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Ladapo Issues New Florida Guidance on Children’s Psychiatric Medications
During a roundtable on youth mental health, Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo introduced guidelines urging broader evaluations by providers before children are prescribed psychotropics. New guidance from the Florida Department of Health urges providers to take a more comprehensive approach before prescribing psychotropic medications to children.
The recommendations were released Friday in Orlando during a roundtable discussion on youth mental health hosted by state Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo.
Ladapo said the guidance is intended to encourage providers to spend more time evaluating the circumstances affecting a child’s mental health before turning to medication. “But unfortunately, the structure of the system incentivizes fast prescriptions, patient throughput, and not delving into why people are actually having problems, and that’s a huge problem,” Ladapo said.
The Florida guidance cautions providers about prescribing psychotropic medications to children ages 5 to 17, saying many young patients do not receive comprehensive evaluations or behavioral therapy before medication is started. It also notes that many psychotropic medications lack FDA-approved labeling for children and says their long-term effects are not well understood.
Dozens of States Tried to Roll Back Vaccine Laws. Here’s How They Fared.
Lawmakers flooded statehouses this year with bills seeking to dismantle vaccination rules or raise questions about vaccine safety, introducing more than 200 measures in 34 states. The bills challenged every part of the system that states rely on to vaccinate the public, from the pamphlets patients receive before getting a shot to the requirements schools, day care centers and employers can implement.
A proposal in Wisconsin would have designated October as “Immunization Injury Awareness Month.” A bill in Iowa would have eliminated all vaccination requirements for elementary and secondary schools.
All told, at least 400 bills related to vaccines were introduced this year. Many were intended to bolster or protect the public’s access to the shots. But 209 aimed to weaken vaccination rules or systems or to undermine public trust in vaccines, a New York Times analysis shows.
First Person Vaccinated in Ebola Vaccine Clinical Trial
The first person has received an experimental vaccine against Ebola, officials announced July 27. A volunteer on Monday received a vaccine developed by the University of Oxford targeting the Bundibugyo virus, an orthoebolavirus that can cause Ebola.
The phase 1 trial is taking place in the UK and will assess the vaccine’s safety and the immune responses it elicits. “This is an important milestone for the trial, and marks the next phase in our multinational collaborative journey to develop a Bundibugyo ebolavirus vaccine,” Dr. Katrina Pollock, the trial’s chief investigator, said in a statement.
“With the help of our many vaccine research partners and, importantly, the clinical trial volunteers, our team will continue to work tirelessly in our response to this severe outbreak.” The trial is being funded by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations.
Thyroid Medicine Levothyroxine Recalled Nationwide: FDA
Major Pharmaceuticals is voluntarily recalling a popular thyroid medication, federal regulators announced this month. The Levothyroxine Sodium Tablets were recalled because they are subpotent, meaning they aren’t fully effective, the Food and Drug Administration said. The medication is used to treat hypothyroidism and goiter, among other conditions, according to the Mayo Clinic.
The recall was designated a Class II on July 17, meaning the tablets may cause temporary adverse health consequences, the FDA said. Major Pharmaceuticals packaged and distributed the recalled medication nationwide, and Cardinal Health also distributed some of it.
The recalled tablets were packaged in 10-count blister packs, sold individually or in cartons of 10 packs (100 total), the FDA added.
A New Role for Dental Providers: Rethinking Where Vaccines Are Given
Vaccinations have traditionally been administered in primary care settings or pharmacies. However, for about a decade, some states have authorized dentists to administer vaccines, and many others did so during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The effectiveness of this approach has led some countries and states to expand or consider expanding the role of dental providers in delivering routine vaccines, including those against COVID-19 and the human papillomavirus (HPV), and in providing vaccine education.
Previous research explored attitudes about vaccine provision in a dental setting, but none of these studies involved a validated survey instrument to assess these perceptions. Now, a multidisciplinary team of researchers has refined a previously tested pilot survey using statistical analyses of the questionnaire and feedback from a focus group in Philadelphia. The results are published in Frontiers in Oral Health.
Pandemic Reshapes Meningococcal Strains in Scotland, With Group B Dominating Cases
New research has revealed a shift in the strains of invasive meningococcal disease circulating in Scotland during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study examined cases of the disease in Scotland before, during and after the pandemic.
Meningococcal disease is a serious bacterial infection that can cause meningitis and sepsis. Infants and young children, teenagers and young adults, and people over 65 remain among the highest-risk groups. The study found that while the pandemic did not change who was most affected by the disease, the strains causing it did.
During the pandemic, group B meningococcal disease became the only cause of invasive meningococcal disease in Scotland, while other strains, including group W and group C, declined. Four years on, the pattern of strains has moved back toward its pre-pandemic profile, but from a new baseline.
