July 30, 2026
Tonight: Louisiana locks up a hemorrhage drug, the operation that prevents most ovarian cancer, and more.
— Meghan McCarthy
REMOVING THE FALLOPIAN TUBES CUTS OVARIAN CANCER RISK BY NEARLY 80%
Nearly all fatal "ovarian" cancers actually begin in the fallopian tubes, and taking the tubes out during any abdominal surgery, from a hysterectomy to a gallbladder operation, lowers the risk by almost 80%, the New York Times reports. The five-minute procedure is now backed by the American Cancer Society, which is planning a national awareness campaign. Ovarian cancer kills most of the 20,000 U.S. women diagnosed each year because no screening test catches it early.
LOUISIANA LOCKED UP THE DRUG THAT STOPS POSTPARTUM BLEEDING
A 2024 state law that reclassified misoprostol and mifepristone as controlled substances has pushed Louisiana hospitals to pull misoprostol off the mobile carts used to treat postpartum hemorrhage and store it in a locked room instead. Doctors told KFF Health News and Verite News the extra steps cost minutes when a hemorrhage can turn fatal fast. Misoprostol is cheap, shelf-stable, and a frontline treatment for one of the most common childbirth complications.
HORMONE THERAPY USE HAS NEARLY DOUBLED
Menopausal hormone therapy use among women in outpatient care rose from 1.7% to 3.6% between 2017 and 2026, and nearly tripled among women aged 45 to 54, according to an Epic Research analysis of more than 163 million women. Use stayed flat until 2023, then accelerated after further analysis softened the perceived risks and the FDA moved to strip the decades-old black-box warning off estrogen products last November. Patches and gels grew fastest of all.
…AND THE PATCHES TO MEET THAT DEMAND KEEP RUNNING OUT
That surge is colliding with supply. Pittsburgh-area pharmacies report estradiol patch shortages that have dragged on for six to eight months, with some patients driving 40 minutes to fill a prescription and pharmacies paying double when stock appears, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette found. The FDA says patches haven't met its threshold for a national shortage and that all six manufacturers are running at full capacity. Patients are being switched to gels and alternate doses in the meantime.
PREGNANCY HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE HAS JUMPED 73% SINCE 2016
The share of U.S. births complicated by gestational hypertension rose from 6% in 2016 to 10.4% in 2024, and CDC data shows the rate climbed in all 50 states. Axios reports the roughly 73% jump cuts across age groups and races. High blood pressure in pregnancy raises the odds of preeclampsia, stroke, preterm birth, and lasting heart disease, and it's one of the clearest early warnings clinicians have.