Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Viewpoints: FDA's Approval Of OTC Opill Is A Win; Is Aspartame Good Or Bad?
At a time of unrelenting attacks on reproductive autonomy, the Food and Drug Administration鈥檚 decision on July 13 to approve a birth control pill for over-the-counter (OTC) use is an important advance toward providing people with tools to control their fertility. (Mai Fleming, April J. Bell and Christine Dehlendorf, 7/13)
Two different messages about the sweetener aspartame are coming from international health and food safety experts in Geneva. (7/13)
Most people aren't aware of this law, which requires that women be included in research to develop drugs, therapies and treatments that are designed to improve the health of all people. (Nicole Woitowich, 7/13)
Congress faces a historic opportunity to stamp out a disease that kills thousands of Americans each year and save billions of dollars to boot. In March, the Biden administration proposed an initiative to eliminate hepatitis C in the United States 鈥 a plan that should make sense to both conservatives and progressives. (Neeraj Sood and Jagpreet Chhatwal, 7/14)
The world has now learned of a surprising scientific advance: so-called 鈥渟ynthetic embryos.鈥 Their arrival promises to reveal to medicine previously hidden glimpses into problems of early pregnancy. (Insoo Hyun, 7/13)
In the end, a lowly tape recorder helped change the face of breast cancer treatment.Susan Love, who died recently at age 75, was in the early 1990s the director of the UCLA Breast Center, which was designed to turn the world of breast cancer treatment on its head. (Karen Stabiner, 7/13)