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More Than Half of Those Who Stop GLP-1s Restart Within a Year

2026-06-14T16:06:40.331-07:00

Newswise — Chicago—People prescribed GLP-1 medications are more likely to start-and-stop than most people assume, according to a study being presented Sunday at ENDO 2026, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Chicago, Ill.

“Our study asked two questions that haven’t been well answered until now: How many people with type 2 diabetes taking GLP-1 medications actually stop using them? And how many restart them?” said Sainikhil Sontha, M.S., a research associate at Boston University School of Public Health in Boston, Mass.

The researchers performed a retrospective cohort study using Komodo Health U.S. claims data (January 2019 to June 2025). The group included adults aged 18 to 64 years with a BMI ≥25 kg/m² and type 2 diabetes who started liraglutide, semaglutide, or tirzepatide, and had previously enrolled within the last year with more than 6 months of follow-up.

Discontinuation was defined as having more than a 60-day gap in filling their GLP-1 prescriptions. Getting a new fill after discontinuation was considered as reinitiation.

“Using insurance records from more than 60,000 Americans with type 2 diabetes, we found that about 4 in 10 patients stopped their GLP-1 medication within the first year, and nearly 6 in 10 had stopped by the end of two years,” Sontha said.

But they also found something encouraging.

“More than half of those who stopped restarted therapy within a year (41.5%), and nearly two-thirds did so within two years (58%),” Sontha said. “This suggests that for many patients, these medications aren’t being abandoned permanently; use is more start-and-stop than most people assumed.”

Using Cox proportional hazards models, they also took sociodemographic, clinical and provider-level predictors into consideration.

Sontha and colleagues found that those on Medicaid or Medicare, Black patients, and those experiencing nausea or other stomach-related side effects (37%) were more likely to discontinue a GLP-1 medication within a year.

People were 10% less likely to stop if their first GLP-1 medication was prescribed by an endocrinologist.

What’s more, people taking newer medications like tirzepatide were 41% less likely to discontinue than those taking older drugs like liraglutide. Semaglutide users were 28% less likely to discontinue anti-obesity medication use than those taking older medications.

“This research matters because consistent use of these medications is what produces their protective effects,” Sontha said. “Stopping early may mean missed opportunities to prevent heart attacks, kidney disease progression and other complications.”

The researchers hope that these findings give providers, insurers and policymakers an idea of which patients need more support to stay on GLP-1 medications, he said.

# # #

Endocrinologists are at the core of solving the most pressing health problems of our time, including diabetes, obesity, infertility, bone health, and hormone-related cancers. The Endocrine Society is the largest global organization of scientists devoted to hormone research and physicians who care for people with hormone-related conditions.

With more than 18,000 members in 133 countries, the Society serves as the voice of the endocrine field. Through its renowned journals and ENDO, the world's largest endocrine meeting, the Society accelerates hormone research, advances clinical excellence in endocrinology, and advocates for evidence-based policies on behalf of the global endocrine community. To learn more, visit our online newsroom.

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Teens Frequently Encounter Alcohol Industry- and Influencer-Generated Alcohol Content on Social Media Platforms

2026-06-12T18:06:26.430-07:00

Newswise — Social media platforms popular with teens regularly expose teens to alcohol-related content, and often, that content is created by influencers or sources in the alcohol industry. In a study published in Alcohol: Clinical and Experimental Research, high school students reported they saw alcohol-related content most commonly on Instagram, followed by TikTok, YouTube, and SnapChat, with up to 40 percent of the alcohol-related content they viewed originating with influencers and up to 50 percent created by the alcohol industry. The frequency and sources of the content, and teens’ responses to it, varied by platform. The findings from this study may help researchers tailor interventions to prevent teen drinking, which has been linked to exposure to alcohol content in the media.

This study is the first to measure adolescents’ real-world exposure and reactions to alcohol content across a full range of media platforms. Three hundred study participants, ages 15-19, from across the U.S. were prompted at multiple times throughout the day for nine weeks to report how often they encountered alcohol-related content on social media, whether and how they engaged with the content, for example, by ‘liking’ or sharing it, who created and who posted the content, and whether they felt positively or negatively about the content.

Teens reported high social media use. Music platforms, Instagram, and TikTok were the most popular, with more than 80 percent of participants reporting an hour or more a day on each. Alcohol-related social media content was most frequently encountered on Instagram, making up about one-third of reported alcohol content, followed by TikTok, with about 20 percent. Despite the high engagement with social media, teens reported only minimal engagement with alcohol content, which typically consisted of responding to the post with a ‘like’ or emoji. Teens’ feelings about the content varied by platform.

A significant portion of the alcohol content was created by influencers and the alcohol industry. Repeated, unrestricted exposure to alcohol-related content on social media throughout the day for years can change beliefs and behaviors around alcohol use. Content by influencers, whom teens may consider more relatable and trustworthy, may accelerate those changes. The findings of this study may help researchers design interventions to prevent teen drinking that are tailored to the platforms and content teens view.

Characterizing in vivo exposure to alcohol content in the media: Media platform, engagement, and associations with attitudes. K. M. Jackson, J. Gabrielli, S. M. Colby, T. B. Wray, M. L. Rogers, T. Janssen, E. Corcoran, S. Nelapati, A. Clement, M. Meisel.

ACER 6713

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Friday, June 12, 2026

2026-06-12T15:42:30.731-07:00

CDC Sets New World Screwworm Emergency Response In Motion

The public health agency has activated a Level 3 emergency response — the agency’s lowest-level tier — and is assembling a team of career scientists who will closely monitor the outbreak and coordinate with local health departments, Bloomberg reports. Meanwhile, CIDRAP reports that the FDA has issued an emergency use authorization for a generic drug to treat dogs and cats infected with screwworm.

Bloomberg: CDC Activates Screwworm Emergency Response As Cases Increase

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has started taking emergency measures against New World screwworm after the dangerous parasitic infection was detected in cattle in the country for the first time in decades. The Atlanta-based CDC activated a formal emergency response on Thursday after interim leader Jay Bhattacharya signed off on the plan, according to an internal document viewed by Bloomberg News. The move means the public health agency is assembling a team of career scientists to closely monitor the outbreak and coordinate with local health departments. (Nix, 6/11)

CIDRAP: FDA OKs Treatment Of New World Screwworm In Dogs And Cats For Emergency Use

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) today issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for a generic drug, nitenpyram, to treat New World screwworm (NWS) in dogs and cats. Nitenpyram, the first generic animal drug authorized for use against screwworm, can be used in animals who weigh at least two pounds and are at least 4 weeks old. ... The FDA has issued 10 EUAs and three conditional approvals for drugs to combat NWS, a number that could grow as drugmakers submit additional applications. (Szabo, 6/11)

The Hill: New World Screwworm Confirmed In Texas Calf

A sixth case of New World screwworm has been confirmed in a Texas calf. It’s the second calf in La Salle County, Texas, to become infested with the parasite that threatens wildstock with larvae that burrows deep into the tissue of its inhabitant, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Officials in the Lone Star State have been working with their federal counterparts to drive out the screwworm, which was eradicated from the U.S. in 1966. (Fields, 6/10)

Regarding hantavirus, measles, and leptospirosis —

NBC News: CDC, Florida Health Officials At Odds Over Hantavirus Cruise Ship Passenger’s Quarantine

Florida health officials are pushing back at quarantine guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for passengers from the cruise ship MV Hondius exposed to the deadly Andes hantavirus. One American who was on the cruise ship says she’s stuck in the middle and unable to leave federal quarantine. (Edwards and Vespa, 6/11)

Cardinal News: Health Officials Issue Advisory About Large Gatherings As Measles Outbreak Grows In Buckingham County

The Virginia Department of Health issued a health advisory Wednesday as the measles outbreak in Buckingham County continues to grow. There have been 89 confirmed cases reported as of June 11. Health officials suspected community transmission in May when the outbreak started with a dozen cases. None of the infected individuals had reported recent travel, indicating that the virus is spreading locally. (Schabacker, 6/12)

WUSF: Polk County Reports First Measles Case Of Year As U.S. Tops 2,000 Mark

The U.S. passed 2,000 measles cases last month, a stunning total for a disease that was considered wiped out 25 years ago. Although a Florida outbreak from earlier in the year has slowed, cases are still popping up on the online reportable disease database from the state Department of Health. A Polk County resident between age 35 to 39 was the only measles patient reported from May 31 to June 6, according to the latest weekly update by the Florida agency. (Mayer, 6/12)

San Francisco Chronicle: 1 Dead After Rare Rat-Borne Disease Surfaces In Berkeley

Berkeley health officials are widening their response to a rare, rat-borne disease after confirming the city’s first known human cases in more than a decade. One person died and another was hospitalized after contracting leptospirosis, a bacterial disease commonly spread through the urine of infected animals. City officials said both infected people were living in a severely rat-infested RV about a mile from a northwest Berkeley encampment where the disease had previously been found in rats and dogs. (Vaziri, 6/11)

The latest about Ebola —

The Hill: Ebola Outbreak Response Not Hurt By US Cuts: CDC Director Jay Bhattacharya

The acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) denied Wednesday that the Trump administration’s cuts to foreign aid negatively impacted the global response to the ongoing Ebola outbreak. Dr. Jay Bhattacharya said on NewsNation’s “Elizabeth Vargas Reports” that he has “never met a more competent, committed group of professionals” than the CDC teams addressing the outbreaks of Ebola and hantavirus. “I’ve seen no evidence at all that any cuts that have happened … have impacted our ability to address these outbreaks,” Bhattacharya added. (Rego, 6/11)

Bloomberg: World Cup: CDC Head Meets Congo Team In Houston As Ebola Outbreak Spreads

Jay Bhattacharya, interim head of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, met with the Democratic Republic of Congo’s World Cup team, a sign of goodwill as their homeland grapples with an Ebola outbreak, according to a person familiar with the matter. Bhattacharya and other CDC career scientists from the public health agency met the team and its national delegation in Houston on Thursday. (Nix, 6/11)

CIDRAP: Africa CDC Urges Stronger Ebola Exit Screenings At Member-State Borders

The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) is urging member states to strengthen border exit screenings in light of the growing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Analysis from the Africa CDC Emergency Consultative Group (ECG), an independent advisory body to the Africa CDC, said the 11 countries most at risk for Ebola and those bordering the DRC should enhance surveillance but not institute travel bans. (Soucheray, 6/11)

Bloomberg: Congo Ebola Outbreak Expands As Missing Contacts Hinder Response Efforts

Authorities are unable to determine the true extent of the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo because emergency workers can’t find all the missing contacts of patients infected by the virus, Africa’s top health official said. Congo reported 676 confirmed cases and 136 deaths as of June 10, the National Institute of Public Health said. The outbreak has spread into three additional health zones pushing the total number of affected regions to 29 from 26, the institute said in the report on Thursday. (Ghosh and Furlong, 6/12)

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Man Forces Pregnant Girlfriend to Take Abortion Drug, 23-Week-Old Baby Hospitalized

2026-06-12T15:29:22.203-07:00

A 39-year-old man named Jamelle Kelly from Carencro, Louisiana faces charges after police say he secretly gave his pregnant girlfriend abortion pills without her knowledge or consent.

The abortion pills caused her to become ill and forcing an emergency cesarean delivery of their 23-week-old baby.

The infant, born weighing about a pound, remains hospitalized as of Friday and is expected to stay for an extended period while receiving medical care.

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Carencro Police Chief David Anderson said the investigation began on Thursday, May 29, when detectives learned the victim had been given the dangerous abortion pill without her consent.

Detectives continue to investigate the case.

Kelly has been charged with attempted first-degree feticide and domestic abuse/battery of a pregnant victim. Bond has not been set.

SBA Pro-Life America has documented numerous cases of abortion drug poisoning under the Joe Biden rule. Despite strong pro-life laws, at least three known cases have now occurred in Louisiana, where it is a crime to poison women with abortion drugs. Their stories include that of abortion drug coercion survivor Rosalie Markezich, who is suing the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for removing in-person guardrails on dangerous abortion drugs.

In addition, Ohio resident Jona Affholder was recently published by the Daily Wire detailing how her ex obtained abortion drugs online using his estranged wife’s information and she awoke to him force-feeding her the drugs. Affholder lost her child and ended up in the hospital.

SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser reacted, calling on the Department of Justice to act:

“This horrific abortion drug poisoning caused a mother and child to be rushed to the hospital for an emergency c-section at 23 weeks, with the baby weighing just a pound and fighting for life. Abortion drug poisoning attacks on women and children are always tragic, but they come as no surprise under a mail-order abortion drug regime that Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche must end. Federal courts have found the many harms of this Biden-era policy to be predictable and intentional.

“We thank God both mother and baby survived this deplorable attack and pray for their healing. At this moment, that little baby continues to fight in the hospital. Though we do not know the child’s condition, babies born at 23 weeks and even earlier increasingly survive and thrive if given that fighting chance.

“Tragically, 15,000 babies in states with pro-life laws are killed every month as mail-order abortion drugs effectively nullify those laws. These dangerous drugs take a severe toll on women’s physical and mental health and give abusive men an easy tool to poison them against their will, even without their knowledge. We’ve seen it over and over since Biden’s FDA removed in-person medical safeguards.

“Enough is enough. We call on Blanche’s DOJ to settle with Louisiana by agreeing to a court-ordered consent decree that would end Biden’s unlawful mail-order abortion drug policy and restore in-person dispensing immediately while the FDA completes a prompt, rigorous safety review. There is a strong argument that leaving the mail-order policy in place violates federal law, namely the Administrative Procedure Act. It is also politically perilous: 7 in 10 Americans want these deadly drugs out of the mail, and nearly a third of GOP base voters are at risk of sitting out midterms if the GOP abandons pro-life policies. Only immediate action can prevent future crimes before they happen.”

In its ongoing lawsuit, Louisiana argues Biden failed to consider adequate safety data and evaluate the harmful consequences of the policy and instead acted for political reasons after the Dobbs decision, according to HHS Secretary Kennedy’s own testimony to a Senate committee.

Previously the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals granted an immediate halt to the FDA’s policy allowing mail-order mifepristone. The Supreme Court then refused to stop the mail-order abortion drug regime during pending litigation.

New research from the Charlotte Lozier Institute shows 81% of online abortion businesses send mifepristone to kill unborn children far beyond the 10-week timeframe the FDA has established—putting women at increased risk for life-threatening complications. Other CLI researchfound three quarters of ER visits within 30 days after abortion drug use were coded as severe or critical. Two separate, independent studies also found more than 1 in 10 women experience at least one severe adverse event. Complications can include hemorrhaging, infection, sepsis, and even death.

SBA Pro-Life America and its affiliated entities plan to make a $160 million investment to elect pro-life leaders in the 2026 midterm and 2028 presidential election cycles.

The Louisiana inident comes amid heightened national scrutiny of mail-order abortion pills.

The FDA has launched a safety study of mifepristone, the primary drug used in chemical abortions. The review, expected to take about six months, is examining risks associated with the drug, particularly when distributed remotely without in-person medical oversight.

A recent analysis of commercial insurance claims involving 865,727 mifepristone prescriptions from 2017 to 2023. It found 94,605 women — nearly 11% — suffered serious complications within 45 days, including hemorrhage in 3.31% of cases, emergency room visits in 4.73%, and sepsis in 0.10%.

Peer-reviewed research found three quarters of ER visits within 30 days after abortion drug use were coded as severe or critical. Two separate, independent studies also found more than 1 in 10 women experience at least one severe adverse event. Complications can include hemorrhaging, infection, sepsis, and even death.

Other issues encompassed infections, transfusions, hospitalizations and life-threatening events like cardiac problems or anaphylaxis. In nearly 3% of cases, the drug failed, requiring surgical follow-up. Multiple women have died from the abortion pill.

A large national poll found 7 in 10 voters want to roll back Biden’s mail-order abortion drug rule and reinstate safeguards like in-person doctor visits.

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Southern Baptist Church Condemns Assisted Suicide as Unbiblical

2026-06-12T15:29:21.054-07:00

Claire Brosseau survived multiple suicide attempts. Now, she wants the Canadian health care system to help facilitate her death.

Brosseau is seeking what The New York Times referred to as “medical aid in dying” (MAID), “an end-of-life option that allows certain eligible individuals to legally request and obtain medications from their physician to end their life in a peaceful, humane, and dignified manner,” according to Death With Dignity, an advocacy group.

At age eight, Brosseau made a journal entry that she wished to die. At age 14, her lifestyle included drinking, doing drugs, and having sex while a student in Montreal. Sometimes, she turned “abruptly cruel.” Eventually, Brosseau received a diagnosis that included manic depression, an eating disorder, anxiety disorder, personality disorder, substance abuse disorder, and chronic suicide ideation disorder, to name only a few.

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In Canada, where Brosseau is advocating to relax the laws around assisted suicide, the Parliament passed a law allowing “eligible adults in Canada to request medical assistance in dying,” according to the country’s Department of Justice website. Historically, these individuals are those with terminal illness, and elderly, naturally coming to the end of their life.

Brosseau is physically healthy, according to the NYT. She is 49 years old. She says her desire to die is due to her ongoing mental health struggles.

For individuals to receive a physician-assisted suicide, the Canadian government said in 2019 that people must meet certain requirements. It also “would delay including them [people whose sole chronic condition is mental illness] for two years in order to draft special guidelines for assessing their eligibility. Of the nine countries that allow assisted death for people not at end of life, only Canada made this distinction for people with mental illness,” reported the Times.

In 2023, Brosseau planned to request to die, but her request keeps getting delayed. Now, Brosseau must wait until 2027 to make her request. She says she doesn’t know if she’ll be able to wait that long. The debate over assisted suicide has exploded across the world — in Europe, the U.K., even here in America. Churches, recognizing the threat to human dignity, have moved to solidify their objections, including some of the biggest denominations. On Wednesday, the Southern Baptist Convention voted to pass a resolution against euthanasia, citing it as unbiblical for Christians to support.

“The intentional ending of innocent human life, whether by oneself or with the assistance of another, is contrary to biblical teaching and undermines the dignity and worth of every human being,” it reads.

David Closson, the director for the Center for Biblical Worldview at Family Research Council, said that the rising crisis of physician-assisted suicide isn’t as visible amongst churchgoers as issues such as abortion of sexuality. But according to Closson, it needs to be.

The affirmed resolution, introduced by Closson, aims to “reaffirm our continued opposition to euthanasia and assisted suicide in all its forms, including practices now described as ‘medical aid in dying’ and ‘death with dignity,’ which intentionally seek to end human life.”

Closson said that he is grateful the resolution passed and believes it is an important step forward in protecting the sanctity of life.

“When our convention last addressed this issue in 2001, only one state had legalized physician-assisted suicide. Tragically, that number is expected to rise to 13 in a matter of weeks. As Christians, we believe that every person bears the image of God and therefore possesses inherent dignity and worth from conception until natural death. Our pro-life ethic compels us to defend vulnerable human life at every stage,” Closson told The Washington Stand.

“Scripture recognizes both the evil of personal suffering and the good of God’s redemptive purposes in it,” reads the resolution, citing scriptures including 2 Corinthians 1:9: “Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.” Paul goes on to remind believers, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

As the SBC resolution points out, “Since the last annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, additional states, including some of the nation’s largest, have enacted or announced plans to enact such laws, demonstrating the accelerating normalization of assisted suicide.”

In the United States, euthanasia is legal in 11 states and the District of Columbia, according to the Times. “By September, nearly a third of Americans will live in states with legal aid in dying,” one Times headline read, referring to legislation passed in Illinois and New York that will allow for legal physician-assisted suicide effective in the coming months. There is currently no “mental illness eligibility” in the United States.

“When personal autonomy becomes society’s highest good, every moral limit and every legal safeguard eventually comes under pressure,” Closson said in a speech Monday at the Danbury Institute in Orlando, Florida. “If autonomy justifies ending life when someone has six months to live, why not three years? Why not chronic pain? Why not severe depression? Why not dementia? Why not a teenager who believes they are depressed?”

Closson hopes that the resolution will encourage Christians to think biblically about suffering, dignity, death, and the sanctity of life, he said.

LifeNews Note: Quinn Delamater is a reporter for The Washington Stand.

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Town Fights Back Against New York’s Campaign to Ban the Words “Mother” and “Father”

2026-06-12T05:59:47.775-07:00

One township in New York state is acting now to oppose the state legislature’s pending “woke nonsense” that actually cancels from language in any state law or directive “mother” and “father.”

In a move being seen as caving to the social agenda of transgenderism-for-all, those lawmakers have proposed a bill, still unsigned by the governor, to censor those words.

John Ferretti, supervisor for the town of Hempstead, thinks that’s not going to work.

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“As a father of two, it was an insult to me and to my wife. As soon as I learned, the first thing I did was bring my wife into our bedroom and say, ‘Look what they did up in Albany. They’re eliminating the terms mother and father from state law.'”

He recalled his 9-year-old daughter overheard, and asked, “Can I still call you dad?'”

He said, “It really hit close to home. We need to take a stand in the town of Hempstead, the largest township in America, and make sure that we make it clear not just to residents in the town of Hempstead, but to residents throughout New York state, that we won’t stand for this kind of woke nonsense.”

A report at Fox News notes lawmakers have pushed the censorship plan to erase “mother” and “father” and instead use “gestating parent” and “non-gestating parent.”

An emergency resolution now has been assembled from Hempstead township.

Democrats in the state legislature have claimed they are being more “inclusive” because of residents in the state with odd “gender identities.”

Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, hasn’t signed it yet. She has until the end of the year to decide.

Ferretti explained the emergency move from Hempstead is to ensure the town continues to recognize “mother” and “father” in its own laws, regardless of the state’s politicized actions.

Ferretti said, “We’re taking a stand because we will not allow woke Democrat liberals in New York state and the New York state legislature to erase the traditional family. They did not pass a law that adds language. They passed a law that erases mother and father from certain statutes under New York state law, and that’s completely unacceptable.”

Ferretti said, in the report, the resolution has gained support from representatives of Nassau County, including Assembly Minority Leader Ed Ra, and others.

Bruce Blakeman, the Nassau County executive and Republican candidate for governor, pointed out, “In Kathy Hochul’s New York, ‘mom’ is now defined as ‘gestating parent.’ Not when I’m governor!”

Previously there have been local determinations in New York that they will not recognize boys who say they are girls as girls regarding the use of county facilities for women’s sports.

LifeNews Note: This column originally appeared at WorldNetDaily.

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Trump’s AI security order acknowledges risks but stops short of regulating industry

2026-06-12T05:29:32.206-07:00

The White House addresses the need to protect against powerful AI systems. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

Some technology and policy watchers were surprised when President Donald Trump signed an executive order on June 2, 2026, establishing a framework for AI security. It seemed to move in a different direction from a December 2025 executive order that sought to create a “minimally burdensome” national framework for artificial intelligence and supersede state laws the administration saw as restrictive.

The new executive order focuses on using AI to boost the security of federal and private computer systems. It also aims to ensure that the federal government has access to major new AI models before they are released to the public, to determine if they pose a threat.

However, the order’s provisions relating to the AI industry are voluntary, and it explicitly prohibits interpreting its provisions as authorizing “a mandatory governmental licensing, pre-clearance, or permitting requirement” for new AI models.

As a professor who studies responsible AI, the questions the executive order raises for me are how its new reporting structure changes the governance of AI safety, and whether the order reflects what AI safety experts see as best practices.

Potential for harm

The executive order expresses concern about AI systems that can discover software vulnerabilities and write malicious code to exploit them. It directs various government secretaries to enact cyber defenses for federal systems. It also establishes an AI cybersecurity clearinghouse in voluntary collaboration with the AI industry and operators of critical infrastructure to scan for vulnerabilities and distribute fixes.

This approach may be the Trump administration’s response to the April 2026 announcement by Anthropic that its newest version of Claude, called Mythos, autonomously found hundreds of software vulnerabilities in critical systems across the U.S. and crafted attacks against them. That prompted several large financial institutions to request early access to such models.

The executive order directs various high-ranking government officials to develop and maintain a classified process for assessing whether new AI programs should be designated as frontier models, also called foundation models.

In industry parlance, a frontier model is a new, cutting edge AI model trained on massive amounts of data that can reason and autonomously use tools to initiate actions. The latest versions of ChatGPT, Claude, DeepMind and Llama fall into this category.

If a new model meets the frontier criteria, then the developer is supposed to provide the government with access to it at least 30 days before they plan to release the model. It also says developers will collaborate with the federal government to select third parties to preview covered frontier models to assess the risk to the cybersecurity of critical infrastructure.

CBS News covers the backstory of President Donald Trump’s decision to sign the executive order.

Voluntary measures

AI companies that develop frontier AI models currently share information with the Center for AI Standards and Innovation, part of the National Institute of Standards and Technology governed by the Department of Commerce. According to the International AI safety report, most risk management initiatives around the world are largely voluntary for AI companies. This includes the Frontier AI Safety Frameworks that AI developers consult, the G7 Hiroshima AI Process endorsed by leaders of G7 countries, and the EU Code of Practice followed across Europe.

The new executive order retains the voluntary nature of AI developers reporting potential safety risks. The administration continues to argue that restrictive safety barriers could hamper innovation.

However, AI safety pioneers, including Turing Award winners Geoffrey Hinton and Yoshua Bengio, maintain that safety cannot rest solely on corporate self-regulation, because commercial pressures prioritize development speed over risk mitigation. The International AI Safety Report warns that AI risk management is still immature and that corporate safety measures have to grow with the pace of innovation.

This is the so-called “evidence dilemma”: Acting too slowly leaves societies vulnerable. In creating AI safety standards, industry and government have to specify and agree on what information is required from AI model developers, such as training data and methods, “red team” practices for probing vulnerabilities, and incident reports about model theft.

Addressing the risks

Despite its lack of mandatory safety measures for the AI industry, I find it striking that the executive order acknowledges the serious potential for harm posed by AI models.

The order is also in line with expert consensus that individual technical safeguards are imperfect and can be bypassed by attackers. Instead, the order advocates for multiple, overlapping layers of protection, including hardware and computer infrastructure tracking, rigorous testing before deployment, and real-time monitoring.

The order also reflects expert opinion in noting that advanced AI tools have a fundamental duality: They can transform disciplines ranging from healthcare to defense, but they can also enable malicious hackers and cybercriminals, pose societal harms and threaten national defense.

Beyond national AI safety

International cooperation is also fundamental to AI safety.

For instance, Argentina has created nonhuman corporations run entirely by AI agents. How much safety does the new executive order provide in a world where models can be deployed from anywhere? The order makes no mention of multilateral coordination, allied engagement or globally shared governance. Indeed, the order’s purpose is to “cultivate America’s advanced AI-enabled capabilities” as a competitive national asset.

Bodies such as the International Atomic Energy Agency can serve as models for an international consensus on AI safety. The existing AI Safety Summit process, which held summits in the U.K. in 2023; South Korea in 2024; France in 2025; and India in 2026, is the closest approximation in practice. It involves a network of government AI safety institutes, including from the U.S. and Europe. It holds summits every six to 12 months.

Such independent, expert-led bodies could also shape expectations about protocols and norms related to AI risk.

The executive order represents a first step in acknowledging some of the AI safety risks for national security. Moving forward, I believe it is important for the U.S. government to connect such efforts with broader, independent and scientific approaches to identify and counter threats from AI.

Anjana Susarla does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

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Members of Congress Want EPA to Investigate Abortion Pills Containing Water Systems

2026-06-11T13:49:40.884-07:00

Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Rep. Josh Brecheen (R-OK), and Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) led 16 members of Congress in sending a comment letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin, urging the addition of mifepristone, a chemical abortion drug, to the agency’s sixth Contaminant Candidate List (CCL 6), which identifies potential or known contaminants in public water systems that are not currently subject to regulations under U.S. law.

In the bicameral letter, the Republican lawmakers underscore the dangerous, adverse effects of mifepristone on women—impacting nearly 11% of women who take this baby poison pill—and argue that there is a well-founded concern that mifepristone may be contaminating our public water systems (which deliver water for human consumption) and posing serious environmental and public health threats.

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“In addition to killing unborn babies and threatening the wellbeing or lives of their mothers, mifepristone has the potential to impact our national water system, a danger that was acknowledged by the Food and Drug Administration thirty years ago,” the 19 members of Congress write.

“In 1996, the FDA Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) claimed that adverse environmental effects from mifepristone were ‘not anticipated,’ but acknowledged that ‘[m]ifepristone may enter the environment from excretion by patients, from disposal of pharmaceutical waste, or from emissions from manufacturing sites,’” they continue.

The co-signatories go on to argue that the pervasive use of mifepristone—which has exploded since the Biden Administration removed commonsense medical safeguards and now accounts for two-thirds of all abortions in the United States—“has only increased the potential for mifepristone to ‘enter the environment.’

“As the use of mifepristone has risen, its impact on drinking water should be closely researched and monitored,” the lawmakers assert.

In their conclusion, the authors urge the EPA to add mifepristone to CCL 6 to “determine whether the active metabolites that enter our Nation’s water system through mifepristone abortions threaten access to our safe drinking water” and study “whether the level of mifepristone present in the Nation’s water system is significant enough to cause endocrine disruption.”

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Why corporate inclusion policies are moral decisions, not just business ones

2026-06-11T13:04:37.358-07:00

Companies can be analyzed as moral actors, not just profit-makers. wildpixel/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Executives are facing pressure from boards, employees, regulators and consumers to either defend or abandon diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. Many are retreating from their DEI commitments. But in the rush to respond to political headwinds, a more fundamental question is going unasked: Is inclusion a moral imperative?

As marketing scholars who study consumer ethics and corporate responsibility, we have spent years examining how companies treat the people they serve and what that treatment says about their values.

Our recent research, published in the Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, argues that inclusion is about ethics, not just strategy – and that three of the oldest traditions in moral philosophy make the case.

Political and financial pressure

A few years ago, many companies were competing to show their commitment to diversity: hiring more broadly across race and gender, tackling discrimination at the office, running diverse ad campaigns and designing products for people who had long been ignored.

That trend has reversed sharply. Faced with the threat of federal investigations, loss of government contracts and lawsuits challenging diversity-conscious hiring, many companies have scrapped DEI programs, renamed initiatives to avoid political scrutiny or gone silent.

Beyond political and legal pressures, some have retreated to an economic argument: that their primary obligation is to maximize profits, so inclusion programs that don’t clearly boost the bottom line are a distraction at best and a liability at worst.

But this political and financial framing treats inclusion as purely a strategic bet, one that can be placed or withdrawn depending on the political and economic returns. What it misses is the moral dimension. Businesses are not just economic machines. They are part of society, making choices that affect real people’s lives – which, we argue, makes them moral actors too.

The ‘Fearless Girl’ bronze sculpture looks toward the New York Stock Exchange from its roadside perch in Manhattan on Aug. 25, 2020. AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File

Duty: Rules that apply to all

The first philosophical tradition we examine is deontological ethics, associated with the 18th-century philosopher Immanuel Kant. The core idea of deontology is simple but exacting: Some actions are right or wrong in themselves, regardless of their consequences. People have inherent dignity and must be treated as ends in themselves, never merely as a means to someone else’s goal.

Applied to the marketplace, this means companies have a duty to respect the rights of every person they interact with. A bank that denies loans based on race, a tech platform that designs its interface only for hearing users, or a retailer that stocks clothing only in small sizes – these are not just bad business decisions; they are moral failures.

Kant proposed what he called the “categorical imperative”: Act only according to rules that you would be comfortable making into universal laws. In other words, rules worth following would still make sense if every person followed them. What if every company ignored the needs of disabled consumers? What if every employer hired only from the same narrow demographic? A world where those ideas are applied universally would be one many Americans would consider plainly unjust.

Inclusion is not always simple. A mobile app built to be affordable for low-bandwidth rural users, for example, might have to sacrifice features that blind users need. Kant’s point is not that inclusion is free of conflict. Rather, it is that the commitment to try to consider all people can be universally applied. Some things are simply right or wrong to do, regardless of what they cost.

Character: Who do you want to be?

The second philosophical tradition is virtue ethics, rooted in Aristotle. Where deontology focuses on duties, this school focuses on character virtues, such as fairness, courage and wisdom. It asks not “What rules should I follow?” but “What kind of person – or organization – should I be?”

Think of Target, which spent years running inclusive campaigns, stocking gender-neutral children’s clothing, expanding its Pride collection and featuring diverse families in its advertising. In recent years, facing backlash, it pulled back Pride merchandise and scaled back diversity commitments.

Criticism was swift. For people boycotting Target, its rollbacks reflected on the company’s character: If inclusion disappears the moment it becomes costly, it was never a value; it was a marketing strategy.

A billboard truck commissioned by MoveOn PAC protests Target for removing some Pride products outside its headquarters in Minneapolis on June 28, 2024. Adam Bettcher/Getty Images for MoveOn PAC

Inclusion practiced only when convenient is not inclusion but performance. And performance, unlike character, is fragile. A company that practices inclusion consistently embeds it as part of organizational character, leading to more satisfied employees, sustained customer loyalty and the ability to weather political controversy.

Welfare: Helping the most

The third philosophical tradition is utilitarianism, developed by John Stuart Mill in the 19th century. It holds that the right action is the one that produces the greatest overall well-being for everyone affected.

At first glance, this might seem to work against inclusion. If the majority is already well served, why divert resources toward a smaller group? But this reading misses something important about how welfare actually works.

Benefits follow the law of diminishing returns. Adding a tenth feature to a product that already meets a consumer’s needs produces far less new value than giving an excluded group access to the product for the first time. The biggest gains come from bringing new people in.

Moreover, inclusive services for a minority produces spillover benefits for other consumers. When Netflix added closed captions, it was primarily an accessibility measure for deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers. Surveys found that a significant share of hearing viewers also use captions regularly, such as in noisy environments or while learning a new language. When cities introduced curb cuts – small ramps at intersections, originally designed for wheelchair users – cyclists, delivery workers and parents with strollers all benefited, too. And audiobooks, invented for blind people, are now a US$9 billion global industry, driven overwhelmingly by listeners who can see.

In a corporate boardroom, the utilitarian argument is often the most familiar language: showing the aggregate benefit, identifying the spillovers and demonstrating that addressing underserved needs is not charity but good allocation of effort.

3 frameworks, 1 conclusion

Deontology, virtue ethics and utilitarianism approach morality from different starting points. One focuses on duties, one on character, one on outcomes. Yet, we argue, they converge on the same conclusion: Inclusion is an ethical obligation.

This convergence matters because different audiences respond to different arguments. A legal team may be most persuaded by the language of duties and rights. Employees and consumers who care about corporate character may respond more to the virtue ethics framing. Policy discussions and investor presentations often run on utilitarian logic. Managers who understand all three frameworks can meet each audience on its own terms.

The deeper point is this: Companies that treat inclusion as something to adopt when convenient and abandon when threatened misconstrue their actions. They are not just managing a policy; they are actually making a moral choice. And moral choices, these three traditions remind us, do not bend to whoever holds power at a given moment.

The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

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North Carolina Group Launches Campaign to Stop Mail-Order Abortions

2026-06-11T11:54:29.105-07:00

Today, the NC Values Coalition launched a statewide grassroots campaign calling on the Trump administration and members of Congress to reinstate the in-person doctor’s visit requirement that must be met before a woman can obtain chemical abortion drugs — a safeguard that was in place from the drug’s original FDA approval under the Clinton Administration until the Biden administration eliminated it.

NC Values Coalition Executive Director Tami Fitzgerald said, “Rogue doctors in other states and countries are shipping thousands of unsafe abortion drugs into North Carolina in violation of our state laws. These drugs harm women when they are unregulated and unaccompanied by direct care from a physician. We are calling on the Trump administration and members of Congress to end Joe Biden’s dangerous mail-order abortion scheme and restore the in-person doctor’s visit requirement that must be met before a woman can obtain chemical abortion drugs. Sending these pills through the mail with no physician oversight turns North Carolina — and the whole country — into a potential crime scene.”

North Carolina law limits abortion to the first 12 weeks of pregnancy and requires that abortion pills be dispensed in person by a licensed physician after informed consent and a 72-hour waiting period (G.S. § 90-21.83A). Physicians must also physically examine the patient, screen her for coercion or abuse, verify gestational age, and conduct a follow-up visit (G.S. § 90‑21.83B). Yet despite these protections, “shield laws” in other states have facilitated a monthly average of nearly 2,000 illegal medication abortions in North Carolina through illegal pill shipments.

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In 2023, North Carolina recorded 42,954 reported abortions — 69 percent of which were medication abortions using mifepristone, higher than the national average of 63 percent. Organizations including Aid Access and Plan C openly advertise the shipment of abortion pills into states where such shipments are illegal, openly defying both state and federal law.

Further, the Comstock Act (18 U.S.C. §§ 1461–1462) makes it a federal crime to use the U.S. Mail or any interstate carrier to ship any drug intended for producing an abortion. The statute contains no exception for FDA-approved drugs or physician supervision. Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito have both recently noted that companies selling abortion pills across state lines may be violating the Comstock Act and undermining the democratic decisions of states like North Carolina to protect unborn children. Justice Alito specifically observed that state efforts to regulate abortion under Dobbs are being thwarted by providers and organizations that “seek to undermine their enforcement.” Our organization has recently called on the U.S. Attorneys for North Carolina to investigate violations of the Comstock Act.

The in-person requirement is paramount for women’s safety. An in-person visit allows a physician to confirm how far along a pregnancy is, rule out an ectopic pregnancy that could kill a woman who takes mifepristone, and ensure a patient has not been coerced. Research warns these drugs put women at risk of sepsis, hemorrhaging, and rupturing — dangers that an in-person exam is designed to catch.

Recent criminal cases illustrate what can happen when abortion pills are ordered online with no medical oversight. In Texas, a man was indicted on first-degree felony charges in 2026 after prosecutors alleged he crushed an abortion drug into his pregnant girlfriend’s drink without her knowledge, causing the death of her unborn child. In a separate Texas case, a man was charged with capital murder after allegedly adding abortion-inducing pills to his pregnant girlfriend’s coffee, ending a pregnancy she had said she wanted to keep. In Ohio, a doctor was accused of forcing a mother to take an abortion pill.

This effort reflects broad national consensus. A recent Federalist poll found that 67 percent of likely voters support reinstating the in-person doctor’s visit requirement for abortion pills.

We are urging North Carolinians to contact the Trump administration and their members of Congress this week to demand federal officials reinstate medical safeguards and enforce existing federal law. Learn more at abortioncrimebymail.com.

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Endometriosis y miomas: Una experta explica los avances que ofrecen a las mujeres opciones de tratamiento menos invasivas

2026-06-11T10:56:25.490-07:00

Newswise — PHOENIX — La endometriosis y los miomas uterinos son dos de las afecciones ginecológicas más frecuentes. Aunque presentan diferencias importantes, también tienen aspectos en común. Ambas pueden provocar complicaciones graves, afectar a la fertilidad y causar síntomas relacionados con el ciclo menstrual. Además, ambas son objeto de innovaciones médicas destinadas a ofrecer a las mujeres mejores opciones terapéuticas, explica Megan Wasson, D.O., ginecóloga y jefa de ginecología en Mayo Clinic en Arizona.

"Ambas son relativamente frecuentes", afirma la Dra. Wasson. "Puede haber cierta superposición de síntomas, pero la mayoría de los síntomas varían y las enfermedades progresan de forma diferente. Los miomas y la endometriosis pueden tener un componente familiar. Ninguna de las dos afecciones puede prevenirse."

Miomas

Los miomas crecen en el útero. Casi siempre son no cancerosos. Se puede tener uno o varios miomas. Un mioma puede ser demasiado pequeño para verse a simple vista o crecer hasta alcanzar el tamaño de un pomelo o incluso más, llegando a ocupar la pelvis o la zona abdominal y haciendo que la persona parezca embarazada.

"No se trata solo de pequeñas molestias. Son masas muy grandes y muy significativas que realmente pueden afectar a la calidad de vida", afirma la Dra. Wasson.

Muchas personas no presentan síntomas y solo descubren que tienen miomas durante una exploración pélvica o una ecografía. Otras pueden presentar síntomas como menstruaciones abundantes, dolorosas, más largas o más frecuentes; dolor en la pelvis, el abdomen o la zona lumbar; micción frecuente o dificultosa; estreñimiento; o dolor durante las relaciones sexuales.

"Cuando los miomas crecen, incluso pueden palparse a través de la pared abdominal. Con el tiempo, la ropa puede dejar de quedar bien, puede experimentar una hinchazón abdominal considerable y los miomas pueden presionar otros órganos, como la vejiga, provocando micción frecuente, entre otros síntomas", explica la Dra. Wasson. "También puede producirse estreñimiento, ya que los miomas presionan los intestinos e impiden el tránsito intestinal".

En el pasado, a las mujeres cuyos miomas causaban problemas se les decía con frecuencia que una histerectomía — cirugía para extirpar el útero, que también elimina la posibilidad de quedarse embarazada — era la única opción de tratamiento.

Ahora, los avances médicos están minimizando el impacto de la cirugía de extracción de miomas en las pacientes, preservando con frecuencia el útero y la fertilidad, afirma la Dra. Wasson. Otras opciones de tratamiento incluyen medicamentos que reducen el tamaño de los miomas y procedimientos que no requieren cirugía, añade.

Por ejemplo, los radiólogos intervencionistas pueden realizar una embolización de miomas uterinos para bloquear el aporte sanguíneo a los miomas y hacer que disminuyan de tamaño. Las pacientes suelen recibir el alta el mismo día. Reducir el tamaño de los fibromas y disminuir los síntomas puede ser de gran ayuda, explica la Dra. Wasson.

Otros procedimientos mínimamente invasivos incluyen la ablación por radiofrecuencia, que utiliza energía para destruir los miomas. Entre las cirugías mínimamente invasivas se encuentran la miomectomía robótica o laparoscópica, una intervención destinada a extirpar los miomas y conservar el útero.

Endometriosis

En la endometriosis, un tejido similar al revestimiento interno del útero crece fuera del útero. Los síntomas más frecuentes son dolor pélvico y calambres, incluso durante la menstruación; menstruaciones abundantes o sangrado entre periodos; y dolor durante las relaciones sexuales, las deposiciones o la micción. A veces, las mujeres con endometriosis no presentan síntomas y solo descubren que la padecen cuando tienen dificultades para quedarse embarazadas o se someten a una cirugía por otro motivo.

"Los síntomas de la endometriosis suelen comenzar mucho antes en la vida que los de los miomas", afirma la Dra. Wasson. "La endometriosis aumenta el riesgo de cáncer de ovario. También puede causar infertilidad."

El tratamiento de la endometriosis suele incluir medicación o cirugía. La cirugía conservadora extirpa el tejido de endometriosis con el objetivo de preservar el útero y los ovarios, además de proteger la fertilidad. Esta cirugía puede ser mínimamente invasiva, utilizando un laparoscopio y una pequeña incisión. En ocasiones, la cirugía laparoscópica se realiza con ayuda de dispositivos robóticos.

La Dra. Wasson trabaja con un equipo de investigación de Mayo Clinic para desarrollar una vacuna destinada a prevenir la endometriosis. Ella, junto con colegas de Mayo Clinic, también está explorando formas de facilitar la detección de la endometriosis mediante pruebas de imagen médica. Potencialmente, podría administrarse una molécula durante las pruebas de imagen que hiciera que la endometriosis se iluminara, facilitando así la visualización del tejido endometriósico, explica la Dra. Wasson.

Para ayudar a detectar la endometriosis o los miomas lo antes posible, la Dra. Wasson recomienda que, desde el inicio de los ciclos menstruales, las niñas y las mujeres presten atención a cualquier irregularidad, como menstruaciones inusualmente abundantes, ciclos anormalmente largos o cortos, ausencia de menstruación o síntomas como dolor menstrual.

"La menstruación no debería representar más que una leve incomodidad", añade. "Si falta al trabajo, a clase o a otras actividades, si tiene que quedarse en cama debido a la menstruación, eso no es normal. Si hay síntomas que le obligan a cambiar cualquier aspecto de su vida, eso merece una conversación con su profesional sanitario. No asuma que un cambio es normal o simplemente algo con lo que tiene que convivir."

###

Sobre Mayo Clinic Mayo Clinic es una organización sin fines de lucro, dedicada a innovar la práctica clínica, la educación y la investigación, así como a ofrecer pericia, compasión y respuestas a todos los que necesitan recobrar la salud. Visite la Red Informativa de Mayo Clinic para leer más noticias sobre Mayo Clinic.

Contacto para los medios de comunicación: 

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Findings Could Boost Efforts to Develop Chlamydia Vaccine

2026-06-11T04:41:18.370-07:00

Newswise — DALLAS – June 10, 2026 – Scientists at UT Southwestern Medical Center, working with other U.S. researchers, have uncovered the structure of a key cell membrane protein in a bacterial model for Chlamydia trachomatis, the cause of the world’s most common bacterial sexually transmitted infection (STI). The findings, published in Nature Communications, could help guide the design of a vaccine to prevent chlamydia infections, a frequent source of infertility and other health problems.

“Although chlamydia can be successfully treated with antibiotics, a safe and effective chlamydia vaccine could help prevent infections that often go undiagnosed,” said Dominika Borek, Ph.D., Professor of Biophysics and Biochemistry at UT Southwestern. “Many people are asymptomatic yet can still transmit the infection and later develop serious complications. This study provides a structural framework that could aid in the design of more effective vaccine antigens.”

Dr. Borek co-led the study with Luis M. de la Maza, M.D., Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of Pathology at the University of California, Irvine. Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory also participated in the research.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 150 million people worldwide were infected with C. trachomatis in 2023, the last year data were available. This species has several strains called serovars that cause a variety of conditions, including urogenital infections, blindness, and lymphatic disease. Animals can be infected by other chlamydia species, sometimes with devastating results, Dr. Borek said. For example, koalas are endangered due to prevalent Chlamydia pecorum infections.

For decades, researchers have tried unsuccessfully to develop a chlamydia vaccine. These efforts have mainly focused on stimulating immunity against the major outer membrane protein (MOMP), found on the exterior of elementary bodies, the bacterium’s infectious stage. Vaccines crafted with denatured or recombinant MOMP – forms lacking the protein’s native three-dimensional structure – haven’t been effective, suggesting its native structure is key to developing immunity against it. However, its three-dimensional structure has been unknown.

To explore this mystery, Dr. Borek, Dr. de la Maza, and their colleagues turned to cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), a technique that can image biomolecules at atomic resolution by freezing them at cryogenic temperatures (lower than -170 degrees Celsius) and examining them with an electron beam. Using UT Southwestern’s Cryo-Electron Microscopy Facility, the researchers imaged MOMP from a chlamydia species that infects mice, called Chlamydia muridarum. They produced images of this protein both alone and bound to a fragment of a mouse anti-chlamydia antibody.

The team’s findings showed that MOMP has an unusual structure unlike any protein seen before, Dr. Borek said, composed of three barrel-shaped units topped with an “antigenic cap” that interacts with antibodies. This cap also displays the protein’s “variable domains,” the part of the protein that diverges in different serotypes. Because MOMP appears to play a role in adhering to host cells – a key step in chlamydia infection – these variable domains influence which types of cells the bacteria can adhere to, determining what types of infection they cause, Dr. Borek explained.

Researchers had previously hypothesized that MOMPs served as molecular pores in elementary bodies’ membranes, she added. However, the team’s findings about its structure show this isn’t possible. The base of the protein acts as a stopper, while the antigenic cap serves as a lid, effectively preventing any molecules from passing through.

The cryo-EM imaging of MOMP’s three-dimensional structure offers a blueprint to guide vaccine development, Dr. Borek said.

Other UTSW researchers who contributed to this study are first author Yirui Guo, Ph.D., M.B.A., Research Scientist, and Zbyszek Otwinowski, Ph.D., Professor of Biophysics and Biochemistry.

This study was funded by a contract with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (75N93022C00035) and grants from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), both part of the National Institutes of Health (U19AI144184 and R35GM145365). The Cryo-Electron Microscopy Facility is supported by a grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (RP220582).

Dr. Borek and Dr. Otwinowski have a financial interest in Ligo Analytics, which develops software for cryo-electron microscopy.

About UT Southwestern Medical Center

UT Southwestern, one of the nation’s premier academic medical centers, integrates pioneering biomedical research with exceptional clinical care and education. The institution’s faculty members have received six Nobel Prizes and include 27 members of the National Academy of Sciences, 25 members of the National Academy of Medicine, and 13 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigators. The full-time faculty of nearly 3,400 is responsible for groundbreaking medical advances and is committed to translating science-driven research quickly to new clinical treatments. UT Southwestern physicians in more than 80 specialties care for more than 143,000 hospitalized patients, attend to more than 470,000 emergency room cases, and oversee nearly 5.3 million outpatient visits a year.

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British House of Lords Holds Hearing on Abortion Complications Bill

2026-06-10T14:39:17.456-07:00

A Peer has launched a Bill proposing a law change that requires the Government to report on the full extent of complications arising from abortion.

Lord Moylan’s Complications from Abortions (Annual Report) Bill was introduced to the House of Lords after it was drawn in fourteenth place in the House of Lords’ Private Members’ Bill ballot, and received its First Reading on Tuesday 9 June.

The Bill would require the Secretary of State to publish an annual report on complications from abortions in England. The stated purpose of the legislation is to inform policy and safe practice regarding the termination of pregnancy.

The Bill states that such an annual report must include data as recorded by both the Abortion Notification System and Hospital Episode Statistics.

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It also states that such an annual report must include the complication rate for the termination of pregnancy; the complication rate by the age of the woman; the complication rate by method of abortion and gestation; the complication rate by complication type, including complications arising from retained products of conception; and any other information the Secretary of State sees fit to include.

The date for the Bill’s Second Reading in the House of Lords has yet to be announced.

How House of Lords Private Members’ Bills work

At the beginning of each session of Parliament, two days after the State Opening of Parliament, a ballot is held to allocate the order in which the first 25 Private Members’ Bills will be introduced in the House of Lords. Usually, a large number of Peers enter the ballot, providing a short and long title of their bill for the Legislation Office. The order of the ballot determines the order in which the bills receive their First Reading in the House.

Private Members’ Bills in the Lords do not generally get enough time allocated to progress through all stages in the House of Lords, but if they do, they can then be supported by an MP and continue in the Commons.

In the Commons, Lords Private Members’ Bills do not have priority over bills introduced in the Commons, so unless the Government chooses to give them time, they rarely become law.

Peers usually use Private Members’ Bills as an opportunity to raise the profile of an important issue by having it debated in the Lords, and the campaigning and media opportunities that come with that can help them further raise the profile of that issue.

Following the profile-raising of the issue and the momentum for reform that is generated through introducing the bill in the House of Lords, a law change may then be introduced at a later date through another mechanism, such as a Private Members’ Bill in the Commons or an amendment to a Government Bill.

We have provided background information on the current gaps in abortion complication reporting and the strong case for making major changes to reporting, along with information on babies being born alive after abortions.

Government review shows abortion complication rates likely much higher than being reported by abortion providers

A Government review published in November 2023 revealed that abortion complication rates are likely much higher than has been previously reported in the annual abortion statistics, which are based on reporting from abortion providers.

The review, undertaken by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID), analysed Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) for England from the years 2017 to 2021. They compared the complication rate derived from this analysis to the currently reported complication rate derived from the Abortion Notification System (ANS) based on data provided by abortion providers, which are reported in the annual abortion statistics.

The review found the ANS-derived data shows an average complication rate over the 5 years from 2017-2021 of 1.52 per 1,000 abortions, whereas their analysis of HES data over the same period showed a complication rate of 4.06, over 2.6 times higher than the ANS data that is reported in the annual abortion statistics.

When their HES data analysis also included incomplete abortions, the complication rate over the same period was 18.16, which is over 11.9 times higher than the ANS-derived complication rate that does not include incomplete abortions.

The difference in reported complication rate was much higher for women under 20 than for the general population. For women under 20, the HES-derived complication rate was 4.43 times higher than the ANS-derived complication rate, compared to 2.67 times higher for the general population. When the HES data analysis also included incomplete abortion, for under-20s the HES-derived complication rate was 17.43 times higher than the ANS-derived complication rate, compared to 11.95 times for the general population.

The review also identified that abortion providers were not recording complications that happened after discharge or after the form that they were recorded on was sent to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC). The OHID noted that there was “no evidence” when the review was undertaken in 2022 that abortion providers were informing the (DHSC) to ensure the data was updated when a woman informed the abortion provider about a complication that occurred after the form had been sent.

The review also noted that complications may be less likely to be recorded for terminations where either both or one of the abortion medications is administered at home, because it is unlikely that the person filling in the HSA4 form will know if the woman experienced a complication following an abortion.

Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said:

“This Bill is a much-needed step forward in improving transparency around abortion complications. Abortion complication rates are almost certainly higher than has previously been reported in official statistics, as a Government review revealed. This Bill proposes a common-sense change to policy that MPs and Peers, regardless of where they stand on the issue of abortion, should support”.

“The Government needs to urgently introduce measures to ensure that abortion complications data is accurately collected and reliably reported on”.

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Jesse Ridgway Mocked People With Down Syndrome in Newly-Discovered Video

2026-06-10T13:49:11.789-07:00

A newly-discovered video shows YouTube star Jesse Ridgway performing a disgusting impression of a person with Down syndrome.

The video comes as he and his wife face intense criticism for aborting their baby just because he or she may have had Down syndrome.

According to TMZ, the nearly nine-year-old video showing Ridgway performing a mocking impression of a person with Down syndrome has resurfaced as he and his wife defend their decision to abort their unborn baby.

In the clip from Ridgway’s “The Devil Inside” series, his character snaps and takes on different personalities. Near the end of the 45-minute video, Ridgway is forced to snap at gunpoint and assumes the personality of someone with Down syndrome.

He employs a stereotypical voice and adds mannerisms often used by people mocking those with special needs.

The impression lasts about a minute before the character crashes through a mirror and regains his original personality.

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/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/jesseridgewayDS.mp4

Ridgway specifically says he has Down syndrome in the video during the scene.

Ridgway defended the portrayal as part of the scripted series.

“I play a character name Isaac Kalder who has hijacked Jesse Ridgway’s life. My family is pissed so they hold me at gunpoint and force me to switch chars rapidly. The identity switches happen too fast and it fries my brain,” he said.

He defended his portrayal as art, not a mockery.

The resurfaced clip comes amid intense backlash after Ridgway and his wife, Ashley, announced they had aborted their unborn baby following the prenatal diagnosis.

In a follow-up interview today, the 33-year-old creator of the McJuggerNuggets YouTube channel — which has 4.34 million subscribers — described the couple weighing the realities of raising a child with the condition.

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Wednesday, June 10, 2026

2026-06-10T13:37:11.355-07:00

KFF Health News: Anguished Parents. Doctors In Tears. Utah’s Long Measles Outbreak Takes A Toll.

SALT LAKE CITY — Ben Dowse hadn’t expected to treat measles when he became a doctor, but there he was, examining a newborn exposed to the virus in the womb. The infected mother had given birth just hours earlier. The hospital had alerted Dowse to the case before delivery, and he’d braced himself for the worst. Dowse wore a full-body protective suit with a plastic face mask. As a pediatrician in southern Utah, he couldn’t risk getting even a mild infection, because many of his patients are babies too young for measles vaccines or children whose parents choose not to protect them with immunizations. “I went in looking like a scientist in E.T.,” he said. (Maxmen, 6/10)

CIDRAP: Poll Reveals Plunging Trust In CDC Guidance But Broad Backing For Childhood Vaccines

More than a year into President Donald Trump’s second term, poll findings released today show that trust in federal public health agencies has nosedived, with half of US adults skeptical of recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), but most Americans are supportive of childhood vaccines. The poll also found that, while over half of respondents are in favor of recent changes to the US food pyramid and dietary guidelines, support for some of the alterations varies sharply by political bent. (Van Beusekom, 6/9)

The Conversation: World’s First AI-Designed Vaccine Explained

Researchers at the University of Cambridge have developed what they describe as a fundamentally new type of vaccine using artificial intelligence (AI). The vaccine’s key component was designed entirely by AI and has now been tested in people for the first time. The goal is ambitious: a single vaccine that works not just against all known human coronavirus variants, but against related bat viruses that could jump from animals to humans and cause future pandemics. (Mabbott, 6/9)

The latest on the Ebola outbreak —

CIDRAP: Police Shoot, Kill Third Protester At US-Backed Ebola Facility In Kenya

Police shot and killed a man protesting the building of a US-funded Ebola quarantine facility in Kenya on Tuesday. The legality of the Nanyuki facility, which if completed, will have 50 beds, is still up in the air, but locals have protested the construction, saying it’s an unnecessary burden for Kenya to take on for the United States. This is the third death among Kenyan protesters who are angry over the unit, which would be built near the Laikipia Air Base. Two protesters were also killed last week in skirmishes with local police. (Soucheray, 6/9)

Reuters: No Boots, Masks Running Out: Why Congo’s Ebola Medics Are Exposed

Nearly a month into one of the world’s largest ever Ebola outbreaks, medics in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo are struggling to secure basic equipment to stay safe and prevent further spread of the disease, according to more than ‌a dozen doctors, humanitarian workers and public health officials. While major donors are surging funding, the size of the outbreak, reductions in pre-positioned stocks due to aid cuts, and logistical problems have caused shortages and driven up costs for personal protective equipment. (Farge, Rigby, Le Poidevin and Ross, 6/9)

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Jesse Ridgway Continues Defending Decision to Abort Baby With Down Syndrome

2026-06-10T12:09:44.648-07:00

YouTube star Jesse Ridgway continues defending he and his wife’s decision to have an abortion and end the life of their baby who may or may not have had Down syndrome.

In a new interview with People, Ridgway said he and his wife Ashley faced unprecedented backlash after aborting their unborn baby following a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome, but insisted the decision was not made lightly.

Ridgway, 33, who runs the McJuggerNuggets YouTube channel with 4.34 million subscribers, announced the abortion earlier this month on X. In a follow-up interview with People magazine published Wednesday, he described weighing the realities of raising a child with the non-fatal condition.

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“We were confronting the scenario of having the baby, and playing out every possible scenario about what it would look like and how we would make it work, what happens if they have these health problems, and need these surgeries,” Ridgway said. “It was so real to us. I wish people could empathize with us, and know this wasn’t some black and white decision.”

He added that the couple had spoken with doctors, friends, family and genetic counselors and learned that up to 90 percent of babies are killed in abortions after a Down syndrome diagnosis. Somehow that made the decision morally acceptable.

He wrote that the couple needed “a little time to move on” but were excited to “try again” for “a better outcome.”

Ridgway acknowledged the intense public reaction.

“I’ve been making content for 20 years, so we’ve seen hate before. But not to this degree,” he said. “Every second is a new death threat towards me and my wife. The amount of private support we’ve received is also overwhelming.”

He noted that the experience had prompted longtime acquaintances to share their own abortion stories and said the subject “has ignited a reaction from every corner of the world.”

The announcement drew swift and strong condemnation from pro-life advocates and parents of children with Down syndrome, who argued that the baby’s life held inherent value regardless of disability.

Live Action responded that “Your child deserved so much more. Disabled children are just as valuable as able-bodied children. Killing children because of a diagnosis isn’t just ableism. It’s evil.”

Federalist editor-in-chief Mollie Hemingway called the decision “sad and dark, and, yes, evil.”

Co-founder Sean Davis was blunt: “You didn’t ‘terminate a pregnancy.’ You murdered your own baby.”

Former Sen. Rick Santorum, whose daughter has Trisomy 18, shared his family’s experience and grieved that Ridgway “bought the lies of a society that places yourself above others, even your own children.”

Multiple parents posted photos of their children with Down syndrome, describing them as blessings who enriched their families despite challenges.

The case also highlights broader concerns about prenatal testing.

A 2014 study and reporting by The New York Times found that non-invasive prenatal blood tests for certain chromosomal conditions, including some linked to disabilities, carry an average false-positive rate of 85 percent, though tests for Down syndrome tend to be more reliable but not fail-safe.

Critics note that such screening has coincided with high abortion rates for positive diagnoses—67 percent in the United States and far higher in parts of Europe—often without confirmatory testing or full counseling about life with Down syndrome.

Recent reports in The Atlantic and CBS News found that nearly 100 percent of unborn babies who test positive for Down syndrome are aborted in Iceland, 95 percent in Denmark, 77 percent in France and 67 percent in the United States.

Ridgway said he understands reactions from “political or religious” standpoints but maintained the couple’s choice reflected the difficult realities they confronted.

“For any couple who has gone through a decision like this, it never leaves your mind,” he said. “Years from now, I’ll be thinking about it.”

His baby will never have that chance.

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Life after death: From burned trees to bleached corals, how dead organisms live on as the building blocks of new life

2026-06-10T11:49:19.693-07:00

People’s knee-jerk reaction to seeing death in nature is often not positive. The burn scar left by wildfire on a once-forested hillside, or a ghostly white coral reef, may evoke tragedy and despair. But in nature, most plants and animals are recycled back into new life.

The fallen branches and leaves that crunch under your boots as you step on the forest floor are providing nutrients for new growth as they decompose. Empty shells can become the foundations for new sea life to grow. Dead organic matter left over after a harvest supports soils and the production of food that feeds people worldwide.

These remnants of life can set both the pace and outcome of ecosystem recovery, enabling life to persist and thrive, or preventing it from doing so.

Ecologists, like us, refer to this as ecological memory, where remnants of the past influence how ecosystems look and behave in the present. Similar to human memories, traumatic events can have the strongest influences in nature: Fires, storms, heat waves and outbreaks of pests or disease can cause widespread death of plants and animals, leaving behind abundant and lasting physical remains.

In a new paper published in Science Advances, working with colleagues around the country, we show how death plays nuanced and powerful roles in nature’s afterlife.

In some cases, dead organisms prevent life from returning after an extreme event. In other cases, they make ecosystems more resilient by fueling regeneration of new life and hastening recovery. Understanding this afterlife and its influence on ecosystems will be increasingly valuable for helping ecosystems recover in a changing climate.

Foundation species – nature’s architects

Our study focused on a set of ecologically important organisms, known as foundation species. These are abundant and iconic organisms, such as trees, grasses, oysters and corals, that create the natural infrastructure on which entire communities of organisms exist.

Foundation species can be found everywhere, from the depths of the oceans to the summits of mountains. Because they are so abundant while alive, they can remain abundant after they die. And their influence can carry on in an afterlife that shapes the trajectories of ecosystems, either supporting recovery to the ecosystem’s original structure or transforming it into a new one.

A fallen log serves as a nursery for a new hemlock tree in British Columbia, Canada, hence the nicknames nursery log or nurse log. Seeds often struggle to establish themselves on the ground, but decaying trees provide soft, nutrient-rich environments with less competition or risk from soil fungus. Wing-Chi Poon, CC BY-SA

To investigate how the dead remains of foundation species affect the ability of their living counterparts to establish, grow and survive, we tapped into a U.S. National Science Foundation network of Long Term Ecological Research. Scientists at these sites track populations of foundation species across a diversity of ecosystems that have experienced different extreme events.

We looked at coral reefs, mangrove forests, salt marshes, kelp forests, oyster reefs, tropical rainforests, temperate rainforests, hemlock forests, tallgrass prairies and boreal forests, ranging from the tropics to just shy of the Arctic Circle.

We found that, following extreme events, the dead affect the living more commonly than we expected. The dead foundation species either significantly increased or decreased living foundation species in nine out of the 10 ecosystems we studied – the kelp forest was the only exception.

In roughly half of the cases, dead foundation species hampered the ability of their living counterparts to reestablish, grow and survive after extreme events.

Take the tropical montane rainforest of Puerto Rico. This ecosystem is periodically walloped by hurricanes that strip its canopy and blanket the forest floor with tree branches and leaves. This layer of debris chokes off sunlight needed by the seedlings below and reduces the number that emerge to replace the trees lost during the storm, ultimately slowing the forest’s recovery.

Kai Kopecky clears dead coral skeletons from a research site. Lauren Enright

The South Pacific coral reefs of Moorea present a more extreme example. Marine heat waves that cause coral bleaching can transform these reefs into something fundamentally different: ghost towns of dead skeletons overgrown by seaweeds. The nooks and crannies of the standing coral skeletons provide an opportunity for the seaweeds, which compete with coral for reef space, to proliferate and take over the reef, preventing the return of corals.

But in the other cases we studied, we found that dead organisms actually promote the regeneration of their living counterparts.

For example, the mangrove forests of the Florida Everglades actually benefit from storm-generated debris. During a hurricane, leaf litter blown or washed out of the canopy ended up in the complex network of roots below, providing a pulse of nutrients that enhanced the production of new roots and hastened mangrove recovery.

When mangroves are torn up by storms, they can rebuild on top of one another. The recovery can take years, so frequent storms make recovery slower. Tommy Shannon/Florida Coastal Everglades LTER, CC BY-SA

In the Eastern hemlock forests of New England, an outbreak of a tree-killing pest – the woolly adelgid – left behind wide swaths of standing dead trees. But unlike the dead skeletons on a bleached reef, these dead trees often help new hemlock saplings grow by maintaining a favorable climate on the ground below.

The question now is, how can humanity use this information to fortify the resilience of ecosystems after extreme events?

How humans can help

As humans, many of us rely on therapy to help manage how traumatic memories affect our lives. We can also help ecosystems manage the remnants of dead organisms after disasters in several ways.

On land, standing dead trees are sometimes felled to create “nurse logs,” which release nutrients that nourish living trees. Dead grass litter is removed using prescribed burning to create better conditions for new grass to grow. On the coasts, dead oyster shells are deposited onto mud flats, and the rubble of coral skeletons is either stabilized or removed to create more solid substrates where new oysters and corals can settle, grow and thrive.

Workers aboard a barge laden with 680 bushels of clam and oyster shells use high-pressure hoses to blast them into the Mullica River in Port Republic, N.J. The shells are collected from restaurants in Atlantic City, dried and placed into the river, where they become the foundation for new oyster colonies as free-floating baby oysters attach to them and start to grow. AP Photo/Wayne Parry

As rising temperatures create more frequent extreme events and trigger more die-offs, dead foundation species will be useful to help guide ecosystem recoveries afterward.

Where there is life, there is death

When you’re in nature, whether hiking in a forest or snorkeling on a tropical reef, your attention is typically drawn to the life that exists in these places. But if you take a closer look, you may notice that death is all around, too.

Death is an integral part of life. The quicker we all learn to embrace its capacity to be a transformative force, and find ways to use the remnants left in its wake, the better we will be able to help nature and ourselves thrive into the future.

Kai Kopecky receives funding from the National Science Foundation and the LTER Network Office.

John Kominoski works for Florida International University.

Kai Kopecky, Postdoctoral Researcher in Community Ecology, University of Colorado Boulder from Home – The Conversation https://bit.ly/4vLRMOt
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Tufts Places Second Nationally in Learfield Directors' Cup Final Standings

2026-06-10T03:56:18.197-07:00

Newswise — The Tufts University athletics department had one of its best years in school history in 2025-26, capturing an NCAA-high four national championships and placing second in the nation in the 2026 Learfield Directors’ Cup for NCAA Division III, out of 319 colleges and universities.

The Learfield Directors’ Cup final point total of 1252.50 was the most ever by Tufts, eclipsing the previous high of 1126 set in 2022-23. The Jumbos were also the highest New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) school in the rankings. Tufts finished just 14 points behind winner Washington University of St. Louis, and edged Johns Hopkins University, Emory University, and Williams College in the top five.

The Jumbos’ second-place finish in 2025-26 is the 13th consecutive season that Tufts has posted a Top 10 Learfield Directors’ Cup ranking, and 14th since 1995-96. Tufts ranked in the top five for the sixth time in program history, while the second-place finish tied for the second-best behind the 2021-22 Learfield Directors’ Cup crown for the Jumbos. Tufts also finished second in the nation in the 2022-23 season.

The Learfield Directors’ Cup was developed as a joint effort between the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics and USA Today. Points are awarded based on each institution’s NCAA tournament finishes in up to 18 sports, including mandatory sports of men’s and women’s soccer and basketball.

The Jumbos saw nine teams compete in NCAA events in May to combine for an impressive 512.75 points for the spring campaign. The point tally was the second-most for the spring, just behind Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges.

That point total was booted by a pair of Division III national titles, as men’s lacrosse and women’s rowing captured their third-straight NCAA titles, each adding 100 points to the Jumbo ledger.

Tufts had so many NCAA qualifying teams that it wasn’t able to include all of the point totals due to the contest regulations, but the Jumbos women’s lacrosse and men’s tennis team each made the semifinals, while women’s track and field also captured 15th place at the NCAA championships.

Baseball and women’s tennis also scored for the Jumbos in the spring, while softball and men’s track and field placed in NCAA competition, but didn’t have their point totals included in the final tally.

Tufts came into the spring season ranked fifth in the Directors’ Cup standings. In the fall, Tufts field hockey and men’s soccer were both national champions. Women’s soccer also made its way to the NCAA Final Four after picking up the NESCAC crown, its second in program history.

The Tufts women’s volleyball team won a NESCAC crown as well this fall, earning NCAA regional hosting duties in Cousens Gymnasium. The men’s and women’s cross country teams continued their ascent as two of the best teams in the nation, as the men’s squad took home seventh place at the NCAA championships, while the women’s team was 11th overall. The men’s basketball team had one its best seasons in program history, making the NCAA quarterfinals.

The Jumbos women’s track and field team also earned a ninth-place finish at the NCAA championships in Birmingham, Alabama. Sophomore Elysse Cumberland repeated in the triple jump as an NCAA champion, while junior Simisola Lawal also earned crucial points for the Jumbos at the meet.

“Our finish in the Learfield Directors’ Cup standings is the testament of the hard work of so many,” said Director of Athletics Ryan Pisarri. “The administration, coaches, and especially our student-athletes have worked tirelessly to cement Tufts Athletics as one of the premier Division 3 athletic departments in the country. With four national championships and countless NCAA appearances, this was one of the best years in school history. The future of Tufts Athletics is as bright as ever.”

Tufts earned its first Learfield Directors’ Cup title in 2021-22, while finishing second in 2022-23. The Jumbos were also third in 2016-17 and 2024-25, and added a fourth-place ranking in 2015-16 and 2023-24. Tufts was sixth in 2005-06 and 2009-10. The competition was canceled in both 2019-20 and 2020-21 due to COVID-19.

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Tuesday, June 9, 2026

2026-06-10T01:27:35.037-07:00

MedPage Today: Leaders Resign From ADA After Experts Booted From Meeting

In the wake of clinicians and researchers being kicked out of the American Diabetes Association (ADA) meeting here, at least two of the organization's leaders have resigned. President-Elect Jennifer Green, MD, and Scientific Sessions Planning Committee Chair Mark Atkinson, PhD, have both left their positions with ADA, several sources confirmed to MedPage Today. Reports of at least two additional experts abdicating their positions with ADA could not be confirmed as of press time. (Fiore and Monaco, 6/8)

More health industry developments —

Modern Healthcare: GoHealth Files For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Reorganization

GoHealth has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the health insurance exchange and Medicare brokerage announced Sunday. A voluntary and prepackaged plan filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware has the support of all lenders and more than 60% of common stockholders, GoHealth said in a news release. Operations will continue as the company carries out its reorganization, which it aims to complete in time for the Medicare annual enrollment period, which begins Oct. 15, GoHealth said in a court filing. (Tong, 6/8)

Iowa Public Radio: UnityPoint Nurses Say Hospital Objections Are Delaying Union Vote Results

UnityPoint nurses marched across downtown Des Moines Monday to call attention to the months-long delay in getting the results on their vote to unionize. Nurses voted in early December, but they’re still waiting on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to review the validity of ballots that were challenged by Teamsters Local 90. The initial vote was 871 to 666 in favor of forming the union, but it doesn't include the 251 ballots that are under review. (Krebs, 6/8)

Cardinal News: State To Reorganize Nursing Scholarship Programs After More Than $10 Million In Funding Was Left Unused

The administration of Virginia’s nursing scholarship programs will be moved to a new agency after a state study found that money for those programs has not been fully used each year because the state Health Department doesn’t have the capacity to effectively manage them. (Beyer and Schabacker, 6/9)

Modern Healthcare: How These Independent Physicians Are Making Their Practices Work

Dr. Mollie James was embarrassed when her functional medicine practice filed for bankruptcy in 2019. She felt like a complete failure. “I thought it was the worst thing that could happen,” James said. “I’m the ‘A’ student, the valedictorian, all those things. I didn’t want anybody to know.” Fast-forward seven years, and James is the owner of a multimillion-dollar concierge practice with two locations in Iowa, a third in Missouri and a fourth slated to open in Texas later this year. She also offers virtual care services. (Hudson, 6/8)

Becker's Hospital Review: 3 Vs. 13: Hospital Closures In 2026 Trail Last Year’s Pace

Three U.S. hospitals and emergency departments have closed in 2026, compared to 13 through the same point in 2025, according to Becker’s reporting. However, those data points might not signal a sign of structural improvement. In total, 2025 saw 23 closures, nearly matching the 25 reported in 2024. Becker’s has reported on just three closures or planned closures in 2026: Searcy, Ark.-based Unity Health closed its emergency department and medical unit at its acute care hospital April 15 to convert it to a psychiatric facility; Bradford (Pa.) Regional Medical Center ended inpatient and emergency services in mid-May; and Gaithersburg, Md.-based Adventist HealthCare plans to close its Germantown (Md.) Emergency Center on July 1. (Scheetz, 6/8)

On AI and wearables —

Fierce Healthcare: CVS Launched An AI Learning Academy For Its Workers. Here's Why

Artificial intelligence is here to stay in healthcare, and the industry's largest players, like CVS Health, are making huge commitments to the tech. But embracing AI requires a workforce that's ready for the revolution. With that backdrop, CVS has rolled out its internal AI Learning Academy, which aims to educate its workforce on practical applications for the technology and how it can impact and improve their workflows. (Minemyer, 6/8)

The New York Times: Have A Thorny Medical Question? Your Doctor May Be Using A.I. For That

Dr. Nicholas Gavin, an emergency medicine doctor at Mount Sinai in New York City, was working an overnight shift last summer when a patient came in with a puzzling set of symptoms. Within seconds, his three younger colleagues — two medical students and a resident — were consulting a free artificial-intelligence-powered app for physicians, OpenEvidence. Dr. Gavin soon learned that they were far from outliers. A third of Mount Sinai’s 9,000 doctors were already regular OpenEvidence users, the health system’s executives found out in a meeting last year with the start-up’s leaders. (Lohr, 6/8)

Stat: Wearables, And The Data They Generate, Inch Closer To Entering The Clinic

A major selling point for wearable devices is the promise that they’ll help identify hidden health conditions before they lead to major harm. But a nagging issue has been the connection to clinician guidance when a smartwatch or ring raises the alarm. (Aguilar, 6/9)

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Reconciliation 3.0 That Could Defund Big Abortion Again is Gaining Momentum

2026-06-09T14:34:45.736-07:00

After nearly a year, House Republicans are finally gaining momentum on Reconciliation 3.0, an affordability, anti-fraud bill that has the potential to save the party in the midterms. With their self-imposed deadline of “before the end of summer”—meaning before campaign season ramps up in August—the window isn’t open long.

Republican Study Committee Chairman August Pfluger, R-Texas, has been working on the framework since the “One Big, Beautiful Bill” passed last July. With a “limited scope,” he believes they can “successfully” pass the “two-minute drill.”

“We are working very hard to further the agenda that I think Donald Trump was elected on, and I’ll tell you, it’s a tough environment,” he said on the Tuesday morning episode of the “Ruthless Podcast.” Pfluger describes the politically divided Congress as a “soap opera.”

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“It is a sad state of affairs when you have to do partisan-only bills like reconciliation,” he said, referencing how the House is set to vote on Reconciliation 2.0, a bill to fund Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection—something Pfluger says had to happen because of the “lack of bipartisanship.”

However, he said 3.0 is different. “3.0 is us going into our districts, listening to our constituents who are saying, hey, things are pretty expensive. We know it’s not your fault. We know it’s Biden and the inflation that he created, but what can we do for housing, energy, and health care?”—questions he says Republicans have really great answers to.

“No. 1, because our constituents are asking us to unify, to come together, to get something done,” Pfluger said. “No. 2, President Trump, thankfully, is standing up for our military, and we need to recapitalize, which means we need more money—and the Democrats are never going to do that. They’re not going to spend another dime on the military, which is sad. So, for all those reasons—on affordability, on fraud, and on defense.”

While he admits it’s not going to be as big or as beautiful as the One Big, Beautiful Bill, he believes once they pass it, it will be a quick vote in the upper chamber—“damn, like that’s what we’ve been asking for.”

As chairman of the Republican Study Committee, the largest Republican caucus on Capitol Hill, he said their job is to work on “offense.”

“We heard you in Minnesota, we hear you in California, we know there’s fraud in many states, and we’re going after it, and we’re taking it seriously. We’re not going to be able to uncover every bit of it. We’re going to do as much as we can. We need some more time,” he said, emphasizing the need for another year holding the majority.

Pfluger says Rec. 3.0 will come after the fraud that has been taking headlines across the country, especially in Minnesota and California.

There were “over 400 businesses that popped up in LA County alone, and 99% of those were not valid companies. They’re stealing hundreds of billions of dollars, and that’s the surface that has got to stop … the daycare stuff in Minnesota has got to stop, and there’s so much more of that,” Pfluger continued. “This is not a partisan issue; it’s just there’s only one party who do it.”

He says the goal is to make the American dream affordable again.

Last week, The Heritage Foundation came out with a plan of its own for Congress to use. Much of it was similar to what the Republican Study Committee and Pfluger have put together, adding one key conservative provision previously left out: extending the ban on federal funding for abortion.

LifeNews Note: Virginia Grace McKinnon writes for Daily Signal, where this column originally appeared.

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Glucosamine supplements may speed memory loss from Alzheimer’s, new research shows

2026-06-09T14:04:13.783-07:00

Glucosamine is sold over the counter. Amanda Mascarelli

People with Alzheimer’s disease who took the common supplement glucosamine were 25% more likely to die within five years than those who didn’t. That’s the key finding of a new study that my colleagues and I published in the journal Nature Metabolism.

Glucosamine is a sugar molecule that’s sold over the counter as a remedy for joint pain and arthritis. More than 40 million Americans take it each year.

We found that glucosamine also affected people in the earliest stage of memory loss, a condition called mild cognitive impairment. People in this early stage of dementia who were taking glucosamine were 25% more likely to progress to full Alzheimer’s.

Our analysis of patients with Alzheimer’s disease was based on anonymized medical records from the University of Florida Health system. We included 24,000 patients with dementia and 41,000 with mild cognitive impairment, comparing people who took glucosamine with those who didn’t.

We then conducted experiments in mice engineered to have Alzheimer’s-like symptoms to identify the potential mechanism behind how glucosamine may affect the brain. We found that blocking the enzyme that makes sugars like glucosamine improved dementia symptoms in mice. In contrast, feeding those same mice glucosamine made memory loss worse. Healthy mice given the same supplement showed no effect.

Why it matters

The Food and Drug Administration classifies glucosamine as a dietary supplement, not a prescription drug. As a result, anyone can buy it over the counter without seeing a doctor.

Glucosamine is an amino sugar. Composed of glucose and an amino acid called glutamine, these molecules are used by the body to build new cells. Because glucosamine is not considered an essential nutrient, glucosamine deficiency is not a recognized condition. However, people take the supplement based on anecdotal reports that it improves joint health, especially in the knees.

For more than a decade, my team and I at the University of Florida have studied how the brain uses and processes sugar and what goes wrong with that chemistry in people who have Alzheimer’s disease.

A lesser-known problem associated with Alzheimer’s disease is that brain cells and proteins build up extra sugar coatings. Brain cells and proteins normally carry short chains of sugar on their surface called N-glycans. These sugars guide a newly made protein into its three-dimensional shape and help it attach to other proteins it works with.

But in people with Alzheimer’s disease, the chains pile up where they don’t belong. The proteins underneath them start to fail, leading to memory loss and cell death. This condition is called hyperglycosylation.

Given that about 7.2 million Americans ages 65 and older live with Alzheimer’s disease, we estimated that many were also taking glucosamine for joint health. We hypothesized that this sugar amine may be contributing to cognitive decline.

Earlier studies have linked glucosamine supplements to a lower dementia risk in cognitively healthy adults. Our findings do not contradict those reports but qualify them. While glucosamine appears safe and potentially protective for a healthy brain, it may be harmful for a brain that is already experiencing cognitive decline.

Older adults who experience joint pain are likely to use glucosamine. PORNCHAI SODA/iStock via Getty Images Plus

What still isn’t known

Since our study was based on patient records rather than a controlled experiment in people, it cannot show that glucosamine causes faster cognitive decline – only that there’s an association.

Answering this question would require a study that randomly administers glucosamine to some patients and not to others. But if glucosamine may increase the risk of dementia, giving patients glucosamine would be unethical.

In addition, we do not yet know whether the apparent harm glucosamine has on the brains of people with memory problems depends on the dose, the brand of the supplement, or on how long people take it. We also do not know whether this finding applies to other forms of dementia.

What’s next

One way to test whether glucosamine directly causes cognitive decline would be a clinical trial on patients who took glucosamine and then discontinued it. About 8% of dementia patients in our database fall into that category. We hope to follow them for several years to see whether stopping the supplement slows their cognitive decline.

We are also screening compounds that block the N-glycan molecule and reduces the buildup of sugars on brain cells to see whether this might slow or reverse Alzheimer’s disease.

Finally, we plan to explore whether other supplements that the body breaks down in similar ways to glucosamine carry comparable risks for brains experiencing cognitive decline.

The Research Brief is a short take on interesting academic work.

Ramon Sun receives funding from NIH. He is affiliated with little warriors foundation.

Ramon Sun, Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Florida from Home – The Conversation https://bit.ly/4vEwuCf
via Syndicated with Permission of The Conversation

Colorado Amendment Would Remove Abortions Up to Birth From Constitution

2026-06-09T12:49:14.113-07:00

Repeal 79, the direct repeal of the abortion amendment from the Colorado Constitution, received a win at the Colorado Supreme Court on June 4, 2026.

The Colorado Life Initiative State Task Force has been preparing since the last election cycle to collect signatures for the 2026 ballot. Proponents from Colorado Life Initiative and Pastors For Life made nine attempts through the state process, including three appeals, and two separate Colorado Supreme Court cases.

“We thank God for an opportunity to collect signatures that we don’t take for granted,” remarked Co-Proponent Faye Barnhart, “and one which we do not know if we will have in the future,” she continued. “We almost didn’t get the chance this time.”

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Proponents attempted eight times to get life onto the ballot and the ninth attempt was the repeal. The Colorado Supreme Court upheld the title to the repeal. While the amendment will not remove abortion from the state, it will remove abortion from the state Constitution allowing for future legislation and initiatives to protect women and children and taxpayers from abortionists.

According to polls, at least forty percent of voters were not aware that the abortion amendment before voters last election cycle removed protections from taxpayers paying for abortions. Colorado taxpayers currently fund abortions all nine months of pregnancy for in-state and out-of-state pregnant mothers coming to Colorado to end the lives of their children. The amendment makes it a so-called “right” to torture children to death all nine months of pregnancy and prevents any protections for the child or their mother.

Only the people of Colorado may change the Colorado Constitution. To get the Constitutional change onto the ballot requires 2% of registered voters from each of Colorado’s thirty-five (35) Senate Districts. Because it is a direct repeal only – and not putting forward any new language – the initiative may be passed by a simple majority of 50% plus one vote in the general election. If passed, the repeal would go into effect on Christmas Day 2026.

“With 52% of Colorado adults claiming to be Christian, if Christians will vote and vote Biblically, we could pass any initiative in the state,” says Angela Eicher, Co-Proponent of the measure. “This is very basic to remove abortion from our state Constitution. It is the first step to end the current holocaust. It would be another huge win to make the ballot. We are also able to share the truth in love with Coloradans during the process of collecting signatures that will save lives.”

State Task Force members have organized the state into regions. With twelve petition leads in each senate district responsible for filling ten petitions each, the group hopes to fill at least 120 petition packets in each Senate District. The state requires 124,238 in-person signatures on the official paper petition packets (not available online) from Colorado registered voters statewide.

Mobilized churches and church networks are encouraging members to gather signatures and prepare to vote Biblically to affirm Christian values. With the momentum, proponents are hopeful for a moral win across the state for children. Already, three initiatives protecting older children have made the ballot. The ultimate goal for organizers is to protect the youngest and most vulnerable children to live long enough to be protected when they are older.

The group began assigning petitions across the state on Mother’s Day. The deadline for turning signatures into the state is August 3, 2026.

Anyone interested in helping with the efforts by filling at least one petition of forty signatures may go to the website gotaheart.org.

LifeNews Note: Faye Barnhart is the co-founder of the Colorado Life Initiative.

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Is soccer taking over America … or are Americans taking over football?

2026-06-09T11:19:06.309-07:00

Not all soccer fans are happy with American interest in their clubs. Phil Cole/Getty Images

Soccer purists have long feared the “Americanization” of the game. But in one key respect, it is already happening: ownership.

Americans now own more than 40 European soccer clubs, including current English Premier League champion Arsenal, Italian Serie A champion Inter Milan and storied teams such as Manchester United and Liverpool. Americans are also investing heavily in the lower leagues, taking ownership of two dozen clubs outside the top division, including Birmingham City, whose ownership group includes former NFL star Tom Brady, and Norwich City, purchased by Milwaukee Bucks owner Mark Attanasio in 2022.

And while global fans may carp at superficial changes that hint at the growing influence of American culture – halftime shows, cheerleaders and the use of “soccer” over “football – the reality is, it is at the level of ownership where Americans have the biggest capacity to change the game. It is a trend my colleagues and I have been charting for several years.

The yanks are coming, the yanks are coming!

U.S. sports ownership norms and rules differ greatly from the traditional European model: U.S. owners tend to operate like "emperors” who can move franchises from city to city in pursuit of bigger profits; European owners are more inclined to act as “caretakers” and traditionally come from the local business community. They see their teams as passion projects that they’re willing to sink money into.

But the global rise of soccer has seen wealthy Americans increasingly take an interest in European teams. It began in earnest in 2005 when American businessman Malcolm Glazer bought Manchester United. The Glazer-leveraged buyout sparked protest from the club’s supporters trust at the time and has grown as the owners sucked out more than 1 billion pounds from the club to pay back debt interest, repayments, dividends and fees.

But such opposition, which has only accelerated since 2018 with the entrance of U.S. private equity groups, has done little to put off American owners.

Malcolm Glazer isn’t everyone’s favorite person in Manchester. Mike Egerton/PA Images via Getty Images

Today, there are 11 American ownership groups in the English Premier League – and they are more accustomed to the U.S. way of doing things. Combined, they own six NFL teams, four NBA teams, two MLB franchises and four NHL clubs. Stan Kroenke, the owner of English champion Arsenal, also owns the Los Angeles Rams, the NBA’s Denver Nuggets and the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche.

Ownership of these franchises has made some very rich men ever more wealthy as the value of top teams grew. But traditional soccer fans are increasingly concerned about this shift toward a profit-driven style of ownership.

The ups and downs of the pyramid system

But there is a potential barrier to these American owners making megabucks: the structure of soccer itself. It represents a battle between U.S. “closed” leagues – that is, with fixed franchises – and a European pyramid structure in which teams can drop down divisions, wiping millions of dollars off their valuation in the process.

To understand why U.S. and English leagues have these different models, you need to look back to how professional sports leagues in the two territories were originally designed. Until the late 19th century, sports in England and the U.S. followed similar trajectories, with the baseball teams in America and soccer teams in England playing in organized leagues with predictable schedules.

Then, in 1876, baseball’s National League was founded with territorial exclusivity for teams and, by 1891, a constitution that enshrined eight permanent members. New franchises were not absorbed into the National League but instead formed the American League. Underperforming professional baseball teams could not be ejected or relegated to a minor league even if they lost every game. Meanwhile, franchises could relocate to new cities at will.

Other U.S. sports adopted baseball’s monopolistic system of fixed teams with all-powerful owners – a system that, by the 21st century, produced regular profits, the world’s highest-valued sports teams and absolute power for owners.

In contrast, England’s Football League, which began life in 1888, had a fluid membership – exchanging its weakest teams with the strongest teams from the rival Football Alliance to create a two-tier system. The English pyramid system took shape after another rival league was absorbed in 1894 as the third tier.

From the outset there was the possibility of teams moving up – or being promoted – based on their performance on the pitch. Conversely, teams could be demoted if they played badly.

This pyramid structure quickly became the norm for soccer around the world and enshrined in FIFA statutes.

Arsenal fans gather to demand the resignation of club owner and American billionaire Stan Kroenke on May 6, 2021. Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing via Getty Images

A fans’ revolt

Promotions and regulations create drama, romance, season-long tension and fan passion that help make soccer the most popular sport in the world.

But it also terrifies many American owners.

Burnley and West Ham, English clubs with significant American investment, were recently relegated to the second tier of the English pyramid – a move that will likely devastate their budgets and valuations. American-owned Hellas Verona and Pisa in Italy and Girona and Mallorca in Spain were likewise demoted to the second divisions.

Spooked U.S. owners have begun to lobby for change – and the safeguarding of their lucrative sporting investments. And it was little surprise that American fingerprints were all over the April 2021 announcement of the “closed” European Super League. The elite competition would have guaranteed permanent participation for 12 to 15 teams, plus a handful of rotating annual participants, in a new, multibillion-dollar continental competition.

The breakaway league was to be financed with $4 billion from U.S. banking giant JPMorgan. Four of the teams – AC Milan, Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United – are American-owned.

The European Super League would have Americanized elite European football in one fell swoop, with fixed franchises, no threat of relegation and league control by the owners or presidents of the permanent teams.

But fans, coaches and former players from the six English Premier League teams involved revolted against an elite competition without relegation, calling it an “ultimate betrayal.” All six formally withdrew within 72 hours of the league’s announcement, joining Germany’s two biggest teams, Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, which refused from the outset to join. France’s Paris Saint-Germain also refused an invitation.

Chelsea fans protest on April 20, 2021, against the establishment of the breakaway European Super League. David Cliff/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

While the effort to create fixed franchises in Europe has, for now, been foiled, Americanization is still happening in smaller steps. Many of the changes are benign, such as cheerleaders and halftime entertainment. Other changes are more profound. American professional sports leagues often tweak rules to increase scoring, and FIFA is now experimenting with a new offside rule that would lead to more goals, reduce major upsets and benefit wealthier clubs.

Todd Boehly, co-owner of the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Dodgers, Strasbourg FC in France’s Ligue 1 and Chelsea in the U.K., is one of the American cheerleaders for this type of change.

He argues that the English Premier League should learn from American sports to increase revenue, including by introducing all-star games and postseason playoffs. Much of this is self-interest: Boehly’s Chelsea FC needs all the additional revenue it can find as the club announced record pre-tax losses of US$349 million for the 2024-25 season.

Welcome to … where now?

Some American franchise owners have given up on trying to change the European game and are looking elsewhere. U.S. capital is now being invested in a potential fixed-franchise league in Mexico. Mexico’s first division, Liga MX, whose television viewership in the United States exceeds that of the English Premier League and MLS combined, paused relegations for six seasons in 2020 due to the financial uncertainty brought on by COVID-19. Five of the 18 Liga MX clubs are now American-owned, and a return to relegations looks increasingly unlikely.

Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, co-owners of Wrexham FC, celebrate their team’s success on March 7, 2026. Robbie Jay Barratt/AMA via Getty Images

Hollywood actor Rob Mac (formerly McElhenney), who co-owns Wrexham FC in the U.K. with Ryan Reynolds, documented the romance of promotions in the TV documentary “Welcome to Wrexham.” But as a co-owner, with Eva Longoria, of Liga MX club Necaxa, Mac appears less enamored of the pyramid system in Mexico, pointing out “the potential value and devaluation of the clubs.”

Liga MX could soon become the first soccer league to fully transition from an established promotion and relegation system to a fixed-franchise model.

And that would be a significant step toward the global Americanization of the beautiful game.

Kirk Bowman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Kirk Bowman, Professor of International Affairs, Georgia Institute of Technology from Home – The Conversation https://bit.ly/4v1MT3O
via Syndicated with Permission of The Conversation

Bingles, knuckleballs and ‘Beer Barrel Polka’ – hundreds of forgotten works showcase the eclectic world of baseball scholarship

2026-06-09T06:09:42.456-07:00

The aerodynamics of the knuckleball was one of the hundreds of academic theses and dissertations that were recently compiled in a database. Diamond Images/Getty Images

Today’s fans may associate baseball research with cutting edge analytics. But long before data-driven tools like Statcast and FanGraphs, university students were conducting research about baseball.

About three years ago, I came across a 1988 article published by the Society for American Baseball Research. Written by a historian of Cuban baseball named Peter C. Bjarkman, it highlighted several academic dissertations, noting that they “provide a fruitful scholarly resource … yet at the same time represent one of the least explored sources.”

The baseball fan in me immediately wanted to know how many other dissertations existed, and which topics they covered. But after digging around, I realized that no such list existed. So the academic librarian in me decided to compile it for future researchers.

I ended up locating more than 850 dissertations and theses written by students between 1908 and 2024 from nearly 300 universities, and compiled the data, which appears in a recent issue of the Baseball Research Journal.

I was impressed by how many students across so many disciplines found a way to connect their area of study to baseball. It has been eye-opening to read about the game from the perspectives of business, communication, history, music, physics, psychology and more.

The new catalog is full of curiosities, but here’s a sampling of five that showcase the range and creativity of baseball scholarship:

1. “Smoking and Its Effects Upon Base Ball Pitching”

Hughie Jennings, manager of the Detroit Tigers from 1907 to 1920, once observed that “the use of tobacco in any form … has a very bad effect upon athletes.”

In 1916, William A. Lang, a student at the International Young Men’s Christian Association Training School – now Springfield College in Massachusetts – attempted to provide some scientific evidence, though his methods lacked the rigor of today’s scientific research.

He had 12 players perform a series of pitching activities. During a break between round one and round two, they smoked either one cigar, two cigars or no cigars. Pitching accuracy decreased noticeably after smoking, while accuracy increased after a break with no smoking.

Several participants, especially those who were not smokers before, dropped out of the study after becoming sick. Even so, many professional baseball players smoked cigarettes into the 1970s, while the more discreet practice of chewing tobacco persisted longer.

Los Angeles Dodgers Hall of Fame pitcher Sandy Koufax appears on a billboard advertising Tareyton cigarettes in 1962. Gary Leonard/Corbis via Getty Images

2. “An Historical Dictionary of Baseball Terminology”

As baseball writing expanded in the 1890s, newspaper reporters tried to come up with creative ways to avoid repeating common words.

In 1939, Edward J. Nichols, an English student at Penn State, noticed how many terms had carried over into everyday speech, many of which are still in use today: There are “hit-and-run” accidents, “pinch hitters” who swoop in to offer a helping hand, and big successes are described as “home runs.”

Nichols compiled a list of well over 1,000 baseball-related terms and definitions, and the dates of earliest known use.

Many are still used today:

At Bat (1861)
Backstop (1887)
Bean Ball (1912)
Clean up Hitter (1907)
In the Hole (1937)
Whiff (1881)

Other words and phrases are no longer commonly used:

Balldom (1905) was used to describe the world of baseball
Bingle (1902) was a term for a safely batted ball
Bird Cage (1906) was slang for a catcher’s mask
Egg Feast (1891) described a scoreless game
Ice Wagon (1908) was an exceedingly slow runner
Pill (1906) was simple slang for the baseball itself
Tissue Paper Tom (1937) for a player who is easily injured
Unbutton the Shirt (1937) meant preparing to take a big swing

3. “The Sporting Spirit: Perceptions in Philatelic Art Iconography and Sports Philately, 1896–1974”

In 1991, an Ohio State University physical education student named Myrtis Herndon compiled a comprehensive catalog of international sports-related postage stamps.

Hall of Fame shortstop Honus Wagner appeared on a set of stamps issued by the United Arab Emirates, then known as the Trucial States, in 1969. Post of Ajman/Wikimedia Commons

The first to feature baseball appeared in 1934 and was issued in the Philippines, where the sport had been introduced under American colonial rule.

In 1969, the United Arab Emirates – then known as the Trucial States – produced a series of stamps, aimed primarily at global collectors, of iconic artists, musicians and athletes, including six Major League Baseball Hall of Famers. A 1971 set, which appears to have been produced by the kingdom of Ras Al Khaimah, highlighted the baseball diplomacy between the U.S. and Japan.

Taiwan issued several stamps in the early 1970s to celebrate the country’s string of Little League World Series championships. Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, San Marino and Venezuela also produced baseball-themed stamps at various points.

4. “The Aerodynamics of the Knuckleball Pitch”

Michael Morrissey, a mechanical engineering student at Marquette University in 2009, noticed that while others had written about the movement of pitches like curveballs, research was lacking when it came to knuckleballs.

Very few pitchers can successfully throw this pitch, which requires a special grip that significantly reduces the spin of the ball, making it difficult to hit.

Morrissey’s thesis includes a history of the knuckleball, an interview with All-Star knuckleballer R.A. Dickey and experiments to better understand the pitch’s strange, unpredictable movement. He used a series of sophisticated techniques and instruments – including a wind tunnel, a helium bubble generator and high-speed camera – to observe its lift, rotation and velocity, among other forces.

5. “From the Hammond Organ to ‘Sweet Caroline’: The Historical Evolution of Baseball’s Sonic Environment”

In his 2012 dissertation, Matthew Mihalka, a music student at the University of Minnesota, described the sounds of the ballpark from the game’s earliest days to the modern era.

Before loudspeakers, fans could see live musicians, military bands and even Broadway acts at the ballpark.

Organ music became one of the sport’s defining sounds in the 20th century. The first organ appeared in 1941 at Wrigley Field. More stadiums added the instrument after the invention of the Hammond electric organ and following improvements to stadium public address systems.

Organs reached their peak in the 1960s, but some live organists still carry on this baseball tradition. While the organists usually remain in the background, at least one was ejected from a game for playing “Three Blind Mice” in response to an umpire’s call.

Mihalka profiles several of baseball’s most prominent ballpark organists, including Gladys Goodding, who worked the keys and pedals for the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1942 to 1957, and Nancy Faust, who was the organist for the Chicago White Sox from 1970 to 2010.

While recorded music largely dominates the ballpark soundscape today, audience participation and communal singing have long made up another important element of the baseball experience, with fans regularly belting out “Sweet Caroline” in Boston, “Here Comes the King” in St. Louis and the “Beer Barrel Polka” in Milwaukee.

Nancy Faust, who was the organist for the Chicago White Sox for over 40 years, briefly came out of retirement to play six Sunday games in 2025.

The full list of dissertations and theses is free to access – a resource for casual fans and researchers alike who want to learn more about the game.

Tom Reinsfelder is a member of the Society for American Baseball Research.

Tom Reinsfelder, Distinguished Librarian, Penn State from Home – The Conversation https://bit.ly/4uUi8xr
via Syndicated with Permission of The Conversation

Canadian Man Screams for Help During Botched Euthanasia

2026-06-09T06:04:38.769-07:00

The family of Mr. D had gathered at his home to be with him when he died. He was 87 years old. He had congestive heart failure. He had gone through the assessments, signed the paperwork, and chosen a date. His children were there and the MAID killer arrived. The first drug went in.

Midazolam is a sedative. In most cases it produces the kind of deep unconsciousness that makes what follows unfelt and unremembered. In rare cases, but still cases exist it produces the opposite, the body stiffens, the heart rate climbs, and instead of drifting toward sleep, the patient surfaces into agitation.

That is what happened to Mr. D.

His family watched his face while the drug moved through him. They watched him groan. They watched him grimace. They watched him guard against something he could feel, his muscles tensing against it and then they heard him say “help me.”

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They heard him say it again.

“HELP ME!”

The word that appears in the coroner’s case review, obtained by National Post, is “escalated.” His behavioural signs of distress escalated to repeated verbalizations, including “help me,” that continued until sedation was achieved with propofol and a comatose state was confirmed.

He died. His children went home carrying that. Sanctuary trauma, survivors guilt and the horrific reality that they just watched the worst case possible. Personally, I believe they witnessed a murder.

The case review notes that the family asked for one thing. That their father’s death be shared with the broader MAID community, so that providers would discuss potential adverse effects with patients before proceeding, and have contingency plans in place for what might go wrong.

Not accountability. Not consequences. Just that the next family might be warned. Bradley Stewart had watched his father die badly and believed there was a better way to go.

He was 67, diagnosed with liver cancer, a man who had worked for the same company for 47 years and spent his summers at the barbecue at the local museum’s car show in Beachville, Ontario. He collapsed on a Sunday after doing exactly that. He told his brothers he thought this might be it.

Three days later, Dr. James MacLean came to the house. Bradley was surrounded by his siblings, by family, by the three chihuahuas who had been perched on his bed through the illness. MacLean opened his kit.

The third drug wasn’t there. The neuromuscular blocker, the drug that paralyzes the muscles and stops the lungs — was missing. You know the paralytic CAMAP say’s Canada doesn’t use? The one they write article’s calling me a liar about. James MacLean had grabbed a backup kit, and a new one he’d ordered hadn’t been ready when he stopped at the pharmacy.

He injected what he had. He listened for a heartbeat. He pronounced Bradley Stewart dead and left the house.

Bradley Stewart started breathing. Yes, breathing. James failed to properly murder his victim.

His sister’s daughter found Cathy Stewart-Mott in the kitchen. “Uncle Brad isn’t gone,” she said. “He’s breathing.”

James MacLean was called back. He returned, administered more poison including the drug he’d arrived without, and Bradley died for the second time. He had to have known his victim wouldn’t die, but he did it anyway.

When James MacLean walked back in, his sister Tracey Townsend recalled, “He said something to the effect of, ‘Wow, this has never happened to me before. He’s still breathing?’”

“There was shock,” Stewart-Mott said. “There was numbness. People tried to remove themselves from it. ‘Maybe this didn’t happen.’ This is what a trained killer sounds like. Townsend took months off work to recover. “Going through MAID and losing somebody twice in a matter of a couple of hours,” she said. “Too much.”

When the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario investigated James MacLean for the Stewart case, and separately for assessing another MAID patient outside a Tim Hortons they found serious concerns with his practice. He was not brought before a disciplinary hearing. He agreed to a minimum of six months of clinical supervision and other voluntary undertakings.

He is still practising in London, Ontario at Westmount Family Practice with his wife. He is still doing MAID, he is still killing. “They had the ability to suspend his doing MAID,” Stewart-Mott said, “but never went down that road.”

In November 2025, Dr. Stefanie Green, co-founder of CAMAP the Canadian Association of MAID Assessors and Providers gave an interview to Chatelaine magazine.

“The patient feels nothing other than comfort and sleep. There is no gasping, there is no choking, there is no coughing. It’s a peaceful, comfortable witnessed death.”

This is what happens when killers make money killing; they lie and say whatever it takes to convince people it’s ok to watch their loved one die at the hands of a “Doctor.”

A 2022 study of more than 3,500 MAID deaths found complications in 1.2 percent of cases. In 2024, more than 16,000 Canadians died by MAID. At 1.2 percent, that is nearly 200 families. 200 hundred people who believed their murder would be peaceful.

The researchers who conducted that study noted that one complication in particular consciousness caused by insufficient anesthetic may not be captured in the data at all. There is no mechanism to detect whether someone was aware during their own death if they cannot say so afterward, and if the signs go unrecognized in the room.

This is what happens, because the DEAD DON’T TALK.

LifeNews Note: This appeared on Kelsi Sheren’s Substack and reposted with permission.

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