Ahead Of Midterms, Conservative Lawmakers Champing At Bit To Get Anti-Abortion Laws On Books

The Washington Post: Abortion Battles Are Heating Up Ahead Of November Midterms
Mississippi’s governor just signed a law, more restrictive than in any state, banning abortions after 15 weeks. Iowa’s state Senate is trying to go even further and stop abortions at around six weeks. And 20 Ohio legislators have proposed outlawing all abortions, even if the woman’s life is in danger. In many state capitols, Republican lawmakers are backing unusually strict antiabortion laws. Many are emboldened by President Trump, who has been more supportive of their agenda than any president in decades. Conservative lawmakers also are eager to get more restrictions on the books in case November’s elections bring a surge of Democrats hostile to them. (Jordan, 4/19)

In other national health care news —

The Hill: Judge Rules Against Trump Administration In Teen Pregnancy Prevention Case 
A federal judge in D.C. ruled Thursday that the Trump administration's cuts to the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program were unlawful. Last summer, the administration notified 81 organizations that their five-year grants through the program would end in 2018, rather than in 2020, prompting multiple lawsuits. (Hellmann, 4/19)

The Hill: GOP In Retreat On ObamaCare
Republicans are retreating from calls to repeal ObamaCare ahead of this year’s midterm elections. Less than a year after the GOP gave up on its legislative effort to repeal the law, Democrats are going on offense on this issue, attacking Republicans for their votes as they hope to retake the House majority. (Sullivan, 4/20)

The Washington Post: ‘He Knows How To Read A Room Really, Really Well’: How White House Physician Ronny L. Jackson Became Trump’s Nominee To Lead VA
As a White House physician under three presidents, Ronny L. Jackson often went to extra lengths to win over the officials he was on hand to assist. He helped George W. Bush clear brush at his Texas ranch. He supplied Barack Obama with Nicorette gum even as he urged him to quit the nicotine substitute. He once was so eager to deliver a sling to Vice President Richard B. Cheney for a sore arm that his sprint toward the presidential helicopter caught the attention of Secret Service agents, a friend said. That kind of enthusiasm drew ridicule in January, when Jackson said at a news conference that President Trump “might live to be 200 years old” if he had a more healthful diet. But his performance received lavish praise from the president, who shocked Washington a few months later by tapping the former combat surgeon to run the Department of Veterans Affairs — one of the federal government’s largest and most fraught bureaucracies. (Gardner and Crites, 4/19)

Stat: U.S. Spending On Prescription Drugs Rose Less Than 1 Percent Last Year
Amid national turmoil over rising drug costs, a new report finds that spending on prescription medicines in the U.S. last year grew a modest 0.6 percent, to $324 billion, after accounting for rebates and discounts that are paid by drug makers. And real net per-capita spending fell by 2.2 percent, when adjusted for those allowances, as well as for population and economic growth. The rebates and discounts mean that drug makers are realizing less revenue than the stated list prices for their medicines. The difference last year was $130 billion, up from $74 billion, according to data from the IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science, which is part of the IQVIA market research firm. List prices, meanwhile, rose a modest 1.4 percent. (Silverman, 4/19)

The New York Times: As Opioid Prescriptions Fall, Prescriptions For Drugs To Treat Addiction Rise
The number of new monthly prescriptions for medications that treat opioid addiction nearly doubled over the past two years, according to new data, while prescriptions for opioid painkillers continued to decline. The changing calculus reflects a stepping up of efforts among policymakers and the medical establishment to address the nation’s opioid epidemic, which is killing more than 115 people every day. But it also underscores questions about whether some pain patients are now being undertreated, and whether tightened prescribing over the last few years has contributed to the surge in overdose deaths from heroin and especially fentanyl. (Goodnough, 4/19)

The New York Times: F.D.A. Panel Recommends Approval Of Cannabis-Based Drug For Epilepsy
A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel on Thursday unanimously recommended approval of an epilepsy medication made with an ingredient found in marijuana. If the agency follows the recommendation, as is expected, the drug would be the first cannabis-derived prescription medicine available in the United States. (Kaplan, 4/19)

The New York Times: When Is It Safe To Eat Salad Again?
For lovers of leafy greens, these are not salad days. A multistate outbreak of E. coli infections has been linked to bags of chopped romaine lettuce, and information from different sources about the risk has been confusing, making many of us scared to eat salad. This week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the outbreak has grown to 53 cases in 16 states — that’s 18 more sick people since April 13. Fortunately nobody has died, but nearly 70 percent of those infected have been hospitalized with a nasty toxin-producing strain of E. coli, and several have developed kidney failure. (4/19)