The Supreme Court on Friday said it will consider whether a federal emergency care law requires doctors to provide life-saving abortions, even in states with strict bans on the procedure.
The big picture: Doctors' ability to provide emergency abortion care they deem medically necessary has been in question in states with total or near-total bans since Roe v. Wade was overturned.
Hospitals are beginning to revive mask mandates as the highly contagious COVID-19 variant known as JN.1 overspreads the United States and health systems grapple with a spike in other seasonal respiratory viruses.
Driving the news: There were almost 35,000 COVID hospitalizations across the country for the week ending Dec. 30, a 20.4% increase over the prior week, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention figures updated Friday.
The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved a plan allowing Florida to import cheaper prescription drugs from Canada, opening the door for states to buy direct from pharmacies there to stock their state-run health programs.
Why it matters: The approval, the first of its kind, allows the Biden administration to show it's addressing a major voter concern in an election year but is likely to draw legal challenges from the pharmaceutical industry.
A coalition of Florida abortion rights supporters surpassed the required number of signatures needed to put a referendum on next year's ballot, according to the latest data from the state Division of Elections.
Why it matters: If advocates succeed in enshrining abortion rights in Florida's constitution through the ballot measure, it would have massive implications for reproductive health care across the South.
A new federal study finds a popular obesity and diabetes drug was associated with a lower risk of suicidal ideations compared with other medications treating those conditions.
Why it matters: The findings come as drug regulators are probing reported side effects of suicidal thoughts in people taking such drugs.
A rash of generic drug shortages across the United States can be partly explained by a somewhat counterintuitive and politically inconvenient factor: The prices are way too low.
Why it matters: Proposals for addressing the complex factors driving the scarcity wouldn't come cheap, and that's especially true of the politically popular push to make more drugs in America.
Going sober for Dry January has been popular for years — but if you're intentionally drinking less (but not nothing) this month, there's another term for that: Damp January.
Why it matters: Limiting alcohol can have a number of physical and mental health benefits, but Damp January isn't a fit for everyone.
