Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Standard Treatment Of Using Weekly Hormone Injections To Prevent Pre-Term Births Found To Be Ineffective
The Wall Street Journal: Preterm Birth Treatment Isn’t Effective, Study Finds
The standard treatment to prevent women from having another preterm birth isn’t effective, according to the final results of a study. The finding has already led at least one maternal medicine group to revamp its guidelines. Doctors groups have long recommended a weekly injection of a synthetic progestin hormone called Makena, based on the results of a 2003 study. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the drug, now made by AMAG Pharmaceuticals, in 2011, contingent upon completing a follow-up study. The FDA has a public hearing and vote scheduled for Tuesday in which it will decide whether to leave the treatment on the market or not. (Reddy, 10/25)
NPR: Some Pregnant Women Use Weed For Morning Sickness But FDA Cautions Against It
Jennifer had a rough start to her pregnancy. "I had really intense food aversion and really intense nausea," says the 28-year-old mother of a five-month-old girl. "I wasn't eating at all." She was losing weight instead of gaining it, she says, and couldn't even keep down her prenatal vitamins or iron pills, which she needed to deal with anemia. (Chatterjee, 10/28)
