Category: reproductive health
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Kennedy adds two OB-GYNs to vaccine advisory panel amid review of shots for pregnant women
Kennedy adds two OB-GYNs to vaccine advisory panel amid review of shots for pregnant women WASHINGTON — Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appointed two new members to the main federal vaccine advisory board, his latest change to a group that has made a series of controversial recommendations and upended the usual processes for vaccine…
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STAT+: FDA approves brain tumor warning on Depo-Provera label as court battle grows over side effects
STAT+: FDA approves brain tumor warning on Depo-Provera label as court battle grows over side effects The Food and Drug Administration has approved a change to the labeling for a Pfizer birth control shot that warns patients of the risk of meningioma, a tumor in the layers of tissue that cover the brain and spinal…
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STAT+: House set to vote on bills to ban gender-affirming care for young people
STAT+: House set to vote on bills to ban gender-affirming care for young people Republicans in Congress are making a renewed push before the end of the year to pass major federal restrictions to gender-affirming care for trans minors. The House is set to consider two bills this week, before lawmakers depart for their holiday…
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FDA reverses decades-old warning on hormone therapy products for menopause
FDA reverses decades-old warning on hormone therapy products for menopause WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration is reversing a 2003 decision that put a stringent warning on hormone therapy products for menopausal women, saying that the treatments offer heart, brain, and bone health benefits. Commissioner Marty Makary wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed…
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STAT+: How the first nine drug companies won priority review vouchers from Marty Makary’s FDA
STAT+: How the first nine drug companies won priority review vouchers from Marty Makary’s FDA WASHINGTON — Commissioner Marty Makary wants the Food and Drug Administration to move more quickly. The launch of a new priority review voucher program in June was no exception. The agency promised winners a one- to two-month review of their drug…
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STAT+: Trump’s IVF deal spurs hopes — and adjustments — across fertility sector
STAT+: Trump’s IVF deal spurs hopes — and adjustments — across fertility sector WASHINGTON — The Trump administration’s push to make in vitro fertilization more affordable is changing the outlook and offerings in the fertility sector, even as some details of its policies remain confidential and others have yet to be released. The administration’s changes…
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Trump announces plan to expand fertility treatment coverage alongside latest pharma deal
Trump announces plan to expand fertility treatment coverage alongside latest pharma deal The Trump administration has struck a deal with EMD Serono to lower drug prices — part of a larger push from the administration to expand coverage and improve affordability for fertility services, officials announced at the White House on Thursday. The administration’s plan…
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Opinion: Celebrating mifepristone, a hero in modern abortion access, on its 25th anniversary in the U.S.
Opinion: Celebrating mifepristone, a hero in modern abortion access, on its 25th anniversary in the U.S. When the Food and Drug Administration approved mifepristone, the abortion pill, on Sept. 28, 2000, none of us working on expanding access to reproductive health care could have imagined the future we find ourselves in 25 years later. From…
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STAT+: Scientific panel puts new guardrails around stem cell-based embryo models
STAT+: Scientific panel puts new guardrails around stem cell-based embryo models An influential scientific panel is pumping the brakes on stem cell-based embryo models — an umbrella term for the increasingly complex structures researchers are building from stem cells and growing in the lab to mimic aspects of embryonic development. In new guidelines released Monday,…
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Scientific innovation is driving hope for progress in women’s health, but experts warn of headwinds
Scientific innovation is driving hope for progress in women’s health, but experts warn of headwinds Scientific breakthroughs — from next-generation vaccines to long-acting medications to prevent HIV — are fueling new hope in women’s health. But experts warn that persistent gaps in funding and access could stall that progress. At a STAT event this week, Ruanne…
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Gates Foundation pledges $2.5 billion to women’s health initiatives
Gates Foundation pledges $2.5 billion to women’s health initiatives The Gates Foundation said Monday that it would commit $2.5 billion through 2030 to support dozens of different approaches for improving women’s health, from new medicines to prevent maternal mortality to vaccines to curb infections that disproportionately affect women. The figure represents an increase of about…
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Judge blocks Trump administration’s efforts to defund Planned Parenthood
Judge blocks Trump administration’s efforts to defund Planned Parenthood A federal judge on Monday ruled Planned Parenthood clinics nationwide must continue to be reimbursed for Medicaid funding as the nation’s largest abortion provider fights President Donald Trump’s administration over efforts to defund the organization in his signature tax legislation. The new order replaces a previous…
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Births of eight healthy children show promise of mitochondrial replacement therapy
Births of eight healthy children show promise of mitochondrial replacement therapy LONDON — Ten years ago, U.K. policymakers gave the green light to a pioneering reproductive technology meant to spare children from being born with types of rare but sometimes fatal diseases caused by genetic mutations in the powerplants of cells. The method involved combining…
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Opinion: RFK Jr.’s stance on Covid vaccines for pregnant women is profoundly unethical
Opinion: RFK Jr.’s stance on Covid vaccines for pregnant women is profoundly unethical Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy’s proposal to end the government’s existing Covid vaccine recommendation for healthy pregnant women, if enacted, will be a major setback to decades’ worth of efforts to advance the health of pregnant people and their babies.…
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STAT+: How Trump’s tax cut bill would reshape health care
STAT+: How Trump’s tax cut bill would reshape health care WASHINGTON — The House passed President Trump’s tax-cutting plan early Thursday morning with the attendant health care measures to partially pay for it. Relative to earlier drafts, GOP lawmakers revised the bill to further cut government spending, discourage Medicaid expansion, and potentially restrict coverage of…
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U.S. maternal mortality rate increased 27% over five years, NIH study finds
U.S. maternal mortality rate increased 27% over five years, NIH study finds A new U.S. government paper documenting an increase in maternal mortality from 2018 to 2022 does not hedge in its conclusion, calling the issue “an urgent public health priority.” That it was published amid massive job and funding cuts at federal health agencies…
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STAT+: RFK Jr.’s Senate hearing delayed, living with more measles
STAT+: RFK Jr.’s Senate hearing delayed, living with more measles You’re reading the web edition of D.C. Diagnosis, STAT’s twice-weekly newsletter about the politics and policy of health and medicine. Sign up here to receive it in your inbox on Tuesdays and Thursdays. STAT is cutting the price of an annual subscription in half. Click here for…