FDA on Wednesday declared lab-grown chicken developed by Upside Foods safe for consumption in the United States, in today's bite-sized hospital and health industry news from California, Georgia, and Ohio.

• California: FDA on Wednesday declared lab-grown chicken developed by Upside Foods safe for consumption in the United States—a move some experts say will pave the way for similar approvals of lab-grown meat products in United States. "We evaluated the information Upside Foods submitted to the agency and have no further questions at this time about the firm's safety conclusion," FDA said. "The firm will use animal cell culture technology to take living cells from chickens and grow the cells in a controlled environment to make the cultured animal cell food." According to a press release from Upside Foods, the company is currently working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to obtain final approval before it can sell its product to consumers. "It's the moment we've been working toward for the past, almost seven years now," said Uma Valeti, Upside's CEO. "Opening up the U.S. market is what every company in the world is trying to do." (Reiley, Washington Post, 11/16; Reynolds, Wired, 11/16; Torrella, Vox, 11/17)

• Georgia: Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney on Tuesday overturned Georgia's six-week abortion ban, saying that when the law was passed, it was "unequivocally unconstitutional for governments—federal, state, or local—to ban abortions before viability. And yet the LIFE Act ... did just that." Under the law, abortions were banned around six weeks—typically before most people are aware of a pregnancy. While the law had been blocked since 2019, it went into effect after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in July. According to McBurney, the ban "may someday become the law of Georgia" following the Dobbs ruling, "but only after our Legislature determines in the sharp glare of public attention that will undoubtedly and properly attend such an important and consequential debate." However, he added, "[i]t did not become the law of Georgia when it was enacted and it is not the law of Georgia now." After the ban was overturned, the state of Georgia filed an appeal to the state Supreme Court. Kara Richardson, a spokesperson for Georgia's attorney general, said the office "will continue to fulfill our duty to defend the laws of our state in court." (Gonzalez/Hurt, Axios, 11/15)

• Ohio: "Jeopardy!" star Amy Schneider on Wednesday testified in an Ohio state legislative committee hearing against a bill that would prohibit gender-affirming care for minors. Under the legislation, people under the age of 18 would not have access to puberty-blocking drugs, hormone therapy, or gender confirmation surgery in Ohio. While medical groups like the American Medical Association have spoken out in opposition of measures that ban gender-affirming care, saying that trans and nonbinary gender identities are "normal variations of human identity and expression," several states have made attempts to ban gender-affirming care for minors. On Wednesday, Schneider said both opponents and supporters of the legislation ultimately share the same goal—protecting children. However, Schneider warned that the bill would be dangerous to some children. "I'm not asking you to do anything except not pass a bill that expands the government's reach," Schneider said, "to not restrict the freedom of families and doctors and communities to decide for themselves what their children need, without a bunch of politicians in Columbus getting involved in everyone's private business." (Chen, Axios, 11/15; AP/CBS News, 11/16)