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◼︎ BIG PHARMA
Common Antibiotic Tied to Pregnancy Loss Risk
Women exposed to doxycycline in early pregnancy had an increased risk of pregnancy loss compared to other antibiotics, a cohort study showed. Doxycycline use for respiratory tract infection was linked with increased pregnancy loss risk compared with amoxicillin use among pregnant women with both public and private insurance, reported Almut Winterstein, PharmD, PhD, of the University of Florida in Gainesville, and colleagues.
Compared with macrolide antibiotics, doxycycline was still associated with increased risk of pregnancy loss for this indication, they wrote in Annals of Internal Medicine.
Among patients with acne, doxycycline had a significantly higher risk of pregnancy loss than topical clindamycin among those privately insured (aRR 1.49, 95% CI 1.26-1.76) but not publicly insured (aRR 1.03, 95% CI 0.80-1.33), the researchers found.
“Our findings suggest that clinicians, together with their patients, might want to weigh the benefits against the potential risk for pregnancy loss when considering doxycycline for reproductive-aged women,” they wrote.
Semaglutide May Lower Fetal Oxygen Levels, Sheep Study Suggests
They’re the blockbuster drugs transforming weight loss, helping millions of people to shed unwanted kilograms. But while medications such as Ozempic and Wegovy may also improve women’s chances of becoming pregnant, what happens to their unborn babies if they continue to take the drugs during pregnancy?
In a new Adelaide University animal study involving pregnant sheep, researchers found that semaglutide — the active ingredient in these medications — significantly reduced blood flow to the uterus and oxygen levels in the developing fetus. While the findings are preliminary and have not been demonstrated in humans, they raise important questions about the safety of weight-loss drugs during pregnancy, particularly for women who may conceive unexpectedly or continue taking the medication before realizing they are pregnant.
Although semaglutide is not recommended during pregnancy (and women planning to conceive are advised to discontinue treatment beforehand), researchers say many will be reluctant to discontinue treatment to avoid regaining lost weight, while others taking the drug to manage diabetes may have concerns about changing their treatment.
Mums v Big Pharma Review — The ‘Bored, Hysterical Housewives’ Who Exposed a Horrifying Scandal
Tales of corporate or governmental wrongdoing are often hugely complicated. Documents destroyed, witnesses untraceable, endless obfuscations and legal intricacies invoked. If the people doing the uncovering are ordinary folk, unarmed with fancy lawyers or untrained in the ways of big business or statecraft, the story often becomes even more of a switchback ride before the mind-boggling whole is laid bare.
Just occasionally, however, the story is very simple (though no less mind-boggling). Such a case is that of the sodium valproate scandal, uncovered thanks to a campaign that was started 17 years ago by two mothers who began to suspect that their children’s disabilities had a specific cause.
Janet Williams had two sons with developmental delays. For years she was told by doctors that there was nothing wrong: “You truly believed that if there was something wrong or something that needed explanation, they would tell you,” she says now, remembering her naive younger self and her trust in the medical profession. Then, in 2009, the boys were referred to a specialist who almost casually informed her that their condition was probably a result of her epilepsy medication, Epilim.
◼︎ GOVERNMENT
Number of Plaintiffs in Vaccine Rule Challenge Grows by Two
An administrative judge has denied the DeSantis administration’s request to limit the number of plaintiffs in the administrative challenge to its proposed rules to eliminate a requirement that children receive four vaccines before entering daycare or school.
Over objections from the Department of Health, administrative law judge W. David Watkins is allowing the Florida Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Florida Chapter of the American College of Physicians Services to intervene in the consolidated administrative challenge. A four-day hearing has been scheduled in Tallahassee starting Dec. 14.
Attorneys for DOH unsuccessfully argued the organizations lacked standing and shouldn’t be allowed to intervene. The attorneys were successful in their request that they groups’ standing be somewhat limited and they not be allowed to “unduly delay the proceedings or final hearing.” Attorney Christopher Nuland, representing the organizations, was pleased with Watkins’ decision.
“We certainly want and deserve a seat at the table,” Nuland told the Phoenix Monday.
Nuland maintains that if Watkins rules in favor of the DOH, the rule could go into effect before Gov. Ron DeSantis leaves office in January.
Hegseth Denied Promotions to Military Members Who Promoted DEI and the Covid Vaccine: Report
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth blocked promotions for military officers who supported Covid-19 vaccines and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, according to a new report.
Citing three military officials, MS NOW reported that Hegseth sidestepped the Pentagon’s merit-based promotion process in favor of new criteria that disproportionately affected women and people of color.
“I was like ‘you gotta be kidding me’,” a senior official said. A Pentagon spokesperson, meanwhile, told The Independent that the department remains “committed to ensuring that all advancement is merit-based.”
State AG Directors Press USDA for Bird Flu Vaccine for Cattle
USDA should immediately approve vaccinating dairy cattle to keep bird flu from becoming a chronic problem for the dairy industry, according to state agriculture officials. Groups representing the state agriculture department and state veterinarians sent a letter to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins asking her to let states try vaccinating cattle.
A voluntary pilot program in willing states would allow USDA and the dairy industry to evaluate how well vaccines work, the letter states. Testing milk and cattle detects bird flu, and restricting interstate cattle movement hinders the spread, but the states need medical measures, too, National Association of State Departments of Agriculture CEO Ted McKinney said.
“That’s why we are asking USDA to approve vaccines as an additional tool to help prevent and reduce the spread of (avian influenza) in livestock,” he said in a statement.
◼︎ BIG FOOD
US Children Bombarded By Online Junk Food Marketing
U.S. News & World Report reported:
Marketing for junk food inundates the smartphones and tablets of American children and teens, a new study says. Young people are exposed to an average of nearly 4,000 marketing messages for food every year on digital media platforms, researchers estimate.
The findings were published Monday in JAMA Pediatrics. More than 9 out of 10 (92%) of the foods and drinks featured in these messages are considered unhealthy, researchers added.
And “the study may have underestimated overall exposure by limiting its focus to smartphones and tablets only,” lead researcher Lisa Powell, director of the Food Policy Research Program at the University of Illinois Chicago, said in a news release.
Glyphosate Residue Free Certification Market Hits $2.8 Billion, 180% YOY Increase
The fastest-growing certification in food and supplements across the U.S. and Canada has nearly tripled in market size in a single year as shoppers reward brands that prove how clean their products are.
The market for products certified Glyphosate Residue Free (GRF) has grown 180% year-on-year to reach $2.8 billion, The Detox Project reported this week, citing independent point-of-sale data from SPINS — cementing its position as the fastest-growing certification in the food and supplements space in the U.S. and Canada. No other on-pack seal has come close to this pace of growth — a remarkable rise for a program that was a niche label only a few years ago.
At the same time, the first sales data for CleanScan, The Detox Project’s QR-code certification for heavy metals, pesticides and other contaminants, shows certified products have already reached $120 million in sales.
◼︎ BIG BROTHER
‘It’s Truly Staggering’: There’s a Bigger Problem With Data Centers Than Water or Power, Warn Experts
Around the world, a backlash is growing against one of the most power-hungry pieces of infrastructure behind our increasingly digital lives: data centers. From the outside, they typically resemble giant, squat warehouses. Inside are row upon row of humming computer servers, consuming electricity around the clock and generating so much heat that huge cooling systems are needed to stop them from overheating.
As you’d expect, this takes an enormous amount of water. In 2023, US data centres used around 66 billion litres — and a single large site can get through as much water in a day as a town of up to 50,000 people. Then there are the power demands. By the end of 2025, the US had more than 4,000 data centres with around 50 gigawatts of capacity, enough to power London more than 10 times over.
Little wonder, then, that people are starting to push back. Although the Trump administration has publicly supported the US data center boom, 69% of respondents to a recent NBC News poll said they would oppose an AI data center being built in their neighborhood.
What Constant Surveillance Is Doing to Children
No one warned me, when I became a parent, about all the apps that would colonize my phone: the app for the baby monitor where I could gaze at my daughter, even when my husband and I finally had a night out. The app for the Snoo smart bassinet we rented in bleary-eyed desperation, which logged her sleep by the minute.
The app where I logged her sleep manually because the Snoo was not accurate enough. And still, I remember thinking that I had been quite restrained. I mean, I didn’t buy the $299 Owlet smart sock, which would send her pulse rate and oxygen saturation directly to my phone, or the $290 Nanit monitor, which would track her every breath.
Our day care did not have a livestream — see? Restraint — but that is indeed a service some now offer. Preschool required its own app, though, as did summer camp.
Soon my phone began pinging with messages about playground spats and injuries as minor as paper cuts. As I write this, I’ve learned that my daughter woke from her nap at 2:17 p.m. The panopticon doesn’t end with babies and toddlers. Parents with children older than mine tell me they obsess over grades, which are updated instantly with each new assignment or quiz. They watch their kids via the camera on their Ring doorbell; they monitor text messages.
They scrutinize daily photos from sleepaway camp — once a time of complete disconnection — for evidence of sunburns or social ostracism. Why is he standing apart from everyone else? Why isn’t he smiling?
Prince Harry Slams ‘Lawless’ Social Media’s Impact on Children
Royalty descended on the European Parliament on Tuesday as Prince Harry slammed Big Tech for creating a world of “chaos.” “A handful of very powerful people … would like to see the world as a social media world: lawless, no consequence, complete chaos, division,” the Duke of Sussex said at an event on online safety for children.
Speaking in a room packed to the brim with journalists and photographers, Harry called for stricter rules on social media platforms to protect kids from content that could lead to suicide or self-harm.
He expressed reservations about the privacy policies of social media platforms, which he said bar parents from knowing how their children died. “That cannot be right,” a visibly upset Harry said.
◼︎ BIG CHEMICAL
Chlorpyrifos Manufacturers Face Lawsuit Over Alleged Link to Parkinson’s Disease
A California man diagnosed with early-onset Parkinson’s disease is suing pesticide manufacturers and commercial nurseries, alleging years of exposure to chlorpyrifos contributed to his condition.
The lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court by Wisner Baum LLP on behalf of Michael Sargent. The complaint alleges Sargent was exposed to chlorpyrifos between approximately 2003 and 2020 while living near commercial nursery operations in Los Angeles County.
The suit names Corteva, Inc., Corteva Agriscience LLC, The Dow Chemical Company, and three commercial nurseries. It alleges the pesticide manufacturers failed to adequately investigate and disclose the chemical’s potential neurological risks, while the nurseries failed to take reasonable precautions to prevent off-site pesticide exposure.
“Chlorpyrifos manufacturers had decades to study what this chemical does to the human nervous system,” said Sasha Shariati, an attorney representing the plaintiff. “This lawsuit seeks to hold them accountable for what they knew and what they chose not to tell the public.”
