Saturday News Roundup (1/20/07)

From Katie Allison Granju, Will Ferrell did his part to reduce breastfeeding stigma by carrying his wife's breast pump to the Golden Globes.

Via the Kaiser Network:

FDA To Reconsider Standards for Reviewing Low-Dose Oral Contraceptives. The drug regulation agency is set to reconsider the acceptible failure rates as a result of pregnancy rates in recent studies.

GSK To Begin Trial Comparing its Experimental HPV Vaccine Cervarix to Merck's Gardasil. Gardasil is currently the only FDA-approved HPV vaccine.

Debate continues over the appointment of contaception-opponent, abstinence-only advocate Eric Keroack to the position of deptury assistant secretary of the Office of Population Affairs, an agency devoted to provision of family planning and reproductive health care. The Boston Glove recently ran commentary from Ellen Goodman on the issue. RHRealityCheck links to a New York Times opinion piece on Keroack, available to subscribers only.

From the "things you shouldn't have to legislate" files, a bill has been introduced "that would require Washington (state) schools to provide medically accurate sex education."

Increased breast density may be linked to increased risk of breast cancer.

The contraceptive sponge is back, and you may soon see more aggressive marketing of the device.

TikvaGirl also saw and appreciated the recent episodes of Scrubs addressing postpartum depression.

Via Our Bodies, Our Blog, more on the difficulties of childbirth in Iraq (see previous posts 1 & 2)

RHReality check takes on the coverage of sex and condoms in a recent episode of Desperate Housewives.

Women's Bioethics Blog comments on a Virginia bill to require HPV vaccination (or parental opt-out) for girls attending middle school.

CNN: Infant outcomes worse with planned C-section

I'd be interested to know how this map of U.S. births to females 15-19 years old corresponds with sex ed and access to reproductive health, given that the highest rates are in the South (east and west).

The Washington Post reports that Bush plans to propose tax incentives for private insurance during the State of the Union Address. The Post also has an update on mandatory HPV vaccination in Maryland.

Technorati Tags: breast cancer; breast pump; breastfeeding; contraceptives; Desperate Housewives; FDA; family planning; HPV vaccine; health insurance; Keroack; Scrubs; sex education; teen pregnancy; Will Ferrell
MeSH Tags: Breast Feeding; Breast Neoplasms; Contraception; Family Planning Services; Insurance, Health; Papillomavirus Vaccines; Pregnancy in Adolescence; Sex Education; Television; United States Dept. of Health and Human Services; United States Food and Drug Administration