The Biden administration announced Thursday it had initiated the formal rulemaking process to reschedule marijuana to Schedule III from its Schedule I designation that it has held for more than 50 years. The announcement follows the Department of Justice’s announcement last month that it planned to proceed with rescheduling marijuana to Schedule III, which the Department of Health and Human Services had recommended last year. “This is monumental. Today my administration took a major step to reclassify marijuana from a schedule one drug to a schedule three drug. It's an important move ..read more

Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) said he would back codifying Roe v. Wade abortion protections and called himself “pro-choice” in a new interview, as he seeks Democratic support in his match-up against Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks (D).  His comments to the The New York Times come just two days after he secured the Republican nomination for Maryland’s open Senate seat.  “I support restoring Roe as the law of the land,” Hogan said in an interview published Thursday. “I’ll continue to protect the rights of women to make their own reproductive choices just like ..read more

Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) encouraged elected officials to work across the aisle in tackling the United States' high maternal mortality rate during a panel discussion Thursday on maternal mental health.   “I think it is so important that we continue to talk about this in a bipartisan way because this is not a Democrat or Republican issue, this is an American issue,” said Britt during The Hill’s Moms Matter: Closing the Maternal Mental Health Gap, sponsored by Sage Therapeutics.   The U.S. has one of the highest maternal mortality rates among wealthy nations with a sizeable porti ..read more

House Republicans have introduced a Congressional Review Act resolution to overturn the Biden administration’s minimum staffing requirement for nursing homes.  Under the requirements unveiled last month, all nursing homes that receive federal funding through Medicare and Medicaid will need to have a registered nurse on staff 24 hours per day, seven days per week and provide at least 3.48 hours of nursing care per resident per day.  The rules will cost nursing homes $43 billion over the next decade, according to estimates from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). &n ..read more

The top Democrat on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee wants to know how the country’s top health insurers and pharmacy benefit managers plan to make it easier for people to access contraception for free.   In letters sent Thursday to the five largest health insurers and four largest pharmacy benefit managers first shared with The Hill, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) asked for information on how the companies plan to respond to federal guidance designed to improve no-cost access to birth control.  Adopting the guidance “is vital to ensuring that millions of women of rep ..read more

Mental health is a critical element in overall health care. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), mental health conditions now account for nearly a quarter of all maternal deaths in the United States, and one out of eight new moms experiences postpartum depression. Postpartum depression is a health condition that can occur up to one year after having a baby, but most commonly starts 1-3 weeks after childbirth. It is often characterized as strong feelings of sadness and anxiety. Moms may also experience a loss of appetite, insomnia and difficulty bonding with ..read more

SAN DIEGO (KSWB/KUSI) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning people not to use COVID-19 tests that were manufactured by a California-based health care company. Cue Health, headquartered in San Diego, received emergency use FDA authorization for two COVID-19 tests early in the pandemic to help people detect if they were infected with the virus. The first test, intended for use in health care settings, was authorized on June 10, 2020. The at-home and over-the-counter test received authorization on March 5, 2021. However, the FDA issued a warning letter to the company last week afte ..read more

The North Carolina state Senate voted along party lines Wednesday to ban anyone from wearing masks in public, even for health reasons. Republican supporters of the ban said it would help law enforcement crack down on protesters who wear masks. They say demonstrators are abusing COVID-19 pandemic-era practices to hide their identities following a wave of pro-Palestine protests nationwide and at North Carolina universities. The bill goes even further and repeals an exception that’s been state law since the early stages of the pandemic that allows people to wear masks in public for health and sa ..read more

Blockbuster weight-loss drug Wegovy could bankrupt the U.S. healthcare system unless the price drops, according to a staff report released Wednesday from the office of Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).  Unless prices dramatically decline, Wegovy and weight loss drugs could push Americans to spend $1 trillion per year on prescription drugs, the report concluded.   “Pricing drugs based on their value cannot serve as a blank check, or the sole determinant for how we understand what to pay for essential goods,” the report stat ..read more

President Biden’s messaging about lowering the cost of prescription drugs through the Inflation Reduction Act is resonating with more people, but most voters overall are still unaware of some key provisions, according to a new poll from health policy research group KFF.  Lowering health costs has been a key reelection message for Biden, and he has touted passage of the IRA as a signature achievement. Awareness of the 2-year-old law is highest among voters 65 years old and older, a group that is mostly covered by Medicare and tends to vote at higher rates than younger adults.  The pol ..read more