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In the past two years most people have spent more time at home shielding from possible exposure to a deadly virus. We assume we are safer at home – but what if our homes are not as safe as we think? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that over 5 million homes across the country expose families to high levels of lead, which can permanently affect our brains, especially children. Nationally, one in five children have elevated blood lead levels. Children living in Connecticut are particularly vulnerable, in part because 70% of homes in Connecticut were built prior to the 1978 ban on lead paint. And due to the pandemic, children have spent more time at home than ever before, so clinicians and educators fear an imminent surge in lead toxicity. (Ada Fenick MD, Shashwat Kala and Madisen Swallow, 3/23)

There is still a chance that the U.S. Supreme Court won’t overturn decades of constitutional legal precedent guaranteeing that women in this country have the right to make fundamental decisions about their bodies, futures and health without government intervention. However, in December, the Supreme Court’s oral arguments about a 15-week abortion ban in Mississippi did not inspire confidence in some justices’ dedication to American jurisprudence. (3/22)

The ways people conceptualize and discuss abortion will become more important in coming years. The Supreme Court’s upcoming ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health could overturn 50 years of national precedent establishing abortion as a fundamental right of individuals prior to fetal viability. (Cara C. Heuser, 3/21)

Isolation and anxiety caused by the Covid-19 pandemic has fueled an already out of control overdose crisis. In 2020 alone, more than 100,000 individuals died from overdose. With overdose rates reaching unfathomable heights, dramatic steps are needed to stem the loss of life. The Department of Health and Human Services took one important step by eliminating a special training requirement — obtaining a so-called X waiver — for clinicians to be able to prescribe buprenorphine, a partial opioid agonist used to treat opioid use disorder. This drug helps people avoid opioids by reducing opioid cravings and withdrawal symptoms. (John C. Messinger, Anand Chukka and J. Wesley Boyd, 3/22)

Hey, Google: Remember that stem cell problem you tried to fix in 2019 by banning clinics from advertising unproven therapies on your platform? The solution didn’t last. Clinics have adapted, but you haven’t, leading to widespread use of your search platform by clinics to pitch risky cell injections. (Paul Knoepfler, 3/23)

A slew of bills on significant issues — with significant details still to be worked out — survived the first 69 days and countint of analysis in the Maryland General Assembly, including the flurry of activity that accompanied “Crossover Day” on Monday, passing through one legislative chamber to the next for consideration. Among the topics with differing visions from legislators: abortion rights, climate change mitigation and how to divvy up $350 million worth of planned tax relief. But perhaps the biggest surprise is the chasm between the Maryland House and Senate chambers regarding state-wide paid family and medical leave, a subject that’s been under discussion for years and the focus of work groups, studies and prior failed legislation. (3/22)

Recently in a piece titled “Lawsuit sweepstakes,” the American Property Casualty Insurance Association attacked SB 1099 and the consumer legal funding industry by claiming they are suddenly concerned about protecting consumers. As a former partner at a large insurance defense firm and one of the founding fathers of the consumer legal funding industry, let me explain what is really behind the false attacks. (Brian Garelli, 3/21)