• Connecticut: Attorneys general from all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., and four territories have agreed to accept a $7.4 billion settlement from Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family to resolve thousands of opioid lawsuits. In January, the Sacklers proposed the $7.4 billion settlement after a previous settlement offer of $6 billion was blocked by the U.S. Supreme Court due to a provision that would have shielded some of the Sackler family members from civil lawsuits. If the settlement is approved, it will be the largest to date with individuals responsible for contributing to the U.S. opioid epidemic. "There will never [be] enough justice, accountability or money to restore the families whose lives have been wrecked or to right the terrible consequences of the Sackler family's craven misconduct," said Connecticut Attorney General William Tong (D). "What we announce today is both momentous and insufficient, the culmination of years of tumultuous negotiations and legal battles all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court." (Weixel, The Hill, 6/16)
• District of Columbia: On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 to uphold a 2023 Tennessee law banning gender-affirming care for minors. Under the law, transgender adolescents under 18 were prohibited from accessing medical treatments like puberty blockers and hormone therapy. Three families, a physician, and the Biden administration argued that the Tennessee law violated the 14th Amendment, which guaranteed equal protection under the law. However, the Supreme Court disagreed, ruling that the law was not subject to a higher level of judicial standard and satisfied the most deferential standard, which is known as rational basis. "This case carries with it the weight of fierce scientific and policy debates about the safety, efficacy, and propriety of medical treatments in an evolving field," wrote Chief Justice Roberts in the majority opinion. "The voices in these debates raise sincere concerns; the implications for all are profound. The Equal Protection Clause does not resolve these disagreements." The Supreme Court's three liberal justices dissented, with Justice Sonia Sotomayer saying in her dissent that the court's opinion does "irrevocable damage to the Equal Protection Clause and invites legislatures to engage in discrimination by hiding blatant sex classifications in plain sight." (Quinn, CBS News, 6/18; Cole/Fritze, CNN, 6/18)
• Massachusetts: According to a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, blood tests known as "liquid biopsies" can help improve treatment for metastatic breast cancer for some patients and keep their tumors under control for over a year. In the study, researchers found that liquid biopsies can detect mutations in tumors up to nine months before the changes appear on scans. Overall, liquid biopsies detected mutations, which would have made current treatments less effective, in around 10% of the study's patients. Around half of the study's patients were randomly assigned to change their treatment right away while the other half continued their current treatment. Study participants who switched to an experimental new treatment called camizestrant did not see any significant tumor growth for 16 months compared to nine months for those who kept their current medications. Patients who switched treatments also reported good overall health and quality of life for 23 months while other patients experienced a deterioration in health and quality of life after 6.4 months. "If we switch the treatment at just the right time, we can keep the cancer asleep, stop it from progressing and keep the person well," said Nicholas Turner, a professor of molecular oncology at the Institute of Cancer Research and The Royal Marsden hospital in the United Kingdom. "Many of my patients get back to work and just keep going with normal lives. They get time with their kids." Currently, researchers are studying ways that liquid biopsies can improve the treatment of several different types of cancer, as well as how they could be used to screen healthy patients for cancer. (Szabo, NBC News, 6/1)

Learn how to formalize gender affirmation services into dedicated health programs with our three-step provider playbook.