The politics of mifepristone in the 2024 election

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Hello and happy Tuesday, D.C. Diagnosis readers! I’m sad that the Olympics are already over, and it seems like the athletes receiving free health care must be too. Send news, tips, and your favorite Olympic moments to [email protected].

Trump campaign hounded by mifepristone stance

If abortion advocates were hoping for more clarity from the Trump campaign on the future of abortion pill mifepristone, Sen. JD Vance did not provide it this weekend.

The campaign insisted Friday that GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump didn’t clearly hear a reporter’s question about whether he would “revoke access” to mifepristone in a second term. Trump’s response was vague, but he appeared open to the possibility and stressed that voters need to decide. Asked about the campaign’s stance on CBS this Sunday, his running mate JD Vance didn’t close the door to FDA action to restrict mifepristone.

“What the President has said very clearly is that abortion policy should be made by the states,” Vance said. “You, of course, want to make sure that any medicine is safe, that it is prescribed in the right way, and so forth.”

The emphasis on states’ rights ignores that any reimposed FDA restrictions would be a national move to restrict abortion access. CBS’ Margaret Brennan pressed Vance, noting that as senator he signed onto a letter demanding that the Justice Department shut down mail-order delivery of mifepristone.

“We just want the FDA to make sure that doctors are prescribing this in a safe way,” Vance replied. That won’t satisfy abortion rights advocates and the Harris campaign, which spent the weekend rallying voters over reproductive care access. More on the Harris response.

At long last, Medicare-negotiated drug prices

Thursday will be a big day for Democrats as they’re reportedly going to raise the curtain on prices that Medicare has negotiated for the program’s ten spendiest drugs.

Democrats will no doubt boast about how much Medicare negotiators lowered list prices. Meanwhile, my colleague John Wilkerson reports that Republicans are already gearing up to undermine the administration’s bragging rights. After Democrats announced plans to lower Part D premiums by paying extra subsidies to the private insurers that run the program, Republicans asked the Government Accountability Office to estimate the cost of the additional premium subsidies and determine whether Medicare officials are pulling a fast one. 

Medicare drug price negotiation is popular with voters in both parties, and no Republicans voted for it. Even Trump, who at one time was for it, did an about-face on the policy by the end of his term. It remains to be seen whether Democrats will get a clean political win for Medicare price negotiation as the elections near or whether Republicans can muddy Democrats’ message. 

MDMA’s long, strange trip is over, for now

Lawmakers are not ecstatic over FDA’s rejection of the psychedelic drug MDMA for the treatment of PTSD.

Reps. Jack Bergman (R-Mich.) and Lou Correa (D-Calif.), co-chairs of the Congressional Psychedelics Advancing Therapies (PATH) Caucus, said an FDA approval of MDMA would’ve saved the lives of many veterans.

“This was a tragic and avoidable setback, and one that will have very real consequences on our Veterans and other Americans struggling with PTSD,” Bergman said in a statement.

Veterans were the most outspoken advocates for an MDMA approval. The vice presidential candidates for both parties are veterans, and Correa said it would be nice if the issue were to come up as part of the election. But, he said, MDMA is not a partisan issue.

Both Bergman and Correa said public support for psychedelic-assisted therapy is growing, and they are going to do what it takes to get access to psychedelic-therapy. The duo included a psychedelic research provision in the fiscal 2024 budget for the Department of Veterans Affairs.

“Both Ds and Rs are going to get together, and we’re going to continue to put pressure on the FDA and VA,” Correa said.

Regulators consider new alcohol label — but health advocates want more

Over the past 35 years, the science of alcohol and its potential health harms has evolved. Now, some alcohol researchers and consumer protection advocates tell STAT’s Isabella Cueto that bottle labels should reflect that with warning labels on cancer risk and other concerns.

There’s a glimmer of hope for them: For the first time in decades, the agency regulating most alcoholic drinks is set to release updated rules about what basic product information must be disclosed. Regulators signaled this spring that they could require beverage companies to share the ingredients, alcohol content, nutritional information, and any major food allergens present in their products, but they haven’t discussed the warning label just yet.

There is varied evidence about how much warning labels actually impact alcohol consumption. The alcohol industry has pushed against broader labels, but public health officials including the surgeon general have become more outspoken about the need for added warnings on things like social media. More from Isa.  

The billionaire squaring up against food giants 

What do Morgan Freeman, George Clooney, and Arnold Schwarzenegger have in common? They all are central to the efforts of a new advocacy group, backed by a billionaire, that is picking a “food fight” with corporate giants over some of their most popular products, my colleague Nick Florko reports.

Nick chatted with the new group’s founder, entertainment mogul Todd Wagner, about his plans for the group and his not-so-tender feelings about food corporations and so-called ultra-processed foods. Wagner, previously a relatively unknown entity in beltway circles, tells STAT he has already scored meetings with the White House and top regulators at the FDA and USDA.

For more on the group, FoodFight USA, and Wagner’s plans, check out Nick’s story here.

What we’re reading

• Opinion: Noah Lyles’ collapse with Covid: How not to manage health at the Olympics, STAT
• In new complaint, Texas women say delayed care due to abortion laws endangered their fertility, Texas Tribune
• FDA approves EpiPen alternative, a nasal spray for anaphylaxis, STAT
• Schumer says he will work to block any effort in the Senate to significantly cut the CDC’s budget, AP News