POLITICO's Pulse Check

The Food and Drug Administration is reviewing a first-of-its-kind application from HRA Pharma for Opill. If green-lit by the agency, Opill would become the first daily, hormonal birth control pill sold without a prescription. The submission of the application follows more than six years of studies the company has run. Alice Miranda Ollstein reports.

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Stung by messaging missteps over the coronavirus crisis, baby formula shortage and abortion access, the Food and Drug Administration is planning to hire Vin Gupta, a new senior adviser to shore up the agency’s public messaging. Gupta’s hire is part of a series of high-level additions to the FDA in the last few weeks. Adam Cancryn reports.

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For decades, state lawmakers had limited avenues to control abortion. Now, the power to decide when — and whether — abortion should be legal is squarely in their hands. Megan Messerly looks at the states and people re-shaping abortion policies in 2022 and 2023.

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Federal regulations that have allowed practitioners the flexibility to prescribe buprenorphine virtually — and to patients outside their state — are due to expire along with the Covid-19 public health emergency, even as opioid deaths reach record levels. Krista Mahr reports.

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Abortion-rights advocates from around the world have met with congressional, USAID, HHS and State Department leaders to discuss concerns that their countries will be next if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade. Daniel Payne reports.

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There is no test for long Covid, and the CDC and the medical community have no official definition. But health care workers across the country are diagnosing patients who have previously contracted Covid-19 based on a wide-ranging set of symptoms. A CDC study released May 27 said that one in five adults in the U.S. may develop the condition — but there are still more questions than answers. Erin Banco reports.

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A pair of federal programs compensating people who suffer injuries from vaccines and pandemic treatments are now facing so many claims that thousands of people may not receive payment for their injuries any time soon. Covid has only made it more complicated. Lauren Gardner reports.

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Public health officials insist there is no reason to panic, but cite a growing number of cases on both sides of the Atlantic as reasons to prep and order vaccines. The outbreak is particularly unusual, as most infected patients have not traveled to West and Central Africa where the virus is endemic in animals. Carmen Paun reports.

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When friends and family got sick last year, people across Ghana scrambled to get shots. But there weren’t enough. Now, many say they don’t want the jab. Local volunteers are struggling to change their minds. Erin Banco reports.

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Blue-state governors and lawmakers from California to New York are vowing to turn their states into sanctuaries for people seeking abortions. plus, the yearslong push for over-the-counter birth control is taking on fresh urgency in the wake of a potential Supreme Court decision rolling back abortion rights. Lauren Gardner reports.

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