May 20, 2026 – The Week in Health Care News
Your digest on the happenings in health care this week | May 20, 2026
Reproductive Rights/Attacks on Medication Abortion
Last Thursday, the Supreme Court issued a ruling that keeps the abortion medication mifepristone available via telehealth while the lower court hears the case.
The Committee delivered a letter signed by over 2200 physicians calling on the Court to reaffirm patients’ access to this safe medication to the Supreme Court in advance of the ruling, and Committee physicians spoke out in the aftermath. This was covered by NC Newsline in an article titled, “Doctors voice ‘temporary relief’ as SCOTUS allows mifepristone via mail to continue for now.”
Committee Board Chair Dr. Kristen Lyerly was quoted in a Mississippi Today article titled, “The Supreme Court is deciding the fate of mail-order abortion pills. How will it affect Mississippians?”
Jessica Valenti at ABORTION, EVERY DAY laid out the politics of the ruling:
[I]n terms of the broader politics and long-term access, the decision was a mixed bag: by returning the case to a lower court, SCOTUS bought precious time for Republicans, who aren’t eager to deal with one of their most unpopular issues before the midterms. Dissents from Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas also laid out a legal roadmap for conservatives going forward—with Alito arguing that telemedicine abortion undermines the Court’s decision in Dobbs, and Thomas pointing to the Comstock Act.
Last Saturday, Virginians for Reproductive Freedom (VRF) officially launched its ballot campaign in Richmond with an incredible turnout of more than 400 supporters. The Committee was proud to have Committee Advocate Dr. Amy Nelson help kick off the campaign with powerful remarks about the importance of protecting reproductive freedom and keeping medical decisions between patients and their doctors. You can endorse the VRF HERE.
Some good news from Montana: Court affirms Montana’s Constitutional amendment to protect abortion
The Hill: Trump administration sued by veterans group over VA abortion ban. The ban prohibits abortions and counseling even in cases of rape or incest.
Health Care Affordability
STAT: Maryland state [prescription drug] affordability board places a price cap on Ozempic
STAT: Supreme Court rejects challenge to Medicare drug price negotiation
Trump Administration News
We now know why FDA chief Marty Makary quit: he didn’t support the approval of fruit-flavored nicotine vapes or the ridiculous rationale for the approvals. The agency actually said that the approvals were an effort to tamp down on underage use of e-cigarettes. Kyle Diamantas is now the FDA’s acting commissioner.
RFK Jr.’s chief spokesperson Rich Danker resigned for the same reasons. Apparently marketing addictive nicotine to children is a bridge too far for some people, at least.
PROBABLY RELATED via AP: Michigan teen tobacco use ticks up as prevention funding lags. From the article: “E-cigarettes were the most common form of tobacco used by Michigan high schoolers.”
Anti-abortion leaders are taking credit for driving out Makary. They were furious he hadn’t done more to ban mifepristone.
At an Oval Office event last week to roll out the new government website Moms.gov, a government website for expectant mothers, Dr. Oz said that “one in three Americans are under-babied.”
Jessica Valenti describes Moms.gov as “a government-run website that funnels women to crisis pregnancy centers.”
This seems like a Bad Thing, via KFF Health News: Trump and Kennedy Seek To Relax Safeguards for AI Healthcare Tools
The Trump Grift continues, via KFF Health News: Trump Bought Stock in Drugmaker as His Government Boosted Its Obesity Drugs
The Hill: White House threatens to withhold Medicaid money from [all 50] states over fraud. They’re already withholding $1.3 billion in Medicaid reimbursements to California.
The Trump administration has made sweeping demands for confidential transgender patient information from Rhode Island’s largest hospital providing gender-affirming care to minors. A federal judge basically told them to pound sand. An NYU hospital received a similar demand from the DOJ and others likely did, as well.
You really have to wonder if other countries take America seriously anymore. Via STAT:
Over a recent breakfast, U.S. officials had a message for the German ambassador: pay more for pharmaceuticals.
The meeting, between U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, chief health department adviser Chris Klomp, and German Ambassador Jens Hanefeld, was part of a larger push from the Trump administration to get other countries to pay more for medications as the U.S. pays less, according to a person familiar with the meeting.
POLITICO reports that RFK Jr. is “moving hundreds of senior [HHS] career staff to a new civil service classification that will make it easier to fire them.” That’s because Russ Vought, the architect of Project 2025 and current White House Office of Management and Budget Director, believes career staff impeded Trump’s policies during his first term.
The Hill reports that HHS has withdrawn its amended charter for the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) that would have loosened eligibility requirements, citing administrative errors. The group is returning to its original framework for the next two years.
RFK Jr.’s supporters are doing a victory lap after Sen. Bill Cassidy lost his primary in Louisiana this week.
NOTUS: TrumpRx Will Start Linking to Mark Cuban’s Discount Online Pharmacy:
Officials said Monday that more than 600 generic medications will be listed on TrumpRx.
Most of the drugs on the website can be purchased for similar prices at other online pharmacies. And the website doesn’t interact with health insurance plans, which are the primary way most Americans get their medications.
Other Health Care News
Fierce Health Care reports that a bipartisan group of lawmakers has reintroduced a bill barring PBMs from owning pharmacies. In a bit of Congressional trolling, the bill is called the Patients Before Monopolies (PBM) Act.
Virginia Mercury: Virginia becomes first Southern state to mandate paid family and medical leave for workers