|
EVERYTHING
It’s Time to Break Up OBGYN
What: Gynecologic oncologist and pelvic surgeon Elizabeth Poynor has a manifesto calling for gynecology and obstetrics to be separated. She writes that medicine is advancing too quickly for physicians to stay on top of both specialties, especially as we learn more about how “profoundly ovarian hormones influence a woman’s physiology throughout her life, not just during reproduction. It’s no wonder conditions like menopause remain misunderstood and too often overlooked.”
Why it matters: “A combined OB-GYN practice skews care toward reproduction and neglects many crucial aspects of gynecology to the great detriment of women’s health. Women are up to 30% more likely to be misdiagnosed for major illnesses like cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. This stems from a traditionally male-centric focus in medical research, leaving the unique ways these diseases manifest in women largely overlooked. …Medical knowledge now doubles every 73 days and new treatments take 17 years to reach clinical practice.”
Source: Time
FERTILITY
California Becomes Latest State to Require Large Insurance Plans Cover IVF
What: California is the latest state to mandate insurance coverage for IVF treatments. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law over the weekend, joining places like Colorado, New Jersey, and New York, among others.
Why it matters: “According to Newsom’s announcement, the law requires large group health care service plan contracts and disability insurance policies to provide coverage for the diagnosis and treatment of infertility and fertility service, including IVF. The bill also requires these companies to cover a maximum of three completed oocyte retrievals, a process where eggs are taken from the ovaries.”
Source: USA Today
ABORTION ACCESS
The Devastating Consequences of Seemingly Narrow Abortion Laws
What: Rebecca Little and Colleen Long explain how a law that can seem innocuous, like requiring that a miscarried or aborted fetus must be interred or cremated, can have devastating consequences.
Why it matters: “Many people we spoke to said they passed tissue at home, in the toilet. Do you have to dig it out, seal it in a baggie, and send it to a hospital for burial? The usual instinct is to flush. It doesn’t mean that you’re not sad; it just means you don’t quite know what the hell to do. Could it compound the grief and trauma to have to then take those remains to be buried? Are you going to get arrested if you flush the toilet?”
Source: Slate
Melania Waits Until a Month Before Election to Announce Abortion Support
What: Melania Trump is releasing a book ahead of the election, and along with it, several dramatic black-and-white videos. In her latest video she said “there was ‘no room for compromise’ on a woman’s right to ‘individual freedom,’ a day after a reported excerpt from her coming memoir said she supported abortion rights” …even though her husband said women who get abortions should be criminally punished in the past, and set in motion an abortion ban for a third of American women.
Why it matters: “Mrs. Trump’s comments landed as former President Donald J. Trump and his party are trying to soften their opposition to abortion, a key issue threatening his support with female voters and his attempt to return to the White House.”
Source: New York Times
Betty Ford, Mammograms, and Celebrity Cancers
What: Physician and historian Barron Lerner explores the “complicated legacy” of former First Lady Betty Ford’s breast cancer diagnosis while she was in the White House. Ford chose to make her diagnosis and treatment public, prompting public awareness of breast cancer not seen before in the US—and a surge in mammograms.
Why it matters: “Mrs. Ford’s bravery and influence remain commendable. But her experience also demonstrates the challenges of celebrity health stories, which can both inform and give false hope. This is especially true for diseases such as breast cancer, for which our understanding continues to evolve. Accounts of famous women with breast cancer appear all over the internet, especially in October, which is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. So do versions from everyday women. Among the most common stories are those in which women report that mammograms saved their lives. While this claim is surely true in some instances, it is probably not in others. The nuances of diagnosis and treatment may be lost as people try to create coherent stories after the fact.”
Source: New York Times
|