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...