes Senate File 494 will make it more difficult for Iowans to receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. (Gruber-Miller, 4/18)

Anchorage Daily News: Alaska Department Of Health Sued Over Cash Assistance Delays For Blind, Disabled And Elderly Alaskans
An Anchorage civil rights law firm filed a class-action lawsuit Monday against the state Department of Health over delays processing applications for a program that provides assistance for thousands of vulnerable Alaskans. (Maguire, 4/18)

CBS News: Source Of Deadly Fungal Outbreak At Michigan Paper Mill May Be Impossible To Determine, Says Union Chief
Workers at a northwest Michigan paper mill shuttered by a deadly fungal outbreak may never know how the outbreak started, according to the head of their union local. Gerald Kell, president of the United Steel Workers Local 21, told CBS News on Tuesday the fungus afflicting the plant, blastomycosis, is endemic to the area, but pinpointing the source could be impossible. (Tin and Nelson, 4/18)

San Francisco Chronicle: Here’s How Much Soda Sales Dropped After Oakland Taxed Sugary Drinks
Purchases of soda and other sugary drinks dropped 27% in Oakland in the first 2½ years after the city adopted a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages, according to a new study by UCSF researchers. (Ho, 4/18)

KFF Health News: California’s Medicaid Experiment Spends Money To Save Money — And Help The Homeless 
Sporting a bright smile and the polished Super Bowl ring he won as a star NFL player in the late 1980s, Craig McEwen doesn’t fit the archetype of someone teetering on the brink of homelessness. Evicted from his San Diego County apartment last July, McEwen — who endured repeated concussions during his six seasons in the NFL — scoured housing listings for anything he could afford. (Hart, 4/19)

CIDRAP: Two Drug Combos Show Protection Against Severe COVID-19 
Two new randomized, controlled trials published yesterday in the Annals of Internal Medicine describe how drug combinations lowered the risk of severe COVID-19, with one detailing use of the antidepressant fluvoxamine plus the corticosteroid budesonide, and the other outlining the monoclonal antibody duo amubarvimab plus romlusevimab. (Van Beusekom, 4/18)

CIDRAP: Early Steroid Use For Severe COVID-19 Tied To Fewer Deaths 
JAMA Network Open has published a new US national cohort study demonstrating that early administration of the steroid dexamethasone was associated with significantly reduced odds of mortality or discharge to hospice in those requiring supplemental oxygen or mechanical ventilation and/or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation. (Soucheray, 4/18)

FiercePharma: AbbVie's Qulipta Gains Approval To Prevent Chronic Migraines
AbbVie’s Qulipta has gained an edge in the heated migraine market thanks to a new approval to prevent chronic migraines. (Becker, 4/18)

Reuters: US Allows Use Of Gamida's Therapy In Blood Cancer Treatment 
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Monday it had approved the use of Gamida Cell Ltd's cell therapy for cutting the risk of infection in patients undergoing treatment for blood cancer, sending the company's shares up 46%. (4/17)

Reuters: US FDA Panel Backs Innoviva's Drug For Multidrug-Resistant Bacterial Infections 
A panel of U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisers on Monday unanimously voted in favor of Innoviva Inc's (INVA.O) experimental antibiotic in the treatment of serious bacterial infections, typically associated with hospitalizations, the company said. (Mahobe and Roy, 4/17)

Reuters: US FDA Declines To Approve Eli Lilly's Bowel Disease Drug
Eli Lilly and Co said on Thursday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had declined to approve its drug to treat a type of chronic inflammatory bowel disease in adults. (4/13)

ScienceDaily: Implantable Device Shrinks Pancreatic Tumors: Taming Pancreatic Cancer With Intratumoral Immunotherapy 
In a paper recently published in Advanced Science, Houston Methodist Research Institute researchers used an implantable nanofluidic device they invented to deliver CD40 monoclonal antibodies (mAb), a promising immunotherapeutic agent, at a sustained low-dose via the nanofluidic drug-eluting seed (NDES). (Houston Methodist, 4/13)

CNN: Medication Abortion Saved My Life 
 The ruling earlier this month by a Texas federal judge to suspend the US Food and Drug Administration’s approval of a drug that is used frequently for medication abortions, is very personal for me. That’s because I took mifepristone years ago during a miscarriage, and it saved my life. (Roxanne Jones, 4/18)

Stat: OTC Naloxone Needs To Be Affordable To Make A Difference 
In an attempt to make naloxone more accessible amid the massive human toll of the opioid crisis, the FDA recently approved over-the-counter naloxone. Naloxone is the one solution that has remained constant through the evolving opioid crisis. (Jonathan JK Stoltman and Mishka Terplan, 4/17)

Bloomberg: Big Drugmakers Like Merck Are Forced To Pay Up In M&A For R&D Neglect 
Merck’s $200-a-share deal for a company that has yet to have a drug approved for sale represents a premium of 75% to Friday’s closing stock price. At first blush, this seems giddy, even desperate. That it barely registered with followers of health-care mergers says much about Big Pharma’s challenges. (Ed Hammond, 4/18)

Stat: The Adderall Shortage And Supply Chain Transparency 
The demand for Adderall has surged, with U.S. prescriptions rocketing to 41.4 million in 2021 — a 10.4% increase from 2020, according to IQVIA, a life sciences industry analytics provider. According to the Food and Drug Administration, the spike in demand, coupled with “intermittent manufacturing delays,” have created a national shortage. (Guadalupe Hayes-Mota, 4/14)

Los Angeles Times: Prescribing Drugs Remotely Saves Lives. But DEA Wants To Tighten Rules 
The explosion of telemedicine during the COVID-19 pandemic has been transformative for countless patients who might otherwise be unable to access care. But the Drug Enforcement Administration is preparing to roll back telemedicine options for many essential prescriptions. It would be a dangerous move, exacerbating already gaping disparities and imperiling the most vulnerable patients. (Kate M. Nicholson and Leo Beletsky, 4/15)

The Washington Post: The Supreme Court Should Be Wary Of Revoking An Abortion Medication 
The Supreme Court on Wednesday is expected to decide whether to grant a stay of a lower-court ruling that would revoke approval for the abortion medication mifepristone. If it fails to do so, it would betray not only decades of science supporting the safety of the drug but also the broader authority of the Food and Drug Administration. (Leana S. Wen, 4/18)

The Washington Post: Why Reports Of Period Weirdness After Covid Shots Were Ignored
One day in early 2021, Katie Lee, a former student of mine who is now a professor at Tulane University, sent a message asking if I’d heard anything about heavier or breakthrough bleeding with the coronavirus vaccines. I hadn’t, and put her message out of my mind. Two weeks later, I received my first dose, and soon afterward I got my period. I bled so heavily that I was swapping out overnight-strength pads every hour. (Kate Clancy, 4/18)

The New York Times: When TikTok Says You’re Autistic
Few, if any, psychologists would say that a preference for natural lighting, doodling in class, or even identifying as L.G.B.T.Q. is a sign of A.D.H.D. or autism. (Emma Camp, 4/19)

New England Journal of Medicine: The Dobbs Decision — Exacerbating U.S. Health Inequity 
n June 24, 2022, reproductive health care in the United States was dealt a major blow when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade decision and removed federal protection for abortion. Now states have the power to ban abortion outright, which will increase inequities that already plague the health care system and our society. (S. Marie Harvey, Dr.P.H., Annie E. Larson, Ph.D, M.P.H., and Jocelyn T. Warren, Ph.D., M.P.H, 4/15)

New England Journal of Medicine: Breast Or Bottle — The Illusion Of Choice 
The question was always posed to me in a hurried manner, an item on a long checklist that the obstetrician, labor and delivery nurse, and pediatrician all needed to get through: “Will you breast or bottle feed?” (Amy J. Kennedy, M.D., 4/15)

New England Journal of Medicine: Mainstreaming Wastewater Surveillance For Infectious Disease 
During the Covid-19 pandemic, valuable intelligence on trends in the infection rates, variants, and distribution of SARS-CoV-2 in the United States was obtained from the humblest of assets: the country’s sewage. Analyzing fragments of viral RNA shed into sewers, organizations including universities and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) used wastewater to understand disease dynamics. This information became especially important as new variants emerged and use of home antigen testing exacerbated the reporting bias present in traditional testing systems. (Michelle M. Mello, J.D., Ph.D., John S. Meschke, J.D., Ph.D., and Guy H. Palmer, D.V.M., Ph.D., 4/15)