Politico's Pulse Check

Federal regulations that have allowed practitioners the flexibility to prescribe buprenorphine virtually — and to patients outside their state — are due to expire along with the Covid-19 public health emergency, even as opioid deaths reach record levels. Krista Mahr reports.

Abortion-rights advocates from around the world have met with congressional, USAID, HHS and State Department leaders to discuss concerns that their countries will be next if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade. Daniel Payne reports.

There is no test for long Covid, and the CDC and the medical community have no official definition. But health care workers across the country are diagnosing patients who have previously contracted Covid-19 based on a wide-ranging set of symptoms. A CDC study released May 27 said that one in five adults in the U.S. may develop the condition — but there are still more questions than answers. Erin Banco reports.

A pair of federal programs compensating people who suffer injuries from vaccines and pandemic treatments are now facing so many claims that thousands of people may not receive payment for their injuries any time soon. Covid has only made it more complicated. Lauren Gardner reports.

Public health officials insist there is no reason to panic, but cite a growing number of cases on both sides of the Atlantic as reasons to prep and order vaccines. The outbreak is particularly unusual, as most infected patients have not traveled to West and Central Africa where the virus is endemic in animals. Carmen Paun reports.

When friends and family got sick last year, people across Ghana scrambled to get shots. But there weren’t enough. Now, many say they don’t want the jab. Local volunteers are struggling to change their minds. Erin Banco reports.

Blue-state governors and lawmakers from California to New York are vowing to turn their states into sanctuaries for people seeking abortions. plus, the yearslong push for over-the-counter birth control is taking on fresh urgency in the wake of a potential Supreme Court decision rolling back abortion rights. Lauren Gardner reports.

Clinical trials have long been plagued by inefficiency, lack of diversity and the inability to leverage data. The pandemic increased the need to modernize trials, which pushed many trials to lean on technology to conduct remote trials. Ben Leonard explains why money pouring into the space and why many clinical trials are still stuck in the previous century.

The FDA may propose a rule banning menthol cigarettes as early as today, a decision 10 years in the making. The agency has long faced calls to act on menthol cigarettes, which are disproportionately smoked by Black Americans and teens just starting to use tobacco. Katherine Foley reports.

The Biden administration is preparing to scrap a Trump-era rule that allows medical workers to refuse to provide services that conflict with their religious or moral beliefs, people familiar with the deliberations told POLITICO. Alice Miranda Ollstein reports.

Insulin is what economists would call a super inelastic product — no matter what the cost is, people are going to pay for it because it's a life saving medication. Two bills in Congress take aim at insulin prices — but one only targets co-pays for insured patients. Katherine Foley reports.

Amazon has been pushing into health care for years, starting with wearable health devices and pharmacy services. But the nationwide expansion of its “Amazon Care” service is its biggest move in the rapidly growing telehealth industry, which could grow to a $20 billion sector over the next five years. Most of Amazon’s telehealth and in-person offerings are likely covered by HIPAA, but some of Amazon’s other offerings, such as its partnership with Teladoc on the Alexa smart speaker, might fall into a gray area. Emily Birnbaum reports.

POLITICO reporter Rachael Levy broke the story that some hospitals have been asking patients to remove their N95 masks — even though they offer better protection. That story spurred U.S. health officials to consider notifying Americans how to report facilities that they believe endanger them, and the CDC now says on its website that people should “use the most protective form” of masks. Rachael’s reporting changed a national policy in a matter of days — but the question remains why policymakers in the US are behind on mask guidance. Rachael Levy reports.

The White House asked for $22.5 billion for covid response funds. Last week, Congress put together a bipartisan $15 billion plan. But so far, exactly zero dollars have actually been agreed upon. And even as the administration warns it may need to cancel new orders of Covid-19 drugs as soon as next week and wind down access to testing soon after that, there appears to be no clear strategy from either the White House or Capitol Hill to secure the funds. The Biden administration insists it’s doing all it can to hammer home for lawmakers that failing to swiftly approve the funding will have serious consequences. Top appropriators on Capitol Hill point the finger back at the administration, saying the White House did not make a convincing enough case for the money to win over Republicans. Adam Cancryn reports.

The White House has been reluctant to declare the end of the pandemic — especially after optimism last summer about "independence" from the virus was made moot by the Delta and Omicron variants. But officials have pointed to vaccine and test availability — and hope that revised CDC guidance and a new plan could ease political pressure for a path out of the pandemic. The plan will include streamlined “test-to-treat” programs at pharmacies and other health entities, which would antiviral drugs to people who test positive as the availability of those treatments increase.

The FDA first received a report of a foodborne illness suspected to be linked to infant formula in September, four months before issuing a sweeping recall of three major brands after four babies were hospitalized and one died. When the FDA initiated an inspection of an Abbot facility making formula (after the death?), inspectors found Cronobacter sakazakii, a rare but serious foodborne pathogen that can cause life-threatening infections. Helena Bottemiller Evich reports.

Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra told congressional appropriators in charge of crafting a supplemental pandemic funding package that the Biden health department needs at least $30 billion to keep its wide-ranging Covid-19 response work going, especially in the event that another variant emerges. Some Republican senators, however, are openly skeptical that more funding is needed, citing the country’s improving pandemic and economic outlook — and the multiple rounds of federal aid Congress pumped out over the last two years, which some lawmakers believe has contributed to soaring inflation. Alice Miranda Ollstein reports.

When the pandemic began, Congress barred states from kicking people off Medicaid in exchange for additional federal funding. Enrollment surged nearly 20 percent over the next 16 months to 76.7 million, an all-time high. But state audits that happen when the health crisis is declared "over" could lead to as many as 15 million people, including 6 million children, losing their health insurance, according to an analysis from the Urban Institute.Now, states fear that winding down the expanded social safety net could prove messy — as many of the millions removed from the rolls may not know they’ve lost their health insurance or which options are available for new coverage. Megan Messerly reports.

On Tuesday, Pfizer and BioNTech announced they’re seeking Food and Drug Administration authorization for the first two doses of a planned three-dose Covid-19 vaccine regimen for children under 5 — the last age bracket remaining witout a Covid-19 vaccine. The agency also announced that it would convene its independent panel of vaccine experts on Feb. 15 to consider the data and make a recommendation to regulators. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s advisers could quickly follow suit should the FDA grant the request, meaning these children could receive their first vaccines later this month. While many welcomed the new development, some pediatricians raised concerns that the companies were moving too quickly, before they had finished studying whether a third dose would provide the necessary protection to children.

Republicans are accusing the Biden administration of racism — against white people. The FDA’s December guidance on the use of sotrovimab — the only monoclonal antibody proven effective against Omicron — notes people of color may be at higher risk for severe Covid-19 and said it’s one factor among several that doctors can consider when doling out the drug, given that Sotrovimab remains in short supply. But, it's now become the latest political talking point for Republicans, looking to energize their base ahead of the midterm elections, and the political backlash is already fraying patchwork policy at the state level. Megan Messerly reports.