Women's Health News and Research

RSS

Los Angeles Times examines Proposition 85

The Los Angeles Times on Tuesday examined Proposition 85, a California ballot measure that would require physicians to notify a parent or guardian before performing an abortion on a minor (Hall, Los Angeles Times, 10/17).

17 Oct 2006

Washington Post examines Pennsylvania U.S. Senate race between Santorum, Casey

The Washington Post on Sunday examined the U.S. Senate race between incumbent Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) and Pennsylvania Treasurer Bob Casey (D) (Finkel, Washington Post, 10/15).

17 Oct 2006

Abortion-rights, women's groups endorse Massachusetts Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Patrick

NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts and other abortion-rights and women's groups on Thursday announced that they will support Democratic gubernatorial candidate Deval Patrick (D), the AP/Boston Globe reports.

16 Oct 2006

Oregonian examines debate over State initiative that would require parental notification for teenagers ages 15 to 17 seeking an abortion

The Oregonian has examined the debate over an Oregon initiative, which has qualified to be placed on the statewide ballot in November, that would require physicians to notify a parent or guardian at least 48 hours before performing an abortion on a minor between ages 15 and 17.

16 Oct 2006

FDA Attorneys seek dismissal of Plan B lawsuit

The Center for Reproductive Rights on Wednesday during two hearings at a U.S. District Court in New York City asked federal judges to grant a subpoena of White House documents and officials in its lawsuit against FDA over the agency's rejection of Barr Laboratories' first application for nonprescription Plan B sales, Long Island Newsday reports.

16 Oct 2006

Judge declares mistrial in case against Wyeth's Prempro

A judge in a Pennsylvania state court in Philadelphia on Wednesday declared a mistrial in a case in which a jury ruled that the use of Wyeth's combination hormone replacement therapy Prempro in part caused breast cancer to develop in a 66-year-old woman, the Wall Street Journal reports.

16 Oct 2006

Roche asks European Medicines Agency for authorization to market Herceptin

Roche on Friday announced it has submitted an application with the European Medicines Agency to market its breast cancer drug Herceptin as a treatment for women living with an aggressive form of advanced-stage breast cancer, called HER2-positive, and hormone receptor-positive breast cancer, AFX/Forbes reports (AFX/Forbes, 10/13).

16 Oct 2006

Debate between antiabortion, abortion-rights supporters now focusing on contraception

"If you're among the millions of Americans who don't like the idea of abortion but also don't like the idea of banning it, good news is on the way" in the form of two bills recently introduced in the House, William Saletan, science and technology reporter for Slate magazine, writes in a Washington Post opinion piece.

5 Oct 2006

Illinois Bill introduced to repeal, replace parental notification law

Illinois state Rep. John Fritchey (D) on Tuesday introduced a bill (HB 5840) that would repeal and replace a parental notification law revived recently by the state Supreme Court, the AP/Belleville News Democrat reports.

5 Oct 2006

California agency releases 10-year plan for spending $3B on embryonic stem cell research

The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine -- which is in charge of implementing the 10-year, $2.95 billion state human embryonic stem cell research program approved under Proposition 71 -- on Wednesday released a draft spending plan that "sets a strikingly modest tone" for outcomes of the research.

5 Oct 2006

Michigan Senate approves bills that would require girls to receive HPV vaccine before entering sixth grade

The Michigan Senate on Wednesday voted 36-1 to approve two bills (SB 1416, SB 1417) that would require girls in the state entering the sixth grade in the 2007-2008 school year and beyond to have received Merck's human papillomavirus vaccine Gardasil, the AP/Detroit Free Press reports (AP/Detroit Free Press, 9/20).

26 Sep 2006

HPV vaccine Gardasil approved for sale in EU

The European Commission on Friday approved Merck's human papillomavirus vaccine Gardasil for sale and marketing in the European Union, London's Guardian reports (Batty, Guardian, 9/22).

26 Sep 2006

GSK seeks regulatory approval in U.S., Europe for Tykerb

GlaxoSmithKline on Monday said it has submitted its experimental breast cancer drug Tykerb, which is taken orally, for FDA approval and plans to file for approval in Europe in the fourth quarter of this year, Reuters reports.

20 Sep 2006

Sen. Kerry says language used by both sides in abortion-rights debate often 'misleading and unconstructive'

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), who supports abortion rights, on Monday during a speech at Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif., said both abortion-rights supporters and abortion-rights opponents sometimes use "misleading and unconstructive" language and urged both sides to find "common ground," on the issue, the Boston Globe reports.

20 Sep 2006

Use of unapproved drugs in the U.S.

USA Today on Monday looked at the use of unapproved drugs in the U.S., including some that are used to treat menopause symptoms (Rubin, USA Today, 9/18).

20 Sep 2006

BlueCross BlueShield of Illinois adds coverage for MammoSite

BlueCross BlueShield of Illinois after meeting with experts last week has decided to cover the partial-breast radiation therapy known as MammoSite for patients with early stage breast cancer, officials for the insurer said, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

20 Sep 2006

Jury dismisses lawsuit against Wyeth in first Pempro case

A jury in a U.S. District Court in Little Rock, Ark., on Friday dismissed negligence charges in the first of about 5,000 lawsuits filed over Prempro, a combination hormone replacement therapy manufactured by Wyeth, and found the drug's design was not defective, Reuters reports.

20 Sep 2006

Many Australian physicians not applying for permission to import Mifepristone

Many Australian physicians are not applying for permission to supply mifepristone to women in the country and instead are prescribing women a combination of methotrexate -- a drug licensed to treat cancer patients -- and misoprostol to induce a medical abortion.

20 Sep 2006

Pennsylvania Senate candidate Casey says Democratic Party becoming more open to those opposing abortion rights

Pennsylvania State Treasurer Bob Casey (D), a candidate for the U.S. Senate who opposes abortion rights, on Friday said he has been "encouraged to see Democrats in this new century becoming more open to people who are pro-life," the AP/Phillyburbs.com reports (Hefling, AP/Phillyburbs.com, 9/15).

20 Sep 2006

Having breast implants does not increase mortality risk

A study conducted among 24,600 women by two Universiti Laval Faculty of Medicine researchers and their colleagues from the Canadian Public Health Agency and Cancer Care Ontario concludes that having breast implants does not increase mortality risk.

19 Sep 2006