Health

(NEW YORK) — Australian regulators announced in February that psychiatrists will be able to prescribe psilocybin and MDMA as medication for certain mental health conditions starting July 1 of this year. The move makes Australia the first nation to approve the legal use of MDMA and psilocybin.

This is a major regulatory step forward as medical interest in the use of psychedelic substances for the treatment of mental health conditions has surged in recent years, and as other countries — including the United States — loosen restrictions on their use.

“Australia is creating an interesting model that could pave the way forward for the rest of the world,” Dr. Michael Alpert, a psychiatrist at Harvard Medical School who studies MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD, told ABC News.

Australia’s new rules allow MDMA to be prescribed for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and psilocybin to be prescribed for treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Several pivotal research studies suggested the legitimacy of these treatments as new tools in the treatment of mental illness.

A trial published in May 2021, for example, found that MDMA (otherwise known by street names “Molly” and “ecstacy”) can help people suffering from PTSD when given with talk therapy. In the study, one group of people with PTSD received MDMA along with talk therapy, and the other took a placebo with identical talk therapy. This treatment went on for 18 weeks.

Ultimately, 67% of those in the MDMA-assisted therapy group no longer had PTSD after three sessions, compared to 32% in the placebo with therapy group.

Experts think MDMA helps PTSD by adjusting fear and memory circuits in the brain and bolstering social behaviors.

Psilocybin, which is the active ingredient found in “magic mushrooms,” creates psychedelic effects by altering neurotransmitters in the body. Researchers think it may help with depression by altering serotonin to create a positive mental state of interconnectedness, termed a “mystical experience” in research studies.

In a 2021 trial, psilocybin worked just as well as the antidepressant escitalopram, with significant improvements in well-being noted in the psilocybin group.

Many other governments, organizations and businesses have looked favorably upon these research findings, speculating that FDA approval, marketing and distribution of this new class of medication may be imminent.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is anticipating an eventual FDA approval of MDMA and psilocybin treatments, according to a letter from the department in May 2022. Financial experts estimate the market for psychedelic treatments will soon be valued in the billions.

Despite the promise of psychedelic drugs, they also place users in a vulnerable state due to their altered mental status during treatment, said Alpert of Harvard Medical School. As MDMA and psilocybin become legalized for prescription in Australia, the country is thinking proactively about how to ensure proper surveillance and quality of treatment.

They have specified that the medications may only be prescribed by psychiatrists in medically controlled environments. They’re requiring specific training for clinicians to create safe therapeutic conditions, which includes medical and psychiatric evaluation prior to use, monitoring of response, and supportive integration therapy.

“Australia will need to have clinicians demonstrate some familiarity working with these substances, provide a sort of additional training requirement or possibly some degree of clinical supervision while getting started, as well as accountability measures to identify a standard of care for these treatments and consequences for violations,” Alpert said.

Although no other countries have legalized psychedelics for depression and PTSD, others are taking steps to make them more accessible. Canada approved MDMA and psilocybin for those suffering from “life-threatening mental illnesses” in 2022. A number of South American countries, including Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, have legal frameworks to allow the use of other psychedelics.

In the United States, many cities and states are taking steps to loosen legal restrictions around psychedelics. The city of Denver, Colorado was first to decriminalize psilocybin, removing legal penalties for possession in 2019. Other cities, including Santa Cruz, California, and Cambridge, Massachusetts, followed suit in 2021.

Oregon became the first state to decriminalize psilocybin and legalize it for therapeutic use in 2020. The drugs are not officially approved for medical use, but the state issues permits to trained facilities allowing them to offer sessions using the drug. Colorado passed similar guidelines in 2022.

Whether the United States will follow Australia’s lead and lift restrictions on MDMA and psilocybin at the federal level is still to be determined. Researchers are still gathering data and regulatory systems are still being developed to ensure that psychedelics are safe, effective and can be responsibly administered.

Experts working in this space will be keeping a close eye on how the Australian policies play out, Alpert says.

“It will be interesting to see what Australia is going to do to ensure that patients receive a consistent standard of care when receiving these services. Proper implementation will be key in ensuring that patients have access to life saving treatments for diseases that lack other great options,” he said.

Nicholas Nissen, M.D., is an author, host of the “Brain Health with Dr. Nissen” podcast and a contributor to the ABC News Medical Unit.

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(ATLANTA) — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned parents in a new report to thoroughly clean all infant feeding items to avoid bacterial contamination after two infants were reportedly infected with a rare bacteria.

The CDC reported that two infants were infected with the bacteria Cronobacter sakazakii, in 2021 and 2022. One of the infants reportedly died as a result of the infection.

Cronobacter sakazakii infections are rare but can cause severe illness, like meningitis and sepsis, and death in infants, according to the CDC.

The first case occurred in September 2021 and was linked to an opened container of powdered infant formula. The CDC reported that it tested an unopened container of the same powder and did not detect the bacteria, concluding the open container may have been contaminated by a scoop or other utensil, according to the report. The infant was treated and made a full recovery.

In February 2022, another infant bacterial infection was identified and linked to contaminated breastfeeding equipment that was “cleaned in a household sink, sanitized, and sometimes assembled while still moist,” according to the report. The infant died 13 days after the onset of the infection.

Although the report does not specify the brand of formula involved in the 2021 case, Cronobacter sakazakii is the same bacteria central to the shutdown of Abbott Nutrition’s infant formula plant and formula recall in 2022, after four babies who had consumed Abbott’s formula contracted a Cronobacter sakazakii infection. Abbott maintains there has not been conclusive evidence that its formula caused infant illnesses or deaths.

The CDC recommends if an infant is fed with a powdered formula, all surfaces should be cleaned, as well as all feeding items and hands, to prevent germs that can make a baby sick.

It also recommends not setting the formula scoop on the counter, in the sink, or on any other surface. Additionally, it recommended to keep lids and scoops clean and completely dry and close containers of formula as soon as possible after using them.

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(NEW YORK) — Increased time spent on social media is a risk factor for disordered eating, research shows.

Andrea Vazzana, a child psychologist who specializes in the treatment of eating disorders in children, adolescents and adults at NYU Langone, said the negative influence of social media is largely owed to the amount of social comparisons that are part of engaging in these social media platforms.

Increased use of social media has also contributed, in part, to the shifting demographics of those affected by eating disorders, according to Vazzana. She said there has been an increase in younger individuals, including tweens as young as 9 and 10 years old, suffering from eating disorders.

“This may be correlational data, but we’re seeing people joining social media platforms at an earlier age as well,” she told ABC News.

Vazzana noted that in addition to showing overedited, filtered photos, social media sites also offer users ways to find content like weight loss challenges, videos of purging techniques and unhealthy diets.

A recent report from the Center for Countering Digital Hate, a nonprofit organization, found that within 30 minutes of a 13-year-old joining TikTok, the teen was being recommended content tied to eating disorders.

Nearly 10% of the world’s population and an estimated 30 million people in the United States are affected by an eating disorder, according to a report from the Academy for Eating Disorders and Deloitte Access Economics.

The National Institute of Mental Health defines eating disorders as serious illnesses that cause severe disturbances to a person’s eating behaviors.

During National Eating Disorders Awareness Week, now through March 5, health professionals and recovery advocates are raising awareness about the importance of social media literacy to combat eating disorders.

Vazzana suggests parents and teens have conversations about social media literacy: comparisons, the use of filters and Photoshop and the concept of a highlight reel.

She believes “friending” people on social media that you know in real life, instead of following influencers and strangers, may be a protective factor in combating poor self-esteem from comparison. Limiting time on social media, as multiple studies have highlighted, can also be beneficial for both mental health and weight esteem.

When it comes to allowing children on social media, Vazzana said age is an important factor for parents to consider as research demonstrates that girls who engage on social media earlier than their peers have a higher drive for thinness.

In January, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy said he believes 13 is too young for children to be on social media platforms, despite some of the most popular platforms allowing users to be that age.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, requires users to be at least 13 years old to use its platforms, according to the company’s website.

TikTok and Snapchat each also require users to be at least 13-years-old, according to their respective websites.

Google, the parent company of YouTube, does not allow kids under age 13 to create their own Google Account. YouTube allows parents to set up a “supervised account” for a child under age 13, for which they can control the content settings, according to its website.

In most cases, the social media sites require people to enter their birth dates in order to sign up as users.

Sam Dylan Finch, a recovery advocate, told ABC News that while social media can be a powerful tool in eating disorder recovery — including his own — it can also trap users in cycles of comparison and self-critique.

“It can be a vehicle for fad diets, health misinformation, harsh criticism, especially for those of us that don’t conform to society’s ideals of beauty and achievement,” he said. “And perpetuates standards of perfection that are impossible to achieve.”

Dylan Finch added that he believes how you curate your social media feed is important, in order to rule out false promises of esteem that the diet culture tries to sell, often through sponsored posts.

“This makes curating our feeds a powerful act of self-care that every one of us should take seriously,” he said.

Some social media sites have started to provide in-app resources for eating disorders and raise awareness.

In 2020, TikTok partnered with the National Eating Disorder Association, telling ABC News at the time, “At TikTok we work to foster an inclusive, body-positive environment where people can find support, affirmation and empathy within their community. Our goal is to create a space where our community feels comfortable and confident to be exactly who they are and express themselves freely.”

Instagram also has protections for kids, including support for people struggling with body image issues, age verification, parental controls, decreasing visibility of content that is potentially sensitive, time control settings, default settings to provide more privacy, as well as in-app resources offering mental health support, a spokesperson told ABC News last year.

When preoccupations with eating, exercise and photographs for social media start to distract a child from what is happening in real life, Vazzana suggests seeking professional help.

She said that pushing back against appearance ideals allows for more meaningful engagement in the real world, saying, “It’s almost like a bit of obstinance that can be used in a healthy way.”

If you or someone you know is battling an eating disorder, contact the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) at 1-800-931-2237 or NationalEatingDisorders.org.

Mallory Rowley is a fourth-year medical student and a member of the ABC News Medical Unit.

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(NEW YORK) — COVID-19 call centers and testing sites are closing across the United States as more Americans look to move on from the pandemic and with the emergency declaration set to end in May.

In Rockland County, New York — just north of New York City — the call center closed Tuesday after three years in operation.

The center was launched in early March 2020 after the county’s health department became inundated with telephone calls from people asking questions about the virus. According to a press release, the center received 19,163 calls during its operation and provided residents and businesses with information about COVID-19 guidance, testing sites, testing results and how to schedule vaccination appointments.

“I commend our staff for their tireless efforts to assist the community during this global pandemic,” said county health commissioner Dr. Patricia Schnabel in a statement. “As the number of COVID-19-related calls continues to decrease, the health department is able to reallocate personnel to other critical health work.”

In nearby Massachusetts, the state’s department of public health announced Monday it is shutting down its remaining free PCR testing sites, which were known as “Stop the Spread” sites, at the end of March.

UMass Memorial Health, which runs one of the sites in Worcester — located in central Massachusetts — cited “less demand for COVID-19 testing” as the reason behind the health department’s decision.

Drive-thru testing sites are also coming to an end. Carilion Clinic, a health system based in Roanoke, Virginia, closed its drive-thru testing sites on Wednesday.

According to a press release, the sites completed more than 340,000 tests over the course of three years and saw staff members often working from 5 a.m. until 11 p.m.

Kim Roe, vice president of family and community medicine, said testing personnel “truly worked tirelessly these past three years; their work was invaluable in keeping our workplace and communities safe.”

“A closure is an odd thing to celebrate, but this is a moment to recognize all that was accomplished as we transition into the endemic stage of this virus,” her statement continued.

It comes as several COVID data trackers also shut down, including Johns Hopkins University’s Coronavirus Resource Center, one of the first to launch in early 2020 and a vital source that filled in information gaps.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services also shut down its data website last month but has kept the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s dashboard running.

According to the CDC, COVID-19 cases have been declining for several weeks. During the week of Feb. 22 — the latest date for which data is available — a total of 236,131 cases were recorded in the U.S., a 48.2% decline from the 455,866 cases recorded the week of Jan. 11.

Hospitalizations and deaths, both of which are traditionally lagging indicators, have also been trending downward. Over the same period, weekly deaths have fallen from 4,448 to 2,407, according to CDC data.

The data also shows the seven-day average of hospitalizations declined from 39,837 on Jan. 11 to 22,766 on Feb. 22.

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(NEW YORK) — An emergency room doctor is opening up about “one of the most interesting cases” she’s seen in her career so far and, in the process, warning people about wire grill brush injuries.

Dr. Meghan Martin, a pediatric emergency medicine physician at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida, opened up about the case in a Feb. 18 TikTok post and since then, it’s gone viral, garnering over 34 million views in less than two weeks.

“One of the most interesting cases that I’ve had to date was a 4-year-old boy who was at a barbecue eating when he suddenly grabbed his ear and started crying, complaining of ear pain,” Martin said in her two-minute video.

Martin, who aims to share accessible pediatric health information on social media, went on to describe how she and other doctors responded to the case and eventually unraveled the medical mystery.

“We did a [CT scan] of the neck, which included the ears with contrast, and we did a ton of labs, gave him fluids, just did every test that we could think of doing. And we got our answer on the [CT scan],” she continued.

In an interview with ABC News’ Good Morning America, Martin said the case stretched over several days because doctors had first thought they had an idea of what was going on.

“One of the things that I didn’t share in the TikTok was that the initial complaint was actually a bee sting to the ear and that was one of the reasons that we were focusing on that area so much,” she said.

Martin and her team figured out the culprit of the boy’s pain had been a metal piece of a wire from a grill brush that had somehow found its way into the food he had eaten.

“We ended up seeing a small foreign body in the neck that was a grill brush wire and it had created a little abscess around itself because it was a small foreign body in the neck,” Martin explained. “We consulted the ear, nose and throat surgeon who was able to remove it successfully and the kid recovered beautifully. But in the end, we found out that that grill brush had been in the hamburger that he’d been eating at the time.”

The boy was able to make a full recovery after surgery and treatment, according to Martin, who noted the case was one she saw a couple of years ago and was the first case she saw where a wire injury affected the neck area.

Although Martin called this incident an “exceptionally rare case,” she added that she’s seen at least three similar cases as an ER doctor and recommends that people consider avoiding metal grill brushes completely, if possible.

“When it comes to grill brushes, there are multiple safe options on the market right now,” Martin said. “There are wooden grill brushes, there are ones that are like sponges or scrubbers, there’s even sprays that you can use and then just wipe off the grill. So there are lots of other opportunities to clean your grill, rather than using these [wire brushes] that can be dangerous.”

In addition, Martin suggested people get checked by a medical professional if they experience any pain or other symptoms after eating food off a grill.

“If anyone is eating something that just came off the grill and all of a sudden they have pain, or maybe in the next couple of days they develop some symptoms … they’re vomiting, they have really bad abdominal pain, it is something to think about to get an X-ray or some other imaging modality that can check to see if there was a piece of a wire that was lodged in the food that they ate,” Martin said.

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(LOS ANGELES) — A couple has filed a lawsuit against a California-based fertility clinic alleging the clinic transplanted an embryo with a cancer mutation during in vitro fertilization, despite the couple specifically cautioning against it.

Melissa and Jason Diaz allege in their lawsuit, filed this week in Los Angeles, that the fertility clinic they used, HRC Fertility, has a “tragic pattern” of using genetic material like eggs, sperm and embryos “in a manner contrary to its patients’ instructions” and concealed material information from its customers.

The Diazes claim that, in their case, less than one year after their son was born, they discovered he had the CDH1 mutation for hereditary diffuse gastric cancer, a genetic disease that increases the risk for a specific form of stomach cancer known as diffuse gastric cancer, according to the National Institutes of Health.

Five years ago, in 2018, Jason Diaz, then 32, was diagnosed with diffuse gastric cancer and had to undergo chemotherapy, followed by a gastrectomy, or stomach-removal surgery. Genetic testing later confirmed that Jason Diaz, who has a family history of gastric cancer, carried the CDH1 mutation, according to the lawsuit.

Jason Diaz said in a news conference Wednesday that he and his wife specifically chose to undergo IVF to have children in order to have testing that would help them avoid passing the CDH1 mutation to their child.

“I wouldn’t want anyone on earth to experience this type of pain and now I will be forced to watch my own son, my own flesh and blood, go through this after Melissa and I worked so hard to protect him,” Jason Diaz said. “Every day my heart is hurting for my baby boy, knowing the pain and challenges he has ahead of him.”

The Diazes say they told the clinic and the doctor named in the lawsuit, HRC Fertility and reproductive endocrinologist Dr. Bradford A. Kolb, that they had chosen IVF to prevent having a child with the CDH1 mutation. According to the lawsuit, the couple also had their embryos screened for the BRCA-1 breast cancer mutation, which Melissa Diaz carries.

“Dr. Kolb knew from the time of his first visit with them, on December 12, 2018, that they intended to avoid passing on this rare mutation for stomach cancer,” the lawsuit states. “Jason and Melissa’s genetic counselor sent reports regarding testing for the specific mutations directly to Dr. Kolb in 2019.”

The couple claim in the lawsuit that Melissa Diaz had her eggs retrieved in 2020, and those eggs were used to create embryos that were tested for the CDH1 and BRCA-1 genes.

In August 2020, according to the lawsuit, Kolb transferred one embryo that did not have either mutation, but that pregnancy ended in a miscarriage.

In January 2021, Melissa Diaz underwent a second embryo transfer, which resulted in the birth of her son. The Diazes were told that embryo did not have the CDH1 gene, when records later showed that it did, according to the lawsuit.

“HRC [Fertility] told us that we had one male embryo that had my BRCA-1 mutation and not the stomach cancer mutation,” Melissa Diaz said in the news conference Wednesday. “That embryo was going to be our plan B because the BRACA mutation causes breast and ovarian cancer, so the likelihood of it negatively impacting a boy was significantly less than a girl.”

She continued, “So in January 2021, we informed HRC that we wanted to proceed with the male embryo that HRC told us only had the BRCA-1 mutation.”

The couple claim in the lawsuit that they discovered the alleged error last July, when Melissa Diaz received a copy of her embryo report as they prepared for another embryo transfer for a second child.

“To her horror, Melissa also recognized the first embryo — clearly designated as carrying the mutant allele for hereditary diffuse gastric cancer — as the embryo transferred on January 8, 2021,” the lawsuit states. “Embryo #1 had become her beloved infant son.”

The Diazes claim in the lawsuit that HRC Fertility later presented them with “falsified records” that covered up handwritten notes showing which embryo had been transferred.

“HRC Fertility’s falsified records from October 2022 are evidence of HRC Fertility’s knowledge of and intent to hide its misconduct,” the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit also states that HRC Fertility later provided the records that included the handwritten notes in December 2022.

The Diazes say they have simultaneously filed an arbitration claim regarding the wrongful transfer of the embryo.

The lawsuit announced this week is aimed at what is described in the complaint as “HRC’s fraudulent concealment of material information to its customers — more particularly, the fact that HRC Fertility has a long history of misusing its customers’ biological material, in direct contradiction to its customers’ instructions.”

“Moreover, it concealed that its processes and procedures are insufficient to prevent such grave errors,” the lawsuit states. “Had it made such disclosures, Jason and Melissa never would have entrusted HRC Fertility and Doctor Kolb with their genetic material.”

The Diazes are suing for monetary damages and injunctive relief and are seeking a trial by jury, according to the lawsuit.

In addition to HRC Fertility and the couple’s medical provider, Kolb, one additional HRC Fertility employee, identified as the clinic’s IVF coordinator, is also named in the lawsuit.

HRC Fertility told ABC News in a statement it “stands by the professionalism and expertise of our medical staff.”

“At HRC Fertility, our mission is to provide world-class care to all our patients struggling with parenthood. The family planning journey requires many difficult choices. We take all of our patients’ choices and concerns very seriously and are committed to providing the highest quality of care,” the statement said. “We deeply empathize with this family’s situation. However, the patients associated with the case sought genetic testing and genetic counseling outside of HRC Fertility, and with an outside party; they wished to have a male embryo transferred, which we carried out according to the family’s explicit wishes and in accordance with the highest level of care.”

“At HRC Fertility, our mission is to provide quality and compassionate care to all our patients struggling with parenthood and we understand that family planning requires many difficult choices,” the statement continued. “We offer a variety of fertility procedures so all families, regardless of challenges, can have the opportunity to become parents. We have successfully helped thousands of individuals, couples and families become loving parents, including the patients involved in this story.”

“We also stand by the professionalism and expertise of our medical staff and pride ourselves on adhering to the highest standards for patient care, patient records, results, and testing at all our locations,” the statement added. “Since 1988, we have remained dedicated to helping hopeful parents build families through assisted reproductive technology, compassion, expertise, innovation, cutting-edge research and personalized care.”

Melissa Diaz said Wednesday she and her husband are hopeful they will have a second child, but will be on guard more through the process.

“I’m very scared and nervous to go through it again to try to have a second baby, but this time, I will ask my questions. I will double check,” she said. “It’s heartbreaking that it had to come to this, but just be aware of what’s going on with your own body, what they’re trying to do with your body.”

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(NEW YORK) — One baby got a special homecoming parade three months after he was born weighing only 1 pound and 15 ounces.

Samantha Desmond, 28, of Peabody, Massachusetts, was only 25 weeks pregnant, her baby roughly the size of a head of cauliflower, when her water broke — nearly three months before her February due date.

“It was a healthy pregnancy, up until it wasn’t,” Desmond told ABC News’ Good Morning America. “My water broke while I was at work. I didn’t know what was happening, but surely I wasn’t thinking that [my water broke] because I was only six months pregnant.”

Desmond said she drove herself to Salem Hospital before being rushed by an ambulance to Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

“The best case scenario would have been me staying [in the hospital] for three months,” Desmond said. “The longer he stayed in my belly, the safer it was going to be for him, right? Well, I only lasted three days.”

Baby Mateo was born on Oct. 28, 2022, and was immediately placed in intensive care. Desmond said she and her husband Marsid Jakic would visit their baby boy every day.

“He’s spent Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, all of the holidays in the NICU, and the nurses would make posters for him and take pictures, and they just really made every day special,” said Desmond, who said they would travel 30 to 40 minutes every night after work to visit their son. “Every single night, every holiday, every day, just doing our best.”

Finally, after months of visits and family holidays spent in the hospital, the couple got the good news: baby Mateo could come home.

“I said to myself, ‘He can’t just come home simply. He needs a big entrance,'” Desmond said.

Desmond said she was inspired by her husband’s Albanian traditions to set up a homecoming parade. So she reached out to her friends, Det. Andrew Greenberg and his wife, Officer Sam Doherty, who both work at the Peabody Police Department, to see if they could help, and he quickly set up a police escort for Mateo on Feb. 20.

“As we’re coming down every street that we came down, every intersection was blocked off. It wasn’t just one police escort. It was the entire day shift,” Desmond said. “As soon as [other officers] got word of what was going on, everybody wanted part of it. And they’re all waving. It was beautiful.”

Peabody Police Lt. David Bonfanti said Sgt. Michael Bettencourt and the entire patrol team sprung into action to help a community member who had been through so much.

“Well, you know, we’re all fathers and mothers first. You think of what that family is going through and we can take literally three minutes out of our day, to make something special for a family that’s gone through so much. They were excited,” Bonfanti said. “They were able to make a positive […] impact on a community member for the city.”

Now, Mateo weighs more than 9 pounds and 13 ounces and is enjoying life at home. Desmond said she is beyond grateful for all of the support her family has received.

“[Mateo] has been so strong and has overcome everything that came up,” she said. “I make this joke constantly, but he was literally just done cooking. He did not need [40 weeks] and he’ll prove it for the rest of his life.”

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(NEW YORK) — An imminent ruling from a Texas federal judge could soon block the use of a common abortion medication across the United States, leaving one drug available.

More than half of all abortions in the United States use a combination of two drugs, mifepristone and misoprostol, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group focusing on sexual and reproductive health.

However, a lawsuit is asking that mifepristone be pulled from the market just months after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

The lawsuit claims mifepristone is not safe, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration didn’t study it closely enough before it was approved.

Misoprostol would still be available for both abortions and miscarriages on its own, but as an off-label use.

OB-GYNs and abortion providers tell ABC News that data from around the world shows misoprostol is safe and effective — and that they’re ready to provide misoprostol-only abortions — but that the two-dose regimen is more effective.

“We’ve got over 20 years of data showing the safety and efficacy of mifepristone and misoprostol for abortions,” Dr. Alisa Goldberg, an associate professor of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive biology at Harvard Medical School, told ABC News. “And we know from at least 20 years of data that this regimen works better than misoprostol alone, but if that’s all we have, it’s a safe and reasonable option for patients as well.”

Mifepristone and misoprostol together

Typically, to either induce an abortion or help manage an early miscarriage, mifepristone is taken first. It’s been approved by the FDA since 2000.

Mifepristone works by blocking a hormone called progesterone, which is needed for a pregnancy to continue. This causes the uterine lining to stop thickening and to break down, detaching the embryo.

“It just gets the body primed and ready for the rest of the abortion and then the next step is you take misoprostol,” Dr. Laura Laursen, an OB-GYN at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, told ABC News.

The second drug, misoprostol, taken 24 to 48 hours later, causes the uterus to contract and dilates the cervix, which will expel the embryo.

When used in combination, the two drugs are nearly 97% effective at terminating a pregnancy, according to a 2015 systematic review from the University of California, Davis.

Is misoprostol effective and what are the side effects?

Currently, the only FDA label use of misoprostol is for gastric ulcers. However, there are several off-label uses for obstetrical and gynecological purposes including treating postpartum hemorrhaging and softening and opening the cervix for patients ready to give birth vaginally, experts told ABC News.

Numerous countries don’t have access to mifepristone and, therefore, only use misoprostol for abortions.

One 2019 study found “misoprostol alone is effective and safe and is a reasonable option for women seeking abortion in the first trimester.”

Another systematic review conducted in July 2020 found misoprostol, especially given in higher doses, was safe and effective in terminating a pregnancy.

However, research suggests that using misoprostol with mifepristone is more effective than misoprostol alone.

“The issue with misoprostol is that it generally takes longer to complete the abortion,” said Laursen. “It’s generally at least three to four doses of misoprostol, three hours apart. So, you know, at least 12 to 18 hours.”

She continued, “There’s more side effects. There is generally more nausea, more diarrhea associated with it.”

How abortion care could change

If mifepristone loses FDA approval, clinicians who provide abortions will be able to offer either surgical abortions or misoprostol-only abortions, but the new regimen will include extra training to properly communicate to patients their options.

“For many of us, it’s going to be the first time we’re prescribing this regimen, many of us didn’t provide abortions before mifepristone was available,” Laursen said. “For us who are experts in dealing with abortion care, we are going to be working through a new system and a new dosing regimen and something that we’re all a little less comfortable with.”

Jennifer Welch, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Illinois, said clinics in the state will be ready to provide misoprostol-only abortions.

Illinois clinics have seen an influx of patients travel for abortion care because every state it borders has significantly limited abortion care since the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Supreme Court decision that saw Roe overturned, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

Mifepristone being banned means patients may lose access to telehealth services to get abortion pills and clinics could be even more inundated.

“The Dobbs decision already made abortion out of access fir many patients who live in states that have banned or so heavily restricted abortion,” Welch said. “And we anticipate that [banning mifepristone] will just make it more difficult for some patients to get the care that they want and need.”

Goldberg said even if people have to rely on misoprostol-only abortions, it’s another step towards stripping Americans of certain reproductive freedoms.

“We know from misoprostol-only abortions that are that are offered around the world that it is a safe and effective option,” she said. “But we also know that mifepristone-misoprostol is better and it’s a shame if we lose it.”

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(TACOMA, Wash.) — Health officials in Washington state said they are set to arrest a woman Friday after they said she has been avoiding treatment or isolation for tuberculosis for over a year.

The Tacoma-Pierce Health Department said the unidentified woman hasn’t complied with several court orders filed since January 2022.

Judge Philip Sorenson issued a civil arrest warrant on Feb. 24 after he found the patient was in civil contempt for refusing to comply with his order that she either resume taking her medication or voluntarily isolate herself, according to the health department.

The patient has until March 3 to comply with the order or she will be taken to a specially designated facility at the Pierce County Jail for isolation, testing and treatment, the health department said.

“In each case like this, we are constantly balancing risk to the public and the civil liberties of the patient. We are always hopeful a patient will choose to comply voluntarily. Seeking to enforce a court order through a civil arrest warrant is always our last resort,” Nigel Turner, a spokesman for the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department said in a statement.

Attorney information for the infected patient wasn’t immediately available.

TB is caused by a bacterium that can attack vital organs, usually the lungs, and lead to fever, severe cough and possibly death, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The disease can spread when an infected person coughs or speaks and TB bacteria gets into the air, the CDC said. Healthy individuals may then breathe in these bacteria and become infected, according to the CDC.

Although the disease is curable with medication, treatment can take anywhere from three to nine months, according to the CDC.

The Tacoma-Pierce Health Department has legal authority to seek court orders to persuade TB patients to take treatments and isolate according to Washington state law. Turner said this is the third time in 20 years that the health department has had to seek a court order to detain a TB infected patient who refused treatment.

Turner said that health officials worked with the infected patient’s family to persuade her to comply with the health orders.

The woman was under an involuntary isolation order from Dec. 25, 2022, to Feb. 8, according to the health department. Health officials said the woman started treatment but she left before it was complete.

There are roughly 10 million TB cases reported annually around the world, according to the health department. Tacoma averages about 20 cases annually, the health department said.

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(JACKSON, Miss.) — Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves signed a bill banning puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgeries for people under 18 in the state who are seeking gender-affirming health care.

The state joins six other states — Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, South Dakota and Utah — with laws or policies that ban minors from accessing care.

Studies, including research in the medical journal JAMA Surgery, have shown that gender-affirming care can be life-saving for transgender and nonbinary children and adolescents, promoting positive mental and physical health.

Transgender youth are more likely to experience poor mental health, suicide, substance use and other health risks due to discrimination and stigma, according to the CDC.

The new legislation also prevents public funds or tax deductions for gender-affirming procedures, “places enforcement procedures on the Mississippi State Board of Medical Licensure and stops Medicaid from covering gender transition for persons under 18,” according to Reeves’ office.

“At the end of the day, there are two positions here. One tells children that they’re beautiful the way they are. That they can find happiness in their own bodies. The other tells them that they should take drugs and cut themselves up with expensive surgeries in order to find freedom from depression,” Reeves said in a statement on the signing of the bill. “I know which side I’m on. No child in Mississippi will have these drugs or surgeries pushed upon them.”

The law sparked outrage among the LGBTQ community and allies in the state, calling Reeves’ decision an “act of violence.”

“He and the lawmakers who pushed this bill in Mississippi are willfully ignoring the unique needs of transgender young people, interfering with their medical care and sending a stigmatizing, exclusionary message,” said Mickie Stratos, president of The Spectrum Center of Hattiesburg, an LGBTQ advocacy organization.

They continued, “Advocates for transgender equality in Mississippi and beyond will continue doing everything in our power to care for and protect trans youth in our state.”

Rob Hill, state director of Human Rights Campaign Mississippi, slammed Reeves, saying in a statement that the governor “doesn’t have an ounce of medical training.”

“He is in no position to dictate the decisions that doctors and their patients make about health care,” Hill said. “This is nothing more than an attempt to inflate his flagging poll numbers ahead of a difficult reelection campaign.”

Several major national medical associations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Public Health Association, say that gender-affirming care is safe and effective. The American Medical Association has deemed it “medically necessary.”

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