September 8, 2026
Tonight: the senator who spent 25 years delivering babies and then sued hundreds of the women he treated, why federal money for postpartum visits is now going to erectile dysfunction instead, and more.
— Meghan McCarthy
POSTPARTUM VISITS OUT. ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION IN.
HHS cancelled 16 grants worth $38 million from its Office of Minority Health, more than half the office's portfolio, ending postpartum home visits for minority women, maternal and infant mortality prevention, cancer screenings and hypertension monitoring. The money is being redirected to what the agency calls the “root causes” of infertility, a list that includes endometriosis and uterine fibroids but also low sperm count, low testosterone and erectile dysfunction. "It is shocking that OMH under any leadership would prioritize erectile dysfunction over the health and wellbeing of infants and new mothers," Rep. Diana DeGette wrote.
A SENATOR DELIVERED THE BABIES. THEN HE SUED THE MOTHERS (HIS CONSTITUENTS).
Sen. Roger Marshall of Kansas sued more than 700 patients over unpaid bills during 25 years as an obstetrician, and 81 of them were arrested after missing court dates. He charged 18% annual interest under a contract patients signed, garnished paychecks and bank accounts, and pursued debts as small as $101. One woman was arrested three times over a C-section bill, the first time while eight months pregnant. Despite his own record as a doctor, Marshall introduced a bill to bar hospitals from suing patients in 2025 if they don't post their prices.
CHICAGO LOSES THREE MATERNITY UNITS AT ONCE
Prime Healthcare is suspending obstetrics at three Chicago-area hospitals, Saint Joseph's in Joliet, Mercy Medical Center in Aurora, and Resurrection Medical Center in Chicago, citing financial distress and fewer than one delivery a day. Rep. Lauren Underwood, a nurse who founded the Illinois Black Maternal Health Caucus, said the company made no plans to help the mothers who will now have to travel. "This is not how a company with nothing to hide operates," she said.
THE MIFEPRISTONE NOBODY IS FIGHTING ABOUT
While the FDA conducts a “safety” review of mifepristone in abortion care, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases is considering granting a French company an exclusive patent license to develop mifepristone and related drugs for insulin-resistance disorders caused by excess cortisol. Mifepristone has been approved since 2012 as a daily 300 mg treatment for high blood sugar in some patients with Cushing’s syndrome—a dose higher than the single 200 mg tablet used in medication abortion and one that is taken repeatedly rather than once. Yet that version of the drug is not subject to the special prescribing restrictions imposed on mifepristone for abortion care.
STUDY: THE MENOPAUSE BRAIN DOESN'T SHRINK LIKE THE OTHERS
Puberty and pregnancy both accelerate reductions in the brain’s gray-matter volume. But menopause doesn’t, according to longitudinal imaging of 120 women who went through menopause and more than 700 women in comparison groups. It was the first study to compare whole-brain structural changes across all three transitions using the same analytical approach. In other words, menopause isn’t simply puberty or pregnancy in reverse—the brain responds differently to each hormonal transition.