Published11 minutes agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Getty ImagesBy Bernd Debusmann JrBBC News, WashingtonAlabama lawmakers have passed a bill to protect in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) clinics and doctors from lawsuits and criminal prosecution. Last month, the state’s supreme court ruled that frozen embryos had the same rights as children, and people could be held liable for destroying them.At least three IVF clinics paused treatments in the wake of the ruling, which divided Alabama’s conservatives. The new law will allow the clinics to resume services. The Alabama bill had overwhelming bipartisan support on Wednesday. It passed by a vote of 81-12 in the state’s House and 29-1 in the Senate. Governor Kay Ivey, a Republican, quickly signed it into law.The measures are designed to shield IVF providers from legal action and prosecution for “damage or death of an embryo” during services. Proponents of the bill said they hoped this would allow IVF providers to re-start services. “The problem we are trying to solve right now is to get those families back on track to be moving forward as they try to have children,” state legislator Terri Collins told CBS News, the BBC’s US partner. While the measure offers limited legal immunity to medical providers, it still allows – in some cases – for lawsuits to be filed against manufacturers of IVF equipment if they damage or destroy an embryo during the treatment process. ‘Fewer children will be born’: Alabama embryo ruling divides devout ChristiansWhat does Alabama ruling mean for fertility patients?The bill also did not weigh in on whether embryos can be legally classified as children. Alabama Democratic House minority leader Anthony Daniels told AL.com earlier on Wednesday that the bill did not sufficiently answer the question of whether embryos outside the womb are children. “Until that issue is addressed, it’s just putting a Band-Aid over something that requires stitches and surgery,” Mr Daniels said.The decision two weeks ago from the Supreme Court of Alabama stemmed from wrongful death lawsuits filed on behalf of three couples whose frozen embryos were accidentally destroyed at a clinic in 2020. The ruling sparked an immediate backlash, both in the southern state and nationally.With eight months to go until the US presidential election, President Joe Biden’s campaign has seized on the controversy. A Pew survey released last year found that 42% of Americans have either used IVF treatments or know someone who did. That percentage rises to 45% among middle-income Americans and 59% for those with high-incomes. More on this storyAlabama lawmakers race to protect providers of IVFPublished6 days agoAlabama’s legislature pushes to protect IVFPublished27 February’Fewer children will be born’: Alabama embryo ruling divides devout ChristiansPublished25 February

Published14 hours agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingThis video can not be playedTo play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.By Bernd Debusmann JrBBC News, WashingtonA New York City medical school will offer students free tuition following a $1bn donation from the 93-year-old widow of a major Wall Street investor. The gift to Albert Einstein College of Medicine came from Dr Ruth Gottesman, a former professor at the Bronx school. It is one of the largest ever donations made to a US school and is the largest ever made to a medical school. The Bronx, New York City’s poorest borough, is ranked as the unhealthiest of New York state’s 62 counties. In a statement, university dean Dr Yaron Yomer said that the “transformational” gift “radically revolutionises our ability to continue attracting students who are committed to our mission, not just those who can afford it”. Tuition at the school is nearly $59,000 (£46,500) each year, leaving students with substantial debt.The statement from Einstein noted students in their final year will be reimbursed for their spring 2024 tuition, and from August, all students, including those who are currently enrolled, will receive free tuition. The donation “will free up and lift our students, enabling them to pursue projects and ideas that might otherwise be prohibitive”, Dr Yomer added. Dr Gottesman, now 93, began working at the school in 1968. She studied learning disabilities, ran literacy programmes and developed widely used screening and evaluation protocols.Her late husband, David “Sandy” Gottesman, founded a prominent investment house and was an early investor in Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffet’s multinational conglomerate. He died in September 2022 at the age of 96. Dr Gottesman said in a statement that the doctors who train at Einstein go on to “provide the finest healthcare to communities here in the Bronx and all over the world”.”I am very thankful to my late husband, Sandy, for leaving these funds in my care, and l feel blessed to be given the great privilege of making this gift to such a worthy cause,” she added.About 50% of Einstein’s first-year students are from New York, and approximately 60% are women. Statistics published by the school show that about 48% of its medical students are white, while 29% are Asian, 11% are Hispanic and 5% are black. In an interview with the New York Times, she recalled that her late husband had left her a “whole portfolio of Berkshire Hathaway stock” when he died with the instructions to “do whatever you think is right with it”. “I wanted to fund students at Einstein so that they would receive free tuition,” Dr Gottesman said she immediately realised. “There was enough money to do that in perpetuity.” She added that she occasionally wonders what her husband would have thought of the donation.”I hope he’s smiling and not frowning,” she said. “He gave me the opportunity to do this, and I think he would be happy – I hope so.” More on this storyCalling out the racism in medical trainingPublished17 August 2020Covid study: mRNA vaccines could be fine-tunedPublished6 December 2023Free tuition for all NYU medical studentsPublished17 August 2018

Published21 minutes agoShareclose panelShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, ReutersBy Bernd Debusmann JrBBC News, WashingtonNorth Carolina lawmakers have voted to override the governor’s veto of a ban on most abortions after 12 weeks. The measure was passed by the state’s Republican-controlled legislature in early May, but was vetoed by Democratic Governor Roy Cooper over the weekend. Republicans overturned the veto in back-to-back votes, prompting chants of “shame” from onlookers.The law, which cuts the window for abortion in the state down from 20 weeks, will now take effect on 1 July. On Tuesday, the state Senate voted 30-20 and the House by 72-48 to override the veto. A single Republican defector could have tipped the outcome the other way.”Shame! Shame! Shame!” protesters in the statehouse started shouting. Officially known as the Care for Women, Children and Families Act, it was passed by the state Senate along party lines on 4 May, a day after being passed by the state House of Representatives.The measure was vetoed by Governor Cooper at a rally on Saturday. He said the bill would stand “in the way of progress” and “turn the clock back 50 years on women’s health”. The legislation bans abortion at 12 weeks except in cases of rape, incest and medical emergencies. It mandates that any abortions taking place after that period be carried out in a hospital. The exceptions in the case of rape and incest are until 20 weeks of pregnancy, or in the event of a “life-limiting anomaly”, up to 24 weeks.For Supreme Court, the abortion battle is just beginningWhat comes next for the abortion pill in the US?The law also restricts use of abortions pills after 10 weeks of pregnancy and puts in place additional requirements, such as an in-person consultation with a doctor ahead of the procedure. Republicans hold slim supermajorities in both chambers of the statehouse, giving them the ability to override a veto from the Democratic governor.Near-total abortion bans have been passed by 14 states in the US since the Supreme Court ended the nationwide right to abortion last year. North Carolina saw abortions rise 37% in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling, according to the Society of Family Planning, a non-profit that advocates for abortion rights and research. The increase was largely driven by women travelling to North Carolina from other parts of the southern US, where restrictions are now largely restricted. More on this storyNorth Carolina lawmakers pass 12-week abortion banPublished5 MayTwo US hospitals broke law by denying abortionPublished2 MayNorth Dakota bans almost all abortionsPublished25 April

Published1 day agoSharecloseShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Getty ImagesPresident Joe Biden has declared the pandemic over in the US, even as the number of Americans who have died from Covid continues to rise. “We’re still doing a lot of work on it. But the pandemic is over,” said Mr Biden in a television interview. Statistics show that over 400 Americans on average are dying from the virus each day. The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said last week that the end of the pandemic was “in sight”. In an interview with CBS programme 60 Minutes aired on Sunday, Mr Biden said the situation was rapidly improving, even though a lot of work was being done to control the virus. The interview – aired over the weekend – was partly filmed on the floor of the Detroit Auto Show, where the president gestured towards the crowds.”If you notice, no-one’s wearing masks,” he said. “Everybody seems to be in pretty good shape… I think it’s changing.”But administration officials told US media on Monday that the comments did not signal a change in policy and there were no plans to lift the ongoing Covid-19 public health emergency. In August, US officials extended the public health emergency, which has been in place since January 2020, through to 13 October.To date, more than one million Americans have died with Covid. Data from Johns Hopkins University shows that the seven-day average of deaths currently stands at over 400, with more than 3,000 dead in the past week alone. In January 2021, by comparison, more than 23,000 people were reported dead with the virus over a single week-long span. About 65% of the total US population is considered fully vaccinated. Certain federal vaccine mandates remain in place in the US – including on healthcare workers, military personnel and some non-US citizens entering the country by plane.Top Republicans criticised the president’s remarks, with former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeting: “Biden now says ‘the pandemic is over’ as he’s kicking tens of thousands of healthy soldiers out of the military with his COVID vaccine mandate.”Public health officials have expressed cautious optimism in recent weeks that the world is edging towards a pandemic recovery, but continue to urge people to be careful.On Monday, Dr Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, acknowledged the situation had improved.But in comments made at a Washington DC think tank, he said the daily death rate remained “unacceptably high”.”We are not where we need to be if we’re going to be able to ‘live with the virus’,” Dr Fauci said.He also cautioned that new Covid-19 variants could still emerge, especially in the coming winter months.The US recently authorised new vaccines that match the version of the Omicron variant currently dominant in the country, with federal health officials asking Americans to keep their jabs up-to-date. Last week, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that the world has “never been in a better position to end the pandemic”. “We are not there yet,” he said. “But the end is in sight.”Covid-19 also continues to have a significant impact on the US economy, with the National Bureau of Economic Research reporting last week that Covid-related disease had slashed the US workforce by about 500,000 people.Mr Biden said he believes that the pandemic has had a “profound” impact on the psyche of Americans. “That has changed everything… people’s attitudes about themselves, their families, about the state of the nation, about the state of their communities,” he said. “It’s been a very difficult time. Very difficult.” More than 6.5 million people have died since the beginning of the pandemic around the world. The US has had the highest death toll, followed by India and Brazil. More on this storyDr Anthony Fauci to step down after 38 years22 AugustUK Covid infections lowest since last October12 SeptemberAfter 28 months, New York state ends Covid mask rule7 September

Published17 hours agoSharecloseShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Getty ImagesUS life expectancy has fallen to the lowest level seen since 1996, continuing a steep decline largely driven by the Covid-19 pandemic. Government data showed life expectancy at birth now stands at 76.1 compared to 79 in 2019. That is the steepest two-year decline in a century. Covid-19 was the main contributing factor, according to US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention data.Life expectancy of Native Americans and Alaska Natives fell by two years. According to the provisional data, life expectancy fell by 2.7 years between 2019 and 2021.The statistics show that Covid-19 accounted for 50% of the decline between 2020 and 2021. Between 2019 and 2020, the pandemic contributed to 74% of the decline. Unintentional injuries – a term which also includes drug overdoses – reached record highs in 2021 and contributed to 15.9% of the decline. Deaths from heart disease, chronic liver disease and cirrhosis and suicides were also significant contributors.The fall in US life expectancy was particularly pronounced among Native Americans and Alaska Natives.Since 2019, life expectancy among this demographic has dropped by 6.6 years, more than twice that of the wider US population. The CDC statistics also highlight stark differences in life expectancy between men and women. For men, life expectancy fell by about a year to 73.2 in 2021 while women’s life expectancy fell by 10 months to 79.1A separate set of 2020 data released last week also showed significant geographical differences across the country. Life expectancy in Hawaii is the highest at 80.7, compared to 71.9 years in Mississippi. Life expectancy in the US is among the lowest of developed nations around the world. In the UK, for example, life expectancy stood at around 79 for men and 82.9 for women in 2020 after it fell for the first time in 40 years.According to the latest available statistics from the World Bank, Hong Kong and Japan have the world’s highest life expectancies at around 85 followed by Singapore at 84. Life expectancy in countries including Switzerland, Australia, Norway hovers at around 83.More on this storyUS life expectancy has biggest fall since WW221 July 2021Life expectancy is down but what does this mean?23 September 2021Dr Anthony Fauci to step down after 38 years22 August

Published2 hours agoSharecloseShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, ReutersMore than 3,800 monkeypox cases have been reported in the US, the most of any country around the globe, government health data shows. The rising number of cases has reportedly prompted the Biden administration to mull declaring a national health emergency. The virus has already been classified as a global health emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO). To date, more than 18,000 cases have been reported in 75 countries. According to data published online by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as of 25 July there were 3,846 confirmed or suspected monkeypox cases in the US. The figure – which comes amid expanded testing in addition to the growing outbreak of the virus – is now ahead of that of Spain, where 3,105 cases have so far been reported. The two other countries with the highest number of infections, Germany and the UK, have reported 2,352 and 2,208 cases, respectively. What is monkeypox and how do you catch it? Monkeypox: Handing out health advice without stigmaWith cases in the US rising, the Washington Post on 25 July reported that the Biden administration was considering declaring a public health emergency. The measure would allow the government to use federal funds to combat the outbreak, raise public awareness and better collect relevant health data. Additionally, the administration is reportedly preparing to name a coordinator to oversee the government’s response to monkeypox from the White House. On July 21, 50 Democratic lawmakers sent an open letter to President Joe Biden, urging him to declare a public health emergency and send millions of vaccine doses to the US from manufacturing facilities overseas. While officials have said that gay and bisexual men – as well as healthcare workers – have so far been most at risk, fears are mounting that the virus could spread to other segments of the population. On 22 July, the US confirmed the first cases of monkeypox in children. The US response to the virus has so far been plagued by vaccine shortages and a slow start to testing, leading some to compare the situation to the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020. In Washington DC, for example, officials have warned that a “rapid increase in cases”, coupled with a “very limited” supply of vaccines, means that authorities must prioritise high-risk residents. The city currently has the highest per capita total of infections, with 172 cases reported in the district.Most monkeypox cases are mild, with initial symptoms including a high fever, swollen lymph nodes and a blistery, chickenpox-like rash or lesions. So far, no deaths from the virus have been reported in the US. More on this storyWhat is monkeypox and how do you catch it?7 days agoUS confirms first cases of monkeypox in children3 days agoWHO declares highest alert over monkeypox3 days ago

Published31 minutes agoSharecloseShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Getty ImagesUS President Joe Biden’s condition has improved since first testing positive for Covid-19, the White House has announced. The 79-year-old is experiencing mild symptoms, including a runny nose and fatigue. His doctor says he is responding well to medication. Mr Biden has kept working while in isolation, and yesterday tweeted that he was “doing great”. He is expected to resume normal duties once he tests negative. An update released on Friday by the president’s physician, Dr Kevin O’Connor, noted that a slight fever on Thursday evening responded well to Tylenol. Mr Biden still has an occasional cough, and his pulse, blood pressure and oxygen saturation levels remain “entirely normal”, Dr O’Connor added.The president is still also being treated with Paxlovid, an antiviral medicine that helps stop the Covid virus from multiplying in the body. This, in turn, allows the immune system to better combat the infection. President Biden continued working from the White House this morning, including speaking by phone with his national security team. pic.twitter.com/jdQkoDtupR— The White House (@WhiteHouse) July 22, 2022
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.View original tweet on TwitterDr O’Connor added that he believes that the president – who is fully vaccinated and boosted – “will respond favourably [to the medication], as most maximally protected patients do.” “There has been nothing in the course of his illness so far which gives me cause to alter that initial expectation,” Dr O’Connor said. The president’s doctor’s assessment was echoed by his chief medical advisor, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Dr Anthony Fauci, who told CBS that he “fully expects” Mr Biden to “do very well”. “[Mr Biden] is generally a healthy person. He has been vaccinated and boosted twice…and is feeling well enough to perform duties from the White House,” Dr Fauci added. White House officials have confirmed that vice-president Kamala Harris, as well as the First Lady, Dr Jill Biden, have so far tested negative for the virus. Both were being considered a close contact of the president.Mr Biden is now the second US president to contract Covid-19 while in office. His predecessor, Donald Trump. was hospitalised for three days in October 2020 after falling ill with the virus.To date, there have been 89.7 million Covid cases in the US and more than one million deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).Cases are again rising and have gone up by over 25% in the last month, according to CDC data.More on this storyBiden ‘doing great’ after testing positive for Covid19 hours agoJoe Biden gets Covid-19 vaccine live on TV21 December 2020Biden denies failure in Omicron testing response23 December 2021

Published33 minutes agoSharecloseShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Getty ImagesFor the first time in the US, a pharmaceutical firm has asked to be allowed to sell birth control pills over the counter. The announcement comes just weeks after the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion. The firm, Paris-based HDA Pharma, says its application to the Food and Drug Administration is unrelated. The pills, the most common form of contraception in the US, have long required a prescription. Studies have shown that over 50% of approximately 6.1 million pregnancies in the US each year are unintended. While birth control pills were first approved for use in the US more than 60 years ago, about one-third of US women who have tried to get or fill prescriptions have reported difficulties doing so. Globally, more than 100 countries provide oral contraceptives without a prescription, making the US one of the few countries to require one. Several major US medication organisations – including the American Medical Association and American Academy of Family Physicians – have called on US authorities to do the same. Frédérique Welgryn, Chief Strategic Operations and Innovation Officer at HRA Pharma, argued that the firm’s application was a “ground-breaking moment” in reproductive equity in the US. The application, the company has said, follows years of research intended to help make its case to US regulators. US retailers limit buying emergency contraceptivesThousands march to White House for abortion rights”Moving a safe and effective birth control pill to OTC [over the counter] will help even more women and people access contraception without facing unnecessary barriers.”According to the company, a decision from the FDA is expected next year. An approval would apply exclusively to the firm’s Opill drug, which was acquired from Pfizer in 2014. Patients have been able to use the pill, if prescribed, since 1973. The BBC has reached out to the FDA for comment. HDA’s application comes amid intense public debate over reproductive rights in the US, with Democratic lawmakers and pro-choice activists urging the FDA to consider similar requests. In March, for example, 50 congressmen of the House of Representatives’ Pro-Choice Caucus wrote an open letter calling on the administration to “review applications for over the counter birth control pills without delay and solely on the data”. Ms Welgryn told the New York Times that the firm’s application was unrelated and “a really sad coincidence”. “Birth control is not a solution for abortion access,” she said. Since the Supreme Court’s abortion ruling, leading US retailers have reported rationing birth control pills amid surging demand. More on this storyThousands march to White House for abortion rights1 day agoUS retailers limit buying emergency contraceptives29 JuneAbortions stopped at Mississippi’s last clinic3 days ago

Published13 hours agoSharecloseShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, ReutersThe only abortion clinic in Mississippi has shut as a near-total ban on the procedure takes effect in the state.Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the clinic at the heart of the US Supreme Court case that reversed Roe v Wade, stopped giving abortions as a “trigger law” comes into force following the decision.The ruling has left individual states to decide on abortion rights.Battles over bans it triggered are now playing out in courts around the US.In Mississippi, the state ban that has been triggered prohibits abortions at any point of a pregnancy, forcing Jackson Women’s Health to stop giving the procedure.On Wednesday, its last day of operations, pro-choice and anti-abortion clashed outside the clinic as it sought to see as many patients as possible before ending its services.”It was crazy busy, for obvious reasons,” Dr Cheryl Hamlin, who worked at the clinic, told the BBC. “It was definitely a full day, and it was emotional on the way out.””Today is a little bit surreal. I don’t even know how I’m feeling right now,” she said.Outside the clinic, tensions ran high. Defiant signs were left by volunteers who had helped escort some of the 60 or so patients who came in on the last day for medical and surgical procedures.This video can not be playedTo play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.Dr Hamlin said she was concerned that potential patients may now seek unsafe, unregulated abortions, or continue with potentially high-risk pregnancies that they may have otherwise aborted.Anti-abortion supporters, however, celebrated outside the clinic with music and shouted prayers. Some carried placards that read: “Love God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind.”The Mississippi “trigger law” was passed in 2007 and written to go into effect ten days after a Supreme Court reversal of Roe v Wade. The law carries penalties of up to 10 years in prison for violations, and provides exceptions only in cases of danger to the life of the mother or rape that has been reported to law enforcement.How the US Supreme Court is reshaping America Biden vows to protect women travelling for abortionMississippi judge refuses to block abortion ban The law was due to come into effect on Thursday, after a last-minute effort to block it failed.Some 13 states, primarily in the US south and mid-west, had similar laws designed to come into effect after Roe v Wade – which guaranteed a constitutional right to abortion – was overturned.At least nine states have instituted a near-total ban, with the only exception being danger to the life of the mother.Other states are now scrambling to protect abortion access amid legal challenges, while clinics are struggling to navigate patchworks of new laws.States where abortion will remain legal are taking measures to protect those travelling from other jurisdictions. For instance, the Democratic governors of Colorado and North Carolina on Wednesday issued executive orders to protect abortion providers and patients from extradition to places that have banned the practice.Meanwhile, one of the largest abortion providers in Texas, Whole Woman’s Health, has said it is planning to move its operations to New Mexico, and has started a fundraising effort to help with the costs of moving equipment and supplies.More on this storyHow the US Supreme Court is reshaping America3 days agoBiden vows to protect women travelling for abortion6 days agoMississippi judge refuses to block abortion ban2 days ago

Published18 hours agoSharecloseShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Getty ImagesIn a win for pro-choice activists, a Florida judge has blocked a state law banning abortions after 15 weeks.The controversial law signed in April by Governor Ron DeSantis, was set to go into effect tomorrow, and made no exceptions in cases of rape or incest.The decision comes amid a flurry of state legal battles following the US Supreme Court decision to overturn the constitutional right to abortion.The state is expected to appeal to the Florida Supreme Court.Florida is one of 11 US states that protect abortion access in their own state constitutions.On Thursday, Leon County circuit judge John Cooper granted a temporary injunction to the law, which was legally challenged earlier in June by a coalition of pro-choice groups and clinics.His ruling blocking the law, however, will not be binding until a written order is signed by him – which he said would not happen immediately. The law is set to go into effect at midnight. Florida, the third most populous state in the US, had for over 40 years protected the right to abortion through a privacy amendment in the state’s constitution. In his ruling, the judge said that the law would violate those privacy protections. In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs argued that the state’s residents believe “that abortion is a fundamental right deserving of the strongest protection against government intrusion”.Inside a US abortion clinic on its last dayWhat happens now Roe v Wade has been overturned?The world reacts to US abortion ruling The lawsuit added that the 15-week law – which was modelled after the Mississippi law at the centre of the Supreme Court’s recent decision – represented a “brazen attempt to override the will of the Florida people”. After approving the bill in April, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said that the law was intended to “protect babies in the womb who have beating hearts, who can move, who can taste, who can see and who can feel pain”.The law had been widely applauded by anti-abortion groups in the state, including the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops. According to data from the Centres of Disease Control, Florida has one of the highest rates of abortion in the US, behind only Illinois and New York. Polls also show that just over half of residents – 56% – believe abortions should be legal, making it the only state in the south-eastern US with a pro-choice majority. Governor DeSantis, however, has praised the recent Supreme Court ruling and vowed that Florida will work to restrict abortion access. “Florida will continue to defend its recently-enacted pro-life reforms against state court challenges, will work to expand pro-life protections and will stand for life by promoting adopting, foster care and child welfare,” he said in a statement last week. Judges in both Louisiana, Kentucky and Utah have already blocked trigger laws in those states. This video can not be playedTo play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.More on this storyUS ‘backsliding’ on women’s rights – health secretary1 day agoJudge blocks Louisiana’s abortion ‘trigger law’3 days agoUS retailers limit buying emergency contraceptives1 day agoHen parties get political in post-Roe Nashville3 days ago