Decisions

• Het Amerikaanse Hooggerechtshof heeft met een 6-3 beslissing de bevoegdheid van de U.S. Preventive Services Task Force bevestigd om kosteloze preventieve diensten aan te bevelen onder de Affordable Care Act. • De uitspraak vernietigde een verbod van een districtsrechter dat de regering had belemmerd bij het herstellen van de geldstroom van subsidies gerelateerd aan de taskforce. • De uitspraak behoudt de verplichting voor verzekeraars om aanbevolen screenings en vaccins te dekken zonder eigen bijdrage van de patiënt, wat miljoenen Amerikanen raakt.

• A Fred Hutch Cancer Center graduate student presented over 25,000 measurements of influenza-fighting antibodies to WHO scientists via videoconference last fall. • The dataset, published in Virus Evolution, offers near real-time tracking of human immune responses to current flu strains, improving seasonal vaccine composition. • This method addresses gaps in traditional surveillance, potentially enhancing vaccine effectiveness against evolving viruses.

Rule change follows high court challenge brought by two doctors prevented from working in specialist fieldsDoctors who have been prevented from working in the NHS while they wait for asylum decisions are celebrating after the Home Office agreed to lift the ban. The changes come into force on Thursday.The changes to the immigration rules follow a high court challenge by two specialist doctors who had the relevant qualifications to work for the NHS but were prevented from taking up work. Doctors who have a break in their practice can quickly become deskilled. Until now, the ban has remained in place despite shortages of doctors and other healthcare professionals in some parts of the NHS. Continue reading...

• Rising yields across US and international bond markets reflect growing inflation expectations stemming from the energy shock caused by the Iran-US conflict, with 10-year gilts rising 14 basis points. • Market participants are increasingly betting on a Federal Reserve rate hike later this year as inflation anchoring concerns mount amid geopolitical disruptions to energy supplies. • The bond market deterioration follows Friday's significant equity selloff and signals potential monetary policy tightening ahead, with the Fed focused on ensuring inflation expectations remain anchored despite external supply shocks.

• A federal judge on Monday blocked HHS from implementing vaccine policy changes made by RFK Jr.'s revamped CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), reversing all recent decisions. • The ruling leaves unresolved the status of the RSV vaccine for infants, potentially making it no longer free for children who need it, as its inclusion was authorized by the current advisers. • Public health experts are scrambling to understand ramifications, with health groups concerned about unintended harms and weakened vaccination recommendations for hepatitis B and COVID-19.