U.S. launches four-state study to find ways to reduce opioid overdose deaths

(Reuters) - U.S. health officials on Thursday said they will spend $350 million in four states to study ways to best deal with the nation’s opioid crisis on the local level, with a goal of reducing opioid-related overdose deaths by 40 percent over three years in selected communities in those states. The National Institutes of Health will award grants to research sites in Kentucky, Massachusetts, New York and Ohio, NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins said at a news conference to unveil the plan. They will go to the University of Kentucky, Boston Medical Center, Columbia University and Ohio State University.

Prescription opioid pain treatments and drugs like heroin and the more potent fentanyl were responsible for 47,600 U.S. deaths in 2017, according to government figures, with only a small decline last year, according to provisional data. The plan calls for the research centers to work with at least 15 communities hard hit by the crisis to measure how integrating prevention, treatment and recovery interventions can reduce overdoses. They are expected to look at how behavioral health, unemployment and the criminal justice system contributes to the crisis, and measure the effectiveness of various prevention and treatment methods, such as distributing anti-overdose drugs to schools, police and other first responders.

“The most important work to combat our country’s opioid crisis is happening in local communities,” U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said. “We believe this effort will show that truly dramatic and material reductions in overdose deaths are possible, and provide lessons and models for other communities to adopt and emulate,” Azar said. He said planned funding for the study will not be affected by any NIH budget cuts. “We are in such a period of crisis that we need to know in real time what is working and what is not working,” said Dr. Alysse Wurcel from Tufts Medical Center in Boston, who is a member of the opioid working group at the Infectious Disease Society of America. The study is being carried out in partnership with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, which provides support for local prevention, treatment and recovery support services.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-health-opioids/u-s-launches-four-state-study-to-find-ways-to-reduce-opioid-overdose-deaths-idUSKCN1RU2EO

U.S. wins WTO ruling against China grain import quotas

GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States won a World Trade Organization (WTO) ruling on Thursday against China’s use of tariff-rate quotas for rice, wheat and corn, which it successfully argued limited market access for U.S. grain exports. The case, lodged by the Obama administration in late 2016, marked the second U.S. victory in as many months. It came amid U.S.-China trade talks and on the heels of Washington clinching a WTO ruling on China’s price support for grains in March. A WTO dispute panel ruled on Thursday that under the terms of its 2001 WTO accession, China’s administration of the tariff rate quotas (TRQs) as a whole violated its obligation to administer them on a “transparent, predictable and fair basis”.

TRQs are two-level tariffs, with a limited volume of imports allowed at the lower ‘in-quota’ tariff and subsequent imports charged an “out-of-quota” tariff, which is usually much higher. The administration of state trading enterprises and non-state enterprises’ portions of TRQs are inconsistent with WTO rules, the panel said. Australia, Brazil, India, and the European Union were among those reserving their rights in the dispute brought by the world’s largest grain exporter.

In a statement, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue welcomed the decision, saying China’s system “ultimately inhibits TRQs from filling, denying U.S. farmers access to China’s market for grain”. If China’s TRQs had been fully used, $3.5 billion worth of corn, wheat and rice would have been imported in 2015 alone, it said, citing U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates.

The two WTO rulings would help American farmers “compete on a more level playing field”, the USTR statement said, adding: “The (Trump) Administration will continue to press China to promptly come into compliance with its WTO obligations.” The latest WTO panel said that the United States had not proven all of its case, failing to show that China had violated its public notice obligation under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in respect to TRQs.

China’s Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on Friday it “regrets” the panel’s decision and that it would “earnestly evaluate” the panel’s report. China would “handle the matter appropriately in accordance with WTO dispute resolution procedures, actively safeguard the stability of the multilateral trading system and continue to administer the relevant agricultural import tariff quotas in compliance with WTO rules”, it said. Either side can appeal the ruling within 60 days.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trade-china-agriculture/u-s-wins-wto-ruling-against-china-grain-import-quotas-idUSKCN1RU1PM

Judge dismisses case against New York City's measles vaccination order

April 18 (UPI) – A New York district judge dismissed a lawsuit Thursday challenging an emergency declaration in New York City that requires residents and people who work in neighborhoods affected by a measles outbreak to receive mandatory vaccinations or face fines. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio declared a state of emergency April 9 in response to a measles outbreak in the Williamsburg district of Brooklyn to prevent the situation from worsening.

"There's no question that vaccines are safe, effective and life-saving. I urge everyone, especially those in affected areas to get their MMR vaccines to protect their children, families and communities," de Blasio said during the declaration's announcement, referring to the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine by its technical name. The declaration was made due to New York City experiencing its worst measles outbreak in years with 329 cases of the measles confirmed since October.

Meanwhile, the Orthodox Jewish communities in Williamsburg have been at the outbreak's "epicenter" with 285 diagnoses as of April 8, according to Judge Lawrence Knipel's verdict. The emergency declaration orders residents and workers within designated Williamsburg zip codes who have not received the MMR vaccine to do so or face a $1,000 fine. The declaration was then followed by a group of anonymous petitioners and parents of unvaccinated children filing an injunction against it, calling it "arbitrary and capricious and contrary to law." The petitioners claimed the preventative measures were disproportionate to the actual circumstances while infringing on one's rights to autonomy, informed consent and free exercise of religion. But Knipel dismissed the case Thursday, saying that the complainants did not prove their claim that the declaration was disproportionate to the situation, saying they failed "provide any basis for this opinion. As such, this unsupported, bald-faced opinion cannot be credited by this court." Concerning their claim to religious freedom, Knipel countered that the complaints failed to provide an affidavit of a religious official to support their opinion.

Finally, on their moral objections against forced vaccination, Knipel said, "a fireman need not obtain the informed consent of the owner before extinguishing a house fire. Vaccination is known to extinguish the fire of contagion." Meanwhile, the New York City Health Department closed four more schools and fined three people Thursday for failing to comply with the emergency order while allowing a school that was forced to close Tuesday for failing to provide its students access to vaccination and attendance records to reopen, NBC New York reported. There have been no deaths reported from the outbreak, but there have been 25 hospitalizations and six people have been admitted to the intensive care unit.

https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2019/04/18/Judge-dismisses-case-against-New-York-Citys-measles-vaccination-order/8121555641644/?ts_=4

Trump Lawyer Reads Directly From Mueller Report To Push Back Against Brian Williams

President Donald Trump’s lawyer, Jay Sekulow, read directly from the Mueller report Thursday when MSNBC’s Brian Williams asked him how Attorney General William Barr came to the conclusion that there was no collusion. Barr held a Thursday morning press conference in which he summarized aspects of the special counsel’s investigation. Many suggested that some of Barr’s comments were inappropriate for the attorney general.

“My first question, I’m afraid, is going to verge on plain English,” Williams began. “Where did the attorney general get off with that characterization this morning, including four mentions that there was no collusion? What document was he reading, compared to the one we’re left with?” Sekulow responded, “Well, page two of the document says, ‘The investigation did not establish that members of the Trump campaign coordinated with the Russian government in its election of interference activities.’ So it’s right from the document itself.”

“Have you read part one?” Williams retorted. “I have read part one and part two,” Sekulow added. Williams shot back, “Do you find good news in here for the president and the administration?” “The investigation—page 181—the investigation did not establish the Contacts described in volume one—that’s the Russian contacts—amounted to an agreement to commit any violation of federal criminal law, including foreign influence and campaign finance laws,” Sekulow followed up. “Yes, I think it’s very good win.”

Trump responded to the release of the report during a ceremony with the Wounded Warriors Project at the White House. He said, “They’re having a good day, I’m having a good day too. It’s called no collusion, no obstruction. There never was, by the way, and there never will be.”

https://www.dailycaller.com/2019/04/18/trump-sekulow-mueller-russia-msnbc/

>>6234614

> https://prepforthat.com/criminal-implications-removed-from-ny-mandatory-vaccine-ordinance/

I see what the difference here is…your article says that city officials removed the penalty but the judge did not, The outcome doesn’t remove the $1,000 fines, but the judge says he’s now reviewing that as well.

Might be a difference in timing when the articles were written..

>>6234639

What does her necklace say…..Almost looks like Burning…..

>>6234710

>>6234709

Thanks should have known, eye can play tricks on you at times, kek. Just what the hell is he becoming.

>>6234776

You are correct indeed! They really are losing the shit show they created..now they'll have to deal with the fall.

>>6234797

Honestly…looking at earlier pics…..I would have sworn it was a reversal back to Michael looks much more masculine now.

>>6234778

Indeed the putz!

>>6234639

Notable