SUMMARY: The Laotian Sou Khuan ceremony, a ritual where a string is tied around participants’ wrists to preserve good luck and well-being, is common across Southeast Asia. In New Iberia, Laotian community activist Phanat Xanamane reflects on the tradition as a reminder of one’s roots. Laotians in the U.S. face growing fear due to aggressive deportation efforts, particularly from the Trump administration, despite their legal permanent residency. Many, originally refugees from the Vietnam War era, are now uncertain about their futures as deportation risks loom. The community struggles with navigating immigration laws, with some fearing loss of citizenship or family separation.
lailluminator.com – Jackie Fortiér, KFF Health News, Arthur Allen, KFF Health News – 2025-05-17 17:08:00
Independent U.S. pharmacists like Benjamin Jolley face challenges from President Trump’s proposed tariffs on imported pharmaceuticals, intended to shift drug production from China and India back to the U.S. While the goal is to reduce dependency on foreign suppliers and enhance national security, experts warn tariffs could raise drug prices, worsen shortages, and harm small pharmacies operating on thin margins. Drugmakers and industry groups oppose broad tariffs, citing high costs and fragile supply chains. Although some manufacturers promise U.S. investment, the economics for generics—90% of U.S. prescriptions—discourage costly domestic production. Without careful policy design, tariffs risk disrupting access and increasing costs for consumers.
by Jackie Fortiér, KFF Health News and Arthur Allen, KFF Health News, Louisiana Illuminator May 17, 2025
In the dim basement of a Salt Lake City pharmacy, hundreds of amber-colored plastic pill bottles sit stacked in rows, one man’s defensive wall in a tariff war.
Independent pharmacist Benjamin Jolley and his colleagues worry that the tariffs, aimed at bringing drug production to the United States, could instead drive companies out of business while raising prices and creating more of the drug shortages that have plagued American patients for several years.
Jolley bought six months’ worth of the most expensive large bottles, hoping to shield his business from the 10% across-the-board tariffs on imported goods that President Donald Trump announced April 2. Now with threats of additional tariffs targeting pharmaceuticals, Jolley worries that costs will soar for the medications that will fill those bottles.
In principle, Jolley said, using tariffs to push manufacturing from China and India to the U.S. makes sense. In the event of war, China could quickly stop all exports to the United States.
“I understand the rationale for tariffs. I’m not sure that we’re gonna do it the right way,” Jolley said. “And I am definitely sure that it’s going to raise the price that I pay my suppliers.”
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Squeezed by insurers and middlemen, independent pharmacists such as Jolley find themselves on the front lines of a tariff storm. Nearly everyone down the line — drugmakers, pharmacies, wholesalers, and middlemen — opposes most tariffs.
Slashing drug imports could trigger widespread shortages, experts said, because of America’s dependence on Chinese- and Indian-made chemical ingredients, which form the critical building blocks of many medicines. Industry officials caution that steep tariffs on raw materials and finished pharmaceuticals could make drugs more expensive.
“Big ships don’t change course overnight,” said Robin Feldman, a UC Law San Francisco professor who writes about prescription drug issues. “Even if companies pledge to bring manufacturing home, it will take time to get them up and running. The key will be to avoid damage to industry and pain to consumers in the process.”
Trump on April 8 said he would soon announce “a major tariff on pharmaceuticals,” which have been largely tariff-free in the U.S. for 30 years.
“When they hear that, they will leave China,” he said. The U.S. imported $213 billion worth of medicines in 2024 — from China but also India, Europe, and other areas.
Trump’s statement sent drugmakers scrambling to figure out whether he was serious, and whether some tariffs would be levied more narrowly, since many parts of the U.S. drug supply chain are fragile, drug shortages are common, and upheaval at the FDA leaves questions about whether its staffing is adequate to inspect factories, where quality problems can lead to supply chain crises.
On May 12, Trump signed an executive order asking drugmakers to bring down the prices Americans pay for prescriptions, to put them in line with prices in other countries.
Meanwhile, pharmacists predict even the 10% tariffs Trump has demanded will hurt: Jolley said a potential increase of up to 30 cents a vial is not a king’s ransom, but it adds up when you’re a small pharmacy that fills 50,000 prescriptions a year.
“The one word that I would say right now to describe tariffs is ‘uncertainty,’” said Scott Pace, a pharmacist and owner of Kavanaugh Pharmacy in Little Rock, Arkansas.
To weather price fluctuations, Pace stocked up on the drugs his pharmacy dispenses most.
“I’ve identified the top 200 generics in my store, and I have basically put 90 days’ worth of those on the shelf just as a starting point,” he said. “Those are the diabetes drugs, the blood pressure medicines, the antibiotics — those things that I know folks will be sicker without.”
Pace said tariffs could be the death knell for the many independent pharmacies that exist on “razor-thin margins” — unless reimbursements rise to keep up with higher costs.
Unlike other retailers, pharmacies can’t pass along such costs to patients. Their payments are set by health insurers and pharmacy benefit managers largely owned by insurance conglomerates, who act as middlemen between drug manufacturers and purchasers.
Neal Smoller, who employs 15 people at his Village Apothecary in Woodstock, New York, is not optimistic.
“It’s not like they’re gonna go back and say, well, here’s your 10% bump because of the 10% tariff,” he said. “Costs are gonna go up and then the sluggish responses from the PBMs — they’re going to lead us to lose more money at a faster rate than we already are.”
Smoller, who said he has built a niche selling vitamins and supplements, fears that FDA firings will mean fewer federal inspections and safety checks.
“I worry that our pharmaceutical industry becomes like our supplement industry, where it’s the wild West,” he said.
Narrowly focused tariffs might work in some cases, said Marta Wosińska, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Center on Health Policy. For example, while drug manufacturing plants can cost $1 billion and take three to five years to set up, it would be relatively cheap to build a syringe factory — a business American manufacturers abandoned during the covid-19 pandemic because China was dumping its products here, Wosińska said.
It’s not surprising that giants such as Novartis and Eli Lilly have promised Trump they’ll invest billions in U.S. plants, she said, since much of their final drug product is made here or in Europe, where governments negotiate drug prices. The industry is using Trump’s tariff saber-rattling as leverage; in an April 11 letter, 32 drug companies demanded European governments pay them more or face an exodus to the United States.
Brandon Daniels, CEO of supply chain company Exiger, is bullish on tariffs. He thinks they could help bring some chemical manufacturing back to the U.S., which, when coupled with increased use of automation, would reduce the labor advantages of China and India.
“You’ve got real estate in North Texas that’s cheaper than real estate in Shenzhen,” he said at an economic conference April 25 in Washington, referring to a major Chinese chemical manufacturing center.
But Wosińska said no amount of tariffs will compel makers of generic drugs, responsible for 90% of U.S. prescriptions, to build new factories in the U.S. Payment structures and competition would make it economic suicide, she said.
Several U.S. generics firms have declared bankruptcy or closed U.S. factories over the past decade, said John Murphy, CEO of the Association for Accessible Medicines, the generics trade group. Reversing that trend won’t be easy and tariffs won’t do it, he said.
“There’s not a magic level of tariffs that magically incentivizes them to come into the U.S.,” he said. “There is no room to make a billion-dollar investment in a domestic facility if you’re going to lose money on every dose you sell in the U.S. market.”
His group has tried to explain these complexities to Trump officials, and hopes word is getting through. “We’re not PhRMA,” Murphy said, referring to the powerful trade group primarily representing makers of brand-name drugs. “I don’t have the resources to go to Mar-a-Lago to talk to the president myself.”
Many of the active ingredients in American drugs are imported. Fresenius Kabi, a German company with facilities in eight U.S. states to produce or distribute sterile injectables — vital hospital drugs for cancer and other conditions — complained in a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer that tariffs on these raw materials could paradoxically lead some companies to move finished product manufacturing overseas.
Fresenius Kabi also makes biosimilars, the generic forms of expensive biologic drugs such as Humira and Stelara. The United States is typically the last developed country where biosimilars appear on the market because of patent laws.
Tariffs on biosimilars coming from overseas — where Fresenius makes such drugs — would further incentivize U.S. use of more expensive brand-name biologics, the March 11 letter said. Biosimilars, which can cost a tenth of the original drug’s price, launch on average 3-4 years later in the U.S. than in Canada or Europe.
In addition to getting cheaper knockoff drugs faster, European countries also pay far less than the United States for brand-name products. Paradoxically, Murphy said, those same countries pay more for generics.
European governments tend to establish more stable contracts with makers of generics, while in the United States, “rabid competition” drives down prices to the point at which a manufacturer “maybe scrimps on product quality,” said John Barkett, a White House Domestic Policy Council member in the Biden administration.
As a result, Wosińska said, “without exemptions or other measures put in place, I really worry about tariffs causing drug shortages.”
Smoller, the New York pharmacist, doesn’t see any upside to tariffs.
“How do I solve the problem of caring for my community,” he said, “but not being subject to the emotional roller coaster that is dispensing hundreds of prescriptions a day and watching every single one of them be a loss or 12 cents profit?”
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This article first appeared on KFF Health News and is republished here under a Creative Commons license. KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF and subscribe to KFF Health News’ free Morning Briefing.
Louisiana Illuminator is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Louisiana Illuminator maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Greg LaRose for questions: info@lailluminator.com.
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Center-Right
The article discusses the potential effects of tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on prescription drugs, with a focus on their impact on independent pharmacists. While it acknowledges the rationale behind the tariffs—such as reducing U.S. dependence on foreign-made drugs—the article emphasizes concerns about the tariffs’ negative effects on drug prices and shortages. The inclusion of voices critical of the tariffs, like independent pharmacists and industry experts, adds a nuanced perspective. However, the framing of the discussion, including references to the Trump administration’s policies, suggests a tone that aligns more with a Center-Right viewpoint, favoring economic protectionism but highlighting its practical challenges.
www.thecentersquare.com – By Tate Miller | The Center Square contributor – (The Center Square – ) 2025-05-17 11:06:00
A Goldwater Institute report reveals that some Louisiana public universities require diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) courses for graduation in certain degree programs. At least three universities—University of Louisiana at Lafayette, University of Louisiana at Monroe, and McNeese State University—mandate DEI courses for students in education-related programs. Goldwater Institute’s Tim Minella criticizes these courses, calling them unnecessary and politically motivated. He argues that they waste time and tuition dollars, pushing a progressive agenda instead of providing valuable education. Minella advocates for legislation to eliminate mandatory DEI courses in public universities and promote academic freedom.
(The Center Square) – A Goldwater Institute report shows that a number of public Louisiana universities require the completion of diversity, equity, and inclusion-related courses to graduate from some degree programs.
“At least three public institutions – University of Louisiana at Lafayette, University of Louisiana at Monroe, and McNeese State University – require students in certain degree programs such as education to take DEI courses simply to graduate,” the Goldwater Institute report said.
The Goldwater Institute is a “free-market public policy research and litigation organization,” according to its website.
Goldwater Institute’s senior Constitutionalism fellow Tim Minella told The Center Square that “requiring these activist courses wastes time and tuition dollars while failing to develop the knowledge and skills that will serve students in their careers.”
“Even in red states, students in public universities are being forced to sit through courses intended to indoctrinate them in the radical tenets of DEI just to graduate,” Minella said.
“As this new report shows, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette requires students in the master’s of education program to take ‘Diversity for the Progressive Educator’ a course that focuses on ‘critical elements of race/ethnicity’ and seeks to enhance ‘the commitment to take action against [systems of inequality],’” Minella told the Center Square.
Likewise, as stated in the report, “at the University of Louisiana at Monroe (ULM), Elementary Education majors are required to take ‘CURR 2001: Educational Foundations for Diverse Learning Environments,’ which ‘provides multicultural insight to support the educational needs of diverse students in their learning environment.’”
Additionally, “at McNeese State University, students seeking a B.A. in English Education Grades 6-12 must take ‘EDUC 204: Orientation to Multiculturalism and Diversity in Education,’” the report states.
When asked by The Center Square why it is inappropriate for public universities to require DEI-related courses to graduate, Minella said that “DEI course requirements force students to sit through lectures in the progressive agenda instead of gaining a real education that enhances knowledge and develops valuable skills.”
“As this report shows, Louisiana’s schools of education are focusing on training political activists instead of preparing students to be effective classroom teachers,” Minella said.
“Furthermore, DEI course requirements artificially inflate the enrollment of DEI courses,” Minella said. “Many students would decline to take these activist courses and opt to enroll in more valuable academic activities, if not for DEI course mandates.”
“This report demonstrates the pressing need for states to eliminate mandatory DEI courses in public universities by adopting Goldwater’s Freedom from Indoctrination Act reform,” Minella told The Center Square.
The Freedom from Indoctrination Act is a model legislation made up of three sections: “Prohibit Mandatory DEI / [Critical Race Theory] Based Course Requirements,” “Ensure Basic Instruction in American Institutions,” and “Ensure Freshman Orientation Programs Promote the Free Exchange of Ideas rather than Political Indoctrination.”
The Center Square reached out to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, the University of Louisiana at Monroe, McNeese State University, and the University of Louisiana System for comment.
McNeese State said it would respond by next week. The other universities did not respond.
The Trump administration has been working to root out DEI with various executive orders by the president as well as the Education Department’s Dear Colleague letter that stated race-based decisions in education are unlawful, as The Center Square previously reported.
Tim Minella wrote in an article for the Goldwater Institute that “although President Donald Trump has dismantled federal support for DEI, his executive orders rightly exempted ‘academic instruction’ in higher education from these new federal protections, leaving oversight of academic standards to the states.”
“Louisiana must act to eliminate DEI indoctrination in the classroom,” Minella wrote.
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Right-Leaning
The article presents a clear ideological stance through its framing and tone. It critiques the requirement for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) courses in Louisiana public universities, portraying these mandates as a waste of time and resources. The language used, such as referring to DEI courses as “activist courses” and “political indoctrination,” suggests a strong opposition to the inclusion of these courses, aligning with a conservative perspective. The reliance on the Goldwater Institute—a free-market and right-wing think tank—further supports a right-leaning bias, particularly in its advocacy for the “Freedom from Indoctrination Act” to eliminate DEI courses. The article’s overall tone favors a conservative viewpoint on education policy, emphasizing the need for states to combat what it frames as progressive indoctrination in universities.
www.thecentersquare.com – By Emilee Calametti | The Center Square – (The Center Square – ) 2025-05-16 12:45:00
A recent audit reveals the town of Melville faces ongoing financial struggles after four years of operating losses. The town’s utility system lacks meters at most residences, causing rampant utility theft and unresolved bill payments, including many officials with overdue accounts. The audit highlighted failures such as non-payment of payroll taxes, inadequate documentation, and repeated past audit findings. Melville’s net position declined due to rising expenses, especially in public safety. Despite receiving federal grants, the town’s financial health is worsening. To address these issues, Melville plans to propose additional sales and property taxes and reduce departmental spending.
(The Center Square) — A recent audit report showed the town of Melville is still experiencing financial hardship after four years of losses.
“The town has experienced significant operating losses over the past four fiscal years,” the auditor’s report said. “The town’s utility system doesn’t feature meters at most residences, and many sections of the utility system cannot be cut off individually, which has made utility theft rampant.”
The Louisiana Legislative Auditor released a report that detailed many financial shortcomings for the town, including non-payment of all required payroll taxes to the Internal Revenue Service and the Louisiana Department of Revenue.
The town also did not keep adequate documentation, according to the report, to reconcile underlying meter deposit liability to individual account balances. Many elected officials with past-due accounts were found after not enforcing a uniform cutoff policy for non-payment of utilities.
The town has reportedly received large federal grants to assist with issues, but the auditor said, “The town’s financial position is rapidly deteriorating.”
This is not the first audit showing troubles for the town. Back in 2022, reports showed many town officials owed the federal government for payroll taxes. The previous audit specified 10 findings for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2020. Five of those findings were repeated from previous audits.
According to the report, the town’s net position decreased by $9,746 from governmental activities due to an increase in public safety expenses. Business-type activities also decreased the net position by over $134,000 from transfers to support governmental activities.
The audit statement of activities showed general government expenses at $486,302, with public safety expenses totaling $232,988. The total expenses for all governmental activities were $733,678.
To rectify these issues, the town plans to add an additional sales tax to the election ballot, an additional property tax and will try to reduce departmental spending. Many of the findings were reported to have happened under different administration.
Emilee Ruth Calametti currently serves as Staff Reporter for The Center Square covering the Northwestern Louisiana region. She holds her M.A. in English from Georgia State University and an additional M.A. in Journalism from New York University. Her articles have been featured in DIG Magazine, Houstonia Magazine, Bookstr, inRegister, EntertainmentNOW, AOL, MSN, and more. She is a Louisiana native with over seven years of journalism experience.
Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.
Political Bias Rating: Centrist
The article primarily reports on the financial struggles of the town of Melville, Louisiana, based on an audit report. It focuses on factual details such as operating losses, issues with utility systems, tax non-payment, and actions to address financial difficulties, such as proposed taxes and spending cuts. While the article covers the negative findings of the audit and the town’s financial decline, it does not advocate for any particular ideological perspective or propose solutions that align with a specific political viewpoint. It presents the information in a straightforward manner, without a discernible bias in terms of tone or language. The reporting is neutral, fact-based, and centers on the town’s economic challenges without endorsing or criticizing any political position.
