Jasmine Laws

Photo by Cup of Couple on Pexels

About Me

I work as a US News Reporter for Newsweek, reporting on news across the globe and the US, specialising in health and health policy.

I completed my fast-track NCTJ with gold-standard at News Associates, and graduated from Durham University with a BA degree in Liberal Arts (English Literature and Philosophy).

Previously, I worked as a digital journalist at News UK, a Senior Political and Media Consultant for the Bridgehead Group, and was also Co-Editor for Comment Central. I have also written for the Metro, Byline Times and The Express as a freelancer. 

While training with News Associates, I worked as a reporter for The Londoners, and as a news-reader, presenter, producer and reporter at Riverside Radio.

I previously worked as Assistant Editor of Beau Monde Media's Ski Luxe Magazine and as the UK and Middle Eastern Correspondent for the Human Perspective.

My Latest Work

Newsweek •

Ozempic-style drugs may carry mental health risks

Drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy have been celebrated as a medical miracle for helping users shed pounds. But as they also influence key parts of the brain, experts warn they could pose risks for some patients.

These drugs, also known as GLP-1 receptor agonists, work by quietening what some researchers call "food noise"—persistent thoughts about eating—while also mimicking a hormone that promotes fullness and slows digestion. That means they directly affect brain systems linked to reward, impulse...
Newsweek •

New cancer risk tool that flags patients early seeks FDA approval

A new tool that identifies early cancer risk in patients is currently under review with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the company that developed the device informed Newsweek, and they hope to have the tool rolled out to Americans next year.

C the Signs is a medical device that helps clinicians analyze patient medical records to determine whether they are at risk of developing cancer without them needed to do any additional tests or imaging. The aim is to refer patients at risk of canc...
Newsweek •

What is 7-OH? Experts warn of emerging opioid threat

Federal regulators and addiction experts are warning about an emerging drug threat linked to concentrated 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH), a kratom-derived compound that some researchers say may be significantly more potent than morphine.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned last year that products containing 7-OH—including tablets, gummies, drink mixes and shots—are being sold online and in smoke shops and gas stations across the United States. In some cases, regulators say the products c...
Newsweek •

Why Black and Latina women face higher medical bills

Black and Latina women in the U.S. face higher rates of medical misdiagnosis, and the financial consequences can be severe, according to advocates and patients who say errors in care often lead to spiraling medical debt.

Jared Walker, founder of Dollar For, a non-profit organization aimed at helping patients terminate their medical debt, told Newsweek that Black and Latina women are "disproportionately" impacted by a healthcare system that's "broken,” adding there are longstanding racial and ec...
Newsweek •

Medical misdiagnosis costs billions—women often pay more

Medical misdiagnosis costs hundreds of billions of dollars each year in the U.S., a financial burden that quietly drains household finances—especially for women, who are more likely to face years of repeat appointments, tests, and prescriptions before getting the right answer. For many, this means hundreds or thousands of dollars in extra bills each year, often for care that doesn’t resolve their symptoms.

The average American family spends around 11 percent of their household income on healthc...
Newsweek •

Hospitals are deploying AI chatbots. Doctors are divided

Healthcare systems across the U.S. are launching new artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots to help patients ask medical questions and access appointments faster amid growing demand for quick health guidance, even as doctors remain divided over the roll‑out.

Some see the positives of patients having access to clinically-focused AI platforms to ask questions, while others caution that strict standards must be maintained to limit potential risks.

Hartford HealthCare recently launched its Patient...
Newsweek •

Popular weight‑loss drugs may pose risks for some patients

As GLP‑1 weight‑loss drugs move into the medical mainstream, experts say they may pose under‑recognized risks for some patients with complex chronic conditions—underscoring the need for careful screening and close medical supervision.

GLP-1s like Ozempic and Wegovy have become increasingly popular, with one in eight Americans using them as of March 2026, according to data from Statista. Their rise has coincided with a decline in U.S. obesity rates, though experts caution multiple factors are at...
Newsweek •

America has a helium problem

The war in Iran has helped drive a global energy shock, sending oil and gas prices higher and disrupting fuel markets–developments that are now adding fresh strain to an already fragile global helium supply.

Helium suppliers have begun warning customers of supply disruptions, according to industry letters and analysts. The element, a byproduct of natural gas processing, is essential for MRI machines, scientific research and semiconductor manufacturing.

“Over the past decade, helium has become...
Newsweek •

Bottled water prices set to soar

Conflict in the Middle East is rippling through the oil industry and into consumer goods, with analysts warning bottled water prices could rise in the coming months.

The United States and Israel launched coordinated strikes on Iran on February 28, after which Iran imposed restrictions on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a key global oil transit route that typically carries about 20 percent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas. The disruption has pushed Brent crude oil prices up by...
Newsweek •

Republican resistance grows to RFK Jr.’s MAHA agenda

Senate Republicans who voted to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary now appear to be showing buyer’s remorse, raising objections to health nominees tied to his orbit amid growing unease over Kennedy's approach to federal health policy.

President Donald Trump's pick for surgeon general, Casey Means, has yet to gain enough votes for confirmation in the Senate, amid bipartisan resistance as lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle press Means on her views on vaccines. While the...
Newsweek •

Moms stage "funeral" outside FDA in drug protest

More than 100 mothers and advocates affected by a type of rare disease gathered outside the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Wednesday to stage a funeral to "mourn the futures" of their children, following the agency's rejections of various rare disease treatments.

The community, affected by a group of rare metabolic disorders known as mucopolysaccharidoses (MPS), dressed in black, held signs and carried a coffin outside the FDA's headquarters in a peaceful protest, demanding that treatmen...
Newsweek •

Mothers "terrified" as children could lose treatments after FDA denials

Mothers from across the country have spoken to Newsweek about their concern for their children after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been rejecting various treatments for rare diseases that can be life-threatening.

One mother said she was "terrified" of losing access, as a result of an FDA rejection, to the drug her daughter relies on, while other mothers also said they were worried about how much longer they have left with their children.

The mother of a 15-year-old boy with Hunter...
Newsweek •

Dunkin’ might be RFK Jr.'s most difficult battle yet

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has taken on powerful food industry targets before, but his public challenge to Dunkin’ and Starbucks over high‑sugar drinks has sparked a sharper political and cultural backlash than many of his earlier health initiatives.

The health and human services (HHS) secretary has faced relatively limited resistance while pushing to phase out synthetic food dyes, promote beef tallow over seed oils, and reframe federal dietary guidelines under his “Make America Healthy Again” agend...
The Human Perspective •

Can art get you where you need to go? — The Human Perspective

He explained that he chose cartoons as a subject matter to represent ‘the total opposite’ of the trauma he went through. While the underlying message of his work is ‘quite dark,’ the outcome of the pieces is ‘always a fun image’, one that his loved ones can access and engage with. Although his paintings might have pops of only one or two colours, the colours present a contrast from that darkness he previously experienced. For Ed, the process of creating is meditative, which outweighs the outcome...
The Human Perspective •

Box fresh, blood stained — The Human Perspective

The number of migrants and refugees arriving has been increasing. In 2023, 157,651 people from 62 different nationalities came to Italy by sea – a 50% increase on 2022. Given that, in 2023, economic migrants made up 27% of the total Italian workforce (370,000 people), it is likely that the opportunity to find labour is a significant pull factor to the country. A substantial proportion of this migrant workforce find a home in Italy’s agricultural sector, which reportedly employed 200,000 non-nati...
The Human Perspective •

Box fresh, blood stained — The Human Perspective

The number of migrants and refugees arriving has been increasing. In 2023, 157,651 people from 62 different nationalities came to Italy by sea – a 50% increase on 2022. Given that, in 2023, economic migrants made up 27% of the total Italian workforce (370,000 people), it is likely that the opportunity to find labour is a significant pull factor to the country. A substantial proportion of this migrant workforce find a home in Italy’s agricultural sector, which reportedly employed 200,000 non-nati...
The Human Perspective •

Can art get you where you need to go? — The Human Perspective

He explained that he chose cartoons as a subject matter to represent ‘the total opposite’ of the trauma he went through. While the underlying message of his work is ‘quite dark,’ the outcome of the pieces is ‘always a fun image’, one that his loved ones can access and engage with. Although his paintings might have pops of only one or two colours, the colours present a contrast from that darkness he previously experienced. For Ed, the process of creating is meditative, which outweighs the outcome...
Newsweek •

Harmful chemicals found in major bottled water brands

A new study has found that there are dozens of unregulated harmful chemicals in a number of popular brands of bottled water.

The study, published by the journal Science Direct, reviewed 64 regulated and unregulated disinfection by-products (DBPs) in 10 popular brands of bottled water, and found that all bottled water examined contained DBPs.

However, these findings are not entirely negative for bottled drinking water. Susan Richardson, a professor of chemistry at the University of South Caroli...
Newsweek •

US cattle farmers raise alarm over China tariffs

U.S. cattle farmers have voiced their concern about the tariff war escalation between the U.S. and China that saw Beijing bringing in a huge tariff on American beef imports last month.

The United States Cattlemen’s Association told Newsweek: "Tariff battles—especially when they’re volatile and inconsistent—create uncertainty that makes it harder for ranchers to plan, invest, and pass their operations to the next generation."

These new tariffs mean that American cattle farmers face higher costs...
Newsweek •

Why Obamacare could still collapse under the Trump administration

The Trump administration seems to be veering away from maintaining Obamacare and instead finding its own alternatives to making health insurance more affordable.

Rather than extending the Affordable Care Act (ACA) subsidies, the administration has instead been slashing drug prices and giving Americans access to pay for drugs on a new website with cheaper rates, while proposing health savings accounts.

There was a vote to decide if the ACA subsidies should be extended on December 11, but the Se...
Newsweek •

What will happen to COVID-19 in 2026? Experts explain

It has been almost six years since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic in 2020, and while it is no longer considered a public health emergency, it can still make more vulnerable people very unwell.

As the virus is currently on the rise in the United States, which is typical in the winter months, Newsweek has spoken to experts about how COVID-19 will change in 2026, what symptoms to look out for, and whether Americans should be concerned about the virus.

While some people...
Newsweek •

Fast food with most plastic chemicals revealed 

A number of fast food favorites from major chains across the U.S. have high levels of certain plastic chemicals, according to the database PlasticList.

The fast food items were found to have high levels of a group of chemicals called phthalates, which are commonly found in products that have contact with plastics during the producing, packaging or delivering process.

While they are commonly found in consumer products, these plastic chemicals are also known to leach into food products, and stud...
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