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In today’s newsletter, STAT reports on notable health and medicine developments. A woman undergoing deep brain stimulation played clarinet throughout her four-hour procedure to assist the surgeon in electrode placement.
Approximately 420 anti-science bills have been introduced across the U.S., targeting public health measures like vaccine mandates, influenced by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign. An investigative report includes poignant testimonies, such as a father grieving his son who died from a vaccine-preventable disease, stressing the importance of community vaccination.
A newly launched legal group, Reproductive Futures, aims to be a protective force for abortion providers, focusing on expanding shield laws, especially in the wake of the Dobbs decision. The organization’s founder, Julie F. Kay, emphasizes strengthening legal protections for telemedicine and post-abortion care without engaging in litigation against restrictive states.
In a personal essay, neurologist Shaheen E. Lakhan argues for the integration of neurology and psychiatry, sharing his family’s experiences with brain-related disorders to highlight flaws in how brain care is structured.
From the ESMO cancer conference in Berlin, Merck showcased promising data on bladder cancer treatments amid investor concerns about future developments post-Keytruda. Additionally, new guidance on the use of large language models in oncology stressed the need for empirical evidence of their efficacy. A study suggested that mRNA-based COVID vaccines might enhance cancer immunotherapy effects, indicating improved survival rates among patients who received vaccines prior to treatment.
Lastly, despite facing financial challenges, Moderna continues to advance its cancer therapeutic pipeline, expressing optimism about the potential impact of its mRNA technology in this field.
Other reading recommendations include articles on U.S. Ph.D. admissions, mpox vaccination concerns, causation versus correlation in research, and the effects of testosterone on women’s sex drive.
