Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Researcher At National Cancer Institute Was Late Notifying Authorities About Deaths In Study
The Washington Post: National Cancer Institute Researcher Was Months Late In Notifying Authorities About Deaths
A National Cancer Institute researcher running a lymphoma trial was late by several months in notifying authorities that two patients had died of fungal infections that might have been caused by the experimental treatment, officials have concluded. The reporting lapses were described Friday by National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins, acting NCI Director Doug Lowy and other officials at a meeting of a new board that is advising Collins on patient safety and other issues at NIH's flagship hospital, the Clinical Center. (McGinley, 10/21)
The Philadelphia Inquirer: Looking For Answers On Gap In Breast Cancer Survivors
The disparity is as troubling as it is profound. Eight percent of Caucasian women die within five years of being diagnosed with breast cancer. Among African American women, the toll is 21 percent. But what about women who do survive? Recently, researchers at Villanova University and the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Thomas Jefferson University published a study looking at issues affecting African American women after treatment for breast cancer. (Bauers, 10/23)
Kaiser Health News: Is 20-Something Too Late For A Guy To Get The HPV Vaccine?
Television is making me anxious about sex — more anxious than usual. I keep seeing scary ads featuring young people asking their parents why they didn’t get the vaccine to protect against the human papillomavirus — HPV. If you’re unfamiliar with HPV, it’s a sexually transmitted infection that has been linked to various cancers, including cervical cancer in women. I didn’t get vaccinated. So lately I’ve been wondering: Now that I’m 29, is it too late for me to get the vaccine? (Harper, 10/24)
Columbus Dispatch: Local Doctors Embrace New HPV Vaccine Recommendation
Despite its proven ability to help protect against cervical and other cancers, families and even some doctors have been slow to embrace the HPV vaccine. So local advocates cheered this week when a government panel said kids younger than 15 need just two shots — down from three — to develop immunity to the most worrisome strains of human papillomavirus. (Price, 10/21)
