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Dermatologists Criticize ‘Dystopian’ Skincare Products Aimed at Children
Dermatologists have criticized an actor’s new skincare brand, calling it “dystopian” for creating face masks for four-year-olds, warning that the beauty industry is now expanding its reach from teenagers to toddlers. It comes as a growing number of brands are moving into the children’s, teenage and young adult skincare market.
In October, the first skincare brand developed for under-14s, Ever-eden, launched in the U.S. Superdrug has just created a range for those aged between 13 and 28. A number of brands have surged in popularity among very young social-media users, creating a phenomenon known as “Sephora kids.”
However, the trend has met a backlash from dermatologists and commenters online. Dr Emma Wedgeworth, consultant dermatologist at 55 Harley Street, central London, described it as “ridiculous.” She said: “I think these products are completely unnecessary. When we look at what we put on children’s skin, we must weigh up benefits and risks, and in this case there are no real benefits, yet we expose children to unnecessary risks.
How Children’s Health Defense Plans to Cement Its Agenda Beyond RFK Jr.
Children’s Health Defense (CHD), the vaccine-skeptical organization once led by now-health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is playing the long game. The group has more power in Washington than the group’s CEO, Mary Holland, imagined possible in her lifetime.
In an interview with STAT, she said CHD plans to parlay that influence into permanent policy changes — upending the childhood vaccination schedule, reformulating the shots, and abolishing mandates to get them, among a host of goals — that will outlast Kennedy’s tenure at the Department of Health and Human Services.
“We fully expect at some point there will be people in power who do not support our agenda,” she said. “And we want to do as much as we can in this arguably auspicious time to create the kind of public support that will see us through.”
FDA Limits Duchenne Gene Therapy After Two Teens Die of Liver Failure
U.S. News & World Report reported:
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is tightening restrictions on a gene therapy used to treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy after two teenagers died from liver failure linked to the medication. The FDA decision limits the use of Elevidys, made by Sarepta Therapeutics, to boys who are four years and older who can still walk, the agency said.
It will no longer be allowed for boys who have already lost mobility, something that typically happens around age 12 for patients with Duchenne. Officials said a safety review confirmed that the two teens developed severe liver damage after receiving the infusion. Both later died. The FDA is also adding its strictest boxed warning to highlight the risks of serious liver injury, acute liver failure and death.
Sarepta, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts with offices worldwide, told regulators earlier this year that it had already stopped shipping the therapy to non-ambulatory patients. The company also said Elevidys has been used in 1,100 patients worldwide.
Elevidys is a one-time infusion designed to slow Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a disease that causes muscles like the heart to weaken over time. Most patients are boys and many do not survive beyond age 30.
The drug label had previously warned about liver injury, but it did not mention liver failure or death, according to the agency.
Connecticut Lawmakers Pass Autism Service Overhaul Bill, Advocates Call It a ‘Game Changer’
Connecticut lawmakers have approved sweeping changes to autism services in the state, and now the bill heads to the desk of Gov. Ned Lamont. On Nov. 13, Bonnie Roswig — with the Center for Children’s Advocacy — called House Bill 8004 a “game changer.”
She praised how it looks to raise the age limit for insurance coverage of autism therapies, including Applied Behavioral Analysis and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, from 21 to 26.
“For a cliff of service to occur at age 21 is really traumatizing for everyone. It’s a cliff for the families. What do they do? What services are out there? And these are really challenged young people who really need support, and their families really need support,” Roswig said. The types of services these young adults receive really run a wide range, and Roswig said the services are huge support for families impacted by autism.
ADHD Awareness Campaigns Lead to Huge Jump in False Self-Diagnoses
About a quarter of “healthy” young adults already think they have ADHD (28%), according to new research. But that number jumped to more than half (58%) after they received an ADHD awareness campaign based on popular ADHD advocacy groups’ material. Again, this was a study in “healthy” young adults. None of them actually met criteria for ADHD, and they had no other psychiatric diagnoses or medication use.
The researchers also tested a 10-minute educational session to mitigate this effect. The session was a “nocebo” message, or information on how “negative expectations may cause symptom misattribution and worsening.” It was somewhat successful: after the intervention, 41% believed they had ADHD (compared to 58% in the group that did not receive the nocebo intervention). At one week, this was down to 35%.
The researchers consider this a success, but this does mean that about a third of healthy young adults still believed they had ADHD despite not meeting criteria for the disorder, even after the “nocebo” intervention. The study was led by Dasha Sandra at the University of Toronto, Canada, and was published in Psychological Medicine.
Child Development Researcher Issues Warning About AI-Powered Teddy Bears Flooding Market Before Christmas
As the holiday season rolls in, parents eager to impress their young children with a splashy present might be tempted to gift them an AI-powered toy or teddy bear, which are popping up everywhere. What’d be more fun for a child than a tiny companion that they can have endless conversations with? It’s gotta be better than having their face shoved into a tablet screen all the time, right?
But you may want to hold off on that purchase. There’s still far too much we don’t understand about how AI-powered toys can affect a child’s long-term development, warns Emily Goodacre, a researcher with the Centre for Research on Play in Education, Development and Learning at the University of Cambridge, who’s conducting a study exploring these risks. And that’s before we even touch on how the toys have already demonstrated they can break their own guardrails and have extremely inappropriate conversations with the children to whom they’re supposed to be harmless companions.
“These toys might be providing some kind of social interaction, but it’s not human social interaction,” Goodacre told Yahoo in an interview. “The toys agree with them, so kids don’t have to negotiate things.”
