U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley visits with OHSU Northwest Native American Center of Excellence staff and students to discuss how new federal funding will advance the center’s efforts to increase the number of American Indian and Alaska Native people working in health care; Erik Brodt, M.D., says: “The most severe health inequities that exist, of any racial or ethnic group, exist in American Indian and Alaska Native people, and it doesn’t need to be that way."

In a story about Oregon and other states increasing their abortion care services while others states’ legislatures move to restrict those services, Mark Nichols, M.D., says: “When you talk about funding for abortion care, it's those women who most need abortions who I think are going to be most impacted: poor women, women of color, who don't necessarily have the ability to, for example, travel from Boise to the current clinic in Bend, Oregon."

A study by Janet Zhu, M.D., found that telehealth use expanded for mental health care during the pandemic, and “is likely to stay.”

Judy Guzman-Cottrill, D.O., and other infectious disease colleagues discuss how children and their caregivers experienced unintended negative consequences from policies enacted to prevent the spread of COVID-19 during Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of American meeting session.

With Easter and Passover holidays approaching, KGW-TV checks in with Peter Graven, Ph.D., regarding the latest forecast: "What I'm expecting is probably a doubling to a tripling in case rate over the next month or two. If infections are happening and people are able to take care of them at home, that's usually a good sign that we've done our things, including getting vaccinated and other preventive measures."

A study led by Eric Simpson, M.D., M.C.R., finds atopic dermatitis patients treated with lebrikizumab and topical steroids experienced improvement in disease severity, itch and quality of life; Simpson says: “There are few options for patients with moderate to severe atopic dermatitis. Patients are often given yet another topical steroid or a course of oral steroids without adequate disease control."

Research is under way even as one company touts its blood test to people with no signs of cancer as a way to detect tumors that have no recommended screening method.

A study by Jorge Kaufmann, N.D., found Spanish-speaking Latino/a/x children are more likely to receive preventative asthma care at community health clinics, and non-Hispanic Black children are more likely to receive asthma care in emergency departments.

Regarding new proposed opioid prescribing guidelines, which continue to advise against using opioids for pain when possible and to take a cautious approach when it's necessary, given the risks of opioid misuse and overdose, Roger Chou, M.D., says: "We're trying to be very explicit about the fact that these are not meant to be hard thresholds," noting the evidence still shows an increased risk of opioid misuse and overdose as the dose goes up and that the benefits seem to be pretty small.