First Edition: June 28, 2022

KHN: Sheriffs Who Denounced Colorado’s Red Flag Law Are Now Using It 
Dolores County Sheriff Don Wilson never expected to use Colorado’s red flag law when it was passed in 2019. He thought the law made it too easy to take a person’s guns away. The statute allows law enforcement officers or private citizens to petition a county court to confiscate firearms temporarily from people who pose an imminent threat to themselves or others. “All it is is one person’s word against another,” said Wilson, whose sparsely populated territory is in southwestern Colorado near the Utah border. (Hawryluk, 6/28)

KHN: Three-Year Abortion Trends Vary Dramatically By State 
A recent survey from the Guttmacher Institute documented an 8% rise in the number of abortions performed in the U.S. from 2017 to 2020, reversing what had been a nearly three-decade decline in women opting to terminate their pregnancies. But a closer look at the findings, drawn from a comprehensive survey of every known facility providing abortions in the U.S., reveals wide variation in abortion trends among the states. While 33 states reported a rise in abortion numbers, 17 states reported declines. And the swings up or down are striking. (Reese, 6/28)

KHN: ‘American Diagnosis’: Indigenous Advocates Work For Better Reproductive Care
‘Rezilience,’ Season 4 of the ‘American Diagnosis’ podcast, traces the resilience of Indigenous peoples in the U.S. taking action to protect the health and well-being of their communities. (6/28)

KHN: Listen: He Was Denied Care Because He Owed His Doctor Less Than $100 
Ariane and Samantha Buck of Arizona have had their lives upended by $50,000 in medical debt. They rely on family to provide Christmas gifts for their three children. But Ariane Buck was still surprised when his doctor refused to see him because he owed a balance of less than $100 to the practice. “That’s just not right,” Buck told KHN’s Noam N. Levey. “Everyone should at least be able to get to a doctor when they feel ill.” Levey discussed the Bucks’ predicament with Mary Louise Kelly on NPR’s “All Things Considered” on June 22. (6/28)

NBC News: There's Another War Between The States Coming Over Abortion
The Supreme Court’s abortion decision is likely to set off a wave of legal and political disputes among states and the federal government unlike anything seen since the years before the Civil War, legal experts say. With some states allowing private lawsuits against out-of-state abortion providers — and other states prohibiting cooperation with abortion investigations — the abortion issue is likely to pit state law enforcement agencies and court systems against one another in dramatic fashion. The federal government, meanwhile, faces a choice over how to deal with states that seek to ban Food and Drug Administration-approved abortion medication, now used in about half of pregnancy terminations. And whatever the Biden administration does, federal policy could change dramatically if the Republicans take the White House. (Dilanian, 6/27)

Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Mississippi Trigger Law Certified By Attorney General
Abortion will be illegal in Mississippi starting July 7, after Attorney General Lynn Fitch certified that the Supreme Court had overturned Roe v. Wade Monday morning. The state's abortion trigger law, passed in 2007, bans abortion 10 days after the attorney general certifies the court's decision. Once the ban takes effect, anyone who performs or attempts to perform an abortion will be charged with a felony punishable by a prison sentence of up to 10 years. (Perlis, 6/27)

AP: Court Allows SC To Enforce More Restrictive Abortion Law
A law restricting abortions in South Carolina after six weeks of pregnancy can take effect immediately in the state, a federal court ruled Monday. The U.S. District Court in South Carolina lifted its prior hold on the enforcement of a state law passed last year that bans most abortions if an ultrasound detects a so-called fetal heartbeat, usually around six weeks into a pregnancy. (Collins, 6/27)

AP: New Mexico Governor Orders Safeguards For Abortion Access 
New Mexico’s Democratic governor took steps Monday to ensure safe harbor to people seeking abortions or providing abortions at health care facilities within the state. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed an executive order that prohibits cooperation with other states that might interfere with abortion access in New Mexico, declining to carry out any future arrest warrants from other states related to anti-abortion provisions. The order also prohibits most New Mexico state employees from assisting other states in investigating or seeking sanctions against local abortion providers. (Lee, 6/28)

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Georgia Anti-Abortion Law Likely To Remain On Hold Through At Least Mid-July
A federal appeals court has asked attorneys on both sides of the challenge to Georgia’s anti-abortion law to file additional documents in response to last week’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade. Reproductive rights groups and abortion providers sued Georgia in 2019 after the Legislature passed an abortion law outlawing the procedure in most cases once a doctor can detect fetal cardiac activity, typically about six weeks into a pregnancy and before many women know they are pregnant. (Prabhu, 6/27)

NBC News: Wisconsin Gov. Vows To Grant Clemency To Doctors Charged Under State Abortion Ban
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, vowed over the weekend to grant clemency to anyone charged under the state’s 1849 law banning most abortions. That law, enacted more than a century before Roe v. Wade, has remained on the books in the state and has technically retaken effect following the Supreme Court ruling Friday overturning the landmark case. (Edelman, 6/27)

AP: ACLU Lawsuit: Abortion Ban Violates Kentucky Constitution
Kentucky’s new abortion ban is being challenged by abortion-rights supporters, who filed a lawsuit Monday that says women are being “forced to remain pregnant against their will” in violation of the state’s constitution. The state’s Republican attorney general, Daniel Cameron, responded by vowing to fight any “baseless claim” made against enforcing the abortion ban. The suit takes aim at a 2019 Kentucky law that called for an immediate halt to nearly all abortions in the event that the Roe v. Wade ruling were to be overturned. The state law went into effect Friday — and abortions ended abruptly in Kentucky — when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to end federal constitutional protections for abortions. (Schreiner and Lovan, 6/27)

AP: Pennsylvania House Targets Colleges' Fetal Research In Bill 
A proposal to require Pennsylvania’s four state-related universities to promise they are not conducting research or experiments with fetal tissue from elective abortions was added to a state budget bill by House Republicans on Monday. The chamber voted 108-92, with three Republicans crossing party lines, for the amendment to legislation that will send more than $597 million combined next year to Penn State, Lincoln, Temple and Pitt. (Scolforo, 6/27)

Politico: Top Biden Officials Press Insurers On Contraceptive Coverage 
Two Cabinet secretaries met with insurers Monday to ensure they provide contraceptives without cost to enrollees. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and Labor Secretary Marty Walsh convened the meeting with 14 major health insurers and payer groups days after a Supreme Court decision overturned Roe v. Wade leaving states to decide abortion’s legality. In a concurrent opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas said the court should reconsider its 1965 ruling that established a right to contraception. (Owermohle, 6/27)

Bloomberg: CVS, Rite Aid Ration Contraceptive Pills As Demand Surges
CVS Health Corp. and Rite Aid Corp. pharmacies are limiting purchases of emergency contraceptive pills as demand for the medication surged following the US Supreme Court decision that struck down the constitutional right to abortion. CVS is temporarily limiting purchases to three pills per customer to ensure equitable access and consistent supply on store shelves, a spokesperson said Monday. The pharmacy chain has ample supply of the emergency contraceptives Plan B and Aftera, both online and in store, the spokesperson said. Rite Aid is also limiting purchases of Plan B to three per customer due to increased demand, a spokesperson for the company said. (Rutherford and Nicole Smith, 6/27)

AP: Instagram And Facebook Remove Posts Offering Abortion Pills 
Facebook and Instagram have begun promptly removing posts that offer abortion pills to women who may not be able to access them following a Supreme Court decision that stripped away constitutional protections for the procedure. Such social media posts ostensibly aimed to help women living in states where preexisting laws banning abortion suddenly snapped into effect on Friday. That’s when the high court overruled Roe v. Wade, its 1973 decision that declared access to abortion a constitutional right. (Seitz, 6/28)

NBC News: White House Downplays Prospect Of Providing Abortion Services On Federal Lands
The White House signaled Monday that it is not pursuing a Senate Democratic proposal that says the Biden administration could offer abortion services on federal lands after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last week. Just days after the court ruled to strike down the landmark 1973 decision that guaranteed abortion rights nationwide, a White House official said that the Democratic proposal was “well-intentioned” but that it “could put women and providers at risk.” (Lederman and Richards, 6/27)

The Boston Globe: Democrats Push Biden To Do More To Expand Abortion Access After Roe Reversal
Congressional Democrats are pressuring President Biden to take aggressive steps to protect abortion rights after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, pinning their hopes for now on executive action because of the near impossibility of passing national legislation to stop bans in Republican-controlled states. But despite a push that began weeks ago after a leaked draft court opinion, Biden has taken only limited steps since the decision was released Friday to preserve women’s access to abortion. He vowed to protect the rights of women to travel to another state to seek an abortion and to access federally approved abortion medication through the mail, but has stopped short of issuing executive actions that would put him in direct conflict with GOP-led states and potentially the Supreme Court, such as offering abortions on federal property. (Puzzanghera, 6/27)

Politico: Democratic Exasperation Builds At Biden's Slow Roll On Roe 
When it comes to protecting abortion rights, Democrats want Joe Biden to get aggressive. And fast. Frustration is building among liberals over what some see as a slow executive response from the president, despite weeks to prepare following POLITICO’s publication of a draft majority opinion forecasting the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade. White House officials contend that things are more complicated than they seem, but that’s doing little to turn down the temperature in the party. (Everett, Ferris, Cancryn and Lemire, 6/27)

ABC News: Responding To Roe's Demise, Some Liberals Tell Biden: 'Do Absolutely Everything' 
Across the country, there were scenes over the weekend of pro-abortion access protesters chanting lines like "Democrats we call your bluff, voting blue is not enough" and backlash on the far-left over fundingraising emails and texts sent by the Democratic National Committee asking for "rush" donations to support candidates who would fight back against abortion opponents. "If you are a lawmaker who, in the time between the leak & ruling, spent more manpower on a fundraising plan than a policy response, then I highly recommend rethinking your priorities. Our job right now is to protect people. Doing so will drive the vote more than browbeating," New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wrote, retweeting a video of young female voters who said they were frustrated that Democrats had not acted to codify Roe into law years ago -- with Democrats in turn saying they have been stymied by the 60-vote filibuster threshold. (Parks and Gittleson, 6/27)

AP: Harris Emerges As Top Abortion Voice, Warns Of More Fallout 
During Brett Kavanaugh’s 2018 Supreme Court confirmation hearings, then-California Sen. Kamala Harris asked the judge if he thought women’s privacy rights extended to choosing to have an abortion. Kavanaugh declined to answer. With Justice Kavanaugh now part of the court majority that voted to overturn Roe v. Wade and the senator now the vice president, Harris is warning that the court’s decision could trigger some of the same far-reaching privacy limitations she warned of during those hearings. (Weissert, 6/28)

USA Today: Abortion Bans May Leave Some OB-GYN Residents With Poor Training
With the overturning of Roe v. Wade on Friday, almost half of the nation's medical residents in obstetrics and gynecology are certain or likely to lack access to in-state abortion training. That opens questions about how those programs can be accredited when a procedure required to be taught is illegal where they are based. "Part of being an OB-GYN is being able to safely remove a pregnancy to save someone's life. It's our job as educators to ensure that everybody has those skills," said Dr. Jody Steinauer, a professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at the University of California, San Francisco. "What's going to happen when we have 44% of medical residents in states where it's illegal?" (Weise, 6/27)

North Carolina Health News: Could Overturning Roe Change OB-GYNs Training? 
In the wake of the Supreme Court decision last week eliminating a constitutional right to an abortion, dozens of states are moving to either restrict abortions or ban the procedure outright. Almost all of those restrictions leave pregnant patients out of the picture when it comes to levying potential fines and/or prison time. Instead, the laws target health care providers, the ones carrying out procedures to terminate a pregnancy. That not only could have a chilling effect on reproductive health care providers, but it could also create a whole new landscape for how OB-GYNs and other health care providers are trained in medical schools and nursing programs. (Hoban, 6/28)

ABC News: More Than 150,000 Births Could Occur In The US Every Year Following The Reversal Of Roe V. Wade, Report Predicts 
The reversal of Roe v. Wade could lead to a dramatic increase of babies born in the United States, including thousands of high-risk births, a new report finds. The data, from health care industry consulting firm Sg2, estimates there will be an additional 150,500 to 159,700 live births each year in the U.S. The projections have not yet been peer-reviewed. (Kekatos, 6/27)

The New York Times: Supreme Court Sides With Doctors Accused Of Running Pill Mills
The ruling was unanimous, though the justices disagreed on the precise rationale. They were united, however, in saying that prosecutors needed to prove more than that the doctors had violated objective standards. Justice Stephen G. Breyer, writing for six members of the court, said that, so long as doctors were authorized to dispense controlled substances, prosecutors “must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant knew that he or she was acting in an unauthorized manner, or intended to do so.” (Liptak, 6/27)

Stat: Supreme Court Says Intent Matters In Prosecuting Doctors In Opioid Cases
The Supreme Court on Monday unanimously ruled that prosecutors need to prove that doctors knowingly prescribed drugs in aberrant ways to win convictions against them for unlawful distribution of controlled medicines. The decision came in a case brought by two doctors who were sentenced to decades in prison for unlawfully prescribing opioids. The doctors had argued they were acting in “good faith” trying to provide care for their patients. (Joseph, 6/27)

Modern Healthcare: CMS To Begin New Oncology Payment Model
A new payment model targeted at improving Medicare cancer care will begin in mid-2023, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said Monday. Known as the Enhancing Oncology Model, the voluntary program builds off the Oncology Care Model, which will end Thursday after six years. Two risk arrangements will be available in the new model, but both will require participants to take on some downside risk. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation will launch the new model on July 1, 2023, for a five-year test period. (Goldman, 6/27)

The New York Times: F.D.A. May Move Toward Updating Vaccines 
A panel of independent experts advising the Food and Drug Administration is set to recommend on Tuesday whether to update existing Covid-19 vaccines to target a newer version of the coronavirus in a booster shot that Americans could get in the fall. The federal government is hoping to improve the vaccine to better boost people’s immunity before a likely resurgence of the virus this winter. But to move that quickly, it may need to abandon the lengthy human trials that have been used to test coronavirus vaccines over the past two years in favor of a faster process that relies more on laboratory tests and animal trials. (LaFraniere, 6/28)

AP: US Grapples With Whether To Modify COVID Vaccine For Fall 
U.S. health authorities are facing a critical decision: whether to offer new COVID-19 booster shots this fall that are modified to better match recent changes of the shape-shifting coronavirus. Moderna and Pfizer have tested updated shots against the super-contagious omicron variant, and advisers to the Food and Drug Administration will debate Tuesday if it’s time to make a switch — setting the stage for similar moves by other countries. “This is science at its toughest,” FDA vaccine chief Dr. Peter Marks told The Associated Press, adding that a final decision is expected within days of the advisory panel’s recommendation. (Neergaard, 6/27)

CIDRAP: Rare Heart-Related Side Effects Higher With Moderna COVID Vaccine
Though both complications were rare, data from Ontario show higher rates of myocarditis and pericarditis with the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine than with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, but the rates were lower for both vaccines if the spacing between receiving two doses was extended, according to a study late last week in JAMA Network Open. Myocarditis is an inflammation of the heart muscle, and pericarditis involves swelling of the thin membrane around the heart. (Wappes, 6/27)

Stat: On Covid-19 Medicines, Pharma Has A Mostly Poor Human Rights Record
More than two years after the Covid-19 pandemic emerged, a new scorecard finds that 19 of 26 pharmaceutical companies that marketed vaccines or therapeutics to contain the virus rank poorly when it came to complying with human rights principles. The rankings were compiled by examining actions taken to provide access to products, including commitments and measurable targets; transparency in disclosing R&D and production costs, and profits; the extent to which international cooperation was pursued and patents were enforced; and a willingness to provide fair pricing, equitable distribution, and technology transfers, among other things. (Silverman, 6/27)

AP: Court Revives Block Of Vaccine Mandate For Federal Workers 
In a reversal for President Joe Biden, a federal appeals court in New Orleans on Monday agreed to reconsider its own April ruling that allowed the administration to require federal employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19. The new order from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans vacates an earlier ruling by a three-judge panel that upheld the mandate. The new order means a block on the mandate imposed in January by a Texas-based federal judge remains in effect, while the full court’s 17 judges take up the appeal. (McGill, 6/27)

San Francisco Chronicle: Latino COVID Death Rates Have Declined, But More Help Is Needed
The success of vaccination campaigns has narrowed disparities in COVID death rates in California, especially for the Latino community, which has been disproportionately affected with coronavirus infection during the pandemic. Since the state began tracking deaths in April 2020, more than 91,000 Californians have died from COVID-19 — approximately 230 deaths per 100,000 people — according to the Public Policy Institute of California, a policy research nonprofit with offices in San Francisco and Sacramento. (Narayan, 6/27)

CIDRAP: People With Down Syndrome At Higher Risk For Severe COVID-19
The Journal of Infectious Diseases has published studies demonstrating lower COVID-19 incidence—but a higher risk of severe disease—in people with Down syndrome (DS), and a lower COVID vaccine immune response. ... People with DS were 32% less likely to contract COVID-19 than non-DS matches, but they had severe COVID-19 six times more often. (6/27)

Fox News: COVID-19 May Increase Risk Of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Stroke: Study
A new Danish study found COVID-19 outpatients had a higher risk of being diagnosed with Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, stroke and bleeding into the brain when compared with COVID-19 negative patients, but most neurological disorders were not more frequent after COVID-19 than after other respiratory infections, according to a recent study published in Frontiers in Neurology this June. "More than two years after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the precise nature and evolution of the effects of COVID-19 on neurological disorders remained uncharacterized," said lead author Dr. Pardis Zarifkar, member of the Department of Neurology at Rigshospitalet hospital in Copenhagen, Denmark. (Sudhakar, 6/27)

NBC News: Covid Falls Off World Leaders’ Agenda Despite Remaining Threat From The Virus
A year ago, when world leaders gathered at the annual Group of Seven summit, the Covid pandemic was omnipresent — from restrictions on those traveling for the gathering to the pledge by those present to donate a billion vaccine doses. But as the leaders of the wealthiest democracies met again this week in the Bavarian Alps, combating the pandemic had fallen off the agenda, even as much of the developing world remains unvaccinated and health officials warn of another winter surge. (Pettypiece, 6/28)

The Washington Post: School Safety Report Shows Rise In Shootings, Increase In Cyberbullying 
School shootings in 2020-21 soared to the highest number in two decades, according to a new federal report that examines crime and safety in schools across the United States. The 31-page report, released Tuesday by the National Center for Education Statistics, also pointed to a rise in cyberbullying and in verbal abuse or disrespect of teachers over the decade that ended with the onset of the pandemic in spring 2020. (St. George, 6/28)

AP: Families Brace For Changes To Pandemic-Era Free School Meals
The pandemic-era federal aid that made school meals available for free to all public school students — regardless of family income levels — is ending, raising fears about the effects in the upcoming school year for families already struggling with rising food and fuel costs. For families already strained by inflation and the end of other federal help like expanded child tax credits, advocates say cuts to the aid could mean turning more frequently to food banks. (Rathke, 6/27)

The Boston Globe: Fears Of Drugged Drinks At Boston Bars Are Widespread And Growing
Ashley Nichols rarely drinks, but she made an exception on a Saturday in late April, rendezvousing with co-workers attending a medical conference at a Quincy hotel. Nichols, 36, a surgical tech, arrived at the pub at Best Western Adams Inn around 2 p.m., after pulling an extra shift at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She ordered a cocktail and a plate of nachos to share. She had two more cocktails over the next two and half hours before she and her friends decided to leave. The next thing she remembers is waking up on a gurney, covered in vomit and missing a shoe, her worried husband hovering beside her, cradling their infant son. (Pan, 6/27)

CNN: Marijuana Use Linked To Higher Risk Of Emergencies And Hospitalization, Study Finds 
Using recreational marijuana is associated with a higher risk of emergency room care and being hospitalized for any reason, a new study has found. "Cannabis use is not as benign and safe as some might think," said study author Nicholas Vozoris, assistant professor and clinician investigator in the division of respirology at the department of medicine at the University of Toronto. "Our study demonstrates that the use of this substance is associated with serious negative outcomes, specifically, ED (emergency department) visits and hospitalizations," Vozoris said in an email. (LaMotte, 6/27)