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In October 2011, Ohio became the seventh state to use new authority under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to extend coverage for family planning services to women and men with incomes well above the state's standard Medicaid income eligibility ceilings.
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A new point-of-care test for syphilis will provide clinicians another tool in battling increases in the sexually transmitted infection (STI). The new test, Syphilis Health Check (Diagnostics Direct, Stone Harbor, NJ), will no longer require lengthy wait times for results, refrigeration, or the drawing of blood to test for the STI.
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Get ready to offer women Nexplanon, the latest iteration of the contraceptive implant. The subdermal implant is similar to the Implanon device; however, the applicator has been redesigned to facilitate insertion of the implant in the appropriate subdermal position using one hand.
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The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has voted to recommend that males be routinely vaccinated against human papillomavirus (HPV), a move many public health officials seeing as a boost for use of the shot.
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This year will see development of new evidence-based documents for the family planning resource library: the U.S. Selected Practice Recommendations for Contraceptive Use from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) and the newly-updated Title X Program Guidelines, issued by the Office of Family Planning within the Department of Health & Human Services' Office of Population Affairs.
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In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, clonidine and venlafaxine both proved superior to placebo in reducing hot flashes in breast cancer patients. The study was insufficiently powered to prove superiority of one drug over the other. However, venlafaxine produced earlier reductions and it appeared clonidine had more sustained effect (i.e., at 12 weeks of treatment).
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In an epidemiologic analysis of SEER data, middle-aged patients with early-stage disease who opted for active surveillance rather than retroperitoneal lymph node dissection experienced a greater rate of second malignancy. The investigators speculate that this may relate to increased radiation exposure (multiple CT scans) and a greater likelihood of subsequent chemotherapy use.
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Medication poisonings in children; rosuvastatin vs atorvastatin for atherosclerosis; saw palmetto for prostate symptoms; using atypical antipsychotics for off-label indications in adults; and FDA actions.
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From a large cohort of women followed prospectively and with an adjunct meta-analysis of existing evaluable studies, a clearly demonstrated, nearly universal (i.e., across tumor types) incremental increase in cancer incidence was observed with advancing height.
