Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Mifepristone Maker Pays To Settle Mislabeling Lawsuit
Politico: Abortion Pill Manufacturer To Pay $765K To U.S. To Settle Suit Over Incorrect Labeling
Just days before the Biden administration asked the Supreme Court to preserve access to a key abortion medication, the Justice Department issued a routine, but little-noticed announcement that the manufacturer of the drug — Danco Laboratories — had settled claims it violated customs laws. ... Under the settlement dated March 31 and released last week, Danco agreed to pay $765,000 to the U.S. to resolve allegations that, from 2011 to 2019, the company failed to both properly label imports of the drug as originating in China and pay customs duties on imports lacking those labels. (Haberkorn and Gerstein, 4/17)
Abortion news from Nevada, West Virginia, Texas, Washington, and Tennessee —
Las Vegas Review-Journal: Nevada Senate Approves Abortion Protections In Constitution
An amendment to the Nevada Constitution guaranteeing abortion rights in the state is one step closer to coming before voters after the state Senate voted to advance a joint resolution Monday. Senators voted 13-8 on party lines to send Senate Joint Resolution 7 to the Assembly, but not before a contentious floor debate. (Avery, 4/17)
AP: Lawsuit Seeking To Revoke West Virginia Abortion Ban Dropped
An abortion provider on Monday dropped a two-month-old federal lawsuit seeking to overturn West Virginia’s near-total ban. The Women’s Health Center of West Virginia said in a court filing that its primary physician determined he will be unable to resume providing abortion care in the state “due to intervening professional obligations.” Another physician who provided abortion care at West Virginia’s only abortion clinic prior to the passage of a law last year is no longer available, the filing said. (Raby, 4/17)
The Texas Tribune: Abortion Pill Lawsuit Could Delay Out-Of-State Care For Texans
For more than a year, abortion clinics in New Mexico, Kansas and Colorado have been flooded with Texans seeking care that’s largely outlawed in the Lone Star State. Now, those clinics are bracing for another consequence of Texas’ anti-abortion animus as an Amarillo court ruling threatens access to medication abortion nationwide. (Klibanoff, 4/18)
Axios: Abortions Rise In Washington State As Idaho Cracks Down
The estimated number of monthly abortions in Washington rose by about 10% last year after some states, including neighboring Idaho, began cracking down on the procedure, new data shows. (Santos and Harris, 4/17)
Stat: In One Town, Abortion Debate Seemed To Override Everything Else
Zoe Poplin first smelled something in 2020, around 2 a.m., as she got home from a late shift at the hospital. It was mild at first. Then it got stronger, thicker, pouring into people’s homes. The pastor at a nearby Presbyterian church wondered if an animal had died in the ductwork. Some speculated the fumes were industrial. Others reported gas leaks — but again and again, the fire department would come out and set them straight. Oh, no, they’d say. That’s just the landfill. (Boodman, 4/18)
Also —
The Guardian: ‘A Gamechanger’: This Simple Device Could Help Fight The War On Abortion Rights In The US
There’s a reason people fly to see [Joan] Fleischman. She provides abortions through manual uterine aspiration – using a small, hand-held device to remove pregnancy tissue. The device is gentle enough that the tissue often comes out almost completely intact. It is also a quick and discreet procedure where a patient might be in and out of the door in less than an hour. Fleischman is co-founder of the MYA Network, a network of primary care clinics and clinicians in 16 states. They believe the tool could be radical in the hands of more primary care clinicians – clinicians they are amping up to train. (Noor, 4/18)
In other reproductive health news —
Philadelphia Inquirer: Planned Parenthood Racism Discrimination Lawsuit By NJ Nurse Practitioner Is One Of Many
A patient’s urine test landed on Michelle Fisher’s desk with a warm, wet splash. Fisher, a Black nurse practitioner, remembers looking up from her lunch to see the white manager of Planned Parenthood’s Bellmawr clinic in South Jersey. (Gantz, 4/18)
The 19th: Texas Couple Fights For Newborn's Return From Child Protective Services
A custody case currently unfolding in Texas has separated a newborn from her parents and highlighted two systemic realities in the United States: the policing of Black families by child welfare systems and the disregard of midwifery expertise by many doctors. (Norwood, 4/17)
