The New York Times: South Carolina Senate Passes 6-Week Abortion Ban
The South Carolina Senate passed a ban on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy on Tuesday, after a filibuster led by five women senators, including three Republicans, failed to block it. The bill will drastically reduce access to abortion in a state that has become an unexpected destination for women seeking the procedure as almost every other Southern state has moved toward bans. The legislation now heads to Gov. Henry McMaster, a Republican who has said he will sign it. Abortion-rights advocates said they would challenge the ban in court, where it would test a State Supreme Court ruling in January that struck down a previous six-week ban and found a right to abortion in the State Constitution. (Zernike and Sasani, 5/23)

Reuters: Abortion Pill Maker Seeks To Keep Challenge To W. Va. Abortion Ban Alive
Lawyers for abortion pill maker GenBioPro Inc on Tuesday urged a West Virginia federal judge to allow them to proceed with their challenge to the state's near-total abortion ban, claiming it is invalid because it interferes with the federal government's approval of mifepristone. (Wiessner, 5/23)

Daily Beast: Abortion Pill Vigilantes Are Operating A Covert Network From Mexico To Republican States
Denny spends many of their days sitting on their bed packing small pills into plastic ziplock bags, and then into brown envelopes, ready to be mailed out to people seeking abortion medications in states like Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio. The pills are mifepristone and misoprostol—two medications that are the subject of intense political and legal debate. (Muldowney, 5/23)

USA Today: 'A Toxic Issue': How Voters Are Forcing GOP Contenders To Talk About Abortion Ahead Of 2024
When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last summer, allowing an 1849 ban on abortion to take effect in Wisconsin, resident Judi Stadler found it nonsensical. "It's nothing short of ridiculous," the 72-year-old retired school counselor said. "We're right now functioning under the original law from the 1800s."Voters like Stadler pushed abortion to the forefront in the midterms and are set to do the same ahead of the 2024 elections − forcing pro-life candidates, and even possible contenders, to vary their approach in how they campaign on the issue of abortion. (Looker, 5/24)

KFF Health News: Abortion Bans Are Driving Off Doctors And Closing Clinics, Putting Basic Health Care At Risk
The rush in conservative states to ban abortion after the overturn of Roe v. Wade is resulting in a startling consequence that abortion opponents may not have considered: fewer medical services available for all women living in those states. Doctors are showing — through their words and actions — that they are reluctant to practice in places where making the best decision for a patient could result in huge fines or even a prison sentence. And when clinics that provide abortions close their doors, all the other services offered there also shut down, including regular exams, breast cancer screenings, and contraception. (Rovner, 5/24)

In Planned Parenthood news —

The Hill: Planned Parenthood To Cut Staff At National Level In Strategy Shift 
Planned Parenthood announced a major strategy shift Tuesday that would prioritize investments in local and state affiliates and result in a significant cut to the workforce at the national level. (Fortinsky, 5/23)

ABC News: 'Work Requirements' Emerge As Flashpoint In Debt Ceiling, Spending Talks
As Washington struggles to reach a debt ceiling deal with little more than a week until potential default, a key hangup in the negotiations is turning out to be -- "work requirements." A long-sought effort by Republicans to impose stricter conditions on recipients of Medicaid and other federal assistance programs is now front-and-center in the debt ceiling standoff. (Hutzler, Scott, and Ferris, 5/23)

The Hill: McCarthy, Dems Temper Expectations On Debt-Ceiling Deal
Democratic and Republican leaders on Capitol Hill are starting to temper expectations among their members about what a final debt ceiling deal could look like, becoming more explicit in acknowledging that neither side will get everything it wants. (Brooks and Folley, 5/24)

Politico: Court Sets Legal Showdown On Debt Limit 14th Amendment Argument 
A judge in Boston has ordered a hearing next week on one of the key arguments that President Joe Biden has the legal authority to ignore the debt limit statute and continue to pay the federal government’s bills. U.S. District Court Judge Richard Stearns set a May 31 hearing on a lawsuit filed by a federal workers union contending that the 14th Amendment empowers Biden and other officials to sidestep the standoff with Congress that has threatened a potential default. (Gerstein, 5/23)

In election news —

NPR: Poll Shows Americans Worried About Biden & Trump's Mental Fitness Ahead Of 2024
A significant majority of Americans say they believe President Biden's mental fitness is a real concern they have about his ability to be president, according to the latest NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll. Respondents said so by a 62%-to-36% margin, rather than dismissing it as simply being a campaign strategy used by his opponents. Biden did, however, actually see a slight increase in his approval rating to 45%, up 4 points from last month. That indicates there will likely be a significant number of people who believe there are serious concerns about Biden's mental fitness but will vote for him anyway. (Mountanaro, 5/23)

Politico: How Vivek Ramaswamy Helped Make Martin Shkreli The ‘Pharma Bro’ 
Vivek Ramaswamy, the Republican presidential candidate who made a fortune in biotech, once was involved in a significant investment in a biotech company run by disgraced investor Martin Shkreli. Shkreli, the oft-described “pharma bro” who went to prison for four years for committing securities fraud and securities fraud conspiracy after he gained notoriety for dramatically raising the cost of a life-saving antiparasitic drug, said in a YouTube video in mid-April that Ramaswamy was at one point his “biggest investor” and called him “a friend.” (Lippman, 5/23)

ABC News: Biden To Call For End To 'Epidemic' Of Gun Violence A Year After Uvalde Shooting 
President Joe Biden plans on Wednesday to call on Republicans in Congress to act to end the "epidemic" of gun violence in the United States, the White House said. The remarks are expected during an afternoon speech marking a year since the deadly school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. (Haslett, Travers and Shalvey, 5/24)

USA Today: 'It's Just So Scary': As Mass Shootings Increase, House GOP Wants To Repeal Bipartisan Gun Reform
Days after the May 6 mass shooting in Allen, Texas, Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado introduced legislation to repeal all “gun control provisions and every Second Amendment Infringement” passed from early 2021 to early 2023 and signed into law by President Joe Biden. “I unapologetically support the Second Amendment," Boebert said in a statement, calling gun control measures "nonsense" and saying she will "stand for law-abiding Americans and the Constitution.” The bill – the Shall Not be Infringed Act – would target provisions in several pieces of legislation, including the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which earned the support of 15 Republican senators. (Elbeshbishi, 5/24)

NPR: Poll: Most Americans Say Curbing Gun Violence Is More Important Than Gun Rights
The highest percentage of Americans in a decade say they think it's more important to curb gun violence than protect gun rights, according to a new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll. The finding comes a year after the mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, the second-deadliest in American history. Multiple other mass shootings that have taken place in the time since that one. (Montanaro, 5/24)

Reuters: Hollywood Needs To Depict Safer Gun Use In Film And TV - Study
Hollywood should portray safer use of guns in television and film at a time of rampant gun violence in the United States, USC Annenberg’s Norman Lear Center for Hollywood, Health and Society said in a report released on Tuesday. (Washington, 5/23)

More on the gun violence epidemic —

Houston Chronicle: Mass Shootings Taking Toll On Children's Mental Health: 'Our Kids Should Not Have To Live Like This'
Nora Senske and her classmates sat in a locked basement classroom at Lamar High School for several hours on a recent Monday as police investigated a shooting threat posted on social media. The 17-year-old was mostly confused and hungry during the lunchtime lockdown, she said, but eventually started texting her mother: “Mom, Mom, Mom.” (Bauman, 5/23)

North Carolina Health News: NC Pediatrician Discusses Tackling Gun Violence
The anniversary of the Uvalde mass shooting was not far from the minds of many of the people on a Zoom call several weeks ago that drew health care providers and others interested in lifting Latino voices in discussions about gun violence prevention. It was the Wednesday before Mother’s Day, and Brian Eichner, a pediatrician in Durham, was presenting sobering data and charts. Only four days earlier, a heavily armed gunman had killed eight people at a shopping mall in Allen, Texas, before a police officer shot him to death. (Blythe, 5/24) 

The Washington Post: After Texas Mall Tragedy, One Survivor Begins Living With Bullet Wounds
Irvin Walker II, 46, doesn’t recall seeing the shooter approach his car as he looked for a space in the crowded outlet mall in the Dallas suburb of Allen. The next thing he remembers, though, were blasts from a gun. Shards of glass and a hail of bullets rained through his car window. The bullets hit him in the shoulder and chest, sending so many fragments into his body, face, neck, arm and one dangerously close to his heart that doctors say they can’t safely remove all of them. Still, he is alive. (Nevins, 5/23)

The New York Times: After Uvalde Shooting, A Cemetery Anchors Families Of Victims 
The families of the 21 people who were killed have spent the last year working their way through a wilderness of grief, anger, despair, frustration and confusion — searching, if not for peace, then at least purpose. The cemetery, where most of the victims are buried, has become an anchor for many of the families, as has the bond forged among them. The families decorate the graves and meticulously maintain the area surrounding the headstones; and together, they gather at the cemetery to celebrate birthdays and holidays. (Kalifa, 5/24)

Gun control efforts are met with pushback —

The Texas Tribune: Texas Gun Safety Bills Saw Mixed Outcomes After Uvalde Shooting 
The first legislative session since the worst school shooting in Texas history is poised to end next week without the passage of a raise-the-age law that Uvalde families have spent almost a year pushing lawmakers to pass, often with wrenching testimony about the loved ones they lost in the massacre. (Serrano, 5/23)

Axios: U.S. Lawmakers OK'd More Pro-Gun Bills Than Safety Measures Since Uvalde
More than 1,700 gun-related bills have been introduced in state legislatures since the Uvalde shooting, and 93 of them were signed into law. (Contreras and Davis, 5/23)

The New York Times: A Year After A School Shooting, Divisions Run Through Uvalde 
Neighbors who have known each other for years now find themselves unable to agree and more distant than ever before. (Sandoval and Goodman, 5/22)

Details are still emerging as the investigation continues —

AP: One Year After Uvalde Shooting, Investigation Of Police Response Continues 
A criminal investigation in Texas over the hesitant police response to the Robb Elementary School shooting is still ongoing. ... The continuing probe underlines the lasting fallout over Texas’ deadliest school shooting and how the days after the attack were marred by authorities giving inaccurate and conflicting accounts about efforts made to stop a teenage gunman armed with an AR-style rifle. (Weber, 5/22)

The Washington Post: Police Who Botched Uvalde Shooting Response Face Few Consequences 
The Post’s review of dozens of hours of body camera videos, post-shooting interviews with officers, audio from dispatch communications and law enforcement licensing records identified at least seven officers who stalled even as evidence mounted that children were still in danger. Some were the first to arrive, while others were called in for their expertise. All are still employed by the same agencies they worked for that day. One was commended for his actions that day. (Lee, Cahlan and Hernandez, 5/24)

The Texas Tribune: “He Has A Battle Rifle”: Police Feared Uvalde Gunman’s AR-15 
In previously unreleased interviews, police who responded to the Robb Elementary shooting told investigators they were cowed by the shooter’s military-style rifle. (Despart, 5/20)

NBC News: On Uvalde Shooting 1-Year Anniversary, A Family Feels Betrayed
Javier Cazares is haunted by the 30 minutes or so that passed after his 9-year-old daughter, Jacklyn, was shot and before law enforcement officers finally confronted the gunman firing an AR-15 inside Robb Elementary School. ... “My daughter, she was one of the victims who came out and went to the hospital. She did have a heartbeat,” Cazares said. “That’s where I’m really the most hurt, because they could have done things and for whatever reason, it cost my daughter her life. She could have lived. Not just her, I mean one or two other kids in her class.” (Gamba, 5/21)

Survivors struggle to cope —

CNN: Uvalde One Year On: Lexi Rubio's Mom And Dad Try To Give Her A Legacy But All They Want Is To See Her Again 
“I don’t think we want to move forward. I think when people ask me about that, you’re asking me to move further from my last memory with her. That’s uncomfortable and I don’t want to do that,” said Kim Rubio, whose daughter Lexi was killed.

The Texas Tribune: Uvalde Students Didn’t Witness Mass Shooting But Are Still Struggling
Now, things like the sound of police sirens, people yelling — just about any loud sound — can be triggers for Austin and Illiaña, who have developed post-traumatic stress disorder because of the shooting. (Garcia and L'Roy, 5/22)

The Texas Tribune: Watch A Series Of Discussions In Uvalde On Resilience, Recovery And Healing
To mark one year since this tragedy, Southwest Texas Junior College and The Texas Tribune convened discussions featuring parents who experienced loss, mental health experts, faith leaders and educators. This half-day event focused on recovery, resilience and healing. Watch the discussions, which were held Saturday at Southwest Texas Junior College’s Tate Auditorium in Uvalde. (4/26)

If you are in need of help —

Dial 9-8-8 for 24/7 support from the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. It's free and confidential.

Can mass shootings be prevented? —

Mother Jones: The Uvalde Massacre Could Have Been Prevented 
Stark lessons from the disgraceful response that day will continue to emerge. Another crucial side of the Uvalde tragedy, however, remains far too obscured: the distinct possibility that an array of warning signs from the perpetrator could have led authorities to prevent the massacre. (Follman, 5/23)

Politico: These Uvalde Survivors Were Too Scared To Go Back To School. Then They Saw A TikTok
Type “white board safe room” into TikTok and it pops up right away. Multiple viral videos show an elementary school teacher in Alabama reaching for a handle nestled in the corner of the room, where two white boards touch. She pulls back with all her body weight, and the hinge in the corner pops out toward her. The whiteboards move along tracks as she pulls, expanding into an L-shaped bullet-proof safe room. (Neus, 5/23)

The New York Times: Is Your Child’s Relationship To Social Media Unhealthy? Here’s How To Tell
Every parent who has watched their child robotically scroll through social media feeds bathed in blue light has wondered about the effects it may be having on their mental health. And in the past two weeks, both the United States surgeon general and the American Psychological Association have issued warnings about the risks of social media to young people. So what are parents supposed to do? “Families need to take this seriously,” said Dr. Gary Small, the chair of psychiatry at the Hackensack University Medical Center. (Pearson, 5/23)

Forbes: How Parents Can Combat Social Media’s Risks To Kids’ Mental Health
There is no single cause and countless factors contribute to someone’s mental health; but research has been growing around what seems to be the concurrent rise in social media and smartphone use by children at younger ages. In fact, U.S. surgeon general Dr. Vivek H. Murthy on Tuesday issued an advisory warning of the risks social media poses to youth’s mental health. But there are steps parents can take to protect their children from those risks. (Bhargava, 5/23)

The New York Times: A History Of U.S. Surgeon General Warnings: Smoking, TV, Safer Sex And More 
A warning issued by the United States surgeon general, Dr. Vivek Murthy, on Tuesday provided guidance about an issue that has been front of mind for American parents for years: the negative effects of social media on the mental health of young people. These types of public health advisories are infrequent, but sometimes become turning points in American life. (Tumin, 5/23)

In other mental health news —

CIDRAP: Youth—Especially Girls—Had More Psychiatric Diagnoses In First 2 Years Of COVID
Among about 1.7 million US youths, both girls and boys experienced increases in some common mental illnesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, but girls were particularly affected, with more than a doubling of eating disorders among adolescent girls, according to a study published yesterday in JAMA Network Open. (Van Beusekom, 5/23)

News Channel 5 Nashville: Researchers Say Allergy Symptoms Can Be Linked To Mental Health Disorders
May is both peak seasonal allergy time and mental health awareness month and research shows the two may be linked. Doctors said the more severe your allergy symptoms are, the more they see increased rates of depression and anxiety. Researchers said this may be due to how inflammation chemicals impact the emotion centers of our brain. (Hamblin, 5/24)

The Washington Post: Eating More Vegetables May Improve Your Mental Health
Years of research underscores that eating more vegetables is not only good for your physical health, but it can improve mental health as well. It doesn’t take much. Even adding just one more serving of fruit or vegetables to your plate each day can improve your mood. (Zaraska, 5/23)

Nature: A Mental-Health Crisis Is Gripping Science — Toxic Research Culture Is To Blame
There is a mental-health crisis in science — at all career stages and across the world. Graduate students are being harassed and discriminated against, paid meagre wages, bullied, overworked and sometimes sexually assaulted. It doesn’t get much better for early-career researchers struggling to land long-term employment. And established senior researchers face immense pressure to win grants, publish in high-profile journals and maintain their reputations in highly competitive fields. (Hall, 5/23)

If you are in need of help —

Dial 9-8-8 for 24/7 support from the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. It's free and confidential.

Stat: Congress Highlighted A Chemo Drug’s Price To Blast PBMs — But It’s Not A PBM Issue
Congress blasted drug middlemen at a hearing Tuesday, with multiple lawmakers pointing to a huge discrepancy between how much a chemo drug costs at CVS and its price from Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drugs. There’s just one problem: PBMs don’t have anything to do with that discrepancy. (Wilkerson, 5/23)

AP: Medicaid Plans To Audit The Prices Of Costliest Drugs
The Biden administration said Tuesday it is planning to conduct a yearly audit to verify the prices drug makers charge on a handful of the costliest prescriptions covered by Medicaid. Under the proposal, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services would require as many as 10 drug makers every year to furnish the government with proprietary and non-proprietary information as evidence to support the price it charges states, which administer Medicaid. Drugs that cost Medicaid the most money — some as much as $2 million per treatment — will be selected for the survey. (Seitz, 5/23)

Modern Healthcare: CMS Price Transparency Proposal Targets PBMs
Under an upcoming proposed rule, PBMs that contract with Medicaid would have to reveal the prices they pay for medicines, a provision that seeks to curb spread pricing, a practice in which PBMs charge insurance companies, employers or government programs more for medicines than it actually pays. If finalized, this would be the first time that PBMs are required to disclose actual drug prices under federal law. The regulation also would make specialty drugs administered in hospitals eligible for rebates. (Turner, 5/23)

In other pharmaceutical industry developments —

The Wall Street Journal: Your Company Doesn’t Want You To Take Ozempic For Weight Loss. Here’s Why. 
Many Americans seeking out drugs like Ozempic to shed pounds are hitting a barrier: Their employers’ health plans won’t pay for them.  The issue is an emerging fault line in U.S. workplaces, driven by the social-media and celebrity buzz around Ozempic and its sister drug, Wegovy. Prescriptions for the treatments have soared so much that the drugs’ maker has often struggled to keep pace with demand. Yet companies, already facing rising healthcare costs, are wary of footing the bill for medicines that list for $900 or more a month. (Mathews and Smith, 5/22)

The Wall Street Journal: Baby-Formula Makers Face FTC Investigation For Collusion 
The Federal Trade Commission is investigating whether baby-formula makers colluded on bids for lucrative state contracts. The agency, in documents posted to its website, said it is looking into whether Abbott Laboratories and other formula manufacturers have “engaged in collusion or coordination with any other market participant regarding the bidding” for state contracts. The FTC is also investigating whether company coordination affected sales more broadly, outside of the Women, Infants and Children formula-supply program, FTC Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya wrote. (Whyte, Newman and Peterson, 5/24)

Stat: Achieve's Drug Helps Smokers Quit But Would Face Stiff Competition If Approved
Seattle biotech Achieve Life Sciences on Tuesday announced an experimental drug meant to help people quit smoking did exactly that in a clinical trial, paving the way for the company to seek approval for a product that would face stiff competition. (Wosen, 5/23)

The Boston Globe: Blueprint Medicines Says Its Newly Approved Drug For A Rare Life-Threatening Disorder Could Be A Blockbuster
Suki Tipp had been stung by wasps before but never had a reaction like the one she experienced five years ago in a barn on her 30-acre property in Alabama. After the sting to her right arm that July day, Tipp recalled, she had a metallic taste in her mouth and felt like her body was on fire. She rushed into her house to lie on an air-conditioning grate on the floor, then texted her husband outside as she grew weak. “Something’s not right,” she wrote. “I need help.” (Saltzman, 5/23)

Axios: Rising Medical Costs Force Americans To Skip The Doctor
The share of Americans who skipped medical treatment last year because of costs rose substantially from the lows of 2020 and 2021, per a Federal Reserve Survey out Monday. The ability to afford health care often translates into better health. The survey also found that in families with income less than $25,000, 75% reported being in good health, compared with 91% for those with income of $100,000 or more. (Peck, 5/23)

More health care industry updates —

Modern Healthcare: Hospital DEI Programs Continue Despite Economic Concerns
Money is tight at many health systems facing narrowing margins, staffing shortages and broad economic headwinds, which might encourage executives to scale back on initiatives that aren't part of their core missions. When it comes to diversity, equity and inclusion programs, however, some aren't backing away. (Hartnett, 5/23)

Axios: Some States Encourage Hospital Mergers While Feds Cast Wary Eye
As federal policymakers step up oversight of hospital mergers, more states are taking steps to encourage consolidation in the industry — or to have the final say on whether such moves are anti-competitive. The policies are a sign of the power some hospital lobbies continue to wield in statehouses, where they've argued mergers are a way to expand the patient base and keep otherwise unprofitable facilities open. (Dreher, 5/24)

Modern Healthcare: How Retail Became Healthcare’s Biggest Disruptor
Mega-retailers are stepping in to improve the way healthcare is delivered, disrupting a status-quo industry that has been slow to change. Retailers ranging from drugstore chains to discount superstores are looking to take market share from traditional hospitals and health systems by stressing a more customer-centric focus. In many markets, the plan is working as consumers turn toward new care models. (Hudson, 5/23)

The Baltimore Sun: Trial Starts For Maryland Doctors Accused Of Leaking Medical Records To Russia
An email from a Johns Hopkins physician reached the Russian Embassy on March 1, 2022, five days after Russia invaded Ukraine, sparking a deadly war that has now spanned more than a year. “My husband and I are both doctors. I’m an anesthesiologist, he works in intensive care,” Dr. Anna Gabrielian wrote in Russian, her first language, and referring to her spouse, Dr. Jamie Lee Henry. “We are ready to help if there is a need for that. We are for life, and do not want to cut Russia off from the international community.” (Mann, 5/23)

KFF Health News: Listen To The Latest ‘KFF Health News Minute’ 
This week’s KFF Health News Minute looks at the rising number of patients pushed to take out credit cards to pay off medical debt and the lack of schools specializing in behavioral needs. (5/18)

In organ transplant news —

USA Today: Heart Transplant Achieves Record-Breaking 2,506-Mile Trip
Dr. Joseph Rubelowsky felt as if he had just robbed a bank. Still in his scrubs, he boarded the Falcon 900 jet, sat down and glanced over at the white cooling contraption that held the day’s loot. Strapped to the aircraft floor, it looked like a normal carry-on suitcase. But what the cooler carried was far from normal – and more precious than money or gold. It was a human heart. (Rodriguez, 5/23)

Houston Chronicle: Twins Undergo The Same Heart Surgery In Kingwood, One Week Apart
Michal Daniel, structural interventional cardiologist at Vital Heart and Vein, had to do a double take when he did the same surgery on identical twins at HCA Houston Healthcare Kingwood recently. The twins were diagnosed with severe aortic stenosis and underwent surgery one week apart. RJ and LG Walker, both 81, underwent the life-saving surgery in March and their prognosis is fantastic, according to Daniel. (Taylor, 5/23)

Roll Call: CDC: HIV Declines Driven By Teens, Young Adults
New HIV infections dropped 12 percent in 2021 compared to 2017, according to new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates released Tuesday, with the biggest drops among young gay and bisexual men. But the agency warned that HIV prevention efforts need to be accelerated to reach the national goals. (Raman, 5/23)

In other health and wellness news —

CIDRAP: Study: HPV Does Not Often Transmit To Babies During Pregnancy 
Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection (STI) in the United States, but there is a lack of evidence to demonstrate if the virus can be transmitted from mother to child during pregnancy. A study in JAMA Pediatrics offers new data showing that, although common in pregnancy, HPV infrequently transmits to newborns and does not persist into infancy. And another new study highlights why some parents avoid the vaccine for their children. (soucheray, 5/23)

CBS News: CDC Investigates Six-State Salmonella Outbreak Linked To Papa Murphy's Cookie Dough
A six-state salmonella outbreak has been linked to Papa Murphy's cookie dough, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned Tuesday. At least 18 illnesses have been reported, with two hospitalizations, the CDC said. Six of the cases are in Washington state, with four each in Oregon and Idaho. The sickened patients ranged in age from 14 to 68. No deaths have been linked to eating the cookie dough. (Chasan, 5/23)

The Hill: ‘Am I Gay?’-Related Google Searches Soar 1,300 Percent In 19 Years: Analysis 
Google searches related to personal sexual orientation and gender identity have skyrocketed since 2004, according to new research.  The Cultural Currents Institute released an analysis that explored Google searches from 2004 to this month that included searches for questions such as “am I gay”, “am I lesbian”, “am I trans” and “how to come out”, as well as searches for “nonbinary.” The new analysis found that searches for these phrases jumped by more than 1,300 percent during that period. (Sforza, 5/23)

AP: A Lifetime Of Racism Makes Alzheimer’s More Common In Black Americans
Constance Guthrie is not yet dead, but her daughter has begun to plan her funeral. It will be, Jessica Guthrie says, in a Black-owned funeral home, with the songs of her ancestors. She envisions a celebration of her mother’s life, not a tragic recitation of her long decline. As it should be. Constance has lived 74 years, many of them good, as a Black woman, a mother, educator and businesswoman. But she will die of Alzheimer’s disease, a scourge of Black Americans that threatens to grow far worse in coming decades. (Stafford, 5/23)

KFF Health News: Domestic Violence Shelters Move Out Of Hiding 
Sara Young packed a bag of essentials, gathered her kids, and fled her home to a refuge: an old, green house that blended in with the neighborhood in this southwestern Montana city. Nothing about the house identified it as a domestic violence shelter — it was hidden in plain sight. Young wasn’t allowed to give anyone the address. The secrecy made her feel safe. But her roommate, a young mom, struggled to care for her baby without her family there to help. Some residents couldn’t get to work because they didn’t have a car. Several housemates tried to sneak out at night for a break from curfews, locked windows, and alarm systems. “We were there because we needed to be kept safe,” Young said. “For me, it was comfortable. For them, it felt like being in prison.” (Houghton, 5/24)

KFF Health News: As Water Levels Drop, The Risk Of Arsenic Poisoning Rises
When John Mestas’ ancestors moved to Colorado over 100 years ago to raise sheep in the San Luis Valley, they “hit paradise,” he said. “There was so much water, they thought it would never end,” Mestas said of the agricultural region at the headwaters of the Rio Grande. Now decades of climate change-driven drought, combined with the overpumping of aquifers, are making the valley desperately dry — and appear to be intensifying the levels of heavy metals in drinking water. (Bailey, 5/24)

Also —

The Washington Post: Rick Hoyt, Famed Boston Marathon Wheelchair Racer With Father, Dies At 61 
Over nearly four decades, Mr. Hoyt and his father, Dick Hoyt, became celebrated fixtures of the Boston Marathon — with a bronze statue of the duo known Team Hoyt dedicated in 2013 near the marathon’s starting point where they first set off in 1980. ... A family statement said Mr. Hoyt died of respiratory complications. His father died of heart-related problems in 2021. (Murphy, 4/23)

Boston Globe: Long Covid Could Transform Research On Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Veronica Dane had always been active, from playing soccer as a kid to working a demanding job as a critical care nurse. Until, one day, she just couldn’t do it anymore. She started eliminating activities and duties, whittling away the things that had once brought joy and a steady income but were now, instead, bringing unbearable physical pain. Even at home, she had to wear noise-canceling headphones to muffle the sound of her kids playing downstairs. (Gokee, 5/23)

CIDRAP: Pre-Infection COVID Vaccination Linked To Lower Odds Of Lingering Symptoms 
A US study published yesterday in Nature Communications suggests that pre-infection COVID-19 vaccination was tied to a lower likelihood of persistent symptoms 45 days after infection. ... A subanalysis didn't reveal robust evidence that the protective effect depends on the time from vaccination to COVID-19 infection. (Van Beusekom, 5/23)

More on the covid-19 pandemic —

Bloomberg: Covid Kills One Every 4 Minutes As Vaccine Rates Fall, Despite End Of Emergency
After more than three years, the global Covid emergency is officially over. Yet it’s still killing at least one person every four minutes and questions on how to deal with the virus remain unanswered, putting vulnerable people and under-vaccinated countries at risk. (Fay Cortez, 5/23)

AP: High Blood Pressure Plagues Many Black Americans. Combined With COVID, It's Catastrophic
In a nation plagued by high blood pressure, Black people are more likely to suffer from it — and so, in the time of COVID-19, they are more likely than white people to die. It’s a stark reality. And it has played out in thousands of Black households that have lost mothers and fathers over the past three years, a distinct calamity within the many tragedies of the pandemic. (Stafford, 5/23)

Military.com: VA Can't Account For $187 Million In Emergency COVID-19 Funding
The Department of Veterans Affairs can’t account for at least $187 million in supplementary COVID-19 funding spread across more than 10,000 transactions related to the pandemic, according to a House oversight committee. Congress and the VA are at odds over the department's handling of nearly $37 billion in additional funding it received to address the COVID-19 pandemic, with House Veterans Affairs Committee leaders on both sides of the aisle critical of its failure to account for every dime. (Kime, 5/23)

Axios: Minnesota Lawmakers Pass Public Option Health Plan
Minnesota is poised to expand its state-funded health insurance program, becoming the latest to add a public option for residents with incomes above 200% of the federal poverty level. States like Colorado and Washington state have turned to public option plans to control health costs but are encountering lackluster interest and resistance from providers. (Dreher, 5/24)

The Texas Tribune: Texas House Votes To Repeal “Tampon Tax” 
Diapers, maternity clothes and menstrual products are one step closer to becoming sales tax-free in Texas after the House passed a bill repealing the “tampon tax” Tuesday. If the bill becomes law, Texas will join the slim majority of states that have nixed the sales tax on menstrual products, as well as diapers for adults and children, baby wipes, breast milk pumping products, baby bottles and maternity clothes. (Klibanoff, 5/23)

WUSF Public Media: Arguments End In Lawsuit Over Florida's Ban On Medicaid Coverage For Trans Care
Floridians suing the state over its ban on Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming medical care now await a federal judge’s ruling. Arguments in the trial, which began this month, wrapped up on Monday, just days after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law further restricting access to transgender health care in the state. (Colombini, 5/23)

AP: Governor's New Stance Revives New Hampshire Marijuana Effort
Gov. Chris Sununu’s recent shift to support marijuana legalization has inspired a last-minute push for new legislation. Though several bipartisan bills in support of legalizing recreational marijuana have cleared the House in recent years, Sununu opposed them and they ultimately failed in the Senate. But after the latest defeat earlier this month, Sununu announced that he would back legalization if lawmakers took a different approach. (Ramer, 5/23)

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin Continues To Have Wide Racial Gap In Infant Mortality Rates
Wisconsin has made no significant progress in improving mortality rates among Black and Native American infants, according to new data released by the state Department of Health Services that examines the root causes of the disparities. Nothing will improve, Wisconsin's leading public maternal health official said, until fundamental changes happen in how race and health intersect. (Shastri, 5/23)

The New York Times: Phoenix Blackout In Heat Wave Would Overwhelm Hospitals, Study Warns 
If a multiday blackout in Phoenix coincided with a heat wave, nearly half the population would require emergency department care for heat stroke or other heat-related illnesses, a new study suggests. (Levenson, 5/23)

FiercePharma: Pfizer Halts 4 Antibiotics In India Due To Production Issues
Global drug giant Pfizer is warning physicians and clinicians in India to immediately stop using four of its antibiotics due to manufacturing issues at a contract producer. The warning covers Magnex, Zosyn, Magnamycin and Magnex Forte. (Keenan, 5/18)

ScienceDaily: Previous Smallpox Vaccine Provides Immunity To Mpox 
Vaccines against smallpox given until the mid-1970s offer continuing cross-reactive immunity to mpox (previously known as monkeypox), researchers report. (Karolinska Institutet, 5/23)

Reuters: Purdue Pharma To Sell Consumer Business For $397 Mln 
Bankrupt Purdue Pharma received a U.S. judge's permission on Tuesday to sell its consumer health business for $397 million to a subsidiary of Arcadia Consumer Healthcare. (Knauth, 5/23)

The New York Times: Why The F.D.A. Should Move Birth Control Over The Counter
An advisory panel at the Food and Drug Administration this month unanimously recommended that a contraceptive pill, Opill, be made available over the counter. The F.D.A. will decide this summer whether to follow this recommendation‌ — if it does, the United States will join over 100 other countries that have already approved oral contraceptives for use without a prescription. ‌(Eric Reinhart, 5/22)

MedPage Today: Tackling Barriers To OTC Birth Control Pills
While this decision is a promising step in the right direction, we urge the administration and pharmaceutical companies to carefully review individual costs associated with such a landmark approval. An individual using contraception may use the pill method for months to years, and thus consideration of the long-term monetary investment -- and potential to worsen existing disparities in healthcare -- cannot be overlooked. (Erin Fleurant, MD, and Melissa Simon, MD, MPH, 5/23)

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Expand Access To Birth Control Pills
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is considering allowing birth control pills to be sold without a prescription. Some conservatives are raising predictable objections, but others appear to grasp the obvious: If the anti-abortion-rights movement truly is motivated solely by a desire to prevent abortions, without a broader agenda of imposing religious dogma or subjugating women, its adherents should be the loudest voices for making reliable birth control as easily accessible as possible. (5/21)

Stat: What If Youth Mental Health Awareness Efforts Are Backfiring?
Mental health awareness campaigns work on a key principle, applied to everything from exam stress to suicidal thoughts: If we can get people to identify and understand their mental health problems, then they can access effective help and treatment. Awareness is good, in other words, because it should ultimately alleviate people’s distress. The trouble is, no one really knows if awareness initiatives actually work in this way. (Lucy Foulkes, 5/24)

CNN: Parents, Get Your Kids Off Social Media
The US Surgeon General is clear: Get your kids off social media. And while he didn’t say as much, maybe spend less time on it yourself. In a dire report, Dr. Vivek H. Murthy warned of myriad dangers from social media platforms designed to be as addictive as possible, and laid out just how little we know about their potential harms. (Jill Filipovic, 5/23)

Los Angeles Times: What Gen Z Teens Like Me Are Getting Wrong About Mental Health 
Ever since the surgeon general sounded the alarm on youth mental health in 2021, parents and educators have been trying to figure out how to help teens in my generation who are struggling amid rising rates of depression and anxiety. That’s an understandable goal. What worries me, though, is the possibility that many in my generation are confusing mental health issues with normal discomfort, to the point that the term “mental health” is becoming so diluted that it’s starting to lose meaning. (Zach Gottlieb, 5/23)

The New York Times: Why This Psychologist Is Hopeful About Teen Mental Health
The data is clear: Levels of anxiety, depression, self-harm and suicide have spiked for American teenagers over the last decade. Last Friday’s episode with the psychologist Jean Twenge sifted through that data to uncover both the scale of the crisis and its possible causes. (Ezra Klein, 5/23)

The Tennessean: Ignorance Of Mental Health Issues Creates Assumptions That Lead To Blame
There is much public focus on those with mental illness with calls to increase funding for mental health resources. I am a mental health professional who has worked with children for over 40 years, and I strongly support the need for funding and resources. (Catherine Fuchs, 5/23)