First Edition: April 21, 2021

KHN: Strides Against HIV/AIDS Falter, Especially In The South, As Nation Battles Covid
Facing a yearlong siege from the coronavirus, the defenses in another, older war are faltering. For the last two decades, HIV/AIDS has been held at bay by potent antiviral drugs, aggressive testing and inventive public education campaigns. But the COVID-19 pandemic has caused profound disruptions in almost every aspect of that battle, grounding outreach teams, sharply curtailing testing and diverting critical staff away from laboratories and medical centers. (Varney, 4/21)

KHN: Another Soda Tax Bill Dies. Another Win For Big Soda. 
A rogue industry. A gun to our head. Extortion. That’s how infuriated lawmakers described soft drink companies — and what they pulled off in 2018 when they scored a legislative deal that bars California’s cities and counties from imposing taxes on sugary drinks. (Young, 4/21)

KHN: Censorship Or Misinformation? DeSantis And YouTube Spar Over Covid Roundtable Takedown.
In early April, YouTube took down a video featuring Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and a group of controversial scientists at a March 18 coronavirus roundtable. The online video platform, owned by Google, cited as its rationale that the video contained false statements about the efficacy of children’s mask-wearing. The decision has drawn public blowback on social media and from DeSantis himself. (Knight, 4/21)

KHN: Listen: A Rookie Doctor Starts Her Career, Forged By The Pandemic
On this week’s episode of “America Dissected,” host Dr. Abdul El-Sayed spoke with Dr. Paloma Marin-Nevarez, an emergency medicine resident at UCSF Fresno, and KHN senior correspondent Jenny Gold about the challenges Marin-Nevarez faced as a new doctor learning the ropes during a devastating pandemic. Each July, thousands of new physicians begin their on-the-job training at hospitals across the U.S. Marin-Nevarez began caring for severely ill covid patients just a few months after the beginning of the pandemic. (4/21)

CNN: CDC Vaccine Advisers Will Meet Friday To Discuss The J&J Vaccine. Here's What Could Happen Next 
Vaccine advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention meet Friday to make recommendations for use of the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine after it was put on hold to investigate a potential link to serious blood clots. The CDC and US Food and Drug Administration recommended a pause on use of the J&J coronavirus vaccine last week following six reported US cases of a rare and severe type of blood clot. (Mascarenhas and Cohen, 4/20)

The New York Times: Johnson & Johnson To Resume European Union Vaccine Rollout 
Johnson & Johnson said Tuesday that it would resume the rollout of its coronavirus vaccine in Europe after the European Union’s drug regulator said that a warning should be added to the product indicating a possible link to rare blood clots, but that the shot’s benefits outweigh the risks. The company decided to delay distribution in the bloc’s 27 member states last week, after regulators in the United States suspended use of the vaccine there amid concerns about the potential side effect. (Stevis-Gridneff, 4/20)

AP: Nevada Teen Suffers Seizures, Brain Clots After J&J Vaccine
An 18-year-old woman in Nevada who suffered seizures after receiving the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine has received three brain surgeries related to blood clots, a spokesperson for her family said. Emma Burkey began feeling sick about a week after receiving the one-dose vaccine early this month, spokesman Bret Johnson said. She was one of six women in the U.S. and the only reported resident in Clark County, which includes Las Vegas, who experienced a serious clotting side effect. One person died. (4/20)

CNN: These Blood Clot Experts Want You To Get A Covid-19 Vaccine. Here's Why. 
It was just about a year ago that doctors started noticing Covid-19 patients showing up in emergency rooms with strokes, and complained that blood clots were clogging up dialysis machines and other equipment being used to keep coronavirus patients alive. Frantic intensive care unit specialists reported "dramatic" blood clots in the heart, liver and other organs. Autopsies of coronavirus victims in New Orleans showed their lungs were jammed with clots. (Fox, 4/20)

AP: Hitting Latest Vaccine Milestone, Biden Pushes Shots For All
The U.S. is set to meet President Joe Biden’s latest vaccine goal of administering 200 million COVID-19 shots in his first 100 days in office, as the White House steps up its efforts to inoculate the rest of the public. With more than 50% of adults at least partially vaccinated, Biden on Wednesday will reflect on his efforts to expand vaccine distribution and access in his first three months in the White House. But with all those 16 and older now eligible for shots, the president is expected to outline his administration’s plans to drive up the vaccination rate even further. (Miller, 4/21)

NBC News: Trump Administration Awarded A Firm $1.3 Billion To Make Covid Vaccine Syringes. Where Are The Syringes?
A year after a Connecticut company was awarded almost $1.3 billion in federal loans and contracts to supply an essential syringe for the Covid-19 vaccine rollout, no syringes have been made. The syringe hasn't received even the first of a series of approvals it needs from the federal government before it can be manufactured, and a factory promising 650 jobs remains unbuilt. ApiJect Systems Corp. positioned itself as the company that would make the difference between a stumbling rollout and delivery of lifesaving vaccines. But as the U.S. vaccine rollout hits full stride, with about half of adults in the U.S. having already received at least one injection, the need for ApiJect's device has waned, leaving the contracts and loans in question. (Lehren and Strickler, 4/21)

Stat: Congress Probes Emergent's Ties To A Key Trump Official
A pair of top House Democrats is investigating whether Emergent BioSolutions (EBS), which was responsible for contaminating millions of doses of the Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) Covid-19 vaccine, traded on its relationship with a key Trump administration official to win federal contracts. In a letter to the company, which is one of the biggest contract manufacturers in the pharmaceutical industry, the lawmakers noted they are reacting to reports that Emergent received a $628 million contract last June to create the main U.S. facility for making Covid-19 vaccines for both J&J and AstraZeneca (AZN), despite a history of inadequately trained staff and quality control problems. (Silverman, 4/20)

The Wall Street Journal: Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 Vaccine Adds $100 Million To Quarterly Sales
Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine contributed $100 million to the company’s sales growth in the latest quarter, though the outlook for future sales is uncertain due to pauses in vaccinations while health authorities in several countries probe safety concerns. The European drug regulator said Tuesday a safety committee recommended that a warning about a rare, serious blood-clot condition be added to the product information for J&J’s vaccine. The European Medicines Agency didn’t halt use of the vaccine and said its benefits continue to outweigh risks. It said the clot risk was very low but that people should be aware of symptoms so they can quickly get treated. (Loftus and Grossman, 4/20)

The Wall Street Journal: Johnson & Johnson Shows Health Economy Is Nearing Full Strength
After a year of pandemic-related disruptions, the healthcare industry has nearly returned to business as usual. Wall Street doesn’t yet seem to have noticed. Take Johnson & Johnson for instance. Investors and the general public have focused lately on Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine, the rollout of which has been paused by regulators in the U.S. as adverse events related to blood clotting are reviewed. While European regulators declined to halt the vaccine on Tuesday, and shots could resume soon in the U.S., the vaccine itself isn’t material to the company’s finances. (Grant, 4/20)

Stat: Pfizer Shareholders Urged To Reject Political Donations Contradicting 'Values'
Arguing that Pfizer’s political spending conflicts with the company’s publicly stated values, a philanthropic organization is urging shareholders to support a proposal that would require the drug maker to publish an annual report analyzing its donations. The proposal, which is among those to be voted on at the Pfizer (PFE) annual meeting on Thursday, addresses political contributions that pose not only financial risks, but could also jeopardize its standing with the public at large, according to The Tara Health Foundation, which supports numerous organizations devoted to women’s health, the environment, and socially conscious investing. (Silverman, 4/20)

New York Post: Herpes Infection Possibly Linked To COVID-19 Vaccine, Study Says
Herpes infections may be a side effect of the COVID-19 vaccine, experts have revealed. Scientists in Israel identified six cases in a new study of patients developing a skin rash known as herpes zoster after receiving the Pfizer vaccine, according to a study in the Rheumatology journal. Herpes zoster starts off as a small, itchy skin rash, but if left untreated, it could cause nerve damage and pain, the Jerusalem Post reported. (Salo, 4/20)

AP: North Dakota, Manitoba Announce Joint Border Vaccine Program
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister unveiled a plan Tuesday to administer COVID-19 vaccinations to Manitoba-based truck drivers transporting goods to and from the United States. The Essential Worker Cross-Border Vaccination Initiative expects to vaccinate up to 4,000 Manitoba drivers in the next six to eight weeks, the two leaders said in a release. Burgum said North Dakota has adequate vaccine supplies and it benefits both countries to work together on giving shots. (4/20)

Los Angeles Times: L.A. Temporarily Closes Dodger Stadium, Other Vaccination Sites For Chauvin Verdict
The city of Los Angeles shut down Dodger Stadium and eight other COVID-19 vaccination sites Tuesday afternoon in anticipation of mass demonstrations with the verdict in the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin imminent. The closures, which also apply to mobile vaccination clinics run by the city, are temporary and are a “simple precaution,” according to the office of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. (Nelson, 4/20)

Houston Chronicle: Galveston County To Close Mass Vaccination Site In League City
Galveston County officials announced Tuesday that its mass COVID-19 vaccination site at Walter Hall Park will no longer be available for appointments beginning May 1, saying the site has largely accomplished its goals. Philip Keiser, the county’s local health authority, characterized the closing of the site as a milestone for the county’s relative success in getting as many as 4,000 doses of vaccine out per day. The site will continue to fill appointments for second doses through next week before shutting down for good. (Powell, 4/20)

Philadelphia Inquirer: COVID Vaccine Hesitancy Among Gen Z Increasing. Targeted Public Health Messaging Can Help, Experts Say
COVID-19 vaccine interest among Generation Z, those born between 1997 and 2012, has dropped in recent months, according to new polls — a worrying trend as the country opens vaccine eligibility to everyone over age 16. In a NBCLX/Morning Consult poll conducted last month, 26% of Gen Z respondents said they will not get vaccinated, and 19% said that they do not yet know whether they will. In a similar poll conducted last year, only 5% of Gen Z said that they would not get vaccinated, demonstrating a sharp increase in vaccine hesitancy at a time when other groups are growing more accepting of the vaccine. A recent STAT-Harris Poll also found that 21% of Gen Z respondents said they would not get vaccinated against COVID-19, while 34% said that they would “wait a while and see” before getting vaccinated. (Ao, 4/19)

Bloomberg: Gen Z And Millennials Are The Next Challenge For U.S. And U.K.
As the days grow longer, there’s a palpable feeling of hope in the air — at least in the more fortunate western countries. Thanks in part to vaccines, Covid-19 deaths are dropping in the U.K. and the U.S., enabling parts of normal life to resume. But, as we’re well aware, it’s not over yet. If we want to have a shot at halting transmission, everybody needs their jabs. Governments around the world desperately need to close the yawning vaccine gap between rich and poor nations. But as wealthy nations begin offering vaccinations to younger cohorts, they may hit a challenge closer to home. (Lara Williams, 4/21)

Stat: Most Americans Say U.S. Should Donate Covid Vaccines To Other Countries
Three-quarters of Americans believe the U.S. government should start donating Covid-19 vaccines to other countries, but only after every person in the U.S. who wants a vaccine has received one, according to a new survey from STAT and The Harris Poll. At the same time, just over half of Americans said they agree with the idea that the Biden administration should immediately start donating vaccines to other countries in order to achieve global herd immunity, which reflects growing concern that the coronavirus cannot be contained until most of the world is vaccinated. (Silverman, 4/21)

The Wall Street Journal: Old U.S. Covid-19 Hot Spots Are The New Hot Spots 
The recent rise in Covid-19 cases in the U.S. has largely been driven by a handful of states, many of them the same places that first emerged as hot spots a year ago. Through Monday, about 75% of the previous week’s new cases in the U.S. came from Michigan, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Covid-19 cases and the rate of new cases per 100,000 people are resurging in several states that, for long stretches, had kept the pathogen relatively at bay. Outside of the period from Thanksgiving to New Year’s, Michigan, Pennsylvania and New Jersey haven’t seen levels this high during the pandemic. And outside of that same holiday period, New York hasn’t had this many new cases since spring, and Florida not since the summer. (Umlauf and Ulick, 4/20)

CNN: The Country May Soon Reach A Tipping Point On Covid-19 Vaccine Demand. Here's Why That's Concerning 
As US health officials race to get more Covid-19 shots into arms to control the virus, experts now warn the country will run into another challenge in the next few weeks: vaccine supply will likely outstrip demand. "While timing may differ by state, we estimate that across the U.S. as a whole we will likely reach a tipping point on vaccine enthusiasm in the next 2 to 4 weeks," the Kaiser Family Foundation said in a new report published Tuesday. (Maxouris, 4/21)

USA Today: Michigan Was Warned About UK COVID-19 Variant, But Many Ignored It
A deadlier coronavirus variant that had first ravaged Britain was now here — in metro Detroit, at the University of Michigan, a state prison in Ionia and rural counties in the Thumb region — with doctors, nurses and public health officials fully aware. And yet Michiganders — from state prison employees to small business owners and local officials to parents of high school athletes — ignored medical experts' repeated warnings about the highly infectious variant. They rebuffed stay-in-place recommendations, allowed crowded events to occur and turned a blind eye to defiant behavior, according to thousands of internal health department emails and contact tracing notes from across the state and interviews with those in charge. (Baldas, Chatterjee, Kravitz and Fortis, 4/20)

ABC News: Study Shows COVID-19 Case Rates In Schools Higher Than Previously Believed
A Nebraska study on asymptomatic COVID-19 cases in schools has found that infection rates may be higher than previously believed. OPS PROTECTS, an Omaha Public School district program in a partnership with the University of Nebraska Medical Center, found that infection rates in schools involved in the first phase of the pilot program were two-and-a-half times higher for staff and nearly six times higher for students than what was being reported through routine self-initiated tests and reporting. (Deliso, 4/20)

Roll Call: Lack Of National COVID Testing Strategy Drives Confusion 
The United States still lacks a comprehensive COVID-19 testing strategy more than a year into the pandemic, as the spread of variants and increasing case counts threaten to undermine the effects of the vaccine rollout. Some public health experts say the rise in new cases underscores the importance of a single, adaptable strategy as states lift restrictions amid spreading variants. (Clason, 4/20)

San Francisco Chronicle: Low-Wage Workers In California Say COVID Protocols Are Lacking On The Job
Single mom Aracely Nava said she was constantly afraid of virus contagion while she continued to work at a San Francisco fast-food restaurant during the pandemic. “All the time people were coming in from the street without masks,” she said in Spanish through an interpreter. “They never put anyone by the door counting the number of people who came in to maintain a certain number. A manager was allowed to work for over a week (while) really sick with flu symptoms.” (Said, 4/21)

People: Ted Nugent Tests Positive For COVID After Calling Pandemic A 'Hoax' 
Ted Nugent has tested positive for COVID-19, after referring to the pandemic as a "hoax" on several occasions. The staunch Trump supporter, 72, took to Facebook Live on Monday to reveal he was diagnosed earlier that day, while perpetuating anti-vaccine conspiracy theories and racist language toward the AAPI community. ... He referred to his symptoms as a "clusterf—", detailing the "stuffed-up head" and "body aches" he's experienced. "My God, what a pain in the ass," Nugent continued. "I literally can hardly crawl out of bed the last few days. But I did, I crawled." (Garner, 4/20)

CIDRAP: Study: ICU ECMO Experience A Factor In COVID-19 Patient Survival
An analysis of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) use at 17 intensive care units (ICUs) in the greater Paris area during France's first COVID-19 wave reveal that 90-day survival was strongly linked to a hospital's earlier experience with the procedure. Investigators from France detailed their findings yesterday in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine. (4/20)

Stateline: Long-Haul COVID Renews Push To Expand Palliative Care
The COVID-19 pandemic, which has left an estimated tens of thousands of Americans with long-term debilitating symptoms, has prompted a renewed push to provide full palliative care services to seriously ill patients in their homes. Palliative and hospice organizations are in talks with the Biden administration to create such a benefit as a demonstration project in Medicare, the health plan for older Americans. If successful, they hope it would become a permanent benefit in Medicare and then be offered under Medicaid, the federal/state program that covers lower-income Americans, and commercial insurance plans as well. (Ollove, 4/20)

Reuters: Fujifilm Starts New Late-Phase Trial Of Avigan In Japan For COVID-19 Patients 
Fujifilm Holdings Corp said on Wednesday it started a new phase III trial in Japan of its Avigan drug for COVID-19, reviving hopes for a home-grown treatment for the virus. Domestic approval for the antiviral drug to treat the coronavirus was dealt a setback in December after a health ministry panel said that trial data was inconclusive. Fujifilm has over the years pivoted from its traditional camera and office solutions businesses to health care. (4/21)

Stat: Syndax Pharma Drug Shows Remissions In Leukemia Patients
Syndax Pharmaceuticals said Tuesday that its genetically targeted cancer drug induced complete remissions in patients with advanced leukemia, although questions may linger about a heart-related side effect that limited dosing. The Syndax drug, a once-daily pill called SNDX-5613, belongs to an emerging class of so-called menin inhibitors that have the potential to become effective treatments for certain types of genetically defined leukemia that do not respond well to currently approved medicines. These drugs work by blocking the interaction of two proteins that prevents bone marrow cells from developing or differentiating into healthy cells. (Feuerstein, 4/20)

Stat: Beam Unveils New CRISPR Base Editing Tool To Target Sickle Cell 
Right now, trillions of donut-shaped red blood cells are whizzing through your arteries, ferrying oxygen from your lungs to the tips of your fingers and toes and everywhere in between. But if you’re one of the millions of people around the world who have sickle cell disease, this constant shuttle is constantly getting disrupted. (Molteni, 4/20)

Stat: Why Hospitals Hate Bernie Sanders’ Medicare At 60 Push 
Progressives in Congress, led by Sen. Bernie Sanders, have ramped up pressure on President Biden to honor his campaign pledge to lower the Medicare eligibility age to 60 — but their push is likely to hit a hospital industry-sized roadblock. The Biden White House hasn’t concretely committed to including a major health care initiative in its next legislative push, which is expected to be geared toward family-centered policies including paid leave and child care, but Sanders (I-Vt.) told STAT in a brief interview Tuesday he hasn’t lost hope. (Cohrs, 4/21)

Stat: Top Senate Republican Holds Up CMS Nominee Over Medicaid Waiver
A top Senate Republican is holding up the confirmation of President Biden’s nominee to lead Medicare and Medicaid, he told STAT. In a brief interview, Sen. John Cornyn (Texas) said he had placed a hold on the confirmation of Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, the pending administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, using a phrase that refers to a senators’ ability to temporarily block a nomination from advancing to a vote. His opposition, he said, stems from the Biden administration’s recent rejection of Texas’ request to extend its Medicaid waiver, which the Trump administration had previously approved. (Cohrs and Facher, 4/20)

Modern Healthcare: Insurers Spent More On Lobbying As Congress Debated ACA And COBRA Subsidies
Insurers spent record high totals on lobbying this year as congressional Democrats worked on multi-billion dollar legislation to subsidize commercial health plans and expand access to coverage. America's Health Insurance Plans, which represents insurers like Cigna and Centene, spent $3.9 million on lobbying in the first quarter of 2021, a 7% increase over the same time period last year. That's the most money AHIP has ever spent on lobbying in a first quarter, representing the changing political landscape in Washington that tends to favor expanding access to health coverage, which often means subsidizing commercial health plans. (Hellmann, 4/20)

Axios: Oscar Health Launches A Tech Platform 
Tech-enabled insurance provider Oscar Health just launched its tech platform for payers and providers, called +Oscar, but the company still faces some steep hurdles. +Oscar is a standalone business that expands on previous partnerships. The company is selling it to everyone from other payers looking to improve their consumer experiences to medical groups looking to jump into value-based care arrangements. (Reed, 4/21)

The Boston Globe: A Year Into COVID, Hospitals Find A New Normal
After battling COVID for more than a year and weathering two surges of sick patients, Massachusetts hospitals are settling in to a new normal. They’ve shifted from managing a raging crisis to incorporating COVID into their daily work. For the foreseeable future, hospitals expect to continue treating COVID patients — though the number could rise as variants spread or fall as more people get vaccinated. Hospitals across the state are treating about 700 COVID patients, 23 percent in intensive care, even as the economy reopens and more than 2 million people in Massachusetts are fully vaccinated. (Dayal McCluskey, 4/20)

Modern Healthcare: Wyo. Hospital Offers Bonus To Healthcare Workers Willing To Get Vaccinated Before Summer
In a meeting on Friday afternoon the board of trustees at the hospital passed the "COVID safety" bonus program with unanimous support. Over $500,000 was allotted toward the program. The impending wave of tourism is one of the reasons hospital employees are being encouraged to get fully vaccinated by May 31. Workers to able to get fully vaccinated will receive a one time bonus of $600 prorated, based on hours worked, by June. Currently 74% of staff are vaccinated, twice the rate of the surrounding area of Teton County. (Gellman, 4/20)

Modern Healthcare: Additional Downstream Care Mutes Telehealth Cost Gains, Study Finds
Patients who used telehealth for upper respiratory infections were more likely to receive more follow-up care than those who sought in-person care, a new study found. More than 10% of the telehealth users had an in-person visit the next week, compared with 5.9% of patients who went to a clinic, according to an analysis of around 86,000 Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Michigan claims from 2016 to 2019. While the study didn't quantify the value of the follow-up care, University of Michigan researchers found that the telemedicine cohort had fewer (0.5% versus 0.6%) emergency department visits but more subsequent office, urgent care and telemedicine visits. (Kacik, 4/20)

The New York Times: Dementia Risk After Age 50 Increases With Less Sleep, Study Says 
Could getting too little sleep increase your chances of developing dementia? For years, researchers have pondered this and other questions about how sleep relates to cognitive decline. Answers have been elusive because it is hard to know if insufficient sleep is a symptom of the brain changes that underlie dementia — or if it can actually help cause those changes. (Belluck, 4/20)

CNN: Poor Sleep Nearly Doubles Risk Of Sexual Dysfunction In Women, Study Says 
Consistently getting a bad night's sleep may lead to an unsatisfactory sex life for many older women, a new study finds. In fact, women who slept poorly were nearly twice as likely to report issues such as lack of sexual interest or pleasure than women who got plenty of shut-eye, according to the study published Wednesday in Menopause: The Journal of The North American Menopause Society. (LaMotte, 4/21)

Bloomberg: U.S. Poverty Rate Rose To Pandemic High Ahead Of New Stimulus
The U.S. poverty rate rose to 11.7% in March, the highest level yet during the pandemic following an increase in the latter part of last year as many government benefits expired, a study showed. The March 2021 estimates indicate that without additional aid many in the U.S. continued to suffer from the economic impacts from Covid-19, according to research released Tuesday by economists Jeehoon Han, from Zhejiang University, Bruce Meyer, from the University of Chicago, and James Sullivan of the University of Notre Dame. The projections didn’t capture benefits provided by the American Rescue Plan signed last month. (Tanzi, 4/20)

The Washington Post: USDA Extends Pandemic Universal Free Lunch Waivers Through School Year 2021-2022 
The United States Department of Agriculture announced Tuesday it would extend universal free lunch through the 2021-2022 school year, in an effort to reach more of the estimated 12 million youths experiencing food insecurity. In March, the USDA said these waivers, which made school meals more flexible to administer, would be extended only to Sept. 30, leaving schools and families uncertain about what next school year might look like. (Reiley, 4/20)

Roll Call: Veterans Hit By Huge Pandemic-Related Records Backlog 
After Navy veteran Jack Ray Hoaglan died from the coronavirus in December, his family tried to arrange a military funeral for the 73-year-old. They needed paper records from the National Personnel Records Center to prove the Ohio native’s service aboard the USS Enterprise decades ago. The phones at the St. Louis center, however, went unanswered. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the NPRC has sat empty, with employees working remotely. And records requests, most of which require someone to physically search for documents within the building, have been piling up. (Satter, 4/20)

Fox News: Opioid Vaccine In The Works, Could Be 'Game Changer For Addiction,' Researcher Says
Research is underway to develop a twice-per-year vaccine that may help people overcome opioid addiction. The vaccine, which is being funded in part by a $25 million grant from the National Institutes of Health Helping to End Addiction Long-term Initiative (HEAL), targets fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid estimated to be 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. "This could be a game changer for addiction," Therese Kosten, professor of psychology at the University of Houston, said, according to a news release posted on EurekAlert.org. (Hein, 4/20)

The Hill: P&G Is Raising Prices On Feminine-Care Brands This Fall 
If you menstruate, you already know how costly tampons and pads can be — not to mention the Advil for your cramps and skincare for those pesky zits. This fall, the price tag is about to get even higher. Thanks COVID. The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted the global supply chain and driven up demand for many care products, including toilet paper and diapers, while others, including razors (looking at you with the overgrown beard), have dropped. Feminine care sales dropped in European markets last year, according to the P&G third quarter report, but were partially offset by "premium innovation growth in North America."  (Srikanth, 4/20)

Politico: Florida’s Transgender Sports Ban Headed For Defeat In GOP-Controlled State Senate
The Republican-controlled Florida Senate appears to be abandoning a controversial transgender sports ban, a development that would hand LGBTQ activists and Democrats a huge victory. The bill, which specifies that K-12 and college sports teams must be designated based on “biological” sex while charging state agencies with crafting policies to hash out gender disputes, was condemned by the LGBTQ community and lawmakers who viewed the measure as discriminatory toward transgender students. (Atterbury, 4/20)

AP: Families, Doctors Urge Alabama To Reject Trans Treatment Ban
Transgender youth, parents and advocates on Tuesday urged the Alabama House of Representatives, as well as the state’s governor, to reject legislation that would ban the use of puberty-blockers or hormones to treat transgender minors. Arkansas earlier this month became the first state to approve such legislation. Alabama could be the second if House members approve the Senate-passed bill. Parents, medical providers and a transgender teenager spoke out against the Alabama bill during a virtual press conference hosted by the Human Rights Campaign. (Chandler, 4/20)

AP: Montana Blocks Bill To Ban Gender Affirming Surgery In Youth
The Montana Senate voted Tuesday to indefinitely postpone a bill that would have banned gender affirming surgery for transgender minors, effectively killing the proposal. The measure had faced significant opposition from medical experts, transgender people and human rights advocates, who testified earlier this year that gender affirming surgery is rarely undertaken by minors, but medical decisions should be left up to families. (Hanson and Samuels, 4/21)

AP: Arizona Governor Vetoes Strict Sex Education Legislation
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey on Tuesday vetoed legislation that would have made the state’s sex education laws some of the strictest in the nation when it comes to teaching about LGBTQ issues. The governor called the legislation overly broad and vague and said it would lead to unintended consequences. He also said he was concerned a ban on sex education before 5th grade could put vulnerable children at risk by limiting sexual abuse prevention education. (Christie, 4/21)

AP: New Version Of Idaho 'Fetal Heartbeat' Abortion Ban Advances
A Senate panel on Tuesday advanced a measure that would outlaw nearly all abortions in conservative Idaho by banning them once a fetal heartbeat can be detected. The legislation makes providing an abortion to a woman whose embryo has detectible cardiac activity punishable by up to five years in prison, and it would allow the woman who receives the abortion to sue the provider. (Ridler, 4/21)

AP: Judge Orders LA To Offer Shelter For Homeless On Skid Row
A federal judge overseeing a sweeping lawsuit about homelessness in Los Angeles on Tuesday ordered the city and county to find shelter for all unhoused residents of Skid Row within 180 days and audit any spending related to the out-of-control crisis of people living on the streets. In a fiery 110-page order, Judge David O. Carter slammed officials’ inability to restrain the unprecedented growth of homelessness that has seen encampments spread into nearly every neighborhood in the region. (Weber, 4/21)

Los Angeles Times: Garcetti's L.A. Guaranteed Basic Income Plan: What To Know
Los Angeles is poised to become the latest city to try universal basic income. Mayor Eric Garcetti included a $24-million Basic Income Guaranteed program in his city budget to be released Tuesday. L.A. would become the biggest city to try the concept, possibly joining Stockton, Compton and others. (Smith, 4/20)

AP: Czech Republic Rolls Out J&J Vaccines
The Czech Republic is rolling out the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccines after examination by the European regulator. ... The Czech Health Ministry says the first 14,400 dozes will be sent to general practitioners across the country. Another 24,000 J&J vaccines are expected to be delivered next week. (4/21)

AP: Mexican President Gets COVID Vaccine After Waffling On Shot
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador finally got a coronavirus vaccine Tuesday, after waffling on receiving the shot. Mexico is in a race to get its population vaccinated as case numbers have begun to rise again and the country’s estimated total death toll from COVID-19 surpassed 336,000. On Tuesday, Mexico expanded efforts to vaccinate teachers to five more states. (Marquez, 4/20)

Reuters: Cash-Strapped Africa Overwhelmed By COVID Vaccine Challenge
When Ghana received 50,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses from India last month, it hit a frustrating roadblock: it had not trained enough staff to distribute them. The country was still rolling out shots received in late February from the global vaccine-sharing scheme COVAX, and didn't have the capacity to expand that operation, according to the head of Ghana's immunisation programme. (Mcallister, 4/21)

AP: New Zealand To Consolidate Health Care Into National Service
New Zealand announced Wednesday it will consolidate its fragmented health care system into a national service similar to the one revered by many in Britain. New Zealand’s government-run system is currently divided into 20 district health boards, each with their own budget. Some describe the system as a “postcode lottery” of different treatment depending on where people live. (Perry, 4/21)

Gizmodo: Terminally Ill Patients Deserve Access To General Anesthesia, UK Doctors Say
Doctors and medical ethicists in the UK are calling for terminally ill patients to have the option of using general anesthesia prior to their death as a way to relieve suffering. People with terminal illnesses like advanced cancer are often given treatments only meant to ease their pain and improve their quality of life before they die, in what doctors call palliative care. These can include potent painkillers and prolonged sedation. But in a new paper published Wednesday in the journal Anaesthesia, researchers at the University of Oxford say that general anesthesia—drugs used to send a person into full unconsciousness—should be made available to patients who want it. (Cara, 4/20)