Nurses at Howard Brown Health approve potential strike amid contract talks
Union nurses at Howard Brown Health have voted to allow their bargaining team to call for a strike as the two sides continue contract negotiations.
Senate Committee Advances HHS Assistant Secretary Nomination
The Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committee voted 12-11 along party lines Thursday to recommend that Brian Christine, MD, be confirmed as assistant secretary for health at HHS, in addition to five other Trump administration nominees. “These nominees are vital to advancing President Trump’s pro-worker, pro-family, pro-patient agenda,” HELP Committee Chair Sen. Bill […]
FDA Panel Votes Against Broad Talazoparib-Enzalutamide Label in Prostate Cancer
An FDA advisory committee on Wednesday unanimously voted against recommending approval of the PARP inhibitor talazoparib (Talzenna) plus enzalutamide (Xtandi) for all patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). In an 8-0 vote, members of the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) said the available data from the TALAPRO-2 trial do not support a favorable risk-benefit […]
Critics Say CDC Advisors’ Infection Control Guidance Isn’t Strong Enough
A CDC advisory committee voted unanimously on Friday to approve draft infection control guidelines, though some critics charge the recommendations don’t go far enough and ignore lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic. At the heart of the controversy is a new “air” category for pathogen transmission, and three levels of air precautions based on how transmissible […]
Emergency Physicians Group Votes to Bar Use of the Term ‘Excited Delirium’
The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) voted to stop using the term “excited delirium” when referring to patients with hyperactive delirium, joining a host of other medical societies that have already done so. The decision reverses the conclusions reached in a 2009 ACEP white paper on the topic, ACEP said in an article posted […]
FDA Panel Endorses DFMO for Kids’ High-Risk Neuroblastoma in Remission
After wrangling all day over semantics and a potential precedent-setting dataset, an FDA advisory committee voted to recommend approval of eflornithine (difluoromethylornithine; DFMO) maintenance for high-risk pediatric neuroblastoma in complete remission after standard therapy. By a 14-6 vote, the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) decided that the totality of evidence presented was sufficient to show […]
CDC Advisors Support Updated COVID Shots for All
The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted 13 to 1 in favor of recommending updated, monovalent, XBB-targeting COVID-19 shots for everyone age 6 months and up. Specifically, the language in the recommendation supports the “2023-2024” vaccines as authorized or approved by the FDA — in order to cover the recently green-lighted mRNA shots, […]
Doc Who Said COVID Vax Magnetized People Has License Suspended
The State Medical Board of Ohio voted to suspend the medical license of Sherri Tenpenny, DO, on Wednesday, after she failed to cooperate with an investigation into public comments she made about the COVID-19 vaccines, according to a spokesperson for the board. The suspension is indefinite, and Tenpenny will be fined $3,000, the spokesperson added, […]
CDC Advisors Back Therapeutic to Prevent RSV in Infants
The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted unanimously — 10 to 0 — in favor of nirsevimab (Beyfortus) for protecting a wide swath of at-risk infants from respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). At a meeting on Thursday, ACIP recommended that all infants younger than 8 months who are born during or approaching their first […]
Senate Committee Advances Pandemic Preparedness Legislation
The Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) Committee voted 17-3 with relatively little fanfare Thursday to send pandemic preparedness legislation to the full Senate for a vote. “I don’t think any of us will ever forget we have lost over a million Americans from COVID,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), chair of the HELP Committee, […]