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| Presented By Emergent BioSolutions |
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| Axios Vitals |
| By Tina Reed · Jun 28, 2022 |
| Good morning, Vitals readers. Today's newsletter is 865 words or a 3-minute read. 🚨 Situational awareness: A key FDA advisory committee is meeting today to discuss whether and how the strain composition of COVID-19 vaccines should be modified. |
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| 1 big thing: Defining "life-threatening" with abortion ban exceptions |
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| Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios |
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| While most state abortion bans include some sort of exception when the life of the mother is in jeopardy, it will fall to doctors to prove whether a patient qualifies in an emergency, at the risk of facing charges. Why it matters: Every case is unique — and the murky wording of some of the laws in the post-Roe world could create confusion and put pregnant women's lives at risk, experts say. What they're saying: "What these laws do is they place physicians in an untenable position not knowing that if they serve the medical interests of their patients, whether they'll be subject to criminal liability," Lawrence Gostin, a law professor at Georgetown University, told Axios. - "At best, it will make physicians hesitate to save the life of a woman; at worst, outright refuse to."
State of play: The language of abortion bans and their exceptions varies from state to state, with some laws dating to the 1800s while more recent ones use benchmarks such as detectable cardiac activity. - They are "often incorrect, not clinically meaningful, and therefore confusing to those practicing medicine," Jen Villavicencio, lead for equity transformation at the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), said in a statement.
- An ectopic pregnancy can reveal "cardiac activity" in the fetus, as can a miscarriage, Lori Gawron, a Salt Lake City obstetrician and officer for Utah's ACOG section told Axios.
- Intervening in such situations could run afoul of so-called heartbeat laws that ban abortion after six weeks. "How soon can [a doctor] intervene before the patient gets super sick or needs blood transfusions or other interventions to save her life?" she said.
Go deeper... Abortion rights activists plot next legal steps The abortion trigger laws that have gone into effect now that Roe v. Wade is overturned Abortion providers sue Idaho, Texas, Mississippi to stop states' trigger bans |
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| 2. SCOTUS sides with docs in "pill mills" case |
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| Photo: Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/Bloomberg via Getty Images |
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| The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday sided with two doctors accused of running opioid "pill mills" in a case about whether they could be criminally prosecuted for distributing controlled substances if the prescription was thought to be for a legitimate medical reason, Axios' Adriel Bettelheim writes. Why it matters: The case came amid a crackdown on illegal prescribing during the opioid crisis and took up if doctors could be sent to prison for breaking medical norms. Details: Justices unanimously ruled a good-faith defense protects a physician from prosecution under the federal Controlled Substances Act. - Advocates for patients with chronic pain argued doctors could only be convicted when they intended and knew they were prescribing in an unauthorized manner.
- "The difference is important, and especially so for doctors treating patients in pain, who might otherwise be deterred from meeting the needs of their patients by the fear that disagreement with their medical judgment would subject them to serious criminal liability," the National Pain Advocacy Center wrote on Twitter following the decision.
Background: Xiulu Ruan and Shakeel Kahn were sentenced to 21 and 25 years in prison, respectively, in separate criminal cases, Reuters reported. |
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| 3. Feds put insurers on notice over birth control |
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| Illustration: Allie Carl/Axios |
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| Insurers must cover at least one form of contraception within each FDA-approved category of birth control at no cost to members under the Affordable Care Act, top Biden administration officials wrote in a letter Monday. Why it matters: Access to effective birth control has taken on new significance after the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Advocates say insurers are falling short of the law's requirement. Driving the news: HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, as well as Labor and Treasury Secretaries Marty Walsh, and Janet Yellen, put group health plans on notice, reminding them of their obligations, the departments said in a statement. - It comes months after the secretaries released a jointly prepared FAQ warning health insurers could face increased scrutiny and potential enforcement actions over skimpy coverage of birth control.
- The big insurers lobby AHIP says its members comply with the law, offering coverage based on their formularies without cost-sharing.
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| A message from Emergent BioSolutions |
| Providing biodefense protection for soldiers and civilians |
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| For decades, Emergent has provided bio-defense preparedness. Why it's important: By developing, manufacturing and strengthening medical countermeasure stockpiles, we can help protect against serious public health threats. Learn more. |
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| 4. Jumps in premiums on health marketplaces ahead |
| Individuals purchasing health coverage on an ACA exchange could see their premiums jump by an average of 50% next year, CNBC reports. What's happening: As Axios' Caitlin Owens previously reported, temporary pandemic-era reforms to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act marketplaces caused enrollment in each to swell due to enhanced subsidies, but these policy changes are due to end soon. What they're saying: "The default is that the expanded subsidies will expire at the end of this year," Cynthia Cox, a vice president at the Kaiser Family Foundation and director of its Affordable Care Act program said, per CNBC. - "On average, premiums would go up more than 50%, but for some it will be more," she said.
- Congressional Democrats continue to weigh a reconciliation bill that could make the expanded subsidies permanent.
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| 5. Catch up quick |
| 👉 Home health providers involved in legal challenges about back pay owed for 24-hour shifts are protesting after a union representing them reached an 'insulting' settlement — and say they believe they're being exploited because many are vulnerable immigrants. (NBC News) 💉 New York City and D.C. have begun offering limited monkeypox vaccines as the nation grapples with how to respond to the disease. (Axios) 🧠 U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy wants to make his mark on America's epidemic of loneliness. (Washington Post) |
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| A message from Emergent BioSolutions |
| Providing biodefense protection for soldiers and civilians |
| |
| |
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| For decades, Emergent has provided bio-defense preparedness. Why it's important: By developing, manufacturing and strengthening medical countermeasure stockpiles, we can help protect against serious public health threats. Learn more. |
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 | It's called Smart Brevity®. Over 300 orgs use it — in a tool called Axios HQ — to drive productivity with clearer workplace communications. | | |
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