First Edition: February 25, 2022

KHN: Health Care Firms Were Pushed To Confront Racism. Now Some Are Investing In Black Startups
Tenn. — Marcus Whitney stands out in Nashville’s $95 billion health care sector as an investor in startups. In addition to co-founding a venture capital firm, he’s organized an annual health tech conference and co-founded the city’s professional soccer club. And, often, he’s the only Black man in the room. So in summer 2020, as Black Lives Matter protesters filled city streets around the country following George Floyd’s murder, Whitney pondered the racial inequalities that are so obvious in his industry — especially locally. (Farmer, 2/25)

KHN: Plan To Fix Postal Service Shifts New Retirees To Medicare — Along With Billions In Costs
A congressional effort to fix the nation’s deteriorating mail service may come at the expense of an even bigger and more complicated problem: Medicare solvency. The Postal Service Reform Act of 2022 would help shore up post office finances by ending the unusual and onerous legal requirement to fund 75 years of retirement health benefits in advance. In return, it would require future Postal Service retirees to enroll in Medicare. (McAuliff, 2/25)

KHN: The Stress Of Restaurant Work Is Reaching A Boiling Point. Could A Staff Therapist Help?
Restaurant jobs have always been difficult, but the mental stress has gotten worse during the pandemic as restaurants closed or cut hours — or became ground zero for the fight over mask-wearing. “It is totally nerve-wracking sometimes because all of my tables I’m interacting with aren’t wearing their masks,” said Nikki Perri, a server at French 75, a restaurant in downtown Denver. “I am within 6 feet of people who are maskless.” Perri is 23, a DJ, and a music producer. And she’s not just worrying about her own health. (Daley, 2/25)

KHN: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’: Contemplating A Post-‘Roe’ World
With those on both sides of the abortion debate anticipating that the Supreme Court this year will weaken or overturn Roe v. Wade, which established the right to the procedure, activists are arguing about how best to proceed. The Biden administration has thus far avoided much mention of the divisive issue, while anti-abortion forces disagree on whether to try to ban abortion at the state level in a single step, or more gradually. Meanwhile, millions of Americans who have been covered by the Medicaid program since the pandemic struck are at risk of losing that coverage when the federal government ends the declared covid-19 “public health emergency,” likely later this year. (2/24)

The Washington Post: CDC To Loosen Coronavirus Mask Guidelines As Soon As Friday
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will soon loosen its mask guidelines by weighing metrics such as hospital capacity and coronavirus admissions, rather than simply looking at case counts, so more people can feel comfortable going maskless in indoor public spaces, according to two senior administration officials and two people familiar with the plans. The change comes weeks after numerous states, including those led by Democratic governors, announced plans to lift mandates as omicron cases drop sharply. But states have long been pressing the agency for better guidelines to inform their decisions to ease restrictions, the officials said. (Abutaleb, 2/24)

AP: CDC To Significantly Ease Pandemic Mask Guidelines Friday
The new policy comes as the Biden administration moves to shift its focus to preventing serious illness and death from COVID-19, rather than all instances of infection, as part of a strategy adjustment for a new “phase” in the response as the virus becomes endemic. The two people familiar with the change spoke on the condition of anonymity to preview the CDC’s action before the announcement. The change comes as nearly all U.S. states that had put in place indoor mask-wearing mandates for the winter omicron surge are letting them lapse as cases have precipitously dropped nationwide. Some have eliminated the mandates entirely, while others have kept mask-wearing requirements in place for schools and medical facilities. (Miller, 2/25)

Politico: CDC Relaunching Covid Tracker With An Eye On Eased Mandates
Under the agency’s current case-centric formula, just 3 percent of the country is not experiencing the “moderate,” “substantial,” or “high” Covid-19 transmission that requires strict health measures. But that approach was developed before vaccines and treatments were widely available that have sharply diminished the risk of severe disease for most Americans. The new metrics, by contrast, will place more weight on whether a Covid-19 outbreak risks overwhelming local hospitals — and less on the number of individual infections. That shift will mean roughly 20 percent of the country can now pull back on mask mandates and social-distancing limits, one senior administration official said. (Cancryn and Owermohle, 2/24)

The Wall Street Journal: CDC To Release New Covid-19 Mask Guidelines On Friday
Federal officials plan to release new Covid-19 guidelines on Friday that lay out a new approach for preventing spread of the disease over the longer term, an official said. The updated guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will include new metrics for when communities should consider recommending that masks be worn. Levels of transmission in a community—high, medium and low—will be determined by the number of Covid-19 cases, how many people are in hospitals, and the number of hospital beds in a community, the official said. (McKay, 2/24)

Reuters: Canada Approves Medicago's Plant-Based COVID-19 Vaccine For Adults
Medicago's vaccine on Thursday became the world's first plant-based shot approved against COVID-19 after Health Canada cleared it for use in adults. The two-dose vaccine, which uses an adjuvant from GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.L) to boost immune response, is the sixth COVID-19 shot to receive regulatory clearance in the country. The Quebec-based privately held company has an agreement to supply up to 76 million doses of the vaccine to the Canadian government. Medicago said on Thursday it was committed to fulfilling the order as soon as possible. (Khandekar, 2/24)

AP: Canada Authorizes First Plant-Based COVID-19 Vaccine
Canada has become the first country to authorize use of a plant-based COVID-19 vaccine. Canadian regulators said Thursday Medicago’s two-dose vaccine can be given to adults ages 18 to 64, but said there’s too little data on the shots in people 65 and older. The decision was based on a study of 24,000 adults that found the vaccine was 71% effective at preventing COVID-19 — although that was before the omicron variant emerged. Side effects were mild, including fever and fatigue. (2/24)

The Washington Post: These Vaccine Skeptics Are Outperforming News Outlets On Facebook, Twitter, Study Finds
Two prominent sources of anti-vaccine information drew massive engagement and grew their audiences on Facebook and Twitter last year, in many cases outpacing a slew of news organizations, according to a new study shared exclusively with The Technology 202. The report, produced by the German Marshall Fund (GMF) think tank, zeroes in on the reach of the popular conservative media site the Daily Wire, founded by Ben Shapiro, and of the Children’s Health Defense, a group founded by longtime anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Lima, 2/24)

Anchorage Daily News: Only About A Quarter Of Alaskans Have Received Their COVID-19 Booster Shot, Despite Data Showing Its Effectiveness
Getting a vaccine booster shot significantly increases protection against a COVID-19 infection — especially from the omicron variant. Despite that, only about a quarter of the Alaskans 5 and older are both vaccinated and boosted. The rate of shots also has slowed considerably in recent weeks, health providers say. (Berman, 2/24)

The Hill: Air Force Officers Sue Over COVID-19 Vaccine Religious Exemption Denials
A group of Air Force officers is suing the service in an Ohio federal court after being denied religious exemptions to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The lawsuit, which names Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall as a defendant, alleges that the service employs a double standard when approving exemption requests that favors medical and administrative exemptions. The plaintiffs are asking the court to declare the mandate unconstitutional, and bar the Air Force from taking “enforcement/punitive action” against them while the case is underway. (Williams, 2/24)

Reuters: EMA Backs Pfizer COVID Booster For Teens, Moderna Shot For Ages 6-11
The European Union's health regulator on Thursday backed giving a booster shot of Pfizer (PFE.N) and BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine to adolescents aged 12 and over, as well as the expanded use of Moderna's (MRNA.O) shot in children ages six to 11. The recommendations by the European Medicine Agency's (EMA) Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use will be followed by final decisions by the European Commission. (2/24)

Bloomberg: Covid 19: Most Californians Back School Mask, Vaccine Requirements
Most California voters support mandated Covid-19 vaccinations and masking for students and teachers at K-12 schools, according to a new survey by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies. About two-thirds of the roughly 9,000 respondents said they wanted the precautions to contain the virus, according to the poll, which was co-sponsored and published by the Los Angeles Times on Thursday. The views diverged according to political affiliation: While about 85% of Democrats backed vaccine mandates for schools about 70% of Republicans opposed them. (McGregor, 2/24)

Fox News: School Mask Mandates End In New Hamphire As Other States Look At Removing Vaccination Rules
While more mask mandates have been lifted across the country this week, some have also acted to reverse proof of COVID-19 vaccination requirements. In New Hampshire, schools will no longer be allowed to mandate masks. "I don’t think this should be viewed as a drastic change or measure, it’s just kind of another step forward as we continue to return to the old normal," Gov. Chris Sununu said. "We know that masking can be a very powerful tool in times of surging transmissibility, but it obviously has drawbacks, especially for kids in schools and those with disabilities." (Musto, 2/24)

Stat: As Mask Mandates Fade, Experts Say Use Of Masks Likely Will Not
Late last year, Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, made a commitment about face masks, one of the defining symbols of the Covid-19 pandemic. “Masks are for now, they’re not forever,” Walensky told ABC News. “We have to find a way to be done with them.” On Friday, Walensky is expected to deliver at least in part on that pledge, outlining long-awaited new guidance on when the CDC believes people should consider wearing masks and when they might safely stash them in a drawer for a time. (Branswell, 2/25)

Reuters: FDA Approves Eli Lilly Drug To Cut Death, Hospitalization Risk In All Heart Patients
The U.S. health regulator said on Thursday it had approved Eli Lilly (LLY.N) and partner Boehringer Ingelheim's drug, Jardiance, for expanded use in reducing the risk of death and hospitalization for all patients with heart failure. Originally approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2014 for type 2 diabetes patients, the drug's use was expanded last year in some adults living with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, which happens when the muscle of the left ventricle is not pumping as well as normal. (2/24)

The New York Times: Abortion Pills Now Account For More Than Half Of U.S. Abortions
The increase in medication abortion is most likely the result of several factors. The method — which is less expensive and less invasive than surgical abortions — had already become increasingly common before the coronavirus pandemic, driven partly by restrictions from conservative states that imposed hurdles to surgical methods, especially later in pregnancy. As of 2017, according to the Guttmacher Institute, which collects data by contacting every known abortion provider in the country, nearly a third of clinics offered only medication abortion. In 2019, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which did not include California, Maryland and New Hampshire, pills accounted for 42 percent of all abortions — and 54 percent of abortions that were early enough to qualify for medication because they occurred before 10 weeks’ gestation. (Belluck, 2/24)

AP: Over Half Of U.S. Abortions Now Done With Pills, Not Surgery
More than half of U.S. abortions are now done with pills rather than surgery, an upward trend that spiked during the pandemic with the increase in telemedicine, a report released Thursday shows. In 2020, pills accounted for 54% of all U.S. abortions, up from roughly 44% in 2019. The preliminary numbers come from the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights. The group, by contacting providers, collects more comprehensive abortion data than the U.S. government. (Tanner, 2/24)

Reuters: Texas High Court Questions Clinics' Challenge To Abortion Law
Justices on Texas's high court on Thursday sharply questioned whether clinics can challenge a law that banned most abortions in the state because it is enforced by private individuals, just two months after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the case to move forward. The clinics are suing over a law, known as SB8, that went into effect Sept. 1 and bans abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy. It allows private citizens to sue anyone who performs and assists a woman in obtaining an abortion after embryo cardiac activity is detected. (Raymond, 2/25)

CNN: Texas Abortion Seekers Flooded Out-Of-State Clinics After Six-Week Ban Went Into Effect 
Planned Parenthood clinics in the five states neighboring Texas saw a nearly 800% increase in abortion patients from the Lone Star State after a six-week ban went into effect in September, the organization said Thursday. Colorado and Oklahoma clinics saw some of the biggest surges in Texas abortion seekers, the organization said. Between September 1 and December 31, 2021, abortion patients with Texas zip codes made up more than half the total number of patients at Oklahoma Planned Parenthood clinics, in what was a 2500% increase in Texas traffic to those facilities. Texas patients amounted to less than 10% in Oklahoma clinics the same time the year before. (Sneed, 2/24)

AP: Republican Helps Defeat Arizona Abortion Pill Ban
One Republican in the Arizona House defected from a united GOP front on Thursday to defeat a measure that would have banned manufacturing or prescribing medication that would cause an abortion. The bill that unexpectedly failed would have eliminated the choice used by half of the people who have abortions in the state, leaving a surgical procedure as the only option. “Members, I am about as pro-life as they come,” Rep. Michelle Udall of Mesa said as she joined all Democrats in voting against the measure. “However, in my research of some of these medications, they are used for other purposes as well. (Christie, 2/25)

AP: Arizona Bill Bans Gender Reassignment Surgery For Minors
The Arizona Senate has voted to prohibit gender reassignment surgeries for minors. Republicans approved the measure in a 16-12 party-line vote on Thursday. It’s a scaled back version of an earlier proposal that failed in a Senate committee, which would have banned a broader array of gender-affirming health care, including puberty blockers and hormone therapy. Advocates for transgender youth say decisions about health care should be left to children, their parents and their doctors. Supporters of the legislation say teenagers shouldn’t undergo irreversible surgeries. (2/25)

The New York Times: Justice Dept. Sues To Block $13 Billion Deal By UnitedHealth Group
A spokeswoman for Optum, the UnitedHealth subsidiary, said in a statement that the Justice Department’s “deeply flawed position is based on highly speculative theories that do not reflect the realities of the health care system,” and added that the company would “defend our case vigorously.” A spokeswoman for Change Healthcare said it was still “working toward closing the merger as we comply with our obligations under the merger agreement.” The deal is the latest transaction to run into opposition from the Biden administration, which has made countering corporate consolidation a central part of its economic agenda. President Biden signed an executive order last year to spur competition in different industries. He also appointed Lina Khan, a prominent critic of the tech giants, to lead the Federal Trade Commission and Jonathan Kanter, a lawyer who has represented large companies, as chief of antitrust efforts at the Justice Department.(McCabe, 2/24)

The Wall Street Journal: Justice Department Sues To Block UnitedHealth’s Planned Buy Of Change Healthcare
The Justice Department filed an antitrust lawsuit Thursday challenging UnitedHealth Group Inc.’s $13 billion acquisition of health-technology firm Change Healthcare Inc., arguing the tie-up would unlawfully reduce competition in markets for commercial insurance and the processing of claims. The deal, announced in January 2021, sought to bring a major provider of healthcare clinical and financial services, including the handling of claims, under UnitedHealth’s Optum health-services arm. (Wilde Matthews and Kendall, 2/24)

AP: Unemployment Help Applications In Nation Plunge To 52-Year Low
The number of Americans collecting unemployment benefits fell to a 52-year low after another decline in jobless aid applications last week. (Ott, 2/25)

AP: Treasury: Most COVID Rental Aid Went To Low-Income Residents
More than 80% of the billions of dollars in federal rental assistance aimed at keeping families in their homes during the pandemic went to low-income tenants, the Treasury Department said Thursday. It also concluded that the largest percentage of tenants receiving pandemic aid were Black followed by households. In the fourth quarter of 2021, Treasury found that more than 40% of tenants getting help were Black and two-thirds of recipients were female-headed households. The data was consistent with what Treasury saw throughout the year. (Casey and Hussein, 2/25)

CIDRAP: US Officials Plan For Next Pandemic Phase As Vaccine Uptake Drops Globally
As the pandemic presses further into its third year, US officials are working on overhauling the nation's strategy, and international officials are for the first time seeing COVAX vaccine supply exceed demand, casting a spotlight on the need to solve rollout problems in Africa. Though White House officials are steeped in crisis talks regarding Russia's attack on Ukraine, efforts are under way to overhaul the nation's COVID-19 strategy, according to ABC News, which said the theme reflected a step-down in the urgency of the threat, now that vaccines, tests, and treatments are more plentiful. (Schnirring, 2/24)

The Wall Street Journal: Dispute Over Carbon’s ‘Social Costs’ Could Delay Oil Leases, U.S. Says
The Biden administration is appealing a federal-district court ruling in Louisiana that it says could delay lease sales and permits for oil-and-gas drilling on federal lands. At issue is the Biden administration’s attempt to adopt a sevenfold increase in a metric called the social cost of carbon, which assigns a dollar value to the harm caused by greenhouse gas emissions. The metric is used in guiding a variety of government decisions, including the sale of energy leases on federal lands. The Biden administration moved last year to tentatively raise the value to $51 per metric ton, up from $7 per metric ton under the Trump administration. (Stech Ferek and Puko, 2/24)

Stat: Judge Bars Shkreli From Running Another Company, Fines Him $1.4 Million
A U.S. District Court judge has granted a request from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to permanently bar Martin Shkreli from serving as an officer or director of any publicly traded company, and fined the infamous “pharma bro” $1.39 million for violating securities laws between 2009 and 2014. The ruling is the latest blow to Shkreli, who gained notoriety seven years ago after his company purchased an old and inexpensive, life-saving medicine and then boosted the price by 4,000% overnight. Last month, yet another federal court judge issued a separate decision ordering Shkreli to pay $64.6 million in profits and banned him for life from the pharmaceutical industry. (Silverman, 2/24)

The New York Times: Avian Flu Spread In The US Worries Poultry Industry
“It’s important to note that avian influenza is not considered to be a risk to public health and it’s not a food-safety risk,” Mike Stepien, a spokesman for the Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, said in an email. Although the danger to humans is low, scientists are keeping a close eye on the virus, the Eurasian H5N1, which is closely related to an Asian strain that has infected hundreds of people since 2003, mostly those who had worked with infected poultry. That virus does not spread efficiently among humans, but it is extremely deadly, with a fatality rate of 60 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Jacobs, 2/24)

The Washington Post: Trendy IV Vitamin Infusions Don’t Work — And Might Be Unsafe. Experts Explain Why
Vitamin supplementation is not inherently harmful and can be lifesaving for babies born prematurely or people with known deficiencies. But our bodies need them in only trace amounts — often just a few milligrams — which can be easily attained from a balanced diet. Water-soluble vitamins — i.e., vitamin C and the B-vitamin family — are unable to be stored in our bodies and even slight excesses will come out in our urine. The fat-soluble vitamins — i.e., vitamins A, D, E and K — can be stored in our liver, fatty tissues, and muscles, and can be dangerous in excess. Given that we need vitamins in such tiny amounts and have critical mechanisms in our guts to store or eliminate them after absorption, is there any reason to subject yourself to recreational IV vitamin drips? (Tanmoy Das, 2/24)

Bloomberg: Covid Oprhans: Over 5 Million Kids Lost Parent Or Guardian To Virus: Study
At least 5.2 million children have lost a parent or caregiver to Covid-19, putting them at risk of poverty, exploitation and abuse and highlighting the lasting scars of the pandemic, a study shows. More than 1.2 million children under nine years of age were orphaned between March 2020 and October last year, along with 2.1 million kids between 10 and 17, according to a new modeling study published in The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health journal. The estimates on orphaned children, however, are probably higher as the death toll from Covid-19 has been vastly underestimated, especially in Africa where cases could be 10 times higher than official figures, said Juliette Unwin, an author of the study. A mathematical model estimates the global toll was 6.7 million in January. (Gitau, 2/24)

Press Association: Vegetarians Have A Lower Risk Of Cancer Than Meat Eaters, Study Suggests
Vegetarians could have a lower risk of developing cancer compared with meat eaters, according to a study. Compared with regular meat eaters, those who consume small amounts of meat have a 2% lower risk of cancer, while pescatarians — who eat fish and vegetables — have a 10% reduced risk and vegetarians are 14% less likely to develop cancer. Experts said that people who do not eat a lot of meat had a 9% lower risk of developing bowel cancer compared with “regular” meat eaters. (2/25)

CIDRAP: Babies Born With Zika At Greater Risk Of Dying Than Those Without
Mortality rates among children born with congenital Zika syndrome up to 3 years of age were more than 11 times higher than those without Zika, researchers reported today in the New England Journal of Medicine. In the retrospective, population-based cohort study, researchers from Brazil and the United Kingdom examined all singleton live births in Brazil from 2015 through 2018, linking live birth records with the Public Health Event Record, which contains information about all recorded suspected cases of microcephaly associated with congenital Zika infection, and the Mortality Information System. They used Cox proportional hazard models to estimate mortality rates and mortality rate ratios for children born with and without Zika. (2/24)

CIDRAP: Patients, Pharma Execs Express Low Trust In Drug Supply Chains
A recent international survey reveals that 40% of patients who rely on prescription drugs suspect that supply chain disruptions will put them at risk for illness and death from ineffective, contaminated, counterfeit, expired, or improperly labeled or stored products. The Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Vision Study, by the workflow solutions company Zebra Technologies Corp., surveyed more than 3,500 patients and pharmaceutical executives to gauge perceptions of supply chain resilience, responsibility, and trust and identify ways to improve drug pipeline visibility and transparency. The report was released on Feb 8. (Van Beusekom, 2/24)

CIDRAP: COVID-19 In Pregnancy Tied To Poor Birth Outcomes
A new survey of more than 4,000 pregnant women hospitalized in the United Kingdom with COVID-19 during the first 18 months of the pandemic shows severe illness was linked to poor birth outcomes, including pre-labor caesarean birth, very or extreme preterm birth, stillborn birth, and the need for admission to a neonatal unit. A smaller study in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) reported a similar impact. In the UK study, women who were 30 or older, obese, mixed ethnicity, or diagnosed with gestational diabetes were more likely to suffer from an increased risk of poor pregnancy outcomes. (Soucheray, 2/24)

Fox News: Rare Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome Appears In Some Teenagers After COVID-19 Vaccination: Study
Young people between the ages of 12-20 have reported several cases of a multi-system inflammatory syndrome, otherwise known as MIS-C, where the immune system goes on overdrive after being vaccinated for COVID-19, according to a recent Lancet report. The report noted MIS-C is a rare condition that can happen two to six weeks after COVID-19 infection with patients complaining of fever and showing signs and symptoms of multi-organ involvement with systemic inflammation. "Patients with MIS-C usually present with persistent fever, abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, skin rash, mucocutaneous lesions and, in severe cases, with hypotension and shock," the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on their website. (Sudhakar, 2/24)

CIDRAP: High Immunity, Low Vaccine Rate In South Africa Point To Prior Infections
A seroepidemiologic survey of 7,010 people in Gauteng province, South Africa, before the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant outcompeted the Delta strain shows that 80% of those older than 50 years had antibodies against the virus, with most seropositivity likely generated by previous infection. In the study, published yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), South African researchers analyzed dried-blood samples from participants from 3,047 households from Oct 22 to Dec 9, 2021. They looked for anti–SARS-CoV-2 immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies and assessed COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths and excess deaths through Jan 12, 2022. Omicron was first identified in the region on Nov 25, 2021, but didn't become dominant until December. (2/24)

Stat: Intellia CEO Talks Up The Future Of In Vivo Gene Editing 
In 1996, 32,655 Americans died from AIDS. A year later, that number was 16,685. The difference? Protease inhibitors — drugs that prevented HIV from building more copies of itself inside human cells. Acting with record speed, the Food and Drug Administration approved three such drugs in 1996 — the products of a high-intensity race between scientists at Merck, Roche, and Abbott Laboratories. “I feel sort of the same energy now, all these years later,” said John Leonard, a former National Institutes of Health virologist who led Abbott’s work on its first-generation AIDS drug, speaking at a STAT virtual event Thursday. Now the president and CEO of Intellia Therapeutics, Leonard joined STAT senior medical writer Matthew Herper to discuss the pace of clinical advances in genome editing. “It’s the nature of the adventure,” said Leonard. “Thinking about 1979, 1980, inconceivable stuff back then is mundane today.” (Molteni, 2/24)

Stat: Unraveling Of Amicus Spinout Spells More Trouble For Gene Therapy Field
The abrupt dissolution of a blank-check merger on Thursday points to more trouble for the already deflated gene therapy field. Amicus Therapeutics called off a planned spinout of its gene therapy division via a combination with a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC. The $600 million deal, announced five months ago, would have created a new publicly traded gene therapy company called Caritas Therapeutics. But on Thursday, Amicus and its SPAC partner terminated the merger citing “unfavorable market conditions” for new biotech financings, as well as an “increasingly challenging environment for stand-alone gene therapy companies.” (Feuerstein, 2/24)

Stat: Political Pressure In U.K. Prompted Better Reporting Of Clinical Trial Results
Sometimes, sabre rattling works. Three years ago, a U.K. parliamentary committee chair warned dozens of universities that they had six months to do a better job of reporting clinical trial results or they would face hearings. Now, a new analysis finds the gambit worked: Last year, 20 major universities disclosed 91% of their required trial results, up from just 29% shortly before the warnings were issued. Moreover, by last June, all 20 of the major universities had posted more than 70% of the required trial results on a European database and five of those universities had a perfect reporting rate of 100%, including the University of Birmingham, the University of Glasgow, and the Queen Mary University of London, according to the analysis published in Clinical Trials. (Silverman, 2/24)

The Wall Street Journal: Healthcare Realty Trust Nears Deal With Healthcare Trust Of America
Healthcare Trust of America Inc., which owns and operates medical-office buildings around the country, is in advanced talks to combine with smaller rival Healthcare Realty Trust Inc. in a deal that could create a company worth more than $10 billion. A cash-and-stock deal could be finalized by early next week, people familiar with the matter said, though the talks could still fall apart. Details of the potential transaction couldn’t be learned. The expected move would culminate a monthslong sale process run by Healthcare Trust of America. (Lombardo and Hoffman, 2/24)

Bangor Daily News: Maine Health Care Workers Say Patients Are Assaulting Them More Than Ever Before
Health care workers across Maine say they are being attacked by patients more than ever, leaving long-lasting physical and psychological wounds. That is why more than 60 staff members of Maine Medical Center in Portland represented by the Maine State Nurses Association union held a demonstration outside of the hospital on Thursday, with some bringing a petition to hospital president Jeff Sanders. (Marino Jr., 2/24)

Burlington Free Press: State Investigation Confirms Long Wait Times; Vermont Hospitals Say It's Old News
Vermont hospital executives say there's nothing new in an 80-page report released by the state last week confirming patients face months-long waits to see specialists, a problem that has long plagued hospitals here. Hospitals face a range of challenges in reducing wait times, according to executives, including a burdensome regulatory scheme from the state that slows new building projects to a crawl, and an inability to attract new doctors and nurses to the state because of relatively low pay, a poor job market for spouses and scarce housing. (D'Ambrosio, 2/25)

Los Angeles Times: Doctors, Nurses Charged In Medicare Hospice Fraud Scheme
They were supposed to be near death and in desperate need of end-of-life care to ease their pain. Authorities, however, allege that many of the patients were not dying but merely unwitting pawns in a sophisticated Medicare fraud scheme engineered by two Inland Empire couples who took in more than $4.2 million in federal reimbursements. State prosecutors say the couples ran two hospice businesses and paid doctors and others for bogus diagnoses or illegal kickbacks for patient referrals — accusations that mirror the type of widespread hospice fraud detailed in a 2020 Los Angeles Times investigation of the industry. (Christensen and Poston, 2/24)

Columbus Dispatch: Second Pharmacist Testifies In Murder Trial Of William Husel
As a Mount Carmel Health System pharmacist recounted his concerns over high doses of painkillers that William Husel was ordering for his patients, a handful of friends and loved ones of those whom investigators say died at the former doctor’s hands leaned forward in courtroom benches, hanging on every word. One took copious notes on paper, another squinted to see each bit of medical evidence displayed on big television screens. (Zachariah, 2/24)

Billings Gazette: Region's Mental Health Coalition Expresses Frustration Over Substance Abuse Connect Operations
Leaders with the South Central Montana Regional Mental Health Center, a coalition of Eastern Montana counties providing mental health resources throughout the region, are frustrated. The Health Center's board chairman and its executive director met on Thursday with the three Yellowstone County commissioners and expressed their concerns about how the Billings-based Substance Abuse Connect has operated over the last six months. (Rogers, 2/24)

AP: Tennessee Donor Services Surpasses Goal For New Organ Donors
Tennessee Donor Services announced this week that it registered 107,000 new organ and tissue donors in Tennessee last year, surpassing its goal of adding 100,000 donors. The new registrations came during the nonprofit’s inaugural #BeTheGift Challenge, with individuals and organizations challenging others to become organ donors, according to a news release. The success of the campaign came during a record-breaking year for Tennessee Donor Services. More than 400 Tennesseans donated organs in 2021, and nearly 2,500 donated tissue. But at least 3,000 Tennesseans are still waiting for transplants, according to the group. (2/25)

AP: West Virginia Receiving $1.2 Million For HIV Prevention
West Virginia is getting more than $1.2 million in federal grants to address HIV and AIDS prevention and treatment. The opioid epidemic killed more than 1,437 West Virginians from September 2020 to September 2021, U.S. Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin said in a news release Thursday. “This crisis has led to an increase in infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS in our communities, and the COVID-19 pandemic has only made it more difficult for many West Virginians to access the medical care they need,” he said. (2/25)

AP: West Virginia Baby Sickened After Ingesting Recalled Formula
West Virginia has recorded its first case of an infant contracting salmonella by ingesting recalled powdered infant formula, health officials said. The Department of Health and Human Resources did not disclose details about the baby’s illness in a news release Thursday. Last week the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned parents not to use three popular powdered infant formulas manufactured at an Abbott plant in Michigan that investigators recently linked to bacterial contamination. (2/25)

Politico: Miami-Dade Mayor Says City Is Moving From Crisis To Covid-19 'Safety Mode'
As states and cities across the country begin lifting Covid-19 restrictions, Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said on Thursday that her city is “moving out of crisis and into safety mode. ”Speaking at POLITICO’s The Fifty: America’s Mayors summit, Levine Cava recounted that Miami-Dade had the highest vaccination rates in the state and managed 70,000 testing at the height of Omicron surge over the fall and winter. She added that her city provided the latest treatments as well, including monoclonal antibody treatments. (Matat, 2/24)

AP: Colorado Turns To Ice-Fishing Tents To House Homeless
Gary Peters spent seven years camping outside a Denver golf course to avoid sleeping in a public shelter until last summer when he moved into a new homeless community where he’s been given his own ice-fishing tent featuring electrical outlets, a cot and a zero-degree rated sleeping bag. The 75-year-old is among the benefactors of Denver’s nearly $4 million investment aimed at providing homeless people with “safe outdoor spaces” as an alternative to public shelters, which many have chosen to avoid due to safety concerns or restrictive rules — including curfews and bans on pets. The need for alternatives to shelters increased during the pandemic as more people moved outdoors due to concerns over the risk of COVID-19 transmission in such indoor facilities. (Nieberg, 2/25)

West Virginia Gazette Mail: Bill That Would Limit Homeless Shelters, Encampments Advances In WV House
The House Judiciary Committee advanced a bill Thursday that would restrict where homeless shelters and encampments could exist within West Virginia’s municipalities. (Kersey and Pierson, 2/25)

AP: EPA To Eye Hawaii Fuel Tank Operations After Water Tainted
The top official at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Thursday an upcoming inspection of a Navy fuel tank facility that leaked petroleum into Pearl Harbor’s tap water will look at whether the tank farm was properly operated. “We’re going to ... really look very closely at whether or not the facility has operated within the guidelines of the law. And if it hasn’t, then we will have to make some corrections there,” Michael S. Regan, the EPA’s administrator, told reporters at a news conference. Regan was in Hawaii for a two-day visit to see the Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility and meet officials about the water contamination crisis. (McAvoy, 2/25)

Maine Public: Maine Groups Call For Ban On Spreading PFAS-Laden Sludge
Agricultural and environmental groups are calling on state lawmakers to pass a bill prohibiting sludge spreading in Maine as additional farmers come forward to disclose PFAS contamination on their land or in their water. Standing outside of the Maine State House on Wednesday, Brendan Holmes said Misty Brook Farm in Albion pulled its dairy products from store shelves two weeks ago after high levels of the “forever chemicals” known as PFAS were found in the farm’s milk. Holmes said the contamination was traced to hay purchased from a neighboring farm that was fertilized with sludge in the past. So he joined several speakers urging the Legislature to pass a bill banning the once-common practice of spreading treated municipal sludge on fields as well as the sale of compost made from sludge. (Miller, 2/24)

The Hill: Lawsuit Alleges Tennessee Diocese Failed To Properly Investigate Sexual Abuse Allegations
A lawsuit filed Tuesday in Knox County Circuit Court alleges that the Roman Catholic Diocese of Knoxville and its bishop failed to properly investigate sexual abuse allegations against a former assistant to the bishop, The Associated Press reported. A former employee of The Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, located in Knoxville, put forth multiple allegations of sexual harassment and sexual abuse by a former assistant to Bishop Richard Stika, according to the lawsuit, the AP reported. The abuse allegedly occurred in 2019. (Folmar, 2/24)

The Hill: Maine To Distribute More Than $9M To Mental Health, Substance Use Disorder Service Providers
The state of Maine plans to distribute more than $9 million to mental health and substance use disorder service providers, The Associated Press reported. The funds will be issued through MaineCare payments to 442 providers, where they will be used to address immediate workforce needs, according to the AP, which cited the office of Maine Governor Janet Mills (D). They will be funded by the biennial budget passed by the Maine state legislature and signed by Mills, the wire service reported. (Folmar, 2/24)

AP: England Ends All COVID Restrictions, Including Isolation Law
All government-mandated coronavirus restrictions in England were lifted Thursday, including the legal requirement for people who test positive for COVID-19 to isolate at home. Officials say that those who tested positive will still be advised to stay at home for at least five days. But from Thursday they are not legally obliged to do so, and those on lower incomes will no longer get extra financial support to make up for a loss of income due to isolation. The routine tracing of infected people’s contacts has also been scrapped. (Hui, 2/24)