By Aleeza Hashmi
- The Journal of the American Medical Association published a study that examined characteristics associated with differences in survival among black and white women with breast cancer. Although it is well known that the cancer survival rates of black women are lower than those of white women, this article suggests that it is not only due to a large number of black women receiving inferior cancer care, but getting less health care overall. Furthermore, effective programs to catch cancer early are not reaching black communities.
- The FDA announced on Tuesday that it is closer to making its decision on whether to ban menthol in cigarettes. In its scientific review, the FDA noted that menthol in cigarettes made it easier to start smoking and distinctly harder to quit. It also requested public opinion about the “potential regulation” of cigarettes containing menthol.
- The British National Health Service announced that it will reject the introduction of the meningitis B vaccine into the UK. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization (JCVI) stated that the vaccine, Bexero, was not cost-effective and advised the NHS not to adopt it. Professor David Salisbury, the director of immunization at the Department of Health, suggested that more evidence of the vaccine’s effectiveness is needed.
- A new report released by HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius demonstrates that competition in the Health Insurance Marketplace lowers premiums by nearly 20 percent. This suggests that consumers will have better coverage at a lower cost in 2014 due to reforms in the Affordable Care Act.
- With shortages in primary care providers in the United States, the Department of Health and Human Resources announced that $12 million in Affordable Care Act funding will go towards primary care residency programs in 32 Teaching Health Centers across the nation, doubling the number of residents this year over last year.
- A year since the death of a 16-year old girl who was denied chemotherapy when diagnosed with leukemia while pregnant, women’s rights campaigners have filed a lawsuit on behalf of the girl’s mother, Rosa Hernandez, against the doctors and hospitals responsible for her care in the Dominican Republic. The nation bans abortions in all circumstances, even when the mother’s life or health is endangered. Treating the cancer with chemotherapy would possibly kill the fetus, regarded as a crime in the country.
