| | | | |  | | By Sarah Owermohle and Krista Mahr | | | Editor's Note: POLITICO Pulse is a free version of POLITICO Pro Health Care's morning newsletter, which is delivered to our subscribers each morning at 6 a.m. The POLITICO Pro platform combines the news you need with tools you can use to take action on the day's biggest stories. Act on the news with POLITICO Pro. WELCOME TO WEDNESDAY PULSE — Democracy at work: One New York county may have a colorful voting sticker this fall. Send news and tips to sowermohle@politico.com and kmahr@politico.com.
| | | | A message from PhRMA: Inflation is causing pain for people across the country. As policymakers search for ways to help provide relief, some are erroneously tying inflation to prescription medicines. To make matters worse, this false premise is being used to build support for harmful policies. It's important to make medicines affordable for patients, but let's get a few facts straight – starting with the fact that prescription drugs are not fueling inflation. | | | | | | | 
Democratic lawmakers are looking to protect people seeking abortion care out of state. | Jose Luis Magana/AP Photo | CONGRESS TEES UP ABORTION TRAVEL VOTE — Legislation aimed at protecting a person's ability to cross state lines to seek reproductive care could see action in the House and Senate later this week. But from there, the bills' path is unclear, write our Tanya Snyder and Alice Miranda Ollstein. What's happening: The House plans to bring its bill to the floor on Friday; Senate Democratic leadership could attempt to call the bill up for a voice vote on the Senate floor later this week, though Republicans are expected to block it. What the bills would do: Both bills aim to preempt states that might try to stop their residents from obtaining an abortion in less restrictive states. The bills would protect abortion providers and abortion seekers and those who provide their transportation from punishment by states. The House bill also clarifies that constitutional protections for interstate commerce trump state laws when it comes to abortion pills. Progressive lawmakers hope to put political pressure on anyone who votes against the bills in the leadup to the November midterms. All three lead sponsors of the draft bill in the Senate — Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) — represent states that are now abortion destinations and bracing for a flood of patients from more restrictive states. States haven't banned travel — yet: A Missouri state lawmaker tried — unsuccessfully — to attach such language to several health bills even before the Supreme Court issued its ruling. Conservative lawmakers and activists in other states have also discussed penalizing people who help patients travel or doctors who perform abortions for people from states where the procedure is illegal. Quick action in Congress: Two-thirds of the Senate Democratic caucus signed on to co-sponsor the bill to protect travel rights Tuesday, including Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Majority Whip Dick Durbin. But that still leaves them far short of the 60 votes they would need to pass the bill.
| | | | DON'T MISS DIGITAL FUTURE DAILY - OUR TECHNOLOGY NEWSLETTER, RE-IMAGINED: Technology is always evolving, and our new tech-obsessed newsletter is too! Digital Future Daily unlocks the most important stories determining the future of technology, from Washington to Silicon Valley and innovation power centers around the world. Readers get an in-depth look at how the next wave of tech will reshape civic and political life, including activism, fundraising, lobbying and legislating. Go inside the minds of the biggest tech players, policymakers and regulators to learn how their decisions affect our lives. Don't miss out, subscribe today. | | | | | | 
The FDA could authorize Novavax's Covid-19 vaccine in coming days. | Carsten Koall/Getty Images | FDA TO GREENLIGHT NOVAVAX SHOTS — The Food and Drug Administration is expected to authorize Novavax's coronavirus vaccine for emergency use as early as Wednesday, POLITICO's Adam Cancryn and Katherine Ellen Foley report. The two-dose vaccine, which relies on a protein-based technology used for decades, may appeal to the small number of people allergic to components of the messenger RNA vaccines or skeptical of that new technology. The Biden administration purchased 3.2 million vaccine doses earlier this week in anticipation of the shot soon receiving emergency authorization. Though Novavax fell far behind other manufacturers in the race to produce a Covid-19 vaccine, its vaccine nevertheless would offer a fourth option at a time when White House officials are stressing vaccinations and boosters as key to preventing severe infection that could lead to hospitalization or death as the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron subvariants dominate infections across the country. THE SILENT EPIDEMIC — As Covid-19 surged across the country, so did antimicrobial resistance, according to a new study from the CDC. Increased — and often inappropriate — antibiotic use during the pandemic resulted in a marked rise in resistant, hospital-onset infections, as did staffing shortages that meant infection-control measures weren't as stringent. From March 2020 to October 2020, nearly 80 percent of patients hospitalized with Covid-19 received an antibiotic, the report says. In addition, many infections that people normally would have sought treatment for went undiagnosed and untreated, leaving them to circulate in the community and increase the risk of developing resistance to treatment. It gets worse. Because of constraints on health care systems, the CDC has had a limited ability to monitor antibiotic-resistant pathogens. Some of the agency's surveillance resources were also repurposed to focus on the pandemic, contributing to the loss of visibility. In 2020, data was delayed or unavailable for nine of the 19 current antimicrobial resistance threats facing the nation. The available data shows an alarming increase in resistant infections for eight pathogens. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky didn't sugarcoat the problem in the report's foreword, but she was resolute. "After more than two years of responding to COVID-19, the threat of antimicrobial resistance is not only still present but has become an even more prominent threat," she wrote. "These setbacks can and must be temporary."
| | | | A message from PhRMA:   | | | | | | A BABY FORMULA BOOST — Infant formula shipments landing from overseas this week will provide some relief to parents searching empty supermarket shelves and an administration bearing the brunt of the fallout from the shortage, POLITICO's Meredith Lee writes. The first shipments will prioritize formula brands and supplies that low-income Americans can purchase with federal WIC benefits, which of late has been hard to come by for parents in many states. Though the administration has coordinated more than 30 taxpayer-funded flights of formula to be flown into the U.S., which was announced in May, many foreign companies importing formula don't have distribution networks in place in the U.S. and are instead selling supplies online — where low-income parents and caregivers can't use WIC benefits. The shipments come as the Biden administration is coming to grips with the reality that the formula shortages are likely to last longer than they first anticipated. FDA Commissioner Robert Califf told lawmakers in late May that the administration expected a surplus of supplies by the end of July.
| | | | INTRODUCING POWER SWITCH: The energy landscape is profoundly transforming. Power Switch is a daily newsletter that unlocks the most important stories driving the energy sector and the political forces shaping critical decisions about your energy future, from production to storage, distribution to consumption. Don't miss out on Power Switch, your guide to the politics of energy transformation in America and around the world. SUBSCRIBE TODAY. | | | | | | | | NEW YORK GOV STANDS FIRM ON COVID POLICIES — Gov. Kathy Hochul said Tuesday that she has no plans to change her administration's approach to Covid-19, despite new Omicron subvariants driving a rise in cases in New York City and other parts of the state. Hochul encouraged all eligible New Yorkers to get vaccinated and boosted against Covid and recommended mask-wearing in certain settings. However, she refrained from announcing new mandates or suggesting that new ones might be under consideration, Shannon Young reports. "We're on top of it. We're not changing our policies at this time — always reserving the right to do so," Hochul, who is seeking a full term in November, told reporters at a Manhattan briefing. By the numbers: The state reported a seven-day average of more than 33 cases per 100,000 people as of Tuesday — lower than those seen in early 2022. Hochul, however, said Covid-related hospitalizations reported statewide were largely similar to those reported a month ago. HIGH DEMAND CRASHES NYC MONKEYPOX PORTAL — New York City's new monkeypox vaccination scheduling website crashed within seconds of opening Tuesday afternoon as a flood of requests hit the site. This is the second rollout attempt. The city switched contractors after a botched launch last week, POLITICO's Georgia Rosenberg writes. As of this Tuesday, 267 New Yorkers had tested positive for orthopoxvirus, the virus that causes monkeypox — a one-day jump of nearly 20 percent from 223 cases reported Monday. City officials did not respond to questions about whether all 1,250 available appointments were booked when the site eventually went live.
| | | HHS Office for Civil Rights Director Lisa Pino is departing. Melanie Fontes Rainer, currently a counselor to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, will become acting director. Samantha Helton has joined 3M's U.S. government affairs team. She was most recently director of government relations at Walgreens and is a Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) alum.
| | | An Ontario woman struggling with long Covid symptoms, including extreme fatigue, brain fog and breathing problems, has begun the application process for medically assisted death, CTV News' Hannah Alberga writes. "Hot girls have IBS": How irritable bowel syndrome became an internet phenomenon that began discussions about seeking care and being open about health, Stat News' Isabella Cueto writes. The Guardian reports on the health impact of high levels of toxic PFAS compounds, used to make material resistant to water, heat and stains, in the Cape Fear River basin.
| | | | A message from PhRMA: What's fueling inflation? Not prescription drugs. The administration's own economic data proves it.
Even though medicines aren't fueling inflation, there are still patients who struggle to afford their treatments. But their challenges largely stem from a broken insurance system that too often forces patients to pay more for medicines than insurance companies pay.
The current system isn't fair for patients, but government price setting won't help. There is a better way to help lower drug costs for patients, while preserving choice, access and future innovation. | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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