Commentary: CDC’s Latest Abortion Numbers Is a Sobering Reminder of Monumental Task Ahead

The most recent report on abortion from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is out and, as usual, it’s grim.

The number of abortions rose from 620,327 in 2020 to 625,978 in 2021. The key drivers in this depressing increase are a greater use of dangerous chemical abortion pills and weakened safety protocols governing the use of such pills.

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Federal Audit Finds Florida Didn’t Document Prescriptions for Foster Care Kids

A report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General says Florida failed to comply with state requirements for its foster care system regarding prescription drugs.

According to the report, Florida failed to comply with requirements for documenting psychotropic and opioid medications prescribed to children living in the Florida Safe Families Network (FSFN), which is also a federal requirement in order to receive funding.

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Federal Appeals Court Allows Abortion Pill Approval to Stand, with Restrictions

A federal appeals court has allowed the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the abortion pill to temporarily stand with some limitations.

The Biden administration appealed and filed an emergency motion with the Fifth Circuit shortly after Northern District of Texas Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk issued a preliminary injunction against the FDA’s approval of the drug on Friday, a decision the administration called “extraordinary and unprecedented.” In a 2-1 ruling issued late Wednesday night, the Fifth Circuit granted in part the motion for a stay pending appeal, narrowing the judge’s ruling to apply only to rules issued by the FDA prior to 2016.

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Florida Orange Production Up, Cost of Orange Juice Below Other Food Prices Despite Inflation

There’s a silver lining to some of the hardship Florida citrus producers have faced over the past several years. Their projected crop production is an estimated 2 million box increase from the previous month, the cost for consumers to purchase Florida orange juice is lower than other food despite inflation, and their congressional delegation is advancing a bill to reform FDA standards to help growers.

Florida’s orange production is expected to surpass more than 40 million boxes in the 2021-2022 season, according to a USDA May production forecast, an increase of 2 million boxes from its April forecast.

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Expired COVID Test Controversy Turns Political

Last week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) announced approximately 800,000 to one million unadministered COVID tests stockpiled in a warehouse expired. The tests were produced by the manufacturer, Abbott, and were at-home test kits.

Democrats and progressives across Florida took unsubstantiated political shots across DeSantis’ bow.

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Commentary: Six Ways the CDC Failed During the Coronavirus Pandemic

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is the national public health agency of the United States, so it made sense that during a once-in-a-century pandemic the agency would be given a leading role. With that leadership, however, came limelight. And in so many ways during the COVID-19 pandemic, the CDC, under the spotlight, undeniably flopped.

In his recently published book, Uncontrolled Spread: Why COVID-19 Crushed Us and How We Can Defeat the Next Pandemic, former FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb critiqued numerous aspects of the worldwide response to COVID-19. Many CDC actions garnered forceful rebukes. While Gottlieb recognizes that a lot of talented, smart, and dedicated individuals work within the CDC, he says it’s hard to deny that the respected governmental agency failed in a lot of vital respects. Here are six of them:

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