NIH: Halted Vaccine Study Shows ‘No Compromises’ on Safety

The suspension of a huge COVID-19 vaccine study over an illness in a single participant shows there will be “no compromises” on safety in the race to develop the shot, the chief of the National Institutes of Health told Congress on Wednesday.
AstraZeneca has put on hold studies of its vaccine candidate in the U.S. and other countries while it investigates whether a British volunteer’s illness is a side effect or a coincidence.

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Some Senate Republicans Might Not Go Along with Lamar Alexander on Surprise Medical Billing

Some Republicans in the U.S. Senate are reportedly drifting toward another surprise medical billing proposal, one that differs from what U.S. Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee has to offer.

This, according to ModernHealthcare.com, which reported some of these Republican senators have competitive re-election races this year.

“As a May 22 deadline to fund expiring healthcare programs gets closer, several vulnerable GOP senators have announced their support for a surprise billing proposal pushed by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) that has been shelved by committee leadership. Sens. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) announced their support for Cassidy’s bill on Feb. 11, and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) followed suit on March 3,” according to the website.

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Democrat Senator Patty Murray Blocks Infanticide Ban

by Katrina Trinko   Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., blocked Monday night Republican Sen. Ben Sasse’s push to pass the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Act by unanimous consent. “We’re actually talking about babies that have been born,” Sasse, who represents Nebraska, said in a Senate floor speech Monday. “The only debate on the floor tonight is about infanticide.” The Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Act states that “If an abortion results in the live birth of an infant, the infant is a legal person for all purposes under the laws of the United States, and entitled to all the protections of such laws” and would require health care professionals to care for the child and take the child to a hospital. “We have laws against infanticide in this country. This is a gross misinterpretation of the actual language of the bill that is being asked to be considered and therefore, I object,” said Murray, per The Hill. When speaking about the need for legislation, Sasse mentioned Gov. Ralph Northam of Virginia, who is now under fire following the discovery of his medical school yearbook page including a picture featuring two men, one in blackface and one in a Ku Klux Klan costume. Northam suggested…

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Marsha Blackburn: Phil Bredesen is Schumer’s ‘Number One Recruit’

Chuck Schumer, Phil Bredesen, Marsha Blackburn

ADAMS, Tennessee–Democrats nationwide are interested in the Volunteer State right now, and it has everything to do with advancing the liberal progressive agenda, U.S. Senate Republican candidate Marsha Blackburn told a crowd in Adams Friday night. Blackburn’s opponent for that senate seat is former Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen, a Democrat. U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is especially interested in this race, Blackburn said. “Chuck Schumer has said Phil Bredesen is his number one recruit,” Blackburn told the crowd of about 200 people. “Phil Bredesen and Tennessee is Chuck Schumer’s path to majority leader. We all know if Phil Bredesen were to go to D.C. what would be the first vote he would take? Chuck Schumer — that’s exactly right. A vote for Chuck Schumer for majority leader.” If Chuck Schumer is majority leader, and the Democrats control the U.S. Senate, then hard-core leftists will control many committee chairs, Blackburn said. U.S. Sen. Diane Feinstein of California, for instance, would control the Judiciary Committee, Blackburn said. “That is the end of all these conservative judges and Supreme Court justices,” Blackburn said. President Donald Trump has thus far appointed one-seventh of the members of our federal judiciary. Those people are Constitutionalists…

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