• District of Columbia: According to the National Health Law Program (NHeLP), 26 U.S. states and the District of Columbia now cover doula care under Medicaid. Before 2020, only Oregon and Minnesota covered doula care under Medicaid, so there's been "a lot of progress" in a few years, said Amy Chen, a senior attorney at NHeLP. Several other states are currently in the process of implementing Medicaid coverage for doula care but are not yet reimbursing for it. Other states have taken related steps around doulas, but don't have a concrete plan for coverage. In a new review of clinical trials published in JAMA Network Open, researchers found that doula support was consistently associated with beneficial outcomes, including lower maternal anxiety, higher breastfeeding initiation, and better postpartum follow-up care. However, Nicole Sessions, an experienced doula and maternal mental health researcher, said increasing coverage for doula care could lead to more regulation, which could negatively impact their effectiveness. "The insurance model isn't quite savvy enough to hold the nuances of the profession just yet," Sessions said, citing potential limits on billable hours for postpartum visits as an example. (Mallenbaum, Axios, 4/21)
• Georgia: CDC has issued a warning about potential cases of drug-resistant salmonella linked to backyard poultry. So far, there have been 34 cases of salmonella across 13 states, primarily in the Midwest. Michigan reported the most cases at six, followed by Ohio and Wisconsin, with five each. Of the patients, 13 had to be hospitalized. The strain infecting the patients may also be resistant to the antibiotic fosfomycin, with samples from eight patients suggesting resistance to other common antibiotics as well. After interviewing 29 patients, 23 said they had contact with backyard poultry before becoming ill. Although CDC has linked the cases to backyard poultry, it's not clear if a specific species is the cause. To reduce the risk of salmonella, CDC recommends washing your hands after touching birds, anything in their habitats, and their eggs. People should also avoid wearing shoes and boots used in birds' areas inside their homes and keep all birds and their supplies outside. Children under the age of five should also avoid handling birds or their materials since they are more likely to get sick from salmonella. (Bink, The Hill, 4/28)
• Maryland: FDA has approved Merck's new combination drug for HIV, Idvynso, providing patients with a new treatment option. Idvynso was specifically approved for adults who have reduced the virus to very low levels in their blood by taking antiretroviral drugs. It also provides an alternative to Gilead Sciences' blockbuster HIV medication, Biktarvy, which has been associated with some tolerability issues and some serious side effects. Some of these side effects include high levels of lactic acid in the blood and severe cases of an enlarged liver with accumulation of fat, some of which have been fatal. There were no such problems reported in clinical tests of Idvynso. According to GlobalData, Idvynso is projected to reach around $1.8 billion in sales across multiple countries by 2033. In comparison, Gilead reported $14.3 billion in sales for Biktarvy in 2025, a 7% increase from the previous year. (Vinluan, MedCity News, 4/22)

There's mounting research that drug-resistant bacteria can shift from animals to humans via meat consumption — and the findings could open the door to a more detailed bacterial monitoring system, Maryn McKenna writes for Wired.