The Hill: House Passes Bill Requiring EPA to Regulate ‘Forever Chemicals’ in Drinking Water — The PFAS Action Act of 2021 passed the House this week with bipartisan support, 241-183. Twenty-three Republican lawmakers voted with Democrats to pass the measure. The legislation would demand that the EPA regulate PFOA and PFOS within two years of enactment, as well as designate these two compounds as “hazardous substances” under the Superfund law within a year.

Reuters: EXCLUSIVE: J&J Exploring Putting Talc Liabilities into Bankruptcy — Johnson & Johnson is exploring a plan to offload liabilities from widespread Baby Powder litigation into a newly created business that would then seek bankruptcy protection. Future payouts to plaintiffs would be dependent on how J&J decides to fund the entity housing its talc liabilities.

Times Union: $65 Million Settlement Filed in Hoosick Falls PFOA Water Contamination — Three of the companies blamed for the pollution of water supplies in and around the village of Hoosick Falls, NY have agreed to pay $65.25 million to settle a federal lawsuit that will secure cash payments and long-term medical monitoring for thousands of property owners and residents, including those who were found to have elevated levels of PFAS in their bloodstream.

WLNY: Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont Signs Bill Banning Group Of Chemicals Found In Food Packaging, Fire Retardant Foam — Connecticut joins a growing list of states that  have banned the use of food packaging and firefighting foam containing PFAS chemicals. Under the new law, the ban on firefighter foam containing the chemicals will be effective Oct. 1, and the state will take the foam back free of charge from fire departments. Food packaging will be phased out by 2023.

MedPage Today: Large Ivermectin Study Retracted — A large Egyptian study of ivermectin for COVID-19 patients has been retracted over concerns of plagiarism and serious problems with their raw data. The study was one of the largest ivermectin trials in the world, and has been included in two recent meta-analyses that received much attention for their positive results. Some have questioned whether the positive conclusions of those meta-analyses would still stand when the Egyptian study is removed.