Novo Nordisk is dismissing its patent infringement lawsuit against telehealth company Hims & Hers, as the two companies have reached an agreement that will see Novo Nordisk’s branded weight loss medicines sold through the Hims platform.

Early last month Hims & Hers said that it was going to launch a cheaper, off-brand version of the weight-loss pill Wegovy, just weeks after drugmaker Novo Nordisk launched its highly anticipated reformulation of the blockbuster medication. At the time, Novo Nordisk vowed to sue Hims, calling the new product “an unapproved, inauthentic, and untested knockoff” of semaglutide, the chemical name for Wegovy.

But just two days later, Hims dropped its plan to offer the cheaper, off-brand version of Wegovy. That move came a day after the Food and Drug Administration threatened to restrict access to the ingredients needed to copy popular weight-loss medications.

The FDA permits specialty pharmacies and other companies to make compounded versions of brand name drugs when they are in short supply. And the booming demand for GLP-1 drugs in recent years prompted companies like Hims to jump into the multibillion-dollar market for the drugs, with many patients willing to pay cash.

In 2024, the FDA said that GLP-1 drugs were no longer in a shortage, which was expected to put an end to the compounding. But companies like Hims relied on an exception to keep selling their versions of the medications because the practice is still permitted when a prescription is customized for the patient.

As part of the deal the two companies reached that was announced on Monday, Hims will offer oral and injectable versions of Wegovy and Ozempic on its platform later this month. Hims will also stop advertising compounded GLP-1 drugs on its platform or in its marketing.

Novo Nordisk said in a statement that it is reserving the right to refile its lawsuit in the future.

Shares of Hims & Hers Health Inc. jumped more than 36% in Monday morning trading. Despite the bump, shares are still well off their 52-week high of about $70. U.S.-listed shares of Novo Nordisk rose 1.8%.

Legislative committees at the Capitol have proposed a variety of bills that some families are calling an attack on personal freedoms, including two bills outlining vaccine authority and requirements in the state, a gun control bill brought by Gov. Ned Lamont and a bill that would replace the state’s homeschooling statute with extensive oversights to ensure “equivalent education.”

Public hearings on all three issues are slated for Wednesday morning.

While many families are discussing plans to move out of the state should the legislative proposals pass, others are organizing letter-writing campaigns, submitting testimony and gathering support to storm the Capitol in opposition.

In preparation, the Public Health Committee, which will hear the vaccine bills, has capped testimony for the public hearing at midnight, with speakers limited to 3 minutes each. The Education Committee, which authored the homeschooling bill, has capped testimony at 24 hours.

The homeschooling bill, HB 5468, currently has more than 600 written testimonies in opposition to the bill and a handful in support.

The vaccine bills on Monday morning also had hundreds of submitted testimonies.

Sen. Stephen Harding, on behalf of the Senate Republican Caucus, issued a statement regarding the hearing limits.

“What about Freedom of Speech? The party of ‘No Kings’ really likes to govern by fiat in Connecticut, don’t they? They do it because they can,” Harding wrote, pointing to the emergency session last week that approved along party lines legislation that failed last session when time expired.

“Supermajority Democrats are the ones raising these highly controversial bills on Wednesday. Instead of silencing the public and turning them away, Democrats should stay and do the job they were elected to do. Look Connecticut citizens in the eyes and hear their testimony.”

He called for residents to show up in large numbers at the Capitol Wednesday.

Right to be heard

House Republican Leader Vincent Candelora and State Rep. Nicole Klarides-Ditria, House ranking member of the Public Health Committee, released a similar statement about the public health hearing.

“Residents should take note: this is the new way Democrats are doing business in the legislature. This decision comes on the heels of their recent omnibus bill, passed under an emergency certification that conveniently bypassed public hearings altogether, and now they’re capping testimony on bills that strip parents of their voice, their rights, and for many families, close the courthouse door on their ability to challenge the state’s controversial elimination of the religious exemption for school vaccines,” Candelora and Klarides-Ditria wrote.

The pair criticized Lamont’s vaccine bill, which would give the public health commissioner authority to set the state’s vaccine requirements as also limiting the democratic process by “cutting out the legislature and parents entirely.”

In light of the change, “the legislature should offer the public the maximum input possible,” Candelora and Klarides-Ditria wrote.

Republicans were recently vocal in criticizing Democrats for going ahead with legislative meetings despite snow closing the Capitol building and the governor’s emergency declaration. While the meetings went ahead on YouTube Live, it deprived some members of the public of participating in the process, they said. Democrats said that the legislature, many state employees and public workers routinely engage in remote work.

“They can’t praise Connecticut’s open public hearing process, including the ability to testify remotely, and then slam the door shut the moment residents line up to oppose their agenda. Every Connecticut citizen who wants to be heard deserves that right,” the House Republicans said.

But committee co-chairs said in statements Friday that the time allotted to hear testimony was plenty.

“The Public Health Committee will hear more than thirteen hours of testimony on Wednesday from Connecticut residents on the vital issue of vaccination policies,” committee co-chairs Rep. Cristin McCarthy Vahey and Sen. Saud Anwar said in a joint statement. “The committee will also accept unlimited written testimony from anyone in the state before, during, and after the hearing. We welcome all voices on this important issue.”

Rep. Jennifer Leeper, co-chair of the Education Committee called testimony “critically important” to understanding the impacts of the proposed legislation but suggested that “a national call” for opposition testimony to the bill could lengthen the list of speakers.

“Hearing from the public on any legislation we propose is a critically important part of us learning how what we are proposing could impact the diverse range of stakeholders involved,” Leeper said. “Given that we don’t limit public testimony to only CT residents and that a national call was put out to advocates in opposition to this bill, we believe that limiting testimony to 24 hours is a sufficient amount of time to hear all the perspectives.”

She also said that the opportunity to offer written testimony is unlimited.

“There is state precedent for this. Should anyone not be able to testify during that 24 hours, we have no limit on written testimony and encourage anyone to submit written testimony before, during, or after the hearing. This bill will receive a thorough and detailed public discussion, and all perspectives will have the opportunity to be heard.”

Education Committee co-chair Sen. Doug McCrory could not be reached for comment.

But largely overshadowed in the furor was the order’s mention of something contentious in another way: the manufacture of munitions used by the United States military.

Bayer, which makes glyphosate, is also the only company in the United States that manufactures a form of elemental phosphorus called white phosphorus, which it uses to make the weedkiller. That white phosphorus is also used to make munitions deployed as smoke screens and incendiary devices that can violently burn property or people.

Bayer agrees to $7.25 billion proposed settlement over thousands of Roundup cancer lawsuits

Concerns about the availability of phosphorus for defense played a significant role in Trump’s move to deem Bayer’s operations a national security priority, according to two people with direct knowledge of the administration’s deliberations. One of the individuals also stressed its importance in light of recent U.S. military actions.

When asked about the significance of munitions in the Trump executive order, Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said in a phone call, “The president made this decision based on national security priorities.” She added that the administration is funding research into alternatives to the herbicide glyphosate.

Bayer’s place in America’s military and industrial supply chain is a little-known aspect of a German company that’s behind household pharmaceuticals including aspirin and Alka-Seltzer. White phosphorus ignites spontaneously when it comes in contact with oxygen. It produces a thick white smoke and can reach temperatures high enough to burn through metal.

Bayer, through its acquisition of Monsanto in 2018, operates the only facility in the United States that produces white phosphorus. It is in Soda Springs, Idaho, and uses phosphate rock the company mines locally.

Bayer uses most of that white phosphorus to make the glyphosate in Roundup, a powerful weedkiller that is a cornerstone of U.S. food production. Roundup has been the target of thousands of lawsuits for its alleged health harms, and the company has already spent billions of dollars on settlements.

The company has pushed measures in Congress, as well as in state legislatures across the country, that would shield it from such lawsuits. Bayer has also petitioned the Supreme Court to weigh in on a case that could limit the company’s liability. The court is scheduled to hear arguments in that case in April.

Bayer also supplies some white phosphorous, via intermediaries, to the U.S. military, which uses it to fill white phosphorus munitions at the Pine Bluff Arsenal in Arkansas.

Trump’s executive order declared elemental phosphorus crucial to “military readiness and national defense,” and ordered measures to ensure a continued supply. It’s a key component, the order said, in smoke, illumination and incendiary devices, as well as a critical component in semiconductors used in defense technologies.

Bayer’s role as the sole U.S. maker of white phosphorus gives the German pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals giant a position of leverage in both the agriculture and defense industries. It also carries reputational risks for Bayer, associating the company with a widely criticized herbicide as well as with the U.S. military at a time when the president has put the country on a war footing.

Jennifer Kavanagh, director of military analysis at Defense Priorities, a foreign policy think tank said white phosphorus munitions were typically used in ground operations and by special forces, not in airstrikes of the kind the United States is pursuing in Iran.

But if, for example, the administration were to take action against drug cartels in Latin America or to launch a ground operation in Cuba, forces might be expected to use “these types of white phosphorus munitions to disguise their movements,” said Kavanaugh, formerly the director of the army strategy program at the Rand Corp.

Using it isn’t illegal, though deploying it deliberately against civilians or in a civilian setting violates the laws of war.

Some environmental groups said the president’s focus on military applications is detracting attention from the health concerns linked to a weedkiller. The World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer has deemed glyphosate “probably carcinogenic to humans.”

Bayer’s Lobbying Efforts

Bayer spent more than $9 million last year to pay 53 lobbyists registered to represent the company’s interests with the White House and various federal agencies as well as in Congress, according to OpenSecrets, a nonpartisan group that tracks lobbying and campaign finance data.

Some of the Bayer lobbyists have close ties to the Trump campaign and administration. Among them is Brian Ballard, who raised more than $50 million for Trump’s 2024 campaign, according to Federal Election Commission filings, and whose former partners include White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and the attorney general, Pam Bondi.

In June, Bill Anderson, Bayer’s CEO, met with Lee Zeldin, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, to request an update on glyphosate as well as the Supreme Court case, according to internal emails obtained by the Center for Biological Diversity through a public records request.

“We’re getting a much clearer picture of the unfettered access one of most powerful pesticide corporations in the world has to top officials,” said Nathan Donley, environmental health director at the center, which sued the administration over glyphosate, saying the EPA was ignoring independent science on glyphosate’s links to cancer.

Brian Leake, a spokesperson for Bayer, said the company “meets with agencies as a normal part of the regulatory process” and that the company has been “transparent about our position on these topics and very public about the issues we face as a company.”

Leavitt said that “to suggest the administration has succumbed to lobbying efforts in the decision-making process, on this issue or any issue for that matter, is completely false.”

The administration’s actions on glyphosate have been deeply unpopular among parts of Trump’s political base, including some supporters of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Again” agenda. The corps of health conscious and mostly female voters had embraced Trump for his pledge to address Americans’ concerns about “toxins in our environments and pesticides in our food.”

There has also been criticism of the company’s lobbying efforts from within the Republican Party. Speaking on the House floor on Feb. 20, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., criticized Bayer’s lobbying drive, saying, “All three branches of this government are under siege by lobbyists and lawyers from a German company named Bayer.”

Uses of ‘Willy Pete’

White phosphorus, sometimes known by the nickname Willy Pete, can be used as a smoke screen to mask troop movements or to mark targets. But it can severely burn people who come into contact with it.

In 2023 the Biden administration said it was looking into reports by Amnesty International and in The Washington Post that Israel had used white phosphorus supplied by the United States in Lebanon, in violation of international law. Israel has denied it used white phosphorus illegally.

“It has horrible humanitarian consequences,” said Bonnie Docherty, a senior adviser at Human Rights Watch and director of the Armed Conflict and Civilian Protection Initiative at Harvard Law School. “It causes really deep burns. It’s notorious because it burns when exposed to oxygen, and wounds often reignite when bandages are removed,” she said.

The concern within the Trump administration is that if Bayer’s glyphosate business doesn’t receive protections, the United States could lose both its sole domestic supplier of the weedkiller, as well as its sole domestic source of white phosphorus for defense and other applications. Bayer executives have said publicly that the company could stop selling Roundup altogether because of the billions of dollars that the company has paid out toward its Roundup litigation.

“Right now, there’s a single point of failure in Soda Springs,” said Matt Scholz, a senior project manager at the Sustainable Phosphorus Alliance and a research professor at Arizona State University, referring to the site in Idaho where the Bayer subsidiary makes white phosphorus. “It does give pause that there’s a lack of redundancy for something that’s so essential.”

In recent weeks the administration has enacted a string of policies favorable to Bayer. In October, the federal government approved Bayer’s bid to open a new phosphate mine in Idaho. Then late last year, the Trump administration backed Bayer in the Supreme Court case, which could block many of the Roundup lawsuits.

On Feb. 17, Bayer moved to end the bulk of its current Roundup litigation, proposing a $7.25 billion class-action settlement. The next day, Trump issued his executive order in support of elemental phosphorus and glyphosate.

“It’s been an exceptionally good few weeks for Bayer,” said Nora Freeman Engstrom, a professor at Stanford Law School who has studied Bayer’s litigation and lobbying strategy.

Last week, the Trump administration filed a brief with the Supreme Court saying it formally backed Bayer in its case before the court. That legal brief referred only to food security concerns.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Cradling his newborn daughter in his lap in their Indianapolis home, JaKobi Burton’s love for the new lady in his life is evident with each caress.

The first-time dad’s commitment started months earlier. Burton attended every medical appointment and took classes with Dads to Doulas, a program created by the organization Dear Fathers that teaches Black fathers-to-be how to provide physical, mental and spiritual support up to and after childbirth.

He and his wife, Crystal Wilmot-Burton, understood that the pregnancy came with immense risk, not just because they were in their 40s but also because they are Black. Federal health data shows Black women are almost 3.5 times more likely than white women to die around the time of childbirth.

Health professionals and advocates hope that by giving Black fathers-to-be the tools to be more hands-on — through government-funded programs and nonprofit center resources — they can cut into those odds. Organizers say there has been a noticeable shift in the attitudes of some Black men who now openly discuss their pregnancy fears and insecurities.

“I want you to know that I was involved and that I was looking out for you from the very beginning, and I’m always going to be your biggest protector,” Burton tells his 1-month-old daughter. “That’s what I did from the beginning of this experience, trying to learn as much as I could.”

Paternal involvement is ‘directly correlated with better outcomes’

Health disparities, racism and equal access to prenatal care are among the contributing factors for the disparities in mortality rates among women of different races, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. Two recent viral cellphone videos — including one in Indiana — show hospital staff dismissing the concerns of Black women in labor.

The maternal mortality rate for Black women soars above that of other racial groups. They suffered 50.3 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2023, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. White women experienced 14.5. Hispanic and Asian women faced 12.4 and 10.7, respectively.

The National Healthy Start Association, which was created in 1998 to help improve infant and maternal mortality rates, has “fatherhood practitioners” at its 116 project sites. They, along with case managers, offer men assistance including webinars, a texting service and even cooking lessons.

Kenneth Scarborough, who has been the NHSA’s fatherhood and men’s health consultant for 10 years, has noticed a shift toward including male partners in the efforts to preserve the health of pregnant women.

“There’s more research that is being done to be able to change those narratives, without a shadow of a doubt,” Scarborough said. “The challenge with that is still getting these institutions to understand the value of making sure that Dad is there and he is at the table.”

Doctors still leave Black fathers “on the fringes of the conversation” while society often codifies them as “scary and rough,” said Dr. Ndidiamaka Amutah-Onukagha, founder and director of the Center of Black Maternal Health and Reproductive Justice at Tufts University.

She said she has heard countless anecdotes of fathers being ignored in the exam room, even though paternal involvement is “directly correlated with better outcomes.”

Mothers- and fathers-to-be face racism in medical institutions

Black patients are frequently advised to seek out an OB-GYN who looks like them, and Wilmot-Burton did just that.

“I thought maybe she would be more caring, be more willing to listen to my issues, which she was,” she said.

But Black doctors make up a tiny share of OB-GYNs nationwide. Of the estimated 43,700 practicing OB-GYNs, 7.5% are Black women, according to 2023 data from the American Medical Association and the Association of American Medical Colleges. Even fewer — 2.3% — are Black men.

Deborah Frazier, the CEO of National Healthy Start, said medical organizations must let go of any stigma about paternal involvement. Black and brown fathers still face stereotypes of absenteeism.

“We have data and interviews with fathers, and those fathers have told us that they wanted to be there with their partners, and they wanted be present for their births,” Frazier said.

Charles Johnson IV founded 4Kira4Moms in 2017 after his wife, Kira, bled to death during a cesarean section at Cedars-Sinai hospital in Los Angeles. Johnson sued the hospital in 2022, saying she died because of a culture of racism.

Fathers should be able to walk the line between assertive and aggressive while still being a “force in the room,” the group’s executive director Gabrielle Albert said.

“What if you happen to be 6-foot-5 and 200-something pounds? If you speak up, what’s gonna happen?” Albert said. “Let’s role-play conversations. How do you push back against the doctor?”

From dad to doula

In August — two months before Wilmot-Burton gave birth — Burton was one of a dozen prospective dads holding a Black baby doll at a Dads to Doulas workshop. Facilitator Kyra Betts Patton tells them studies show present fathers-to-be can lower the chances of premature births.

“The largest time frame for maternal mortality, you’re looking at 43 to 100 days after you’ve had a baby. No one’s there but the partner,” Patton said.

Burton said the classes gave him the courage to advocate throughout the pregnancy, and that he took a checklist of questions from the class to every appointment.

“I pushed hard prior to the delivery to make sure that our birth plan was followed, even though it wasn’t completely. But she (Phoenix) still turned out great and was delivered successfully,” said Burton. He also took classes with the Indiana Breastfeeding Coalition.

Wilmot-Burton gives her husband credit for taking these workshops while also working and attending grad school. His presence was vital, especially when she felt unwell or was nervous.

“I would encourage other Black women to make sure their partners are on board to attend some classes or read books,” she said, “and definitely go to as many appointments as they can.”

Tang reported from Phoenix.

Highly pathogenic avian influenza, or bird flu, “continues to pose a serious threat to domestic poultry” in Connecticut, according to officials. The virus is highly contagious and often fatal to birds. In recent years, bird flu outbreaks have caused significant economic losses across the country.

In Connecticut, the last confirmed cases were detected in backyard flocks in January 2025. The virus was confirmed in two backyard flocks located in New London County and New Haven County, according to the Connecticut Department of Agriculture. The backyard flock in New London County consisted of chickens, ducks and peacocks that were family pets, not commercial poultry, and had close contact with wild birds in a nearby pond, officials said. The announcement on Jan. 17, 2025 was the state’s first positive confirmation of the virus.

No cases have been detected this year, according to the agency. While the virus can cause human sickness, risk remains low, according to officials.

“Spring is an exciting time to expand or start flocks, especially for backyard owners” said Agriculture Commissioner Bryan P. Hurlburt. “This is also a high-risk period for disease spread. Through a collaborative biosecurity effort, we can reduce risks to birds, businesses, and the entire agricultural community.”

To protect both flock and human health, all live poultry being transported into Connecticut is required to have an official health certificate from the state of exportation and a permit issued by the Commissioner of Agriculture, according to the agency.

The agency said that waterfowl including mallard ducks are thought to be the principal asymptomatic carriers of HPAI.

Bird owners and the public are reminded that sick or dead birds, both wild and domestic, should not be picked up, brought home or taken to a veterinarian or wildlife rehabilitator if they are displaying signs of H5N1 infection.

Instead, backyard and commercial flock owners are encouraged to report anything unusual to the Connecticut Department of Agriculture at 860-713-2505 or ctstate.vet@ct.gov or the USDA at 866-536-7593.

The agency has outlined tips to keep poultry safe including:

• Always wash your hands with soap and water before and after handling your flock.
• Have dedicated outerwear and boot covers or boots when working with your flock. Remember to clean and disinfect them regularly.
• Look for signs of illness and report sick birds immediately to the Connecticut State Veterinarian at 860-713-2505 or ctstate.vet@ct.gov.
• Keep birds housed or in secure, covered runs to prevent contact with wild birds, especially ducks and geese.
• Protect feed and water from contamination by wildlife; avoid open ponds or surface water shared with wild waterfowl.
• Clean and disinfect equipment, footwear, and vehicles; limit visitors and require biosecurity measures.
• Separate new or returning birds from the main flock and quarantine for observation.

Stephen Underwood can be reached at sunderwood@courant.com

Tamar Abrams had a lousy couple of years in 2022 and ’23. Both her parents died; a relationship ended; she retired from communications consulting. She moved from Arlington, Virginia, to Warren, Rhode Island, where she knew all of two people.

“I was kind of a mess,” recalled Abrams, 69. Trying to cope, “I was eating myself into oblivion.” As her weight hit 270 pounds and her blood pressure, cholesterol and blood glucose levels climbed, “I knew I was in trouble health-wise.”

What came to mind? “Oh, oh, oh, Ozempic!” — the tuneful ditty from television commercials that promoted the GLP-1 medication for diabetes. The ads also pointed out that patients who took it lost weight.

Abrams remembered the commercials as “joyful” and sometimes found herself humming the jingle. They depicted Ozempic-takers cooking omelets, repairing bikes, playing pickleball — “doing everyday activities, but with verve,” she said. “These people were enjoying the hell out of life.”

So, just as such ads often urge, even though she had never been diagnosed with diabetes, she asked her doctor if Ozempic was right for her.

Small wonder Abrams recalled those ads. Novo Nordisk, which manufactures Ozempic, spent an estimated $180 million in direct-to-consumer advertising in 2022 and $189 million in 2023, according to MediaRadar, which monitors advertising.

By last year, the sum — including radio and TV commercials, billboards, and print and digital ads — had reached an estimated $201 million, and total spending on direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription drugs topped $9 billion, by MediaRadar’s calculations.

Novo Nordisk declined to address those numbers.

Should it be legal to market drugs directly to potential patients? This controversy, which has simmered for decades, has begun receiving renewed attention from both the Trump administration and legislators.

The question has particular relevance for older adults, who contend with more medical problems than younger people and are more apt to take prescription drugs. “Part of aging is developing health conditions and becoming a target of drug advertising,” said Steven Woloshin, who studies health communication and decision-making at the Dartmouth Institute.

The debate over direct-to-consumer ads dates to 1997, when the FDA loosened restrictions and allowed prescription drug ads on television as long as they included a rapid-fire summary of major risks and provided a source for further information.

“That really opened the door,” said Abby Alpert, a health economist at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

The introduction of Medicare Part D, in 2006, brought “a huge expansion in prescription drug coverage and, as a result, a big increase in pharmaceutical advertising,” Alpert added. A study she co-wrote in 2023 found that pharmaceutical ads were much more prevalent in areas with a high proportion of residents 65 and older.

Industry and academic research have shown that ads influence prescription rates. Patients are more apt to make appointments and request drugs, either by brand name or by category, and doctors often comply. Multiple follow-up visits may ensue.

But does that benefit consumers? Most developed countries take a hard pass. Only New Zealand and, despite the decadelong opposition of the American Medical Association, the United States allow direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertising.

Public health advocates argue that such ads encourage the use and overuse of expensive new medications, even when existing, cheaper drugs work as effectively. (Drug companies don’t bother advertising once patents expire and generic drugs become available.)

In a 2023 study in JAMA Network Open, for instance, researchers analyzed the “ therapeutic value” of the drugs most advertised on television, based on the assessments of independent European and Canadian organizations that negotiate prices for approved drugs.

Nearly three-quarters of the top-advertised medications didn’t perform markedly better than older ones, the analysis found.

“Often, really good drugs sell themselves,” said Aaron Kesselheim, senior author of the study and director of the Program on Regulation, Therapeutics, and Law at Harvard University.

“Drugs without added therapeutic value need to be pushed, and that’s what direct-to-consumer advertising does,” he said.

Opponents of a ban on such advertising say it benefits consumers. “It provides information and education to patients, makes them aware of available treatments and leads them to seek care,” Alpert said. That is “especially important for underdiagnosed conditions,” like depression.

Moreover, she wrote in a recent JAMA Health Forum commentary, direct-to-consumer ads lead to increased use not only of brand-name drugs but also of non-advertised substitutes, including generics.

The Trump administration entered this debate last September, with a presidential memorandum calling for a return to the pre-1997 policy severely restricting direct-to-consumer drug advertising.

That position has repeatedly been urged by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has charged that “pharmaceutical ads hooked this country on prescription drugs.”

At the same time, the FDA said it was issuing 100 cease-and-desist orders about deceptive drug ads and sending “thousands” of warnings to pharmaceutical companies to remove misleading ads. Marty Makary, the FDA commissioner, blasted drug ads in an essay in The New York Times.

“There’s a lot of chatter,” Woloshin said of those actions. “I don’t know that we’ll see anything concrete.”

This month, however, the FDA notified Novo Nordisk that the agency had found its TV spot for a new oral version of Wegovy false and misleading. Novo Nordisk said in an email that it was “in the process of responding to the FDA” to address the concerns.

Meanwhile, Democratic and independent senators who rarely align with the Trump administration also have introduced legislation to ban or limit direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical ads.

Last February, independent Sen. Angus King of Maine and two other sponsors introduced a bill prohibiting direct-to-consumer ads for the first three years after a drug gains FDA approval.

King said in an email that the act would better inform consumers “by making sure newly approved drugs aren’t allowed to immediately flood the market with ads before we fully understand their impact on the general public.”

Then, in June, he and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont proposed legislation to ban such ads entirely. That might prove difficult, Woloshin said, given the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling protecting corporate speech.

Moreover, direct-to-consumer ads represent only part of the industry’s promotional efforts. Pharmaceutical firms actually spend more money advertising to doctors than to consumers.

Although television still accounts for most consumer spending, because it’s expensive, Kesselheim pointed to “the mostly unregulated expansion of direct-to-consumer ads onto the web” as a particular concern. Drug sales themselves are bypassing doctors’ practices by moving online.

Woloshin said that “disease awareness campaigns” — for everything from shingles to restless legs — don’t mention any particular drug but are “often marketing dressed up as education.”

He advocates more effective educational campaigns, he said, “to help consumers become more savvy and skeptical and able to recognize reliable versus unreliable information.”

For example, Woloshin and Lisa Schwartz, a late colleague, designed and tested a simple “ drug facts box,” similar to the nutritional labeling on packaged foods, that summarizes and quantifies the benefits and harms of medications.

For now, consumers have to try to educate themselves about the drugs they see ballyhooed on TV.

Abrams read a lot about Ozempic. Her doctor agreed that trying it made sense.

Abrams was referred to an endocrinologist, who decided that her blood glucose was high enough to warrant treatment. Three years later and 90 pounds lighter, she feels able to scramble after her 2-year-old grandson, enjoys Zumba classes, and no longer needs blood pressure or cholesterol drugs.

So Abrams is unsure, she said, how to feel about a possible ban on direct-to-consumer drug ads.

“If I hadn’t asked my new doctor about it, would she have suggested Ozempic?” Abrams wondered. “Or would I still weigh 270 pounds?”

The New Old Age is produced through a partnership with The New York Times.

©2026 KFF Health News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

“Researchers are now starting to understand why another species—the golden spiny mouse—seems to be unhindered by the negative health effects that typically accompany aging.
[S]ome of these golden spiny mice are living out in the desert for up to five years.” Vishwa Deep Dixit, DVM, PhDWaldemar Von Zedtwitz Professor of Pathology and Professor of Immunobiology

Reporting Feb. 25 in Science Advances, researchers at Yale School of Medicine have begun to uncover how this wild mouse, native to rocky deserts in the Middle East, resists physical, cognitive, and immunological decline while living six to seven times longer than other wild mice.

“Mice in the wild typically live around nine months,” says senior author Vishwa Deep Dixit, DVM, PhD, Waldemar Von Zedtwitz Professor of Pathology at YSM. “But some of these golden spiny mice are living out in the desert for up to five years. And that’s just what we’ve been able to observe; their maximum lifespan is unknown.”

They’re not only living longer, but also very active throughout their lifespans.

“In order to live that long, they have to forage, they have to avoid predators,” says Dixit, who is also a professor of comparative medicine and of immunobiology at YSM and director of the Yale Center for Research on Aging (Y-Age). “So it’s not like they’re living this long in a way that we would think of as ‘aged.’”

The question, says lead author Hee-Hoon Kim, PhD, a postdoctoral associate in Dixit’s lab, is why some species like the golden spiny mouse age so gracefully while others don’t.

Reduced physical and cognitive aging

In collaboration with researchers at Tel Aviv University, the researchers observed young and old golden spiny mice and compared them with closely related species.

They found a number of ways in which golden spiny mice excel, and three abilities stood out that could help explain their question of graceful aging.

First, this species was already known to repair its skin wounds without any sign of scarring. The researchers discovered that this isn’t limited to young mice; golden spiny mice maintain this ability through advanced age.

Secondly, the mice had healthy thymus glands well into old age. In humans, the thymus sits above the heart and produces a type of white blood cell that’s critical to immune system function. In all vertebrates, the thymus degenerates very rapidly with age.

“Aging of the thymus actually precedes aging of all the other organs,” says Dixit. “But even in very old golden spiny mice, the thymus is structurally and functionally intact. And perhaps this gives the mice a much stronger immune system into old age.”

The researchers also found that older golden spiny mice didn’t appear to have the declines in learning and memory one would expect of an aging animal.

“These are all of the major pathways that decline with age,” says Dixit. “Understanding how they’re maintained through age in this species could be of extreme importance.”

Keeping inflammation in check

Chronic low-grade inflammation worsens as we age—a process known as “inflammaging.” Much of this occurs in fat tissue. The researchers looked at gene expression in golden spiny mouse fat tissue for clues as to how the mouse evades inflammaging, and they came across a protein called clusterin.

Clusterin helps get rid of misfolded proteins in the body, limiting their toxic effects. It has been linked to reduced neuroinflammation in Alzheimer’s disease and longer lifespan in many mammals, humans included (people 100 years or older tend to have higher concentrations of clusterin, for instance). In aged golden spiny mice, immune cells in fat tissue highly express the gene that codes for clusterin.

To test clusterin’s effects more directly, the researchers administered the protein to regular lab mice. They found that it conferred some of the healthy aging effects they observed in golden spiny mice—the lab mice experienced less motor decline and had healthier organs than mice that didn’t receive clusterin. They also showed signs of reduced inflammaging. The researchers observed these benefits in human white blood cells exposed to clusterin as well.

“We think that clusterin is one of the key operators of how golden spiny mice resist age-related decline,” says Kim. “This is a small start to a big narrative.”

Evolutionary advantages

Animals in the wild don’t die of old age. Often their ends are brought on by predators, lack of food, or infection. Because of this, healthy aging isn’t something natural selection can select for—not enough animals live long enough for healthy aging traits to confer an advantage to their species’ survival.

But golden spiny mice have made some adaptations that give them a better chance at longer life. Rather than being nocturnal, for instance, these mice are active in the daytime, allowing them to avoid food competition among other mouse species and the predators that come out at night when other mice are active.

Golden spiny mice are also resistant to toxins, and they can survive prolonged periods of starvation by downregulating their energy expenditures. This enables them to use less energy while still being active enough to seek out food. And the mice grant themselves a head start early in life. Pups are born more developed than other mice and multiple females take care of pups, giving them a higher chance of survival.

“So they have many ways of avoiding death,” says Dixit. “And we think that natural selection is then able to endow those healthy aging traits, which are then passed on from generation to generation.”

It’s clear, say the researchers, that golden spiny mice have metabolic pathways that control resilience to aging. And it seems other mice—and humans—may have these pathways too, they’ve just gone dormant for some reason or another. But they can be reactivated by proteins like clusterin.

These pathways, says Dixit, may be a way to enhance aging and longevity in humans. “We think that these are going to be stepping stones for new drugs in the future

Mallory Locklear is managing editor—Science, Research, and Education, Yale School of Medicine. This story is used in cooperation with Yale School of Medicine.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Most of America “springs forward” Sunday for daylight saving time. Losing that hour of sleep can do more than leave you tired and cranky the next day; it also could harm your health.

Darker mornings and more evening light knock your body clock out of whack — which means daylight saving time can usher in sleep trouble for weeks or longer. Studies have even found an uptick in heart attacks and strokes right after the March time change.

There are ways to ease the adjustment, including getting more sunshine to help reset your circadian rhythm for healthful sleep.

When does daylight saving time start?

Daylight saving time begins Sunday at 2 a.m., an hour of sleep vanishing in most of the U.S. The ritual will reverse on Nov. 1 when clocks “fall back” as daylight saving time ends.

Hawaii and most of Arizona don’t make the spring switch, sticking to standard time year-round — along with Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Worldwide, dozens of countries also observe daylight saving time, starting and ending at different dates.

Some people try to prepare for daylight saving time by going to bed a little earlier two or three nights ahead. While getting back on schedule after an hour’s change may not be that difficult for some people, it’s an added challenge for the third of U.S. adults who already don’t get the recommended seven hours of nightly shuteye.

What happens to your brain when it’s lighter later?

The brain has a master clock that is set by exposure to sunlight and darkness. This circadian rhythm is a roughly 24-hour cycle that determines when we become sleepy and when we’re more alert. The patterns change with age, one reason that early-to-rise youngsters evolve into hard-to-wake teens.

Morning light resets the rhythm. By evening, levels of a hormone called melatonin begin to surge, triggering drowsiness. Too much light in the evening — that extra hour from daylight saving time — delays that surge and the cycle gets out of sync.

Sleep deprivation is linked to heart disease, cognitive decline, obesity and numerous other problems. And that circadian clock affects more than sleep, also influencing things like heart rate, blood pressure, stress hormones and metabolism.

How does the time change affect your health?

Fatal car crashes temporarily jump the first few days after the spring time change, according to a study of U.S. traffic fatalities. The risk was highest in the morning, and researchers attributed it to sleep deprivation.

Then there’s the cardiac connection. The American Heart Association points to studies that suggest an uptick in heart attacks on the Monday after daylight saving time begins, and in strokes for two days afterward.

Doctors already know that heart attacks, especially severe ones, are a bit more common on Mondays generally — and in the morning, when blood is more clot-prone.

Researchers don’t know why the time change would add to that Monday connection but it’s possible the abrupt circadian disruption exacerbates factors such as high blood pressure in people already at risk.

How to adjust to daylight saving time

Go outside for early morning sunshine that first week of daylight saving time, which can help reset your body’s internal clock. Moving up daily routines, like dinner time or when you exercise, also may help cue your body to start adapting, sleep experts advise.

Afternoon naps and caffeine as well as evening light from phones and other electronic devices can make adjusting to an earlier bedtime even harder.

Will the U.S. ever eliminate the time change?

Every year there’s talk about ending the time change. Before starting his second term, President Donald Trump promised to eliminate daylight saving time. A bipartisan bill named the Sunshine Protection Act to make daylight saving time permanent has repeatedly stalled in Congress.

But that’s the opposite of what some health groups recommend. The American Medical Association and American Academy of Sleep Medicine agree it’s time to do away with time switches but say sticking with standard time year-round aligns better with the sun — and human biology — for more consistent sleep.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

More than 10,000 people have enrolled in Nevada’s new public option health plans, which debuted last fall with the expectation that they would bring lower prices to the health insurance market.

Those preliminary numbers from the open enrollment period that ended in January are less than a third of what state officials had projected. Nevada is the third state so far to launch a public option plan, along with Colorado and Washington state. The idea is to offer lower-cost plans to consumers to expand health care access.

But researchers said plans like these are unlikely to fill the gaps left by sweeping federal changes, including the expiration of enhanced subsidies for plans bought on Affordable Care Act marketplaces.

The public option gained attention in the late 2000s when Congress considered but ultimately rejected creating a health plan funded and run by the government that would compete with private carriers in the market. The programs in Washington state, Colorado, and Nevada don’t go that far — they aren’t government-run but are private-public partnerships that compete with private insurance.

In recent years, states have considered creating public option plans to make health coverage more affordable and to reduce the number of uninsured people. Washington was the first state to launch a program, in 2021, and Colorado followed in 2023.

Washington and Colorado’s programs have run into challenges, including a lack of participation from clinicians, hospitals, and other care providers, as well as insurers’ inability to meet rate reduction benchmarks or lower premiums compared with other plans offered on the market.

Nevada law requires that the carriers of the public option plans — Battle Born State Plans, named after a state motto — lower premium costs compared with a benchmark “silver” plan in the marketplace by 15% over the next four years.

But that amount might not make much difference to consumers with rising premium payments from the loss of the ACA’s enhanced tax credits, said Keith Mueller, director of the Rural Policy Research Institute.

“That’s not a lot of money,” Mueller said.

Three of the eight insurers on the state’s exchange, Nevada Health Link, offered the state plans during the open enrollment period.

Insurance companies plan to meet the lower premium cost requirement in Nevada by cutting broker fees and commissions, which prompted opposition from insurance brokers in the state. In response, Nevada marketplace officials told state lawmakers in January that they will give a flat-fee reimbursement to brokers.

The public option has faced opposition among state leaders. In 2024, a state judge dismissed a lawsuit, brought by a Nevada state senator and a group that advocates for lower taxes, that challenged the public option law as unconstitutional. They have appealed to the state Supreme Court.

Federal policy impacts

Recent federal changes create more obstacles.

Nevada is consistently among the states with the largest populations of people who do not have health insurance coverage. Last year, nearly 95,000 people in the state received the enhanced ACA tax credits, averaging $465 in savings per month, according to KFF, a health information nonprofit that includes KFF Health News.

But the enhanced tax credits expired at the end of the year, and it appears unlikely that lawmakers will bring them back. Nationwide ACA enrollment has decreased by more than 1 million people so far this year, down from record-high enrollment of 24 million last year.

About 4 million people are expected to lose health coverage from the expiration of the tax credits, according to the Congressional Budget Office. An additional 3 million are projected to lose coverage because of other policy changes affecting the marketplace.

Justin Giovannelli, an associate research professor at the Center on Health Insurance Reforms at Georgetown University, said the changes to the ACA in the Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which President Donald Trump signed into law last summer, will make it more difficult for people to keep their coverage. These changes include more frequent enrollment paperwork to verify income and other personal information, a shortened enrollment window, and an end to automatic reenrollment.

In Nevada, the changes would amount to an estimated 100,000 people losing coverage, according to KFF.

“All of that makes getting coverage on Nevada Health Link harder and more expensive than it would be otherwise,” Giovannelli said.

State officials projected ahead of open enrollment that about 35,000 people would purchase the public option plans. Of the 104,000 people who had purchased a plan on the state marketplace as of mid-January, 10,762 had enrolled in one of the public option plans, according to Nevada Health Link.

Katie Charleson, communications officer for the state health exchange, said the original enrollment estimate was based on market conditions before the recent increases in customers’ premium costs. She said that the public option plans gave people facing higher costs more choices.

“We expect enrollment in Battle Born State Plans to grow over time as awareness increases and as Nevadans continue seeking quality coverage options that help reduce costs,” Charleson said.

According to KFF, nationally the enhanced subsidies saved enrollees an average of $705 annually in 2024, and enrollees would save an estimated $1,016 in premium payments on average in 2026 if the subsidies were still in place. Without the subsidies, people enrolled in the ACA marketplace could be seeing their premium costs more than double.

Insights from Washington and Colorado

Washington and Colorado are not planning to alter their programs due to the expiration of the tax credits, according to government officials in those states.

Other states that had recently considered creating public options have backtracked. Minnesota officials put off approving a public option in 2024, citing funding concerns. Proposals to create public options in Maine and New Mexico also sputtered.

Washington initially saw meager enrollment in its Cascade Select public option plans; only 1% of state marketplace enrollees chose a public option plan in 2021. But that changed after lawmakers required hospitals to contract with at least one public option plan by 2023. Last year the state reported that 94,000 customers enrolled, accounting for 30% of all customers on the state marketplace. The public option plans were the lowest-premium silver plans in 31 of Washington’s 39 counties in 2024.

A 2025 study found that since Colorado implemented its public option, called the Colorado Option, coverage through the ACA marketplace has become more affordable for enrollees who received subsidies but more expensive for enrollees who did not.

Colorado requires all insurers offering coverage through its marketplace to include a public option that follows state guidelines. The state set premium reduction targets of 5% a year for three years beginning in 2023. Starting this year, premium costs are not allowed to outpace medical inflation.

Though the insurers offering the public option did not meet the premium reduction targets, enrollment in the Colorado Option has increased every year it has been available. Last year, the state saw record enrollment in its marketplace, with 47% of customers purchasing a public option plan.

Giovannelli said states are continuing to try to make health insurance more affordable and accessible, even if federal changes reduce the impact of those efforts.

“States are reacting and trying to continue to do right by their residents,” Giovannelli said, “but you can’t plug all those gaps.”

©2026 KFF Health News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles County banned sales of kratom and 7-OH in November following overdose deaths, but experts question whether the drugs alone caused the fatalities.

Residents who relied on kratom for chronic pain and opioid withdrawal now struggle to access the substance, turning to online orders and black markets.

The crackdown highlights divisions between health officials seeking to prevent deaths and users viewing kratom as an affordable alternative to prescription painkillers.

Nearly four months ago, Los Angeles County banned the sale of kratom, as well as 7-OH, the synthetic version of the alkaloid that is its active ingredient. The idea was to put an end to what at the time seemed like a rash of overdose deaths related to the drug.

It’s too soon to tell whether kratom-related deaths have dissipated as a result — or, really, whether there was ever actually an epidemic to begin with. But many L.A. residents had become reliant on kratom as something of a panacea for debilitating pain and opioid withdrawal symptoms, and the new rules have made it harder for them to find what they say has been a lifesaving drug.

Robert Wallace started using kratom a few years ago for his knees. For decades he had been in pain, which he says stems from his days as a physical education teacher for the Glendale Unified School District between 1989 and 1998, when he and his students primarily exercised on asphalt.

In 2004, he had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee, followed by varicose vein surgery on both legs. Over the next couple of decades, he saw pain-management specialists regularly. But the primary outcome was a growing dependence on opioid-based painkillers. “I found myself seeking doctors who would prescribe it,” he said.

He leaned on opioids when he could get them and alcohol when he couldn’t, resulting in a strain on his marriage.

When Wallace was scheduled for his first knee replacement in 2021 (he had his other knee replaced a few years later), his brother recommended he take kratom for the post-surgery pain.

It seemed to work: Wallace said he takes a quarter of a teaspoon of powdered kratom twice a day, and it lets him take charge of managing his pain without prescription painkillers and eases harsh opiate-withdrawal symptoms.

He’s one of many Angelenos frustrated by recent efforts by the county health department to limit access to the drug. “Kratom has impacted my life in only positive ways,” Wallace told The Times.

For now, Wallace is still able to get his kratom powder, called Red Bali, by ordering from a company in Florida.

However, advocates say that the county crackdown on kratom could significantly affect the ability of many Angelenos to access what they say is an affordable, safer alternative to prescription painkillers.

Kratom comes from the leaves of a tree native to Southeast Asia called Mitragyna speciosa. It has been used for hundreds of years to treat chronic pain, coughing and diarrhea as well as to boost energy — in low doses, kratom appears to act as a stimulant, though in higher doses, it can have effects more like opioids.

Though advocates note that kratom has been used in the U.S. for more than 50 years for all sorts of health applications, there is limited research that suggests kratom could have therapeutic value, and there is no scientific consensus.

Then there’s 7-OH, or 7-Hydroxymitragynine, a synthetic alkaloid derived from kratom that has similar effects and has been on the U.S. market for only about three years. However, because of its ability to bind to opioid receptors in the body, it has a higher potential for abuse than kratom.

Public health officials and advocates are divided on kratom. Some say it should be heavily regulated — and 7-OH banned altogether — while others say both should be accessible, as long as there are age limitations and proper labeling, such as with alcohol or cannabis.

In the U.S., kratom and 7-OH can be found in all sorts of forms, including powder, capsules and liquids — though it depends on exactly where you are in the country. Though the Food and Drug Administration has recommended that 7-OH be included as a Schedule 1 controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act, that hasn’t been made official. And the plant itself remains unscheduled on the federal level.

That has left states, counties and cities to decide how to regulate the substances.

California failed to approve an Assembly bill in 2024 that would have required kratom products to be registered with the state, have labeling and warnings, and be prohibited from being sold to anyone younger than 21.

It would also have banned products containing synthetic versions of kratom alkaloids. The state Legislature is now considering another bill that basically does the same without banning 7-OH — while also limiting the amount of synthetic alkaloids in kratom and 7-OH products sold in the state.

“Until kratom and its pharmacologically active key ingredients mitragynine and 7-OH are approved for use, they will remain classified as adulterants in drugs, dietary supplements and foods,” a California Department of Public Health spokesperson previously told The Times.

On Tuesday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that the state’s efforts to crack down on kratom products has resulted in the removal of more than 3,300 kratom and 7-OH products from retail stores. According to a news release from the governor’s office, there has been a 95% compliance rate from businesses in removing the products.

Newsom has equated these actions to the state’s efforts in 2024 to quash the sale of hemp products containing cannabinoids such as THC. Under emergency state regulations two years ago, California banned these specific hemp products and agents with the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control seized thousands of products statewide.

Since the beginning of 2026, there have been no reported violations of the ban on sales of such products.

“We’ve shown with illegal hemp products that when the state sets clear expectations and partners with businesses, compliance follows,” Newsom said in a statement. “This effort builds on that model — education first, enforcement where necessary — to protect Californians.”

Despite the state’s actions, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is still considering whether to regulate kratom, or ban it altogether.

The county Public Health Department’s decision to ban the sale of kratom didn’t come out of nowhere. As Maral Farsi, deputy director of the California Department of Public Health, noted during a Feb. 18 state Senate hearing, the agency “identified 362 kratom-related overdose deaths in California between 2019 and 2023, with a steady increase from 38 in 2019 up to 92 in 2023.”

However, some experts say those numbers aren’t as clear-cut as they seem.

For example, a Los Angeles Times investigation found that in a number of recent L.A. County deaths that were initially thought to be caused by kratom or 7-OH, there wasn’t enough evidence to say those drugs alone caused the deaths; it might be the case that the danger is in mixing them with other substances.

Meanwhile, the actual application of this new policy seems to be piecemeal at best.

The county Public Health Department told The Times it conducted 2,696 kratom-related inspections between Nov. 10 and Jan. 27, and found 352 locations selling kratom products. The health department said the majority stopped selling kratom after those inspections; there were nine locations that ignored the warnings, and in those cases, inspectors impounded their kratom products.

But the reality is that people who need kratom will buy it on the black market, drive far enough so they get to where it’s sold legally or, like Wallace, order it online from a different state.

For now, retailers who sell kratom products are simply carrying on until they’re investigated by county health inspectors.

Ari Agalopol, a decorated pianist and piano teacher, saw her performances and classes abruptly come to a halt in 2012 after a car accident resulted in severe spinal and knee injuries.

“I tried my best to do traditional acupuncture, physical therapy and hydrocortisone shots in my spine and everything,” she said. “Finally, after nothing was working, I relegated myself to being a pain-management patient.”

She was prescribed oxycodone, and while on the medication, battled depression, anhedonia and suicidal ideation. She felt as though she were in a fog when taking oxycodone, and when it ran out, ”the pain would rear its ugly head.” Agalopol struggled to get out of bed daily and could manage teaching only five students a week.

Then, looking for alternatives to opioids, she found a Reddit thread in which people were talking up the benefits of kratom.

“I was kind of hesitant at first because there’re so many horror stories about 7-OH, but then I researched and I realized that the natural plant is not the same as 7-OH,” she said.

She went to a local shop, Authentic Kratom in Woodland Hills, and spoke to a sales associate who helped her decide which of the 47 strains of kratom it sold would best suit her needs.

Agalopol currently takes a 75-milligram dose of mitragynine, the primary alkaloid in kratom, when necessary. It has enabled her to get back to where she was before her injury: teaching 40 students a week and performing every weekend.

Agalopol believes the county hasn’t done its homework on kratom. “They’re just taking these actions because of public pressure, and public pressure is happening because of ignorance,” she said.

During the course of reporting this story, Authentic Kratom has shut down its three locations; it’s unclear if the closures are temporary. The owner of the business declined to comment on the matter.

When she heard the news of the recent closures, Agalopol was seething. She told The Times she has enough capsules of kratom for now, but when she runs out, her option will have to be Tylenol and ibuprofen, “which will slowly kill my liver.”

“Prohibition is not a public health strategy,” said Jackie Subeck, executive director of 7-Hope Alliance, a nonprofit that promotes safe and responsible access to 7-OH for consumers, at the Feb. 18 Senate hearing. “[It’s] only going to make things worse, likely resulting in an entirely new health crisis for Californians.”

©2026 Los Angeles Times. Visit at latimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.