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A second set of states has filed a federal lawsuit challenging the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for health care workers. The latest suit, dated Monday, was filed in Louisiana on behalf of 12 states and comes less than a week after another lawsuit challenging the rule was filed in Missouri by a coalition of 10 states. “The federal government will not impose medical tyranny on Louisiana’s people without my best fight,” Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry said in a news release announcing the lawsuit. (McGill, 11/17)

Challenges to President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for private employers will be consolidated in the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, a panel dominated by judges appointed by Republicans. The Cincinnati-based court was selected Tuesday in a random drawing using ping-pong balls, a process employed when challenges to certain federal agency actions are filed in multiple courts. (Mulvihill, 11/16)

A federal judicial panel on Tuesday assigned the appeals court in Cincinnati to handle at least 34 lawsuits that have been filed around the country challenging the Biden administration’s attempt to mandate that large employers require their workers to get vaccinated against the coronavirus or submit to weekly testing. A court clerk for the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation randomly selected the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit by drawing from a drum containing entries for the twelve regional courts of appeal, each of which has at least one related case pending. The procedure can be used to consolidate cases that are all raising the same issue. (Savage, 11/16)

Right-wing politicians’ resistance to vaccine mandates is extending far beyond Covid-19 immunizations, a startling new development that carries vast implications for the future of public health. In Idaho, a lawmaker introduced a bill that would define vaccine mandates — of any kind — as a form of assault. In Florida, a prominent state senator has called for a review of all vaccine requirements, including those for immunizations that have enjoyed wide public acceptance for decades, like polio and the measles, mumps, and rubella shot. And in Montana, the Republican governor recently signed into law a new bill that forbids businesses, including hospitals, from enforcing any vaccination requirements as a condition of employment. (Facher, 11/17)

One question before Florida lawmakers this week is whether businesses will have to choose between following a proposed state policy governing coronavirus vaccination requirements or a federal rule. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued a rule last month requiring workers at businesses with 100 or more employees to get vaccinated against COVID-19 by Jan. 4. As part of the state’s efforts to block the rule, Gov. Ron DeSantis called the Legislature into special session to adopt policy that would give workers more ways to opt out of getting vaccinated. The special session is scheduled to end Thursday but could last through Friday. (Crowder, 11/16)

Physicians and other health professionals issued a call Monday for Florida lawmakers to reject any bans on COVID-19 mask and vaccine mandates. New legislation is forthcoming even as Florida has logged more than 60,000 deaths from COVID-19. The legislature has convened a special session at Gov. Ron DeSantis’ request to craft laws designed to ban such mandates. "We are deeply concerned that he is using this week's session as a platform to raise his political profile by promoting policies that his base may appreciate, but which we as doctors can say without a doubt will put people in danger," said Miami cardiologist Dr. Bernard Ashby, Florida lead for the Committee to Protect Health Care, which hosted the media event via Zoom. (Jordan, 11/16)

A bill making it easier for Idaho residents to get worker compensation if they become ill after taking an employee-mandated vaccine sailed through the House and headed for the Senate on Tuesday. The measure passed the House on a 67-3 vote. It was among seven COVID-19-related bills that the chamber pushed through with expedited voting and sent to the Senate. Supporters said workers are getting sick after being vaccinated for COVID-19, and some are having problems receiving compensation. The bill tilts the field toward employees for compensation of hard-to-prove claims such as illnesses caused by vaccines, backers said. (Ridler, 11/17)

Several dozen New York City sanitation workers have been accused of submitting falsified vaccination cards to satisfy the city's COVID-19 vaccine mandate, and they've been suspended without pay, according to a city official. The city's Department of Investigation is looking into the allegations, with spokesperson Diane Struzzi adding: "DOI is aware of allegations involving the issuance of bogus vaccination cards and declines further comment." (Agarwal and Katersky, 11/16)

New year, new rule. Officials at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center are mandating that all of its employees be fully vaccinated shortly after 2022 begins unless they submit a medical and religious exemption for review by internal committees of physicians, ethicists and religious experts, according to a release statement. (Welch, 11/16)