NPR: Advisers To FDA Weigh In On Updated COVID Boosters For The Fall
In a daylong virtual meeting, a panel of experts advising the Food and Drug Administration came out in general support of efforts to develop new COVID-19 vaccines tailored to variants. The committee wasn't asked to vote on any specific recommendations to the agency but instead discussed the framework for making decisions about when to change the viral strain or strains used for future vaccines, including boosters. "I think we're in uncharted territory because with SARS-CoV-2 a lot of things have happened that have never happened before," said Dr. Arnold Monto, professor emeritus at the University of Michigan and acting chair of the committee. (Hensley, 4/6)

AP: US Experts Wrestle With How To Update COVID-19 Vaccines 
More than two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. health officials are beginning to grapple with how to keep the vaccines updated to best protect Americans from the ever-changing coronavirus. On Wednesday, a panel of vaccine advisers to the Food and Drug Administration spent hours debating key questions for revamping the shots and conducting future booster campaigns. They didn’t reach any firm conclusions. (Perrone, 4/7)

CNBC: Scientists Divided On Need For 4th Covid Shot After FDA Quietly Approved Another Round Of Boosters
Leading U.S. scientists and physicians worry that the FDA and CDC are moving too fast in approving a fourth round of Covid shots, with little public debate that gives the vaccine makers too big a role in setting the pace with which the doses are distributed across the nation. The top U.S. public health agencies last week endorsed a fourth Covid shot for older adults without holding public meetings, drawing criticism from leading vaccine experts who believe federal health officials haven’t provided enough transparency about the reasons for the decision. (Kimball, 4/6)

NBC News: FDA Advisers Struggle With How To Move Forward On Covid Boosters
The committee members were presented with an extremely short timeline: Dr. Peter Marks, the FDA’s top vaccine regulator, told the panel that scientists would need to determine which strain or strains to target by May or June, so drugmakers have enough time to produce the shots by the fall. (Lovelace Jr., 4/6)

In related news about booster shots —

Politico: 3 Takeaways Ahead Of Potential Fall Covid Booster Campaign 
The U.S. faces a tight timeline to accumulate enough data on a Covid-19 vaccine reworked to address new variants, with late spring emerging as the deadline for a fall vaccination campaign, federal officials said Wednesday. The Food and Drug Administration’s independent vaccine advisory panel met to begin outlining the broader U.S. Covid booster strategy — namely, who should receive additional doses and when, and whether and how the vaccines should be reformulated to account for new and circulating variants. (Gardner, 4/6)

Roll Call: Vote On COVID-19 Spending Bill Indefinitely Delayed 
A bipartisan $10 billion COVID-19 supplemental is stuck in the Senate amid a dispute over a tangential pandemic-related border control policy, with both parties at a loss on how the impasse will be resolved. “I don’t see a pathway,” Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions ranking member Richard M. Burr, R-N.C., who helped negotiate the bill, said Wednesday. The stalemate over the so-called Title 42 policy put the final nail in the coffin for action on the supplemental this week ahead of a scheduled two-week recess, absent a move from Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer to cancel the break and hold senators in town until they reach a deal. (McPherson and Weiss, 4/6)

AP: COVID Spending Bill Stalls In Senate As GOP, Dems Stalemate
A compromise $10 billion measure buttressing the government’s COVID-19 defenses has stalled in the Senate and seemed all but certainly sidetracked for weeks, victim of a campaign-season fight over the incendiary issue of immigration. There was abundant finger-pointing Wednesday but no signs the two parties were near resolving their stalemate over a bipartisan pandemic bill that President Joe Biden and top Democrats wanted Congress to approve this week. With Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., prioritizing the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson by week’s end — quite possibly Thursday — the COVID-19 bill seemed sure to slip at least until Congress returns after a two-week recess. (Fram, 4/7)

In related news about states running out of covid funds —

AP: Arizona Company Reduces COVID Testing, Cites Lack Of Funding
A leading Arizona provider of COVID-19 vaccinations and testing says a lack of federal funding has forced it to drop dozens of testing sites and is no longer providing free tests to uninsured people. People without insurance will have to pay a $100 fee for COVID-19 testing and testing has been suspended at 60 of Embry Health’s Arizona sites, the company said in recent announcements. (4/6)

And a fox that bit several people near the Capitol was found to have rabies —

Fox 5 DC: Fox That Bit 9 People Around Capitol Hill Tests Positive For Rabies
The wild fox that bit nine people, including a congressman and a reporter on Capitol Hill, has tested positive for rabies. D.C. health officials told FOX 5 in a statement it is "contacting all human victims who were bitten by the fox." Animal control will post informational flyers around Capitol Hill notifying people of the fox’s positive rabies status and encouraging those who might have been exposed to call DC Health. (Fox, 4/6)

Fox News: What To Do If A Rabies-Infected Animal Bites You?
The fox that bit Rep. Ami Bera, a reporter, and at least 7 other people in Washington, D.C. Tuesday was euthanized and tested positive for having the rabies virus, Fox News reported. Health experts told Fox News it is vital that a person who is bitten by an animal immediately seek medical treatment and try to get the animal tested for rabies, if possible. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated on its website that rabies is a deadly disease caused by a virus. It affects the central nervous system, which consists of the brain and spinal cord. The Federal Health Agency said once symptoms of rabies appear, the disease is "nearly always fatal." (McGorry, 4/6)

Slate: Capitol Hill Fox: Why Do Animals Have To Be Euthanized To Be Tested For Rabies?
Here’s how catching rabies works: After an animal or person is bitten, if no post-exposure measures are taken, the virus seeps in through the puncture wound and infects the nerves close to the bite. From there, it takes advantage of the communication system between  neurons to hitch a ride to its final destination: the brain. There, it wreaks havoc on the brain cells. It also makes its way to the salivary glands, where it’s excreted in saliva, and ready to start the whole process over again. When it comes to testing, though, saliva samples are unreliable: a swab of saliva won’t always contain the virus. (In humans, you can do a skin biopsy, but this isn’t typically done for animals.) A test might return a negative result for the particular bit of saliva you tested, even if the animal is secreting saliva that does contain the virus. (Braner, 4/6)

The Hill: COVID-19 Cases Among Key DC Players Jump After Gridiron Dinner
At least five high-profile Washington players have tested positive for COVID-19 after attending the star-studded Gridiron Club dinner last weekend, one of whom is considered a close contact of Vice President Harris. Harris’ Communications Director Jamal Simmons, Attorney General Merrick Garland, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, and Reps. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) have all tested positive for breakthrough COVID-19 cases after attending Saturday night’s event. (Schnell, 4/6)

The Washington Post: After Gridiron Dinner, A Covid Outbreak Among Washington A-List Guests 
A-list guests were asked to show proof of vaccination but not negative tests, and many mingled freely without masks at the dinner at the downtown Renaissance Washington Hotel. ... The Washington Post has learned of about a half-dozen journalists as well as members of the White House and National Security Council staffs who said they tested positive after the event. Their names are being withheld because they have not announced their status publicly. Tom DeFrank, a contributing columnist for National Journal and president of the Gridiron Club, said that as of Wednesday afternoon, the group knew of 14 guests who had tested positive. (Farhi, Roberts and Abutaleb, 4/6)

Los Angeles Times: Vice President's Staffer, Others Test Positive For The Coronavirus
Vice President Kamala Harris’ communications director tested positive for the coronavirus on Wednesday, the second close contact of the vice president to become infected in less than a month. Harris’ office did not announce test results for the vice president, but a statement from her press secretary, Kirsten Allen, said she was following official guidance and “plans to continue with her public schedule,” implying that she is not ill. Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff, tested positive last month for the coronavirus. (Bierman, 4/6)

The New York Times: An Invisible Party Crasher Has Washington Feeling Uneasy
President Biden did not attend the Gridiron, but he has appeared, mask-free, at several events this week, even as cases rise inside his administration, among lawmakers, in the news media and throughout the capital. His maskless appearance also calls into question the safety protocols that stand between a 79-year-old president and a wily virus that is adept at evading even stringent safety measures. (Rogers, 4/6)

CIDRAP: COVID-19 Health Workers Suffer Combat-Type Moral Trauma
A Duke University study shows that, amid COVID-19, US healthcare workers (HCWs) had similar rates of potential moral injury (PMI)—a type of trauma-induced wound to the psyche—as military combat veterans. The study, published yesterday in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, surveyed 2,099 HCWs in 2020 and 2021 and 618 military veterans deployed to a combat zone after the Sep 11, 2001, US terrorist attacks about PMIs they may have experienced. (Van Beusekom, 4/6)

NPR: People Are Developing Trauma-Like Symptoms As The Pandemic Wears On
In February 2020, Jullie Hoggan picked up the phone to receive lifesaving news. She had been on the list for a kidney transplant and, to her relief, there was now finally a donor. But that reassurance was quickly overshadowed by the looming threat of the novel coronavirus. "I remember standing at my sink and thinking, what about this virus? Like, is this going to be a problem?" she said. It was a question that would completely restructure the next two years of her life. While the surgery was successful and Hoggan is now vaccinated and boosted, she is still severely immunocompromised and has to take significant safety measures. (Lonsdorf, 4/7)

In updates on the spread of covid —

Axios: COVID Cases Rise Again In Half The States
Half of the states are seeing COVID case numbers rise again while nationwide totals continue to fall. The Omicron subvariant known as BA.2 is the dominant strain circulating around the U.S., accounting for almost three out of every four cases. As in-person gatherings have begun again, COVID has sickened a number of Washington A-listers, reminding everyone — yet again — we're not out of the woods with this pandemic. Overall, cases dropped 5% across the U.S. to an average of about 28,700 cases from an average of more than 30,000 cases two weeks ago. (Reed and Beheraj, 4/7)

Philadelphia Inquirer: Mask Mandates Likely To Return For Philadelphia Indoor Spaces As COVID Cases Rise
Philadelphia is poised to reinstate its indoor mask mandate next week as COVID-19 cases climb again. An Inquirer analysis showed the most current COVID case counts and the percent increase of cases both meet the city’s benchmarks that would trigger the return of the mask mandate for public indoor spaces. The Philadelphia Department of Public Health agreed with the analysis. “What we see and know is cases are rising,” said James Garrow, a spokesperson for the department. “People should start taking precautions now.” (Gans Sobey, Duchneskie and Laughlin, 4/6)

Las Vegas Review-Journal: Clark County Sees An Uptick In COVID-19 Cases
For the second week in a row, Clark County experienced a slight uptick in new daily COVID-19 cases, marking the first increases since January, according to weekly data released Wednesday. However, authorities said they don’t view the uptick as significant and that overall metrics suggest there won’t be a surge in cases anytime soon. “From everything we’re seeing, I don’t expect a surge,” said Andrew Gorzalski, molecular supervisor in the Nevada State Public Health Laboratory in Reno. This vantage point includes positive COVID-19 test results as well as wastewater analysis, the latter an early-warning system for disease trends. (Dylan and Hynes, 4/6)

Bay Area News Group: California Reaches New Low For COVID Patients In ICU
California intensive care units are now treating fewer COVID patients than at any point since the state started tracking that number in March 2020. As of Monday, hospitals around the Golden State reported 231 patients in their ICUs were confirmed or suspected to have COVID, according to data from the California Department of Public Health. The previous low for hospitalized COVID patients in an ICU was 250, set on June 6, 2021, at the zenith of the summer 2021 COVID slump. The number of critically ill COVID patients requiring intensive care was consistently below 500 from early April through mid-July of 2021, but jumped to more than 2,000 during last fall’s delta surge and peaked at more than 2,500 in late January during omicron. (Blair Rowan, 4/6)

In other covid news —

AP: Several COVID Deaths In WA Happened Before 1st Was Announced 
The Washington state Department of Health has confirmed at least four other Washingtonians died from COVID complications before or on Feb. 28, 2020 — the date the first known death in Washington and the U.S. was announced. In a recent review of the state’s earliest COVID-19 deaths, three people who died before the initial announcement were from long-term care facility Life Care Center of Kirkland, the site of the first known U.S. coronavirus outbreak, The Seattle Times reported. (4/6)

KHN: A Shortfall Of ECMO Treatment Cost Lives During The Delta Surge 
Speaking from his hospital bed at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, James Perkinson’s voice was raspy. In February, he’d just been taken off ECMO, the last-ditch life support treatment in which a machine outside the body does the work of the heart and lungs. Full recovery is expected to take a year or more for Perkinson. “If it wasn’t for the ECMO and the doctors that were put in place at the right time with the right knowledge, I would not be here,” he said, with his wife, Kacie, by his side. (Farmer, 4/7)

San Francisco Chronicle: S.F. Health Officials Return Thousands Of Life-Saving COVID Drugs, Plead With Public To Use Them
San Francisco has returned thousands of doses of life-saving COVID-19 drugs to the state because the people who could have used them didn’t know the treatment was available, public health officials said Wednesday. Now city officials are sounding an urgent alert to let people know about the antiviral drugs, which must be taken within five days after the onset of COVID symptoms. Although physicians typically write prescriptions, many patients never let their doctors know they’ve tested positive for COVID, or tell them when it’s already too late to benefit from the pills. (Asimov, 4/6)

AP: KS Sen. Mark Steffen Sends Letters To Physicians On COVID-19 
A Kansas physician-legislator who has acknowledged that he is under investigation by the state medical board after supporting the deworming drug ivermectin is instructing doctors on COVID-19 treatment in a letter. The Wichita Eagle reports that Kansas Sen. Mark Steffen sent a letter on official Senate stationery to health care providers telling them that the way COVID-19 patients are treated has changed and that they will be shielded from Board of Healing Arts “interference.” (4/6)

CNN: Covid-19 Infections Can Set Off Massive Inflammation In The Body
From the early days of the pandemic, doctors noticed that in severe cases of Covid-19 -- the ones that landed people in the hospital on ventilators with shredded lungs -- most of the internal wreckage wasn't being directly inflicted by the virus itself but by a blizzard of immune reactions triggered by the body to fight the infection. Researchers knew that these so-called cytokine storms were damaging, but they didn't know why the SARS-CoV-2 virus seemed to be so good at setting them off. A new study published Wednesday in the journal Nature is helping to explain how these immune overreactions happen to Covid-19 patients. (Goodman, 4/6)

ABC News: COVID-19 Infection Increases Risk Of Serious Blood Clots 3 To 6 Months Later: Study 
Being infected with COVID-19 raises the risk of developing serious blood clots, a new study suggests. An international team of researchers from Sweden, the United Kingdom and Finland compared more than 1 million people in Sweden with a confirmed case of the virus between February 2020 and May 2021 to 4 million control patients who tested negative. (Kekatos, 4/6)

In other pandemic research —

CIDRAP: C-Sections, Inductions Dropped During First Months Of COVID-19
Fewer in-person prenatal visits during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a 6.5% drop in premature caesarian sections (C-sections) and inductions, according to a new study in Pediatrics. The research was conducted by a team at Georgia Tech's School of Economics. This is the first major study to examine pandemic-era birth data at scale, the authors say, and it raises questions about how and if some medical interventions may unnecessarily result in preterm deliveries. (4/6)

CIDRAP: COVID-19 Sped Up Adoption Of New Clinical Guidelines
A survey of 52 US hospitals—mostly academic medical centers—shows the COVID-19 pandemic drastically sped up the rate at which clinicians adopted new clinical treatment guidelines, shortening the duration from years to months. The study was published yesterday in JAMA Network Open. (4/5)

Fox News: COVID-19 Home Tests Have More Shelf-Life Than You Think: Report
Don’t throw away your home COVID-19 tests just because it says it’s expired, according to a recent New York Times report. Even though the test kits use similar technology to detect pieces of the viral proteins called antigens, their expiration dates may differ because of how they are regulated – not because of inherent differences in the tests themselves, said Dr. Michael Mina, an expert in home-test technology and chief science officer for eMed, a healthcare company that provides home test kits. (Sudhakar, 4/6)

The New York Times: Do Home Covid Tests Expire? 
Depending on which home test you buy, or receive for free from the government, you might see a range of expiration windows. One test might expire in six months, another in nine months, 11 months or even 15 months. The tests all use similar technology to detect antigens (pieces of viral proteins) from a swab sample — so why do the expiration dates stamped on the boxes vary so widely? The answer has to do with the quirks of the regulatory process rather than any meaningful differences in the stability of the various tests, said Dr. Michael Mina, a well-known expert in home-test technology and chief science officer for eMed, a company that helps rapid test users get treatment from home. (Parker-Pope, 4/5)

USA Today: Pfizer COVID Vaccine Study: Unvaccinated Not Swayed By FDA Approval
After the Food and Drug Administration approved Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine in August, public health experts were hopeful vaccine uptake would skyrocket. But a study published Wednesday in JAMA Network Open found the shift from emergency use authorization of the vaccine to full approval did not sway unvaccinated Americans. Researchers from the University of Utah analyzed vaccination data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention starting July 25, a month before full FDA approval, to Sept. 9, the day before President Joe Biden made his vaccine mandate announcement. (Rodriguez, 4/6)

And more news about the vaccine rollout —

CIDRAP: COVID Vaccine In Early Pregnancy Not Tied To Birth Defects
Maternal COVID-19 vaccination in early pregnancy is not associated with fetal abnormalities detectable on ultrasound, finds a study yesterday in JAMA Pediatrics. The retrospective study, conducted by Northwestern University and Penn State College of Medicine researchers, used electronic medical records to identify any link between COVID-19 vaccination in early pregnancy and the risk of major fetal structural abnormalities on ultrasound. (Van Beusekom, 4/5)

Axios: The High-Stakes Push To Get Coronavirus Vaccines To Young Children
As federal health officials debate the logistics of administering fourth coronavirus vaccines to some older Americans, children under five years old remain ineligible for any shots — and it's unclear when that will change. Less-than-ideal clinical trial results and growing backlash against children's vaccinations writ large have complicated what was already a delicate decision-making process. Young children generally aren't at high risk of severe COVID infections, but some do get seriously ill or, in rare instances, die. Plenty of parents remain anxious to vaccinate their children as soon as possible. (Owens, 4/7)

Iowa Public Radio: Iowa Immigrant And Refugee-Led Groups Team Up To Address Health Inequalities 
Several refugee and immigrant-lead groups in Iowa have teamed up to address health inequities that have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Refugee and Immigrant Vaccine Alliance, or RIVA, consists of Nisaa African Family Services, Latinx Immigrants of Iowa, ArtForce Iowa, the Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Ethnic Minorities of Burma Advocacy and Resource Center, or EMBARC. The need for RIVA arose when it became apparent that Iowa’s immigrant and refugee communities continue to be disproportionately affected by the pandemic, said Maria Corona, the executive director of the Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence. (Krebs, 4/6)

San Francisco Chronicle: Napa Doctor Convicted Of Selling Fake COVID Vaccination Cards, Remedies
A naturopathic doctor from Napa was convicted Wednesday on charges that she sold fake COVID-19 vaccination cards and phony “immunization pellets” to her patients, officials said. Juli Mazi accepted a plea agreement in February and pleaded guilty this week to one count of wire fraud and one count of making false statements related to health care matters, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California. (Picon, 4/6)

AP: Top New York Judge Not Complying With Vaccine Mandate 
A judge on New York’s highest court has been referred to a disciplinary commission and could be kicked off the bench for failing to comply with a rule requiring proof of vaccination against COVID-19. Judge Jenny Rivera, one of seven jurists on the state’s Court of Appeals, is barred from court facilities and has been working remotely since October, court officials said. She is one of four judges statewide who have been referred to the state’s Commission on Judicial Conduct for being out of compliance with the mandate that applies to all court personnel. (Sisak, 4/6)

Modern Healthcare: Nursing Home Care Is 'Broken,' U.S. Panel Reports
Critical flaws in the U.S. nursing home system threaten the health and safety of millions of residents, and urgent change is needed, according to a report the prestigious National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine issued Wednesday. "Nursing home care in the United States is broken," David Grabowski, a Harvard Medical School professor who serves on the federally chartered organization's Committee on the Quality of Care in Nursing Homes, said during a telephone briefing. (Christ, 4/6)

AP: Nursing Home Care, Funding System Need Overhaul, Report Says 
To anyone who saw the scourge of COVID-19 on the country’s most vulnerable, the findings of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine might seem sobering but unsurprising, as the long-term care system’s inadequacies were made plain by more than 150,000 resident deaths. The authors of the 605-page report insist it could be an impetus to address issues that have gotten little more than lip service for decades. ... The report covers a vast cross-section of long-term care, from granular details such as the way facilities are designed to foundational issues that would require massive political capital and investment to address. Among them: the authors advocate for creating a new national long-term care system that would exist outside of Medicaid, the program that is at the center of most long-term care financing. (Sedensky, 4/6)

Panel members outline write about their findings in an opinion piece for Stat: U.S. Nursing Home Care Is Ineffective, Inefficient, Inequitable, Fragmented, And Unsustainable

In news about staffing levels at nursing homes —

NPR: Nursing Home Residents Suffer From Staffing Shortages, But The Jobs Are Hard To Fill
"We think it's really important to set a very specific standard that can be measured against, to really make sure staff is adequate to ensure quality," says Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the federal agency that regulates and funds most nursing homes in the U.S. Numerous studies have shown that understaffing nursing homes can harm the health of residents, who suffer more bedsores, more weight loss, more overprescribing of anti-psychotic medications, and — during the pandemic — more COVID-19 cases and deaths. (Hsu, 4/6)

News Service of Florida: The Bill To Revamp Staffing At Florida Nursing Homes Reaches DeSantis' Desk 
With the measure drawing support from the nursing home industry and a veto request from the senior-advocacy group AARP Florida, a proposal that would revamp staffing standards for nursing homes was among 35 bills that landed on Gov. Ron DeSantis’ desk Tuesday. Among the other measures was a proposal that would broaden doctors’ ability to prescribe controlled substances through telemedicine. The nursing home legislation (HB 1239) was approved by votes of 80-31 in the House and 28-9 in the Senate, with supporters saying it would provide more flexibility to nursing homes and help with staffing shortages. (Turner, 4/6)

In other nursing home news —

KLKNTV: Veto Of Some Money To Help Nebraska Nursing Homes Sparks Fear Of More Closures
After Gov. Pete Ricketts vetoed a portion of the money that would go to raising provider rates at nursing homes and assisted living facilities, many are wondering how many more facilities will close. State Sen. John Stinner, the chairman of the Nebraska Legislature’s Appropriations Committee, said Tuesday that he was “not only disappointed, but pretty angry, frankly.” He said lawmakers have “spent a lot of time” on the issue. Of the $51.8 million cut, about half was intended to boost provider rates for nursing homes and assisted living facilities. The rest included increases for providers of child welfare and behavioral health services. (Martinez, 4/5)

WGN9: Bill Aims To Protect Nursing Home Access Amid Public Health Crises
A bipartisan group of state lawmakers passed a measure to address nursing home visits during the pandemic or other public health emergencies. The action comes as countless Illinois families were blocked from visiting loved ones – some denied the chance to say goodbye to their dying family members – in nursing homes at the height of COVID-19. Illinois State Representative Dan Ugaste (R-Geneva) says he and his household knows the pain. “My wife was one of those people,” Ugaste said. She didn’t get to see her mother for three-and-a-half months prior to her mother passing away.” (Crews, 4/6)

Tampa Bay Times: 5 Ways Florida Nursing Home Visits Will Change Thanks To Bill DeSantis Just Signed
Florida health care facilities have a new set of rules for restricting visitation thanks to a bill approved Wednesday by Gov. Ron DeSantis. Senate Bill 988, which sponsors named the “No Patient Left Alone Act,” was largely a response to the early months of the coronavirus pandemic in which the DeSantis administration severely limited visitation at Florida’s long-term care facilities and hospitals. The state put those restrictions in place in 2020 in the hope of controlling the spread of COVID-19. As the months of isolation for residents and patients added up and complaints from loved ones mounted, DeSantis began relaxing those rules. (Wilson, 4/6)

Iowa Public Radio: A Lack Of EMTs In Iowa Leads To Less Stable Care For Rural Residents
Iowa’s rural areas are seeing emergency services volunteers retire without enough new ones to replace them. Nationwide, emergency medical services are seeing high rates of turnover for emergency service technicians and paramedics – with an average of 20 to 30 percent leaving annually. As more emergency service professionals disappear, it puts the state’s rural residents at greater risk. At Shenandoah Medical Center in southwest Iowa, CEO Matt Sells said he’s worried about the rural populations in Fremont and Page counties. He said he’s seen smaller communities lose their volunteers, which translates to longer emergency response times. (Crawford, 4/6)

KHN: The Pandemic Exacerbates The ‘Paramedic Paradox’ In Rural America 
Even after she’s clocked out, Sarah Lewin keeps a Ford Explorer outfitted with medical gear parked outside her house. As one of just four paramedics covering five counties across vast, sprawling eastern Montana, she knows a call that someone had a heart attack, was in a serious car crash, or needs life support and is 100-plus miles away from the nearest hospital can come at any time. “I’ve had as much as 100 hours of overtime in a two-week period,” said Lewin, the battalion chief for the Miles City Fire and Rescue department. “Other people have had more.” (Houghton, 4/7)

In other health care industry news —

Modern Healthcare: CVS Health Selling PayFlex Health Spending Accounts Service
CVS Health will sell PayFlex, its provider of flexible spending and health savings accounts, to the financial services firm Millennium Trust, the companies announced Tuesday. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter, the companies said. CVS Health and the Millennium Trust Company didn't disclose the financial terms of the deal. CVS Health's Aetna insurance subsidiary will retain PayFlex as its preferred provider for HSAs, FSAs and other tax-advantaged consumer accounts. (Tepper, 4/6)

Modern Healthcare: Providers Given Chance To Request Extra PRF Reporting Time
Providers that didn't report on Provider Relief Fund money they received in the first round because of "extenuating circumstances" have an opportunity to request additional time, the Health Resources and Services Administration announced Wednesday. Severe illnesses or deaths of employees responsible for reporting, natural disasters that damaged records or technology near the end of the reporting period, internal miscommunication about reporting and failures to click "submit" count as extenuating circumstances that warrant extra time to report after the deadline, according to HRSA. (Goldman, 4/6)

Modern Healthcare: CMS Proposes Indefinite Delay Of Medicare Radiation Oncology Model
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services wants to indefinitely delay the start of its radiation oncology payment model and announce a new time line through future rulemaking, the agency disclosed Wednesday. CMS also indicated it may consider scaling down the model's discount factor, which is the amount by which it reduces a episode payments to reserve savings for Medicare. The model cannot start before Jan. 1, 2023, per a law passed last year to forestall pending Medicare reimbursement cuts. The radiation oncology initiative was originally slated to begin Jan. 1, 2021, and had already been pushed back multiple times. (Goldman, 4/6)

Detroit Free Press: Dearborn Creates New Public Health Department With Director
Dearborn announced Wednesday it's bringing back a revamped health department and appointing a director, making it what officials say is probably the only city in southeastern Michigan outside of Detroit to have its own health department. Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, elected in November, said Ali Abazeed, 31, who previously worked for the National  Institutes of Health and advised Detroit's health department, will lead the newly established Department of Public Health. (Warikoo, 4/6)

Stat: A New Crop Of Companies Is Reshaping The Health Data Economy
It is one of health care’s most vexing quandaries: Patient data must be shared to develop more effective medicines and artificial intelligence tools, but there’s no way to share it without violating privacy and basic data rights. Or is there? A fresh crop of companies is building a new data economy that enables the exchange of personal health information while enforcing ironclad privacy protections. They are not a monolithic group: each one uses its own methods and technologies, serves different customers, and is motivated by distinct problems and personal philosophies. (Ross, 4/7)

KHN: Never-Ending Costs: When Resolved Medical Bills Keep Popping Up
Every now and then, Suzanne Rybak and her husband, Jim, receive pieces of mail addressed to their deceased son, Jameson. Typically, it’s junk mail that requires little thought, Suzanne said. But on March 5, an envelope for Jameson came from McLeod Health. Jim saw it first. He turned to his wife and asked, “Have you taken your blood pressure medication today?” He knew showing her the envelope would resurface the pain and anger their family had experienced since taking Jameson to McLeod Regional Medical Center two years ago. (Pattani, 4/7)

St. Louis Public Radio: Missouri House Passes Anti-Abortion Bill 
The Missouri House has passed a bill containing multiple anti-abortion measures, including a provision that makes it a felony to distribute or administer abortion-inducing drugs in a way that violates state or federal law. Members of the House approved the bill Wednesday with a vote of 91-37. It now goes to the Senate, with six weeks left in the 2022 legislative session before adjournment on May 13. "I think the facts stand strong and well with our record here, we protect the unborn life," said the bill's sponsor, Rep. Hannah Kelly, R-Mountain Grove, before it went to a vote. No other legislator spoke on the bill before it passed. (Kellogg, 4/6)

St. Louis Public Radio: Midwest Access Coalition Brings Abortion Seekers To Illinois
A wave of anti-abortion restrictions in Missouri and other states is increasingly bringing patients seeking the procedure to Illinois — and to “practical abortion funds” like the Midwest Access Coalition. Founded in 2015, the coalition connects patients seeking abortions with the resources to get them to clinics, handling the logistics of the trip and supplying money for lodging, child care and food during their stay. Diana Parker-Kafka, the Chicago-based coalition’s executive director, says the group’s activities ramped up significantly in the past year, when it assisted more than 800 people traveling to the Midwest for abortions. Now, the group is fielding 120 callers every month. (Wicentowski, 4/6)

And more abortion news from Alaska, Iowa, and Nebraska —

Anchorage Daily News: Alaska House Votes To Defund Medicaid Abortion Services Despite Court Rulings Requiring It
Defying court rulings, the Alaska House of Representatives voted 21-18 on Wednesday to cut Alaska’s Medicaid budget by $350,000 in an attempt to eliminate state funding for abortion services. The vote is the latest in a yearslong series of attempts by Alaska legislators to cancel public funding for abortion services. Prior votes have had little effect. The state has shifted Medicaid funding from other sources and continued to provide abortions. In 2021, according to the latest available figures, Medicaid funded 537 of 1,226 abortions in Alaska. (Brooks, 4/6)

Iowa Public Radio: Iowa Senate Bill Would Fund Anti-Abortion Pregnancy Centers And More Medicaid Coverage Post-Childbirth 
The Iowa Senate voted Tuesday to give $1 million of state money to anti-abortion pregnancy centers and voted to expand Medicaid coverage for Iowans up to a year after they give birth. The $1 million would go to a nonprofit to administer payments to centers that counsel people to choose childbirth instead of abortion. Current law provides 60 days of health insurance coverage through Medicaid after childbirth. The bill passed Tuesday would extend that to a year after childbirth, costing the state an additional $5.6 million in the first year. Bill sponsor Sen. Mark Costello, R-Imogene, called it the More Options for Maternal Support bill, or “MOMS” bill. He said he thought it would get more bipartisan support because he said the bill does not seek to restrict abortion. (Sostaric, 4/6)

AP: Nebraska Weighs Bill To Ban Abortion If Court Overturns Roe 
Nebraska would immediately ban abortions if the U.S. Supreme Court ever overturns its 1973 decision to legalize the procedure under a bill that sharply divided lawmakers on Wednesday. Lawmakers remained stuck on the measure and weren’t expected to take the first of three required votes on it until later Wednesday evening. If it passes, Nebraska would become the 14th state nationally to enact a so-called trigger law. (Schulte, 4/6)

Also —

NPR: Anti-Abortion Group Claims It Took 115 Fetuses From A Medical Waste Truck
An anti-abortion group that is facing previous federal charges said it took 115 fetuses from a medical waste company and buried 110 of them at an undisclosed location. Washington, D.C., police, which originally said it found five fetuses in one of the group members' apartments, is continuing to investigate the case. At a news conference Tuesday, two members of Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising, Terrisa Bukovinac and Lauren Handy, said they got the fetal remains from a medical waste company employee who gave them the box from his truck. (Shivaram, 4/6)

Reveal: Mastermind Of The Texas ‘Heartbeat’ Statute Has A Radical Mission To Reshape American Law 
When conservative legal provocateur Jonathan Mitchell published his 2018 law review article laying the groundwork for Texas to ban most abortions, some of the ideas he outlined were so far-fetched that they read more like thought experiments than legitimate legal theories. One was that state legislatures could give private individuals, rather than government agencies, the right to enforce abortion restrictions and other controversial statutes – a “bounty hunter”-type mechanism he claimed could make such laws all but impossible to challenge through the usual legal processes. (Littlefield, 4/5)

Bay Area News Group: Walnut Creek Backs Planned Parenthood With Protest Buffers
After months of fine-tuning the legal details, Walnut Creek will begin prohibiting abortion protesters from getting within eight feet of people entering or leaving the city’s Planned Parenthood clinic without their consent. The City Council unanimously voted Tuesday night to establish the eight-foot buffer within 100 feet of the Oakland Boulevard clinic, where crowds occasionally descend on the narrow sidewalk in front to protest. The council was ready to act last month but held off after the city attorney said more time is needed to research how much noise should be considered “excessive” enough at demonstrations to trigger enforcement. (Mukherjee, 4/6)

In other news —

The 19th: Sexual Assault Survivors Are Often Charged Hundreds Of Dollars For Rape Kits
$347. That was the average out-of-pocket cost for sexual assault survivors who received forensic exam services as part of a rape kit from 2016 to 2018, the Kaiser Family Foundation found.  Under federal law, they weren’t supposed to pay anything at all. The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) — reauthorized last month as part of Congress’ omnibus spending bill — requires states to bear full out-of-pocket costs of forensic medical exams to receive federal funds for law enforcement agencies, courts and victim services. Even if victims are fully reimbursed later, states that allow hospitals to charge patients are still violating the requirements laid out for them by the Justice Department to access those funds. (Rummler, 4/6)

San Francisco Chronicle: DEA Warns Of Fentanyl-Related ‘Mass-Overdose Events’ Across U.S.
The Drug Enforcement Administration on Wednesday warned state, local and federal law enforcement officials of a nationwide spike in fentanyl-related “mass-overdose events” in which three or more fentanyl poisonings happen in rapid succession in the same location. Fifty-eight people have overdosed and 29 people have died in recent months in mass-fentanyl overdose incidents, the DEA said in a news release. The overdoses were reported in Wilton Manors, Fla.; Austin, Texas; Cortez, Colo.; Commerce City, Colo.; Omaha, Neb.; St. Louis; and Washington, D.C. (Hernández, 4/6)

ABC7 San Francisco: 'Dark Reality': More People Died From Fentanyl Last Year Than COVID-19 In This Bay Area County
A dark, devastating epidemic is becoming increasingly more deadly in San Francisco. 1,875 people have died from drug overdoses in San Francisco from January 2021 through February 2022, according to records released from the city. "It's very dark but it's the reality," said Jack Terwelp, the program director at Marina Harbor Detox, a substance abuse rehab facility in San Francisco. (Sierra, 4/6)

ABC News: Fentanyl Overdose Survivor Tells Her Story: 'I Was A Lucky One. I Gotta Make It Worth It' 
Last September, Ryan Christoff found his then 16-year-old daughter barely breathing in their home near Boulder, Colorado. Little did he know at the time, but his daughter was suffering from an overdose. She had taken a half of a Percocet pill given to her by her then boyfriend not knowing that it was laced with Fentanyl - a synthetic opioid used to treat severe pain and is up to 50 times more powerful than heroin. (Hawkins, Schwartz-Lavares, Pedersen and Cook, 4/6)

Indianapolis Star: Indiana Opioid Settlement: Indianapolis Opts Back In, Could Get $40M
Indianapolis is joining other Indiana cities in opting back in to an estimated $507 million statewide opioid settlement, an agreement made more attractive to cities after the passage of a state law that gives local governments more direct funding and flexibility. The proposed settlement with the three opioid manufacturers Cardinal Health, McKesson and AmerisourceBergen and distributor Johnson and Johnson could provide Indianapolis with an estimated $40.2 million that would be paid out over a number of years, according to city officials and outside legal counsel the city has retained through the Cohen and Malad firm. The payments could begin as early as May. (Pak-Harvey, 4/7)

And in news about marijuana and cannabis use —

Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Medical Marijuana: Madison Latest City To Opt Out In Mississippi
Madison the City became the latest in a handful of communities that have decided to take a pass on allowing certain types of medical marijuana businesses to operate in their jurisdictions. Madison Mayor Mary Hawkins-Butler issued a statement Tuesday night posted on the Madison the City Facebook page that the city had decided to opt out, citing concerns over zoning and the impact on law enforcement and public safety. Butler confirmed her statement via email and said that the vote was unanimous with seven board members voting. (Clark, 4/6)

Billings Gazette: Montana Cannabis Sales Outpacing Projections, Opposition Targets Conservative Counties
Montana's recreational cannabis sales through the first quarter of the market's first year are outpacing projections and it's not even tourism season yet. Montana providers have sold $72.9 million in cannabis products, including both medical and recreational, since the start of 2022, according to figures released Wednesday by the Montana Department of Revenue. Recreational cannabis had its biggest month yet in March with nearly $15.9 million in sales. Medical sales came in at $9.8 million. (Larson, 4/6)

Stat: Many Medicare Part D Beneficiaries Don't Fill Prescriptions For Pricey Drugs
Medicare Part D beneficiaries who have low incomes and receive government subsidies were nearly twice as likely to fill a prescription for a high-priced medicine for cancer or other illnesses compared with Americans who don’t receive such support, according to a new study. The analysis found that many beneficiaries who do not receive subsidies — which can cap or lower out-of-pocket costs — did not fill their prescriptions. For instance, 30% of prescriptions for cancer drugs were not filled and more than 50% of prescriptions written for medicines used to treat high cholesterol or immune disorders also went unfilled. (Silverman, 4/6)

And more on the high cost of prescriptions —

Health News Florida: DeSantis Expresses Frustration As Drug Imports From Canada Remain Bottled Up 
Nearly three years after Florida lawmakers approved a plan to import cheaper prescription drugs from Canada, Gov. Ron DeSantis expressed frustration Tuesday that the plan remains stalled in Washington, D.C. DeSantis and then-state House Speaker Jose Oliva, R-Miami Lakes, made the issue a priority in 2019, with lawmakers ultimately approving a plan to make imported drugs available in government-related programs. Former President Donald Trump’s administration approved a rule in 2020 to help clear the way for imports, but groups including the Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America launched a legal challenge that remains unresolved. (Saunders and Turner, 4/6)

The New York Times: Inside A Campaign To Get Medicare Coverage For A New Alzheimer’s Drug
The day after Medicare officials announced a preliminary decision to sharply limit coverage of the controversial new Alzheimer’s medication Aduhelm, citing its unclear benefit and serious safety risks, the nation’s most prominent Alzheimer’s advocacy organization convened its policy team. The agenda: fighting Medicare’s proposal. “This is our top priority,” Robert Egge, the association’s chief public policy officer, said at the Jan. 12 session, according to recordings obtained by The New York Times. (Belluck, 4/6)

Modern Healthcare: Biosimilars, Generics To Slow Drug Cost Increases In 2022
Biosimilars and generic drugs are poised to slow drug cost growth this year, a new report indicates. Total drug spending increased 7.7% from 2020 to 2021 to $576.9 billion, driven by an uptick in the utilization of COVID-19 therapies, according to an American Society of Health-System Pharmacists analysis. Drug prices only increased 1.9% in 2021, in part thanks to new biosimilars and generics that came to market. Drug spending rose 4.9% to $535.3 billion from 2019 to 2020 while prices ticked up 0.3%. (Kacik, 4/6)

In other pharmaceutical news, you might want to think twice about snuggling with your pet —

CIDRAP: Study: Dogs, Cats Share Resistant Bacteria, Resistance Genes With Owners
Observational research set to be presented later this month at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) suggests close contact with pets could result in sharing of multidrug-resistant bacteria and resistance genes. (4/6)

Modern Healthcare: Rural Veterans Have Fewer ED Visits, More Psychotherapy With VA Tablets
Rural veterans who received tablets from the Department of Veterans Affairs had more telehealth psychotherapy appointments and fewer suicide-related emergency department visits, according to a new study published Wednesday. Study authors from the VA Health Economics Resource Center located at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System in California tracked more than 13,000 veterans with a mental health history over the first year of the pandemic, after receiving a broadband- and video-enabled tablet from the VA. The tablets enabled veterans to receive more mental healthcare than they normally would have, and they had a lower likelihood of having an emergency department visit for any reason, according to the study. (Gillespie, 4/6)

In related news from Alaska about military suicides —

Anchorage Daily News: An Alarming Number Of Active-Duty Soldiers In Alaska Died By Suicide Last Year
The number of U.S. Army Alaska soldiers who died by suicide increased sharply in 2021 even after the military invested millions of dollars to address an identified mental health crisis at the state’s two major bases. At least 11 soldiers stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson and Fort Wainwright died by suicide last year. Six more deaths are being investigated as possible suicides. Top military officials say finding solutions to the worsening problem continues to be a top priority — and that the pandemic seems to have exacerbated existing risk factors. (Berman, 4/6)

In other public health news —

The Wall Street Journal: Pedestrians Killed By Drivers Rose 17% In First Half Of 2021
The number of U.S. pedestrians killed in motor-vehicle crashes surged 17% in the first half of 2021, according to a nonprofit safety group, which linked the increase to reckless drivers, outdated infrastructure and fewer officers patrolling the roads. In the first six months of 2021, drivers struck and killed 3,441 people, up from 2,934 in the same period in 2020, according to a report released Thursday from the Governors Highway Safety Association, which represents state highway-safety offices that supplied the preliminary data. (Furst, 4/7)

The Hill: Supreme Court Halts Ruling Against Trump Clean Water Act Rollback In 5-4 Decision
The Supreme Court on Wednesday halted a prior court ruling that struck down a Trump-era rule limiting state and tribal authority to veto projects that could impact their waters, including pipelines. The Trump rule in question, which was nixed by a federal court in October, limited states’ authority to block projects by giving them a strict one-year time limit to do so. If it did not meet this time limit, the government could determine that it had waived its veto power. The rule also limited the scope  to only those that will impact water quality. It excluded other considerations, such as air quality or “energy policy.” (Frazin, 4/6)

NPR: Norovirus Outbreak Linked To Raw Oysters Investigated By The FDA
The Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday that it is working with federal and local authorities on a multistate outbreak of norovirus illnesses linked to raw oysters. The oysters were harvested in the south and central parts of Baynes Sound, British Columbia, Canada, and have been distributed to restaurants and businesses in the following states, the FDA said: California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Texas and Washington state. (4/6)

Press Association: Insomnia Could Increase People's Risk Of Type 2 Diabetes
Having insomnia could increase the risk of type 2 diabetes, a new study suggests. Those who have difficulty getting to sleep or staying asleep had higher blood sugar levels than people who rarely had sleep issues, the study of more than 336,999 UK adults found. The findings suggest insufficient sleep can cause higher blood sugars levels and could play a direct role in the development of type 2 diabetes. It is therefore thought that measures or treatments that improve insomnia could help to prevent or treat the condition. (Massey, 4/7)

Fox News: Sugar Substitutes May Interfere With Liver’s Ability To Detoxify, Researchers Say
Two sugar substitutes, also known as non-nutritive sweeteners, may disrupt the function of a protein that plays an important role in detoxifying the liver and the metabolizing certain drugs, including blood pressure medications and antidepressants, a new study suggested. These sweeteners are commonly used in foods and even some medications to give a sweet taste while providing an alternative to table sugar with few or no calories, according to nutrition experts. "With an estimated 40% of Americans regularly consuming non-nutritive sweeteners, it’s important to understand how they affect the body," Laura Danner, a doctoral student at the Medical College of Wisconsin said in the release. (McGorry, 4/6)

NPR: Charting Brain Development To Track Changes As We Age
The human brain starts with a bang and ends with a whimper. That's the conclusion of a project that used more than 120,000 brain scans to chart the organ's changes throughout the lifespan. The results appear in the April 6 issue of the journal Nature. Among the key findings: The brain reaches 80% of its maximum size by age 3. The volume of gray matter, which represents brain cells, peaks before age 6. The volume of white matter — a way of measuring the connections between brain cells — peaks before age 29. (Hamilton, 4/7)

The New York Times: New York Agrees To Expand Voting Access For People With Disabilities 
Voting in New York will become easier for blind and disabled residents following the settlement of a lawsuit against the New York State Board of Elections this week. Under the new terms, the state board has until June 1 to create an electronic voting method that will allow voters with disabilities that make reading or writing text difficult, such as blindness or paralysis, to print out ballots online and mail them back. (Wong, 4/6)

In updates from Florida —

WLRN 91.3 FM: South Florida Is Seeing An Uptick In Rates Of HIV Diagnoses Among Ages 50 And Older 
After basketball star Earvin “Magic” Johnson received an HIV diagnosis in 1991, he made an announcement in a room full of sports reporters that people remember to this day. "Because of the HIV virus that I have obtained, I will have to retire from the Lakers," Johnson said. That press conference is included in an Apple TV+ documentary series coming out on April 22. At the time, Johnson clarified he had the human immunodeficiency virus, not AIDS — a disease that may result because of HIV. "I plan on going on living for a long time, bugging you guys like I always have, so you'll see me around," he said. (Zaragovia, 4/6)

NBC News: Florida Ride Where Teen Fell To His Death Is ‘Serious Danger To Public Health,’ Officials Say
The Florida amusement park ride where a teenager fell to his death last month is an "immediate serious danger to public health," state officials said in an order closing the ride. The order from the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, which was released to the public Monday, formally closed the Free Fall ride on March 25, the day after the incident at ICON Park in Orlando. (Fitzsimons, 4/6)

In LGBTQ+ health news —

Louisville Courier Journal: Transgender Sports, Critical Race Theory Bills Vetoed By Gov. Beshear
Among eight vetoes issued Wednesday, Gov. Andy Beshear aimed at two of education's most controversial topics this year: transgender student-athletes and "critical race theory." The omnibus Senate Bill 1, Beshear wrote in his veto message, "represents a step backward for public education in the Commonwealth." Its shift of principal and curriculum selection away from school-level councils of teachers and parents to superintendents "lessens, if not eliminates" parent voice, Beshear wrote. (Krauth and Sonka, 4/6)

Dallas Morning News: Los Angeles Bans Official Travel To Texas, Florida Over LGBTQ Policies
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to prohibit official travel to Texas and Florida in response to those states’ policies regarding LGBTQ rights, according to multiple local media sources. The Pasadena Star-News reported that the board vote was unanimous and specifically called out Florida’s legislation barring instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade, dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” law by critics, as well as Texas’ recent decision to investigate certain gender-affirming medical care for trans youth as child abuse. (McGaughy, 4/6)

Health News Florida: A Florida Proposal Would Ban Minors From Having Gender Confirmation Procedures 
Republican Rep. Randy Fine plans to introduce legislation next session that would ban gender-confirming medical treatments for minors. Fine, of Brevard County, says the bill wouldn’t stop gender-nonconforming and transgender children from seeking services such as therapy or counseling. “So if a boy wishes to be known as a girl, if a boy wishes to dress as a girl or vice versa, if a boy wants to go get gender switching counseling from a psychologist, none of those would be forbidden under this bill," Fine says. "It is simply medical procedures whether it is puberty blockers, or actual surgery to do things that cannot be undone.” But he says it would prohibit anyone under 18 from medically transitioning through the use of drugs or gender-affirmation surgery. (Prieur, 4/6)

Salt Lake Tribune: West High Students Walk Out To Protest HB11: ‘Trans Kids Belong In Sports’
As two students circled the crowd in front of West High School during a walkout against HB11 Wednesday, they debated where to stand. One student suggested they stand with their gay friends, but the other was concerned they shouldn’t since they aren’t gay. “Today you are,” the first student said. “Today you are standing with the gays.” The bill, which bans transgender girls from participating in female school sports, was passed into law through an override by the Utah Legislature on March 25, despite being vetoed by Gov. Spencer Cox. (Sanders, 4/6)

Also —

The Texas Tribune: UT Austin To Allow Students To Live Together Regardless Of Gender
The University of Texas at Austin is starting a two-year pilot program next fall that will allow students to live together in certain campus residence halls regardless of their gender or sexual identity. Called the “Family and Friend Expanded Roommate Option,” any UT-Austin student can select any other UT-Austin as a roommate. Student advocates have been pushing the university to create a gender-inclusive housing option since at least 2006, according to Adrienne Hunter, a senior and transgender woman who has advocated for the change over the past few years. (McGee, 4/6)

Bloomberg: Covid XE Variant: India Reports First Case Of Highly Transmissible Strain
Mumbai’s city administration reported India’s first case of the highly-transmissible coronavirus variant, XE, on Wednesday. The hybrid of two omicron strains BA.1 and BA.2 was detected in a 50-year-old woman who had traveled to the city from South Africa in February, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said in a statement. The asymptomatic patient had no cormorbidities and had been quarantined after being diagnosed almost a month later in March, the BMC said. (Chaudhary, 4/6)

CBS News: Airlines Cancel Hundreds Of Flights Due To COVID-19 After Dropping Mask Rules 
Overseas airlines are having to cancel hundreds of flights as they grapple with coronavirus-related staffing shortages weeks after they ditched rules requiring passengers and staff to mask up in the air. The disruptions also come as the CEOs of leading U.S. airlines urge the Biden administration to roll back a federal rule requiring that masks be worn in the sky. Masks have not been required on flights operated by budget-friendly, Swiss airline EasyJet since March 27, the airline said in a statement. The move came after the UK removed all travel restrictions earlier in March. (Cerullo, 4/6)

The Wall Street Journal: Shanghai Doctor Speaks Out Against China’s Covid Policy, Strikes A Nerve With Weary Public
Until Saturday, Dr. Zhu Weiping was a little-known epidemiologist working for Shanghai’s Pudong district. That was when two recordings in which she shared blunt criticism against the city’s Covid-19 policies went viral and she became a beacon for many fed-up residents. Each recorded phone call, between the government scientist and a member of the public, has been shared hundreds of thousands of times on WeChat, spreading the contention that Beijing’s strategy of mass testing, mandatory quarantine and sweeping lockdowns isn’t working against the highly transmissible Omicron variant in the city of 25 million people. (Fan, 4/7)

In other global news —

AP: Kansas Nonprofit Sends Medical Supplies To Ukraine 
A Kansas nonprofit is sending medical supplies to Ukraine after hearing alarming accounts of a hospital in Kyiv low on treatments and basic tools. The Kansas City Star reports that Olathe, Kansas-based Global Care Force raised $21,000 to bring resources overseas. Brenda Poor, a spokeswoman for the organization. said the packages were stuffed into seven large suitcases and checked onto a plane to Warsaw, Poland, alongside the non-profit’s director of operations on Tuesday afternoon. (4/6)

AP: EU Officials Probe Salmonella Cases Linked To Chocolate Eggs 
European health officials say they are investigating a “rapidly evolving” outbreak of salmonella in 134 children that appears to be linked to chocolate Easter eggs that normally contain a surprise toy inside. In a statement on Wednesday, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said chocolate products were identified “as the likely route of infection,” adding that children mainly under 10 years of age were affected. The first case was detected in Britain in January. (4/6)

Nature: Studying Severe Long COVID To Understand Post-Infectious Disorders Beyond COVID-19 
As the COVID Human Genetic Effort consortium (https://www.covidhge.com/), we have studied genetic and immunological determinants of life-threatening COVID-19 pneumonia1, multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C)2, resistance to SARS-CoV-2 infection3 and ‘COVID toes’4, and here we present our efforts to investigate post-acute COVID-19 syndrome, or ‘long COVID’. (Brodin, et al, 4/5)

CIDRAP: Study Highlights Economic Impact Of Inappropriate Antibiotic Use
An analysis of antibiotic use for upper respiratory infections (URIs) in Ghana reveals the considerable economic impact of inappropriate prescribing can have on low-resource settings, researchers reported last week in Antimicrobial Resistance & Infection Control.Using data from the ABACUS (AntiBiotic ACcess and USe) project, conducted from 2016 to 2019 to explore community antibiotic access and consumption in Africa and Asia, researchers from Ghana and the Netherlands conducted an economic impact analysis focusing on inappropriate antibiotic use for URIs in Ghana, where self-medication with antibiotics is widespread. (4/5)

New England Journal of Medicine: Endovascular Therapy For Acute Stroke With A Large Ischemic Region 
We conducted a multicenter, open-label, randomized clinical trial in Japan involving patients with occlusion of large cerebral vessels and sizable strokes on imaging, as indicated by an Alberta Stroke Program Early Computed Tomographic Score (ASPECTS) value of 3 to 5 (on a scale from 0 to 10, with lower values indicating larger infarction). Patients were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive endovascular therapy with medical care or medical care alone within 6 hours after they were last known to be well or within 24 hours if there was no early change on fluid-attenuated inversion recovery images. (Yoshimura, M.D., Ph.D., et al, 4/7)

American Academy Of Pediatrics: Integrating Pediatric Universal Behavioral Health Care At Federally Qualified Health Centers 
Research supports integrated pediatric behavioral health (BH), but evidence gaps remain in ensuring equitable care for children of all ages. In response, an interdisciplinary team codeveloped a stepped care model that expands BH services at 3 federally qualified health centers (FQHCs). (Sheldrick, Ph.D., et al, 3/29)

ScienceDaily: Abundant ‘Secret Doors’ On Human Proteins Could Reshape Drug Discovery
A groundbreaking new technique reveals the existence of a multitude of previously hidden therapeutic targets that control protein function and which could, in theory, be targeted to dramatically change the course of diseases as varied as dementia, cancer and infectious diseases. The approach, which finds that the 'secret doors' are abundant and identifiable, could be a game changer for drug discovery, leading to safer, smarter and more effective medicines. It enables research labs around the world to find and exploit vulnerabilities in any protein -- including those previously thought 'undruggable'. (Center for Genomic Regulation, 4/6)

The New York Times: What Will Motivate More Parents To Vaccinate Their Kids? 
Almost a year ago, when the Covid vaccine first became available for teenagers, I talked to parents who had received the vaccine themselves, but were hesitant about their kids getting the shot. Most parents I spoke to cited concerns that were based in misinformation or disinformation, like the idea that the vaccine might damage their daughters’ future fertility, a notion not backed up by evidence. (Jessica Grose, 4/6)

Bloomberg: Covid.Gov Comes Far Too Late And Offers Too Little 
More than two years into a global pandemic that has claimed millions of lives, the U.S. government has finally launched what it calls a “one-stop shop” website for resources on Covid-19 services, mitigation and treatment options. While the page — Covid.gov — links to the existing tool for ordering rapid test kits, it mostly just aggregates information. That’s a far cry from the one-stop shop the Joe Biden administration led us to believe was in the offing. But even as an information tool, Covid.gov gets a failing grade. (Scott Duke Kominers, 4/6)

The Washington Post: Congress Is Choosing To Prolong The Covid-19 Pandemic 
Congressional negotiators have reportedly decided to remove foreign aid from their bipartisan emergency covid funding package. If they do not correct this error, they will be choosing to prolong the pandemic, leading to needless suffering and death and harming the global economy — and our own. (Gavin Yamey and Boghuma Kabisen Titanji, 4/6)

Houston Chronicle: Congress Shouldn’t Shrug Off Responsibility To Vaccinate The World
Twice before, just when it began to look as if we were past the worst of the pandemic, a new strain of the coronavirus sent us back home, looking for our masks as hospitals filled. With cases rising in parts of the country once more, some health officials are warning that another season of danger could be just ahead. That’s why Senate negotiators’ decision this week to strip $5 billion in funding for international vaccinations from a COVID relief bill is so alarming. That money is needed to maintain the nation’s important work to slow the spread of the virus by helping some of the world’s poorest countries speed up efforts to vaccinate their residents. (4/5)

The Washington Post: China's Covid Zero Strategy Is Failing In Shanghai 
For two years, China’s leadership has bragged to anyone who would listen that its authoritarian system did a better job of fighting the pandemic than the undisciplined and chaotic democracies. Pointing to the towering death toll in the United States, Beijing expressed pride that its policy of clamping down mercilessly whenever an infection was discovered, a policy called “zero covid,” was working. For the most part, it did, and China’s population was spared the sacrifices and misery seen elsewhere. (4/6)

The New York Times: How Republicans Failed The Unvaccinated 
Last fall, a group of researchers conducted a vaccine promotion experiment: They showed an advertisement to millions of U.S. YouTube users highlighting Donald Trump’s support for Covid-19 vaccines, using news footage in which the former president urged people to get vaccinated. This was a randomized controlled trial, comparing counties that were exposed to the ads to counties that weren’t, and in a new paper, the researchers claim the ads worked: Over the course of the two-and-a-half-week experiment, the 1,014 counties that were part of the campaign saw an estimated 104,036 additional vaccinations overall. (Ross Douthat, 4/6)

The Tennessean: Why Does Tennessee Have So Many Uninsured People?
The American public is highly aware that rising health care costs are a major problem for our citizens. In fact, a 2022 poll  ranked the issue as the second most important concern of most Americans, right after the economy. However, most Americans are unaware that the U.S. trails every other democracy regarding health care coverage. In fact, that lack of insurance is one major reason why numerous studies have rated our health financing system very poorly versus other developed nations, which generally do not use our employer-based health insurance model. (Jack Bernard, 4/6) 

Stat: The Organ Procurement System Is Failing People Of Color Like Me
I am a Black woman who has been waiting for seven years for a kidney transplant. The organ procurement system has failed me — apparently by design. In December 2021, a federal judge ordered that official policymaking emails from the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), the government contractor in charge of overseeing the organ donation system, be unsealed. The organization is the subject of an ongoing bipartisan investigation by the Senate Finance Committee. In justifying a new policy that would systemically disadvantage people of color based on where they live, then-UNOS board member Alexandra Glazier wrote: “The fact that some states do better than others in preventing preventable deaths and providing health care insurance coverage and access means you’re a dumb f— for living there.” (LaQuayia Goldring, 4/7)

Stat: 3 Steps ARPA-H Needs To Take To Accomplish Its Mission 
Since its formation in the 1950s, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, better known as DARPA, has revolutionized the modern world through its model of funding radical innovation. While DARPA initially focused on space and missile defense, the agency is well-known for its role in broad, revolutionary technological innovation. In the last 60 years, it has paved the way for the internet, touch-screen technology, miniaturized GPS devices, and more — as well as Moderna’s mRNA vaccine through the Pandemic Prevention Program, which dates back to 2013. (Travis Whitfill, 4/7)

Stat: A New Report Offers Solutions For Improving Nursing Home Care 
Nursing homes have been at the epicenter of the pandemic, though they have fallen off the radar for those who aren’t living or working in one, or don’t have loved ones in them. About 1.3 million Americans live in the country’s 15,000 nursing homes, where they are cared for by roughly 3 million staff members. As we write this, nearly 170,000 nursing home residents are estimated to have died from Covid-19. Many, many more were isolated from family and friends during the 20-month lockdown. Bed sores, severe weight loss, depression, and mental and functional decline have spiked among nursing home residents. And nurses, certified nurse aides, and others who work in these facilities, putting their own lives at risk, have worked in the most challenging of conditions without adequate pay or support. (David C. Grabowski, Marilyn Rantz and Jasmine L. Travers, 4/6)