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The economic plan Harris released last week called for Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), to work with states to erase medical debt for millions of Americans “to help them avoid accumulating such debt in the future, because no one should go bankrupt just because they had the misfortune of becoming sick or hurt.” (Weixel, 8/24)

The “care economy” — a broad set of policies aimed at helping parents and other caregivers — was the great unfinished work of President Biden’s domestic agenda. Vice President Kamala Harris has made it a central aspect of her campaign to succeed him. Ms. Harris, the Democratic nominee, has spoken frequently on the campaign trail about making it more affordable to raise children. She chose a running mate, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, whose signature policy accomplishments include the creation of a paid family leave program. (Ngo and Casselman, 8/24)

The first year of a baby’s life is costly and stressful for new parents, who often lose income as well as sleep as the bills mount. Vice President Kamala Harris proposes giving families of newborns a $6,000 bonus in the form of a tax credit to support their finances and well-being—an approach used in a handful of other countries. (Brown, 8/24)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: For Pharma, Trump Vs. Harris Is A Showdown Between Two Industry Foes

Former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have a rare point of agreement in their otherwise bitter and divisive contest: It’s up to the government to cut high U.S. drug prices. Harris cast the tie-breaking Senate vote in 2022 for legislation that allows Medicare to negotiate drug prices for its more than 60 million beneficiaries. ... As president, Trump would likely retain Medicare price negotiations unless the pharmaceutical industry can come up with something more compelling that they’d put on the table, people close to him say. (Armour, 8/26)

The Food and Drug Administration is ramping up its investigation of the clinical trials that tested an Ecstasy-based therapy, after the agency earlier rejected the application for its approval. FDA investigators this week interviewed four people about the clinical trials sponsored by company Lykos Therapeutics, people familiar with the matter said. Investigators asked about whether side effects went unreported. (Essley Whyte, 8/23)

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday classified a recall of Inari Medical's (NARI.O) ClotTriever catheter that helps capture and remove large clot from big vessels as "most serious". The affected products include all devices and lot numbers with labeled dates prior to Aug. 1, 2024, whose use might cause serious adverse health consequences, including device entrapment, vessel damage, and/or blockage of lung arteries and death, the FDA said. (8/24)

A federal court in Louisiana has dealt a serious blow to the Biden administration’s effort to protect communities heavily affected by toxic industrial pollution. The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana ruled on Wednesday that the Environmental Protection Agency is barred from using the federal civil rights law to prevent Louisiana from granting permits for numerous polluting facilities in minority and low-income communities. (Friedman, 8/23)

A disability rights organization is challenging a suburban New York ban on wearing masks in public except for health and religious reasons, arguing it is unconstitutional and discriminates against people with disabilities. The federal class action lawsuit, filed by Disability Rights of New York on behalf of individuals with disabilities, seeks a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to immediately stop enforcement of Nassau County’s Mask Transparency Act. (8/24)