Health Glance
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. signed a controversial recommendation July 23 from a vaccine panel that advised removing thimerosal from all influenza vaccines.
Thimerosal is a preservative that has largely been phased out of U.S. vaccines and has long been targeted by anti-vaccine advocates despite broad scientific consensus on its safety.
The call against thimerosal was first presented by Lyn Redwood, former leader of Children's Health Defense, an anti-vaccine group founded by Kennedy, during a June 26 meeting for the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.
RFK Jr. to remove controversial ingredient from all flu vaccines in the US
Judge blocks Trump administration from cutting Planned Parenthood funding
A federal judge Monday blocked the Trump administration from cutting funding to Planned Parenthood as part of the GOP’s new tax cut and health law.
U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston granted Planned Parenthood’s request for a temporary injunction while the lawsuit progresses.
Planned Parenthood two weeks ago sued over a provision in the new law that imposes a one-year ban on state Medicaid payments to health care nonprofits that also offer abortions and received more than $800,000 in federal funding in 2023.
Talwani’s ruling still allows the administration to enforce the provision against other providers, and the legislation did not mention Planned Parenthood by name. But the organization says it comprises almost the entirety of the impacted entities.
‘Maybe We Ought to Look at This System’: Senate Hearing on Vaccine Injuries Sparks Talk of Reforms
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), a staunch vaccine supporter, said he was “heartbroken” after hearing parents recount how their once-healthy children were injured or killed by vaccines.
The parents’ testimony, delivered during Tuesday’s U.S. Senate hearing, “Voices of the Vaccine Injured,” did little to sway Blumenthal from his belief that vaccines are “safe and effective” — but the gut-wrenching stories did lead the senator to suggest he may be willing to look into the issue of whether pharmaceutical companies should be held liable for injuries caused by their products.
“Maybe we ought to look at this system,” said Blumenthal, referring to the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986, which established a government compensation program for people injured by vaccines while granting legal immunity to vaccine makers.
Since 1986, the only recourse parents have had if their child was injured is to file a claim through the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) — a bureaucratic labyrinth that rejects nearly half of all claims.
Blumenthal, ranking member of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which held the hearing, said the parents’ testimony “makes me want to do something.”
RFK Jr. and ice cream makers say they're churning up healthier ice cream
A group of ice cream makers that produce 90% of the nation’s ice cream and frozen dairy desserts are pledging to eliminate many artificial food dyes from their offerings by the end of 2027.
The announcement, less than a week before the National Ice Cream Day on July 20, was made by the International Dairy Foods Association, a trade group for dairy companies, in conjunction with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has championed the cause through his Make America Healthy Again platform.
Kennedy, who has long blamed chronic health problems, including obesity and heart disease, on the food industry, announced in April that eight artificial dyes will be phased out from medications and the nation's food supply by the end of 2026, including those found in candy, ice cream, soft drinks and jams.
The voluntary effort will eliminate the use of certified artificial colors Red 3, Red 40, Green 3, Blue 1, Blue 2, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6.
RFK Jr. fires entire CDC vaccine advisory panel
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has fired all 17 members of a committee that advises the federal government on vaccine safety and will replace them with new members, a move that the Trump administration's critics warned would create public distrust around the government's role in promoting public health.
At issue is the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices, which makes recommendations on the safety, efficacy, and clinical need of vaccines to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It comprises medical and public health experts who develop recommendations on the use of vaccines in the civilian population of the United States.
“Today we are prioritizing the restoration of public trust above any specific pro- or anti-vaccine agenda,” Kennedy Jr., who has a history of controversial views on vaccines, said on June 9 in announcing the overhaul. “The public must know that unbiased science—evaluated through a transparent process and insulated from conflicts of interest—guides the recommendations of our health agencies.”
Study highlights cancer risk from millions of CT scans performed annually
CT scans diagnose afflictions from tumors to kidney stones to life-threatening diseases and injuries, such as aneurysms and blood clots leading to stroke.
But the radiation emitted by this essential diagnostic tool may cause more harm than previously known and could eventually be responsible for roughly 5% of all cancers diagnosed in the U.S. in a single year, a new study finds.
"Medical imaging has potential benefits," said radiologist Dr. Rebecca Smith-Bindman, an epidemiology professor at the University of California, San Francisco, and lead author of the study published Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine. "It has potential harms as well, and it's really important to balance them."
Scientists long ago established that ionizing radiation emitted by computed tomography, or CT, scans increases cancer risk. But, since 2007, use of the imaging technique has surged 35%, the study says, due in part to growth in what Smith-Bindman and her colleagues call "low-value, potentially unnecessary imaging."
Wyoming governor vetoes ultrasound requirement for medication abortions
A bill that would have required women seeking medication abortions to get ultrasounds has been vetoed by Wyoming’s Republican governor, who questioned whether it was reasonable and necessary especially for victims of rape and incest.
“Mandating this intimate, personally invasive, and often medically unnecessary procedure goes too far,” Mark Gordon wrote in a letter explaining his veto late on Monday.
Groups working to maintain abortion access in Wyoming – the first state to attempt to explicitly outlaw medication abortions – praised the veto even though Gordon over the past three years has signed into law several bills seeking to ban the procedure.
“It’s important that women are able to access this healthcare without undue and unnecessary burden,” Christine Lichtenfels, executive director of the abortion access advocate Chelsea’s Fund, said on Tuesday.
More Articles...
Page 3 of 231
