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EVERYTHING
COVID Shots for Kids Are Over
What: HHS Sec. Kennedy's FDA made one of its most controversial moves yet, announcing that new formulations of COVID shots for healthy people under 65 will need new clinical trial data for approval. This is unusual for vaccines, The Atlantic's Katherine Wu reports, and it means that American children may not have access to *any* initial series of COVID vaccines.
Key Line: "Today’s children will likely have to contend with different versions of this virus for the rest of their lives, and to take away to option of gaining protection ahead of disease 'is a myopic view of COVID prevention,' Gregory Poland, a vaccinologist and the president of the Atria Research Institute, told me. This country generally does vaccinate against every vaccine-preventable disease that affects children in the U.S., as early as is practical and possible. At the very least, 'parents should have an option,' Lee told me."
Source: The Atlantic
PREGNANCY + POSTPARTUM
New Tool Identifies Women at High Risk for Postpartum Depression
What: A study of over 30,000 women found a model could successfully screen for postpartum depression via electronic health records immediately after birth. Using machine learning, the model helped identify high-risk patients when they're still in the hospital, allowing for earlier intervention.
Key Line: “'Using the predefined specificity, we were able to identify about 30% of individuals who were predicted to be at high risk where the diagnosis of postpartum depression occurred,' said Clapp. 'Remember, the overall population risk was about 10%, but of those that we flagged as high risk, the rate of postpartum depression was 30% — or three times the population rate.'”
Source: Medscape
ABORTION ACCESS
Texas Jailed a Miscarriage Patient for Five Months
What: A Texas woman was imprisoned for nearly five months after miscarrying in a public bathroom. She was held under a $100,000 bond for that time, only to have her case dismissed by prosecutors for insufficient evidence. While she was in jail, a local "crisis" pregnancy center named her miscarried fetus and gave it a public funeral.
Key Line: "Texas arrested a woman for a miscarriage, jailed her for nearly half a year, let an anti-abortion group name and bury her fetus—and then quietly dropped the charges once they realized they never had a case to begin with. As Karen Thompson, legal director of Pregnancy Justice, put it: 'You cannot undo the harms of ignorant law enforcement responses to a miscarriage. You cannot undo the fear Ms. Strait felt. You can't undo the time she lost in jail. You can't undo the trauma. It isn't okay to have to recover from something that never should have happened.'"
Source: AED
MENOPAUSE
Senator Murray Questions VA on Menopause Research and Clinical Trials
What: Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) grilled VA officials on prioritizing menopause research for women veterans, the VA's 90-day pause on clinical trials, and the lack of in-house mammography services for women veterans in her home state. In response, she got what many Trump officials are telling Capitol Hill: "We'll get back to you."
Key Line: “One VA study found that 15 percent of women veterans experience menopause before the age of 40—that is 10 years earlier than most women,' Senator Murray said. ...'Can you tell me today what resources are available right now, at the VA, for women veterans who are experiencing menopause? Are there any plans to expand that—what do you have right now?' Senator Murray asked. ...“I do not have that information readily available in terms of what resources are currently being dedicated. I would have to get it for the record,” [said said Dr. O’Toole.]
Source: Sen. Patty Murray
ONCOLOGY
Additional Imaging Detects Early Stage Cancers Missed by Mammograms
What: A study in The Lancet found MRIs and contrast mammography helped detect early-stage cancers missed by mammograms in women with dense breasts, who face a higher risk of breast cancer. The study compared the effectiveness of these techniques and highlighted the importance of supplemental imaging for this group of women.
Key Line: "Over 9000 women in the UK with dense breasts and a negative mammogram were randomly allocated to one of three different supplementary techniques. The cancer detection rate for the imaging techniques was 1.7% (for a fast MRI) and 1.9% (for contrast mammography), whilst the cancer detection rate for the ultrasound group was 0.4%."
Source: The Lancet
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