ABC News: White House Says 1st Cuts To COVID Efforts Will Hit Americans Next Week As Funding Stalls In Congress
Americans will feel the impact of cuts to the U.S. COVID response as early as next week, the White House said Tuesday in a letter to congressional leaders, as efforts to get more funding sit stalled. This letter is the latest push on behalf of the White House to try to persuade Congress that the U.S. desperately needs more COVID-relief money. So far, those pleas have not had much success. (Haslett and Gittleson, 3/15)

Axios: Feds Say They'll Ration COVID Treatments Amid Funding Standoff
Amid a congressional standoff over COVID funding, the federal government will delay buying "hundreds of thousands" of monoclonal antibody treatments and instead cut state allocations of the drug by 30% starting next week to stretch supplies, senior Biden administration officials said Tuesday. This is the first time administration officials are threatening pain in the form of cutbacks to the states if Congress doesn't approve new COVID spending. (Reed, 3/15)

Stat: White House Begs For Covid Funds Amid Concerns Of Omicron Sister Variant
The Biden administration on Tuesday laid out a roadmap of the cutbacks and shortages that could happen if no more funding is provided. Specifically, senior administration officials said they would need to wind down some Covid-19 surveillance investments, and that testing capacity could crater after June. (Cohrs and Joseph, 3/15)

Roll Call: WH Sees Immediate Cuts To COVID-19 Response Without More Funds 
As parts of Europe and Asia experience virus spikes and scientists monitor for a similar surge in the U.S., senior administration officials said Tuesday the Health and Human Services Department and the National Institutes of Health won't be able to research and develop next-generation vaccines that protect against multiple variants without more funds. The officials also said the government needs more money to conduct genomic surveillance of potential new variants and to purchase enough doses for all Americans if a fourth COVID-19 shot is needed. (Cohen, 3/15)

Modern Healthcare: White House Warns Uninsured Fund May End Without More COVID-19 Relief
Congress's failure to authorize further coronavirus response spending will have serious consequences, including the depletion of a fund to reimburse providers caring for uninsured COVID-19 patients, a senior administration official said Tuesday. The Health and Human Services Department will begin scaling back that program next week, and it's due to end completely in early April without additional money, the official said during a call with reporters. That would leave providers unpaid when they test, treat or vaccinate uninsured people. (Goldman, 3/15)

Politico: ‘We Need This Money’: Covid Funding Stalls As Congress, White House Point Fingers 
Even as the administration warns it may need to cancel new orders of Covid-19 drugs as soon as next week and wind down access to testing soon after that, there appears to be no clear strategy from either the White House or Capitol Hill to secure the funds. “We will leave to Congress the details of how they get this over the finish line,” a senior Biden administration official told reporters on a call Tuesday. ... Top appropriators on Capitol Hill point the finger back at the administration, saying the White House did not make a convincing enough case for the money to win over Republicans who recently voted to declare the pandemic over and are loath to spend billions more fighting the virus. (Ollstein and Cancryn, 3/15))

The Washington Post: Republicans Reluctant On $15 Billion In Virus Aid, As White House Warns About Pandemic Readiness
GOP lawmakers demanded that Democrats devise a way to pay for any new coronavirus spending in full, largely through redirecting money from other programs. Barring that, Sen. John Thune (S.D.), the top Republican vote counter, predicted there is “probably not” a way to secure the party’s must-have votes in the narrowly divided chamber, potentially dooming its prospects. The uncertainty only further added to the doubts that Congress could slip in its once-ambitious attempts to approve the spending this week, a looming potential setback that has unnerved lawmakers and public health advocates. (Romm, Roubein and Diamond, 3/15)

In related news about covid funding —

AP: US Funeral Assistance For COVID Tops $2B, More Eligible
The federal government has provided more than $2 billion to help cover funeral costs for more than 300,000 families of people who died from COVID-19, the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced Tuesday as it launches a new campaign to raise awareness about the aid to eligible families. More than 965,000 people have died in the U.S. from the virus. The COVID-19 Funeral Assistance program provides up to $9,000 per funeral and covers COVID-19 related deaths since Jan. 20, 2020. The average amount awarded per death is $6,500, according to FEMA. (Miller, 3/15)

The New York Times: Doug Emhoff, Vice President’s Husband, Tests Positive For The Coronavirus 
Doug Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, tested positive for the coronavirus on Tuesday, according to a statement from the White House. “My symptoms are mild and I’m grateful to be both vaccinated and boosted,” Mr. Emhoff wrote on Twitter, encouraging others to get vaccinated and boosted as well. (Kanno-Youngs, 3/15)

The Washington Post: Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff Tests Positive For The Coronavirus 
Harris was with Emhoff on Tuesday morning and spent much of the day with President Joe Biden. She attended the president’s daily briefing in the Oval Office in the morning and then joined Biden as he signed the budget bill. She also hosted an Equal Pay Day Summit at the White House and participated in a conversation with current and former soccer players on the U.S. Women’s National Team. (Pager, 3/15)

NPR: Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff Tests Positive For COVID-19
Emhoff appeared Tuesday afternoon at the Marvin Gaye Greening Center in Washington helping AmeriCorps members with a community service project in an urban garden and park. ... Earlier in the day, Harris attended a bill-signing event with President Biden, 79, and a large group of Democratic lawmakers, including Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy. The 81-year-old Democrats are respectively second and third-in-line for the presidency, behind Harris.(Kennedy and McDaniel, 3/15)

In related news about the White House —

AP: White House Tours To Resume Next Month As Virus Fades 
Public tours of the White House will resume next month after a more than 14-month hiatus due to the coronavirus, the Biden administration announced Tuesday. Tours of the executive mansion were suspended indefinitely by President Joe Biden when he took office as he tightened virus protocols in line with guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The free tours must be requested through a congressional office and will resume Friday and Saturday mornings beginning Friday, April 15. (3/15)

CBS News: Omicron BA.2 Sub-Variant Now Nearly A Quarter Of New COVID Cases In U.S., CDC Estimates 
The BA.2 sub-lineage of the Omicron variant now makes up nearly a quarter of new COVID-19 infections nationwide, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated Tuesday, up from around 1 in 10 new cases just a week prior. Since January, Omicron has made up virtually all new infections in the U.S. Like in many countries abroad, most cases in the U.S. had been caused by a sub-lineage of Omicron known as BA.1. But while both BA.1 and BA.2 can be traced back to some of the earliest samples gathered of Omicron, BA.2 has only recently begun to climb in prevalence. (Tin, 3/15)

The Boston Globe: COVID-19 Cases In Other Countries Are Rising. How Worried Should The US Be?
COVID-19 cases in the United Kingdom and a number of other European countries are on the rise again, and experts are eyeing the increases warily, wondering what’s in store in coming weeks for the United States. “It’s certainly a bit worrisome. We definitely need to keep an eye on it, with the realization that the pandemic’s not over, unfortunately, as much as we all wish it were,” said Andrew Lover, an assistant professor of epidemiology in the School of Public Health and Health Sciences at UMass Amherst. Lover said surges in Europe in the past have been followed by surges in the United States weeks or months later. (Finucane and Huddle, 3/16)

Houston Chronicle: The Next COVID Variant May Not Be Mild Like Omicron, Study Says
The evolution of the coronavirus is likely to produce dangerous new variants that escape built-up immunity and evade vaccines, according to a new study that may offer clues for the future of the pandemic. In a searing condemnation of “misconceived and premature theories” about the demise of COVID-19, the authors — microbiologists at the European Commission and the University of Oxford — take aim at what they call the “persistent myth” that the virus will evolve to be benign. That omicron caused relatively mild disease “has been enthusiastically interpreted to be a sign of the approaching end of the pandemic,” the authors write in the study, which was published Monday. “Yet the lower severity of omicron is nothing but a lucky coincidence.” (Mishanec, 3/15)

And more news about the spread of covid —

Bloomberg: Covid Drug Sotrovimab Maker Plots New Course As BA.2 Spreads
Vir Biotechnology Inc. started five years ago with an unconventional plan to tackle infectious diseases, for which pharmaceutical companies had shown little interest in researching new medicines. The emergence of Covid-19 presented the San Francisco-based biotech with an opportunity to make good on its promise. It rapidly designed a monoclonal antibody therapy that worked after other new drugs failed. At one point, Vir’s treatment was the only one of its kind that was effective against the heavily mutated omicron variant, helping fuel the sale of almost 2 million doses of its drug to date. (Peebles, 3/15)

Bangor Daily News: Maine’s COVID-19 Gains Have Stalled In Recent Weeks, Wastewater Data Show
COVID-19 levels in wastewater across Maine have largely remained flat in recent weeks, although several sites in northern Maine continue to report the highest concentration of the virus, corresponding with a recent spike in cases there. Levels of COVID-19 detected in wastewater across the state are much lower than a few months ago, according to the latest data reported by the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention and BioBot. But after a steady decline in late January and the first half of February, virus concentrations have remained flat in recent weeks. Several sites in Aroostook County continue to see elevated virus levels. (Piper, 3/15)

The New York Times: Inside The High-Stakes Race To Test The Covid Tests 
When the pandemic hit two years ago, the United States faced an acute shortage of reliable Covid-19 tests. It was the nation’s first major pandemic failure, blinding health experts and the public to the spread of the coronavirus and allowing the pathogen to spread across the country unchecked. And for much of 2020, getting tested required waiting hours just to be swabbed and a week or longer for results. Now, hundreds of millions of rapid, at-home tests are pouring into the American market every month. The federal government is mailing out free tests, Americans are trading swabbing tips on social media and children are spitting into collection tubes at school. (Anthes, 3/15)

Also —

CIDRAP: Study Notes Postpartum Depression In New Moms Early In Pandemic
More than a third of new mothers early in the COVID-19 pandemic had symptoms of postpartum (after-birth) depression—nearly triple pre-pandemic levels—and one in five had major depressive symptoms, with symptoms for both disorders higher in women who fed their babies formula, according to a study yesterday in BMC Research Notes. (3/15)

Bloomberg: Hospitals To Lean On More Expensive Travel Nurses Even After Covid
Hospitals are facing a new budget-buster as dependence grows on highly paid travel nurses who are poised to take on a larger role in staffing even after the pandemic threat fades. Rising rates of hospitalization during the pandemic forced many institutions to increase their use of travel nurses who work on short-term contracts, often for more pay than their full-time counterparts. Now the surge of pent-up demand for non-Covid care along with the departure of many nurses from full-time staff positions is forcing institutions to look far and wide for staffing help. (Adegbesan, 3/15)

Roll Call: Senate Votes To Overturn Mask Mandate On Airplanes, Transit 
The Senate on Tuesday voted 57-40 to overturn a federal requirement that passengers on U.S. airplanes and other modes of public transportation wear masks. The Congressional Review Act measure, introduced by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., is the latest salvo in a fight between congressional Republicans and the Biden administration over public health requirements related to the pandemic, which has killed more than 963,000 Americans to date, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistics. Despite the defection of eight Democrats — Sens. Jon Tester of Montana, Jacky Rosen and Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, Michael Bennet of Colorado, Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly of Arizona, Joe Manchin III of West Virginia and Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire all voted to oppose the mandate — the resolution’s future is uncertain in the House. (Wehrman, 3/15)

Houston Chronicle: Sen. Ted Cruz Joins GOP Effort To End 'Asinine' Airplane Mask Mandate
Texas’ Republican senators on Tuesday joined a GOP effort to end a federal mask mandate for airline passengers, which U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz blasted as “utterly demonstrably asinine.” The Senate on Tuesday afternoon passed a Republican-led resolution to end rules requiring masks be worn on planes and other federal public transportation on a 57-40 vote. It now heads to the Democratic-controlled House, where its future is unclear. (Wermund, 3/15)

In other pandemic news from Congress —

The Washington Post: Lawmakers Push Pandemic Probe Modeled On 9/11 Commission 
A Senate panel voted overwhelmingly on Tuesday to establish an independent task force to probe the U.S. response to the pandemic — the closest lawmakers have come to supporting such an investigation, two years into the crisis. The vote on that bipartisan legislation, part of the Prevent Pandemics Act advanced by the Senate’s health committee, is the first step in a fraught political journey, and comes as Democrats and Republicans have pursued their own probes, seeking to shape public perceptions ahead of midterm elections that could alter the balance of power in Washington. (Diamond, 3/15)

AP: Pandemic Preparedness Bill Moves Ahead; Funding Still Needed 
A Senate committee has approved a bipartisan blueprint to overhaul the nation’s public health system, applying the lessons of COVID-19 to future outbreaks through a new chain of command, a stronger medical supply chain, and clearer crisis communications. The Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee approved the PREVENT Pandemics Act by a vote of 20-2 Tuesday. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 3/16)

The New York Times: At Least Nine House Democrats Test Positive For The Coronavirus After A Party Retreat And Late-Night Voting
At least nine House Democrats have announced in the last five days that they tested positive for the coronavirus, with more than half of those cases emerging after lawmakers attended a party retreat last week in Philadelphia. It is unclear what drove the wave of cases or where the representatives had been infected. But members of the House spent hours on the floor without masks for votes that stretched late into the night last Wednesday before Democrats boarded buses to travel to their gathering. (Cochrane and Patil, 3/15)

And more from Capitol Hill —

Stat: Congress Just Launched ARPA-H, But It Has A Chaotic Road Ahead
Congress has finally funded the agency that President Biden has pledged will help “end cancer as we know it.” But when they set aside $1 billion for the new agency, to be known as ARPA-H, lawmakers paved a chaotic path forward, leaving unresolved major questions like where the agency will be located, and whether it will exist independently or as part of the National Institutes of Health. In a surprising twist, lawmakers have punted the second decision to health secretary Xavier Becerra. However, considering the Biden administration’s long-held stance that ARPA-H should be housed within the NIH, research experts say it’s not much of a decision at all. (Facher, 3/16)

USA Today: ‘They Cannot Be Trusted’: Lawmakers Slam Facebook Over Sale Of Deadly Children's Products
Despite repeated warnings that Facebook Marketplace allows the sale of recalled products that have killed children, the platform’s parent company, Meta, has still failed to prevent such items from being available on its site. Now, members of Congress are demanding the company do more, writing to Meta last week that its “continued failure” to block the sale of recalled items is a “remarkable dereliction of duty by your company on behalf of your users.” Similar letters members of Congress sent in 2019 and 2020 failed to spark significant action by the social media giant. In addition, pressure from safety advocates, grieving families, federal regulators and a USA TODAY investigation have not led to meaningful changes to how Facebook addresses the danger. (Nadolny, 3/16)

NBC News: Pfizer Asks FDA To Authorize 2nd Covid Booster For People 65 And Older
Pfizer and BioNTech announced Tuesday that they asked U.S. regulators to authorize a second Covid-19 vaccine booster for people 65 and older. If the Food and Drug Administration grants authorization, the additional shot would go to a group of people who are among those with the highest risk of serious illness and death from Covid. ... If the additional Pfizer booster is authorized, it's unclear if every eligible person who wants a second booster will be able to get one — the U.S. government currently only has enough doses for immunocompromised people to seek a fourth shot, a senior administration official said Tuesday. (Lovelace Jr., 3/15)

USA Today: Pfizer Seeks FDA Authorization For Second Booster For 65 And Up
The request is based on data from Israel during a recent omicron outbreak there. One study of more than 1 million Israelis over 60 showed that those who got a fourth dose were half as likely to become infected and four-times less likely to fall severely ill than those who had only three shots. In a second study of 700 Israeli health care workers, those who received a fourth dose, saw a 10-fold jump in protective antibodies two weeks after the shot. (Weintraub, 3/15)

The Washington Post: Pfizer And BioNTech Seek Authorization Of Second Coronavirus Booster Shot For People 65 And Older
In a separate move aimed at answering longer-term questions about booster strategies, the FDA plans to hold a meeting of its outside advisers in early April to consider whether there should be an effort in October or November, perhaps in conjunction with the annual influenza vaccine campaign, to encourage some or all adults to get additional boosters. The panel could also discuss whether the shots should be the same formula as current vaccines or retooled to counter new variants, according to a federal official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the plans. (McGinley, Pager and Johnson, 3/15)

Also —

The Atlantic: How to Time Your Second Booster
Imagine if older Americans had been forced to weather the past three months without the option of a booster shot. Having an additional vaccine dose during the Omicron surge cut seniors’ risks of hospitalization and death by more than 70 percent. But the extra shots still didn’t come close to eliminating risk: Boosted adults ages 65 and older were still hospitalized at nearly twice the rate—and dying at 16 times the rate—of unboosted 18-to-49-year-olds, despite the fact that far fewer seniors were testing positive for the coronavirus. (Gutman, 3/15)

The New York Times: Mounting Data Shows J&J Vaccine As Effective As Pfizer And Moderna 
Roughly 17 million Americans received the Johnson & Johnson Covid vaccine, only to be told later that it was the least protective of the options available in the United States. But new data suggest that the vaccine is now preventing infections, hospitalizations and deaths at least as well as the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines. The reasons aren’t clear, and not all experts are convinced that the vaccine has vindicated itself. But the accumulating data nonetheless offer considerable reassurance to recipients of the vaccine and, if confirmed, have broad implications for its deployment in parts of the world. (Mandavilli, 3/15)

In other vaccine news —

CNN: Vaccine Effectiveness For 5- To 11-Year-Olds: Should Parents Worry? 
To many parents' dismay, a new report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the Covid-19 vaccine is less effective against the Omicron variant for children ages 5 to 11 than for older children and adults... Why is this happening? How worried should parents and caregivers be? Do the new data mean they should keep masks on their kids in school and avoid indoor extracurriculars? What are implications for kids with underlying medical conditions? And what's the update for kids under 5? (Hetter, 3/16)

CIDRAP: Study Highlights Risk Of Low COVID Vaccine Uptake In Prison Staff 
Stanford University researchers report that 61% of custody staff and 36% of healthcare staff at California state prisons were unvaccinated against COVID-19 as of Jun 30, 2021, posing risks to inmates, other staff, and the surrounding community. The findings, published late last week in JAMA Health Forum, also showed that unvaccinated staff were more likely than their vaccinated counterparts to be younger, have previous COVID-19 infection, work with other unvaccinated staff, and live in communities with relatively low vaccine uptake. (Van Beusekom, 3/15)

And in updates on vaccine mandates —

The New York Times: Unvaccinated Yankees And Mets Can’t Play In New York 
Some players on the Mets and Yankees may be unable to play in New York when the 2022 Major League Baseball season begins next month because of a city vaccination mandate. Under a New York City regulation enacted on Dec. 27, people who perform in-person work or interact with the public in the course of business must show proof that “they have received a COVID-19 vaccine.” (Wagner, 3/16)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Vaccine Mandate For Georgia Medical Workers Now In Full Effect
Tuesday marked the final deadline for Georgia healthcare workers to get their second COVID-19 vaccine dose or a valid exemption to keep their jobs. Several hospitals reported their employee vaccination levels were as high as 99%. (Hansen, 3/16)

TribLIVE (Pa.): With Driver Shortages Because Of Vaccine Mandate, Port Authority Offers Free Rides 
Port Authority of Allegheny County announced Tuesday it will provide free rides on all vehicles through the end of the day Sunday to acknowledge the challenges riders are facing with staffing shortages related to the agency’s vaccine requirement. Approximately 180 operators and 480 total employees in violation of the agency’s vaccine requirement will be held off work beginning Wednesday, the authority said in a news release. Although a portion of these employees are expected to return to work within the next two weeks, service disruptions are expected to continue. (3/15)

CBS News: New Law Aims To Expand Care For Sex Assault Victims, Including Access To Rape Kits 
A nearly decade-long fight for better access to care for rape victims is now law. On Tuesday, President Biden signed the Violence Against Women Act, which includes provisions of a bipartisan bill to expand access to care for victims of sexual assault. Washington Senator Patty Murray drafted the legislation after hearing the story of constituent Leah Griffin, of Seattle, who said she was unable to receive a rape examination at her neighborhood hospital in 2014. (Brand, 3/15)

In related news about the Violence Against Women Act —

Maine Beacon: Previously Excluded Wabanaki Tribes Added To Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization 
Rep. Chellie Pingree succeeded in meeting a long-sought goal of amending the 1994 Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) to include the Indigenous women of Maine. ... The exemption from the 1994 law, which provided funding towards the investigation and prosecution of violent crimes against women, was just one of the federal protections the tribes in Maine have been excluded from since the Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act was passed in 1980. (Neumann, 3/15)

KHN: ‘American Diagnosis’: A Fuller Moon Rising — Revised ‘Violence Against Women Act’ Offers Hope
The Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was reauthorized [by Congress] on March 10, 2022, reaffirming tribes’ authority to prosecute non-Native perpetrators of sexual violence and certain other crimes. This episode looks at the history of VAWA, and how protections for Native women have been tangled in the fine print of the law. (3/16)

In other news from the Biden administration —

Axios: Fix For Affordable Care Act's "Family Glitch" On The Horizon
The Biden administration is reviewing a regulation that experts expect would help close the Affordable Care Act's "family glitch," according to a notice filed last week. The regulation could help as many as 5.1 million people get more affordable coverage by addressing an ACA loophole. The family glitch was created by a provision of the ACA that deals with premium subsidy eligibility — and that lowballs the cost of covering a family. (Owens, 3/15)

The New York Times: Shalanda Young Confirmed To Head Biden’s Budget Office 
The Senate confirmed Shalanda Young on Tuesday to serve as the director of the Office of Management and Budget, giving the agency permanent leadership for the first time in more than a year as it prepares the second budget of the Biden administration. ... In her role in the House, Ms. Young helped shepherd more than $3 trillion in pandemic relief packages into law, on top of the annual negotiations over how to keep the government funded, winning bipartisan plaudits for how she conducted herself. (Cochrane, 3/15)

The New York Times: A Groggy Senate Approves Making Daylight Saving Time Permanent
After losing an hour of sleep over the weekend, members of the United States Senate returned to the Capitol this week a bit groggy and in a mood to put an end to all this frustrating clock-changing. So on Tuesday, with almost no warning and no debate, the Senate unanimously passed legislation to do away with the biannual springing forward and falling back that most Americans have come to despise, in favor of making daylight saving time permanent. The bill’s fate in the House was not immediately clear, but if the legislation were to pass there and be signed by President Biden, it would take effect in November 2023. (Broadwater and Nierenberg, 3/15)

Politico: Here Comes The Sun: Senate Agrees On Permanent Daylight Saving Time
A bipartisan group of senators has tried and failed, for Congress after Congress, to keep America on daylight saving time permanently. Until Tuesday, when their bright idea finally cleared the chamber. Just two days after the nation’s latest stressful “spring forward” to the later sunsets of daylight saving time, the Senate unanimously and surprisingly passed Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-Fla.) bill to lock the clocks. The quick and consequential move happened so fast that several senators said afterward they were unaware of what had just happened. (Adragna, Everett and Ferris, 3/15)

The Washington Post: Senate Votes Unanimously To Make Daylight Saving Time Permanent 
The legislation, which passed by unanimous consent, must still get through the House and be signed by President Biden to become law. House leaders and White House officials declined to comment on next steps. “The bill just passed this afternoon and we are reviewing it closely," Carlos Paz Jr., a Pelosi spokesperson, said in a statement. Under the measure, the shift to permanent daylight saving time would take effect next year. (Diamond, 3/15)

The Boston Globe: Senator Whitehouse On Daylight Saving Time: ‘The Whole Thing Is Kind Of A Silly Exercise’
Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse was speaking in the Senate on Tuesday about the bill he’d sponsored to make Daylight Saving Time permanent when he noticed something. The person transcribing remarks on the Senate floor, a role that usually comes with a poker face, was... nodding and smiling. To Whitehouse, it was an indication of the broad support behind making Daylight Saving Time permanent – a measure that passed the Senate by unanimous consent. “When the transcribing people are giving you the equivalent of a thumbs-up, that’s a pretty good sign,” Whitehouse, a Democrat who was an original co-sponsor of the bill, told the Globe in a phone interview. (Amaral, 3/15)

The New York Times: Why Is There Daylight Saving Time, Anyway? 
The idea is to move an hour of sunlight from the early morning to the evening, so that people can make more use of daylight. Benjamin Franklin is often credited as the first to suggest it in the 18th century, after he realized he was wasting his Parisian mornings by staying in bed. He proposed that the French fire cannons at sunrise to wake people up and reduce candle consumption at night. Over the next 100 years, the Industrial Revolution laid the groundwork for his idea to enter government policy. (Yuhas, 3/15)

In related news about the importance of sleep —

NPR: Sleep Is Hard To Come By For 1 In 3 Americans, A Survey Finds
Americans are having a hard time sleeping, and stress seems to be a major factor according to a recent poll. The web-based survey conducted jointly by Gallup and mattress retailer Casper found that only one-third of Americans report getting high-quality sleep. A third of adults said their sleep the previous night was either fair or poor. That suggests nearly 84 million people in this country are tossing and turning. The survey of more than 3,000 adults highlighted that a person's emotional and mental state are major contributing factors, with stress increasing restlessness by 96%. Stress also more heavily impacted younger adults in the poll, with nearly seven in 10 between the ages of 18 to 29 saying that difficulty sleeping has a direct impact on their moods. (Dean, 3/15)

Fox News: Sleeping With Lights Off And Closed Blinds May Protect Your Health: Study
Turning off all lights and drawing the curtains before hitting the bed may help protect your health, according to a recent study out of Northwestern University that was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. "These findings are important particularly for those living in modern societies where exposure to indoor and outdoor nighttime light is increasingly widespread," senior study author Dr. Phyllis Zee said in the release. Researchers found exposure even to moderate ambient light while sleeping, compared to sleeping in a dimly lit room, is harmful to your cardiovascular function during sleep and can increase your insulin resistance the following morning, according to a release about the Northwestern Medicine study. (McGorry, 3/15)

Politico Pro: Hospitals Worried About Saline, Dextrose Fluid Shortages
Hospitals and supply chain experts are raising concerns that shortages of dextrose and saline solutions necessary for routine care and delivery of medications will impact patient care if logistical logjams for the products do not resolve in the coming weeks. Transportation delays at U.S. ports, Covid-19 infections among manufacturing facility staff and increased demand for raw materials are all partially to blame, according to Erin Fox, a senior director at University of Utah Health knowledgeable about medical product shortages. (Lim, 3/16)

In other health care industry news —

Stat: Doctors Often Turn To Google Translate. They Want A Better Option
The patient had just undergone a cesarean section, and now was struggling to put words to her pain in her native Taiwanese. The physician making rounds, Natasha Mehandru, was used to communicating with patients who didn’t speak English as a first language at her county hospital in Phoenix. But this time, calling in an interpreter by phone wasn’t working. “The service was not really good,” she said — and soon, she realized the patient and the interpreter weren’t even speaking the same dialect. “It was difficult to communicate, even with the interpreter.” So Mehandru turned to a familiar tool: Google Translate. Typing translations back and forth — Taiwanese to English, English to Taiwanese — she and the patient slowly came to an understanding with the help of the interpreter still on the line. (Palmer, 3/16)

Modern Healthcare: Google, Meditech To Pilot Care Studio Software Integration In EHR
Google plans to bring its Care Studio clinical software into Meditech's electronic health records system, the companies said Tuesday at the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society trade show in Orlando, Florida. Google Health and Westwood, Massachusetts-based EHR vendor Meditech will work together to embed Care Studio, an EHR search tool that's separately been piloted at St. Louis-based Ascension, into Meditech's Expanse EHR. Care Studio standardizes patient data and offers an interface where clinicians can search for details within a patient record to quickly find information. (Kim Cohen, 3/15)

Modern Healthcare: Underfunding Linked To Americans' Lower Primary Care Access
Systemic underinvestment has limited access to effective primary care across the U.S, according to a new report. U.S. adults are among the least likely to have a regular doctor compared to individuals in other developed countries, which has compounded chronic conditions and increased healthcare costs, according to the Commonwealth Fund's 2019 and 2020 international health policy surveys. The fund polled practicing primary care doctors in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the U.S. The physician fee schedule should be adjusted to incentivize more doctors to practice primary care, policy experts said. (Kacik, 3/15)

Crain's Detroit Business: Henry Ford Health 2021 Earnings Come Out
Henry Ford Health System lost money last year providing healthcare, but the Detroit-based system was able to post a positive net income thanks to its investment portfolio. HFHS reported Monday an operating loss of $168 million, or a negative 2.5 percent operating margin, on net patient revenue of $4.2 billion. Cutting into its margins was a $135 million in COVID-19 related costs and a $200 million shortfall from insurance claims, including a $76 million premium deficiency reserve from healthcare costs and premiums from its integrated insurer Health Alliance Plan, the system said in a press release. (Walsh, 3/15)

In pharmaceutical industry news —

Stat: Gilead Faces Criticism For Donations To Lawmakers Who Backed 'Don't Say Gay' Bill
There was a curious dichotomy underlying the outcry over the “Don’t Say Gay” bill that passed the Florida Senate last week: Nine of the 22 lawmakers who voted in favor of the legislation had received donations from Gilead Sciences (GILD), the big purveyor of medicines to combat HIV. Over the past decade, the drug company contributed a total of $12,000 to those nine senators, most of which was provided in 2020. At the same time, Gilead donated $10,000 to 11 of the 17 state senators who opposed the bill. Nearly all of the donations were made between 2014 and 2018, according to data from OpenSecrets, a nonprofit that tracks campaign financing and lobbying. (Silverman, 3/15)

CNBC: Theranos Saga Returns To Courtroom As Ex-COO Balwani Set For Trial
He was the man behind the lab curtain at blood-testing start-up Theranos. Now he takes center stage in his own criminal fraud case. Opening arguments in the trial of Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, former president and chief operating officer of Theranos, begin Wednesday in the San Jose federal courthouse, where a jury in January found Theranos ex-CEO Elizabeth Holmes, guilty of four counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. A jury of six men and six women will decide the fate of Balwani, who has been charged with the same crimes as Holmes. Each carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison. He pleaded not guilty. (Khorram, 3/15)

AP: Arizona To Resume Disenrolling People From Medicaid Program 
Arizona will soon resume disenrolling state residents no longer eligible for coverage through Medicaid and a related program for children and that many people currently enrolled will need to go through a process to see if they remain eligible, officials said Tuesday. The Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System generally hasn’t disenrolled beneficiaries since the pandemic began in March 2020 unless they moved out of state, voluntarily disenrolled, aged out of the children’s program or died, an agency statement said. (3/15)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: 'Huge Number' In Wisconsin To Lose Medicaid As COVID Emergency Ends
Hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites are expected to lose eligibility for Medicaid coverage when the federal government lifts its public health emergency declaration, the state's top health official said Tuesday. At an event hosted by Wisconsin Health News, the state health department's Secretary-designee Karen Timberlake said that conservatively, the department is projecting a "few hundred thousand" people will lose their Medicaid coverage when the state restarts the renewal process for the 1.5 million Wisconsinites currently enrolled in the program. "It is a huge number," she said. (Shastri, 3/15)

In related Medicaid news —

AP: House Speaker Not Budging On Medicaid Extension For New Moms 
Mississippi House Speaker Philip Gunn says he opposes efforts to revive a proposal that would let mothers keep Medicaid coverage for a year after giving birth. “My position on the postpartum thing has not changed,” Gunn, a Republican, told reporters Tuesday at the Capitol. Mississippi allows two months of Medicaid coverage for women after they give birth. Advocates for low-income women say expanding the government insurance coverage up to a year could improve health outcomes in a state with a high rate of maternal mortality. (Pettus, 3/15)

AP: Ex-Ohio Gov. Kasich Urges Compassion In Medicaid Pitch To NC 
Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich and other speakers on Tuesday shared the experiences of states expanding Medicaid to more working adults, as North Carolina legislators carefully weigh whether they should now accept the coverage. Kasich, a former Republican presidential candidate, and presenters on programs in Montana, Indiana and Michigan told a General Assembly study committee about successes and challenges after the states accepted expansion through the 2010 federal health care law. (Robertson, 3/16)

Miami Herald: 5 Health Care Bills Killed In 2022 By The Florida Legislature 
Florida lawmakers changed healthcare policies in ways big and small this legislative session: They passed a 15-week abortion ban. They set aside $5 million per year so Florida children can afford hearing aids. They overhauled the process for securing state contracts in 2025 for Florida’s Medicaid managed care system. Based on current enrollment, those contracts will be worth at least $100 billion in total. Millions of Floridians covered by Medicaid will be affected by the Legislature’s policy changes. This year alone, lawmakers budgeted nearly $49 billion in taxpayer funding for healthcare-related spending. (Wilson, 3/15)

And in news from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services --

AP: Psychiatric Hospital Gets More Time To Correct Deficiencies 
Montana’s state psychiatric hospital has more time to correct deficiencies that have resulted in patient deaths, the Montana State News Bureau reports. The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services initially gave the Montana State Hospital in Warm Springs until March 13 to meet certain conditions to remain eligible to receive federal reimbursement. (3/15)

The Boston Globe: Insurers Say They Oppose Mass General Brigham’s Expansion
The Massachusetts Association of Health Plans, which counts 15 of the state’s largest insurers except Blue Cross Blue Shield, has come out against Mass General Brigham’s proposed expansion. The organization is another in a line of critics, including competitors and community organizations, who have opposed the $2.3 billion project. Mass General Brigham has proposed opening or growing ambulatory sites in Westborough, Westwood, and Woburn, and expanding Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital in Jamaica Plain. The expansion, MGB says, will help increase capacity at its downtown hospitals and bring lower-cost outpatient care to its patients in the suburbs. (Bartlett, 3/15)

Vermont Public Radio: Vermont's Largest Hospital System And A Massive Insurance Company Are Deadlocked. Thousands Of Patients Are Caught In The Middle
Late last month, almost 2,000 Vermonters got letters in the mail saying the University of Vermont Health Network will soon no longer accept their insurance. They’ll have to go elsewhere for medical care starting April 1. (Krupp, 3/16)

In other news about the health insurance industry —

Modern Healthcare: Lawsuits, Complaints Shine Light On Centene's Challenges
Centene employees and customers' recent complaints against the $32.5 billion insurer highlight the challenges large companies face as they grow through acquisition. During the past month, the insurer has been hit with four proposed class-action lawsuits on behalf of its workers, three of which allege administrative and technology failures led the insurer to shortchange employees on pay. Another suit alleges mismanagement of the company's retirement benefit plans led the portfolios to underperform. (Tepper, 3/15)

Modern Healthcare: SCAN's Medical Group For Homeless Patients Grows Insurer Clients
SCAN Group's medical not-for-profit, specializing in care for the homeless, officially secured its first independent insurer contract, with Healthcare in Action's partnership with Molina Healthcare cementing the company's plan of leveraging local health plans and health systems as customers. Molina Healthcare, which is headquartered in Long Beach, has partnered with Healthcare in Action to provide care for its homeless members and sign the unhoused up for its Medicaid plans. Molina is one of the largest Medicaid carriers in the nation with 4.1 million enrollees, and about half of the 163,000 individuals without homes in California qualify for some form of health insurance, the company says. (Tepper, 3/15)

KHN: How To Avoid Surprise Bills — And The Pitfalls In The New Law
Patients are no longer required to pay for out-of-network care given without their consent when they receive treatment at hospitals covered by their health insurance since a federal law took effect at the start of this year. But the law’s protections against the infuriating, expensive scourge of surprise medical bills may be only as good as a patient’s knowledge — and ability to make sure those protections are enforced. (Weissmann, 3/16)

And in Medicare updates —

Bloomberg: Medicare Watchdog Warns Of $12 Billion In Excess Payments
Medicare Advantage is leading the U.S. government to spend billions more on seniors’ medical care than it should and needs a significant makeover, a nonpartisan watchdog said in a report to lawmakers. The program collected $12 billion in “excess payments” in 2020 over what the U.S. would have paid to cover people who used the private plans under standard Medicare, according to a report by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, or MedPAC, released Tuesday. (Tozzi, 3/15)

San Francisco Chronicle: Here’s When The Golden Gate Bridge Suicide Barrier May Finally Be Completed, As People Keep Jumping Every Month
Beneath the stately towers and suspension cables of the Golden Gate Bridge, engineers are building a steel net along the span’s northwest corner — the product of a tireless, decades-long campaign that hit significant delays as it inched toward completion. By the end of next year bridge staff expect to finish the $206.7 million barrier, intended to catch any disconsolate person who leaps from the rail. Comprising enough marine-grade stainless steel to cover seven football fields, the net will flank the 1.7 mile suspension bridge on both sides, its webbing gray to match the fog and the choppy water, its supports painted the same ripe-orange hue as the bridge. (Swan, 3/15)

In other mental health news —

Axios: Study: Children's Health Issues Getting Worse
Critical measures of children's health are moving in the wrong direction in the U.S., according to a new study published in JAMA Pediatrics. The pandemic took a large toll on children's mental health and overall household stability, but several of these trends had been building for years. Levels of anxiety and depression among children increased between 2016 and 2020, while daily physical activity decreased. More parents and caregivers reported struggling to cope with parenting demands and dealing with mental health issues of their own. (Owens, 3/15)

The Mercury News: Teen Mental Health: Cost, Stigma And Time Hamper Care
For Nhi Huynh, a University of Berkeley freshman, high school was marked by the constant pressure of trying to manage her life in an academically competitive environment. She was taking college level courses and leading several clubs — and in spring of her junior year campuses closed and cut her off from academic and social support. “I was really burnt out at the end of senior year, and I wasn’t taking care of myself well and my relationships suffered because of it,” Huynh said. She is typical of thousands of Bay Area high school students who spend 30 hours a week in classes and dozens more on sports and activities outside of the classroom. This challenging load can easily lead to sleep deprivation, illness, depression and anxiety. (Nguyen, 3/15)

Columbus Dispatch: Guns Used In More Ohio Homicides, Suicides, Health Report Says
Guns are playing an increasing role in homicides and suicides, which have significantly increased in Ohio over the past two decades, according to a new analysis done by researchers at the Health Policy Institute of Ohio (HPIO). In their analysis, researchers at HPIO reported that in 1999 there were 450 homicides and 1,102 suicides in Ohio. Compare that to 2020, when 1,004 homicides and 1,644 suicides were recorded in the Buckeye State, increases of 123% and 49%, respectively. (Trombly, 3/15)

AP: Gov. Baker: Bill Would Expand Mental Health Care Services 
Gov. Charlie Baker unveiled a bill Tuesday that he said would help expand access to primary care and mental health services and help control rising health care and prescription drug costs. The Republican detailed the legislation during a stop at a health care center in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston. (LeBlanc, 3/15)

In other public health news —

North Carolina Health News: Congestion, Fever & Vomit, Oh My! Other Viruses Are Back 
As indoor mask mandates drop in some of North Carolina’s most populous counties and schools, other non-COVID viruses are likely to start cropping up. We saw a similar trend in the summer of 2021. The U.S. saw a national spike in respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) as people got vaccinated and COVID restrictions loosened for a couple months before the onset of the Delta variant. RSV is a seasonal respiratory illness that usually spreads in the fall and winter, particularly among children who tend to have more severe cases of it. (Knopf, 3/16)

AP: The Big Sneeze: Climate Change To Make Pollen Season Nastier
Climate change has already made allergy season longer and pollen counts higher, but you ain’t sneezed nothing yet. Climate scientists at the University of Michigan looked at 15 different plant pollens in the United States and used computer simulations to calculate how much worse allergy season will likely get by the year 2100. It’s enough to make allergy sufferers even more red-eyed. (Borenstein, 3/15)

USA Today: Early Dementia Sign? Report Shows Memory Loss In More Older Adults
A new report estimates 6.5 million Americans have Alzheimer’s disease and more than 1 in 10 older adults have early stage memory or cognitive problems. The Alzheimer’s Association report released Tuesday said 12-18% of adults 60 and over have “mild cognitive impairment,” a category of memory loss or cognitive problems that may be a precursor to dementia or caused by other medical or behavioral issues. Distinguishing dementia from other medical causes of memory or cognitive problems remains difficult, experts say, but perhaps more important than ever with one controversial new Alzheimer's drug available and others in late-stage clinical trials. (Alltucker, 3/15)

KHN: Readers And Tweeters Remain Vigilant On Masking And Billing 
KHN gives readers a chance to comment on a recent batch of stories. (Byrne, 3/16)

AP: Tennessee Lawmakers Introduce Texas-Styled Abortion Bill
Despite already enacting one of the strictest abortion bans in the U.S., Tennessee Republicans on Tuesday began advancing yet another anti-abortion measure strategically written to sidestep federal court challenges. The proposal is almost a direct copycat of legislation currently enacted in Texas, which not only prohibits doctors from performing abortion before most people know they’re pregnant but also allows private citizens to file civil lawsuits against anyone who helps someone else get the procedure after six weeks into pregnancy. (Kruesi, 3/15)

In news from Georgia, Virginia and Maryland —

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Medical Marijuana Production Bill Passes Georgia Senate
Lawmakers tried to revive Georgia’s medical marijuana program Tuesday as the state Senate unanimously passed a bill to quickly issue business licenses this spring. The Senate voted 52-0 to approve a measure that would jump-start cannabis oil production by authorizing six companies to manufacture and sell the medicine to registered patients. Licenses would be issued by May 31, according to an amendment approved on the Senate floor. Georgia has allowed doctor-approved patients to consume cannabis oil since 2015, but there’s still no way for them to legally buy it. (Niesse, 3/15)

AP: Grant Aimed At Reducing Racial Disparity In Lung Cancer 
A $1 million grant has been awarded to Virginia Commonwealth University’s Massey Cancer Center to study ways to reduce the disparity in lung cancer that affects Black residents. The Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that the grant is part of a total $3 million donation to establish the Southeastern Consortium for Lung Cancer Health Equity. Investigators at Massey will collaborate with the cancer centers at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and the University of South Carolina. Dr. Robert Winn, head of Massey, will lead the initiative. (3/15)

The Baltimore Sun: Rep. Kweisi Mfume Files Legislation To Posthumously Award Henrietta Lacks The Congressional Gold Medal 
Rep. Kweisi Mfume filed legislation Tuesday to posthumously award a Congressional Gold Medal to the late Henrietta Lacks, a Baltimore County woman whose cells were used for medical research without her consent. The Congressional Gold Medal is is considered to be one of the highest civilian awards in the United States. It’s awarded for distinguished achievements and contributions. Mfume, who succeeded the late Elijah Cummings in Maryland’s 7th District in 2020, said Lacks deserves the award because of how much her cells have helped — and continue to help — society. (Oxenden, 3/15)

In news from Massachusetts, Connecticut, Kentucky and Wisconsin —

The Boston Globe: Immigrant Patients Allege Discriminatory Treatment At East Boston Health Center
Civil and immigrant rights advocates asked for a state investigation into the East Boston Neighborhood Health Center over allegations that immigrant patients received discriminatory medical treatment. Advocacy groups Centro Presente and Lawyers for Civil Rights identified nine cases going back to 2018 in which patients, most of them immigrant women and many of whom receive health insurance through MassHealth, claim they did not receive the medical care they and their families deserved at the health center, sometimes leaving them without proper treatment for months. In one case, the advocacy group said an infant died the day after he was sent home by the health center. (Tziperman Lotan, 3/15)

The CT Mirror: Lawmakers Weigh 'Anti-Competitive' Practices In Health Care
A bill aimed at rooting out anti-competitive practices in the health care sector will be heard by the General Assembly’s Insurance and Real Estate Committee Thursday, as lawmakers work to clamp down on rising health care costs. S.B. 416 would outlaw certain clauses in contracts between health care providers and insurers that analysts say drive up health care prices and insurance premiums by limiting options for consumers. Advocates say such anti-competitive contract terms have become more common in recent years as the state’s health care sector has consolidated through mergers and acquisitions. (Phillips, 3/16)

Cincinnati Enquirer: Lawsuit: Man Died After Being Restrained At NKY Mental Health Hospital
A Fort Thomas man died during his 18-hour stay at a mental health hospital in Erlanger after being pinned to the ground by staff in a position some say is potentially fatal, a wrongful death lawsuit filed by his family says. Brian Wilson, 48, was admitted to Sun Behavioral Health in the early morning hours of Nov. 18 "to address a mental health episode," attorneys for the family said in an amended complaint filed March 11 in Kenton County. Staff checked on Wilson's condition regularly noting that his state of mind was "calm," until around 7:15 p.m. when he was told medication to help him sleep was unavailable, at which point he became "agitated," the complaint states. (Bentley, 3/15)

Wisconsin Watch: Wisconsin Patients Suffer In A Fight Over Chronic Lyme Disease
If life had gone as planned, Maria Alice Lima Freitas would be in medical school, inspired by the career of her father, a surgeon who practiced in Brazil. But instead of changing careers, the 49-year-old therapist retired from University of Wisconsin-Madison. Freitas says her undiagnosed Lyme disease has sapped her energy, fogged her thinking and caused pain in her neck, shoulders, hands and right knee. She has three times deferred her entrance into medical school while struggling with myriad symptoms that she attributes to Lyme. Most of her doctors say she is mistaken, and that her symptoms, which began in 2015, are due to rheumatoid arthritis. (Wang, 3/15)

In updates from Idaho and Utah —

AP: Idaho Hospital Locks Down Amid Far-Right Call For Protest
A major Boise hospital went on lockdown for about an hour Tuesday after far-right activist Ammon Bundy urged supporters to go the facility in protest of a child protection case involving one of his family friends. St. Luke’s Health System put the Boise Medical Center on lockdown and began diverting incoming patients about 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday. (Boone, 3/15)

AP: Idaho Senate Kills Bill On Gender Reassignment For Minors 
Leaders in the Idaho Senate on Tuesday killed a House-approved bill prohibiting gender reassignment surgeries and gender-affirming health care such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy for minors. The Republican Senate Majority Caucus in a statement said it strongly opposes gender reassignment for minors, but the legislation undermines parental rights and allows the government to interfere. (Ridler, 3/16)

Salt Lake Tribune: New Data Shows How Often Staffers At Utah Teen Treatment Centers Have Been Fired For Sexual Misconduct
When Meagan Crider began exchanging notes with a staffer at the Utah teen treatment center where she was staying, the extra attention felt exciting. It was in the early 2000s, and Crider was 16 years old. The staff member was an adult several years older than her. “I remember we would write letters back and forth,” Crider recalled. “That’s how we would communicate. And I bet there was two boxes full of letters.” They kept their notes a secret. But at one point — she can’t remember exactly when — Crider said the tone of the letters changed. (Miller, Gilbert and Craft, 3/15)

Bloomberg: Lilly Halts New Studies in Russia, Exports of Some Medicines to Country
Eli Lilly & Co. said it has suspended investment, promotional activity and new clinical trials in Russia, and has stopped exporting nonessential medicines to the country, in response to the war in Ukraine. The Indianapolis-based drugmaker, which is one of the world’s biggest producers of insulin, said in an emailed statement that it will continue to deliver cancer and diabetes medicines to patients in Russia. (Griffin, 3/15)

The Washington Post: Boston Doctors Wanted To Help Ukrainians. They Made YouTube Tutorials On How To Control Bleeding Wounds.
As heavy metal music plays in the background, a doctor grabs a piece of cloth and places it atop an open wound on a medical dummy. Pressing on the cloth with both hands, he applies pressure. Later, he secures a tourniquet to the dummy’s leg. The video is less than 40 seconds long — but its creators say it could help save lives in Ukraine. (Mark, 3/15)

The Washington Post: In Middle East, Panic Buying Spreads As Russian Invasion Of Ukraine Sparks Fear Over Food And Fuel
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is sending economic ripples across the Middle East as panic spreads about the availability and prices of essential goods such as wheat, sunflower oil and fuel, that are typically imported from the two warring countries. Prices of bread and other foodstuffs in Egypt, Syria and Lebanon have been increasing as concern over their availability mounts. (Dadouch, 3/15)

Politico: 5 Reasons War In Ukraine Is A Gut Punch To The Global Food System
Guess from where the U.N. World Food Programme sourced more than half of its supplies for the hungry across the globe in 2021? Yes, Ukraine. When this "breadbasket of Europe" is knocked out of supply chains and aid networks, the world is going to feel it. The war between Russia and Ukraine, both food-producing powerhouses, has already sent prices for cereals like wheat soaring and European governments scrambling to stabilize markets. (Wax and Galindo, 3/15)

In other news from around the world —

AP: Red-Orange Sahara Dust Coats Spain, Makes It Hard To Breathe 
Hot air from the Sahara Desert has swirled over the Mediterranean Sea and coated Spain with red-orange dust, prompting authorities to issue extremely bad air quality warnings Tuesday for Madrid and a large swath of the country. The national air quality index listed the capital and large parts of the southeast coast as “extremely unfavorable” — its worst rating. (Wilson, 3/15)

AP: Haiti's Health Professionals Go On Strike Over Kidnappings 
Thousands of doctors, nurses and other health professionals across Haiti have gone on strike to protest a spike in gang-related kidnappings as supporters burned tires and blocked roads on Tuesday. The three-day strike that began on Monday shut down public and private health institutions in the capital of Port-au-Prince and beyond, with only emergency rooms accepting patients. (Sanon, 3/15)

Press Association: Plans To Record British Mothers’ Drinking Habits On Baby Health Records Scrapped
Proposals to include a pregnant woman’s drinking habits on her child’s medical record have been ditched, campaigners said. The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) said it opposed National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (Nice) proposals that any alcohol consumption reported by a pregnant woman should be automatically transferred to her child’s medical record. The plans, part of Nice’s Quality Standard on the diagnosis and assessment of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), prompted a backlash. Campaigners said the plans would have infringed on a woman’s right to privacy and denied pregnant women the ability to have a frank and confidential conversation with her midwife about alcohol. (3/16)

Stat: A Compromise Is Reached On An Intellectual Property Waiver For Covid-19 Vaccines, But Does It Go Far Enough? 
After 18 months of talks, a compromise was reached on a proposal to waive intellectual property rights for Covid-19 medical products, according to a document shared with STAT and confirmed by a trade official familiar with the negotiations. For the moment, the agreement reached between the European Union, South Africa, India and the United States, only covers vaccines, but in six months could be extended to therapies and diagnostics. Developing countries that have exported less than 10% of the world’s Covid-19 vaccine doses in 2021 would be able to authorize use of a patented vaccine without the consent of the patent owner. (Silverman, 3/15)

Politico: Compromise Reached On COVID-19 Vaccine Intellectual Property Rights Waiver
The EU, South Africa, India and the U.S. have reached a compromise in long-running negotiations on a waiver on intellectual property rights for coronavirus products, according to a document seen by POLITICO. Supporters of a waiver argue that it would have led to a significant increase in the production of coronavirus products during the pandemic and could have saved many lives. It would, in effect, have freed up producers to replicate coronavirus vaccines, tests and diagnostics without fear of infringing on pharmaceutical companies' patents. (Furlong, 3/15)

In related news about vaccines —

CNBC: Vaccine Inequity Is Economically Self-Defeating: WHO Foundation CEO
The CEO of the WHO Foundation has told CNBC that the global economy will lose “trillions of dollars” if more Covid-19 vaccines aren’t delivered worldwide. Anil Soni, who became the Foundation’s first CEO in January 2021, said “the governments of Europe and the West have a clear obligation to donate excess doses and to put money on the table to buy the vaccines, the volumes necessary to deliver to 70% of the world’s population this year.” The World Health Organization has set a target for 70% of the global population to be vaccinated by mid-2022. (Bryer, 3/16)

In other global covid news —

Bloomberg: Hong Kong’s Crematoriums Are Nearly Full After Covid Surge
Hong Kong’s crematoriums are straining under the pressure of the world’s highest Covid-19 death rate, while a lockdown in the neighboring mainland China city of Shenzhen risks causing a shortage of coffins. “Our crematoriums are working day and night, and they are already close to their capacity,” Chief Executive Carrie Lam said at a briefing on Wednesday. “Within such a short period of time, we have seen so many deaths, and that would affect the logistics of funeral matters.” (Lew, 3/16)

The Washington Post: China’s Covid Outbreak Sealing Provinces, Threatening Supply Chains
China has put several of its industrial hubs under lockdown to confront its worst coronavirus outbreak in two years, restricting the movement of tens of millions of residents in measures that threaten to disrupt global supply chains. China, one of the few countries in the world to maintain a “zero-covid” strategy, is battling a surge of cases in at least 19 provinces that is testing the government’s commitment to minimizing infections as much as possible. (Kuo, 3/14)

Reuters: Japan Set To Remove All COVID Restrictions As New Infections Ebb 
Japan is set to announce on Wednesday the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions imposed on Tokyo and 17 other prefectures as a wave of infections caused by the Omicron variant continues to ebb. (3/16)

AP: Dutch To Drop Last Remaining COVID-19 Restrictions Next Week 
The Dutch government will drop its last remaining COVID-19 restrictions next week despite a recent rise in infections as the nation learns to live with the coronavirus, officials said Tuesday. The Netherlands has already ended a nationwide lockdown and scrapped most virus measures. As of March 23, wearing a face mask on public transport will no longer be obligatory. Masks will still have to be worn on airplanes and behind security screening at airports. (3/15)

Bloomberg: Indonesia Calls On IMF To Set Up Global Health Crisis Fund
Indonesia is calling on the International Monetary Fund to take on the role of preparing finances for the next global health emergency. The IMF could extend its mandate beyond responding to economic and monetary crises to address challenges in funding international health measures, Indonesia’s Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said in a panel during Bloomberg Live’s Asean Business Summit on Wednesday. The multilateral lender “can assume the risks with very clear structures and also modalities, they leverage funds as big as they can and quickly disburse it,” he said. (Sihombing and Fay Cortez, 3/16)

New England Journal of Medicine: Effect Of MRNA Vaccine Boosters Against SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Infection In Qatar 
Waning of vaccine protection against coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) and the emergence of the omicron (or B.1.1.529) variant of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) have led to expedited efforts to scale up booster vaccination. Protection conferred by booster doses of the BNT162b2 (Pfizer–BioNTech) and mRNA-1273 (Moderna) vaccines in Qatar, as compared with protection conferred by the two-dose primary series, is unclear. (Abu-Raddad, Ph.D., et al, 3/9)

CIDRAP: RSV Vaccine Could Cut Antimicrobial Use In Infants 
A new analysis of a randomized trial for an experimental respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine suggests there is potential for RSV vaccines to reduce antimicrobial prescribing in infants. (Dall, 3/15)

Nature: Could Drugs Prevent Alzheimer’s? These Trials Aim To Find Out
Every two weeks, a nurse visits 43-year-old Marty Reiswig in Denver, Colorado, and injects him with an experimental drug called gantenerumab. Every month, Reiswig drives into town for a brain scan to make sure the drug has not caused any bleeds. And every year he flies to St Louis, Missouri, for four days of brain scans, spinal taps, blood analyses and exhaustive tests of his memory and reasoning capacity. (Abbott, 3/9)

New England Journal of Medicine: Shorter Treatment For Nonsevere Tuberculosis In African And Indian Children 
Two thirds of children with tuberculosis have nonsevere disease, which may be treatable with a shorter regimen than the current 6-month regimen. (Turkova, M.R.C.P.C.H., et al, 3/10)

ScienceDaily: Pathogen And Drug Work Together To Fight Fungal Lung Infection 
Pathogens don't always work against drug treatments. Sometimes, they can strengthen them, according to a new University of Maine study. (University of Maine, 3/15)

ScienceDaily: Senolytic Drugs Boost Key Protective Protein
Researchers say senolytic drugs can boost a key protein in the body that protects older people against aspects of aging and a range of diseases. Their findings demonstrate this in mice and human studies. (Mayo Clinic, 3/15)

CIDRAP: Candidate Antibiotic Combo Shows Promise For Resistant Urinary Infections
Venatorx Pharmaceuticals of Malvern, Pennsylvania, yesterday released promising data from a phase 3 trial of its investigational new drug for patients with complicated urinary tract infections (cUTIs). The drug, cefepime-taniborbactam, combines a fourth-generation cephalosporin antibiotic with a beta-lactamase inhibitor and targets difficult-to-treat drug-resistant gram-negative bacteria, including carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales and carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa. It's been granted Qualified Infectious Disease Product and Fast Track designation by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). (3/11)

Nature: An Epidemic Of Uncertainty: Rumors, Conspiracy Theories And Vaccine Hesitancy
The COVID-19 ‘infodemic’ continues to undermine trust in vaccination efforts aiming to bring an end to the pandemic. However, the challenge of vaccine hesitancy is not only a problem of the information ecosystem and it often has little to do with the vaccines themselves. (Ed Pertwee, Clarissa Simas and Heidi J. Larson, 3/10)

New England Journal of Medicine: A Malaria Vaccine For Africa — An Important Step In A Century-Long Quest 
Malaria, particularly that caused by Plasmodium falciparum, has shaped the history of humankind and continues to devastate people’s health and livelihoods worldwide. In 2020, roughly 4 billion people in 87 countries were at risk for malaria, and there were an estimated 241 million cases and 627,000 resulting deaths, most of them among children younger than 5 years of age in sub-Saharan Africa.1 Despite unprecedented gains in the first 15 years of this century, progress has stalled, and we have gotten increasingly off track when it comes to meeting the 2030 targets of the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Technical Strategy for Malaria and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. (Pedro L. Alonso, M.D., and Katherine L. O'Brien, M.D., 3/12)

The Washington Examiner: Light Starts To Shine On Opaque Drug Pricing Tactics
Late last month, the Federal Trade Commission announced it would seek public comments on the ways pharmacy benefit managers distort the prices of prescription drugs. PBMs deserve the scrutiny, as they're to blame for much of the rise in prescription drug costs. Insurers hire PBMs to negotiate drug prices with manufacturers and determine which medicines end up on a plan's formulary. To guarantee their drug has a spot on the list, pharmaceutical firms routinely offer these gatekeepers deep discounts on medications. Savings on insulin, for example, can reach up to 70%. (Sally Pipes, 3/8)

Los Angeles Times: I Nearly Died From COVID. Now I'm Letting Go Of The Fear 
Two years ago, I was in a hospital bed on the 15th floor of NYU Langone hospital in Manhattan, dying of COVID-19. A previously healthy, 44-year-old runner, I found myself impossibly weak, unable to walk five feet from my bed to the bathroom without a nurse’s help. I could barely breathe, even with the highest levels of supplemental oxygen. Eventually I wound up in the ICU, where I was placed on a ventilator. (David Lat, 3/16)

The Baltimore Sun: I May Wear A Mask Forever
When I was less than 3 months old, pneumonia struck and the infant me landed in the hospital. It was a frightening time for my family, but I survived and have been fortunate not to relive that experience. Instead, I’ve been chased by bouts of bronchitis and the inherent knowledge that if I get even a simple cold, I’ll likely end up with a hacking cough that may not go away for weeks. (Michelle Deal-Zimmerman, 3/15)

The Star Tribune: Minnesotans Should Put Their Masks Back On 
We are public health scientists who conduct research to inform evidence-based policy. We were disappointed when the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) took a radical turn in its COVID-19 prevention policy recommendations. The CDC recently released new guidance on the assessment of community COVID-19 risk, lifting masking recommendations for most of the country. In their new metrics, the CDC has made a judgment call about what level of severe illness, disability and death is acceptable. Overnight, much of Minnesota was reclassified as low or medium risk, even as we were seeing COVID deaths every day. (Eva Enns and Katy Kozhimannil, 3/15

Newsweek: Winning A Victory For Cost Transparency In Health Care 
The No Surprises Act, a bipartisan effort to reduce the number of surprise medical bills, went into effect on January 1. As significant as this legislation is—surprise bills are one of the biggest drivers of medical bankruptcy in America—the act is still being overlooked. (Sen. William Cassidy and Jonathan Kaplan, 3/16)

Chicago Tribune: The Private Sector Can Help Solve Our Doctor Shortage
The pandemic has laid bare a crisis we’ve ignored for far too long — our chronic doctor shortage. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, the United States faces a shortfall of up to 124,000 physicians over the next decade. This is a supply problem, as the demand for care will only go up. So we must create more doctors — by expanding medical school capacity and increasing the number of residency slots where budding doctors can complete their training. (Sally C. Pipes, 3/15)

Kansas City Star: Missouri Ectopic Pregnancy Abortion Bill Not Misrepresented 
When Missouri state Rep. Brian Seitz was running for office two years ago, the Baptist pastor and business manager for Splash Car Wash in Branson spoke out against the “grievous” prospect of a local ordinance that would “restrict individual liberties and freedoms” and “make criminals out of individuals and businesses that refuse to comply.” (Melinda Henneberger, 3/16)

Los Angeles Daily News: Enforcing Abortion Bans Is Much Harder Than Passing Them 
When Texas imposed strict limits on abortion last fall, the number of abortions performed by clinics in that state fell by half. But the actual decline in abortions was much smaller because many women traveled to clinics in other states or used readily available drugs to end their pregnancies at home. (Sullum, 3/14)