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Medication abortion has drawn increasing attention since the U.S. Supreme Court last June overturned its landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that had legalized abortion nationwide. Nearly all abortions, including medication abortions, are now banned in 12 states, and 16 states that permit some abortions also had laws restricting medication abortion as of November, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights. "The FDA, by approving chemical abortion drugs for home use, puts a woman or girl's life at risk." In its court filing, the FDA said there was no basis for second-guessing the FDA's judgment. The FDA said that pulling the drug would force patients seeking abortions in many cases to undergo unnecessary and more invasive surgical abortion.

Walgreens and CVS will sell the prescription abortion pill mifepristone after the Food and Drug Administration this week dropped a long-standing rule that prevented drug stores from doing so. The decision by the two largest drug store chains in the U.S. will significantly expand access to mifepristone in states where abortion is legal. The FDA on Tuesday changed its regulations to allow retail drug stores to dispense mifepristone so long as they complete a certification process. The agency dropped a long-standing rule that required patients to obtain the abortion pill in-person at clinics, hospitals and other certified health-care providers. CVS also plans to get certified in states where it is legal to do so, spokesperson Amy Thibault said.

☆ FDA finalizes rule expanding availability of abortion pills
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday finalized a rule change that broadens availability of abortion pills to many more pharmacies, including large chains and mail-order companies. Still, the rule change’s impact has been blunted by numerous state laws limiting abortion broadly and the pills specifically. Legal experts foresee years of court battles over access to the pills, as abortion-rights proponents bring test cases to challenge state restrictions. Two drugmakers that make brand-name and generic versions of abortion pills requested the latest FDA label update. The FDA in 2000 approved mifepristone to terminate pregnancies of up to 10 weeks, when used with a second drug, misoprostol.

☆ Pharmacies can now sell the abortion pill, but you probably won't find it at top chains like CVS, Walmart, or Walgreens anytime soon
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Ben Tobin | Sarah Braner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The FDA authorized retail pharmacies to become certified to carry mifepristone in a ruling Tuesday. Retailers may not sell the abortion pill due to administrative hurdles and backlash, experts say. But don't expect to be able to find the pill at your local Walmart or CVS any time soon. The FDA implemented the regulatory change Tuesday night to allow retail pharmacies to dispense mifepristone to people with a prescription. Insider contacted seven major retail pharmacies to ask whether they plan to sell mifepristone.

☆ Fact Check-No raw fish is considered safe during pregnancy
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Pregnant people can eat certain types of cooked fish safely, but there is no raw fish considered safe to eat while pregnant because the risk to both mother and fetus from bacterial and parasitic infections is too great, according to guidelines. A spokesperson for the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists pointed to the organization’s guide to pregnancy and childbirth, which also advises avoiding all raw fish, including sushi and sashimi (here) (here). Most obstetrician-gynecologists believe that eating raw fish during pregnancy is unsafe and that parasitic infections caused by eating raw fish are harder to treat in pregnant women because of the danger of fetal exposure to anti-parasitic medications, according to a survey conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (here). An article from theBUMP.com, updated in 2020, summarizes FDA guidelines in a chart listing the cooked fish and shellfish that are considered safe to eat during pregnancy (here). Eating raw fish is not considered safe for pregnant people or their fetuses because of the increased risk of parasitic and bacterial infections.

☆ During the holidays, the ER does far more than what it is meant to do
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Dr. Owais Durrani | Dr. Owais Durrani Is An Emergency Medicine Physician In Houston | Tx. Dr. Durrani Has A Background In Political Science | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

Patients’ ER experiences typically consist of long wait times, and that naturally leads to frustration and a frequent misunderstanding that nothing is being done or that they are being diagnosed improperly. The truth is our emergency departments have had to take on a lot more than that, serving as the safety net of the country’s entire health care system. You’ve heard this over and over — our health care system is broken. We have lost valuable physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists and other vital members of the health care system. We have a very different health care system and training of physicians than those countries.

☆ Period underwear FAQS — answered
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Kristen Rogers | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Period underwear has grown popular over the past few years for several reasons. Period underwear brands offer a variety of absorbencies since people have different flows. Does period underwear affect symptoms and period length? Some people on social media platforms and product reviews have reported a lighter flow or shorter period while wearing period underwear. “People should be able to access and use whatever type of period management tools that work best for them, including period underwear,” Brandi said.

The number of pregnant women and new mothers dying from drug overdoses grew dramatically as the pandemic took hold, reaching a record high in 2020, a new study finds. "It goes to an ever higher level of stigma among pregnant women." She does not work with pregnant women or those with substance use disorder, but did crunch the numbers for the new research. "Overdose deaths in general have increased, and pregnant women aren't immune to the effects of addiction," Wright said. A Biden administration report, released in October, called for broader access to opioid treatment medication among pregnant women and de-stigmatize addiction treatment during pregnancy.

☆ Unvaccinated infants were hospitalized with Covid more this summer than most age groups, CDC says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The average weekly hospitalization rate among young infants during this period was about 13.7 per 100,000. Fortunately, the surge in hospitalizations among young infants was not associated with increased severity. The spike in hospitalizations among young infants was due to high community transmission of the virus during omicron, according to CDC. The threshold for admitting young infants is also much lower than older children. Infants younger than six months are the only age group in the U.S. ineligible for the shots.

In reversing the half-century precedent, the court left the power to limit or grant abortion rights to the states. In August, a judge temporarily blocked enforcement of the anti-abortion law, which had been inactive in the decades that Roe v. Wade stood. Gretchen Whitmer, the Democratic incumbent, has been a champion for abortion rights, but she is fending off a challenge from Republican candidate Tudor Dixon, who called the abortion ballot proposition “radical” in a debate with her. Voters will determine whether to alter the state constitution to explicitly say it does not protect a right to abortion or abortion funding. Abortion rights advocates are challenging those laws.

☆ FDA expresses concern about providers who offer abortion medications before pregnancy, reports say
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Jen Christensen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Medication abortion, also known as medical abortion, is a method by which someone ends their pregnancy by taking two pills, rather than having a surgical procedure. Medication abortion now accounts for more than half of all US abortions, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research and policy organization focused on sexual and reproductive health. “We’re also proud to offer ongoing, supportive abortion care from our providers as part of our advance provision service to support patients throughout the process,” she said. “Providers are fully able to prescribe medications off-label, and in fact, some prescribe mifepristone up to 12 weeks” into a pregnancy, Upadhyay said. To prescribe the abortion medication, providers have to be certified, and the patient must sign paperwork that says they understand that there is a risk of complications.

☆ Clinics offer free vasectomies, citing a surge in demand
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-13 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

Sixty vasectomies will be offered over three days in and outside Planned Parenthood clinics in St. Louis, Springfield and Joplin to uninsured patients during the first week of November amid what the clinics say is a surge in demand for the procedure. Guarin also plans to offer discounted vasectomies that month at his regular clinic in the Des Moines area. Guarin, who serves on the medical advisory board for the World Vasectomy Day, helped offer vasectomies last year at the Planned Parenthood in St. Louis to raise awareness about the procedure. In July alone, the Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri performed 42 vasectomies, compared to 10 in the same month last year. Dr. Margaret Baum, the medical director of Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri, will be partnering with Guarin to provide the free vasectomies.

The doctor sent along the questions and answers and received a resounding “no” from the PR official: “We ask that you do not comment to the NY Times at this time.”“They’re censoring me,” the doctor told CNN. Even when they are permitted to speak about abortion as private citizens, these doctors say, their employers have made it clear that they would prefer the doctors not talk at all, and so they have hesitated to speak up. UT Southwestern isn’t the only medical center that has been hesitant to allow their doctors to speak with the media. About 10 hospitals and medical practices said no, Wade told CNN. And I thought we would use our position as a respected women’s health institution to continue to educate about the impact these laws have on women’s health,” she told CNN.

☆ U.S. adults should get routine anxiety screening, panel says
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

U.S. doctors should regularly screen all adults under 65 for anxiety, an influential health guidelines group proposed Tuesday. It’s the first time the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has recommended anxiety screening in primary care for adults without symptoms. “The most important thing to recognize is that a screening test alone is not sufficient to diagnose anxiety,” Pbert said. The group continues to recommend depression screening for adults and children, but said there isn’t enough evidence to evaluate potential benefits and harms of suicide screening in adults who show no worrisome symptoms. In 2020, a group affiliated with the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommended routine primary care anxiety screening for women and girls starting at age 13.

☆ 10 common pieces of abortion misinformation — debunked by a retired gynecologist
▼ + stars: | 2022-05-09 | by ( Katie Balevic | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

A retired gynecologist debunked common mistruths spread about the procedure by abortion opponents. While abortion has been a top issue among voters, McNabb said there is still a wealth of misinformation about the procedure. "Abortion does not cause breast cancer," McNabb said, noting that abortion opponents often base that argument on discredited studies. Another common claim is that medical abortions, which utilize Mifepristone and Misoprostol pills, are not safe for women. "The risk of abortions go up from first trimester up to the limit of when someone would perform an abortion," McNabb said.

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