The latest health care news from The Texas Tribune.
Some experts doubt that classifying gender-affirming care as child abuse would hold up in court, but families still feel targeted by Gov. Greg Abbott’s new order Full Story
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The federal agency’s new guidance says most healthy Americans don’t need to wear masks in public. It marks a turning point in the pandemic. Full Story
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One international nonprofit saw a more than 1,000% increase in requests for the two-drug regimen, which state law prohibits sending through the mail. Full Story
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Around 40% of the foster children in the state’s care who are ages 5 and older have not received a COVID-19 vaccine despite being eligible. Full Story
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Abortion providers are trying to find a legal avenue that will allow them to directly challenge new restrictions that have effectively banned the procedure after about six weeks of pregnancy. Full Story
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Attorneys who helped design Texas’ novel abortion ban have asked a judge to allow them to depose the leaders of two abortion funds, seeking information about anyone who may have “aided or abetted” in a prohibited procedure. Full Story
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More than 1 in 6 teenagers who gave birth in Texas in 2020 already had a child. Texas does not require sex education and has the strictest abortion law in the nation. Full Story
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COVID-19 numbers are plummeting statewide, but on Texas’ southern border with Mexico, Laredo is still battling its fourth surge. Full Story
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The lawsuit, filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and U.S. Rep. Beth Van Duyne, is the latest in a string of measures to limit coronavirus safety measures. Full Story
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Texas and entities in the settlement will receive the money, which will principally go toward opioid overdose treatment, prevention and education, over the next 18 years. Full Story
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Corbevax, a low-cost coronavirus vaccine created in Houston, could be a better weapon against COVID-19 by reaching the unvaccinated in poorer countries. Full Story
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The COVID vaccine is proven safe during all stages of pregnancy, and pregnant patients are at an increased risk of getting seriously ill if they contract the virus. Still, many pregnant women hesitate. Full Story
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Texas falls short, again, of the pandemic record for COVID-19 hospitalizations, while daily deaths are expected to continue rising for several more days. Full Story
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Hospital admissions for teenage girls who may have attempted suicide have increased 50% nationwide. Texas does not have sufficient mental health resources to help them. Full Story
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The omicron variant has resulted in record-high COVID-19 cases in Texas schools. Despite student and staff absences, one Round Rock student said schools are remaining open for in-person learning “while everything around us is falling down.” Full Story
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On this week’s episode, Matthew speaks with Abby and Karen about U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar’s legal situation and whether the omicron wave is receding. Full Story
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A staffing crisis and the surge from the omicron variant have pushed the number of Texas ICU beds to a new record low. The shortage affects not just patients with the coronavirus, but every Texan seeking serious medical care. Full Story
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Public health officials have played a crucial role in vaccination efforts and tracking the spread of the virus. But different needs from their communities and insufficient aid have complicated the work. Full Story
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The justice struck down a Texas-led challenge to the Affordable Care Act, wrote the majority opinion in a ruling that stopped abortion restrictions in 2013 and was the swing vote in a case that helped keep a Texas Capitol monument inscribed with the Ten Commandments. Full Story
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With less than five weeks left in the primary election season, there is no shortage of political issues to debate. But most of the political conversation isn’t about the election. Full Story
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