Louisiana State Capitol to shine purple for National Naloxone Awareness Day
This display was requested by the Victoria's Voice Foundation and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana as a visual reminder that naloxone, a medication that reverses an opioid overdose, can save lives.
'It is available with a prescription or over the counter. Many community groups and healthcare organizations provide Narcan, a naloxone nasal spray, and training on how to use it at no cost,' a news release said.
Victoria's Voice and Louisiana Blue representatives were joined by Zachary Mayor David McDavid, East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President Sid Edwards, Central Mayor Wade Evans and others in Washington, D.C. this week. They met with members of Congress to discuss efforts to raise awareness about the dangers of fentanyl and expand access to prevention tools.
If you know someone who needs help with substance abuse, call 988.
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The Hill
18 minutes ago
- The Hill
CDC bars expert groups from advising on vaccines
Click in for more news from The Hill{beacon} Health Care Health Care The Big Story CDC bars expert groups from advising on vaccines The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) told some expert groups that they will no longer be able to help review scientific data used to issue vaccine recommendations. © APSome members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice's (ACIP) working groups, including physician groups and infectious disease specialists, were sent e-mails late Thursday notifying them that they will no longer serve on the subcommittees. The groups were removed from the subcommittees because they were deemed biased by the Trump administration, according to a copy of the email shared with The Hill. "By definition, Liason organizations are special interest groups and therefore are expected to have a 'bias' based on their constituency/and or population that they represent," the email reads. "It is important that the ACIP Workgroup activities remain free of influence from any special interest groups so ACIP workgroups will no longer include Liason organizations." Eight of the advisory groups released a joint statement Friday saying they are 'deeply disappointed' that they are now barred from informing the development of vaccine recommendations. 'For decades liaisons from our organizations have reviewed published and unpublished data and literature related to vaccine efficacy, effectiveness, and safety and provided unbiased input for ACIP's consideration,' the statement reads. 'To remove our deep medical expertise from this vital and once transparent process is irresponsible, dangerous to our nation's health, and will further undermine public and clinician trust in vaccines.' The groups, which include the American Medical Association, as well as the Infectious Diseases Society of America, called on the Trump administration to reconsider their exclusion from the vaccine review process. A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which oversees the CDC, said that experts will continue to be included in the review process based on 'relevant experience and expertise." 'Under the old ACIP, outside pressure to align with vaccine orthodoxy limited asking the hard questions,' the spokesperson wrote. 'The old ACIP members were plagued by conflicts of interest, influence and bias.' The notice is the latest move from the Trump administration to shake up the nation's vaccine policy and is another major change to the CDC's advisory panel on vaccines. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr abruptly fired all 17 sitting members of ACIP in early June, accusing them of having conflicts of interest and rubber-stamping decisions related to the COVID-19 vaccine. He then replaced the panel with eight hand-picked appointees, including some vaccine skeptics. Welcome to The Hill's Health Care newsletter, we're Nathaniel Weixel, Alejandra O'Connell-Domenech — every week we follow the latest moves on how Washington impacts your health. Did someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here. Essential Reads How policy will be impacting the health care sector this week and beyond: Most adults do not plan on getting COVID-19 shot amid vaccine policy changesMore than half of American adults — 59 percent — say they do not expect to get the COVID-19 booster shot this autumn, according to new poll findings from health care policy group KFF. Poll results show 23 percent of U.S. adult respondents said they will 'probably not' get the vaccine, while 37 percent said they will 'definitely not' get the shot. Americans who said they will 'probably' or 'definitely' not get the shot were … Full Story Blue states challenge Trump's restrictions on gender-affirming care More than a dozen Democratic attorneys general announced a lawsuit challenging recent moves by President Trump's administration to severely restrict access to gender-affirming health care for anyone under 19, including in states where treatment is legal and protected by law. Full Story Fired vaccine board members warn of fallout from RFK Jr. policiesRecently removed members of a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) vaccine advisory panel warn that Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s move to replace them shows he is 'abandoning' rigorous scientific review and open deliberation. Kennedy fired all 17 sitting members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) in early June, accusing members of having conflicts of … Full Story In Other News Branch out with a different read: Number of Texans receiving out-of-state abortions quadrupled between 2021 and 2023 AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texans who sought an abortion out of state more than quadrupled between 2021 and 2023 after a state law went into effect that bans the procedure in almost all cases. Data from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) shows at least 7,844 Texas residents received an abortion in a different state in 2023, up from 4,718 in 2022 and 1,712 in 2021. Still the total number of abortions for Texas residents … Full Story Around the Nation Local and state headlines on health care:More than 2,000 DACA recipients in California to lose health insurance (the San Francisco Chronicle) Some rural Texas seen THC as a lifeline for their health and economy (The Texas Tribune) Illinois becomes first state to require mental health screenings for students (ABC) What We're Reading Health news we've flagged from other outlets: Medicare, Medicaid plans to experiment with covering weight loss drugs (The Washington Post) Wildfire smoke and unhealthy air fill the Midwest before spreading to the East (The Washington Post) Remember running a mile in school? The Presidential Fitness Test is coming back (NPR) You're all caught up. See you next week! Close Thank you for signing up! Subscribe to more newsletters here The latest in politics and policy. Direct to your inbox. Sign up for the Health Care newsletter Subscribe
Hamilton Spectator
34 minutes ago
- Hamilton Spectator
States sue Trump, saying he is intimidating hospitals over gender-affirming care for youth
Seventeen Democratic officials accused President Donald Trump's administration of unlawfully intimidating health care providers into stopping gender-affirming care for transgender youth in a lawsuit filed Friday. The complaint comes after a month in which at least eight major hospitals and hospital systems — all in states where the care is allowed under state law — announced they were stopping or restricting the care . The latest announcement came Thursday from UI Health in Chicago. Trump's administration announced in July that it was sending subpoenas to providers and focusing on investigating them for fraud. It later boasted in a news release that hospitals are halting treatments. The Democratic officials say Trump's policies are an attempt to impose a nationwide ban on the treatment for people under 19 — and that's unlawful because there's no federal statute that bans providing the care to minors. The suit was filed by attorneys general from 15 states and the District of Columbia, plus the governor of Pennsylvania, in U.S. District Court in Boston. 'The federal government is running a cruel and targeted harassment campaign against providers who offer lawful, lifesaving care to children,' New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement. Trump and others who oppose the care say that it makes permanent changes that people who receive it could come to regret — and maintain that it's being driven by questionable science. Since 2021, 28 states with Republican-controlled legislatures have adopted policies to ban or restrict gender-affirming care for minors. In June, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states have a right to enforce those laws . For families with transgender children, the state laws and medical center policy changes have sparked urgent scrambles for treatment. The medical centers are responding to political and legal pressure The Center for Transyouth Health and Development at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, the biggest public provider of gender-affirming care for children in teens in the U.S., closed in July. At least seven other major hospitals and health systems have made similar announcements, including Children's National in Washington D.C., UChicago Medicine and Yale New Haven Health. Kaiser Permanente, which operates in California and several other states, said it would pause gender-affirming surgeries for those under 19 as of the end of August, but would continue hormone therapy. Connecticut Children's Medical Center cited 'an increasingly complex and evolving landscape' for winding down care. Other hospitals, including Penn State, had already made similar decisions since Trump returned to office in January. Alex Sheldon, executive director of GLMA, an organization that advocates for health care equity for LGBTQ+ people, said the health systems have pulled back the services for legal reasons, not medical ones. 'Not once has a hospital said they are ending care because it is not medically sound,' Sheldon said. Trump's administration has targeted the care in multiple ways Trump devoted a lot of attention to transgender people in his campaign last year as part of a growing pushback from conservatives as transgender people have gained visibility and acceptance on some fronts. Trump criticized gender-affirming care, transgender women in women's sports, and transgender women's use of women's facilities such as restrooms. On his inauguration day in January, Trump signed an executive order defining the sexes as only male and female for government purposes, setting the tone for a cascade of actions that affect transgender people. About a week later, Trump called to stop using federal money, including from Medicaid, for gender-affirming care for those under 19. About half of U.S. adults approve of Trump's handling of transgender issues, an AP-NORC poll found. But the American Medical Association says that gender is on a spectrum , and the group opposes policies that restrict access to gender-affirming health care. Gender-affirming care includes a range of medical and mental health services to support a person's gender identity, including when it's different from the sex they were assigned at birth. It includes counseling and treatment with medications that block puberty, and hormone therapy to produce physical changes, as well as surgery, which is rare for minors. In March, a judge paused enforcement of the ban on government spending for care. The court ruling didn't stop other federal government action In April, Attorney General Pam Bondi directed government investigators to focus on providers who continue to offer gender-affirming care for transgender youth. 'Under my leadership, the Department of Justice will bring these practices to an end,' she wrote. In May, the Department of Health and Human Services issued a report discouraging medical interventions for transgender youth and instead focusing solely on talk therapy. The report questions adolescents' capacity to consent to life-changing treatments that could result in future infertility. The administration has not said who wrote the report, which has been deeply criticized by LGBTQ+ advocates. In June, a Justice Department memo called for prioritizing civil investigations of those who provide the treatment. In July, Justice Department announced it had sent more than 20 subpoenas to doctors and clinics involved in gender-affirming care for youth, saying they were part of investigations of health care fraud, false statements and other possible wrongdoing. And in a statement last week, the White House celebrated decisions to end gender-affirming care, which it called a 'barbaric, pseudoscientific practice' Families worry about accessing care Kristen Salvatore's 15-year-old child started hormone therapy late last year at Penn State Health. Salvatore said in an interview with The Associated Press before the lawsuit was announced that it was a major factor in reduced signs of anxiety and depression. Last month, the family received official notice from the health system that it would no longer offer the hormones for patients under 19 after July 31, though talk therapy can continue. Salvatore has been struggling to find a place that's not hours away from their Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, home that would provide the hormones and accept Medicaid coverage. 'I'm walking around blind with no guidance, and whatever breadcrumbs I was given are to a dead-end alleyway,' she said. The family has enough testosterone stockpiled to last until January. But if they can't find a new provider by then, Salvatore's child could risk detransitioning, she said.
Newsweek
2 hours ago
- Newsweek
Medicare Update: Trump Admin Launching Pilot Program to Cover Ozempic
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The Trump administration is preparing a five-year pilot program that would allow Medicare and Medicaid to cover some of the most in-demand weight-loss drugs, a move that could transform obesity treatment for millions of Americans. The plan, which includes medications such as Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and Zepbound, represents a reversal in federal policy and signals a broader willingness to use public insurance to address the nation's obesity epidemic. Why It Matters The drugs, known as GLP-1 receptor agonists, were initially developed to treat Type 2 diabetes but have become a cultural phenomenon for their ability to suppress appetite and help patients lose as much as 20 percent of their body weight in clinical trials. The pilot builds on a proposal introduced in the final months of the Biden administration but shelved earlier this year when officials under President Donald Trump announced Medicare and Medicaid would not cover weight-loss medications. What To Know According to documents obtained by The Washington Post, the program would allow state Medicaid programs and Medicare Part D plans to voluntarily cover GLP-1 drugs for weight management. The initiative is scheduled to begin in April 2026 for Medicaid and January 2027 for Medicare and will be administered through the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, which tests new payment models designed to reduce costs and improve care. Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, who led the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services under former President Joe Biden, told the Post the experiment would be a "game changer" if it expands access to obesity treatments. "Increased coverage of anti-obesity medications in Medicare and Medicaid was a priority during my tenure because scientists and clinicians increasingly believe obesity is a serious health condition that should be treated accordingly," she said. A pharmacy owner displays an Ozempic package in Pristina, Kosovo, on March 27. A pharmacy owner displays an Ozempic package in Pristina, Kosovo, on March 27. Photo by ARMEND NIMANI/AFP via Getty Images The program faces a major hurdle: price. GLP-1 drugs typically cost from $5,000 to $7,000 a year, raising questions about whether widespread coverage is sustainable. "The short-term cost is still huge," Dr. Cynthia Cox, vice president at KFF (formerly Kaiser Family Foundation), told Newsweek. "$1,000 a month per person is a massive outlay." A KFF analysis found that Ozempic's U.S. list price is $936 a month—more than five times the cost in Japan, where it sells for $169. Wegovy, which contains the same active ingredient, costs roughly $1,349 a month in the U.S., compared to $328 in Germany. At the moment, 13 state Medicaid programs cover GLP-1 drugs for obesity. Medicare limits coverage to patients with related conditions such as diabetes or heart disease. With about 70 million people enrolled in Medicaid and 65 million in Medicare, even partial expansion could affect a significant share of the population. Ethicists warn of the potential economic fallout. "These drugs help over 50 percent of people lose up to 25 percent of their body weight," said Dr. Robert Klitzman, a Columbia University bioethicist, in an interview with Newsweek. "But they cost around $12,000 a year. If two-thirds of Americans needed them, it would bankrupt the health care system." Despite the financial concerns, GLP-1 medications are generating enthusiasm among doctors for their ability to improve multiple health markers beyond weight loss. Clinical trials show they can reduce blood sugar, lower blood pressure and improve cardiovascular outcomes. "Ozempic and other GLP-1 drugs are changing how we approach obesity, both in the doctor's office and for society in general," Dr. Raj Dasgupta, chief medical adviser for Garage Gym Reviews, told Newsweek. "They're helping shift the conversation from 'this is a personal failure' to 'this is a medical condition that deserves real treatment.'" The Congressional Budget Office estimates that adding obesity coverage could cost Medicare $35 billion from 2026 to 2034. What People Are Saying A spokesperson for Novo Nordisk, which manufactures Ozempic and Wegovy, told The Washington Post: "We believe that comprehensive coverage through government and commercial insurance plans is critical to affordable health care and treatment options." Klitzman also said in the interview with Newsweek: "Insurance doesn't always cover it, especially for people who don't have diabetes or heart disease. Initially, the drugs were approved for diabetes-related obesity, but doctors have been prescribing them to people who are just overweight, without those conditions." What Happens Next With more than 100 million U.S. adults classified as obese and 22 million considered severely obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the program's potential impact is vast. The proposal is not final and could undergo a formal public comment period before implementation.
