WHAT'S BREWING
WOMEN CAN NOW GET THE ABORTION PILL THROUGH THE MAIL A federal court ruled the U.S. Food and Drug Administration must suspend a rule that requires patients to visit a hospital, clinic or medical office to obtain mifepristone, a drug used to terminate pregnancies, during the coronavirus pandemic. Under existing regulations, patients seeking medication abortion must pick up the medicines in person from an abortion clinic, even though the pills are usually swallowed at home. For some patients, this can mean traveling hundreds of miles just to obtain a prescription. [HuffPost]
JUDGE DENIES TRUMP FAMILY'S ATTEMPT TO BLOCK NIECE FROM PROMOTING TELL-ALL BOOK The Trump family’s attempt to squash the release of a tell-all book by Mary Trump, the niece of the president, has been denied. On Monday, a judge in New York lifted a restraining order that prevented the president’s niece from publicizing her new book, “Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man.” Judge Hal Greenwald wrote that the confidentiality clause she had signed was too broad, with “too many words, with too many meanings.” [HuffPost]
MEDICAL SCHOOLS VOICE SUPPORT FOR FAUCI AMID WHITE HOUSE ATTACKS The Association of American Medical Colleges released a statement in support of Dr. Anthony Fauci, who the White House has attempted to smear for his dire warnings about soaring coronavirus infections. “The AAMC is extremely concerned and alarmed by efforts to discredit Anthony Fauci, MD, our nation’s top infectious disease expert,” the letter said. “Dr. Fauci has been an independent and outspoken voice for truth as the nation has struggled to fight the coronavirus pandemic.” Fauci returned to the White House to meet with the chief of staff on Monday, a day after the White House press office released an unattributed statement attempting to discredit him. [HuffPost]
COVID-19 PATIENTS STRUGGLE AFTER LEAVING HOSPITAL It has been two months since Dr. Abdul Mohid, a Mumbai-based general physician, was discharged from the hospital after a long battle with COVID-19. The severe lung damage caused by the illness has left the 30-year-old prone to exertional dyspnea, which makes him constantly feel like he’s running out of breath. Mohid says that climbing the stairs to reach the third floor in the hospital where he practices is now a tedious task. Even reading aloud a paragraph at once can leave him gasping for air. And this is an improvement from last month. [HuffPost]
CANADIANS SAY 'KEEP IT' TO U.S. CALLS TO REOPEN BORDER A bipartisan group of United States politicians is pushing for the U.S.-Canada border to reopen. But Canadians are having none of it, and they aren’t sorry they feel this way. In a letter this week shared by New York Rep. Brian Higgins, 27 members of Congress called on the U.S. and Canadian governments to begin a phased full reopening of the border when the current agreement expires on July 21. Restrictions on the border were first introduced in March, and have renewed them three times over the course of the coronavirus pandemic. [HuffPost]
LEAVING THE PANDEMIC RESPONSE TO STATES DOOMED THE COUNTRY TO FAIL TOGETHER Unlike many developed countries, the United States remains in a coronavirus crisis, getting worse by the week in nearly 40 U.S. states. On Sunday, Florida broke the U.S. record for most coronavirus cases in a day with 15,300 new cases ― that’s more cases than were detected in all of Europe the same day. In Arizona, confirmed and possible COVID-19 patients were using a record number of intensive care unit beds and ventilators on Sunday. A day later, California announced it would roll back reopenings, as cases in the state continue to surge. [HuffPost] |
