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Good morning and happy Monday. As we enter May, I’m looking at this week’s weather forecast, wondering if spring is finally here. Fingers crossed.
Federal court blocks mailing of mifepristone
A federal appeals court ruled Friday that mifepristone, known as the abortion pill, can only be distributed in person and in clinics, overturning regulations set by the FDA that allowed patients to receive the drug by mail. This decision may be appealed to the Supreme Court.
In his ruling, Judge Kyle Duncan, a Trump appointee, agreed with Louisiana’s argument that mailing the drugs undermines the state’s blanket abortion ban. Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the total number of abortions in the United States has increased slightly due to the availability of mifepristone and misoprostol through telemedicine. Read more from AP.
Trump administration finalizes rules for ‘professional’ student loans
Last week, the Department of Education finalized rules that would limit the number of federal loans graduate students can take out based on whether their degrees are classified as “professional.” The rule, first proposed in February, would allow professional students to borrow a total of $200,000, with the remainder capped at $100,000.
Which health care workers are considered professionals by the federal government? Not nurses with advanced degrees, physician assistants, physical therapists, occupational therapists, social workers, or people with doctorates in public health.
Many professional bodies contested this classification, but the government remained unmoved. “The Department does not believe that its approach to the definition of professional student is too narrow or that it should be expanded to include more degree programs,” the final rule states in response to some public comments. The new restrictions will come into effect in July this year.
The OGs of the longevity movement?
The term “Blue Zone” originally referred to 14 isolated villages on an Italian island where researchers identified long-lived people whose good health they attributed to active habits and a frugal diet. If you’ve been in the wellness world long enough, you’ll hear a lot about these longevity hotspots and how various researchers and writers like to define them.
Journalist Shelly Wood and cardiologist Eric Topol are definitely on board with that idea, and both have written books about superlong life. But as the field has changed over the years, the question has grown: “Do blue zones really exist?” In a new First Opinion essay, Wood and Topol recount the interesting history and controversial future of this anthropological concept. read more.
President Trump’s immigration policies are accelerating the brain drain
For most people, coming to the United States on a visa is always accompanied by some anxiety. But as the second Trump administration ramps up scrutiny of visa applicants, the process has become riskier and less predictable. Researchers and lawyers say further delays and obstacles are occurring. Scientists are being asked to provide their social media profiles to the government in order to renew their visas and provide additional evidence when applying for green cards.
“We face challenges at every step of the game,” Jenny Buta Mojica, an immigration lawyer who works with academic institutions, told STAT’s Andrew Joseph. In a new special report based on a STAT survey of NIH-supported researchers, Professor Drew reports on the potential for America to become an attractive destination for science. read more.
Uterine transplant science updates
Since the first baby was born to a recipient of a uterus in 2014, dozens of similar births have taken place around the world. “It’s a whole new world,” Giuliano Testa, director of abdominal transplantation at Baylor University Medical Center, told me two years ago. At the time, he had just published a study of the first 20 women to receive transplants at his clinic. On Friday, he and his team published updated results on the first 44 cases in JAMA.
Of the 44 women who underwent transplants at Baylor University from 2016 to March 2026, 37 had viable uteruses one month after surgery. Overall, 31 recipients had 47 pregnancies, of which 27 delivered 31 babies. (12 miscarriages, 4 during pregnancy). Thirty percent of deliveries had maternal complications such as gestational diabetes or hypertension, and 45% had obstetric complications.
These results show that it is possible for women who previously suffered from absolute uterine factor infertility to have a live birth with a transplant. Unlike people who receive other types of organ transplants, recipients are usually healthy, which researchers believe may contribute to the success rate. This paper highlights the importance of making this option available to all types of patients.
2048
This is likely to be the year that high-income countries around the world eradicate cervical cancer by increasing HPV vaccination, screening and treatment of precancerous and precancerous conditions, according to a new analysis published in The Lancet. However, the researchers also found that under current conditions, the incidence of cervical cancer in low- and middle-income countries would only decline by 23% over the same period.
Already, the incidence of cervical cancer in low- and middle-income countries is three times higher than in high-income countries. Data shows that reduced access to vaccination and screening is a key driver of inequity. Global eradication efforts have been further hampered by funding cuts by high-income countries like the United States last year. If nothing changes, the difference in incidence rates could jump 12 times by 2105. The researchers concluded that meeting WHO targets for screening and vaccination would be as helpful as introducing universal vaccination, recognizing that budget constraints and competing health priorities exist in difficult regions.
what we are reading
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We can learn while we sleep. Should we do that? new yorker
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Three people die after suspected virus infection on Atlantic cruise ship, BBC
- MAHA Activists, Menopause, STAT Readers on Diversity in Medical School, STAT
- Millions lose insurance after Congress lets Obamacare subsidies expire, New York Times
- First opinion: China’s tough new supply chain regulations could cause big problems for Western biopharmaceutical companies, STAT
