Costco says it won't sell mifepristone abortion pill
The wholesaler said its decision not to sell the prescription medication was based on a "lack of demand from our members and other patients."
"They generally have the drug dispensed by their medical providers," Costco said in a statement to CBS News.
Costco's position on the abortion pill, which was first reported by Bloomberg, was praised by a conservative religious coalition, called the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), an anti-abortion advocacy group that had urged Costco not to sell mifepristone.
"We applaud Costco for doing the right thing by its shareholders and resisting activist calls to sell abortion drugs," ADF's legal counsel Michael Ross said in a statement Thursday. "Retailers like Costco keep their doors open by selling a lifetime of purchases to families, both large and small. They have nothing to gain and much to lose by becoming abortion dispensaries."
Mifepristone, first approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2000, is part of a two-step regimen with misoprostol used to end a pregnancy through 10 weeks. It is used in over half of all abortions in the U.S., according to research from the Guttmacher Institute.
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24 minutes ago
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3 infants died in New York of congenital syphilis. Here's what you need to know
The New York State Department of Health (NYDOH) is warning about the risks of congenital syphilis after three infant deaths related to the disease have been reported in the state so far this year. The deaths occurred outside of New York City and are part of "a concerning rise" in congenital syphilis cases in the state and across the nation, according to the NYDOH. Cases of congenital syphilis have been rising nationwide in recent years, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In 2023, there were more than 3,800 cases reported, a 106% increase from 2019 and the highest annual case count on record since 1994. MORE: Newborn syphilis cases at 'dire' levels as analysis shows tenfold increase in last decade: CDC Public health experts told ABC News that congenital syphilis is largely preventable and, when left untreated, it can be dangerous, or even deadly. "What's so devastating is that [congenital syphilis] is very preventable," Dr. Elizabeth Partridge, associate clinical professor of pediatric infectious disease at UC Davis Children's Hospital, told ABC News. "It's an epidemic of congenital syphilis and infections in women of childbearing age." What is congenital syphilis? Syphilis is a common sexually transmitted infection (STI). It starts as a painless sore where the infection entered the body. This infection is easily treated with an antibiotic when caught early. If left untreated, it often progresses, over weeks or months, to a worsening rash that may be accompanied by symptoms such as fever, muscle aches, headache and fatigue, according to the CDC. Symptoms can resolve on their own over time but without treatment, syphilis enters a "latent stage," or asymptomatic stage, that can last for years and may progress further to a "tertiary stage" that can impact multiple organs in the body. Congenital syphilis occurs when a pregnant person with untreated syphilis passes the infection to their baby either during pregnancy or at birth. It can be treated with antibiotics and it's best to treat as soon as possible to prevent more severe complications of the disease. The CDC recommends that all pregnant people get tested for syphilis at their first health care visit after learning they are pregnant. Some places with higher rates of this infection may recommend additional screening throughout pregnancy and at birth. Partridge said women of childbearing age who have barriers to prenatal care are at greater risk because they may miss out on syphilis screening. "I see a lot of times that moms don't get those full screenings done, they don't have access to that kind of prenatal care. And that, to me, is just tragic because if moms can get screened, then they can get treated," Partridge said. Why can it be so dangerous? Congenital syphilis can lead to miscarriage, stillbirth, low birth weight, prematurity or infant death soon after birth, according to the CDC. Babies born with this disease can have deformed bones, low blood counts, jaundice and organ dysfunction, including problems with the brain and nervous system or enlarged liver and spleen. Partridge says common symptoms of congenital syphilis are known but many aren't obvious at birth. MORE: Mississippi sees 10-fold increase in babies born with syphilis since 2016: Report "I think up to 70% of babies who may meet the case definition for congenital syphilis are actually asymptomatic, which makes diagnosing it quite challenging," Partridge said. Without treatment, babies who are asymptomatic at birth can begin to show signs of the disease weeks, months or years later. "If they're undetected, if the infants are left untreated, they go on to develop what we call later sequelae, and that's when you see deafness, blindness, developmental delay, the quite devastating illness," Partridge said. Why is congenital syphilis on the rise? Dr. James McDonald, commissioner of the NYDOH, told ABC News that the three newborn deaths from syphilis are concerning because it's uncommon to see infant deaths from the condition. McDonald said that New York State has seen 21 cases of congenital syphilis so far this year, compared to 36 cases all of last year. "Keep in mind, these may sound like big numbers, but for upstate New York, they are big numbers," he said. "What concerns me, though, is it should be zero." Kristin Wall, an associate professor of epidemiology at Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health, told ABC News the U.S. has seen a steady rise in congenital syphilis cases over the last 10 years. This is despite decreases in cases of chlamydia and gonorrhea, according to CDC data. She said that there are racial/ethnic disparities when it comes to the populations experiencing the highest rates of congenital syphilis. "So the highest rates we're seeing are in Native Americans, American Indians, Alaska Natives, Hispanic populations and Black populations," Wall said. "And I think it's really important to think about access to care barriers as one of the big reasons that we're seeing these increasing rates in certain populations." Barriers can include lack of insurance or lack of transportation as well as mistrust of the medical system due to past prejudices, according to Wall. How to drive down rates of congenital syphilis Wall said half of cases are occurring among patients who are receiving prenatal care, but are missing timely and appropriate treatment, and the other half are occurring in people who are not engaged in care at all. For those who are receiving prenatal care, Wall said there is a push to implement point-of-care testing, meaning testing outside of a traditional clinical laboratory, often at the patient's bedside. Delays in waiting for laboratory test results to come back and then trying to recontact the patient can lead to delays in delivering a diagnosis or administering care, Wall said. MORE: FDA authorizes 1st over-the-counter, at-home test for syphilis "A very exciting development to address that is the point of care syphilis testing, where you have a patient right in front of you, you're able to administer that test, get test results in 20, 30 minutes, and administer directly observed treatment right there, without sending, you know, your patient away," she said. For the patients who are not receiving care, Wall said it's important to work with community partners to enter underserved communities and spread awareness, as well as make sure men and women are getting tested to prevent cases from occurring in the first place. McDonald said that as part of an effort to eliminate syphilis from pregnancy, New York State requires three syphilis screenings for pregnant people. "When someone's pregnant, they're supposed to be checked for syphilis three times, one when they have their first visit, the second time around the third trimester, and then the third time is where they give birth," he said. "Part of our message to health care providers is: ensure people are being screened appropriately." He also encouraged people to practice safe sex to prevent the spread of STIs, including the use of condoms. Jade A. Cobern, MD, MPH, is board-certified in pediatrics and general preventive medicine, and is a medical fellow of the ABC News Medical Unit. 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Washington Post
26 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Fitness tests, constipation and confidence: The week in Well+Being
You're reading our weekly Well+Being newsletter. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox every Thursday. Everyone agrees that lots of running, jumping and playing is important for kids. But how to actually get them to do that in gym class — and enjoy it? — is still up for discussion. A staple of many of our childhoods, the presidential fitness test, might be making a comeback. As part of the test, kids were asked to do 40 push-ups, 10 pull-ups and a 6½-minute mile. (Up until the 2012-2013 school year, when it was replaced with another program.) This week, we asked people, including fitness professionals, how they felt about the test. (Check out our story to get the details.) As someone who learned to love exercising only after graduating (let's just say I'm a bigger fan of running or Pilates than dodgeball), I'm hoping that we can find a way to make 'I hate gym class' a thing of the past. Guest columnist Tracy Moore shared her health journey in a personal essay: In 2022, I gained 40 pounds in one year and was tired all the time. Before these changes, at 47, I biked and walked everywhere in my Los Angeles neighborhood. I wrote articles frequently. And I raised my daughter with ease. When I told my doctor about my health issues, she sighed, reeled off obesity risks and admonished, 'Lose weight. For your daughter.' I also met with several other doctors, most of whom blamed stress, weight gain or age for my poor health. It took three years, thousands of dollars and two inches of height for me to get the right diagnosis. Read more here about Tracy's road to the right diagnosis and treatment. Guest columnist Bob Brody wrote about his experience playing sports as an older athlete: Last year, at age 72, after a gap of almost 40 years, I resumed taking tennis lessons. I figured that if I am going to be the next Roger Federer, what better time to start than right now? Many older Americans are playing sports — in one Ipsos survey, the number of Americans ages 60 and over who played a sport was 43 percent in 2025. The number of athletes who compete in the National Senior Games — a biennial event in which participants ages 50 and above compete in more than 25 sports — more than quadrupled from 2,500 in 1987 to 11,681 in 2023. The number of Americans, 55 and older, who played tennis at least one time was 4.3 million in 2024, according to the U.S. Tennis Association. I picked up tennis again because I missed the high I got from it and knew I could still get better at it. As it happens, my activity may help me live longer. One study found that playing tennis was associated with a 9.7-year increase in lifespan compared with those who remain sedentary. Also, badminton was linked to 6.2 years, soccer 4.7, cycling 3.7 and swimming to 3.4 additional years. To find out more about how playing sports can be beneficial as you age, read Bob's story here. Our Ask a Doctor columnist is Trisha S. Pasricha, a physician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and an instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School. I have to travel for work sometimes and may be gone for a week or more. I end up not having a bowel movement the entire time I'm gone. By the end, I'm bloated and miserable. Any suggestions? Here's a fact: We all poop weirdly on vacation. That goes for any kind of travel, whether for work or pleasure. Our bowel movements love a routine. We're wired to optimally poop at certain times: within the first one or two hours upon waking, soon after eating meals, after a cup of coffee and after exercise. These classic triggers tell our colon to start contracting — propelling our poop forward and helping us feel the 'urgency' to go. Because of all this, traveler's constipation is quite common. I strongly recommend you start taking something that will help at the start of the trip — even a day or two before leaving. It's always easier to get ahead of a problem than to chase after it when it becomes a crisis. Read Trisha's full response here. And use our Ask a Doctor form to submit a question, and we may answer it in a future column. Here are a few things that brought us joy this week. Let's keep the conversation going. We want to hear from you! Email us at wellbeing@ Want to know more about 'joy' snacks? Reporter and former neuroscientist Richard Sima explains what they are and how they can make you feel happier. You can also read his advice as a comic.
Yahoo
30 minutes ago
- Yahoo
P3 Health Partners Inc. (PIII) Reports Q2 Loss, Lags Revenue Estimates
P3 Health Partners Inc. (PIII) came out with a quarterly loss of $6.23 per share versus the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of $3.29. This compares to a loss of $7.5 per share a year ago. These figures are adjusted for non-recurring items. This quarterly report represents an earnings surprise of -89.36%. A quarter ago, it was expected that this company would post a loss of $5 per share when it actually produced a loss of $6.28, delivering a surprise of -25.6%. Over the last four quarters, the company has not been able to surpass consensus EPS estimates. P3 Health Partners , which belongs to the Zacks Medical Info Systems industry, posted revenues of $355.79 million for the quarter ended June 2025, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 2.03%. This compares to year-ago revenues of $379.16 million. The company has topped consensus revenue estimates just once over the last four quarters. The sustainability of the stock's immediate price movement based on the recently-released numbers and future earnings expectations will mostly depend on management's commentary on the earnings call. P3 Health Partners shares have lost about 36.9% since the beginning of the year versus the S&P 500's gain of 10%. What's Next for P3 Health Partners ? While P3 Health Partners has underperformed the market so far this year, the question that comes to investors' minds is: what's next for the stock? There are no easy answers to this key question, but one reliable measure that can help investors address this is the company's earnings outlook. Not only does this include current consensus earnings expectations for the coming quarter(s), but also how these expectations have changed lately. Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and trends in earnings estimate revisions. Investors can track such revisions by themselves or rely on a tried-and-tested rating tool like the Zacks Rank, which has an impressive track record of harnessing the power of earnings estimate revisions. Ahead of this earnings release, the estimate revisions trend for P3 Health Partners was mixed. While the magnitude and direction of estimate revisions could change following the company's just-released earnings report, the current status translates into a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for the stock. So, the shares are expected to perform in line with the market in the near future. You can see the complete list of today's Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. It will be interesting to see how estimates for the coming quarters and the current fiscal year change in the days ahead. The current consensus EPS estimate is -$5.04 on $342.9 million in revenues for the coming quarter and -$16.60 on $1.43 billion in revenues for the current fiscal year. Investors should be mindful of the fact that the outlook for the industry can have a material impact on the performance of the stock as well. In terms of the Zacks Industry Rank, Medical Info Systems is currently in the top 36% of the 250 plus Zacks industries. Our research shows that the top 50% of the Zacks-ranked industries outperform the bottom 50% by a factor of more than 2 to 1. Phreesia (PHR), another stock in the same industry, has yet to report results for the quarter ended July 2025. The results are expected to be released on September 4. This developer of health care software is expected to post quarterly loss of $0.07 per share in its upcoming report, which represents a year-over-year change of +77.4%. The consensus EPS estimate for the quarter has remained unchanged over the last 30 days. Phreesia's revenues are expected to be $116.45 million, up 14% from the year-ago quarter. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report P3 Health Partners Inc. (PIII) : Free Stock Analysis Report Phreesia, Inc. (PHR) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research ( Zacks Investment Research
