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As the Biden administration winds down, the US Food and Drug Administration has submitted a proposed rule that could significantly lower the amount of nicotine in tobacco products and potentially prompt more people to quit smoking. (Christensen, 12/11)

President Biden and first lady Jill Biden hosted the first-ever White House Conference on Women's Health Research on Wednesday, showcasing progress in women's health initiatives to close the gender gap in health care. Last year, the president and first lady introduced a White House initiative to undertake what they said would be the "most comprehensive" effort any administration has taken to support women's health research. (Pound, 12/11)

Drug deaths are falling for the first time in recent memory, representing a rare glimmer of hope after years of record overdose mortality. On Wednesday, to the surprise of some experts, Biden administration officials sought to take credit for the decrease. (Facher, 12/11)

Donald Trump is eager to appoint dozens of new judges once he becomes president. Joe Biden has other plans. The president threatened to veto a bill to expand the number of federal judges because he doesn’t want to give the president-elect new appointment opportunities, one of the outgoing president’s closest allies said in an interview. The move dooms legislation spearheaded by Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), who had spent months pushing for the creation of 63 new judgeships. (Cancryn, 12/11)

Andrea Deutsch, the mayor of Narberth, Pennsylvania, and the owner of a pet store in town, doesn’t get health care coverage through either of her jobs. Instead, she is enrolled in a plan she purchased on Pennie, Pennsylvania’s health insurance exchange. ... The 57-year-old, who is diabetic, pays $638.38 per month for health care coverage — about half of the $1,272.38 she’d owe without the enhanced federal subsidies Congress and the Biden administration put in place in 2021. (Chatlani, 12/11)