By MICHAEL CASEY

BOSTON (AP) — A federal bench trial begins Monday over a lawsuit that challenges a Trump administration campaign of arresting and deporting faculty and students who participated in pro-Palestinian demonstrations and other political activities.

The lawsuit, filed by several university associations against President Donald Trump and members of his administration, would be one of the first to go to trial. Plaintiffs want U.S. District Judge William Young to rule the policy violates the First Amendment and the Administrative Procedure Act, a law governs the process by which federal agencies develop and issue regulations.

“The policy’s effects have been swift. Noncitizen students and faculty across the United States have been terrified into silence,” the plaintiffs wrote in their pretrial brief.

“Students and faculty are avoiding political protests, purging their social media, and withdrawing from public engagement with groups associated with pro-Palestinian viewpoints,” they wrote. “They’re abstaining from certain public writing and scholarship they would otherwise have pursued. They’re even self-censoring in the classroom.”

Several scholars are expected to testify how the policy and subsequent arrests have prompted them to abandon their activism for Palestinian human rights and criticizing Israeli government’s policies.

Since Trump took office, the U.S. government has used its immigration enforcement powers to crack down on international students and scholars at several American universities.

Trump and other officials have accused protesters and others of being “pro-Hamas,” referring to the Palestinian militant group that attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Many protesters have said they were speaking out against Israel’s actions in the war.

Plaintiffs single out several activists by name, including Palestinian activist and Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil, who was released last month after spending 104 days in federal immigration detention. Khalil has become a symbol of Trump ’s clampdown on campus protests.

The lawsuit also references Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk, who was released in May from a Louisiana immigration detention. She spent six weeks in detention after she was arrested walking on the street of a Boston suburb. She claims she was illegally detained following an op-ed she co-wrote last year that criticized the school’s response to Israel’s war in Gaza.

The plaintiffs also accuse the Trump administration of supplying names to universities who they wanted to target, launching a social media surveillance program and used Trump’s own words in which he said after Khalil’s arrest that his was the “first arrest of many to come.”

The government argued in court documents that the plaintiffs are bringing a First Amendment challenge to a policy “of their own creation.”

Related Articles

Trump to put 25% tariffs on allies Japan and South Korea

Trump and Netanyahu may take a victory lap on Iran, but the Gaza war looms over their meeting

Pressure from Trump for trade deals before Wednesday deadline, but hints of more time for talks

Musk says he’s forming a new political party after split with Trump over tax cuts law

Battles over public lands loom even after sell-off proposal fails

“They do not try to locate this program in any statute, regulation, rule, or directive. They do not allege that it is written down anywhere. And they do not even try to identify its specific terms and substance,” the government argues. “That is all unsurprising, because no such policy exists.”

They argue the plaintiffs case also rest on a “misunderstanding of the First Amendment, ”which under binding Supreme Court precedent applies differently in the immigration context than it otherwise does domestically.”

But plaintiffs counter that evidence at the trial will show the Trump administration has implemented the policy a variety of ways, including issuing formal guidance on revoking visas and green cards and establishing a process for identifying those involved in pro-Palestinian protests.

“Defendants have described their policy, defended it, and taken political credit for it,” plaintiffs wrote. “It is only now that the policy has been challenged that they say, incredibly, that the policy does not actually exist. But the evidence at trial will show that the policy’s existence is beyond cavil.”

By TOM MURPHY, AP Health Writer

Prices are falling for the popular obesity treatments Wegovy and Zepbound, but steady access to the drugs remains challenging.

The medications still amount to around $500 per month for those without insurance — out of reach for many patients. And even for people with insurance, coverage remains uneven.

“The medications should be available, the question is at what price and can people sustain that,” said Matt Maciejewski, a Duke University professor who studies obesity treatment coverage.

Doctors say the situation forces them to get creative in treating patients, but there’s hope that prices may fall more in the future.

The drugs are still in high demand

Wegovy and Zepbound are part of a wave of obesity medications known as GLP-1 receptor agonists that have soared in popularity.

Zepbound brought in $2.3 billion in U.S. sales during this year’s first quarter, making it one of drugmaker Eli Lilly’s best sellers.

Novo Nordisk says Wegovy has about 200,000 weekly prescriptions in the U.S., where it brought in nearly $1.9 billion in first-quarter sales.

Insurance coverage is increasing — for some

The benefits consultant Mercer says more businesses with 500 or more employees are adding coverage of the injected drugs for their workers and family members.

And Novo says 85% of its patients who have coverage in the U.S. pay $25 or less per month.

Plus some patients with diabetes can get coverage of the GLP-1 drugs Ozempic and Mounjaro from Novo and Lilly that are approved to treat that condition.

But most state and federally funded Medicaid programs don’t cover the drugs for obesity and neither does Medicare, the federal program mainly for people age 65 and older.

Even the plans that cover the drugs often pay only a portion of the bill, exposing patients to hundreds of dollars in monthly costs, said Dr. Beverly Tchang.

Drugmakers offer help with these out-of-pocket costs, but that assistance can be limited.

“Coverage is not the same as access,” said Tchang, a New York-based doctor who serves as a paid advisor to both Novo and Lilly.

But coverage remains inconsistent

Bill-payers like employers are nervous about drugs that might be used by a lot of people indefinitely.

Some big employers have dropped coverage of the drugs due to the expense. Pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, also are starting to pick one brand over the other as they negotiate deals with the drugmakers.

One of the nation’s largest PBMs, run by CVS Health, dropped Zepbound from its national formulary, or list of covered drugs, on July 1 in favor of Wegovy.

That forced Tchang to figure out another treatment plan for several patients, many of whom took Zepbound because it made them less nauseous.

Dr. Courtney Younglove’s office sends prospective patients a video link showing them how to check their insurer’s website for coverage of the drugs before they visit.

“Then some of them just cancel their appointment because they don’t have coverage,” the Overland Park, Kansas, doctor said.

Cheaper compounded drugs are still being sold

Compounding pharmacies and other entities were allowed to make off-brand, cheaper copies of Wegovy and Zepbound when there was a shortage of the drugs. But the U.S. Food and Drug Administration determined earlier this year that the shortage had ended.

That should have ended the compounded versions, but there is an exception: Some compounding is permitted when a drug is personalized for the patient.

The health care company Hims & Hers Health offers compounded doses of semaglutide, the drug behind Wegovy, that adjust dose levels to help patients manage side effects. Hims says these plans start at $165 a month for 12 months, with customers paying in full upfront.

It’s a contentious issue. Eli Lilly has sued pharmacies and telehealth companies trying to stop them from selling compounded versions of its products.

Novo recently ended a short-lived partnership with Hims to sell Wegovy because the telehealth company continued compounding. Novo says the compounded versions of its drug put patient safety at risk because ingredients are made by foreign suppliers not monitored by US regulators.

Hims says it checks all ingredients to make sure they meet U.S. quality and safety standards. It also uses a third-party lab to verify that a drug’s strength is accurately labeled.

Prices have dropped

Both drugmakers are selling most of their doses for around $500 a month to people without insurance, a few hundred dollars less than some initial prices.

Even so, that expense would eat up about 14% of the average annual per person income in the U.S., which is around $43,000.

Related Articles

American kids have become increasingly unhealthy over nearly two decades, new study finds

How to protect yourself from ticks year-round

Essentia hospital nurses in Duluth, Superior avoid strike

Thinking about taking a stab at IV therapy? Ask some questions first

Burns and fireworks injuries: What to do when seconds count this July 4th

There are some factors that may suppress prices over time. Both companies are developing pill versions of their treatments. Those could hit the market in the next year or so, which might drive down prices for the older, injectable doses.

Younglove said some of her patients save as much as 15% by getting their doses shipped from a pharmacy in Canada. They used to get them from an Israeli pharmacy until the Canadians dropped their prices.

She says competition like this, plus the introduction of pill versions, will pressure U.S. prices.

“I think price wars are going to drive it down,” she said. “I think we are in the early stages. I have hope.”

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

McALLEN, Texas (AP) — A 27-year-old man was killed Monday after opening fire at a U.S. Border Patrol facility in McAllen, Texas, authorities said.

Federal agents returned fire at Ryan Louis Mosqueda, who had an assault rifle and was carrying a utility vest, McAllen Police Chief Victor Rodriguez told reporters Monday morning.

The shooting took place at a Border Patrol facility across the street from McAllen International Airport.

Law enforcement said they found another rifle and more ammunition. Rodriguez said the man’s motive is currently unknown.

One officer was injured in the shooting, but Rodriguez said it was unclear if the injury was from shrapnel or a bullet.

This is a developing story and will be updated with more details.

Related Articles

American kids have become increasingly unhealthy over nearly two decades, new study finds

A Vermont dairy farm was raided. The mixed messages from Washington since then have increased fears

Girls camp grieves loss of 27 campers and counselors in Texas floods that killed nearly 90 people

Today in History: July 7, Reagan nominates O’Connor for the US Supreme Court

Quick action by one Texas summer camp leads to timely evacuations ahead of deadly flood

The health of U.S. children has deteriorated over the past 17 years, with kids today more likely to have obesity, chronic diseases and mental health problems like depression, a new study says.

Much of what researchers found was already known, but the study paints a comprehensive picture by examining various aspects of children’s physical and mental health at the same time.

“The surprising part of the study wasn’t any with any single statistic; it was that there’s 170 indicators, eight data sources, all showing the same thing: a generalized decline in kids’ health,” said Dr. Christopher Forrest, one of the authors of the study published Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has brought children’s health to the forefront of the national policy conversation, unveiling in May a much-anticipated “Make America Healthy Again” report that described kids as undernourished and overmedicated, and raised concerns about their lack of physical activity. But the Trump administration’s actions — including cuts to federal health agencies, Medicaid and scientific research — are not likely to reverse the trend, according to outside experts who reviewed Monday’s study.

“The health of kids in America is not as good as it should be, not as good as the other countries, and the current policies of this administration are definitely going to make it worse,” said Dr. Frederick Rivara, a pediatrician and researcher at the Seattle Children’s Hospital and UW Medicine in Seattle. He co-authored an editorial accompanying the new study.

Forrest and his colleagues analyzed surveys, electronic health records from 10 pediatric health systems and international mortality statistics. Among their findings:

Obesity rates for U.S. children 2-19 years old rose from 17% in 2007-2008 to about 21% in 2021-2023.
A U.S. child in 2023 was 15% to 20% more likely than a U.S. child in 2011 to have a chronic condition such as anxiety, depression or sleep apnea, according to data reported by parents and doctors.
Annual prevalence rates for 97 chronic conditions recorded by doctors rose from about 40% in 2011 to about 46% in 2023.
Early onset of menstruation, trouble sleeping, limitations in activity, physical symptoms, depressive symptoms and loneliness also increased among American kids during the study period.
American children were around 1.8 times more likely to die than kids in other high-income countries from 2007-2022. Being born premature and sudden unexpected death were much higher among U.S. infants, and firearm-related incidents and motor vehicle crashes were much more common among 1-19-year-old American kids than among those the same age in other countries examined.

The research points to bigger problems with America’s health, said Forrest, who is a pediatrician at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

“Kids are the canaries in the coal mine,” he said. “ When kids’ health changes, it’s because they’re at increased vulnerability, and it reflects what’s happening in society at large.”

The timing of the study, he said, is “completely fortuitous.” Well before the 2024 presidential election, Forrest was working on a book about thriving over the life span and couldn’t find this sort of comprehensive data on children’s health.

The datasets analyzed have some limitations and may not be applicable to the full U.S. population, noted Dr. James Perrin, a pediatrician and spokesman for the American Academy of Pediatrics, who wasn’t involved in the study.

“The basic finding is true,” he said.

The editorial published alongside the study said while the administration’s MAHA movement is bringing welcome attention to chronic diseases, “it is pursuing other policies that will work against the interests of children.” Those include eliminating injury prevention and maternal health programs, canceling investments in a campaign addressing sudden infant death and “fueling vaccine hesitancy among parents that may lead to a resurgence of deadly vaccine-preventable diseases,” authors wrote.

Related Articles

Man killed after shooting at a US Border Patrol facility in southern Texas

A Vermont dairy farm was raided. The mixed messages from Washington since then have increased fears

Girls camp grieves loss of 27 campers and counselors in Texas floods that killed nearly 90 people

Today in History: July 7, Reagan nominates O’Connor for the US Supreme Court

Quick action by one Texas summer camp leads to timely evacuations ahead of deadly flood

Officials from the U.S. Health and Human Services Department did not respond to a request for comment.

Forrest said risks highlighted by the MAHA report, such as eating too much ultra-processed food, are real but miss the complex reality driving trends in children’s health.

“We have to step back and take some lessons from the ecological sustainability community and say: Let’s look at the ecosystem that kids are growing up in. And let’s start on a kind of neighborhood-by-neighborhood, city-by-city basis, examining it,” he said.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.