To help navigate the on-going professional and financial uncertainty facing native New Orleans musicians, trombonist, composer and producer Delfeayo Marsalis reported that 200 local musicians accepted $113,475 in stipends thanks to donations to the non-profit KNOMA, designed to help keep the city’s music culture thriving.

Launched at the beginning of August, the non-profit was founded by Delfeayo in honor of his late father, the legendary New Orleans pianist Ellis Marsalis who succumbed to Covid-19 on April 1, 2020 at the age of 85.

With performance venues shut down indefinitely and the musical tourism industry boarded up, the young Marsalis wanted to help artists struggling to fill a huge void.

The donation appeal continues, with support continuing to be sought for www.knoma.org, where donors can indicate how their funds are to be utilized and/or include a personal dedication in honor of a particular person or artist.

“We know the need is there, so every donation truly helps,” said Marsalis, who said 100 percent of all donations go directly to New Orleans musicians and culture bearers.

Artists, who must be native-born or long-term resident performers in New Orleans to receive assistance, can apply for grants through KNOMA’s website.

“We can no longer take for granted the brass bands on corners, the street musicians in Jackson Square, and the players in our clubs who perform with the joy and celebration that millions of visitors equate with the Big Easy,” says Marsalis.  “We have to keep our music, the heart of New Orleans, beating for generations to come!”

 For more information and to donate, visit www.knoma.org
 
Media contacts for interviews with Mr. Marsalis:
Ann Braithwaite, Braithwaite & Katz Communications; 781-259-9600; Text: 781-367-9760
ann@bkmusicpr.com

C. Brylski or D. Johnson (504) 897-6110; djohnson@brylskicompany.com; (504) 460-1468
 
MISSION Keep NOLA Music Alive assists in sustaining New Orleans culture by providing emergency aid to native musicians and culture bearers. A rich and thriving musical culture attracts countless visitors to New Orleans from around the world. Native culture bearers—from musicians to dancers and other performers—suffer from circumstances beyond their control. Keep NOLA Music Alive, a 501c3, provides emergency assistance to those artists who live the music of the city where jazz was born.  ELIGIBILITY Applicants must earn their livelihood substantially through performance in New Orleans and can demonstrate unexpected financial hardship. A written application must be submitted.
 
For release September 24, 2020

In order to increase cash flow to providers of services and suppliers impacted by the 2019 COVID-19 pandemic, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) expanded its Accelerated and Advance Payment Program (MAAPP) to Medicare Part A providers and Part B suppliers. This was part of the CARES Act passed by Congress.
 
Accelerated/Advance Payments 
An accelerated/advance payment is intended to provide necessary funds when there is a disruption in claims submission and/or claims processing. These ‘loans’ become due August 1 while hospitals in Louisiana are still flooded with COVID-19 patients, still cancelling elective surgeries, and in some instances forced to reduce staff due to escalating costs associated with purchasing new equipment and other resources to deal with the pandemic.
 
Louisiana Medicare Part A Providers are Hospitals, Skilled Nursing Facilities; Part B Providers are Doctors, Durable Medical Equipment suppliers, and others. Louisiana Part A and Part B Providers received $1.5 billion under this program, made available on May 2. 
 
The first round of these payments, or about half the award, is coming due even while hospitals report massive revenue losses, and the rest of the payments will expire in about two weeks, just as Louisiana needs continued access to the funds.
 
Oschner said its healthcare system, which sees about $4 billion in revenue yearly, predicted 2020 revenue losses would fall in the $350 million to $500 million range. LCMC Chief Executive Officer Greg Feirn predicted revenue loss of about $100 million between March, April and May, excluding money spent on equipment and additional workers during the hospital’s surge. Tulane Medical Center, which is majority-owned by health care giant HCA Health Care, received $26.4 million from the federal payout for hospitals in hotspots, but hospital spokesperson Sarah Balyeat said it represents just a fraction of anticipated lost revenue and increased expenses.
 
Contact Dr. Bill. Cassidy, U.S. Senator from Louisiana, to get an update on what Congress is doing to resolve this issue before the August recess.
 
Hospital associations are asking Congress to push back the draw down deadline and repayment schedule of the MAAPP loans and lower the payback interest rate from 10 to one percent. If Congress does not resolve the issue, Louisiana stands to lose access to more than half a billion dollars in needed hospital assistance.
 
Local spokespersons on this issue: Contact C. Brylski/D. Johnson (504) 897-6110 or
 
Federation of American Hospitals members:
https://www.fah.org/fah-ee2-uploads/website/maps/FAH-Louisiana.pdf
 
Rural providers: Howard Castay, Board Member, Teche Action Clinics/Morgan City, howardcastay@gmail.com

​Understanding both the professional and financial uncertainty facing native New Orleans musicians, trombonist, composer and producer Delfeayo Marsalis is launching a new non-profit designed to help keep the city’s music culture thriving. 
“My dad dedicated his life to growing and promoting New Orleans musicians,” said Marsalis the legendary New Orleans pianist Ellis Marsalis who succumbed to Covid-19 on April 1, 2020 at the age of 85. “Today, the global health pandemic presents a threat to New Orleans’ culture bearers like none before. No less than our centuries-old musical heritage is at risk. With all performance venues shut down indefinitely and the musical tourism industry boarded up, our artists are struggling with both professional and financial uncertainty. Keep NOLA Music Alive was organized to fill a huge void.”
Delfeayo kicks off the fundraising effort with a “Double-Nickel Birthday Bash” virtual performance Sunday, August 2, 5 p.m. CDT/6 p.m. EDT marking his 55th birthday. To attend the concert, log on to Facebook.com/Delfeayo Marsalis. The concert will feature dynamic performances by the Uptown Jazz Orchestra and vocal powerhouse Tonya Boyd-Cannon.
Donations can be made now at www.knoma.org. Donors can indicate how their funds are to be utilized and/or include a personal dedication in honor of a particular person or artist. 
“We know the need is there, so now is the time to step up and help,” says Marsalis.
The idea to start the KNOMA initiative arose from a local record store’s tribute to Marsalis’ father. 
“Peaches Records in Uptown New Orleans, for decades a supporter of local artists and New Orleans music, posted a sign that read, ‘Thank you Ellis Marsalis for Keeping NOLA Music Alive!’ the day after my dad’s passing,” Marsalis said. He developed a plan, assembled a board of directors, and secured lead funding for KNOMA, assuring that 100 percent of all donations go directly to New Orleans musicians and culture bearers. 
Artists, who must be native-born or long-term resident performers in New Orleans to receive assistance, can apply for grants through KNOMA’s website.
“We can no longer take for granted the brass bands on corners, the street musicians in Jackson Square, and the players in our clubs who perform with the joy and celebration that millions of visitors equate with the Big Easy,” says Marsalis.  “We have to keep our music, the heart of New Orleans, beating for generations to come!”
 For more information and to donate, visit www.knoma.org
 Media contacts for interviews with Mr. Marsalis: 

• Ann Braithwaite, Braithwaite & Katz Communications; 781-259-9600; Text: 781-367-9760, ann@bkmusicpr.com
• C. Brylski or D. Johnson (504) 897-6110; djohnson@brylskicompany.com; (504) 460-1468

 
​MISSION
Keep NOLA Music Alive assists in sustaining New Orleans culture by providing emergency aid to native musicians and culture bearers. 

ABOUT A rich and thriving musical culture attracts countless visitors to New Orleans from around the world. Native culture bearers—from musicians to dancers and other performers—have sustained this centuries old heritage for future generations to enjoy. The Covid-19 pandemic [and Katrina before it] has exposed the vulnerability of these individuals, who even in good times can suffer from circumstances beyond their control. Keep NOLA Music Alive, a 501c3, provides emergency assistance to those artists who live the music of the city where jazz was born. 

ELIGIBILITY Applicants must earn their livelihood substantially through performance in New Orleans and can demonstrate unexpected financial hardship. A written application must be submitted. ​

A statement from the Honorable Erroll G. Williams, Assessor:
 
In the interest of public health, employee safety, and slowing the spread of COVID-19, the Orleans Parish Assessor's Office located on the 4th Floor of City Hall will not be open to the public until further notice. Office staff will continue to work and be accessible by phone at 504.658.1300 and email, info@orleansassessors.com.

The Orleans Parish Assessor’s Office located in the Algiers Courthouse will be closed entirely until further notice. 
 
During this time, the only forms our office will collect are the LA Special Assessments Form (age/disability freeze) and Change of Address.
 
The LA Special Assessments Form (age and disability freeze applications) are available online and can be emailed to the office. If an individual wants to drop off a completed form with supporting documentation, they may do so at the mail slot located at Room 4E01. A staff member will contact the applicant at the phone number provided.
 
These forms are available at nolaassessor.com by clicking the FORMS tab. All supporting documentation must be provided and attached to the email or when dropped off with the completed application form. 

How to qualify for an Age Freeze 
To qualify for an age-freeze, the homeowner must be at least 65 by December 31st in the year preceding the year the freeze goes into effect and meet certain income restrictions. The maximum qualifying income changes annually; please call 504.658-1300 to verify the current maximum. Once successfully gained, this SAL is permanent and you do not need to reapply for it on an annual basis. Age-related abatements or “freezes” must be documented by:
 
1.      A valid Louisiana Driver’s License or Louisiana State I.D. (address must correspond to property’s address on application);
2.      Proof of annual income: 1040 adjusted gross income of prior year’s income tax return or Social Security award letter for individual with no income or job.
 
How to qualify for a Disability Freeze 
Disability SAL must be reapplied for annually. This special assessment is not to be confused with the 100 percent Veterans Disability. Disability-related abatements or “freezes” must be documented by: 
 
1.     A valid Louisiana Driver’s License or Louisiana State I.D. (address must correspond to property’s address on application); 
2.     A letter from a federal or state agency confirming the total disability; OR
3.     A service-connected disability of 50 percent or more with a Veterans Administration (VA) letter of determination or notice of award (address on letter must correspond to address on application); and
4.     Proof of annual income: 1040 adjusted gross income of prior year’s income tax return or Social Security award letter for individual with no income or job.
 
If you need a Homestead Exemption, please call our office at 504.658.1300 and we will mail the application form to you. We will not be processing nor applying Homestead Exemptions until the office is reopened. We do not anticipate this to have a significant impact on homeowners as Homestead Exemptions can be applied through August 15, 2020.
 
Thank you for working with our office to prevent further spread of COVID-19. ​

GUARDIANS OF OPIOID-DEPENDENT BABIES SEEK MDL CLASS CERTIFICATION BEFORE JUDGE POLSTER
 
Leading medical experts testify that in-utero opioid exposure causes birth defects
 
(CLEVELAND, OHIO) Attorneys representing America’s most innocent victims in the nation’s prescription opioid crisis took a significant step today within the Multi-District Litigation before Judge Daniel Polster in Cleveland, Ohio by seeking class certification of the guardians responsible for children injured by in-utero exposure to opioids and diagnosed with Neo-Natal Abstinence System or drug dependence.
 
States, cities, municipalities, hospitals and Native Americans have already gained such class certification status. Those classes do not include guardians of children who were born with Neo-Natal Abstinence Syndrome or drug dependent. 
 
This would be the first-time children diagnosed with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome, due to the opioid use of their birth mothers, would finally have redress of the lifelong physical and development disabilities and defects these children do and will experience, said Attorney Scott Bickford. 
 
Mr. Bickford, who has argued on behalf of children with NAS for nearly two years before Judge Polster, said his team is being expanded by the legal expertise of Marc Dann, the former Attorney General of Ohio, and class-action experts Kelly and Tom Bilek.
 
“These children are the most vulnerable and blameless victims of the opioid crisis and will need lifelong medical monitoring and surveillance, as well as medical and social support services,” said Mr. Dann.
 
“This generation of children is not yet lost but will be without substantial intervention. For two years, their needs have been subordinated to the less urgent needs of government entities which do not have the legal ability to bring claims for these children, do not owe the duty of care to them and will never guarantee their on-going needs are met. Nevertheless, the child’s guardian will surely face and bear the fiduciary responsibility,” Dann added.
 
The legal filing, with supporting evidence from leading medical experts in the areas of NAS and the scientific relationship between in-utero opioid exposure and birth defects, puts forth studies and testimony to support these arguments, making these main points:
 
·      The nation is vastly undercounting the number of NAS babies, and data shows the number of babies with NAS babies born in the U.S.--now estimated at one every 15 minutes by the Centers for Disease Control– are far greater than the official government count because of flaws in how this information is gathered.
 
·      Babies are sent home from hospitals to guardians with little awareness of what the child and caregiver will face. While physical deformities may be evident when a baby is born, the growing medical science in the NAS area shows opioid exposure in the womb impacts brain size and development which results in long-term developmental effects such delays in walking, talking, hyperactivity, impulsive behaviors, aggression, learning disabilities and other problems which won’t demonstrate until the child ages.
 
·      Governments, schools and other institutions don’t understand the needs of these children because there is no registry of babies with NAS. Thus, families have no roadmap for the challenges ahead. Such a map can only be provided by establishing a registry and providing long-term medical monitoring and research. “This will allow for the program to reach out to the impacted families at the appropriate times,” wrote West Virginia Dr. Charles Werntz III, and also help identify the most hard-hit regions.
 
Certification of a nationwide class of guardians of NAS children must occur in 2020, the attorneys argue in today's filing on behalf of families in 34 state class actions. This is underscored by the fact that nationwide, one of every five pregnant women on Medicaid has been prescribed opioids, the filing claims. 
 
“In addition to medical monitoring claims to the guardian, plaintiffs seek to ensure that money needed to pay for testing and epidemiology is actually spent for the direct benefit of children born with NAS.  More urgently, intervention and education of doctors and women of child-bearing age is required to immediately stop the possibility of more such births by educating them and the public that opioids cannot be used during pregnancy,” said Mr. Dann.
 
The link to the filing and supportive statements is here: ​
​nas_opioid_2020_01_07_ts__motion-brief-appendix-proposed_order-declaration_with_exhibits.pdf

Attorneys fighting to stop opioid prescription-related Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) births filed a petition seeking a hearing before the entire U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit in Cincinnati, Ohio because of the emergency nature of the opioid issue to all women of childbearing age in the United States. 

The original motion for issuance of a preliminary injunction, requiring nearly all prescriptions for opioids to women of child-bearing age be written only after the woman tests negatively for pregnancy, as currently required with other medicines which damage fetuses, was denied earlier this year in Cleveland, Ohio. However, that denial was appealed to the 6th Circuit.

A split-decision by three judges of the Circuit Appeals Court, with a strong dissenting opinion by Judge Amul Thapar, encouraged the attorneys to seek the en banc hearing. 

“This extraordinary crisis can and must be stopped,” said Attorney Scott Bickford. “This aggressive first step costs the pharmaceutical companies nothing and saves potentially thousands of children from facing life-long disabilities. Indeed, it may save the taxpayers of this country millions upon millions of dollars and stop yet another generation of effected children.”

The case by Plaintiffs Amanda Hanlon and Amy Gardner is supported by sworn declarations from prominent physicians who give witness to the fact that opioid intake while pregnant has been determined to have long-lasting effects on exposed embryos.  Recent studies have confirmed that in utero exposure can cause physical birth defects, such as cleft palate, heart, head and gastro-intestinal deformities, as well as development delays in speech, learning, walking and other motor skills.

Plaintiff Amanda Hanlon said, "I have seen with my own eyes that prescription opioids hurt babies, moms, and their families. If I could tell every woman, like me who is at risk for hurting their unborn babies, of how bad opioids are, I would. This injunction will tell every woman what they need to know, right when they need to know it with their doctor present. I hope the motion is approved."
Attorneys Scott Bickford and Celeste Brustowicz said even one birth of an opioid-dependent child born to a prescription opioid-using mother is a national failure. 

“Action must be taken now. This preventable condition must be stopped,” said Mr. Bickford. 

The incidence of NAS births is now estimated by organizations like the Centers for Disease Control to be every 15 minutes in the U.S., they added.

“This request is not unlike other programs established by drug manufacturers, distributors, pharmacies, and the FDA to successfully protect fetal development,” said Ms. Brustowicz. “The Accutane Program which requires the same of child-bearing women with acne is evidence that institutional requirements like those sought here do protect babies from fetal injuries.”

A major part of the Accutane Program requires urine pregnancy tests and communications between the prescribing physician and the dispensing agent, such as a pharmacy, with the support of the drug manufacturers and distributors, according to the filing. 

The attorneys seek a court order to require major opioid pharmaceutical manufacturers like Purdue, Teva, Cephalon, Johnson & Johnson, Janssen, Endo, and Allergan to implement a program which, except in limited circumstances, will require a doctor to prescribe only seven days of an opioid-based prescription to a child-bearing-age woman after a negative pregnancy test. Physician renewal of a second prescription can occur only after a second negative test.

“There is an unprecedented epidemic of opioid addiction sweeping across the U.S.,” said Dr. Anand. “Newborn babies are the most vulnerable citizens, their lives and developmental potential are disrupted by Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS), but arrangements for their short-term and long-term care have been ignored.”

As of September 30, 2016, child and family assistance spending related to the epidemic was about $6.1 billion, according to various reports tracking the problem, though Attorneys Bickford and Brustowicz believe the problem is not sufficiently tracked and reported.

“The only realistic means of reducing these types of birth is prevention,” said Mr. Bickford. 

Nearly one-third of all pregnant women in the United States are prescribed opioids, according to recent Centers for Disease Control reports. Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) is a group of medical conditions faced by babies born dependent on opioids from their exposure in the womb due to their mothers’ usage. Between 2000 and 2009, the National Institute on Drug Abuse reported a five-fold increase of infants born with NAS. Data from multiple states that track NAS births continue to show growing numbers of newborns afflicted with it, and it is estimated that tens of thousands of NAS babies are born every year.

"This would be a huge step forward to push the medical field to use alternative methods and, in the long-term, limit the epidemic of NAS births in our country," said Ms. Brustowicz
 
ADDITIONAL DOCUMENTS:
PETITION FOR REHEARING EN BANC
UNDISPUTED MATERIAL FACTS SUPPORTING MOTION FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION
DECLARATION OF DR. KANWALJETT S. ANAND
DECLARATION OF AMANDA M. HANLON
​

Four of the 34 statewide class actions pending before Judge Dan Polster’s Multi-District Litigation have been amended with evidence pleading the causal connection between in-utero prescription opioid use and birth defects in exposed fetuses, said Lead Counsel Scott Bickford.

“For the first time, the dirty secret regarding prescription opioids prescribed to women of child-bearing age is revealed,” said Legal Strategist Stuart Smith. “Our research shows that though the federal agencies documented the link between in-utero exposure to prescription opioids and birth defects, a timely black box warning on opioid prescriptions given to women by their doctors and gynecologists could have and should have been made before 2014, when the first warning in opioid labeling was made.”

These cases now present a legal model for replication in all cases, Mr. Bickford said. The suits were filed seeking to protect the rights of babies born opioid-dependent and their guardians because these children will face life-time medical needs related to educational, physical, and developmental disabilities.
​
“The responsible parties who should have warned prescribers of opioids to women of childbearing age, never undertook a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) similar to other proven teratogens,” said Mr.Bickford. “These cases are an important public warning to women and their babies because they were left unprotected during decades of widespread distribution, marketing and medical use of these drugs.”

The four amended cases in West Virginia, California, Tennessee and Ohio document the birth defects and complications children born before 2014 to mothers using prescription opioids are now facing, along with the scientific links alleging the mechanism of action by which this class of prescription opioid drugs caused these debilitating injuries.

The amended briefs include research conducted by Toxicological Pathologist Dr. Vyvyan Howard of Ulster University and Neo-Natal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) Expert Dr. Kanwaljeet Anand of Stanford University. The teratogenic effects of opioids on a developing fetus range from physical deformities such as heart, brain and gastroenterological defects, including mal-formed heads, cleft palates or lack of complete bowel systems, as well as neurological, motor and cognitive defects such as inability to walk, talk or complete basic skills.

“The hard work of these independent researchers has uncovered the sorry details of this public health crisis, but we remain concerned that these facts will get lost in the fights over bankruptcies and counter lawsuits,” said Mr. Bickford. “This information must get out to every doctor and pharmacy, and a REMS program instituted to protect every woman of child-bearing age who might be prescribed these risky drugs.

“Hundreds of thousands of Opioid Dependent Children have been born in the last 20 years.   These children face educational and developmental hurdles, and many may face future addiction since they were born addicted.  We continue to push aggressively in the federal court system and before Judge Polster presiding over the Multi-District Litigation for a specific NAS track because of the severe and enduring impact this epidemic has and will have on our nation’s children.
 
Table 1 Association between maternal opioid analgesic treatment and specific major birth defects in National Birth Defects Prevention Study of 17449 cases and 6701 controls [2]. Significance is starred * in the usual way. Odds ratios were adjusted for maternal age, race/ethnicity, education, pre-pregnancy obesity, smoking. 

“The lawsuits seek creation of a medical monitoring trust fund for these children funded by the prescription drug defendants directly, rather than relying on local governments with competing priorities,” Mr. Bickford said, illustrating the gravity of the situation by estimating that an opioid-dependent child is being born every 15 minutes in the United States.  
         
Statistics compiled by the Centers for Disease Control estimate that first-year Medicaid costs for opioid-exposed infants average approximately $238,000 and the additional cost burden on hospital Neo-natal Intensive Care Units has increased five-fold in less than a decade. 

“These estimates do not cover costs borne by family caregivers or foster-care institutions responsible for the infants once released from the hospital. The guardians and parents who take these infants home frequently believe that once the child is weaned from their opioid-dependency, there will be no long-term impact on the child. Data shows that is unfortunately almost never the case,” said Mr. Bickford.
            
The 34 states represented in the NAS legal filings are:
​
Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin.