First Edition: April 14, 2021

KHN: A Year Into Pandemic, Federal Officials Design New Mask Guidelines To Better Protect More Workers
Federal officials announced new measures to help get fresh, new N95 masks to health care workers and expand their use in other industries after scientists argued that the highly protective masks are essential to keep workers safe from covid-19. The changes come as U.S. mask-makers say the demand from hospitals is so sluggish that they’ve laid off 2,000 workers and fear some new protective gear companies could collapse. Yet in a letter to lawmakers, hospitals cite ongoing concerns about scarce supplies, saying limits on which workers should get N95s must stay in place. (Jewett, 4/14)

KHN: 4 Things To Know About The J&J Covid Vaccine Pause
The messaging surrounding vaccine safety and efficacy may mean as much as the science. That was true when the first covid vaccines were introduced in December at hospitals and nursing homes and even more so after the federal government on Tuesday paused the Johnson & Johnson vaccine after reports of extremely rare but very serious side effects emerged. Most health experts largely applauded the government for its decision, saying it showed regulators making vaccine safety their top priority. (Galewitz, 4/14)

KHN: Syphilis Cases In California Drive A Record-Setting Year For STDs Nationwide
In certain circles of San Francisco, a case of syphilis can be as common and casual as the flu, to the point where Billy Lemon can’t even remember how many times he’s had it. “Three or four? Five times in my life?” he struggles to recall. “It does not seem like a big deal.” At the time, about a decade ago, Lemon went on frequent methamphetamine binges, kicking his libido into overdrive and silencing the voice in his head that said condoms would be a wise choice at a raging sex party. (Dembosky, 4/13)

KHN: Analysis: I Was A Teenage Rifle Owner, Then An ER Doctor. Assault Weapons Shouldn’t Count As ‘Guns.’
Many who know me might be shocked by this: I shot my first pistol when I was 8 or 9, taught by my father, a physician, aiming at targets in our basement. At summer camp, I loved riflery the way some kids loved art. Staring through the sight, down the barrel, I proved an excellent shot, gathering ever more advanced medals from the National Rifle Association. As a reward, for my 13th birthday, my uncle gave me a .22 Remington rifle. I did not grow up on a farm or in a dangerous place where we needed protection. I grew up in the well-off, leafy suburb of Scarsdale, N.Y. (Rosenthal, 4/14)

Politico: Biden Officials Bracing For Possibility Of Weekslong Disruption To J&J Vaccine Supply
Biden administration officials are preparing for the possibility that the pause in use of the Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine could last for weeks — and perhaps longer for certain portions of the American population. “It's going to be more like days to weeks, rather than weeks to months," Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, said Tuesday at a White House briefing. His remarks came hours after the Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended the break, citing six cases of a rare and severe type of blood clot among the 6.8 million Americans who have received Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine. (Banco and Roubein, 4/13)

The Washington Post: Why Biden Health Officials Decided To Pause J&J’s Coronavirus Vaccine
When top Biden administration health officials gathered on a Zoom call Monday night, they knew they faced a difficult decision. Six women in the United States had developed extremely rare but potentially life-threatening blood clots after getting the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine — a problem with disturbing parallels to the one in Europe linked to AstraZeneca’s vaccine. Initially, some suggested the government could just issue a warning to consumers and doctors. They didn’t want to undermine confidence in vaccines given the danger of covid-19. But as they talked, two big worries emerged. They feared there might be additional cases of brain blood clots they didn’t know about. And what if the government didn’t act quickly, and as a result more people got the wrong diagnosis and treatment and were hurt or died? (McGinley, Sun and Stead Sellers, 4/14)

NPR: Johnson & Johnson Vaccine And Blood Clots: What You Need To Know 
The FDA says the clots are a rare and severe type that happens in the blood supply that drains the brain. It's called cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, or CVST, and it is being seen in combination with low levels of blood platelets (a condition called thrombocytopenia). The symptoms of CVST vary, but they can include headache, blurred vision, fainting or loss of consciousness, loss of control over movement in part of the body and seizures. (Godoy and Harris, 4/13)

Roll Call: White House Resists Pressure To Space Out COVID-19 Vaccine Doses 
Calls to administer as many first doses of two-dose COVID-19 vaccines as soon as possible are growing and the White House faces questions about why it’s not redirecting vaccines to hot spots as some U.S. regions see surges of the disease and problems have halted the delivery of millions of doses. Manufacturing mistakes and reports of an extremely rare but serious blood clot have put on hold millions of Johnson & Johnson vaccines, stretching supply. (Kopp, 4/13)

Bloomberg: J&J Covid Vaccine Pause Risks Hesitancy Even As U.S. Sees Ample Supply Of Shots 
The sidelining of J&J, however temporary, leaves the U.S. with two other shots that already made up the bulk of its vaccination campaign -- from Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc. Vaccines from those two companies account for 95% of the shots allocated in the U.S. this week. Pfizer’s top executive said Tuesday that the company would speed up promised deliveries of its shots to the U.S. in coming weeks. (Wingrove and LaVito, 4/13)

Roll Call: States React To Short Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 Vaccine Pause 
Federal officials say they expect the recommended pause of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine to last only a few days and said it should not impact the United States' vaccination goals. The Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced early Tuesday morning that the agencies recommended a pause in Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccinations while the agencies reviewed safety data. (Cohen and Kopp, 4/13)

CNBC: States Rush To Replace J&J Vaccine Appointments After FDA Recommends Pause
More than two dozen states took steps Tuesday to halt inoculations with Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine, shortly after the Food and Drug Administration recommended to pause its use after reports some women developed a rare blood clotting disorder. The states, like the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, stressed that they were acting out of an abundance of caution, as more than 6.8 million doses of J&J’s vaccine have been injected and only six of the blood clotting cases have so far been reported. (Breuninger, 4/13)

ABC News: Colleges That Intended To Vaccinate Students With J&J Navigate The Temporary Pause
For colleges and universities, the one-shot Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 shot has been the simplest solution for quickly and fully vaccinating students who will soon disperse around the country in early May, otherwise risking both infection and transmission as they go. But when it was paused on Tuesday in order for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Food and Drug Administration to further investigate rare blood clots in a very small percentage of patients, those schools had to temporarily return to the drawing board. (Haslett, 4/14)

Modern Healthcare: Long-Term Care Providers Concerned By Effects Of J&J COVID-19 Vaccine Pause
The American Health Care Association and the National Center for Assisted Living are calling for the federal government to prioritize the vaccination of long-term care residents and staff after federal regulators suggested temporarily halting use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine over concerns about blood clots. "Unfortunately, today's development essentially halts vaccinations in long term care, as the federal government was primarily allocating the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to nursing homes and assisted living communities," Dr. David Gifford, chief medical officer for AHCA/NCAL, said in a prepared statement. "Without swift action to replace these vaccines, we could see tragic consequences." (Christ, 4/13)

The Hill: Michigan Reps Reintroduce Measure For National 'Forever Chemicals' Standard
Reps. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) and Fred Upton (R-Mich.) have reintroduced legislation targeting so-called forever chemicals that previously passed the House, expressing optimism that the Democratic Senate is more likely to pass the measure. The legislation would establish a national drinking water standard for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and allow the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to clean up sites contaminated by such substances under its Superfund program. (Budryk, 4/13)

The Hill: Mark Ruffalo Joins Bipartisan Lawmakers In Introducing Chemical Regulation Bill
Actor Mark Ruffalo joined two Michigan lawmakers on Tuesday to announce the introduction of legislation that would increase regulations on certain chemicals. Reps. Debbie Dingell (D) and Fred Upton (R) introduced the PFAS Action Act, a measure designed to protect consumers from perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances that can be found in water, food and fish. Prolonged exposure to the chemical substances can lead to cancer and thyroid disruption, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. (Gans, 4/13)

ABC News: Jon Stewart, Lawmakers Announce Legislation To Help Veterans Impacted By Burn Pits
Comedian Jon Stewart joined lawmakers on Tuesday to announce legislation that would make it easier for veterans with diseases linked to burn pits to access Veterans Affairs benefits. "For those that have fought and defended and served this country, for them to come home and have to fight against the very government that they volunteered to defend is immoral," Stewart said, with Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Rep. Raul Ruiz, D-Calif., and Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa. standing nearby with a group of advocates, some of them veterans. (Robinson, 4/13)

The Hill: Jon Stewart Accuses VA Of Being 'An Obstacle' To Burn Pits Medical Care
Former “The Daily Show” host Jon Stewart on Tuesday accused the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) of being “an obstacle” to providing medical coverage and care to service members who have developed illnesses from burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan. In an interview on Fox News’ “The Story with Martha MacCallum,” Stewart, who has in recent years become increasingly involved in advocacy on behalf of veterans and 9/11 first responders, brought attention to the open air piles of burning trash and fuel that the VA estimates that more than three million service members have been exposed to. (Castronuovo, 4/13)

Axios: White House Issues First-Ever Proclamation On Black Maternal Health 
The White House on Tuesday issued its first-ever presidential proclamation marking Black Maternal Health Week as part of an effort to highlight racial gaps in pregnancy and childbirth-related deaths. The U.S. retains the highest maternal mortality rates in the developed world, largely due to high mortality rates among Black mothers, according to research by Commonwealth Fund. Black women in the U.S. are 2.5 times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than white women. (Chen, 4/13)

CNN: Vaccine Passport Apps Are About To Be Everywhere. It Could Get Complicated 
As the vaccine rollout continues to accelerate and the broader US economy prepares to reopen, talk of vaccine verification apps has heated up. Tech companies, health care providers and even retail stores are working on digital health pass apps that will allow users to show proof of vaccination before entering events and businesses. The state of New York is already scanning IBM's Excelsior app at the door of venues such as Madison Square Garden ahead of sporting events; if you've tested negative for Covid-19 or received a vaccine, you can watch a Rangers hockey game in person. (Murphy Kelly, 4/13)

Stateline: Vaccinations Lag For Home Health Workers
Health care workers were among the first U.S. residents eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine. But months into the vaccination rollout, survey data suggests that nurses and aides who work in people’s homes are less likely to have had shots than their counterparts in hospitals and nursing homes. Just a quarter of home health care workers were vaccinated by early March, compared to about two-thirds of hospital workers and half of nursing home workers, according to a joint poll by the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation and The Washington Post. (Quinton and Hernández, 4/13)

Roll Call: Broader Vaccine Eligibility May Exacerbate Racial Inequities 
States and the federal government are trying to stop the COVID-19 vaccine equity gap from growing as vaccine eligibility opens up to all adults — but officials don't have much time. Black and Hispanic individuals are getting shots at a lower rate than white Americans, and polling indicates this is due more to challenges in getting the vaccine than a vaccine hesitancy problem. President Joe Biden has said states would open up vaccine eligibility for all adults by April 19, and public health experts say that could exacerbate the equity gap unless states work quickly to level the playing field. (Cohen, 4/13)

Bloomberg: Understanding Vaccine Hesitancy Among Black Americans 
Over the past few months, you’ve probably heard a lot about the Tuskegee experiment. That was a study that began in 1932 in which hundreds of Black men with syphilis were told they were being treated for “bad blood.” In fact, researchers wanted to study what would happen if their syphilis went untreated. The study ran for 40 years—in that time, the men never received the proper treatment to cure their illness. The study has become shorthand for why people of color may hesitate to trust vaccines, even though Black Americans have died at twice the rate of White Americans due to Covid-19, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prvention data. (Brown, 4/13)

Bloomberg: More Than 797 Million Shots Given: Covid-19 Vaccine Tracker
The biggest vaccination campaign in history is underway. More than 797 million doses have been administered across 154 countries, according to data collected by Bloomberg. The latest rate was roughly 18 million doses a day. In the U.S., more Americans have received at least one dose than have tested positive for the virus since the pandemic began. So far, 190 million doses have been given. In the last week, an average of 3.21 million doses per day were administered. (4/12)

The Hill: State Record-Keeping On Vaccinations Leads To Patchwork Approach
States are taking various approaches to keeping track of COVID-19 vaccine recipients in the absence of a national database. That’s led to a variety of methods for providing residents with documentation should they lose the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) card that’s often handed to recipients for their own records. The CDC does not keep track of individual vaccinations, and records usually are left with patients, doctors and clinics. From there, states can decide how much or how little data they want to collect. (Gans, 4/13)

Bloomberg: A New Virus Variant Is Rampaging Through Latin America
Latin America reported more Covid-19 cases and deaths than at any time since the pandemic started in the seven days through Sunday, as new variants rip through the region. Most of those cases and deaths are in Brazil, which has the region’s biggest population but also its deadliest outbreak on a per capita basis. The P.1 variant, first spotted in the Amazon city of Manaus in December, has pushed the health system to breaking point and is spreading beyond Brazil’s borders. Uruguay, which came through the first wave of the virus relatively unscathed, reported more than 1,000 cases per million inhabitants in the past week. That’s the most in the world. (Boyd, 4/13)

Bloomberg: Are China’s Covid Shots Less Effective? Experts Size Up Sinovac 
The lower protection rates of China’s Covid-19 vaccines have raised concerns about shots that are key to inoculation rollouts from Brazil to Indonesia, especially after their efficacy was questioned by one of the most senior Chinese health officials. Bloomberg spoke to two experts about the vaccines, zeroing in on the Sinovac Biotech Ltd. shot, which has been the focus of a crisis in confidence after it posted efficacy levels of just above 50% in a final stage trial in Brazil -- the minimum level required by leading global drug regulators. Other Chinese immunizations have delivered rates from 66% to 79%, still far behind the shots developed by Pfizer Inc., Moderna Inc. and even Russia’s Sputnik vaccine that have logged protection rates of more than 90%. (4/13)

CNBC: Covid Vaccine: Moderna Says Its Shot Is 90% Effective 6 Months After Second Dose
Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine was more than 90% effective at protecting against Covid and more than 95% effective against severe disease up to six months after the second dose, the company said Tuesday, citing updated data from its phase three clinical trial. The update brings Moderna a step closer to filing its request for full U.S. approval for its vaccine. Full approval requires a more rigorous review process to show the shot is safe and effective for its intended use. Once it gets full approval, Moderna can begin marketing the shots directly to consumers and selling them to individuals and private companies in the U.S. (Lovelace Jr., 4/13)

Axios: Pfizer Says It Can Deliver 10% More Vaccine Doses To U.S. By End Of May 
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla on Tuesday announced the company has ramped up production of its coronavirus vaccine and can deliver 10% more doses to the U.S. by the end of May than it previously agreed to produce. Bourla added that the company can deliver the full 300 million doses two weeks earlier than expected. (Gonzalez, 4/13)

The Hill: Pfizer Pushes To Speed Up Its Vaccine Delivery After J&J Pause
Pfizer's CEO said Tuesday that the company has ramped up its vaccine production to deliver doses more quickly following a pause in distribution of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Albert Bourla, Pfizer's CEO, tweeted that the company could complete an order of 300 million COVID-19 vaccines two weeks early following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) earlier Tuesday urging states to halt distribution of the J&J vaccine. Bourla wrote that his company is on pace to finish the order of 300 million doses it agreed to provide by the end of July two weeks early, adding it could provide 10 percent more than it originally agreed to by the end of May. (Bowden, 4/13)

Bloomberg: Moderna Says Covid Shot Remains 90% Effective After Six Months 
Moderna Inc.’s coronavirus vaccine remained more than 90% effective after six months, according to a new analysis of data from the company’s final-stage trial. Beginning two weeks after the second dose, the shot was more than 90% effective overall, and more than 95% effective at preventing severe cases, according to a statement. The company didn’t release further details and said the follow-up results were preliminary as the study is continuing. (Langreth, 4/13)

Stat: In Puzzle Of Rare Blood Clots And Covid Vaccines, Researchers See Clues
A week after receiving the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, a 37-year-old woman in Norway went to the emergency department with fever and persistent headaches. A CAT scan of her head showed a blood clot in blood vessels involved in draining the brain, but her levels of platelets, involved in clotting, were low. She was treated with platelet infusions and a blood thinner, but had a bleed in her brain the next day. She underwent surgery to relieve the pressure on her brain but died two days later. (Herper, 4/13)

Bloomberg: Vaccine Blood-Clot Side Effect Puts Focus On Immune Reaction 
Rare cases of clotting that have been seen with two Covid-19 vaccines have put the spotlight on an uncommon reaction that occurs when the body unleashes its immune firepower against blood platelets. Health officials are exploring whether and how the immune reaction may occur in people who have received vaccines made by AstraZeneca Plc and Johnson & Johnson. Concerns have risen so high that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Food and Drug Administration jointly recommended a pause in the use of the J&J vaccine on Tuesday. (Lauerman and Langreth, 4/13)

Reuters: EU Commission To End AstraZeneca And J&J Vaccine Contracts At Expiry - Paper
The EU Commission has decided not to renew COVID-19 vaccine contracts next year with companies such as AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson (J&J), Italian daily La Stampa reported on Wednesday citing a source from the Italian Health Ministry. “The European Commission, in agreement with the leaders of many (EU) countries, has decided that the contracts with the companies that produce (viral vector) vaccines that are valid for the current year will not be renewed at their expiry,” the newspaper reported. It added that Brussels would rather focus on COVID-19 vaccines using messenger RNA (mRNA) technology, such as Pfizer’s and Moderna’s. (4/14)

Reuters: UK Trial On Switching COVID-19 Vaccines Adds Moderna And Novavax Shots
A UK study into using different COVID-19 vaccines in two-dose inoculations is being expanded to include shots made by Moderna and Novavax, researchers said on Wednesday. The trial, known as the Com-Cov study, was first launched in February to look at whether giving a first dose of one type of COVID-19 shot, and a second dose of another, elicits an immune response that is as good as using two doses of the same vaccine. The idea, said Matthew Snape, the Oxford University professor leading the trial, “is to explore whether the multiple COVID-19 vaccines that are available can be used more flexibly”. (Kelland, 4/14)

CNN: Severe Covid-19 Infection: Reduce Risk With Regular Physical Activity, Study Says 
A history of being consistently active is strongly associated with a reduced risk of severe Covid-19, according to a new study released Tuesday. The Kaiser Permanente study, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, looked at nearly 50,000 adults with Covid-19. The research found that those who met the target of the US Department of Health and Human Services' physical activity guidelines -- of at least 150 minutes per week of moderate to vigorous physical activity -- showed significantly lower incidences of hospitalization, ICU admission and death due to Covid-19 illness. (Santas, 4/13)

The New York Times: Some Children With Covid-Related Syndrome Develop Neurological Symptoms
Reports about the mysterious Covid-related inflammatory syndrome that afflicts some children and teenagers have mostly focused on physical symptoms: rash, abdominal pain, red eyes and, most seriously, heart problems like low blood pressure, shock and difficulty pumping. Now, a new report shows that a significant number of young people with the syndrome also develop neurological symptoms, including hallucinations, confusion, speech impairments and problems with balance and coordination. The study of 46 children treated at one hospital in London found that just over half — 24 — experienced such neurological symptoms, which they had never had before. (Belluck, 4/13)

CNN: School Meals Are The Healthiest Food Children Eat, Study Finds 
School food is often given a bad rap, but a new study found it can be the healthiest meal children eat in a day. Researchers analyzed the diets of over 21,000 children and 40,000 adults between 2003 and 2018 and found that the percentage of "poor nutritional quality food consumed from schools" declined from 55% to 24% over the 15-year period, according to a study published Monday in JAMA Network Open. (Marples, 4/13)

The New York Times: Zoom Burnout Is Real, And It’s Worse For Women
For all the advantages and disadvantages of remote work, video calls have emerged as such a widespread pain point that the term “Zoom fatigue” has entered our lexicon — a catchall phrase referring to the tiredness related to video calls on any number of platforms. Now, research from Stanford University published on Tuesday found that women experience significantly more Zoom fatigue than men. The research, which hasn’t been peer-reviewed, suggests that video calls simply amplify the longstanding gender dynamics in group settings and exacerbate an already wide gender stress gap, with women consistently reporting more stress and stress-related health conditions than men, according to the American Psychological Association. (Haridasani Gupta, 4/13)

The Washington Post: A Poultry Plant, Years Of Groundwater Contamination And, Finally, A Court Settlement
Even with the stomach cramps, nausea and hurried trips to the bathroom several times a day, Gary Cuppels never suspected his tap water. He kept drinking it, brushing his teeth with it and bathing in it. Not until he came home one night and found a large pallet of water bottles on his porch did Cuppels start to worry. A note from his “friends at Mountaire,” the chicken processing plant up the road in rural Delaware, said he should drink the bottled water instead of the groundwater his deep well pulled from the northern Chesapeake aquifer. That was in 2017. Investigators would later find that abnormally high level of nitrogen produced by the plant had long made the drinking supply dangerous, possibly even deadly. (Fears, 4/13)

Stat: It's Hard To Get Released On Medical Parole, Unless You Have Covid 
During his 39 years in prison, the closest Joseph Messere ever came to walking free was when he was intubated, unconscious, and dying of Covid-19. The opportunity pinged onto his attorney’s phone just before Christmas, in a series of voicemails from the Massachusetts Parole Board. (Boodman, 4/14)

Axios: NFL Effectively Mandates COVID Vaccinations For Coaches, Other Staff 
The NFL outlined in a memo sent to all 32 teams that support staff, including coaches and trainers, should be vaccinated against COVID-19 "unless they have a bona fide medical or religious ground for not doing so." Anyone who doesn't fit this category and refuses vaccination will be ineligible for Tier 1 or 2 status and "will not be permitted access to the 'football only' restricted area and may not work directly or in close proximity with players," according to the memo, first reported by the NFL Network. (Falconer, 4/13)

The Wall Street Journal: Startups Offer New Pregnancy Tests With Privacy And Calm In Mind
The unwritten rituals of home pregnancy tests are known to many: Don’t linger too long in front of the shelf in the drugstore. Hide the box under other items in your basket. Wrap up the used test before throwing it in the trash. Pregnancy tests have evolved since they first hit aisles in the 1970s, but the anxieties around them have not. Multiple scenarios can bring on varying degrees of disquiet, from bumping into someone you know while furtively buying a test, to feeling alone and bewildered once the result is known. “There’s so many other experiences and feelings involved, other than the actual peeing on a stick,” said Cynthia Plotch, the co-founder of Get Stix Inc., which does business as Stix. (Deighton, 4/14)

Stat: Mayo Clinic Launches Two Companies To Tap Patient Data For AI Tools
Mayo Clinic is forming a pair of companies to collect and analyze data from remote monitoring devices and diagnostic tools, a move that comes as part of a broader bid to harness patient data to deliver continuous care guided by artificial intelligence. The ultimate goal of the companies is to deliver more precise physiological information to patients and doctors around the clock, allowing them to make faster decisions to head off disease and deliver care without the usual morass of extra office visits and trips to the pharmacy. (Ross, 4/14)

Stat: PhRMA Chief Talks Strategy — And His Surprising Optimism On Drug Pricing
Steve Ubl, who leads the drug industry lobbying powerhouse PhRMA, has a bold prediction: Democrats might control the House, Senate, and White House, but Covid-19 has given pharma the advantage in the debate over drug pricing. It’s bold because there is not a single House Democrat who voted against H.R. 3, the ambitious Democratic drug pricing bill that the pharmaceutical industry detests. (Florko, 4/13)

Stat: Appeals Court Upholds FTC View Of Controversial Pay-To-Delay Settlements
In what is being called a win for consumers, a U.S. appeals court upheld a decision by the Federal Trade Commission that a so-called pay-to-delay deal between two drug makers was anti-competitive. At issue was a deal reached in 2010 between Endo International (ENDP) and Impax Laboratories, which agreed not to market a generic version of the Endo’s Opana ER painkiller for three years in exchange for $112 million. (Silverman, 4/13)

CNN: Ohio Abortion Law: Appeals Court Upholds Down Syndrome Abortion Law In Case With Supreme Court Implications 
A US appellate court decision on Tuesday upholding an Ohio law that prohibits abortions because of fetal Down syndrome evades major Supreme Court precedent and is certain to reverberate in cases nationwide. The decision by a 9-7 vote implicitly challenges Supreme Court decisions dating to 1973 that protect the abortion choice in the early weeks of a pregnancy and could open up a new front in the enduring battle over a woman's constitutional right to end a pregnancy. (Biskupic, 4/13)

AP: The Latest: Governor Bans Vaccine Passports For Montana
Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte has issued an executive order banning the development or use of vaccine passports in Montana. Vaccine passports are documents that could be used to verify coronavirus immunization status and allow inoculated people to more freely travel, shop and dine. The move by Gianforte on Tuesday comes as vaccine passports have drawn criticism as a heavy-handed intrusion into personal freedom and private health choices. Gianforte says in a statement that he encourages all Montana residents to get vaccinated but that it is “entirely voluntary.” (4/13)

AP: Wrestlers At Youth Tournament Contract The Coronavirus
Minnesota health officials are urging those who attended a recent youth wrestling tournament in South Dakota to get tested for COVID-19 after a number of wrestlers contracted the coronavirus. Officials have been concerned about youth sports fueling an increase in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations. Positive infections have been found in 16 of the 2,000 wrestlers plus spectators from Minnesota who were in Sioux Falls for a state meet held by the Northland Youth Wrestling Association March 31-April 3, the Star Tribune reported. (4/13)

AP: Virginia Expands Medicaid Access For Legal Immigrants
Gov. Ralph Northam and state legislators approved a budget last year that eliminated the rule. The change went into effect this month. Northam’s line budget amendment includes $4.4 million in state funds for this change, according to the Virginia Poverty Law Center. Freddy Mejia, a policy analyst at the Commonwealth Institute, said the old rule was a roadblock for legal permanent residents. The Commonwealth Institute is an organization that analyzes the impact of fiscal and economic issues on low-income communities. (Jones, 4/13)

AP: Hawaii Pauses J&J, But Moving Ahead With Vaccine Plan
The Hawaii Department of Health said Tuesday it will pause the use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine in the state in accordance with U.S. recommendations, but officials say they are still on track to begin opening vaccinations to everyone over the age of 16 next week. The suspension comes after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration said they were investigating unusual clots that occurred six to 13 days after vaccination. The rare clots occurred in six women, out of the more than 7.2 million adults who’ve received the shot. One of the patients died and another remains hospitalized in serious condition. (McAvoy, 4/14)

Bloomberg: Canada Overtakes U.S. In Daily Covid Cases For First Time 
For the first time since the pandemic began, Canada has passed a grim milestone, with more new Covid-19 cases per capita than the U.S. There have been roughly 22 new recorded cases per 100,000 people in the country over the past 7-days. Ontario is being hit the hardest with hospitals coming under increasing strain, especially in Toronto, the country’s largest city. “This is the worst moment of the pandemic, thus far,” Kevin Smith, Chief Executive Officer of the University Health Network, said in an interview Monday. “Our ICUs are full.” (Bochove and Hertzberg, 4/12)

The Wall Street Journal: Covid-19 Variants Stress Canadian Hospitals
Hospitals in Canada’s most populous province are canceling surgeries, transferring patients and preparing for the possible need to ration care as they face a surge in Covid-19 variants that is putting more pressure on Ontario’s healthcare system than at any other time in recent history. As of Monday, the number of adult Covid-19 patients in intensive-care-unit beds had risen 44% from the beginning of the month to reach 623, according to data compiled by Critical Care Services Ontario. About two-thirds of those patients were on ventilators. Previously, the number of Covid-19 patients in critical-care beds had peaked at 415 in mid-January. (Mackrael and Vieira, 4/13)

AP: The Latest: Spain Keeps Immunization Goal Despite J&J Delay
Spain’s prime minister says his government is maintaining its goal of immunizing 70% of the nation’s adult population, some 33 million people, by the end of the summer despite the delay in the European rollout of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Spain was expecting to receive 300,000 doses of the Janssen vaccine on Wednesday, the first delivery of the jab produced by Johnson & Johnson. The country wants to prioritize people aged between 70 and 79 to receive the single-dose vaccine. (4/14)

Bloomberg: AstraZeneca Covid Vaccine: Denmark Sees Plausible Link Between Shots, Clots 
Denmark, which has suspended AstraZeneca’s vaccine the past month, said there’s a plausible link between the shot and blood clots. The side effect of patients getting so-called thrombosis in combination with thrombocytopenia is “very rare” but of a higher probability than in the general population, the Danish Medicines Agency said in a statement on Tuesday. Denmark has since March 11 suspended AstraZeneca’s vaccine and is due to announce whether to start using it again later this week. (Buttler, 4/13)