HPV Vaccine Coming to a Woman In Her 30s and 40s Near You

Photo by jared

The FDA has granted a priority review for Merck & Co's application to expand marketing of its Gardasil HPV vaccine to women aged 27 through 45. [Gardasil is currently approved for currently approved for 9 through 26 yo.]

Expect a decision form the FDA within 6 months.

Government Says Women Must Get Belief-Based Medical Care

***UPDATED***

Photo by Anosmia

Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt calls on the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology to reject a new ACOG opinion (# 385) which states that physicians have a duty to refer patients in a timely manner to other providers if they're unable to provide evidenced-based reproductive care to their patients.

Leavitt frets about the conscience and other individual rights of health care providers and, correctly, points out that there are federal laws in place to protect Ob/Gyns who practice belief-based medicine and provide substandard care. He's also concerned about the serious economic harm [that might be caused] to good practitioners.

No word yet from the Health and Human Services Secretary on his concerns about the conscience and other individual rights of female patients and the serious physical and economical harm caused by being denied access to adequate medical care.

Not that the rights and quality of medical care of women of reproductive age should be any concern of the Health and Human Services Secretary. After all, unlike for any other class of people in this country, only for women with a certain anatomy and physiology is it considered acceptable public policy and public discourse to legislate and advocate for belief-based care and imminent danger of loss of limb or life as a condition of receiving medical care.

UPDATE:

The American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology responds and assures Mike Leavitt that practicing evidence-based medicine and making sure patients have access to proper medical are in no way, shape or form factor[s] in the decision about board certification.

Not satisfied with this appalling lowering of standards, Health and Human Services Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health Don Wright said that the Government still hope[s] that [ACOG] would revisit their position and give up altogether on the idea that belief-based medicine shouldn't be the standard of care for female patients of reproductive age.

I realize that in the current climate there are many issues--race relations, the war, etc.--competing for your attention. So all I'll ask you to do is to pause for a moment and image what would happen in this country if the Government and a medical specialty certification board came out and said that it is acceptable not to provide proper medical care to a segment of the population just because they are black, or they had their prostate removed, or are natural blonds. Inconceivable, no?

Will He Or Won't He?

Photo by celebdu

This about sums up my long-standing opinion of [still] Gov. Spitzer: a sanctimonious bully who was just trying to advance his political career.

As I type this CNN is reporting that Gov. Spitzer is in the middle of plea negotiations, something along the lines of "if I resign, that takes care of all the State and Federal charges." I hope he resigns, but I'm not holding my breath.

And just in case you're wondering, I hope he resigns because people like him who value their political ambition to the exclusion of all else do not serve the public well, not because he had sex with prostitutes. Although, to be honest, just the fact that Gov. Spitzer has a preference not to wear a condom [when having sex with a call-girl] should be reason enough to call for his resignation.

I mean, if we expect teenage American girls (and boys) to know how to protect themselves from STIs if they have sex, we should ask no less from the Governor of the state of New York.

Brothers Make The Best Mehram

Photo by SUSRIS

Saudi women need the permission of a mehram, or male guardian, for basic activities like work or travel.

"Women cannot do anything. She cannot study, she cannot work, she cannot marry, she cannot get a divorce. It's a long list. You cannot move from the house, you cannot get medical care without a man's permission.

...

Under the Saudi system a woman's male guardian can be her husband, brother or son. In Al Huwaider's case, her guardian is her 17-year-old son.

"He's the one in charge of my life, he's the one who has the control if I want to travel … even if I want to have surgery I have to get a permission from him," she said.

Al Huwaider says the general consensus among Saudi women is that sons are the worst male guardians because "they feel they own their mothers." Brothers, she says, make the best male guardians. Husbands fall somewhere in between.

Of Rats And Men...In The Operating Room

A patient in the UK waits 11 months to have an operation and, when the day finally comes, what happens? A rodent dies.

I remember a patient once being very upset and complaining about a small patch of peeling paint in her room and me having to jump through a lot of hoops to have the patient moved and insure that repairs will be made to the room. And I thought that was a challenging situation to deal with. No more!

Contraception Is A Mortal Sin

Photo by pagedooley

News Flash: God told Pope Benedict XVI to tell Bishop Gianfranco Girotti to tell you that the seven deadly sins v2.0 is now available for wide release.

But It's For The Zygote-Americans!

Photo by laszlo-photo

When Rep. Rick Renzi, R-Ariz promised to fight for the rights of the unborn in Congress it looks like he really meant it.

Renzi allegedly embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars of insurance coverage payments from "pregnancy crisis" centers to fund his first run for Congress.

Zygote-Americans from across the country uteri strongly condemn Mr. Renzi's actions and wish to make it known that they want nothing to do with him.

(via a LGM commenter, but can't find the direct link)

Satan Thwarts McCain

Photo by frenkieb

An actual quote from a United States presidential candidate:

"It's harder and harder trying to do the Lord's work in the city of Satan," McCain said of Washington.

I am, indeed, speechless.

The FBI Is Watching You

Photo by nolifebeforecoffee

And listening to you and--coming soon to a government office near you!--feeling the bumps on your head and cataloging the anatomy and physiology of your nether regions.

WASHINGTON - The FBI acknowledged Wednesday it improperly accessed Americans' telephone records, credit reports and Internet traffic in 2006, the fourth straight year of privacy abuses resulting from investigations aimed at tracking terrorists and spies.

But it's all good because the breach was caused, in part, by banks, telecommunication companies and other private businesses giving the FBI more personal client data than was requested and, in part, by FBI agent error and shoddy record-keeping.

'Cause as long as corporate servility and FBI incompetence, as opposed to criminal misconduct, are behind the government's inexorable creep into our private lives, we've nothing to fear.

The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons Knows Plan B Propaganda

Photo by u2canreed

Great news:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit seeking to halt sales of the only "morning-after" contraceptive pill available in the United States without a prescription.

The suit was filed against U.S. health regulators over their decision to allow non-prescription sales of Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc's Plan B pill.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Barr were sued by the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons and other groups seeking to overturn the FDA decision.

Wait, what? A legitimate medical organization suing to restrict Plan B availability? Something doesn't sound right here.

Having never even heard of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (do I lead an insular life, or what?), I looked it up ( more here, and here). And figured out what the problem was (emphasis mine):

AAPS emphasizes that childbirth confers undeniable health benefits on the mother, and interruption of a pregnancy is indisputably harmful compared to childbirth. The FDA should not render any decision concerning increased availability of a drug to interfere with pregnancy without hearing from all sides of the medical community about the harm of preventing childbirth.

Turns out AAPS isn't so much a medical organization as it is just another crank propaganda outfit. And not a very good one at that [undeniable health benefits, indisputably harmful, the harm of preventing childbirth, seriously?].

Still, as lame as AAPS's propaganda might be, I can't help but notice that it's still far more effective than the [nonexistent] counter propaganda effort from those on the side of science and reality.

It's Raining...Bacteria

Photo by viamoi

Now this is interesting:

Those beautiful snowflakes drifting out of the sky may have a surprise inside -- bacteria.

Atmospheric scientists have long known that under most conditions moisture needs something to cling to in order to condense into snow and rain. A study published Friday in the journal Science shows a large share of those so-called nucleators turn out to be bacteria that can affect plants.

"Bacteria are by far the most active ice nuclei in nature," said Brent C. Christner, an assistant professor of biological sciences at Louisiana State University.

Christner and colleagues sampled snow from Antarctica, France, Montana and Canada's Yukon and found that as much as 85% of the nuclei were bacteria, he said. The bacteria finding was most common in France, followed by Montana and the Yukon, and was even present in Antarctica.

The most common bacteria found were Pseudomonas syringae, which can cause disease in several types of plants including tomatoes and beans.

Female Blogger Contest

Vote for your favorite female blogger.

Women's Voices. Women Vote, a nonpartisan organization that seeks to mobilize all unmarried women to register to vote and to go to the polls on Election Day is celebrating Women's History Month with a call for nominations.

They want to honor those women that have utilized the internet to amplify their voices. [Bwahahaha, name me one blogger, male or female, whose goal isn't world domination through using the internet to amplify his/her voice. Or maybe it's just me?]

Nominate your favorite female blogger by March 21, then check back to vote for your favorite among the top 10 women bloggers.

Abortion Not "A" Safe Procedure, "Says" Bearded Spock

Photo by hamedmasoumi

In order for women of reproductive age to become wards of the State, in accordance to the calling mission of the forced pregnancy zealots, an alternate reality, one where abortion is an unsafe medical procedure and women are not capable of consent, must be lied and legislate into existence.

The forced pregnancy propaganda outfit Elliot Institute explains:

[The SCOTUS decision to legalize abortion] was based on the premise that the state's no longer had any need to regulate abortion because the advances of modern medicine had now made abortion "relatively safe." Therefore, the Justices concluded, it is unconstitutional to prevent physicians from providing abortions as a "health" service to women.

National abortion policy is built upon this judicial "fact" that abortion is a "safe" procedure. If this "fact" is found to be false, then national policy toward abortion must be re-evaluated. Indeed, if it is found that abortion may actually be dangerous to health of women, there is just cause for governments to regulate or prohibit abortion in order to protect their citizens.

Since the Court's ruling in 1973, there have been many studies into the aftereffects of abortion. Their combined results paint a haunting picture of physical and psychological damage among millions of women who have undergone abortions.

So, when you absolutely, positively must subjugate a large segment of the population, science and reality must not be allowed to stand in your way. Keep this dogma, your opponents' fundamental operating principle, in mind next time you come across yet another grotesque scheme to pervert science or allegation that women are incapable of consent.