Transcript Harlan Krumholz: Welcome to Health & Veritas. I’m Harlan Krumholtz.Howard Forman: And I’m Howie Forman. We’re physicians and professors at Yale University, and we’re trying to get closer to the truth about health and healthcare. Our guest today is Dr. Deborah Proctor. But first, we’re always checking in on hot topics in health and healthcare. What do you have today, Harlan?Harlan Krumholz: Checking in on hot topics. Well, I’ve…
Entire agreement clauses are often treated as a contractual safety net: once the definitive agreement is signed, prior drafts, negotiations, and understandings are meant to fall away. Courts have long recognized limited exceptions to that rule, most notably the use of surrounding circumstances as part of the factual matrix to resolve genuine ambiguity in the contract’s language. In Project Freeway Inc. v ABC Technologies Inc., 2025 ONCA 855, the Ontario…
9 April 2026By Ginevra Aguiari, Matteo Falagiarda, Christine Gartner and Ema Ivanova[1]Many Bulgarians feared large price increases when the euro replaced the lev. However, preliminary evidence shows that the changeover in Bulgaria has so far had a limited impact on consumer prices and on perceptions of inflation.As in other countries that have introduced the euro, public support for adoption of the new currency in Bulgaria was affected in the run-up…
Quick Hits OSHA’s heat-related illness and injury prevention NEP is set to expire on April 8, 2026, with no public indication that the current administration intends to extend or replace it. OSHA’s proposed permanent heat illness prevention rule has stalled with no target date for finalization and appears unlikely to advance in the near term. OSHA retains citation authority under the OSH Act’s General Duty Clause and multiple states already…
In January 2025, former Federal Minister of Health, the Honourable Mark Holland, released a Letter to provinces and territories on the importance of upholding the Canada Health Act – 2025. We wrote about it here. In short, Minister Holland released an interpretation of the Canada Health Act (CHA) that charging patients for services provided by any health professional that are typically covered by the province when delivered by a physician,…
In 2020, many colleges suspended their requirements for standardized test scores as the COVID-19 pandemic forced testing centers to close. That same year, the University of California Board of Regents announced it would phase out its SAT requirement for prospective students in a bid to increase equity and diversity. At the time, Yale SOM’s Faidra Monachou was getting her doctorate in Stanford’s Management Science and Engineering department, and she and…
Carnegie Mellon University secured six No. 1 rankings in the newly released 2026 Best Graduate Schools(opens in new window) rankings from the U.S. News & World Report.Carnegie Mellon ranks first for overall graduate computer science programs, tied with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Stanford University. Among computer science programs, CMU also earned No. 1 rankings in Programming Language(opens in new window), Artificial Intelligence(opens in new window), and Systems(opens in new window), along with…
Quick Hits The Illinois Supreme Court held that Illinois’s Minimum Wage Law does not adopt federal exclusions for preliminary and postliminary activities. The ruling came in a certified question from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and revived a class of employees’ state wage-and-hour claims over mandatory pre-shift COVID-19 screenings. The ruling highlights a trend of state courts holding that their states’ wage-and-hour laws do not necessarily…
The Reporter provides a monthly summary of Canadian federal legislative and regulatory developments of relevance to federally regulated financial institutions. It does not address Canadian provincial financial services legislative and regulatory developments. In addition, purely technical and administrative changes (such as changes to reporting forms) are not covered. February 2026 Published Title and Brief Summary Status (if applicable) Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI) February 26, 2026 Targeted…
On April 10 at 12:00 Moscow Time (GMT+3), the Valdai Club will host an expert discussion titled “The Challenges of Depoliticising Humanitarian Cooperation and Cultural Ties in the Modern World.” A defining feature of contemporary international conflicts is the active use of mental, humanitarian, and cultural dimensions as alternative instruments of struggle. A kind of “weaponisation” of culture is taking place. This manifests itself both in efforts to dehumanise the societies of geopolitical adversaries and in the large-scale demonisation of cultural figures and other professionals.…
The comprehensive strategic partnership between Russia and Uzbekistan is currently one of the most important factors for international stability and development across Greater Eurasia. To strengthen the intellectual foundation of this interaction, the Valdai Discussion Club has been fruitfully collaborating for several years with the Institute for Strategic and Interregional Studies under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan. As part of this partnership, a conference titled “Russia–Uzbekistan: Strategic Partnership…
Maine’s Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) program is entering its final implementation phase, triggering immediate compliance and readiness considerations for employers. Benefits begin: Employees become eligible for PFML benefits effective May 1, 2026. Applications open: Employees may submit PFML applications as of March 30, 2026, for leave beginning on or after May 1. With the benefit start date approaching and applications now being accepted, Maine employers should promptly review…
Quick Hits Assembly Bill (AB) 2095, introduced in the California Assembly, proposes significant amendments to California’s ban-the-box law, the Fair Chance Act. The bill’s provisions, among others, would require employers to provide a list of specific job duties that may be relevant to the employer’s subsequent assessment of conviction history and establish a rebuttable presumption regarding conviction-to-job relationships. AB 2095 would also require employers to document their assessments in writing…
Overview The Ontario Pay Equity Act requires private sector employers to establish and maintain compensation practices that provide for pay equity in their establishment(s). For most employers, this requirement is triggered on the day they hire or hired their tenth employee. To meet the minimum requirements and to show that pay equity has been achieved, employers MUST have carried out each of these activities for each of their establishments: Determine…
Cassidy R. Sugimoto, a globally recognized scholar whose work lies at the intersection of information science and science policy, will join Carnegie Mellon University as the next Bess Family Dean of the Marianna Brown Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences(opens in new window), effective July 1, 2026.Sugimoto joins CMU from the Georgia Institute of Technology, where she serves as school chair, Tom and Marie Patton Chair and Professor in the…
Carnegie Mellon University’s Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship is launching the Deep Tech Venture-Ready Program(opens in new window), a high-intensity, 18-month cohort designed to accelerate the commercialization of breakthrough science by preparing CMU researchers to engage top-tier venture capital firms with credibility, strategy and investor fluency.Backed by $240 million in soft-circled capital from 30 partner venture firms and corporate partners, the program represents a new model for bridging the persistent gap between…
With U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche appointed as acting Attorney General, just days after boasting about his purges of dedicated, nonpartisan, patriotic career law enforcement officials, his boss’s apparent orders are to increase the prosecution of President Trump’s campaign of political retribution. Although the “No Kings” rallies last weekend attracted an estimated 8 million to 9 million protesters, additional voices are still needed to join the growing chorus. These…
Quick Hits The Massachusetts Superior Court held that the PFMLA’s anti-retaliation protections impose obligations only on “employers” as defined in the unemployment insurance statute, and do not extend liability to a corporate employer’s officers, agents, investors, or board members. The court distinguished the PFMLA from the Massachusetts Wage Act, which expressly deems corporate officers and agents to be “employers” of the corporation’s employees, language that is absent from the PFMLA.…
We’re sharing an update on our mental health work, including some new changes to better connect people with the right information.
This substantial investment will enable the Institute to continue its world-leading research into the fundamental causes of inflammatory and musculoskeletal diseases, while accelerating the development of new and improved therapies.The funding will underpin KIR's distinctive discovery-to-translation pipeline, an approach that integrates fundamental scientific discovery with clinical application. This unique model enables researchers to translate insights from basic biology into innovative treatments for conditions including arthritis, fibrosis and inflammatory bowel disease.Over…
7 April 2026By Frank Elderson, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB and Vice-Chair of the Supervisory Board of the ECBEurope’s energy dependence increasingly complicates the task of maintaining price stability. Meeting the continent’s clean‑energy targets would weaken the link between volatile global markets and domestic prices. Crucially, the tools to make this transition are already within reach.Europe’s energy dependence has become one of the critical vulnerabilities of our…
Quick Hits A Massachusetts federal court granted a preliminary injunction halting enforcement of the ACTS survey against public institutions in seventeen plaintiff states, finding plaintiffs are likely to succeed on their claim that the promulgation and adoption of the survey was arbitrary and capricious. The court rejected plaintiffs’ arguments that the ACTS survey exceeds NCES’s statutory authority and that it violates the Paperwork Reduction Act, affirming that NCES has broad…
No matter how we define Russia—as a “civilisational state”, a “nation-state”, an “empire”, or in any other political form—without modernisation, it is doomed to perish. The legacy of Peter the Great is more than relevant in the current international climate, writes Valdai Club Programme Director Ivan Timofeev. The crisis in relations between Russia and the West suggests that the “window to Europe” created by the Russian Emperor Peter the Great…
Quick Hits The German Federal Labor Court held that blanket release clauses in employment contracts that entitle the employer to grant a release upon termination constitute an unreasonable disadvantage and are invalid. An employee’s interest in continuing employment until the termination of the employment relationship generally outweighs an employer’s interest in granting the employee a leave of absence in a terminated employment relationship until the expiration of the notice period.…
Quick Hits USCIS has received enough H-1B registrations for unique beneficiaries to meet the annual cap. Petitioners will have ninety days, beginning on April 1, 2026, to file a completed H-1B petition for each selected beneficiary. Employment in H-1B status can begin no earlier than October 1, 2026. The FY 2027 lottery is the first to use the new weighted, wage-level-based selection process established under a DHS rule that took…
An historic sporting challengeThe stakes were high for Oxford going into this year’s annual boat race against Cambridge, who have proved dominant over much of the past decade.A truly memorable and spirited contest on the river today. I could not be prouder of all our crews and coaches.The University of Oxford’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Irene Tracey CBE FRS FMedSciAn event harking back to 1829, this year marked the 171st men’s boat…
Quick Hits ViaQuest Residential Services recently agreed to pay $975,000 to settle claims it misclassified program managers as exempt from overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and Ohio’s wage laws. The case, Simmons v. ViaQuest Residential Services LLC, No. 2:23-00201 (S.D. Ohio), centered on whether program managers’ “primary duty” was management or direct patient care. One hundred-six plaintiffs opted in after conditional certification, illustrating how quickly liability can…
Quick Hits As of January 1, 2026, Connecticut employers with eleven or more employees must provide paid sick leave to all nonseasonal workers, with full expansion to employers of any size expected by January 1, 2027. Connecticut’s Paid Family and Medical Leave maximum weekly benefit rose to $1,016.40 in 2026 while the employee contribution rate remains unchanged at 0.5 percent of wages. Connecticut employers may want to audit exempt employee…
Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping how scientists explore the universe — turning massive amounts of data into discoveries that were once out of reach. At Carnegie Mellon University, a new initiative will bring together experts in AI, statistics and astrophysics to accelerate that shift. Supported by the Simons Foundation, the Keystone Astronomy & AI (KAAI) Visiting Fellows Program will accelerate the use of AI in cosmological and astronomical research through an…
What a five-generation workforce means for culture, leadership, and performance Five generations now work side by side, creating both opportunity and tension. Drawing on insights from Oxford Elevate and Q5 workshops, this article explores how organisations can understand their culture, lead inclusively, and connect people through shared purpose to unlock collaboration, improve wellbeing, and enable the next generation to contribute and thrive. Reading time: 5 minutes Each year, Oxford Elevate…
Quick Hits The Superior Court of Québec found that an arbitration award that had overturned the dismissal of a heavy vehicle driver for failure to accommodate was unreasonable, thereby reinstating the dismissal. The court opinion confirms that zero-tolerance policies for alcohol consumption constitute a legitimate standard that is reasonably necessary to ensure public safety. The duty to accommodate was not triggered because the automatic dismissal took effect before the employer…
The concept of strategic stability evolved during the Cold War basically to better understand the dynamics of super powers nuclear rivalry so as to avoid stumbling into a catastrophic conflict. In South Asia, the dyadic conflictual relationship saw three major wars and some serious border clashes in the first 25 years of independence from the British colonial rule. In this period Pakistan tried to counter balance India’s numerical advantage with…
Insights from Innovation 2026: from ideas to impact Innovation in the public sector depends less on new ideas and more on creating the conditions for delivery. Leaders must focus on alignment, data, governance, and capability to turn ambition into impact. By strengthening systems, not just solutions, organisations can move from isolated pilots to sustained, system-wide performance improvement. Reading time: 5 minutes Innovation 2026 highlighted a familiar reality for senior leaders:…
The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) has put health care front and center in its enforcement agenda. On March 20, 2026, FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson announced the creation of a “Healthcare Task Force” to align the agency’s competition and consumer‑protection work. The move reflects a core FTC concern: consolidation, exclusionary conduct, and deceptive practices are raising prices, weakening quality, and restricting access to care—especially for rural patients, seniors, and veterans. Chairman…
Quick Hits New Jersey lawmakers are currently considering several bills that would have significant implications for employers. Key proposals include the establishment of paid prenatal leave, an extension of pregnancy-related disability benefits, and amendments to ensure paid sick leave applies to employees bound by amendable collective bargaining agreements. Here is a summary of some notable employment law bills currently under consideration. Pregnancy-Related Employment Protections Assembly Bill (A) 113—Concerns bereavement leave…
Transcript Harlan Krumholz: Welcome to Health & Veritas. I’m Harlan Krumholz.Howard Forman: And I’m Howie Forman. We’re physicians and professors at Yale University. We’re trying to get closer to the truth about health and healthcare. Our guest today is Dr. Selwyn Rogers. But first, we always check in on current or hot topics in health and healthcare. What do you have today, Harlan?Harlan Krumholz: Well, first, just so people are…
Quick Hits Newly proposed AB 2321 would require Cal/OSHA’s Bureau of Investigations to “timely notify” the local district attorney’s office of any case “in which there is a serious injury or death,” unless “the bureau determines there is legally insufficient evidence of a violation of the law.” The referral requirement applies to fatalities and cases of permanent total disability. The term “permanent total disability”—language borrowed from the state’s workers’ compensation…
2 April 2026By Vagia Iskaki, Tobias Linzert, Yannik Schneider, Marta Skrzypińska and Olivier VergoteAs the Eurosystem normalises its balance sheet, central bank reserves – banks’ most liquid asset – keep declining. This post examines how banks adapt to lower levels of reserves and explains why take-up in the Eurosystem’s standard refinancing operations (SROs) is expected to increase.[1]Central bank reserves have almost halved from a peak of €4.9 trillion in 2022…
Scientists at the University of Oxford have demonstrated, for the first time, that a key emotional centre deep in the human brain directly influences how we interpret ambiguous social cues.In a new study, published in Neuron, researchers used low-intensity focused ultrasound to temporarily and non-invasively alter activity in the amygdala - a region known to be involved in emotion and affected in depression. They found that this changed how people…
The very logic of US–China rivalry increasingly pushes ASEAN to the periphery of decision-making processes. Issues of regional security, supply chain resilience, technological development, and infrastructure are more frequently discussed in bilateral formats, where the Association functions as diplomatic décor—or finds no place at all. A striking example is the signing of asymmetrical trade agreements between the United States and individual ASEAN member states in October 2025 on the sidelines…