First Edition: Dec. 8, 2021

KHN: Post-Pandemic, What’s A Phone Call From Your Physician Worth? 
Maybe this has happened to you recently: Your doctor telephoned to check in with you, chatting for 11 to 20 minutes, perhaps answering a question you contacted her office with, or asking how you’re responding to a medication change. For that, your doctor got paid about $27 if you are on Medicare — maybe a bit more if you have private insurance. Behind those calls is a four-digit “virtual check-in” billing code created during the pandemic, for phone conversations lasting just within that range, which has drawn outsize interest from physician groups. (Appleby, 12/8)

KHN: Oncology Doctors Say The Build Back Better Act Will Slash Cancer Care Funding — A Skewed Argument
An advertisement from the Community Oncology Alliance, part of a $1.6 million campaign running both on radio airwaves and in print, attacks a proposal in the Democratic-backed Build Back Better package approved by the House last month and now headed to the Senate. The ads, which started on Nov. 29 and are set to run through Dec. 12, say parts of the legislation would have “serious unintended consequences” for cancer patients — specifically, that “an independent analysis shows that payments for cancer care will be slashed by close to 45%, causing cancer clinics to close and massively raising your healthcare costs.” The alliance is an advocacy and lobbying organization representing physicians and clinics involved with cancer care. (Appleby, 12/8)

KHN: From ‘Physician Assistant’ To Medicare, Readers And Tweeters Mince No Words 
KHN gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories. (12/8)

CNN: Omicron Variant Partly Evades Pfizer Vaccine's Protection, Study Shows 
The Omicron coronavirus variant partly escapes the protection offered by the Pfizer vaccine, but people who have been previously infected and then vaccinated are likely to be well protected, researchers working in South Africa reported Tuesday. Boosters are also likely to protect people, Alex Sigal of the Africa Health Research Institute in Durban, who led the study team, told CNN. It's the first experiment to directly look at how the Omicron virus might behave in vaccinated people. (Fox, 12/8)

The New York Times: Early Study Shows Pfizer Vaccine Gives Some Protection Against Omicron 
Laboratory experiments found that Omicron seems to dull the power of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, but also hinted that people who have received a booster shot might be better protected. The study, published online on Tuesday, found that antibodies produced by vaccinated people were much less successful at keeping the Omicron variant from infecting cells than other forms of the coronavirus. Scientists said the results were somewhat worrisome, but no cause for panic. (Zimmer and Mueller, 12/8)

Bloomberg: Covid Antibody Tests Offer Early Hint That Booster Vaccine May Counter Omicron
The magnitude of the drop in neutralizing antibodies against omicron could indicate a need for omicron-matched vaccines, though other considerations may play a role, said Stephen Goldstein, an evolutionary virologist at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. Larger studies looking at neutralizing antibodies from people immunized with other vaccines are also needed, he said. (Gale, 12/8)

NPR: Omicron Update: 19 U.S. States Now Have Detected The COVID-19 Variant
The fast-spreading omicron variant of the coronavirus has now been reported in 50 countries and 19 states, said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She added, "we expect that number to continue to increase." States that have detected the variant range from Hawaii to Texas to Massachusetts. The reports are part of a new surge in COVID-19 cases in the U.S. that now tops 100,000 cases per day. While officials and researchers are concerned about the transmissibility of the omicron variant, they also say it's too early to know what toll it might take in the U.S. (Chappell, 12/7)

NBC News: CDC Zeroes In On Anime Convention To Understand Omicron Variant
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reached out to tens of thousands of people who attended a recent anime convention in Manhattan as it works to understand the risks of the Covid-19 omicron variant. CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said during a White House media briefing Tuesday that the agency is looking at the convention, which ran from Nov. 19-21 and was attended by a Minnesota man who later tested for omicron, as a way to collect data on the transmissibility of the variant. (Bush, 12/7)

Bloomberg: Biden Vaccine Mandate For Contractors Blocked Nationwide
The Biden administration’s mandate for federal contractors’ employees to be vaccinated will be halted nationwide, amid a slew of challenges from states that say the president overstepped his authority in requiring the Covid-19 shots. Led by Georgia, the seven states that challenged the mandate set to take effect on Jan. 4 are likely to succeed in their lawsuits against the administration’s order, U.S. District Court Judge R. Stan Baker of the Southern District of Georgia said in an order issued Tuesday. (Mulvaney, 12/7)

The Hill: Second Senate Democrat To Back Vote Against Biden Vaccine Mandate 
Sen. Jon Tester (Mont.), a centrist Democrat from a state that voted heavily in favor of former President Trump, is planning to vote for a Republican resolution to nullify President Biden’s vaccine mandate for large employers. Tester is the second Senate Democrat to say he will support overturning Biden’s employer vaccine mandate under the Congressional Review Act (CRA).Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) said last week that he would do so as well. (Bolton, 12/7)

Detroit Free Press: Gretchen Whitmer Says Joe Biden Vaccine Mandate A 'Problem'
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, in her strongest public remarks to date about President Joe Biden's vaccine mandate for employers, said Monday that the requirement is "a problem" for her and state government, according to a published report. The Daily News in Greenville reported Whitmer as telling business leaders in Montcalm County that she had the same concerns as some of them that the mandate, if enforced, could lead to workers, including those in state government, walking off the job. (Spangler, 12/7)

NBC News: Congress Hatches Novel Plan To Lift Debt Ceiling With Only Democratic Votes
Congressional leaders are hatching a complicated plan to lift the debt limit this month with only Democratic votes in the Senate, three sources told NBC News. The strategy, which remains fluid, is a product of negotiations between Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., that would tie it to a non-controversial Medicare bill. ... The novel approach would tie debt limit provisions to legislation preventing automatic cuts to Medicare in a multi-vote process that would allow the federal government's borrowing authority to be lifted with a simple majority in the 50-50 Senate. (Caldwell, Kapur, Thorp V and Haake, 12/7)

USA Today: House OKs Agreement On Deal To Allow Democrats To Address Debt Ceiling
The House voted overwhelmingly along party lines Tuesday evening on a bipartisan agreement that allows Congress to move closer to raising the nation's debt ceiling. The vote came after leadership in the Senate, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., announced an agreement Tuesday that would create a one-time process to allow Senate Democrats to raise the debt ceiling on their own without fear of a Republican filibuster or other procedural hurdles. The agreement, once it also passes the Senate, would create a fast-track process to allow Democrats in the upper chamber to increase the debt limit with just 51 votes, or a simple majority. (Behrmann, 12/7)

New York Times: House Passes Legislation To Pave Way For Debt Ceiling Increase
Its passage was not guaranteed in the evenly divided Senate, where Republicans have for weeks refused to let Democrats take up any bill to provide a long-term increase. But Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader, signaled confidence that enough of his colleagues could accept the solution. (Cochrane and Sanger-Katz, 12/7)

The Wall Street Journal: Sen. Joe Manchin Holds Back Support For Social-Spending Bill 
Sen. Joe Manchin declined to commit to voting for Democrats’ roughly $2 trillion social-policy and climate package, citing concerns about inflation and the length of programs, weeks before the Christmas deadline party leaders are racing to meet. Mr. Manchin, a West Virginia Democrat, made the remarks during The Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council Summit at a pivotal moment for Democrats in Washington—and one where he has been a key figure. Because Senate Democrats are using a special budget maneuver to pass their education, healthcare and climate package without any GOP support, they can’t lose a single senator from their own party. (Collins, 12/7)

The New York Times: Lawmakers Reach Deal To Overhaul How Military Handles Sexual Assault Cases
House and Senate negotiators reached a landmark agreement on Tuesday that would strip military commanders of most of their authority to prosecute sexual assaults and myriad other criminal cases, a move that Pentagon leaders, lawmakers and presidents have resisted for nearly a generation. The legislation, part of a broad defense policy bill, comes after nearly two decades of efforts by female lawmakers and survivors’ groups, and in spite of fierce last-minute lobbying against the proposal by military lawyers. (Steinhauer, 12/7)

The New York Times: Debate Over ‘Packing’ Supreme Court Divides Biden Panel 
The bipartisan commission appointed by President Biden to study possible changes to the federal judiciary unanimously approved a final report on Tuesday that flagged “profound disagreement” among its members over the issue that led to the panel’s creation: calls to expand or “pack” the Supreme Court with additional justices. By a vote of 34 to 0, the commission approved a 288-page report that offered a critical appraisal of arguments for and against that and many other ideas for changes to the Supreme Court, including imposing 18-year term limits on justices and reducing their power to strike down acts of Congress. (Savage, 12/7)

Politico: Most Voters Back Abortion Rights But Are Not Swayed By Threat To Roe, Poll Finds
Far more voters say they want the Supreme Court to leave Roe v. Wade in place than not, but the issue isn't a key motivator heading into the midterm elections, according to a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll. Justices by next June are expected to decide whether to scrap the half-century-old decision underpinning abortion rights and let states chose if they want to ban the procedure early in pregnancy. Already, activists on both sides of the issue are framing the stakes for voters and pouring millions of dollars into ads, voter mobilization efforts and direct campaign donations. (Ollstein, 12/7)

AP: If Roe Falls, Some Fear Ripple Effect On Civil Rights Cases
If the Supreme Court decides to overturn or gut the decision that legalized abortion, some fear that it could undermine other precedent-setting cases, including civil rights and LGBTQ protections. Overturning Roe v. Wade would have a bigger effect than most cases because it was reaffirmed by a second decision, Planned Parenthood v. Casey, three decades later, legal scholars and advocates said. The Supreme Court’s conservative majority signaled in arguments last week they would allow states to ban abortion much earlier in pregnancy and may even overturn the nationwide right that has existed for nearly 50 years. A decision is expected next summer. (Whitehurst, 12/8)

NPR: Surgeon General Vivek Murthy Warns About Youth Mental Health
U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy has a warning about the mental health of young people. Murthy told Morning Edition that children and young adults were already facing a mental health crisis before the coronavirus pandemic began: One in three high school students reported persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, a 40% increase from 2009 to 2019, he said. Suicide rates went up during that time by 57% among youth ages 10 to 24. During the pandemic, rates of anxiety and depression have increased, he said. The pandemic has made the issues behind the mental health crisis only worse, he said. (Ritchie, 12/7)

The New York Times: Surgeon General Warns Of Youth Mental Health Crisis 
The United States surgeon general on Tuesday warned that young people are facing “devastating” mental health effects as a result of the challenges experienced by their generation, including the coronavirus pandemic. The message came as part of a rare public advisory from the nation’s top physician, Dr. Vivek H. Murthy, in a 53-page report noting that the pandemic intensified mental health issues that were already widespread by the spring of 2020. (Richtel, 12/7)

Science Alert: Giant Study Finds Viagra Is Linked To Almost 70% Lower Risk Of Alzheimer's
That's based on an analysis of health insurance claim data from over 7.2 million people, in which records showed that claimants who took the medication were much less likely to develop Alzheimer's over the next six years of follow up, compared to matched control patients who didn't use sildenafil. It's important to note that observed associations like this – even on a huge scale – are not the same as proof of a causative effect. ... Nonetheless, the researchers say the correlation shown here – in addition to other indicators in the study – is enough to identify sildenafil as a promising candidate drug for Alzheimer's disease. (Dockrill, 12/6)

The Guardian: Viagra Could Be Used To Treat Alzheimer’s Disease, Study Finds
Viagra could be a useful treatment against Alzheimer’s disease, according to a US study. Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of age-related dementia, affects hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Despite mounting numbers of cases, however, there is currently no effective treatment. Using a large gene-mapping network, researchers at the Cleveland Clinic integrated genetic and other data to determine which of more than 1,600 Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs could be an effective treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. They gave higher scores to drugs that target both amyloid and tau – two hallmarks of Alzheimer’s – compared with drugs that targeted just one or the other. (Gregory, 12/6)

BBC News: Viagra May Be Useful Against Alzheimer's Dementia 
Viagra, also known as sildenafil, was originally designed as a heart drug because of its main action - improving blood flow by relaxing or widening blood vessels. Doctors then discovered it was having a similar effect elsewhere in the body, including the arteries of the penis, and it was developed into a successful treatment for erectile dysfunction. But experts think it could have other uses too. Sildenafil is already used in men and women for a lung condition called pulmonary hypertension. (12/6)

Axios: CDC: 60% Of U.S. Is Fully Vaccinated 
Sixty percent of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Approximately 71% of the U.S. population has received at least one vaccine dose, and around 23% have had a booster shot. Some 64% of those over 5 years old are fully vaccinated. That number is around 72% for all adults. (Gonzalez, 12/7)

NBC News: Thousands Of Service Members Miss Covid Vaccination Deadlines
Thousands of active-duty service members have failed to comply with the Biden administration’s Covid-19 vaccine mandate, raising the prospect that they will be forced to leave their positions or the military altogether. The vaccination deadline for active-duty members of the armed services has passed for the Air Force, Navy and the Marine Corps. The Army's deadline is Dec. 15. (McCausland, 12/7)

Casper Star Tribune: Cheney, Expert Say Hageman Mischaracterizing Vaccine Bill
Rep. Liz Cheney voted last week in favor of the Immunization Infrastructure Modernization Act of 2021, joining Democrats and 80 House Republicans. Harriet Hageman, the Donald Trump-backed candidate who is challenging Cheney, quickly pounced, putting out a press release claiming Wyoming’s congresswoman had voted to allow a federal database to track COVID-19 vaccination status. (Eavis, 12/7)

AP: Phoenix Pauses COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate For City Workers
Phoenix paused implementation Tuesday of a federal COVID-19 vaccine mandate for the 14,000 workers in the nation’s fifth largest city, just hours after a federal judge temporarily blocked President Joe Biden’s administration from enforcing a mandate for those employed by federal contractors. The pause was announced shortly before a planned afternoon hearing to discuss the city’s plan to get all city employees inoculated against the virus by Jan. 18. It was the latest standoff around the country over federal guidelines for the vaccines that have been challenged by more than a dozen lawsuits nationwide. (Snow, 12/8)

AP: Student Denied Emergency Relief In Nevada Vaccination Suit 
A college student who argues he’s immune from COVID-19 because he was previously infected has lost his bid for an emergency court order that would have allowed him to register for classes while his presses his federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the University of Nevada, Reno’s mandatory vaccination policy. A U.S district judge from California who was reassigned to the case last week said in denying the temporary restraining order sought by 18-year-old Jacob Gold that he’s failed to establish a fundamental constitutional right to refuse vaccination. (Sonner, 12/8)

AP: S. Carolina Lawmakers Advance COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate Ban
A panel of South Carolina lawmakers advanced a proposal Tuesday to ban COVID-19 vaccine mandates for state and local government employees, contractors and public school students. The bill considered by a House Ways and Means subcommittee would effectively make such vaccine mandates illegal for public state or local employees, contractors and first responders. Under the proposal, school districts would not be able to require students to get the shots either. (12/8)

The Washington Post: Maryland Could Ease School Mask Mandate 
Maryland could soon end its school mask mandate, following a decision Tuesday by state officials to let local school systems set their own policies as long as vaccination rates are high or community transmission levels are down. The new approach, detailed in emergency regulations proposed by the Maryland State Board of Education, would replace the statewide mask requirement for public schools, which went into effect in September and expires in February. (St. George, 12/7)

Anchorage Daily News: Anchorage Assembly Votes To End Mask Mandate
Anchorage’s emergency mask ordinance requiring people to wear masks in indoor public spaces is expiring early. In a unanimous vote Tuesday, the Assembly passed a resolution declaring that the ordinance would expire at midnight. (Goodykoontz, 12/7)

AP: Holcomb 'Frustrated' With Absurd Vaccine-Refusal Reasons 
With Indiana’s COVID-19 hospitalizations doubling in the past month, Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb expressed frustration Tuesday at the “absurd” reasons some cite for refusing vaccinations, although he isn’t offering any new state actions to combat the spread of the virus. ... Holcomb recalled during a Statehouse interview about a woman telling him that she was glad he opposed President Joe Biden’s proposed vaccination mandates on large businesses, but also that she was disappointed Holcomb had received the COVID-19 vaccine because “I had a chip in me now.” (Davies, 12/8)

The Washington Post: Unvaccinated Hospital Patients In Illinois Should Pay For Their Covid Medical Bills, Democrat Proposes
Unvaccinated hospital patients in Illinois would have to pay their own coronavirus medical bills out of pocket, according to legislation proposed Monday by a Democratic state lawmaker. Rep. Jonathan Carroll filed his bill amid the state’s struggle to contain covid-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths. (Bella, 12/7)

NBC News: Biden's Plan For Free At-Home Covid Test Could Be Ineffective, Experts Warn
Sabrina Corlette, a co-director of the Center on Health Insurance Reforms at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy, said not all families will be able to pay up front for at-home tests, which can cost more than $20. Even for people who can afford it, part of the challenge for the Biden administration will be to make people aware of the reimbursements. Private insurance holders "may not know how to save their receipt or that their health plan will even cover it," Corlette said. "So that's almost the first step, is just making sure people know that they can now do this." It is also unclear whether the plan will limit the number of tests people can be reimbursed for and whether there will be certain restrictions on who qualifies for reimbursement. (Egan, 12/7)

Stat: Changing ‘Fully Vaccinated’ Definition Is More Than Semantics, Experts Say
Who’s “fully vaccinated” against Covid-19 — and who’s not — is starting to get a lot more complicated. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says you are only granted the status two weeks after you get a single-dose vaccine or the second dose in a two-dose series. But with the advent of boosters, certain colleges, the NBA, and the state of New Mexico are saying you’re only there with three shots. “For the time being, the official definition of ‘fully vaccinated’ is two,” although that determination could change as we learn more about the Omicron variant, Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said at a White House briefing last week. (Bender, 12/8)

The Washington Post: First Plant-Based Coronavirus Vaccine Shows ‘Positive’ Results, Say GlaxoSmithKline And Medicago
Pharmaceutical companies Medicago and GlaxoSmithKline announced on Tuesday “positive efficacy and safety results” from a global trial using what they say is the world’s first plant-based coronavirus vaccine. ... Plant-based vegan and vegetarian alternatives in food and materials markets have become increasingly popular globally, as consumers choose them for environmental or religious reasons, but Brian Ward, medical officer at Medicago, told The Washington Post that it would not be appropriate to categorize the vaccine candidate as such: “The plants that are used simply act as bioreactors to produce the antigen.” (Suliman, 12/7)

NPR: A COVID Vaccine Grown In Plants Measures Up
A Canadian biotech firm is reporting positive results from a large study of its COVID-19 vaccine. What makes it unusual is that the key ingredient of the vaccine is grown in plants. Medicago has already developed an experimental flu vaccine in Nicotiana benthamian, a plant related to tobacco. When the pandemic struck, the company decided to try to make a COVID-19 vaccine. Now it appears those efforts have succeeded. "This is an incredible moment for Medicago and for novel vaccine platforms," Medicago CEO and President Takashi Nagao said in a statement. (Palca, 12/7)

The Atlantic: Why Are We Still Isolating Vaccinated People For 10 Days?
For most fully vaccinated people, a breakthrough coronavirus infection will not ruin their health. It will, however, assuming that they follow all the relevant guidelines, ruin at least a week of their life. That very frustrating week began for Joe Russell on November 11, the day he found out he’d tested positive for the virus, just one month after getting a Pfizer booster, and about five or six days after he’d first felt an annoying tickle in his throat. Russell, a 35-year-old hospital-supply technician in Minnesota, dutifully cloistered himself in his basement, far from his fully vaccinated wife and his fully unvaccinated 2-year-old son, and phoned in sick to work. He stayed there through the 15th—the requisite 10 days past his symptoms’ start. Then, fearful of passing the pathogen to his family, he tacked on one more day, before venturing upstairs on the 17th, still in a mask. (Wu, 12/7)

AP: 'Pharma Bro' Firm Reaches $40M Settlement In Gouging Case
A company once owned by “Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli will pay up to $40 million to settle allegations that it jacked up the price of a life-saving medication by roughly 4,000% after obtaining exclusive rights to the drug, the Federal Trade Commission announced Tuesday. The FTC said Vyera Pharmaceuticals LLC and its parent company, Phoenixus AG, agreed to settle allegations that it gouged buyers and monopolized sales of Daraprim, which is used to treat toxoplasmosis, an infection that can be deadly for people with HIV or other immune-system problems and can cause serious problems for children born to women infected while pregnant. (12/8)

Stat: Is Cancer Biology Research Reproducible? The Answer Still Isn't Clear
Replication is something of a litmus test for scientific truth, and cancer biologists at the Center for Open Science wanted to see just how many of cancer’s most influential experiments stood up to it. So, for nearly a decade, they worked their way, step-by-step, through 50 experiments from 23 studies toward an answer — but like cancer research writ large, what they found is complicated. (Chen, 12/7)

AP: Study Can't Confirm Lab Results For Many Cancer Experiments
Eight years ago, a team of researchers launched a project to carefully repeat early but influential lab experiments in cancer research. They recreated 50 experiments, the type of preliminary research with mice and test tubes that sets the stage for new cancer drugs. The results reported Tuesday: About half the scientific claims didn’t hold up. “The truth is we fool ourselves. Most of what we claim is novel or significant is no such thing,” said Dr. Vinay Prasad, a cancer doctor and researcher at the University of California, San Francisco, who was not involved in the project. (Johnson, 12/7)

USA Today: Mumps Cases In US: Majority Occur In Vaccinated Kids, CDC Study Finds
Since 2007, about one-third of mumps cases reported in the United States were in children and teenagers, according to the report published last week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of those approximately 9,000 cases, up to 94% of patients were vaccinated against the mumps, which can cause fever, headache, painful swollen glands and sometimes hearing loss in children. Although this may alarm some parents, health experts say they aren’t surprised. “People take from that headline that the vaccine doesn’t work,” said Dr. Paul Offit, an infectious diseases expert at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. But the vaccine has "virtually eliminated what was at one time the most common cause of deafness” in children. (Rodriguez, 12/8)

NBC News: Pediatric Brain Tumors Like The One That Killed Nick Cannon’s Son Are Rare But Serious In Infants
The 5-month-old son of celebrity Nick Cannon died recently of a brain tumor, a rare but a serious condition among infants in the U.S., according to specialists in the field. Only about 1,200 to 1,500 children up to 4 years old are diagnosed with brain tumors every year, said Dr. Susan Chi, the deputy director of pediatric neuro-oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Boston Children’s Hospital. “Brain tumors in children are very rare. And certainly less frequent than what we see in the adult population,” Chi said. (Planas, 12/7)

Bloomberg: Kamala Harris Rolls Out Plan To Reduce High U.S. Maternal Mortality Rates
Vice President Kamala Harris Tuesday announced a plan to reduce the country’s alarmingly high maternal mortality rate by improving pregnancy and postpartum care nationwide. The strategy includes calling for states to extend postpartum coverage under Medicaid from 2 to 12 months and designating “birthing-friendly” hospitals. “Maternal mortality and morbidity is a serious crisis and one that endangers both public health and economic growth,” Harris said at a White House event. (Butler, 12/7)

USA Today: Best Hospitals To Have A Baby In Every State: US News & World Report
After more than 30 years of evaluating the best health systems in America, U.S. News & World Report hopes to better inform expecting families with its first-ever edition of the “Best Hospitals for Maternity" report. Out of the 2,700 hospitals nationwide that offer maternity services, U.S. News said 237 made the list. But while health experts appreciate the focus on maternity care, some say the report provides an incomplete picture. The publication evaluated facilities based on five different factors: scheduled early deliveries, C-section rates in low-risk people, newborn complications, rate of exclusive breast milk feeding and option for vaginal births after cesarean. (Rodriguez, 12/7)

AP: Missouri Effort Launched To Put Legal Marijuana To 2022 Vote
The leader of a campaign to legalize marijuana use in Missouri said he is confident the issue will pass if his group gathers enough signatures to put the question on the 2022 election ballot. A group called Legal Missouri 2022 began an initiative petition effort last week that, if successful, would allow anyone 21 and over to buy, consume, possess or cultivate marijuana for any reason. Currently, the state allows marijuana use only for medical reasons. (12/8)

AP: Illinois Courts Seek Compassion, Hope For Mentally Ill 
Illinois courts are taking steps toward better understanding mental illness and its growing impact on the judicial system, which state Supreme Court Justice Anne Burke said Tuesday too often lacks compassion, treats mental disorders as a crime and skirts alternatives to jail. Burke told reporters that her “call to action” came in response to a report her committee issued last year after months of study. It’s part of a national effort to review courts’ interactions with defendants or litigants who deal with mental health issues and so-called co-occurring disorders such as substance abuse. (O'Connor, 12/8)

Reuters: Exclusive: Up To 1 Million COVID Vaccines Expired In Nigeria Last Month 
Up to one million COVID-19 vaccines are estimated to have expired in Nigeria last month without being used, two sources told Reuters, one of the biggest single losses of doses that shows the difficulty African nations have getting shots in arms. Governments on the continent of over one billion people have been pushing for more vaccine deliveries as inoculation rates lag richer regions, increasing the risk of new variants such as the Omicron coronavirus now spreading across South Africa. (Mcallister, George and Nebehay, 12/7)