Politico's Pulse Check

President Joe Biden signed a national security memorandum Tuesday that aims to ensure the U.S. is ready to detect and respond to the next large-scale viral or biological threat. Erin Banco talks with Ben Leonard about the administration’s preparedness plans. Plus, Micky Tripathi, the national coordinator for Health IT speaks about HHS's deadline this month requiring health care organizations to share all electronic health care data.

The FDA will make its case this week to do something it hasn’t in over a decade — order a drug it expedited to the market to be pulled. A panel of independent expert advisers on obstetric and reproductive drugs will decide whether to recommend that Makena, an injection marketed as lowering the risk of preterm birth, remain available for at least some patients. Lauren Gardner talks with Daniel Payne about why the years-long effort to yank the drug’s approval offers a case study of the agency’s accelerated approval program.

Americans are now more concerned about their mental health than Covid, according to a recent poll from Ipsos, and the situation is motivating lawmakers in both parties to provide an increasingly stressed, depressed and anxious populace with the appropriate care. Grace Scullion talks with Lauren Gardner. Plus, David Lim on the FDA’s new rule allowing over-the-counter hearing aids that goes into effect today.

Top Biden White House and health officials are looking to Japan to potentially make its smallpox vaccine available to countries that need doses to help combat monkeypox. Erin Banco talks with Megan Wilson about why Japan’s smallpox doses could be crucial for low and middle-income countries. Plus, Rep. Elissa Slotkin told Alice Miranda Ollstein why she's still frustrated with Democratic leadership over lack of preparation on abortion access.

Rising health care costs are poised to become the next big battle in President Joe Biden’s war against inflation. Sam Sutton talks with Carmen Paun about why your health coverage and out-of-pocket medical bills are about to go through the roof.

Physicians across Pennsylvania are politicking in unprecedented ways with less than a month to go before the midterm election, making the case that the abortion restrictions proposed by Republicans would threaten one of the state’s most important economic sectors. Alice Miranda Ollstein shares a dispatch from Pennsylvania and Michigan with Krista Mahr. Plus, Dr. Katie McHugh on moving her abortion practice to other states.

Foreign rivals are developing nasal vaccines that could stop Covid transmission and a U.S. company invented the nasal vaccine that an Indian drugmaker licensed. But in the United States, Congress can’t agree on how to pay for additional money to fund next-generation Covid vaccines. Carmen Paun about her reporting with Megan Messerly. Plus, Dr. David Curiel on developing the nasal Covid-19 vaccine that Indian drugmaker Bharat Biotech has licensed.

Sunday marked 100 days since Roe v. Wade was overturned. Since then, 66 clinics in more than a dozen states have stopped providing abortions, according to a new report from the Guttmacher Institute, an abortion-rights advocacy and research group. POLITICO’s Megan Messerly talks to Ruth Reader about her reporting. Plus, Adam Cancryn on Biden’s revival of Operation Warp Speed.

More than 100 researchers, scientists and public health professionals want fentanyl-related substances to no longer be Schedule I drugs — saying a different classification has the potential to unlock research on those drugs to treat opioid addiction or other mental health conditions. Daniel Payne and Ben Leonard unpack a Tuesday letter sent to the White House. Plus, Jason Gibbons, a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University, explains a new study on using buprenorphine in Medicare patients.

Predictions of doom about the future of nursing grew, as hospitals reported critical staffing shortages during the Covid surges of 2020 and 2021. But there are signs staffing shortfalls are dissipating as the federal and state governments send aid—maybe. Lauren Gardner talks to Shawn Zeller about whether the crunch is easing. Plus, David Markowitz, a professor of communication at the University of Oregon, on his study about how doctors’ notes (1.8 million of them) can reveal the way physicians sometimes treat patients differently depending on their ethnicity or gender.

The Biden administration is offering the opportunity to use Medicaid to help cover costs for people who cross state borders for abortions. But not a single state has applied. Megan Messerly reports. Plus, Megan Wilson on the lobbying battle heating up on Capitol Hill over legislation that would bolster dialysis coverage following a Supreme Court ruling earlier this year.

Lawmakers are on the brink of missing a critical window to fix America’s broken antibiotic market — and to prepare for the growing crisis of superbugs that federal officials say is a national security threat and experts warn is already a silent pandemic. Krista Mahr talks to Alice Miranda Ollstein about her reporting. Plus, Ruth Reader on four consequential trends that will affect health care’s future. 

Patients seeking drugs to treat everything from arthritis to acne  in the dozen-plus states with near-total abortion bans must show extra documentation to prove that they’re not using the drugs to end a pregnancy. Alice Miranda Ollstein dives into her reporting. And, Ruth Reader on the White House's ambitious plan to end hunger in the country by 2030.

President Joe Biden’s Sunday declaration that the pandemic is over caught his own senior health officials off guard. Ben Leonard talks to  Adam Cancryn about the President's “60 Minutes” interview and the implications that will have on his policy agenda. Plus, Alice Miranda Ollstein provides a reality check from Capitol Hill, where the likelihood of Congress passing any additional Covid-10 funding seems slim.

Syphilis rates jumped 26 percent last year — the biggest annual increase since the Truman administration — amid a broader rise in sexually transmitted infections. Plus, Erin Banco breaks down her seven-month investigation into the global pandemic response of four non-governmental global health organizations, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Bolstered by contacts at the highest levels of Western nations, these four organizations took on roles often played by governments — but without the same accountability. Check out Erin's story here.

Hundreds of thousands of Americans have received the Jynneos monkeypox vaccine since the U.S. outbreak started in May, but there’s a long list of things we still don’t know about how efficacious it will be. Plus, Professor Robert Blendon, the co-director of the POLITICO-Harvard polls, on the most interesting toplines from survey data released today.

On Wednesday, the FDA authorized Covid booster shots from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna capable of generating protection against the coronavirus strains circulating most widely in the U.S. The move allows the Biden administration to begin offering boosters just after Labor Day, pending an endorsement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Plus, Katherine Ellen Foley sits down with Dr. Brian King, U.S. chief tobacco regulator, in one of his first public interviews.

The Food and Drug Administration is reviewing a first-of-its-kind application from HRA Pharma for Opill. If green-lit by the agency, Opill would become the first daily, hormonal birth control pill sold without a prescription. The submission of the application follows more than six years of studies the company has run. Alice Miranda Ollstein reports.

Stung by messaging missteps over the coronavirus crisis, baby formula shortage and abortion access, the Food and Drug Administration is planning to hire Vin Gupta, a new senior adviser to shore up the agency’s public messaging. Gupta’s hire is part of a series of high-level additions to the FDA in the last few weeks. Adam Cancryn reports.

For decades, state lawmakers had limited avenues to control abortion. Now, the power to decide when — and whether — abortion should be legal is squarely in their hands. Megan Messerly looks at the states and people re-shaping abortion policies in 2022 and 2023.