Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Iowa Faces Backlash Over Swapping 'Evolution' For 'Biological Change'
Iowa Public Radio: From 'Evolution' To 'Biological Change,' Iowa Science Standards Face Controversial Wording Changes
Iowa’s current draft of its K-12 science standards, which include changing the word “evolution” to “biological change over time” drew ire from some parents, educators, students and residents across the state at a public forum held at the Grimes State Office Building in Des Moines on Jan. 23. (Luu, 1/26)
On transgender care in North Dakota and Texas —
AP: North Dakota's Ban On Gender-Affirming Care For Kids Heads To Trial
A lawsuit seeking to strike down North Dakota’s ban on gender-affirming medical care for minors will go to trial Monday, more than a year after families of transgender children and a doctor filed the suit that argued the law violates the state’s constitution. North Dakota is one of more than two dozen states that have banned gender-affirming care. Like North Dakota, many of those states have faced court challenges to the laws. (Dura, 1/27)
The New York Times: Charges Dropped Against Doctor Who Leaked About Minors’ Transgender Care
Federal prosecutors have dropped charges against a surgeon in Texas who was accused of obtaining and sharing private medical information about gender-transition-related treatments for minors at one of the largest children’s hospitals in the country. The surgeon, Dr. Eithan Haim, was indicted last May in U.S. District Court in Houston on four counts of obtaining, under false pretenses, personal medical information from the online system at Texas Children’s Hospital. (Macur and Harmon, 1/26)
Other health news from across the U.S. —
ProPublica: Madison, Nashville School Shooters Appeared To Cross Paths Online
While there isn’t any evidence that 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow and 17-year-old Solomon Henderson plotted their attacks together, extremism researchers who have tracked their social media activity told Wisconsin Watch and ProPublica that the two teenagers were active in the same online networks that glorify mass shooters, even crossing paths. Across various social media platforms, the networks trade hateful memes alongside terrorist literature, exchange tips on how to effectively commit attacks and encourage one another to carry out their own. The researchers had been tracking these networks for months as part of work looking into growing online extremist networks that have proliferated across gaming, chatting and social media platforms and that they believe are radicalizing young people to commit mass shootings and other violence. (Petrovic, 1/24)
San Francisco Chronicle: UCSF Study Finds Microdosing Buprenorphine Fails Most Fentanyl Users
A new study from researchers at UC San Francisco has found that a treatment approach designed to help people addicted to fentanyl, using low doses of buprenorphine, is not working as expected. The microdosing method, called low-dose initiation (LDI), aimed to reduce withdrawal symptoms and make it easier for people to switch from fentanyl to buprenorphine, a drug that helps treat opioid addiction. (Vaziri, 1/25)
The Baltimore Sun: Looming Cuts Worry Marylanders With Developmental Disabilities
Maryland disability advocates are worried about the more than $200 million in proposed fiscal 2026 budget cuts to the state’s Developmental Disabilities Administration, fearing that access to needed services could be decreased. (Jones, 1/23)
KFF Health News: Montana Eyes $30M Revamp Of Mental Health, Developmental Disability Facilities
As part of a proposed revamping of the state’s behavioral health system, Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte’s administration is looking into moving a facility for people with developmental disabilities, beefing up renovations at the Montana State Hospital, and creating a Helena unit of that psychiatric hospital. The changes, backers say, would fill gaps in services and help people better prepare for life outside of the locked, secure setting of the two state facilities before they reenter their own communities. (O'Connell and Dennison, 1/27)
