Some GOP-Led States Target Abortions Done Through Medication
About 40% of all abortions in the U.S. are now done through medication — rather than surgery — and that option has become all the more pivotal during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read more
Medicine
Blood Clots & AstraZeneca: Regulator Confirms Vaccine Link
Further complicating Europe’s struggles to vaccinate its populations, the EU Medicines Agency has linked the AstraZeneca vaccine to very rare blood clots but said vaccination benefits still outweigh the risks.
Read moreMicroaggressions
A man dismissed from the University of Virginia School of Medicine after asking questions during a panel on microaggressions may pursue his First Amendment retaliation claim against various individuals at the school, because he has alleged sufficient facts to show that his comments were protected speech, were not made at inappropriate times or places and were not “disruptive or offensive,” a federal court in the state ruled.
Read more
Real-World Vaccine Data Shows Promise as Eligibility Expands
As more states open up Covid-19 vaccine eligibility, the first data from the general population shows only a slight decrease from astounding effectiveness observed in clinical trials.
Read more
Medical Care
Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, a Republican, signed a law Friday allowing doctors to refuse to treat someone — in non-emergency situations — because of religious or moral objections.
Read more
USC Will Pay $1.1 Billion to Settle Claims of Abuse Against Former Campus Gynecologist
The hundreds of women claim USC administration did nothing to stop George Tyndall from allegedly sexually assaulting women for years.
Read more
Dershowitz Drama
HARTFORD, Conn. — Psychiatrist Dr. Bandy Lee claims in a federal complaint that Yale University fired her on trumped-up ethics
Read more
Surprise Pregnancy Adds Another Delay in Criminal Trial of Theranos Founder
Elizabeth Holmes revealed her pregnancy to prosecutors, requesting an additional six-week delay to a trial on fraud charges that was initially supposed to begin in 2020.
Read more
Amazon Jumps Into Health Care With Telemedicine Initiative
Amazon is making its first foray into providing health care services, announcing Wednesday that it will be offering its Amazon Care telemedicine program to employers nationwide.
Read more
Twins Peak: Double Births at ‘All-Time High’ Globally
More twins — one in every 42 children born — are coming into the world than ever before, according to new research citing the rapid rise in medically assisted reproduction as a key factor.
Read more
Secrets of Medieval Childbirth in 15th Century Parchment
PARIS (AFP) — A 15th century “birthing girdle,” inscribed with prayers and a well-thumbed crucifix image, was likely actively used
Read more
UK Lifts Ban on Use of Domestic Blood Plasma Donations in Treatments
The U.K. government said Thursday it will lift a decades-old ban on British donations of blood plasma for use in the manufacture of medicines, in a move that could help treat thousands of critically ill patients.
Read more
Amid Covid-19 Pandemic, Flu Has Disappeared in the US
February is usually the peak of flu season, with doctors’ offices and hospitals packed with suffering patients. But not this year.
Read more
Israel Adopts Law Allowing Names of Unvaccinated to Be Shared
Israel’s parliament passed a law Wednesday allowing the government to share the identities of people not vaccinated against the coronavirus with other authorities, raising privacy concerns for those opting out of inoculation.
Read more
Prenatal Vitamins
A federal court in California ruled in favor of First Databank in a suit brought against it by prenatal vitamin manufacturer Exeltis USA over claims that the drug and medical device database company’s coding changes would improperly characterize prenatal vitamins as over-the-counter and cause patients to lose coverage for the prescription supplements that prevent birth defects.
Read more
Earliest Signs of Immune Response Found in Embryos
The fragile embryo deploys its own immune system to survive in its earliest days.
Read more
Medical Emergency
A California woman sued Kern Medical Center claiming doctors there sent her home even though she was having contractions, and she woke the next morning to find her baby had been born and was dead.
Read more
Drug Found to Reverse Cognitive Damage in Alzheimer’s Patients
Scientists believe they’ve found a way to reverse the damage to cognitive function caused by Alzheimer’s disease — a potential landmark treatment for a disease afflicting 35 million people worldwide.
Read more
Study in Lancet Says Russia’s Sputnik V Vaccine Appears Safe, Effective
Russian scientists say the country’s Sputnik V vaccine appears safe and effective against Covid-19, according to early results of an advanced study published Tuesday in a British medical journal.
Read more
South Africa OKs Limited Use of Parasite Drug for Covid-19
South Africa is allowing the limited use of a medicine to treat Covid-19 even though regulators acknowledge there’s not enough evidence that it works or is safe for this purpose.
Read more