funding
Federal judge halts NIH payment cuts in 22 states
Attorneys general representing 22 states sued the Trump administration yesterday, asking a federal judge to temporarily block a major policy change by the NIH that would substantially limit payments for indirect research costs to universities, medical centers, and other grant recipients.
Within hours, a federal judge in Boston issued a temporary order halting the controversial policy within those 22 states. The pause is to remain until otherwise ordered by the court.
"The effects of the Rate Change Notice will be immediate and devastating," the plaintiffs said in the lawsuit. "This agency action will result in layoffs, suspension of clinical trials, disruption of ongoing research programs, and laboratory programs." Read more on the lawsuit.
On the same day, Mass General Brigham announced the largest layoff in its history, as it will let go of hundreds of XY employees over the next two months. Executives told the Boston Globe they did not plan budget cuts in response to possible reductions in federal money.
case reports
What we don't know about reproductive health can hurt us
A woman in her early 30s showed up to the clinic because for six months, she noticed blood in her urine and suffered on-and-off pain in her side and lower abdomen. She had an IUD, and once or twice a month on the heaviest days of her period, she used a silicone menstrual cup. According to a paper, published yesterday in BMJ Case Report, a CT scan showed that her menstrual cup was positioned too far to the right side of the vagina, putting pressure on the tube that connects the kidney into the bladder. Basically, that tube was blocked, so urine couldn't fully vacate the bladder. Symptoms ensued.
The blood and pain went away after the patient stopped using the menstrual cup. Existing research shows no higher risk of complications with cups than other period products, and only a few other cases like this have been documented at all. Still, when it comes to reproductive health, clinicians and researchers are often underinformed on side effects and symptoms. The case report authors write that as more people use menstrual cups, there's a need "for more knowledge on complication rates to enlighten both users and clinicians."
Another study published yesterday, this time in JAMA, similarly addressed the gap in understanding reproductive health. Researchers analyzing health data from more than a million women on birth control in Denmark found that while risk of blood clots is higher while on the combination pill, there's no added risk when using an IUD as compared to no birth control. (They weren't able to confidently assess the risk of the patch or implant due to limited data.)
politics
A dormant law could let RFK Jr. create a vaccine safety committee
Almost 40 years ago, Congress created a task force to recommend ways to make childhood vaccines safer. The group of public health agency officials issued its final report in 1998, and has been defunct ever since. But now, as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. prepares to take the top health role in the Trump administration, reviving the task force could be one way to quickly stand up a panel to scrutinize immunizations.
Kennedy has floated the idea of a commission on vaccine safety for years. Last week, when Senator Bill Cassidy (R-La.) spoke about the list of commitments that Kennedy made in exchange for his support on the HHS nomination, one was that Cassidy could choose a representative to serve on any board or commission formed to review vaccine safety. This indicates that reviving the old task force may be part of his plan.
Read more on what's possible from STAT's Sarah Owermohle and former STAT reporter Rachel Cohrs Zhang.
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