Sperm Donor Banned Over Incest Fears; COVID Hampered Teen Sex; Jerry Springer Dies

— Health news and commentary from around the Web gathered by MedPage Today staff

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Morning Break over illustration of a syringe, Covid virus, and DNA helix over a photo of green vegetation.

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After fathering an estimated 500 to 600 children, a Dutch man was banned from donating sperm following a court case that raised concerns his children could have difficulty forming romantic relationships due to fears of accidental incest and inbreeding. (Reuters)

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) signed into law protections for gender-affirming care and reproductive healthcare, and joined at least 20 other states in banning so-called conversion therapy. (The Hill)

In Missouri, a judge slapped a temporary pause on restrictions to gender-affirming care for adults and kids, hours before the rule would have gone into effect. (AP)

New CDC data found that cigarette smoking rates among U.S. adults hit an all-time low last year. (AP)

Rates of teen sex took a nosedive during the pandemic, according to a new CDC report. (AP)

The FDA approved Pfizer's 20-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (Prevnar 20) for children starting at 6 weeks and up, the company announced.

And Otsuka and Lundbeck said the FDA approved a long-acting injectable version of aripiprazole (Abilify Asimtufii) for schizophrenia and bipolar I disorder in adults, with injections needed only once every 2 months.

Meanwhile, the agency warned of the possibility of cybersecurity threats in Illumina's DNA sequencing machines, and of the harmful effects of teens and young adults using selective androgen receptor modulators (SARMs), which are similar to steroids.

Oral antivirals molnupiravir (Lagevrio) and nirmatrelvir/ritonavir (Paxlovid) were effective for treating COVID-19 in nursing home residents, according to a study in JAMA Network Open.

People who experienced acute kidney injury during a hospitalization are more than twice as likely to die within 90 days of discharge and 62% more likely to be readmitted. (American Journal of Kidney Diseases)

Can ventricular tachycardia be treated with radiation? (AP)

A 5-year-old girl born with "bubble boy disease" is about to receive a type of gene therapy after the potentially lifesaving treatment was abandoned by a pharmaceutical company years ago. (CNN)

CMS fined a hospital in New Hampshire and one in Texas for price transparency violations. (Becker's Hospital Review)

A pregnant woman detailed how she had to come up with $15,000 overnight to pay a surgeon upfront after being diagnosed with a rare pregnancy complication. (NPR)

Beware of the "tsunami" of people coming to apply for Medicare, warned the CEO of CVS Health. (Fortune)

Emergency room workers at Providence Medford Medical Center in Oregon unanimously voted to unionize this week. (Rogue Valley Times)

Former UCLA gynecologist James Heaps, MD, was sentenced to 11 years in prison for sexually abusing patients. (Los Angeles Times)

TV personality and former Cincinnati mayor Jerry Springer passed away at 79 from pancreatic cancer. (People)

Chipotle is giving away over $1 million worth of free food to healthcare workers in May via a sweepstakes. (USA Today)

Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said he fainted from COVID during a meeting earlier this week. (Reuters)

  • author['full_name']

    Kristen Monaco is a staff writer, focusing on endocrinology, psychiatry, and nephrology news. Based out of the New York City office, she’s worked at the company since 2015.