US will let more people take methadone at home

US will let more people take methadone at home

The first big update to U.S. methadone regulations in 20 years is poised to expand access to the life-saving drug starting next month, but experts say the addiction treatment changes could fall flat if state governments and methadone clinics fail to act. For decades, strict rules required most methadone patients to line up at special … Read more

Senate to vote again on IVF protections in election-year push

Senate to vote again on IVF protections in election-year push

WASHINGTON — The Senate will vote for the second time this year on legislation that would establish a nationwide right to in vitro fertilization — Democrats’ latest election-year attempt to force Republicans into a defensive stance on women’s health issues. The bill, which the Senate will vote on Tuesday, has little chance of passing this … Read more

DEA closing 2 offices in China even as the agency struggles to stem flow of fentanyl chemicals

DEA closing 2 offices in China even as the agency struggles to stem flow of fentanyl chemicals

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is shutting down two of its hard-won offices in China, The Associated Press has learned, a move that comes even as the agency struggles to disrupt the flow of precursor chemicals from the country that have fueled a fentanyl epidemic blamed for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans. … Read more

Congressional Democrats push resolution that says hospitals must provide emergency abortions

Congressional Democrats push resolution that says hospitals must provide emergency abortions

WASHINGTON — A resolution introduced by Congressional Democrats would make clear that U.S. emergency rooms need to provide emergency abortions when a woman’s health or life is at risk, despite strict state abortion bans. Legislators cited a report by The Associated Press that found more than 100 pregnant women have been denied care since 2022 … Read more

Feds rarely punish hospitals for turning away pregnant patients

Feds rarely punish hospitals for turning away pregnant patients

As the pregnant woman’s contractions rolled in every two minutes, staff at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, dispatched an ambulance to send her elsewhere. Just two minutes later, she gave birth to a 6-pound baby girl in the cab of the ambulance down the road from the 900-bed … Read more

Congress targets Chinese influence in health tech. It could come with tradeoffs

Congress targets Chinese influence in health tech. It could come with tradeoffs

WASHINGTON — A California biotechnology company that helps doctors detect genetic causes for cancer is among those that could be cut out of the U.S. market over ties to China, underscoring the possible tradeoffs between health innovation and a largely bipartisan push in Congress to counter Beijing’s global influence. The competition between the world’s superpowers … Read more

Trump wouldn’t say whether he’d veto a national ban even as abortion remains a top election issue

Trump wouldn’t say whether he’d veto a national ban even as abortion remains a top election issue

CHICAGO — Former President Donald Trump repeatedly declined to say during this week’s debate if he would veto a national abortion ban if he were elected again — a question that has lingered as the Republican nominee has shifted his stances on the crucial election issue. In Tuesday’s debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump … Read more

Kamala Harris gives abortion rights advocates the debate answer they’ve longed for in Philadelphia

Kamala Harris gives abortion rights advocates the debate answer they’ve longed for in Philadelphia

WASHINGTON — When President Joe Biden gave bumbling remarks about abortion on the debate stage this summer, it was widely viewed as a missed opportunity — a failure, even — on a powerful and motivating issue for Democrats at the ballot box. The difference was stark, then, on Tuesday night, when Vice President Kamala Harris … Read more

NCAA champions UConn and South Carolina headed to White House to celebrate national titles

NCAA champions UConn and South Carolina headed to White House to celebrate national titles

COLUMBIA, S.C. — UConn and South Carolina are headed to the White House to celebrate their latest NCAA basketball titles. The schools announced the visits, where they will be honored by President Joe Biden, on Thursday. UConn men’s basketball, which won back-to-back NCAA Tournament titles for the first time since Florida did it in 2006 … Read more

Nearly 2,000 drug plants are overdue for FDA checks after COVID delays, AP finds

Nearly 2,000 drug plants are overdue for FDA checks after COVID delays, AP finds

WASHINGTON — Federal regulators responsible for the safety of the U.S. drug supply are still struggling to get back to where they were in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic upended factory inspections in the U.S. and across the world, The Associated Press has found. An AP analysis of Food and Drug Administration data shows that … Read more