The New York Times: Stephen Breyer To Retire From Supreme Court 
With conservatives now in full control of the court, replacing Justice Breyer with another liberal would not change its ideological balance or affect its rightward trajectory in cases on abortion, gun rights, religion or affirmative action. But the opening provides Mr. Biden a chance to put his stamp on the court — the last justice nominated by a Democrat was Elena Kagan by President Barack Obama nearly a dozen years ago — and Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill said they intended to move quickly to begin the confirmation process once Mr. Biden selects a successor for Justice Breyer. (Liptak, 1/26)

The Washington Post: What Does Breyer’s Retirement Mean For Roe V. Wade? 
This summer, the Supreme Court is expected to announce its decision on an abortion case in Mississippi that could reshape abortion laws in America. That means Breyer — a reliably liberal vote — will be a part of that decision. But the court is also just beginning the process of thinking about what it will hear next term. And it just announced it’s going to hear a case asking whether universities can use affirmative action to accept new students — another long-held target of conservatives. That case will probably be heard by a Supreme Court with Breyer’s successor. Affirmative action tends to benefit Black and Hispanic applicants, and Biden has promised to nominate a Black woman to the court — an unusually frank promise by a president. The court is also expected to hear in its next term a major case on climate change. (Phillips, 1/26)

The Washington Post: Justice Stephen Breyer’s Court Legacy 
In nearly three decades on the Supreme Court, Justice Stephen G. Breyer routinely found himself on the losing side of contentious issues but managed to cultivate collegiality as a centrist problem-solver, concerned about the real-world implications of the court’s decisions and protecting its reputation. Often overshadowed by the late liberal icon Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Breyer will leave a legacy when he retires at the end of the current term as a steadfast supporter of abortion rights, the environment and health-care coverage — and for his questions about the constitutionality of the death penalty. (Marimow, 1/26)

Vox: Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer Retires: His Legacy After 27 Years, Explained 
A former administrative law professor, Breyer often tempered his liberalism with the kind of technocratic cost-benefit analysis that is common within that field. He was the Court’s staunchest defender of the right of legislative majorities to legislate, believing that judges should be very reluctant to strike down laws under debatable readings of the Constitution — though this broad trust of legislatures did not stop him from rejecting laws that sought to infringe on abortion rights, or from becoming the Court’s most outspoken opponent of the death penalty. Breyer was also a skilled dealmaker, a talent honed during his extraordinarily successful tenure as chief counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee from 1979 to 1980. (Milhiser, 1/26)

The New York Times: Justice Breyer’s Legacy: A Liberal Who Rejected Labels Like ‘Liberal’ 
He insisted that politics played no role in the court’s work, devoting a recent book to the subject. After the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in 2020, when he became the court’s senior liberal, he may have hoped to find common ground with his more conservative colleagues. But there was little evidence of that in recent months. In cases on abortion, immigration and the Biden administration’s responses to the coronavirus pandemic, he repeatedly found himself in dissent. (Liptak, 1/26)

AP: Breyer: A Pragmatic Approach Searching For A Middle Ground 
Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer has the air of an absent-minded professor, once joking in court that his wife put directions in his pocket to keep him from getting lost. He concocts outlandish hypothetical questions to try to get answers to difficult questions, often to the frustration of lawyers with limited time to make their arguments. But if Breyer cultivates such an image, it does not mask a razor-sharp intellect, a sunny disposition or a relentlessly pragmatic approach to the law that often finds him searching for a middle ground or grasping for an outcome he can live with on an increasingly conservative court. (Sherman, 1/27)

The Washington Post: Spotlight Shines On Potential Supreme Court Picks
The expected retirement of Justice Stephen G. Breyer this year abruptly puts a renewed spotlight on a small circle of Black female jurists who are positioned to be chosen as President Biden’s first pick to the Supreme Court, potentially marking a milestone in the country’s history. That shortlist, which could grow, is topped by Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, who was confirmed last year to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit as one of Biden’s first judicial nominees. Brown is a favorite of the Democrats’ liberal base, in part because of her history as a former public defender, an unusual background for a Supreme Court justice. (Kim and Marimow, 1/26)

Vox: Who Is On Biden’s Shortlist To Replace Retiring Justice Stephen Breyer? Ketanji Brown Jackson Is Among The Frontrunners.
Only two African Americans, Justices Thurgood Marshall and Clarence Thomas, have served on the nation’s highest court, and only one woman of color has been a justice — Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who is Latina. And Black women aren’t just unrepresented on the Supreme Court, they are also massively underrepresented on the federal bench. And they were even more so before Biden took office. Nearly all recent justices previously served on a federal appeals court before getting promoted to the high court. Of the nine current justices, only Justice Elena Kagan did not. But, when Biden took office, only five of the nearly 300 sitting federal appellate judges were Black women, according to the Federal Judicial Center. Biden has doubled that number, placing five more Black women on the federal appellate bench. (Millhiser, 1/26)

Politico: Biden's Supreme Court Shortlist 
There are comparatively few Black women in the highest reaches of the federal judiciary, though Biden has been active in bolstering those numbers as part of a broader emphasis on diversifying the courts, both in terms of demographics and professional background. (Niedzwiadek, 1/26)

The Atlantic: Biden's Likeliest Replacement For Justice Breyer: Ketanji Brown Jackson
Dozens of candidates are being talked about, but nearly all of the Court watchers I interviewed for this story have their money on one in particular: Ketanji Brown Jackson. Jackson, who is 51, fulfills a lot of requirements for the establishment set. She has the same Ivy League credentials as the sitting justices, having earned both her undergraduate and her law degree from Harvard and edited for the Harvard Law Review. She clerked for three federal judges—including Breyer, from 1999 to 2000. If nominated and confirmed, Jackson will follow the same track as Brett Kavanaugh, who also clerked for the justice he ultimately replaced. Also like Kavanaugh—and seven other current and former justices—Jackson would be coming directly from the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, the second-most important court in the country after the Supreme Court. (Godfrey, 1/26)

The New York Times: Why Judge J. Michelle Childs Is Another Favorite To Replace Breyer
Days after President Biden was sworn in last year, one of his top congressional allies went to the White House with the name of a judge he believed should be appointed to the Supreme Court. The ally, Representative James E. Clyburn, Democrat of South Carolina, told Vice President Kamala Harris and the White House counsel, Dana Remus, that whenever an opening emerged on the court, Mr. Biden should nominate a little-known federal judge in his home state: J. Michelle Childs. (Schmidt, 1/26)

Bay Area News Group: Breyer Replacement? 5 Things To Know About California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer’s plans to retire set off immediate speculation about who would take his seat on the bench. Near the top of the list is a Californian named Leondra Kruger. In 2014, former Gov. Jerry Brown tapped Kruger, then 38, for the state Supreme Court, where she still sits today. (DeRuy, 1/26)

NBC News: Here's Why Joe Biden Should Be Able To Win A Supreme Court Fight
President Joe Biden knows better than anyone that there's no such thing as a sure thing when the Senate considers a Supreme Court pick. That should give him an edge now. As a senator, he helped take down Robert Bork's nomination in 1987. As chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee in 1991, he presided over the contentious hearings that secured Clarence Thomas' confirmation amid sexual harassment allegations. He watched Republican Senate colleagues force their own president, George W. Bush, to withdraw Harriet Miers from consideration in 2005. (Allen, 1/26)

Politico: Why Not To Expect A Scorched Earth Fight Over Breyer’s Replacement 
The conservative movement has, for decades, prioritized Supreme Court fights over nearly all other forms of political battle. But a survey on Wednesday of some of the top officials and activists in that universe indicates that they aren’t planning a vicious political fight over President Joe Biden’s pick to replace retiring Justice Steven Breyer. At least not yet. (McGraw and Fuchs, 1/26)

Politico: Supreme Court Confirmation Fight To Make History In 50-50 Senate 
Democrats’ razor-thin majority will have to make history to confirm Stephen Breyer’s successor to the Supreme Court. A 50-50 Senate has never done it before. As the White House considers candidates to replace the retiring justice, they’ll need a judge who is guaranteed to garner support from every member of the Democratic caucus. That raises the stakes for the confirmation battle, but also provides some comfort for Democrats: as long as they stay unified, Republicans can’t stop Breyer’s successor from being confirmed. Republicans scrapped the 60-vote threshold on high court nominees in 2017. (Levine and Everett, 1/26)

The New York Times: Democrats Plan To Move Quickly On Justice Breyer's Successor
Senate Democrats say they plan to move speedily to consider President Biden’s nominee for the Supreme Court vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Stephen G. Breyer, following the lead of Republicans who raced through the nomination of Justice Amy Coney Barrett in a matter of weeks before the 2020 elections. Holding a bare 50-seat majority that is under severe threat in November’s midterm elections, Democrats acknowledged the need to act fast, particularly since an illness or death of one of their members could deprive them of their numerical advantage and greatly complicate efforts to fill the seat. (Hulse, 1/26)

The Washington Post: With Justice Stephen Breyer’s Retirement, A Court Nomination Fight Barrels Into A Fractious Election Year 
As with other Supreme Court confirmation fights, much of the public scrutiny will land on a handful of swing votes in both parties that will help determine the fate of Biden’s pick. One is Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), who has voted to confirm all but one Supreme Court nominee during her more than two decades in the Senate. The lone exception was Barrett, whose nomination Collins protested because it was too close to a presidential election. She, along with Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), voted in favor of Ketanji Brown Jackson, a jurist considered to be at the top of Biden’s shortlist of nominees, to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit last year. (Scherer and Kim, 1/26)

The Wall Street Journal: Breyer’s Departure Has Political Risks, Opportunities For Democrats 
Justice Breyer’s expected announcement, which has been sought by liberal activists, could motivate core Democratic voters after Mr. Biden has suffered from setbacks to his legislative agenda in Congress and public fatigue from the coronavirus pandemic. It could also energize conservative voters if GOP senators are able to cast Mr. Biden’s nominee as too far to the left on hot-button social issues. Within hours of Wednesday’s news, Mr. Trump’s political action committee sent a fundraising email warning that Mr. Biden would “appoint a LIBERAL ACTIVIST” to the court. (Thomas, Collins and Andrews, 1/26)

The Hill: Progressives See Breyer Retirement As Cold Comfort 
Progressives greeted the news of Justice Stephen Breyer’s forthcoming retirement with a mixture of relief and frustration — relief at the likelihood his replacement would yield a younger and more diverse liberal bloc on the court, and frustration his departure would do little to impede the steady march of the court’s six-member conservative majority. (Kruzel, 1/26)

AP: Moderna Begins Testing Omicron-Matched COVID Shots In Adults 
Moderna has begun testing an omicron-specific COVID-19 booster in healthy adults. The company announced Wednesday that the first participant had received a dose. Earlier this week, competitor Pfizer began a similar study of its own reformulated shots. (1/26)

The New York Times: Moderna Begins A Study Of A Booster Designed To Counter Omicron
Moderna also announced the results of a small laboratory study suggesting that the protection its authorized booster shot provides against Omicron infections is likely to fade over the course of six months. After a single dose of the current booster, the level of Omicron-fighting antibodies rose 20 times higher than their peak before the shot, the company said. After six months, however, these antibody levels had fallen more than sixfold, though they still remained detectable in all of the booster recipients studied. (Anthes, 1/27)

In other news about vaccines —

KHN: CDC Tells Pharmacies To Give 4th Covid Shots To Immunocompromised Patients
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reached out to pharmacists Wednesday to reinforce the message that people with moderate to severe immune suppression are eligible for fourth covid shots. The conference call came a day after KHN reported that immunocompromised people were being turned away by pharmacy employees unfamiliar with the latest CDC guidelines. (Szabo, 1/26)

The Wall Street Journal: When Should A Vaccinated Person Who Recovered From Covid-19 Get Boosted? It’s Complicated 
People who have received Covid-19 vaccinations but not boosters and have become infected are facing a difficult choice: when to get that additional dose. While the Omicron variant spreads across the U.S., more vaccinated people are becoming infected than at any previous point in the pandemic. After recovery, some people are perplexed about what to do next. (Hopkins, 1/26)

CBS News: Government Medical Advisers Urge ICE To Expand COVID-19 Vaccinations For Immigrant Detainees 
Two medical advisers for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) implored the U.S. government on Wednesday to expand COVID-19 vaccination access and other mitigation measures at immigration detention centers, where infections have surged by over 800% in 2022, according to a whistleblower disclosure obtained by CBS News. (Montoya-Galvez, 1/26)

In updates on other covid treatments —

Stat: Scarcity Of A Covid Drug Sends Patients On A 'Hunger Games Hunt' 
The first thing to know about M. is that for her, there was no pre-Delta surge of optimism. She has multiple sclerosis. Every six months, she gets an infusion to destroy her B-cells-gone-haywire and slow the havoc they’re wreaking on her spinal cord and brain. Those are the same B cells that would normally unleash an army of protective antibodies in response to a vaccine. Without them, her best bet to survive Covid was to avoid it — one long, anxious lockdown, as if nothing had changed since March 2020. Then, right around Christmas, something did change. There was a new glimmer of possibility — a prophylactic treatment called Evusheld, which might give her six months’ worth of the helpful antibodies her own body couldn’t make. The trouble was getting some. (Boodman, 1/27)

CIDRAP: Review: No Role For Convalescent Plasma In Most COVID Hospital Patients 
A prospective meta-analysis of international randomized clinical trials (RCTs) of convalescent plasma for the treatment of hospitalized COVID-19 patients finds no clinical benefit in most cases. (Van Beusekom, 1/26)

Kansas City Star: Kansas Lawmakers Considering Bill On Ivermectin, Hydroxycloroquine 
Kansas Sen. Richard Hilderbrand weaved through a packed room in the Kansas Statehouse Tuesday morning. The Galena Republican could barely make it 10 steps without someone in the crowd of dozens stopping to express anger or appreciation. They had come to push lawmakers for legislation forcing pharmacists to provide ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine to COVID-19 patients if asked by a doctor. The legislation bars the Kansas Board of Healing Arts from punishing physicians who prescribe ivermectin, a drug commonly used as a livestock dewormer, or hydroxychloroquine, usually prescribed for autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis. It also requires Kansas pharmacists to fill those prescriptions, regardless of their professional judgment. (Bernard, 1/27)

The Wall Street Journal: Omicron Deaths In U.S. Exceed Delta’s Peak As Covid-19 Optimism Rises In Europe 
More signs emerged that the Omicron wave is taking a less serious human toll in Europe than earlier phases of the pandemic, while U.S. data showed daily average deaths from the disease exceeding the peak reached during the surge driven by the previously dominant Delta variant. In the U.S., the seven-day average for newly reported Covid-19 deaths reached 2,258 a day on Tuesday, up about 1,000 from daily death counts two months ago, data from Johns Hopkins University show. That is the highest since February 2021 as the country was emerging from the worst of last winter’s wave. (Kamp, Onque and Stancati, 1/26)

Fox News: CDC Data Shows Omicron Accounts For 99.9% Of New Cases As Experts Investigate Sub-Variant
Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows the omicron variant of the coronavirus now accounts for 99.9% of new COVID-19 cases. The delta variant – which spiked last summer but was not as transmissible – now makes up just 0.1% of that number. According to data from the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, the U.S. saw 429,510 new cases in the past day and 2,911 new deaths. While cases numbers are down from the variant of concern's peak in certain states earlier this month, deaths have reached the highest level since early last year. (Musto, 1/26)

In other news about the spread of the coronavirus —

Charleston Gazette-Mail: WV Sets Record For COVID-19 Hospitalizations
West Virginia shattered its previous record for COVID-19 hospitalizations on Wednesday as state coronavirus czar Dr. Clay Marsh warned the current surge has “not come close to peaking yet.” According to the Department of Health and Human Resources website’s dashboard, 1,043 people — including 15 children — were hospitalized because of the virus Wednesday. The previous high for hospitalizations was 1,012, set in September during the late summer surge driven by the delta variant. Of those hospitalized, 225 people — including three children — are in intensive care units and 107 are receiving care on ventilators. About 68% of those hospitalized are unvaccinated, according to the dashboard. (Coyne, 1/26)

Los Angeles Times: California Exceeds 8 Million Coronavirus Cases, Adding 2.5 Million Since New Year’s
California has now surpassed 8 million cumulative coronavirus cases since the beginning of the pandemic, the end result of weeks of unprecedented spread fueled by the highly infectious Omicron variant. The milestone, equivalent to roughly 1 out of every 5 residents having been infected at some point, comes amid growing signs that Omicron has finally peaked — but not before tearing through California’s communities. Since New Year’s Day, 2.5 million coronavirus cases have been reported in California. That’s fast approaching the entire statewide caseload reported all of last year: 3.1 million. (Money, Lin II and Alpert Reyes, 1/26)

CIDRAP: COVID Patients At High Risk Of Readmission, Death After Hospital Release
A large UK study yesterday in PLOS Medicine finds that COVID-19 patients released from the hospital were more than twice as likely as the general population to be rehospitalized or die within the next 10 months. They were also at nearly five times the risk for death from any cause. (1/26)

In news about children and covid —

Fox News: More Than 1.1M Children Diagnosed With COVID-19 In A Week, Report Says
More than 1.1 million children were diagnosed with COVID-19 in the week ended Jan. 20. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics' Children and COVID-19: State Data Report, nearly 1,151,000 child COVID-19 cases were reported in that timeframe. The number marks a 17% increase over the 981,000 added cases reported the week ended Jan. 13. It is also a doubling of case counts from the two weeks prior. Since the onset of the pandemic, the group said that more than 10.6 million children have tested positive for the disease. (Musto, 1/26)

AP: Mississippi Has 10th Pediatric Death From COVID-19
The Mississippi Health Department said Wednesday that a child has died of COVID-19. This was the state’s 10th pediatric death from the coronavirus since pandemic started in 2020. The department said it would not release the child’s name or hometown. It said all 10 of the children who died were unvaccinated but didn’t say how many were eligible for vaccination when they got sick. Some died before COVID-19 vaccinations became available for children 5 or older. The department said booster shots are recommended for people older than 12. (1/26)

Los Angeles Times: 15-Month-Old Dies Of COVID-19 In L.A. County
An additional 91 COVID-19 deaths were reported in Los Angeles County on Wednesday, the second-highest daily total of the Omicron surge. One of the deaths was a 15-month-old, the youngest child to die of COVID-19. “This is the youngest resident to die of COVID-19 since the pandemic began and a stark reminder that the virus can cause devastating outcomes among those most vulnerable, including young children not yet eligible for vaccinations,” the county said in a statement. No details about the death were released. (Lin II and Money, 1/26)

Montana Free Press: Survival Mode In Lame Deer
Five Lame Deer high school and elementary school staff members have died from covid-19, and a sixth was lost to another illness. In this tribal community where many people are related, these and other deaths have deeply affected residents, school staff, and students. (Van Alstyne, 1/26)

Chicago Tribune: When A Child Tests Positive, COVID Isolation And Quarantine Guidance Can Vary 
As the omicron variant spread in Chicago, area hospitals saw more children testing positive for COVID-19 and hospitalized. Some were there because of illness and some for other reasons but happened to also test positive. For many children who caught COVID-19 and remained asymptomatic or with mild illness, this was the first time their families faced a scenario where the child tested positive — but the rest of the family remained negative. These families enter a gray area of guidance because isolation and quarantine tips tend to be geared toward adults who can be left alone if needed. It’s a different story when an infant or toddler needs to be isolated from other family members, especially if the family members are at higher risk. (Bowen, 1/26)

Houston Chronicle: Houston-Area School District Cancels Friday Classes For 3 Weeks To Combat Omicron Surge, Teacher Burnout
In the face of teacher shortages due to the omicron surge, Aldine ISD has approved a plan to cancel classes for the next three Fridays. The decision has riled up some working parents who will have to find child care on short notice. Aldine ISD teachers who are experiencing rising workloads as COVID cases increase will still report to work and use the next three Fridays as staff planning days, Superintendent LaTonya Goffney said in a message to parents on Jan. 24. The school board approved the plan by amending the academic calendar to make Jan. 28, Feb. 4 and Feb. 11 Student Holidays/Staff Planning Days. The days will not be made up, Goffney said. (Shelton, 1/26)

Stat: The Biden Administration Paid Hospital Covid-19 Funds To Drugmakers
The Biden administration quietly took nearly $7 billion from a fund meant to help hospitals and clinics affected by the pandemic and used it to buy Covid-19 vaccines and therapeutics, according to a document obtained by STAT. The move is similar to the Trump administration’s decision to divert $10 billion from the same fund to Operation Warp Speed, which STAT reported exclusively in March. (Cohrs, 1/26)

In news about worker burnout —

AP: Governor Signs Fast-Tracked $225M For Health Care Workers 
Two months after the omicron variant of the coronavirus slammed hospitals with unvaccinated patients, Gov. Tom Wolf signed fast-tracked legislation Wednesday to help keep burned-out health care workers on board during a staffing crisis. The House unanimously approved the bill earlier Wednesday just before Wolf signed it. It authorizes $225 million, mostly for hospitals to give workers retention and recruitment payments. (1/26)

Axios: The Gig Economy Is Trying To Solve Health Care's Burnout Crisis 
Amid a nationwide nursing shortage and burnout crisis, tech companies say they could be part of the solution by allowing nurses to essentially join the gig economy. Demand is accelerating for tools that help hospitals more efficiently fill shifts, while also offering an exhausted workforce more flexibility. "We're trying to keep these people in the industry," Will Patterson, CEO of CareRev, a health care staffing platform, told Axios. (Reed, 1/26)

Also —

The Atlantic: You Recovered From Omicron. Now What?
While public-health officials are still urging all Americans to be cautious with so much of the virus around, guidance for people who have already recovered from COVID this winter is sorely lacking. That has left Omicron survivors to deal with a confusing question: What now? I reached out to a handful of epidemiologists, and they all agreed that getting Omicron isn’t a golden ticket to normalcy. However, the immune boost from an Omicron infection can still be paired with other precautions to safely go about many activities. Keeping a few pandemic principles in mind can help make everyday decisions a little less fraught. (Tayag, 1/26)

Salt Lake Tribune: Utah Officials Still Recommend Not To Get Tested For COVID. Here’s Why
About two weeks ago, as Utah’s testing sites were overrun with patients amid a statewide proliferation of coronavirus cases, legislators suspended school testing requirements and Gov. Spencer Cox called on most Utahns to stop getting tested for COVID-19, even if they had symptoms. With up to 50,000 Utahns getting tested each day and testing staff also falling ill, the state had maxed out its testing capacity. Supplies needed to be saved for patients with health risks or those who were likely to expose vulnerable people, state officials said. (Alberty, 1/26)

PBS NewsHour: What Vulnerable Patients Need To Know About Seeking COVID Care During The Omicron Surge
So you’ve just tested positive for COVID – what now? If you are immunocompromised, older or otherwise vulnerable, you may feel overwhelmed or scared about seeking care in a moment when U.S. case counts remain sky-high and hospitals are at their breaking point. Omicron’s ability to infect others with rapid speed means that more people in general are more vulnerable to infection, including those whose age or medical conditions make them more at risk for serious outcomes. While omicron appears to cause less severe illness compared to prior variants, models project the country will still see between 50,000 and 300,000 additional COVID-19 deaths by early spring. So the talk about “mild infection” may offer little reassurance to individuals and families in those circumstances. (Isaacs-Thomas, 1/26)

KQED: There's One Population That Gets Overlooked By An 'Everyone Will Get COVID' Mentality 
Ten-year-old Chase and 11-year-old Carson have alert minds and radiant smiles, but very uncooperative bodies. The two brothers have a rare genetic disorder called MEPAN syndrome. They can't sit, stand, walk or talk. For their parents, Danny and Nikki Miller, this means wheelchairs, electric lifts, diaper changes and spoon-feeding. Before the coronavirus pandemic, the Marin, Calif., family relied heavily on several types of therapists and individual aides — and the boys' skills were slowly improving. But when COVID-19 struck, all that support went online or stopped entirely. The parents struggled to balance their own careers with home schooling their boys. (McClurg, 1/26)

AP: Will Virus Be 'Over'? Most Americans Think Not: AP-NORC Poll 
Many Americans agree that they’re going to “be stuck with it forever” — or, at the least, for a long time. A poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that few — just 15% — say they’ll consider the pandemic over only when COVID-19 is largely eliminated. By contrast, 83% say they’ll feel the pandemic is over when it’s largely a mild illness. (Brumback, Ellgren and Noveck, 1/27)

In celebrity news —

NPR: Neil Young's Music Removed By Spotify After His Ultimatum Over Joe Rogan Podcast
According to Rolling Stone, Young's letter, which was addressed to his manager and an executive at Warner Music Group, read in part: "I am doing this because Spotify is spreading fake information about vaccines – potentially causing death to those who believe the disinformation being spread by them ... They can have Rogan or Young. Not both." The letter was quickly removed from Young's website. Spotify's scrubbing of Young from its service was first reported on Wednesday afternoon by The Wall Street Journal. His removal from the streaming platform makes him one of the most popular musical artists not to appear on Spotify, where his songs have garnered hundreds of millions of streams. (Tsioulcas, 1/26)

The Washington Post: YouTube Permanently Bans Dan Bongino For Posting Covid-19 Misinformation
Google-owned YouTube said it had permanently banned prominent conservative media figure Don Bongino from its site after he repeatedly broke its rules on posting coronavirus misinformation. Bongino, who hosts a show on Fox News in addition to talk radio shows and online broadcasts, had been given a strike and a week-long suspension from YouTube earlier in January for saying in one of his videos that masks were useless. He uploaded another video later in the month that also broke the platform’s rules on coronavirus misinformation. When he tried to upload a third video, the company banned him permanently. (De Vynck, 1/26)

AP: Vaccine Mandate To Kick In For First Wave Of Health Workers 
Health care workers in about half the states face a Thursday deadline to get their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine under a Biden administration mandate that will be rolled out across the rest of the country in the coming weeks. While the requirement is welcomed by some, others fear it will worsen already serious staff shortages if employees quit rather than comply. (Lieb and Hollingsworth, 1/26)

AP: Montana Republicans Seek Leniency On Vaccine Mandates 
Montana’s governor and its two Republican members of Congress are asking the Biden administration to grant exemptions from the COVID-19 vaccine mandate to federally funded health care facilities where losing unvaccinated staff might jeopardize access to medical care. Gov. Greg Gianforte, U.S. Sen. Steve Daines and U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendale made the request Wednesday in a letter to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, the administrator of the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. (Hanson, 1/26)

AP: Alaska, Texas Governors Sue Over National Guard Vaccine Rule 
Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy has joined Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in seeking to block the U.S. Department of Defense from mandating COVID-19 vaccines for National Guard members who are under state command. The Pentagon has required COVID-19 vaccination for all service members, including the National Guard and Reserve. Attorneys for the two governors, in an amended lawsuit dated Tuesday, say that when National Guard members are serving the state, the federal government has no command authority. The lawsuit said the mandate is an unconstitutional overstepping of bounds. (1/27)

AP: Navy Discharges 1st Active-Duty Sailors For Vaccine Refusal 
The Navy said Tuesday that it has discharged 23 active-duty sailors for refusing the coronavirus vaccine, marking the first time it has thrown currently serving sailors out of the military over the mandatory shots. The discharges came as the Navy released new COVID-19 guidance that requires all deployed sailors and air crew to be vaccinated, but relaxes some quarantine practices on ships based on recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Baldor, 1/26)

The Boston Globe: Boston Police Union Rejects City’s Offer That Would Incentivize Officers To Get Vaccinated
Members of the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association strongly rejected a proposed agreement with the city Wednesday that would have established a new benefit providing mental health and wellness days for all vaccinated officers. The agreement aimed to provide more incentives for patrol officers to get vaccinated, but it was turned down with more than 800 members voting against it out of about 900 who cast votes, union officials said. “The membership of the BPPA have spoken overwhelmingly to reject the offer that the city has made to us. It is not enough,” union President Larry Calderone told reporters at the union hall in Dorchester after voting closed. (Stoico, 1/26)

Los Angeles Times: L.A. Hasn’t Cited Businesses For Defying COVID Vaccine Rules
The L.A. rules made headlines as some of the strictest in the nation. Opponents — including members of the Libertarian Party of Los Angeles County — phoned into the City Council meeting in October to decry the decision and vowed to overturn the ordinance at the ballot box. City leaders were unmoved. “This is no longer negotiable,” City Council President Nury Martinez told reporters in the fall. “The stakes are too high.” Yet more than three months after the council cast its vote, L.A. had not cited any businesses for violating those rules, despite getting hundreds of complaints about sites flouting the requirements. (Alpert Reyes and Evans, 1/26)

In school mandate news —

The Boston Globe: Mostly Educators Of Color Could Face Termination Due To Vaccine Mandate, Boston Teachers Union Says
Boston Public Schools, already struggling to build a workforce that reflects the diversity of its students, could lose dozens of educators of color when the city’s new employee vaccine mandate takes effect Monday, according to the Boston Teachers Union. The district’s potential loss of Black and Latino educators in the middle of the school year represents a significant potential unintended consequence of Mayor Michelle Wu’s policy aimed at achieving a fully vaccinated workforce and has raised questions about whether the district should have done more to coax hesitant educators toward vaccination. The loss could disrupt learning for many students and carry long-term implications in the district, where three-quarters of students are Black or Latino but only 42 percent of educators are. Studies show long-term academic benefits for students of color taught by people of their race. (Martin, 1/26)

AP: Oregon School District Loses COVID Funds For Ditching Masks 
A western Oregon school board in a small, rural district that voted to defy state mask-wearing requirements will lose federal COVID-19 relief funds, according to the Oregon Department of Education. Department of Education Director Colt Gill wrote to Alsea School District Superintendent Marc Thielman and board chairman Ron Koetz this week saying federal COVID-19 funding “requires school districts to comply with all state laws and regulations,” The Oregonian/OregonLive reported. (1/26)

Bloomberg: Anti-Maskers Force Children’s Museum Of Denver In Colorado To Close
Outbursts by Covid-19 anti-maskers shuttered a U.S. children’s museum until Feb. 4. “Regrettably, some guests who object to the museum’s mask policy have been inappropriately directing their anger toward our staff,” according to a statement by the Children’s Museum of Denver in Colorado. During the museum’s shutdown, officials said they will “bolster our policies with the hope of preventing this type of behavior.” Almost one in four people screened for Covid-19 across Colorado are receiving positive test results, according to data from the state Department of Public Health and Environment. (Del Giudice, 1/26)

Modern Healthcare: Feds Investigating Violations Of Mental Health Parity Laws
Thirty group health plans have been put on notice by the federal government for not covering behavioral health services and potentially violating mental health parity laws. A report released Tuesday by the Labor Department doesn't name specific companies but gave examples of violations, including a "large service provider" administering claims for hundreds of self-funded plans excluding therapy to treat autism. Some plans failed to cover medication-assisted treatment, viewed by addiction specialists as the "gold-standard" for treating opioid use disorder. (Hellmann, 1/26)

In Medicare and Medicaid news —

Axios: Growth Of Medicare ACOs Stalls Out 
The number of Medicare accountable care organizations — groups of hospitals and doctors who care for specific groups of Medicare patients — has flat-lined since 2018, new data from the federal government shows. The Affordable Care Act created ACOs with the intent of both improving quality of care for patients and cutting costs, and then sharing savings with those care providers. But industry interest stagnated after Medicare cracked down on models that made it too easy for providers to collect money. (Herman, 1/27)

Modern Healthcare: Medicare Shared Savings ACO Participation Grows Slightly For 2022
More Medicare beneficiaries will receive care from providers in Medicare Shared Savings Program Accountable Care Organizations this year, but the number is still lower than it was in 2020, new data show. Nearly one in five Medicare enrollees will be treated by Shared Savings Program ACO providers this year, a slight increase from 2021 but lower than during 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services disclosed in projections published Wednesday. In 2022, these ACOs will cover 11 million people compared to 10.7 million in 2021 and 11.2 million in 2020, according to CMS data. (Goldman, 1/26)

CNBC: A ‘Medicaid Annuity’ May Be Right When Spouse Needs Nursing Home Care
It’s not uncommon for older couples to reach a point when nursing home care is needed for one spouse — and the cost isn’t something they were prepared for. Generally speaking, Medicare doesn’t cover such long-term care. While Medicaid steps in when a person’s financial resources are minimal, some couples face the possibility of depleting their own assets to pay for nursing home care — which is roughly $8,821 monthly, or nearly $106,000 a year — and leaving the healthy spouse in a precarious financial situation. (O'Brien, 1/26)

In other health care industry developments —

AP: Gates Foundation Expands Board Following Bill, Melinda Split 
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced Wednesday it will add four members to its board of trustees, a first for the Seattle-based philanthropic giant whose decision making has been guided by very few hands since its incorporation in 2000. The foundation, one of the world's largest with its $50 billion endowment, said it would search for new trustees in July after its two co-chairs and trustees — Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates -- announced their divorce. (Hadero, 1/26)

Modern Healthcare: HCA To Build Five New Hospitals In Texas
HCA Healthcare will build five full-service hospitals across Texas to meet a growing demand for healthcare services, the for-profit health system announced Wednesday. The new hospitals will be at different locations including the Dallas Fort-Worth, Houston and San Antonio areas, in partnership with Methodist Healthcare Ministries. Two full-service hospitals will reside in the Austin area, in partnership with St. David's Foundation and Georgetown Health Foundation. (Devereaux, 1/26)

Bangor Daily News: New Medical Center In Dover-Foxcroft Will Bring Specialty Services To Rural Area
Katahdin Valley Health Center is planning to build a new health care facility in Dover-Foxcroft that will expand medical services for low-income and uninsured residents. Construction of the 25,000-square-foot facility on Summer Street is expected to start in May, as long as permitting is on track, according to a notice posted online earlier this month. The project will likely be completed in February 2023. Katahdin Valley Health Center has eight clinics throughout Maine that serve rural areas where people have limited access to primary care and specialty services. The new facility would offer primary care, physical therapy, optometry, pediatrics, dental care, therapeutic massage, chiropractic care and acupuncture, behavioral health, podiatry, walk-in care, a pharmacy and speech-language pathology and therapy. The new clinic means that residents who may be low income, lack insurance or have unreliable transportation will have better access to a broader variety of health care in their own county without having to travel to places such as Bangor. (Royzman, 1/27)

Modern Healthcare: Can Wisconsin Health System Win Lawsuit To Prevent Workers From Leaving?
A Wisconsin health system is unlikely to prevail in its unusual attempt to use the legal system to force a group of employees to keep working at its hospital instead of starting their new jobs with a competitor. Seven employees from ThedaCare, a seven-hospital system based in Neenah, Wisconsin, have accepted jobs with Ascension Northeast Wisconsin, a division of St. Louis-based Ascension. ThedaCare argues in its lawsuit against Ascension Northeast Wisconsin filed last week in Outagamie County Circuit Court that Ascension poached the employees, decimating ThedaCare's ability to provide critical care. (Bannow, 1/26)

Stat: Hospitals Scrap Telehealth Stopgaps For More Streamlined Platforms 
In the early weeks of 2020, thousands of Cleveland Clinic doctors were scrambling to see patients on whatever software and devices they already had at home — and at the time, smartphone apps like FaceTime and Google Duo had to cut it. It was a frenzied, almost overnight transition to virtual care spurred by emergency federal waivers letting doctors use less secure apps designed for consumers to conduct telehealth appointments. But two years into the pandemic, Cleveland Clinic and other large health systems are ditching those stopgap fixes in favor of fewer but more complex, expensive, and customizable tools that can toggle between video visits, lab results and scheduling — and host hundreds of thousands of video and audio visits each year. (Ravindranath, 1/27)

KHN: Resistance To A Boston Hospital’s Expansion Centers On Rising Prices
A boisterous political battle over a proposed expansion by the largest and most expensive hospital system in Massachusetts is spotlighting questions about whether similar expansions by big health systems around the country drive up health care costs. Mass General Brigham, which owns 11 hospitals in the state, has proposed a $2.3 billion expansion including a new 482-bed tower at its flagship Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and a 78-bed addition to Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital. The most controversial element, however, is a plan to build three comprehensive ambulatory care centers, offering physician services, surgery, and diagnostic imaging, in three suburbs west of Boston. (Meyer, 1/27)

KHN: Watch: ER Charged $1,012 For Almost No Care 
“CBS Mornings” host Tony Dokoupil interviewed KHN Editor-in-Chief Elisabeth Rosenthal about January’s Bill of the Month installment, a collaboration with NPR. The Bhatt family of St. Peters, Missouri, was charged $1,012 for an emergency room visit for son Martand. The toddler had burned his hand on a stove days before, and, after it started blistering, his pediatrician recommended a trip to the emergency room at the nearest children’s hospital. A nurse practitioner examined the child and recommended a surgeon also see the wound. But the surgeon didn’t show after more than an hour, and the family left without the dressing on the wound even being changed. (1/27)

The Washington Post: Gas Stoves In Kitchens Pose A Risk To Public Health And The Planet, Research Finds 
Gas-burning stoves in kitchens across America may pose a greater risk to the planet and public health than previously thought, new research suggests. The appliances release far more of the potent planet-warming gas methane than the Environmental Protection Agency estimates, Stanford University scientists found in a study published Thursday in the journal Environmental Science and Technology. The appliances also emit significant amounts of nitrogen dioxide, a pollutant that can trigger asthma and other respiratory conditions. (Joselow, 1/27)

The New York Times: Gas Stoves Leak Methane Even When Turned Off, Study Finds 
The small study — based on measurements from cooktops, ovens and broilers in 53 homes in California — estimated that stoves emit between 0.8 and 1.3 percent of the natural gas they consume as unburned methane, a potent greenhouse gas. During the course of a typical year, three-quarters of these emissions occur when the devices are shut off, the study showed, which could suggest leaky fittings and connections with gas service lines. Over a 20-year period, emissions from stoves across the United States could be having the same effect in heating the planet as half a million gas-powered cars, the study estimated. (Zhong, 1/27)

In other public health news —

The Hill: FDA Faces Calls To Limit BPA In Plastics That Contact Food 
A coalition of scientists, physicians and environmental groups is calling on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to restrict the use of the industrial chemical bisphenol A, known commonly as BPA, in plastics that contact food. In a formal petition organized by the Environmental Defense Fund and sent to the agency on Thursday, the scientists and groups argue that the federal government should take immediate steps to curb Americans' exposure to the chemical. (Udasin, 1/27)

The Washington Post: The Biden Administration Vows To Aggressively Enforce Anti-Pollution Rules In The South 
Two months after touring “environmental justice” communities in three southern states, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan on Wednesday announced bold steps to address complaints from residents about tainted drinking water, chemical plants near homes and a school, and breathing toxic air. Regan said the agency will spend $600,000 to buy “mobile air pollution monitoring equipment” to deploy along an 80-mile stretch of Louisiana along the Mississippi River known as “Cancer Alley” for the many chemical plants, oil and gas refineries, and other industrial facilities located there. (Fears, 1/26)

Fox News: Researchers Find Possible Link Between Sexual Dysfunction And Urinary Incontinence With Cycling Workouts
When the COVID-19 pandemic first hit, fitness folks hopped onto stationary bikes at home while gyms were closed. As virtual bike workouts increased, a recent media report stated how female cyclists participating in spin classes have been experiencing urinary incontinence possibly linked to their cycling routine. Health experts told Fox News that pressure from the bicycle seat on the perineum (the genital area) may contribute to problems with urinary incontinence, sexual arousal, and trigger genital pain and numbness in some female and male cyclists. (McGorry, 1/26)

NBC News: Study Shows How Metabolism Slows During Weight Loss, Causing Diets To Fail
Many people trying to shed pounds have seen their diets stall after a certain amount of weight loss. A new study shows how the body's metabolism slows as a way to balance the lower amount of calories that are consumed. An analysis of data from 65 dieting white and Black women, ages 21 to 41, revealed that their bodies could adapt to burn, on average, 50 fewer calories a day. Some of the women, who were initially overweight or obese, adapted to the weight loss to use hundreds of fewer calories per day, according to the report published Thursday in Obesity. (Carroll, 1/27)

USA Today: 10 Minutes Of Exercise A Day Could Save Your Life If You're Over 40, Study Suggests
Just 10 minutes of exercise a day could be lifesaving – literally – for people over 40. That's the latest finding in a new peer-reviewed study. The study, published Monday in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine, took a look at data compiled by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey that examined nearly 5,000 participants ages 6 years and older from 2003 to 2006. Researchers then dissected the activity levels of nearly 5,000 participants ages 40 to 85, tracking the death rates through the end of 2015. (Gleeson, 1/26)

Bloomberg: NYC Subway Safety: MTA Working To Help Stop People From Falling On Tracks 
New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority is looking at ways to prevent people from falling or jumping onto subway tracks, part of the agency’s effort to improve safety amid a growing number of crimes in the system. An MTA task force plans to update the agency’s board next month on different technology options such as sensors and platform doors, Janno Lieber, the MTA’s chief executive officer, said Wednesday during a board meeting. (Kaske and Woodhouse, 1/26)

KHN: Readers And Tweeters: Give Nurse Practitioners Their Due
KHN gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories. (1/27)

Stat: Early Research Suggests Cancer Drug Could Help Target Latent HIV
Antiretroviral therapy, the standard treatment for HIV, can remove any trace of the virus from the blood, but a hidden reservoir of HIV persists in patients who are in treatment. That means patients are never truly cured and need to be on HIV drugs for the rest of their lives. Researchers have yet to discover a way to eliminate the virus in its latent stage, but new, early-stage research suggests a landmark cancer drug — pembrolizumab, also known as Keytruda — may be able to help. In a study published Wednesday in Science Translational Medicine, researchers looked at 32 patients that had both cancer and HIV and found that pembrolizumab, which revives the immune system and encourages it to attack tumors, also has the ability to flush HIV out of its hiding spot in immune cells. (Chen, 1/26)

In other pharmaceutical news —

Stat: Future Of Gilead Blood Cancer Drug Is Clouded After Studies Are Stopped
The development of a blood cancer drug acquired by Gilead Sciences — the centerpiece of a $5 billion deal — has been interrupted by a potentially serious safety issue. On Tuesday, the Food and Drug Administration placed a partial clinical hold on five clinical trials investigating the combination of the Gilead drug, called magrolimab, with another commonly used blood cancer medicine. The agency stepped in because of an “apparent imbalance in investigator-reported suspected unexpected serious adverse reactions” between study arms in one or more of the trials, Gilead said in a statement. The company provided no clarifying information about the type of safety issue reported in the magrolimab studies, but said there was “no clear trend” and that the safety signal was not new. (Feuerstein, 1/26)

Stat: Akili, Maker Of Prescription Video Game For ADHD, To Go Public Via SPAC
SPACs aren’t all fun and games, until they are. Akili Interactive, which makes a video game that treats attention problems in young people, announced plans Wednesday to go public in a merger with Social Capital Suvretta Holdings Corp, a special purpose acquisition company run by venture capitalist and former Facebook executive Chamath Palihapitiya. The deal could value the company up to about $1 billion after investment. Akili received Food and Drug Administration clearance for EndeavorRx, its prescription-only treatment for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, in 2020. The Boston-based company has since cautiously gone to market as it hopes for the broader payer coverage and patient adoption that could make its product a blockbuster success. (Aguilar, 1/26)

Stat: Out-Of-Pocket Spending For Hepatitis B Meds Kept Rising Despite Competition
File this under ‘How curious.’ After generic versions of a key hepatitis B treatment debuted in 2014, they helped patients save money over the next few years. Yet at the same time, the average out-of-pocket spending on those generics actually rose, even though nearly a dozen copycat versions were available, suggesting competition failed to work sufficiently. How so? Once the initial generics appeared, the brand-name medicine, known as entecavir, sold for an average of $118 for a 30-day supply, and eventually leveled off at $165 two years later. Meanwhile, the average 30-day supply for generics cost $41 in 2014 before settling at $52 in 2018, the last year for which data was available, according to the analysis published in JAMA Network Open. (Silverman, 1/26)

CIDRAP: Report Details Where Top 100 Brand-Name Rx Drugs Are Made
While a range of consumer goods, from clothing to food, report the country of manufacture on their label, this is not the case for brand-name prescription medications. US drug marketers aren't required to disclose this information—and many don't—leaving patients whose health depends on these drugs in the dark about where their drug was made. (Van Beusekom, 1/26)

Also —

Roll Call: Groups Seek To Shape Final Rule To Ease Hearing Aid Accessibility 
The Food and Drug Administration is working to finalize a rule that would make it easier for many adults to get hearing aids, a policy change five years in the making that is sparking intense lobbying. The change comes after a 2017 law required a regulation for selling over-the-counter hearing aids. Implementation was delayed in part because of the agency’s shift in 2020 to focus on the COVID-19 pandemic, but the FDA issued a proposed rule in October. Now, interest groups and the lawmakers who worked on the law are pushing for the FDA to finalize the policy as hearing loss policies garner more interest in Washington. (McIntire, 1/26)

Hattiesburg American: Mississippi Pain Cream Scheme: Bolton Pharmacist Sentenced, Must Repay Millions
One of the last defendants to be sentenced in a more than $515 million fraud involving high-priced compounded pain creams and other medications will serve five years in prison. David "Jason" Rutland pleaded guilty in July to conspiracy to solicit and pay kickbacks for his role in the fraud. Rutland and co-conspirators Mitchell "Chad" Barrett and Tommy Shoemaker admitted their culpability for more than $182.5 million of the fraud. Rutland, 41, of Bolton, appeared in U.S. District Court in Hattiesburg before Senior Judge Keith Starrett, who ordered Rutland to pay $182,595,945 in restitution. (Beveridge, 1/26)

Stat: Insufficient Progress Is Being Made In Reporting Clinical Trial Results In The U.S. 
As scrutiny into clinical trial disclosure intensifies, a new analysis finds that a number of leading U.S. universities and hospitals are still failing to report clinical trial results to a federal database. The findings reflect little change from a previous report issued last fall that examined the extent to which clinical trial sponsors report study results to the ClinicalTrials.gov database, according to the TranspariMed advocacy group, which ran the analysis. A few sponsors improved. The University of Florida reported results for 10 trials, for instance, but several of the worst violators did not make any progress. (Silverman, 1/25)

Stat: A Former FDA Official On Making The Jump To Health Tech Startups 
Since stepping down from his post at the Food and Drug Administration last year, Anand Shah has gone from toiling on the country’s Covid-19 response to updating his LinkedIn with a flurry of new advisory roles at promising startups. On Wednesday, Shah, who was previously deputy commissioner for medical and scientific affairs, added another job to his profile. He will become the newest member of the board of mental health app developer Big Health, which last week announced it had raised $75 million in new funding led by Japanese mega-investor SoftBank. It’s the fourth board position Shah has taken on in recent months. (Aguilar, 1/26)

Stat: Michigan Attorney General Pursues Investigation Into Lilly's Insulin Prices
As anger grows over the cost of prescription medicines, the Michigan Attorney General is seeking court approval to launch an investigation into Eli Lilly (LLY) over insulin drug prices that the state says are having “devastating impact” on consumers. The drug maker was accused of charging “grossly” excessive prices for three different insulin products — Lispro, Humalog and Basaglar – that have forced some patients to ration or forego their insulin, restrict their diets, or buy less-effective alternatives. “These practices have caused serious disability and even death in some patients,” the state wrote in court documents. (Silverman, 1/26)

AP: Michigan AG Seeks To Probe Eli Lilly For High Insulin Prices 
Michigan’s attorney general said Wednesday she sought court approval to investigate Eli Lilly and Co., accusing the drugmaker of charging excessive prices for insulin medications used to treat diabetes. Dana Nessel’s filings, submitted Tuesday, asked an Ingham County judge to authorize a probe under the state consumer protection law, including the use of subpoenas to get records and to interview company officials. Because Eli Lily likely will say the law does not cover drug pricing under state Supreme Court rulings, the petitions requested a judgment saying exceptions to the law do not apply in this case. (Eggert, 1/27)

In news about marijuana and other controlled drugs —

AP: Marijuana Legalization Bill Clears House Panel In Delaware
A Democrat-led House committee voted mostly along party lines Wednesday to release a bill legalizing recreational marijuana use by adults in Delaware. A lone Republican joined Democrats on the Health and Human Development committee in voting to release the bill, which will now likely head to an appropriations committee for consideration. (Chase, 1/26)

AP: Medical Marijuana Bill Passes, Heads To Mississippi Governor 
Mississippi lawmakers are sending their governor a bill that would create a medical marijuana program for people with serious medical conditions. If it becomes law, as anticipated, Mississippi would join the majority of states that let people use cannabis for medical reasons. (Pettus, 1/27)

AP: Senate And House Pass Medical Pot Bills, Collision Looms
South Dakota’s Senate on Tuesday passed a spate of bills to put lawmakers’ mark on the state’s new voter-passed medical marijuana law. Several of the bills approved by the Senate would ease access to medical pot for some patients, but House Republican lawmakers are moving in the opposite direction. On Monday, they passed a proposal that would bar patients from growing cannabis plants at home, setting up a potential collision as the Senate seeks to cap the number of homegrown plants. (Groves, 1/25)

Health News Florida: House Committee Tees Up A Telehealth Prescription Proposal For Floor Votes
A bill that would expand doctors’ ability to prescribe certain controlled substances through telehealth is teed up for consideration by the full House, after getting a green light from a key committee Monday. The measure (HB 17), approved unanimously by the House Health & Human Services Committee, would allow physicians to prescribe certain drugs, including anabolic steroids and barbiturates, during telehealth consultations. Current state law prohibits doctors from prescribing any controlled substance through telehealth consultations, except for use in the treatment of patients with psychiatric disorders, inpatients at hospitals and patients in hospice care or nursing home facilities. (1/25)

San Francisco Chronicle: Santa Clara County Officials Announce Plan To Combat Fentanyl Crisis
Officials said they will also call on the county Board of Supervisors to create a group of experts in fentanyl and addiction and treatment to ramp up the county’s existing efforts against the fentanyl crisis. The county also announced the launch of a new narcotics unit in the district attorney’s office that aims to investigate and prosecute drug cartels and traffickers of fentanyl and other drugs. And county officials said they will embark on a “wide-spread” social media campaign to educate young people about the dangers of counterfeit pills made of fentanyl. (Hernández, 1/26)

CBS News: Authorities Find 100 Bags Of Fentanyl In Bedroom Of 13-Year-Old Who Died Of An Overdose 
Some 100 bags of fentanyl were found in the bedroom of a 13-year-old boy who overdosed and died earlier this month, according to Hartford police. An investigation into how the teenager came into possession of the powerful opioid is currently underway. (Powell, 1/26)

And more news from across the U.S. —

AP: South Carolina 'Fetal Heartbeat' Bill Heads To Appeals Court
An appellate court is preparing to hear arguments over a lawsuit challenging South Carolina’s abortion law, as states around the country await U.S. Supreme Court action in another case that could dramatically limit abortion rights overall. On Thursday, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is set to hear arguments in Planned Parenthood's case against South Carolina's measure. (Kinnard, 1/26)

Health News Florida: Florida Bill Expanding A Doctor's Ability To Refuse Services Based On 'Conscience' Sparks Debate 
Florida lawmakers began moving forward Tuesday with a controversial proposal that would expand the ability of doctors and other health care providers to refuse to provide services based on “conscience,” fueling a debate about issues such as religious beliefs and discrimination in medical care. Supporters of the bill (HB 747) said it would protect medical professionals who object to providing services because of their faith or morals, while opponents contended it could open the door to discrimination and harm people such as LGBTQ patients. (Saunders, 1/26)

The CT Mirror: Survey: One-Third Of CT School Districts Can't Pay For Air Quality Programs
One out of every three school districts in Connecticut have told the state that they do not have “sufficient funding” to maintain or improve the air quality in their schools. Roughly one out of every five schools reportedly do not have a program to evaluate the air quality in their buildings. These are the results of a survey the administration of Gov. Ned Lamont completed last spring. It took the administration nearly six months to release this information to Connecticut Public’s Accountability Project. This is all happening as the governor drastically scales back how much he will allow the state to spend on school construction projects while also rejecting calls for the state to help cover upgrades to air ventilation systems during the pandemic. The administration has also scaled back how many questions officials ask schools about their air quality. (Thomas and Haddadin, 1/26)

Capitol Beat: Living Organ Donors Bill Passes Georgia Senate Committee 
Legislation aimed at encouraging more Georgians to become organ donors cleared a state Senate committee unanimously Tuesday. The Senate Insurance and Labor Committee approved the Giving the Gift of Life Act following a presentation by Sen. John Albers, R-Roswell, who donated one of his kidneys to his 25-year-old son, Will, last year. “We sit here today 100% in good health,” the elder Albers, with his son at his side, told committee members. “Our calling now is to help encourage people to become organ donors.” (Williams, 1/25)

The CT Mirror: Proponents Of Aid-In-Dying Legislation Planning Strong Push This Session
More than eight years into her cancer diagnosis, the pain in Kim Hoffman’s body had become constant. “I can’t remember the last day that I did not experience pain,” Hoffman, 59, of Glastonbury, said in a recent interview. “It has been at least two months of daily, very often intense, sharp, biting pain. “I’ve awoken from sleep in pain every night, multiple times. Three o’clock in the morning is a standing hour for me – three o’clock and four o’clock in the morning I can always count on waking up in discomfort or pain.” (Carlesso, 1/27)

Bloomberg: Denmark Declares Covid No Longer Poses Threat To Society
Denmark will end virus restrictions next week and reclassify Covid-19 as a disease that no longer poses a threat to society, even as infections hit a record high. The Nordic country won’t extend the pandemic measures beyond Jan. 31, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Wednesday. Denmark’s decision on reclassifying the virus dramatically pushes forward an idea that’s emerged recently in Europe -- that it’s time to start thinking about Covid as endemic rather than a pandemic. However, World Health Organization experts have warned against complacency. (Buttler, 1/26)

AP: England Lifts COVID Restrictions As Omicron Threat Recedes 
Most coronavirus restrictions including mandatory face masks were lifted in England on Thursday, after Britain’s government said its vaccine booster rollout successfully reduced serious illness and COVID-19 hospitalizations. From Thursday, face coverings are no longer required by law anywhere in England, and a legal requirement for COVID passes for entry into nightclubs and other large venues has been scrapped. (Hui, 1/27)

Bloomberg: Covid Deaths Among Black Britons Show Lagging Vaccine Program
Black adults and other minorities in the U.K. suffered disproportionately from Covid-19 last year, a new study showed, highlighting inequities in the country’s vaccination program. Lagging vaccination rates among Britons of Black African and Caribbean ethnicity were the main reason that the minorities were two to three times more likely to die from the virus as White people, according to the Office of National Statistics report, which was released Wednesday. (Konotey-Ahulu, 1/26)

CIDRAP: US Donates 400 Million COVID-19 Vaccine Doses To COVAX 
The White House today confirmed the United States has donated 400 million COVID-19 vaccine doses—toward a goal of 1.1 billion—to low-income countries via COVAX, the global vaccine sharing program. Jeff Zients, the White House COVID-19 pandemic response coordinator, said the United States has donated more to COVAX than any country in the world, and the latest shipments would head out tomorrow to both Pakistan and Bangladesh. (Soucheray, 1/26)

The Washington Post: Even As U.S. Cases Drop, Global Vaccine Inequity Could Prolong Pandemic, Experts Warn
As coronavirus cases and hospitalizations driven by the omicron variant slowly recede in the United States, public health experts are warning that global vaccine disparities could threaten progress toward ending the pandemic. “Vaccine equity is absolutely critical,” Maria Van Kerkhove, the World Health Organization’s covid-19 technical chief, said in a Q&A session on Tuesday. “The fact remains that more than 3 billion people haven’t received their first dose yet, so we have a long way to go.” (Cheng and Suliman, 1/26)

In other global news —

AP: 6 Cancer Patients Sue Utility Over Fukushima Radiation 
Six people who were children living in Fukushima at the time of the 2011 nuclear disaster and have since developed thyroid cancer filed a lawsuit Thursday demanding a utility pay compensation for their illnesses, which they say were triggered by massive radiation spewed from the Fukushima nuclear plant. The people, now aged 17-27 and living in and outside of Fukushima, demand the Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings pay a total of 616 million yen ($5.4 million) in compensation. (Yamaguchi, 1/27)

USA Today: Pope Francis: Parents Should 'Never Condemn' Their Gay Children
Pope Francis on Wednesday called on parents around the world to not condemn children if they are gay.  Francis made the comments while speaking about the biblical figure Joseph during his weekly general audience. He addressed parents facing difficult situations in the lives of their children, such as kids who are sick, imprisoned or killed in car accidents.  But he also addressed parents "who see that their children have different sexual orientations, how they manage that and accompany their children and not hide behind a condemning attitude.” “Never condemn a child,” he said. (Pitofsky, 1/26)

CIDRAP: Myocarditis Rare But Greater Than Expected After COVID MRNA Vaccination
Seven days after receipt of a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine, rates of myocarditis were greater than expected and were highest after the second vaccine dose among males 12 to 24 years old—although the condition was still exceedingly rare, finds a descriptive US study today in JAMA. Myocarditis is inflammation of the heart muscle, a condition that peaks in incidence in infancy and adolescence or young adulthood. Some patients require no treatment, yet others die or experience severe heart failure necessitating heart transplant. (1/25)

CIDRAP: 12% To 15% Of US Adults Report Serious Psychological Distress Amid COVID
Among 1,068 US adults surveyed about their mental health amid the COVID-19 pandemic, 12% to 15% reported serious psychological distress that persisted throughout the study period, mostly among young adults, low-income respondents, and Hispanic participants. The data were published yesterday in JAMA Network Open. (1/25)

ScienceDaily: How The Timing Of Dinner And Genetics Affect Individuals’ Blood Sugar Control
Eating dinner close to bedtime, when melatonin levels are high, disturbs blood sugar control, especially in individuals with a genetic variant in the melatonin receptor MTNR1B, which has been linked to an elevated risk of type 2 diabetes. The high melatonin levels and food intake associated with late eating impairs blood sugar control in carriers of the MTNR1B genetic risk variant through a defect in insulin secretion. (Massachusetts General Hospital, 1/25)

ScienceDaily: Faulty BRCA Genes Linked To Prostate And Pancreatic Cancers  
Faulty versions of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are well known to increase the risk of breast cancer in men and women, and in ovarian cancer. Now BRCA1 and BRCA2 have been linked to several other cancers, including those that affect men. (University of Cambridge, 1/25)

CIDRAP: Phase 3 Trial Finds Oral Microbiome Therapy Cuts Risk Of Recurrent C Diff
In a phase 3 trial, an investigational oral microbiome therapy was superior to placebo in reducing the risk of recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection, researchers reported yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine. The double-blind, randomized trial involved patients who had had three or more episodes of C difficile infection within 12 months and had resolution of symptoms following standard-of-care antibiotic therapy. (1/21)

CIDRAP: TB Alliance Receives $30 Million From USAID For New TB Treatments
The nonprofit TB Alliance announced yesterday that it has received $30 million in funding from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to develop new treatments for tuberculosis (TB) and optimize current treatments so that they can be used in children. TB Alliance will also use the funding, which will be administered over 5 years, to strengthen health systems in high-TB-burden countries so that all TB patients can get proper treatment. (1/21)

CIDRAP: Urgent Care Study Finds Decline In Antibiotic Prescribing During COVID-19
An analysis of antibiotic prescribing at two academic urgent care clinics found a sustained decline in antibiotic prescribing during the COVID-19 pandemic, despite a transition to telemedicine, researchers reported late last week in Open Forum Infectious Diseases. (1/24)

Miami Herald: Herd Resistance Will Help Us Get Back To Our Normal Lives 
COVID-19’s omicron variant of seems likely to infect almost everyone, including those already vaccinated and many of those infected by earlier variants. It is rapidly pushing the United States toward “herd resistance.” Unlike herd immunity, where new infections are minimal (think mumps or measles when almost all are vaccinated), herd resistance means that infections will continue, but almost everyone will have defenses (from vaccination, prior infection or both) that usually prevent severe disease or death. (Bernard Black and Martin Skladany, 1/26)

The Star Tribune: A Data Gold Mine In Our Wastewater 
The omicron variant served notice of COVID-19's ability to quickly evolve and outpace our ability to control it. But human capabilities are improving swiftly, too, as the battle against this new pathogen continues into its third year. One scientific advance involves work at surprising locations: Minnesota wastewater treatment plants. (1/26)

The Washington Post: Focus On Rapid Antigen Tests Instead Of PCR Covid Tests 
Everything about testing for covid-19 appears overly complicated. It is no wonder Americans are confused — and getting angry. So here’s a way to simplify our testing game plan: Let’s sideline polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests in favor of rapid antigen tests. For most of the pandemic, Americans have been told PCR testing is the gold standard. But in most situations, it is not. Ideally, coronavirus test results should guide actions related to isolation, travel, social interactions or even when to seek treatment options. PCR testing is less than useful to do any of these for two reasons. (Ezekiel Emanuel, David Michaels, Rick Bright and Luciana Borio, 1/26)

Los Angeles Times: Get More Kids Vaccinated Against COVID, Yes, But Two Bills Need More Work 
Despite the number of “breakthrough” infections with the Omicron variant, California kids and their schools would be safer if more students were vaccinated against COVID-19. Two new bills aim to accomplish that — one would mandate vaccination to attend school and the other would allow kids 12 and older to be vaccinated without parental consent. While both bills have attractive features, both also raise legal and ethical questions in trying to reach the goal of a close-to-fully-vaccinated population of young people. (1/26)

The Atlantic: The Case Against Masks At School 
In the panicked spring of 2020, as health officials scrambled to keep communities safe, they recommended various restrictions and interventions, sometimes in the absence of rigorous science supporting them. That was understandable at the time. Now, however, two years into this pandemic, keeping unproven measures in place is no longer justifiable. Although no district is likely to roll back COVID policies in the middle of the Omicron surge, at the top of the list of policies we should rethink once the wave recedes is mandatory masks for kids at school. (Margery Smelkinson, Leslie Bienen and Jeanne Noble, 1/26)

CNN: Parents' Fury Over School Closures Is Righteous, But Misdirected 
Infectious disease experts are starting to sound hopeful again, and the numbers of new Covid-19 infections are falling in places like New York City. But that doesn't change the fact that right now, pediatric cases and hospitalizations are at record levels, schools in some parts of the country are going remote (again) -- and American parents are at the end of our ropes. Indiana University sociologist Jessica Calarco, who surveys parents, says we're doing worse now than we were at the start of the pandemic. Seventy percent of mothers say they're overwhelmed, according to her research. So it's not surprising that the debate about who is responsible for this crisis is getting ugly. But two of the parties taking heat lately are the very last people we should be blaming: American women and Democrats. It's time we all instead turn our attention to those who are actually at fault: the people perpetuating vaccine misinformation and those who, long before the pandemic and continuing now, have failed to provide families with adequate support. (Kara Alaimo, 1/26)

Dallas Morning News: Can Mark Cuban Save America From High Prescription Drug Prices?
Mark Cuban recently launched his online pharmacy, Cost Plus Drugs Company, aimed at Big Pharma and its unaffordable drug prices. The goal of Cost Plus Drugs Company is to lower prescription drug costs for consumers and health plans by eliminating supply chain middlemen. Through direct negotiations with drug makers and pharmacies, the drug company can offer discounted prices for more than 100 medicines, resulting in savings for employer health plans, private insurers and government insurance plans. (Tamara Green, 1/26)

Bloomberg: After Covid, Antimicrobial Resistance Is The World's Biggest Health Emergency
If we look on the bright side of the past two years, Covid should at least mean we’ll be ready for the next major threat from infectious disease. We know how to prepare, we have more advanced technology, we’ve strengthened public-health protocols. And governments have learned just how quickly science can move when offered the right incentives. All of these learnings are needed already — in the fight against growing antimicrobial resistance (AMR), or infections that don’t respond to drugs. (Therese Raphael, 1/27)

NBC News: A Pig Kidney Transplant, And Then A Pig Heart Transplant: How GMOs Are Saving Lives
Every day, 17 Americans die waiting for an organ transplant. But revolutionary experiments show that there may be a new way to save the more than 100,000 people waiting for an organ in the United States: A scientific paper published last week described how a team of surgeons successfully transplanted a pig kidney into a brain-dead patient, and a man in desperate need of a heart received a new one this month, also from a pig. (Adam Larson, 1/26)

The Boston Globe: Many Doctors Suffer From Anxiety And Depression. States Aren’t Helping
As the Omicron variant of COVID continues to sweep across the country, the mass-casualty event of the past 21 months continues to cast a shadow on the field of medicine, putting doctors at increased risk for depression and anxiety, which will affect our careers and our patients for years to come. While the determination and courage of my colleagues gives me hope, the reality is that we, and our patients, will suffer harm unless we make 2022 the year that all physicians — and especially those who are just beginning their medical careers — can get the essential mental health care services they need. (Susan Hata, 1/27)

The Washington Post: To Prevent Another Pandemic Disaster, We Must Fix Public Health 
The United States is a wealthy nation that lavishes spending on health care, supports a world-class biomedical research effort and was top-ranked for pandemic readiness. So why was it such a failure when covid-19 hit? A major reason was that our public health agencies, from local and state governments to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, were overwhelmed. The CDC director, Rochelle Walensky, has called for rebuilding public health in the United States, and it is none too soon. (1/26)

The Hill: Proposed Drug Supply Chain Rule Is Mere Table Ante For Broader 'Rebate' Reform
At his one-year anniversary press conference last week, President Biden announced that his administration is pivoting to targeted, more achievable policy priorities. The administration previewed this scaled-back effort earlier this month by proposing a new rule to reclaim roughly $2 billion annually from the convoluted prescription drug supply chain for seniors. The CY 2023 Medicare Advantage and Part D Proposed Rule would redirect so-called Direct and Indirect Remuneration (DIR) fees that pharmacies pay to Medicare plans to more than 50 million Medicare beneficiaries in the form of lower prices at the prescription counter. (Terry Wilcox, 1/25)

Modern Healthcare: Give Medicare Direct Contracting Time To Prove Its Value Or Expose Its Flaws 
Healthcare experts have argued for years that we should move away from the dysfunctional, unsustainable fee-for-service Medicare reimbursement system and toward value-based models that incentivize better health outcomes such as reduced hospitalizations and post-acute care costs. (Dr. Clive Fields and Gary Jacobs, 1/26)