Healthcare
Sen. Portman enrolled in Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine trial
Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) told CNBC on Tuesday that he enrolled in Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial 12 days ago, CNBC reports.
Portman told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that he signed up for the clinical trial because he wanted to demonstrate that vaccines are important to ending the ongoing pandemic.
“The most important thing we can do right now is get these vaccines out and on the market, and we’ve got to ensure people are actually going to get vaccinated,” the junior senator from Ohio said, on camera from Capitol Hill while wearing a mask. He also emphasized the importance of wearing masks and practicing social distancing.
“It’s one thing to have the vaccines, which I think will be ready by the end of this year, so really in just a month and a half, but we’ve got to be sure that people are willing to be vaccinated,” Portman continued. “So the reason I participated in this trial was because I think the vaccines are so important.”
This comes as virus cases across the United States continue to surge and as vaccine developer Moderna on Monday announced promising preliminary results from its vaccine trial. The recent spike in cases has prompted governors around the country to toughen restrictions on various aspects of life such as restaurants, the size of gatherings, and gyms.
The Buckeye State senator additionally voiced concerns about public opinion polls saying that millions of Americans are skeptical of coronavirus vaccines and thus might hesitate to receive them if the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) okay the vaccine candidates for distribution to the public.
“These are FDA professionals. These are scientists that are taking extraordinary measures to be sure that it’s safe,” Portman said. “So, I want to encourage everyone to participate in the trials, if you’re comfortable doing that, but certainly to get the vaccine when it’s available.”
Furthermore, Portman said that so far he feels “great” after enrolling in the trial. He noted, however, that he is unsure whether he received the vaccine or a placebo. “A key attribute of double-blind clinical trials,” CNBC’s Kevin Stankiewicz writes, “is that participants remain unaware of which group they are in, so they do not change their behavior.”
Portman then mentioned that he keeps a diary for tracking symptoms during the trial, urging more people to participate in the clinical trials for the vaccines.
“I keep a diary. Every Monday and Thursday now I report back as to whether I have symptoms,” he added. “It’s easy to go through, and again, I encourage people to do it because the more people that participate in the trials, the sooner they can get to the FDA for emergency use authorization and the quicker we can get it out to the American people.”
You can follow Douglas Braff on Twitter @Douglas_P_Braff.
Healthcare
Nebraska woman who detransitioned sues doctors who facilitated removal of ‘healthy breasts’ when she was a teen battling mental health
Nebraska woman Luka Hein is suing Nebraska Medicine, the Nebraska Medical Center, and University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) Physicians who facilitated in her gender transition when she was a teenager; Hein has since detransitioned.
Hein, who is being represented by the Center for American Liberty, filed the suit last week, for removal of her healthy breasts when she was a depressed teenager who struggled with mental health.
“Proceeding straight to breast amputation in a depressed, anxiety-ridden, gender-confused adolescent, who was incapable of understanding the lasting consequences of her decision, constitutes negligence for which Defendants are jointly and severally liable,” the lawsuit states.
Fox News reports:
Throughout adolescence, Hein struggled with her mental health and traumatic experiences, including being allegedly groomed and threatened by an adult man. She had serious mental-health struggles at age 13. By 15 she was diagnosed with “gender identity disorder” and put on a fast track to have her breasts removed, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit claims that despite Hein’s history, doctors rushed her into gender transition without considering her psychological comorbidities. It says the defendants used deceptive euphemisms and unscientific terminology to sell gender-transition procedures to Hein.
For instance, their use of the phrase “masculinizing hormone therapy” was misleading as the process does not heal the patient but does “inflict harm that causes malfunctioning and malformation of the teenage body and brain,” according to the lawsuit. Testosterone injections, which Hein received as part of her attempted sex change, can cause many negative side effects including high blood pressure and permanent bodily changes such as the development of an Adam’s apple, deepening of the voice, abnormal hair growth, and male pattern balding of the scalp.
The lawsuit says defendants were also negligent in other ways, such as in their shifting from a standard medical diagnosis to the “affirming care” model, which embraces a person’s gender delusion as fact and discourages questioning.
Allegedly one doctor, Nahia J. Amoura, was prepared to go even further. “About a year after starting Luka on testosterone, Dr. Amoura recommended to Luka that she surgically remove her uterus in a partial hysterectomy as the next step in her ‘transition,’” the lawsuit states. The hysterectomy would have permanently sterilized Hein and created hormonal imbalances that would have required long-term medical follow-ups.
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