Health Care
Infant formula crisis could recur, former FDA official tells Congress
WASHINGTON — U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday debated if enough has changed to prevent a repeat of the infant formula shortage, more than a year after a nationwide crisis began. The U.S. House Oversight and Accountability Committee’s Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services heard from two experts that while the U.S. Food and Drug Administration […]
Detroit resident physicians file for union recognition
Adding to the ongoing surge of unionization activity in the last few years, a group of resident physicians in Detroit announced Friday that they have filed union authorization cards with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). This marks the first step of unionization for the health care workers, who work at Detroit Medical Center hospitals […]
Public comment reopened on Romulus facility that accepted waste from Ohio train derailment
After receiving toxic debris last month from an Ohio train derailment, the public comment period for a license renewal request by the operators of a hazardous waste facility in Romulus will be reopened. U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Ann Arbor) this month announced the extended public comment period, which was confirmed by the Michigan Department of […]
Column: Expanding affordable housing access will improve health and education outcomes for kids
Our state has long failed children, particularly those from families with low incomes, when it comes to education. According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Kids Count project, for the last two decades, Michigan has ranked near the bottom of the states in education, with the rate of fourth-graders not proficient in reading and eighth-graders […]
Democratic report on U.S. debt default predicts disrupted benefits for seniors, veterans
WASHINGTON — Congress’ Joint Economic Committee released a report Thursday detailing the economic repercussions of defaulting on the nation’s debt, adding fuel to the fire as Democrats pressed Republicans to address the nation’s borrowing limit without tying action to spending cuts. The report, from Democratic staff on the bipartisan Joint Economic Committee, says that a […]
What plaintiffs targeting abortion pill want might not even be possible
At the center of the federal anti-abortion lawsuit against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is the abortion drug mifepristone and the regimen that reportedly accounts for the majority of abortions in post-Roe America. That’s why the whole country is bracing itself for a ruling from a notoriously anti-abortion judge in Amarillo, Texas. The attention […]
Priorities for rail safety bill debated in U.S. Senate hearing with Norfolk Southern CEO
Members of a U.S. Senate committee on Wednesday previewed what they would push for in bipartisan rail safety legislation likely to progress through Congress in the aftermath of the East Palestine, Ohio, derailment. Democrats and Republicans on the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee hinted they wanted to strengthen requirements about reporting hazardous cargo, […]
Moderna plan to hike COVID vaccine price to $130 a dose rebuked at U.S. Senate hearing
WASHINGTON — The CEO of Moderna on Wednesday defended the company’s decision to drastically increase the price of its COVID-19 vaccine later this year, arguing that an expected drop in demand, changes to its distribution process and the overall benefit of the vaccine warrant the higher cost. That decision was met with bipartisan condemnation from […]
New Michigan COVID cases drop to under 6,000 in last week
Michigan is reporting 5,989 new COVID-19 cases, according to a weekly report the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services released Tuesday. That’s a decrease from the last report issued March 14, when the state said there were 7,438 new cases for the week. A total of 3,077,552 Michiganders have tested positive for COVID-19 since […]
Biden signs bill declassifying information on the origin of COVID-19
WASHINGTON — The U.S. director of national intelligence has three months to declassify information on potential links between China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology and the origin of COVID-19, after President Joe Biden signed legislation Monday. The bill was one of the first Biden has signed since a 118th Congress split between the two parties began […]
Ending a pregnancy in 14 states leaves few options. Some are looking to Europe and India for help.
The pills came in a dark salmon-colored envelope sealed with a plastic covering that traveled more than 7,000 miles, over a dozen time zones from Nagpur, India, in almost exactly one week. They were placed partially under the doormat of a home in a state with one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the […]
Biden administration details potential cuts in education, food aid and more under GOP plan
WASHINGTON — Federal departments and agencies say U.S. House Republicans’ plans to cut federal spending would result in reductions to key programs like food aid, education assistance and wildfire management. The series of letters from across the federal government released Monday detail exactly how plans to cut at least $130 billion in domestic spending during […]