What We’re Reading: E-Cigarette Sales Drop; Expanded Contraceptive Access; Ochsner Health, MD Anderson Partner in LA

E-Cigarette Sales Decline in 2022 After Spike

E-cigarette sales grew by almost 47% from January 2020 before the pandemic struck the United States, according to an analysis announced Thursday by the CDC and reported by The New York Times. The growth over that time happened while teenagers and young adults noted in surveys that they lately tried e-cigarettes at considerably higher rates than older adults. The CDC said that around 4.5% of all adults said they used e-cigarettes, but rates increased as age decreased. Sales grew through May of 2022, then dropped by 12% through December, which could be due to state or local bans on flavored e-cigarettes, government enforcement, or the introduction of other devices.

Biden Will Sign Order to Extend Contraception Access

President Joe Biden on Friday will sign an executive order created to protect and increase access to contraception after a Supreme Court ruling in 2022 overturned the constitutional right to abortion elevated fears that birth control might also be restricted, according to Reuters. Senior advisor to President Biden, Jen Klein, informed reporters that the order will increase contraception access for women and decrease out-of-pocket costs. The president’s announcement emerges as reproductive rights advocates express that growing obstacles are leaving millions of women without easy contraception access.

Ochsner Health, MD Anderson Partner in Louisiana

Ochsner Health and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center are partnering to create an integrated cancer care program in southeastern Louisiana they said on Thursday, according to Fierce Healthcare. The new integration will be called the Ochsner MD Anderson Cancer Center and will be the first to carry MD Anderson’s best practices and clinical leadership to Louisiana’s patients with cancer. It comes as the seventh arrangement MD Anderson created with large-scale health systems.