In The News

I apologize for the long post and link dump; just trying to catch up with what has happened while I've been away and clear out the feed aggregator.

FDA to allow silicone breast implants:
NYTimes - FDA will allow breast implants made of silicone
FDA - FDA approves silicone gel-filled breast implants after in-depth evaluation: Agency requiring 10 years of patient follow-up

More FDA: FDA Expands Use of Herceptin for Early Stage Breast Cancer After Primary Therapy

Washington Post: Bush choice for family planning post criticized
"The Bush administration has appointed a new chief of family-planning programs at the Department of Health and Human Services who worked at a Christian pregnancy-counseling organization that regards the distribution of contraceptives as 'demeaning to women.' Eric Keroack, medical director for A Woman's Concern, a nonprofit group based in Dorchester, Mass., will become deputy assistant secretary for population affairs in the next two weeks, department spokeswoman Christina Pearson said yesterday."

Kaiser Network piece
RHReality Check
A profile of Keroack from Talk2Action.
Keroack is part of the Medical Council for Leslee Unruh's Abstinence Clearinghouse, "which is comprised of health professionals around the world who believe in abstinence until marriage and do not counsel, prescribe, or distribute condoms or contraceptives to youth."

Keroack quote: "Abstinence education is the first mechanism that has actually made a positive impact on the devastation caused by the errant sexual education programs of the 1970s and 1980s," said Dr. Eric Keroack, an obstetrician-gynecologist from Boston. "Why would we stop it?" - 12/11/04 Washington Times

Keroack did an (unpublished) study to see if showing women ultrasounds could reduce their incidence of choosing abortion.
"Keroack, who says that he performed 30 to 35 abortions himself during his medical residency at Tufts University and early days as an OB-GYN, is up-front about his study’s chief flaw—it couldn’t follow the 35 percent of clients who didn’t respond. One Washington, D.C.–area ultrasonographer, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said he doubted that 63 percent of women would choose life after seeing the sonogram. He agreed that sonograms persuade women to remain pregnant but estimated that figure was between 20 to 33 percent. Nevertheless, even those figures represent a major step for the pro-life cause."

Keroack also tries to make the argument that sex with more than 1 partner will prevent women from bonding with their husbands - "People who have misused their sexual faculty and become bonded to multiple persons will diminish the power of oxytocin to maintain a permanent bond with an individual." Keep in mind that none of his "studies" have been subjected to the traditional peer review process.

Meanwhile, the GAO reports that abstinence only programs have not been appropriately reviewed for scientific accuracy.
GAO - Abstinence Education: Efforts to Assess the Accuracy and Effectiveness of Federally Funded Programs, GAO-07-87

House Approves Gynecologic Cancers Prevention Bill that "would authorize $16.5 million over two years to create prevention education materials for gynecologic cancers." The bill [HR 1245] will now be considered by the Senate.

Only "40% of U.S. Women Ages 18 to 75 Know About HPV" according to a National Cancer Institute survey, and less than half of those who have heard of HPV know about its connection to cervical cancer.

Our Bodies, Our Blog: Red meat and breast cancer?

Kaiser Network: Gynecologists Inform Fewer Than Half of Women With Uterine Fibroid Tumors of Alternatives to Hysterectomy, Survey Says

Planned Parenthood has a podcast on the recent Supreme Court abortion hearings. Well-Timed Period has a detailed response to the hearings.

Woman kicked off plane for breastfeeding. Oh, hell no. It was a Delta flight, operated by Freedom Airlines (a Delta Connection provider). Register your complaints to Delta using the link here (generic email form), or contact corporate headquarters for Delta:
Telephone
404-715-2600
Mail
Delta Air Lines, Inc.
P.O. Box 20706
Atlanta, Georgia 30320-6001

Medgadget: Researchers look for breast cancer vaccine.