McKnight's Long-Term Care News: Providers: Staffing Rule A CMS ‘Fairy Tale’ That Will ‘Exacerbate’ Nursing Home Access Issue
Despite minor concessions in a nursing home staffing mandate issued Monday, many providers were stunned by federal regulators’ intractable stance on minimums at a time when nearly all US facilities are confronting labor shortages. ... “RNs are leaving the workforce, leaving the profession and those who are working typically choose to work in environments that are not long-term care,” LeadingAge President and CEO Katie Smith Sloan said in a statement late Monday. “The final rule does not include additional funds to pay RNs comparable or higher wages to work in long-term care.” She noted that this element alone will require an additional 3,267 additional nursing home RNs. “How can providers hire more RNs when they do not exist?” (Marselas, 4/23)

McKnight's Senior Living: Federal Nursing Home Staffing Mandate Will Siphon Workers From Senior Living, Groups Fear 
A federal nursing home staffing mandate will siphon workers from assisted living and other long-term care settings, in the long run limiting access to care and services, according to senior living experts reacting to Monday’s issuance of the finalized rule. ... “A federal mandate to hire more workers will not create more workers,” American Seniors Housing Association Vice President of Government Affairs Jeanne McGlynn Delgado told McKnight’s Senior Living. “And without additional funding to subsidize this new requirement, it sets up the system for failure.” (Bonvissuto, 4/23)

KFF Health News: Biden Administration Sets Higher Staffing Mandates. Most Nursing Homes Don’t Meet Them
The Biden administration finalized nursing home staffing rules Monday that will require thousands of them to hire more nurses and aides — while giving them years to do so. The new rules from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services are the most substantial changes to federal oversight of the nation’s roughly 15,000 nursing homes in more than three decades. But they are less stringent than what patient advocates said was needed to provide high-quality care. (Rau, 4/22)

Reuters: VP Harris To Unveil Nursing Home Rules In Battleground State Of Wisconsin 
Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to the political battleground state of Wisconsin on Monday to announce two final rules aimed at improving access to long-term care and ensuring the quality of care-giving jobs, a White House official said. The White House said Monday's announcements finalized two rules first announced in September as part of U.S. President Joe Biden's pledge to crack down on nursing homes that endanger resident safety, and to improve access to high-quality care. (Shalal, 4/22)

In other nursing home news —

CIDRAP: State COVID Policies Didn't Translate Into Fewer Cases, Deaths At Nursing Homes, Study Suggests 
A research letter published today in JAMA Network Open suggests that US states and territories that had more policies aimed at reducing COVID-19 rates in nursing homes (NHs) and home healthcare agencies (HHAs) didn't necessarily have a lower burden of the disease. "For example, on May 24, 2020, Montana, Hawaii, and Alaska had no COVID-19 deaths or policies, in contrast with North Carolina's moderate burden and several policies," the researchers wrote. "By January 12, 2021, New York had a severe COVID-19 burden and the greatest number of policies, while Pennsylvania, Montana, and Florida had a similar COVID-19 burden but fewer policies." (Van Beusekom, 4/22)

WVLT: Knoxville Nursing Facility Overcharged More Than $250K To Residents, Report Shows
A Knoxville nursing facility owes former residents, their representatives and the state of Tennessee more than $250,000 in overcharges, according to an investigation from the Tennessee Comptroller’s office. The facility, Creekview Health and Rehabilitation, reportedly “failed to manage and promptly refund accounts” for 81 residents, totaling $265,671.42. The office said the errors came about mostly because Creekview did not properly log expenses, something the center claims to have addressed. (Morgan-Rumsey, 4/22)

Stat: Biden Administration Strengthens HIPAA To Protect Abortion Privacy 
Biden officials are still pressing to shore up abortion protections amid an onslaught of legal challenges, one of which is slated for Supreme Court arguments this week. The Department of Health and Human Services on Monday released a final rule that would put abortion services under the same federal privacy protections as other health care data covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA. The rule effectively allows providers to deny access to health care data that could be used to prosecute people in abortion-restrictive states. (Owermohle, 4/22)

The Guardian: ‘Pitting Patients Against Physicians’: Doctors Brace For US Supreme Court Verdict On Emergency Abortions
Dr. Lauren Miller used to cry every day on her way to work. A fetal maternal medicine specialist in Idaho, Miller despaired over the possibility she might be forced to tell patients she could not help them. Idaho has one of the strictest abortion bans in the nation, which means Miller could only perform abortions to save a woman’s life – and many patients, even those facing medical emergencies with potentially deadly consequences, were not yet sick enough to qualify. (Sherman, 4/23)

Politico: What Counts As A Medical Exception For Abortion? Depends Who You Ask. 
Every state abortion ban has an exception to save a mother’s life. But what qualifies as a life-threatening medical emergency in Texas may not be enough for a doctor in Idaho, and even hospitals within the same state can look at an identical case and reach different conclusions. The legal and medical murkiness has physicians around the country begging state officials to clarify when they can terminate pregnancies without risking legal peril. And as they await guidance from states, stories of pregnant patients turned away from hospitals in medical emergencies or forced to wait until their vitals crash have become emblematic of the confusion unleashed when the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision ended the federal right to an abortion in 2022. (Ollstein and Messerly, 4/23)

On 'zombie' abortion laws —

Tucson.com: Group Launches Campaign To Oust 2 Arizona Justices Over Abortion Ruling
A political action group is launching a campaign to deny new terms to two of the state Supreme Court justices who voted to allow the 1864 law on abortion to once again be enforced in Arizona. The organization, called Progress Arizona, is also gearing up to kill a Republican legislator’s proposal to strip voters of the right to decide whether to retain judges in office or oust them. Supreme Court Justices Clint Bolick and Kathryn King, both appointees of former Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, are on the statewide November ballot for retention. (Fischer, 4/22)

The Hill: How Century-Old Zombie Abortion Bills Are Influencing 2024 Fight
Archaic pieces of legislation are coming back to life as the fight over abortion access rages across the country ahead of the 2024 election.  When the Arizona Supreme Court ruled to ban nearly all abortions in the state, it did so by upholding an 1864 law — passed before Arizona was made a state — that made performing abortions a felony. There are at least five other states that have similar so-called “zombie laws” on the books, which could be used to restrict or ban abortions entirely. (Choi, 4/23)

How a second Trump administration could change abortion access —

Stat: Trump Surrogates Hint At How He Could Reshape U.S. Health Care Policy 
Seven months before the presidential election, Donald Trump’s health care priorities remain fuzzy at best. But one thing is certain: A second Trump administration would put its own stamp on a host of critical issues that are top of mind for voters. (Owermohle, 4/23)

NBC News: As Trump Mulls His VP Pick, An Abortion-Rights Group Warns About 'Extremist' Candidates
As former President Donald Trump moves closer to selecting his running mate, a major Democratic abortion-rights advocacy group is taking his pool of vice presidential contenders to task over their records on reproductive rights. EMILY’s List, a group dedicated to electing Democratic candidates who back abortion rights, is focusing its annual “On Notice” list on Trump’s ever-evolving list of running mate contenders to highlight what it calls their “extreme anti-abortion agenda.” (Hernandez, 4/23)

On birth control —

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Missouri House OKs Bill Expanding Access To Birth Control
A year’s supply of contraception would have to be covered by the state’s private health insurers under a proposal that passed the Missouri House on Monday. Rep. Tara Peters, R-Rolla, who is sponsoring the bipartisan measure, has said that because Missouri is a non-abortion state, women should have the tools they need to prevent unintended pregnancy. (Pfeil, 4/22)

CBS News: Michigan Legislature Considers Bills To Allow Pharmacists To Prescribe Birth Control 
The Michigan Legislature is considering two bills that could make getting access to hormonal birth control a little easier. "We find ourselves in an OB-GYN kind of desert," said state Rep. Stephanie Young, one of the bill sponsors. "They're becoming harder and harder to locate, and when we know that we have pharmacists just up the street." (Meyers, 4/22)

NPR: Arizona Startup Is Working On Making Birth Control For Men A Reality
A research lab in Flagstaff, Ariz., is trying to leverage a 1970s discovery into a safe and desirable alternative for men who want to prevent pregnancy. (Sevigny, 4/23)

Modern Healthcare: Medicaid Managed Care Rules Aim To Increase Transparency
Regulators enacted a pair of wide-reaching rules on Monday intended to increase transparency and improve the patient experience for the more than 80 million enrollees in Medicaid managed care plans. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will require states and Medicaid insurers to annually report how carriers spend state-directed payments to providers, how their rates compare to Medicare, and survey managed care enrollees about their experience with insurance companies. (Tepper, 4/22)

Fierce Healthcare: CMS Sets Medicaid Payments To Home Care Workers At 80%
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is hoping to improve Medicaid enrollees’ access to care through a final rule that better compensates caregiving roles. Under the final rule, at least 80% of Medicaid payments for home care services will go toward wages, according to a White House news release that included a controversial nursing home staffing rule. It also permits states to factor in the “unique experiences that small home care providers and providers in rural areas face.” (Tong, 4/22)

KFF Health News: Unsheltered People Are Losing Medicaid In Redetermination Mix-Ups
On a cold February morning at the Flathead Warming Center, Tashya Evans waited for help with her Medicaid application as others at the shelter got ready for the day in this northwestern Montana city. Evans said she lost Medicaid coverage in September because she hadn’t received paperwork after moving from Great Falls, Montana. She has had to forgo the blood pressure medication she can no longer pay for since losing coverage. She has also had to put off needed dental work. (Bolton, 4/23)

More Medicaid news —

Missouri Independent: Senate Battle Over Taxes That Fund Missouri Medicaid Leaves State Budget In Limbo 
A bill renewing the federal reimbursement allowance taxes that fund Medicaid in Missouri is hung up in a factional fight among Republicans. (Keller, 4/22)

Stateline: Holdout States Consider Expanding Medicaid — With Work Requirements
In Humphreys County, Mississippi ... a third of the residents live in poverty. In Belzoni, the county seat, there are just a handful of health care clinics. The town’s only major hospital closed more than a decade ago, around the same time its catfish industry collapsed. Jobs in the area are scarce, said Wardell Walton, who was mayor of Belzoni from 2005 to 2013. But even if there were jobs, he said, a lot of Belzoni residents wouldn’t be able to get to them — they don’t own cars, and there is no public transportation. (Chatlani, 4/22)

NPR: Why Haven't Kansas And Alabama — Among Other Holdouts — Expanded Access To Medicaid?
From Nebraska to North Carolina, states with Republican-led legislatures have slowly moved toward expanding access to Medicaid for thousands of their residents. But some are still holding out. Medicaid provides health care to some 80 million Americans living on low-incomes. But millions more fall into the so-called "coverage gap" where they make too much money for Medicaid but not enough to get their own insurance. (Conlon and Hawkins, 4/22)

CNBC: UnitedHealth Paid Ransom To Bad Actors, Says Patient Data Compromised
UnitedHealth Group on Monday said it paid ransom to cyberthreat actors to try and protect patient data, following the February cyberattack on its subsidiary Change Healthcare. The company also confirmed that files containing personal information were compromised in the breach. (Capoot, 4/22)

Reuters: Drug Distributor Cardinal Health To Lose UnitedHealth Group's OptumRx Contracts 
Cardinal Health said on Monday its contracts with UnitedHealth Group's OptumRx, one of its largest customers, will not be renewed after they expire at the end of June, sending the drug distributor's shares down about 6%. At least two analysts said rival McKesson would get Optum's contracts. McKesson did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. (Sunny, 4/22)

In other health industry news —

Stat: Accreditation Agencies Launch New Telehealth Care Standards 
In the early days of the pandemic, as social distancing forced patients out of doctors’ offices, health care organizations scrambled to offer care online. In turn, health care accreditation organizations rushed to tweak their standards, filling a void in best practices for virtual visits. (Palmer, 4/23)

Axios: Hospital Emissions Reporting Proposal Is A "Game Changer"
Hospitals for the first time could be asked to report their greenhouse gas emissions to the federal health department. A new Medicare proposal to collect that data is a "game changer" for hospital efforts to fight climate change, the head of Health and Human Services' climate office told Axios. (Goldman, 4/22)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: St. Louis Hospital Launches Pediatric Diabetes Mobile Unit
Louis Davenport left his fourth grade class at Independence Elementary on Wednesday and climbed onto a giant motorhome outside his school’s front door, where he now gets his recommended doctor visits for his type 1 diabetes. Inside, a test measuring the average amount of sugar in in his blood over the past three months — known as A1C — revealed his dropped nearly a whole percentage point since his last visit. (Munz, 4/22)

Houston Chronicle: Houston's Memorial Hermann Planning Drone Deliveries Of Meds, Supplies
Memorial Hermann Health System said last week it would work with drone delivery system Zipline to bring specialty prescription and medical supply deliveries directly to patients' homes beginning in 2026. The Houston health care provider said it would be the first in the area to use this system, in which autonomous red-winged aircraft called Zips make deliveries in urban and suburban areas. (Mizan, 4/22)

In news about health workers —

San Francisco Chronicle: Kaiser Nurses Protest Use Of AI That Could Put Patient Safety At Risk
More than 100 Northern California nurses marched outside Kaiser San Francisco Medical Center on Monday to protest what they say is hospitals’ use of unproven artificial intelligence that could put patients at risk. Registered nurses represented by the California Nurses Association who work at Kaiser say Kaiser and other health care systems are rushing to implement AI technology but are not being transparent with nurses about what it’s being used for or how it benefits patients or staff. (Ho, 4/22) 

Modern Healthcare: Providence Lawsuit Results In $98M For Employees Alleging Wage Theft
A jury awarded more than $98 million to Providence Health and Services employees in a class action lawsuit over claims the health system illegally denied meal breaks and pay for time worked. King County Superior Court Judge Averil Rothrock, who presided over the case, also ruled Thursday that the health system willfully withheld wages, which under Washington state law could entitle workers to double the amount of damages awarded. (DeSilva, 4/22)

NBC News: Women Are Less Likely To Die When Treated By Female Doctors, Study Suggests
Hospitalized women are less likely to die or be readmitted to the hospital if they are treated by female doctors, a study published Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine found. In the study of people ages 65 and older, 8.15% of women treated by female physicians died within 30 days, compared with 8.38% of women treated by male physicians. Although the difference between the two groups seems small, the researchers say erasing the gap could save 5,000 women’s lives each year. (Szabo, 4/22)

The New York Times: Joel Breman, Who Helped Stop An Ebola Outbreak In Africa, Dies At 87 
Dr. Joel Breman, a specialist in infectious diseases who was a member of the original team that helped combat the Ebola virus in 1976, died on April 6 at his home in Chevy Chase, Md. He was 87. His death was confirmed by his son, Matthew, who said his father died of complications from kidney cancer. “We were scared out of our wits,” Dr. Breman, recollecting his pioneer mission, told a National Institutes of Health newsletter in 2014, as a new and even deadlier Ebola outbreak raged that year. (Nossiter, 4/22)

Modern Healthcare: Medicare Advantage Plans Must Adjust 340B Drug Pay: Hospitals
Hospitals’ fight to boost Medicare Advantage reimbursement has extended to plans' pay for 340B drugs. The hospitals’ plea to adjust Medicare Advantage pay stems from regulation aimed at making providers that participate in the drug discount program whole after the Supreme Court reversed 340B rate cuts that were in place from 2018 to 2022. (Kacik, 4/22)

NPR: Study: Drug Rep Meetings With Doctors Don't Improve Survival For Cancer Patients
When drug company reps visit doctors, it usually includes lunch or dinner and a conversation about a new drug. These direct-to-physician marketing interactions are tracked as payments in a public database, and a new study shows the meetings work. That is, doctors prescribe about five percent more oncology drugs following a visit from a pharmaceutical representative, according to the new study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research this month. But the researchers also found that the practice doesn't make cancer patients live longer. (Lupkin, 4/22)

Los Angeles Times: FDA Approves ImmunityBio's Bladder Cancer Treatment
The Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved a new treatment for a type of bladder cancer. The treatment, which will be sold under the brand name Anktiva, is intended for some patients suffering from certain types of non-muscle invasive bladder cancer, according to an FDA statement announcing the approval. (4/22)

Reuters: Contaminated Cough Syrup In Africa No Longer Available - WHO 
A contaminated batch of Benylin Paediatric Syrup is no longer available in the African countries where it was sold, the World Health Organization said on Monday. Earlier this month, Nigeria recalled a batch of the children's cough and allergy medicine after tests found that it contained unacceptable levels of the toxin, diethylene glycol. Five other African countries have also pulled the product from shelves - Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and South Africa, where the drug was made. (4/22)

Modern Healthcare: A Timeline Of Walgreens CEO Tim Wentworth’s First 6 Months
It’s been a busy six months for Walgreens CEO Tim Wentworth. The former Cigna executive came out of retirement last October to take the helm at one of the nation’s largest retail pharmacy chains, which employs 240,000 people and operates almost 9,000 stores across the U.S., Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Walgreens estimates it has a store within 5 miles of 78% of consumers. (Hudson, 4/19)

The New York Times: Supreme Court Seems Poised to Allow Local Laws That Penalize Homelessness
A majority of the Supreme Court appeared inclined on Monday to uphold a series of local ordinances that allowed a small Oregon city to ban homeless people from sleeping or camping in public spaces. The justices seemed split along ideological lines in the case, which has sweeping implications for how the country deals with a growing homelessness crisis. In a lengthy and, at times, fiery argument that lasted almost two and a half hours, questioning from the justices reflected the complexity of the homelessness debate. (VanSickle, 4/22)

The Washington Post: Activists At Supreme Court Protest Move To Penalize Homelessness
Hundreds of demonstrators gathered Monday outside the U.S. Supreme Court, waving signs that read “Housing Not Handcuffs” and “Housing Dignity” as they protested moves to legally penalize homelessness while justices heard oral arguments on a case that experts say could change how the country treats its homeless people. (Swenson, 4/22)

Central Florida Public Media: ‘Housing Is Health Care’: A Partnership With Medical Industry Advances Solutions 
The Christian Services Center on Thursday hosted a conference in which homeless services professionals, health care workers and community leaders made plans for shelter and housing ahead of the summer months. “Housing is health care,” said Warren Foster, program manager at Orange Blossom Family Health Center, a medical service center for people without homes. (Caraballo, 4/22)

On the gun violence epidemic —

Politico: Supreme Court To Take Up Biden Crackdown On ‘Ghost Guns’ 
The Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether the Biden administration acted legally when it implemented a crackdown on the sale of do-it-yourself “ghost gun” kits. The justices announced Monday that they will take up a regulation Attorney General Merrick Garland issued in 2022 that sought to consider such kits as firearms so they can’t be used to make untraceable weapons sold without background checks and frequently used in crimes. (Gerstein, 4/22)

NPR: A D.C. Surgeon On Treating Young Shooting Victims And The Toll It Takes
Treating gunshot wounds on children was not what Mikael Petrosyan expected when he entered pediatrics. Petrosyan has been working as a pediatric surgeon at the Children's National Hospital for more than a decade, and he has treated many children injured by guns. ... "It's a devastating thing to do, to lose a child for something that has been caused by guns," Petrosyan said. "It's not an accident. It was totally preventable in many ways." (Adams and Martin, 4/19)

ABC News: Possible Measles Exposure At Indiana Children's Museum During Total Eclipse Event, Officials Say
People who attended a total solar eclipse event at a children's museum in Indiana may have been exposed to measles, according to museum and health officials. An infected individual traveled to the event at the Children's Museum of Indianapolis on April 8 from out of state, the Marion County Public Health Department (MCPHD) said in a news release late Friday afternoon. (Kekatos, 4/22)

WV MetroNews: State Says Confirmed Measles Case The First In 15 Years In West Virginia
WVU Medicine says a patient in Monongalia County has tested positive for measles, the first confirmed case in the Mountain State in 15 years. The unidentified adult patient came to an outpatient clinic last week. The positive test for measles was confirmed Monday. The patient did not require hospitalization and is recovering at home. WVU Hospitals notified the Monongalia County Health Department which is monitoring the case including doing contact tracing. (Nolting, 4/22)

On disabilities and special needs —

Axios: The Newest Employer Perk: Disability Coverage For Your Kids
Soon, your employer may help cover your bills in case your kid gets seriously sick or disabled. A company called Juno said it's selling the first workplace benefit in the U.S. that kicks in cash assistance for caregiving-related expenses if a child develops a debilitating condition. (Reed, 4/22)

The Washington Post: Some 11 Percent Of U.S. Children Have Been Diagnosed With ADHD
More than 1 in 10 children in the United States — about 11 percent of those ages 5 to 17 — have been diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to a report from the National Center for Health Statistics. The report data was drawn from interviews, conducted in person and by phone from 2020 through 2022, with members of a representative sample of U.S. households. (Searing, 4/22)

In other health and wellness news —

NPR: New U.S. Heat Forecast Tool Predicts Health-Damaging Heat Risks
This summer, people across the U.S. will have a new way to keep track of dangerous heat headed their way through a new heat warning system called HeatRisk. The tool, developed by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), will be used by National Weather Service offices across the country to give people an understanding of when heat goes from uncomfortable to dangerous. (Borunda, 4/22)

NBC News: When Does 'Old Age' Begin? Study Shows Perception Has Shifted Over Time
A study published Monday suggests that people in their mid-60s believe old age starts at 75 — but the older people get, the later they think it begins. The research, published in the American Psychological Association’s Psychology and Aging journal, examined data from around 14,000 participants in the German Aging Survey, which studies old age as a stage of life in Germany. The participants were born between 1911 and 1974 and entered the survey at ages 40 to 85. (Bendix and Mogg, 4/22)

The Washington Post: Nestlé Adds More Sugar To Baby Food In Poorer Countries, Report Finds
Nestlé adds more sugar to baby food sold in lower- and middle-income countries, while more affluent markets get healthier versions, according to a recent report released by a nonprofit group. The Swiss food giant’s products in lower-income countries contained up to 7.3 grams of added sugar per serving, while the same food sold in Europe often contained none, according to the findings of an investigation by Public Eye and the International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN), based on data from the market analysis company Euromonitor. (Jeong, 4/23)

The Hill: Louisiana Education Chief Tells Schools To Ignore New Title IX Rules For Transgender Students 
Louisiana’s top education official on Monday instructed schools to ignore new Title IX rules unveiled by the Biden administration, warning that extending the civil rights law’s protections to transgender students may violate existing state and federal law. The Education Department last week issued a final set of sweeping changes to Title IX — which prohibits sex-based discrimination at federally funded schools — including an expanded definition of sex discrimination that includes sexual orientation and gender identity. In a letter sent Monday to school system leaders and board members, Cade Brumley, Louisiana’s superintendent of education, said the new Title IX rules likely conflict with Louisiana law, and schools “should not alter policies or procedures at this time.” (Migdon, 4/22)

WLRN 91.3 FM: A Florida Health Provider Says Better Building Design Can Help Patients Heal 
Medical facilities are increasingly turning to the expertise of health care architects, patients and their families, physicians, and nurses. UHealth has a growing volunteer group helping with design. (Zaragovia, 4/22)

St. Louis Public Radio: Pritzker Touts Health Insurance Reform In Belleville Visit 
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and local lawmakers kicked off a weeklong statewide tour in Belleville on Monday to promote a key legislative initiative that will end some health insurance practices they say hurt patients. The legislation, which passed the Illinois House last week and now awaits a vote in the Illinois Senate, is designed to curb insurance tactics used to control the amount and cost of care patients receive. (Bauer, 4/22)

The Wall Street Journal: They Hoped Opioid Settlement Money Would Heal Their Community. It’s Just Not Enough.
A detox center. Aid for an overflowing jail. An extra detective’s salary. These are a few of the things people in Whitley County, Ky., would like to fund with their small share of billions of dollars in settlement money from companies accused of fueling the opioid crisis. But county leaders are confronting a dispiriting reality: The funds cover a fraction of their wish list. Some of their projects likely aren’t even eligible because of confusion over restrictions on how the money can be used. As a result, Whitley County’s funds are sitting unspent. (Campo-Flores and Kamp, 4/22)

The Colorado Sun: Rural Colorado’s “Cowboy Up” Culture Has Led To High Suicide Rates
San Luis Valley cattle rancher George Whitten was halfway through a mental health workshop when he let himself tally up a figure he had never wanted to know — the number of people in his life who had died by suicide. It was eight. (Brown, 4/22)

Minnesota Public Radio: $15 For A Pack Of Cigarettes? Supporters, Opponents Speak Out Ahead Of Minneapolis City Council Meeting
Outside A to Z Tobacco in Minneapolis on Sunday, Julio Lopez Ocotoxtle hit a fresh pack of cigarettes against his palm, loosening them up. He lit one up. If the Minneapolis City Council passes a measure set to be considered later this week, the price of those cigarettes could increase significantly — to a minimum price of $15 a pack. That’s up from $11.35 to $13.50 a pack for some brands being sold at the store earlier this week. (Spencer, 4/23)

KFF Health News: California Legislators Debate Froot Loops And Free Condoms
California state lawmakers this year are continuing their progressive tilt on health policy with dozens of proposals including a ban on a Froot Loops ingredient and free condoms for high schoolers. As states increasingly fracture along partisan lines, California Democrats are stamping their supermajority on legislation that they will consider until they adjourn at the end of August. But the cost of these proposals will be a major factor given the enormity of the state’s deficit, currently estimated at between $38 billion and $73 billion. (Thompson, 4/23)

The Washington Post: If Bird Flu Shows Signs Of Pandemic Spread, The U.S. Is Well Prepared 
While only two people in the United States have contracted this H5N1 strain of the avian flu (one last year and one this month), wider spread could be catastrophic, given that, in past outbreaks, the disease has killed one of every two people who are infected. (Leana S. Wen, 4/23)

Bloomberg: With H5N1 Bird Flu Outbreak In Cows, CDC Stumbles Again 
The bird flu outbreak at US dairy farms keeps finding alarming new ways to surprise scientists. Last week, the US Department of Agriculture confirmed that H5N1 is spreading not just from birds to herds, but among cows. Meanwhile, media reports suggest an unknown number of cows are asymptomatic. (Lisa Jarvis, 4/22)

Kansas City Star: Republican War On Abortion Rights Hurts Black Kansas Women 
When I was carrying my youngest son, I had to rush to the emergency room as I experienced critical, preterm bleeding. I was shocked when the doctor dismissed my concerns and told me that a “little spotting” was ”normal.” Luckily, both my son and I were completely healthy when I gave birth — but that wasn’t the case with my daughter, Ariel. (Jeanna Repass, 4/21)

Stat: Easing Early Coverage Of Gene Therapy After Accelerated Approval 
Gene editing and therapy to replace missing or defective genes is one of the most exciting recent medical developments, offering tremendous hope for people with rare diseases and genetic conditions. With so little known about the long-term risks of gene therapy, we contend that the safest and best value to both patients and society will emerge within a framework of early evidence-development strategies following early coverage decisions. (Lee A. Fleisher and Matthew A. Fleisher, 4/23)

Stat: CIA's Mind-Control Projects Offer Lessons To A Psychiatrist In Training
My chief resident gave me a strange look when I arrived for another day of work at the Mayo Clinic one morning. “Something you’re not telling us?” she asked, gesturing to the two letters on my desk from the Central Intelligence Agency. The jokes — about how I was secretly working for America’s international spy service — wrote themselves. I laughed along. (Casimir Klim, 4/23)