Health
Texas Judge Fines New York Doctor and Orders Her to Stop Sending Abortion Pills to Texas
In a case that could have major implications for abortion access in the United States, a Texas judge on Thursday ordered a New York doctor to stop prescribing and sending abortion pills to patients in Texas and to pay a penalty of more than $100,000 for providing the medication to one woman.
The case is widely expected to reach the Supreme Court and become a pivotal test in the escalating battle between states that ban abortion and states that support abortion rights. It essentially pits Texas, which has a near-total abortion ban, against New York, which has a “telemedicine abortion shield law” intended to protect abortion providers who send medications to patients in other states.
These shield laws have become a key abortion rights strategy since the Supreme Court overturned the national right to abortion in 2022. The laws, enacted in eight states so far, stipulate that officials and agencies will not cooperate with civil suits, prosecutions or other legal actions filed against health care providers who prescribe and send abortion medication to patients in other states.
Such laws represent a stark departure from typical interstate practices of extraditing, honoring subpoenas and sharing information. Under telemedicine abortion shield laws, which have been in use since summer 2023, health care providers in states where abortion is legal have been sending more than 10,000 abortion pills per month to patients in states with abortion bans or restrictions.
The Texas lawsuit was filed in December by the Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton, against Dr. Margaret Daley Carpenter of New Paltz, N.Y., who works with telemedicine abortion organizations to provide pills to patients across the country. The suit alleges that Dr. Carpenter, who is not licensed in Texas, supplied abortion pills to a woman in Texas.
The order signed on Thursday by Judge Bryan Gantt of Collin County District Court said that Dr. Carpenter “is permanently enjoined from prescribing abortion-inducing drugs to Texas residents.” Violating an injunction can result in a contempt order from a judge, which could carry additional financial penalties or a jail sentence. The judge also ordered a $100,000 fine and about $13,000 in attorneys’ fees and court costs plus interest.
With New York’s shield law prohibiting cooperation with out-of-state legal actions, Dr. Carpenter and her lawyers did not respond to the Texas suit or appear in court on Wednesday for a hearing before the judge.
The 40-minute session in the court north of Dallas was notably quiet and sedate for an issue of such controversy and national significance.
Two lawyers for the attorney general’s office asked the judge to issue a default judgment in their favor, essentially a ruling against a defendant who has not shown up or provided any response.
The attorney general’s lawyers argued in court filings that because Dr. Carpenter did not respond within a certain period of time, Texas law deems that “defendant by her non-answer has admitted all of the plaintiffs’ allegations of fact establishing liability.”
The defense table was empty. About 30 minutes into the hearing, Judge Gantt said, “I noticed she is not here.” He asked the attorney general’s lawyers if they had heard from Dr. Carpenter that morning.
When they said no, the judge asked the bailiff to “call the hall” and announce Dr. Carpenter’s name in the corridor outside the courtroom. Less than a minute later, the bailiff returned and said, “Your honor, I called Margaret Daley Carpenter three times with no response.”
Texas was the first state with an abortion ban to initiate legal action against abortion providers in states with shield laws. But other states with abortion bans are expected to follow suit.
In January, the first criminal charges against a shield-law abortion provider were filed. In that case, a state grand jury in Louisiana issued a criminal indictment, also against Dr. Carpenter, accusing her of violating Louisiana’s near-total abortion ban by sending pills to that state.
On Thursday, Louisiana’s governor, Jeff Landry, said he had signed a warrant seeking to extradite Dr. Carpenter to his state to stand trial. New York’s governor, Kathy Hochul, responded by citing the state’s shield law and saying, “I will not be signing an extradition order that came from the governor of Louisiana, not now, not ever.”
The Texas and Louisiana cases are each expected to lead to court battles with the state of New York.
New York’s refusal could lead Louisiana to ask the federal courts to order extradition, experts said. The potential outcome is unclear, but Mary Ziegler, a law professor and abortion expert at the University of California, Davis, said there was legal precedent for extradition not being required for defendants who were not in the state where the alleged crime was committed and did not flee from that state.
In the civil case, Texas is considered likely to file a petition in a state court in New York to try to collect the financial penalty. If New York were to cite its shield law to argue against the Texas penalty, as expected, the case could transform into a battle in federal court or the Supreme Court over whether the shield law is constitutional in allowing one state to refuse to cooperate with another state’s legal actions.
Dr. Carpenter has not been reachable for comment about either the Texas or Louisiana case. The Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine, an organization she co-founded, has issued statements in response to the cases. “Shield laws are essential in safeguarding and enabling abortion care regardless of a patient’s ZIP code or ability to pay,” the coalition has said. “They are fundamental to ensuring everyone can access reproductive health care as a human right.”
The Texas lawsuit accuses Dr. Carpenter of providing a 20-year-old woman with the two medications used in a standard abortion regimen, mifepristone and misoprostol. Typically used up through 12 weeks into pregnancy, mifepristone blocks a hormone needed for pregnancies to develop, and misoprostol, taken 24 to 48 hours later, causes contractions similar to a miscarriage.
According to a complaint filed by the Texas attorney general’s office, the woman, who had been nine weeks pregnant, asked the “biological father of her unborn child” to take her to the emergency room in July “because of hemorrhage or severe bleeding.” In court on Wednesday, Ernest C. Garcia, chief of the administrative law division in the attorney general’s office, said that at the hospital, the woman’s partner “ended up finding out that she had been pregnant” and that “he then started to suspect that maybe she had not been truthful about it.”
When the man returned to the house, he found the medications and realized that they had been taken to induce an abortion, Mr. Garcia said, adding “that individual then filed a complaint with the Texas Attorney General’s Office.”
The Texas case is an example of an increasing pattern in states with abortion bans: men reporting to the authorities that their female partners had abortions. There have been other such cases in Texas, and John Seago, the president of Texas Right to Life, said in an interview that, in the coming weeks, several men plan to file suits for wrongful death against doctors, organizations or people who assisted in arranging abortions for the men’s female partners.
Emily Cochrane contributed reporting.
Health
Dementia risk signals could lie in simple blood pressure readings, researchers say
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Simple measurements taken during routine blood pressure checks could predict dementia risk years before symptoms appear.
That’s according to new research presented this week at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Session in Louisiana.
The findings draw on two studies led by researchers at Georgetown University, which suggest that monitoring how blood vessels age and stiffen over time can provide a window into future cognitive health.
LURKING DEMENTIA RISK EXPOSED BY BREAKTHROUGH TEST 25 YEARS BEFORE SYMPTOMS
Data shows rates of dementia and aging-related cognitive decline are expected to increase as populations age, and half of U.S. adults have high blood pressure (hypertension).
Scientists believe that efforts to better address hypertension, a key contributor to heart disease and a risk factor for dementia, could affect both cardiac and brain health.
Data shows rates of dementia and aging-related cognitive decline are expected to increase as populations age. Meanwhile, half of U.S. adults have high blood pressure. (iStock)
“Blood pressure management isn’t just about preventing heart attacks and strokes; it may also be one of the most actionable strategies for preserving cognitive health,” Dr. Newton Nyirenda, the study’s lead author and an epidemiologist at Georgetown University in Washington, said in a press release.
The research focused on two metrics, the pulse pressure-heart rate index and estimated pulse wave velocity. Both were calculated using data collected during standard doctor visits, such as heart rate, age and blood pressure.
“Blood pressure management isn’t just about preventing heart attacks and strokes; it may also be one of the most actionable strategies for preserving cognitive health.”
Researchers examined five years of data patterns for more than 8,500 people in the SPRINT trial, a large study of adults 50 years and older with hypertension. In the follow-up, 323 of the participants developed probable dementia.
HIDDEN BRAIN CONDITION MAY QUADRUPLE DEMENTIA RISK IN OLDER ADULTS, STUDY SUGGESTS
In one study, the team found the pulse pressure-heart rate index was a strong independent predictor of dementia risk in adults over 50. For participants under 65, every one-unit increase was associated with a 76% higher risk of developing dementia.
For participants under 65, an increase in the pulse pressure-heart rate index was associated with a 76% higher risk of developing dementia. (iStock)
The second study found that adults with consistently elevated or rapidly increasing pulse wave velocity were more likely to develop dementia than those with stable velocity, even after accounting for factors like smoking, gender and cardiovascular history.
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“Our findings suggest that vascular aging patterns may provide meaningful insight into future dementia risk,” said Nyirenda. “This reinforces the idea that managing vascular health earlier in life may influence long-term brain health.”
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The team emphasized that clinicians should tailor risk assessments and treatment strategies to the individual.
Further studies are needed to confirm these parameters and determine whether changing vascular aging trajectories reduces dementia risk. (iStock)
“You don’t want to wait until a patient starts manifesting cognitive decline before you act,” said senior study author Sula Mazimba, an associate professor at the University of Virginia.
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Researchers noted the study could not establish causation. Other limitations included the fact that participants already had hypertension and elevated cardiovascular risk, meaning the findings may not apply to people without those conditions.
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Further studies are needed to confirm these findings and to determine whether improving blood vessel health over time could reduce dementia risk.
Health
Everything You Need To Know About Zepbound for Weight Loss, Including Costs
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Health
‘Gas station heroin’ banned in another state amid nationwide crackdowns
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A dangerous substance dubbed “gas station heroin” continues to alarm medical professionals, with more states making moves to restrict or ban tianeptine.
Fourteen states have officially classified the tricyclic antidepressant as a Schedule I controlled substance.
Connecticut is the latest state to crack down, officially banning the sale and use of the substance starting on Wednesday.
HEALTH OFFICIALS WARN OF DANGEROUS SUBSTANCE AVAILABLE IN STORES ACROSS THE NATION
Tianeptine, which can produce euphoria in higher doses, can be more potent than morphine and addictive opioids, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Some countries have taken steps to restrict how tianeptine is prescribed or dispensed, and have even revised the labels to warn people of its potential addictive qualities.
Tianeptine can be more potent than morphine and addictive opioids. (iStock)
Misuse of tianeptine can cause severe adverse health effects, including respiratory depression, severe sedation and death, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Some companies market the drug as an aid for pain, anxiety and depression, or as a means of improving mental alertness in a pill, powder, salt or liquid form.
The products are typically sold at convenience stores, gas stations, vape shops and online retailers, and go by names like Tianaa, ZaZa, Neptune’s Fix, Pegasus and TD Red.
Connecticut is the 15th state to classify tianeptine as a Schedule I controlled substance. (Markus Scholz/picture alliance via Getty Images)
Connecticut Lt. Gov. Susan Bysiewicz said in a press release that the schedule change is a necessary step to combat addiction.
“With false marketing that led consumers to believe these are safe products, and with candy-like flavor options, these substances posed a clear threat to those battling substance-use disorder and our youngest residents,” she added.
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The Nutmeg State also added Mitragyna speciosa (kratom), 7-hydroxymitragynine, Bromazolam, Flubromazolam, Nitazenes and Phenibut to the schedule classification.
Earlier this month, FDA Commissioner Martin Makary penned a letter sounding the alarm on what he called a “dangerous and growing health trend.”
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“I am very concerned,” Makary wrote. “I want the public to be especially aware of this dangerous product and the serious and continuing risk it poses to America’s youth.”
New York-based Robert Schwaner, M.D., vice chair of system clinical affairs at Stony Brook Emergency Medicine, told Fox News Digital that the FDA has never approved tianeptine as a dietary supplement.
“As with heroin and other opioids, significant mu-opioid receptor stimulation ultimately results in a loss of respiratory drive and subsequent cardiac arrest.” (Dekalb County Sheriff’s Office)
“The euphoria at low doses is primarily due to increased serotonergic activity from its serotonin reuptake effects. With increasing doses, the mu-opioid receptor stimulation may become lethal,” said Schwaner. “As with heroin and other opioids, significant mu-opioid receptor stimulation ultimately results in a loss of respiratory drive and subsequent cardiac arrest.”
Schwaner said he believes the substance requires national regulation due to its addictive qualities.
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“Acting at the same receptor as opioids, tianeptine has the potential for an individual to develop tolerance, subsequent dependence and withdrawal from its use,” he cautioned.
Fox News Digital reached out to the FDA for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Greg Wehner and Melissa Rudy contributed to this report.
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