Axios

The U.S. surpassed one million organ transplants on Friday, reaching a milestone decades after the first successful transplant with a kidney in 1954.

Yes, but: The need for organ donors remains immense — more people are getting transplants than ever before — even as the nation's transplant system faces criticism for poor management and oversight.

Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) on Friday declared a state disaster emergency over polio after an unvaccinated individual tested positive for the virus and officials have detected samples of polio in the city's wastewater.

Driving the news: Poliovirus has been detected in wastewater in New York counties, in addition to New York City, providing evidence of transmission of the contagious virus, which can lead to paralysis or meningitis.

A crush of out-of-state patients at abortion clinics is causing backlogs in care and forcing some to have the procedure later in their pregnancies, when treatment is more intensive and costs are higher.

The big picture: It's a byproduct of more people traveling across state lines in the post-Roe landscape and testing reproductive health providers in states that don't have abortion bans.

Superbugs are strengthening their foothold: The COVID-19 pandemic spurred a 15% increase in hospital-related infections and deaths in 2020, per the CDC.

Why it matters: The U.S. was already reporting an antimicrobial resistant (AMR) infection every 11 seconds, and a death from them every 15 minutes before the pandemic. Low- and middle-income countries face worse conditions.

People seeking green cards and visas will no longer be subject to a test of how much they'd likely rely on Medicaid and other government benefits in the future under a Department of Homeland Security rule published on Thursday.

Driving the news: The Biden administration moved to rescind a contentious Trump administration policy that sought to restrict legal immigration by people likely to subsist on government benefits.

Dwindling public demand for COVID vaccines and private market pressures should combine to cost manufacturers billions of dollars once the federal government stops buying the shots, eating into Pfizer and Moderna's pandemic profits.

Between the lines: The federal government bought far more vaccine than Americans would ever use to ensure that vaccine would be accessible. But private purchasers won't tolerate redundancy or waste.

A federal court ruling that struck down required coverage of HIV prevention medication may have far more sweeping implications for whether insurers will have to continue offering a range of no-cost preventive health services.

Driving the news: U.S. District Court Judge Reed O'Connor ruled on Wednesday that an Affordable Care Act requirement that employers cover the HIV prevention medication known as PrEP violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

Nearly a third of non-newborn pediatric hospital admissions from 2016 to 2020 were linked to mental health needs, according to a new report from the Health Care Cost Institute.

Why it matters: A high rate of inpatient mental health care could be a sign of inadequate preventive care and management of mental health needs in younger populations, researchers said.

For the second election cycle in a row, a Republican-appointed federal judge in Texas has given Democrats an opening to campaign on saving the Affordable Care Act — an opportunity they relish.

Why it matters: Weaponizing the GOP's 2017 attempt to repeal and replace the ACA was hugely successful for Democrats in the 2018 midterms. Republicans have been eager to talk about anything but the ACA since then, but Judge Reed O'Connor has twice now issued decisions that put key tenets of the law at risk.