First Edition: April 8, 2022

KHN: California Handed Its Medicaid Drug Program To One Company. Then Came A Corporate Takeover
Prescription drug costs for California’s massive Medicaid program were draining the state budget, so in 2019 Gov. Gavin Newsom asked the private sector for help. The new Medicaid drug program debuted this January, with a private company in charge. But it was woefully unprepared, and thousands of low-income Californians were left without critical medications for weeks, some waiting on hold for hours when they called to get help. (Young, 4/8)

KHN: New Laws Let Visitors See Loved Ones In Health Care Facilities, Even In An Outbreak
Jean White’s mother has dementia and moved into a memory care facility near Tampa, Florida, just as coronavirus lockdowns began in spring 2020. For months, the family wasn’t allowed to go inside to visit. They tried video chats and visits from outside her bedroom window, but White said that just upset her mom, who is 87. White’s mother couldn’t grasp why she could hear familiar voices but not be with her loved ones in person. (Colombini, 4/8)

KHN: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Finally, A Fix For The ‘Family Glitch’ 
The Biden administration this week moved to fix the so-called family glitch in the Affordable Care Act, which has prevented dependents from getting federal subsidies to buy health insurance even if the insurance offered by the employer is unaffordable. It remains unclear, however, whether this is something that can be done by regulation or instead requires congressional action. (4/7)

The Washington Post: Ketanji Brown Jackson Set To Become First Black Woman On Supreme Court
The Senate voted Thursday to confirm Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, felling one of the most significant remaining racial barriers in American government and sending the first Democratic nominee to the high court in 12 years. Jackson, a daughter of schoolteachers who has risen steadily through America’s elite legal ranks, will become the first Black woman to sit on the court and only the eighth who is not a White man. She will replace Associate Justice Stephen G. Breyer after the Supreme Court’s term ends in late June or early July. (DeBonis and Kim, 4/7)

The New York Times: Ketanji Brown Jackson, A Transformative Justice Whose Impact May Be Limited 
However collegial she may be, whatever her reputation as a “consensus builder” and whether her voting record will be slightly to the right or the left of Justice Breyer’s, the court’s lopsided conservative majority will remain in charge. Judge Jackson will most likely find herself, as Justice Breyer has, in dissent in the court’s major cases on highly charged social questions. Indeed, in an institution that prizes seniority, the court’s three-member liberal wing is apt to lose power. (Liptak, 4/7)

AP: Jackson Will Join More Diverse And Conservative High Court 
When Jackson takes the bench as a justice for the first time, in October, ... the nine-member court as a whole will be younger than it’s been for nearly 30 years, when Breyer, now 83, came on board. Among the younger justices are three appointees of former President Donald Trump, and the court’s historic diversity won’t obscure its conservative tilt.(Sherman and Jalonick, 4/8)

Politico: What Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson Means For The Country 
The first thing to keep an eye on is her dissents. “Dissents are extremely important because they’re a reminder to the public and the court that there’s an alternative approach,” says Fatima Goss Graves, the president and CEO of the National Women’s Law Center. “They are sometimes guiding posts for future decision-making.” ... University of Georgia law professor Melissa Redmon says that bringing the lens of a defense attorney to deliberations can help reframe the way other justices view certain cases, especially, she says, criminal ones in which legal disputes over unlawful searches and seizures, protections against self-incrimination and other rights of the accused come into question. (Booker, 4/7)

AP: Pelosi Positive For COVID-19, Was At White House With Biden 
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has tested positive for COVID-19, a day after appearing unmasked at a White House event with President Joe Biden. Pelosi, D-Calif., received a positive test result for COVID-19 and is currently asymptomatic, her spokesman Drew Hammill said Thursday in a tweet. He said she had tested negative earlier in the week. (Mascaro and Miller, 4/7)

Politico: Covid Creeps Ever Closer To Biden 
Standing before a packed White House crowd this week, President Joe Biden cheerfully ticked off a series of his administration’s health care accomplishments. Among them, he said: Finally getting the coronavirus “under control.” Yet as Biden waded through the celebratory East Room, embracing and shaking hands with dozens of maskless lawmakers and advocates, the virus was quietly running rampant through the building. (Cancryn, 4/7)

The Hill: White House Dismisses COVID-19 Risk For Biden
The White House on Thursday dismissed any concerns that President Biden is at risk of contracting COVID-19 after he spent time the day before with Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who tested positive early Thursday. ... White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Thursday the president was not considered a close contact of Pelosi’s as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) because they spent less than 15 minutes in close proximity to each other. (Gangitano, 4/7)

The New York Times: Federal Appeals Court Reinstates Biden’s Vaccination Mandate For Federal Workers 
A federal appeals court on Thursday reversed a decision that had blocked the White House from requiring federal workers to be vaccinated against Covid-19. In September, President Biden said that the vast majority of federal workers had to be vaccinated or they would face disciplinary measures. But a preliminary injunction, instated in January by a federal judge in Texas, stopped the Biden administration from enforcing that mandate. (Lukpat and Hassan, 4/8)

The Hill: Federal Appeals Court Upholds Biden Vaccine Mandate For Federal Workers 
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals’s 2-1 ruling reversed an earlier ruling by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Brown, a Trump appointee in Texas, who in January blocked the mandate for federal workers. The 5th Circuit Court further ordered that the district court dismiss the case. Judge Carl Stewart, writing for the majority opinion, said plaintiffs in the case could have challenged the vaccine mandate through the federal government’s internal process for federal workers. (Vakil and Dress, 4/7)

NBC News: Judge Strikes Down Military's Limits On Service Members With HIV
In a landmark ruling, a federal court has ordered the Defense Department to end a long-standing Pentagon policy forbidding enlisted military service members from deploying in active duty outside the continental U.S. and being commissioned as officers if they have HIV. Supporters hailed it as overdue legal affirmation that people receiving effective antiretroviral treatment for HIV are essentially healthy and pose no risk to others. (4/7)

Modern Healthcare: Medicare Finalizes Policy Restricting Aduhelm Coverage To Clinical Trial Patients
Medicare will only cover Biogen's Alzheimer's therapy Aduhelm during clinical trials, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced Thursday, finalizing a proposal from January. The announcement paves the way for CMS to reduce Medicare Part B premiums. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said last month that CMS was waiting on a final coverage decision for Aduhelm to fully assess its impact on Part B premiums for 2022, which increased 15% from last year, in part because of projected spending on the drug. (Goldman and Deveraux, 4/7)

Bloomberg: Medicare Keeps Limits on Coverage of Biogen Alzheimer’s Drug
It’s a blow to Biogen, which has been campaigning for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to reverse its stance since the initial coverage proposal was announced in January. Analysts at RBC Capital Markets said Thursday that the news, while in line with expectations, “likely spells the end for Aduhelm.” At the same time, it “leaves a clear door open” for other drugs in development. That includes potential new medicines from Eli Lilly & Co. and Roche Holding AG. The decision strikes a middle ground, keeping a hard line on Aduhelm while creating a path to payment for newer treatments with solid evidence. (Tozzi and Langreth, 4/7)

The Boston Globe: Medicare Decision On Polarizing Alzheimer’s Drug Divides Doctors
CMS rarely restricts coverage of prescription drugs, and its decision to only pay for Aduhelm in the context of additional clinical trials, where its risk-benefit profile can be further studied, drew polarizing reactions from the medical community. Some doctors think the decision is a much needed correction for the FDA’s misplaced exuberance for Aduhelm. “I absolutely agree with the agency’s decision to restrict Aduhelm,” said Dr. Aaron Kesselheim, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School who resigned from an FDA advisory committee in protest of the agency’s decision to approve the drug. ... But other doctors are disturbed by the CMS decision. They say the agency is overstepping its bounds and discriminating against people with Alzheimer’s disease. (Cross, 4/7)

CNN: US Life Expectancy Continues Historic Decline With Another Drop In 2021, Study Finds 
Changes to life expectancy amid the Covid-19 pandemic widened an existing gap between the US and other high-income countries, the new report shows. Among a set of 19 peer countries, life expectancy dropped only a third as much as in the US in 2020 (down 0.6 years, on average) and rebounded in 2021, with an average increase of about 0.3 years. Life expectancy in the US fell from 78.9 years in 2019 to 76.6 years in 2021 – now more than five years less than the average among peer nations. (McPhillips, 4/7)

NPR: U.S. Life Expectancy Falls In 2021, Following 2020's Big Drop
Despite the availability of life-saving COVID-19 vaccines, so many people died in the second year of the pandemic in the U.S. that the nation's life expectancy dropped for a second year in a row last year, according to a new analysis. The analysis of provisional government statistics found U.S. life expectancy fell by just under a half a year in 2021, adding to a dramatic plummet in life expectancy that occurred in 2020. Public health experts had hoped the vaccines would prevent another drop the following year. "The finding that instead we had a horrible loss of life in 2021 that actually drove the life expectancy even lower than it was in 2020 is very disturbing," says Dr. Steven Woolf, a professor of population health and health equity at Virginia Commonwealth University, who help conduct the analysis. "It speaks to an extensive loss of life during 2021." (Stein, 4/7)

CNN: US Likely To See A Surge Of Covid-19 In The Fall, Fauci Says 
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on Wednesday that he thinks there will be an uptick in cases of Covid-19 over the next few weeks and that it is likely that there could be a surge in the fall. "I think we should expect, David, that over the next couple of weeks, we are going to see an uptick in cases -- and hopefully there is enough background immunity so that we don't wind up with a lot of hospitalizations," Fauci said when asked by Bloomberg TV's David Westin about the prospect of another wave of Covid-19 from BA.2 or another variant, given the level of immunity believed to exist in the US today. (Thomas, 4/7)

The Hill: The Five States With The Highest Number Of COVID-19 Cases
While case rates remain low across the country, a handful of states still have elevated risk levels. Here are the five states with the highest levels of new cases per 100,000. (Choi, 4/7)

Salt Lake Tribune: Utah Reports Nearly 700 New COVID-19 Cases; Sewage Shows Increased Virus Levels At 6 Sites
Utah has recorded nearly 700 new COVID-19 cases in the past week and 16 more deaths, including two Utah County men under age 45, the state Department of Health reported Thursday. State officials expected that case counts would decline as they shuttered testing locations, and data shows that the 7-day testing average has dropped by 4,869 on March 31 to 3,492 on Wednesday. Because of that presumption and those closures, officials said they would switch their focus to monitoring sewage, hospitalizations and emergency room visits to judge coronavirus’s spread. (Harkins, 4/7)

AP: Arizona Reducing Dashboard Data On COVID-19 Hospitalizations 
Arizona is scaling back updates of COVID-19 hospitalization data displayed on the state’s coronavirus dashboard in the wake of the diminishing of the outbreak and Gov. Doug Ducey’s recent end of the state of emergency that he declared over two years ago. Department of Heath Services Director Don Herrington said Thursday in a blog post that a surveillance order requiring hospitals to report specific COVID-19 data is no longer in effect. (4/7)

Modern Healthcare: CMS To End Some Nursing Home COVID-19 Emergency Waivers
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will phase out pandemic-related temporary waivers to nursing home regulations, the agency announced Thursday. The changes are being made because COVID-19 vaccination rates for residents and employees are increasing and nursing homes are better able to handle outbreaks, the agency said in a news release. "We've learned a lot from the pandemic over the last two years and are committed to using that knowledge to re-envision the next chapter of healthcare quality and patient safety and build a stronger healthcare system," CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure said in the news release. (Christ, 4/7)

USA Today: COVID Testing Chain Center For COVID Control Hit With Oregon Lawsuit
The nationwide coronavirus testing chain under scrutiny from the FBI and several states was hit with a scathing lawsuit Thursday – one that provides new insight into alleged deceptive trade practices and garish spending by company executives. Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum sued Illinois-based Center for Covid Control and its primary lab, Doctors Clinical Lab, for "deceptively marketing testing services" and violating the state's Unlawful Trade Practices Act. The lawsuit alleges Illinois residents Aleya Siyaj and Akbar Ali Syed, the married couple who founded Center for COVID Control, "funnelled millions of dollars received from the federal government and insurance companies for testing to themselves," according to the Oregon attorney general's office. (Hauck, 4/7)

USA Today: Sarah Jessica Parker Tests Positive For COVID, 'Plaza Suite' Canceled
After a period of relative calm, COVID woes have started to force the cancellations of Broadway performances once again in early April. Since re-opening in August and September, COVID has impacted many facets of the industry, from show cancellations, delays and early closures to mask, vaccine and ticket policy changes. On Thursday, April 7, "Plaza Suite" announced that both of its stars, spouses Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, have tested positive for COVID. (Keller, 4/7)

CIDRAP: Home Use Of Pulse Oximeters For COVID-19 Not Linked To Better Outcomes
Asking COVID-19 patients to use a pulse oximeter at home to measure oxygen levels was no better than asking if they experienced shortness of breath in determining outcomes, according to new research in the New England Journal of Medicine. (4/7)

CIDRAP: Fluvoxamine May Reduce The Odds Of COVID-19 Patient Hospitalization
A new systematic review and meta-analysis of three randomized clinical trials with 2,196 patients suggests that early use of the antidepressant fluvoxamine reduces the risk of all-cause hospitalization in symptomatic adult outpatients. Fluvoxamine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor used to treat conditions such as obsessive compulsive disorder, also activates the sigma-1 receptor, which quells inflammation, the researchers noted. (4/7)

The Washington Post: Michigan Gov. Whitmer Sues To Protect Abortion 
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) filed a lawsuit Thursday seeking to keep abortion legal in her state if the Supreme Court rolls back its landmark Roe vs. Wade ruling. A 1931 Michigan law banning abortion has been superseded for nearly 50 years by the Roe decision. But if the high court overturns the nationwide right to abortion or leaves it to states to decide, the legislation could take effect. Whitmer is attempting to prevent that, asking that the state Supreme Court declare abortion protected under Michigan’s Constitution. (Shammas, 4/7)

Detroit Free Press: Nessel Cites Own Abortion, Says She Won't Defend Michigan In Lawsuit
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel will not defend the state in a lawsuit filed Thursday by Planned Parenthood of Michigan, saying she agrees with the suit's assertion that a 1931 state law that bans most abortions in the state is unconstitutional. The move is already drawing criticism, with Republican legislative leaders exploring ways to intervene in the lawsuit on behalf of the state. Nessel told reporters Thursday about her own, personal experience with abortion and why she thinks it's inappropriate to use tax dollars to take any action that could restrict abortion access. (Boucher, 4/7)

AP: Abortion Rights Backers Block 'Trigger' Law In Nebraska 
Abortion rights proponents scored a surprising victory in Nebraska by derailing a bill that would have automatically outlawed abortion if the U.S. Supreme Court ever overturns its 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized the procedure throughout the country. The vote on Wednesday frustrated abortion rights opponents, who usually win fights over the issue in the conservative Legislature. More than a dozen other conservative states have passed similar measures already, but abortion rights backers in Nebraska managed to block it using a filibuster in the single-chamber Legislature. (Schulte, 4/7)

Oklahoman: Oklahoma Bill That All But Outlaws Abortion Likely To Face Challenges
Gov. Kevin Stitt is expected to sign a GOP-backed bill that would classify performing most abortions as a felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison or $100,000 in fines. What happens next is where things get murky. If Stitt approves Senate Bill 612, Oklahoma would impose a near-total abortion ban in late August, when the legislation takes effect. The law would not punish women who undergo the procedure. "Not if, but when this bill gets signed, Oklahoma will have the most restrictive laws in the country," said Tamya Cox-Touré, a co-chair of the Oklahoma Call for Reproductive Justice. Cox-Touré, the executive director of the ACLU of Oklahoma, said a gubernatorial veto appears unlikely. (Forman, 4/7)

CBS News: House Republicans Want To Axe Citi Contracts Over Bank's Abortion Benefits
Dozens of Republican lawmakers are urging the U.S. to cancel government contracts with Citigroup after the banking giant offered to pay the travel costs for employees seeking abortions. Citi, the nation's fourth-largest bank, provides credit cards to members of the House of Representatives to pay for flights, office supplies and other goods. Rep. Mike Johnson and 44 other lawmakers are urging House Chief Administrative Officer Catherine Szpindor to cancel the contract, arguing the legislative branch has long adhered to a policy of not funding abortions with taxpayer money. (Gibson, 4/7)

AP: In Many States With Tough Abortion Laws, Social Programs Are Weak: AP Analysis
States with some of the nation’s strictest abortion laws are also some of the hardest places to have and raise a healthy child, especially for the poor, according to an analysis of federal data by The Associated Press. The findings raise questions about the strength of the social safety net as those states are poised to further restrict or even ban abortion access following an expected U.S. Supreme Court decision later this year. The burden is likely to fall heaviest on those with low incomes, who also are the least able to seek an abortion in another state where the procedure remains widely available. (Whitehurst, Fassett and Lo, 4/7)

AP: Trans Youth Medication Ban Passed By Alabama Lawmakers 
Alabama lawmakers approved sweeping legislation Thursday to outlaw gender-affirming medications for transgender youths, as well as a separate measure setting rules about school bathrooms and prohibiting early classroom instruction on sexual and gender identity — a bill critics have dubbed “Don’t Say Gay.” The legislation now goes to Republican Gov. Kay Ivey for her consideration as Alabama becomes the latest red state to seek legislation and policies aimed at trans young people. Ivey, who is running for reelection, has not indicated whether she will sign the measures. (Chandler, 4/8)

AP: Beshear Signs Bill Aimed At Addressing Nursing Shortage 
Gov. Andy Beshear on Thursday signed a bill aimed at addressing Kentucky’s nursing shortage by boosting enrollment in nursing schools and luring out-of-state nurses into the state’s workforce. The measure comes a few months after the governor late last year declared the state’s nursing shortage to be an emergency. Kentucky has faced a shortage of nurses for years but the problem worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic. (4/7)

AP: Whitmer Signs Bill To Speed Pre-Approvals Of Health Care
Michigan insurers that require health providers to get pre-approval to cover treatment will have to promptly respond to doctors’ requests or those requests will be automatically granted under legislation signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Thursday. Supporters said the law will speed delays in care and provide more transparency around the process known as prior authorization. (Eggert, 4/7)

AP: Motion To Disqualify Judge Filed In Doctor's Murder Trial
The weekslong trial of an Ohio doctor charged in multiple hospital deaths hit a bump in the road this week after a motion was filed seeking to disqualify the judge overseeing the case. Dr. William Husel is accused of ordering excessive painkillers for 14 patients in the Columbus-area Mount Carmel Health System. He was indicted in cases involving at least 500 micrograms of the powerful painkiller fentanyl. (Welsh-Huggins, 4/7)

Billings Gazette: Montana Troopers Have Already Intercepted More Fentanyl This Year Than In 2021
The Montana Highway Patrol has already intercepted more fentanyl this year than last year, according to a Thursday press release from the state Department of Justice. Through mid-March, troopers had seized 12,079 fentanyl pills, which is three times the 2021 total of 3,800 tablets, according to the release. Arrests for fentanyl were already up from 2020, from just one that year to 17 in 2021. MHP also said that the amount of methamphetamine already seized this year — 33.3 pounds — puts the state on the path to surpass last year's amount of 49.1 pounds. (4/7)

USA Today: 'Magic Mushrooms' Linked To Decreased Risk Of Opioid Addiction: Study
A "shroom craze" may get even wilder after a new study that suggests a psychedelic drug found in some mushrooms may have protective benefits against addiction. Harvard University researchers found opioid use disorders were 30% less likely among people who used psilocybin compared with those who never had it, according to the study published Thursday in Scientific Reports. Psilocybin is a naturally occurring compound in certain types of mushrooms that are consumed for their hallucinogenic effects, according to the U.S. Drug enforcement Administration. (Rodriguez, 4/7)

San Francisco Chronicle: Could California Mandate A Four-Day Workweek? A State Bill Is Pushing For The Change
As the pandemic and telework upend where millions of Californians do their jobs, state lawmakers are mulling whether to change when we work as well. A bill moving through the state Legislature, AB2932, would change the definition of a workweek from the current 40 hours to 32 hours for companies with more than 500 employees, and require overtime pay for making employees work longer than four full days a week. (DiFeliciantonio, 4/7)

The Washington Post: Some Beef ‘Raised Without Antibiotics’ Tests Positive For Antibiotics In Study
A new study in Science magazine identified antibiotics in some of the beef cattle in a USDA-approved no-antibiotics labeling program recognized as a gold standard for restaurants and grocery stores around the country. The study tested some 699 cows at one slaughterhouse that processes “raised without antibiotics” cattle. Most cattle in the study tested negative for antibiotics. However, 10 percent of cattle came from lots where one of the cows sampled tested positive for antibiotics, the researchers found. Additionally, the study found an additional 5 percent of cattle came from lots with multiple positive antibiotic tests. (Reiley, 4/7)

USA Today: 'Dirty Dozen' List Shows Fruits, Vegetables Highest Pesticide Levels
What are the filthiest fruits and vegetables at the grocery store? Strawberries, spinach and kale, according to a new report. Thursday, nonprofit advocacy organization Environmental Working Group released its annual "Dirty Dozen" and "Clean Fifteen" lists using data from the Department of Agriculture and Food and Drug Administration. The Washington, D.C., group found that more than 90% of strawberry, apple, cherry, spinach, nectarine and grape samples tested positive for residues of two or more pesticides. Kale, collard and mustard greens, hot peppers and bell peppers had the most pesticides. A single sample of kale, collard and mustard greens had up to 21 different pesticides. (Martin, 4/7)

Stat: Seeing Benefits Of New, Fully Sequenced Genome Could Take Years 
Genomics has made significant inroads into mainstream medicine — DNA data are now routinely used to tailor cancer treatments, for example. But the reference genome created by the Human Genome Project, which has underlain so many of the scientific and clinical advances of the last 20 years, was never really finished. Technology at the time couldn’t resolve the last 8% — vast gaps spread across the genome that together add up to the equivalent of missing an entire chromosome. If you imagine a world map, that’s about the size of Africa. That means doctors have always been flying with a sizable blindspot. If a patient has a disease-causing mutation in any of those portions of the reference genome that are missing or contain errors, there’s no way to test for it. Which is why there was so much excitement last summer when a team of almost 100 scientists announced it had deciphered those pesky, previously unmappable regions and unveiled the first ever, truly complete human genome. (Molteni, 4/8)

AP: Up To 65% Of Africans Have Had COVID, Far More Than Thought
The World Health Organization said that up to 65% of people in Africa have been infected with the coronavirus and estimates the number of actual cases may have been nearly 100 times more than those reported. In a new analysis released Thursday, the U.N. health agency reviewed 151 studies of COVID-19 in Africa based on blood samples taken from people on the continent between January 2020 and December 2021. WHO said that by last September, about 65% of people tested had some exposure to COVID-19, translating into about 800 million infections. In contrast, only about 8 million cases had been officially reported to WHO during that time period. (4/7)

The Wall Street Journal: Shanghai Residents Plead For Help Online As Daily Covid-19 Count Nears 20,000 
Nearly a week into a citywide lockdown to combat a Covid-19 outbreak, many of Shanghai’s 25 million residents turned to social media for help to get food, medicine or, if they are taken away for quarantine, advice on what to do with their pets. ... A top Chinese health official acknowledged that the Shanghai situation has “far exceeded what the capacity of the local medical system can handle.” (Qi, 4/7)

AP: Puerto Rico Steps Into Abortion Restriction Debate
Powerful lawmakers in Puerto Rico are joining conservatives in states across the U.S. mainland in attempting to set tighter restrictions on abortions, alarming feminist groups and others on the island. A recently introduced bill would prohibit abortions starting at 22 weeks, or when a doctor determines that a fetus is viable, with the sole exception being if a woman’s life is in danger. That is roughly in line with most U.S. state laws, though more limiting than Puerto Rico’s current status, which sets no term limit. (Coto, 4/7)

NPR: Kinder Eggs Recalled Due To Salmonella Outbreak In Europe
Several Kinder chocolate products, including the popular Kinder Eggs, are being recalled across Europe and Canada due to a salmonella outbreak across several European countries. At least 134 cases have been reported by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, mainly among children under 10 years old. The first case was identified in the United Kingdom in early January. Canada has also announced a recall of Kinder products. It was not immediately clear whether the recall involved products sold in the United States. Representatives from Ferrero, which owns Kinder, did not immediately respond to NPR's request for comment. (Shivaram, 4/7)