Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Trump Admin Floats Idea To Squelch States' Regulation Authority Over AI
Fierce Healthcare: Leaked EO Draft Lays Out Plan To Squash State AI Policy
The Trump administration is considering a new executive order that would punish states for enacting laws on artificial intelligence and potentially speed plans to enact a national AI framework. The leaked copy of the draft document, obtained by Fierce Healthcare, lays out a plan to pursue legal action against states that try to regulate AI and a pathway to withhold grant funds for states that try to regulate AI. (Beavins, 11/20)
Bloomberg: AI Chatbots Give Harmful Tip To Users Seeking Abortion Reversal
Popular AI chatbots are routinely steering users who ask for advice on reversing an abortion to a hotline that promotes an unproven and potentially dangerous treatment, according to a new report. The Campaign for Accountability found that five popular AI “answer engines” — including tools from OpenAI, Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Meta Platforms Inc., Perplexity, and Elon Musk’s xAI — routinely steered users to an anti-abortion helpline that markets what opponents call “abortion pill reversal.” (Ghosh, 11/20)
On HIV prevention —
Bloomberg: China Boosts South Africa HIV Drive, Huge US Funding Gaps Remain
China will finance HIV-prevention programs in South Africa for the first time, taking a small step into the massive void left by US funding cuts earlier this year. The agreement to provide $3.5 million over the next two years compares with the roughly $400 million in HIV/AIDS funding to South Africa cut by the Trump administration earlier this year. The country has the world’s largest HIV epidemic, with about 8 million people living with the virus that causes AIDS. (Kew, 11/20)
Stat: South Africa Urged To Issue Compulsory License For Gilead's HIV Prevention Drug
Patient advocacy groups have urged the South African government to issue a compulsory license for a groundbreaking HIV prevention treatment after the Trump administration refused to include South Africa in a new program to distribute the drug to poor countries. (Silverman, 11/20)
The 19th: America’s Most Basic Protections For HIV-Positive People Could Disappear
Decades of progress in HIV treatment and prevention in the United States is being derailed by the Trump administration, public health experts say — and without reversing course, the damage will be devastating. (Rummler, 11/20)
