Reuters: U.S. Senate To Vote Wednesday On Abortion Rights Bill, Schumer Says
The U.S. Senate will vote on legislation to codify abortion rights into law on Wednesday in reaction to the leaked draft decision indicating the Supreme Court is poised to overturn its landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Sunday. "Every American will see how every senator stands," Schumer said during a news conference with state leaders in New York. Republicans "can't duck it anymore. Republicans have tried to duck it." (5/8)

The Wall Street Journal: Congress Set To Clash On Abortion Following Draft Opinion On Roe V. Wade 
The vote has no chance of succeeding in the 50-50 Senate. But Democrats think disagreement with Republicans on the issue could help them at the polls. “If we are not successful, then we go to the ballot box,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D., Minn.) said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.” “We march straight to the ballot box, and the women of this country and the men who stand with them will vote like they’ve never voted before.” (Hughes, 5/8)

The New York Times: Senate Democrats Warn Of G.O.P. Effort To Restrict Abortion Nationwide 
Democrats rang alarm bells on Sunday about the likelihood that Republicans would try to restrict abortion nationwide, two days after an interview was published in which Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader, said a ban was “possible” if his party gained control in Washington. On the Sunday talk shows and in other public statements, Democratic senators said Republicans would not stop at letting the states decide the issue, but would most likely push for federal restrictions. That made it paramount, they said, that the Democratic Party maintain control of the Senate as it tries to codify abortion rights into federal law. (Broadwater, 5/8)

USA Today: GOP Avoids Abortion Ahead Of Potential SCOTUS Ruling To Overturn Roe
Republicans are on the verge of a long-sought legal victory – striking down Roe v. Wade – but their political candidates are in no rush to talk about it on the campaign trail. GOP campaign officials are advising candidates to downplay and soft-pedal the prospects of anti-abortion legislation as they battle pro-choice Democrats for control of Congress and various statehouses across the country. ... Asked Thursday if a national ban, which anti-abortion activists are pursuing, is something worthy of a debate now or should wait until after the election, [Senate Minority Leader Mitch] McConnell acknowledged the possibility, even though he considers the discussion premature. "If the leaked opinion became the final opinion, legislative bodies – not only at the state level but at the federal level – certainly could legislate in that area," McConnell said. (Jackson and Bailey, 5/7)

The Hill: Graham Says Roe V. Wade Created ‘Constitutional Right That Didn’t Exist’ 
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C) on Sunday said the 1973 Supreme Court precedent Roe v. Wade “created a constitutional right that didn’t exist” when justices ruled Americans have a right to privacy and legalized abortion in the U.S. Graham told “Fox News Sunday” anchor Bret Baier the ruling has divided the public since its inception. (Dress, 5/8)

The Hill: Klobuchar Says Alito Is ‘Taking Us Back To The 1850s’ 
Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) on Sunday said Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito is “taking us back to the 1850s” in his draft majority opinion that shows the bench poised to overturn Roe v. Wade. “This is 50 years of rights in a leaked opinion where Justice Alito is literally not just taking us back to the 1950s, he’s taking us back to 1850s. He actually cites the fact that abortion was criminalized back when the 14th Amendment was adopted,” Klobuchar told anchor Martha Raddatz on ABC’s “This Week.” (Schnell, 5/8)

The New York Times: Midterms’ Biggest Abortion Battleground: Pennsylvania 
Jan Downey, who calls herself “a Catholic Republican,” is so unhappy about the Supreme Court’s likely reversal of abortion rights that she is leaning toward voting for a Democrat for Pennsylvania governor this year. “Absolutely,” she said. “On that issue alone.” Linda Ward, also a Republican, said the state’s current law allowing abortion up to 24 weeks was “reasonable.” But Ms. Ward said she would vote for a Republican for governor, even though all the leading candidates vowed to sign legislation sharply restricting abortion. She is disgusted with inflation, mask mandates and “woke philosophy,” she said. (Gabriel, 5/8)

In related abortion news from the federal government —

AP: Abortion Adds To Biden's All-But-Impossible To-Do List 
President Joe Biden’s list of impossible tasks keeps getting longer. Despite lofty promises he’s made, from the campaign trail through his first year in office, he has limited power to safeguard voting rights or expand the fight against climate change on his own. And now it’s become clear that Biden has no good options for preserving abortion access as the Supreme Court appears poised to overturn Roe v. Wade. (Megerian, 5/6)

Bloomberg: Roe V. Wade: U.S. Military Risks A Drop In Female Troops Under Abortion Rollback
U.S. troops could see their access to abortion severely curtailed if the Supreme Court overturns its landmark ruling on reproductive rights, potentially hurting military recruitment and the retention of women. As employees of the federal government, doctors on military bases are already banned from performing abortions so female troops -- and the female spouses of troops -- must seek out the procedure on their own. That would become much more difficult if the Supreme Court overturns the precedent set in its Roe v. Wade ruling almost five decades ago, as a leaked draft ruling indicates it’s likely to do. (Tiron, 5/6)

USA Today: Jane Roe Daughter Slams Supreme Court Leaked Abortion Opinion
The daughter of the woman who became the face of the 1973 Roe v. Wade case that granted Americans a constitutional right to abortion said overturning the decision was dangerous and her mother would be furious with the Supreme Court for doing so. "I think mom would be turning in her grave because she was always pro-woman," Melissa Mills told USA TODAY in an exclusive interview. Mills said she was in shock when she got a text message Monday night and learned a leaked draft opinion indicated the Supreme Court is poised to overturn the landmark decision. (Ruiz-Goiriena, 5/6)

Who leaked the draft opinion? —

The Hill: NPR Reporter Says ‘Leading Theory’ On SCOTUS Leak Is Conservative Clerk
A clerk for a conservative justice is the “leading theory” amid intense speculation about who released a draft opinion authored by Justice Samuel Alito showing the court is set to overturn Roe v. Wade, according to legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg of NPR. Totenberg said on ABC’s “This Week” that the prevailing theory is that a conservative clerk released the decision in an attempt to lock in the five justices who voted to support overturning Roe as Chief Justice John Roberts reportedly attempts to pull his colleagues toward a more moderate position. (Dress, 5/8)

The Hill: GOP Calls For SCOTUS Probe Set Off Alarm Bells 
Calls from high-ranking Republicans for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to launch its own investigation into the leak of a Supreme Court draft opinion are alarming those who say the DOJ would be blurring the separation of powers in pursuit of something that may not even be a crime. The leak has set off a round of finger-pointing and calls for heads to roll following the history-making release of a draft opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade. (Beitsch, 5/8)

More on the Supreme Court —

The Hill: Roe V. Wade Draft Fuels Democratic Calls To Add Justices To Supreme Court 
Proposals to reform the Supreme Court are getting new attention from Democrats following a leaked draft opinion by Justice Samuel Alito that would overturn Roe v. Wade, one of the most consequential civil rights decisions of the past 50 years.  Democrats say the opinion, if supported by five conservative justices, opens the door to reversals of other landmark court decisions on same-sex marriage or the right to use contraception. (Bolton, 5/8)

The Washington Post: How The Future Of Roe Is Testing Roberts’s Clout On Supreme Court
The explosive leak of a draft Supreme Court opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade not only focused the nation on the magnitude of the change facing abortion rights, it also signaled the rise of a rightward-moving bench that is testing the power of fellow conservative Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. As the country awaits a final decision, the intense deliberations inside a court closed to the public and shaken by revelations of its private negotiations appears to be not between the court’s right and left, but among the six conservative justices, including Roberts, in the court’s supermajority. (Barnes, Leonnig and Marimow, 5/7)

Also —

The New York Times: If Roe Falls, Is Same-Sex Marriage Next? 
When the Supreme Court heard arguments in December over the fate of the constitutional right to abortion, it was already clear that other rights, notably including same-sex marriage, could be at risk if the court overruled Roe v. Wade. The logic of that legal earthquake, Justice Sonia Sotomayor predicted, would produce a jurisprudential tsunami that could sweep away other precedents, too. (Liptak, 5/8)

The Hill: How Roe V. Wade’s Reversal Could Affect The LGBT Community
LGBT advocates are warning that the overturned of Roe v. Wade is not something that exclusively impacts straight, cisgender women. “There’s so much about LGBTQ liberation and reproductive justice that connects us…and connect our movements. You know, the foundation of our movements were built on you know, freedom, you know, sexual freedom,” said Kierra Johnson, executive director of the LGBTQ Task Force.  (Vella, 5/8)

KHN: Journalists Recap News On Reproductive Health, From The Abortion Debate To C-Sections 
Chief Washington correspondent Julie Rovner discussed the leaked Supreme Court draft opinion on abortion on KCRW’s “Press Play With Madeleine Brand” on May 3. ... Interim Southern Bureau editor Andy Miller explored why cesarean section rates are so high in the South and what some states are doing to bring them down on WUGA’s “Georgia Health Report” on April 22. (5/7)

Bloomberg: Abortion-Rights Protest Targets Homes Of Kavanaugh, Roberts
About 100 protesters took the battle over abortion rights to the homes of two conservative U.S. Supreme Court justices Saturday night, five days after a leaked draft opinion suggested the court is poised to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling. Bearing signs and chanting slogans, the group marched from Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s house in Chevy Chase, Maryland, to Chief Justice John Roberts’ residence about a half mile away. The protesters then returned to Kavanaugh’s before police ordered them to disperse. It wasn’t clear whether either justice’s family was home. (Stohr, 5/8)

The Washington Post: Outside Kavanaugh’s Home, A Neighbor Rallies For Abortion Rights
Lacie Wooten-Holway walked through Chevy Chase on Wednesday night, pausing to stick fliers on her fence, a tree and utility boxes. She was advertising an abortion rights protest here, in her neighborhood, in front of the home of Supreme Court Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh. A passing couple paused, reading her sign: “HONK 4 REPRO Rights and Bodily Autonomy.” “Good!” the woman said. “That I don’t agree with,” the man interjected. “I think you vote, and you expand the court. You don’t go to a guy’s house.” She had heard the argument before and responded: “I organize peaceful candlelit vigils in front of his house. … We’re about to get doomsday, so I’m not going to be civil to that man at all.” (Silverman, 5/7)

AP: Abortion Rights Protesters Rally In Cities Around US 
Abortion rights protesters rallied in cities around the United States on Saturday, vowing to fight to ensure that abortion remains a legal option for women nationwide. Hundreds gathered in Chicago, Atlanta, Houston and other cities days after a draft U.S. Supreme Court opinion was leaked to the public suggesting the court is poised to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade case that legalized abortion nationwide. The draft opinion, which comes amid nearly 50 years of federal abortion protections, could change before the ruling is finalized in coming weeks. (5/7)

San Francisco Chronicle: Bay Area Residents Protest Supreme Court’s Leaked Draft Decision To Overturn Roe V. Wade
Dozens of Bay Area residents gathered at San Francisco’s Embarcadero Plaza on Saturday to defend abortion rights, the latest in a series of protests around the region and country following a leaked draft decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that would overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 law that legalized abortion nationwide. The roughly hourlong event, organized by the Socialist Alternative, drew a smaller crowd than those that marched the streets Tuesday, immediately following news of the leaked draft. Many attendees came on Saturday to show support for the cause because they weren’t able to attend rallies earlier in the week, or demonstrated on Tuesday and wanted to show their continued support. (Ho, 5/7)

A surge in support for Roe v. Wade —

NPR: After Roe V. Wade Leak, Abortion Rights Groups See A Surge In Donations
Abortion-rights groups across the country experienced a tidal wave of financial support this week after a leaked Supreme Court draft decision to tentatively overturn Roe v. Wade was made public. Elliott Kozuch, a senior communications strategist with NARAL Pro-Choice America, said donations to the group skyrocketed 1,400% the day after Politico first reported that the Supreme Court may overturn the landmark case, which would leave the fate of abortion rights in the hands of individual states. About half of the supporters were first-time donors, Kozuch told NPR. (Jones, 5/6)

The Hill: 58 Percent Of Americans Want Federal Law Making Abortion Legal: Poll 
The majority of Americans want a federal law making abortion legal, according to a new poll that follows the leak of a draft opinion from the Supreme Court potentially overturning Roe vs. Wade. The poll from CBS News and YouGov showed 58 percent of U.S. adults favored making abortion legal, while 42 percent opposed it. (Beals, 5/8)

Axios: Poll: Roe Supporters View Possible Overturn As A Danger To Women
Most people who support upholding Roe v. Wade view its possible overturn as a danger to women and think that development would put other rights in jeopardy, a CBS News poll out Sunday indicates. The poll comes after the leak Monday of a draft opinion that signaled the U.S. Supreme Court is prepared to overturn the landmark abortion case. If Roe were overturned, abortion would immediately become illegal in at least 13 states. (Shapero, 5/8)

More people are seeking abortion pills —

Politico: Telemedicine Abortion Providers See A Surge In Interest 
Online providers and groups are seeing a dramatic increase in the number of people requesting abortion pills or seeking information on consultations for the drugs since the draft opinion ending Roe v. Wade was first reported on Monday. ... People are increasingly seeking “advance provision” abortion pills — getting them now in case they need them later — because they fear that access could be rolled back if Roe is ultimately overturned. (Leonard, 5/8)

USA Today: Abortion By Pill: Private, Natural And Increasingly Popular In US
Abortion by pill is used in at least 54% of terminated pregnancies in the United States. The number has grown rapidly since the process became easier to access in 2016 and during the coronavirus pandemic and is anticipated to rise even higher if Roe v. Wade is overturned. The two pills, mifepristone and misoprostol, are taken about two days apart. In many areas only a telemedicine visit is required to get them from a pharmacy. The pills are cheaper and less invasive than a procedure abortion, and when used within the first 10 weeks of gestation they safely terminated 99.6% of pregnancies with very low complication rates. (Weise, 5/7)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Madison Police Investigating Arson, Threat At Wisconsin Family Action
Madison police are investigating arson after a fire broke out early Sunday in the offices of a prominent anti-abortion group and a threat was spray painted on the group's building. The incident took place a week after a leaked draft of U.S. Supreme Court decision showing a majority of justices plan to vote to overturn the court's landmark 1973 ruling that legalized abortion. If that happens an 1849 law banning most abortions would go into effect in Wisconsin. (Beck, 5/8)

The New York Times: Anti-Abortion Group In Wisconsin Is Hit By Arson, Authorities Say 
In a statement to The New York Times, Tony Perkins, the president of the Family Research Council, which works with Wisconsin Family Action, attributed the attack to left-wing extremists who aim to intimidate abortion opponents, and he vowed that they would not succeed. “We are grateful for the unwavering leadership of Wisconsin Family Action and the dozens of family policy councils around the country that are committed to the sanctity of all human life,” he added. The north side of Madison, where Wisconsin Family Action calls home, is not a sleepy neighborhood. Directly off a busy street, International Lane, the group’s long brown office building is tucked next to the Dane County Regional Airport, among other nondescript corporate offices. All of the businesses were empty on Sunday morning, though a steady stream of cars passed by. (Ploeg and Lathers, 5/8)

In other abortion news from Wisconsin —

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Ron Johnson Predicts Wisconsin's Abortion Ban Wouldn't Last Post-Roe
U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson said Friday he doesn’t believe Wisconsin’s potential ban on almost all abortions would remain in place for long, distancing himself from his four fellow Republicans running for governor. Speaking to reporters, Johnson did not detail what abortion limits he would like to see but said he did not think a near-total ban would last for long if the landmark Roe v. Wade decision is overturned. Johnson suggested Wisconsin officials would set different limits — even though Republicans who control the Legislature have given no indication they would do anything other than keep the ban in place. (Glauber and Marley, 5/6)

In abortion updates from Michigan —

NPR: A Michigan Law From 1931 Would Make Abortion A Felony If Roe Falls
When Stephanie Mejia Arciñiega drove her friend to the Planned Parenthood in Ann Arbor, Mich., they were surrounded by anti-abortion protestors as soon as they tried to pull in to the clinic. "They come up to your car super fast," Mejia Arciñiega said. "You don't want to run their feet over, so we had to stop and be like, 'OK, no thank you.' But then they started throwing a bunch of papers and resources at us. We tried to go inside, but we couldn't." The clinic, which offers abortion care as well as birth control, cancer screenings, and STD treatment, has long been the target of anti-abortion protestors. Protestors' efforts to limit abortions in the state may soon get a huge boost, if the Supreme Court strikes down Roe v. Wade. (Wells, 5/7)

The Hill: Michigan AG Warns Of State-Sanctioned Investigations Into Abortion If Roe V. Wade Overturned
Michigan’s Democratic attorney general warned on Sunday that Republican-led states would start investigating and prosecuting abortion providers and abortion patients if Roe v. Wade is overturned by the Supreme Court. Attorney General Dana Nessel told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that while she would “refuse to enforce laws that would endanger” women’s health, she believes more conservative leaders in offices across the country will criminalize abortion care, which could include the prosecution of doctors as well as women who take abortion pills. (Dress, 5/8)

From Texas —

The Texas Tribune: Texas Republicans Say If Roe Falls, They’ll Focus On Adoptions And Preventing Women From Seeking Abortions Elsewhere
During their 20 years in control of the Texas Legislature, Republican lawmakers have steadfastly worked to chip away at abortion access. Bound by the limits of Roe v. Wade, which stopped them from enacting an outright ban on the procedure, lawmakers got creative. They required abortion clinics to have wide hallways and deputized private citizens to sue providers in an effort to shut down facilities that offer the procedure. Future lawmaking on the topic will likely not require such ingenuity. A leaked draft of a U.S. Supreme Court opinion, published last week by Politico, suggests the court will reverse the landmark abortion ruling in the coming weeks, allowing states to regulate abortion as they see fit. Texas has a “trigger law” that would make performing an abortion a felony, which would go into effect 30 days after the Supreme Court overturns Roe. (Despart and Barragan, 5/9)

Los Angeles Times: Even With Roe Vs. Wade, Texas Limits Abortion Access For Poor Women
The patient slid onto the examination table as the doctor ran through her standard list of questions. Most recent period? Any previous abortions? Medication or surgery? Any complications? An assistant readied an ultrasound wand as the patient lifted her shirt. She wasn’t worried whether she was pregnant — she had already figured that out with four home tests. What she and the doctor needed to know was how many weeks. If the U.S. Supreme Court eliminates the constitutional right to abortion by overturning Roe vs. Wade — as it is widely expected to do in coming weeks — Texas and at least 25 other conservative states are likely to ban most abortions. But already in Texas, low-income Latinas, who have long made up the vast majority of patients at Whole Woman’s Health of McAllen, the only abortion clinic for hundreds of miles along the border, face major obstacles when it comes to ending unwanted pregnancies. (Hennessey-Fiske, 5/8)

Houston Chronicle: Texas Cancer Patient Grapples With 6-Week Texas Abortion Ban
Sarah Morris was 10 weeks pregnant when she found out she had cervical cancer, putting her at higher risk of hemorrhaging and other life-threatening complications. The safest choice, her doctor advised, would be to have an abortion — out of state because Texas law prohibits abortions beyond six weeks — and seek cancer treatment. Though the law makes an exception for medical emergencies, Morris said her doctor told her its definition leaves a lot up to interpretation, so she would perform abortions only on patients who were bleeding out or in other obvious life-or-death situations. (Goldenstein, 5/8)

The Texas Tribune: Abortions In Texas By The Numbers 
With Roe v. Wade hanging in the balance, Texas is poised to ban nearly all abortions if the ruling is overturned. The Texas Tribune analyzed data on abortions reported to the state to see who has accessed abortion in Texas — and who stands to lose access in a post-Roe world. Texas already has the most restrictive abortion law in the country. After the law prohibiting abortions after about six weeks into a pregnancy took effect Sept. 1, the number of abortions statewide from September to December dropped by 46% compared with the same period in 2020, according to preliminary data from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. Data on abortions performed in 2022 is not yet available. Around 50,000 to 55,000 Texans obtained abortions each year from 2014-21. Before that, more than 60,000 abortions were obtained yearly. These totals account only for abortions performed legally in Texas and don’t include people who went out of state or obtained abortion-inducing medication without a prescription. (Cai, 5/9)

From Mississippi, Missouri, Utah, and California —

The Washington Post: Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves Won't Rule Out Banning Contraception 
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R) on Sunday refused to rule out the possibility that his state would ban certain forms of contraception, sidestepping questions about what would happen next if Roe v. Wade is overturned. On CNN’s “State of the Union,” Reeves confirmed that, if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, a trigger law passed in Mississippi in 2007 would go into effect that essentially outlaws abortions in the state, although it makes exceptions for rape and for the life of the mother. (Wang and Foster-Frau, 5/8)

St. Louis Public Radio: Missouri Advocates Say Abortion Ban Would Endanger Black Women 
Black doctors and abortion advocates in St. Louis say that Black women will suffer the most if the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that made abortions legal. If the high court rules that way, as a draft opinion obtained last week by Politico indicates, states could ban abortions. Missouri has a “trigger law” that would ban abortion in most cases. Abortion advocates say Black women seeking an abortion would have to travel to Illinois or other states where it is legal. That would be difficult for those who have to take off work without pay, arrange child care and find transportation to other states, said Dr. Jade James, an obstetrician and gynecologist for SSM Health. (Henderson, 5/8)

Salt Lake Tribune: Utahns' Guide To Medication Abortion, Plan B
If the U.S. Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, and Utah’s trigger law goes into effect, medication abortions would be limited in the same way as in-clinic, surgical abortions. Currently, abortion pills are generally available early in a pregnancy, up to 11 weeks, according to Dr. David Turok, an obstetrician/gynecologist practicing in Salt Lake City. “The effectiveness depends on how far along you are in your pregnancy when you take the medicine,” according to Planned Parenthood’s website. A medication abortion involves two drugs: mifepristone, which is taken first, followed by misoprostol. (Jacobs, 5/7)

PBS NewsHour: California Wants To Be A Sanctuary For Abortion Rights. But In The Central Valley, Care Is Harder To Reach
A decade ago, Karina Gallardo-Montoya did not see the same support for reproductive health care access in Tulare County that she sees today. Sexual and reproductive health is a growing interest among many in the San Joaquin Valley, even if access to it still lags behind other parts of the state, Gallardo-Montoya said. The financial cost of accessing general medical care, she said, made her think twice in the past about seeing a doctor. When appointments were made for several weeks out, she opted for urgent care visits. Other times, she traveled far distances to nearby cities just to be seen. (Rodriguez-Delgado, 5/6)

Politico: White House Warns Of Covid Surges In The Winter 
Covid cases surged during the last two winters and are likely to again this year — unless the country can prepare and act, White House Covid-19 response coordinator Ashish Jha said Sunday morning. “If we don’t get ahead of this thing, we’ll have a lot of waning immunity, this virus continues to evolve and we may see a pretty sizable wave of infections, hospitalizations and deaths this fall and winter,” Jha said on ABC’s “This Week.” (Farrow, 5/8)

In other news about the spread of covid —

The Washington Post: People Who Never Get The Coronavirus Could Teach Us More About Coronavirus 
Scientists around the world are investigating how a dwindling number of people have managed to dodge the coronavirus for more than two years, even after the highly transmissible omicron variant drove a record-shattering surge in cases this winter. (Shepherd and Heim, 5/8)

New Hampshire Public Radio: Wastewater Surveillance For COVID-19 Is About To Take Off In N.H. 
This week, state health officials met with the leaders of dozens of wastewater treatment plants in New Hampshire to discuss plans for a new COVID data tracking project. With so many Granite Staters testing for COVID-19 at home, state data on new cases isn’t as useful an indicator of COVID-19 levels as it used to be. People who are asymptomatic or who don’t have easy access to testing may not test at all, which has always been a pitfall of counting individual test results. “This approach, [tracking wastewater data] is really helpful because we can actually see what's happening without necessarily needing to have the individual test data,” said Dr. Paula Mouser, director of the COVID Wastewater Program at the University of New Hampshire. (Fam, 5/6)

Capitol News Illinois: Illinois Public Health Department Failed To Intervene In Early Days Of LaSalle Veterans' Home Outbreak 
A new report from the state’s auditor general found more fault with the Illinois Department of Public Health in its response to a deadly COVID-19 outbreak at a state-run veterans home than was found by a previous watchdog report that investigated the matter. A November 2020 COVID-19 outbreak at the LaSalle Veterans’ Home resulted in 36 resident deaths, leading the Illinois House to pass a resolution in April 2021 requesting an audit of the outbreak from Auditor General Frank Mautino’s office. The outbreak also led to the firing or resignations of LaSalle home administrator Angela Mehlbrech, then-director of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs Linda Chapa LaVia and IDVA chief of staff Tony Kolbeck. (Nowicki, 5/7)

Las Vegas Review-Journal: COVID-19 State Of Emergency Coming To An End In Nevada
Nevada’s COVID-19 pandemic state of emergency will soon be no more. Gov. Steve Sisolak announced Friday that he plans to end the state of emergency related to the COVID-19 pandemic on May 20, more than two years after he issued the emergency declaration. The governor declared the emergency on March 12 in response to the pandemic when the state had detected just 11 total positive cases of COVID-19. That order granted the governor the authority to take extraordinary measures to combat the virus, from closing businesses to easing licensing requirements for some health care workers. (Lochhead, 5/6)

The New York Times: Gov. Kathy Hochul Tests Positive For Covid 
Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York announced on Sunday that she had tested positive for the coronavirus — the worst sort of Mother’s Day surprise for the state’s first mom governor. Aides said that Ms. Hochul was asymptomatic, and that the virus had been detected as part of the governor’s testing routine in Albany. (Ashford, 5/8)

Wyoming Public Radio: As COVID-19 Maintenance Grows More Individualistic, The Uninsured Find Themselves In A Familiar Situation
It might seem like COVID-19 is over in Wyoming. It's true that transmission and hospitalizations have dropped, but people are still getting sick. Vaccines and tests are still a vital part of dealing with this public health problem. In Wyoming, it's still possible to get tests for free, but COVID maintenance could be getting pricier for many people. The entirety of COVID-related healthcare - from testing to treatment to vaccines - has been offered free of charge to most Americans since the beginning of the pandemic. But now, the way we handle COVID could start to look more like the way we handle the flu - with less government support for testing and treatment, and a focus on "personal responsibility." (Victor, 5/6)

Axios: Medical Centers Create New Long COVID Clinics
Dozens of health systems across the country have opened new clinics in the past two years to provide care to long COVID patients. These long COVID clinics are providing a multidisciplinary approach that cuts across medical specialties to treat the wide range of symptoms patients face — but some providers say their resources are stretched thin in the face of a mounting public health crisis. (Cirruzzo, 5/7)

Axios: Axios-Ipsos Poll: Americans Support Long COVID Protections
Most Americans think long COVID is a disability and approve of giving stronger support to people who have it, including workplace protections and free medical care, according to an Axios-Ipsos poll. And they overwhelmingly favor requiring health insurance companies to cover treatment for it. There are some partisan differences, but overall the poll suggests that Americans have sympathy for people battling long COVID and that they'd support moves to strengthen the safety net for them. (Nather, 5/7)

Also —

NBC News: More People Now Incorrectly Blame Asian Americans For Covid Than At Height Of Pandemic
More Americans are now blaming Asian Americans for Covid-19 than at the height of the pandemic in 2021, according to a report released Wednesday by Asian American advocacy groups. More than 20 percent of respondents said this year that people of Asian descent are at least partly responsible for Covid-19, compared to 11 percent who said last year that the community was to blame. The study, released by Leading Asian Americans United for Change (LAAUNCH.org) and The Asian American Foundation (TAAF), also showed higher levels of distrust of Asian Americans. (Bellamy-Walker, 5/5)

Axios: Misinformation Spurring U.S. Life Expectancy "Erosion," FDA Chief Says
U.S. Food and Drug Administration commissioner Robert Califf told CNN on Saturday evening "almost no one" in the U.S. should be dying from COVID-19, but misinformation was impacting the death toll. Nearly 998,000 people have died of COVID in the U.S. since the pandemic began as of Sunday night, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The coronavirus was the third leading cause of death in the U.S. in 2021 for the second consecutive year, behind heart disease and cancer. (Falconer, 5/7)

The Washington Post: After 1 Million Deaths, Covid Leaves Millions More Forever Changed
One million dead: The U.S. death toll from the covid-19 pandemic will hit that unfathomable number this week, and yet there is a far larger number that reflects the true impact this virus has had on Americans over the past two years. That number is 9 million — the number of Americans who have lost spouses, parents, grandparents, siblings and children to covid. Sociologists at Penn State and the University of Southern California came up with a “bereavement multiplier,” a way to calculate how many close relatives each covid death leaves behind and bereft. The answer, on average, is nine — not including extended family or close friends, longtime co-workers or next-door neighbors, many of whom, the study said, are deeply affected, too. (Fisher, Johnson, Spolar and Aspinwall, 5/7)

AP: Nearly 1 Million COVID-19 Deaths: A Look At The US Numbers 
Doug Lambrecht was among the first of the nearly 1 million Americans to die from COVID-19. His demographic profile — an older white male with chronic health problems — mirrors the faces of many who would be lost over the next two years. The 71-year-old retired physician was recovering from a fall at a nursing home near Seattle when the new coronavirus swept through in early 2020. He died March 1, an early victim in a devastating outbreak that gave a first glimpse of the price older Americans would pay. The pandemic has generated gigabytes of data that make clear which U.S. groups have been hit the hardest. More than 700,000 people 65 and older died. Men died at higher rates than women. (Johnson and Forster, 5/6)

Modern Healthcare: FDA's Limitations On J&J Vaccine Haven't Disrupted Providers
The Food and Drug Administration's decision to limit the use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine won't have a significant impact on health systems. The FDA scaled back the emergency use authorization of the vaccine developed by J&J and its Janssen Pharmaceuicals subsidiary because it caused a rare blood clotting disorder in 60 patients out of 18.7 million doses administered. The vaccine should only be used for adults who would otherwise go unvaccinated or who cannot have the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, the agency said. (Kacik, 5/6)

More on the vaccine rollout —

Idaho Capital Sun: Idaho Doctor Who Falsely Links COVID-19 Vaccine To Cancer Has Misdiagnosed Two Patients 
One woman thought she had cancer. Another woman thought she was developing it. There was no cancer. They were misdiagnosed by Dr. Ryan Cole, according to reporting by the Sun. Cole diagnosed the patients in the past year — while claiming to see a spike in cancers at his laboratory and attributing that spike to immune damage from the COVID-19 vaccine. Cole has not publicly produced evidence to support that claim, while experts who refute his claim have shared their evidence and directly debunked his mischaracterizations of their research. (Dutton, 5/6)

WJLA: Parents To Rally In Support Of Vaccine Approval For Children Under Age 6 In Silver Spring 
The group Protect Their Future announced that a group of parents plan to rally outside of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland on Monday. The parents are demanding an urgent review of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for their children. (Powers, 5/9)

AP: Tribes Credited With Elevating Vaccinations In Rural Arizona
Mary Francis had no qualms about being a poster child for COVID-19 vaccinations on the Navajo Nation, once a virus hot spot. The Navajo woman’s face and words grace a digital flyer asking people on the Native American reservation to get vaccinated “to protect the shidine’e (my people).” “I was happy to put the information out there and just building that awareness and in having folks feel comfortable enough, or curious enough, to read the material,” said Francis, who lives in Page, near the Utah border, and manages care packages and vaccine drives for a Navajo and Hopi relief fund. (Tang, 5/7)

In vaccine development news —

CIDRAP: 3 COVID Vaccine Doses Appear To Protect Against Omicron Subvariants 
Three new studies report on COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness (VE) and antibody responses to Omicron, with one from Sweden finding a drop in two-dose VE against severe disease after the transition from the BA.1 to the BA.2 subvariant but three-dose protection remaining above 80% against severe disease. Also, a study from Hong Kong shows good antibody response against BA.2 after three doses, and one from the United States finds that nursing home patients who received a third dose had a 47% lower risk of Omicron infection. (Van Beusekom, 5/6)

Reuters: COVID Vaccine Makers Shift Focus To Boosters
COVID-19 vaccine makers are shifting gears and planning for a smaller, more competitive booster shot market after delivering as many doses as fast as they could over the last 18 months. Executives at the biggest COVID vaccine makers including Pfizer Inc and Moderna Inc said they believe most people who wanted to get vaccinated against COVID have already done so - more than 5 billion people worldwide. In the coming year, most COVID vaccinations will be booster shots, or first inoculations for children, which are still gaining regulatory approvals around the world, they said. (Erman and Misra, 5/9)

The Boston Globe: Covid Shots Made Moderna Biotech’s Biggest Star, But What Now?
What does a breakout company like Moderna do for an encore? More than a decade after its founding, the Cambridge biotech rolled out its first commercial product last year. And what a debut it was: a cutting-edge COVID-19 vaccine that helped to save thousands ― if not millions ― of lives around the world. It was also a massive moneymaker for Moderna, which up until then had been unprofitable. With more than $38 billion in total COVID-19 vaccine sales expected by the end of this year ― many of the doses paid for by governments ― investors are wondering what the company plans to do with that windfall. Despite Moderna’s spectacular success, the question of what’s next looms large, and the pressure is on to avoid becoming a one-hit wonder. (Cross, 5/7)

USA Today: Nasal Vaccines May Be The Next Generation Of Protection Against COVID
Current vaccines are great at stopping severe disease. But people can still catch COVID-19, even after two, three or more shots. Researchers hope a different delivery system will make for a vaccine that is better at preventing transmission and infections. By putting the vaccine directly into the nose, it might prevent the virus from taking hold in the mucus membranes, where it first enters the body. (Weintraub, 5/8)

Bloomberg: CDC Says Hepatitis Outbreak In Kids Up To 109 Cases In 25 States
There have been five reported deaths among the cases and 14% of the patients needed liver transplants, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday. About half of the suspected cases were linked to adenovirus, which the agency said is at the “top of the list” of viruses of interest.  “What makes this unusual is not the number of cases, but the possible association with adenovirus,” Jay Butler, CDC deputy director for infectious diseases said in a call with reporters. (Muller and Baumann, 5/6)

The New York Times: C.D.C. Is Investigating 109 Cases of Hepatitis in Children, Including 5 Deaths
The C.D.C. and experts overseas are exploring whether a type of adenovirus, a common virus that causes intestinal symptoms like vomiting and diarrhea, may be a factor in these cases. But the agency has not determined a cause for the cases or a common link among all of them, and it cautioned against drawing conclusions. Dr. Butler called it “an evolving situation” in a news briefing on Friday. Later, he added, “It’s important to remember that severe hepatitis in children is rare even with the potential increase in cases that we’re reporting today.” (Kolata, 5/6)

CIDRAP: Probe Of Unexplained Hepatitis In Kids Expands To 24 States, Puerto Rico 
[Butler] said the illnesses are perplexing, because adenovirus 41, found in Alabama's patients and in some UK cases, doesn't typically infect healthy children. Investigators are pursuing several possibilities, including a potential role for cofactors, such as a connection to earlier COVID-19 infection. So far, acute COVID-19 infection doesn't seem to be a feature of the US cases or those abroad. Also, he emphasized that the cases aren't connected to COVID-19 vaccination, given that the age-group affected, those younger than 10, are too young to be immunized. (Schnirring, 5/6)

San Francisco Chronicle: CDC Probes More Cases Of Unusual Pediatric Hepatitis, Including Nine In California
Nine cases of the unusual hepatitis, or liver inflammation, have been reported in California, according to the state public health department. None of the California cases have resulted in deaths. The World Health Organization had earlier reported cases in at least 12 countries around the world. (Ho, 5/6)

Detroit Free Press: 2 Michigan Kids With Severe Hepatitis Part Of CDC Investigation
Two Michigan children had suspected cases of a rare, severe form of hepatitis that's now believed to have sickened at least 109 kids in the U.S. and may be linked to adenovirus infection. Both Michigan children were younger than 5. One was from Oakland County and the other from the city of Detroit, said Lynn Sutfin, a spokesperson for the state health department. One child was sickened in October, Sutfin said; she couldn't provide details about the timing of the second suspected Michigan case. (Jordan Shamus, 5/6)

In updates on the nationwide infant formula shortage —

USA Today: Baby Formula Shortage Worsens; CVS, Target, Walgreens Limit Sales
The ongoing infant formula shortage isn't over yet – and appears to be getting worse. Nearly 40% of popular baby formula brands were sold out at retailers across the U.S. during the week starting April 24, according to an analysis by Datasembly, which assessed supplies at more than 11,000 stores. That's up from an already-high out-of-stock percentage of 31% two weeks ago, Datasembly said. Major retailers including CVS, Target and Walgreens are limiting the amount of formula shoppers can purchase. (Snider, 5/7)

The New York Times: A Nationwide Baby Formula Shortage Is Getting Worse 
The manufacturer of Ashley Hernandez’s preferred baby formula for her two girls said it was out of stock on its website. Listings on eBay showed it would cost her up to $120 for a single can. So when she found a seller online offering 10 cans for $40 each, she expressed her desperation. “I have two children,” Ms. Hernandez, 35, of Dallas, began her message. “I cannot find it. I can purchase this today. I can pay cash.” Parents across the country are struggling to keep up with a nationwide shortage of baby formula — a problem worsened by a recent recall by Abbott Nutrition, a manufacturer of baby food. (Medina, 5/8)

In other public health news —

CNN: The United States Is In A Maternal Health Crisis, Goldman Sachs Wants To Change That 
The United States is in a maternal health crisis. Maternal mortality and morbidity rates across the country have increased steadily over the past 20 years, even as rates in all other developed countries have decreased significantly. New government data shows that US maternal deaths jumped by 14% during the first years of the pandemic, to 861 in 2020 from 754 in 2019. The rate of maternal deaths for Black women in the US was nearly three times higher than it was for white women over that time frame. Goldman Sachs wants to change that. Mahmee, a six-year-old maternal healthcare startup, has announced the closing of a $9.2 million Series A funding round led by Goldman's Growth Equity Business. ... The investment is part of Goldman Sachs’ One Million Black Women initiative, a $10 billion commitment to narrow opportunity gaps for Black women over the next decade. (Goodkind, 5/8)

North Carolina Health News:  As DEQ, EPA Are Slow To Act On PFAS, Private Manufacturers Look To Fill The Gap 
Emily Donovan has waged war against per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) since 2017 when the chemicals were first revealed to be fouling the waters of the Cape Fear River Basin, which provides drinking water to nearly 1 million North Carolinians. Donovan and her family are among that number. Brunswick County is where Donovan lives and serves as the co-founder of Clean Cape Fear, a watchdog organization. The county is located near the mouth of the river system, where the waters meet the sea, it’s also an area that “has some of the highest levels of PFAS in tap water recorded per multiple nationwide tap water studies,” Donavan wrote in an email. (Atwater, 5/9)

AP: Alabama-Based Pop’s Que And Stew Recalls Frozen Stew Product
An Alabama-based business is recalling more than 12,000 pounds of its frozen stew products that were made without a federal inspection, federal agriculture officials said. Pop’s Que and Stew, of Opelika, Alabama, is recalling about 12,472 pounds of the Brunswick stew products made on various dates from May 2020 to May 2022. (5/7)

The Washington Post: Super Short Workouts Can Be Surprisingly Effective
It sounds like one of those outrageous infomercial claims — get fitter and healthier from as little as one minute of exercise. But In this case, the assertion isn’t too good to be true. There’s now a strong body of research showing that even workouts of 10 minutes or less can produce real and meaningful results, says Jenna Gillen, an exercise physiologist at the University of Toronto. Gillen’s work has shown that even a one-minute bout of exercise, done right, can improve your fitness and health. Of course there’s a caveat: to get results from such short workouts, you have to be willing to push yourself hard, Gillen says. Numerous studies have shown that intense interval training protocols can get results from relatively short workouts. Gillen and her colleagues at McMaster University wanted to know just how short that workout can be. (Aschwanden, 5/7)

Stat: A Panel Meant To Make NIH More Efficient Hasn’t Met For 7 Years
An oversight board tasked with making the National Institutes of Health more efficient and more effective mysteriously stopped meeting seven years ago, according to a STAT review of agency records — and its members don’t know why. The group, which Congress created in 2006, was intended to serve as a sounding board for the NIH director, providing periodic feedback and recommendations aimed at improving the government’s largest science agency. But it hasn’t met since the summer of 2015, and several prominent researchers whom the NIH website still lists as board members appear confused as to whether the group still exists. (Facher, 5/9)

In health industry news from Florida, Indiana, and Connecticut —

WMFE: DeSantis Wants To Know How Much Florida Hospitals Spend On People In The Country Illegally
The DeSantis administration is asking Florida hospitals to determine how much money they spend on health care for patients living in the country illegally. Hospitals have until May 23 to submit a record of any such funds to the state Agency for Health Care Administration. AHCA Secretary Simone Marstiller sent a letter to the Florida Hospital Association, which represents the state’s hospitals, with a reminder that all partners must participate. (Prieur, 5/8)

Indianapolis Star: Indiana Hospital Care Ranks 7th Highest In Nation. Costs Too Opaque
Last week, an Indiana employers group unveiled the latest tools in the fight to decrease hospital costs — a new hospital pricing transparency website and the so-called Rand 4.0 study which found that Indiana hospital costs rank seventh highest in the nation. The two additions to the landscape could provide fodder for the debate about hospital costs in Indiana. Five years ago, a study found that the prices Indiana employers pay for health care were “shockingly high” compared to those that Medicare pays. That study, also conducted by researchers at the Rand Institute, helped spark a statewide movement among business leaders to find ways to lower health care costs that has now spread to state lawmakers. (Rudavsky, 5/9)

The CT Mirror: As Hospital Systems Grow In CT, Rural Patients Lose Services
On a Sunday evening in February, Bea Trotta’s 94-year-old mother started having trouble breathing at her home in the northwestern corner of the state. She felt exhausted. An ambulance drove her 30 minutes to the nearest emergency room, at Sharon Hospital, where she was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. Her heart wasn’t pumping enough blood to keep her body functioning. When Trotta arrived at the hospital to meet her mother, staff told her the case was too complex to be handled there. If her mother wanted treatment, they’d have to transfer her to another facility that could provide a more advanced level of care. (Golvala, 5/8)

In other health care industry news —

Modern Healthcare: Healthcare Hiring Rose In April, Jobs Report Shows
Healthcare hiring accelerated in April even as ongoing staff shortages continue to challenge the industry, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data published Friday. Employers in the sector added an estimated 34,300 jobs last month, up from 23,300 in March, preliminary data show. The healthcare industry contributed to 428,000 hires made across the economy in April. Physician offices, home health providers and hospitals saw the largest gains among healthcare employers. (Devereaux, 5/6)

Cincinnati Enquirer: Nurse Burnout? Hospitals Offer Job Flexibility Pay Hikes
The numbers tell a bleak story for the industry. A third of nurses in the United States plan to leave their jobs by the end of the year, according to a survey conducted by staffing firm Incredible Health. Another 20% plan to leave the industry altogether, a separate survey made by consulting firm McKinsey & Co. found. The reasons are largely due to the incessant burnout, stress, and fatigue that nurses have experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic. But other factors include financial considerations and a perceived lack of flexibility in the industry as well as too few advancement opportunities. (Sutherland, 5/9)

The Wall Street Journal: Hospitals Look To Raise Treatment Costs As Nurses’ Salaries Increase 
Some hospitals grappling with rising nurse salaries are seeking to raise prices by up to 15%, touching off contract fights with health insurers and businesses and threatening higher premiums. HCA Healthcare Inc. and Universal Health Services Inc. are among the hospitals asking health plans to pay them more for care to offset mounting nurse costs. (Evans, 5/8)

Modern Healthcare: Kaiser Permanente Posts $961 Million Net Loss In Q1
Kaiser Permanente recorded a $961 million net loss in the first quarter as COVID-19 cases and labor expenses surged, the Oakland, California-based integrated health system announced Friday. A 9.5% year-over-year increase in operating expenses coupled with investment losses diluted Kaiser's balance sheet. It reported $24.2 billion in operating revenues, which didn't keep pace with its $24.3 billion in operating expenses. Kaiser had a $2 billion net income on $23.2 billion of operating revenue in the first quarter of 2021. (Kacik, 5/6)

The Boston Globe: Tufts’ Plans For Patients, Doctors Following Announced Closure Of Its Children’s Hospital Are Met With Mixed Feelings
More than three months after Tufts Medicine abruptly announced plans to shut its children’s hospital, the health system is revealing long-awaited details about the fate of dozens of doctors and nurses as well as thousands of patients, many of whom are on Medicaid and live with complex medical conditions. The details include employment opportunities for all physicians and a pledge to keep open a unique rheumatology clinic at Tufts, which several families had feared would close. “We’ve been working very closely with all of our physicians ... to make sure we’re coming up with the right model of care,” Michael Dandorph, CEO of Tufts Medicine, the parent organization of Tufts Medical Center, said in an interview. (Bartlett, 5/8)

Carolina Public Press: Program Brings Sexual Assault Nurse Training To HBCU 
By the end of summer, a handful of nursing students at Fayetteville State University will have started taking courses on how to care for sexual assault survivors. It’s a small start but one Sheila Cannon has worked toward for more than two years. The funding comes from the state legislature, which allocated $125,000 for a pilot training program in Cumberland County late last year. Cannon said she expects to train 10 students starting this summer, but she hopes the program can grow from meager beginnings into a program that continues to train sexual assault nurse examiners, or SANE nurses, year after year. (Martin, 5/7)

Modern Healthcare: Cerebral Is Under Federal Investigation
Cerebral, the digital mental health ‘unicorn’, said on Saturday it was under investigation by the federal government for “possible violations of the Controlled Substances Act."  The company said it received a grand jury subpoena from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York on May 4. In a statement to Digital Health Business & Technology, Cerebral said at this time no regulatory, or law enforcement authority has accused Cerebral of violating any law. Cerebral said it will cooperate with the investigation. (Perna, 5/7)

The New York Times: Hundreds Of Suicidal Teens Sleep In Emergency Rooms. Every Night
Nationally, the number of residential treatment facilities for people under the age of 18 fell to 592 in 2020 from 848 in 2012, a 30 percent decline, according to the most recent federal government survey. The decline is partly a result of well-intentioned policy changes that did not foresee a surge in mental-health cases. Social-distancing rules and labor shortages during the pandemic have eliminated additional treatment centers and beds, experts say. Absent that option, emergency rooms have taken up the slack. A recent study of 88 pediatric hospitals around the country found that 87 of them regularly board children and adolescents overnight in the E.R. On average, any given hospital saw four boarders per day, with an average stay of 48 hours. “There is a pediatric pandemic of mental health boarding,” said Dr. JoAnna K. Leyenaar, a pediatrician at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and the study’s lead author. (Richtel, 5/8)

CBS News: "I Felt So Alone": Rising Rates Of Suicide, Depression Accelerated By Pandemic Among U.S. Kids
In the emergency room at Children's Hospital in Milwaukee, doctors like Michelle Pickett are seeing more kids desperate for mental health help. Dr. Michelle Pickett: We unfortunately see a lotta kids who have attempted suicide. That is something that we see I'd say at least once a shift. Sharyn Alfonsi: Once a shift? Dr. Michelle Pickett: Oh-- yes. Yes, Unfortunately. Dr. Pickett has worked in the ER for 9 years. (Alfonsi, 5/8)

More on mental health —

Bay City News Service: S.F. Launches Program To Connect Mentally Ill With Available Services
San Francisco officials announced Friday the launch of the Office of Coordinated Care, as part of the city’s expansion of behavioral mental health resources. The new office will assign case managers to people who are disconnected from behavioral health services, or who are making transitions in care from one setting to another, according to a news release Friday from the office of Mayor London Breed. The aim is to help people remain in care and avoid falling back into a cycle of crisis, officials said, adding that previously little follow-up services existed. Breed worked in partnership with Supervisor Hillary Ronen and then-Supervisor Matt Haney to craft the Mental Health SF legislation that created the new office. (5/7)

Detroit Free Press: Detroit Police Share Mental Health Resources With Teens
Detroit neighborhood Police Officer Dan Robinson says he noticed a concerning trend among kids and teens in his patrol area over the last couple of years: an increase in reports of depression, anxiety and even suicidal thoughts. "Due to COVID, we've seen more (mental health problems) with the kids," Robinson said. "So we wanted to figure out what we could do to get resources to them." (Wethington, 5/7)

Fox News: Family Of Former Miss USA Cheslie Kryst Raises Awareness Of High-Functioning Depression After Tragic Death
She competed as a Division 1 athlete, fought for social justice, earned two Emmy nominations for her work as an "Extra" correspondent, and made history as the oldest woman to ever win the Miss USA pageant. So why did Cheslie Kryst commit suicide at age 30? Former 2019 Miss USA Cheslie Kryst took her own life Jan. 30, 2022, but her mother, April Simpkins, opened up about Kryst’s secret struggle with high-functioning depression this past Wednesday on "Red Table Talk" during her first interview since the tragedy, according to a USA Today report. "Depression is not always marked by people laying in bed," Simpkins said. (Sudhakar, 5/8)

AP: For Parkland Survivor, A Long Road To Recovery From Trauma 
More than a year after she witnessed a gunman kill three fellow students and injure five others in her Parkland classroom, Eden Hebron came home from lunch to find a strange white car parked in her driveway. Since the shooting, surprise visitors were rare. Eden had struggled to cope in the aftermath, and her family tried to protect her. Now, nearly 20 months after the Valentine’s Day massacre where 17 people were killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, a therapist had arrived to send Eden to a mental health facility on the other side of the country. (Licon, 5/7)

USA Today: COVID-19 Pandemic: 66% Of Working Parents Have Burnout, Study Suggests
From remote school to financial uncertainty, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has been an immensely difficult time to raise kids. And more and more parents are burned out. A new study has found that 66% of working parents meet the criteria for parental burnout – which occurs when chronic stress and exhaustion overwhelms a parent’s ability to function and cope. Researchers with The Ohio State University published the report on Thursday. Their findings are based on an online survey of 1,285 working parents conducted between January 2021 and April 2021 – capturing feedback from families across the nation during significant public health lockdowns. (Grantham-Philips, 5/7)

The Wall Street Journal: Millions Of Americans Are Turning To Therapy, And Investors See An Opportunity 
Psychiatrists and psychologists once ran their own practices. Now the local therapist office could be controlled by a buyout king. Venture capitalists and private-equity firms are pouring billions of dollars into mental-health businesses, including psychology offices, psychiatric facilities, telehealth platforms for online therapy, new drugs, meditation apps and other digital tools. Nine mental-health startups have reached private valuations exceeding $1 billion last year, including Cerebral Inc. and BetterUp Inc. (Safdar and Zuckerman, 5/8)

The Washington Post: Therapist Or Coach: Understanding The Difference And How To Pick One
“I’m really struggling,” said pretty much everyone who endured the past two years. From the pandemic to economic, humanitarian and climate crises, we’ve all been through the wringer. It’s no surprise then that as a therapist (Yael) and coach (Brad), we often hear from neighbors, friends and colleagues, not to mention fellow passengers in ride-shares, about their challenges and frustrations. Talking about our struggles offers a pathway toward healing. But a backyard chat or gab through gridlock won’t offer the kind of help many individuals need. While the two of us often find ourselves encouraging others to seek formal help, we also understand that connecting to the right helper can be complicated, because the wellness industry offers so many confusing options. (Schonbrun and Stulberg, 5/5)

AP: Alabama Outlaws Gender-Affirming Medicines For Trans Kids 
It’s now a crime in Alabama to administer or prescribe gender-affirming puberty blockers and hormones to transgender people under age 19, as a new law took effect Sunday without intervention from the courts. Alabama is the first state to enact such a ban on these treatments for transgender youth. A similar measure in Arkansas to halt the treatments was blocked by a federal judge before it took effect. A federal judge has not yet ruled on a preliminary injunction request to block Alabama from enforcing the law while a court challenge goes forward. (Chandler, 5/8)

KHN: The Families Of Trans Kids In Texas Consider Their Options Amid Crackdown On Care 
Cameron Wright, 16, has always seen himself as a “dude.” As a young child, Cameron didn’t have the words to explain the disconnect between how he saw himself and how the world saw him. But he knew that despite being born in a girl’s body, he was meant to be a boy. After taking reversible puberty blockers that pause a teenager’s body changes, Cameron considered whether he wanted to begin hormone therapy to physically transition more permanently. He did not take the decision lightly. Cameron said his doctor made him spend almost a year mulling over the question, working with his therapist, and thinking through the life-altering implications before the doctor believed he was ready to start taking the medications in 2020. (West, 5/9)

In news from Missouri and Maine about lead levels in drinking water —

Missouri Independent: Lawmakers Are Close To Requiring Missouri Schools To Test And Filter Water For Lead 
Missouri lawmakers are poised to require schools test and, potentially, filter drinking water to prevent lead poisoning, making the state one of just a handful that require administrators to meet standards stricter than federal regulations. The state offers grants for schools to pay for water testing, but there is no requirement to test, and only a handful have opted to do so. And while scientists agree there is no safe level of lead — a dangerous neurotoxin that is especially harmful to children — federal drinking water regulations allow far higher concentrations of lead before requiring water systems to take action. (Kite, 5/6)

AP: District Cancels School After Elevated Lead Levels Found
The Mount Blue Regional School District canceled school on Friday after test results showed elevated levels of lead in nearly half of the drinking fountains and faucets. The tests at the eight schools were completed at the end of March following Maine’s new law that requires fixtures in the state’s schools used for drinking water and food preparation to be tested. (5/7)

In news about marijuana and other drug use —

Oklahoman: Oklahoma Legislature Passes Bill To Make Marijuana Authority An Agency
A bill to make the Oklahoma Medical Marijuana Authority a freestanding state agency awaits action from Gov. Kevin Stitt. The Oklahoma Senate on Thursday gave final passage to legislation that is the result of years of discussions about moving the OMMA out of the Oklahoma Health Department. The House has supported in recent years similar legislation, but it wasn't until Oklahoma City Republicans Senate Pro Tem Greg Treat and House Majority Floor Leader Jon Echols authored Senate Bill 1543 this year that the idea really took off in the Senate. (Forman, 5/8)

The New York Times: Officials Warn Of Fake Adderall Pills After Two College Students Die
The police said two Ohio State University students died in apparent drug overdoses this week as health officials warned that fake Adderall pills could contain fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid. The police received a 911 call at 10:46 p.m. on Wednesday from a woman who reported that her roommate and her roommate’s friends had overdosed at an off-campus apartment, said Officer Doran Carrier of the Columbus Division of Police. Three university students were taken to hospitals, he said. (Sundaram, 5/7)

Kansas City Star: With Fentanyl Crisis, More Schools Stock Overdose Medicine 
The Kearney School District has been keeping a supply of Narcan on hand, the opioid overdose medication. Just in case. Last fall, when that stock was set to expire, district nurse Karen Hughes found a national program that gives it to high schools for free. So she signed up. Just days after receiving the fresh Narcan, school staff members had to use it. On a student. Citing privacy issues, school officials won’t give many details about what Hughes calls “the incident.” But what unfolded at a Northland school was a “best-case scenario,” assistant superintendent Jeff Morrison told The Star. “The student is still alive.” (Gutierrez and Ritter, 5/9)

KHN: National Addiction Treatment Locator Has Outdated Data And Other Critical Flaws
At a psychiatric hospital in Michigan, Dr. Cara Poland’s patients were handed a sheet of paper to find follow-up care. The hospital had entered local ZIP codes on a website — run by the nation’s top substance use and mental health agency — and printed the resulting list of providers for patients to call. But her patients who tried to use it often hit a wall, Poland said. They’d call a number only to find it disconnected, or they’d learn that a facility wasn’t accepting new patients, or that the clinician had retired or moved. (Pattani, 5/9)

In updates from Alaska, Illinois, New York, and Kansas City —

Anchorage Daily News: Uptick In Tuberculosis Cases Across Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta Forces In-School Testing
he Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corp. is dispatching health teams to multiple villages in the Y-K Delta this month to test school age kids for tuberculosis. Case counts are trending above average this year. The situation has been further complicated by the coronavirus pandemic and the repeal of a state law that required in-school testing. St. Mary’s school principal Teresa Paukan said that the community opted for school-wide testing last month after a student tested positive. The testing trend found second case of tuberculosis. “We would have never found out about that positive case if we didn’t get (testing) into the school,” said Paukan. (Schwing, 5/8)

Chicago Tribune: Tick Activity Is Growing In Illinois As Multiple Species Converge On The State: ‘Every Year Is A Bad Tick Year’ 
One by one the nymphs climbed up the researcher’s bright blue boot, looking like little more than specks of dirt as they searched out another meal of blood. Those nymphs, young lone star ticks skittering toward flesh, are just one species of potential disease vectors in Illinois. And their unsettling climb in Grundy County, captured on video last year, was just one of many tick encounters for Holly Tuten, whose work requires collecting thousands of the bloodsuckers. While most people spend their lives trying to avoid ticks, Tuten, a vector ecologist who leads the state’s tick surveillance program with the Illinois Natural History Survey, seeks them out, hoping to understand where and what they’re spreading in an effort to reduce future damage. (Greene, 5/9)

The New York Times: Man, 25, Is The Fourth Inmate To Die At Rikers This Year 
A 25-year-old homeless man is believed to have committed suicide at the Rikers Island jail complex in New York City on Saturday evening, according to people familiar with the case. The man, Dashawn Carter, was found hanging from a window in his cell at the Anna M. Kross Center just two days after being transferred back to Rikers from a state psychiatric hospital, according to a person with knowledge of the circumstances surrounding his death. (Hu and Ransom, 5/8)

Kansas City Star: Allergy Season In Kansas City Worse Each Year, Studies Show 
Have your seasonal allergies been hitting you harder than ever in recent years? It’s not your imagination: Studies show that pollen counts are increasing and that spring is arriving earlier in Kansas City. Researchers have linked more intense allergy seasons to the climate crisis, since warmer temperatures can lead to more pollen in the air and cause the weather to warm up earlier. Here’s what we know about how allergies impact the Kansas City area. Longer and more prolific pollen seasons are just one symptom of a rapidly warming climate. Air pollution can also contribute to respiratory conditions like asthma and exacerbate humans’ reactions to allergens. (Wallington, 5/9)

Kansas City Star: Why KC’s Sarah Nauser Fights ALS To Serve And Protect Others 
Even as a child, Sarah Nauser seldom could be slowed by the concept of “no.” To the contrary, said her mother, Jamie Sanders: “It was almost like if you said ‘no’ she’d try harder.” “I always found a way,” said Sarah, beaming, as ever, befitting her “Smiley” nickname. So the girl who was as radiant as adamant played baseball with the boys from about the time she could run, leading to a softball career at Blue Springs High. When she became consumed with another uniform, she began volunteering for the Blue Springs Police Department by the time she was 15 or 16; she started at the Kansas City Police Academy the first date possible: the day after her 21st birthday. (Gregorian, 5/8)

CNN: Rare Case Of Monkeypox Reported In England, UKHSA Says
A rare case of monkeypox has been diagnosed in a patient in England, the UK Health Security Agency said in a statement Saturday. Monkeypox is a rare viral infection which does not spread easily between people, the agency said, qualifying the overall risk to the general public as "very low." "The infection can be spread when someone is in close contact with an infected person; however, there is a very low risk of transmission to the general population," the statement read. (Goillandeau, 5/8)

In other global news —

Press Association: U.K. Food Poverty Surges 57% in Just Three Months
Around one in seven adults live in homes where people have skipped meals, eaten smaller portions or gone hungry all day because they could not afford or access food, research suggests. The number of people struggling to buy food has risen by 57% in three months, according to research by the Food Foundation. The charity said food bank users are increasingly requesting items that do not need cooking because they are worried about how they will afford rising energy bills. (Crew, 5/9)

Stateline: Doctors Trained Abroad Want To See You Now
It took 11 years for Vladislav Zimin to complete his training in Russia to become an interventional cardiologist, a specialist who places stents in clogged arteries. After that, he practiced for five years, ultimately becoming head of his Moscow hospital’s cardiology and radiology department. Then he emigrated to the United States in 2015 at age 32, and had to practically start all over again. He spent seven years studying English and preparing for the rigorous U.S. Medical Licensing Examination needed to qualify for an American residency, which he’ll begin in July in Brooklyn. For him to get back to performing invasive heart procedures, he’ll have to repeat three years in residency, three years in a general cardiology fellowship and one year in a fellowship for interventionist cardiology. (Ollove, 5/6)

In global covid news —

Bloomberg: South Africa Covid-19 Test Positivity Rate Nears Record
South Africa’s daily coronavirus test positivity rate neared a record, rising above 30% on Saturday for the first time in almost five months as two sublineages of the omicron variant spread rapidly ahead of the nation’s winter season. There were 8,524 new Covid-19 cases identified, representing a 31.1% positivity rate of those tested, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases said in a statement on its website. That’s the highest rate since the 32.2% recorded on Dec. 15, when a record 26,976 cases were recorded. The surge means South Africa is close to its highest positivity rate yet. The record so far was 34.9% on Dec. 14. (Vollgraaff, 5/7)

The New York Times: Seeking Covid Pills, Poor Nations Fear Repeat Of AIDS Crisis 
A devastating virus was laying waste to nations that lacked medicines available to Americans. The pills were patented and pricey. Poor countries lacked refrigeration to store them, the thinking went, and patients would not be able to follow the complex dosing regimen. The year was 2002, the virus was H.I.V., and the president, George W. Bush, secretly sent his top health advisers to Africa to investigate what activists were calling “medical apartheid.” In the 20 years since, the United States has led the way in building a global infrastructure for H.I.V. testing and treatment, saving an estimated 21 million lives. (Stolberg, 5/8)

NBC News: Roe Opponents Should Know More About Babies Born At The Limits Of Viability
The word “viable” means capable of living. Capable sounds definitive. But as a neonatologist dedicated to caring for premature babies born near the limit of viability, I can assure you it is not. Under the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision, the concept of viability has served as the dividing line as to when abortion restrictions can be imposed on pregnant women. But the leaked draft of a pending Supreme Court decision suggests Roe will soon be struck down. That means determining viability, and how science has advanced the possibility of viability since Roe, could become a central consideration as legislatures across the country weigh new laws governing abortion access. (Dr. Rachel Fleishman, 5/7)

The New York Times: Taking The Fight For Safe, Legal Abortion To The States 
As I read the U.S. Supreme Court’s draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, I was devastated. It was shocking to see, laid out in cold legalese, the blatant ideological reasoning gutting the constitutional right to abortion. I understand the frustration that many are feeling. I feel it too. Roe has been the law of the land for 49 years, nearly my entire lifetime. But it may not be the law of the land for my daughters. Many of us feared this day would come, which is why last month, I filed a lawsuit and, drawing on authority granted to me as governor, asked the Michigan Supreme Court to immediately resolve whether our state constitution includes the right to access abortion. (Gretchen Whitmer , Governor of Michigan, 5/9)

New York Times: Will Those Who Control Abortion's Past Control Its Future? 
In its 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court found a constitutional right to abortion grounded in a "right to privacy" provided in the 14th Amendment. That legal argument was bolstered by a historical narrative. State laws prohibiting abortion at all stages of pregnancy, Justice Harry Blackmun wrote in the opinion, were not of ancient or even common-law origin, but dated mostly to the late 19th century. Before that, he wrote, citing various scholars, abortion early in pregnancy had been legal in most states. (Jennifer Schuessler, 5/7)

Chicago Tribune: Illinois Should Prep For Influx Of Out-Of-State Abortion Seekers
A leaked draft opinion suggests that the U.S. Supreme Court will roll back access to abortion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, which will be handed down in the next month. Illinois should brace for the effect. Overnight, this state will become a destination for abortion. Every state that touches our borders — from Wisconsin in the north, to Missouri and Kentucky in the south, and Indiana and Iowa in between — has tightly limited abortion access or introduced a steady drumbeat of anti-abortion bills. (Robin Fretwell Wilson And Jason Mazzone, 5/9)

The Colorado Sun: Colorado Voters Dropped The Ball On Abortion In 2014. We Can’t Drop It Again
As the Supreme Court appears poised to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 2022 midterms now have a laser focus on abortion. This time, we’ve got to get the conversation right. But first, let’s remember what happens when we don’t. In what now feels like ancient history, the 2014 U.S. Senate race was easily one of our state’s biggest blunders. Of course, we all know that former Republican Sen. Cory Gardner defeated the Democratic incumbent Sen. Mark Udall before voters promptly returned Gardner to Yuma in 2020. But in the interim, the miserable one-term wonder cost us six years of policy that was wholly out of line with the majority — including on abortion. (Trish Zornio, 5/9)

Also —

Bloomberg: Obesity Is Stalking Poor Countries, Where Hunger Once Reigned
You might not notice it from the way that inflation, conflict and pandemic have driven up the cost of food in recent years, but the specter of hunger that has haunted humanity for millennia is moving closer to being vanquished. In middle-income countries, the number of people undernourished fell by roughly a quarter, or 162 million, between 2006 and 2020. That’s more than enough to offset the 43 million increase in low-income nations, which are mostly in sub-Saharan Africa. (David Fickling, 5/8)

The Baltimore Sun: ‘We Hear You Baltimore’ Expands Access To Hearing Care For Older Adults 
As we age, our hearing declines and, for many, it can decline significantly. Almost all of us will experience hearing loss to some degree as we age. But while hearing care is widely available, millions of older adults in this country go without it because it is not easily accessible, and numerous barriers exist. (Darius Graham, Jim Macgill, Carrie Nieman and Erin Stauder, 5/6)

The New York Times: When Health Care Workers Are Protected, Patients Are, Too 
America was in a health care crisis before Covid, and the stresses of the pandemic have made it worse. Since the pandemic began, the health care work force — the country’s largest industry by employment — has shrunk by nearly 2 percent. That may seem like a small amount, but historically, the health care work force doesn’t shrink; it only grows. Now, with astronomical turnover and rising demand as patients seek care that they may have put off during the height of the pandemic, hospitals, clinics, nursing homes and home care agencies across the country lack sufficient staff members to adequately care for patients. (Gabriel Winant and Theresa Brown, 5/9)

Bloomberg: They Got Covid On Purpose To Help Scientists Learn More About It 
Jacob Hopkins, 24, tried hard not to get Covid-19 in the months leading up to March 2021, when, if he succeeded, he could be part of a unique experiment in which he was deliberately infected with the virus. Almost a year earlier, he had put his name on a list of volunteers. Months went by until, on Dec. 23, he finally heard back from someone associated with the experiment.  He ended up being the very first volunteer given the infection — patient 1. (Faye Flam, 5/6)

The Washington Post: We Have Early Warnings For Hurricanes. We Need One For Pandemics
Every coronavirus particle carries a kind of Mother Nature bar code inside: the genome, or genetic blueprint. With advances in bioinformatics, scientists can use genetic sequencing to read the bar code, identify the variant, spot mutations and chart possible spread among people. There’s a growing consensus that tracking this with viral genomic surveillance can provide critical early warning of public health emergencies — but only if resources and commitment are marshaled. (5/8)

Los Angeles Times: We’re Losing The Fight Against Superbugs, But There’s Still Hope
As parents, we inherently want to protect our children. We tell them stories with happy endings and reassure them that there aren’t monsters hiding under the bed. But there’s an enemy living among us that poses a fatal threat to kids and adults alike — and we’re simply not doing enough to stop it. These enemies are “superbugs” — bacteria and fungi that are resistant to antibiotics and other medications. All microbes, from everyday bacteria to killer superbugs, are constantly evolving. And paradoxically, exposing microbes to antimicrobials — whether a common antibiotic for strep throat or a potent antifungal treatment given in the hospital — can make them stronger in the long run. (Annabelle De St. Maurice, 5/8)

Chicago Tribune: This Is Our Moment To End America’s Racial Health Disparities 
A year ago, a Black man named Gary Fowler died from COVID-19 after seeking care at three Detroit hospitals. All three turned Gary away. Days later, he died at home sitting in a recliner in his bedroom after leaving a handwritten note that read, “Heart beat irregular ... oxygen level low. ”I first read about Gary and his family shortly after his death, and their experience haunted me. It personalized the senseless tragedy that communities of color across America have continued to face throughout this pandemic. (David Satcher, 5/9)

The New York Times: Dementia Is A Place Where My Mother Lives. It Is Not Who She Is
On a recent Sunday, I brought my 86-year-old mother, Bunny, a tremendously gaudy fake pearl ring with an elastic band. She loved it. Rings are of great value to her now, as they can dazzle and are never out of reach. My mother has dementia, in its final stage. Each time I put the ring on her finger, it will be the first time. Dementia is a land where my mother lives. It is not who she is. I think of it as an actual place, like the Acropolis or Yonkers. A place where beloved and ancient queens and kings retire, where linear time doesn’t exist and the rules of society are laid aside. Whenever I go to my parents’ double-wide in Hayward, Calif., I am really traveling to Dementia. (Suzanne Finnamore, 5/8)

Stat: Build Scientific Talent In The Global South To Prevent Future Health Crises
There’s a clamor around the world to return to the pre-pandemic “normal.” In reality, though, a reset to the fall of 2019 is out of the question. Leaders at all levels, all around the globe, must apply the painful lessons learned these past three years. And that means fundamentally shifting the world’s approach to many aspects of health security. One good place to start: Rethinking the paradigm for global scientific cooperation. (Muhammad Ali Pate and Michelle A. Williams, 5/8)

Stat: Strengthening Gavi Is A Way Forward For Global Vaccine Equity 
The Biden administration’s upcoming Covid-19 summit will shine a spotlight on the global failure to achieve vaccine equity. Although nearly 12 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been administered globally and 80% of people in high-income countries vaccinated, as I write this, in low-income countries, only 16% of people have received a vaccine. Poor countries have been left behind for multiple reasons: Rich and vaccine-producing countries jumped the queue, the costs and challenges of vaccine delivery were vastly underestimated, international coordination failed, and more. This is not the first time that a global effort to reach people equitably with vaccines has required a new way of doing business. A transformation that occurred more than 20 years ago gives hope that it can happen again. (Nina Schwalbe, 5/9)