License to deliver: Some midwives break the law to assist with home births
medicalxpress - In a midwife's suburban Atlanta home with a playground and chicken coop outside, Madie Collins lay on an examination table while the midwife measured her pregnant belly. Unlike at many a doctor's office, no crinkly paper sheet covered the table and no ant…
AI Summary: A growing number of midwives are reportedly supporting planned home births outside legal frameworks, knowingly operating without required licences. Regulators and health systems face a tricky balance between enforcing safety standards and meeting demand for community-based birthing options. Expect investigations, heated debates, and at least one bureaucrat suddenly very busy.
Supreme Court preserves access to abortion pill by mail
Sydney Halleman / healthcaredive - The ruling maintains access to mifepristone while litigation continues. The drug can still be prescribed at pharmacies or by mail without requiring in-person visits.
AI Summary: The Supreme Court intervened to maintain access to mifepristone, temporarily restoring telehealth prescribing and preserving mail distribution while litigation proceeds. The decision keeps the pill available nationwide, blocking lower-court restrictions that would have sharply limited remote access and complicated routine clinical care for patients and providers.
PCOS has been officially renamed PMOS, and it’s a momentous move
newscientist - PCOS will now be known as PMOS (polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome), and for Alice Klein, who has the conditon, it's been a long time coming
AI Summary: Medical experts have rebranded polycystic ovary syndrome as "polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome" (PMOS) to better reflect its metabolic and endocrine drivers and improve diagnosis and treatment for about 170 million affected women worldwide. The change follows years of debate over an inaccurate name and aims to reduce misdiagnosis and guide more targeted care—because calling it something sensible might actually help.
Court restricts abortion access across US by blocking mailing of mifepristone
abcnews - A federal appeals court has restricted access to one of the most common means of abortion in the U.S. by blocking the mailing of mifepristone
AI Summary: A federal appeals court has imposed new limits on distribution of mifepristone, blocking mail-order shipments and narrowing telehealth-based prescribing. The decision immediately complicates access for patients and clinicians who rely on remote care and pharmacy delivery, forcing last‑minute logistical changes, increased travel, and swift legal and policy responses as providers scramble to adapt.
- Appeals court halts mail and telehealth access (4)
- Clinical pivots and drug alternatives amid disruptions (3)
- Supreme Court temporarily restores mail access (5)
- All Other Stories
Appeals court halts mail and telehealth access
Clinical pivots and drug alternatives amid disruptions
Supreme Court temporarily restores mail access
All Other Stories
11 cancers on the rise in young people - scientists find first clue why it's happening
bbc - Researchers stress that simple lifestyle changes can still significantly reduce the risk of cancer.
AI Summary: New studies report rising incidence of several cancers among younger adults, with England data showing increases in bowel and ovarian cancers and researchers claiming early clues to underlying drivers. Scientists are calling for urgent investigation into environmental, lifestyle, and diagnostic factors, enhanced surveillance and prevention measures — because apparently youth is no longer a guarantee.
- New lab discoveries point to targeted, immune-based cancer therapies (4)
- Other health stories: infections, liver care, social impacts on youth (5)
- Prevention and screening gaps risk late diagnoses, experts warn (4)
- Younger adults facing rising cancers — investigators hunt environmental culprits (7)
- All Other Stories
New lab discoveries point to targeted, immune-based cancer therapies
Other health stories: infections, liver care, social impacts on youth
Prevention and screening gaps risk late diagnoses, experts warn
Younger adults facing rising cancers — investigators hunt environmental culprits
All Other Stories
Preeclampsia could be treated with 'blood filtering' therapy, early study hints
livescience - A blood-filtering therapy for preeclampsia is safe for pregnant patients and their babies, according to a new pilot study.
AI Summary: Early clinical work suggests removing a circulating anti‑angiogenic factor can safely extend pregnancies in severe preeclampsia. Researchers used targeted extracorporeal filtration to lower soluble Fms‑like tyrosine kinase‑1 (sFlt‑1) levels, improving maternal and fetal stability long enough to delay delivery and reduce immediate risks, meriting larger controlled trials.
Erectile disorder: How science is moving beyond Viagra
medicalxpress - Erectile disorder (ED) refers to a persistent difficulty achieving or maintaining an erection sufficient for satisfying sexual activity. It affects millions of men worldwide, including up to 1 in 4 in the United States. Beyond physical functioning, erecti…
AI Summary: Researchers are advancing alternatives to sildenafil-era approaches for erectile disorder, exploring new biological targets and therapies that aim to restore function rather than just patch symptoms. The coverage explains emerging mechanisms, investigational treatments and the shifting clinical landscape—because sometimes a Band-Aid on performance isn’t the long-term plan.
FDA updates mifepristone safety study status
Ella Jeffries / beckershospitalreview - The FDA updated its mifepristone guidance, detailing ongoing work on a safety study and the current status of the drug’s Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy program. According to an April 8 news release, the agency said it is still collecting and eval…
AI Summary: The FDA updated the safety review status for mifepristone, yet the regulatory change hasn’t translated into widespread retail availability. Many community pharmacies are still hesitant to dispense the drug due to logistical, legal and reputational concerns, leaving access limited despite federal moves intended to broaden distribution — so yes, policy changed, but practice lagged.
'I'm not being listened to' - new health plan launched as women say they are still ignored
bbc - New plans to improve healthcare for women and girls have been set out, but will they change anything?
AI Summary: Health officials unveiled a new women's health plan, but many women say the rollout feels performative and that their concerns remain unheard. Patient advocates warn the initiative risks repeating past mistakes unless it embeds lived experience, transparent accountability and genuine co-design—otherwise it's policy theater with a glossy brochure.
FDA Approves Relacorilant with nab-Paclitaxel for Platinum-Resistant Epithelial Ovarian, Fallopian Tube, Or Primary Peritoneal Cancer
esmo - Evidence for efficacy is based on the findings from the ROSELLA study
AI Summary: The FDA granted marketing authorization for relacorilant in combination with nab‑paclitaxel to treat platinum‑resistant epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube and primary peritoneal cancers. Regulators cited clinical benefit in a difficult‑to‑treat population, providing an additional therapeutic option for patients with limited choices and marking an important regulatory milestone.
Lost in space: Sperm struggles to navigate during weightless sex
medicalxpress - Scientists have used a tiny plastic "obstacle course" to test how much sperm would struggle to navigate during sex in the weightlessness of space.
AI Summary: New research shows sperm struggle to navigate and function in weightless conditions, suggesting microgravity could impair fertilization and complicate human reproduction beyond low-Earth orbit. Scientists warn these findings raise practical and biological questions for long-duration missions and potential colonization efforts, prompting calls for more reproductive biology studies in space.
Teens are driving the demand for online abortion pills via telehealth
medicalxpress - Teens in the U.S. are obtaining medication abortion pills through telehealth, and young people aged 18 to 24 are ordering medication abortion at much higher rates than older adults.
AI Summary: Telehealth provision of medication abortion has surged, reducing travel for many and prompting a noticeable uptick in online requests from teenagers. Reports show virtual care is reshaping access patterns and forcing healthcare systems and regulators to confront new realities around remote prescribing, confidentiality, and youth access to reproductive services.