Month: January 2023

The past year has been difficult for startups everywhere, but running a company in Ukraine during the Russian invasion comes with a whole different set of challenges.

Clinical psychologist Ivan Osadchyy brought his medical device, called Knopka, to this year’s consumer technology show known as CES in Las Vegas in hopes of getting it into U.S. hospitals.

His is one of a dozen Ukrainian startups backed by a government fund that are at CES this year to show their technology to the world.

“Two of our hospitals we operated before are ruined already and one is still occupied. So this is the biggest challenge,” Osadchyy said.

“The second challenge is for production and our team because they are shelling our electricity system and people are hard to work without lights, without heating in their flats,” he said.

Inspired by grandmother

He came up with the device after spending a year with his own grandmother in the hospital and finding that he had to track down nurses when she needed something.

The system works by notifying nurses when a patient has an abnormal heart rate, is due for treatment or otherwise needs help. The nurse can’t turn off their button until they’ve dealt with the issue.

“We are still working and operating because hospitals are open and we need to support them and provide efficiency and safety for patients as well,” he said.

Karina Kudriavtseva of the government-backed Ukrainian Startup Fund, says that, like Knopka, all the country’s startups have kept going since Russia’s invasion almost a year ago.

“The times have changed, their conditions have changed, but it can only make them stronger because all of the startups are working on the thing that to save the company, save the team, save the business, and save their lives, of course,” she said.

Conflict led to relocation, innovation

The invasion forced Valentyn Frechka to relocate to France, but he says his Releaf paper company has never stopped production.

When he was 16, Frechka decided to study alternative sources of cellulose in order to decrease deforestation. He’s now developed a technology that uses fallen leaves and recycled fiber to make paper.

The company’s main product is paper shopping bags, but they also make food packaging, egg trays and corrugated boxes.

Frechka said the conflict has forced the company to become more flexible and more open to opportunities.

“When this conflict happened and we located our company to France, we have found a lot of new partners and we have raised fundraising. We have raised the money for our needs,” he said. “So, it really makes us more open for the world.”
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A 38-year-old retired NASA satellite is about to fall from the sky.

NASA said Friday the chance of wreckage falling on anybody is “very low.” Most of the 5,400-pound (2,450-kilogram) satellite will burn up upon reentry, according to NASA. But some pieces are expected to survive.

The space agency put the odds of injury from falling debris at about 1-in-9,400.

The science satellite is expected to come down Sunday night, give or take 17 hours, according to the Defense Department.

The California-based Aerospace Corp., however, is targeting Monday morning, give or take 13 hours, along a track passing over Africa, Asia the Middle East and the westernmost areas of North and South America.

The Earth Radiation Budget Satellite, known as ERBS, was launched in 1984 aboard the space shuttle Challenger. Although its expected working lifetime was two years, the satellite kept making ozone and other atmospheric measurements until its retirement in 2005. The satellite studied how Earth absorbed and radiated energy from the sun.

The satellite got a special send-off from Challenger. America’s first woman in space, Sally Ride, released the satellite into orbit using the shuttle’s robot arm. That same mission also featured the first spacewalk by a U.S. woman: Kathryn Sullivan. It was the first time two female astronauts flew in space together.

It was the second and final spaceflight for Ride, who died in 2012.
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 U.S. health officials on Friday approved a closely watched Alzheimer’s drug that’s been shown to modestly slow the early stages of the brain-robbing disease, albeit with potential safety risks that doctors and patients will have to weigh carefully.

The drug, Leqembi, is the first that’s been convincingly shown to slow the decline in memory and thinking that defines Alzheimer’s by targeting the disease’s underlying biology. The Food and Drug Administration approved it specifically for patients with mild or early cases of dementia.

An uncommon success

Leqembi, from Japan’s Eisai and its U.S. partner Biogen, is a rare success in a field accustomed to failed experimental treatments for the incurable condition. The delay in cognitive decline brought about by the drug likely amounts to just several months, but some experts say it could still meaningfully improve people’s lives.

“This drug is not a cure. It doesn’t stop people from getting worse, but it does measurably slow the progression of the disease,” said Dr. Joy Snider, a neurologist at Washington University in St. Louis. “That might mean someone could have an extra six months to a year of being able to drive.”

Snider stressed that the medicine, pronounced “leh-KEM-bee,” comes with downsides, including the need for twice-a-month infusions and possible side effects such as brain swelling and bleeding.

Approval came via FDA’s accelerated pathway, which allows drugs to launch based on early results, before they’re confirmed to benefit patients. The agency’s use of that shortcut has come under increasing scrutiny from government watchdogs and congressional investigators.

Last week, a congressional report found that the FDA’s approval of a similar Alzheimer’s drug called Aduhelm — also from Biogen and Eisai — was “rife with irregularities,” including a number of meetings with drug company staffers that went undocumented.

Average price tag: $26,500 a year

Scrutiny of the new drug, known chemically as lecanemab, will likely mean most patients won’t start receiving it for months, as insurers decide whether to cover it and for whom.

The drug will cost $26,500 for a typical year’s worth of treatment. Eisai said that price reflects the drug’s benefit in terms of improved quality of life, reduced burdens for caregivers and other factors. The company pegged its overall value at $37,000 per year, but said it priced the drug lower to reduce costs for patients and insurers. An independent group that assesses drug value recently said the drug would have to be priced below $20,600 to be cost-effective.

Some 6 million people in the U.S. and many more worldwide have Alzheimer’s, which gradually attacks areas of the brain needed for memory, reasoning, communication and daily tasks.

The FDA’s approval was based on one mid-stage study in 850 people with early symptoms of Alzheimer’s who also tested positive for a type of brain plaque that is a hallmark of the disease.

Since then, Eisai has published the results of a larger 1,800-patient study that the FDA is expected to soon review to confirm the drug’s benefit, setting up a decision on full approval later this year.

The larger study tracked patients’ results on an 18-point scale that measures memory, judgment and other cognitive abilities. Doctors compile the rating from interviews with the patient and a close contact. After 18 months, patients receiving Leqembi declined more slowly — a difference of less than half a point on the scale — than patients who received a dummy infusion. The delay amounted to just over five months.

There is little consensus on whether that difference translates into real benefits for patients, such as greater independence.

“Most patients won’t notice the difference,” said Dr. Matthew Schrag, a neurology researcher at Vanderbilt University. “This is really quite a small effect and probably below the threshold of what we’d call clinically significant.”

Schrag and some other researchers believe a meaningful improvement would require at least a difference of one full point on the 18-point scale.

Leqembi works by clearing a sticky brain protein called amyloid that’s a key indicator of Alzheimer’s. But it’s not clear exactly what causes the disease. A string of other amyloid-targeting drugs have failed, and many researchers now think combination treatments will be needed.

Aduhelm, the similar drug, was marred by controversy over its effectiveness.

The FDA approved that drug in 2021 against the advice of the agency’s own outside experts. Doctors hesitated to prescribe the drug, and insurers restricted coverage.

The FDA did not consult the same expert panel before approving Leqembi.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut — a frequent FDA critic — said in a statement Friday that she was “deeply concerned that FDA chose to forego” a panel meeting on the drug.

Schrag said many of the same concerns apply to both drugs.

“Is this slight, measurable benefit worth the hefty price tag and the side effects patients may experience?” she asked. “I have pretty serious doubts.”

About 13% of patients in Eisai’s study had swelling of the brain and 17% had small brain bleeds, side effects seen with earlier amyloid-targeting medications. In most cases those problems didn’t cause symptoms, which can include dizziness and vision problems.

Also, several Leqembi users died while taking the drug, including two who were on blood-thinning medications. Eisai has said the deaths can’t be attributed to the drug. The FDA label warns doctors to use caution if they prescribe Leqembi to patients on blood thinners.

Insurers are likely to cover the drug only for people like those in the company study — patients with mild dementia and confirmation of amyloid buildup. That typically requires expensive brain scans or a spinal fluid test. Doctors will need to perform a different type of scan to periodically check for brain swelling and bleeding.

Medicare coverage still up in air

A key question in the drug’s rollout will be insurance coverage by Medicare, the federal health plan that covers 60 million seniors and other Americans. The agency severely restricted coverage of Aduhelm, essentially wiping out its U.S. market and prompting Biogen to abandon marketing plans for the drug.

Eisai executives said they have already spent months discussing their drug’s data with Medicare officials. Coverage isn’t expected until after the FDA confirms the drug’s benefit, expected later this year.

“Once we have a Medicare decision, then we can truly launch the drug across the country,” said Eisai’s U.S. CEO, Ivan Cheung.

Betsy Groves, 73, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2021. A former lecturer at Harvard’s graduate school of education, she noticed she was having trouble remembering some students’ names and answering questions.

Her initial diagnosis, based on a cognitive examination, was later confirmed by a positive test for amyloid.

Groves, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, says she is “more than willing” to try Leqembi, despite potential side effects and the need for infusions.

“For me, the minute that drug comes on the market — and I get my doctor’s approval — I’m going to take it,” Groves said.
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The Biden administration is proposing tougher standards for a deadly air pollutant, saying that reducing soot from tailpipes, smokestacks and wildfires could prevent thousands of premature deaths a year. 

A proposal released Friday by the Environmental Protection Agency would set maximum levels of 9 to 10 micrograms of fine particle pollution per cubic meter of air, down from 12 micrograms set a decade ago under the Obama administration. The standard for particle pollution, more commonly known as soot, was left unchanged by former President Donald Trump, who overrode a scientific recommendation for a lower standard in his final days in office. 

Environmental and public health groups that have been pushing for a stronger standard were disappointed, saying the EPA proposal does not go far enough to limit emissions of what is broadly called “fine particulate matter,” the tiny bits of soot we breathe in unseen from tailpipes, wildfires, factory and power plant smokestacks, and other sources. 

In a development that could lead to an even lower standard, the EPA said Friday that it also would take comments on a range of ideas submitted by a scientific advisory committee, including a proposal that would lower the maximum standard for soot to 8 micrograms. A microgram is one-millionth of a gram. 

EPA Administrator Michael Regan said the proposal to strengthen the national ambient air quality standards for fine particle pollution would help prevent serious health problems, including asthma attacks, heart attacks and premature death that disproportionately affect vulnerable populations. Those populations include children, older adults and those with heart and lung conditions, as well as low-income and minority communities throughout the United States. 

“This administration is committed to working to ensure that all people, regardless of the color of their skin, the community they live in or the money in their pocket, have clean air to breathe, clean water to drink and the opportunity to lead a healthy life,” Regan said at a news conference. “At EPA, we are working every single day to create cleaner and healthier communities for all and have been doing so for over 50 years.” 

‘A disappointment’

Harold Wimmer, the president of the American Lung Association, called the EPA’s proposal disappointing, saying it was “inadequate to protect public health from this deadly pollutant.” 

“Current science shows that stronger limits are urgently needed … to protect vulnerable populations,” Wimmer said, calling for the EPA to lower the standard to 8 micrograms or lower. 

Seth Johnson, an attorney for the environmental group Earthjustice, called the EPA plan “a disappointment and missed opportunity overall.” While it would strengthen some public health protections, “EPA is not living up to the ambitions of this administration to follow the science, protect public health and advance environmental justice,” Johnson said. He urged the EPA “to hear communities, not industrial polluters, and strengthen this rule. Overburdened communities have the right to breathe clean air.” 

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other business groups called for the current standards to be maintained. 

“The United States has some of the best air quality in the world, thanks to steady reductions in contributors to particulate matter emissions over the last decade,” said Chad Whiteman, vice president of environment and regulatory affairs at the chamber’s Global Energy Institute. 

The proposed rule could “stifle manufacturing and industrial investment and exacerbate permitting challenges that continue to hamper the economy,” Whiteman said. 

‘Regulatory burden’

Mike Ireland, president of the Portland Cement Association, which represents U.S. cement manufacturers, added that the EPA’s proposed action “is yet another regulatory burden that will hamper the cement industry’s ability to manufacture sustainable construction materials to meet the nation’s infrastructure needs.” 

EPA scientists have estimated exposure at current limits causes the early deaths of thousands of Americans annually from heart disease and lung cancer as well as causing other health problems. 

Dr. Doris Browne, president of the National Medical Association, the oldest and largest national organization representing African American physicians, hailed the plan as “the bold action needed to protect public health across the country.” 

Appearing with Regan at a news conference, Browne said the proposal is likely to have lasting benefits across the country “but especially for those communities of color and low-income communities that experience the increase in particulate matter pollution.” Smog, soot and other pollution near factories, power plants and other hazards has a “devastating impact on public health,” she said. 

The EPA proposal would require states, counties and tribal governments to meet a stricter air quality standard for fine particulate matter up to 2.5 microns in diameter — far smaller than the diameter of a human hair. A micron, also called a micrometer, is equal to one-millionth of a meter. 

The standard would not force polluters to shut down, but the EPA and state regulators could use it as the basis for other rules that target pollution from specific sources such as diesel-fueled trucks, refineries and power plants. 

A 2022 report by the American Lung Association found that 63 million Americans live in counties that experience unhealthy daily spikes in soot pollution and 21 million live in counties that exceed annual limits for soot pollution. Most of those counties were in 11 Western states, the report said. People of color were 61% more likely than white people to live in a county with unhealthy air quality, the report said. 

Fresno, California, displaced Fairbanks, Alaska, as the metropolitan area with the worst short-term particle pollution, the report found, while Bakersfield, California, continued in the most-polluted slot for year-round particle pollution for the third year in a row. 

As of December 31, five metropolitan areas were not in compliance with current standards, the EPA said. Four of those areas are in California, including the San Joaquin Valley and Los Angeles. Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, which includes Pittsburgh, also is out of compliance. 

The EPA will accept comments on the proposed rule through mid-March and will hold a virtual public hearing over several days. A final rule is expected this summer.
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Major tech companies are appealing to consumers’ evolving lifestyles, tastes and personal values with connected devices that touch on nearly every aspect of daily life. From the CES 2023 consumer technology show in Las Vegas, VOA’s Tina Trinh has the story. Video editor: Matt Dibble
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India has announced a $2.3 billion plan to promote “green hydrogen” — hydrogen produced with renewable energy — which experts say could be the clean fuel of the future.

The initiative could help the world’s third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases reach its goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2070. 

A series of incentives are aimed at making green hydrogen affordable by bringing down production costs of a technology that has yet to become commercially viable.  

While India has been rapidly expanding renewables such as solar energy, these will not be enough to meet climate goals in a country whose energy needs are expected to grow more than anywhere in the world over the next two decades. India’s current reliance on carbon-emitting coal, its primary source of electricity, has raised concerns on how it will switch to clean energy.

The government is hoping that investments under what is called the National Hydrogen Mission, will provide the answer.

“For lot of heavy industries like steel, cement and oil refining, green hydrogen can be a better solution to make them cleaner. Their massive energy requirements cannot be met by other renewable sources such as solar and wind,” Vibhuti Garg, South Asia director at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, said.

 “But much will depend on the cost economics” he said. 

Green hydrogen is made by using electricity from renewable sources to split hydrogen from water. The energy it produces creates no carbon emissions. But in an industry still in its infancy, the key lies in significantly lowering production costs. 

“The goal is to bring down its cost over the next five years,” Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said this week while announcing the initiative. He said it will also help India reduce its emissions and become a major exporter in the field.   

Some experts are optimistic. “In the last one year there has been a drop in green hydrogen prices from roughly $4 per kilogram to $3 now,” said Hemant Mallya at the Council for Energy, Environment and Water, a public policy think tank in New Delhi.

He said increased use will bring down costs further. “The eventual target is $1 per kilogram because that is when you start becoming competitive with coal. But even before that if we can hit $2 per kilogram, it will compete with gas currently imported from Russia and that is pretty much achievable with scale and technological advancement.”

The hope is that just as costs for solar power have dropped substantially in recent years and are now lower than that of electricity generated by coal plants, the cost of producing green hydrogen will also reduce over time. 

India’s goal is to produce 5 million tons of green hydrogen per year by 2030. Experts call it an “ambitious” target and point out that at the moment India only has a handful of pilot projects in the sector. 

However, India wants to ensure that it is not left behind in a technology that is now being looked at with much more hope as the world grapples with a climate crisis. In giving a push to green hydrogen, India is following other countries like the United States and those in the European Union that have also approved incentives worth billions of dollars for its development. 

“I think India does not want to miss the bus and is putting the building blocks in place,” said Garg. She pointed out that in the solar energy sector for example, China took the lead in manufacturing the most cost-competitive components for solar panels, leaving most countries, including India, dependent on Chinese imports. “In green hydrogen, India wants to be a pioneer and not wait for other countries to become the lead players.” 

As the government offers financial incentives, some of India’s biggest firms have made commitments to invest in green hydrogen. They include conglomerates like the Adani Group and Reliance Industries and state-owned energy companies.  

Still, experts say there are many challenges ahead in developing the nascent industry. India will have to scale up domestic manufacturing of electrolyzers, which are a key component to develop green hydrogen and also ensure that there is enough renewable energy available to make it. The investments needed will be huge. Domestic industries might have to be incentivized to switch to using green hydrogen.  

India is also eyeing exports of green hydrogen by becoming a cost-competitive source.

“Our aim is to establish India as a global hub of green hydrogen,” Thakur said. “We will make efforts to get at least 10% of the global demand for green hydrogen.” 

Hopes that export markets will emerge if green hydrogen becomes viable have risen after the disruption in global energy markets in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “We need to broaden the horizon and look at exports because the premium on the price of green hydrogen might be a problem domestically, but internationally it is not that much of a challenge for someone in Europe to pay it. And because of the Ukraine crisis for example, countries in Europe, will want to transition quicker than anticipated from natural gas,” according to Mallya.  

 
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The world’s glaciers are shrinking and disappearing faster than scientists thought, with two-thirds of them projected to melt out of existence by the end of the century at current climate change trends, according to a new study.

But if the world can limit future warming to just a few more tenths of a degree and fulfill international goals — technically possible but unlikely according to many scientists — then slightly less than half the globe’s glaciers will disappear, said the same study. Mostly small but well-known glaciers are marching to extinction, study authors said.

In an also unlikely worst-case scenario of several degrees of warming, 83% of the world’s glaciers would likely disappear by the year 2100, study authors said.

Thursday’s study in the journal Science examined all of the globe’s 215,000 land-based glaciers — not counting those on ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica — in a more comprehensive way than past studies. Scientists then used computer simulations to calculate, using different levels of warming, how many glaciers would disappear, how many trillions of tons of ice would melt, and how much it would contribute to sea level rise.

The world is now on track for a 2.7-degree Celsius (4.9 degrees Fahrenheit) temperature rise since pre-industrial times, which by the year 2100 means losing 32% of the world’s glacier mass, or 48.5 trillion metric tons of ice as well as 68% of the glaciers disappearing. That would increase sea level rise by 115 millimeters (4.5 inches) in addition to seas already getting larger from melting ice sheets and warmer water, said study lead author David Rounce.

“No matter what, we’re going to lose a lot of the glaciers,” Rounce, a glaciologist and engineering professor at Carnegie Mellon University, said. “But we have the ability to make a difference by limiting how many glaciers we lose.”

“For many small glaciers it is too late,” said study co-author Regine Hock, a glaciologist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the University of Oslo in Norway. “However, globally our results clearly show that every degree of global temperature matters to keep as much ice as possible locked up in the glaciers.”

Projected ice loss by 2100 ranges from 38.7 trillion metric tons to 64.4 trillion tons, depending on how much the globe warms and how much coal, oil and gas is burned, according to the study.

The study calculates that all that melting ice will add anywhere from 90 millimeters (3.5 inches) in the best case to 166 millimeters (6.5 inches) in the worst case to the world’s sea level, 4% to 14% more than previous projections.

That average sea level rise from glaciers would mean more than 10 million people around the world — and more than 100,000 people in the United States — would be living below the high tide line, who otherwise would be above it, said sea level rise researcher Ben Strauss, CEO of Climate Central. Twentieth-century sea level rise from climate change added about 100 millimeters to the surge from 2012 Superstorm Sandy, costing about $8 billion in damage just in itself, he said.

Scientists say future sea level rise will be driven more by melting ice sheets than glaciers.

But the loss of glaciers is about more than rising seas. It means shrinking water supplies for a big chunk of the world’s population, more risk from flood events from melting glaciers and losing historic ice-covered spots from Alaska to the Alps to even near Mount Everest’s base camp, several scientists told The Associated Press.

“For places like the Alps or Iceland … glaciers are part of what makes these landscapes so special,” said National Snow and Ice Data Center Director Mark Serreze, who wasn’t part of the study but praised it. “As they lose their ice in a sense they also lose their soul.”

Hock pointed to Vernagtferner glacier in the Austrian Alps, which is one of the best-studied glaciers in the world, and said “the glacier will be gone.”

The Columbia Glacier in Alaska had 216 billion tons of ice in 2015, but with just a few more tenths of a degree of warming, Rounce calculated it will be half that size. If there’s 4 degrees Celsius (7.2 degrees Fahrenheit) of warming since pre-industrial times, an unlikely worst-case scenario, it will lose two-thirds of its mass, he said.

“It’s definitely a hard one to look at and not drop your jaw at,” Rounce said.

Glaciers are crucial to people’s lives in much of the world, said National Snow and Ice Center Deputy Lead Scientist Twila Moon, who wasn’t part of the study.

“Glaciers provide drinking water, agricultural water, hydropower, and other services that support billions (yes, billions!) of people,” Moon said in an email.

Moon said the study “represents significant advances in projecting how the world’s glaciers may change over the next 80 years due to human-created climate change.”

That’s because the study includes factors in glacier changes that previous studies didn’t and is more detailed, said Ruth Mottram and Martin Stendel, climate scientists at the Danish Meteorological Institute who weren’t part of the research.

This new study better factors in how the glaciers’ ice melts not just from warmer air, but also from water both below and at the edges of glaciers and how debris can slow melt, Stendel and Mottram said. Previous studies concentrated on large glaciers and made regional estimates instead of calculations for each individual glacier.

In most cases, the estimated loss figures Rounce’s team came up with are slightly more dire than earlier estimates.

If the world can somehow limit warming to the global goal of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) of warming since pre-industrial times — the world is already at 1.1 degrees (2 degrees Fahrenheit) — Earth will likely lose 26% of total glacial mass by the end of the century, which is 38.7 trillion metric tons of ice melting. Previous best estimates had that level of warming melting translating to only 18% of total mass loss.

“I have worked on glaciers in the Alps and Norway which are really rapidly disappearing,” Mottram said in an email. “It’s kind of devastating to see.”
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Tens of thousands of tech innovators and their fans are flocking to Las Vegas this week for the annual Consumer Electronics Show. Deana Mitchell has spotted some up-and-coming tech trends.
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Amazon.com layoffs will now stretch to more than 18,000 jobs as part of a workforce reduction it previously disclosed, Chief Executive Andy Jassy said in a public staff note on Wednesday.

The layoff decisions, which Amazon will communicate starting January 18, will largely impact the company’s e-commerce and human-resources organizations, he said.

The cuts amount to 6% of Amazon’s roughly 300,000-person corporate workforce and represent a swift turn for a retailer that recently doubled its base pay ceiling to compete more aggressively for talent.

Jassy said in the note that annual planning “has been more difficult given the uncertain economy and that we’ve hired rapidly over the last several years.”

Amazon has more than 1.5 million workers including warehouse staff, making it America’s second-largest private employer after Walmart. It has braced for likely slower growth as soaring inflation encouraged businesses and consumers to cut back spending and its share price has halved in the past year.

Amazon began letting staff go in November from its devices division, with a source telling Reuters at the time it was targeting 10,000 job cuts.

In number, its layoffs now surpass the 11,000 job cuts at Facebook-parent Meta Platforms as well as reductions at other tech-industry peers.
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In a move that amplifies the debate over access to abortion in the United States, the Food and Drug Administration this week ruled that a drug used in the majority of abortions in the country can be dispensed by retail pharmacies to individuals with valid prescriptions.

Until the ruling, that drug, mifepristone, could be dispensed only by certified clinics and doctors’ offices, or by specific online pharmacies. Now, retail pharmacies, including those of major chains like CVS and Walgreens, will have the ability, though not the obligation, to carry the medication.

However, it will remain illegal for pharmacies to dispense the medication in at least 12 states, which have passed laws banning abortions.

Mifepristone blocks hormones that contribute to the development of a fetus. When a dose is followed one to two days later with a dose of a second drug, misoprostol, which induces muscle contractions, the result is an abortion. Known as a medical abortion, the two-pill regimen accounts for more than half of all abortions in the U.S. Both mifepristone and misoprostol have other uses unrelated to abortion.

The ruling came days after it was announced that the Justice Department had issued a finding, at the request of the U.S. Postal Service, that it is legal to use the U.S. mail to deliver mifepristone and misoprostol. That finding would apply regardless of the laws of individual states.

State laws differ 

The Supreme Court’s ruling last year that abolished the federal right to an abortion, which was put in place by the 1973 court decision Roe v. Wade, left it to individual states to craft abortion laws themselves. This has led to a patchwork of abortion regulation across the country.

Sixteen states have adopted laws that ban all or practically all abortions. In those states, as well as in several others, laws restricting abortions would also make it illegal to sell mifepristone and misoprostol within their borders, regardless of the FDA’s position.

Other states have explicitly protected the right to abortion in their laws, with several amending their constitutions to do so.

If retail pharmacies opted to sell abortion drugs in states where they are legal, it would further widen the already large gap in abortion access in some parts of the country. In certain regions, particularly states in the Deep South, a woman seeking access to an abortion has to travel hundreds of miles to reach a state that has not banned the procedure.

Abortion rights activists cheered 

Supporters of the right to an abortion said that they were encouraged by the FDA’s ruling.

“Today’s news is a step in the right direction for health equity. Being able to access your prescribed medication abortion through the mail or to pick it up in person from a pharmacy like any other prescription is a game-changer for people trying to access basic health care,” Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said in a statement.

However, advocates also noted that the sale of the pills would remain illegal in 12 states, because of abortion bans passed by state legislatures.

“Today’s announcement means that people in states where abortion is legal will be able to consult with their health care providers and obtain medication abortion in the way that works best for them — whether it’s through their neighborhood pharmacy or through the mail,” Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a statement. “However, 12 states have banned abortion, and this move will not change anything for the people in those states, which is why Congress must pass the Women’s Health Protection Act to ensure the right to access abortion care is protected nationwide.”

Abortion-rights opponents unhappy

Groups that support the restriction or outright elimination of abortion in the U.S. were unhappy with the ruling, with some criticizing the administration of President Joe Biden over its support for abortion rights.

Although the medical establishment, including the FDA, has said that medical abortions are safe, anti-abortion-rights groups point to rare side effects, including heavy bleeding and infection, as proof that they are dangerous.

“Today’s announcement is yet another in a long train of actions the Biden administration has taken that put women at grave risk, in its headlong rush to push abortion drugs on the American public,” Steven H. Aden, chief legal officer and general counsel for Americans United for Life, said in a statement emailed to VOA.

“The Biden administration has once again proved that it values abortion industry profits over women’s safety and unborn children’s lives,” Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, said in a statement.

Retail pharmacies consider options 

It was not clear whether retail pharmacies, including those of large chains, would carry mifepristone and misoprostol in states that have not made abortion illegal. To do so, they would have to comply with special rules put forward by the FDA.

They would also have to assess the reputational costs and benefits of a decision that will likely have repercussions that extend beyond the balance sheet.

“We’re reviewing the FDA’s updated Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) drug safety program for mifepristone to determine the requirements to dispense in states that do not restrict the dispensing of medications prescribed for elective termination of pregnancy,” Amy Thibault, lead director of external communications for CVS Pharmacy, told VOA.

Fraser Engerman, a senior director for external relations with Walgreen Co., told VOA, “We look forward to reviewing the FDA’s announcement and mifepristone REMS program, and we will continue to enable our pharmacists to dispense medications consistent with federal and state law.”
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With Russian rockets targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and electrical grid, scientists in the northern city of Sumy, some 330 kilometers east of Kyiv, are hoping to start mass producing solar technology that could help keep the lights on. Olena Adamenko has the story, narrated by Anna Rice. Camera and video editing by Mykhailo Zaika.
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With Russian rockets targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and electrical grid, scientists in the city of Sumy near Kyiv are hoping to start mass producing solar technology that could keep the lights on. Olena Adamenko has the story, narrated by Anna Rice.
Camera: Mykhailo Zaika Produced by: Mykhailo Zaika
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European Union regulators on Wednesday hit Facebook parent Meta with hundreds of millions in fines for privacy violations and banned the company from forcing users in the 27-nation bloc to agree to personalized ads based on their online activity. 

Ireland’s Data Protection Commission imposed two fines totaling 390 million euros ($414 million) in its decision in two cases that could shake up Meta’s business model of targeting users with ads based on what they do online. The company says it will appeal. 

A decision in a third case involving Meta’s WhatsApp messaging service is expected later this month. 

Meta and other Big Tech companies have come under pressure from the European Union’s privacy rules, which are some of the world’s strictest. Irish regulators have already slapped Meta with four other fines for data privacy infringements since 2021 that total more than 900 million euros and have a slew of other open cases against a number of Silicon Valley companies. 

Meta also faces regulatory headaches from EU antitrust officials in Brussels flexing their muscles against tech giants: They accused the company last month of distorting competition in classified ads. 

The Irish watchdog — Meta’s lead European data privacy regulator because its regional headquarters is in Dublin — fined the company 210 million euros for violations of EU data privacy rules involving Facebook and an additional 180 million euros for breaches involving Instagram. 

The decision stems from complaints filed in May 2018 when the 27-nation bloc’s privacy rules, known as the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, took effect. 

Previously, Meta relied on getting informed consent from users to process their personal data to serve them with personalized, or behavioral, ads, which are based on what users search for online, the websites they visit or the videos they click on. 

When GDPR came into force, the company changed the legal basis under which it processes user data by adding a clause to the terms of service for advertisements, effectively forcing users to agree that their data could be used. That violates EU privacy rules. 

The Irish watchdog initially sided with Meta but changed its position after its draft decision was sent to a board of EU data protection regulators, many of whom objected. 

In its final decision, the Irish watchdog said Meta “is not entitled to rely on the ‘contract’ legal basis” to deliver behavioral ads on Facebook and Instagram. 

Meta said in a statement that “we strongly believe our approach respects GDPR, and we’re therefore disappointed by these decisions and intend to appeal both the substance of the rulings and the fines.” 

Meta has three months to ensure its “processing operations” comply with the EU rules, though the ruling doesn’t specify what the company has to do. Meta noted that the decision doesn’t prevent it from displaying personalized ads, it only covers the legal basis for handling user data. 

Max Schrems, the Austrian lawyer and privacy activist who filed the complaints, said the ruling could deal a big blow to the company’s profits in the EU, because “people now need to be asked if they want their data to be used for ads or not” and can change their mind at any time. 

“The decision also ensures a level playing field with other advertisers that also need to get opt-in consent,” he said. 

Making changes to comply with the decision could add to costs for a company already facing rising business challenges. Meta reported two straight quarters of declining revenue as advertising sales dropped because of competition from TikTok, and it laid off 11,000 workers amid broader tech industry woes. 

 
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