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EVERYTHING
RFK Jr. to Lead Health Agencies, Thinks a ‘Vaccine Cartel’ Tried to Kill Americans (Among Many Other Crazy Things)
What: Donald Trump is nominating RFK Jr. to lead *all* of the nation’s health agencies, including the FDA. RFK has some typical left-leaning positions (like getting big companies out of determining nutrition guidance), but this piece from the Atlantic does a good job explaining that those beliefs are layered on top of some truly insane conspiracy theories.
Key line: “According to his 2021 book, The Real Anthony Fauci: Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health, RFK Jr. believes that Fauci and Gates are members of a ‘vaccine cartel’ trying to kill patients by denying them hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin. He argues that this cartel secretly funded doctors to produce fraudulent studies showing that the drugs were ineffective against COVID—and that it did so in order to orchestrate global lockdowns and accelerate the construction of 5G cellular networks, which, in Kennedy’s understanding, are very, very bad. …It’s hard to summarize the extent of this book’s bizarre claims. Every group imaginable is said to be in on a plot to bring about worldwide totalitarianism and population control: governments, pharmaceutical companies, nonprofits, scientists, and, of course, the CIA. Kennedy devotes many pages to casting doubt on HIV as the cause of AIDS, although he finally says he takes “no position” on this theory.”
Source: The Atlantic
PREGNANCY + POSTPARTUM
Pre-Term Birth Rate Stuck at 10% But Could Get Worse
What: The preterm birth rate in the United States remains stagnant at around 10%, according to a report from the March of Dimes. It has been around 10% for the past decade, and the organization warns that a dearth of OBGYNs in abortion ban states plus extreme heat could make it worse.
Key line: “The problem is particularly troublesome in areas of the country without doctors, nurses, midwives or medical centers specializing in maternity care. They include states in the South with the most preterm births, according to the report: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina. ‘Inadequate prenatal care has reached its highest level in a decade to an alarming 15.7%,’ said Dr. Amanda Williams, interim chief medical officer at the March of Dimes.”
Source: NBC
The Celebrity History Behind Postpartum Depression
What: History Prof. Rachel Louise Moran walks through 25 years of celebrities sharing their postpartum depression struggles – and how that has framed how society views those struggles.
Key line: “These testimonials have educated Americans, raising awareness and decreasing stigma about postpartum mental illnesses. Importantly, though, they’ve also often included a conservative message about good motherhood, framing their victory over postpartum illness as enabling them to be the best mothers possible. This is a logical way of thinking about an illness that too often invites judgment about how someone is a “bad mother” rather than compassion for a person suffering from illness.”
Source: Time Magazine
ABORTION ACCESS
Gold Standard Study Finds Delaying Medication Abortion for Ultrasound Unnecessary
What: A New England Journal of Medicine study found that having a medication abortion before a pregnancy can be confirmed via ultrasound is as effective as waiting until after the ultrasound. The delay for ultrasound is done in case the pregnancy is ectopic, or the belief that the medication would not be effective so early on. But a randomized control trial involving over 1,500 women (half got medication abortion early, half waited until after ultrasound) showed that wasn’t necessary.
Key line: “We show that the treatment is equally effective as delaying care. In addition, ectopic pregnancy in a low-risk population is rare (1%) and possible to diagnose regardless of whether abortion is initiated or delayed. These findings can increase access to abortion and reduce additional visits, in addition to other advantages of an early abortion such as shorter duration of bleeding, less pain and lower risk for postabortion infection.”
Source: Healio, NEJM
ONCOLOGY
The Virologist Who Shrank Her Own Tumor
What: It’s the ultimate in DIY medicine – if you are a professional scientist. Virologist Beata Halassy injected herself with two viruses she grew in her lab, in an effort to fight off breast cancer that had returned. It worked and her tumor shrank enough that surgeons could operate.
Key line: “With the experiment, Halassy joins a long line of researchers who have tested medical theories on themselves. Their attempts have led to significant medical breakthroughs — and in some cases, harm or death. … Halassy’s self-experimentation didn’t appear to be nearly as risky as those fatal examples, said Hank Greely, the director of Stanford University’s Center for Law and the Biosciences. But he said critics might still question if a researcher in Halassy’s position could give informed consent to be a test subject and evaluate the potential benefits and harms of an experiment without bias.”
Source: The Washington Post
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