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Clinics up the East Coast have seen a surge in patient traffic since a law banning most abortions in Florida went into effect on May 1 — but so far they have not experienced the collapse in care that many providers had feared before the new restrictions began in the country’s third most populous state, according to new data collected by a research team at Middlebury College. Wait times for abortion appointments have increased at approximately 30 percent of clinics across North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C., the areas closest to Florida where abortion remains legal after six weeks of pregnancy, according to the data, which is based on a survey of clinics before and after the law went into effect. North Carolina experienced the sharpest increases, with wait times rising in half of the state’s 16 clinics. (Gilbert, Kitchener, and Chen, 5/24)

“Rape” isn’t defined in Florida statutes. So how will a doctor providing an abortion know if they’re breaking the law? Legal experts say Florida's new Heartbeat Protection Act – which largely bans abortions after six weeks of gestation – isn't clear, especially the law's exception delaying the ban to 15 weeks for people who are victims of rape. Critics say it could create a chilling effect among doctors, who'll likely be reticent or refuse to do any operations protected in the rape exception because of the lack of definition of "rape." Conservative backers of the law disagree, saying the terms used in the legislation have commonly understood meanings as worked out in court cases. (Goni-Lessan, 5/23)

Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed a contentious measure that directs the Florida Department of Health to set up a website that provides “information and links to certain pregnancy and parenting resources,” the governor’s office announced Sunday. (5/22)

Jasper never considered he might be pregnant. Despite the nausea, the stomach pain, the fatigue, the possibility never crossed his mind. He was about six months into testosterone therapy, a form of gender-affirming care. It had taken ages to get his father and stepmother on board—though 18 years old at the time, Jasper lived with and relied on them for support. But looking in the rearview mirror, he knew treatment was one of the best things he’d ever done for himself. Feeling the peach fuzz grow on his face, hearing his voice deepen, noticing as his jawline shifted and his eyebrows darkened—it was the first time in his life that Jasper felt truly at home in his body. The treatment made him look and feel like himself; it also meant he barely menstruated. That wasn’t a big deal, though. Ever since puberty, he had never had regular periods. Their absence didn’t even register. (Luthra, 5/15)

Louisiana lawmakers on Thursday approved legislation making the possession of abortion pills without a prescription a crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison. It now heads to the desk of GOP Gov. Jeff Landry, who has not publicly weighed in on the legislation but is expected to sign it. (Messerly, 5/23)

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation Wednesday that will give Arizona doctors temporary, emergency licenses to perform abortions in California in the wake of an Arizona Supreme Court decision outlawing the procedure that was based on an 1864 law. The legislation, SB233 (co-written by Democratic state Sens. Nancy Skinner of Berkeley and Cecilia Aguiar-Curry of Winters) will allow licensed Arizona doctors in good standing to provide abortions and abortion-related care to Arizona patients traveling to California through Nov. 30. It went into effect immediately. (Garofoli, 5/23)

Historically, the disability and reproductive rights movements have operated separately, “just ignoring each other,” as one advocate put it, as they pursued aims that at times felt contradictory: While one movement fought for full abortion access, the other sought for people to stop ending pregnancies where disabilities were detected. A new House resolution announced Thursday by Rep. Ayanna Pressley highlights shifts in the movements’ relationship accelerated by the end of federal abortion rights and growing acknowledgement of common ground: bodily autonomy and self-determination. (Luterman, 5/23)

The Texas Legislature created the maternal mortality committee in 2013 after a rise in deaths among pregnant women nationally and statewide. Research shows that a large portion of pregnancy-related deaths are preventable. The Texas group, formally known as the Texas Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Committee (MMMRC), is tasked with identifying deaths, reviewing the contributing factors and making recommendations that reduce mortality. The group also reports on “near misses,” or cases in which pregnant women nearly died from a complication. (Gill, 5/23)

�鶹Ů�� Health News' 'What The Health?' Podcast: Anti-Abortion Hard-Liners Speak Up

While Republican candidates in many states downplay their opposition to abortion, the most vehement wing of the movement, which helped overturn Roe v. Wade — those who advocate prosecuting patients, outlawing contraception, and banning IVF — are increasingly outspoken. ... Join �鶹Ů�� Health News’ Julie Rovner to discuss these stories and more. (Rovner, 5/23)

Many U.S. dairy farms have not yet increased health protections against bird flu for employees during an outbreak in cows, according to workers, activists and farmers, worrying health experts about the risk for more human infections of a virus with pandemic potential. Epidemiologists are concerned the virus could potentially spread and cause serious illnesses as farmers downplay the risk to workers while employees are not widely aware of cases in U.S. cattle. (Polansek and Schlitz, 5/23)

After hearing from state partners and the dairy industry, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced more support for dairy farms, which now includes those that haven't been affected by H5N1 avian flu outbreaks in cattle. Also today, the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) reported two more outbreaks in Idaho dairy herds, as well as four that were initially reported by Michigan, raising the national total to 58 farms across nine states. (Schnirring, 5/23)

The H5N1 avian influenza virus infecting dairy cows can persist and remain infectious in unpasteurized milk on milking equipment surfaces for a long period, researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and Emory University reported yesterday in a preprint study. (Schnirring, 5/23)

It was bound to happen again. For the second time in two months, the United States has confirmed a case of bird flu in a dairy worker employed by a farm with H5N1-infected cows. “The only thing I’m surprised about is that it’s taken this long to get another confirmed case,” said Steve Valeika, a veterinarian and an epidemiologist based in North Carolina. The true case count is almost certainly higher. (Wu, 5/23)

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Thursday that public health officials are investigating multi-state outbreaks of salmonella linked to contact with backyard poultry. The CDC said that 109 people from 29 states have gotten sick from salmonella after touching or caring for backyard poultry such as chickens and ducks. The states with the highest number of cases are Missouri, Texas and Oklahoma. (5/23)

The HPV vaccine is linked to a drastic reduction in head and neck cancers in adolescent boys and men, new research finds. HPV, or human papillomavirus, is a sexually transmitted infection responsible for virtually all cases of cervical cancer. But the virus is also linked to a number of other cancers, including penile, anal and vaginal cancers. It also accounts for the majority — up to 70% — of head and neck cancers, which affect the throat and mouth. Men are about twice as likely to develop these cancers than women, according to the National Cancer Institute. (Sullivan, 5/23)

You’d think if there were a vaccine that would prevent tens of thousands of cases of cancer a year, people would want it for themselves and for their kids. But new data being released Thursday ahead of the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology show that just isn’t the case. (Herper, 5/23)

Two doses of Bavarian Nordic’s Jynneos vaccine offer almost complete protection against mpox, according to a new report published today in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Also today, MMWR published an update on clade II mpox cases in the United States, showing cases have been consistent since October 2023, with most cases occurring in unvaccinated people. (Soucheray, 5/23)

Uninsured adults will lose an option this August to get vaccinated against COVID for free, weeks before an updated vaccine is expected to be released going into respiratory virus season. Launched in 2023 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Bridge Access Program began as a way to connect U.S. adults with little to no health insurance to COVID vaccines. (Santhanam, 5/23)

Before March 2020, it was hard to imagine a global pandemic in the modern age. Now, it’s hard to imagine our lives without one. As COVID-19 has become less of an active part of our days and more a quick thought when we have a runny nose or cough, it’s time to think about what comes next — and how to stop another pandemic. (Wright, 5/23)

Health officials from the 194 member states of the World Health Organization (WHO) hope next week to complete more than two years of negotiations on new rules for responding to pandemics when they gather in Geneva. Negotiations go to the wire on Friday for two complementary deals set to be formalized at the May 27-June 1 meeting: an update to existing health rules on outbreaks and a new legally-binding treaty to shore up the world's defenses against future pathogens after the COVID-19 pandemic killed millions of people. (Farge and Rigby, 5/24)

�鶹Ů�� Health News and Tampa Bay Times: The Case Of The Armadillo: Is It Spreading Leprosy In Florida?

In an open-air barn at the edge of the University of Florida, veterinarian Juan Campos Krauer examines a dead armadillo’s footpads and ears for signs of infection. Its claws are curled tight and covered in blood. Campos Krauer thinks it was struck in the head while crossing a nearby road. He then runs a scalpel down its underside. ... Campos Krauer plans to test the armadillo for leprosy, an ancient illness also known as Hansen’s disease that can lead to nerve damage and disfigurement in humans. (Ogozalek, 5/24)

Hospital staff are forced to write notes by hand and deliver orders for tests and prescriptions in person in the ongoing fallout from a recent ransomware attack at the national health system Ascension. Ascension is one of the largest health systems in the United States, with some 140 hospitals located across 19 states and D.C. (Aldridge, 5/23)

Ascension hospitals around the country are still dealing with the fallout from a ransomware attack, and Metro Detroit nurses are worried about patient safety. For the last two weeks, doctors and nurses at Ascension hospitals in more than a dozen states haven't had access to patient electronic medical records because of a massive ransomware attack. (Gutierrez, 5/23)

In more than a dozen states, doctors and nurses have resorted to paper and handwritten treatment orders to chart patient illnesses and track them, unable to access the detailed medical histories that have long been available only through computerized records. Patients have waited for long stints in emergency rooms, and their treatments have been delayed while lab results and readings from machines like M.R.I.s are ferried through makeshift efforts lacking the speed of electronic uploads. (Abelson, 5/23)

Layoffs have begun at Walmart Health less than a month after the mega-retailer announced it would shutter all clinics and end virtual care. Walmart Health will lay off 74 virtual care employees in Phoenix, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notice filed May 17. The notice did not specify when the layoffs would take effect, but employers are required to file notices at least 60 days in advance. (Hudson, 5/23)

The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) vote to ban noncompete agreements is set to have an outsized impact on the health care sector, empowering clinicians and raising anxiety among private practices who worry it will compound staffing problems. The FTC voted 3-2 last month to ban all current and future agreements preventing workers from going to competitors or starting a competing business after they leave a job. The rule is set to go into effect on Sep. 4, though the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has already sued to stop it. (Choi, 5/23)

Hospital prices are on the upswing, pressuring patients and slowing progress on efforts to trim overall inflation. In April, prices for medical care rose 2.7% year-over-year, the Labor Department reported last week. Prices specifically for hospital services, meanwhile, rose 7.7%. (DeSilva, 5/23)

An independent panel of advisers to the Food and Drug Administration recommended the agency approve Guardant Health’s blood-based colon cancer detection test. If the agency follows the recommendation, it will clear an early hurdle for the test’s broader adoption. (Chen and Wosen, 5/23)

The MDMA study was her last hope. She had read headlines celebrating a 83% response rate in one small, early study of the psychedelic for treating PTSD, and was counting on the new clinical trial to alleviate her own post-traumatic stress disorder. Instead, after her first MDMA session, she felt intense despair when her symptoms didn’t dissipate. (Goldhill, 5/24)

�鶹Ů�� Health News: FDA Urged To Relax Decades-Old Tissue Donation Restrictions For Gay And Bisexual Men

The federal government in 2020 and 2023 changed who it said could safely donate organs and blood, reducing the restrictions on men who have had sex with another man. But the FDA’s restrictions on donated tissue, a catchall term encompassing everything from a person’s eyes to their skin and ligaments, remain in place. Advocates, lawmakers, and groups focused on removing barriers to cornea donations, in particular, said they are frustrated the FDA hasn’t heeded their calls. (Bichell, 5/24)

A jury in Chicago on Thursday rejected an Illinois woman’s claim that the now discontinued heartburn drug Zantac caused her colon cancer, in the first trial out of thousands of lawsuits making similar allegations. The jury in Cook County, Illinois circuit court agreed with arguments from drugmakers GSK (GSK.L), opens new tab and Boehringer Ingelheim that the plaintiff, 89-year-old Illinois resident Angela Valadez, had not proven her colon cancer was at least in part caused by her Zantac use. (Jones, 5/23)

When Philips Respironics in 2021 recalled millions of devices for treating sleep apnea, the company warned users of potential ill effects including kidney and liver damage in connection with foam used in the machines. That’s why plaintiffs' lawyer Garry Jones said he expected his client, who used the breathing device for two years before developing kidney cancer, would be entitled to a payout under a $1.1 billion multidistrict litigation settlement announced by Philips late last month. He is not. (Greene, 5/23)

Bayer AG Chief Executive Officer Bill Anderson said the wave of lawsuits over its Roundup weedkiller is an “existential” threat to the company and farmers, ratcheting up the stakes as it considers a controversial legal maneuver. “The glyphosate litigation topic is an existential topic for our company because it does threaten to remove our ability to continue to innovate for farmers and for food security,” Anderson said in a speech at the Executives’ Club of Chicago on Thursday, referring to Roundup’s key ingredient. (Chipman and Veloso, 5/23)

An early-stage clinical trial of a radiopharmaceutical drug developed by Johnson & Johnson showed some signs of efficacy in prostate cancer patients, newly released data show, but four participants in the trial died. (DeAngelis, 5/23)

Express Scripts is partnering with more independent pharmacies. Cigna Group's pharmacy benefit manager is collaborating with pharmacy network CPESN USA in a bid to improve care delivery, according to a Thursday news release. The partnership, effective immediately, is focusing first on Medicare enrollees with hypertension and diabetes, the release said. (Berryman, 5/23)

Semaglutide, the compound in the blockbuster drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, dramatically reduced the risk of kidney complications, heart issues and death in people with Type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease in a major clinical trial, the results of which were published on Friday. The findings could transform how doctors treat some of the sickest patients with chronic kidney disease, which affects more than one in seven adults in the United States but has no cure. (Blum, 5/24)

Democrats and Republicans on the House Agriculture Committee sparred over food aid on Thursday at the markup of the chamber’s version of the $1.5 trillion omnibus farm bill. The issue set off partisan fireworks at the contentious session, during which representatives from both sides of the aisle took to the dais to extol the virtues of bipartisanship while accusing their opposite numbers of throwing those values in the trash. (Elbein, 5/23)

The Illinois legislature has passed a bill that would cap patient costs for prescription inhalers at $25 a month. The bill’s passage follows years of outcry from patients with asthma and other lung conditions over the cost of inhalers, which can be hundreds of dollars a month. (Schencker, 5/23)

Gov. Tim Walz traveled Thursday to the rural town of Hoyt Lakes to sign a bill that will send $30 million to rural emergency medical services, a shot in the arm that providers had hoped would be even bigger. The legislation will provide $24 million in short-term emergency aid for EMS in greater Minnesota. The other $6 million will go towards creating a “Sprint Medic” pilot program to test the efficiency of roving paramedics in rural Minnesota. (Roth, 5/23)

Nursing home closures across New England could portend trouble nationwide as more facilities struggle financially and hospitals face challenges finding post-acute care for patients. New England has lost about 15% of its nursing homes since 2010, according to a study published last week by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. (Eastabrook, 5/23)

Working-age residents who died between 2011 and 2020 in Massachusetts were 35 percent more likely to have suffered fatal opioid-related overdoses if they had been hurt previously on the job, according to new data released Thursday by the state Department of Public Health. The report, which analyzed workers’ compensation claims and death certificates of more than 4,300 Massachusetts workers, is the first of its kind to show that residents injured on the job have a heightened risk of opioid addiction and overdose deaths, the public health department said. (Johnston, 5/23)

Computer scientists in Rolla are working with dermatologists on a project that uses artificial intelligence to help detect skin cancer. The scientists at Missouri University of Science and Technology received a $440,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health for the project. The money will fund updates to an International Skin Imaging Collaboration’s database, an enormous image collection of benign and cancerous moles. (Fentem, 5/24)

A technology that could one day cool the planet cleared a key hurdle on Thursday. At the beginning of April, scientists from the University of Washington began testing a device that sprays tiny sea-salt particles into the air. The initial tests, held on the deck of a decommissioned aircraft carrier in Alameda, Calif., were simply to see if the machine propelled a mist of suitable size. But, in the future, versions of that device could eventually be used to spray particles into clouds, causing them to reflect more sunlight back into space and to temporarily ease global warming. (Flavelle, 5/23)

For years, oil refineries across the country have pumped out dangerous levels of benzene, a toxic chemical that can cause leukemia and other blood cancers. But in a rare example of environmental progress, benzene emissions from nearly all of those refineries have recently plummeted due to strong federal regulations and oversight, according to a new analysis by a watchdog group. (Joselow, 5/23)

Chemical toxins are everywhere — in our water, food, air and soil. Exposure to those toxins during pregnancy can create serious health issues in elementary school children that can affect their lives for years to come, a new study found. (LaMotte, 5/23)

A nearly nine-month Oriental fruit fly quarantine in Santa Clara County has been lifted following the eradication of the invasive pest. The California Department of Food and Agriculture announced the quarantine's end Wednesday for parts of Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, Cupertino, San Jose, Milpitas, Mountain View, Saratoga and Campbell. (5/23)

Stroke prevalence has been climbing over the past decade, reversing a steady decline among all Americans while rising the most among adults under 65, a new CDC analysis reports. Strokes still strike more adults older than 65, but the increase at younger ages mirrors another recent turnaround: rates of heart failure deaths, which had been dipping, are rising the most in adults under 45. (Cooney, 5/23)

Tobacco companies still actively target young people via social media, sports and music festivals and new, flavored products, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday, accusing companies of trying to hook a new generation on nicotine. Amid ever-stricter regulation targeting cigarettes, big tobacco companies and new entrants have begun offering smoking alternatives such as vapes, which they say are aimed at adult smokers. (5/23)

A generic high blood pressure drug has become the most commonly prescribed oral medication to treat acne in women, overtaking antibiotics and birth control pills, a new report from Epic Research shows. The report, conducted on behalf of NBC News, found that spironolactone made up 47% of all oral medications prescribed to women for acne in 2023, up from 27% in 2017. (Kopf, 5/23)

New research finds getting an epidural during labor could help reduce the risk of complications. ... Researchers in the U.K. analyzed data on more than half a million women in labor. They found that those who received an epidural were 35 percent less likely to have severe, potentially life-threatening complications such as heart attack, stroke, or hysterectomy in the first few weeks after birth. (Marshall, 5/23)

The annual gathering of the American Psychiatric Association is a dignified and collegial affair, full of scholarly exchanges, polite laughter and polite applause. So it was a shock, for those who took their seats in Room 1E08 of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan, to watch a powerfully built 32-year-old man choke back tears as he described being slammed to the floor and cuffed to a stretcher in a psychiatric unit. Because the man, Matthew Tuleja, had been a Division I football player, he had a certain way of describing the circle of bodies that closed around him, the grabbing and grappling and the sensation of being dominated, pinned and helpless. (Barry, 5/21)

You may have heard of white noise used to mask background sounds. Now, it has colorful competition. There’s a growing buzz around pink noise, brown noise, green noise — a rainbow of soothing sounds — and their theoretical effects on sleep, concentration and the relaxation response. The science is new with only a few small studies behind it, but that hasn’t stopped thousands of people from listening to hours of these noises on YouTube and on meditation apps that provide a palette of color noises with paid subscriptions. (Johnson, 5/20)

Rising sea levels along the Southeast and Gulf Coast pose a problem for septic systems, which could cause environmental damage and exacerbate health risks if they fail. (Dennis, Crowe and Muyskens, 5/22)

As a young toxicologist at the Environmental Protection Agency in the 1980s, Michael Dourson played a central role in figuring out how to gauge whether chemicals are harmful to humans, and at what levels. “Mike was a young up-and-comer,” said Jennifer Orme-Zavaleta, a former senior EPA official who once worked under Dourson as a risk assessor. “He was at the forefront of helping to develop the guidelines for evaluating risk at the agency”—work that to this day is cited favorably by environmentalists. Now 72 years old, Dourson has become one of the EPA’s most dogged critics. (Pulliam, 5/22)

Scientists have long debated whether human body lice might have helped drive the rapid spread of the bacteria responsible for the deadly plague in the Middle Ages, known as the Black Death. It’s clear that rat fleas played a major role, but some population studies have suggested that bites from those fleas might not have been enough to drive a plague that killed tens of millions in Europe, Asia and other countries in the 14th century. (Carroll, 5/21)

Over time, scientists discovered that cancer could have a genetic component. Some families proved to be tragically hexed. (Shaywitz, 5/19)

Charlie Schnell killed himself after his parents say the Landon School ignored warning signs and accused him of drawing a racist image. Now they’re suing. (Morse, 5/23)

It’s been called the worst treatment disaster in the history of the National Health Service. Thousands of people in the U.K. died — with many more falling ill — after being treated with unsafe blood products between 1970 and 1991. But, decades after they were let down by the state, British victims of the world-wide infected blood scandal are still waiting for amends. On Monday, the official inquiry into what went wrong finally reports. And families hope it has their back. (Bloom and Honeycombe-Foster, 5/20)

Over the next four years, more people in the United States will turn 65 annually than ever before—representing the biggest surge in retirement-age Americans in history. While this colossal uptick will see 4.1 million Americans enter their golden years by the end of 2027, it will also see a massive jump in demand for advanced medical care and enrollments in already-strained programs like Medicare. (Howard Kessler, 5/23)

From a policy perspective, the speech that anti-abortion “crisis” pregnancy centers engage in actually creates crisis pregnancies by misdating pregnancies, lying to patients about their options (including that medication abortions can be reversed, which is medically false), misrepresenting the safety of abortions and delaying the best-practice medical care that patients deserve. (Tamara Kay, Anna Calasanti and Susan Ostermann, 5/24)

I first considered moving my family from New York to rural South Dakota after my beloved grandfather — recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s — broke his hip. He required surgery and physical therapy, all while navigating the unfair, nefarious reality of dementia. (Danielle Campoamor, 5/23)

About one-third of Americans who reach age 65 will need nursing home care in their lifetimes — which can be a daunting thought if you recall the suffering of residents as the Covid-19 pandemic exposed long-standing problems in nursing homes. (Julie K. Taitsman and Nancy Harrison, 5/24)

During my 25 years working in clinical trial operations, I’ve seen the biopharmaceutical world talk a big game about making the process easier for the sites running the trials and the patients participating in them. Everyone from trial sponsors to the Food and Drug Administration has been quick to promise simpler processes, less hassle, and better experiences for everyone involved. But look closer, and you’ll see that these grand promises often fall apart when sponsors implement complicated plans for collecting blood, tissue and other biospecimens and impossible processes for managing those samples. (Hope Meely, 5/24)