Is it worth hitting your daily ‘move goal’? This week, a gym in Australia was raided by police after a trainer’s Apple Watch accidentally called emergency services.
Today, on the health front, White House policies aimed at expanding access to abortion drugs are thwarted by state-level abortion laws.
Welcome to The Hill’s Health Care RoundupFollow the latest developments in policy and news that affect your health. Nathaniel Weisel and Joseph Choi. Subscribe here.
Access to abortion drugs is out of reach in some states
The Biden administration’s efforts to ease access to abortion drugs have run into a wall of opposition in many states, threatening to make abortion drugs out of reach for many patients.
Mifepristone availability is also restricted in many states that have strict abortion bans. This is done by either restricting who can prescribe and dispense the pills, or banning them entirely.
- According to the Guttmacher Institute, 18 states require medical abortion clinicians to be physically present during drug administration.
- Texas bans the use of medical abortion from the 7th week of pregnancy, while Indiana bans its use from the 10th week.
In most cases, federal law takes precedence over state law. Under that logic, states should not be able to restrict mifepristone because it is a federally approved drug.
However, it is not clear whether federal law will take precedence in states that ban abortion, and so far the government has made no attempt to test that theory.
Legal experts and advocates said the statewide patchwork of laws will continue until courts intervene, creating uncertainty for patients and providers.
The federal government may pursue lawsuits against state restrictions on mifepristone, in which case the FDA may be undesirably challenged beyond the limits of its authority.
States have the power to regulate medical practice, but there is a question of intent, said Rachel Lebusche, dean of Temple University’s Beasley School of Law.
“So, in the states that have banned or are trying to regulate mifepristone, are they judging its safety and effectiveness, or are they banning it for moral reasons?” she said. asked.
Please check this out for details.
Ahead of Roe’s 50th anniversary, activists refocus
Activists and legislators on both sides of the abortion issue are voicing their support on Sunday in an attempt to re-energize supporters and refocus on their goals after a landmark Supreme Court decision last summer. We are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision.
- Both sides are using the anniversary to remind their supporters of what is still at stake and highlight how the battle over abortion rights has moved from courts to Congress and states. .
- A split Congress means that federal action on abortion is unlikely for the next two years. But officials at all levels of government recognize that it is a living issue for millions of voters and will remain well beyond his 50th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. increase.
“While the next two years of Congress will be divided and the 2024 presidential election will surely bring surprises and uncertainty to the country, here is what we know: reproductive access The key battles will be at the next state level, said California Attorney General Rob Bonta, a Democrat.
The anti-abortion movement is also creating new state-based strategies as its leaders agree to overthrow Law.
“After so many years, the moment has finally come, and while we are preparing, nothing really prepares you for the reality in this area,” said the country’s chief executive. said Marjorie Dunsfeller, president of Susan B. Anthony Prolife America, one of the anti-abortion groups.
“This is the very beginning week of a new life for our movement.”
Roe’s demise also brought about a sea change in the annual March for Life rally held on the National Mall.
Since 1974, the year after the Roe decision, anti-abortion groups have held this event annually.
Although the march’s original objectives were met, supporters joined the latest march on Friday to show their support for the overthrow of Law and set new goals.
FTC wants to despise Shkreli
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Friday detained notorious “pharma brothers” Martin Shkreli on contempt charges for failing to pay a federal judge a $65 million fine and violating a lifetime ban from working in the pharmaceutical industry. requested to do so.
In a complaint filed in federal court for the Southern District of New York, the FTC and regulators in several states said Shkreli “disregarded” court orders by ignoring requests for paperwork and interviews. said.
In July, Shkreli announced the formation of a new company called Druglike. The company’s press release describes it as “co-founded by Martin Shkreli, his Web3 drug discovery software platform,” which aims to revolutionize early-stage drug discovery.
The FTC said it was unable to determine whether the company violated Shkreli’s life ban because Shkreli did not send the documents and did not meet with regulators.
“Martin Shkreli’s failure to comply with the court order demonstrates a clear disregard for the law,” said Holly Vedova, director of the FTC’s Competition Bureau, in a statement. “The FTC will not hesitate to deploy the full scope of its powers to enable a comprehensive investigation of potential wrongdoing.”
Please check this out for details.
Cancer diagnosis increases suicide risk by 26%: study
A new study shows that individuals diagnosed with cancer between 2000 and 2016 had a 26% higher risk of suicide compared to the general population.
Both insurance status and ethnicity contributed to the increased risk, the authors wrote. A person who had a poor prognosis at diagnosis had an increased risk of suicide within 2 years of learning of the disease. A cancer patient whose quality of life was susceptible to long-term impairment was at higher risk during her first two years.
However, the highest risk was within the first six months after a patient was diagnosed with cancer, seven times the risk in the general population.
The findings highlight the need for timely symptom management and targeted psychosocial interventions for suicide prevention in individuals diagnosed with cancer, the researchers said.
“These include ensuring comprehensive health insurance coverage for psycho-oncological, psychosocial, and palliative care, the development of appropriate clinical guidelines for suicide risk screening, and the inclusion of suicide prevention. It requires a joint effort by federal and state governments, as well as healthcare providers, to create a survivorship care plan,” senior author Xuesong Han said in a release. Han is the Scientific Director of Health Services Research for the American Cancer Society.
Please check this out for details.
What we know about how the COVID vaccine will affect the cycle
Since early in the pandemic, women have reported experiencing menstrual changes after being infected with COVID-19 or after being vaccinated.
Some say their cycles have lengthened. Their bleeding was heavier. Research supports these anecdotal reports, showing that COVID-19 vaccination has a temporary but significant impact on women’s physiology and associated symptoms.
Studies suggest that changes in menstrual cycle length may be caused by how the immune system influences sex hormones. and may also affect the uterus.
Here’s what we know:
- A study of approximately 4,000 women in the United States found that menstrual cycle length increased by approximately 0.7 days after the first dose and by 0.9 days after the second dose. Although the cycle lengthened overall, the researchers did not see any change in how many days the women’s periods lasted.
- Another recent study found that women may be more likely to experience a range of menstrual symptoms after vaccination.
Please check this out for details.
what we are reading
- A very different March for Life is back in Washington because Roe is dead (Washington Post)
- FDA rejects early approval application for Lilly’s Alzheimer’s drug (Stat)
- New technology gives hope to 1 million people with epilepsy (NPR)
by state
- Attracting out-of-state professionals is just the first step in solving Montana’s health worker shortage (Kaiser Health News)
- NYU Langone withdraws from adolescent type 1 diabetes vaccine trial (The New York Times)
- New Georgia House Speaker: No expansion of Medicaid to all poor so far (Atlanta Journal Constitution)
That’s all for today, thanks for reading. For the latest news and coverage, visit The Hill’s Health Care page. see you next week.
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