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Good morning, everyone, and welcome to another working week. We hope the weekend respite was relaxing and invigorating, because that oh-so-familiar routine of online calls, meetings, and deadlines has predictably returned. But what can you do? The world, such as it is, continues to spin. So we will try giving it a nudge in a better direction with a cup of stimulation. Our coffee kettle is brewing caramel apple right now. Sweets for the sweet, as they say. Meanwhile, here is the latest menu of tidbits to help you on your journey. We hope your day is simply smashing. Best of luck and, as always, do keep in touch. We welcome new pen pals. …

After weeks of deliberation, Pfizer was scolded by a U.K. pharmaceutical industry trade group after its chief executive officer made misleading statements in a media interview about the need to vaccinate young children against Covid-19, STAT writes. The fracas began when the Pfizer chief, Albert Bourla, gave an interview to the BBC and discussed the idea of vaccinating children between 5 and 11 years old, a course of action that had not yet been approved by regulators in the U.K. And his remarks, which ran in December 2021, prompted a complaint from an advocacy group that argued Bourla was inappropriately touting Covid-19 vaccines.

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A pair of lawsuits filed last week challenging restrictions on access to abortion pills in two states — North Carolina and West Virginia — is likely to succeed, according to one legal expert, STAT writes. Both lawsuits argue that the state laws are unconstitutional because they restrict access to the pill beyond what was designated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. At issue is a concept called preemption, which involves the notion that federal law supersedes state law. “I think it’s a classic case where I think preemption ought to apply,” said Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond and former legal consultant to the FDA.

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