POLITICO's Pulse Check

Katherine Ellen Foley talks with Ben Leonard about what we know and what we don't about the FDA’s recent decision making on the future of Covid-19 vaccines.

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Amazon is launching a prescription subscription service called RxPass - which for $5 per month, allows existing Prime members to get eligible generic prescription medications. Ruth Reader talks with Alice Miranda Ollstein about the service, which competes with discount drug companies like Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drug Company and GoodRx, as well as online prescription delivery services from bigger pharmacy brands like CVS.

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A federal court in California could decide whether social media firms need to pay for the damage they’ve allegedly done to Americans’ mental health. Ruth Reader talks with Carmen Paun about the consolidated complaint, which will test a novel legal theory on product liability. Plus, Krista Mahr breaks down what we know about the newly named members of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic.

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Anti-abortion groups are pushing back against Republican lawmakers in some conservative states. Alice Miranda Ollstein talks with Lauren Gardner about some groups’ fear that GOP-controlled legislatures will water down their near-total abortion bans and stir up politically contentious debates over already-vetted laws.

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Jeff Zients is on his way back to the White House as President Joe Biden’s new chief of staff, where the managerial prowess he showed as Covid czar will be put to the test. Adam Cancryn talks with Ruth Reader about his track record.

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More-than-typical shortages of common over-the-counter and prescription drugs have caused headaches for sick Americans and those managing chronic diseases. Erin Schumaker talks with Alice Miranda Ollstein about the demand shortages and supply disruptions. Plus, Alice's dispatch from the first March For Life rally on the National Mall since the fall of Roe.

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The watchdog arm of Congress  called on the Department of Health and Human Services to better oversee its funding of research into “enhanced potential pandemic pathogens.” Ben Leonard talks with Ruth Reader about why this adds fuel to a contentious debate in Washington over so-called gain-of-function research.

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Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) is aiming to introduce health care cybersecurity legislation during the first quarter of 2023 that could set minimum standards for health care organizations to protect patient data from hacking threats. Ben Leonard talks with Lauren Gardner about his conversation with Sen. Warner with thoughts from some of biggest advocacy groups in the space, CHIME and AHA.

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The Biden administration plans to widen the testing of bathroom waste for Covid variants and other pathogens when international flights arrive. Krista Mahr talks with Megan Messerly about collecting wastewater samples from long-haul flights, which administration officials and public health experts see as part of a revolution in biosafety infrastructure, and a critical plank of national security in the post-pandemic era.

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Soaring Covid and seasonal infections like flu and RSV have compounded long-term problems at the NHS. Long wait times for treatment and a chronically understaffed and burned out workforce have raised a contentious debate about whether the U.K. should move away from its single-payer system. Helen Collis talks with Lauren Gardner about what the changes could look like.

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