Controversial COVID Paper Retracted; USPSTF’s Vitamin D Rec; Medical Abortion Pain

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A discredited paper that backed the use of hydroxychloroquine as a COVID-19 treatment early on in the pandemic has been retracted. (USA Today)

Do you live in one of the dozen or so states that mandates fluoridated water? The Trump administration can’t overrule that state law, but it can get rid of federal standards for fluoride levels in water. (Washington Post)

Meanwhile, the second Trump administration may target the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid to help pay for lower taxes. (CBS News)

Should men 60 and over and postmenopausal women take vitamin D and calcium supplements for the primary prevention of falls and fractures? No, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force said in a draft recommendation.

What is that mystery disease ravaging part of the Democratic Republic of Congo? A severe form of malaria, according to authorities there. (The Telegraph)

Police raided the home of a woman in Medina, Tennessee, and found 300 vials of counterfeit GLP-1 drugs. (NBC News)

And the FDA sent warning letters to several online companies selling unapproved versions of the diabetes and weight-loss drugs. (Reuters via AOL)

People are coming in to the doctor for weight-loss drugs — and getting diagnosed with other conditions along the way. (Reuters via Quartz)

Two New York men died after the bat poop they were using to grow cannabis released a dangerous fungus, causing the men to develop histoplasmosis. (People)

Delaware reported a probable case of bird flu, though the CDC could not confirm the case. (BNO News)

Medication abortion is often more painful than women are led to believe, a survey study from the U.K. found. (BMJ Sexual & Reproductive Health)

Luigi Mangione, the alleged killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, was indicted by a New York grand jury for murder as an act of terrorism and charged with first-degree murder. (CNN)

Eroding trust in the health system — as evidenced by the frustration expressed following the murder of Thompson — can make people less likely to seek care, said former surgeon general Jerome Adams, MD, MPH. (Politico Magazine)

Her husband has multiple sclerosis. She copes by competing in grueling fitness events. (BBCNews)

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. now agrees with Trump that abortion should be left to the states, according to Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), who had a discussion with Kennedy on the subject. (The Hill)

Meanwhile, the lawyer helping Kennedy fill HHS positions denied that he was seeking to get the polio vaccine pulled from the market, saying that just one of several licensed vaccines was targeted. (The Hill)

Whooping cough cases are on the rise, but the public knows little about the disease. (Annenberg Public Policy Center)

Obstetric residency applications in Tennessee — a state with a strict abortion ban and no obstetric services in about half the state’s rural hospitals — dropped by 21% in the 2023-2024 school year. (Nashville Banner)

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