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EVERYTHING
Medicare and Medicaid in Oz
What: Donald Trump has nominated Dr. Mehmet Oz to lead Medicare and Medicaid–the country’s massive health insurance programs for the elderly and lower-income adults and children. Oz was a heart surgeon but gained fame on television, where he also hawked unproven supplements. He could use the position to steer his favored companies millions of dollars in reimbursements from the federal government. Over 40% of all US births are covered by Medicaid.
Key line: “Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-New Jersey), the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees CMS, called it a ‘workhorse agency’ that helps provide health care to low-income Americans, older Americans, children and other vulnerable populations. ‘I am alarmed that President-elect Trump has chosen a TV celebrity without the experience or background to lead it,’ Pallone said in a statement.”
Source: Washington Post
FERTILITY
Florence Pugh on PCOS + Egg Freezing
What: In a detailed interview on the SHE MD podcast, actress Florence Pugh discussed living with PCOS and endometriosis, and her decision to freeze her eggs at 27 years old. (Sharing her story then led to dozens of articles on Pugh’s decision to freeze her eggs, a phenomenon that is often reserved for news of pregnancy itself.) Pugh said she hopes her story encourages women to advocate for their reproductive health and consider early intervention options.
Key line: “If diagnosed with PCOS or endometriosis, discuss the possibility of egg freezing with your doctor, especially if you plan to have children later in life. Although PCOS patients often have a high egg count, egg quality typically decreases after 30, making early discussion around egg freezing essential.”
Source: SheMD
PREGNANCY + POSTPARTUM
Saving the Tiniest Babies
What: Advances in neonatal care now make it possible to save extremely premature babies, some born as early as 22 weeks. While these medical breakthroughs are celebrated, The Guardian has an excellent deep dive on how they also raise ethical questions about the long-term quality of life for these children and the emotional and financial toll on families.
Key line: “When the guidelines changed, hospital policies changed ‘literally overnight’, said Cheryl Battersby, a consultant neonatologist and one of the co-authors of the BMJ paper. For the first time, she was called to attend the births of babies born at 22 weeks. ‘There’s something quite different about a 22-weeker,’ she said. They are not only likely to be smaller than babies born just a week later; they are often physiologically different. ‘It’s like a new population of human beings,’ Battersby said.”
Source: The Guardian
Cannabis Use During Pregnancy: Risks and Uncertainties
What: A study published in JAMA found cannabis use during pregnancy is associated with immediate risks, such as low birth weight and preterm birth, but there was no consistent evidence of long-term developmental risks for children. Researchers emphasize that more studies are needed and urge healthcare providers to discuss these risks with patients.
Key line: ”Based on self-reporting and urine toxicology, around 6% of the more than 100,000 pregnancies evaluated in the study included some amount of cannabis use at 8- to 10-weeks’ gestation.”
Source: JAMA
ABORTION ACCESS
Wyoming Abortion Ban Overturned
What: A federal judge struck down Wyoming’s abortion ban, ruling it unconstitutional and granting access to abortion in the state.
Key line: “Judge Melissa Owens of Teton County District Court wrote in her ruling that both the ban on medication abortion and a broader ban against all methods of abortion ‘impede the fundamental right to make health care decisions for an entire class of people, pregnant women.’ She added, ‘The abortion statutes suspend a woman’s right to make her own health care decisions during the entire term of a pregnancy and are not reasonable or necessary to protect the health and general welfare of the people.’”
Source: New York Times
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