Few pharmacies stock mifepristone abortion drug
Costco has confirmed that it will not sell Mifepristone, the first of two drugs used in medication abortions or to manage some miscarriages.
In fact, very few retail pharmacies dispense the drug.
That’s in part because of complicated regulatory requirements that do not exist for any other medication.
"They do not serve a medical or a biochemical or a scientific or a safety purpose. They serve zero purpose other than to restrict access to the medication," said Dr. Sarah Prager, an OB/GYN at UW Medicine.
Prager told KUOW public radio she has three ways to get the drug to her patients: They can come to her office to get it. They can go to certain UW Medicine pharmacies to get it. Or they can get it via telehealth.
Advances in AI cameras help catch wildfires faster
Summer is slowly fading, but it’s still hot. Especially in North Idaho.
“ Our fire danger today is very high,” said Kane Steinbruecker, the chief fire warden of the Clearwater-Potlatch Timber Protective Association. “We’re one step below extreme, so we’re still very much in fire season, and we want folks to understand that and to plan accordingly when they go to the woods.”
The summer fire season in North Idaho is on track to be average, he said, not better or worse than normal. But firefighting is becoming a year-round activity.
And as technology advances, firefighters are utilizing new ways of detecting fires early.
Recent advances in artificial intelligence, or AI, have made it possible to capture photos of remote parts of the forest.
A radio crackles with details about the latest wildfires at the Clearwater-Potlatch Timber Protective Association’s office. Steinbruecker looks at a monitor filled with wide-angle camera views of the mountains, covered in evergreen trees.
”They take a 360-degree panoramic photograph every two minutes, and it will compare the one that it just took to the one that it took prior,” he said.
If the AI detects a difference between the photos, the image is sent to a control center in California. A person double-checks the photos, and then sends an alert if it looks like smoke, Steinbruecker said.
“We have had dozens of fires that have been detected this year by the cameras,” said Scott Hayes, deputy fire chief for the Idaho Department of Lands.
Two of those fires, the Cherry Fire and the Center Canyon Fire, were big wildfires, he said. Early detection allows fire teams more time to assess the situation and prepare the right response.
Hayes said there is a lot of time remaining this fire season, and conditions are still hot and dry.
“We are still seeing the effects of a very dry spring and early summer,” he said. “We have been lucky with a few rain showers, but are still in drought conditions across nearly all of the state.”
Fire season can extend into November, Steinbruecker said, and with hunting season around the corner, he said to “make sure your campfires are dead out.”
Ferguson taps top Biden official for DSHS
Gov. Bob Ferguson has picked a former top Biden administration official to lead Washington’s Department of Social and Health Services.
Ferguson announced Thursday he’s appointing Angela Ramirez to the position. She served as chief of staff to former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra. She also served as a senior staff member on President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team after the 202 election and as a special assistant to the president in the Office of Legislative Affairs.
Now, Ramirez will lead a department with programs that serve nearly a quarter of Washingtonians. DSHS oversees vocational rehabilitation, long-term care, behavioral health treatment and developmental disabilities services.
WA Medicaid data can't be shared with DHS, judge says
A California judge has temporarily blocked Washington state Medicaid data from being used by the Department of Homeland Security for immigration enforcement.
The preliminary injunction prevents the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services from sharing Medicaid data with DHS.
“Protecting people’s private health information is vitally important,” Attorney General Nick Brown said in a statement. “And everyone should be able to seek medical care without fear of what the federal government may do with that information.”
Washington is part of a coalition of states suing the Trump administration over HHS’s decision to provide Homeland Security with access to individual personal health data for those enrolled in Medicaid.
About 1.9 million Washingtonians are clients of Apple Health, the state program that includes Medicaid.
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Reporting by Eilís O'Neil, Lauren Paterson and Owen Henderson.