washington post

The botched monkeypox response

Today on Post Reports, how early mistakes by the Biden administration left gay and bisexual men facing the threat of an agonizing illness and the potential for broader circulation of monkeypox. Plus, an unintended consequence of overturning Roe.

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For two months, the Biden administration has been chased by headlines about its failure to order enough vaccine doses, speed treatments and make tests available to head off an outbreak that has grown from one case in Massachusetts on May 17 to more than 13,500 this week, overwhelmingly among gay and bisexual men. And 100 days after the outbreak was first detected in Europe, no country has more cases than the United States — with public health experts warning the virus is on the verge of becoming permanently entrenched here, Dan Diamond reports.

Plus, later in the show: Abortion bans and restrictions are complicating access to drugs that treat rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and even cancer. Reporter Katie Shepherd says it’s because these drugs could be used to induce abortions. For patients, doctors, and pharmacies, that’s meant confusion, fear and painful choices.