Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Bipartisan Lawmakers Press To Repeal 'Mexico City' Abortion Policy
The Hill: Lisa Murkowski, Jeanne Shaheen Introduce Bill To Repeal Donald Trump's Reinstated Mexico City Policy
Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) on Wednesday reintroduced a bill that would permanently repeal a policy that restricts sending federal foreign aid to groups providing abortion services after President Trump reinstated it last week. The lawmakers’ move comes just days after Trump issued an executive order reinstating the policy, known as the Mexico City Policy or as the “global gag rule” by opponents. (Zehra, 1/29)
More news from the Trump administration —
Bloomberg: Trump Aid Order Raises HIV Risk For 136,000 Babies, Warn Experts
Almost 136,000 babies are expected to be born with HIV in the next three months, mostly in Africa, because of the Trump administration’s “stop work order” on foreign assistance, according to a top research foundation. The Andelson Office of Public Policy said children in South Africa, Mozambique and Uganda will be the most affected, and it could lead to a rise in new infections of a disease that already kills more than half a million people a year. (Kew, 1/29)
KFF Health News: Trump Administration’s Halt Of CDC’s Weekly Scientific Report Stalls Bird Flu Studies
The Trump administration has intervened in the release of important studies on the bird flu, as an outbreak escalates across the United States. One of the studies would reveal whether veterinarians who treat cattle have been unknowingly infected by the bird flu virus. Another report documents cases in which people carrying the virus might have infected their pet cats. The studies were slated to appear in the official journal of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The distinguished journal has been published without interruption since 1952. (Maxmen, 1/30)
MedPage Today: Trump Firing Of HHS Inspector General Just The Latest In An Ongoing Conflict
President Trump's firing of HHS Inspector General Christi Grimm late last week was not the first time that Grimm had come under the president's critical eye. Back in 2020, Trump sought to replace Grimm -- who was running the inspector general's office -- after her office issued a report detailing shortages of personal protective equipment, ventilators, and other supplies in hospitals nationwide during the beginning of the COVID pandemic. (Frieden, 1/29)
The New York Times: Trump Calls Canada A Big Player In The Fentanyl Trade. Is It?
Standing behind heaping piles of drugs stacked in clear plastic bags and storage boxes, Toronto’s police chief last week announced the force’s largest-ever cocaine seizure, intercepted at the border in a truck entering from the United States. A few hours later, President Trump also addressed cross-border drug trafficking — but in his case to lay blame on Canada, at least in part, for a deadly fentanyl scourge. “The fentanyl coming through Canada is massive,” Mr. Trump told reporters the day after his inauguration. “The fentanyl coming through Mexico is massive. And people are getting killed and families are being destroyed.” (Isai, 1/30)
Also —
NBC News: Biden Criticized For Not Banning Menthol Cigarettes After Trump Withdraws Proposal
The American Lung Association — the country’s leading authority on lung health — on Wednesday criticized Biden for the missed opportunity. “We’re really disappointed in former President Biden and him bowing to tobacco industry pressure,” said Thomas Carr, the association’s director of national policy. In its annual “State of Tobacco Control” report, published Wednesday, the American Lung Association said Biden’s inaction will result in continued death and disease from smoking, which kills more than 490,000 people each year in the U.S. (Bendix, 1/29)
