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ZEN bust-enhancing supplements may increase risk of breast cancer

Women who use bust-enhancing dietary supplements containing the mycoestrogen zearalenone (ZEN), a naturally occurring toxin that widely contaminates agricultural products, could be increasing their risk of breast cancer. That is the warning from breast health experts in a paper published online ahead of print publication in the January issue of IJCP, the International Journal of Clinical Practice.

9 Dec 2011

First Edition: December 9, 2011

Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations include artilces about a new GOP tax plan that includes a Medicare pay fix for doctors and President Obama's support of a decision to keep the "Morning After Pill" from minors.

9 Dec 2011

Sebelius overrules FDA on 'morning after' pill's OTC availability

The decision to keep the contraceptive pill "Plan B" behind the counter could shield the Obama administration from a bruising battle with conservatives but comes at the expense of liberal groups who are "shocked" at the decision.

9 Dec 2011

Sebelius overturns FDA on morning after pill access

The Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius this Wednesday has overturned the Food and Drug Administration's plan to remove the age limit on who can buy Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd's Plan B One-Step pill – commonly known as the “morning after pill” without a prescription.

8 Dec 2011

First Edition: December 8, 2011

In today's headlines, reports about the HHS decision on the Plan B morning after pill, as well as the latest progress reports from Capitol Hill on the payroll tax break extension and the doc fix.

8 Dec 2011

HHS: Plan B access will stay limited

The Department of Health and Human Services announced today that the morning-after pill, known as Plan B, will continue to be kept behind the pharmacy counter and girls younger than 17 will continue to need a prescription to obtain it.

8 Dec 2011

Reuters examines role of family planning at Durban climate change talks

"[W]ith studies suggesting that 215 million women around the world want -- but cannot get -- effective contraception, making sure birth control methods are available to those who want them could be one of the cheapest, fastest and most effective ways of addressing climate change, experts said at the U.N. climate conference in Durban" this week, AlertNet reports.

7 Dec 2011

Family planning spending cuts will lead to 'more unwanted' pregnancies, 'unsafe abortions'

"Unwanted babies and unsafe abortion are major problems in the developing world, yet funding for contraception is limited because of attitudes to sex and abortion in donor countries," the Guardian's Sarah Boseley writes in her "Global Health Blog."

7 Dec 2011

Opinion pieces, editorial recognize World AIDS Day

Rear Admiral Susan Blumenthal and Ashley Grosso, Huffington Post's "Impact": Blumenthal, senior policy and medical adviser at amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, and Grosso, an Allan Rosenfield fellow at amfAR, outline steps they feel necessary to reach the goal of an AIDS-free generation.

3 Dec 2011

First Edition: December 2, 2011

In today's headlines, reports on congressional efforts to extend a payroll tax break and other work Congress must do before the end of the year -- including the Medicare doc fix.

2 Dec 2011

'Simple solutions' available to improve family health

"Although advances in vaccines, nutrition and family health have dramatically reduced the number of child deaths in the past 50 years, nearly eight million children younger than five still die every year," Melinda Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, writes in this CNN opinion piece.

2 Dec 2011

Viewpoints: Bush, Bono and others reflect on World AIDS Day; Coburn and Burr on Medicare savings

On this Dec. 1, World AIDS Day, the promise of progress against the disease has never been more vivid - or more fragile. ... In lean budget times, the U.S. and the developing world must prioritize. But there can be no higher priority than saving lives. And there is no better way to save lives than to support and expand effective, proven programs such as Pepfar.

2 Dec 2011

Mylan confirms generic Generess Fe patent challenge

Mylan Inc. today confirmed that it and Famy Care Ltd. have been sued by Warner Chilcott Company LLP, in connection with the filing of an Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Norethindrone and Ethinyl Estradiol Chewable Tablets, 0.8 mg/0.025 mg and Ferrous Fumarate Chewable Tablets. This product is the generic version of Generess Fe, a 28-day regimen indicated for use by women to prevent pregnancy.

2 Dec 2011

Thousands gather in Senegal for second International Conference on Family Planning

"Thousands gathered in Senegal Tuesday for the opening of the second International Conference on Family Planning (ICFP), the largest meeting of its kind, which will run until December 2, 2011," the Foreign Policy Association blog reports.

1 Dec 2011

Study: Abstinence-only education does not reduce teen pregnancy rates

States that prescribe abstinence-only sex education programs in public schools have significantly higher teenage pregnancy and birth rates than states with more comprehensive sex education programs, researchers from the University of Georgia have determined.

30 Nov 2011

FDA approves Watson's ANDA for generic Yaz oral contraceptive

Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that its subsidiary, Watson Laboratories, Inc., has received approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration for its Abbreviated New Drug Application for Vestura (3 mg drospirenone and 0.02 mg ethinyl estradiol), a generic version of Bayer's Yaz oral contraceptive product.

29 Nov 2011

VOICE continues testing daily use of ARV Truvada among women in sub-Saharan Africa

VOICE, an HIV prevention trial that has been evaluating two antiretroviral (ARV)-based approaches for preventing the sexual transmission of HIV in women - daily use of one of two different ARV tablets or of a vaginal gel - has stopped testing the gel.

29 Nov 2011

Viewpoints: What now for deficit cutters; Berwick's replacement

There's already a bipartisan group of senators, the maverick "Gang of Six," that is volunteering to produce a new compromise package. ... The Gang of Six plan won't make anybody happy.

28 Nov 2011

Democrats ask Obama not to dilute contraceptive benefits

Democratic lawmakers, fearful that President Obama is on the verge of significantly diluting a proposed regulation that would give millions of women access to birth control without out-of-pocket insurance charges, are furiously lobbying the White House to hold the line.

24 Nov 2011

'Fresh efforts' needed to understand, deliver family planning in order to curb birth rates in developing countries

In this Financial Times opinion piece, journalist Andrew Jack examines the challenges of family planning in some poorer countries, where public health programs "risk adding to population pressures and inadvertently setting back development," writing, "In a number of countries, notably in central and western Africa, health programs have contributed to cutting infant mortality rates, but birth rates have continued to remain stubbornly high. The unintended consequence is a fast-growing population that adds further pressure on poor families and fragile environments."

24 Nov 2011