Click in for more news from The Hill{beacon} Health Care Health Care   The Big Story NIH pauses grant-making processThe National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently canceled several meetings required to approve fellowship and grant applications. © APThe move comes shortly after the Trump administration decided to freeze many federal health agency communications.   The freeze on forms of communication like guidance, press releases, announcements and social media posts is set to last until Feb. 1.    The cancellations place the future of scientific research up in the air with researchers worried that some applicants will miss their window of opportunity to ever receive NIH funding.    “At the present time, all Federal advisory committee meetings are canceled,” reads an internal email from NIH shared with The Hill.    “We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your understanding…We will get back in touch with you when we have further information. Thank you for your service to NIH.”   Some of the meetings canceled include study sections, which review NIH fellowship and grant applications, and advisory council meetings, which make recommendations on which applications should receive funding from a specific NIH Institute or center.    That's because these meetings take time to organize and are not easily rescheduled, according to Esther Choo, a professor of emergency medicine at Oregon Health and Science University, who is also a member of a NIH study section whose next meeting was canceled Wednesday.    “I don’t know if there is a precedent to this, at least not at this scale,” Choo told The Hill. “I don’t have a good mental map for how you recover from something like this. How do you reschedule a whole round of review?”     A NIH spokesperson did not answer questions from The Hill about the scope and reason behind the cancelations. An agency spokesperson instead sent a statement referring to the communications freeze.    “HHS has issued a pause on mass communications and public appearances that are not directly related to emergencies or critical to preserving health,” the statement reads.     “This is a short pause to allow the new team to set up a process for review and prioritization. There are exceptions for announcements that HHS divisions believe are mission critical, but they will be made on a case-by-case basis.”      Welcome to The Hill’s Health Care newsletter, we’re Nathaniel Weixel, Joseph Choi and Alejandra O'Connell-Domenech — every week we follow the latest moves on how Washington impacts your health.   Did someone forward you this newsletter? Subscribe here.  Essential Reads How policy will be impacting the health care sector this week and beyond:  Purdue Pharma, Sacklers reach new settlement agreement in opioid cases Purdue Pharma and the members of the Sackler family who own the company agreed in principle to pay a $7.4 billion settlement to resolve thousands of lawsuits over their alleged role in the opioid crisis, state attorneys general announced Thursday.   Full Story   House Republicans pass ‘born-alive’ abortion billHouse Republicans on Thursday passed their version of a “born-alive” abortion bill one day after Democrats blocked the Senate version from advancing.  The bill requires health care practitioners to provide the “same degree of professional skill, care, and diligence” for a child born alive during an attempted abortion as they would during normal childbirth.  Republicans have framed the bill as not being anti-abortion …  Full Story  GOP senators introduce bill to ban taxpayer funding for abortions Republican lawmakers reintroduced a piece of legislation that would ban the use of federal funds for abortions or health coverage that includes abortion this week.   If passed, the bill would essentially codify a decades-old policy called the Hyde Amendment which has banned the use of any federal dollars on abortions since 1977.   There are two caveats, however. The Hyde Amendment does allow for federal funds …  Full Story   In Other News Branch out with a different read: Mississippi state lawmaker introduces Contraception Begins at Erection Act with fines for masturbation A Democratic Mississippi state senator introduced legislation this week that would make it unlawful for men to masturbate “without the intent to fertilize an embryo,” with the lawmaker criticizing anti-abortion measures that only “focus on the woman’s role.” Full Story   Around the Nation Local and state headlines on health care: Oregon Health Authority finds Oregon Medical Group, two insurers, had unreasonably high spending (KLCC)  Mass. plans to close state mental health center on Cape Cod; will cut 100s of related jobs (MassLive)  Wisconsin gets first in-state post-birth alert program to prevent maternal health deaths (Spectrum News 1)  What We're Reading Health news we've flagged from other outlets: Africa CDC to push local health funding plans as HIV relief at risk (Bloomberg)  Who is in charge of the CDC right now? Nobody knows for sure (CBS News)  Trump executive order declaring only ‘two sexes’ gets the biology wrong, scientists say (Stat)  What Others are Reading  Most read stories on The Hill right now: Senate advances Hegseth nomination; Collins, Murkowski vote ‘no’ The Senate voted largely along party lines Thursday to advance Pete Hegseth, President Trump’s nominee to serve as secretary of Defense, brushing aside … Read more Trump signs order directing release of JFK assassination files President Trump signed an executive order Thursday directing the release of federal government documents related to the assassinations of former President … Read more What People Think Opinion related to health submitted to The Hill: RFK Jr. would put our kids’ safety at risk  You're all caught up. See you tomorrow!  Close Thank you for signing up! Subscribe to more newsletters here The latest in politics and policy. Direct to your inbox. Sign up for the Health Care newsletter Subscribe