Johnson & Johnson shares surge after Speak’s settlement supply

A bottle of Johnson & Johnson baby powder is displayed on a table in this photo illustration on November 12, 2021 in San Anselmo, California.

Justin Sullivan | Getty Images

Johnson&Johnson Shares rose Wednesday after the company proposed paying $8.9 billion to settle thousands of claims that its baby powder and other talc products caused cancer.

More than 60,000 applicants have pledged to support the proposed order, which would require bankruptcy court approval, the company said in a securities filing late Tuesday.

J&J stock closed nearly 4.5% higher on Wednesday. The company’s market value is more than 430 billion US dollars.

The pharma giant also said its subsidiary LTL Management had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection again after its first attempt faced legal challenges. The subsidiary is shouldering tens of thousands of talc claims to reduce J&J’s litigation and settlement losses.

Some attorneys representing plaintiffs in the Talk lawsuits called J&J’s proposal a “significant victory” in a legal battle that has spanned more than a decade.

On Wall Street, some analysts were also encouraged by J&J’s move, despite uncertainty over the proposal’s ultimate outcome.

JPMorgan analyst Chris Schott described the proposed settlement in a note Thursday as positive for the company. He said the bank viewed ongoing Talk headlines as the “larger backlog” for the company compared to an actual comparable.

The proposed $8.9 billion settlement also matches JPMorgan’s estimate of $8 billion to $10 billion, Schott noted.

A note Thursday from Morgan Stanley analyst Terence Flynn was similarly supportive of J&J’s move. But Flynn said he’s awaiting clarity on how the 60,000 plaintiffs relate to the 40,300 plaintiffs cited in J&J’s most recent 10-K filing and the approximately 37,500 pending lawsuits in the company’s Talk cases.

It’s also unclear whether the proposed settlement will be approved in the bankruptcy court, Bank of America analyst Geoff Meacham noted Thursday. Meacham highlighted J&J’s legal issues surrounding LTL Management’s bankruptcy filing.

A judge confirmed J&J’s ability to employ the Chapter 11 strategy in February 2022. But the US Circuit Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit reversed the ruling in January this year, saying neither LTL nor J&J had a legitimate need for bankruptcy protection because they were not in “financial distress.”

Bernstein analyst Lee Hambright acknowledged that there were “many issues” to resolve if J&J settled Talk’s liability in bankruptcy court. But he added that the firm believes “this is a creative approach that could actually work.”

Clarence Thomas took GOP mega-donor Harlan Crow on secret luxurious journeys: report

Associate Justice Clarence Thomas during the formal group photo at the Supreme Court in Washington, DC, U.S. on Friday, October 7, 2022.

Eric Lee | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has accepted secret luxury trips from Republican mega-spender Harlan Crow for more than two decades in apparent violation of a financial disclosure law, a ProPublica report revealed Thursday.

Thomas has vacationed on Crow’s 162-foot superyacht, flown on the real estate developer’s private jet and spent time at the GOP donor’s private resort and other exclusive retreats, ProPublica reported, citing documents and dozens of interviews.

Thomas, the 74-year-old conservative justice who has served on the country’s top court since 1991, did not report the trips to his financial statements as required by law, the nonprofit newsroom reported.

The probe offers more fuel for Thomas’s critics, who say his refusal to back down from cases related to issues related to his wife’s political work in conservative circles – including her involvement in plans to overthrow the election of 2020 – constitutes a conflict of interest.

Ethics experts and former judges interviewed by ProPublica were incredulous. Thomas “appears to have completely disregarded his higher ethical obligations,” Virginia Canter, chief ethicist for watchdog group CREW, told the outlet.

“When a judge’s lifestyle is subsidized by the rich and famous, it undermines public confidence,” Canter said.

Supreme Court spokesmen and Crow did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment on the investigation.

Harlan Crow, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Crow Holdings LLC sits for a photo at the offices of the Old Parkland Estate in Dallas, Texas, on Friday, October 2, 2015.

Chris Goodney | Bloomberg | Getty Images

In a statement to ProPublica, Crow said, “The hospitality we have shown to the Thomas’s over the years is no different than the hospitality we have shown to our many other dear friends.”

Thomas and his wife Ginni Thomas “never asked for any of the gifts,” nor for any of the contributions the Crows have made to projects celebrating the “life and legacy” of Justice, the mega-donor said. Crow added that he and his wife “never asked about any pending or lower court case, and Judge Thomas never discussed any, and we never attempted to influence Judge Thomas on any legal or political matter.”

Crow, a Texas real estate magnate, befriended Thomas after he joined the Supreme Court. He has given more than $10 million in publicly disclosed political donations and undisclosed amounts to groups that are not required to disclose their donors, ProPublica reported.

Thomas typically spends about a week each summer at Topridge, Crow’s private lakeside resort in the Adirondacks, and flight records show he has used Crow’s plane numerous times, according to the news outlet.

In 2019, shortly after the court delivered its final tenure verdict, Clarence and Ginni Thomas took off on Crow’s private jet for a nine-day vacation in Indonesia aboard the donor’s yacht — a trip that cost more than $500,000, according to ProPublica cost.

The report also cited records showing that during a July 2017 trip, Thomas had been with Topridge at the same time as key GOP donors, corporate executives and a director of the conservative American Enterprise Institute.

A painting hanging at the lakeside resort shows Thomas and Crow smoking cigars and chatting with conservative figures, the report said. These include Leonard Leo, the influential leader of the Federalist Society, who is credited with helping former President Donald Trump select his judge nominations and shift federal courts to the right.

Crow claimed in his statement that he “was not aware that any of our friends ever lobbied or attempted to influence Judge Thomas on any matter.”

Supreme Court justices are subject to fewer ethical constraints than the lower echelons of the judiciary. Some groups have called for a code of ethics for the Supreme Court.

But judges are still making financial disclosures, and experts say they must disclose any gifts worth more than $415. While there are exceptions to this requirement, transportation is not one of them.

“Where Judge Thomas has been granted free travel on private planes and yachts, failure to report the gifts constitutes a violation of the Disclosure Act,” Kedric Payne, senior ethics director for the Campaign Legal Center, told the outlet.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., later Thursday morning called for an “enforceable code of conduct” for Supreme Court justices as he slammed Thomas over the reported clandestine travel.

“The highest court in the country shouldn’t have the lowest ethical standards,” Durbin said in response to the report. “This behavior is simply not consistent with the ethical standards that the American people expect of any government official, let alone a Supreme Court judge.”

Read ProPublica’s full report.

Gavin Rossdale’s daughter Daisy Lowe welcomes first child

Gavin Rossdale is now grandfather than that bush Rocker’s daughter Daisy lion gave birth to her first child.

On April 9, Easter Sunday, the 34-year-old and fiancé got married Jordan Saul announced that they have welcomed a baby girl.

“Our Easter egg finally hatched,” the model wrote on Instagram. “Ivy loves Saul You made all my dreams come true – our dream woman. I have never experienced happiness or love like this. I can’t stop crying with joy.”

Her fiancé also took to his Instagram to celebrate the news, writing, “Welcome to the [world] Ivy loves Saul.” Both Jordan and Daisy paired their sweet messages with a photo of them lovingly gazing at their newborn.

The arrival of the little ones comes after Daisy, whose mother is a fashion designer pearl lionShe announced that she and Jordan would be expanding their family in October.

“I wanted to share some news with you,” Daisy began her Instagram post. “Jordan and I are having a baby. We are bursting at the seams with happiness.

Trivia Evening steigert den Gewinn für Bars und Eating places

Die Brooklyn Brewery veranstaltet am 30. März eine Quiznacht am Donnerstag.

Noah Sheidlower | CNBC

Megan Fitzgerald war schon immer ein Trivia-Fan, aber als Director of Brand Experience bei Talea Beer Co. in Brooklyn war sie nicht überzeugt, dass es gut zu der von Frauen gegründeten Brauerei passen würde.

Im Februar flehte sie Freunde an, zu Taleas erstem Trivia-Abend zu kommen, weil sie befürchtete, dass nur wenige Spieler erscheinen würden. Stattdessen machten mehr als 70 Gönner mit.

Wenn die Leute ausgehen, „wollen sie etwas, das bereichert und fesselt und mehr ist als nur Schüsse zu trinken oder Bier zu kippen“, sagte Fitzgerald. “Trivia ist einfach und macht Spaß, gut für große Gruppen oder Paare, und Sie finden es normalerweise gleich um die Ecke.”

Nach einigen Wochen der Partnerschaft mit der NYC Trivia League zur Ausrichtung der Spiele am Mittwochabend sagte Fitzgerald, dass Talea-Trivia-Nächte fast doppelt so viel Umsatz einbringen wie andere Abende unter der Woche, abgesehen von Sonderveranstaltungen. Der Veranstaltungsort hat ständig fast 20 Trivia-Teams angezogen und den Verkauf von Speisen und Getränken während des zweistündigen Spiels gesteigert. Auch das Barpersonal bekomme mehr Trinkgeld, sagte sie.

Im ganzen Land fügen Bars und Restaurants Trivia-Events zu ihren wöchentlichen oder monatlichen Programmen hinzu, um mehr Gäste anzulocken und höhere Gewinne zu erzielen. In Groß- und Kleinstädten sind neue Trivia-Marken aufgetaucht, während einige alteingesessene Unternehmen ihren Weg zurück zu den Zahlen vor der Pandemie gefunden haben. Das Tempo der Erholung war jedoch langsam, da die Branche laut Trivia-Unternehmensführern und Restaurantbesitzern mit Personalproblemen konfrontiert ist.

Während einige Bars ihre eigenen Trivia-Fragen erstellen, arbeiten andere mit Quiz- oder Unterhaltungsunternehmen zusammen, die eine Pauschalgebühr erheben, um Fragen, Infrastruktur und Hosts bereitzustellen. Die Grundidee besteht darin, Teams zusammenzubringen, die um Preise kämpfen, um das Geschäft anzukurbeln oder zusätzlichen Platz in einer normalerweise langsameren Nacht zu nutzen – und einen neuen Stamm von Stammkunden aufzubauen.

„Trivia ist für uns von Vorteil, weil es rentabel ist, es in diesen langsameren Zeiten zu haben“, sagte Nick Marking von The Tap Yard in den Außenbezirken von Milwaukee, das an seinen fünf Standorten während Quizabenden etwa 30 % mehr Umsatz erzielt hat.

„Die Shows bringen dir eine gewisse Menge ein, und dann auch die Preise, also musst du schauen, ob es sich auf lange Sicht lohnt, Trivia zu haben, wenn man bedenkt, dass deine Gewinnspanne irgendwo zwischen 15 % und 25 % in der Barwelt liegt.“ Markierung sagte.

Die NYC Trivia League, die Trivia an über 100 Veranstaltungsorten in ganz New York City veranstaltet, hat kürzlich ihre wöchentliche Veranstaltungsanzahl seit Anfang 2020 und der Sperrung der Covid-19-Pandemie überschritten. Die Liga erhebt eine Pauschalgebühr für Riegel und ist für Spieler kostenlos.

Irving Torres-Lopez veranstaltet Trivia Nite in der Brooklyn Brewery.

Noah Sheidlower | CNBC

Cullen Shaw, einer der Gründer der Liga, sagte, die Teams seien größer als vor Covid – mit durchschnittlich etwa 3,5 Personen –, als viele Bars ihre Quizabende kaum durchhielten. Shaw, der Quizabende im The Gaf East auf der Upper East Side von Manhattan veranstaltet, fügte hinzu, dass die Umstellung der Liga auf eine digitale Plattform von Stift und Papier effizientere Spiele ermöglicht habe.

„Wir füllen den Platz, und ich glaube nicht, dass das der Fall wäre, wenn sie nur ein Basketball- oder Hockeyspiel veranstalten und hoffen, dass eine Menge hereinkommt“, sagte er.

Das Wachstum von „Eattainment“

Shaw sagte, die NYC Trivia League habe kürzlich Veranstaltungsorte eingeführt, die sich nie als Trivia-Bars gesehen hätten, und allein in diesem Jahr über ein Dutzend zu ihrem Angebot hinzugefügt. Die Bindungsraten sind im Jahr 2023 gestiegen, und die Liga ist bei Austragungsorten und Gastgebern selektiver geworden.

„Ich bin mir sicher, dass es eine Million Trivia-Apps gibt, aber ein Gruppenwettbewerb hat einfach etwas, es hat etwas mit Gemeinschaft zu tun, wenn gleichgesinnte und wettbewerbsfähige Menschen an einem Ort zusammenkommen, um ein dummes Spiel zu spielen, aber alle die Regeln verstehen“, sagte Shaw .

Laut Mike Kostyo, einem „Trendologen“ bei Datassential, ist das schnelle Wachstum von Trivia-Nächten Teil einer breiteren Bewegung in Richtung „Eattainment“, einer Verschmelzung von Speisen und interaktiven Aktivitäten, die von Bar-Trivia bis hin zu Pickleball-Dining-Konzepten reichen. Eatertainment war für viele Bars und Restaurants von Vorteil, da es die Arbeitskosten nicht wesentlich erhöht, fügte Kostyo hinzu.

„Sie haben viel mehr Kunden in Ihrem Veranstaltungsort, also brauchen Sie mehr Back-of-House- und Front-of-House-Personal, aber es ist nicht etwas, wo Sie jemanden einstellen müssen, um das zu verwalten. Es ist normalerweise ein externer Anbieter, der dies tut das Trivia-Programm”, sagte Kostyo.

Laut einem Bericht von Datassential aus dem letzten Jahr waren 82 % der Amerikaner in mindestens einem Restaurant, und über 50 % dieser Gäste gaben an, dass sie „sehr interessiert“ daran seien, ein solches Erlebnis noch einmal zu erleben. Achtzehn Prozent der Befragten gaben an, dass sie häufiger Restaurants besuchen würden, wenn sie regelmäßige Quizabende hätten.

“An einem Trivia-Abend verdoppeln wir leicht unsere Verkäufe gegenüber dem Vorabend”, sagte Will Arvidson, Manager des Verkostungsraums bei der Brooklyn Brewery, der sagte, dass der Raum normalerweise etwa 150 Personen für seine Trivia-Veranstaltung am Donnerstag anzieht. “Es ist manchmal schwierig für uns, Leute zu setzen, aber wir finden einen Weg.”

Die Brooklyn Brewery veranstaltet seit 2019 Quizabende mit der NYC Trivia League.

Noah Sheidlower | CNBC

Victoria Dawes und Kristina Cheng, die sich an einem kürzlichen Donnerstag in der Brooklyn Brewery zusammengetan haben, sagten, dass sie seit etwa einem Jahrzehnt Bar-Trivia spielen, und waren sich einig, dass es jetzt beliebter ist als vor der Pandemie. Beide sagten, dass sie sich jede Woche Zeit nehmen, um sich mit Freunden zu treffen und ihr zufälliges Wissen zu zeigen.

„Ich habe das Gefühl, dass wir so viel Verbindung zueinander verloren haben, und Trivia war eine besonders unterhaltsame Art, wieder ganz normale Interaktionen zu haben“, sagte Dawes.

Der Aufstieg von Eattainment kommt, da die Inflation mehr Amerikaner dazu zwingt, genau zu prüfen, wie sie ihr Geld ausgeben.

Laut dem Table Stakes Report von Datassential vom Februar gaben 39 % der Verbraucher an, dass sie das Essen auswärts zurückziehen, obwohl Kostyo sagte, dass kostenbewusste Menschen nach einem guten Preis-Leistungs-Verhältnis Ausschau halten, wenn sie ausgehen.

„Viele Verbraucher sitzen den ganzen Tag zu Hause fest und treffen sich nicht wirklich, also suchen sie nach diesen Möglichkeiten in der Gastronomie, um wieder mit Freunden und Familie in Kontakt zu kommen“, sagte Kostyo.

„Aber das bedeutet nicht, dass sie in Scharen zurückkommen“, fügte er hinzu.

Die Brooklyn Brewery veranstaltet am 30. März eine Quiznacht am Donnerstag.

Noah Sheidlower | CNBC

Teams können Geldpreise gewinnen – bis zu 50 oder 100 US-Dollar für den ersten Platz in einigen Bars – oder Schüsse, Essen oder kostenlose Waren. Diese möglichen Gewinne könnten mehr Ausgaben von Spielern anregen und potenziell Kosten für preisbewusste Trivia-Besucher ausgleichen.

Conrad Corretti, der sagt, dass sein Trivia-Team in der Brooklyn Brewery und anderen Veranstaltungsorten normalerweise unter den ersten fünf landet, sagte, er habe eher die Ausgaben an anderen Wochentagen gekürzt, damit er „liberaler“ in Bar-Trivia ausgeben könne.

„Du tauchst mit deiner Gruppe auf und musst nicht wirklich mit anderen Leuten interagieren, also war es eine gute Aktivität, mit Leuten abzuhängen, die du nicht immer siehst, und eine gute Zeit zu haben“, sagte er.

Holperiger Weg zur Genesung

Angesichts so vieler neuer Veranstaltungsorte, in denen Quizabende stattfinden, warnte Kostyo, dass sich die Bars „gegenseitig ausschlachten“ könnten, da immer mehr Unternehmen versuchen, ihre Flagge im Quizbereich zu hissen. Er hat gesehen, dass mehr Nischenthemen bei Quizabenden ein bestimmtes Publikum anziehen.

Um mehr Verbraucher anzuziehen, haben einige Unternehmen, wie Geeks Who Drink, neue Quizmaster rekrutiert und Kundenmanager eingestellt, um Beziehungen zu Veranstaltungsorten zu pflegen. Bryan Carr, Marketingdirektor des Trivia-Unternehmens, sagte, das Unternehmen habe ein „Twitch“-Quiz gestartet, das noch heute läuft, und es habe sein Schreibteam von mehr als 15 Personen beibehalten, um den kreativen Inhalt am Laufen zu halten.

Die Rückkehr langjähriger Veranstaltungsorte und die Aufnahme neuer Veranstaltungsorte war ein „langsamer Prozess“, aber das Unternehmen hat seine Präsenz in Städten wie Denver, Chicago und Austin, Texas, weiter ausgebaut. Es führt Full-Service-Pub-Quiz an rund 650 Veranstaltungsorten durch, obwohl diese Zahl vor der Pandemie etwa 1.000 betrug.

„Wir versuchen, Veranstaltungsorte mit einem großartigen Starter-Kit auszustatten, um sicherzustellen, dass ihre Veranstaltung in Gang kommt, und wir wissen, dass es manchmal zwei bis drei Monate dauert, um wirklich eine beständige Fangemeinde aufzubauen“, sagte Carr. „Sie können wirklich einen großen Unterschied sehen, bevor sie Trivia hatten und dann, wenn sie es an diesen langsameren freien Abenden haben.“

An einem Trivia-Abend verdoppeln wir leicht unsere Verkäufe gegenüber dem Vorabend. … Es fällt uns manchmal schwer, Leute hinzusetzen, aber wir finden einen Weg.

Will Arvidson

Verkostungsraummanager, Brooklyn Brewery

Joshua Lieberthal, Gründer des in Kalifornien ansässigen Unternehmens King Trivia, das Veranstaltungsorte in etwa 35 Bundesstaaten hat, sagte, er habe heute wesentlich mehr Quizabende gesehen als vor der Pandemie. Aufgrund der geringeren Gewinnspannen waren viele Bars jedoch gezwungen, „wesentlich mehr“ wöchentliche Veranstaltungen durchzuführen, um sich über Wasser zu halten, was erklären könnte, warum das Unternehmen von rund 200 wöchentlichen Veranstaltungsorten im Jahr 2019 auf jetzt etwa 325 gestiegen ist.

Dennoch haben etwa 30 % bis 40 % der Pre-Covid-Kunden von King Trivia ihr Geschäft eingestellt, und der Wiederaufbauprozess war holprig.

„Es war nicht so, dass Sie Ihre alten Kunden zurückbekommen haben, als die Dinge neu gestartet wurden – es hat bei Null angefangen“, sagte Lieberthal. „Erstaunlicherweise waren wir vor der Pandemie profitabler als heute, obwohl wir so viel größer sind als zuvor.“

Anwesenheit und Bindung sind mehr oder weniger auf das Niveau vor der Pandemie zurückgekehrt, was teilweise auf die erweiterten Vertriebs- und Kundendienstteams des Unternehmens zurückzuführen ist, sagte er. Lieberthal sagte jedoch, dass jede Woche ein anderer Kunde eine Pause einlegt oder einen Starttermin aufgrund von Personalproblemen verschiebt.

„Weil jeder mehr bezahlt wird, weil es schwierig ist, Personal zu finden, braucht man mehr Leute, die hinter den Kulissen arbeiten, um das alles zu verwirklichen“, sagte Lieberthal. „Das ist eine unglückliche Realität, dass die Gewinnschwelle in dieser Branche viel höher ist als früher, aber zum Glück wollen so viele Veranstaltungsorte Shows veranstalten, dass es machbar ist.“

Für das in Wisconsin ansässige America’s Pub Quiz, das 2007 von Michael Landmann gegründet wurde, hat alles, von der Personalausstattung bis zu den Kosten für Bleistiftboxen, das Wachstumstempo des Unternehmens im Vergleich zu vor der Pandemie verlangsamt.

Bis 2020 hatte das Unternehmen 205 Veranstaltungsorte in acht Bundesstaaten. Sie liegt jetzt wieder bei rund 175, obwohl sie bei Null anfangen und mit höheren Geschäftskosten fertig werden müssen.

Das Unternehmen erstellte ein Online-System, das Dutzende weitere Teams bewältigen konnte, aber Landmann stellte fest, dass viele Veranstaltungsorte mit der gestiegenen Nachfrage nicht Schritt halten konnten. Andere mit reichlich Personal konnten keinen geeigneten Trivia-Host finden.

Tyson Sevier, General Manager des in Omaha, Nebraska, ansässigen Varsity Sports Cafe, das seit einem Jahrzehnt Partner von America’s Pub Quiz ist, sagte, dass den Standorten an einem geschäftigen Quizabend oft ein oder zwei Mitarbeiter fehlten. Das ist weit entfernt von den „Mitarbeiter-Horrorgeschichten“, die er von anderen Barbesitzern in der Stadt gehört hat, räumte er ein.

Trotzdem bringen Quizabende im Varsity Sports Cafe im Vergleich zu anderen Wochentagen 2.000 bis 3.000 US-Dollar mehr ein, sagte er.

„Wir haben immer mehr Leute, die mitgehen und spielen wollen, also denke ich, dass es definitiv ein Interesse gibt, das vor Jahren nur ein paar Bars Trivia hatte und jetzt scheint es, als ob jede Bar es hat“, sagte Sevier. “Du musst es jetzt tun, um wettbewerbsfähig zu sein.”

Pfizer shot displays for Guillain Barre

A health worker prepares a flu shot before administering it to a local resident in Los Angeles, the United States, on December 17, 2022.

Xinhua News Agency | Getty Images

people who receive PfizerRSV vaccine for older adults should be monitored for Guillain-Barre syndrome after two people developed the nervous system disorder after receiving the vaccine, scientists said in clinical trial results published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The scientists concluded that the vaccine was effective in preventing lower respiratory tract disease in adults aged 60 and over with no apparent safety concerns. But they flagged the Guillain Barre cases as a potential cause for concern in the future.

“If the RSVpreF vaccine is approved and recommended, these adverse events warrant close monitoring in future studies and with real world data and post-marketing surveillance,” the scientists wrote. The study, released on Wednesday, was supported by Pfizer.

Guillain-Barré Syndrome is a rare condition in which the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks nerves. Symptoms can range from brief weakness to paralysis, according to the National Institutes of Health. Most people recover even from severe cases.

The scientists’ call for close monitoring for a possible link between the vaccine and Guillain-Barre is in line with the Food and Drug Administration’s position.

The agency has asked Pfizer to include Guillain-Barre as an “important potential risk” of the vaccine and to develop a safety study to monitor potential cases if the shot is approved in May. Pfizer has agreed to conduct a safety study.

The FDA’s independent advisors approved the vaccine in February, although there was significant disagreement at that meeting. Seven consultants said the safety data was sufficient for approval, while four said it was not and one abstained.

In the New England Journal of Medicine article, the scientists said the two cases occurred in patients who were in an age group at increased risk of developing Guillain-Barre. Possible factors other than the vaccine could also have led to the individuals developing the syndrome, they added.

But the FDA said the agency is considering the Guillain-Barre cases as possibly vaccine-related because patients developed the syndrome shortly after receiving the vaccine, according to briefing documents released in February. Pfizer concluded that the cases were unrelated and the clinical trial data monitoring committee found no safety concerns with the vaccine.

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Pfizer’s vaccine is in the running to become the first RSV vaccine ever approved for older adults. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, RSV kills between 6,000 and 10,000 seniors each year. It also causes 60,000 to 160,000 hospital admissions in the age group annually.

According to results published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the vaccine was 86% effective in preventing lower respiratory disease with three or more symptoms and 66% effective in preventing disease with two or more symptoms. The injection is given as a single dose of 120 micrograms.

While the syringe promises to reduce hospitalizations and deaths from RSV in seniors, FDA advisers were concerned about the Guillain-Barre cases at their February meeting.

dr Hana El Sahly, the FDA committee chair, said Guillain-Barre has an incidence of about 1 in 100,000 in people age 60 and older. But in the vaccine study, the rate was closer to 1 in 9,000.

“So that’s important if we look at it at that level,” El Sahly said. She acknowledged that there is still uncertainty as to what the true rate of the disease would be among vaccine recipients.

“But nonetheless, it’s significant in terms of incidence,” she said of the two cases. The consultants who endorsed the vaccine also said safety monitoring will be crucial following a possible FDA approval.

A 66-year-old man in the United States was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre, and a woman of the same age in Japan was diagnosed with a variant of the syndrome called Miller Fisher. Patients developed symptoms seven and eight days after vaccination, respectively.

The man had a history of high blood pressure and suffered a heart attack shortly before he was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre and the woman had a history of diabetes. The FDA doesn’t see the heart attack as vaccine-related.

The man’s symptoms disappeared 6 months after onset, and the woman’s symptoms completely disappeared 3 months after onset.

Home Republicans are speaking about kicking Kevin McCarthy to the curb

Speaker McCarthy is trying to throw the Republican leadership of the House of Representatives under the bus on the budget and debt ceiling, which has infuriated his faction, where some are warning he won’t serve out the full term.

The New York Times reported that McCarthy thinks the chair of the House Budget Committee is incompetent, and he criticized House Republican Number Two Steve Scalise (R-LA):

Mr McCarthy has told colleagues he has no faith in Mr Arrington, the man responsible for providing a fiscal framework that lays out the spending cuts Republicans will demand in exchange for a debt ceiling hike. Aside from perceived disloyalty, Mr. McCarthy believes Mr. Arrington, a former official in the George W. Bush administration, to be incompetent, as do more than half a dozen people familiar with his thinking who spoke on condition of anonymity to a description private Conversations.

….

Mr McCarthy has told colleagues and allies that he cannot rely on Mr Scalise and has described the majority leader as ineffective, sidelined and reluctant to take a stand on anything.

Axios reported that McCarthy’s comments are getting Republicans talking more about getting rid of him:

House Conservatives say they are unwilling to push through an eviction motion that could oust McCarthy as speaker. But that raised the level of the conversations.

“The members I spoke to are simply stunned by his rebuke of his budget leader and certainly our leadership,” another House Republican told Axios.

“I can not imagine that [he will last an entire term].”

Once the debt ceiling fiasco explodes in the faces of House Republicans, the clock will be ticking for a motion to vacate and get rid of McCarthy. All the old tensions linger among House Republicans.

It’s only a matter of time before Republicans fail on the debt ceiling, blame McCarthy and send him home.

Both Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and former President Donald Trump have their cars hitched to McCarthy. Greene’s rise will almost certainly hit a speed bump if McCarthy is ousted, and Trump will be pushing for another loyalist because he needs a spokesman who will seek to interfere in the criminal proceedings and investigations against him.

Speaker McCarthy is burning bridges and his days as Speaker of the House appear to be numbered.

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House press pool and congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a bachelor’s degree in political science. His thesis focused on public policy with a specialization in social reform movements.

Awards and professional memberships

Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and the American Political Science Association

Lance Reddick’s lawyer disputes the reason for loss of life report

Actor Lance Reddicks The cause of death was reportedly revealed earlier this week, but his lawyer is now denying how he died.

The Wire star’s death certificate, first published by TMZ Earlier Thursday, listed his immediate cause of death as ischemic heart disease and atherosclerotic coronary artery disease.

Actor’s lawyer says cause of death ‘totally inconsistent with his lifestyle’

However, Reddick’s attorney James Hornstein issued a statement PEOPLE just hours after TMZ published the report. He claims that no autopsy was performed and “no medical examination of Lance during his lifetime ever indicated such conditions.”

“I have represented Lance Reddick for many years and continue to represent his wife Stephanie. The coroner’s statement on the death certificate is not the result of an autopsy. No autopsy was performed on Lance. To my knowledge, no medical examination of Lance during his lifetime has ever pointed to such conditions,” the statement said.

Calling Lance “the most physically fit person I’ve ever known,” Hornstein added, “The information on his death certificate doesn’t match his lifestyle at all.”

“John Wick” star Lance Reddick has died. https://t.co/ENQ7vg9lwA

— TMZ (@TMZ) March 17, 2023

“Lance was the most physically fit person I’ve ever known,” Hornstein continued. “He exercised daily at his home gym, including extensive cardio training, and the availability of fitness facilities was a contractual requirement for his work away from home. He ate as if a nutritionist was overseeing each of his meals. The information on the death certificate is completely incompatible with his lifestyle.”

Lance Reddick’s wife also denies acting credentials

The statement concluded:

“On behalf of Stephanie Reddick, the information on the death certificate is not confirmed and does not agree with the facts known to the family.”

Hornstein did not comment on whether or not Reddick, 60, will be cremated, according to the TMZ report.

RELATED: Lance Reddick’s cause of death is reportedly being revealed

Reddick’s body was discovered at his home on March 17, as previously reported by The shadow room.

Lance Reddick’s cause of death has been revealed.

The actor died from ischemic heart disease and atherosclerotic coronary artery disease.

(Via: @TMZ) pic.twitter.com/yHE6NI2xiE

— The Hollywood Handle (@hollywoodhandle) April 6, 2023

The actor’s representatives say he died “of natural causes” and was survived by his wife and two children

The actor’s representatives confirmed in a statement released after his death that he died “of natural causes.”

“Lance is best known for his roles in The Wire, Bosch, Netflix’s Resident Evil and the John Wick films,” the statement said.

The statement said: “He is survived by his wife Stephanie Reddick and children Yvonne Nicole Reddick and Christopher Reddick. Adding: “Lance will be greatly missed. Please respect his family’s privacy at this time.”

At the time of his death, Reddick was planning to star in several projects, including the reboot of White Men Can’t Jump, the role of Zeus in 2024’s Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, and the John Wick spin-off Ballerina.

Greenback Normal violates office security requirements once more

The exterior of a Dollar General supermarket is seen in Austin, Texas March 16, 2023.

Brandon Bell | Getty Images

Dollar General was again found in violation of federal occupational safety and health regulations after “deliberately” exposing employees to fire hazards at a Pennsylvania store, the Labor Department said Friday.

Investigators found “dangerous safety hazards,” including blocked emergency exit routes and switchboards, at a Jersey Shore, Pennsylvania store during a November inspection prompted by a complaint with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The hazards were similar to violations found at the discount chain’s other stores across the United States, and the inspection is one of more than 180 investigations OSHA has found Dollar General endangered worker safety, the DOL said.

In response, a Dollar General spokesperson told CNBC that they “regularly review and refine our security programs and reinforce them through training, ongoing communication, recognition and accountability.”

“When we learn of situations where we have not lived up to this commitment, we work to address the issue in a timely manner and ensure that the company’s security expectations are clearly communicated, understood and implemented,” the spokesperson added .

The company, which operates approximately 18,000 stores across the country and employs more than 150,000 people, has been fined $15 million for safety violations since 2017 and despite repeated penalties “it continues to defy federal workplace safety regulations.” , the agency said.

“Exposing employees to these hazards can be dangerous, especially in an emergency,” said Mary Reynolds, OSHA’s area director, in a statement. Dollar General Corp. has a long history of the same violations and dangers found in stores across the United States. They must end their repeated failures to rectify these violations before an emergency becomes tragic.”

Just last week, OSHA said Dollar General was in settlement talks with federal agencies after it described the retailer as having a “serious violation” of workplace safety regulations. Dollar General became the first company to be added to the “serious violations” list last fall after OSHA expanded the scope of one of its long-standing safety enforcement programs.

For the troubles at the Pennsylvania store, OSHA has issued a subpoena for one willful violation and one repeat violation with proposed penalties of $245,544, but the fines are unlikely to have a major impact on the retailer’s balance sheet.

For fiscal 2022 ended February 3, Dollar General reported revenue of $37.84 billion and net income of $2.41 billion.

The company has 15 business days to either pay the fines, request an informal meeting with OSHA’s area director, or appeal the findings to the Independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

Federal decide upholds FDA abortion capsule approval, provides time for attraction

Abortion rights supporters gather in front of the J Marvin Jones Federal Building and Courthouse on March 15, 2023 in Amarillo, Texas.

Moises Avila | AFP | Getty Images

A federal judge in Texas on Friday suspended Food and Drug Administration approval for the abortion pill mifepristone statewide but delayed the ruling’s effective date by a week to give the Biden administration time to appeal.

But minutes after the Texas decision was announced, a Washington state federal judge issued an injunction that said essentially the opposite.

The seemingly conflicting rulings of the federal courts in the states of Texas and Washington mean the Supreme Court could ultimately weigh the legality of mifepristone in the US, which was approved by the FDA more than two decades ago in 2000.

When combined with another drug called misoprostol, mifepristone is the most common method of terminating a pregnancy in the United States, accounting for about half of all abortions.

US Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk of the US Northern District of Texas held a key hearing in the case weeks ago in Amarillo, but news of the decision, which could turn access to the key abortion drug, came late in the day Friday when many Americans were away religious observances.

Kacsmaryk supported almost all of the plaintiffs’ arguments in their right to sue, seeking to overturn the FDA’s approval of the drug. He argued that mifepristone had serious safety issues, overriding the FDA’s longstanding finding that the drug was safe and effective.

“The court does not lightly challenge FDA’s decision-making,” Kacsmaryk wrote. “But here the FDA has acknowledged its legitimate safety concerns – in breach of its legal duty – on the basis of patently unsound arguments and studies that did not support its conclusions.”

But in a dramatic twist, US District Judge Thomas Owen Rice for the Eastern District of Washington essentially countered the Texas decision when he barred the FDA from “changing the status quo and rights regarding the availability of mifepristone.” 17 states and DC that have sued to keep the pill on the market there.

Boxes of the drug mifepristone, used to induce a medical abortion, are prepared for patients at the Planned Parenthood Health Center in Birmingham, Alabama March 14, 2022.

Evelyn Hockstein Reuters

US Attorney General Merrick Garland said Kacsmaryk’s Texas ruling “overturns the FDA’s expert judgment, made more than two decades ago, that mifepristone is safe and effective.” Garland said the Justice Department will appeal the Texas ruling and defend the FDA approval.

In response to the Texas ruling, President Joe Biden said in a statement, “My administration will fight this ruling.”

“If this ruling stands, there will be virtually no FDA-approved prescription that would be safe from such political, ideological attack,” the president said.

The case goes to the US 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. If the Biden administration fails to persuade this court to overturn Kacsmaryk’s ruling, access to mifepristone across the United States would be jeopardized

But Washington State’s exclusion can protect access in at least Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Washington State direct current

Kacsmaryk’s decision will not affect access to misoprostol, which is widely used as a standalone abortion drug in other parts of the world. Some abortion providers have announced they will use misoprostol as an alternative to two-drug therapy if mifepristone is withdrawn from the market.

how it started

A coalition of anti-abortion doctors called the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine sued the FDA in November over the approval of mifepristone. The group argued that the FDA abused its authority by fast-tracking mifepristone for new drugs that help patients with serious or life-threatening illnesses more than what is otherwise available on the market.

Kacsmaryk welcomed the group’s claims on Friday, arguing that pregnancy is not a disease and mifepristone offers no significant therapeutic benefit over surgical abortion.

The anti-abortion doctors were represented by attorneys from the Alliance Defending Freedom, an organization that worked with Mississippi lawmakers to draft the law at the center of the women’s health organization Dobbs v. Jackson. This case eventually led to the Supreme Court ruling Roe v. Wade picked up.

Kacsmaryk joined the court in 2019 after being appointed by former President Donald Trump. Kacsmaryk’s nomination was unanimously rejected by Senate Democrats and Maine Republican Susan Collins, who supports abortion rights.

His nomination was also rejected by abortion and LGBTQ rights organizations such as Planned Parenthood and the Human Rights Campaign.

The FDA called the case “extraordinary and unprecedented” in its January response to the lawsuit. Lawyers for the agency said they could not find any previous example of a court guessing after the fact of an FDA decision approving a drug.

The agency also said mifepristone was not approved through an accelerated route. It took more than four years from the initial application to the approval of the pill.

The FDA has approved mifepristone as a safe and effective method of terminating an early pregnancy based on extensive scientific evidence, the agency’s attorneys wrote. Decades of experience from thousands of women have confirmed that drug therapy is the safest option for many patients compared to surgical abortion or childbirth, the lawyers argued.

The FDA warned that withdrawing mifepristone from the US market would put women’s health at risk if they don’t have access to the pill to safely terminate pregnancies. It would also weaken the FDA’s powers for federal drug approvals and hamper drug development by creating regulatory uncertainty in the marketplace, government lawyers said.

“If long-standing FDA drug approvals were so easily waived decades after they were granted, pharmaceutical companies could not confidently rely on FDA approval decisions to develop the pharmaceutical drug infrastructure Americans depend on to treat a variety of health conditions,” he said the attorneys for the Biden administration wrote.

Mifepristone has been under FDA restrictions since its approval in 2000 to monitor the pill’s safety and effectiveness. These restrictions have been criticized and challenged by medical organizations such as the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and more recently by attorneys general in Democratic-ruled states.

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The FDA has gradually relaxed restrictions on mifepristone over the years as more and more evidence has been received. The agency dropped previous regulations that required in-person visits to healthcare professionals and allowed the pill to be delivered through the mail. The FDA recently allowed certified retail pharmacies to dispense mifepristone if the patient has a prescription from a healthcare provider approved under the agency’s surveillance program.

Misoprostol, the drug used with mifepristone, is recommended by the World Health Organization as a standalone method of abortion. But the FDA hasn’t approved misoprostol as the sole abortion drug.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends misoprostol as an alternative for early abortions when mifepristone is unavailable, although it’s not as effective as the two-drug regimen, according to the organization.

Sources say commerce officers are touring to China forward of a doable Raimondo journey

Gina Raimondo, US Secretary of Commerce, speaks during an interview in Washington, DC, on Thursday, March 2, 2023.

Andreas Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Senior Commerce Department officials will travel to Beijing and Shanghai next week to lay the groundwork for a possible trip by Secretary of State Gina Raimondo later this year, according to people familiar with the planning.

Elizabeth Economy, a senior adviser to the secretary on China issues, and Scott Tatlock, deputy assistant secretary for China and Mongolia, will assess whether such a meeting between Raimondo and her Chinese counterparts would yield results that would justify the visit .

A Commerce Department spokesman confirmed the trip “to meet with US Commercial Service officials, government colleagues and industry to discuss bilateral trade and business opportunities for US companies.”

But the optics of a possible visit by Raimondo — the former Rhode Island governor whose political ambitions don’t want to end with the Commerce job — could be fraught with risk if the visit doesn’t yield results, according to those familiar with the planning. For example, following a recent visit by French President Emmanuel Macron, Beijing agreed to deliver 160 Airbus aircraft and Airbus agreed to double its production in the country.

A visit by Foreign Minister Antony Blinken, scheduled for early February, has been postponed indefinitely as tensions escalated during the overland flight of a Chinese surveillance balloon.

The tensions disrupted economic talks between Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and her counterparts, which have since resumed. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said in late March that the White House was discussing possible visits by Secretaries Yellen and Raimondo to “discuss economic issues… there’s still value in keeping those lines of communication open.”

Beijing has missed key benchmarks in a 2020 trade deal between the countries that Raimondo has pledged to enforce — including a promise by China to buy planes from Airbus rival Boeing.

“China is halting purchases of tens of billions of dollars worth of Boeing planes that Chinese airlines have already ordered,” Raimondo told reporters in September 2021. “That puts a lot of American jobs at stake.”

Since then, Commerce has taken an ad hoc approach to sensitive commerce issues. On high-tech exports that could fuel China’s military ambitions, Raimondo has drawn a hard line — expanding restrictions that prevent Beijing from acquiring leading semiconductors.

On TikTok, where support for a ban is growing on both sides of the aisle, Raimondo has taken a more cautious approach. “The politician in me believes you’re going to lose literally every voter under the age of 35 forever,” she told Bloomberg Businessweek. “As much as I hate TikTok — and I do it because I see addiction in the bad — that it serves children — you know, this is America.”