As Federal Emergency Declaration Expires, the Picture of the Pandemic Grows Fuzzier
By Sam Whitehead
The pandemic gave federal officials expanded power to access crucial data about the spread of covid-19, but that authority will change when the public health emergency sunsets in May. That, along with the end of popular covid trackers, will make it harder for policymakers and the public to keep an eye on covid and other threats.
Disability Rights Groups Sue to Overturn California’s Physician-Assisted Death Law
By Don Thompson
Disability rights advocates and two individuals with disabilities sued Tuesday to overturn the state’s physician-assisted death law, arguing it is unconstitutional, violates the Americans with Disabilities Act, and makes it too easy for people with terminal diseases whose deaths aren’t imminent to kill themselves with a doctor’s help.
Presentan demanda para revocar ley de muerte asistida en California
By Don Thompson
La ley original de California, que permite a los adultos con enfermedades terminales obtener recetas para medicamentos que pongan fin a su vida, se aprobó en 2016.
Daily Edition for Tuesday, April 25, 2023
Medical board powers, gun violence, opioids and overdoses, covid, vaping, presidential age, mosquito season, and more are in the news.
Did a Military Lab Spill Anthrax Into Public Waterways? New Book Reveals Details of a US Leak
By Alison Young
“Pandora’s Gamble” describes how 2,000 to 3,000 gallons of wastewater potentially containing anthrax, Ebola, and other deadly pathogens spilled from an Army facility in Frederick, Maryland, in 2018.
Depressed? Anxious? Air Pollution May Be a Factor
By Jim Robbins
A growing body of research is finding links between air quality and mental health, as therapists report seeing patients with symptoms linked to pollution.
Listen: Mifepristone Remains Available for Now. What Happens Next?
The Supreme Court on April 21 ruled that the abortion pill mifepristone should remain widely available while the lower courts consider the issue, blocking earlier rulings that banned or restricted access to the drug. KFF Health News’ Julie Rovner joined NPR’s “Weekend All Things Considered” to discuss the complicated case.
Daily Edition for Monday, April 24, 2023
The opioid crisis, physician training, abortion pill access, birth control, military health, water safety, and more are in the news.
Pain, Hope, and Science Collide as Athletes Turn to Magic Mushrooms
By Markian Hawryluk and Kevin Van Valkenburg, ESPN
A group of former professional athletes traveled to Jamaica to try psychedelics as a way to help cope with the aftereffects of concussions and a career of body-pounding injuries. Will this still largely untested treatment work?
US Officials Want to End the HIV Epidemic by 2030. Many Stakeholders Think They Won’t.
By Daniel Chang and Sam Whitehead
The federal government’s ambitious plan to end the HIV epidemic, launched in 2019, has generated new ways to reach at-risk populations in targeted communities across the South. But health officials, advocates, and people living with HIV worry significant headwinds will keep the program from reaching its goals.
