The New York Times: Abortion Jumps To The Center Of Arizona’s Key 2024 Races 
Democrats seized on a ruling on Tuesday by Arizona’s highest court upholding an 1864 law that bans nearly all abortions, setting up a fierce political fight over the issue that is likely to dominate the presidential election and a pivotal Senate race in a crucial battleground state. Even though the court put its ruling on hold for now, President Biden and his campaign moved quickly to blame former President Donald J. Trump for the loss of abortion rights, noting that he has taken credit for appointing the Supreme Court justices who overturned a constitutional right to abortion. Just a day earlier, Mr. Trump had sought to defang what has become a toxic issue for Republicans by saying that abortion restrictions should be decided by the states and their voters. (Lerer, Nehamas and Epstein, 4/9)

The Washington Post: The Arizona Supreme Court Just Upended Trump’s Gambit On Abortion 
It took little more than a day for Donald Trump’s political gambit on abortion to come undone. On Monday, the former president declined to support any new national law setting limits on abortions. Going against the views of many abortion opponents in his Republican Party, Trump was looking for a way to neutralize or at least muddy a galvanizing issue that has fueled Democratic victories for nearly two years. He hoped to keep it mostly out of the conversation ahead of the November elections. On Tuesday, the Arizona Supreme Court showed just how difficult it will be to do that. The court resurrected an 1864 law that bans nearly all abortions, except to save the life of the mother. The law also imposes penalties on abortion providers. (Balz, 4/9)

Roll Call: Arizona Abortion Ruling Highlights Policy Struggle Within GOP
One day after former President Donald Trump backed away from a national abortion ban, an Arizona Supreme Court ruling criminalizing abortion in the state highlighted a growing GOP divide on the issue, with a trio of prominent Arizona Republicans blasting the decision. Senate candidate Kari Lake, a Trump ally who defended Trump’s false claims he won the 2020 election, and Rep. Juan Ciscomani, a rising star in the House Republican Conference, criticized the Arizona Supreme Court’s decision Tuesday enforcing an 1864 law eliminating all abortions in the state except in the case of saving the life of the pregnant person. Rep. David Schweikert, too, weighed in against the decision. (Cohen and Altimari, 4/9)

Politico: Senators To Watch As Trump Tries To Reshape The GOP On Abortion
President Donald Trump’s announcement that abortion should be left to the states sent many in the congressional GOP scrambling. But three senators in particular could feel the squeeze in the coming months. Some lawmakers are trying a new strategy. Take Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), whose wife just argued an abortion case before the Supreme Court. He aligned with Trump and said Republicans should “make the case anew” to voters to ban abortion at the state level — though that argument hasn’t seemed to work much so far. (Tully-McManus, 4/9)

Politico: Trump Said It’s Up To The States To Decide Abortion. Here’s Everything Else He Didn’t Say
Former President Donald Trump said he wants abortion to be a state issue in the post-Roe era. What he hasn’t said is how he’ll handle almost any of the chaos and complexity of leaving abortion rights to the states. So we posed a list of questions to the Trump campaign. (Messerly, 4/9)

The Hill: Arizona Governor Slams GOP Lawmakers Who Criticized New Abortion Ruling 
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) took aim at GOP lawmakers who criticized a court ruling Tuesday that held up an 1864 law that made performing an abortion a felony in the state. Hobbs said in an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper that the decision was “very harmful” for the state, noting that Arizonians are “reeling” from the ruling issued earlier today. She said she called on the legislature to repeal the “archaic ban” as soon as she took office. “I renewed that call at the beginning of this legislative session,” Hobbs continued. “The fact is that some of the Republicans right now, who are saying that this decision went too far, are the same politicians who celebrated the Dobbs decision, which paved the way for this court ruling today.” (Sforza, 4/9)

The Guardian: Arizona Republicans Denounce Revived 1864 Abortion Ban In Sudden Reversal
Hours after Arizona’s supreme court declared on Tuesday that a 160-year-old abortion ban is now enforceable, Republicans in the state took a surprising stance for a party that has historically championed abortion restrictions – they denounced the decision. “This decision cannot stand,” said Matt Gress, a Republican state representative. “I categorically reject rolling back the clock to a time when slavery was still legal and we could lock up women and doctors because of an abortion.” (Sherman and Gambino, 4/10)

The Hill: Arizona Governor ‘Confident’ Voters Will Have Chance To Enshrine Abortion Rights In November 
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) said Tuesday that she’s confident voters will have the opportunity to enshrine abortion rights in November and reverse a decision from the state’s Supreme Court that makes virtually all abortions in the state illegal. ... Hobbs said efforts to enshrine abortion access in the state have already surpassed the number of signatures to have ballot access in this year’s election and still have more months to gain support. (Irwin, 4/9)

The New York Times: Biden Condemns Arizona’s Abortion Ban as ‘Cruel’ and ‘Extreme’
President Biden condemned a decision by Arizona’s Supreme Court on Tuesday to uphold an 1864 ban on nearly all abortions as “cruel” and “extreme,” saying the law was first enacted well before women even had the right to vote. In a statement released within an hour of the decision, Mr. Biden called the ruling an “extreme agenda of Republican elected officials” and promised to continue the fight for reproductive rights and a restoration of Roe v. Wade, which had protected the right of women to have abortions for nearly a half century. (Kavi, 4/9)

San Francisco Chronicle: Arizona Abortion Ban Will Drive More Patients To California
Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California is expecting a “marked increase in patients from Arizona at our health care centers in California,” Jodi Hicks, the group’s CEO, said in a statement to the Chronicle. “We’ve been generally preparing over the last several years for more and more out-of-state patients through strategic investments and statewide efforts to move forward policy solutions to support abortion access,” she said. (Stein, 4/9)

Wyoming Public Radio: Wyoming Supreme Court Declines To Take Up State Abortion Case
The Wyoming Supreme Court has declined to rule on the future of abortion access in the state. The move is just the latest development in the lengthy legal battle over reproductive rights in the Cowboy State. Teton County District Judge Melissa Owens had asked the high court to decide if the state’s near-total and medical abortion bans — passed by the state legislature last year — are constitutional, sending over 14 questions for the justices to answer. (Merzbach, 4/9)

Abortion news from Florida —

New York Magazine: Florida Prepares For ‘Catastrophic’ 6-Week Abortion Ban
The team at the independent abortion clinic A Woman’s Choice has been overwhelmed with patients at its North Carolina and Florida locations since the overturn of Roe v. Wade. People from all over the South travel hundreds of miles to get care at the clinics, with staff doing the best they can to meet the crushing need. Hoping to alleviate some of the strain, the team decided to open a fifth location in Danville, Virginia, which borders North Carolina, last month. “We opened the clinic in Virginia because of the 12-week ban in North Carolina but then also in anticipation of the six-week ban in Florida,” says Amber Gavin, the organization’s vice-president of advocacy and operations. “We knew that there was really nowhere in the Southeast that folks were going to be able to access care after 12 weeks.” (Gonzalez-Ramirez, 4/9)

Politico: Trump’s Abortion Stance Could Put Florida Republicans In A Bind
There’s no state that will need to navigate Donald Trump’s abortion stance quite like Florida, which has authorized one of the strictest abortion bans in the country but also could broadly enshrine abortion rights protections in the state constitution through a ballot measure in November. The Republican Party of Florida and key conservative lawmakers, including Gov. Ron DeSantis, consider Florida’s ballot initiative “extreme” and want voters to oppose it. But they’re not calling on Trump to pick up a megaphone over the cause. They generally support his stance to leave one of the most politically treacherous issues for Republicans up to states to decide — even as abortion rights supporters in Arizona, a key battleground state, also are trying to put a similar initiative on the ballot. (Leonard and Sarkissian, 4/10)

Also —

The Hill: RFK Jr. Running Mate Shares Views On Abortion After Arizona Ruling 
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s running mate, Nicole Shanahan, shared her views on abortion in a lengthy post online after the Arizona Supreme Court abortion law made national news Tuesday. “People are asking about my views on abortion,” Shanahan’s post on X, formerly Twitter, began. Shanahan, recently named Kennedy’s vice-presidential candidate, is a mother to one child with Google co-founder Sergey Brin. She said that as a mother, she doesn’t “like the feeling of anyone having control over my body.” As a woman, she said she “would not feel right terminating a viable life” insider of her, especially if she and the fetus were healthy. “I can hold both beliefs, as someone who believes in the sacredness of life, simultaneously,” she said. (Irwin, 4/9)

Ms. Magazine: Meet The Republican Attorneys General Wreaking Havoc On Abortion Access 
Members of the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA) are working to fulfill anti-abortion power broker Leonard Leo's extreme agenda. (Demirhan, 4/9)

CNN: Civil War-Era Abortion Ban Rises Again, Exactly What Roe Opponents Wanted 
Laws from the 1860s in states and territories like Arizona, enacted decades before women in the US had won the right to vote, helped lead the 2022 Supreme Court to the “inescapable conclusion … that a right to abortion is not deeply rooted in the Nation’s history and traditions.” And so, with the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision that replaced Roe, justices turned away from the ’70s idea that women should have certain rights and returned to the 1860s idea that states should have them instead. (Wolf, 4/9)

Politico: Becerra Weighs Exit From Biden Administration For California Gubernatorial Bid 
Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra is considering leaving the Biden administration to mount a run for California governor in 2026, people briefed on his deliberations told POLITICO. Becerra and supporters have had conversations over the past weeks where the secretary and former California attorney general indicated to fellow Democratic officials and operatives that he would leave Washington after the November election and join the crowded field to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom in two years. (Cadelago, Gardiner and Cancryn, 4/9)

Fox News: White House Downplays Strong Biden Comments On GOP And Healthcare
The White House on Tuesday downplayed remarks President Biden made earlier in the day in which he seemed to suggest that House Republicans were essentially "killing millions of Americans" by slashing the Affordable Care Act. The president spoke at an event in the nation’s capital earlier on Tuesday, touting government spending on child care and other investments. During his speech, the president took a shot at House Republicans over their budget proposals, which "cut care-giving programs by a third." (Betz, 4/9)

On nutritional standards —

AP: New WIC Rules Include More Money For Fruits And Veggies. They Also Expand Food Choices
The federal program that helps pay for groceries for millions of low-income mothers, babies and young kids will soon emphasize more fruits, vegetables and whole grains, as well as provide a wider choice of foods from different cultures. The final rule changes for the program known as WIC were announced Tuesday by the Food and Nutrition Service, and will take effect within two years with some exceptions. (Aleccia, 4/9)

The Hill: Lunchables Found To Contain Relatively High Lead Levels 
The popular kids snack Lunchables contains relatively high levels of lead and sodium, a consumer watchdog group warned Tuesday. Consumer Reports (CR), a consumer advocacy group, said it tested 12 store-bought versions of Lunchables — which are made by Kraft Heinz — along with similar lunch and snack kits and found “relatively high levels of lead and cadmium” in the Lunchables kits. Cadmium is a chemical element linked to negative effects on the kidney and the skeletal and respiratory systems and is classified as a human carcinogen, according to the World Health Organization. There is not a safe level of lead for children, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes. (Nazzaro, 4/9)

The New York Times: To Cut Cancer Risks, E.P.A. Limits Pollution From Chemical Plants
More than 200 chemical plants across the country will be required to curb the toxic pollutants they release into the air under a regulation announced by the Biden administration on Tuesday. The regulation is aimed at reducing the risk of cancer for people living near industrial sites. This is the first time in nearly two decades that the government has tightened limits on pollution from chemical plants. (Friedman, 4/9)

NBC News: Cancer Research Institute Retracts Studies Amid Controversy Over Errors
Seven studies from researchers at the prestigious Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have been retracted over the last two months after a scientist blogger alleged that images used in them had been manipulated or duplicated. The retractions are the latest development in a monthslong controversy around research at the Boston-based institute, which is a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School. (Bush, 4/9)

Stat: After Disappointments, Cancer Vaccines Gain Momentum At AACR- STAT
Cancer vaccines have traveled a potholed road over the last decade. But as researchers from different companies and academic institutions presented promising early data at the American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting in San Diego this week, experts said there’s a collective feeling of turning a corner. “There’s a lot more interest in vaccines” now that the technology is improving, said Roy Herbst, chief of medical oncology at Yale Cancer Center. (Chen, 4/10)

Stat: U.S. Urged To License Xtandi Patents To Cut Pricey Cancer Drug's Cost
In the latest gambit to lower the cost of a pricey medicine, three advocacy groups are pushing the Biden administration to use federal laws to license patents on a cancer treatment to outside manufacturers in order to produce lower-cost versions. In a letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the groups maintain the U.S. government has the right under two different federal laws to authorize “qualified companies” to make and sell generic versions of the Xtandi prostate cancer drug. And in this instance, they argue this could be done without having to pay royalties or encounter a court injunction that would block production. (Silverman, 4/9)

The New York Times: Should Alcoholic Beverages Have Cancer Warning Labels?
Fifteen words are roiling the global alcohol industry. Beginning in 2026, containers of beer, wine and liquor sold in Ireland will be required by law to bear a label in red capital letters with two warnings: “THERE IS A DIRECT LINK BETWEEN ALCOHOL AND FATAL CANCERS” and “DRINKING ALCOHOL CAUSES LIVER DISEASE.” ... Last week, the Alaska State Legislature held a committee hearing on a bill that would require businesses selling alcohol to post signs carrying a cancer warning. (Alcorn, 4/9)

ABC News: About One-Third Of Socially Vulnerable Women Missing Recommended Mammograms: CDC
Thousands of women between ages 50 and 74 are not receiving life-saving mammograms, according to new federal data. Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention looked at the prevalence of mammography use over a two-year period, in a report published Tuesday. (Kekatos, 4/9)

The New York Times: Bill In Congress Would Force Action On U.S. Troops’ Blast Exposure
Lawmakers from both parties plan to introduce a sweeping bill in Congress on Wednesday that would force the military for the first time to track and limit troops’ exposure to damaging shock waves from firing their own weapons. Routine exposure to blasts in training and combat was long thought to be safe. But research suggests that over time, exposure to repeated blasts can cause microscopic brain injuries that lead to profound mental problems, like mood swings, insomnia, substance abuse, panic attacks and suicide. (Philipps, 4/9)

Interesting Engineering: Exposure To Blasts Can Help Pathogens Enter Your Intestine 
A study conducted on breachers (soldiers specially trained to use explosives during military operations) reveals for the first time, that individuals exposed to blasts can face intestinal health issues, in addition to other known problems.   There exists a natural barrier between our gut and the intestinal wall. This intestinal barrier prevents toxins, and harmful microbes from entering in our bloodstream. (Brahambhatt, 4/7)

NBC News: A Navy SEAL Was Convinced Exposure To Blasts Damaged His Brain, So He Donated It To Science To Prove It
Before he ended his life, Ryan Larkin made his family promise to donate his brain to science. The 29-year-old Navy SEAL was convinced years of exposure to blasts had badly damaged his brain, despite doctors telling him otherwise. He had downloaded dozens of research papers on traumatic brain injury out of frustration that no one was taking him seriously, his father said. “He knew,” Frank Larkin said. “I’ve grown to understand that he was out to prove that he was hurt, and he wasn’t crazy.” (Chan, 3/17)

More updates from Capitol Hill —

Axios: Private Equity In Health Care Gets Increased Attention From Congress
Congress is ramping up oversight of private equity's influence in health care, though lawmakers don't appear ready to give government more power to halt deals. Why it matters: Health care has been a magnet for private equity deals, even as growing data suggest its ownership of hospitals and physician groups has led to reduced staffing levels and worse patient outcomes. (Sullivan, 4/9)

KFF Health News: Congress Likely To Kick The Can On Covid-Era Telehealth Policies
Nearly two hours into a Capitol Hill hearing focused on rural health, Rep. Brad Wenstrup emphatically told the committee’s five witnesses: “Hang with us.” Federal lawmakers face a year-end deadline to solidify or scuttle an array of covid-era payment changes for telehealth services that include allowing people to stay in their homes to see a doctor or therapist. (Tribble, 4/10)

Fox News: Rand Paul Claims 'Smoking Gun' Ties Fauci, NIH To Research With 'Desire' To Create COVID-Type Virus 
After Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., sent letters to 15 federal agencies requesting information on their purported newfound connections to a 2018 grant proposal that sought to experiment with a COVID-19-type microbe, the lawmaker told Fox News the development is the "smoking gun" critics had long sought. Paul claimed the developments — to which he credited a Marine Corps whistleblower — tie the National Institutes of Health to the research and proves former National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci was untruthful in his denials before Congress. (Creitz, 4/10)

Fox News: STD Rates Skyrocket Among Americans 55 And Older: CDC 
Sexually transmitted disease rates have risen sharply in a certain age group – and which group it is may surprise you. The CDC's latest statistics on STDs in the U.S. show that chlamydia, Hepatitis C, and syphilis were among the diseases that have been infecting Americans aged 55 and older at an alarming rate. The statistics, which are as recent as 2022, show how STD rates have skyrocketed since 2000. (Vacchiano, 4/9)

CIDRAP: WHO Warns About Rising Viral Hepatitis Deaths
Global deaths from viral hepatitis are rising, despite progress with prevention and better tools for diagnosis and treatment, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned today in its annual hepatitis report, which it released at the World Hepatitis Summit. New data show that deaths rose from 1.1 million in 2019 to 1.3 million in 2022. Hepatitis is the second-leading infectious disease cause of death, with levels about the same as tuberculosis, another leading cause of infectious disease fatalities. (Schnirring, 4/9)

CIDRAP: PAHO Issues Alert About Drug-Resistant Campylobacter Cases
The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) last week urged member states to be on alert for cases of antibiotic-resistant Campylobacter infection in men who have sex with men (MSM) and outbreaks in high-risk populations. Citing a February outbreak of drug-resistant Campylobacter in 13 MSM in Minnesota, as well as and multiple small outbreaks in MSM in Canada dating back to 1999, PAHO encouraged member states in an information note to be vigilant in cases of MSM presenting with diarrhea with dysentery features. (Dall, 4/9)

On RSV, covid, and bird flu —

CIDRAP: Pfizer Reports Promising Findings For RSV Vaccine In At-Risk Adults 18 To 59 Years Old 
Pfizer today announced promising phase 3 clinical trial findings for a single dose of its respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine, Abrysvo, in adults ages 18 to 59 who are at increased risk of RSV infection and signaled that it would submit data to regulatory agencies as part of application for approval in that age-group. (Schnirring, 4/9)

San Francisco Chronicle: California COVID Hospitalizations And Deaths Hit Record Lows
California is witnessing a dramatic decline in COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths. Following a relatively subdued winter surge, the latest statistics released by the state provide a glimmer of hope as the pandemic enters its fifth year. The most recent California Department of Public Health data, published Friday, reveals that hospitalizations due to COVID-19 reached approximately 7 patients per 100,000 residents in early January, only to plummet to a historic low of 1.5 per 100,000 by March 30. (Vaziri, 4/9)

CBS News: Bird Flu Detected In Some Birds Found In New York City Parks, Green Spaces
Bird flu has been detected in some birds found in New York City parks and green spaces. Health officials are growing more concerned about the disease and warn New Yorkers to keep their distance from wildlife. Philip Meade, a postdoctoral fellow at Icahn School of Medicine, says bird flu has been found in several geese, a peregrine falcon, a red-tailed hawk and a chicken in Marcus Garvey Park in Manhattan. (4/9)

Houston Chronicle: Houston's Memorial Hermann Hospital Stops Kidney Transplants
Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center has halted kidney transplants, days after the hospital announced a liver transplant stoppage over "a pattern of irregularities" with liver donor acceptance criteria, hospital officials said Tuesday. The "irregularities," which hospital officials have declined to describe in more detail, were limited to the liver transplant program, according to a statement from the hospital. Memorial Hermann, however, decided to stop performing kidney transplants because both programs share the same leaders, the statement said. (Gill, 4/9)

Modern Healthcare: HCA Healthcare Faces More Allegations In Mission Health Lawsuit
Buncombe County in North Carolina seeks to join state Attorney General Josh Stein’s (D) lawsuit against HCA Healthcare alleging the health system shirked its Mission Health acquisition agreement. When HCA acquired Asheville, North Carolina-based Mission for $1.5 billion in 2019, Stein approved the transaction as long as HCA maintained services and increased behavioral health capacity, among other conditions. (Kacik, 4/9)

Modern Healthcare: MultiPlan, Cigna, Aetna, Others Should Face DOL Probe: AHA
The American Hospital Association wants the Labor Department to investigate the analytics company MultiPlan and its large insurer clients to determine whether they engage in business practices that disadvantage patients and providers. According to a New York Times investigation published Sunday, MultiPlan and customers such as UnitedHealth Group subsidiary UnitedHealthcare, CVS Health subsidiary Aetna and Cigna boost their finances by dispensing low payments to out-of-network providers and burdening patients with large bills. (McAuliff, 4/9)

CBS News: Lawmakers Plead For Help To Finalize Washington Health System's Merger With UPMC
Lawmakers from Western Pennsylvania are pleading for help from the state to save a health system. Washington Health System said money problems have left it with little choice but to join UPMC. Leaders in Washington County said the health care of 300,000 people is at risk if the attorney general doesn't approve a plan to let UPMC absorb Washington Health System. "The health care system will flounder if they do not merge with UPMC," Washington Health System employee Francis Kino said.  (4/10)

Los Angeles Times: Kaiser Facing Union Accusations That Patients Are Losing Mental Health Care
Months after Kaiser Permanente reached a sweeping agreement with state regulators to improve its mental health services, the healthcare giant is facing union allegations that patients could be improperly losing such care. The National Union of Healthcare Workers, which represents thousands of Kaiser mental health professionals, complained earlier this year to state regulators that Kaiser appeared to be inappropriately handing off decisions about whether therapy is still medically necessary. (Alpert Reyes, 4/9)

Modern Healthcare: Banner Health CEO Peter Fine To Retire
Banner Health CEO Peter Fine will retire June 30, the nonprofit health system said Tuesday. Fine was named president and CEO of Banner in 2000, shortly after Samaritan Health System and Lutheran Health System merged in 1999 to form the Phoenix-based system. Fine, who will resign from the board, plans to serve in an advisory role as CEO emeritus through January 2025, Banner said in a news release. (Hudson, 4/9)

Also —

NBC News: A New Study Reveals The States Where Private Equity Has The Most Influence On Housing, Health Care, Jobs And Pensions
For many years, Conemaugh Health System, a hospital chain in west central Pennsylvania, was a nonprofit entity, serving patients in the small communities of Johnstown, Hastings, Meyersdale and Roaring Spring. Today, it is a for-profit system owned in part by Apollo Global Management, one of the largest private-equity firms in the United States. Since that ownership change in 2018, involving a hospital chain known as LifePoint Health, care at the health system has declined., three patients say. (Morgenson, 4/9)

KFF Health News: Doctors Take On Dental Duties To Reach Low-Income And Uninsured Patients
Pediatrician Patricia Braun and her team saw roughly 100 children at a community health clinic on a recent Monday. They gave flu shots and treatments for illnesses like ear infections. But Braun also did something most primary care doctors don’t. She peered inside mouths searching for cavities or she brushed fluoride varnish on their teeth. (Ruder, 4/10)

KFF Health News: KFF Health News' 'An Arm And A Leg': Attack Of The Medicare Machines
In this episode of “An Arm and a Leg,” host Dan Weissmann tells a horror story. Instead of monsters and aliens, it’s about private health insurance companies and algorithms that call the shots on patient care. (4/10)

The New York Times: Parents of Michigan School Shooter Sentenced to 10 to 15 Years in Prison
Jennifer and James Crumbley, who were convicted of involuntary manslaughter for failing to prevent their teenage son from killing four fellow students in the deadliest school shooting in Michigan’s history, were each sentenced on Tuesday to 10 to 15 years in prison. Their separate jury trials ended in guilty verdicts in February and March, making them the first parents in the country to be convicted over the deaths caused by their child in a mass shooting. (Fortin and Betts, 4/9)

Stat: Virginia Governor Vetoes Plans To Create A Prescription Drug Affordability Board
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed a bill that would have created a new entity for capping the cost of prescription drugs, an increasingly popular tactic that a growing number of state lawmakers around the U.S. are exploring to control their budgets. The Prescription Drug Affordability Board, which was designed to function like a rate-setting authority, would have set upper payment limits used to cap the cost of a select number of medicines for Virginia residents who are covered by a state or local government agency or a commercial health plan. (Silverman, 4/9)

Central Florida Public Media: DeSantis Announces Expansion Of CORE, Florida’s Opioid Recovery Network
The state's Coordinated Opioid Response network, established in 2022, will cover 17 more counties, including Lake, Orange, Polk and Seminole, for a total of 29. Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday announced the expansion of Florida's Coordinated Opioid Response network, known as CORE, at a stop in Sanford. CORE, a substance abuse and recovery network established in 2022, will cover 17 more counties, including Lake, Orange, Polk and Seminole, for a total of 29. (Byrnes, 4/9)

Colorado Sun: Colorado Settles Lawsuit Over Lack Of Children's Mental Health Care
Colorado must hire an outside consultant to examine its mental health services for children after a class action lawsuit claimed the state’s policies are resulting in kids getting stuck in hospital emergency rooms and institutions. Under the terms of the settlement of the 2021 case, the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing did not admit to violating federal or state laws but agreed to pay for an outside examination of its Medicaid policies. (Brown, 4/9)

Colorado Sun: Ski Injuries: Inside The Colorado ERs That Treat Thousands Of Skiers Each Season
Marc Doucette started working in the emergency department at the St. Anthony Summit Medical Center in 2005, when about 11,000 patients a year would pass through the emergency room. Now, the annual traffic through the Level 3 Frisco emergency department is closer to 16,500. Anywhere from a third to half of those come from nearby ski areas: Arapahoe Basin, Breckenridge, Copper Mountain, Keystone and Loveland. The now CommonSpirit St. Anthony Summit Hospital runs emergency and urgent care clinics at the base of Breckenridge, Copper Mountain and Keystone. (Blevins, 4/9)

KFF Health News: Listen To The Latest 'KFF Health News Minute'
“Health Minute” brings original health care and health policy reporting from the KFF Health News newsroom to the airwaves each week. (4/9)

NBC News: Acetaminophen During Pregnancy Not Associated With ADHD Or Autism Risk
Taking acetaminophen during pregnancy has been associated with an increased risk of autism, and ADHD in children in some research. A new study suggests that it is not acetaminophen that is linked to neurodevelopmental disorders, but likely other issues such as genetics. The new report, published in JAMA on Tuesday, focused on data from more than 2 million Swedish children who were followed for up to 26 years. (Carroll, 4/9)

In other pharmaceutical and technology news —

AP: Maker Of Defective Sleep Apnea Devices Ordered To Overhaul Manufacturing 
The company responsible for a global recall of sleep apnea machines will be barred from resuming production at U.S. facilities until it meets a number of safety requirements, under a long-awaited settlement announced Tuesday by federal officials. Philips will be required to overhaul its manufacturing and quality control systems and hire independent experts to vet the changes, according to a court order announced by the U.S. Department of Justice. The company must also continue to replace, repair or provide refunds to all U.S. customers who got the defective devices, the department said. (Perrone, 4/9)

Stat: Drug Company Defends 486% Price Increase For Eye Treatment
In an era when huge price hikes for prescription drugs are almost guaranteed to draw criticism, is there any circumstance when a 486% percent increase for a medicine might appear to be justified? A small company called Harrow argues that it can make the case for an injectable eye treatment that has been used to combat several serious conditions. Company executives maintain the medication, which has been largely out of stock for the past few years, requires substantial investment in order to restore a steady supply and, moreover, was substantially underpriced. (Silverman, 4/10)

Reuters: US FDA Declines To Approve Supernus' Parkinson's Combination Again 
Supernus Pharmaceuticals said on Monday the U.S. FDA declined to approve its drug-device combination to treat movement-related symptoms of Parkinson's disease. This is the second time the regulator has refused to approve, dealing a blow to the company's years-long effort to market its pump-based treatment. (4/8)

The Boston Globe: Seaport Therapeutics Launches With $100 Million To Develop New Ways To Treat Mental Disorders
The team behind Karuna Therapeutics, the Boston biotech that was bought by drug giant Bristol Myers Squibb in a $14 billion deal in December, launched another company on Tuesday called Seaport Therapeutics that will again focus on neuropsychiatric medicines. The new Boston company has landed $100 million in its first round of fund-raising and will be led by Daphne Zohar, the founding chief executive of biotech startup creator PureTech Health, which helped launch Karuna and Seaport. (Saltzman, 4/9)

CIDRAP: US Drugs With Noted Supply-Chain Risks 5 Times More Likely To Go Into Shortage In Early COVID
In the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic, US prescription drugs flagged for potential supply-chain disruptions were nearly five times more likely to go into shortage than those without such warnings, finds a University of Pittsburgh–led study. Shortages were defined as at least a 33% drop in drug units sold within 6 months of a supply chain–disruption report to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP). Examples of such reports include those involving quality problems (eg, microbial contamination), unforeseen circumstances (eg, natural disasters), and discontinuation. (Van Beusekom, 4/5)

Newsweek: Could A Vaccine Solve The Opioid Crisis?
Congressman David Schweikert introduced a bill that would provide a prize for the successful development of a vaccine "to prevent, treat, or mitigate opioid, cocaine, methamphetamine, or alcohol use disorder." (Phillips, 4/10)

Newsweek: More Microplastics Are Showing Up In Our Food 
Recent news from a study led by Madeleine Milne with Ocean Conservancy and the University of Toronto showed that 90 percent of the items that they tested, items we find in our fridges and grocery stores—from burgers and steaks to chicken and even plant-based foods—contain those seemingly ubiquitous tiny particles of plastics, often referred to as microplastics. (Michael Rennie, 4/9)

Arizona Republic: Arizona Reinstates Near-Total Abortion Ban From 1864. Women Must Now Fight For Our Lives
Arizona’s Supreme Court just re-instated the near-total abortion ban, turning back the clock on women to the territorial era. Tuesday’s ruling is deeply troubling and utterly predictable since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, giving states the power to decide the future of reproductive rights. (Elvia Diaz, 4/9)

The New York Times: How The Pro-Life Movement’s Deal With Trump Made America More Pro-Choice 
For most of my lifetime, public opinion on abortion was fairly stable, leaning pro-choice but with a strong pro-life minority and a lot of people in the middle expressing support for some restrictions but not others. But since the mid-2010s there has been a clear shift in favor of abortion rights: More Americans support abortion without restriction that at any point since Roe v. Wade was handed down. (Ross Douthat, 4/10)

The Washington Post: New Trump Abortion Stance Is Plea For Women’s Votes, Not Their Health 
Under the Graham approach, conservative states that want to impose more draconian limits would remain free to do so; the real impact would be to limit abortion access in states that prefer more permissive rules. And while the vast majority of abortions are performed before 15 or 16 weeks, cutting off abortion access at that point would affect women in many situations where fetal anomalies are not detected until later in pregnancy. (Ruth Marcus, 4/9)