Legislative session focused on PBM reform, behavioral health coverage
Lawmakers approved sweeping changes to pharmacy benefit managers and removed prior authorization for some behavioral health services during the recently concluded spring session. Below is a roundup of some of the proposals that […]
Who Should Pay to Clean Up ‘Forever Chemicals’?
“Forever chemicals” are harming people and wildlife and should be removed from the soil and water, but who should pay to do that? Witnesses at a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing Wednesday didn’t agree on the answer. The chemicals, called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), are used in all kinds of household and […]
Replacing saturated fat and salt with herbs/spices is both tasty and healthy
In response to the low-fat craze of the 1990s, many food companies removed saturated fats from their products, only to replace them with sugars to maintain their palatability. Unfortunately, the resulting products were no healthier than the originals, and the average person today consumes too much saturated fat. Now, a team of Penn State researchers […]
Massive Kidney Stone Sets New Record
Surgeons in Sri Lanka have removed the largest and heaviest kidney stone on record from a 62-year-old patient, according to Guinness World Records. The stone measured 5.26 inches in length and 4.15 inches in width, and weighed in at 1.76 pounds, according to the publication. It broke the previous size record, set in 2004 when […]
Fetus Removed From Brain of 1-Year-Old Girl
A very rare intraventricular fetus-in-fetu was surgically removed from a 1-year-old girl with motor delay and an enlarged head circumference, a report from China showed. The fetiform mass was a malformed monochorionic diamniotic twin, reported Chunde Li, MD, of Beijing Tiantan Hospital, and co-authors in Neurology. Genetic sequencing showed identical single-nucleotide variants in the host […]
Prescribing the abortion pill without restrictions is safe and effective, study finds: Researchers say Canada’s experience offers a roadmap for other countries
Abortion remains safe after Canada removed restrictions on the medical abortion pill mifepristone in November 2017. That’s one of the key findings from a UBC-led study published today in the New England Journal of Medicine. The study used comprehensive government health data to examine 315,000 abortions in Ontario between 2012 and 2020. An analysis showed […]