 Health Care |
Health Care |
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Louisiana escalates battle against medication abortion |
A New York doctor was indicted Friday by a grand jury in Louisiana for knowingly prescribing and providing medication abortion in violation of the state's ban. |
It's the first criminal case of its kind in the country and will likely be the first direct test of New York's shield law, which protects doctors who use telehealth to prescribe abortion pills to patients where abortion is banned. A Louisiana jury issued an indictment for Dr. Margaret Carpenter, her company Nightingale Medical PC and another person. Carpenter, a doctor who practices in New Paltz, N.Y., was also sued by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton last year for prescribing and sending abortion pills to a young woman in the state. Louisiana and Texas have some of the strictest abortion laws in the U.S. Abortion is almost entirely banned in Louisiana with exceptions for rape and incest. Last year, Louisiana also criminalized the possession of the two drugs need for a medication abortion — mifepristone and misoprostol — by rescheduling them as Schedule IV controlled substances. In a post on X, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill committed to prosecuting anyone who sends abortion pills into the state. "I have said it before and I will say it again: We will hold individuals accountable for breaking the law," she wrote. But New York leadership is prepared to fight any attempts to extradite physicians who prescribe abortion pills across state lines. New York Governor Kathy Hochul said in that she would "never" turn a physician over to Louisiana as part of extradition request. And New York Attorney General Letitia James echoed that sentiment. "This cowardly attempt out of Louisiana to weaponize the law against out-of-state providers is unjust and un-American," she said in a statement. "We will not allow bad actors to undermine our providers' ability to deliver critical care," she said. |
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How policy will be impacting the health care sector this week and beyond: |
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Americans are split on using weight loss drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy to treat obesity or weight-related conditions, according to a survey published Friday. The new Associated Press (AP)-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll found that 54 percent of respondents said it is a good idea to use weight loss drugs for U.S. adults who want to tackle obesity or similar conditions. Some 17 percent argued it is a "very or … |
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Sen. Bill Cassidy (R), a physician-turned-politician from deep-red Louisiana, has emerged as a central figure in the confirmation fight over Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. Over the course of six hours in two hearings, Cassidy indicated he holds serious doubts about whether Kennedy is qualified to lead the agency, casting a cloud of uncertainty over Kennedy’s path to confirmation. … |
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Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President Trump’s nominee for Health and Human Services secretary, told senators Friday he will divest his financial stake in a lawsuit against pharmaceutical giant Merck over its vaccine that protects against human papillomavirus. In a written response to questions from Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Kennedy said he is amending his ethics agreement and that, if confirmed, he will not … |
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Branch out with a different read: |
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Democrats want answers on cost-cutting prescription payment models abandoned by Trump |
House Democrats want to know what the Trump administration plans to do after it rescinded a Biden-era executive order to study potential payment models for lowering prescription drug costs, looking to the acting heads of health agencies for answers. A group of 51 House Democrats led by Rep. Shontel Brown (Ohio) wrote to Dorothy Fink, acting Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary, and Jeff Wu, acting Centers for Medicare … |
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Local and state headlines on health care: |
- Drawn-out overhaul of troubled Montana hospital leaves lawmakers in limbo (KFF Health News)
- Texas dairy, poultry producers grapple with bird flu (The Texas Tribune)
- Inside the battle to remove fluoride from Florida drinking water — and the effort's RFK Jr.-aligned ally (Politico)
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Health news we've flagged from other outlets: |
- National Science Foundation suspends salary payments, leaving researchers unable to pay their bills (Stat)
- Health resources vanish following D.E.I. and gender orders (The New York Times)
- RFK Jr. Confirmation hearing could hinge on his embrace of false vaccine-autism link (The Washington Post)
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Most read stories on The Hill right now: |
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The air traffic controllers union responded Friday to claims by President Trump this week that diversity programs contributed to the fatal crash in … Read more |
| Director of national intelligence nominee Tulsi Gabbard's views on former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden and his theft of more … Read more |
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Opinion related to health submitted to The Hill: |
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