US has the highest rate of maternal deaths among high-income nations. Norway has zero
By Jacqueline Howard
edition.cnn.com – The United States continues to have a higher rate of women dying in pregnancy, childbirth or postpartum compared with all other high-income nations, even despite recent declines in the US maternal death rate, a new report shows.
There were about 22 maternal deaths for every 100,000 live births in the United States in 2022, the most recent year for which data was available. That rate was more than double, sometimes triple, those seen in most other high-income countries that year, according to the report released Tuesday by the Commonwealth Fund, a private foundation focused on health care-related issues.
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Top CDC officials warns US needs ‘more tests’ in face of bird flu fears
By Betsy Reed
theguardian.com – There is not enough testing for bird flu among people and animals in the US, says Dr Nirav Shah, principal deputy director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) – but he is wary of pushing the issue and damaging fragile trust among farm workers and owners.
“We would like to be doing more tests,” Shah said. “We’d like to be testing particularly not just symptomatic workers, but anyone on a farm who is exposed.”
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Supreme Court Votes Unanimously to Preserve Access to Abortion Pill Mifepristone
By Andrea Rice
healthline.com -The U.S. Supreme Court voted unanimously on June 13 that the commonly prescribed abortion medication mifepristone will remain available.
The FDA vs. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine ruling found that the plaintiffs lacked legal standing to challenge how the FDA regulates mifepristone.
The highly-anticipated decision follows a 2023 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit.
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National Nurses United pushes back against deployment of ‘unproven’ AI in healthcare
By Emma Beavins
fiercehealthcare.com – The nation’s largest nurses union is demanding that artificial intelligence tools used in healthcare be proven safe and equitable before deployment. Those that aren’t should be immediately discontinued, the union says.
Few algorithms, if any, currently meet their standard.
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Skin cancer alert: Melanoma cases are on the rise
By Carly Mallenbaum
axios.com – Doctors are diagnosing more people with melanoma.
Why it matters: Although melanoma accounts for only about 1% of skin cancers, it’s responsible for the large majority of skin cancer deaths, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS).
By the numbers: Skin cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the U.S.
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Addressing Healthcare Workforce Shortages Beyond Band-Aids
By Charlie Lougheed
medcitynews.com – Healthcare is humans. A hospital is merely a building without physicians, nurses, cleaning teams, food service workers, volunteers, and everyone else who serves the patients inside. This industry of people makes up almost 20% of the United States economy, so when there is a people problem with healthcare, there is also an economic problem within the country.
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FDA Tells Vaccine Makers to Target New COVID Variant for Fall
By HealthDay
usnews.com – COVID vaccine makers will be advised to update their shots to target the KP.2 variant, an offshoot of the JN.1 variant that spread widely last winter, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Thursday.
It’s a turnaround for the agency: The new recommendation follows an FDA advisory panel vote last week that unanimously recommended COVID vaccines target the older JN.1 variant this fall.
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