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Immunotherapy helps certain cancer patients avoid surgery: ‘We hope this is the future’
Kelly Spill didn’t cry when she was diagnosed with stage III rectal cancer at age 28. She held her emotions together when her surgeon told her that she might not be able to carry another baby — treatment with radiation can significantly affect fertility — and that she might need …
HHS touts universal flu, coronavirus vaccine initiative while casting doubt on future of seasonal Covid-19 shots
The US Department of Health and Human Services said Thursday that it aims to accomplish within four years a scientific feat that hasn’t been achieved for the past 45: the development of a universal flu vaccine that could protect against multiple virus strains with pandemic potential, including H5N1 avian influenza. …
Kennedy to ask CDC for new look at treatments for measles, other diseases
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services, is asking the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for an agencywide “scientific process” on treating measles and other conditions with medications as well as alternative therapies such as vitamins, HHS said in a statement. …
Milwaukee announces additional school closures, new plan to address lead paint hazards as contamination crisis deepens
Milwaukee will temporarily close two more school buildings as the city works to address a lead crisis in its public schools. The district also announced Monday an updated plan to tackle the flaking and chalking paint in aging buildings that’s suspected to be the cause of elevated blood lead levels …
HHS to require placebo testing of ‘all new vaccines,’ raising questions about approval of updated Covid-19 shots
The US Department of Health and Human Services said it will require that all new vaccines be tested in placebo-controlled trials before they’re licensed for use, raising urgent questions about the system used to clear updated Covid-19 boosters each respiratory virus season. “Under Secretary Kennedy’s leadership, all new vaccines will …
Despite pledge to expand naloxone access, Trump administration proposal would cut overdose prevention programs
The Trump administration has named overdose prevention among its top drug policy priorities, but a preliminary budget proposal that was recently leaked suggests that it would cut about two dozen substance abuse prevention and treatment programs. In a document published last month by the president’s Office of National Drug Control …